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We will still be looking at gusts of between 55 and 75mph generally, but possibly higher in some exposed locations.
The Met Office has also issued a severe weather warning for gales down the western coast.
Those in the worst-hit regions should prepare for disruption, with road, rail, air and ferry services all potentially affected.
Experts also Ophelia could match 2006's Hurricane Gordon and Tropical Storm Grace, which struck in 2009.
'Both of these brought strong winds to the UK', Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge told The Express.
Great Storm of 1987: The force of nature that decimated the British Isles after a TV weatherman famously told worried viewers dont worry, there isnt one coming
The Great Storm of 1987 (pictured) hit southern England overnight on October 15 and caused damage estimated at 1billion
The storm in 1987 brought unprecedented levels of destruction that swept across Britain. Pictures is a caravan park that has been wrecked by the powerful storm
A man and woman walk past a tree in London that was uprooted by the powerful winds during the frightening storm of 1987
Life carried on as normal as bus passengers get on with their day amid a scene of destruction wrought by the powerful 1987 storm
The storm of 1987, which struck overnight on October 15, brought winds of up to 100mph and led to 18 deaths.
BBC weatherman Michael Fish has never lived down his forecast assuring Britons that a hurricane was not heading our way.
Some 15million trees were uprooted, trains derailed, and parts of the country plunged into darkness as pylons were toppled.
BBC weatherman Michael Fish has never lived down his forecast assuring Britons that a hurricane was not heading our way
A wrecked garden strew wood across this garden in London in 1987, left, and right, a police office inspects damage to a building in Soho Square in 1987
An elderly woman walks past a scene of devastation following the 1987 storm. Ophelia is feared to be one of the worst storms to strike Britain in 10 years
Weather expert Dennis Mersereau said the UK was in line for a rough couple of days as Ophelia rolls through, with the possibility of power cuts, fallen trees and flooding.
Writing on the website Popular Science, he described it as a weird storm, having formed out in the Atlantic where hurricanes usually go to die.
Alex Burkhill, a Met Office forecaster, said cold sea temperatures mean Ophelia will not be strong enough to be categorised as a hurricane when it hits Britain.
But it will certainly bring an abrupt end to what is expected to be a warm weekend during which temperatures could hit 72F today and 75F across the South tomorrow, with similarly unseasonal figures further north. Temperatures in London could potentially be up to 10C above the average for October.
A high school teacher has been released on bail after he allegedly courted two women on social media and then raped them in his car.
Ahmed Masri, 25, from Green Valley in Sydney's west, appeared via audio visual link at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.
He is facing several charges of sexual intercourse without consent and one charge of assault with act of indecency.
A high school teacher has been released on bail after he allegedly courted two women on social media and then raped them in his car (pictured is a stock image)
Masri, a casual teacher at Miller Technology High School, allegedly chatted to the two women on Facebook and Snapchat.
He then met them in Sydney and allegedly forced himself on them in a car on two separate occasions in September and October.
He was refused bail by police, with prosecutor Sergeant Skye Stromquist insisting he posed a serious risk to the community.
'The type of offences are of most serious nature,' Sergeant Stromquist told the court.
Ahmed Masri, 25, from Green Valley in Sydney's west, appeared via audio visual link at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday (pictured is the school Masri worked as a casual teacher)
'The harm and damage caused to the complainants can never be undone.
'He's clearly targeting females, courting them through social media applications and then using physical force to hold females down.'
However, he was given bail by Magistrate Kok under strict conditions with his lawyer Mona El Baba telling the court Masri was of exemplary character and would be a role model to his students.
She also argued the women weren't 'random' and were both known to Masri.
'These are not random females he's collecting himself off the street,' Ms El Baba said.
To secure bail, Masri's brother agreed to forfeit $30,000 security.
Under his bail conditions, Masri is not allowed to leave the house except to attend doctor's appointments, visit a lawyer, report to police and attend court accompanied by his mother, sister or brother-in-law.
He is to report daily to Green Valley Police Station, forfeit his passport, refrain from using social media and refrain from contacting the complainants.
No plea was entered on Saturday and Masri is set to reappear at Downing Centre Local Court on December 7.
The Canadian hostage who was freed from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan along with his wife and three young children recalled the harrowing firefight which led to the release of his family, it was revealed on Saturday.
Former hostage Joshua Boyle said Saturday from his parents' home in Canada that full medical exams were being arranged for him and his family after they were rescued from their captors, the Taliban-linked extremist Haqqani network in Afghanistan.
And in a video released by Pakistan's military that was filmed before he left the country and returned to Canada, Boyle recounted a harrowing firefight during a raid by Pakistani security forces that freed the family.
'A major comes over to me while I still have blood on me. The street is chaos and he says to me, "In the American media they say that we support the Haqqani network and that we make it possible. Today you have seen the truth. Did we not put bullets in those bastards?"' Boyle recalled, appearing beside his wife and children in the video.
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Joshua Boyle, the Canadian hostage who was freed from Taliban captivity in Aghanistan along with his wife and three young children this week, recalled the harrowing firefight which led to the release of his family
In a video released by Pakistan's military that was filmed before he left the country and returned to Canada, Boyle recounted a harrowing firefight during a raid by Pakistani security forces that freed the family
Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their three children were rescued Wednesday, five years after the couple was abducted by the extremist Haqqani network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip
Boyle is seen speaking to the media after arriving at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Friday. He said that the Haqqani network in Afghanistan had killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity
'And so I can say to you I did see the truth, and the truth was that car was riddled with bullets. The ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency) and the army got between the criminals and the car to make sure the prisoners were safe and my family was safe. They put them to flight and they ran like cowards. This is proof enough to me the Pakistanis are doing everything to their utmost.'
Boyle called those that held them captive 'pagan' and not people of faith.
He also said that in the area of Afghanistan where they had been held he did not see the presence of soldiers or any government control.
'Some areas are certainly controlled by criminals, and some areas are completely uncontrolled,' he said.
Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their three children were rescued Wednesday, five years after the couple was abducted by the extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip.
Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity.
The family is pictured above in a still image from a proof of life video posted by the Taliban on social media on December 19, 2016. It shows American Coleman, left, speaking next to Boyle and their two sons
Boyle said after landing at Toronto's airport that the extremists killed their newborn daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity.
He called on the Afghan government to bring them to justice, saying, 'God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network.'
The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known until then.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said the raid that led to the rescue was based on a tip from US intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a 'common enemy' when Washington shares information.
US officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network.
After returning to his parents' home in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Boyle emailed The Associated Press a statement saying they had 'reached the first true "home" that the children have ever known - after they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully.'
'Our daughter has had a cursory medical exam last night, and hospital staff were enthusiastically insistent that her chances seemed miraculously high based on a quick physical. Full medical work-ups for each member of my family are being arranged right now, and God-willing the healing process - physically and mentally can begin.'
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice (A still image made from a 2013 video released by the Coleman family shows Coleman and Boyle whole in captivity)
Boyle (pictured, left, with Coleman) said he was in Afghanistan 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'The familys refusal to travel to the United States
The family refused to travel to the US and took a plane from Pakistant to London and from there to Canada (Mothers Linda Boyle, left and Lyn Coleman hold photo of their married children)
Earlier, on a flight from London, Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, sat in the business-class cabin wearing a tan headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly as she confirmed her identity to an AP reporter on board.
Next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest in his lap. US State Department officials accompanied them.
Boyle provided a separate, handwritten statement then expressing disagreement with US foreign policy.
'God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organized injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege,' he wrote.
He nodded toward one of the State Department officials and said, 'Their interests are not my interests.'
Washington considers the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and has targeted its leaders with drone strikes.
But the Haqqani group also operates like a criminal network.
Unlike the Islamic State group, it typically does not execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.
Boyle (pictured, third from left, on Friday) added that one of his children is in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
'It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home,' Boyle (pictured, said in a statement)
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the Pakistani raid that led to the family's rescue was based on a tip from US intelligence (Pictured, Boyle, left, with his father)
US officials say the family chose to return to Canada directly because Boyle fears being questioned about why he was in Afghanistan in 2012
A US national security official, who was not authorized to discuss operational details of the release and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the US obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages - and they did.
President Donald Trump, who previously had warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised the country for its 'cooperation on many fronts.'
He said Friday on Twitter that the US is starting to develop 'a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders.'
The operation appears to have unfolded quickly and ended with the raid, the shootout and a captor's final, terrifying threat to 'kill the hostage.'
Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors' car and that some of his captors were killed.
He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
US officials did not confirm those details.
Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle and one of his children walk outside the Boyle's family home in Smiths Falls, Ontario on Saturday after returning home from their ordeal
Joshua Boyle and son Jonah play in the garden at his parents house in Ontario. Boyle and his wife were held hostage by Taliban forces for five years and had three kids in captivity
Boyle said he and his wife Caitlan Coleman heard at least half a dozen reasons why they had been snatched from a village in Afghanistan and held against their will by the Haqqani network
Jim Coleman (far right) said it was 'unconscionable' for Boyle to take Colemanto Kabul, Afghanistan, without telling either of their families when she was five-months pregnant in 2012 (Pictured, from left to right: Patrick Boyle, Linda Boyle, Lyn Coleman and Jim Coleman hold photo of their kidnapped children in June 2014)
Boyle told his parents (pictured, Patrick and Linda Doyle) that he and his family were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back of their captors' car
Boyle was previously married to Zaynab Khadr (second from left), the sister of Omar Kadhr, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee with suspected ties to al-Qaeda
A US 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 and had a transport plane ready to go, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyle's father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America.
Another US 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 Qaeda 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 US troops following a firefight and was taken to the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture, with one describing it in 2014 as a 'horrible coincidence.'
The US Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.
US officials have said 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 disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014.
Police are appealing for help from the public to locate three children who were reported missing yesterday.
The three children - one boy aged six and his two five-year-old twin sisters - were last seen on September 24 in Cleveland, 25 kilometres south of Brisbane.
The missing siblings were last seen by family in the company of 39-year-old Marcin Kurek.
Police are appealing for help from the public to locate three children who were reported missing yesterday (pictured are the missing twin sisters)
The three children - one boy (pictured) aged six and his two five-year-old twin sisters - were last seen on September 24 in Cleveland, 25 kilometres south of Brisbane
Mr Kurek is known to the children, and may be travelling in a grey 2004 Honda Odyssey with Queensland registration plates 808 WEL.
The six-year-old boy is 120 centimetres tall, of thin build, and has black hair and brown eyes.
The five-year-old twin girls are 100 centimetres tall, have a thin build, black hair and brown eyes.
Mr Kurek has blonde hair and green eyes and is 175 centimetres tall.
It is not known what the children are wearing.
Anyone with any information about the whereabouts of Mr Kurek or the children is urged to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
Everton striker Wayne Rooney bears an uncanny resemblance to a member of the Werhmacht in a TV documentary on the Nazis during the Second World War.
The documentary, Hitler's Death Army: Das Reich, was shown on National Geographic channel.
The two-part series concentrated on Adolf Hitler's elite Panzer division and their role in the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, which was the biggest tank battle in history.
Everton striker Wayne Rooney bears an uncanny resemblance to this Nazi soldier, left
Former England captain Wayne Rooney, pictured, now plays for his boyhood club Everton
One viewer John Ball could not believe it as the camera slowly panned across a group of German soldiers awaiting review when one seemed the spitting image of the former Manchester United Captain.
Speaking to The Sun, Mr Ball said: 'It got to about halfway through and I thought Wayne had swapped footie for time travel.
'It looks exactly like him, I couldnt stop laughing. Maybe it was him in a former life.'
The Battle of Kursk was a decisive moment during the war on the Eastern front. It took place shortly after the end of the siege of Stalingrad.
Some 6,000 tanks and more than two million men were involved in the campaign which saw the German army attempt a massive counter offensive.
Furious shoppers are having their old 1 coins rejected by major retailers across Britain with the deadline for spending them just hours away.
The round quids will cease to be legal tender at 11.59pm on Sunday, and consumers are desperately trying to shift them while they can.
Stores such as Tesco and Poundland have already pledged to give customers extra time beyond this deadline, and retailers will not be left out of pocket as they will be able to deposit them for roughly six more months.
However others - including McDonald's and Aldi - have gone the other way and have brought the cut-off point forward.
This has left people frustrated and confused at the tills, with firms being branded 'dreadful' and the old coins already labelled as 'worthless'.
Angry shoppers are having their old 1 coins rejected by major retailers across Britain with the deadline for spending them just hours away
MailOnline yesterday revealed shops are refusing to take the old 1 coin despite it being legal tender until Sunday.
An exclusive investigation showed parking meters, tube stations and payphones in London did not accept the coin.
And there could be mayhem as people hit the shops this weekend, after we found high street retailer H&M is routinely telling customers the old coin is 'illegal' some three days ahead of the cut-off date.
One social media user said: 'Mcdonalds would not take my OLD pound coin just now so be warned...barring sending them to the bank of england they're worthless!
Another tweeted: '@AldiUK my pound coin refused today! Dreadful!'
'@FirstBusnews Shouldn't you still accept the old pound coin? Still legal tender. U1 Bath uni service rejecting it! @firstbusfails'
A McDonald's spokesman insisted the store is still accepting them, and referenced an incident in Washington, Sunderland, where one was rejected erroneously, but this conflicts reports today that the chain is still not taking them.
They told MailOnline: 'In this instance our restaurant colleagues wrongly rejected the round pound coins and we apologise for this. Our restaurant teams are working to the same timescale as other retailers and we are sorry for any confusion caused.'
Aldi also said that staff at their store had made a mistake by refusing to accept the coins, and that they were even among the companies to give an extended deadline.
A spokesman said: 'Weve been ready to accept the new 1 coins since they first came into circulation in March.
'To make the transition as easy as possible for our customers, we will continue to accept the old 1 coins as payment across our stores until the 31st of October.'
Despite the swathes of stores refusing to accept the round coins, other stallholders have announced their intention to collect the coins 'for as long as any bank will take them' with some still accepting the old 5 notes - against Bank of England advice.
The Federation of Small Businesses said the change was too soon after the new coin was introduced and there were not enough in circulation for a smooth switch.
The Royal Mint admits it is powerless to do anything about firms that refuse to keep to the deadline.
Traders that accept old coins will be able to deposit them in their bank as normal, but it will be illegal to hand them out in change after Sunday.
Engineers have been dispatched to modify machines in a process that will cost more than 100million five times the figure touted by the Royal Mint.
The cost of adapting the machines could be passed on through everything from fizzy drinks in vending machines to parking fees and public transport fares.
After Sunday, the round 1 coin can still be deposited at most High Street banks, which will have their own deadline likely to be in about six months.
An Aldi spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Weve been ready to accept the new 1 coins since they first came into circulation in March. To make the transition as easy as possible for our customers, we will continue to accept the old 1 coins as payment across our stores until the 31st of October.'
Figures released by the Treasury reveal people have been returning their old coins at a rate of up to 60million per week ahead of the deadline.
Motorists across the UK also face chaos after the British Parking Association said the cost of replacing or converting 80,000 ticket machines will be up to 50million - with thousands still not ready for the deadline.
Britons are also being encouraged to check that they are not about to give away a rare edition worth a small fortune.
The rarest coin still in circulation is the 2011 Edinburgh, which is the only old pound coin that saw less than one million made, followed by the 2011 Cardiff.
Also quite rare are the 2010 London, 2008 Royal Arms, 2014 Thistle, 2013 Daffodil and 2013 Rose - while following behind them are the 2014 Flax and 2010 Belfast.
Leroy McCarthy, 22, was going by the name Abdullah Mahmood when he was arrested for a string of offensive posts
A man who described himself as a 'soldier of Allah' escaped a terrorism charge because of his Facebook settings.
Leroy McCarthy, 22, was going by the name Abdullah Mahmood when he was arrested for a string of offensive posts.
In one, he wrote about bombing Furness General Hospital, in Cumbria.
But he was not charged with a terrorism offence due to his social media settings.
Lee Dacre, prosecuting, told Furness Magistrates' Court: 'He would have been here today on a terrorism charge but for the settings on his Facebook. It's a legal technicality.'
McCarthy, who has 340 Facebook friends, said: 'They wouldn't be able to evacuate all of FGH's (Furness General Hospital) patients in time before at least one of the three explosions.'
McCarthy, from Barrow in Cumbria, who has 14 months left on licence after he was released in June for assaulting his partner, also posted: '14 months then its passport and off to join my peoples cause. I cannot wait to turn my back on the UK.
McCarthy, who has 340 Facebook friends, said: 'They wouldn't be able to evacuate all of FGH's (Furness General Hospital) patients in time before at least one of the three explosions'
McCarthy, from Barrow in Cumbria, has 14 months left on licence after he was released in June for assaulting his partner
Other posts were described as anti-Semitic and homophobic. McCarthy was jailed for 18 weeks, ordered to pay 85 costs and a victim surcharge of 115
Shockingly, he even mocked murdered soldier Lee Rigby who had called a 'white coward who invades countries and rapes people,' the court was told.
He added: ' A few months left and all my brothers are free. All them months of planning and it will be like a belated bonfire night for all those involved.
McCarthy was arrested on a malicious communications charge on October 8 and told officers 'if he was going to bomb somewhere it would be the Trafford Centre'.
Maureen Fawcett, defending, said: 'He accepts the postings would have been grossly offensive and upsetting, but they were taken out of context. He had fallen out with his sister who works at the hospital.
He has also never been abroad on a lads holiday and he wanted to leave the UK to get his life back on track.
He reverted to become a Muslim when he was released from prison in 2015 and he is more peaceful since then. He had taken about 20 Valium on the day he posted these.
Other posts were described as anti-Semitic and homophobic. McCarthy was jailed for 18 weeks, ordered to pay 85 costs and a victim surcharge of 115.
Harleen Grewel died in the car crash in Brooklyn on Friday morning
A driver has been accused of crashing on a New York City highway and fleeing his burning car while leaving his passenger to die.
Saeed Ahmad, 23, was arrested at a hospital where he was being treated for burns to his arms and legs following the crash in Brooklyn in the early hours of Friday.
His passenger, Harleen Grewel, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene after her charred body was found in the front passenger seat by firefighters at the scene.
Ahmad was allegedly weaving in and out of traffic on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway before his 2007 Infiniti G35 hit a barrier.
He is said to have escaped the burning wreckage before flagging down a taxi to take him to hospital, leaving Ms Grewel in the car.
Other motorists on the highway were forced to swerve to avoid crashing into the fireball before emergency services rushed to the scene at 4am.
Footage captured at the scene shows a tailback forming as the burning car sits in the middle of the lane.
One witness told Mirror Online: 'The car was popping as we drove past - it was really hot.
'I was in a taxi and the driver said he'd never seen anything like that in his life. We thought it might explode.'
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Saeed Ahmad faces charges including criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident
Footage captured at the scene shows a tailback forming as the burning car sits in the middle of the lane
Police said Ahmad faces charges including criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.
His brother Waheed said the driver attempted to save Ms Grewel
He told the New York Daily News: 'He said the girl that was in the car was stuck in there and he tried to get her out, that's why his arms were burned.
'He couldn't...it was too late for her.'
The newspaper reported that Ahmad had admitted to police that he had been drinking alcohol before the crash but a subsequent blood test revealed he was not legally drunk.
It is unclear if Ahmad has an attorney who could speak for him.
The impending installation of an 'ugly' internet housing box on the front lawn of a Perth property has left a family fearing their home could be devalued by $40,000.
A 1.2 metre NBN node is set to be installed outside the Edgewater address within the next few monthsbut not if home-owner Clare Johansen can help it.
The mother has been campaigning against the unsightly object being placed outside her house, saying it creates an unnecessary 'eyesore' and puts her family in harms way.
'We have concerns regarding the constant disturbance we will experience due to maintenance of the node,' Mrs Johansen told Daily Mail Australia.
Perth home-owner Clare Johansen (pictured) doesn't want an NBN node installed at the front of her home out of fear it will have serious negative implications on her family's health and safety
She says the large box would obstruct their view when reversing out of their driveway; which already faces a blind hill and fast flowing traffic.
Mrs Johansen is also worried her and husband Tim, will have 'zero sight line' while the box is being constructed.
Having only moved into the home nine months ago, she says the situation is 'incredibly frustrating'.
Had the the box already been installed, she says they would never have bought the home in the first place.
Not only would its physical stature pose a risk, Mrs Johansen is concerned about it having potential long term implications on her three-year-old daughter's health.
A 1.2 metre NBN node (similar to the above) is set to be installed outside the Edgewater address within the next few months
Mrs Johansen says the couple wouldn't have bought the home nine months ago if there had been an 'ugly' NBN box out front
'We have concerns over the health risks of being so close to such a device. We know that living close to pylons increases the risk of childhood leukaemia, are there similar risks associated with a node?
'We feel that given the long term implications that will effect our family that we should at least be able to discuss the location with someone from NBN or the council but apparently we have no say in it at all.'
The ordinary colouring, which is normally green or grey, also has the 34-year-old concerned their home will become a target for graffiti.
'The suburb has had a recent issue with this (graffiti) and we obviously don't want this right out the front of our house.'
Mrs Johansen (pictured) is concerned about it having potential long term implications on her three-year-old daughter's health.
Mrs Johansen says 'it's incredibly frustrating' her attempts to negotiate with her local council and NBN have so far failed
Mrs Johansen says her attempts to negotiate with her local council, The City of Joondalup, and NBN have so far failed.
She says NBN has passed the decision making onto its construction partner, Fulton Hogan, but she was yet to hear from them regarding any further plans.
While the family understand and support that the network will be of great benefit to the area, they say they 'deserve to be consulted over its final location'.
Mrs Johansen has even proposed an alternative site, a few blocks up the road, for the node to be installed that she believes would fit the '30 criteria' outlined by NBN.
Mrs Johansen has even proposed an alternative site, a few blocks up the road (illustrated above)
An NBN spokesperson said the company had spoken with the Johansens over the issue, but unfortunately for the family, the council were the only 'party able to formally object.'
'Weve spoken with the resident and will work with our construction partner to consider alternative locations,' they said.
'However, a relocation can only go ahead where all NBN design requirements can be met and the relocation allows the best possible outcome for network services to be delivered to the surrounding community.'
In terms of the family's health concerns, NBN says the node would pose no risk because it 'does not broadcast a signal like a mobile phone tower.'
'NBN's Fibre to the node hardware is designed and tested to ensure that it is safe and meets current standards.'
A bomb threat has been reported at New York's LaGuardia airport.
Frantic passengers took to Twitter on Saturday morning in confusion to report a large police and military presence at the scene.
None were told what the danger was but were stopped from checking-in or boarding flights. Port Authority closed terminals A and B in the chaos.
By 8.30am, there were unconfirmed reports that a man 'in his 50s' had been arrested.
According to ABC, the incident occurred after the man began arguing with staff at the Spirit Airlines counter.
He reportedly threatened to return with a bomb then came back with a large bag.
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Police at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Saturday morning after a bomb threat sparked evacuations in part of the airport
La Guardia warned that the disruption may cause delays
Passengers tweeted their confusion after seeing a bomb squad arrive on the scene and later, a man be taken away in handcuffs. DailyMail.com understands that the person is currently being interviewed
Other sources said the person was being interviewed but that no arrest had yet been made.
Port Authority could not confirm the claims when speaking to DailyMail.com.
A spokesman said: 'Expect delays at Concourse A & B. NYPD bomb squad on scene, details to follow. There are no injuries.'
The spokesperson added that neither of the terminals were evacuated but that only the screening checkpoints and departures hall before security were affected.
Flights bound for the airport from other cities were also delayed as a result.
One passenger at Chicago's Midway Airport told DailyMail.com she heard staff there describing the incident as a bomb threat.
Neither Port Authority nor LaGuardia Airport staff could provide anymore information.
North Korean forces have been detected transporting ballistic missiles fuelling fears they are preparing to launch them.
The secretive state's military movements have been spotted in satellite pictures by the South Korean government, local media reports.
It comes just days before South Korea and the USA are expected to hold a joint naval drill.
The US Navy confirmed yesterday that the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier would lead manoeuvres, which Pyongyang has angrily reacted to previously.
The secretive state's military movements have been spotted in satellite pictures by the South Korean government, local media reports. Left: A Hwasong-12 missile and right: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during a test launch in May
A North Korean ballistic missile on display during a military parade in Pyongyang in April this year
Tensions between the US and Kim Jong-Un's regime over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme manifested in angry words exchanged between the world leaders.
President Donald Trump has jibed Kim Jong-Un, who is the third generation of the family to rule the nation, as 'little rocket man'.
The missile movements were first reported in South Korean daily Donga Ilbo.
A government source told the newspaper that satellite images showed missiles being transported out of hangers near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan province.
Military officials suspect the north could be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching US territory.
In August, the world held its breathe as Pyongyang threatened to fire Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles at the island of Guam.
President Donald Trump has jibed Kim Jong-Un, who is the third generation of the family to rule the nation, as 'little rocket man'
In August, the world held its breathe as Pyongyang threatened to fire Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles at the island of Guam. Pictured: In April, North Korea launched its 'largest ever' artillery drill
It is also possible that North Korea might be preparing to test a news Hwasong-13 ICBM, which has a longer maximum range and could potentially reach the west coast of the US. Kim Jong-Un is pictured during a missile launch
A South Korean defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: 'We don't comment on any matters of military intelligence'
It is also possible that North Korea might be preparing to test a news Hwasong-13 ICBM, which has a longer maximum range and could potentially reach the west coast of the US.
A South Korean defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: 'We don't comment on any matters of military intelligence'.
He added: 'We are keeping a close watch over the North.'
The joint drills between the US and South Korea come after a series of military movements around the Korean peninsula by US forces.
They were launched in response to numerous missiles tests by Pyongyang, which carried out a sixth test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
The nuclear-powered USS Michigin submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan. It came just days after another submarine, the USS Tuscon, left following a five-day visit.
Earlier this week, two US supersonic heavy bombers flew over the Korean peninsula staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
And 17 days before, four US F-35B stealth fightes and two B-1Bs flew over the area.
US President Donald Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it.
Trump announced the major shift in US policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump speaks about Iran and the Iran nuclear deal in front of a portrait of President George Washington in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, US, October 13, 2017. /Reuters Photo
He singled out Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for sanctions and delivered a blistering critique of Tehran, which he accused of destabilizing actions in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
"Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world," he said
He also accused Iran of not living up to the spirit of the nuclear agreement and said his goal is to ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon, in effect throwing the fate of the deal to Republican-controlled Congress.
The US president also threatened to rip up the 2015 agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program. "It is under continuous review and our participation can be canceled by me as president at any time," he warned.
US President Donald Trump walks from the Diplomatic Reception Room after speaking about the Iran nuclear deal at the White House in Washington, US, October 13, 2017. /Reuters Photo
Trump said he supports efforts in Congress to work on new measures to address these threats without immediately torpedoing the broader deal.
"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.
Responding to Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday on television that Tehran was committed to the deal and accused Trump of making baseless accusations.
The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure, he said. Iran and the deal are stronger than ever.
The US's European allies have warned of a split with the United States over the nuclear agreement and say that putting it in limbo as Trump has done undermines US credibility abroad, especially as international inspectors say Iran is in compliance with the accord.
A man watches a television broadcast of US President Donald Trump's speech, in Tehran, Iran October 13, 2017. /Reuters Photo
"We cannot afford as the international community to dismantle a nuclear agreement that is working," Federica Mogherini, the foreign policy chief of the European Union said on Friday, just minutes after Trump's announcement.
She told reporters Trump doesn't have power to cancel the deal and added, "The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will, continue to be in place."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson responded "to our friends and allies in Europe" by saying: "I think we have a real opportunity to address all the threats that are posed by Iran."
The chief of the UN atomic watchdog reiterated that Iran was under the worlds most robust nuclear verification regime.
The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said, referring to the deal by its formal name.
Nichole Noel Thiel was acquitted by a 7-woman, 5-man jury of sexual battery of a 16-year-old male student with whom she allegedly had sex in late 2015 and early 2016
An Idaho high school teacher and administrator has been acquitted of sexual battery of a male student after she argued that he was lying to get money.
Nicole Noel Thiel, 48, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was found not guilty of having sex with the student at her condominium over two years.
Part of the defense's argument for Thiel was that the male student, who remained anonymous, was out for money, reports the Coeur d'Alene Press.
A seven-woman and five-man jury came found her not guilty of the charges.
The jury relayed almost solely on witness testimony due to the absence of physical evidence.
Thiel, a former Lake City High School teacher and Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy administrator, was 46 when she allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old male back in late 2015 and early 2016 at her condominium.
The defense brought up a lawsuit the boy's mother had filed against the Lake Pend Oreille School District and suggested that a guilty verdict would help the mother win the lawsuit.
Jurors also heard about the teenager's prior problems with discipline.
He also told the court that he had wanted to have sex with the woman, who was a culinary arts teacher.
Thiel had been a culinary arts teacher at Lake City High School (pictured) in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
The teenager's accounts of the alleged sexual activity had discrepancies, Thiel's defense further argued.
The county prosecutor urged the jury to stick to the facts of the case and to not consider prior behavior of the teenager.
Thiel's defense attorney, Michael Palmer, summarized the course of the trial: 'In a case like this with a teenage student saying it happened and the teacher denying it, it placed Ms. Thiel in the dilemma of feeling like she had to prove a negative.'
He added: '[The student's] accusation involved an abuse of trust and a registrable sex crime.'
The boy previously said the relationship started after he hugged her because he saw her crying, KXLY reports.
Timothy Coggins, 23, was found dead on a power line in Spalding County, Georgia, back in 1983. Detectives reopened his case in June after receiving new evidence
The five people arrested in connection with the 1983 murder of a young black man have been identified and pictured.
Police say the killing of 23-year-old Timothy Coggins, who was found on a power line, was racially motivated.
Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr, 58, have been charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another, reports ABC 11.
Sandra Bunn, 58, her 32-year-old son, Lamar Bunn, have been charged with obstruction, police say. Lamar is employed by his local police department.
Gregory Huffman, a 47-year-old detention officer, has been charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office. ABC reports.
All five suspects were processed at Spalding County Jail and await arraignment.
Previously, it was reported by WSB-TV that at least two of the five suspects were members of law enforcement.
Frankie Gebhardt (left) and Bill Moore Sr (right) were arrested and charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another
Sandra Bunn (left) and her son Lamar Bunn (right) were charged with obstruction. Lamar works for the local police department. Gregory Huffman (right), a detention officer, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office
The arrests were made after new evidence surfaced in recent months and more interviews were conducted.
Coggins was found dead on a power line in rural Spalding County, Georgia, in October of 1983.
'It was a horrible death,' Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said. 'It was a torturous death.'
Authorities said that Coggins died due to multiple forms of trauma.
Investigators at the time gathered evidence and interviewed potential witnesses, but were unable to make any arrests over the killing.
The Spalding County Sheriffs Office said the investigation was reopened in June thanks to information forwarded on to the investigative bureau through 'various sources'.
As well as pouring over old evidence and re-interviewing those who spoke to cops at the time, detectives discovered new witnesses and were able to gather further clues.
Officers have 'literally being going door-to-door to solve this crime'.
Coggins' body was found somewhere along this road. Investigators say there has been a campaign of intimidation against witnesses in the past, and are encouraging anyone who may have information to come forward
Sheriff Darrell Dix said: 'We have been in contact with a representative from Coggins family and they have been briefed on where we are at in the investigation.
'Unfortunately, both of his parents are deceased, and we wish we would have been able to give them closure before they passed away.
'The GBI, Spalding County Sheriffs Office, and District Attorney Ben Cokers Office will do all we can to ensure that Timothy Coggins and the remainder of the Coggins family receive justice.
'It does not matter who he was, or where he was from, this man died a horrible death and those responsible for his murder need to be held accountable.
'I can say without a doubt that if Mr. Coggins was murdered today, in 2017, it would absolutely be classified as a hate crime.
'Thirty four years have passed since this horrible crime was committed and those who killed him have believed that they would remain untouched until literally just a few days ago.
'We understand that over the years those suspected of being involved in the murder of Timothy Coggins have threatened and intimidated potential witnesses.
'We believe that there are people with pertinent information regarding this case that are still out there and we are asking them to come forward.
'Any detail, no matter how small you may think it is, could be valuable in bringing Coggins killers to justice.'
Jesus Campos, the hero security guard who was shot in the Las Vegas hotel massacre, checked into a 'quick clinic' after vanishing moments before he was due to speak to the media for the first time since the attack.
The security guard is yet to be interviewed since he was shot by Stephen Paddock on October 1 on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
On Thursday, Campos was due to appear at a press conference after being given an award for his bravery but he disappeared.
His union representative revealed on Saturday that Campos was taken to a clinic shortly afterwards but he did not know which.
Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos (pictured for the first time since the Las Vegas massacre) visited a 'quick clinic' on Thursday after vanishing moments before he was due before the media
'Right now I'm just concerned where my member is, and what his condition is. It's highly unusual.
'I'm hoping everything is OK with him and I'm sure MGM or the union will let (media) know when we hear something,' David Hickey is the president of the Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America, told Fox 5 Vegas.
Campos was pictured for the first time on Friday as he accepted an award from the union.
Campos (second from right) is shown accepting an award from the International Union of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America on Monday
As of Friday morning, the whereabouts of Campos (second from right) were unknown
According to the latest timeline provided by police detailing the events of October 1, Paddock sprayed 200 rounds into the hallway on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay, wounding Campos in the leg, six minutes before he unleashed his barrage of bullets on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
Campos, who was unarmed, survived the shooting and was scheduled to sit down for five TV interviews Thursday night, including one on Fox News, but suddenly vanished.
ABC News reporter Stephanie Wash tweeted Thursday, quoting the president of Campos' labor union: 'We were in a room & we came out & he was gone.'
Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, who was shot before gunman Stephen Paddock opened fired, disappeared Thursday night, just moments before he was set to speak to the press
ABC News reporter Stephanie Wash tweeted Thursday, quoting the president of Campos' labor union: 'We were in a room & we came out & he was gone'
Fox News' Sean Hannity tweeted that Campos cancelled his appearance on his show Thursday night
She followed up by writing that Campos' whereabouts were unknown.
The security guard was supposed to be interviewed by Fox News' Sean Hannity, but the host tweeted on Thursday: 'He cancelled.'
Campos' disappearance came just hours after MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, disputed the official timeline of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, rejecting any suggestion that hotel staff delayed calling 911 for six minutes after Paddock opened fire.
Campos' disappearance came just hours after MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, disputed the official timeline of the massacre
As music fans at the Route 91 Harvest festival fled, Campos alerted police to Paddock's whereabouts
Hotel officials said it was no more than 40 seconds between the time Campos used his walkie talkie to call for help and Stephen Paddock (pictured) opening fire on concertgoers
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
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
The latest chronology raised a series of questions about whether officers were given information quickly enough to possibly have a chance to take out the gunman before he could carry out the bloodshed.
But according to resort officials, it was no more than 40 seconds between the time Campos used his walkie talkie to call for help and Paddock opening fire on the crowd from two windows in his suite.
Earlier in the investigation, police had said that Paddock shot through his door and wounded Campos after the guard distracted him from firing on the crowd out the windows.
Campos union president said the latest timeline does not dispute the assertion that the guard is still a hero, saving his coworker, possibly stopping additional shots, reported Stephanie Wash.
Top BBC stars face having to pay massive tax bills after Hustle actor Robert Glenister lost a case against the HMRC over his tax arrangements.
The actor lost a case against the HMRC over his tax status which has seen him liable for 10 years' worth of National Insurance contributions of 147,547.
Mr Glenister, who is best known for the popular BBC series Hustle, worked through a personal services company for tax purposes.
According to court documents at the First Tier Tax Tribunal, Mr Glenister's ruling is being viewed as a 'test case'.
Actor Robert Glenister, pictured here on the set of Hustle in 2009 faces a bill of almost 150,000 to cover National Insurance contributions over a ten year period
Mr Glenister, pictured right, lost a case against HMRC on whether he was self-employed
100 BBC stars are currently under investigation by tax authorities over the use of Personal Service Companies. HMRC are viewing the ruling against the actor as a 'test case'
The case, which was heard earlier this month, could see some of the BBC's top stars faced with massive bills.
An earlier case revealed that 100 on-air stars are under investigation over the use of Personal Service Companies.
The actor told the Financial Times: 'My case is one of a few hundred involving many of the UK's most successful actors... It is yet another unfair cash grab that treats genuinely self-employed actors as employees contrary to government policy. This is not a tax avoidance case and we are considering an appeal.'
However, the HMRC said: 'We are pleased that the tribunal agreed with our view. Employment status is never a matter of choice and is always dictated by the specific facts.'
As a result many BBC staff who are on self-employed contracts fear they will be left with less take home pay as a result of new tax rules.
Unions complain that the BBC are stopping the employer's portion of National Insurance contributions from their pay.
In 2013 the BBC offered more than 100 freelancers staff contracts following a review by auditors Deloitte.
It was estimated that at the time more than 800 on-air people were using PSCs.
A 15-year-old boy is to be questioned in relation to the rape and burglary of an elderly woman.
Western Australia police are appealing to the public to find Clive Sydney Hart after an 84-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted in her Perth home on Friday morning.
They commented that it was in the public interest to find Clive as soon as possible, WA Today reports.
Western Australia police are appealing to the public to find Clive Sydney Hart after an 84-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted
The teenager is described as being approximately 150cm tall with a slim build, olive complexion, with brown hair and brown eyes.
'Members of the public are requested to contact police immediately if they have any information in relation to Clive's whereabouts,' Detective Senior Constable Rulan Carr said.
He is known to move in circles around the Port Kennedy, Waikiki and Warnbro areas.
The elderly victim was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital where she spent Friday night.
It is believed that the 84-year-old has now been discharged and is coping with the traumatic events.
The elderly victim was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital where she spent Friday night
'In relation to her welfare, we're glad to say she is doing well considering what she has endured and it is our hope that we can resolve this matter for her and for her family as soon as possible,' Senior Constable Carr said.
'It is an opportunity now to say to our community members of all ages, but especially the more vulnerable, that you can never be too safe.'
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online.
A Perth teenager who hosted an out-of-control gathering that ended in guests being 'kicked in the head' has said she plans to continue throwing parties.
Chelseeh Brown, 17, held the event at her family home in Wisteria Place, Thornlie, on Friday, but things soon turned violent.
Gatecrashers allegedly turned up to the party around midnight, with more than 150 people spilling onto the street.
Perth teenager Chelseeh Brown (pictured with her mother Kim) hosted an out-of-control gathering on Friday that ended in guests being 'kicked in the head'
Chelsea's mother Kim Brown was present at the time and said uninvited guests had entered the home and stolen credit cards and phone chargers, 7 News reports.
She said that the party was then stopped and police were called, with some people getting into violent altercations.
'A few of them actually got bashed by poles and one of the girls got kicked in the head,' Ms Brown said.
No arrests were made, however, one neighbour revealed it wasn't the first incident he had observed at the property, claiming the riot squad had previously been called.
Gatecrashers reportedly caused the party to come to an end around midnight, with 150 people spilling onto the streets and some being 'bashed by poles'
Meanwhile, Chelseeh said the incident would not stop her from throwing parties in the future.
'We like to party, like its not going to stop,' the teen said.
'We are still going to have a party, like there is no doubt about that ever and if they (the neighbours) have a problem with it then they are just going to have to live with it... or they can move'
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Reckless sightseers are still posing for pictures on the edge of a cliff where a 23-year-old student fell 200ft to her death despite countless pleas to learn from her fatal mistake.
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 after falling from the crumbling clifftop.
Pictures found on her mobile phone showed the student happily posing with her back to the cliff-edge in the seconds before her death.
But despite repeated warnings from experts and the coroner who presided over her inquest, daredevil tourists are still running the risk of falling to their deaths by posing for pictures dangerously close to the edge.
Reckless sightseers are still posing for pictures on the edge of a cliff where a 23-year-old student fell 200ft to her death despite countless pleas to learn from her fatal mistake
Another woman plays with her hair and dangles a leg over the edge of a cliff at Seven Sisters
A woman leans right over the cliff with her selfie stick as she tries to get the perfect shot of the iconic landmark in East Sussex, days after a tourist's death
Her husband gawps down at the drop as he examines 200ft the drop down from the top, undeterred by the recent tragedy
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
Tourists visiting the iconic Seven Sisters chalk cliffs near Birling Gap, East Sussex, get dangerousy close to the crumbling edge, one of whom looks quite nervous
Despite repeated warnings from experts and the coroner who presided over her inquest, daredevil tourists are still running the risk of falling to their deaths by posing for pictures dangerously close to the edge
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
Tourists are still defying safety warnings about the dangers of climbing the Seven Sisters cliffs despite the death of a 23-year-old student there in June
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.
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
One woman is pictured trying to take photos at the very edge of the clifftop where Hyewon Kim fell to her death in June
'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)
The coroner presiding over the 23-year-old's inquest said: 'A lot of South East Asians like to visit because the Seven Sisters (pictured) 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.'
Coroner Alan Craze added: 'This is a very poignant and sad case. I want to express my profound sympathy and condolences to her family.'
'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.
An Asian tourists is pictured trying to get a selfie on the extreme edge of the cliffs in East Sussex where Hyewon Kim died
The young woman seems intent on getting the perfect shot despite the repeated warnings issued by experts in wake of the 23-year-old's death
The steps leading to the beach below the cliffs (pictured) were closed recently due to an increase in rockfall
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.
North Korea has issued a chilling threat to Australia, saying support for the US is a 'suicidal act'.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published the threats as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop continued her visit to South Korea on Saturday.
Attributed to a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry, the statement warns Australia against joining the US and South Korea in putting pressure on their regime.
North Korea has issued a chilling threat to Australia, saying support for the US is a 'suicidal act' (pictured is a North Korean missile test)
Attributed to a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry, the statement warns Australia against joining the US and South Korea in putting pressure on their regime (pictured is the effect a nuclear missile would have on Sydney)
'Lately, Australia is showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the US against the DPRK,' said the KCNA.
'The Australian foreign minister personally expressed her support for the stand of the US to consider all options including the use of force towards the DPRK.
'[Ms Bishop] turned up at Panmunjom on October 11 together with the Australian defense minister to condemn the DPRK during her visit to South Korea.
'Besides, turning Australian territory into a front-line base for the US invasion of the DPRK and sending its troops as the "shock brigade" for the war of aggression pursued by the US are tantamount to a suicidal act of bringing back the misery that Australia had gone through during the past Korean War.
Ms Bishop (pictured, right, with Defence Minister Marise Payne) toured the village of Panmunjom which is within the demilitarised zone which separates North and South Korea
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published the threats as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (pictured, right, with Defence Minister Marise Payne) continued her visit to South Korea on Saturday
'Should Australia continue to follow the US in imposing military, economic and diplomatic pressure upon the DPRK despite our repeated warnings, they will not be able to avoid a disaster.'
Ms Bishop toured the village of Panmunjom which is within the demilitarised zone which separates North and South Korea.
Defence Minister Marise Payne joined Ms Bishop to urge North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
Ms Bishop called for a 'peaceful diplomatic solution' and said she stood by South Korea and the US in trying to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.
Defence Minister Marise Payne joined Ms Bishop to urge North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests (pictured is a North Korea ballistic missile)
Ms Bishop (picture, second left with Marise Payne and South Korean counterparts) called for a 'peaceful diplomatic solution' and said she stood by South Korea and the US in trying to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table
The news comes as fears grow North Korea will launch a ballistic missile ahead of planned joint naval drill by the US and South Korea.
Ms Bishop said on Friday South Korean officials were worried Kim Jong-un may launch a missile to 'embarrass' China during its 19th Communist Party conference.
Now US and South Korean military are concerned a launch will come even earlier, after a flurry of military activity over the past two days.
South Korean newspaper the Donga Ilbo quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs (pictured) flew over the peninsula
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: 'We don't comment on any matters of military intelligence'.
'We are keeping a close watch over the North,' he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier follow hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula.
On Friday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan.
Ms Bishop (pictured) said on Friday South Korean officials were worried Kim Jong-un may launch a missile to 'embarrass' China during its 19th Communist Party conference
The vessel arrived just days after another nuclear-powered submarine - the USS Tuscon - left after a five day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was 'highly likely' the North could launch missiles in response to next week's joint navy drill.
US and South Korean military are concerned a launch will come even earlier, after a flurry of military activity over the past two days (pictured is Julie Bishop, right)
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was 'highly likely' the North could launch missiles in response to next week's joint navy drill (pictured are Marise Payne, left, and Julie Bishop, second left, meeting with their South Korea counterparts)
US President Donald Trump's continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have 'devastating consequences', NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
Recent tests show missiles fired by the rouge regime are now capable of hitting northern Australia, and some of the country's largest cities could even be in range.
Nuclear strikes on Australian cities could cause the instant death of hundreds of thousands of people, according to calculations based on North Korea's latest weapons.
Almost 150,000 people would die if Sydney was hit, and landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge would be destroyed.
Family friends of Maria Lutz, who was killed alongside her two autistic children in a bizarre murder-suicide, said that her husband's behaviour prior to their death 'rang alarm bells.'
Sarina Marchi, a former community worker, said Mr Manrique's decision to spend time with his children during the September school holidays of 2016 after being told to move out of the family home was strange.
'I said: "This doesn't sound normal."' Mrs Marchi told the Daily Telegraph.
Sarina Marchi, a former community worker, said Mr Manrique's (pictured) decision to spend time with his children during the September school holidays of 2016 after being told to move out of the family home was strange
Three days after this conversation between Mrs Lutz and Mrs Marchi and Maria Claudia Lutz, 43, Fernando Manrique, 44, and their children Elisa, 11, and Martin, 10, (all pictured) were found dead in the family home in Davidson, north Sydney, on October 17, 2016
'I said: "I know that a lot of violence happens after separation and if it doesn't feel right; if you suspect anything just get out."'
Three days after this conversation between Mrs Lutz and Mrs Marchi and Maria Claudia Lutz, 43, Fernando Manrique, 44, and their children Elisa, 11, and Martin, 10, were found dead in the family home in Davidson, north Sydney, on October 17, 2016.
It is alleged that Mr Manrique reconfigured the family home to include a host of lethal pipes during that school holiday period that would then release the fatal level of gas that killed them all.
It is alleged that Mr Manrique reconfigured the family home to include a host of lethal pipes during that school holiday period that would then release the fatal level of gas that killed them all (pictured Mrs Lutz with her two children)
Grief engulfed the small town of Davidson and St Lucy's School in Wahroonga where Elisa and Martin attended
Grief engulfed the small town of Davidson and St Lucy's School in Wahroonga where Elisa and Martin attended.
The pair had autism but this is not believed to be the root cause of their father's decision to end their lives.
At the family's funeral late last year a tin of paint brushes symbolising Elisa and her brother Martin's love of art was placed at the altar at the beginning of the service.
The pair had autism but this is not believed to be the root cause of their father's decision to end their lives (Martin pictured)
Their love of art will live on in the form of a showcase at the Museum of Contemporary Art next month to commemorate one year since their death
Their love of art will live on in the form of a showcase at the Museum of Contemporary Art next month to commemorate one year since their death.
'It has been a real vocation for me to see it through and certainly everybody at the school understands, they were known as artists,' head of creative arts Alessandra Picone told the Daily Telegraph.
'I hope that it would be a huge sense of pride for Maria.'
A family friend of Mrs Lutz commented that the children's special needs unfairly shaped the case in the media last year.
A family friend of Mrs Lutz (pictured) commented that the children's special needs unfairly shaped the case in the media last year
Prior to their deaths Mrs Lutz had asked Mr Manrique to move out of the family home they shared, mainly because he was away so often (pictured on their wedding day)
It was at that point the 44-year-old suggested staying just long enough to see his children enjoy their school break (the family home)
'People make excuses because they don't want to confront it,' Mrs Marchi said.
'But it comes down to, yes, there are all these other issues that put strain on relationships but when it comes to an act of violence, the individual has to accept some responsibility.
'He may well have been struggling or unwilling to accept the reality of his life as it was, but that is no excuse to take anybody's life.'
Prior to their deaths Mrs Lutz had asked Mr Manrique to move out of the family home they shared, mainly because he was away so often.
It was at that point the 44-year-old suggested staying just long enough to see his children enjoy their school break.
No suicide note was left to explain why Mr Manrique acted so violently, but an inquest into their deaths will be held at a later date.
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Tiffany Trump cut loose on Friday night as she celebrated her 24th birthday in style.
The president's daughter was pictured at Urbani Truffles in Manhattan where she enjoyed a decadent birthday meal with some of her relatives and friends.
Tiffany wore a daring $675 Haute Hippie white tuxedo dress for the occasion, braving the chilly October night with just a skin-tone camisole underneath.
She accessorized with a black handbag and wore a pair of towering black stilettos.
Marla Maples, Tiffany's mother, and her half-brother Donald Jr. appeared to be the only members of Team Trump who attended the festivities.
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Tiffany Trump celebrated her 24th birthday at Urbani Truffles in Manhattan on Friday night with a small group of friends and family
Tiffany was in a jovial mode throughout the party inside the small Italian restaurant. She wore her blonde hair scraped off her face and added some earrings to her look
Having a blast: It was a rare outing for the birthday girl who has kept a low profile since she began law school in August
Donald Trump Jr. attended with his five children. Pictured is Tristan, his daughter Kai (to his left) and Donald III
Tiffany's mother Marla Maples and Donald Jr.'s wife Vanessa were also there for the occasion
Donald Jr. brought with him his wife Vanessa and two of their five children. The president and First Lady did not attend nor did Ivanka, Jared Kushner or Eric and Lara Trump.
It was a rare night out for studious Tiffany who began classes at Georgetown Law in Washington in August.
There was no sign of her boyfriend Ross Mechanic as she exited the restaurant to get into a car with her mother and some friends after their meal.
The couple has been spending less time together since Tiffany took up classes in Washington DC. Mechanic, who lives in New York City, set his Instagram account to private last month - another indicator that things were no longer running as smoothly as once before.
Photographs taken during the party show her surrounded by wine and champagne glasses. At one point, she appeared to suck on a lime.
Kicking back: Tiffany sucked on a lime at one point during the dinner and enjoyed a number of different drinks
The 24-year-old, clearly enjoying the night, added a gold and diamond choker to her otherwise scanty outfit
Tiffany was relaxed and animated as she chatted with guests, pulling funny faces as they reveled in the food and drink on offer
Donald Trump Jr. with sons Tristan and Donald Jr. III inside the restaurant on Friday night
Never too old: Mom Marla presented the 24-year-old with a birthday cake. She is pictured lighting its candles beforehand
In close company: Tiffany's long-term boyfriend Ross Mechanic was not seen at the event but she did enjoy the company of other best friend Harry Brandt
As they left the Italian eatery, she and close friend Harry were seen chatting inside
What now? Visibly taken aback by the story of one party guest, the birthday girl is pictured as she leaves the party
Marla appeared to have just as much fun as her daughter inside the restaurant where she chatted with other guests
Marla was dressed in a black top, beige trousers and some knee-high boots for the party
Marla and Donald Jr were the only members of the family to share tributes to Tiffany on social media. She is seen right, inside the party with nephew Tristan
Only Donald Trump Jr. made reference to his sister's birthday online. He uploaded a selfie with his daughter Kai from the party on Instagram.
He later shared a sweet photograph of Tiffany posing with his son Tristan. Marla celebrated with her own Instagram story which she captioned: '24 has arrived.'
Ivanka was quiet on social media while new mother Lara took to Instagram to share a photograph of herself horse-riding.
Their absence did not seem to dampen Tiffany's spirits on the big night. She was pictured roaring with laughter as she shared jokes with party guests, tossing her head back in amusement.
Friends included aspiring designer Andrew Warren, Harry Brandt and Tiffany's long-term pal Rebecca Chernyavsky. All reveled in sharing photographs and video of the party on social media.
The party ended first with the departure of Donald Trump Jr. and his brood who left in a people carrier that was escorted by Secret Service.
Tiffany, her mother and their male companions were next. They had their own Secret Service detail.
It appeared as though the family had taken over the small restaurant for the evening.
Afterwards, it was on to 1 Oak in the Meatpacking District to carry on the celebrations.
High spirits: Tiffany goofed around as she waited to get into her Secret Service escort after leaving the party
The birthday girl and her mother were seen discussing their next move as party guests watched on
Both Tiffany and her male companion wore sparkle-encrusted shoes for the occasion
Home time: Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa got a ride home in a Secret Service-driven people carrier
Balloons were seen inside the restaurant as the group enjoyed dinner. It appeared to have been closed down for their enjoyment
iStock/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) -- Five people in Georgia have been arrested in connection with a "racially motivated" murder that occurred more than 30 years ago, authorities said.
The victim, Timothy Coggins, was found dead in Sunnyside, Georgia, on Oct. 9, 1983, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office said in a press release Friday. Coggins' body was found near a power line in Sunnyside Georgia after he was "brutally murdered" and abandoned, officials said.
Coggins died as a result multiple forms of trauma, according to the sheriff's office.
After his death, investigators began conducting interviews and gathering evidence in their search for Coggins' killer, but the search "went cold" until March of this year, when the new evidence came to light, causing the sheriff's office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to re-examine the case, authorities said.
Several suspects arrested in connection w/ 34-yr-old cold case investigators called 'racially-motivated' murder | LIVE report, NOW on Ch. 2 pic.twitter.com/JrATIvbWdI WSB-TV (@wsbtv) October 13, 2017
In July, investigators met with Coggins' family to brief them on the new leads. Shortly after the meeting, authorities decided to release information on the reopened case to the public to generate new leads. Original witnesses were re-interviewed, which led to the finding of new information as well.
Many of the witnesses stated that they had been "living with this information since Coggins' death but had been afraid to come forward or had not spoken of it until now," police said.
On Friday, more than 34 years after Coggins was killed, authorities arrested five people in connection with his murder. Two of the five suspects face murder charges.
JUST IN - Mugshots released of suspects arrested in connection with 34-year-old cold case murder | Our LIVE coverage continues at 6 on Ch. 2 pic.twitter.com/KhU0gEfTiH WSB-TV (@wsbtv) October 13, 2017
The Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorneys Office has charged Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr., 58, with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another.
Sandra Bunn, 58, Lamar Bunn, 32, and Gregory Huffman, 47 were charged with obstruction. Huffman, a detention officer with the sheriff's office, has also been charged with violation of oath of office, according to authorities.
Sandra Bunn and Lamar Bunn, who works for the Milner Police Department, are mother and son, Spalding County Capt. Dwayne Jones told ABC News.
Coggins family thanked authorities for re-opening the investigation into his murder.
"We know that there's been tireless nights and we know that you guys have put in so many hours making sure that these people were brought to justice' said Coggins niece, Heather Coggins, according to ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB-TV. The only unfortunate part in this is that our grandparents, Timothy Coggins parents, are not able to see this today."
All of the suspects who were arrested in connection with Coggins' death are white, according to authorities.
"Based on the original evidence recovered in 1983 and new evidence and interviews there is no doubt in the minds of all investigators involved that the crime was racially motivated and that if the crime happened today it would be prosecuted as a hate crime," the sheriff's office said.
The suspects are currently being processed at the Spalding County Jail, Jones said. It is unclear when they will be arraigned.
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared deeper financial links to a Kremlin-linked billionaire than previously thought, it was reported on Saturday.
A company owned by Oleg Deripaska, an aluminium magnate thought to have close ties to the government of President Vladimir Putin, gave a $26million loan to entities linked to Manafort, according to NBC News.
The report cited financial documents filed in Cyprus and the Cayman Islands two countries that have poor reputations as havens of money laundering.
The revelation means that in the past decade, Manafort and Deripaska have concluded close to $60million worth of business dealings that are now drawing scrutiny from federal investigators.
In August 2016, Manafort stepped down as head of Trumps campaign after reports surfaced of alleged shady financial dealings.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort (seen above on July 19, 2016 in Cleveland) shared deeper financial links to a Kremlin-linked billionaire than previously thought
A spokesperson for Manafort, Jason Maloni, released a statement to NBC News.
Mr. Manafort is not indebted to former clients today, nor was he at the time he began working for the Trump campaign, the statement read.
Maloni later released a revised statement to NBC News, which read: Recent news reports indicate Mr. Manafort was under surveillance before he joined the campaign and after he left the campaign.
He has called for the US Government to release any intercepts involving him and non-Americans in hopes of finally putting an end to these wild conspiracy theories.
Mr. Manafort did not collude with the Russian government.
A company owned by Oleg Deripaska (seen above in 2015), an aluminium magnate thought to have close ties to the government of President Vladimir Putin, gave a $26million loan to entities linked to Manafort, according to NBC News
A spokesperson for Deripaska did not respond to requests for comment.
The NBC News report claims that $26million was transferred from Oguster Management Ltd a company owned by Deripaska to Yiakora Ventures Ltd.
Financial documents from Cyprus show that Yiakora is a related party to Manafort-linked entities in that country, according to the report.
A related party means that one entity holds significant financial sway over another.
NBC News says it also confirmed the existence of a smaller $7million loan from Oguster to another Manafort-linked firm, LOAV Advisers Ltd.
Company documents show that the $7million loan was unsecured, meaning that it was not backed by any collateral.
The loan also had no specified repayment date.
The documents show that the $26million loan was repayable on demand. There is no word as to whether either of the loans were repaid.
Attorneys say that it is common for those engaging in money laundering to use suspicious loans.
Last month, it was reported that Manafort offered to provide briefings to Deripaska on the status of the 2016 US presidential election less than two weeks before then-candidate Donald Trump (seen left with Manafort and his daughter, Ivanka Trump) accepted the GOP nomination
The documents also show that the two companies in Cyprus sent over $27million in loans to another company linked to Manafort.
The company, a limited liability corporation known as Jesand LLC, is believed to bear the names of Manaforts daughters, Jessica and Andrea.
Jesand LLC was used to buy a $2.5million condo in New York in 2007, according to public documents.
In 2017, Jesand obtained a $1million loan against that property.
Deripaska is also believed to have invested $26million in a private equity fund earmarked for a Ukrainian telecommunications company - with the money allegedly being funneled through Cypriot entities.
Authorities allege that Manafort wanted the investments structured as loans 'so as to avoid the unnecessary occasioning of Cyprus taxation.'
Last month, it was reported that Manafort offered to provide briefings to Deripaska on the status of the 2016 US presidential election less than two weeks before Trump accepted the Republican nomination.
If he needs private briefings we can accommodate, Manafort wrote in an email to an overseas intermediary between him and Deripaska.
The existence of the emails were first reported by The Washington Post, which cited people familiar with the discussions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) shakes hands with Deripaska while visiting the RusVinyl plant in Kstovo, Russia in 2014
The Post said portions of the July 7, 2016, email were read to it, as were other parts of Manaforts correspondence.
The email was one of tens of thousands of documents turned over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the Post reported, who along with several congressional committees is investigating alleged Russian efforts to tip the 2016 election in Trumps favor and whether any members of Trumps campaign colluded with Moscows effort.
Both the Trump campaign and the Russian government deny the allegations.
Manaforts Virginia apartment was raided by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation this past July.
The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues, people familiar with Muellers work have said.
President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon has declared war on the Republican establishment, and now he's amassing his troops.
They include a convicted felon, a perennial candidate linked to an environmental conspiracy theory and a Southern lawmaker known for provocative ethnic and racial comments.
Bannon is promoting challengers to GOP incumbents and the party's preferred candidates in next year's midterm elections in an insurgency that could imperil Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
The emerging Bannon class of rabble-rousers shares limited ideological ties but a common intent to upend Washington and knock out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the standard-bearer of the establishment.
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Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is promoting challengers to GOP incumbents and the party's preferred candidates in next year's midterm elections
He helped elevate twice-suspended Judge Roy Moore, who won an Alabama runoff over McConnell's pick, Sen. Luther Strange, who was endorsed by President Trump
It's a crop of candidates that unnerves a GOP that lost seats and a shot at the Senate majority, in 2010 and 2012, with political novices and controversial nominees, and fears a stinging repeat in 2018.
'The main thing that binds them together is a rejection of the Republican Party establishment, a rejection of the political elites, the financial elites and the media elites,' said Andy Surabian, a former Bannon aide and senior adviser to the pro-Trump PAC Great America Alliance.
Bannon helped elevate twice-suspended Judge Roy Moore, who won an Alabama runoff over McConnell's pick, Sen. Luther Strange, who was endorsed by President Trump.
Moore was removed from office for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from Alabama's judicial building, then suspended for insisting probate judges refuse same-sex couples marriage licenses. He faces Democrat Doug Jones in a December election where polls find a single-digit lead for the Republican, a remarkable development in Attorney General Jeff Sessions' heavily GOP state.
The Bannon-tied Great America Alliance chose West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey over establishment favorite Rep. Evan Jenkins to unseat Democratic Sen. Joe Manchi
Bannon is standing by former New York Rep. Michael Grimm, who spent eight months in prison for federal tax evasion and has appeared on video threatening a reporter
'We don't have leadership. We have followership,' Moore said Friday at the Values Voter Summit where he argued for scrapping the health care law with no replacement.
Senate Republicans had been upbeat about adding to their 52-48 majority, especially with Democrats defending more seats in 2018, 10 in states Trump won in last year's presidential election, but the Bannon challenge could cost them, leaving incumbents on the losing end in primaries or GOP candidates roughed up for the general election.
In West Virginia, the grassroots conservative group Tea Party Express endorsed state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, also the choice of the Bannon-tied Great America Alliance, over establishment favorite Rep. Evan Jenkins in a competitive race to unseat Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
In Mississippi state Senator Chris McDaniel, who lost to veteran Sen. Thad Cochran in 2014, is weighing a bid next year against Roger Wicker, the state's other senator in the national legislature.
McDaniel misdefined 'mamacita,' the Spanish word for mommy as 'hot mama,' and said he would withhold his tax payments if the government paid reparations for slavery. He also was forced to denounce a supporter who photographed and posted an image of Cochran's bed-ridden wife, and argued in court that his 2014 loss was due in part to African-Americans fraudulently voting in the primary. He's back again and speaking in Bannon terms.
'They will do anything, they will say anything, to just maintain a hold on power,' McDaniel said in an Associated Press interview about McConnell and his allies.
In Mississippi state Senator Chris McDaniel is weighting a bid for the Senate. When he ran in 2014, he argued in court that his loss was due in part to African-Americans fraudulently voting in the primary
Arizona former state Sen. Kelli Ward is challenging Sen. Jeff Flake. She's known for entertaining the debunked theory that jet aircraft are used to affect the weather or poison people intentionally
In Arizona, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who is challenging Trump antagonist Sen. Jeff Flake, remains known for entertaining the debunked theory that jet aircraft are used to affect the weather or poison people intentionally.
In 2015, she gave conflicting answers about her beliefs after holding a public hearing she said was to answer constituents' questions. But Sen. John McCain used it to marginalize her in his winning GOP Senate primary against her, and McConnell reprised it in August in a web ad which referred to her as 'chemtrail Kelli.'
Former New York Rep. Michael Grimm, who spent eight months in prison for federal tax evasion, is challenging two-term Rep. Dan Donovan with the encouragement of Bannon.
The controversial Bannon left his position as Trump's chief strategist back in August
In announcing his candidacy, Grimm was apologetic for his conviction. Still out there are viral videos of him telling a television reporter during an on-camera interview at the U.S. Capitol after a question he didn't like: 'You ever do that to me again, I'll throw you off this (expletive) balcony.'
House Speaker Paul Ryan is sticking with the incumbent: 'I support Dan Donovan, plain and simple,' Ryan said this week.
But he stopped short of suggesting Bannon stand down. 'It's a free country,' he said.
These controversial outsiders share strong opposition to increasing the nation's debt even if it means an economy-rattling default. They also share unsparing criticism of congressional Republicans, especially McConnell, for failing to dismantle the Obama-era health care law, an unfulfilled seven-year-old promise.
Bannon has given at least one Senate incumbent - Texas Sen. Ted Cruz - a pass, but not others.
'Nobody's safe. We're coming after all of them,' Bannon told Fox News this past week. 'And we're going to win.'
The 11-year-old son of a woman who died after being hit by a road sign while hanging out of a car window still does not know his mother is dead.
Glamorous Natalia Borodina, 35, died after flaunting her almost naked body out of the passenger window of a car during a holiday in the Dominican Republic.
The excruciating footage went viral, showing her writhing in the car and thrusting her upper body out of the vehicle.
But back in Russia, her ex-husband Alexandr Palagushkin, 37, an academic who had studied in London, is battling to be given custody of their son Ermak, 11, who - contrary to earlier reports - was not on vacation with his mother when she was killed.
The boy has not been told of his mother's death.
Palagushkin, 37 said he and his father Boris Palagushkin, 58 - a rear admiral in Putin's naval reserve - were now fighting to keep their child out of a grim Russia orphanage.
'The childcare people have already called,' Palagushkin told Ren TV.
'It's helpful that my father is a rear admiral.
Natalia's son is pictured here with his grandfather Boris, 58, at the academy where he works
'They have already said: "Do you know the mother is dead? Why is the child not with the father?"
'So, if I don't take him now, they will get him.
'And even with my father's connections, it will take me time to get him out of some orphanage.'
Palagushkin said he had met with his ex-wife, who reportedly worked as an estate agent in Cannes, France, in Europe.
Other stories claim she assisted with visa access for Russians.
Natalia's father-in-law, who serves in Vladimir Putin's navy, pictured wearing his admiral uniform
'I have no idea what she was doing,' said her ex-husband, an academic who works in Siberia.
'I live in Novosibirsk, I am a senior tutor. And my father is deputy dean of Novosibirsk State University of Water Transport.
'He is a rear-admiral.
'She told me she provided visa support for Russian tourists in Cannes.'
When the mother was killed, his son Ermak was in the care of Yulia Artemova, 42, Natalia's sister, in the Russian city of Voronezh.
Palagushkin was rushing there to be reunited with his child.
Police have now identified the road sign that killed Ms Borodina and detained her 32-year-old companion Ivanna Boirachuk, from Ukraine.
Natalia Borodina (pictured on a skiing holiday), 35, was filmed hanging topless out of a window during a holiday in the Dominican Republic
Ms Borodina (left) was killed when she smashed her head into a road sign (right)
The is the Kia car that Ms Borodina's friend was driving when she was killed
Police have now identified the road sign that killed Ms Borodina (pictured) and detained her 32-year-old companion
Tyre marks evidently show the dented red Kia Picanto car butted the yellow kerb at the moment of the tragic accident.
Ms Boirachuk used her mobile to film her friend letting her upper body hang out of the passenger side car window as they drove back from the beach near Punta Cana.
Ms Borodina playfully stuck her finger in her mouth and laughed at the camera, but within seconds, the video shows the impact.
She was rushed to hospital but died of severe injuries.
'The woman was having fun demonstrating her naked breasts while her companion drove the car,' reported Moskovsky Komsomolets.
Ms Boirachuk used her mobile to film her friend (pictured) letting her upper body hang out of the passenger side car window as they drove back from the beach near Punta Cana
Tyre marks evidently show the dented red Kia Picanto car butted the yellow kerb at the moment of the tragic accident which killed Ms Borodina (pictured)
Natalia's friend Elena Korolyova said her friend (pictured) did not deserve to be judged by her reckless behaviour that led to her death
Natalia Borodina, from Moscow, is filmed by her friend as she leans out of the window of a moving car in the Dominican Republic
The 35-year-old can be seen with her upper body hanging out of the passenger side
Grieving friends of Ms Borodina - who lived in Cannes - called her a 'caring daughter and good mother' to her 11-year-old son.
Now the bereft family say they cannot afford the cost -- reported to be 15,000 -- of repatriating her body for burial in Russia, and admit Ms Borodina did not have insurance when she flew on holiday to the Dominican republic.
Natalia's friend Elena Korolyova said the dead woman did everything she could for her family.
'She helped her poor family with everything,' she said. 'Nobody else worked, only Natalia.
'She wanted to get everything, she was hoping for a better future.'
Family friend Anzhelika Kling said: 'Natalia has a sister Yulia who lives in Chelyabinsk region, as does her 80 years old mother.
'Yulia is raising her own son and she also took care of Natalia's 11-year-old son when she was away.
Ms Borodina is pictured next to a wagon with the label Harrods in a shopping mall
Family friend Anzhelika Kling said: 'Natalia (pictured) has a sister Yulia who lives in Chelyabinsk region, as does her 80 years old mother
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'
'They don't have the money needed to pay for the transportation of the body.'
She said: 'We got to know about the tragedy from Internet. Then the investigator called the family and confirmed it.
'We don't know what to do with the body now. There is no money for transportation. She may have to be cremated there.'
Anastasiya Akulenko, another of Natalia's friends, said: 'She and I were married to two brothers.
'She parted with her husband, he has a new family now and doesn't see his son. Natalia was very upset because of her divorce.
'She was a caring daughter and a good mother, and she supported her family.
Tragedy: Ms Borodina, seen in a photo posted on her social media page, died in hospital
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 reportedly been working as an estate agent in Cannes, France
'Recently she lived in Cannes and was sorting out visas as a business.'
She also sold properties to rich Russians, it was reported.
'She could work from any spot, she just needed a laptop, this is why Natalia used to travel a lot.
'Her son lived with her for a while but later asked to send him back to Zlatoust because he missed his granny.
'Natalia never forgot about her family and often came to see them.'
Russian consular officer Zurab Peradze said: 'I have been in touch with the local prosecutors' office to gather information about the accident.
'The investigation is going on now.'
Royal mother: An 1845 illustration of the Queen with Bertie, the future King Edward VII, and elder sister Victoria
At a quarter to six in the morning on Saturday, June 10, 1854, Henry Woolgar, a labourer from Esher in Surrey, was on his way to work when he passed a cottage and noticed something curious hanging from an upstairs window.
As he drew closer he saw, to his consternation, that it was a pillow saturated with blood. He rang the doorbell. No one answered. Other neighbours began to gather. Then, a woman was glimpsed inside, apparently trying to attract their attention. Woolgar fetched a ladder, climbed up and peered in.
At first he could not see anyone. Then a terrible apparition emerged at the top of the stairs. It was Mary Ann Brough. Her hair was hanging down and her body was covered in blood. As she turned towards him, Woolgar saw that her throat had been slashed. From the wound a curious whistling sound emanated.
Woolgar hastily descended the ladder and ran to fetch a doctor. By the time he returned with the local constable, another neighbour had entered and found a scene of unimaginable horror.
Mary Ann lay on a bed. On the floor nearby was her son William, his throat cut. In the other rooms he found five more children, all with their throats slashed, lying dead. The house was deluged with blood.
Who, wondered the horrified witnesses, could have slaughtered six children 11-year-old Georgy (Georgiana), William, aged eight, Carry, seven, four-year-old twins Harriet and Henry and one-year- old baby George and attempted to kill their devoted mother, Mary Ann, who lay grievously wounded?
The answer came after a doctor miraculously managed to sew Mary Anns throat back up, enabling her to speak. She had, she confessed, killed the children one by one with a razor, before trying to kill herself.
The case of the Esher Murderess gripped Victorian Britain and made headlines worldwide. Not only was Mary Ann a serial killer but, shockingly, she had once been entrusted with the care of the most important baby in Britain: Bertie, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victorias eldest son and heir to the throne. Mary Ann had been his wet nurse.
This week sees the conclusion of the second series of the acclaimed ITV drama Victoria, which has focused on the Queen as a young mother. The plot has not, however, featured Mary Ann, to whom Victoria delegated one of the most cherished aspects of parenthood.
Jenna Coleman as Victoria in the ITV drama, the second series of which concludes this week
Unlike other Victorian mass-murderesses, such as the poisoner Mary Ann Cotton or serial baby-killer Amelia Dyer, Mary Ann Brough has all but disappeared from the pages of history. No biographies or TV series have been written about her. Yet she was once the most notorious killer in the land.
Mary Anns career as a Royal wet nurse began when Victoria summoned her to her bedside on November 9, 1841. The Queen was in labour and was adamant that the baby must immediately be handed to the wet nurse as she had no intention of breastfeeding.
Victoria, in common with many well-born ladies in the 1840s, viewed breastfeeding with a totally insurmountable disgust. The post of Royal wet nurse had been advertised and attracted a large number of applicants, not least for the attractive rate of pay. For her eight months of employment, Mary Ann received 1,000 the equivalent of about 50,000 in todays money.
It is likely that Mary Ann got the job because her husband, George, worked as a groundsman at Claremont House, one of Victorias favourite Royal properties, near Esher. His father had also worked there.
Who could be better than the wife of a trusted servant?
Mary Ann had given birth to her eldest daughter, Mary, eight years earlier. After that she lost a number of babies.
Its believed she miscarried but it is possible that Mary Anns children died as a result of being deprived of their mothers milk, since she was being paid to give it instead to the babies of wealthy mothers.
The psychological cost of nursing another womans healthy baby with milk produced for her own, dead children can only be guessed at.
The Queen was, initially, delighted by Mary Ann, believing her to be a simple, decent countrywoman. And she performed her job well: Bertie soon developed into a fat, healthy baby, although Victoria, suffering acutely from post-natal depression, thought him ugly and too frightful.
She couldnt bear babies, says Professor Jane Ridley, Berties biographer. They came too soon, interfering with her and Alberts marital relations.
Having failed to bond with Bertie, Victoria largely ignored him. In his early months, Mary Ann probably spent more time with Bertie than his mother did. Yet for reasons that were never declared (one newspaper later claimed she was drinker, another that she had disobeyed orders), Mary Ann was sacked after eight months. Victoria had no doubt largely forgotten about her when, more than a decade later, she opened her morning paper and received a shock.
A most awful & horrid tragedy has taken place at Esher, she wrote in her diary on June 13. Mrs Brough, for 8 months, Berties wet nurse, has murdered her 6 Children! The news quite haunts one. She was, it seems, a most depraved woman. Morose, ill tempered & stupid she always used to be, when in our house!
After Mary Ann had been dismissed, she settled down in the cottage in West Esher with George.
Her second daughter, Georgiana, was born in 1843 and five more children followed in rapid succession. Neighbours remarked on what a kind and attentive mother she was, doting on her brood.
But after the birth of her seventh child, George, in September 1852, Mary Ann suffered what seems to have been a stroke. According to the surgeon Mr Izod, who gave evidence in court, she had become paralysed down her left side, and her speech was slurred and her face distorted.
She recovered to some degree but Izod, who saw her regularly, observed symptoms of a disordered brain. She complained of ferocious headaches, a tumbling and swimming sensation in her head, and frequent nosebleeds. He gave her medicine, but the symptoms persisted.
What appears to have precipitated the tragedy was that her husband, George, a hard-working, sober man, began to suspect his wife of infidelity. According to an amateur detective he employed to follow her, she took the train to London for a tryst with another, married man.
It was evidence enough for George Brough. He walked out on his wife on Tuesday, June 6, 1854, and sent word that he would apply for custody of the children. For Mary, it was a terrible blow. He planned to bring her a legal agreement that Saturday for her to sign.
To compound her stress and anxiety, her children caught measles, potentially a fatal disease. For several nights she got little sleep as she nursed them.
On Wednesday she asked Mr Izod for medicine to ease her headaches but he refused to give her any, since the symptoms were not new, and told her not to over-excite herself.
On Friday, June 9, tormented by the searing pain in her head, she went back to beg him again, but he was unavailable. In despair, she returned home to her sick, fretful children, and collapsed into a chair to sleep.
At 9pm Georgy, still recovering from measles, began calling for her to come up to bed. Then her other children began crying out. They carried on calling out and crying until midnight.
Queen Victoria with Edward VII in 1842
They fell quiet, but Mary Ann could not sleep. Demented with exhaustion, despairing at the thought of her children being taken away, she snapped. She later told Superintendent Biddlecombe, who took her statement at the scene: There was something like a cloud over my eyes. I thought I would go down, get a knife, and cut my own throat.
But in the darkness she could not find her way downstairs to the kitchen. Instead, groping in her husbands room, she found his razor. Then, driven by a deranged compulsion, she slit her childrens throats, one after the other.
I went to Georgy and cut her first. I did not look at her. I then came to Carry and cut her, then to Henry. He said, Dont, mother.
I said I must, and did cut him. Then I went to Bill. He was fast asleep. I turned him over. He never woke. I served him the same.
She stumbled into the next bedroom. Harriet and George were awake. Harriet struggled very much after I cut her, and gargled for some time. I then lay down and did myself. I cant tell you what occurred for some time after that, till I seemed weak, and found myself on the floor. That nasty great black cloud was gone then.
A little while later, she got up, saw the children drenched in blood, and realised what she had done.
Unable to cry out because her windpipe was partially severed, she hung a bloody pillow out of the window to attract attention.
Mary Anns trial was held in August 1854. The case rested on the question of her sanity: did she kill her children in a fit of madness, or was her crime premeditated and deliberate? Was she mad or bad?
The defence called an alienist, as psychiatrists were then known, the eminent Dr Forbes Winslow. He diagnosed temporary insanity brought about by brain disease and exacerbated by the stress of caring for her sick children. It was this, he contended, that had caused a normally sane, loving mother to kill.
The prosecution disagreed, arguing that in fact the crimes were premeditated. A will had been found, written only hours before the killings, in which Mary Ann bequeathed her jewellery and other precious items to her eldest daughter, Mary, including a silver teapot and two brooches, one from Queen Victoria and one from the Queen of the Belgians, to keep them out of the hands of her husband.
While in custody she had even told Mary that her reasons for committing the foul deeds were that she was afraid she would be separated from her children by the agreement she was to sign on the Saturday. Her motives seemed clear: jealousy and revenge.
Furthermore, the evidence of her adultery showed that she was immoral and depraved. The judge agreed with this view, telling the jury they should find the prisoner guilty.
But, swayed by the evidence of Forbes Winslow and other lunacy experts who agreed that Mary Ann had been gripped by madness caused by her congested brain, the jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity.
Newspapers largely agreed with the verdict. Is it credible, asked one, that, except in a frenzy, a mother would destroy her children?
For some time afterwards Mary Anns house of horror became a macabre tourist attraction, feeding the Victorian fascination with murder, with a Royal connection too.
Mary Ann spent the rest of her days in Bethlehem mental hospital in London known as Bedlam where she was said to be a non-violent, quiet inmate. She suffered a series of fits or strokes which resulted in paralysis, and she eventually died in 1861.
A Bedlam doctor told the inquest that brain disease caused her paralysis, eventual death and her insanity. And he had no doubt that it was responsible for the tragedy that had unfolded seven years earlier.
Mary Ann had claimed that if Izod had seen her that Friday and given her the medicine that relieved her headaches and the terrible cloud in her brain, she would never have committed the murders.
Nearly 20 years after the killings, however, the Esher Tragedy continued to fascinate.
The murder scene was recreated in gruesome detail at the Birmingham Wax Works where visitors could gaze upon the figures of the six children, each with its throat cut and gore on the little waxen faces, gore on the sheets, while a figure of the bloodstained murderess bore a label round her neck reminding visitors of her intimate Royal connection.
A traffic stop soon turned confusing when Ohio deputies found a man dressed as a police officer driving the car they pulled over.
Erik Brubaker, 35, was wearing a DIY police uniform while carrying handcuffs with pepper spray when the Wayne County Sheriff's Office stopped him recently.
When police checked criminal histories, he and passenger Caleb Barnhart, 20, were both found to be registered sex offenders.
Erik Brubaker, 35, was wearing a DIY police uniform while carrying handcuffs with pepper spray when the Wayne County Sheriff's Office stopped him
When police checked criminal histories, he (right) and passenger Caleb Barnhart (left), 20, were both found to be registered sex offenders
'Certainly anytime you pull somebody over and they are wearing a badge and have the word police across the front that's going to cause additional questions on behalf of any officer conducting that stop,' Wayne County Sheriff's Office Captain Doug Hunter said to reporters according to Yahoo.
Brubaker allegedly admitted to having been fired from a security guard job.
But upon further inquisition, Barnhart told police separately that the duo were on their way to confront a woman who was a rape case witness.
'It appeared that the reason he was wearing this uniform may have been to intimidate this young lady to answer his questions or perhaps to go away with him to some other location,' Hunter said.
Barnhart told police separately that the duo were on their way to confront a woman who was a rape case witness
The sex offender was arrested and charged with one count of driving under suspension and charges concerning his wardrobe are pending
Further investigation also found that Brubaker's licence was suspended.
The sex offender was arrested and charged with one count of driving under suspension.
His alleged accomplice was taken to Wayne County jail for probation violation.
A prosecutor in Wayne County will decide if the uniform mock warrants additional charges.
Failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a 'very big disadvantage', Hillary Clinton has claimed.
The former US secretary of state and presidential hopeful also said the Brexit result and more specifically the alleged lies told in the run up to the referendum were a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in last year's presidential elections.
Mrs Clinton, who was today presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University, took a swipe at President Trump and said he 'doesn't believe in trade'.
Failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a 'very big disadvantage', Hillary Clinton has claimed
The former US secretary of state and presidential hopeful also said the Brexit result was a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in last year's presidential elections
Mrs Clinton, who was today presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University, took a swipe at President Trump and said he 'doesn't believe in trade'
Mrs Clinton told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: 'I think it would be a very big disadvantage to Britain.
'I mean, no deal meaning no preferential trade deals, which means products in Britain would not have the kind of easy access to the European market that you've had under EU membership.
'It could very well mean that there would be more pressure on businesses in Britain, if not to leave completely, at least also have sites and employment elsewhere in Europe.
'I think that the disruption for Britain could be, you know, quite serious.'
President Trump has said it is 'possible' the US will pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) struck more than two decades ago with Mexico and Canada.
Asked about the UK's trading future with America, Mrs Clinton said: 'Well, yes, but you're making a trade deal with someone who says he doesn't believe in trade. So I'm not quite sure how that's going to play out over the next few years.
'He looks like he's on the verge of taking (us) out of NAFTA rather than reworking NAFTA. Our biggest trading partners in the world are Canada and Mexico. So these will have real world economic consequences.'
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, she said: 'Looking at the Brexit vote now, it was a precursor to some extent of what happened to us in the United States'
Mrs Clinton was presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University on Saturday and was recognised for her commitment to promoting the rights of children around the world
Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Mrs Clinton's visit on Saturday
Mrs Clinton was presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University on Saturday and was recognised for her commitment to promoting the rights of families and children around the world, a cause shared by the university's Observatory on the Human Rights of Children and Young People.
During her speech at the university, she called for 'empathy' on both sides of the Atlantic and highlighted the plight of children in the UK.
She said: 'Teachers and schools are reporting an outbreak of bullying and racially motivated insults.
'Here in the UK, divisive rhetoric and policy shifts are having their own effects.
'Right now, the residency rights of half a million children, including many who were born in the UK, are hanging in the balance.
'So there are reports of children being worried, feeling uncertain, even unsafe. Trying to make sense of their places in the world.
In the same interview Mrs Clinton warned failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a 'very big disadvantage'
Mrs Clinton said no deal could mean more pressure on British businesses and the disruption could be 'quite serious'
'The children's commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already raised concerns that children's interests are getting short shrift in the Brexit process.'
The former first lady said she continues to 'believe in the value of the European Union', adding: 'What's missing in both of our countries at the moment it seems to me, and what we need more than anything else, is empathy.'
Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Mrs Clinton's visit on Saturday.
The university's college of law was renamed The Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law and she was presented with a book about her Welsh roots.
An ancient order alleged to have handed out honours as part of the controversial campaign to elect Baroness Scotland as Secretary General of the Commonwealth has announced it has given a knighthood to the Queens cousin, Prince Michael of Kent.
The Prince was given the knighthood in August by the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, which claims to represent the long-defunct Kingdom of Two Sicilies, according to a press release by the group.
The Italian order was previously revealed by The Mail on Sunday to have been involved in an exchange of honours in Caribbean countries.
An ancient order alleged to have handed out honours as part of the controversial campaign to elect Baroness Scotland as Secretary General of the Commonwealth has announced it has given a knighthood to the Queens cousin, Prince Michael of Kent (above)
That process is alleged to have assisted in the election of former New Labour politician Baroness Scotland dubbed Baroness Brazen to the top post in the Commonwealth.
After enquiries by The Mail on Sunday, press releases that were posted online by the Constantinian Order announcing the award to Prince Michael are no longer available.
In an extraordinary volte face last night, the order claimed the award of the knighthood had never been concretised, and that the press releases had been a mistake.
Prince Michael was on a yacht with the orders leader, Charles di Borbone, in St Tropez in August, when it is thought he was given the Royal Order of Francis I.
The Prince was awarded the knighthood by the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, which claims to represent the defunct Kingdom of Two Sicilies. The Italian order was previously revealed by The Mail on Sunday to have been involved in an exchange of honours in Caribbean countries. That process is alleged to have assisted in the election of Baroness Scotland (above) to the top post in the Commonwealth
The knighthood is not recognised as an official honour in the UK. Under Foreign Office rules, UK citizens must get the Governments permission before accepting foreign honours. It is understood the Prince did not make any such request.
In the press release, the Order said the honour was given by di Borbone to Prince Michael for his important achievements in supporting sustainable development and other recipients had included Mrs Thatcher.
Mail on Sunday's report last year about the Baroness
The leader of the Orders British branch is Anthony Bailey who, along with the branchs former vice delegate Baroness Scotland, was embroiled in a scandal in the Caribbean after it emerged that money promised to causes by the Order was never paid in full. Charitable projects in Antigua were forced to take out loans to meet the shortfall.
Following an investigation by this newspaper, a knighthood given to Bailey by the Antiguan government was revoked by the islands governor general due to irregularities.
In March, the Duke of Gloucester accepted an award on behalf of the Queen from Prince Davit of Georgia, who claimed to be the heir to the Caucasus state. Historian Hugo Vickers said it could trigger an avalanche of royal pretenders wishing to adorn the Queen.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: As this was not a state award, we do not consider such requests. Prince Michaels spokesman declined to comment.
Since publication of this article we have been asked to publish a statement on behalf of the Commonwealth:
"Baroness Scotland had no power to and did not influence the Constantinian Order or any sovereign member state with regard to honours. Baroness Scotland was appointed vice-delegate of the Constantinian Order in June 2015, in place of another prominent and well respected Catholic, Professor The Lord Alton of Liverpool, on completion of his three-year term. She informed the Order from the outset that she would be unable to take up the appointment because she was seeking election as Secretary-General. Baroness Scotland was persuaded to accept the post on a nominal interim basis while the Order sought a more permanent replacement for Lord Alton. She relinquished it once she became Secretary-General. During that five-month period she undertook no missions, took no actions and signed no documents on behalf of the Order. Baroness Scotland certainly made no recommendations for awards to anyone nor did she have any power or seek to award any member states with any honours."
Donald Trump referred to meeting with the 'president of the Virgin Islands' in a speech. He himself is said president.
Addressing the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Friday, he said: 'I will tell you, I left Texas and I left Florida, and I left Louisiana, and I went to Puerto Rico, and I met with the President of the Virgin Islands.
'These are people that are incredible people.'
President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the 2017 Value Voters Summit, at which he said: 'I went to Puerto Rico, and I met with the President of the Virgin Islands. 'These are people that are incredible people.' Trump himself is their president. The US Virgin Islands have a governor. His linguistic oversight was amended in the official White House transcript of the speech
Trump and First Lady Melania met with US Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp aboard the USS Kearsarge off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico during Trump's four-hour visit to the island territory on October 3
The US Virgin Islands are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. As a United States territory, Trump is in fact their president.
The Virgin Islands have a governor named Kenneth Mapp.
The official White House transcript of the speech has the word 'president' crossed out and the word 'governor' in brackets following it, CNN reports.
Mapp is the 29th Governor of the US Virgin Islands
In his speech, he did correctly refer to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as territories.
At a congressional hearing on Thursday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry called Puerto Rico 'a country that already had its challenges before the storm'. He apologized when told of the flub.
Trump made the gaffe while addressing the Values Voter Summit. He is the first sitting president to address the gathering organized by the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center states is an anti-LGBT extremist group.
Trump and Mapp met two weeks ago aboard the USS Kearsarge, which was anchored off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico during Trump's four-hour visit to the island territory.
The president received a briefing on hurricane relief efforts during the meeting.
The US Virgin Islands have been heavily damaged during this hurricane season. They were first hit by Hurricane Irma and later by Hurricane Maria.
People in their 60s should be allowed to adopt children as young as five, a child services boss has said.
Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass, the Government agency that represents childrens interests in family courts, said retirees should be encouraged to adopt to stem the huge rise of young people living in care.
He said adoption services have been too restrictive and urged them to take a more creative approach to finding adoptive parents.
Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass, the Government agency that represents childrens interests in family courts, said retirees should be encouraged to adopt to stem the huge rise of young people living in care. (Pictured being awarded CBE by the Queen in 2008)
The population is ageing and a lot of retired people are still capable of childcare, said Mr Douglas, a former chairman of the British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF). If youre a healthy, active 60-year-old you might be perfectly acceptable to take on a five-year-old.
When the child is 18 youll be 73. I think 73 now is not exactly middle aged, but youre not past it.
Mr Douglas suggested older people should also considering fostering as a retirement option.
Figures for 2016/2017 put the number of children in care at 72,670, up three per cent from 70,440 the previous year the biggest annual increase in seven years.
Yet the number of people adopting is falling, with just 4,690 children in care adopted in 2016 down from 5,360 the previous year.
Last night campaigners for the elderly cautioned that adopting or fostering would be an exhausting task for some older people. (Picture posed by models)
There is no legal upper age limit for those who want to apply to adopt or foster, only a lower one stating that you must be at least 21.
But most adoption agencies operate a maximum 45-year age difference rule between the parent and child.
Last night campaigners for the elderly cautioned that adopting or fostering would be an exhausting task for some older people.
Dame Joan Bakewell, 84, previously the Governments pensioners tsar, said that while adoption could be a great opportunity for some over-60s, there would be too much of an age gap for them to adopt five-year-olds.
She said: There are all sorts of difficulties and changes in the culture since they were young.
Lara Crisp from Gransnet, a social networking site for grandparents, added: Keeping up with a toddler when youre a young parent is tough enough, but if youre in your 70s and beyond it has the potential to have an impact on your health.
A spokesman for Coram, a childrens charity which took over the BAAFs responsibilities when it closed in 2015, said: When youre matching the adoption youre thinking about who will be around long-term to see the child through to an age of independence.
But Scott Casson-Rennie, engagement officer for charity Adoption UK, backed the idea of more older people adopting. He said: There shouldnt be a restriction on age. Some of these children thrive in families where there are older parents.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
As Beijing and Washington are preparing for U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China later this year, the event will surely be a special one for the world's most important bilateral relationship.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday wrapped up his whirlwind China visit, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Trump's visit in November.
Xi said currently President Trump's visit to China is the most important event in China-U.S. relations and the teams on both sides should work closely to make it "successful and special."
Indeed, Trump's scheduled visit will come at a significant moment in time only days after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The upcoming meeting will be the third between Xi and Trump this year, with two previous meetings in the U.S. state of Florida in April and in the German city of Hamburg in July. In those meetings, Xi and Trump exchanged views on bilateral relations.
Since the U.S. president took office in January, the two leaders have maintained close contact on issues of common concern, including the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
The two have held eight phone conversations so far, a record number in the history of the two countries.
Frequent communication between the two presidents is crucial since it can help avoid misunderstandings, smoothly manage differences and strengthen bilateral cooperation.
No doubt the world's two largest economies don't see eye-to-eye on every issue. Therefore, negotiations are key to properly handling differences and disputes, and such talks must be based on mutual respect for each other's core interests.
Just as President Xi has observed, the common interests of the two countries far outweigh their differences, and "cooperation is the only correct choice."
Over the past year, China and the United States have been making progress in bilateral cooperation via four high-level dialogue mechanisms focusing on diplomacy and security, the economy, social and people-to-people exchanges, and law enforcement and cyber security.
Looking ahead, there are numerous areas in which the two countries can continue to work together, not only at the bilateral level, but also at the regional and international levels. Trade and investment and climate change are two examples.
Trump's visit will offer an opportunity for the two leaders to review the achievements in China-U.S. ties and outline the relationship's next steps.
It is hoped that the U.S. president's visit to China will bolster China-U.S. relations and better position both countries to jointly combat global challenges.
Cooperation is in the interest of both China and the United States. Strong ties will not only benefit both countries, but the world as well.
The boss of the Governments school standards watchdog has ordered a crackdown on Islamic schools that separate girls and boys but has defended single-sex education.
Ofsteds Chief Inspector of Schools, Amanda Spielman, warned that schools that practise rigid gender segregation must change, even if it upsets the local community. But in an exclusive article for The Mail on Sunday, she defended all-girls schools.
The Ofsted boss argued that single-sex schools were justified as they helped girls overcome the discrimination they still faced in modern Britain.
Amanda Spielman's intervention followed a Court of Appeal ruling last Friday that a mixed-sex Islamic school was breaching equality laws by keeping boys and girls apart
Her intervention followed a Court of Appeal ruling last Friday that a mixed-sex Islamic school was breaching equality laws by keeping boys and girls apart.
Al-Hijrah school in Birmingham was told that its segregation policy on religious grounds was illegal sex discrimination.
Ms Spielman said such systematic segregation undermined British values.
But she said single-sex schools could encourage girls to tackle subjects they would not normally choose, while boys at all-male institutions may be more willing to take more interest in the arts.
She said: If women are to take their full place in a world which is, to some degree, loaded against them, then it is reasonable for parents to choose single-sex schools, to stop girls from selecting themselves out of some areas of education.
Read Amanda Spielmans full article online at mailonsunday.co.uk/spielman
One of Britain's leading experts on child sex abuse who took part in the investigation into paedophile claims against Sir Edward Heath has said she would not trust him with children were he alive today.
Dr Elly Hanson, a clinical psychologist who specialises in abuse and trauma, said her opinion was based on secret evidence obtained by police concerning Sir Edward's alleged crimes.
She also criticised the 'hostile' response to the police inquiry into the former Prime Minister, who died in 2005, which said he should be questioned under caution over the abuse allegations if he were alive.
Dr Hanson compared the response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the silence that shrouded his alleged behaviour before this month's revelations, arguing that it deterred other sex abuse victims from reporting crimes.
She spoke out after Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale faced pressure to resign over claims that he was 'duped' by 'fantasist' allegations against Sir Edward.
Dr Elly Hanson (pictured) , a clinical psychologist and one of the leading experts on child sex abuse, says she would not trust former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath with children if he were alive today
A report by Mr Veale said seven of 42 allegations of assault by Sir Edward of young boys would justify questioning him under caution though did not prove his guilt.
Dr Hanson told The Mail on Sunday: 'On the balance of probabilities and based on the information I have seen, if I was asked to decide if Sir Edward should have access to children I would say he would not meet the modern safeguarding threshold to protect them from risk.'
One of four 'independent scrutineers' given full access to secret details of child sex allegations against Sir Edward, Dr Hanson praised the 'professional, thorough and sensitive' inquiry.
'Just because a jury can never decide guilt or otherwise in this case does not mean we cannot or should not even look at it,' she said.
'Jimmy Savile, Cyril Smith and Harvey Weinstein are all innocent in the eyes of the law, but we have been able to have a discussion about what they are alleged to have done.
Yet some appear to think we are not entitled to have the same discussion about Sir Edward Heath.
'I am not saying he is in the same category as them, or that he is guilty. But in my view, the fact that he was Prime Minister makes it all the more important that we can discuss it.'
She said some of the evidence obtained by police was 'very compelling', often with 'supporting information'.
Dr Hanson said: 'The hostile response by some to the inquiry into Sir Edward Heath is disappointing. To label everyone who comes forward as fantasist is unfair and unhelpful. It sends completely the wrong message to all victims of sexual abuse.
'As we have seen in the Weinstein case, if they feel they won't be listened to they will remain silent.'
A recent report said seven of 42 allegations of assault by Ted Heath (pictured) of young boys would justify questioning him under caution
She was backed by fellow 'scrutineer' Perdeep Tanday, who runs a pharmacy business in Salisbury, Sir Edward's home city.
Mr Tanday, appointed to 'represent the public view', said he was 'shocked' to learn from detectives of details of Sir Edward's alleged crimes.
He said: 'I always had great respect for Edward Heath as a politician but the allegations were shocking.
I believe the majority were 100 per cent genuine and convincing. The evidence was of a high quality and in many cases corroborated.'
Asked if he would have trusted Sir Edward with his three grown-up sons when they were younger, Mr Tanday declined to answer.
Mr Tanday, 51, added: 'Unlike those criticising Mr Veale, I know the facts.
The evidence was gathered by detectives with decades of experience of investigating rape, murder and other serious crimes. I trust them.'
Mr Veale received further support from Wiltshire MP Claire Perry, former adviser to David Cameron on the sexualisation of children.
'We would have been doing victims of sexual abuse a great disservice if we hadn't investigated these claims and I fully support Mike Veale,' said Ms Perry.
But Wiltshire North Conservative MP James Gray, who knew Sir Edward, said: 'Mr Veale tried to make a name for himself on the back of the Jimmy Savile hysteria and came unstuck.
'He has besmirched Sir Edward's good name and should resign.'
The two other 'scrutineers', human rights QC Danny Friedman and surgeon Professor Vassilios Papalois, said Operation Conifer was 'fair, sensitive and rigorous'.
A key criticism levelled at the police chief under fire for the paedophile investigation into Sir Edward Heath was exposed as false today.
Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale has been condemned for including the alleged rape of an 11-year-old boy by Sir Edward in 1961 among seven cases he said would warrant questioning the former Prime Minister under caution were he alive today.
Critics said Mr Veale had blundered because Scotland Yard 'investigated' the case in 2015 and 'dropped' it.
In fact, Scotland Yard did NOT investigate the claim because they secretly introduced a policy 'not to prove or disprove' child sex allegations against dead people, The Mail on Sunday can disclose.
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Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale (pictured)'s team did not investigate an 11-year-old boy's claim that he was abused by former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath because of a policy not to look into cases involving dead people
However Mr Veale's team DID investigate it and found evidence that they say suggests it could be true.
The alleged victim of the rape, who is now 68 and went on to be convicted of child sex abuse crimes himself, complained to the Metropolitan Police in April 2015.
Four months later, the force said it had obtained a 'full account' from the complainant and, after a 'full assessment of the allegation', decided there were 'no lines of inquiry that could be proportionately pursued'.
The statement was interpreted as meaning that the Met had carried out a full investigation and dismissed the claim as groundless and was used to attack Mr Veale's claim that the allegation was serious.
However, this newspaper can disclose that Scotland Yard did not investigate the matter because of its new policy on 'response to allegations of sexual abuse against deceased suspects' which can be revealed for the first time.
In a statement to The Mail on Sunday, a Scotland Yard spokesperson said the rules state: 'The purpose is not to prove or disprove the offence reported.'
Instead, the main aim is to find out if the suspect was linked to other abusers and prevent any 'current risk to children'.
It adds: 'A full and detailed criminal investigation may not be required to achieve this.'
By contrast, Mr Veale's team was ordered to carry out a full investigation into the claims against Sir Edward, who died in 2005.
Rules set out last year by Operation Hydrant, the national police inquiry into all historic child sex abuse inquiries, said it was vital to 'establish the facts and identify offenders deceased or not.
'The closer to power, the greater is the duty to investigate.
Former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath (pictured) died in 2005. Since his death it has been alleged he committed several sexual assaults against young boys
'Due to Sir Edward's prominence, it is particularly relevant to investigate allegations against him.'
Mr Veale's supporters reject criticism for investigating complaints by 'victims' who may have gone on to abuse children themselves or were rent boys.
They highlighted research that suggests some people become abusers as a result of being abused themselves as young children.
A well-placed source said: 'Wiltshire Police fully expected to discover the Heath claims were nonsense, and that if there was any evidence, it would be well hidden.
'They were as surprised as anyone to find the evidence was there with telltale patterns of behaviour, but no one had really looked for it.
'If, as they believe, some of the allegations are true, other police forces who failed to act in the past will have a lot to answer for.'
The controversy took a new twist yesterday after the alleged rape victim's sister reportedly said her brother's claims were a 'crock of ****'. She is said to have called him a 'born liar'.
A man is fighting for life in hospital after falling down a flight of stairs in the Sydney CBD on Saturday night.
Police and emergency services were called to the Queen Victoria Building at about 9.45pm was found to be bleeding and unconscious, according to the Daily Telegraph.
It is believed he was attending a wedding in the building, a popular tourist haunt, when he fell and suffered critical injuries, including head injuries.
A 45-year-man who was attending a wedding at Sydney's QVB has been taken to the hospital
It is understood that the man fell down a flight of stairs at about 9.45pm on Saturday night
The man, who reportedly consumed some amount of alcohol at the wedding, is now fighting for his life in St Vincent's Hospital.
A NSW Police spokesman said police were not treating the incident as suspicious by that inquiries into the accident are continuing with authorities questioning staff and guests.
'Some sort of misadventure has happened there ... it looks like he has fallen,' a police spokesman said.
Passengers have filmed the terrifying moment a plane smashes through a food cart while attempting to takeoff, causing massive delays.
The Qantas flight was beginning its departure procedures at Sydney airport last night when it reversed into the truck.
People were stranded on-board the plane as airline crews assessed the damage of both the plane and the vehicle.
The Qantas flight was beginning its departure procedures at Sydney airport last night when it reversed into the truck
The QF467 flight bound for Melbourne was leaving its gate at around 7:30pm last night when the incident occurred.
The plane, a Boeing 737, had only moved a short distance when it reversed into the catering cart, which reportedly frightened passengers.
One commuter filmed the moments just after the crash, with the pilot explaining the situation to those on-board.
The QF467 flight bound for Melbourne was leaving its gate at around 7:30pm last night when the incident occurred
Crews found there was minor damage done to the plane's right wing-tip and decided to retire it for the evening
'There's no cause for concern at the moment, we're just waiting to see if there was any damage done to the aircraft,' the pilot says.
Crews found there was minor damage done to the plane's right wing-tip and decided to retire it for the evening.
Passengers were moved to the next available flights as the plane was further assessed.
No one was injured on-board the plane or in the food truck.
Michael Heseltine has called for an end to the show trial of Philip Hammond by Brexiteers angered by the Chancellors support for a soft Brexit
Michael Heseltine has called for an end to the show trial of Philip Hammond by Brexiteers angered by the Chancellors support for a soft Brexit.
The ex-Deputy Prime Minister singles out former Cabinet colleague Nigel Lawson for criticism after he claimed Mr Hammond should be moved because his attitude to Brexit came close to sabotage.
In a stinging attack, Lord Heseltine describes Lord Lawsons view as ludicrous.
The Tory peers outspoken remarks, in todays Mail on Sunday, come after a tumultuous week for the Chancellor.
Mr Hammond was attacked for saying he would not set aside money to prepare for a no-deal Brexit just to send a message to the EU, and came under heavy criticism for being pessimistic about our economic prospects after we leave.
On Friday he was forced to apologise for describing the EU as the enemy.
Lord Heseltine, who served in Margaret Thatchers Cabinet when Lord Lawson was Chancellor, argues that Brexiteers are increasingly anxious that popular opinion is turning against them, and have turned their panic into hate.
Lord Heseltine singled out former Cabinet colleague Nigel Lawson for criticism after he claimed Mr Hammond (pictured) should be moved because his attitude to Brexit came close to sabotage
The former Defence Secretary writes: So it has turned into a show trial of Mr Hammond, with my former colleague Nigel Lawson ludicrously describing his actions as close to sabotage.
He adds that Lord Lawson, 85, should respect Mr Hammonds refusal to be pushed around because Lawson himself had resigned from Government in 1989 over Thatchers interference in his running of exchange rate policy.
She [Mrs May] knows that he does not bend with the wind of populism.
He knows what he believes, he says it and he sticks with it. Nigel Lawson should respect the fact that Mr Hammond is nobodys yes man.
On Thursday, EU leaders meet in Brussels for a summit at which they are expected to declare the UK has not made sufficient progress to sanction the start of trade negotiations.
This week was also due to mark the start of debates on the EU Withdrawal Bill, which will transfer EU laws on to the British statute book.
However, whips have been so alarmed by the number of amendments by Tory MPs including moves to block powers to bypass Parliament and calls for a vote on the final EU deal that they have pulled the legislation while they try to broker deals with the rebels.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has clashed with Ecuador's president by speaking in support of Catalonian separatists, bringing the fugitive into direct conflict with the government shielding him.
His remarks on clashes over Catalonian independence in Spain have put him at odds with Ecuador's president Lenin Moreno.
Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for alleged sexual offences and could be wanted by the United States for exposing state secrets, has been sheltering in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for five years.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has risked antagonising the Ecuadorian president while claiming asylum at the country's embassy in London
His support for separatists antagonised Moreno, who has been president of the South American country since January and asked Assange to stay out of the Spanish crisis, according to the Washington Post.
Responding to the president on Twitter, Assange accused Moreno of attempting to silence him, writing: 'If President Moreno wants to gag my reporting of human rights abuses in Spain he should say so explicitly--together with the legal basis.'
Assange accused the president of trying to silence him on what he called 'human rights abuses in Spain' after Spanish police clashed with protesters demanding independence for Catalonia
Moreno's left-wing predecessor Rafael Correa offered the Australian activist refuge in 2012.
But Ecuador's latest president is already taking a different approach to government with an emphasis on 'dialogue', regarding Moreno as an authoritarian obsessed with maintaining power.
He has also backed corruption investigations into Moreno's closest associates and scrapped a law that human rights groups said made the country's media the least free in the West other than Cuba.
Correa has responded by calling Moreno a 'traitor', 'mediocre' and branding him a 'wolf in sheeps clothing'.
Lenin Moreno enjoys popular backing, but his predecessor's loyalists still control many public institutions
Moreno's repositioning of the country could mean trouble for Assange, whose stay at the embassy brings little political benefit and risks defining Ecuador as an antagonist of the United States.
The president has publicly pledged to uphold the activist's asylum 'as long as we assume his life may be in danger', but has also dismissed Assange as a 'hacker'.
Cesar Ricaurte, head of press freedom advocates Fundamedios, said the situation with Assange cannot continue in its current form.
'The situation of Assange in the embassy is unsustainable,' he said.
Rafael Correa has responded to corruption investigations by referring to his successor as a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'
'He has converted himself into this great conspirator against the major democracies. I think the government is looking for a way out.'
Ecuadorian financial analyst Ramiro Crespo says Moreno's first priority will be winning the fight against Correa supporters who still control the courts while the governing Country Alliance party is split between reformists and Correa loyalists.
'Moreno has to pick his battles and dismantle Correas machinery bit by bit,' he said.
'He is being cautious. Dealing with Assange is not the priority right now, but Moreno could decide to make a move once he feels stronger.'
If Moreno consolidates enough power, he would be capable of pressuring Assange to voluntarily leave the embassy.
He could also ask Washington for assurances that capital punishment be ruled out of any trial the WikiLeaks founder faces.
Brussels chief negotiator would be happy for Britain to fall out of the EU on hard Brexit terms to punish it for leaving, it was claimed last night.
A senior diplomatic source said former French minister Michel Barnier, who is handling the talks with Brexit Secretary David Davis, believes Britain must be seen to pay a big price for quitting.
A new war of words erupted as former Tory Cabinet Minister Michael Forsyth accused Brussels of Al Capone tactics over its demand for Britain to pay a massive divorce bill.
The diplomatic source said: The idea of avenging Britain for damaging the EU by leaving resonates with Barnier.
Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier (pictured) would be happy for Britain to fall out of the EU on hard Brexit terms to punish it for leaving, it was claimed
He has an old-fashioned view of Anglo-French relations based on mutual suspicion and ancient rivalry.
Barniers attitude was that you cannot leave the EU and damage it without paying a big price for doing so, and the big price could come in different forms.
The source added: He thinks if negotiations result in a hard Brexit it will be worse for Britain than the EU, but so be it. He is not working for that, but if that is what Britain wants he would be happy with it.
The news came after claims by Ministers that Barnier was softening his approach and that the main stumbling block to a Brexit deal was the hard line taken by Germanys Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron.
But diplomats say Barnier is playing cat and mouse with Davis, hinting at one moment that the EU may give ground on key issues like the divorce bill, reciprocal rights for EU and British citizens and the Irish border, while toughening his stance the next.
Theresa May is to attend an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, where her European counterparts are expected to refuse to take Brexit talks to the next stage on the grounds that insufficient progress has been made on the divorce bill.
Theresa May is to attend an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, where her European counterparts are expected to refuse to take Brexit talks to the next stage
A Cabinet source denied claims that a hard Brexit was now the most likely outcome.
The EU has too much to lose to go down that route and all you are seeing is the brinkmanship you would expect in a negotiation of this size, said a Cabinet Minister.
The final details of the divorce bill need not be agreed until later in the process.
Thatcherite Lord Forsyth, who served in John Majors Cabinet, blamed Brussels for the breakdown in negotiations. The EU was threatening Britain by saying unless you give us a very large sum of money which we wont be able to justify, we wont let you continue to do business with us, he said. This is the politics of Al Capone. This is extortion.
Lord Forsyths provocative comments were echoed by former Brexit Minister David Jones, who said Mrs May should be ready to threaten to suspend Brexit talks at this weeks summit.
If EU leaders try to fob her off by saying they wont start real trade talks until the next summit in December, she should pull the plug, he said.
Mrs May should make it clear the UK was fully prepared to leave the EU without a deal. That way, they will finally realise we are serious about walking away if we have to.
Will PM sack Boris then give him new powers? Theresa May is being urged to give Boris Johnson new Brexit powers to soften the blow of moving him from the Foreign Office. The PM is under pressure to dismiss both Mr Johnson and Chancellor Philip Hammond in a reshuffle expected after the Budget on November 22. One option is to make Mr Johnson the Tory chairman technically a demotion but the pill would be sweetened by giving him a place on the powerful committees that determine Britains Brexit strategy. The Mail on Sunday understands Mrs May could try to persuade Mr Johnson that the post will aid him in a future leadership contest. Advertisement
However, Hillary Clinton yesterday warned that failing to secure a Brexit deal would put Britain at a very big disadvantage. The former US presidential challenger, who received an honorary doctorate at Swansea University yesterday, said a no-deal scenario would put pressure on businesses and the disruption could be quite serious.
Nor should Britain pin its hopes on a US deal because Donald Trump doesnt believe in trade.
Her comments were reinforced by Sir Martin Donnelly, who was chief mandarin in arch-Brexiteer Liam Foxs International Trade department until recently.
Theresa May is being urged to give Boris Johnson new Brexit powers to soften the blow of moving him from the Foreign Office
Failure to achieve a Brexit deal could have a chilling effect on investment in the UK and create huge uncertainty for business, he warned. He was worried about the potential damage to UK trade from leaving the single market and suggested MPs could vote to keep the UK in the trading bloc after Britain leaves.
Sir Martin, who quit his role as permanent secretary earlier this year, also warned that severing ties with the European Court of Justice would have a major and lasting negative effect on jobs and investment.
If people arent sure what the regime is going to be with Europe, then not only will it have a chilling effect on investment here, it makes it more difficult to do good trade deals around the world, he said.
Last night, a spokesman for Barnier denied he would be happy to see Britain punished for Brexit, pointing out that the EU chief negotiator had himself said he had the greatest admiration for the UK.
Veteran chef Ma Wenbin from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, demonstrates the skill to make lanzhou lamian. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The beef noodle soup in Lanzhou in northwestern China has a history that goes back more than 100 years ago.
Now the typical Chinese dish has an ambition to get into Italy, a country known for its pasta.
In a recent culinary event jointly held by Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, and Italy embassy in Beijing, a veteran Chinese chef showed off the dazzling skills of turning a dough into diverse sizes of noodles.
Besides, an Italian chef also showcased the complicated process of cooking pasta.
Organizers say the event wants to exchange culinary cultures between the two countries, and to raise the reputation of Lanzhou noodle soup to Italians.
So far, the Lanzhou beef noodle soup has been reaching out to more than 20 countries, such as the United States, France and South Korea, and is expected to reach more like Italy, according to the Chinese organizers.
A third-degree black belt waiter successfully fended off a robber who attempted to yank open the cash register from a Texas IHOP restaurant.
Elijah Arnold, 22, told local WFAA he was opening up the diner located on the Northwest Side in San Antonio early Thursday when he heard an alarming noise coming from inside.
'I just heard the register popping ... I stepped out and looked and there he was pulling the register out and everything so I just took off.
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A black belt IHOP waiter fended off a robber who attempted to yank open the cash register from a Texas restaurant
Elijah Arnold, 22, said he was opening the diner on the Northwest Side in San Antonio early Thursday when he heard an alarming noise coming from inside
He said he 'heard the register popping ' and 'stepped out and looked and there he was pulling the register out'
'My instinct kicked in and I took off full speed at him,' Arnold said in an interview later on with the news station.
In surveillance footage, the suspect can be seen using a crowbar as he tries to aggressively break open the register.
Arnold is then shown tackling the suspect before the man drags him face down through the diner before brutally hitting him in the face with the crowbar.
'He's tries to start apologizing to me, (saying) oh, I'm so sorry, I know I hit you, I know I'm trying to steal your money ... but just give it to me. I need it really bad,' Arnold recalled the suspect saying to him during the incident.
Surveillance shows the suspect using a crowbar as he tries to aggressively break open the register
Arnold is then shown tackling the suspect before the man drags him face down through the diner before brutally hitting him in the face with the crowbar
'He's tries to start apologizing to me, (saying) oh, I'm so sorry, I know I hit you, I know I'm trying to steal your money ... but just give it to me. I need it really bad,' Arnold recalled the suspect saying
In a twist to the story, Arnold told WFAA he felt he was able to relate to the man who broke in - as he admitted to being a recovering drug addict.
The mixed martial arts expert said he had been employed at IHOP for four years prior to getting involved with drugs and other bad habits, which ultimately left him living on the streets.
Eventually, he knew he had to clean his life up - that's when he reached out to his managers, who were willing to give him a second chance.
Arnold said he felt he was able to relate to the man who broke in - as he admitted to being a recovering drug addict
Arnold was thrilled when his managers thanked him afterward. He said, 'that was the biggest thing I could have - was the thank you from my managers'
Arnold said he felt a strong responsibility to take action during what could have been a life-threatening incident.
'When I walked up to my managers today, they just congratulated me and said thank you,' he said proudly.
'So that was the biggest thing I could have - was the thank you from my managers.'
Police said they arrested the one suspect, while a second said to be involved has not yet been captured.
Theresa Mays political future hinges on a game of three-dimensional Brexit chess but one in which every move threatens checkmate.
Framing every deliberation is the hung Parliament she was left with after the General Election, and the fear of fatally alienating either her Brexit or Remain factions.
Meanwhile, lurking in the background is the deceptively benign-looking figure of Grant Shapps, the former party chairman who runs the list the names of Tory MPs who want Mrs May to quit.
When his plot was flushed out by No 10 earlier this month in order to distract attention from the disaster of Mrs Mays conference speech he was pilloried by fellow MPs.
Theresa Mays political future hinges on a game of three-dimensional Brexit chess but one in which every move threatens checkmate
They pointed out that the 30 names fall well short of the 48 required to trigger a leadership contest, and said that the list was dominated by Remoaners.
But Shapps is playing the long game. First of all, he knows that many of the MPs wheeled out by party whips to mock him and pledge loyalty to the PM secretly hold different views; several have already apologised to him for their duplicity.
More importantly, he believes Mrs May has been backed into a corner over the Brexit negotiations, with Thursdays EU summit expected to declare that talks cannot move on to the vital trade negotiations.
Instead, it is thought that unless she makes significant concessions in particular over our divorce bill and the nature of Britains post-2019 relationship with Brussels the talks will collapse.
The EU is still demanding a settlement close to 70 billion, while Mrs May has so far only tacitly agreed to 20 billion.
The more that Mrs May caves in, the more she risks pro-Brexit MPs adding themselves to the Shapps list in order to try to save their vision of Brexit by replacing her with one of their own, such as Boris Johnson or David Davis.
After the party conference fiasco, No 10 was happy to let stories run about Mrs May demoting Brexiteer Boris Johnson (left), while the past week has been dominated by speculation about the future of Remainer Philip Hammond (right)
Yet crashing out of the talks and setting course for a no deal Brexit could equally trigger a coup by Remainers.
An added headache, as she plots her moves, comes from the EU Withdrawal Bill. The bill, which is designed to transfer over EU laws, is on hold while No 10 tries frantically to avert dozens of threatened Tory rebellions.
Ministers have already signalled a retreat on plans to bypass Parliament by enacting so-called Henry VIII powers, after more than a dozen Tory MPs signed an amendment against it. But a more totemic battle is now looming at least ten Conservatives are backing an amendment that would give the Commons the power to veto the no deal option.
If Mrs May lost that vote, or agreed to the demand in advance, it would cripple her negotiating position and enrage the Brexiteers.
Then she has the threatened Cabinet reshuffle a chess game within a chess game.
After the party conference fiasco, No 10 was happy to let stories run about her demoting Brexiteer Boris Johnson, while the past week has been dominated by speculation about the future of Remainer Philip Hammond.
However, as her whips have pointed out to Mrs May, to sack just one of the two men would infuriate their Brexit tribe, while sacking both would create two powerful enemies. But to sack neither, after all the briefing, would look weak.
Its a conundrum that would baffle a political grandmaster and not many Conservatives would put Mrs May in that category.
Three men have been rushed to hospital after they were found unconscious from what is believed to be a drug overdose.
The men were discovered just after midnight on Sunday at a home in Sandy Point in Sydney's south.
Two of the men, aged 23 and 19, are in a stable condition in hospital and are expected to make a full recovery.
The third man, 25, has been taken to hospital for observation. A police investigation is underway.
Three men have been rushed to hospital after they were found unconscious from what is believed to be a drug overdose (stock image)
Two of the men, aged 23 and 19, are in a stable condition in hospital and are expected to make a full recovery
'Emergency services were called to Bingara Road at Sandy Point about 12.30am after three men were found unconscious,' a police spokesperson said.
'Police from Sutherland Local Area Command attended and were told the men had overdosed.'
The incident comes just weeks after six people aged in their 20s were suspected to have overdosed on drugs at Home Nightclub in Darling Harbour.
Five people were taken by ambulance to St Vincent's Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
A young female officer said to have had an 'inappropriate relationship' with the captain on board a nuclear submarine dressed in his uniform during 'boozy horseplay' in the vessel's officers' mess.
Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, 25, who is believed to have had a fling with Commander Stuart Armstrong, 41, wore his gold epaulettes and barked out joke orders to other officers aboard HMS Vigilant a Royal Navy submarine which carries Trident missiles.
Their alleged affair led to five officers threatening to resign in protest at what they considered a blatant breach of the Royal Navy's 'no touching' rules.
Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, Assistant Weapons Engineering Officer on HMS Vigilant, has been accused of having a sexual relationship with one of her comrades on board a submarine
Sub-Lieutenant Edwards taking part in memorial and Remembrance service at HMNB Clyde
Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, pictured centre, leads a Remembrance Day ceremony last year
Sub-Lieut Edwards, who qualified as a submariner last year, faces being fined or demoted pending an official inquiry.
Cmdr Armstrong has been relieved of his duties while an investigation is carried out.
Last night, the family of Sub-Lieut Edwards, who joined the Royal Navy in 2014 after achieving a First-Class Physics degree at Bristol University, condemned Cmdr Armstrong for allegedly preying on a junior crew member.
Her grandfather, Thomas Walker, 75, told The Mail on Sunday: 'Surely the opportunities to play about are in abundance in a job like that without doing it at sea and at work.
Stuart Armstrong (pictured) has been suspended from his post after an alleged affair with a female junior officer. She allegedly wore his uniform during their illicit fling
'So it is a bit poor really [for him to get involved with her]. He should have shown more responsibility towards a young girl like that.'
Sub-Lieut Edwards and Cmdr Armstrong were ordered off HMS Vigilant when it docked in the United States last month.
They were flown back to Britain as Navy top brass began interviewing crew members.
The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that the submarine's second-in-command Lieutenant Commander Michael Seal, 36, was also flown home over claims of an illicit relationship with another female crew member.
The married father-of-two, from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, is also facing disciplinary action. Last night, his wife Jennifer Seal, 36, told The Mail on Sunday he was not at the family home and that she did not know when he was coming back.
This newspaper has learned that the antics took place in HMS Vigilant's wardroom an onboard officers' mess where senior crew members gather to let off steam.
Five crew members on board HMS Vigilant have threatened to resign following allegations of sexual relations between two leading male officers
When on operations Royal Navy submarines are dry but the vessel was not involved in missions against any enemy forces at the time.
Women have served on Royal Navy surface ships since 1990 but were not permitted to submarine crews until 2014. A ban on intimate relationships is imposed aboard all Royal Navy vessels.
Given his seniority, Cmdr Armstrong is expected to face much stiffer punishment than Sub-Lieut Edwards should he be found to have breached social conduct regulations.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: 'We can confirm an investigation is under way, but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.'
The Navy's first female warship captain, Sarah West, was released from her command of frigate HMS Portland over an alleged affair with a married officer in 2014.
Maybe its because were frustrated by Brexit, fed-up with Westminster infighting, or bored of the unpredictable British weather, but the tide has turned. Britons are buying abroad again.
After years of economic uncertainty and with the demise of the pound, which saw a widespread collapse of the market for British buyers abroad, there is now a return to classic locations which are easy to reach, offer good weather, and are family-friendly.
Many estate agents say the 3 per cent Stamp Duty surcharge, introduced on holiday homes in this country last year, balances out unfavourable shifts in the exchange rate and makes the idea of a Continental bolthole more attractive.
A slice of French life: In regions such as Provence, sales of holiday homes are on the increase
Spanish property website Kyero says that since the June 2016 Brexit referendum there has been a rise of more than 90 per cent in sales in tourist areas of the Almeria region.
Meanwhile, the Spanish land registry reports 15,595 homes across the country were sold to foreigners in the second quarter of 2017 (up 7 per cent on 2016). Of those, 2,328 went to Britons.
Now the British account for 15 per cent of all overseas sales in Spain, making them the single largest overseas nationality purchasing holiday homes.
However, even this long-awaited Spanish recovery is eclipsed by the market across the border in France where theres a new pull for second-home buyers, triggered by the election of President Emmanuel Macron.
Tim Swannie, of estate agency Home Hunts, says the Macron Effect has encouraged interest from UK, European, U.S. and Middle Eastern buyers.
Macrons committed to reducing taxes for property owners and simplifying the fiscal framework, he says.
In France theres a new pull for second-home buyers, triggered by the election of President Emmanuel Macron
Statistics show that transactions in France are returning to the levels achieved before the banking crisis.
Prices are rising gently for the first time, suggesting now is the time to buy before the market recovers fully.
The average house price across France rose 1.7 per cent in 2016, but more in some areas: up 11 per cent in Bordeaux and 8 per cent in parts of Provence, claims Swannie. In Paris, apartment prices are up 4 per cent, he says.
Macrons victory brings with it cautious optimism. Its hoped his pro-business stance will reinvigorate the property market Kate Everett-Allen, from Knight Frank
Estate agency Knight Frank identifies the south-western region of Gascony as a potential bargain hotspot. It has historic towns such as Lourdes and Pau at its heart, and house prices are about 30 per cent lower than in 2008.
The new pricing levels make Gascony highly competitive compared with other French second-home markets. It attracts those seeking both a holiday retreat and those wanting a semi-permanent base, says Kate Everett-Allen, at Knight Frank.
More generally, Everett-Allen says the new president has given the holiday home landscape a kick-start.
Macrons victory brings with it cautious optimism. Its hoped his pro-business stance will reinvigorate the property market, she says.
Rebecca Russell, who lives on the Riviera and runs the Cote Abode service helping foreign buyers to find a home, says there is now a substantial volume of property on the market because Britons are selling to take advantage of a weak pound
There is enormous choice across France, but the most popular location for holiday home-buyers remains the French Riviera, the 70-mile strip of southern coast.
Rebecca Russell, who lives on the Riviera and runs the Cote Abode service helping foreign buyers to find a home, says there is now a substantial volume of property on the market because Britons are selling to take advantage of a weak pound.
Im now seeing more demand among younger professionals looking for investment or holiday purchases. There are a lot of Londoners cashing in and buying a pied-a-terre in Nice, says Russell, who recommends the citys Old Town and port areas.
Elsewhere on the Cote dAzur, she says high-value addresses such as Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Villefranche - two charming ports near Nice - are favourites among British buyers. Further west, Russell recommends the town of Vence - its beautiful, close to the coast and the airport.
Wherever you buy, it will pay to plan because of the exchange rate. If youre using sterling, you can fix a rate using a forward contract. This keeps the rate stable for six or 12 months, meaning you wont lose if the pound weakens further.
Alternatively, you could open an account with a bank in France and apply for a mortgage in euros. However you buy, a pad in France will offer a perfect view of the Macron Effect.
He seems determined to bring France into the 21st century, says Tim Swannie its going to be an exciting few years.
If you go by headlines alone, it's a tough time for the tech world, with claims of election meddling, massive privacy breaches and fears over just how much information tech giants hold about us.
While some have warned of a huge backlash against tech firms like Google, Twitter and Facebook, a new American opinion poll has revealed that in fact, people haven't changed their views at all.
In fact, favorability polls conducted by Morning Consult, a digital media and survey research company, suggest that Google and Facebook maintain consistently high favorability rates.
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Favorability polls conducted by Morning Consult, a digital media and survey research company, suggest that Google and Facebook maintain consistently high favorability rates, despite fears of a backlash against them
TOP 10 BRANDS YouGov BrandIndex, a firm that measures public perception of dozens of brands, ranked the top ten global brands in terms of 'brand health.' The ranks were: Google Youtube Facebook Samsung WhatsApp Apple iPhone Amazon Toyota Adidas Colgate Advertisement
While ratings can vary from week to week, the general trend is steady and shows overall favorability, with Google in particular maintaining a high level of favorability at over 80 per cent.
Morning Consult is currently tracking 898 brands, and surveying 5,000 consumers per day.
Jeff Cartwright, a media representative for Morning Consult, told the DailyMail.com that nothing has particularly affected the favorability of these tech brands, and it may be because people often use them on a daily basis.
'You can't live in this world without using these outlets - so we haven't seen such a dramatic drop as with other brands like United Airlines,' said Cartwright.
This is despite tech companies and social media platforms currently facing significant criticism as Facebook is singled out in the media for hosting fake ads, Google is being accused of skewing their search results, Amazon faces accusations of workplace abuse and Twitter is under fire over moderating tweets.
Indeed, while Google and Facebook enjoy consistently high favorability rates, the same is not true of other brands.
For example, every since a man on a United Airlines flight was dragged the plane by security, the airline's favorability rates plummeted and have struggled to recover fully, still remaining below 50 per cent.
The incident also affected the airline industry as a whole, and favorability rates for airlines are low, says Cartwright.
While ratings can vary from week to week, the general favorability trends for tech companies are steady and show overall favorability, with Google in particular maintaining a high level of favorability at over 80 per cent. Pictured is a Google favorability poll
Other consumer-perception companies have also come to similar findings to Morning Consult.
For example, YouGov BrandIndex, a firm that measures public perception of dozens of brands across different sectors, reported that Google, Facebook and Amazon were ranked first, third and seventh respectively in terms of 'global brand health.'
TECH GIANTS SUMMONED TO RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE HEARING Representatives of Facebook, Twitter and Google have been asked to appear on Nov. 1 at hearings on alleged Russian interference in U.S. politics called by the U.S. Senate and House Intelligence Committees, officials said. Facebook and Twitter have already agreed to send representatives to the Senate committee hearing, a Congressional official said. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, L, and Vice President of global communications, marketing and public policy Elliot Schrage, R, on Capitol Hill after meeting with U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) in Washington, U.S. October 12, 2017. An official knowledgeable about House committee plans declined to disclosed whether the companies have agreed to send representatives to its hearing. Sources said that Google had not yet notified the committees that it would send representatives to the hearings, though ultimately the company was likely to do so. Advertisement
While Google and Facebook enjoy consistently high favorability rates, the same is not true of other brands. For example, every since a man on a United Airlines flight was dragged the plane by security, the airline's favorability rates plummeted and have struggled to recover fully, still remaining below 50 per cent
By contrast, firms such as Chipotle and Volkswagen saw drops in their consumer perception rates following their own PR crises.
The brands were rated using a calculation that takes the average of Impression Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommendations and Reputation.
Facebook, however, has dropped out of the firm's top 10 US brand rankings, but Drew Kerr, a spokesperson for the firm, told Wired that this shouldn't be read into too much because BrandIndex tracks more than 1,700 US brands.
'Any brand falling out of the top 10 is not that big a deal, considering the huge amount of brands we track,' he says.
While it's hard to say why brands such as Facebook are not suffering in the wake of reports that the firm was paid to advertise fake news during the US elections, a December poll conducted by Morning Consult found that while the majority of people think that internet service providers, social media platforms and search engines all share responsibility for removing misleading content, the majority of people think that individual readers are most responsible for discerning 'fake news' from real news.
While it's hard to say why brands such as Facebook are not suffering in the wake of reports that the firm was paid to advertise fake news during the US elections, a December poll conducted by Morning Consult found that the majority of people think that individual readers are most responsible for discerning 'fake news' from real news
Despite tech companies' seeming immunity to drops in favorable consumer perception, slumps in brand perception scores can take place.
For example, Yahoo's YouGov BrandIndexs Buzz score's plummeted in 2013 following whistleblower Edward Snowden's release of National Security Administration Documents, suggesting that some tech companies gave consumer data to the government.
When you click on a website, its hard to imagine that this digital manifestation actually has a physical home a building with a surprisingly large staff employed to manage its operation.
In case youve been orbiting Earth for the past few years, Airbnb is a site that allows people to offer space in their home (or often their entire home) to paying guests; for those guests it offers the chance to find somewhere cheap and interesting to stay.
Like most things digital, it began life in California and its head office (a former Eveready battery factory) is in a fashionable district of San Francisco.
Booked in: The Mail on Sunday's Travel Editor Frank Barrett, right, and Nathan Blecharczyk
As I arrive, a mobile dental truck is drawing up. Employees enjoy a wealth of benefits, including free dental care and free food all day.
The business began in 2008 when former school friends Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia found themselves unable to pay the rent for their loft apartment (they were unemployed entrepreneurs at the time).
So they had the idea of putting an airbed in their living room and posting the availability of this bed-and-breakfast online, with the aim of making a few bucks.
Shortly afterwards, Nathan Blecharczyk joined as the chief technology officer, and the trio began a long and initially unfruitful search to find some financial backers for the company they called AirBed & Breakfast (because they had begun with an airbed).
Airbnb founders Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk and Brian Chesky
Today Airbnb offers more than three million listings in 65,000 cities and 191 countries. The company is valued at $30 billion (about 22.75 billion).
During my recent trip to California, I met Nathan, 33. He says that the key to success has been the trust the company has been able to develop between property owners and guests.
It is an important issue when the business involves inviting strangers into your house little wonder, then, that an extensive verification process is conducted on both sides.
There have inevitably been problems along the way guests who have hired properties to hold wild parties. But surprisingly, the process seems to work very well.
Today Airbnb offers more than three million listings in 65,000 cities and 191 countries. The company is valued at $30 billion (about 22.75 billion)
Airbnb's head office - a former Eveready battery factory - is in a fashionable district of San Francisco
The real problem has been more unexpected.
So many property owners are climbing aboard the Airbnb bandwagon that, in many cities, it has a profound effect on the number of properties available for residential letting.
There have been demonstrations against the company in Barcelona, for example.
Nathan understands the concerns and says that Airbnb is keen to work with city councils to work out solutions.
However, he points out that there are many people who are now able to pay their mortgages thanks to their Airbnb income.
Interestingly, Nathan doesnt just talk the talk his own home in San Francisco is listed on the site.
Teatro San Carlo in Naples is the oldest continuously active opera house in the world
Opera has never been more popular - and opera houses are a fine way to understand a city and its people.
This is the message brought home by a new exhibition, Opera: Passion, Power and Politics, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Whats more, you dont have to pay top dollar for top opera: there are alternatives where good seats cost no more than 40.
Here are our six of the best...
Naples on song
Pompeii in the afternoon and Verdis La Traviata at Teatro San Carlo in the evening? Easy - the ruins are only a 30-minute train ride from the centre.
Built in 1737, San Carlo is the oldest continuously active opera house in the world, beating La Scala (1778) and Venices La Fenice (1792).
ON SONG: Visit the peerless and fascinating National Archaeological Museum.
DON'T MISS: La Traviata in rep from February 27 to March 4, 2018, teatrosancarlo.it.
Best of Berlin
If you like your culture strong and undiluted, this is your city. With three opera houses (Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Deutsche Oper and Komische Oper), Berlin qualifies as the music capital of Europe. This autumn sees the reopening of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden after seven years restoration.
With the genius conductor Daniel Barenboim presiding, opera buffs will be in paradise.
ON SONG: The blend of old and new architecture at the Reichstag, the German parliament transformed by Sir Norman Foster.
DON'T MISS: La Boheme in rep from December 22 to January 17, staatsoper-berlin.de.
A wealth of heritage and history: The Lobkowicz Palace is the only private house within the walls of Prague Castle, and is home to the countrys largest family art collection
Pragues passion
Czechs have a lot to brag about. It was at the Estates Theatre that Mozart conducted the premiere of Don Giovanni in 1787, which was reportedly still wet on the manuscript.
The State Opera House, all gilt and plush, is under restoration, but that wont spoil your visit because there are equally dazzling alternatives for performances such as the Karlin, National and Estates Theatres.
ON SONG: The Lobkowicz Palace is the only private house within the walls of Prague Castle and is home to the countrys largest family art collection.
DON'T MISS: Don Giovanni in rep from October 16 to June 30 at the Estates Theatre, narodni-divadlo.cz.
Dresdens revival
Verdi or Wagner? At the Semper Opera House you can afford both, because top-price tickets are about 86. Dresden is a baroque masterpiece and its destruction by the Allies in 1945 remains controversial. But its restoration, including the Italianate opera house, has been miraculous.
ON SONG: Listen to a Mass sung in the Frauenkirche church.
DON'T MISS: The Magic Flute in rep from November 20 to May 27, semperoper.de.
A Danish delight: Copenhagen Opera House opened to great acclaim in 2005
Copenhagens baby
Copenhagen Opera House opened to great acclaim in 2005.
ON SONG: Book a backstage tour (in English) to admire the 24-carat gold ceiling and the giant chandeliers designed by artist Olafur Eliasson.
DON'T MISS: Madame Butterfly in rep from October 17 to May 26, kglteater.dk.
Magnificent Madrid
The Teatro Real is one of the most splendid in Europe and if you have any heirlooms, this is the place to rattle your jewellery and carry your best handbag.
ON SONG: Catch the new Picasso/Lautrec exhibition at the nearby Thyssen-Bornemisza National Collection, from October 17 to January 21.
DON'T MISS: Aida from March 7 to 25, teatro-real.com.
Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui speaks at an economic forum in Moscow, Russia, September 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)
The China-Russia relationship is the epitome of successful "major country diplomacy" with Chinese characteristics, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui said Friday.
In his article published in Izvestia, a Russian newspaper, Li said China-Russia relations have been operating at a high level since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012.
Li said bilateral ties have been advancing in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping's "neighborhood diplomacy" featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the construction of a new model of major-country relationship.
In the past five years, Xi has visited Russia six times and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin more than 20 times on various occasions to map out and lead the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, Li said.
Pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia has been deepened to implement the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Xi, the ambassador said.
In May 2015, Xi and Putin signed a joint declaration on the connection of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, injecting new impetus into the further development of bilateral ties, Li said.
Li said China and Russia have been closely working together in international affairs and playing the role of a "ballast stone" in safeguarding global peace and stability.
The two countries have gained support and recognition worldwide by seeking a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as its core and abandoning the obsolete mindset of alignment, confrontation and zero-sum game.
Li said he believes that China-Russia relations, guided by Xi's diplomatic ideas, will steadily advance to a higher level in the future.
Brett has a good look around before going to the edge of the pontoon to untie the airboat.
Theres a huge croc who lives in here, he says. And its better when hes close and you can see him. At least you know where he is.
Were bobbing along in the middle of Sweets Lagoon, which feels as if its in the middle of nowhere.
The Mail on Sunday's David Whitley went for a ride with Outback Floatplanes. The firm runs floatplane, helicopter and airboat trips from Darwin, Australia
In reality, its a short flight but an awfully long, indirect drive down dirt tracks from Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory. That flight is done by floatplane, and it lands on the water for a whirlwind taste of the true, wild Top End of Australia.
The idea behind Outback Floatplanes is to cram as much as possible into a half-day adventure, using the coolest transport. The airboat is just one of them.
It fizzes off along the lagoon in search of prehistoric monsters with big teeth. On the way, white-bellied sea eagles and whistling kites fly overhead in search of easy pickings in the water, while the boat brings noise to an otherwise serene landscape of lily pads and paperbark trees.
Finally, we find Otis. He clocks in at about 15ft you would stand no chance if you went for a swim. For crocs to get this big, they have to be tremendous fighters. Only about one per cent reach adulthood, and from then its a constant scrap for territory.
While cruising along in an airboat, David spotted a 15 foot crocodile named Otis
And the bigger you are, the more territory you can keep. Otis has no interest in scrapping right now, though. He lies semi-submerged just his head is out of the water waiting to see if any potential meals are stupid enough to swim past.
The crocs arent the only creatures out here, and to see more, its time to head into the skies once more, this time in a helicopter.
We rise up over the lagoon to fly over the marshy grasslands that become a giant lake in the wet season, then parched in the dry season.
Finally, we find Otis. He clocks in at about 15ft you would stand no chance if you went for a swim
Giant termite mounds rise towards the sky, some reaching 15ft. Elsewhere, a few wallabies hop through the thick grass, and a wild boar scampers toward the forest.
But in the wetlands we find the big beast. A buffalo spots our chopper and is spooked by it. It has good reason to be culling is often done from helicopters in regions this vast and empty. The animal breaks into a gallop, twisting in its path in an attempt to throw us off the scent.
We eventually leave it be and head back to the pontoon. Below, theres a mango farm, the wreckage of an old Second World War plane on a mudflat, and a dizzying network of creeks.
Each one of them will have an Otis in it, lying in wait as his ancestors have done since the age of the dinosaurs.
I think Ill save my swim for the hotel pool
New parent Rob Kardashian rang in another milestone with his baby on Friday.
He tweeted a sweet photo that day of his beaming daughter Dream Kardashian, whose mother is Blac Chyna.
'Dream's first trip to the zoo!' Rob, 30, captioned the snapshot, which showed the 11-month-old in a stroller near wood railings and a wire fence.
'Dream's first trip to the zoo!': Rob Kardashian tweeted a sweet photo Friday of his 11-month-old daughter ringing in her latest milestone
Shortly before, Rob had uploaded a photo of his firstborn child perched on a haystack in front of a pair of pumpkins.
Dream was surrounded by more haystacks that also had pumpkins sitting on them.
Earlier on Friday, Rob had tweeted a photo of little Dream posing in the cutout of a wall with her two-year-old cousin Reign Disick.
The cutout was made to resemble a picture frame on a baroque-papered wall.
Seasonal: Shortly before, Rob had uploaded a photo of his firstborn child perched on a haystack in front of a pair of pumpkins
With Halloween just around the corner, the other pictures on the wall were of a ghoulish variety, including one of two evil children and one of a skeleton.
'Cousin LOVE,' Rob wrote, adding two heart emoji and two emoji with halos.
Reign is the youngest child of Rob's 38-year-old sister Kourtney Kardashian and Kourtney's 34-year-old on-off paramour Scott Disick.
Rob had been with his Rob & Chyna co-star off and on since early 2015, and she gave birth to Dream last November.
Peekaboo!: Earlier on Friday, Rob had tweeted a photo of little Dream posing in the cutout of a wall with her two-year-old cousin Reign Disick
Rob and Chyna split in December - Rob posting a Snapchat video of himself wandering miserably through their empty house - but reunited soon after.
This July saw their latest and most dramatic breakup, with Rob posting explicit photos of Chyna to Instagram during a rant that got his account removed.
In short order, Chyna lawyered up with Gloria Allred's daughter Lisa Bloom and won a restraining order against her rotund used-to-be.
Co-parents: Reign is the youngest child of Rob's 38-year-old sister Kourtney Kardashian and Kourtney's 34-year-old on-off paramour Scott Disick
Meanwhile, Rob chose for his attorney Robert Shapiro - who with Rob's father had been a member of O.J. Simpson's defense team during O.J.'s murder trial.
The mother of Rob's child gave a press conference featuring Lisa, who has also co-starred in a press conference with Kathy Griffin, as well as one with Quantasia Sharpton, who claimed Usher exposed her to herpes.
Though Chyna has accused Rob of abuse, TMZ reported last month that she let that allegation drop as part of a deal that got her $20,000 in child support a month.
A day after reporting that child support figure, TMZ revealed Chyna was still gunning for a payout of at least $1 million by way of the revenge porn case.
He was rumored to be clashing with his Dancing With The Stars celebrity partner last week.
But Maksim Chmerkovskiy showed no signs of drama on his mind as he chatted with his brother's girlfriend, fellow DWTS pro Jenna Johnson, outside of a dancing studio in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon.
The 37-year-old professional dancing champion embraced the brunette before the duo parted ways.
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Happy guy! Maksim Chmerkovskiy looked in good spirits as he spoke with his brother's girlfriend, fellow DWTS pro Jenna Johnson, outside of a dancing studio in Los Angeles on Friday
Hugs: The 37-year-old professional dancing champion embraced the brunette before the duo parted ways
Grinning from ear-to-ear, the pair chatted for a few minutes by Maksim's car after another grueling workout.
The one-time mirrorball champ showed off his bulging biceps in a tight black shirt as he hugged Johnson.
He covered up his muscular dancer legs in a pair of black sweats which cinched around his ankles.
Dance talk: Grinning from ear-to-ear, the pair chatted for a few minutes by Maksim's car after another grueling workout
Showing off her tanned and toned legs in a pair of short black running shorts and black dancing shoes, Jenna embraced Maksim before walking to her nearby vehicle.
She covered up in a tight millennial pink sweatshirt with sleeves rolled up to her forearms while carrying a pair of fuzzy slippers in one hand and a refreshing Kombucha drink in the other.
Her boyfriend of a few months, Maksim's little brother and fellow DWTS professional dancer Valentin, was nowhere to be seen.
Tiny dancer: She covered up in a millennial pink sweatshirt with sleeves rolled up to her forearms while carrying a pair of dancing shoes in one hand and a Kombucha drink in the other
Trouble in paradise? Last week, Maksim failed to appear for his performance with celebrity partner Vanessa Lachey, citing 'personal reasons'; the pair seen on Monday
Last week, Maksim, who has an infant son with wife and DWTS pro Peta Murgatroyd, failed to appear for his performance, citing 'personal reasons'.
Rumors began to swirl that he wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with his celebrity partner Vanessa Lachey.
Two days later on Wednesday, he took full responsibility for his absence via Twitter, and apologized to his celebrity partner.
'As you are all aware, I had to leave the show last week to take care of some personal issues,' he wrote. 'I take full responsibility for my absence .... and want to apologize to my partner Vanessa.
'We are both looking forward to dancing for our fans next week!' he added.
Family matters: Maksim and his wife, DWTS professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd have an infant son, Shai; seen in August at the Industry Dance Awards and Benefit
Last season the show was plagued by leaks and a major hack which threatened to reveal multiple episodes.
And it seems producers of the massively popular Game of Thrones aren't taking any chances for the final season, if actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Liam Cunningham are to be believed.
According to a report by AP, Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister, recently told Scandinavian chat show Skavlan that heroic measures are being taken to avoid any issues with the upcoming story lines.
New measures: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, 47, has said that producers for Game of Thrones will not be giving the actors scripts for the final season
The 47-year-old actor stated that for the first few seasons, the actors got normal hard-copy scripts, which evolved into the actors receiving their scripts as secure digital files and via verified email accounts.
Following the ransom hack during the last season, during which thieves stole files and then demanded money for their not releasing them to the web, HBO has taken security to the next level.
Coster-Waldau hinted that actors would be equipped with earpieces for each scene, and fed their dialogue line by line.
'We're not even going to get the script,' he insisted.
Insider info: Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister, recently told Scandinavian chat show Skavlan that heroic measures are being taken to avoid any issues with the upcoming story lines
Liam Cunningham, 56, who plays ex smuggler Davos Seaworth, seemed to confirm his co-star's account of the epic security.
Referring to the scripts for the final season 'I got them all,' Cunningham told Metro, 'I can't open them because of all the security, and I can't walk it out.'
Apparently no one on the production is allowed to possess a script outside of the Belfast shooting offices.
Backing him up: Liam Cunningham (left), 56, who plays ex smuggler Davos Seaworth, seemed to confirm his co-star's account of the epic security
Meanwhile, it seems production may have other challenges, as the pending nuptials of Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie are threatening to delay filming.
Talking to Jonathan Ross, Kit - who plays integral and longstanding Jon Snow on the fantasy drama - revealed that he fully expects some time off to get married - 'I rang [the producer] up and I said, 'I'm getting married and it's your fault, actually.'
'I was like, 'You need to factor in a Game of Thrones wedding by the way. [The cast] have all got to be there so the whole thing has got to shut down.''
Mila Kunis got her brunette bob trimmed at a Beverly Hills hair salon Friday while rocking a black floral bomber.
The 34-year-old Golden Globe nominee paired her cheery jacket with a black speckled top, blue skinny jeans, and black slip-on sneakers.
The Bad Moms star has yet to publicly address the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct accusations pouring in from over two dozen women.
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Pamper session! Mila Kunis got her brunette bob trimmed at a Beverly Hills hair salon Friday while rocking a black floral bomber
Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, Cara Delevingne, and Kate Beckinsale were among the first to reveal their disturbing encounters with the 65-year-old movie mogul.
Last November, Mila (born Milena) detailed her own experience with Hollywood misogyny on her husband Ashton Kutcher's blog, A Plus.
'Throughout my career, there have been moments when I have been insulted, sidelined, paid less, creatively ignored, and otherwise diminished based on my gender,' Kunis wrote in the op-ed.
'I taught myself that to succeed as a woman in this industry I had to play by the rules of the boy's club. But the older I got and the longer I worked in this industry, the more I realized that it's bulls***! And, worse, that I was complicit in allowing it to happen.'
Maintenance: The 34-year-old Golden Globe nominee paired her cheery jacket with a black speckled top, blue skinny jeans, and black slip-on sneakers
Scandal: The Bad Moms star has yet to publicly address the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct accusations pouring in from over two dozen women
'I realized that it's bulls***! And, worse, that I was complicit in allowing it to happen': Last November, Mila (born Milena) detailed her own experience with Hollywood misogyny on her husband Ashton Kutcher's blog, A Plus
The mother-of-two added: 'If this is happening to me, it is happening more aggressively to women everywhere. I am fortunate that I have reached a place that I can stop compromising and stand my ground, without fearing how I will put food on my table.'
The Ukrainian-born beauty has appeared in a total of two films distributed by Miramax (Weinstein's company) - Get Over It in 2001 and Extract in 2009.
Melissa Sagemiller, her co-star in the former, revealed she warned Mila and Kirsten Dunst on the Toronto set about how 'Jabba the Hutt' forced her to kiss him in his hotel room.
'I was definitely talking about it when we would go out with the cast because I was trying to warn the other girls,' the 43-year-old actress told the Huffington Post on Friday.
'If this is happening to me, it is happening to women everywhere': Kunis has appeared in a total of two films distributed by Miramax (Weinstein's company) - Get Over It (pictured) in 2001 and Extract in 2009
'I was definitely talking about it': Melissa Sagemiller, her co-star in the former, revealed she warned Mila and Kirsten Dunst on the Toronto set about how 'Jabba the Hutt' forced her to kiss him in his hotel room
The 43-year-old actress told Huffington Post on Friday: 'He said, "Dont you want your career to be more than just this little teen film? Renee [Zelweger] did it and Charlize [Theron] did it"'
'And I was trying to be tough about it and make a joke about it...He said, "Dont you want your career to be more than just this little teen film?" Renee [Zelweger] did it and Charlize [Theron] did it.'
Kunis was likely also informed by her longtime colleague Seth MacFarlane, who hired her in 1999 on Fox's Family Guy and directed her in his 2012 movie Ted.
While presenting at the 2013 Oscars, the 43-year-old actor-crooner joked that the supporting actress nominees 'no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.'
Longtime colleagues: Kunis was likely also informed by Seth MacFarlane, who hired her in 1999 on Fox's Family Guy and directed her in his 2012 movie Ted (pictured in 2007)
'Congratulations!' While presenting at the 2013 Oscars, the 43-year-old actor-crooner (R) joked that the supporting actress nominees 'no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein'
'There is nothing more abhorrent and indefensible than abuse of power': The Logan Lucky funnyman tweeted on Wednesday that it was in honor of his Ted actress Jessica Barth, who told him Weinstein sexually assaulted her
The Logan Lucky funnyman tweeted on Wednesday that it was in honor of his Ted actress Jessica Barth, who told him Weinstein sexually assaulted her.
The Jim Beam spokesmodel continues voicing angsty teenage daughter Meg Griffin in the 16th season of Family Guy, which airs Sundays on Fox.
Mila will also reprise her role as Amy Mitchell alongside castmates Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell in the R-rated moms-gone-wild sequel A Bad Mom's Christmas, which hits US/UK theaters November 3.
Jim Beam spokesmodel: The Ukrainian-born beauty continues voicing angsty teenage daughter Meg Griffin in the 16th season of Family Guy, which airs Sundays on Fox
The Hollywood mega star filmed the latest Thor: Ragnarok in sunny Queensland.
And lead star Chris Hemsworth is now pushing for more blockbusters to be filmed on Australian soil.
The hunky actor, 34, told The Daily Telegraph on Friday: 'I would love to shoot everything here!'
'I would love to shoot everything here!' Thor star Chris Hemsworth admits he's 'trying' to get ALL his movies filmed on Australian soil
The Hollywood mega star has played the muscular superhero Thor since 2011
While being interviewed on the red carpet at Australia's Thor: Raganok premiere on the Gold Coast on Friday night Chris - sporting an ISAIA suit - praised his local filming experience.
'This is one of the best experiences Ive had on a set and to catch up with them have them see all their hard work is very special,' he said.
Chris added: 'Anything I read or anything that comes my way, Im trying to bring back here.'
'Anything I read or anything that comes my way, Im trying to bring back here': Chris - sporting an ISAIA suit - claims he's been a strong advocate for filming more blockbusters Down Under
On set in Australia: The latest film in the Thor franchise was filmed at a host of Queensland locations, including within Brisbane CBD's Esk Lane where Chris and Tom Hiddleston acted out a prominent scene (pictured)
The latest film in the Thor franchise was filmed at a host of Queensland locations last year, including Gold Coast's $15.5 million Sound Stage at Village Roadshow Studios at Warner Bros. Movie World.
Other scenes were also shot on location at Mt Tamborine and within Brisbane CBD's Esk Lane.
Chris stars alongside Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Sir Anthony Hopkins, as well as new stars Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum and Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk.
Staying close to home? The Australian heartthrob is based in New South Wales' Byron Bay with his wife Elsa Pataky
The Australian heartthrob is based in New South Wales' Byron Bay with his wife Elsa Pataky.
They share three children: three-year-old twin boys Tristan and Sasha and five-year-old daughter India Rose.
Thor: Ragnarok will hit Australian cinemas from October 26
She made headlines this week after confirming that she enjoyed a fling with her now-ex Nabil Gazal, while husband Oliver Curtis was in jail.
And on Saturday, PR maven Roxy Jacenko revealed that life has been a breeze since she reunited with Oliver following his prison stint.
The 37-year-old gushed about her new life on Today when she helped celebrate McHappy Day by taking a bite out of a Big Mac live on air.
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'Life is good': Roxy Jacenko says she's glad husband Oliver Curtis is out of jail and her family is 'together'...as she tucks into a Big Mac on live television
'All is good with me now,' Roxy said.
'Family is together, Olly is obviously back so life is good and I just had a Big Mac for breakfast,' Roxy said with a laugh.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph this week, the blonde bombshell admitted her relationship with Nabil was more than a 'drunk kiss'.
Family: Roxy is pictured with husband, Oliver Curtis
The pair were pictured kissing on his balcony in April, while Oliver was in jail.
In a tell-all interview, Roxy detailed the extent of their tryst, claiming Nabil reached out to her shortly after her breast cancer diagnosis in July last year.
'I was in my most vulnerable state. It was the toughest time of my life,' she said.
Opening up: Speaking to The Daily Telegraph this week, the blonde bombshell admitted her relationship with Nabil (pictured) was more than a 'drunk kiss'
In July 2016, eight days after husband Oliver Curtis was sentenced to a year in prison for insider trading, the Sweaty Betty PR founder was diagnosed with breast cancer.
According to the publication, Sydney property developer Nabil reached out to Roxy, who he'd previously dated, 'days' after her diagnosis.
It was at that point their romance rekindled, the PR maven revealed, with the mother-of-two spending 'several nights a week,' with Nabil.
'Yes there was a relationship and I am not going to deny it,' she told the publication on Saturday.
Roxy also revealed that their rekindled romance lasted until just days before Oliver was released from Cooma Correction Centre in June this year.
'I'm not going to deny it': Roxy also revealed that their rekindled romance lasted until just days before Oliver was released from Cooma Correction Centre in June this year
The main reason for Nabil and Roxy's split was a huge fight, she revealed, at which point she returned a heart-shaped ring he'd given her.
'He was someone who was familiar to me, I was in a very bad place. Yes, we were together,' she confirmed.
'You have to remember, my husband went to jail, my marriage was not intact, I had breast cancer and a friend (Nabil) at the time, reached out.'
She insisted that it was Nabil who reached out to her, adding that now, with Oliver out of jail and their romance thriving, she realises he's a great husband and father.
A woman who said the rapper Nelly raped her on his tour bus in a Seattle suburb last weekend is dropping her pursuit of criminal charges.
Lawyer Karen Koehler said in a statement on Friday that her client wanted to stop the investigation and would refuse to testify in court.
Koehler says the woman 'wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her.'
Dropped: A woman who said the rapper Nelly raped her on his tour bus in a Seattle suburb last weekend is dropping her pursuit of criminal charges.
Auburn police arrested Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, early Saturday in his tour bus at a Walmart.
He was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree rape and released later that day.
He has not been charged with a crime.
Nelly's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, has called the rape claim a 'completely fabricated allegation.'
Trouble: Auburn police arrested Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, early Saturday in his tour bus at a Walmart.
In her statement, Koehler said we 'do not live in a society where a 21-year-old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape.'
She slammed the police who assured her their meeting with her would be kept a secret, who the issued a statement about the meeting .
'Who will believe her. People are saying horrible things already. She cannot handle this. She is about to break. She wants to close the door. She wants this to end. She just cannot bear it.'
The lawyer insisted she 'never wanted notoriety, or 'a dime from that man.'
In her statement, lawyer Karen Koehler said we 'do not live in a society where a 21-year-old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape.'
She concluded with a reference to the ongoing Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal.
'One day, maybe our world will change and thirty women will not be needed to (eventually) speak out against a celebrity who has hurt them in order to be believed.'
Meanwhile, TMZ reported that the rapper's lawyer has demanded a public apology from the accuser, and is pushing for legal retaliation.
Rosenblum told the site her 'reckless accusation, once investigated thoroughly, was exposed for what it was-a fabrication. A fabrication that has caused Nelly and his family to suffer emotionally and financially.'
Innocent: Upon his release, Nelly released a statement on Twitter branding the allegations false, and apologizing for 'putting himself in the situation.'
He's the Australian funnyman that's been on the comedy scene for 21 years.
And Peter Helliar has revealed why he loves bringing his funnyman persona to Channel 10 news program The Project.
Speaking to Confidential on Saturday, the 42-year-old said: 'Being the funny sidekick on The Project is a fun place to be, (co-hosts) Carrie (Bickmore) and Waleed (Aly) arrive at the office earlier to review news but I don't have to adjust my chair in that sense.'
Australian TV star: Peter Helliar has been involved more and more with television, from his time on Rove Live right up until his self-proclaimed 'funny sidekick' persona on The Project
'2017 has been a lovely year.'
And it's just got even better for the well-known Australian comic, with Channel Ten handing Peter a starring role on new game show Cram as the host.
The memory-based game show requires contestants to recall observations after watching short videos.
'2017 has been a lovely year': In an interview with Confidential on Saturday, the 42-year-old said he's simply just happy to be a part of it all
Cram! Peter will host new Channel Ten memory-based game show Cram
The team that recalls the most facts after watching the clip is the winner.
Peter is ecstatic about the move, revealing that when filming the show, one of the producers told him watching him host is like 'watching you in your own playground.'
'It's really addictive, you can't help but join in and anyone can play because you're given all that information, you just have to remember it,' he explained.
Hosts: Peter stars alongside comedian Dilruk Jayasinha and actor Virginia Gay, who are the show's two weekly team captains
Peter stars alongside comedian Dilruk Jayasinha and actor Virginia Gay, who are the show's two weekly team captains.
The long-time Channel Ten employee was also nominated for Australian TV's most prestigious prize, the Gold Logie earlier this year.
Peter is currently married to his wife Bridget, and the couple have three sons - Liam, 14, Aidan, 12, and Oscar nine.
Carrie Ann Inaba got very personal on The Talk Friday.
The 49-year-old personality held nothing back as she opened up on her plans for the future, including adopting a child and having a hysterectomy to prevent health complications down the road.
Inaba shared her own desires to adopt as the panel chat about Mandy Moore's recent remarks that she's considering adoption with fiance Taylor Goldsmith.
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Emotional: Carrie Ann Inaba, 49, opened up on The Talk Friday about her desire to adopt kids, as well as having a hysterectomy to prevent health complications down the road
'I've always wanted to adopt since I'm very young,' the Dancing with the Stars judge, who sat in on the CBS program this week, told panelists Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert and Mario Lopez. 'I think about it, but Im so frightened of it, because if youre single, you know, can you do it? Thats my own fear for myself.'
The Honolulu, Hawaii native got misty-eyed as she waxed on about her prospective parenthood.
'It's such an interesting concept, I want so badly to have a child oh, not gonna cry,' she said, taking deep breaths.
Lopez, 44, a father of two children, reassured Inaba that 'it's a scary thing even for biological kids' as 'there's no blueprint' or 'guideline on how to raise them.
No holding back: Inaba said, 'I've always wanted to adopt since I'm very young'
Backup: Inaba received strong support from fellow panelists such as Sara Gilbert (R)
'You just gotta come from a place of love, I think, and you really can't go wrong.'
Inaba said, 'I would like to adopt a child a little bit older that two cause I'm afraid of the head-wobbly phase.'
Underwood said she had pondered adopting children after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but was apprehensive about adopting just one and leaving other children behind. She said that she also second-guessed what kind of parent she would be.
Looking closely: Inaba said she would prefer to adopt a toddler instead of a newborn
Ensemble: The spirited discussion included panelists (L-R) Sheryl Underwood, Mario Lopez, Sharon Osbourne, Inaba and Gilbert
'Then I thought what if I screw up their lives because Im crazy,' she said. 'Id be taking the baby and the baby like, "B----, I dont want to go with you! I dont want to go with you! Where is Carrie Ann? I dont want to go with you!"'
Gilbert was encouraging of Inaba's possible plans to adopt, as she told her, 'Carrie Ann, I want to say if its that important to you and that emotional, youd be an amazing mother and you should do it!'
Earlier on the program, Inaba said that she was 'going to have a hysterectomy' to remove 'some fibroids' and prevent a possible future case of cancer. She said she had been speaking with her doctor about various medical options, such as the removal of the ovaries and Fallopian tubes. Inaba said: 'There are different ways of looking at it; its really good to just make sure you have a great relationship with your doctor.'
Eye on health: Inaba encouraged women to speak in detail with their physicians if contemplating preventative care
Katie Holmes did her best to blend in with the other New York travelers awaiting the next train in the subway in Lower Manhattan on Friday.
The 38-year-old actress even helped support local artists underground by charitably tipping a nearby busker with bucket drums.
For her solo commute, the Kennedys: After Camelot stunner sported a soft brown trench coat over blue jeans, white sneakers, and a big black leather bag.
Mingling with the general public: Katie Holmes did her best to blend in with the other New York travelers awaiting the next train in the subway in Lower Manhattan on Friday
Boasts a $25M fortune: The 38-year-old actress even helped support local artists underground by charitably tipping a nearby busker with bucket drums
Katie - who was glued to her iPhone - wore her brunette bob down and she shielded her make-up free complexion with black sunglasses.
Earlier while window shopping, Holmes checked out a display of Playboy box sets following the September 27 death of publisher/founder Hugh Hefner at age 91.
The Ohio-born beauty - who just flew back from Canada - was also seen browsing knit sweaters and more in a Big Apple boutique.
Hours earlier, the Logan Lucky star was in Toronto attending the Holt Renfrew 180th anniversary while clad in an off-the-shoulder floral-embellished Zac Posen gown.
Solo commute: The Kennedys: After Camelot stunner sported a soft brown trench coat over blue jeans, white sneakers, and a big black leather bag
Glued to her iPhone: Katie wore her brunette bob down and she shielded her make-up free complexion with black sunglasses
Bunnies: Earlier while window shopping, Holmes checked out a display of Playboy box sets following the September 27 death of publisher/founder Hugh Hefner at age 91
Globetrotter: The Ohio-born beauty - who just flew back from Canada - was also seen browsing knit sweaters and more in a Big Apple boutique
Make-up artist Genevieve Herr made sure Katie was camera-ready for the Vogue-sponsored bash and hairstylist DJ Quintero coiffed her updo.
Holmes has yet to publicly address the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct accusations pouring in from over two dozen women.
Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale, and Eva Green were among the first to reveal disturbing encounters with the 65-year-old mogul.
The lecherous Oscar winner produced four of the Dawson's Creek alum's films - Woman in Gold (2015), The Giver (2014), Underdogs (2013), and Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999).
Baring her shoulders: Hours earlier, the Logan Lucky star was in Toronto attending the Holt Renfrew 180th anniversary while clad in a floral-embellished Zac Posen gown
Glam squad: Make-up artist Genevieve Herr (L) made sure Katie was camera-ready for the Vogue-sponsored bash and hairstylist DJ Quintero coiffed her updo
Silent: Holmes has yet to publicly address the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct accusations pouring in from over two dozen women
And Weinstein's company Miramax distributed Katie's 2010 haunted house horror flick, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.
The All We Had director next stars in Lisa Addario & Joe Syracuse's dictator satire Coup d'Etat as well as Claude Lalonde's piano drama The Gift.
Missing from Holmes' side was her 11-year-old princess Suri, for whom she constructed mother-daughter robot Halloween costumes out of cardboard boxes last week.
Complicit? Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Kate Beckinsale, and Eva Green were among the first to reveal disturbing encounters with the 65-year-old mogul (L, pictured in 2014)
Collaborators: The lecherous Oscar winner produced four of the Dawson's Creek alum's films - Woman in Gold (2015), The Giver (2014), Underdogs (2013), and Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)
Worryingly, the last time Suri was photographed with her famous father, Oscar nominee Tom Cruise, was way back in 2012.
For the last four years, Katie has been romantically linked to her 55-year-old ex's Collateral co-star Jamie Foxx, and they were pictured canoodling in Malibu on September 5.
The Happening of Monumental Proportions actress was reportedly banned from publicly dating anyone for five years due to a clause in their 2012 divorce settlement.
Playing Darlene Mills: The All We Had director next stars in Lisa Addario & Joe Syracuse's dictator satire Coup d'Etat (pictured) as well as Claude Lalonde's piano drama The Gift
Ready for fall! Missing from Holmes' side was her 11-year-old princess Suri, for whom she constructed mother-daughter robot Halloween costumes out of cardboard boxes last week
Keeping it casual: Katie layered up in her long caramel coloured coat which kept the chill off to the autumn air
Stylish figure: The ex wife of Tom Cruise added to her comfort with a pair of flat white trainers, not needing to add to her height
Comfortable: The movie star opted for jeans and a striped polo shirt as she kept her look underwraps
Home time! The mother-of-one had a successful shopping trip as she toted a paper brown bag brimming with her buys
Blending in: Katie showed she was down-to-earth when she took the subway for her trip
Low-key: The film star wore neutral colours which helped her blend in on her busy journey
Natural look: Katie embraced her natural beauty when she let her brunette tresses down
There's no doubt that his newborn daughter, Willow Wendy Wood, has him wrapped around her little finger.
And on Saturday, Sam Wood doted over his newborn yet again as he introduced her to his sister for the first time.
The former Bachelor star and personal trainer shared a sweet snap to Instagram of the meeting, and spoke about his late mother in the post.
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'Mum, I know you're up there smiling': Sam Wood introduces his sister to his newborn daughter Willow Wendy...who is named after his late mother
'This is my little sister Han meeting her niece Willow Wendy (named after our beautiful Mum) Wood for the first time,' Sam said, having named his little girl in tribute of his late mother.
He added: 'Mum I know you're up there smiling.'
In the snap, his sister holds Willow Wendy, who is wrapped in a grey and colourful blanket, and wears a pink beanie.
Happy: Sam shares his little girl with fiancee Snezana Markoski, (seen), who he met on The Bachelor
'You make our hearts explode': Two days ago, Sam shared to Instagram a sweet shot of himself holding his little girl
One fan commented underneath: 'So beautiful and I'm loving the middle name and the meaning behind it.'
Another wrote: 'I'm sure your mother would be looking down with such pride and such a wonderful honour naming your precious girl after her.'
Two days ago, Sam shared to Instagram a sweet shot of himself holding his little girl.
Sam shares his little girl with fiancee Snezana Markoski, who he met on The Bachelor, and who has a daughter, Eve.
The family welcomed Willow Wendy into the world on Sunday.
Family: The couple are pictured with Snezana's daughter, Eve, from a previous relationship
'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,' Sam wrote.
On Friday, Snezana shared to Instagram a snap of Willow, writing: 'I could honestly stare at you all day little Miss Willow Wendy Wood. We knew before you were born we would love you but honestly words cannot do it justice.'
This week he told KIIS FM's Hughesy and Kate that he and Snezana named Willow after his mother, and opened up about the birth.
Doting: On Friday, Snezana shared to Instagram a snap of Willow, writing: 'I could honestly stare at you all day little Miss Willow Wendy Wood'
He said that the pair had a craving for McDonald's, while at hospital and waiting for the obstetrician.
Rather than sitting in the waiting room, Sam said he and Snezana decided to 'go across the road to McDonald's.'
He told show hosts that it wasn't until later that he discovered that his partner was 'five centimetres dilated,' at the time.
Opening up: This week, Sam said he and Snez went to McDonald's before the birth
'If your wife is in labour and she wants a cheeseburger then you get her a cheeseburger,' Sam joked, possibly hinting they had tied the knot in secret.
'We went across the road, grabbed some Macca's, came back and the obstetrician said: "You're not going home tonight! You're five centimeters dilated."'
It was then and there that the couple found out Snezana would be having the baby that night, with the woman he met on reality TV giving birth two hours later.
'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 said.
The Kardashians own countless properties around Los Angeles.
But Kris Jenner's house featured on Keeping Up With The Kardashians isn't one of them, and is in fact a mansion used for establishing shots located in Studio City, California.
And now that opulent property is up for sale according to TMZ, with an eye-watering price of $7.895 million.
On the market: The KUWTK house is up for sale according with an eye-watering price of $7.895 million
The impressive Mediterranean-style property does have much to offer however, including seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
A gourmet kitchen features a professional gas range and two oversized chandeliers lighting an enormous island.
Other specialized amenities abound, such as a large wine cellar and billiards nook.
Movie magic: Kris Jenner's house featured on Keeping Up With The Kardashians isn't one of them, and is in fact a mansion used for establishing shots located in Studio City, California
Soup's on! A gourmet kitchen features a professional gas range and two oversized chandeliers lighting an enormous island
Drink up! Other specialized amenities abound, such as a large wine cellar and billiards nook
A massive walk-in closet with glass display cases ensures any occupant will be well outfitted.
An outdoor kitchen and bar provides a perfect space for entertaining, while a spa a pool combination promises spa-like relaxation.
Even the master bathroom is wildly opulent, as one can enjoy a crackling fire while bathing in either a claw foot tub or massive double door shower.
Spoiled for choice: A massive walk-in closet with glass display cases ensures any occupant will be well outfitted
Fresh air: An outdoor kitchen and bar provides a perfect space for entertaining
Cannon ball! a spa a pool combination promises spa-like relaxation
Why ever leave? Even the master bathroom is wildly opulent, as one can enjoy a crackling fire while bathing in either a claw foot tub or massive double door shower
A four car garage and monumental fountain round out the property's luxurious features.
Kris and company never actually lived in the house - the Kardashians mostly live in and around Calabasas - and the home has been used in many television programs, including True Blood, Chelsea Lately and American Horror Story.
The house has in fact been on the market before according to TMZ; it was last listed for $6.25 million back in 2014.
She's knows how to work the red carpet, being a regular on the social scene.
And on Saturday, Australian model Ashley Hart made a bold fashion statement as she stepped out at the Caulfield Guineas Day, in Melbourne.
The 29-year-old blonde wore a quirky red matador-inspired dress, which she teamed with a black hat.
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Making a bold fashion statement! Ashley Hart turns heads in a quirky matador-inspired dress at the Caulfield Guineas Day in Melbourne
The frock was flowing and featured a high-neck and short sleeves.
It also included black lace and intricate beading along the neck and shoulders.
Ashley wore black and gold jewelled earrings, and her makeup featured red eye shadow.
Lady in red! The 29-year-old blonde wore a quirky crimson dress, which she teamed with a black hat
A touch of glam! It featured black lace and intricate beading along the neck and shoulders
Matchy-matchy: Ashley wore black and gold jewelled earrings, and her makeup featured red eye shadow
Her blonde locks were slicked back off her face.
She completed her look with black tie-up heels and a black clutch.
The appearance comes after Ashley opened up about her split from husband of two years, jewellery designer, Buck Palmer.
She recently told Stellar that she's 'happily single' and has moved on.
In high spirits! Ashley couldn't hid her smile as she greeted celebrity stylist Lana Wilkinson
'Happily single': The appearance comes after Ashley opened up about her split from husband of two years, jewellery designer, Buck Palmer
She added that she and model sister Jessica have supported one another through their heartbreak, after Jessica split earlier this year, with her longtime boyfriend, Stavros Niarchos III.
'All of a sudden, not having anyone to text and call every day we have each other,' Ashley said.
Reflecting on her picture-perfect life and career that often sees her travelling overseas Ashley admitted: 'I've gone through a lot of struggle, and we didn't always have an abundant upbringing.'
Supportive: She added that she and model sister Jessica have supported one another through their heartbreak, after Jessica split earlier this year, with her longtime boyfriend
In January, Ashley confirmed her split with husband Buck, shocking their fans.
She told The Herald Sun: 'Our happiness evolved into a deep friendship that we will always have, but we have come to the conclusion that the path forward for both of us is best travelled as separate journeys.
'There is sadness in dreams unrealised however we continue to deeply love and respect each other and wish each other nothing but love and kindness.'
Kate Winslet's third husband Ned Rocknroll kept a protective arm around her as she signed autographs outside the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in Manhattan on Friday.
The 42-year-old Oscar winner and Richard Branson's 39-year-old nephew (born Ned Abel Smith) will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in December.
For her New York Film Festival Conversation, the British beauty sported glasses, a white blouse, a black pantsuit, and matching pumps selected by stylist Cheryl Konteh.
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Celebrating five years of marriage in December! Kate Winslet's third husband Ned Rocknroll (L) kept a protective arm around her as she signed autographs outside the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in Manhattan on Friday
Kate - who has three children from her three marriages - seemingly went make-up free for the career Q&A and wore her flaxen locks in a loose updo.
Winslet is receiving rave reviews for her role as waitress Ginny in Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel, which starts streaming December 1 on Amazon Studios.
The Coney Island, fifties-set drama also features Justin Timberlake, Debi Mazar, Vittorio Storaro, and Max Casella.
In the hot seat: For her New York Film Festival Conversation, the 42-year-old Oscar winner sported glasses, a white blouse, a black pantsuit, and matching pumps
On the mic: The British beauty - who has three children from her three marriages - seemingly went make-up free for the career Q&A and wore her flaxen locks in a loose updo
Many celebrities look the other way when it comes to the 81-year-old director, who married ex-partner Mia Farrow's daughter Soon-Yi and allegedly molested her daughter Dylan.
'Of course one thinks about it,' the Mountain Between Us actress told the New York Times last month.
'But at the same time, I didn't know Allen and I don't know anything about that family. As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, "I don't know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false."'
Starts streaming December 1! Winslet is receiving rave reviews for her role as waitress Ginny in Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel for Amazon Studios (pictured on set last year)
Beleaguered wife: The Coney Island, fifties-set drama also features Justin Timberlake, Debi Mazar, Vittorio Storaro, and Max Casella
Yikes! Many celebrities look the other way when it comes to the 81-year-old director (2-R), who married ex-partner Mia Farrow's (L) daughter Soon-Yi and allegedly molested her daughter Dylan (R)
The four-time Golden Globe winner continued: 'Plus I knew my parents would be incredibly proud of me working with Woody Allen...[he's] an incredible director. So is Roman Polanski. I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men, and that's the truth.'
Two other actors who had zero problem with lecherous Woody (born Allan Konigsberg) were Kate's castmates Jim Belushi and Juno Temple, who play Humpty and Carolina.
The British 28-year-old went bra-less beneath her bell-sleeved pantsuit, which was in dire need of hemming due to her petite 5ft2in stature.
Kate told the New York Times last month: 'Of course one thinks about it. But at the same time, I didn't know Allen and I don't know anything about that family...I don't know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false'
The Mountain Between Us actress added: 'Plus I knew my parents would be incredibly proud of me working with Woody Allen...[He's] an incredible director. So is Roman Polanski. I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men, and that's the truth'
Play Humpty and Carolina: Two other actors who had zero problem with lecherous Woody (born Allan Konigsberg) were Kate's castmates Jim Belushi (L) and Juno Temple (R)
In May, Roxy Jacenko had an unexplained three-day hiatus from Instagram - something previously unheard of for the PR specialist.
Now, the 37-year-old has broken her silence on the break, revealing for the first time that she was having a 'breakdown' at the time.
'I basically lost my marbles,' she told The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, revealing she crashed her car and forgot where she'd left her kids.
'I cannot remember four days of my life': Roxy Jacenko has broken her silence on her Instagram hiatus in May, revealing she was having a 'breakdown' that saw her crash her car and forget where her kids were
According to the newspaper, the pressure of the Sweaty Betty founder's relationship and health issues were partially responsible for the incident.
It's believed Roxy was still involved in a 'relationship' with former flame Nabil Gazal at the time, while her husband Oliver Curtis was serving a year in jail.
'I crashed my car, I took my children (Pixie, 6 and Hunter, 3) to my parents-in-law and forgot they were there,' she told the publication.
A difficult time: According to reporters, the pressure of the Sweaty Betty founder's relationship and health issues were partially responsible for the incident
'A doctor came to me, it was that bad. I cannot remember four days of my life.'
On May 30, the PR maven returned to Instagram, although her re-entry raised more concern than fanfare.
In the post, Roxy was pictured sitting in a cab, looking a little drained, while fans in the comments noticed she wasn't wearing her wedding ring.
'I forgot they were there': 'I crashed my car, I took my children (Pixie, 6 and Hunter, 3) to my parents-in-law and forgot they were there,' she said in an interview Saturday
'It was that bad': 'A doctor came to me, it was that bad. I cannot remember four days of my life,' the 37-year-old added (pictured is the first image she posted after her breakdown)
The Instagram account the socialite manages for little Pixie also went silent for a rare three-day stretch that also ended on the same day.
A source with knowledge of Roxy's situation confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that her Instagram hiatus came at the same time as her 'breakdown.'
The mother-of-two also confirmed to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday that she had a 'relationship' with Sydney Property developer Nabil while Oliver was in jail.
According to the publication, the rekindled romance lasted until just days before Oliver completed his one-year sentence for insider trading.
Bad timing: It's believed Roxy was still involved in a 'relationship' with former flame Nabil Gazal at the time, while her husband Oliver Curtis was serving a year in jail
She has spent the last few weeks jetting across the globe to storm the catwalk for Fashion Month.
And proving there is no rest for the wicked, Hailey Baldwin was back to showcasing her modelling credentials, as she hit Long Beach in California on Friday for yet another glamorous photo-shoot.
The blonde beauty, 20, looked sensational as she slipped into a scanty swimsuit that left little to the imagination, thanks to its scooped neckline and high-rise sides.
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Stunning: Hailey Baldwin was back to showcasing her modelling credentials, as she hit Long Beach in California on Friday for yet another glamorous photo-shoot
Making sure to emphasise her svelte frame even further, Hailey was seen having her one-piece pinned together at the back, with it proving to be slightly loose on the fashion star's lithe physique.
The stone-hued number that featured edgy black lines all over left Hailey's lengthy pins firmly on display, while simultaneously teasing a look at pert derriere.
She swept her tousled blonde tresses up into a high ponytail and sported a huge pair of pink-tinted shades on her face, as she set to work in the sunshine.
New measures: The blonde beauty, 20, looked sensational as she slipped into a scanty swimsuit, but her one-piece had to be pinned together at the back due to her svelte frame
Chic: Hailey looked sensational in the one-piece that left little to the imagination, thanks to its scooped neckline and high-rise sides
And pose: Hailey was joined by a fellow model clad in an intricately cut workout ensemble
How do I look? The girls were seen locked in an exchange in between takes
Risque: The stone-hued number that featured edgy black lines all over left Hailey's lengthy pins firmly on display, while simultaneously teasing a look at pert derriere
Chic: She swept her tousled blonde tresses up into a high ponytail and sported a huge pair of pink-tinted shades on her face, as she set to work in the sunshine
Accessorising: When she wasn't flaunting it in front of the camera, Hailey covered up in a white robe she threw atop of her beach ensemble
Hailey appeared to ooze body confidence in her minimal attire and pared things back when it came to her beauty look - accentuating her natural beauty.
When she wasn't flaunting it in front of the camera, Hailey covered up in a white robe she threw atop of her beach ensemble.
Doing what she does best, she appeared focused and ready to strut her stuff while posing in the idyllic location beach-side location, with all eyes certainly on the starlet as she made several outfit changes.
She was seen donning a stylish white summer dress that featured a daring thigh-high split and sweetheart neckline, as well as a revealing lattice back that exposed her bronzed skin underneath.
Show-stopper: Doing what she does best, she appeared focused and ready to strut her stuff while posing in the idyllic location beach-side location
Natural: All eyes were certainly on the starlet as she made several outfit changes throughout the shoot
Leggy: Hailey made sure to showcase her lengthy pins in the dress as she raised it to her thigh for one shot
Pretty: Hailey was seen donning a stylish white summer dress that featured a daring thigh-high split and sweetheart neckline
Linking arms with a fellow model, Hailey frolicked in the sand bare foot and ensured all eyes on her by adding a dramatic dark lip to her ensemble.
Her appearance in California comes after Hailey had stormed the runway for Fashion Month in New York, London, Milan and Paris.
Favoured by a number of high-flying designers and a Victoria's Secret model, Hailey is often seen featuring on the catwalk alongside her fellow in-demand models of the moment Kaia Gerber and Bella Hadid.
In an interview with ELLE magazine in July, Hailey revealed that modelling has always been her dream choice of career.
In action: Hailey worked all her best angles as she flaunted her lithe frame in the sun
High spirits: Linking arms with a fellow model, Hailey frolicked in the sand bare foot commanded attention by adding a dramatic dark lip to her ensemble
She told the publication: 'I work my a** off to make what I have and to prove that this is what I want to do. I want to be a model. I don't think I would be where I am if people didn't see something in me.
'I put all my modelling [photos] on my Instagram because I'm showing it to people. It's not about me getting paid to model for things on Instagram of course, sometimes we do get paid for things we do for Instagram and Twitter but there is a line of calling someone an Insta model or an Insta star.'
Although, while she is keen to parade her talent on social media, Hailey revealed that last Christmas she decided to give herself a detox from her online networks, as she needed a 'break'.
'There were a lot of things happening for me personally at that time and I was kind of depressed. I totally understand when people say they need time to themselves,' she added.
Busy: Her appearance in California comes after Hailey had stormed the runway for Fashion Month in New York, London, Milan and Paris
Model of the moment: Favoured by a number of high-flying designers and a Victoria's Secret model, Hailey is often seen featuring on the catwalk alongside her fellow in-demand models of the moment Kaia
Focused: In an interview with ELLE magazine in July, Hailey revealed that modelling has always been her dream choice of career
Candid: She told the publication: 'I work my a** off to make what I have and to prove that this is what I want to do. I want to be a model.
Fans are used to seeing them dirty and dusty as they slave over renovations on Channel Nine's The Block.
But on Saturday, the stars of the long-running reality show scrubbed up and turned on the glamour as they stepped out for the Caulfield Guineas Day in Melbourne.
Viewer favourites Georgia and Ronnie led the pack at the star-studded event.
Glam: The stars of The Block scrubbed up and turned on the glamour as they stepped out for the Caulfield Guineas Day in Melbourne
Kids clothing designer Georgia made a splash in a frilly pink frock and chic nude heels.
The beauty accessorised with maroon lipstick and a golden brown spray tan.
Her plasterer beau Ronnie looked dapper in a dark blue suit.
Also putting on a glamorous display were Hannah and Clint.
Hello: Viewer favourites Georgia and Ronnie led the pack at the star-studded event
Pretty: Kids clothing designer Georgia made a splash in a frilly pink frock and chic nude heels
Hannah was unrecognisable in a raunchy semi-sheer white dress that revealed a serious glimpse of her bare figure.
Last but not least was Sarah Windebank who was swallowed in an over-sized navy number.
The Block's Shaynna Blaze recently revealed who she thinks will win the renovation series.
Standing out: Also putting on a glamorous display were Hannah and Clint
Dare to bare: Hannah was unrecognisable in a raunchy semi-sheer white dress that revealed a serious glimpse of her bare figure
The 54-year-old said that while the competition is tough she thinks the show's youngest couple, Elyse Knowles, 24, and Josh Barker, 28, will take home the winning prize.
Speaking on The Block Unlocked podcast, Shaynna 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.'
Shaynna - who judges on the show alongside Neale Whitaker and Darren Palmer - added that she thinks Sarah and Jason 'could be the dark horse' in the competition.
They finally confirmed their blossoming romance at Lisa Wilkinson and Peter FitzSimon's vow renewal ceremony this week.
And Today star Richard Wilkins, 63, and his new girlfriend Virginia Burmeister, 50, were all smiles at the commercial radio awards in Melbourne on Saturday.
Both looked stunning in classy formal wear and appeared blissfully relaxed in one another's company.
Smitten! Today star Richard Wilkins, 63, and his new girlfriend Virginia Burmeister, 50, were all smiles at the commercial radio awards in Melbourne on Saturday
As a veteran of TV and radio, Richard showed the attendees how it was done, looking dapper as ever in a tuxedo.
But his new squeeze Virginia is no stranger to glamorous events herself, looking the part in am off the shoulder black frock.
The dress hugged her slender frame and featured see-through paneling along the hemline.
Show them how it's done! As a veteran of TV and radio, Richard showed the attendees how it was done, looking dapper-as-ever in a tuxedo
She added a bit of liveliness and character to her ensemble with a pair of glittery stiletto heels.
Richard also made sure to pose with his Smooth FM co-stars Melissa Doyle and Cameron Daddo.
Looking smooth! Richard also made sure to pose with his Smooth FM co-stars Melissa Doyle and Cameron Daddo
The pair's relationship had been rumoured for some time, but was confirmed earlier this week, following a smitten display at Lisa Wilkinson's vow renewal ceremony.
They were pictured cuddling and holding hands throughout the night, which celebrated Lisa's 25-year marriage to Peter FitzSimons.
Richard is said to be 'head over heels' for Virginia, who was a dancer at Le Lido Paris in the 1980s.
Virginia, a mother of three young children, has previously interacted with Richard on Twitter, with message exchanges dating back as far as February.
She dresses with confidence in her racy stage ensembles.
And adding a sultry touch to her otherwise causal ensemble, Gwen Stefani, 48, flashed a glimpse of her lingerie as she enjoyed a sun-drenched walk in Los Angeles, California on Friday.
The Sweet Escape hitmaker's black lacy bra could be seen through the the armhole of her skimpy vest top while parading her age-defying frame.
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Bra-babe: Gwen Stefani , 48, flashed a glimpse of her lingerie as she enjoyed a sun-drenched walk in Los Angeles, California on Friday
The mother-of-three looked worlds away from her stage appearances during her low-key outing, as she cut a stylish figure in distressed jeans that boasted huge rips at the knees.
Gwen ditched her sky-high heels for trainers, not needing to add to her height of 5ft 5inches and injecting glamour into her casual look, the Hollaback Girl hitmaker proved she knew how to accessorise with effect when she opted for bright white cat-eye sunglasses.
The songstress looked incredibly youthful, courting attention with her scarlet lipstick.
Casual glamour: The Hollaback Girl hitmaker proved she knew how to accessorise with effect when she opted for bright white cat-eye sunglasses
For the finishing touches, the starlet styled her blonde locks in beachy corkscrew curls that sat just below her shoulders.
In recent weeks, the singing sensation released a song from her impending album You Make It Feel Like Christmas.
Gwen has juggled her high-flying singing career with being a doting mum to her three children: 11-year-old Kingston, nine-year-old Zuma and three-year-old Apollo.
The chart topper shares her offspring with her ex-husband and Bush front man Gavin Rossdale, 51.
Dazzling: The mother-of-three (pictured in Las Vegas in May 2017) looked worlds away from her raunchy stage appearances
She filed for divorce in 2015 after she discovered he had an affair with their nanny.
Gwen has, however, now put her heartache behind her, as she is now dating new man Black Shelton, 41.
They set their sights on each other when they met as judges on the singing reality show The Voice back in 2014, later going public with their affections in November 2015 and they have been inseparable ever since.
She's a success: Gwen (pictured with Zuma and Apollo) has juggled her high-flying singing career with being a doting mum to her three children
She's the PR queen who is known for barely putting a foot wrong when it comes to her fashion choices.
But some fans have been left outraged after Roxy Jacenko wore a dress by a fashion label linked to allegations of intimidation by Harvey Weinstein.
The 37-year-old shared an image to Instagram on Saturday showing her wearing a dress by Marchesa - a brand Weinstein allegedly forced A-list stars to wear to avoid having their careers sabotaged.
Slammed: Roxy Jacenko sparks outrage by wearing the same label A-list stars 'were forced to wear to not have their careers sabotaged' by Harvey Weinstein
Weinstein has been accused of forcing the likes of Sienna Miller and Felicity Huffman to wear the label founded in 2004 by his now estranged wife Georgina Chapman.
An LA-based publicist told the Hollywood Reporter last week that Weinstein threatened to pull publicity funding from Felicity's 2005 film Trasnamerica if she didn't wear Marchesa on the Golden Globes red carpet.
Another publicist recalled that Sienna was told Harvey 'would be very upset if she didn't wear Marchesa' when invited to sit at Harvey's table at the Golden Globes in 2007, after starring in the Weinstein-produced Factory Girl.
One of Roxy's Instagram followers was quick to point out the brand's connection to Weinstein, asking the mother-of-two if wearing the dress was a 'smart PR move?'
'Sharing a picture of a Marchesa dress amid the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal? A brand he forced young actresses to wear, with the threat of ending their careers if they did not comply?' the person commented, according to Yahoo7 Be.
Controversy: The 37-year-old shared an image to Instagram on Saturday showing her wearing a dress by Marchesa - a brand Weinstein allegedly forced A-list stars, including Sienna Miller (pictured) to wear to avoid having their careers sabotaged
Claims: Weinstein has been accused of forcing the likes of Sienna Miller and Felicity Huffman to wear the label founded in 2004 by his now estranged wife Georgina Chapman (pictured)
'Not a great move, Roxy.'
'Exactly what I was thinking. Not very smart @roxyjacenko,' said another follower.
But Roxy swiftly defended herself, saying the gown was simply purchased for a friend's wedding.
'Who knew a gown for a friend's forthcoming wedding could insult people so much, thank heavens I didnt have a fur on my shoulders too,' she wrote in the comments.
She added: 'No frock made Weinstein be and do what he is or do what he did!'
Sabotage claims: An LA-based publicist told the Hollywood Reporter last week that Weinstein threatened to pull publicity funding from Felicity Huffman's (pictured) 2005 film Trasnamerica if she didn't wear Marchesa on the Golden Globes red carpet
Another follower backed up Roxy, saying: 'How can people condemn Georgina Chapman and Marchesa when she is as much a victim of this situation as all the women Harvey Weinstein preyed upon.'
In the photo, Roxy can be seen wearing the pink dress with floral applique, as her daughter Pixie pulls at it from behind.
'Rainy day dress ups with my Pix,' the Sweaty Betty PR founder wrote, while adding the tag '@marchesafashion'.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Roxy for comment.
Radio star Mel Greig recently claimed that she was scammed out of $1000 by a man she went on a date with.
But on Saturday, Mel Greig showed the scammer what he was missing when she stepped out in a plunging mini-dress with her cleavage on full display at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards.
The vivacious 35-year-old was far from shy as she paraded her curves on the red carpet in the revealing outfit.
Priceless! Mel Greig put on a racy display on the red carpet of the Australian Commercial Radio Awards on Saturday after admitting a date scammed her out of $1000
While some people say that a lady should never show her breasts AND her legs, Mel was more than happy to ignore the old-fashioned style rule by flaunting her bronzed pins too.
The busty blonde recently filed a police complaint, claiming to have lent a man $1000, only to never see him again.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, Mel was contacted via Facebook by the man in mid-2017, following her divorce to Steve Pollock.
Helping hand: The single 35-year-old was able to find a co-worker to attend the event with her
What money? The busty blonde made sure that her scammer would regret crossing her by flaunting her enviable curves in the racy dress
She then went on a dinner date with the former DJ from Sydney's northern beaches, not knowing he was charged with assaulting an ex-girlfriend a month earlier, the newspaper reported.
The blonde radio star recalled that she had naively let the man move into her home temporarily after the first date, as he was struggling to find somewhere to stay.
Things allegedly went awry, with Mel saying: 'The third day in, I get a phone call from him in tears saying his bank account had been hacked and he had no access to money because his account was now locked.'
Naive: Mel admitted that she let a mystery man move in with her after their first date, only to have him scam her out of $1000
She added: 'He asked to borrow money, and given all of his possessions were in my house and he wasn't going anywhere, I said yes and I loaned him the money.'
Mel has been extremely open about her troubles with men and dating.
In once instance, she admitted to begging a male friend for his sperm after a few too many wines so she could have another baby.
She's had many high-profile romances in the spotlight.
But these days, Dannii Minogue is keeping her love life out of the public eye.
In a new interview with InStyle magazine, the 45-year-old opened up about keeping her two-and-a-half-year relationship with music producer Adrian Newman private.
Private: In a new interview with InStyle magazine, Dannii Minogue opened up about keeping her two-and-a-half-year relationship with music producer Adrian Newman private
'If the other person is famous theres double the attention, double the exposure,' she explained, according to The Daily Telegraph.
'If theyre not, you feel so bad that all this stuff that comes with you is forced on to them.'
She continued: 'I feel terrible for my parents, I feel terrible for my son, I feel terrible for who Im dating, because it gets forced on to their lives and they didnt ask for it. So its tricky its not exactly appealing.'
'If the other person is famous theres double the attention, double the exposure,' she explained
Dannii recently received praise for her parenting from her ex-partner Kris Smith, who is the father of her seven-year-old son, Ethan.
On The Morning Show, the male model commended his ex, describing her as an 'incredible mother' to Ethan.
Speaking of his relationship with the songstress, the 39-year-old said on-air: 'She has been brilliant and accommodating to me.'
Good terms: Dannii recently received praise for her parenting from her ex-partner Kris Smith, who is the father of her seven-year-old son, Ethan
Kris told co-hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies, that they opted to keep son Ethan out of the spotlight.
'We agreed from day one that we (would) keep him out of the media as much as we can and give him a normal life.'
With Kris and Dannii both travelling for their careers, the male model said that they've managed to always make co-parenting work.
It's been a tough couple weeks for Audrina Patridge, who has been going through a contentious split with ex Corey Bohan.
But the fashionista, 32, seemed to be in good spirits on Saturday where she was seen moving back into her Irvine, California home.
The Los Angeles native's spotting comes while it's reported that The Hills alum agreed to shell out $35k to get Bohan to move out of Orange County, California residence that she owns while also being granted full custody of daughter Kirra.
Home, sweet home! Audrina Patridge seemed to be in good spirits on Saturday where she was seen moving her things back into her Irvine, California home after agreeing to pay estranged husband Corey Bohan $35k to vacate the property
Audrina smiled as she carried a garment bag in one hand and several toys in the other.
The mother-of-one looked chic and simple in a pair of torn skinny jeans and cheetah print flats.
She kept cool in navy tank while tying a while jacket around her waist.
The MTV star rolled a handsome Louis Vuitton suitcase inside as she slowly emptied her black Range Rover.
Rolling with the homies! The MTV star rolled a handsome Louis Vuitton suitcase inside
Taking a load off! The mother-of-one looked chic and simple in a pair of torn skinny jeans and cheetah print flats as she slowly emptied her black Range Rover
On Wednesday it was reported that the star returned to her home to find that Corey had changed the locks and discovered some of her jewelry, including wedding rings, had been stolen.
On October 6, Audrina discovered her house keys didn't work, had a locksmith gain entrance, and found her 'closet drawers ransacked' according to court documents obtained by UsWeekly.
On Monday, the star was granted full custody of she and Bohan's daughter Kirra as well as the family dog.
Audrina also agreed to pay her ex $35k to vacate her house by October 13.
Before coming to terms, the duo traded accusations in court.
Happier times: On Monday, the star (above in August) was granted full custody of she and Bohan's daughter Kirra as well as the family dog
During the same Monday hearing, Bohan asked the judge to order his ex not to 'harass or disturb my peace while I remain in the residence, or allow third parties to do so.'
He accused Audrina of attempting to goad him into violating the retraining order she has against the BMX bike by entering the home. His request was denied.
A source close to the star told People that Corey is the only one to blame for his situation and has no right to play the victim
His side: During the same Monday hearing, Bohan (above in 2013) asked the judge to order Patridge not to 'harass or disturb my peace while I remain in the residence, or allow third parties to do so' claiming she was trying to get him to violate her restraining order against him
'If Corey were a good father he would have let Audrina and Kirra stay in the house so that his baby didnt have to be uprooted, Hes essentially holding the house for ransom. Audrina just wants this to be over.'
The reality figure also claimed that her wedding bands went missing during the time she was forced to leave her home.
On October 6, Audrina discovered her house keys didn't work, had a locksmith gain entrance, and found her 'closet drawers ransacked' according to court documents obtained by US Weekly.
Corey's priorities: Sources close to the MTV figure (above in July) weren't moved by Bohan's grievences, telling People 'If Corey were a good father he would have let Audrina and Kirra stay in the house so that his baby didnt have to be uprooted'
In early September, TMZ reported that the reality persona took out a restraining order against the BMX pro after a domestic violence incident.
The incident reportedly involved him shoving her while she was holding the baby, threatening suicide and 'repeatedly harassing her while she was working.'
Patridge and Bohan have been together on-and-off since 2008, but have only been wed for 10-months. They welcomed daughter Kirra in June 2016.
When one thinks of Mary Berry, greasy take-outs don't really come into the equation.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, the queen of home cooking has admitted she has 'never' indulged in such culinary treats.
Speaking to The Times Magazine, the former Bake Off star, 82, declared: 'I've never had a takeaway. I'd have to go and fetch it!'
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'I've never had a takeaway!' Mary Berry makes a shocking admission about her experiences with fast food and claims 'M&S Dine In For 10' dinners are 'more fun'
She added: 'But I will go into M&S on my way home and buy a10 meal. That to me is more fun than a takeaway.'
The culinary whiz also branded clean eating 'a fad, like nouvelle cuisine'.
She also opened up to the publication about how she's never had hair extensions or plastic surgery, saying: 'No facelifts, nothing. No [botox] I've got wrinkles, That's what happens when you get older. It doesn't worry me. I use E45 from a big bottle.'
Last year, Mary broke the hearts of the nation when she announced she was stepping down from her judging duties on the Great British Bake Off, following its channel move.
She also opened up to the publication about plastic surgery, saying: 'No facelifts, nothing. No [botox] I've got wrinkles, That's what happens when you get older. It doesn't worry me. I use E45 from a big bottle'
She admitted last week that she did have some concerns about who would replace her for the show's revamped Channel 4 version, confessing that if she felt the chosen candidate hadn't been experienced enough, she would have been 'sad'.
However, the veteran celebrity chef, 82, insisted that she was more than happy to hear fellow cooking star Prue Leith would be filling her shoes and in an interview with The Sun, Mary praised her successor for her 'fair' judging critique.
After seven years on the Great British Bake Off, Mary decided to quit the show out of loyalty to the BBC and not move with it to Channel 4, when its new home was announced last year.
Worries: Mary Berry, 82, has admitted that she did have some concerns about who would replace her for on the Great British Bake Off for its revamped Channel 4 series
Instead, viewers have seen Prue join Paul Hollywood in the tent to judge this year's aspiring bakers and winning the seal approval from Mary, the former Bake Off star gushed: 'Prue is just the person to do it!'
Although, Mary did confess that she would have been left upset if someone without Prue's expertise had been chosen for the job instead.
She confessed: 'If [show producers] had chosen somebody who I knew couldn't do the job and hadn't the experience, I would have been sad - but I'm certainly not with Prue, she knows how to judge.
Seal of approval: Confessing that if she felt the chosen candidate hadn't been experienced enough, she would have been 'sad', but was more than happy that Prue Leith has been chosen to fill her shoes
'She's got the knowledge and she's fair... that's all we ask.'
Mary went on to reveal that despite her close bond with her former co-judge Paul, she hasn't seen much of him since her Bake Off exit.
However, Paul had claimed during a recent appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show that he and Mary do text one another to stay in touch.
He said: 'We've swapped texts and emails occasionally. We were meant to meet, I was at Chatsworth a couple of weeks ago doing a demonstration, Mary was doing, I think the Saturday or the Sunday, and I was doing the day before and we just missed each other by about half an hour. We do sort of text and email each other.'
Moving on: After seven years on the Great British Bake Off, Mary decided to quit the show out of loyalty to the BBC and not move with it to Channel 4, when its new home was announced last year
Staying in touch: Mary revealed that despite her close bond with her former co-judge Paul, she hasn't seen much of him since her Bake Off exit, but he insists the pair do text and email
Paul had remained with the show despite the furore caused by its channel move, that saw Mary and its old hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedoryc leave.
Justifying his decision, Paul had admitted he was worried about the longevity of his career, claiming he wouldn't go on to have as such long-standing success as Mary.
'Obviously it came down to my job was still there and I didnt want to lose my job,' he explained. 'I love doing what I do. At the end of the day, Im a baker by trade, thats all I am.
'Ive got a family and Im just coming to the end of my career I suppose, Im 50 odd, I havent got long left. Im not going to last like Mary, 81. Ill never last until Im 81 but while its here, I will carry on doing my job as a judge.'
Paul is the only original Bake Off star to have stuck with the show, with Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig replacing Mel and Sue as the series' new hosts.
Revamped: Paul is the only original Bake Off star to have stuck with the show, with Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig replacing Mel and Sue as the series' new hosts
Sure hit! And the presenthing duo appear to have won over viewers so far, especially Sandi for her heartfelt displays of emotion when it comes to the contestants
And the duo appear to be a hit with viewers so far, especially Sandi for her heartfelt displays of emotion when it comes to the contestants. On Tuesday's episode, she was seen tearing up as she delivered the news that Julia Chernogorova had become the sixth person to leave the Great British Bake Off.
Her voice appeared to falter and the 59-year-old comedian seemed to have tears in her eyes, as she told Julia she was 'so sorry' to see her go.
Sandi appeared to come over all emotional yet again when discussing the contestants currently competing on the Channel 4 series of the show during an appearance on ITV's Lorraine on Wednesday morning.
She found it hard to keep her composure while watching back a clip of Julia's exit, commenting that 'even now' - many months later down the line - she still finds it hard not to tear up.
Tearing up: Sandi came over all emotional yet again as she discussed Julia Chernogorova's exit from the Great British Bake Off on Lorraine on Wednesday morning
Filming for Bake Off wrapped earlier this year, with viewers only now getting to watch all the action that had unfolded in the tent.
Addressing the latest exit from the show on Lorraine, Sandi commended all the baker's on the 'effort they put in' to the competition, adding: 'They put their hearts and souls into it.'
She has become known for her heartfelt reactions towards all the contestants and when Lorraine Kelly pointed out how emotional Sandi had got over Julia's exit from Bake Off, Sandi's voice began to falter, as she joked she still hadn't recovered, saying: 'Ahh even now.'
Emotional: She was seen to have a catch in her throat as she announced Julia had become the sixth person to leave the competition on Tuesday night's episode of the show
Sweet: Sandi commended all the baker's on the 'effort they put in' to the competition and joked that even now she still can't watch back contestants leaving without welling up
Sandi went on to revealed that the presenting team have a WhatsApp group with all the show's contestants and that they all still keep in touch. She commented on how well she, Noel and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith get on during filming - adding that Noel often refers to her as his 'little Danish wife'.
Her appearance on Lorraine came after fans saw Julia sent home from the Great British Bake Off after failing to impress Paul and Prue with her three creations for pastry week.
The 21-year-old from Russia, who lives in West Sussex with her husband, was told her fate by Sandi who appeared to have tears in her eyes, as she told Julia she was 'so sorry' to see her go.
Close bond: The star then went on to revealed that the Bake Off presenting team have a WhatsApp group with all the show's contestants and that they all still keep in touch
Good fun: She also commented on how well she, Noel and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith get on during filming - adding that Noel often refers to her as his 'little Danish wife'
Emotional exit: The Great British Bake Off's Julia said she knew she "would not win or get to the final" as she became the sixth baker eliminated from the competition on Tuesday night
As she revealed the latest casualty of the Bake Off, Sandi's voice faltered, as she said: 'I have the horrible job, you are all amazing, you're down to the last seven which is incredible, somebody has to go home and it's really painful.'
Announcing the name of the sixth hopeful to be eliminated, Sandi had to regain her composure, as she stuttered Julia's name.
Bringing in Julia for a hug, an emotional Toksvig told her: 'I am so sorry, sorry sweetheart. You did amazing. You know that, right? You did incredible.'
The signature challenge, which saw the seven remaining bakers tasked with creating four savoury shortcrust pies, was Julia's first downfall, as she included baking powder in her pastry - a move later dubbed a "mistake" by Leith.
Sad: Her exit had left show host Sandi Toksvig, 59, all emotional and on announcing the result, the comedian's voice appeared to falter
Disappointed: Julia appeared to know her fate as Sandi announced the news that she had been given the boot
Tearing up: Host Sandi had tears in her eyes as she told Julia she was 'so sorry' to see her go
Hugging it out: The comedian made sure to comfort Julia, after telling this year's contestants that she had the 'painful' job of revealing who had to go
Julia came in last place in the technical challenge, due to her pasteis de nata - Portuguese custard tarts - resembling shortcrust pastry rather than the desired flaky pastry it is known for.
In the showstopper round, Julia's hand-raised pie with a hot water crust pastry base received criticism from both Hollywood and Leith.
They said her effort could have been neater, that the pastry was 'undercooked' and that her shredded chicken filling was 'dry'.
Farewell: The 21-year-old from Russia, who lives in West Sussex with her husband, failed to impress judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood with her three pasty creations
Half-baked effort: The signature challenge, which saw the seven remaining bakers tasked with creating four savoury shortcrust pies, was Julia's first downfall
Following her exit from the programme, Julia said: 'I knew that I wouldn't win or get to the final, but I enjoyed every week, and to get to over half way through the series is something I am really grateful for.
'I enjoyed every minute of it, and I would love to do it again now I have the knowledge of how it all works!'
Julia said that being named Star Baker during bread week was her highlight in the tent, and that she enjoyed getting to know Toksvig and her co-presenter Noel Fielding.
Look on the bright side: Julia said that being named Star Baker during bread week was her highlight in the tent, and that she enjoyed getting to know Toksvig and her co-presenter Noel Fielding (pictured)
She said: 'They always made me laugh and we were always on the same wavelength.
'We just got each other, and I think I made them laugh too, it was so comfortable I felt like I had known them both for a long time.
'Sandi was like my mum and I really loved her, she was so incredibly supportive.'
Julia said her family back at home in Russia have not yet been able to watch her progress on the Channel 4 show as they do not speak English, but that "hopefully I will be able to take some DVDs of the show so they can see it".
Main man: Liam, 19, was named Star Baker for his efforts in pastry week, his first time with the accolade
Well done: Prue Leith praised Liam, this year's youngest baker, as being a "genius", particularly with his flavours
She added: 'My husband Matt's family have of course been able to watch it, and his nan cries each week, and was in pieces the night I left.
'They have been so incredibly supportive, and that means so much to me.
'My husband Matt has been my rock, he is the one who has always believed in me. I would have gone crazy without him!'
Liam, 19, was named Star Baker for his efforts in pastry week, marking his first time receiving the accolade.
Leith praised Liam, this year's youngest baker, as being a "genius", particularly with his flavours.
The Great British Bake Off continues on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
He had released his very own track titled Helicopter in July last year.
And proving to be honing his image as the rapper that he strives to be, Liam 'Gatsby' Blackwell pulled out all the stops for his latest appearance on camera for TOWIE.
The reality star rocked up to filming in a striking fur coat and blingy chain, along with see-through shades, as he joined his co-stars at a caravan park.
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All eyes on him: Liam 'Gatsby' Blackwell pulled out all the stops for his latest appearance on camera for TOWIE, flaunting his rapper lifestyle as he headed to a caravan park with his co-stars
His designer-clad ensemble seemed to be a hit with his pals, as an excited Tommy Mallet couldn't resist drawing Gatsby in for a hug on his arrival.
The Essex-native donned an all-black ensemble that paired together a tight roll-neck jumper and black jeans that featured rips at the thighs and knees. Gatsby added a lavish Hermes belt around the waistband and donned a silver chain around his neck.
He donned a pair of clear aviator shades and appeared to be sporting a new look when it came to his locks, favouring a much shorter and slicked back style.
Adding the finishing touches to his suave appearance, Gatsby threw a huge fur coat atop his outfit choice and was seen grinning from ear-to-ear, clearly chuffed with his ensembles, as he greeted his friends.
Uncanny? His look was strikingly similar to rapper Kanye West, with Gatsby appearing to channel the Gold Digger hit-maker
Stand-out: Gatsby appeared to arrive in a flash Mercedes Benz, despite later being seen sat in the passenger side of a Smart car, and couldn't resist perching on the silver vehicle's bonnet
Flash: The Essex-native donned an all-black ensemble that paired together a tight roll-neck jumper and black jeans that featured rips at the thighs and knees, adding a lavish Hermes belt around the waistband and donned a silver chain around his neck
Gatsby appeared to arrive in a flash Mercedes Benz, despite later being seen sat in the passenger side of a Smart car, and couldn't resist perching on the silver vehicle's bonnet - channelling his inner Kanye West while doing so.
Having perfected his smoulder, Gatsby then threw his arms around co-star Georgia Kousoulou, as they settled into their - seemingly not as glamorous - abode for the evening.
Choosing to change up their usual choice in haunt, the cast favoured a night in a caravan - a far cry from their typical champagne spray parties in Marbella and the lavish lifestyle Gatsby spits bars about in his single.
Beaming: Gatsby threw a huge fur coat atop his outfit choice and was seen grinning from ear-to-ear, clearly chuffed with his ensembles, as he greeted Tommy Mallet
Chilling out: Gatsby was later seen taking a moment in the passenger side of a Smart car
Changing their ways? The cast favoured a night in a caravan - a far cry from their typical champagne spray parties in Marbella and the lavish lifestyle Gatsby spits bars about in his single
He had penned the track on his famous first date with Ferne McCann where he had whisked her off for a helicopter ride and champagne. Despite leaving her seriously impressed with his efforts, they were to no avail, as Ferne was quick to shut down any hopes he had of a blossoming romance.
Gatsby had teamed up with grime artist D Double E and enlisted the help of his co-stars to appear in his video for the catchy tune that includes the line: 'Helicopter ride on your first date, imagine what I could do for your birthday.'
Juggling his music with being a reality star, Gatsby appeared thrilled to be back in the company of his co-stars, as they embarked on a short break.
Tommy donned an all-black velour tracksuit, that paired a motif sweatshirt with complementing trousers and fur-lined Gucci loafers.
Dapper: Tommy donned an all-black velour tracksuit, that paired a motif sweatshirt with complementing trousers and fur-lined Gucci loafers
High spirits: Gatsby then threw his arms around co-star Georgia Kousoulou, as they settled into their - seemingly not as glamorous - abode for the evening.
Chic: Georgia was seen sporting a pair of acid wash skinny jeans, ripped at the knee, and complementing heeled sock boots as she stepped out for filming, along with a knitted jumper and quilted velvet coat
He was joined by his glamorous girlfriend of three years Georgia Kousoulou, with the couple recently celebrating their anniversary together.
Penning a tribute to her beau on Instagram, smitten Georgia had gushed about Tommy in a sweet post along several loved-up selfies of the pair. She said: '3 years with my best friend & I love you more & more every day .. even though you drive me mad & I wonder how I cope .. I wouldn't change it for the world
'I'm very Lucky to experience life with you..& have you there every step of the way supporting me no matter what. My team.' (sic)
She was seen sporting a pair of acid wash skinny jeans, ripped at the knee, and complementing heeled sock boots as she stepped out for filming, along with a knitted jumper and quilted velvet coat.
Best pals: She was flanked by her friend and co-star Amber Dowding
Beaut: Amber stunned in a similar outfit choice, stepping out in dark jeans, a cream chunky knit and Burberry shawl
The blonde beauty wore her luscious locks down in a tousled half-up, half-down style and finished off her ensemble with a flawless make-up look.
She was flanked by her best pal Amber Dowding who stunned in a similar outfit choice, stepping out in dark jeans, a cream chunky knit and Burberry shawl.
Adding height to her ensemble with studded leather boots, Amber wore her tresses in a perfectly blow-dried style and added a gold choker necklace around her neck.
Her boyfriend Chris Clark was also in attendance and proving their relationship is still going strong, after rekindling in April, Amber was seen shooting a loving look in the direction of her man.
Stylish: Adding height to her ensemble with studded leather boots, Amber wore her tresses in a perfectly blow-dried style and added a gold choker necklace around her neck
Sweet: Her boyfriend Chris Clark was also in attendance and proving their relationship is still going strong, after rekindling in April, Amber was seen shooting a loving look in the direction of her man
Settling in: The cast didn't seem too impressed with their new home for the night
He's arrived! But they seemed delighted to have Gatsby back in their company
TOWIE power couple Chris and Amber initially ended their romance back in October last year, after fans of the ITVBe show saw things between them crumbling.
Chris went on to date Little Mix pop star Jesy Nelson, 26, after they set tongues wagging when they were first spotted together hand-in-hand at the glamorous BRIT Awards in February.
They then confirmed their romance in mid-March with a snap of the pair kissing but the fling quickly turned sour and they went through an acrimonious break-up.
They had been living apart due to Little Mix supporting Ariana Grande on her Dangerous Woman tour in the US, but managed to find time to see each other and make their long-distance love work.
Content: Tommy couldn't resist flashing a huge grin while catching up with his pal
We've arrived! He appeared to be driving the caravan stay idea as he introduced the park to his co-stars
However their brief romance ended when he rekindled his love with ex Amber.
In an interview with the paper earlier this month, the reality star said he was happier than ever since getting back with Amber and claimed text message was the only way to end things as Jesy was touring in America.
But recently Chris told The Sun that months on, he was still falling victim to sick abuse, saying: 'Those fans are brutal.I still get the odd death threat. The level of abuse has been crazy.'
TOWIE is currently airing its 21st series on ITVBe.
Grand tour! Tommy led his pals inside the caravan to give them a look around
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.
Francesca Eastwood tackles sexual assault head on in the timely new trailer for MFA.
In the female-driven revenge thriller the 24-year-old talent plays art student and rape victim Noelle.
After being warned not to come forward about her experience, the daughter of Hollywood veteran Clint decides to find her own justice, turning the tables on men who've wronged her.
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Anti-hero: Francesca Eastwood tackles sexual assault head on in the timely new trailer for MFA
In the chilling trailer for the film, the second-generation celeb transforms from introspective college artist to vengeful anti-hero, asking 'How far would you go?' to get even.
Noelle is traumatized after a fellow student won't take no for an answer at a party and then her story is rebuffed by the school.
Taking things into her own hands, the meek creator goes back to confront her assaulter. Things escalate quickly, however, leading him to an accidental death.
The art of revenge: In the chilling trailer for the film, the second-generation celeb transforms from introspective college artist to anti-hero, asking 'How far would you go?' to get even.
No means no: Noelle is traumatized after a fellow student won't take no for an answer at a party
She's a fighter: After her story is rebuffed by the school, Noelle finds her own way to get even
Blood on her hands: Taking things into her own hands, the meek creator's confronts her assaulter
Later realizing she's not the only one whose story has been swept under the rug, the character goes onto settle scores on behalf of other victims on her campus.
Embracing her dark side, Noelle dons a pink wig to hunt down another man bustling frat party.
She plays the perfect femme fatale, seducing the college party boy before getting her violent payback.
Whoops: Though she's just there for an apolgy, things escalate and lead to his accidental death
Sweet revenge: Later realizing she's not the only one whose story has been swept under the rug, the character goes onto settle scores on behalf of other victims on her campus
Francesca explained that MFA's 'flawless' script convinced her it was the perfect part.
'I was hungry for going on a journey with a character and playing a character that gets to go through a transformation,' the actress told The Hollywood Reporter Thursday.
'The script was flawless,' she concluded.
Wigging out! Embracing her dark side, Noelle dons a pink wig to hunt down another man bustling frat party
Comeuppance: She plays the perfect femme fatale, seducing the college party boy before getting her violent payback
The perfect crime: Francesca explained that MFA's 'flawless' script convinced her it was the perfect part
The official SXSW Film Fest selection is already receiving glowing reviews, with Variety writing 'Eastwood delivers a tough eye opening performance.
The chilling flick also features the talents of Pacific Rim's Clifton Collins Jr. and Leah McKendrick
MFA opens in theaters and On Demand on October 13.
Out now: MFA opens in theaters and On Demand on October 13
It was X Factor's eagerly anticipated Six Chair Challenge round for the groups on Saturday night, and true to nature, the show was not without drama, as Simon Cowell brought in a twist which sent Twitter fans into meltdown.
The music mogul brought Ash from girl group NQ - who failed to gain a seat - back to join 'New Girl Band', consisting of soloists who had been initially rejected from the process but brought back to form a new group a la One Direction.
Fans were quick to comment that Ash had 'snaked' her friends, writing: 'Ash left her friends in the dust!'
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Drama: It was X Factor's eagerly anticipated Six Chair Challenge round for the groups on Saturday night, and true to nature, the show was not without drama, as Simon Cowell brought in a twist which sent Twitter fans into meltdown
Twist: The music mogul brought Ash from girl group NQ - who failed to gain a seat - back to join 'New Girl Band', consisting of soloists who had been initially rejected from the process but brought back to form a new group a la One Direction
Simon brought back the songstress, noting that her voice would fit in well with the newly formed girl band.
The girls were given just a minute to teach Ash their harmonies from their cover of Hey Mama by David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj, which they had only been given 24 hours to prepare for themselves.
After rehearsing on the stage quickly, Ash learnt how to fit into the group seamlessly.
Mogul: Simon brought back the songstress, noting that her voice would fit in well with the newly formed girl band
Turnaround: The girls were given just a minute to teach Ash their harmonies from their cover of Hey Mama by David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj, which they had only been given 24 hours to prepare for themselves
Snaked: Fans were quick to comment that Ash had 'snaked' her friends, writing: 'Ash left her friends in the dust!'
Users found Ash's apparent betrayal of her band hilarious, commenting:
'God bless the X Factor. Manufacturing bands and destroying friendships since 2004... The loyalty... It's like X Factor meets TOWIE... Turncoat...
'Imagine asking her to betray her friends on TV... Hahaha she's gonna snake out her friends...
'She's snaking out her girl group girlll do you!... Ash just dropped her ex band mates like a bag of cold sick...
'Meanwhile Ash's band are back stage, hailing a cab after having lost their place, band mate and probably friend...' (sic)
Hilarious: Users found Ash's apparent betrayal of her band hilarious
Fix? However, the performance was so seamless that it caused Twitter fans to be convinced that the whole segment was a 'fix'
However, the performance was so seamless that it caused Twitter fans to be convinced that the whole segment was a 'fix'.
'So planned! The 'made up' girl group goes through. As Always. Shocker! So damned fake it's unreal...
'This was more of a set up than the Montreal Screw Job... Staged to f***...
'So staged girl comes on from behind stage lol... Ash just happened to be skulking about backstage in a full Girl Band outfit. That was handy...' (sic)
MailOnline has contacted representatives of X Factor for comment.
She married her long-time friend in a romantic ceremony in Rome, back in 2012.
And Cat Deeley, 40, looked as loved up as ever with her comedian beau Patrick Kielty, 46, as they attended the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The leggy presenter flaunted her slender figure in a slim fit maxi dress.
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Loved up: Cat, 40, and Patrick, 46, are pictured at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Los Angeles on Saturday. The couple looked loved up as they posed for snapshots outside the annual event
The 40-year-old presenter paired her red and white paisley printed frock with hazel brown sandals heels, which matched her tawny coloured clutch.
Opting for a soft makeup look, Cat gave her eyes an added shimmer with gold eye shadow, which she coupled with clear lipgloss.
Patrick wore a smart midnight blue blazer and a buttoned down collar shirt; dressed down in a pair of straight leg jeans.
Pretty in paisley: The 40-year-old paired her red and white paisley printed frock with hazel brown sandals heels, which matched her tawny coloured clutch
This appearance came shortly after Cat expressed her controversial opinion on Simon Cowell's X Factor, as she claimed that viewers have become bored of talent show, and the series should be taken off the air.
Cat stated: 'I think every big show like that is cyclical, like Britain's Got Talent or America's Got Talent.
'It was Opportunity Knocks about 25 years ago they are hugely successful and then people get bored, and then they put them away for a bit, then they miss them, then they bring them back.'
Smart yet casual: Patrick wore a smart midnight blue blazer and a buttoned down collar shirt; dressed down with a pair of straight leg jeans
Cat made a return to UK TV last Friday after a decade of success in the US, with Sky 1's Sing Ultimate A Cappella - a singing competition show.
In the Pitch Perfect-esque series, contestants put their voices to the test, performing with no backing music or instruments.
Cat added that she hopes to find a star that can rival Simon's X Factor bid for the Christmas Number One.
US President Donald Trump's speech in which he outlined an aggressive new strategy against Iran shows that he is "more than ever against the Iranian people", President Hassan Rouhani said Friday.
"Today the United States is more than ever opposed to the nuclear deal and more than ever against the Iranian people," he said in a televised address shortly after Trump's speech.
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Kristen Stewart and girlfriend Stella Maxwell enjoyed a low-key night out in Los Angeles on Friday.
The 27-year-old actress looked sharp in a tough leather jacket with slashed top and white trousers while hitting up El Condor in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Her statuesque other half was dressed in formfitting leather pants and an animal print jacket.
Date night! Kristen Stewart and girlfriend Stella Maxwell enjoyed a low-key night out in Los Angeles on Friday, seen enjoying drinks and smokes at El Condor in the Silverlake area
The erstwhile Twilight starlet was both chic and laid back in her monochrome look.
Keeping comfortable, she added simple black sneakers and tall white socks along with a classic chain necklace.
Kristen's cropped do matched her dark, bedroom eyes as she and Stella marched in with another pal.
Rip it up! The 27-year-old actress looked sharp in a tough leather jacket with slashed top and white trousers while stepping out with her statuesque girlfriend and another pal
Stella let her blonde tresses hang down loosely while keeping her makeup subdued yet sultry.
She donned black sneakers to match her significant other.
While fetching drinks, Kristen was seen taking a cigarette break with her Victoria's Secret Angel other half.
Spa session: Kristen and Stella were spotted Saturday headed to a spa together
Casual style: The model and actress both kept it casual in jeans for their salon session
Hot item! The Victoria's Secret Model and the Los Angeles native confirmed their romance in December 2016
The Victoria's Secret Model and the Los Angeles native confirmed their romance in December 2016.
Kirsten was the first woman to be romantically linked with Stella since her 2015 spring fling with 'pansexual' pop diva Miley Cyrus.
And Kristen previously romanced Grammy-winning songstress St. Vincent, French songstress Soko, as well as her former assistant Alicia Cargile.
For years she has proudly used her mothers surname but now Lily Beckinsale has had a change of heart. I wonder if shes been finding her antics a little embarrassing.
Lily, 18, is the daughter of Kate Beckinsale and Welsh actor Michael Sheen and was previously known as Beckinsale-Sheen.
But the youngster, who has just started a degree at New York University, has now dropped the Beckinsale part from her Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages.
Lily, 18, is the daughter of Kate Beckinsale and Welsh actor Michael Sheen and was previously known as Beckinsale-Sheen
I cant say I blame Lily, pictured right with her mother at her high school graduation earlier this year. Kate, 44, admitted she got herself into a bit of trouble at home when she posted a video celebrating with Michael after Lily got into university.
And over the summer the Underworld star raised a few eyebrows after she and actor Matt Rife, 22, were snapped kissing passionately in West Hollywood.
He took a stand on national television earlier this month to campaign for the London Living Wage, and described the pay of cinema workers as awful.
But just three days earlier, Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield was quaffing Bollinger champagne at The Ivy.
My spies spotted him and a close friend at the celebrity hotspot, where a bottle of Bolly is priced at 112. Not that that should make a dent in Andrews estimated 8 million fortune
It's lucky the Queen wasnt at Buckingham Palace last week when these scruffy stars turned up or she would have had a heart attack, according to Prince Harry.
Rapper Professor Green wore a brown hooded jacket and trainers at the palace, while Burberry model Aboah Adwoa donned a lurid yellow top under her leopard-print coat
Rapper Professor Green wore a brown hooded jacket and trainers, while Burberry model Aboah Adwoa donned a lurid yellow top under her leopard-print coat.
At least Aboah, 25, admitted she looked like an under-dressed ragamuffin at a Palace bash for Harrys Heads Together charity.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto pose for a photo at the presidential palace in Mexico City, on October 12, 2017
The leaders of Canada and Mexico stuck to their upbeat view on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, despite US President Donald Trump's threats to axe it.
Visiting Mexico on the heels of a tense trip to Washington, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau downplayed Trump's attacks on NAFTA as part and parcel of the negotiations on updating the 23-year-old accord.
"We will not be walking away from the table based on proposals put forward," he said when asked about the Trump administration's push to include a "sunset clause" requiring the three member countries to unanimously renew the deal every five years.
"We will discuss those proposals, we will counter those proposals and we will take seriously these negotiations," he told a press conference at the presidential palace after being welcomed with military honors.
Speaking alongside him, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto insisted the deal remained vital to the region's economies, despite Trump's repeated NAFTA bashing.
But he said Mexico would not be pushed around.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) and his wife Sophie Gregoire disembark from their plane upon arrival in Mexico City on October 12, 2017
"Mexico is betting on achieving a good agreement. But it will have to be a positive agreement, and good for all three sides, not just one. We won't be hostage to a single point of view," he said.
The comments came 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.
His administration has land-mined the renegotiation he triggered with controversial proposals, including tightening the "rules of origin" to demand certain amounts of American-made content in products, scrapping NAFTA's dispute resolution mechanism and the "sunset clause."
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 dumping allegations.
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.
- Canadian-Mexican bromance? -
(From L) Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and the US Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer make statements in Ottawa, on September 27, 2017
Making his first official visit to Mexico, the prime minister appeared to be looking for a friendly ear in Pena Nieto, himself no stranger to hostility from the Trump administration.
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."
On Friday, Trudeau will wrap up his North American tour with 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.
Rohingya refugees look at a Myanmarese soldier walking past them in the no man's land between Myanmar and Bangladesh at Tumbru
Former UN chief Kofi Annan urged the Security Council on Friday to push for the return to Myanmar of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohyingas who have been driven out in an army campaign.
Annan, who led an advisory commission to the Myanmar government, said world powers must work with the country's military and civilian leaders to end the refugee crisis.
The Security Council is weighing action, possibly a resolution laying out demands, but diplomats have said China, a supporter of Myanmar's former ruling junta, and Russia are opposed to such a measure.
"I hope the resolution that comes out urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that would allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security," Annan told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the council.
"They should not be returned to camps. They should help rebuild," he said.
Kofi Annan, who led an advisory commission to the Myanmar government, said world powers must work with the country's military and civilian leaders to end the refugee crisis
More than 500,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, have since late August crossed into Bangladesh, fleeing military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine state that the United Nations has denounced as ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar authorities say they are rooting out Rohingya militants following attacks on police posts in late August.
The issue of the return of the Rohingyas is shaping up as a major hurdle.
A recent report by the UN human rights office accused Myanmar of seeking to permanently expel the Rohingya, by planting land mines at the border with Bangladesh.
"The international community is now beginning to put pressure on the military," Annan said, adding that "military-to-military talks" were aimed at pressing Myanmar to rein in its operations.
He called on the council to agree with Myanmar on a "roadmap" and warned that without action "we are going to have a long-term festering problem" in the region that "can be very serious, down the line."
In late August, Annan presented the final report of the advisory commission on Rakhine state that he chaired at the request of Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The report called for granting citizenship and other rights to the Rohingyas, who are stateless and have long faced discrimination in the Buddhist-majority nation.
The UN's top political affairs chief, Jeffrey Feltman, traveled to Myanmar on Friday for talks.
The gathering in the Obamas' hometown is being organized by their eponymous foundation, which is also building the former president's library in the Midwestern US city where Obama got his political start
Former US president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle are planning a star-studded gathering at the end of October, in their ongoing post-White House effort to support future leaders.
Prince Harry, Gloria Estefan, and Chance the Rapper are among the names attending the two-day Chicago summit.
The British royal will address the roughly 500 young civic leaders and community activists chosen from 20,000 applicants from around the world, for what the Obama Foundation promises will be intensive workshops and opportunities to share ideas.
Chance the Rapper and Estefan will perform in a public concert to cap the event.
The gathering in the Obamas' hometown is being organized by their eponymous foundation, which is also building the former president's library in the Midwestern US city where Obama got his political start.
"The Obama Foundation's goal is to encourage and empower young people to create positive change in their communities," David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said in a statement.
Among the attendees highlighted by the foundation was Trisha Shetty of India, who started the organization SheSays to combat sexual abuse against women.
Other notable speakers was Matteo Renzi, the former Italian prime minister, and Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of the Chobani yogurt brand.
Chance the Rapper, a socially active hip-hop artist who was born and raised in Chicago, was helping to organize the concert finale.
"I want to help inspire and empower young people to change their world," the artist said in an email released by the foundation.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the US understands "the need for the fair taxation of digital giants"
Washington is softening its position on European plans to impose taxes on US tech giants such as Apple and Google, officials said this week.
The evolving attitude in recent days would mark a stark shift from American officials' frustration at previous efforts by European authorities to collect taxes from Silicon Valley firms.
"The United States is open to considering the matter and they understand very well the need for the fair taxation of digital giants," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters on Friday.
He spoke after meeting with US Treasury Steven Mnuchin on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
A Treasury Department spokesman on Friday referred AFP to a statement made earlier this month, according to which American officials remain "deeply concerned" about the matter.
The administration of former President Barack Obama was outraged in 2016 when European authorities decided to force iPhone maker Apple to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes after the company negotiated highly favorable tax arrangements with the Irish government.
But, according to Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the tax policy and administration center at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Washington's attitude has changed in recent days.
The European Commission is due next year to present proposals for taxing tech giants such as Google and Apple, and France is also threatening to impose far more punishing taxes -- not on profits but on corporate revenues, according to Saint-Amans.
Washington knows "countries will act unilaterally and so they prefer to be involved themselves," Saint-Amans told AFP.
Headquartered in Paris, the OECD has worked on this subject for several years, but had so far encountered American officials' firm refusal to discuss it.
The OECD will present G20 finance ministers with a report on the subject in April, aiming for a long-term solution.
Because this may take time, the OECD is also seeking to harmonize various governments' tax proposals to reduce the harm they could cause to companies' financial positions, according to Saint-Amans.
- Global problem, global solution? -
"The news is the United States will sit at our table not to block the discussion, but to the contrary, to drive it and try to discourage, or at least limit, the damages these taxes could cause," he said.
European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici on Friday addressed the G20 on Brussels' views about taxing Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, or the GAFA companies, and others.
Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF meetings, Moscovici hailed American "pragmatism" on the tax question.
"For an international problem, you need an international solution," he said.
"The Americans are in the same situation we are. Their own tax system is not adapted for this economy and they're also losing very substantial revenues that have to be made up for," said Moscovici.
"The problem of taxing the GAFA companies is global and the best answer will be too," he said.
"We'll wait for the G20 to draw their own conclusions" from an OECD study, said Moscovici, who has warned that if a global solution is not forthcoming, the European Commission will propose its own tax measures.
"To my mind, the best solution is the common consolidated tax base, in other words corporate taxes," he said, noting that all options were on the table, including the French proposal to tax corporate revenues.
According to Saint-Amans, the OECD will offer member countries a reasonable means of revenue collection "while satisfying the need to stop these companies from having a near-zero tax burden."
In a statement earlier this month, the US Treasury Department reiterated its long-held position opposing "retroactive tax assessments" by the European Commission.
"As Treasury stated in an August 2016 white paper, the commissions approach in the state aid cases is unfair, contrary to well-established legal principles, and calls into question the tax rules of EU member states," a spokesman said.
But in another sign of shifting US views, Washington has agreed to the creation of a working group with France, according to Le Maire, the French finance minister.
"This will allow us a bilateral review of a few proposals made today by the commission," he said.
The major joint US and South Korea naval drill led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier is set to take place in the coming week, a move that will likely rile Pyongyang
North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.
The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme.
The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching US territory, the newspaper said.
This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.
Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: "We don't comment on any matters of military intelligence".
"We are keeping a close watch over the North," he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.
These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
On Friday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine -- the USS Tuscon -- left after a five day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was "highly likely" that the North could launch missiles in response to next week's joint navy drill.
US President Donald Trump's continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have "devastating consequences", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
A Site Intelligence Group image shows hostages Caitlan Coleman of the US and her husband Joshua Boyle of Canada while holding their children at an undisclosed location
Joshua Boyle, his American wife and three children arrived in Toronto Friday after being freed from captivity in Pakistan, the Canadian government announced.
Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman were captured by the Taliban while hiking in Afghanistan in 2012, and then turned over to the affiliated militant Haqqani network in Pakistan.
All three of their children were born in captivity.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Mr. Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," it said, asking that the family's privacy be respected.
The family was freed by Pakistani forces acting on information received from the US intelligence services.
Boyle on Thursday refused a return trip aboard a US military aircraft, over concerns he could face American scrutiny over his previous marriage to the sister of a Guantanamo detainee.
He chose to fly back from Islamabad to Canada on commercial airlines via London.
In 2009, Boyle was married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in battle in 2002 in Afghanistan and held at the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay before being turned over to Canada and released in 2015.
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and transfer to Canada.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Boyle was not a target of investigation in Canada.
Boyle's parents live 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Ottawa.
The Humboldt penguin Grape would stare at a cardboard cut-out of a cartoon character Hululu for hours
An elderly penguin who shot to fame in Japan after falling in love with a cardboard cut-out of a cartoon character has died, at the ripe old age of 21.
Officials at Tobu zoo in Saitama, north of Tokyo, said Grape passed away after a brief illness with the object of his desire right by his side. He would have been around 80 in human years.
Earlier this year, the Humboldt penguin became smitten with a cut-out of Hululu -- a character from the Japanese anime "Kemono Friends" -- after being dumped by his former mate, a female called Midori.
A love-sick Grape found solace in Hululu and would stare at her for hours on end.
The plight of the romantic penguin went viral, earning Grape millions of fans worldwide.
A steady stream of mourners has visited Tobu zoo's penguin enclosure, many with flowers, since the tragic news broke on Friday, while officials erected a makeshift shrine to their fallen celebrity on Saturday.
Grape, a Humboldt penguin who shot to fame at Tobu Zoo in Japan after falling in love with a cardboard cut-out of a cartoon character Hululu, has died, at the ripe old age of 21
"Little Grape had a wife called Midori but she left him and found herself a new husband," Tobu zoo's penguin caretaker Eri Nemoto told local media.
"We put the cardboard panel next to him to comfort him to the very end."
Tributes flooded in on social media too under the trending hashtag "Grape-kun" (little grape), with several users posting elaborate hand-drawn pictures of Grape gazing longingly at Hululu.
"Goodnight sweet prince," wrote one Twitter user, while another posted: "You charmed the world and made it a little brighter. See you, Space Cowboy."
(L-R): Producers Ellen H. Schwartz and Dawn Ostroff, actor Josh Brolin, producer Jeremy Steckler, producer Michael Menchel (R) and guest attend a premier of "Only The Brave" in Westwood, California on October 8, 2017
On a blistering June morning in 2013, Arizona's Granite Mountain Hotshots elite firefighting squad went into the wilderness to protect the town of Yarnell from a ferocious blaze.
By the end of the day, all but one of the 20 man crew were dead.
It was the largest loss of life among American firefighters since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the deadliest US wildfire in more than 20 years.
"Only the Brave," a major new movie starring Josh Brolin, Jennifer Connelly and Miles Teller, pieces together the final hours of the crew.
Its release on Friday next week could hardly be more timely, with the deadliest week of wildfires in California's history leaving 33 dead and hundreds still missing.
The movie offers insight for those watching the increasingly grim headlines from northern California into the lives of the men and women who run toward danger to protect people and property, real-life heroes in an age of superhero movies.
"We all are asked to be brave in our own lives, and bravery is such an interesting thing," seven-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner Jeff Bridges, who co-stars, told a news conference in Los Angeles.
The 67-year-old veteran of more than 70 movies wondered aloud if bravery of the type displayed by the Hotshots required them to feel fear, or if it was just instinctual.
"Or does bravery take practice... being at peace in this uncomfortable situation? That's something that all of us can look at in our own lives," he said.
The Yarnell Hill Fire was ignited by a lightning strike on June 28, 2013 and, two days later, the gusting winds fanning it changed direction, twisting and rotating its progress.
Sole survivor Brendan McDonough, who was the lookout for the Hotshots that day, alerted his crew and retreated down the mountain.
As the winds gusted ever harder and the fire rapidly picked up progress, supervisor Eric Marsh, a 20-year veteran, guided his crew from one protected "black zone" -- charred ground protected from the blaze -- toward a different safe site.
- Cut off -
The movie offers insight for those watching the increasingly grim headlines from northern California into the lives of the men and women who run toward danger to protect people and property
But the flaming front approached faster than anyone had anticipated, and the crew's escape route was suddenly cut off.
Caught in a freak inferno, they deployed their fire shelters but perished in the extreme heat.
The story resonated particularly strongly with Brolin, who drew on his experience as a volunteer firefighter in Arizona when he was in his 20s to play Marsh.
The 49-year-old actor, Oscar-nominated for Gus Van Sant's "Milk," describes firefighters as the "last profession that are untouchably uncorrupt."
Hotshots, the country's top wildland firefighters, don't carry water, instead literally fighting fire with fire, using chainsaws to fell trees and burn barrels to light blazes to halt the progress of wildfires.
The term "hotshot" is usually reserved for Forest Service special units and the Granite Mountain crew were just a band of local firefighters that Marsh dreamed of turning into an elite crew.
This had never been achieved, but years of training paid off and they became the first certified municipal hotshot crew in the United States.
The 20 actors playing members of the unit immersed themselves in a boot camp led by real-life hotshots in the mountains outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Sleeping in the dirt under the stars, they ate military rations, hiked most of the day and learned how to become wildland firefighters.
Teller described the camp and 60-day shoot as a "kick in the gut," adding that the "collective suffering" helped the cast bond.
"I think I underestimated the physical aspect of the job. I knew it was going to be tough, but I wasn't versed on hotshot training before I showed up," said Teller, 30.
- Bravery -
"Only the Brave" features five fires portrayed through a mixture of actual blazes, special-effects fire and computer-generated imagery.
The crew built a two-acre forest set behind Santa Fe Studios, with more than 600 pine, juniper and spruce trees, bushes, grass, rocks and a drip irrigation system.
The fires were ignited from liquid propane tanks, with flames bursting 30 to 100 feet (nine to 30 meters) into the air.
"The actors will tell you, we had fire on set and it was hot," said director Joseph Kosinski, of "Tron: Legacy" and "Oblivion" fame.
"I was just remembering yesterday a scene that Josh was in where he was standing very close to some large flames and after the take I was like, 'Are you good, man? Are you okay?' He was like, 'Yeah, no problem.' And he turned around and the pack on his back had melted."
The Granite Mountain Hotshots crew was discontinued after the tragedy, with Arizona's Forestry Division finding no evidence of negligence.
But the Industrial Commission of Arizona, which oversees workplace safety, blamed the division for the deaths, arguing that officials knowingly put protection of property ahead of safety and should have pulled crews out earlier.
A memorial in the town of Prescott, where the firefighters were based, was attended by thousands, including representatives from over 100 hotshot crews and Vice President Joe Biden.
"All men are created equal and then some become firefighters," Biden said, paying tribute to the bravery of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
A number of militants were killed after their IEDs detonated as armed forces were combating them, according to official statements
Egypts army said Saturday that it thwarted an attack Friday on a security checkpoint in North Sinais Al-Arish.
In an official statement, military spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said the army was able to foil an attack by extremist elements wearing army uniforms and carrying improvised explosive devices (IEDs), hand grenades, and firearms.
According to the statement, the militants were killed after their IEDs detonated as armed forces were combating them.
The number of the militants killed was not provided, with El-Refaie posting pictures of the militants' corpses on the official page of the Egyptian armed forces.
The foiled attempt comes after an attack that killed six army personnel in the North Sinai city Friday.
A number of militants were killed and injured when army personnel returned fire.
Egyptian security forces are battling a North Sinai-based Islamist insurgency that intensified following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Hundreds of security personnel have been killed by militants in recent years, while the army has killed hundreds of militants in security campaigns in the governorate.
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Hardline Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to create a 'revolutionary government' amid fears he is trying to establish a dictatorship.
Duterte issued the warning during a bombastic speech on national television in which he attacked all opponents - from his communist rivals to the EU.
The president said he would arrest all of his opponents and go 'to full scale war against the reds' if they attempt to destabilise his term in power.
It came as the Army announced a final push to retake the island of Marawi from ISIS after four bloody months of fighting that has left 1,000 people dead.
Rodrigo Duterte threatened to create a 'revolutionary government' if insurgent communists try to destabilise his term in power - raising fresh fears he is trying to create a dictatorship
Military bosses had set a deadline of Sunday to eradicate the Islamic extremists as fresh bombing raids were carried out, but later revised that, saying only that fighting would be over 'very soon'.
As the battle rage on Friday night, Duterte spoke to his political rivals from the capital, saying: 'If your destabilisation is taking place and there is chaos already, I will not hesitate to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term.
Duterte has previously threatened to impose martial law, which led to the establishment of the last Philippines dictatorship, in response to ISIS attacks.
But unlike martial law, a 'revolutionary government' would not require the approval of congress, allowing him to seize a vast amount of power at the stroke of a pen.
Duterte cited the precedent set by Corazon Aquino, who established a revolutionary government soon after leading a 'People Power' uprising in 1986 that ended the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
Aquino sacked all elected officials, abolished Congress and tore up the 1973 constitution in favour of a provisional charter.
She handpicked a commission to write a new constitution, which was ratified by plebiscite in 1987 and paved the way for elections. She is revered by many Filipinos who continue to see her as a heroine of democracy.
Under the constitution she approved, presidents are limited to one term of six years.
He spoke as the army said it expects fighting in Marawi, which was captured by ISIS four months ago, to end 'very soon' (file image)
Duterte's critics fear the 72-year-old is intent on dragging the country back into dictatorship and allow himself more freedom in prosecuting his drug war.
Duterte was elected last year largely on an incendiary law-and-order platform in which he promised to eradicate illegal drugs in society by killing 100,000 people.
Since he took office 15 months ago, police have reported killing 3,850 people in anti-drug operations while thousands of others have been murdered in unexplained circumstances.
Many Filipinos continue to support Duterte, seeing the charismatic politician as a saviour fighting corruption and crime.
But opposition has started to build, with the influential Catholic Church and leftist groups taking a prominent role in speaking out against his drug war.
Rare street protests broke out last month after police involved in the drug war killed two teenagers in controversial circumstances.
The Philippine military, which backed Marcos until the last days of his dictatorship, did not respond to AFP's request for comment on Duterte's warning.
Pro-IS gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines, on May 23.
Since then 822 militants, 162 government forces and 47 civilians have been killed, Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the force battling the militants, said.
The insurgents have withstood a relentless US-backed bombing campaign and intense ground battles with troops that have left large parts of Marawi resembling devastated cities in war-torn Syria and Iraq.
Military commanders last week set a target of October 15 to end the fighting and President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said the battle was 'almost over'.
Twenty soldiers were wounded on Saturday in a sign troops were pushing hard to end the battle, Brawner said.
He said 40 militants remained in the conflict area including leaders Isnilon Hapilon, who is on America's list of most wanted terrorists with a $5 million bounty, and Omarkhayam Maute, whose group had pledged allegiance to IS.
There were also 100 civilians in the zone including hostages and families of the militants, he added.
'Women and children are now forced to fight together with the Maute-ISIS fighters. These are desperate measures the Maute-ISIS are doing. This is their last defensive stand,' Brawner said, using another acronym for IS.
Duterte on Thursday warned against celebrating the eventual liberation of Marawi, citing the deaths and devastation there.
'When we leave Marawi, we go quietly. We do not want to show any kind of celebration or happiness,' he said.
Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered over the past day in their one-time bastion Raqa, the US-led coalition backing the offensive on the Syrian city said Saturday.
'Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ISIS terrorists have surrendered in Raqa, and were removed from the city,' the coalition said in an emailed statement to AFP.
'Foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa,' it said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all Syrian ISIS jihadists - numbering around 200 fighters - had left their former stronghold with their families.
'All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqa over the past five days,' said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they headed to unknown destinations.
100 ISIS fighters surrendered to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces battling to take full control of Raqa, the one-time de facto capital of ISIS in Syria (file photo from September 22)
Much of Syria's Raqa has been reduced to ruins by heavy bombardment that has rendered whole streets unrecognizable (file photo from September 22)
A Raqa official told AFP that Syrian ISIS members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.
'They sent a message to the Raqa Civil Council and to the tribal mediators,' the official said.
'Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners - the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet,' he said.
Members of the council - a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF - had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Members of a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF - worked with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians (a child pictured on the western front on October 12)
Up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman (an armed jihadist pictured in Raqa on September 16)
Hundreds of civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group.
According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.
'The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under ISIS control in Deir Ezzor province,' in eastern Syria, he said.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.
'We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh,' Nuri Mahmoud told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDF's Arab and Kurdish fighters have recaptured around 90 percent of Raqa from IS.
Donald Trump has gambled with US diplomatic credibility by attacking an Iran nuclear deal that his European allies cherish as a benchmark for international cooperation.
And in doing so the US president has underlined the risk that his 'America First' foreign policy will translate to one of 'America Alone' as he confronts future crises.
Between nationalist speeches, protectionist gestures and high-octane Twitter outbursts, observers have struggled to identify a coherent strategy behind Trump's decisions.
But one thread does stand out as he pulls out of trade deals, provokes allies and tears up international accords -- he seems determined that no international ties will bind him.
Donald Trump has gambled with US diplomatic credibility by attacking an Iran nuclear deal that his European allies cherish as a benchmark for international cooperation
The United States emerged as the indispensable superpower in the wake of World War II in part through its leadership in a global rules-based system of treaties and alliances.
- 'Withdrawal doctrine' -
But, as Trump made clear last month in a speech to the UN General Assembly, his vision is of a world where America is just the most powerful in a network of sovereign nations.
'Trump foreign policy has found its theme: 'The Withdrawal Doctrine',' quipped Richard Haass, influential president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Trump has not yet withdrawn from the Iran deal, although he made it clear that he is ready to do so if Congress and skeptical US allies do not agree to new sanctions.
He did quit the UN cultural organization, this week. He has collapsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and appears to be poised to destroy the bigger NAFTA treaty.
Time and again his bluster has put in question America's commitment to its NATO allies, and time and again he has ordered reviews into the utility of remaining in UN agencies.
He has even declared that America will drop out of the biggest -- and arguably most important -- accord in world history, the 196-member Paris climate deal.
As might be expected, former members of president Barack Obama's administration are furious and bewildered at what they see as an abdication of US leadership.
'Once again, Trump is throwing into question the ability of the US to keep its commitment to international agreements,' former top aide Ben Rhodes said.
'Other nations will not want to enter into agreements with the United States,' he warned.
For France's top diplomat, 'what is certain is that the role and meaning of multilateralism today are being called into question.
'We have a very different view from the Trump administration on how to ensure global security. This is no reason not to speak with our American allies -- on the contrary,' said French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told AFP.
- 'Ego and ideology' -
People hold up signs during a protest calling for the Trump administration to continue diplomacy with Iran
Former secretary of state John Kerry, a key architect of the Iran deal, called Trump's decision a 'reckless abandonment of facts in favor of ego and ideology.'
Trump, he said, 'weakens our hand, alienates us from our allies, empowers Iranian hardliners, makes it harder to resolve North Korea and risks moving us closer to military conflict.'
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who negotiated the deal on behalf of Tehran, said Trump's move would do lasting damage to US credibility.
'Nobody else will trust any US administration to engage in any long-term negotiation because the length of any commitment, the duration of any commitment from now on with any US administration would be the remainder of the term of that president,' Zarif told CBS News.
Washington's traditional allies in Europe were at first cautious in their approach to Trump, hoping he would mellow as he grew into the Oval Office role.
But they were outraged by his Iran gambit, and united in their response.
'It is clearly not in the hands of any president of any country in the world to terminate an agreement of this sort,' declared EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
'The president of the United States has many powers (but) not this one.'
In Washington, having failed to get through to Trump despite the support of some of his top advisers, European diplomats are now lobbying Congress to save the Iran deal.
And, the Iran decision at least has some strong supporters in the US capital.
- American leverage -
Students on a school trip watch a man dressed as US President Donald Trump taking part in a protest calling for the Trump administration to continue diplomacy with Iran
An outspoken group of foreign policy hawks, backed by influential senator Tom Cotton and Trump's UN ambassador Nikki Haley, had been pushing for 'decertification.'
And they, at least, agree with Trump that his tougher stance could give America more leverage, rather than less, with its foreign partners.
'If anything, the decision to decertify but keep the US in the deal could serve to bolster US credibility,' argues Behnam Ben Taleblu, of the Federation for Defense of Democracies.
Trump, he says, is 'sending a message that the US will not be a party to agreements where it feels it has a material disadvantage.'
This theory will be put to the test almost immediately.
In the weeks to come Trump and senior US officials will attempt to build a coalition to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear program
Much of Syria's Raqa has been reduced to ruins by heavy bombardment that has rendered whole streets unrecognisable
Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered in their former Syrian stronghold of Raqa, the US-led coalition said Saturday, as the fall of the one-time jihadist bastion nears.
In neighbouring Deir Ezzor province meanwhile, Syria's army captured the IS stronghold of Mayadeen, in the latest blow to the jihadists who are seeing their self-styled "caliphate" crumble.
A war monitor said no Syrian members of the jihadist group remained in Raqa, and that negotiations on the fate of foreign fighters were ongoing.
But the US-led coalition backing the offensive insisted that foreign fighters would not be allowed to leave the city.
Raqa was once the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group's "caliphate" and the city's loss would be a new blow for IS, which has already been driven from its strongholds in Iraq including second city Mosul.
In June, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, broke into Raqa, and since then they have captured around 90 percent of the city.
Syrian women and children gather on the western front after fleeing the centre of Raqa on October 12, 2017
In recent days, talks had been under way on a deal to secure the last parts of Raqa while protecting trapped civilians, some of them being used by IS fighters as human shields.
On Saturday, the US-led coalition confirmed dozens of IS fighters had handed themselves in.
"Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ISIS terrorists have surrendered in Raqa, and were removed from the city," the coalition said in a statement in response to AFP questions.
- Syrian IS fighters surrender -
Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, reported that all the remaining Syrian IS members in the city had now left with their families.
"All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqa over the past five days," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they numbered around 200 fighters.
A Raqa official told AFP on Saturday that Syrian IS members had surrendered overnight to the SDF, without specifying how many.
"They sent a message to the Raqa Civil Council (RCC) and to the tribal mediators," the official said.
"Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners -- the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," he said.
An SDF military source told AFP that buses and trucks were waiting outside Raqa and would take the surrendered fighters further east to Deir Ezzor province, much of which remains under IS control.
Members of the RCC -- a provisional administration for the city, set up by the SDF -- had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Up to 1,500 civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city in the past week, according to the coalition. The United Nations estimates thousands more may still be trapped inside.
US-led coalition strikes have dropped off at points in the past week, with their latest update reporting no air raids on Friday.
- City on verge of capture -
Abdel Rahman said up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in Raqa and negotiations on their fate were ongoing.
"The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under IS control in Deir Ezzor province," in eastern Syria, he said.
The US-led coalition however insisted that "foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa," and cautioned that it still expected "difficult fighting in the days ahead."
And Nuri Mahmud, a spokesman for the key Kurdish People's Protection Units that forms the SDF's backbone, denied that any deal would be cut with IS.
"Daesh is on the verge of being finished in Raqa in the coming days," he told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for the group.
"Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh."
IS captured Raqa in 2014, seizing it from other opposition forces, and turned it into the de facto capital of its "caliphate."
Under its rule, the city became synonymous with some of the worst of its abuses, including public executions, as well as a centre for the planning of attacks abroad.
The jihadists are also under attack in their remaining territory in Deir Ezzor province, where Syria's Russian-backed army on Saturday captured the town of Mayadeen.
The army and the SDF are fighting two separate campaigns in the province.
In neighbouring Iraq, the jihadists now hold just a sliver of territory in the Euphrates River valley.
Syrian government forces fire a multiple rocket launcher during their advance in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor
Syrian troops and allied forces captured the city of Mayadeen from the Islamic State group on Saturday, state media said, in the latest blow to the jihadist group.
"Units of our armed forces, in cooperation with allied forces, have regained control of the city of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor, killing a large number of terrorists and destroying their weapons," state media said, citing a military source.
"Our units are chasing down remaining members of Daesh fleeing the city amid a collapse in their ranks, and the engineering units are removing mines and explosives planted by the terrorists in the streets and square of the city," the source added.
The capture comes despite IS fighters managing last week to push advancing troops out of the eastern city, just two days after they entered it.
A renewed push by the Russian-backed Syrian troops saw them reenter the city, and sever the main road leading from it to the IS stronghold of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border to the east.
The advance left IS fighters in the city with the Euphrates river as their only route to escape.
Mayadeen's loss is the latest in a string of blows for IS, which is on the verge of losing its former de facto Syrian capital Raqa to the US-backed fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The jihadists' hold on Deir Ezzor province is also crumbling in the face of parallel regime and SDF assaults.
In September, Syrian troops broke an IS siege of nearly three years on government-held parts of the provincial capital.
And on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported that Syrian soldiers had now encircled remaining IS positions in the city after capturing new areas east of the Euphrates river.
In neighbouring Iraq, IS has also lost almost all of its territory, holding now just a stretch of the Euphrates valley abutting the Syrian border.
Morocco has been spared deadly jihadist attacks since a 2011 bombing in Marrakesh's famed Jamaa El Fna Square that killed 17 people, mainly European tourists
Moroccan police on Saturday arrested 11 members of an "extremely dangerous terrorist" cell linked to the Islamic State group and seized chemical products used to make bombs, the interior ministry said.
The suspects were active in the neighbouring northern cities of Fez and Meknes, in commercial capital Casablanca, as well as in the central town of Khouribga, a statement said.
The ministry said the "extremely dangerous terrorist" cell had planned to carry out attacks in "sensitive areas... in coordination with an affiliate" of the jihadist Islamic State group.
Moroccan media broadcast live video footage showing heavily armed and masked members of an elite police unit surrounding a building in Fez.
The ministry said the unit searched an apartment and arrested the "suspected mastermind of the cell and one of his accomplices".
Police also seized firearms, knives, gas cannisters as well as "products used to make homemade bombs" and a car carrying "suspicious material" that was near the building, the ministry added.
Morocco has been spared deadly jihadist attacks since a 2011 bombing in Marrakesh's famed Jamaa El Fna Square that killed 17 people, mainly European tourists.
But in recent months, authorities have regularly announced the dismantling of IS cells and arrests of suspected jihadist recruiters.
More than 20 people were killed when a car bomb exploded on a busy street in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, a police official said
A truck bomb exploded outside a hotel at a busy junction in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday causing widespread devastation that left at least 20 dead, with the toll likely to rise.
"Initial reports from emergency departments indicate more than 20 bodies picked up off the street and many more are under the wreckage of buildings destroyed by the blast", said Ibrahim Mohamed, a senior police officer.
Government security official Mohamed Aden said that bombing took place in a busy part of the city.
"There was a huge blast caused by a truck loaded with explosives. It went off at the entrance of a hotel alongside the K5 intersection," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab carries out frequent suicide bombings in the capital and elsewhere as it fights to overthrow the internationally-backed government.
Witnesses said the blast, which threw a thick cloud of smoke into the sky that could be seen across the city, badly damaged a nearby hotel and left scenes of devastation on the busy road.
"This was very horrible, the bomb went off alongside the busy road and left many people dead. I saw several dead bodies strewn about but could not count them," said witness Ismail Yusuf.
"It was horrible."
Emergency services were overwhelmed as they sought to respond to the bombing.
"This was very horrible incident. The emergency team don't even know how many people they have collected because of the high number of the casualties," said Abdukadir Haji Aden, director of Mogadishu's main Amin Ambulance Service.
"They have collected tens of dead and injured and the work is still ongoing," he said.
- Widespread devastation -
The so-called "Kilometre 5" junction is in the Hodan district, a bustling commercial part of the city with many shops, hotels and businesses.
The explosion occurred outside the Safari Hotel, a popular place but not one that is commonly used by government officials. It is not known whether the hotel was the target on this occasion, but in the past the Shabaab has frequently attacked hotels where officials stay.
In any case, the devastation caused was widespread. Muhidin Ali, a Mogadishu resident who was close by at the time said it was, "the biggest blast I have ever witnessed, it destroyed the whole area."
"There were dead bodies everywhere and injured people were screaming, some of them from under the rubble of destroyed buildings," said Fadumo Dahir, a witness.
"The whole area looks like a scene from a war," said Ahmed Bare, another witness.
The Shabaab was forced out of the capital six years ago by African Union and Somali troops, and subsequently lost control of major towns across southern Somalia.
However, the militants continue to control rural areas and launch attacks on military, government and civilian targets in Somalia, as well as terrorist raids in neighbouring Kenya.
Saturday's blast comes two days after Somalia's defence minister and army chief both resigned from their posts without explanation.
More than two dozen actresses have come forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of harassment, assault and rape in allegations dating back decades
The sexual abuse accusations now deluging Harvey Weinstein have bubbled up before as inside jokes and sly asides, tributes to the movie producer's capacity to inspire both fear and loathing in Hollywood.
US media have resurrected scenes from films and TV series, or interviews in which Weinstein's name and unsavory reputation are on clear display.
Through his representatives, Weinstein has asserted that all the sexual encounters revealed over the past week were consensual.
At the Oscars in 2013, comedian and writer Seth McFarlane joked after announcing the nominees for best supporting actress: "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein."
He explained Wednesday on his Twitter account that in 2011 the actress Jessica Barth, with whom he had acted in the "Ted" films, confided in him about Weinstein's "attempted advances."
"It was with this account in mind that, when I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction.
"Make no mistake, this came from a place of loathing and anger," he wrote, even though he was smiling when he made the comment, which drew laughs from the Oscars audience.
In the New Yorker magazine, which on Wednesday published a long investigative piece about Weinstein, Barth said the movie mogul had asked her to give him a naked massage in bed.
- 'Three occasions... out of five' -
In 2012, in an episode of the television series "30 Rock," the character played by actress Jenna Krakowski says, "Oh, please, I'm not afraid of anyone in show business. I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions out of five."
The following season, her character says: "I know how former lovers can have a hold over you long after they're gone. In some ways, I'm still pinned under a passed-out Harvey Weinstein, and it's Thanksgiving."
Tina Fey, the series' creator, has yet to comment on the scandal.
In 2007, the actor Maury Chaykin played the role of Harvey Weingard, a producer who is full of himself, angry and given to threats, in the HBO series "Entourage," which tells the story of two young actors in Hollywood. The scriptwriters did not include any sexual indiscretions.
According to the British daily The Telegraph, Weinstein sent a message to the producers through one of the actors: "Tell them if they ever mention my name again, they're dead."
Instead, the show used the phrase in the next episode and Weinstein is said to have called the showrunners directly to say he was happy with it.
Italian actress and director Asia Argento told the New Yorker she was raped by Weinstein in 1997 in a hotel room on the Cote d'Azur, which she described as a "horrible trauma."
She said she had other sexual relations with the producer until 2002. Those were consensual but she said she nonetheless felt obligated to submit to his advances.
- Coercion -
She revisited the rape in a scene of her 2000 film "Scarlet Diva." In it a producer asks a young actress played by Argento for a massage and them throws himself upon her. "People would ask me about him because of the scene in the movie," she told the New Yorker.
In 1998, "Late Show" host David Letterman asked actress Gwyneth Paltrow if she had been coerced to come on the show.
"Do you count Harvey Weinstein as a coercer," Paltrow replied, smiling.
"I do all my movies for Harvey Weinstein, that's Miramax, and I'm lucky to do them there but he will coerce you to do a thing or two."
Four years earlier, in a Los Angeles hotel suite, Weinstein asked Paltrow for a massage and tried to draw her into his bedroom, she told The New York Times.
The actress, who was 22 at the time, refused. She told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt, who later confronted Weinstein and warned him never to touch her again.
The movie mogul was infuriated but Paltrow made up with him, and went on to win the Oscar for best actress in 1999 for her role in the Weinstein-produced "Shakespeare in Love."
Much of Syria's Raqa has been reduced to ruins by heavy bombardment that has rendered whole streets unrecognisable
Foreign and Syrian jihadists from the Islamic State group are to evacuate their former stronghold of Raqa, as US-backed forces near the capture of the city, a senior official said Saturday.
Omar Alloush, a senior member of the local Raqa Civil Council, told AFP the deal would see IS fighters either turn themselves in or leave on buses, possibly to neighbouring Deir Ezzor province.
The news of an evacuation of IS fighters came shortly after the US-led coalition backing the assault on the city announced a convoy would leave Raqa in a deal to minimise new civilian casualties.
But the coalition specifically ruled out the exit of foreign IS fighters while making no mention of local fighters, and warned against any deal that allowed jihadists safe passage without "facing justice".
Once the de facto Syrian capital of IS's self-styled "caliphate," most of Raqa is now held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.
In recent days, fighting dropped off as local officials tried to negotiate a way to secure the last 10 percent of the city held by IS while preventing further civilian casualties.
Local tribal leaders issued a statement late Saturday saying they had urged the SDF and US-led coalition to find a way to "settle the status" of Syrian jihadists in the city and "secure their exit".
"The Syrian Democratic Forces agreed. We are now preparing a mechanism to evacuate (them)... to protect the lives of civilians who were taken as human shields," the statement added.
"We as tribal leaders guarantee the lives of those who will be taken out."
Alloush said up to 500 Syrian and foreign-born jihadists remained in Raqa.
"They have 400 hostages with them -- women and children -- in the national hospital," he told AFP.
He confirmed foreign IS fighters are "included in the deal" to evacuate jihadists.
"The foreign fighters have two choices: either surrender or be taken out" of the city, Alloush told AFP, saying it was "possible" they would be taken to Deir Ezzor, an eastern Syrian province where IS still holds territory.
- Raqa 'on verge' of capture -
The US-led coalition backing the SDF earlier announced a convoy would leave Raqa on Saturday under a deal negotiated by local officials.
"The arrangement is designed to minimise civilian casualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terrorists as people trapped in the city continue to flee the impending fall of Daesh's so-called capital," the coalition said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
"People departing Raqa under the arrangement are subject to search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces," it added.
It had earlier insisted that "foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa", and cautioned that it still expected "difficult fighting in the days ahead".
Deals to allow IS fighters to withdraw from territory have been negotiated in the past, including in May when an agreement allowed several dozen jihadists to flee the town of Tabqa, west of Raqa.
IS captured Raqa in 2014, and the city has become synonymous with the worst of the group's abuses, and infamous as a centre for planning attacks abroad.
Since breaking into Raqa in June, the SDF has captured around 90 percent of the city, backed by heavy US-led coalition strikes that have rendered whole streets unrecognisable and killed scores of civilians.
"Daesh is on the verge of being finished in Raqa in the coming days," said Nuri Mahmud, a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units that form the SDF's backbone.
The loss of Raqa would be only the latest in a series of devastating blows to IS, which earlier this year ceded the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The group now holds just a sliver of territory in Iraq, and is under attack from two separate campaigns by the SDF and Syrian army in Deir Ezzor province.
On Saturday, Syria's army seized the former IS stronghold of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor, in a campaign that is backed by President Bashar al-Assad's ally Russia.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
A picture taken on October 14, 2017, shows Turkish army diggers on a hill in the Syrian border town of Salwah
Syria on Saturday demanded the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of Turkish troops that have deployed in the country's northwestern province of Idlib, state media said citing a foreign ministry source.
Turkish troops entered Idlib on Thursday night as part of efforts to enforce a so-called "de-escalation zone" agreed by rebel backer Ankara and regime allies Russia and Iran at talks in Astana earlier this year.
But the Syrian foreign ministry source slammed the "Turkish aggression", saying it had "nothing whatsoever to do with the understandings reached by the guarantor countries in the Astana process."
The source added that the deployment was "a violation of these understandings and a departure from them."
"The Turkish regime must abide by what was agreed in Astana."
Turkey's military said Friday it had begun "activities to establish observation posts on October 12", days after Turkish troops launched a reconnaissance mission in Idlib.
On Friday, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported over 100 soldiers including special forces, and 30 armoured vehicles, had entered Idlib.
And a new convoy entered on Saturday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
The province is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, which has ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish troops had entered Syria with the Free Syrian Army, the name Ankara uses for rebels seeking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
Turkey says it is backing Syrian rebels in a bid to oust HTS members in the area and allow Iranian, Russian and Turkish forces to implement the zone.
The "de-escalation" zone in Idlib is the one of four agreed in Astana and the last to be implemented, after.
Idlib is one of the last major areas of Syria beyond the control of the government, which has recaptured vast swathes of territory from opposition fighters since its ally Russia intervened on its behalf in September 2015.
Turkey has intervened in Syria before, last year launching its operation Euphrates Shield targeting the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
The bribery case related to land worth EGP 188 million in Suez governorate
Egypts Administrative Control Authority (ACA) said Saturday that a Suez governorate official was arrested while receiving a bribe for illegally issuing construction and quarry licenses.
In a statement, the ACA said the top official was arrested Friday while he received the bribe from a constructor.
According to investigations, he illegally leaked information on the estimated value of a tender for one of the governorates portions of land with a value of EGP 188 million.
The ACA is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies, including identifying possible cases of corruption and referring them for prosection.
In the past year, the ACA has referred several state officials to prosecution on bribery charges.
Last December, Egypt's President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi stressed the importance of fighting corruption, hailing the ACAs role.
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Syrian civilians gather on the western front after fleeing the centre of Raqa on October 12, 2017
Syrian and foreign Islamic State group fighters are to evacuate their one-time bastion Raqa as part of an agreement brokered by tribal leaders, a senior local official told AFP Saturday.
Omar Alloush, a senior official of the Raqa Civil Council, said a deal had been reached to allow fighters out of the city, which is on the verge of being captured by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
"Foreign fighters are included in the deal," he said.
According to Alloush, up to 500 fighters including both Syrian and foreign-born jihadists remain in Raqa.
"They have 400 hostages with them -- women and children -- in the national hospital," he told AFP.
The US-led coalition backing the SDF's drive for Raqa had announced the deal earlier on Saturday but said it would exclude foreign IS fighters.
The agreement comes after days of talks on a way for the US-backed SDF to secure the last parts of the city while avoiding further civilian casualties.
Alloush insisted the agreement included non-Syrian jihadists.
"The foreign fighters have two choices: either surrender or be taken out" of the city, Alloush told AFP, saying it was "possible" they would be taken to Deir Ezzor, an eastern Syrian province where IS still holds territory.
Malaysia's opposition is set to contest the country's elections --which are due in 2018-- against Prime Minister Najib Razak's powerful Barisan Nasional coalition, which has never lost an election
Thousands of Malaysian protesters demonstrated Saturday against scandal-hit Prime Minister Najib Razak as political tensions rise ahead of an election expected within months.
Led by opposition politicians from the Pakatan Harapan coalition, or Pact of Hope, the carnival-like rally was the latest outburst of anger linked to claims that huge amounts of money were looted from a state investment fund set up by Najib.
Both Najib and the fund, 1MDB, deny wrongdoing.
Speaking in a field in the city of Petaling Jaya, some 10km from Kuala Lumpur, the country's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said it was time for Malaysians to vote out Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
"We can bring down Najib only by (voting) Pakatan Harapan," he said in a speech, addressing a crowd clad in mostly red T-shirts, a color similarly worn by members of Mahathir's Bersatu party.
Protesters were heard chanting "Reformasi" ("Reformation"), "Long live the people", and "Down with BN" during the eight-hour-long rally, which organisers claimed some 25,000 people showed up for.
Police did not immediately respond to requests for an estimate on the figure, but an AFP reporter said there appeared to be at most several thousand.
Malaysia's opposition is set to contest Malaysia's elections --which are due in 2018-- against Najib's powerful Barisan Nasional coalition, which has never lost an election.
Mahathir recently stepped out of retirement in politics to form his own party, and joined the opposition alliance in a bid to unseat Najib at the elections.
Freed hostage Joshua Boyle, seen in a video grab released by CBC News, made a statement to the media upon his arrival at Toronto airport
Freed hostage Joshua Boyle has told public broadcaster CBC his children are exploring their new home in Canada but are still very fearful after a brutal years-long ordeal at the hands of Taliban-linked kidnappers.
Boyle and his American wife and three children were freed Wednesday in Pakistan after five years of captivity at the hands of the Haqqani network, a militant group that operates on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
In a chilling statement on the family's arrival in Toronto, Boyle accused his kidnappers of murdering their infant daughter and raping his wife, Caitlan Coleman. He said his priority now was to protect his family.
In a message sent later to Canadian media from his parents' home town of Smith Falls, around 80 km (50 miles) from Ottawa, the 34-year-old said the family had safely arrived in the first real "home" his children had ever known.
In remarks emailed to CBC, he said the children -- boys aged four and two, and a girl just four months old -- were starting to adapt to new surroundings after their harrowing ordeal.
The CBC said Boyle told them his four year-old was examining post-it notes and curtains and boardgames.
"Everything in the house, he said, is a wonderland to him, and that said, he is still terrified to leave the house, even to go out on the porch," CBC correspondent Susan Armiston said.
Boyle said his two-year-old was "nearly as distressed as he was in prison" but his baby girl while scared had also discovered "there are more decent people in the world than she ever knew," Armiston said.
- Kidnapped -
Boyle and his wife were kidnapped by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in a remote area of Afghanistan in 2012.
The family was freed Wednesday by Pakistani troops acting on US intelligence.
Visibly angry, Boyle told reporters the network had ordered the killing of their baby -- a fourth child, whose existence had not previously been known -- as retaliation for his refusal to accept an offer from them.
"The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," he said.
Caitlan Coleman (L) and Joshua Boyle (R) shown holding their children during their captivity, in an undated still image from a video provided by the Site Intelligence Group
Boyle also said his wife had been raped, not by a lone guard but with the aid of the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commander he identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani network is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
The faction has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.
Boyle said both incidents took place in 2014, some two years after they were taken captive.
He said the Taliban had confirmed the crimes took place, in an investigation in 2016, and called on the group's leaders to take action against the "criminal miscreants."
- 'Secure sanctuary' -
Boyle said his focus was now on rebuilding a life for his wife and children.
"Obviously it will be of incredible importance to my family to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus on edification and to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost," he said.
But questions remain about how Boyle and his pregnant wife found themselves in Taliban-controlled territory, and Coleman's father lashed out at his son-in-law in an interview on ABC.
"Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," said Jim Coleman.
Before marrying Coleman, Boyle was briefly married in 2009 to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Canadian-born Omar Khadr, who was captured in battle as a teenager in Afghanistan in 2002 and held for a decade in the US military at Guantanamo Bay.
- Family ties -
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and his transfer to Canada in 2012, where he was freed on bail in 2015.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Boyle was not a target of any investigation.
In a video broadcast by CBC, which said it was shot by the Pakistani military following their release, Boyle claims that the vehicle they were travelling in was "riddled with bullets," and praised the soldiers for shielding his family from the gunfire.
"The criminals who held us, they were not good Muslims," Boyle is shown as saying. "They were not even bad Muslims."
"They were undoubtedly criminals, undoubtedly pagans, they were directed by commanders who were not guided by Islam," he said.
DR Congo President Joseph Kabila refused to step down when his second term ended in December
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo met on Saturday to address when the next presidential election will be held after the country's electoral commission announced there will be no vote before early 2019.
Beset by ethnic divisions, numerous political tensions and bloody fighting in its east, the delay has raised fresh security worries in the vast African nation.
Elections were supposed to occur this year under a transitional deal aimed at avoiding fresh political bloodshed after President Joseph Kabila refused to step down when his second and final term ended in December 2016.
A new timetable for the election will not be announced at the end of the three-way meeting between the government, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and the National Monitoring Council of the Agreement (CNSA), the commission's rapporteur told AFP.
"On Wednesday we will end the meeting and the electoral commission will tell you when it will publish the timetable," said rapporteur Jean-Pierre Kambala.
He said it could be a matter of days before a timetable is made public. For weeks Congolese officials have been saying that a timetable announcement is imminent.
The international community has strongly urged that the timetable be released, with the United Nations saying the silence has created "tensions and a climate of uncertainty".
Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi said that Kabila and the electoral commission had "declared war on the Conglese people"
The electoral commission said Wednesday it would need another 504 days to prepare for the vote after the completion of an electoral census, which is far from done in the restive Kasai region.
"We need 1.335 billion dollars (1.129 billion euros), including $400 million for revising the register," Kambala told AFP.
The opposition "Rassemblement" (Unity) coalition boycotted the three-way meeting launched by Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala.
Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi said on Thursday that Kabila and the electoral commission had "declared war on the Congolese people" by delaying elections until 2019.
The 2017 election deadline was set by a hard-won accord brokered by the Catholic Church on last New Year's Eve, and supporters hoped it would usher in the chance of a violence-free, democratic transition in one of the world's most restive countries.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) meeting with Qatari envoy Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Jassim al-Thani in Jeddah on August 16, 2017
A controversial member of Qatar's royal family said Saturday that Qatari authorities have frozen his bank accounts over his role in Doha's crisis with its neighbours.
"The Qatari regime has honoured me by freezing all my bank accounts," Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani tweeted.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar on June 5 over its alleged support of extremism, charges Doha denies.
In August, Sheikh Abdullah met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to mediate on reopening a land border to allow Qatari pilgrims to perform the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
It was the first public high-level encounter between the nations since the diplomatic crisis erupted.
Doha was quick to point out that he was in Saudi Arabia on a "personal" mission, not for the government.
Sheikh Abdullah belongs to a branch of the Al-Thani royal family which has seen its power eroded but is still well-connected.
"I wish Qatar... to return to its Gulf brothers as there is no one else to count on," he tweeted on Saturday.
Gulf media reports have speculated over the possible formation of a Qatari government in exile headed by Sheikh Abdullah.
People protest against the Ethiopian government during Irreecha, the annual Oromo festival to celebrates the end of the rainy season, in Bishoftu on October 1, 2017
The speaker of Ethiopia's lower house of parliament, who resigned last week, said Saturday that he quit because of "disrespect" of his ethnic group.
Abadula Gemeda, a member of the Oromos, the country's largest ethnic group, announced last Sunday that he was stepping down after seven years as speaker of the House of People's Representatives.
He is one of the highest-ranking government officials to resign since the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition took power in 1991.
A former army chief of staff, Abadula is also a founder of the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation (OPDO) C, which represents the Oromos within the EPRDF.
Oromos led a wave of anti-government protests that began in late 2015 and were only quelled after more than 940 deaths and the imposition of a 10-month state of emergency, and distrust of the EPRDF still runs deep.
In comments carried by the state-affiliated Oromia Broadcasting Network, Abadula said he was dissatisfied with the EPRDF's treatment of his people.
"I resigned because my peoples and party were disrespected," he said. "However, I will struggle to bring the necessary respect and do the best I can for Oromo people to gain their rights."
His resignation came at the start of a turbulent week in Ethiopia, which saw protesters return to the streets in several towns in Oromia, the largest of the country's ethnically based regional states.
On Wednesday, three people were killed and more than 30 injured at a protest in the city of Shashamene, while another protest in the town of Boke left another three dead and three more injured, spokesman for the Oromia regional state Addisu Arega said in a post on Facebook.
His accounts could not be independently verified, and the cause of the deaths remained unclear.
An official in the southern Borena zone told AFP the four people were killed and 20 injured on Thursday after they tried to stop a convoy carrying what they believed to be weapons destined for communities in neighbouring Somali region.
A separate conflict started last month along the border between the Oromia and Somali regions, leading to hundreds of deaths and the displacement of at least 67,800 people from the two regions.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Local taxes on food and beverages would be preemptively banned in Michigan under legislation that is likely to be signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder.
The Republican-led Legislature finished approving the bill Thursday, just weeks after its introduction. While no Michigan municipalities are considering an excise tax on sugary and artificially sweetened beverages, business groups and others lobbying for the measure pointed to soda taxes in Philadelphia and the Chicago area as reason enough to move quickly.
The penny-per-ounce tax on cola and sweetened drinks in Cook County, Illinois, was repealed Wednesday after a monthslong conflict that included a court battle and millions of dollars' worth of television ads on both sides. The tax will end Dec. 1.
The sponsor of the Michigan measure, Republican Rep. Rob VerHeulen of Walker, said soda taxes "cause disruption and the loss of jobs" and are regressive, disproportionately affecting lower-and middle-income consumers. He said while he does not think local governments can levy their own food and beverage taxes under current law, it is best to "make the law very clear."
Michigan generally exempts food and drinks sold at grocery stores from the state sales tax.
The legislation - which won final approval in the Senate on a 30-5 vote Thursday after clearing the House 101-7 last week - is supported by many business trade associations, a labor union and advocates for the poor. It is opposed by local governments and health groups.
Snyder spokeswoman Tanya Baker said he has not reviewed the bill. The Republican governor's administration did not oppose it during the legislative process.
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House Bill 4999: http://bit.ly/2xRdDuj
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Follow David Eggert on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00 . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/David%20Eggert
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the Trump administration's energy plan (all times local):
1:36 p.m.
Rick Perry has referred to Puerto Rico as a country at a congressional hearing, though he also repeatedly described it correctly as a U.S. territory.
FILE - In this July 18, 2017, file photo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry attends a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. The Energy Department says Perry has taken at least six trips on government or private planes costing an estimated $56,000. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
When Rep. Kathy Castor asked the energy secretary about efforts to restore Puerto Rico's storm-destroyed power grid, he said she'd described a major problem facing "the territory."
Perry added, "That's a country that already had its challenges before the storm."
The Florida Democrat interrupted him, saying, "Well, it's America, there are American citizens, it's not a country."
Perry apologized "for misstating here and saying 'country.'"
The former Texas governor gained unwanted attention for the "oops" moment during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. During a debate, he couldn't remember the third federal agency he wanted to abolish - ironically, the Energy Department.
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12:25 p.m.
Congressional Democrats are accusing Energy Secretary Rick Perry of pushing an energy plan that unnecessarily helps the coal and nuclear industries.
Perry told a House energy subcommittee Thursday that his proposal would strengthen the country's energy supply so it can withstand storms and other crises.
New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone said Perry is pushing his energy plan "under the guise of a crisis" of the electricity grid's reliability. The Energy and Commerce committee's top Democrat says Perry's proposal "props up coal and nuclear generation."
Perry says his goal is for an energy supply that's strong "if the wind quits blowing, if the sun quits shining" or natural gas transmissions lines fail.
Perry's plan would reward nuclear and coal-fired power plants for adding reliability to the nation's power grid.
11:10 a.m.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry is defending his costly travel on private and government planes, saying such trips are sometimes necessary for him to do his job.
Perry told a House energy subcommittee Thursday that his agency has research labs and other facilities in many remote places. He says he also receives numerous invitations from members of Congress to visit their states.
Perry jokingly says that while he "could even hitchhike," it is sometimes most efficient for him to use private aircraft.
The Energy Department says Perry has taken at least six trips on government or private planes costing an estimated $56,000. The trips have included visits to facilities in Washington, Idaho and New Mexico.
Several Trump administration officials' travel expenses have recently attracted public attention.
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3:26 a.m.
The Trump administration says coal is back and nuclear energy is cool. But an unusual coalition of business and environmental groups says that should not be at the expense of natural gas, wind and solar.
Dow Chemical, Koch Industries and U.S. Steel Corp. are standing with environmentalists in opposing an Energy Department plan that would reward nuclear and coal-fired power plants for adding reliability to the nation's power grid. And they are pressuring the administration to shift course.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry says the plan is needed to help prevent widespread outages such as those caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and a 2014 "polar vortex" in the Eastern and Central U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) - 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 easily cleared 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.
In this Aug. 16, 2017 photo, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks during a press briefing in Bridgewater, N.J. The Department of Veterans Affairs has abruptly dropped plans to suspend an ethics law barring employees from receiving benefits from for-profit colleges. The move comes after criticism from government watchdogs, who warned of financial entanglements between government and the private companies vying for millions in GI Bill tuition. In a statement to The Associated Press, the VA said it had received "constructive comments" and as a result would delay action. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is named after Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick, a psychologist at the VA Medical Center in Tomah, Wisconsin. Kirkpatrick committed suicide in 2009 on the day he was fired by VA for questioning the over-medication of veterans. A VA investigation later found Kirkpatrick's concerns had been warranted.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., 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 employee's medical files in retaliation.
VA Secretary David Shulkin has pledged to bring greater accountability to the government's 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 VA who expose wrongdoing.
CLINTON, La. (AP) - In a string of attacks that began in July, a plumbing company owner killed three men and wounded a fourth, shooting all of the men at their homes or on their property in a rural area north of Baton Rouge, authorities said.
The slayings put the area on edge for weeks. The latest killing occurred Monday when authorities said Brad DeFranceschi was gunned down while the Boy Scouts employee trimmed weeds in front of his house. DeFranceschi lives on Boy Scouts camp property in Clinton, a town of 1,600 people about 30 miles from the state capital.
Authorities announced the arrest of Ryan Sharpe, 36, late Wednesday. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
This undated booking photo provided by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office shows Ryan Sharpe. Authorities in Louisiana have arrested Sharpe in connection with multiple shootings since July in the same area, including a Boy Scout employee who was shot and killed Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, near the camp where he worked. (East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office via AP)
DeFranceschi was the fourth middle-aged or older white man to be shot at their homes or on their property since July. East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux would not comment on a possible motive or say whether Sharpe, also a white man, knew the victims.
A convenience store owner told The Associated Press he saw Sharpe interact with one of his alleged victims at his business within the last year.
Asked by a reporter if Sharpe was a "serial killer," Gautreaux said, "No, but I mean it could be categorized as anything, really. We've been open-minded in this whole investigation."
"Our citizens can rest easy tonight knowing that we are confident we have the right person," the sheriff added.
East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said Sharpe confessed when investigators questioned him after his arrest, but the sheriff didn't elaborate.
Detectives found "significant physical evidence" linking Sharpe to the shootings, Travis said. The Louisiana State Police crime lab matched bullets found at two of the shooting scenes, according to a sheriff's office report.
Tommy Bass, 62, was killed in his carport on July 8 at his East Feliciana Parish home. Buck Hornsby, 47, was wounded while exercising on his property on Sept. 12 in Clinton. Carroll Breeden, 66, was shot to death on Sept. 19 while doing yard work in front of his home in Pride.
One of Sharpe's neighbors said he stopped by last week - four days before the latest slaying - to borrow her husband's welding helmet. She said she never felt uncomfortable around him.
"He always had friends around," Traci Andes, 46, said. "They would have BBQs, crawfish boils. Just your normal people."
After the most recent shooting, Andes 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.
"Everybody was scared. Even me. I didn't want to check my mailbox," she said. "Everybody has been on high alert."
The sheriff's office report doesn't explain how investigators identified Sharpe as a suspect.
Earlier this week, DeFranceschi's wife told authorities that she saw a white four-door car with tinted windows near her home after she heard the gunshots that killed her husband. Sharpe drove a car fitting that description.
Sharpe lived off a dirt road in a heavily wooded area. At the gate entrance to his home, there is a "No Trespassing" sign, warning that violators will be shot and "survivors will be shot again."
Investigators were watching Sharpe's home on Wednesday afternoon when he drove away in a white four-door Nissan Altima. They tried to pull him over but he led them on a high-speed car chase that eventually ended with his arrest, authorities said. A lever-action rifle was found in his car.
Lyman Fleniken, who owns a gas station and convenience store several miles from Sharpe's home, said Sharpe was a frequent customer, usually buying beer and cigarettes. But Fleniken hadn't seen him in the store since the first shooting in July.
Fleniken said he and Bass were childhood friends and he had seen Sharpe interact with Bass in his store in the months before he was killed. Their interaction seemed friendly.
"I thought he was a pretty good guy," Fleniken said of Sharpe. "He was friendly, pleasant."
Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's office, said she doesn't know if Sharpe has an attorney.
Sharpe owns a plumbing company, according to records filed with the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. His father is a retired police officer who worked for the state Public Safety Department, which provides security at the state Capitol building and elsewhere, according to State Police Maj. Doug Cain.
He told The Advocate on Thursday that he was shocked by his son's arrest.
"We were close, I didn't see him every day, but we talked occasionally and I kept up with him," he said. "I'm in shock of what he allegedly did, but I'm also sorry for the families that were impacted by this."
A task force of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, was formed to investigate the killings.
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This story has been corrected to show that that neighbor Traci Andes said she never felt uncomfortable around Sharpe.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
MPs said the elections for the UNESCO director-general post should ring alarm bells on 'graft and vote-buying in UN organisations'
Egypt's parliament invited on Saturday Moushira Khattab, the country's candidate who contested last week's elections for the post of director-general of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), to address the foreign affairs committee on her election campaign.
Khattab lost to former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay, who was elected the UNESCO chief Friday after an unusually heated four-round race.
A statement released by the parliament's foreign committee said Khattab's campaign was "honourable."
"Khattab's performance in the UNESCO election campaign was also strong and honourable and the committee has officially decided to invite her to address its members on her participation in this election," said the committee, adding that "Khattab was a good face for Egypt in this campaign, not to mention that she was an outstanding diplomatic and international figure."
The committee said Khattab and her campaign team members were able to contest four rounds of the election in a "very professional manner, dealing wisely with all obstacles that she faced in this battle."
'Financial irregularities'
The head of parliament's culture, media and antiquities committee, Osama Heikal, told reporters Saturday that the committee "was sorrowful that last week's election for the new director-general of UNESCO was marred with financial irregularities."
"Some tried in this election to buy votes to reach the post of the UNESCO director-general, and this should ring alarm bells," said Heikal, wondering "how a country Qatar that has no cultural weight was able to buy votes to reach the final round and how countries that are members of UNESCO reacted positively to this vote-buying."
"These bad practices should push countries to reconsider their membership of UNESCO because these practices will cast doubts on its image and credibility," said Heikal.
Heikal urged UNESCO's executive board to move quickly to keep the organisation free from "bad money."
"The board should open an investigation into the irregularities that have marred the recent election in order to keep its reputation and credibility intact," said Hekial.
"It was so bad that the international community turned in the past a blind eye to corruption and vote buying in FIFA and it did the same again with the recent UNESCO election instead of raising question marks on it."
Heikal wondered "how a candidate of a country heavily involved in funding terrorism got a majority vote until the semi-final rounds of the UNESCO election?"
"In spite of all the irregularities and violations which have marred the UNESCO vote, the committee believes that withdrawal from UNESCO should be a last resort for Egypt," he added.
MP Mohamed El-Orabi, a former foreign minister and manager of Khattab's campaign team, told reporters that the recent election for UNESCO's director-general post was not marked with transparency.
"The ballots in the UNESCO election should be public rather than secret," said El-Orabi, adding that "as Western countries always advise democracy and transparency all the time, they should impose this principle on the election of the UNESCO director-general and all other prestigious international posts," El-Orabi said.
He added that he would submit a report to the foreign affairs committee on the UNESCO election.
"Egyptian diplomacy led by foreign minister Sameh Shoukry has played a wonderful role in promoting Moushira Khattab's campaign and we are proud that we were able to push her to the final rounds of the UNESCO election in spite of all irregularities and money talk," El-Orabi said.
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WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a former Dover Air Force Base airman who was accused of amassing what prosecutors called a horrific collection of child pornography while using sophisticated computer technology to hide his identity.
A judge on Thursday sentenced 27-year-old Robert Hollingsworth of Byron, Illinois, to five years in prison and ordered him to pay $48,000 in restitution.
Hollingsworth, who was arrested at the base in January, pleaded guilty in June to one count of possession of child pornography of a minor under the age of 12. He faced up to 20 years behind bars.
Authorities say Hollingsworth collected more than 10,000 images and 3,000 videos of children being sexually exploited.
Of the 162 identified victims, 16 came forward to submit victim impact statements and seek restitution.
YOKKAICHI, Japan (AP) - At Toshiba's flash-memory chip plant in Yokkaichi, the orderly quiet of the clean room, with its metal boxes zipping around on overhead rails, contrasts sharply with the messy feud between its owners over plans to sell this prized asset.
Toshiba plans to sell its memory chip business to a multinational consortium led by Bain Capital investment fund. The Japanese electronics and energy conglomerate's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital opposes the deal.
The plant in Yokkaichi, 290 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of Tokyo, makes highly lucrative SanDisk memory chips - the business Toshiba has agreed to sell to a consortium headed by investment company Bain Capital for 2 trillion yen ($18 billion).
Toshiba Memory Chief Yasuo Naruke, right, and Bain Capital Japan chief Yuji Sugimoto, left, pose for photographers in front of the building of manufacturing memory chips in Yokkaichi, central Japan, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. The heads of Toshiba's memory chip business and Bain Capital, the investment fund buying it, said they hope to close the deal by March despite persisting opposition from Toshiba's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Executives heading Toshiba Corp.'s memory business and Bain Capital Japan insisted Friday they will go ahead with the sale by March, if not earlier.
Toshiba Memory Chief Yasuo Naruke and Bain Japan chief Yuji Sugimoto led a media tour of the factory in Yokkaichi, an industrial hub in central Japan, where reporters were shown the site for planned construction of a new building to make state-of-the-art chips, called "3D." That plan will go ahead with or without Western Digital's consent or participation, they said.
The tour was clearly intended not only to highlight the plant's technological prowess but also to demonstrate the unity between Bain and Toshiba Memory.
Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. is suffering massive losses from its nuclear business. Its U.S. nuclear operations at Westinghouse Electric Co. filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
To survive, Toshiba must part with the memory business, which it spun off in July as the last lucrative asset it has left to sell.
"Please check out how energetic we are at Yokkaichi," Naruke told reporters. He emphasized that new investments are planned for the plant.
Channels for talks with Western Digital remain open, he said. He said he hoped for cordial relations and continued cooperation with the company.
Western Digital has filed in U.S. arbitration court in San Francisco to block the sale. The litigation is likely to take years, but a decision is expected soon on whether the sale would be suspended pending resolution of the case.
Western Digital has especially objected to South Korean rival SK Hynix's involvement in the consortium buying Toshiba Memory. The consortium has said that intellectual property will not leak to Hynix, which is investing 395 billion yen ($3.5 billion) but doubts remain.
Western Digital, which also has a hard-disk drive business, said earlier this week that Bain has not contacted it and the two companies are not in talks. Bain declined comment on the denial.
The Bain-led consortium aims to list the NAND flash-memory SanDisk joint venture business on the Tokyo Stock Exchange within several years. Sugimoto has pledged to protect jobs at the memory business, keeping most of its management intact.
Competition from Samsung of South Korea, which is No. 1 in the memory chip field, is a major threat, and not falling behind in technology remains critical, he said.
Kota Ezawa, a financial analyst with Citigroup Global Markets in Tokyo, says selling the memory business is crucial for Toshiba, although it might have sought a better price. He also believes Western Digital might be bluffing to avoid losing control over the joint venture, protect its value and prevent damage to its own bottom line.
"What the arbitration court might decide is unknown," he said. "The memory operation is the only major asset Toshiba has left to sell and it needs the sale to avoid delisting."
Ezawa said the media tour Friday was likely intended to show that the Yokkaichi operation is largely run by Toshiba.
Bain's consortium includes Apple Inc., a major customer for the memory chips, and Dell Technologies Capital. The two U.S. investors will not acquire common stock or voting rights over the business.
Japanese companies will hold 50.1 percent of the common stock in the consortium's special company, with Toshiba investing 350 billion yen ($3.1 billion) and medical technology company Hoya Corp. investing 27 billion yen ($239 million).
Toshiba Memory also has been promised 600 billion yen ($5.3 billion) in financing from banks.
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Yuri Kageyama can be reached at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
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Yuri Kageyama can be reached at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
Toshiba Memory Chief Yasuo Naruke, left, and Yuji Sugimoto, head of Bain Capital, attend a press conference in Yokkaichi, central Japan, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. The heads of Toshiba's memory chip business and Bain Capital, the investment fund buying it, said they hope to close the deal by March despite persisting opposition from Toshiba's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Journalists look at the newly manufacturing building tower under construction, left, the control office building under construction, center, and manufacturing memory chips factory, right, which is done in Yokkaichi, central Japan, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. The heads of Toshiba's memory chip business and Bain Capital, the investment fund buying it, said they hope to close the deal by March despite persisting opposition from Toshiba's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
In this Oct. 5, 2017 photo, Yuji Sugimoto, head of Bain Capital, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo. Sugimoto and Toshiba Memory Chief Yasuo Naruke said Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, they hope to close the deal by March despite persisting opposition from Toshiba's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital. Sugimoto said his consortium is giving full support to the plan. (Kyodo News via AP)
FILE - In this April 11, 2017, file photo, a photographer is silhouetted before a press conference at the Toshiba Corp. headquarters in Tokyo. The heads of Toshiba's memory chip business and Bain Capital, the investment fund buying it, said Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, they hope to close the deal by March despite persisting opposition from Toshiba's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)
Toshiba workers show where the new building is under construction at the Yokkaichi plant in Yokkaichi, central Japan, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. The heads of Toshiba's memory chip business and Bain Capital, the investment fund buying it, said they hope to close the deal by March despite persisting opposition from Toshiba's U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
BEIRUT (AP) - Turkish armored vehicles have rolled into northwestern Syria to impose a "de-escalation zone" in a province dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants, an incursion that the Turkish leader said was meant to secure his country's border.
The Turkish military said it began an operation late Thursday to set up "observation points" in Idlib, without providing further details or saying how many troops were involved.
Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper said around 30 armored vehicles and more than 100 commandos and special forces are taking part in the operation, with more troop movements expected in the coming days. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deployment of nearly 16 armored vehicles, five tanks and a military force came days after Turkey sent reconnaissance missions to the area.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the members of his ruling party in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Turkish armored vehicles have rolled into northwestern Syria to impose a "de-escalation zone" in a province dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. The Turkish military said it began an operation late Thursday to set up "observation points" in Idlib,(Presidential Press Service, pool photo via AP)
The deployment appears to be focused on establishing a Turkish military presence between the northwestern Idlib province and an adjacent Kurdish enclave.
Turkey didn't address the details or scope of the deployment, saying only that it was working to prevent a "terror" corridor from forming along its border. Turkey considers Syria's main Kurdish militia a terrorist group because of its links to the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey's southeast.
In what appears to be part of the agreement to facilitate the first phase of the deployment, the Observatory and fighters in the area said the Turkish vehicles were escorted by fighters from an alliance led by an al-Qaida-linked group. That suggests the main focus at this point is to deter the Kurdish forces.
Some of the Turkey-backed Syrian fighters had ties with al-Qaida-linked groups and are likely keen to avoid immediate confrontation.
"We said we would come suddenly," said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in Ankara Friday.
Erdogan said his country, with a 911-kilometer (566-mile) border with Syria, has to take precautions.
"We are the ones that are under harassment and threat. No one has the right to tell us why did you do this?" he said.
A rebel fighter in the area said the troops deployed from a border crossing into the Idlib province to be stationed between the Kurdish-held Afrin enclave and an area held by Syrian rebels.
A Kurdish militiaman confirmed the deployment of Turkish troops, saying they were stationed in three separate points along a "front" between Afrin and Idlib. He said the deployment was "not wide."
Both the rebel fighter and the Observatory said the Levant Liberation Committee, an insurgent coalition allied with al-Qaida, escorted the Turkish troops. The fighter and the Kurdish militia member spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the press.
It's not clear if the insurgents are on board with Turkey's plans. Brief clashes broke out along the border ahead of the deployment, amid reports of divisions within the insurgent coalition.
Syria expert Charles Lister told Syria Deeply earlier this week the Turkish operation appears to be first focused on establishing its own internal security, deterring Kurdish threats, minimizing refugee flows, and forming a Turkish protected area in northern Idlib. A slow and "methodical" campaign to undermine the al-Qaida-linked alliance may follow, Lister said.
"The situation is complex," said Mustafa Sejari, a spokesman for the Almutassim Brigades, a Turkish-backed Syrian force. He identified three major threats to the area: the Kurdish "separatists," the Syrian and Russian air campaign against the rebels, and the continued domination of the province by al-Qaida-linked militants.
"The presence of Turkish soldiers on the ground gives the area some immunity and stops the bombing," Sejari told The Associated Press in a series of text messages.
Last week, Turkey announced an operation with Syrian opposition forces in Idlib to implement a de-escalation zone in the province. Turkey sent forces into northern Syria last year to battle the Islamic State group and to stem the advance of the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who are also battling the extremists.
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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. TRUMP MOVES TO WEAKEN 'OBAMACARE'
The president plans to halt payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law that he has been trying to unravel for months.
On Willowview Court in Santa Rosa, Calif., a homeowner displays an American flag amidst the destruction from a wildfire, Thursday Oct. 12, 2017. Since igniting Sunday in spots across eight counties, the fires have transformed many neighborhoods into wastelands. Thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed and thousands of people were forced to flee. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP)
2. CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES UNDER SEIGE
The death toll climbs over 30 - the worst week of wildfires the state has ever seen - and is expected to keep rising as residents brace for more evacuations, destruction and danger.
3. TRUMP TO SPEAK ON IRAN NUKE DEAL
President Trump is expected to tell the nation that the landmark deal is not in America's best national security interests, and will specifically target Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.
4. COUPLE DESCRIBED AS ADVENTURE-SEEKERS
The wife and husband who were freed in a dramatic rescue mission after being held hostage five years in Afghanistan wanted to see areas of the world infrequently traveled by Westerners, those who know them say.
5. "HW RAPED ME"
Actress Rose McGowan's rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein are latest incendiary episode in the fast-unraveling saga engulfing the fallen Hollywood mogul.
6. WHAT NATION IS CLAD IN BLACK, MOURNING
Thais marked one year since the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej with solemn ceremonies and acts of personal devotion before an elaborate five-day funeral later this month.
7. WHERE LACK OF OPIOIDS CAUSES HARM
A report finds that millions die suffering in part because of a global disparity that leaves many poor countries without opioid painkillers.
8. COST-OF-LIVING HIKE ON TAP
Millions of Social Security recipients and other retirees in the U.S. can expect another small increase in benefits next year.
9. WHOSE 'JEOPARDY!' STREAK HAS BEEN HALTED
Austin Rogers, a New York City bartender, is finally bested after a 12-game winning streak that earned him $411,000.
10. DEFENDING CHAMP CUBS SURPASS NATIONALS
The Chicago Cubs bat around in the fifth inning and hold on for a 9-8 win, sending the Washington Nationals to another early playoff exit.
This still image made from a 2013 video released by the Coleman family shows Caitlan Coleman and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle in a militant video given to the family. The American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released in October 2017 after years of being held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban. The two were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and have been held by the Haqqani network. The couple had three children while in captivity. (Coleman family via AP)
FILE - In this April 15, 2015 file photo, Rose McGowan arrives at the LA Premiere Of "DIOR & I" held at the Leo S. Bing Theatre in Los Angeles. McGowan emerged from a brief suspension on Twitter on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, to offer her most pointed accusation that she was sexually abused by film mogul Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein's representative says the producer denies he engaged in "any non-consensual contact." (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras begins to celebrate after Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper struck out swinging in the ninth inning to end Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series, at Nationals Park, early Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Washington. The Cubs advanced to the NLCS with a 9-8 win. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
DETROIT (AP) - AP is retransmitting this story from Oct. 13 on Ford offering to inspect and repair Explorer SUVs to remove a quotation that did not meet AP's news policies on the use of anonymous content.
A revised version of the story is below:
Responding to consumer concerns about exhaust fumes, Ford is offering to inspect and repair Explorer SUVs at no cost to owners.
Ford maintains the vehicles are safe, but said it's making the repairs available in response to customer concerns about exhaust odors and carbon monoxide.
"Our investigation has not found carbon monoxide levels that exceed what people are exposed to every day," Ford spokesman Mike Levine said.
Ford has sold more than 1.35 million Explorers since 2011, when the vehicle was redesigned and the exhaust problems began. The move announced Friday comes as the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to investigate complaints of fumes and carbon monoxide leaking into the passenger cabins of police and consumer versions of the SUVs.
Ford previously focused repair efforts on police versions of the Explorer, but civilians continue to complain to the agency about exhaust fumes and symptoms such as nausea, headaches and drowsiness.
The company said it will send letters to owners of 2011 through 2017 Explorers starting the week of Nov. 13 telling them to take their SUVs to dealers for the work. Mechanics will check for leaks in the rear lift gate gaskets and drain valves. If any leaks are found, they'll be sealed or gaskets will be replaced, to prevent fumes from entering, Levine said. They'll also reprogram the air conditioning to let in more fresh air.
Ford will pay for the work regardless of mileage, age of the vehicles or whether they're under warranty. It also will reimburse owners who previously paid for repair work, Levine said. The service will be available starting Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, 2018, Ford said.
The customer service campaign is not a recall, although safety regulators could still push for one. NHTSA began its investigation of Explorers in July of 2016.
"NHTSA will take appropriate action as warranted, and any future decisions will be based on the findings of the investigation," the agency said in a statement.
Ford started repairing police versions earlier this summer after departments reported that carbon monoxide from exhaust fumes was making officers sick. The company said at the time there was no reason for owners of non-police Explorers to be concerned.
But over the past six years, more than 1,100 civilians have complained to the government about exhaust fumes seeping into Explorers, causing headaches, burning eyes, nausea, sleepiness and an odor like burning hair, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. In addition, Ford has received more than 2,000 complaints, warranty claims, reports from dealers and legal claims related to exhaust odors.
Even for such a big seller, 1,100 complaints about a single problem is unusual, especially because exhaust fumes almost never find their way into passenger areas, said Allan Kam, a former attorney with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who now is a consultant to consumers and manufacturers.
By comparison, the government has only two complaints about exhaust in the cabin of the Jeep Grand Cherokee for the 2011 through 2017 model years. The Grand Cherokee is an Explorer competitor with comparable sales for those years. In addition, the government had only one exhaust gas complaint for the 2010 Explorer, the year before the new model came out, The AP found.
In complaints to the government posted on the NHTSA website, several owners have said attempts by Ford dealers to fix the problem have failed. Many expressed concerns about small children and pets riding in the rear seat, where the smell seemed to be concentrated.
In 2014, a Florida woman sued Ford, claiming she and her daughter were suffering from chronic headaches due to carbon monoxide in their Explorer. Under a settlement reached in August, Ford had agreed to send out a nationwide notice to Explorer owners offering partial reimbursement for exhaust odor repairs performed on 2011-2015 Explorers. But that settlement is on hold because an owner filed an objection.
The fix announced Friday would go further than the settlement, because it would offer full reimbursements to owners of 2011-2017 Explorers.
Levine said Ford is confident the repairs will handle the problems. "This will reduce the potential for exhaust to enter the vehicle," he said.
Several police agencies have pulled Explorer Police Interceptors off the road due to complaints from officers about fumes and carbon monoxide. Ford has said the gas is leaking from the tailpipe into the police cabins due to non-factory outfitters that drill holes into police SUVs to install extra equipment such as lights and radios. Ford has offered to pay to seal the holes.
Police in Austin, Texas, pulled nearly 400 Explorers off patrol in July because of carbon monoxide concerns and reports of officers getting sick. Some of those vehicles have been repaired.
FORT MILL, S.C. (AP) - Authorities say a young man in South Carolina tried to suffocate one of his twin 1-year-old boys.
Fort Mill police said 21-year-old Grayson Bryant Seawell was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempted murder and two counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.
Maj. Bryan Zachary says the child's mother told police she found Seawell trying to suffocate the child.
A police report says Seawell physically abused both children over a two-day span and at other times before Tuesday.
Seawell could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted of all charges. He was jailed without bond, and court records did not list an attorney
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) - A Rochester physician who left her Malaysian village as a teenager could be deported to her birth country as early as next week.
Dr. Guan Lee has built a life and a practice in Minnesota since entering the U.S. in 1992, but has lived in legal limbo.
Her attorney, Malee Ketelsen-Renner, says Lee received a letter from immigration authorities denying her citizenship application in 2009. The 41-year-old doctor has won a series of reprieves on deportation, which now appear to have run out.
The Post-Bulletin reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Guan is out of options and must leave the country.
ICE spokesperson Shawn Neudauer says if Lee fails to comply with a removal order to leave the U.S., she will be listed as an ICE fugitive.
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Information from: Post-Bulletin, http://www.postbulletin.com
MILAN (AP) - An Italian priest has been kidnapped at gunpoint in Nigeria, where he has been working for three years, Italian news reports said Friday.
The 63-year-old Maurizio Pallu was taken with four others after arriving Thursday in Benin City in the country's south, the news agency ANSA and Avvenire, the newspaper and website of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, reported.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, with ordinary residents and even schoolchildren targeted as well as foreigners. Victims usually are freed unharmed after a ransom is paid, though security forces have rescued a few high-profile abductees.
Pallu had worked as a lay missionary before entering a seminary in Rome in 1988, Avvenire reported. He was later a parish priest in the Dutch city of Haarlem before being assigned to the archdiocese in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
The archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, told the television station Tv2000 that they did not yet have news about the priest, "but we have faith and continue to hope that in a short time Maurizio will be freed."
"Authorities are doing everything to locate him," the cardinal said. "The kidnappers should let him go soon, because it is not easy to bring an Italian around in the forest without being seen."
The archdiocese of Rome expressed "apprehension and worry" for the priest's safety and said the church "was united in prayer" for his liberation.
Other foreigners kidnapped in the West African nation this year include two German archaeologists, who were freed by their captors, and two Turkish nationals, whom local police said they rescued. The two were employees of a construction company.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A former South Dakota state senator, inspired by the dozens of women publicly accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or sexual assault, decided to come forward Friday with her own story of being sexually harassed on the job. In turn, that inspired a lobbyist to publicly share her story of being raped by someone who also worked at the South Dakota Capitol.
Former Sen. Angie Buhl O'Donnell took to Facebook on Friday and wrote about an incident with former House Majority Leader Brian Gosch in which he made comments about her breasts and asked her for a hug.
Gosch told the Argus Leader on Friday that the comments were made in jest and not meant to make her feel uncomfortable.
Buhl O'Donnell's story inspired Samantha Spawn, a lobbyist with NARAL-Pro Choice South Dakota, to share her own story of being raped by a man who worked at the Capitol after a lobbyist event in March in Pierre. Spawn said on Facebook that the man, whom she trusted, followed her to her hotel room and repeatedly assaulted her, causing her pain that lasted for days.
Both women hope going public will create a safer culture for women, especially younger ones who work at the Capitol.
"Maybe that will be a wake-up call to people," Spawn said Friday, according to the newspaper.
The Associated Press does not generally name victims of sexual assault, but Spawn and Buhl O'Donnell chose to go public with their stories.
Spawn said she considered going to police, but was worried she would be judged.
"With the culture of hypermasculinity out there, who was going to believe me?" Spawn said. "I asked myself, 'Am I complicit in rape culture for not reporting it?'"
Buhl O'Donnell, a Sioux Falls Democrat, said during one night in 2016, Gosch made a remark about how she was repeatedly hit in the breasts during a legislative dodgeball game. She tried to change the subject, but Gosch kept talking about her breasts, she said.
Gosch said Buhl O'Donnell initiated the conversation and he joked that she was hit more than once.
"I am sorry if she was offended by that," he said in a statement to the newspaper. "It was not intended to harass her or make her feel uncomfortable."
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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com
Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on Saturday that protest-related cases fall under the jurisdiction of the regular judiciary, not military courts.
The courts ruling was in response to six cases submitted by the State Lawsuits Authority to determine which judicial authority should review cases involving illegal protest and obstructing roads in Upper Egypt's Beni Suef.
The Beni Suef cases were the subject of a judicial dispute between the regular criminal court and the military court in the governorate.
The Constitutional Court said in its reasoning that the defendants were to be tried in regular court given that they are not members of the Armed Forces and their crimes did not involve public institutions or properties.
The defendants face charges of illegal protest, disrupting public security, obstruction of traffic and endangering citizens interests, as well as the possession of fireworks, weapons and signs inciting against the state.
Many of those arrested also face charges of thuggery, using force or belonging to illegal groups.
Earlier this year, the Egyptian parliament approved an amendment to a controversial article of the protest law which allowed the interior ministry to cancel or change the location of any protest deemed a threat to security.
The amendment requires the ministry to ask permission from a court, based on evidence or information that the protest poses a security threat, before it can disperse or change its location.
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PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - A New Hampshire woman is heading to Las Vegas to compete for the title of America's fastest grocery bagger.
WBTS-LD reports Alysha Orrok recently won the New Hampshire bagging competition. She will face off against America's best during the national competition in February for a $10,000 prize.
The Portsmouth teacher pulls night and weekend shifts at a Hannaford Supermarket. She says she wasn't always this good. The quick-handed pro says she dropped a soda that exploded everywhere during her first day.
Expert-level bagging requires a unique set of skills. Competitors are judged on multiple factors including speed, weight distribution, appearance and technique.
Orrok's customers are confident in their bagger's skills.
TORONTO (AP) - The Latest on the U.S.-Canadian family rescued from captivity (all times EDT):
11:35 p.m.
Canadian ex-hostage Joshua Boyle says the Haqqani network in Afghanistan killed his infant daughter in captivity and raped his wife.
Joshua Boyle is escorted by authorities to a media availability at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Boyle, his wife Caitlin Coleman, and their three children landed in Canada after they were kidnapped in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip and held hostage for five years by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Boyle gave a statement after landing in Canada late Friday with his American wife and three young children.
Caitlan Coleman and Boyle were rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by a Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity.
Government officials said Pakistani forces carried out the rescue mission based on U.S. intelligence information.
The final leg of the family's journey was an Air Canada flight Friday from London to Toronto.
9:05 p.m.
U.S.-Canadian couple Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle have landed in Canada with their three young children, five years after they were kidnapped in Afghanistan.
Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press saying, "God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination."
Coleman and Boyle were rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by a Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had three children in captivity.
Government officials said Pakistani forces executed the rescue mission based on U.S. intelligence information.
The final leg of the family's journey was an Air Canada flight Friday from London to Toronto.
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6 p.m.
The parents of an American woman freed with her family after five years of captivity say they are elated, but also angry at their son-in law for taking their daughter to Afghanistan.
"Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," Caitlan Coleman's father, Jim, told ABC News.
Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle were rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by a Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a multi-nation backpacking trip.
Two Pakistani security officials say the family left by plane from Islamabad on Friday.
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)
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)
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors and Canada's autoworker union on Friday reached a deal that will likely end a 26-day strike at a factory in Ontario that makes a hot-selling SUV.
The deal with Unifor still must be voted on by members. Terms were not disclosed.
The 2,500 members of Unifor Local 88 went on strike Sept. 17 at the factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, west of Toronto. The workers make the Chevrolet Equinox, a compact sport utility vehicle that is a hot seller.
The union wanted GM to designate the plant as the main Equinox manufacturer. The company can make the same vehicle at two plants in Mexico, drawing the disputed North American Free Trade Agreement into the labor dispute.
"This strike has shown all of Canada why a renewed North American Free Trade Agreement must address the needs of working people first," Unifor President Jerry Dias said in a statement on the union website.
The statement said the deal would end the strike. The union's local bargainers and national leadership are recommending that the contract be approved, the statement said. Unifor said terms would be released after the ratification vote, which likely will come early next week.
On Thursday it appeared that both sides had reached an impasse over the union's job security demands, with Dias accusing GM of declaring war on Canada and of threatening to ramp up production in Mexico and wind it down in Ingersoll.
But GM said it has invested $800 million in the Ingersoll plant, a move that the company said should show workers it plans to keep producing vehicles there. The company said it didn't want to agree to a main factory designation because it needs flexibility to respond to market conditions.
Dias also accused the company of exploiting low-paid Mexican workers at the expense of good-paying jobs in the U.S. and Canada.
Wages and benefits were mainly decided with the Unifor national contract settled last year.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - At Willie Bird's Restaurant near Santa Rosa's downtown, life goes on amid the haze.
Saturday morning, regulars crowded the bar for bloody marys and greasy breakfasts as smoke from a wildfire billowed black and ominously outside.
"You just want to get the fire out of your mind," said Doug Ferroggiaro, a retired iron worker from nearby Rohnert Park.
The Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, Calif., has always been a gathering place for Santa Rosa residents and those who live nearby, as it is Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Maker of the popular Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger beers, the brewery closed for just one day after wildfires ripped through the city's northern edge, part of a series of wind-whipped blazes north of San Francisco that quickly became the deadliest in state history. (AP Photo/Paul Elias)
Sheri Laugero and her two friends also sat at the bar, mapping a strategy for how to get back to her undamaged Santa Rosa home, which is in an evacuation zone and off-limits. She wants clean clothes.
"You kind of need a lot of it right now," said Laugero, who plans to return to work Monday as a records clerk at an area hospital.
And so it goes in Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 that is a gateway to California's fabled wine region in Sonoma and Napa counties. There's devastation in one part of the city, but elsewhere locals are back at work, and wine-loving tourists are popping up again.
The Santa Rosa vacation home four couples from Columbus, Ohio, expected to rent this week was destroyed before they arrived on their annual winery pilgrimage. So they rented rooms in a Bodega Bay hotel.
On Thursday, they drank pints at the Russian River Brewing Co. like they do every year and made plans to visits wineries unaffected by the flames.
"We are still glad we are here," Anne Wheeler said as she sipped the brewery's popular Pliny the Elder.
Russian River closed for just one day after wildfires ripped through the city's northern edge, part of a series of wind-whipped blazes north of San Francisco that quickly became the deadliest in state history. It reopened Tuesday amid power outages and mass evacuations, and many more sad stories than usual were shared at the bar.
"I just feel we need to be here," bartender Nick Atchison said.
The wildfires raged all week just a few miles from the brewery; some of the city's 2,800 destroyed homes are even closer.
Inside, the fires are the topic of nearly all conversations. Outside, ash falls from skies made overcast by acrid smoke. Everybody knows somebody who has suffered in ways big and small.
Pets are missing, and out-of-town homeowners are lending their houses to burned-out neighbors.
Motorists on U.S. Highway 101 passed a gray ghost town of a neighborhood turned to ash by the fire that jumped the freeway Sunday night, and they slow to rubber neck the three destroyed fast-food restaurants. Two exits later, the Denny's remained open 24 hours, as always.
The county fairgrounds in Santa Rosa and a popular community hall have been turned into evacuation centers to house some of the 4,000 newly homeless. The city's hotels and motels are full and charging premium prices.
"We've lost almost 5 percent of the housing stock in Santa Rosa," Mayor Chris Coursey said during a Friday news conference. "We're looking at $1.2 billion in damage in Santa Rosa alone. It's a huge hill we've got to climb."
Residents, many of them wearing surgical masks outside, vowed to climb that hill.
At Franchettis' Wood Fire Kitchen on Friday, the family owners were firing up their ovens to prepare a free pizza dinner for the community. "The love in the air is thicker than the smoke," they posted on Facebook.
Nearby Sonoma, too, was starting to come back to life.
Buddy Chick welcomed customers at Murphy's Irish Pub.
"Somebody's got to open," he said, as Irish tunes belted out over outside speakers. "There are people out there that need to eat still."
Eric and Julie Williams stopped by with coffee cups in hand, hoping to snag some hamburger for their two rescue greyhounds. The couple has been living out of a hotel since early Monday when they fled their home with their dogs, the clothes on their backs and Julie's mother, who was visiting from New Mexico.
Their house is OK, although the power is out. Still, they were back at work, shipping some orders for their company that sells therapeutic items for horses.
They know they are among the lucky ones.
"We were like, 'Let's just get the orders and make it happen,' and you feel better when you do that," Julie said.
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Associated Press writer Janie Har in Sonoma contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP's complete wildfire coverage here: https://apnews.com/tag/Wildfires.
Nick Atchison who is a bartender at the Russian River Brewery poses for a photo Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Maker of the popular Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger beers, the brewery closed for just one day after wildfires ripped through the city's northern edge, part of a series of wind-whipped blazes north of San Francisco that quickly became the deadliest in state history. After the fires, the brewery which reopened Tuesday turned into an ad hoc community center where people gathered to exchange news. (AP Photo/Paul Elias)
A wildfire burns behind a winery Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Fire crews made progress this week in their efforts to contain the massive wildfires in California wine country, but officials say strong winds are putting their work to the test. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A firefighter removes a propane gas tank in an evacuated residential area as wildfires continue to burn Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. The Santa Rosa Fire Department released a notice early Saturday morning, ordering residents in Skyhawk, Mountain Hawk and some of Rincon Valley to leave their homes. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A home off Glen Eagle Court in Fountaingrove, lies in ruin in the devastation of a wildfire, Friday Oct. 13, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A fifth day of desperate firefighting in California wine country brought a glimmer of hope Friday as crews battling the flames reported their first progress toward containing the massive blazes, and hundreds more firefighters poured in to join the effort. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan officials say a U.S. drone strike has killed 14 Islamic State militants in a remote area in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province.
Abdul Ghani Musamim, spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Saturday that the strike took place on Thursday afternoon in the Chawkay district. He says it targeted a meeting of IS commanders planning for a terrorist attack. The government has no control of the remote area where Afghanistan's IS affiliate has managed to establish a presence.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Dawlat Waziri, also confirmed the report.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.
However, lawmaker Shazada Shaheed rejected the report, claiming the victims of the strike were civilians.
The IS affiliate has grown in Afghanistan over the last few years.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Gunmen shot dead seven people, including six students, in a raid on a high school early Saturday that appeared to be a revenge attack by a student who had been suspended for fighting, a Kenya police official said.
The shooting occurred at dawn at Lokichogio Mixed Secondary School near the countries' border, Rift Valley regional criminal investigations chief Gideon Kibunja said. The attackers were thought to be from neighboring South Sudan.
A key suspect was a senior at the school who was suspended last week after he was found fighting and vowed to take revenge, Kibunja said.
The gunmen were looking for the school's principal and the student involved in the fight but couldn't find them, so they shot other students out of frustration, he said.
The suspended student was arrested later Saturday, but Kibunja said angry members of the public overwhelmed police and killed him.
The shooting comes a month after a high school girl was charged with murdering nine of her colleagues in a fire at a Nairobi boarding school.
Kenya's border areas are littered with firearms from neighboring countries that have experienced war, including South Sudan and Somalia. High schools have experienced a wave of violent incidents in the past two years.
LEEUWARDEN, Netherlands (AP) - A century ago on Sunday, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly caused the deaths of thousands of soldiers during World War I.
Her life and death became fodder almost overnight for one of the greatest spy stories of all time - featuring an alluring temptress who could dance, dazzle and draw secrets from the hapless military men unable to resist her.
Increasingly, though, Mata Hari - the stage name adopted by Margaretha Zelle - is also being reinterpreted as a victim of a time when a sexually liberated woman with artistic ambitions faced harsh judgment.
An undated photo of dancer "Mata Hari". Born Margaretha Zelle who was executed during World War I for being a spy. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
The irony is not missed on Yves Rocourt, curator of "Mata Hari. The Myth and the Maiden," an exhibit opening this weekend in Leeuwarden, the Dutch town where Zelle was born in 1876.
"Unfortunately, issues like money and having to sleep with someone in a position of power to achieve something are not time-related," Rocourt said.
"You cannot help but think about what is going in Hollywood at this very moment," said Julie Wheelwright, author of the biography "The Fatal Lover." ''All these allegations that are coming out now and you just wonder, 'But what's changed in 100 years?' Not much."
On a canal close to her childhood home, where vicious winds and icy temperatures can freeze the water for months, a statue erected in 1976 shows Mata Hari in her typical stage regalia. Dressed in little more than pearls and veils, she stands with legs apart and arms outstretched, ready to take on the world.
How she got to the glittering salons and theaters of Paris and Berlin before ending up in front of a firing squad was due to desperation as much as boldness.
Her comfortable youth was disrupted when her father went broke and her mother died. At age 18, she answered an ad placed by an aristocrat military officer seeking a wife. Soon, she was living in the Dutch East Indies, in what is now Indonesia.
The couple had two children despite her husband's violence and unfaithfulness and Margaretha's own fiery, flirtatious personality. After their son died, the marriage disintegrated and her ex-husband refused to pay alimony. Zelle, facing being a single mother without financial support, gave up custody of her daughter and in 1903 left for Paris, where she reinvented herself.
"I am tired of struggling against life," she wrote. The choice she saw was to "be a decent mother or live life as it is dazzlingly offered to me here."
Lourens Oldersma, who edited a book of Mata Hari's letters published late last year, said "she evolved from being a flirt into the woman that started living this loose, decadent life."
Building a dance repertoire on the sensuous temple dances she had observed in Asia, Mata Hari had her breakthrough performance at the Paris Musee Guimet on March 13, 1905. She soon became a sensation across Europe.
But the brilliant life she envisioned was expensive to maintain, especially as she got older and her popularity as an exotic dancer declined. When World War I broke out, she used her passport from a neutral country to continue traveling and took wealthy, well-connected lovers from all sides of the conflict.
The promise of a steady supply of francs to support herself persuaded Zelle to accept an offer to spy, first for Germany and then for France.
"She thought that spying was just another role. It was another kind of performance," Wheelwright said. "She was very naive."
French intelligence eventually intercepted a German telegram discussing the work of an agent codenamed H-21. The details revealed Mata Hari as a double agent two-timing France. She was arrested while having breakfast in her suite at the Elysee Palace Hotel.
During 16 interrogation sessions, she cracked and admitted to working for the Germans. At 41, she was shot at a military ground close to Paris at dawn on Oct. 15, 1917.
The rest is history - and an awful lot of books and movies, including one starring Greta Garbo. Mata Hari's story ebbs and flows with the mood of the times and geography.
"When I was talking to people in France, even until quite recently, their view was very much more that 'Here was this decadent woman who was responsible for all these deaths, so why should we feel any sympathy for her?'" Wheelwright said.
In the Netherlands, there was more ambivalence.
"They stressed more the spy story and the exotic dancer rather than the fact she was a decadent woman," Oldersma said in front of the Mara Hari statue as it was being restored for the commemorations.
With the publication of his book last year, "people started realizing that, yes, this is also a mother, and she had to go through a fight," he said.
Still, the question of who Mata Hari really was defies easy answers. One year she refused to pose naked for a painter, the next she slept with men for money. The verdict on whether the secrets she gained from her lovers' lips' doomed thousands of young Allied soldiers continues to be debated but seems increasingly unlikely.
"There is a kind of paradoxical thing going on," Wheelwright said. "On the one hand, she is very vulnerable. But then on the other hand, she's also got a sense of manipulating people."
The mystery of Mata Hari still confounds Rocourt, the exhibit curator.
"The truth is very complex," he said. "I don't know what the truth is."
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, two pictures on the pages of a scrapbook kept by Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a visitor walks through a projection and photos of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a visitor walks past an oil painting of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, painted by Isaac Israel's in 1916, and on display at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a visitor walks through a re-creation of the childhood room of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a re-creation of the room of the children of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. Zelle's son died in 1899. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 a letter from John, the husband of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, various identification documents of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, are on display at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, historian Julie Wheelright poses next to a giant poster of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, photo, a secret document explaining that Captain Ladoux suspected Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, as being a spy is on display at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a visitor walks through projection and photos of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a visitor walks through an exhibition detailing the life of Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, a visitor views posters of movies that have been made about Margaretha Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. A century ago, on Oct. 15, 1917, an exotic dancer named Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad, condemned as a sultry Dutch double agent who supposedly led tens of thousands of soldiers to their death during World War I. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
BERLIN (AP) - A senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party has been rebuked by his own political allies for suggesting that Germany might introduce public holidays to celebrate the Islamic religion.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told a party rally in northern Germany this week that he was willing to discuss Islamic holidays in areas with large Muslim populations.
There are an estimated 4.7 million Muslims in Germany, mostly immigrants from Turkey.
Alexander Dobrindt, who also belongs to Merkel's conservative Union bloc, told the daily Bild on Saturday that he was against Islamic holidays: "Our Christian heritage isn't up for negotiation."
Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats and their Bavaria-only sister party have been losing voters to the nationalist Alternative for Germany, which campaigns against Islam and large-scale Muslim immigration.
LONDON (AP) - British police say they've charged the uncle of the Duchess of Cambridge with assault after a late-night altercation in a London street.
The Metropolitan Police force says Gary Goldsmith faces a charge of assault by beating over an incident near his home Friday at 1:20 a.m. British newspapers reported Saturday that the alleged victim is his wife, Julie-Ann Goldsmith.
Goldsmith has been released on bail and is due in court on Oct. 31.
FILE - A May 20, 2017 file photo of Gary Goldsmith, 52, the Duchess of Cambridge's uncle, in Englefield, England. Goldsmith has been charged with assault by beating after an incident in Wimpole Street, London, in the early hours of Friday. Goldsmith was released on bail and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on October 31. (Justin Tallis/PA via AP, File)
Goldsmith is brother of the duchess' mother Carole Middleton and attended his niece's 2011 royal wedding to Prince William.
Often depicted as Kate's wayward uncle, Goldsmith once owned a house in Spain called "La Maison de Bang Bang." He was filmed in 2009 by an undercover reporter apparently taking cocaine and bragging about his royal connections.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Catalonia's separatist movement is at risk of breaking apart over deepening infighting about the right strategy to culminate the long-held desire for the prosperous region to secede from Spain and become an independent state.
Diehard separatists are pushing for a definitive declaration of independence in the next few days. Moderates still hope to open negotiations with Spanish authorities who insist the disputed referendum on which such a declaration would be based was illegal.
The fault lines widened on Saturday, when the far-left CUP party demanded an unambiguous affirmation of Catalan independence from regional president Carles Puigdemont by the Monday deadline given by Spain's central government.
A pro independence supporter holds up an ''estelada'' or Catalan pro independence flag during a rally in support of the Catalonia's secession from Spain, in Pamplona, northern 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/Alvaro Barrientos)
If Puigdemont does not comply, CUP spokeswoman Nuria Gibert said the party will threaten to withdraw its support for his ruling coalition in Catalonia's regional parliament. Such a move would likely bring down Puigdemont's government and force elections.
"Until there is (a declaration of independence), we don't see any sense in continuing normal parliamentary activity," Gibert said.
CUP had initially given Puigdemont a month to attempt talks with the Spanish government. However, he disappointed the party and the secession movement's grassroots groups when he wavered on making an outright declaration of independence before the regional parliament on Tuesday.
Instead, Puigdemont asked separatist lawmakers to delay the declaration to provide more time for dialogue.
Gibert said Puigdemont's ambiguous position only creates "confusion."
While CUP upped the pressure on Puigdemont, his main ally appealed to supporters of secession to stop bickering and stand behind their leader.
"We must preserve the unity that is necessary to go all the way on this path to a republic," Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras said.
Junqueras delivered his message to 200 members of his Republic Left party at its headquarters in Barcelona. The party forms a governing coalition with Puigdemont's conservatives in Catalonia's parliament.
Junqueras said the best way forward was for secessionists to show the world "who wants to offer dialogue and who rejects it."
Spain's conservative government, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is also leaning heavily on Puigdemont. The Monday deadline it gave him to clarify his position on independence came with an ultimatum: fall in line by Oct. 19 or face losing some or all of the region's autonomous powers.
"Time for reflection is running out for Carles Puigdemont," Andrea Levy, a member of the Catalan parliament from Rajoy's Popular Party, said Saturday.
Along with being flanked politically, Puigdemont has economic factors to consider. Banks and businesses are discussing relocating their headquarters from Catalonia to other parts of Spain over fears they would be out of the common European Union market if the region breaks away from the country.
The Spanish government has warned that the constitutional crisis in Catalonia is already hurting the economy.
Puigdemont claimed he had the mandate to declare an independent Catalonia after an overwhelming "Yes" vote in a Oct. 1 referendum that Spain's top court had suspended on grounds the vote was likely unconstitutional.
Only 43 percent of eligible voters cast ballots amid a brutal Spanish police crackdown. Parties against secession boycotted the referendum.
Polls show roughly half of Catalonia's 7.5 million residents don't want to leave Spain. Pro-union forces have held large rallies in Barcelona this week.
The European Union supports a united Spain and no foreign country has voice support for Catalonia's separatists.
Pro independence supports hold up an ''estelada'' or Catalan pro independence flag beside an ''Ikurrina'' of Basque flag, right, during a rally in support of the Catalonia's secession from Spain, in Pamplona, northern 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/Alvaro Barrientos)
Pro independence supporters hold up an ''estelada'' or Catalan pro independence flag during a rally in support of the Catalonia's secession from Spain, in Pamplona, northern 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/Alvaro Barrientos)
Two men, one wearing a Spanish flag, left, and the other wearing an estelada' or independence flag, talk during the celebration of 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)
A pro independence supporter holds up an ''estelada'' or Catalan pro independence flag during a rally in support of the Catalonia's secession from Spain, in Pamplona, northern 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/Alvaro Barrientos)
The foreign ministry reiterated on Saturday Egypts position that the Middle East should be clear of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, one day after United States President Donald Trump said he would not certify the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement to Congress.
A foreign ministry statement said that Egypt shares Trumps concerns regarding Iranian policies that "lead to instability in the Middle East."
"Irans policies affect the national security of Arabian Gulf countries, and by extension Egyptian national security," foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.
Abu Zeid also said that Egypt calls for respecting good neighbourly relations and not interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries in order to boost the stability of the Middle East and to find sustainable solutions for the crises facing the region."
President Trump has been threatening to scrap the Iran nuclear deal, which was signed in 2015 between Iran, France, Germany, the UK, China, Russia and the US under the Obama administration.
The deal puts limitations on Iran's nuclear energy program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions on Iran.
Trump accused Iran of "not living up to the spirit" of the agreement and said that his goal is to ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
"We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Irans nuclear breakout," Trump said.
Trump's remarks drew praise from Israel, but were criticised by European allies including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, some of which have benefited economically from renewed trade with Iran, according to Reuters.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday on live television that Tehran was committed to the deal and accused Trump of making baseless accusations.
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MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine president said he has asked his finance secretary to reject an unspecified British financial aid package and that he's ready to cut diplomatic ties with all European countries critical of his deadly anti-drug crackdown.
President Rodrigo Duterte also threatened in a state TV talk show late Friday "to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term" to allow him to arrest opponents and launch an all-out war against communist guerrillas if they seriously attempt to destabilize his government.
Duterte's latest outburst against critics came after an independent poll made public this past week showed that his approval rating has dropped to its lowest level since he took office last year, amid an outcry over unabated drug killings and allegations that he has unexplained wealth.
FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, right, listens to Special Assistant to the President Christopher Bong Go, during a change of command ceremony in Fort Bonifacio in, Taguig city, east of Manila, Philippines. Late Friday, Duterte says he's asked his finance secretary to reject an unspecified British financial aid package and that he's ready to lose diplomatic ties with all European countries critical of his deadly anti-drug crackdown. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)
The Social Weather Stations said its Sept. 23-27 nationwide survey showed Duterte's satisfaction rating dropping by 18 points to 48, a level classified as "good," compared from its last survey in June, when he got a "very good" 66-point rating.
Amid renewed criticisms of his anti-drug campaign, which has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead, Duterte has barred the national police for the second time from enforcing his crackdown and designated a small antinarcotics agency to spearhead his crackdown.
The volatile leader has also been incensed by concerns over the drug killings raised by a small group of European parliamentarians and human rights advocates, who recently visited Manila.
"I am prepared to lose all diplomatic relationships with all of the European countries now. ... You're not allowed to enter here now. I will write that letter," Duterte said, adding that the Philippines could drop European imports.
Duterte said his country could survive "as long as I have China, Russia and Eastern Europe," along with a bloc of Southeast Asian nations that he currently heads.
He said that Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III recently informed him of a financial package Britain wanted to provide, but that he told Dominguez to reject the offer. "Tell them Duterte may use that to buy guns and ammunition to carry out extrajudicial killings, so keep your money," Duterte said he told his finance chief.
British officials were not immediately available for comment.
The 72-year-old president, known for his bombastic speeches, also warned that he would declare "a revolutionary government" to contain any serious threat by political opponents and communist rebels to undermine his administration. "I will arrest all of you and we can go to a full-scale war against the Reds," Duterte said. "I'm prepared, that's why I've gotten more soldiers. ... Why did I ask for new arms?"
Duterte has made such bold threats in the past but later walked back on his public remarks. He threatened Thursday to expel EU ambassadors and suggested they could be asked to leave the Philippines in 24 hours, but his spokesman later clarified that the diplomats would not face expulsion.
He has denied he has a policy condoning unlawful drug killings. Following public outrage over the shooting death of a teenage student in August, he has warned police officers that they would be locked up in jail if they murder drug suspects.
The president, however, has continued to threaten drug and crime suspects with death and mock human rights advocates. "The human rights of the criminals end where the survival of my country begins. Simple as that," Duterte said.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's government has withdrawn its request for extending the detention of the leader of a banned militant group wanted by the United States.
Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said Saturday that the government today withdrew its application for a fifth detention extension for Hafiz Saeed, but that he will remain under house arrest until the end of this month under the current order.
Hafiz Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Islamic charity widely viewed as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He was placed under house arrest along with four aides in January. The U.S. offers a $10 million bounty for Saeed.
The U.N. Security Council labeled Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist front group in 2008.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A huge explosion from a truck bomb killed 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years.
The explosion appeared to target a hotel on a busy road in Hodan district and at least 15 people were injured, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. Security forces had been trailing the truck after it raised suspicions, he said.
Police said people were trapped in the rubble of the Safari Hotel, which was largely destroyed in the explosion. The hotel is close to Somalia's foreign ministry. Rescue workers were at the scene.
A Somali soldier helps a civilian who was wounded in a blast in the capital of Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab recently stepped up attacks on army bases across south and central Somalia. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's blast, al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu with deadly bombings.
Gunshots could be heard at the site, and ambulance sirens wailed across the capital, which has been under tight security with military-manned checkpoints.
The explosion left a trail of destruction across a busy intersection, with several bodies and bloodied slippers and shoes. Windows of nearby buildings were shattered. Overturned cars lay in the street, burning. A large plume of smoke rose nearby.
"There was a traffic jam and the road was packed with bystanders and cars," said Abdinur Abdulle, a waiter at a nearby restaurant. "It's a disaster," he said sadly.
The blast occurred two days after the head of the U.S. Africa Command was in Mogadishu to meet with Somalia's president, and two days after the country's defense minister and army chief resigned for undisclosed reasons.
The U.S. military has stepped up drone strikes and other efforts this year against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, which is also fighting the Somali military and over 20,000 African Union forces in the country.
Somalis gather and search for survivors by destroyed buildings at the scene of a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT - Somalis remove the body of a man killed in a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis use a sheet to carry a man wounded in a blast away to an ambulance, in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis help a man wounded after a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A Somali soldier helps a civilian wounded in a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis walk past the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis gather and search for survivors by destroyed buildings at the scene of a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis gather and search for survivors by destroyed buildings at the scene of a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT Wounded and dead lie in the street at the scene of a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis remove the body of a man killed in a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A Somali gestures as he walks past a dead body, left, and destroyed buildings at the scene of a blast in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. A huge explosion from a truck bomb has killed at least 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Mattel is adding two new female characters to its "Thomas & Friends" franchise next year, part of a big makeover for the preschool show. Nia and Rebecca will live in Tidmouth Sheds, where Thomas and the other main characters, known as the Steam Team, also live. Nia and Rebecca will boost the number of females in the shed to three of seven, up from just one.
Here's a closer look at Nia and Rebecca:
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This photo combo of images provided by Mattel, Inc. shows Nia, left, and Rebecca, the two new female characters who will join the new Steam Team in the 2018 series "Thomas and Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!" The newly aligned Steam Team will now consist of four boys and three girls, giving the show more gender balance. (Mattel, Inc. via AP)
NIA
Nia, who is from Kenya, will first meet Thomas in a movie next summer and join the TV series next fall. She is mainly orange and has a stripe of colorful African print running across her. Nia is "adventurous" and "fun," according to Mattel, and teaches Thomas about friendship. Like the other characters in "Thomas & Friends," Mattel said Nia is based on a real engine: East African Railway's ED1 class.
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REBECCA
Rebecca, a yellow engine, comes from the Mainland near the fictional island of Sodor. She'll be first introduced in the TV series next fall. Rebecca is not "afraid to stand up for herself," Mattel said, and isn't intimidated by the older engines. Her design it based on a Southern Railway West Country 4-6-2 Pacific engine
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tesla Motors fired hundreds of workers after completing its annual performance reviews, even though the electric automaker is trying to ramp up production to meet the demand for its new Model 3 sedan.
The Palo Alto, California-based company confirmed the cuts in a Saturday statement, but didn't disclose how many of its 33,000 workers were jettisoned. The San Jose Mercury News interviewed multiple former and current Tesla employees who estimated 400 to 700 workers lost their jobs.
The housecleaning swept out workers in administrative and sales jobs, in addition to Tesla's manufacturing operations.
FILE - This Oct. 24, 2016, file photo shows Tesla Model S on display in downtown Los Angeles. Tesla Motors fired hundreds of workers after completing its annual performance reviews, even though the electric automaker is trying to ramp up production to meet the demand for its new Model 3 sedan. The Palo Alto, California-based company confirmed the cuts in a Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 statement, but didn't disclose how many of its 33,000 workers were jettisoned. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
An unspecified number of workers received bonuses and promotions following their reviews, according to the company.
Tesla is under pressure to deliver its Model 3 sedan to a waiting list of more than 450,000 customers. The company so far has been lagging its own production targets after making just 260 of the vehicles in its last quarter.
Including other models, Tesla expects to make about 100,000 cars this year. CEO Elon Musk is aiming to increase production by five-fold next year, a goal that probably will have to be met to support Tesla's market value of $59 billion - more than Ford Motor Co.
Unlike Ford, Tesla still hasn't posted an annual profit yet.
Despite the mass firings, Tesla is still looking to hire hundreds more workers.
IRONTON, Ohio (AP) - A county prosecutor says he'll pursue the death penalty against the man charged in the slayings of three adults and a young boy in southern Ohio.
Twenty-three-year-old Arron Lawson was ordered held without bond Saturday after his arrest along a rural road in Lawrence County on Friday. He's charged with one count of aggravated murder and three counts of murder in the shooting deaths of 28-year-old Stacey Jackson, 50-year-old Donald McGuire, 43-year-old Tammie McGuire and Jackson's son, 7-year-old Devin Holston.
They were killed inside Jackson's trailer home Wednesday. Devin's body was found hidden there Thursday after being reported missing. All of the victims are related. No motive has been made public.
Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless escorts in Arron Lee Lawson after he was captured on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Ironton, Ohio. Lawson has been arrested on three counts of murder and one count of aggravated murder.(Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP)
Devin's father, Todd Holston, was hospitalized after being stabbed inside the home.
Messages were left with Lawson's attorney Saturday.
FERTILE, Minn. (AP) - A northwestern Minnesota man was arrested for shooting at a small plane that was flying near his home, after the pilot discovered a bullet hole in the fuselage.
KFGO radio reports that 51-year-old Chad Olson is charged with attempted murder and assault for last week's incident. Olson was released from jail after posting $15,000 bond.
Olson lives near the airport in the city of Fertile. Authorities say he'd complained to the Federal Aviation Administration about planes flying over his property and said he may have to use lethal force if he felt threatened by them.
The pilot told authorities that he heard something hit his airplane, but didn't discover the damage until the next day.
A phone number for Olson couldn't be found. It wasn't clear whether he had a lawyer.
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Information from: KFGO-AM, http://www.kfgo.com
Skyler Whitebull, 29, has been charged with misdemeanor meth possession and preventing arrest
A North Dakota man has been arrested for possession of drugs after police first spotted him attempting to light a cigarette with the nozzle of a gas pump.
The Bismarck Tribune reports that 29-year-old Skyler Whitebull, of Cannon Ball, was seen by Bismarck police driving by the gas station. They said Bismarck was stumbling through a parking lot.
Whitebull allegedly refused to put the gas nozzle back and took a 'fighting stance' when an officer tried to stop him.
Court documents say the officer forced Whitebull to the ground. He allegedly continued to resist and flailed his legs even while handcuffed.
Police searched Whitebull and found several small, zippered bags with methamphetamine residue. He's charged with misdemeanor meth possession and preventing arrest.
Police spotted Whitebull trying to light a cigarette with a gas nozzle on East Divide Avenue in Bismarck, North Dakota
Police found methamphetamine residue when they searched Whitebull. In 2002, he was convicted of gross sexual imposition
Court documents do not list an attorney for Whitebull.
This was not Whitebull's first brush with police. In 2002, When Whitebull was 15, he 'inserted his penis into the rectum of a four-year-old boy he was babysitting.'
Whitebull's aunt walked in and saw the crime taking place.
He was convicted of gross sexual imposition and will be on the sex offender registry for life.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - With the winds dying down, fire officials said Sunday they have apparently "turned a corner" against the wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home.
While the danger from the deadliest, most destructive cluster of blazes in California history was far from over, the smoky skies started to clear in some places.
"A week ago this started as a nightmare, and the day we dreamed of has arrived," Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos said.
Howard Lasker, right, comforts his daughter, Gabrielle, who is visiting their home for the first time since a wildfire swept through it Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials said Sunday they have apparently "turned a corner" against the wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
People were being allowed to go back home in areas no longer in harm's way, and the number of those under evacuation orders was down to 75,000 from nearly 100,000 the day before.
Fire crews were able to gain ground because the winds that had fanned the flames did not kick up overnight as much as feared.
"Conditions have drastically changed from just 24 hours ago, and that is definitely a very good sign," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who noted that some of the fires were 50 percent or more contained. "It's probably a sign we've turned a corner on these fires."
The blazes were blamed for at least 40 deaths and destroyed some 5,700 homes and other structures. The death toll could climb as searchers dig through the ruins for people listed as missing. Hundreds were unaccounted for, though authorities said many of them are probably safe but haven't let anyone know.
In hard-hit Sonoma County, Sheriff Rob Giordano said authorities have located 1,560 of the more than 1,700 once listed as missing. Many of those names were put on the list after people called from out of state to say they couldn't reach a friend or relative.
Sonoma County officials said they will not let people return home until it is safe and utilities are restored. Crews have been working around the clock to connect water and power, in some cases putting up new poles next to smoldering trees, the sheriff said.
Many evacuees grew increasingly impatient to go home - or at least find out whether their homes were spared. Others were reluctant to go back or to look for another place to live.
Juan Hernandez, who escaped with his family from his apartment Oct. 9 before it burned down, still had his car packed and ready to go in case the fires flared up again and threatened his sister's house, where they have been staying in Santa Rosa.
"Every day we keep hearing sirens at night, alarms," Hernandez said. "We're scared. When you see the fire close to your house, you're scared."
Evacuation orders were lifted for the city of Calistoga, the Napa Valley city of 5,000 known for its mud baths, mineral spas and wine tastings. The city was cleared out Wednesday as winds shifted, but homes and businesses were spared.
At the Sonoma fairgrounds, evacuees watched the San Francisco 49ers play the Redskins on television, received treatment from a chiropractor and got free haircuts.
Michael Estrada, who owns a barber shop in neighboring Marin County but grew up in one of the Santa Rosa neighborhoods hit hard by the blazes, brought his combs, clippers and scissors and displayed his barbering license in case anyone doubted his credentials.
"I'm not saving lives," he said. "I'm just here to make somebody's day feel better, make them feel normal."
Lois Krier, 86, said it was hard to sleep on a cot in the shelter with people snoring and dogs barking through the night.
She and her husband, William Krier, 89, were anxious to get home, but after being evacuated for a second time in a week Saturday, they didn't want to risk having to leave again.
"We're cautious," she said. "We want to be safe."
Nearly 11,000 firefighters were still battling 15 fires burning across a 100-mile swath of the state.
In the wooded mountains east of Santa Rosa, where a mandatory evacuation remained in place, a large plume of white smoke rose high in the sky as firefighters tried to prevent the fire from burning into a retirement community and advancing onto the floor of Sonoma Valley, known for its wineries.
Houses that had benefited from repeated helicopter water drops were still standing as smoke blew across surrounding ridges. A deer crossed the highway from a burned-out area and wandered into a vineyard not reached by the flames.
Those who were allowed back into gutted neighborhoods returned to assess the damage and, perhaps, see if anything was salvageable.
Jack Daniels had recently completed a year-long remodel of his Napa house near the Silverado Country Club and watched it go up in flames last week as he, his wife, 7-year-old grandson and two pugs backed out of the driveway.
His neighbors, Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98, were the oldest victims identified so far in the wildfires.
Daniels, 74, a wine importer and exporter, said he lost everything left behind, including his wife's jewelry and 3,000 bottles of wine in his cellar.
"It's heartbreaking," the 74-year-old said. "This was going to be our last house. I guess we've got one more move. But we're fortunate. We got away. Most things can be replaced. The bank didn't burn down."
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Melley reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer in Santa Rosa and Janie Har and Daisy Nguyen in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP's complete wildfire coverage here: https://apnews.com/tag/Wildfires
Jeff Wolf, with the El Dorado Hot Shots, out of Pollock Pines, Calif., monitors a wildfire from a mountain top, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Oakville, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials in California say they are finally getting the upper hand against the wildfires that have devastated wine country and other parts of the state over the past week. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A helicopter drops water onto a burning wildfire, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Oakville, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials in California say they are finally getting the upper hand against the wildfires that have devastated wine country and other parts of the state over the past week. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Benjamin Lasker, 16, pauses while looking at what remains of his home after a wildfire swept through Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials said Sunday they have apparently "turned a corner" against the wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A firefighter, center, and two onlookers watch a smoldering wildfire from a hilltop, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Oakville, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials in California say they are finally getting the upper hand against the wildfires that have devastated wine country and other parts of the state over the past week. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Ed Curzon, right, and his daughter Margaret sift debris to salvage anything they can from the rubble of their home, destroyed by a wildfire in the Coffey Park neighborhood Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. "My parents and my dogs are alive. That's all that matters," said Margaret. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Smoke continues to billow in the hills behind Napa, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017. With the winds dying down, fire officials said Sunday they were finally getting the upper hand against the wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home. (AP Photo/John Mone)
A horse grazes as smoke from a wildfire rises in the background, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Oakville, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials in California say they are finally getting the upper hand against the wildfires that have devastated wine country and other parts of the state over the past week. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Ed Curzon, left, and his daughter, Margaret, sift debris to salvage anything they can from the rubbles of their home that was destroyed by a wildfire in the Coffey Park neighborhood Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. "This is our home. This is where we grew up. This is where our kids grew up," said Curzon. "We will rebuild here." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighter Tyler Mitchell, out of Springfield, Ore., hoses down hotspots from a wildfire Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Firefighter Ruben Mercado from engine 13 crew out of Burbank, Calif., battles a wildfire Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - An F-35 fighter jet landed at Eielson Air Force Base to undergo testing on the aircraft's ability to operate in cold conditions, according to a statement released by the U.S. Airforce.
The F-35A Lightning II that arrived on Thursday was the first to land at the base near Fairbanks. Up to 54 of these aircraft will be stationed at Eielson along with about 3,500 airmen, civilian employees, contractors and military family members by 2020, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported .
The aircraft will undergo testing on its ability to land on icy runways, and its drag chute modification will also be evaluated.
Air Force officials plan to demonstrate through the testing that F-35s are capable of landing in environments designated as Runway Condition Reading 7. A dry runway is designated as a reading of 23, and a reading of 5 is comparable to landing on ice. The aircraft is currently certified to land at a reading of 12.
The drag chute is a modification that has been requested by the Royal Norwegian Air Force, a partner of the F-35 program. A Norwegian test pilot will fly the jet to demonstrate the modification that aims to help the aircraft land in Arctic conditions.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
Moroccan authorities said on Saturday they had dismantled a cell linked to Islamic State (IS) militants that was active in eight towns and cities and was planning terrorist operations.
Eleven people were arrested.
Security forces detained the alleged mastermind of the cell in a safe house in Fez, where they found guns and a large quantity of bullets, materials for making suicide belts, nails and electric wires, according to a statement from the interior ministry.
Police also found chemical products that could be used for making explosives, and a "suspicious car", the statement said. It said one of the suspects was an explosives expert.
Those arrested were "planning to carry out dangerous terrorist operations targeting sensitive sites, at the instigation of Daesh (IS) coordinators", it said.
Moroccan authorities say they have dismantled dozens of Islamist militant cells since 2002, including about 50 with alleged links to IS.
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Harvard University will be hosting a discussion on national security with four Obama-era officials and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.
The school says students can attend the Monday event as part of a program hosted by Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a university think tank.
Others on the panel include former defense Secretary Ash Carter, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
The ex-White House officials also hold positions at Harvard. Maddow is host of her political news program "The Rachel Maddow Show."
The event is called "Perspectives on National Security" and is being held at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics at 6 p.m. It will also be streamed live online.
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) - Organizers of a New Hampshire pumpkin festival have launched a new effort to break the world record number of illuminated jack-o-lanterns.
The city of Laconia is celebrating the pumpkin festival on Saturday night three years after violence forced its cancellation in Keene. Saturday's festivities began at noon.
Keene had hosted the October event since 1991, but violence in 2014 prompted the City Council to reject the festival's permit. Police used tear gas to control crowds during alcohol-fueled disturbances near Keene State College. More than 170 students were disciplined and several dozen were injured.
The festival has been held in Laconia since 2015. Visitors are encouraged to bring a jack-o-lantern and a candle to contribute toward the world record attempt.
The festival had been a family friendly event for more than 20 years and broken world records for most lit jack-o-lanterns in one place. Keene had wrested the jack-o-lantern record from Boston in 2013.
About 40,000 people were expected to visit Laconia between Friday and Saturday.
This year, Keene city council members decided to bring back a separate, smaller festival more focused on children. The vote came after administrators at Keene State College said they had seen social media posts suggesting big parties or dangerous behavior could return.
That pumpkin festival is scheduled for Oct. 29.
The Royal Mail has won a court injunction halting a planned 48-hour strike by postal workers but still faces the threat of industrial action before Christmas.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were set to walk out from October 19 after voting massively in favour of industrial action in a long-running row over pensions, pay and jobs.
It would have been the first national walkout since Royal Mail was privatised four years ago.
No courtroom or no employer will ever beat this union #RiseUp pic.twitter.com/R9TaFZcbcx The CWU (@CWUnews) October 12, 2017
Royal Mail argued in the High Court that the union was in breach of its contractual obligation not to call for strike action until an agreed external mediation process was held.
Mr Justice Supperstone granted the order, saying: I consider the strike call to be unlawful and the defendant is obliged to withdraw its strike call until the external mediation process has been exhausted.
The Royal Mail said the mediation process will take close to Christmas to be completed, and may be longer, but CWU officials warned that industrial action could still take place before Christmas.
Royal Mail won the injunction but we stand here with 90% yes vote and more strike action ready to come. Your move #RiseUp The CWU (@CWUnews) October 12, 2017
General Secretary Dave Ward said: The company are deluded if they believe their court room politics will resolve this dispute. Instead the companys actions will have the complete opposite effect.
Postal workers attitude towards the company will harden and it makes us more determined than ever to defend our members pensions, jobs, service and achieve our objectives.
Unless the company significantly shifts its position on a range of issues and we can quickly conclude a good agreement for our members then strike action is inevitable.
Postal workers protesting outside the High Court imposed an injunction against striker action (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
We walked into the court today with a massive 90% yes vote for strike action - we walked out of the court today with a massive 90% vote for strike action.
We want an agreement and will comply with the injunction to undertake further external mediation. But sooner rather than later Royal Mail Group will have to confront the harsh reality that they are completely out of touch with the views of its workforce.
Deputy General Secretary Terry Pullinger added: We saw today that Royal Mail Group would rather spend time, money and resources playing politics than engaging with this union to reach an agreement.
Rather than spending time and money in the courts, Royal Mail should be getting around the table with @CWUnews to resolve this dispute. Frances O'Grady (@FrancesOGrady) October 12, 2017
Our members are square behind the CWU and from this moment we are putting Royal Mail on notice of further action should the mediation fail.
We will use the mediation process to seek an agreement but also to galvanise support amongst our members and the public.
If Royal Mail Group are not serious about reaching an agreement we will not hesitate to call strike action immediately after the mediation period closes.
Dave Ward
Royal Mail said: The courts final injunction means that any strike action before the dispute resolution procedures have been followed would be unlawful.
We will now make contact with the CWU as a matter of urgency to begin the process of external mediation. The mediation process will take close to Christmas to be completed, and may be longer.
The first step is selecting a mediator acceptable to Royal Mail and the CWU from a panel that was agreed by both parties under the Agenda for Growth.
Terry Pullinger
The Agenda for Growth is a balanced agreement which gives significant protections to Royal Mail employees. In return, the CWU committed to an industrial stability framework with defined processes and strict timescales to resolve disputes. We want to use them to do just that.
We are very committed to working closely with the CWU in order to reach agreement as a matter of priority.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Ward said there was now a timeframe for a round of external mediation, adding: We believe that still means we can take action before Christmas.
Gill Furniss, shadow minister for postal services, said: Royal Mails decision to take the dispute to the High Court and todays ruling are extremely disappointing.
Very disappointing,but despite this set back Labour will continue to support Royal Mail workers in their fight for decent pay and conditions https://t.co/F1IiwWb7UN Gill Furniss MP (@GillFurnissMP) October 12, 2017
CWU members voted by a momentous 89.1% in favour of industrial action in defence of secure pay, pensions and the future of the service.
Despite this setback Labour will continue to support Royal Mail workers in their fight for decent pay and conditions.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said the Brexit process will take longer than we initially thought, blaming delays on Britains failure to settle its financial obligations.
Speaking to students at the University of Luxembourg, Mr Juncker said the nations of Europe should be grateful for what Britain had done during war after war, but added: Now they have to pay.
Mr Juncker was speaking after the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said talks on issues including the divorce bill had not made sufficient progress for him to be able to recommend moving on to the second phase of negotiations, covering trade.
Mr Barnier said the financial settlement had not even been the subject of negotiations during four days of talks this week because the UK was not prepared to indicate how much it was willing to pay.
However a leaked document seen by reporters in Brussels suggested that EU leaders meeting at the European Council summit next week could authorise internal preparatory discussions on the shape of a future trade relationship and a transition deal, in a move which could offer Prime Minister Theresa May hope for talks by the end of the year.
Public opinion of Government's Brexit negotiations
Mr Juncker said: The first to be impressed by the enormous disadvantages that Brexit is entailing are the British. They are discovering, as we are, day after day new problems. That is the reason why this process will take longer than initially thought.
We had the idea that we would clear all the questions related to the divorce. It is not possible.
On the question of Britains divorce bill which he previously suggested could come to around 50 billion Mr Juncker said: We cant find for the time being a real compromise as far as the remaining financial commitments of the UK are concerned.
As we are not able to do this, we will not be able to say during the European Council in October that now we can move to the second phase of the negotiation, which means the shaping of the Britain/Europe future.
If you are sitting in a bar and ordering 28 beers and then suddenly one of your colleagues is leaving and is not paying, that is not feasible. They have to pay.
They have to pay, not in an impossible way I am not in a revenge mood, Im not hating the British. Europeans have to be grateful for so many things that Britain has brought to Europe, during war after war, before, everywhere and every time. But now they have to pay.
'We are not asking for "concessions". #Brexit is not about concessions on citizens' rights, Ireland or financial settlement.' @MichelBarnier pic.twitter.com/3S09g1TQtD European Commission (@EU_Commission) October 12, 2017
Mr Juncker called for an immediate resolution to the issue of the post-Brexit status of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons on the continent, saying that they should simply be allowed to retain existing rights.
He said that negotiators were making progress on the issue at talks which have been running since June in Brussels.
But he added: I dont even understand this problem. Why not say easily, with common sense, that things will stay as they are?
The European `foreigners, as they are saying in London, are there on the island and so many British friends are here. So let them (stay) here and let them (stay) there.
Why are we discussing nonsense like that? Citizens have rights because of being citizens, not because there is a Brexit issue which has to be discussed.
Phone call this evening with PM @theresa_may to discuss the October #EUCO. #Brexit Charles Michel (@eucopresident) October 12, 2017
The draft conclusions for for the October 19 summit, leaked in Brussels on Thursday evening, call for work to continue to achieve sufficient progress on withdrawal issues of a financial settlement, the Irish border and citizens rights, to unlock the second stage of talks to focus on trade.
But the document, which is subject to change by the leaders of the 27 remaining EU states, warns that Britain has not made a firm and concrete commitment on what Brussels sees as its financial obligations.
It echoes Mr Barniers concerns that a disturbing deadlock over the size of Britains exit bill means it is not yet time to move on to negotiations over the future UK/EU relationship.
His recommendation has made it all but certain that trade talks will be delayed at least until the end of the year, heightening pressure on the UK Government to make preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit.
But the draft paper offered signs of hope that Mr Barnier and EU states could at least begin exploring trade and transition arrangements, with the aim of moving on to those issues if agreement can be reached at Decembers Council summit.
At Westminster, Labour called for Mrs May to change its flagship Brexit legislation, claiming that the EU (Withdrawal) Bill was not going before the Commons next week because the Government was afraid pro-Europe Tory rebels would rebel on a series of amendments.
READ: @Keir_Starmer's letter to David Davis calling for an additional emergency round of talks with EU negotiators to end #Brexit deadlock pic.twitter.com/WHWsddzNFC Shadow Brexit Team (@ShadowBrexit) October 12, 2017
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC: The Tories Repeal Bill is simply not fit for purpose. It would give huge and unaccountable power to ministers and puts vital rights and protections at risk.
Theresa May must start listening to the legitimate concerns of Labour and some of her own MPs by urgently changing approach.
Meanwhile, an aide to the Treasurys ministerial team dismissed calls by Tory grandee Lord Lawson for Chancellor Philip Hammond to be sacked.
Former chancellor Lord Lawson accused Mr Hammond of undermining Brexit negotiations, claiming that his refusal to release money now for preparations for a no-deal Brexit was very close to sabotage.
Watch David Davis closing the fifth round of negotiations to forge a new partnership with the EU pic.twitter.com/z22PrSXNei Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) October 12, 2017
But Chris Philp told BBC Newsnight: Thats nonsense. Nigel Lawson was a great chancellor in the 1980s, but that was 30 or 40 years ago, and he certainly doesnt speak for the modern Parliamentary Conservative Party.
In response to Mr Junckers comments, Downing St said Mrs May had made clear in her Florence speech that the UK would honour its financial obligations.
The Prime Minister has been clear all along on the need to reach a settlement, a Number 10 spokeswoman said. We will honour our commitments - the commitments that we have made during our period of membership of the EU but the detail is for negotiation.
An American woman, her Canadian husband and their children have left Pakistan after being rescued from the Taliban, who held them for five years.
Two Pakistani security officials said Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, along with their three children left by plane from Islamabad on Friday.
They did not say where the family was heading.
Patrick Boyle, Linda Boyle, Lyn Coleman and Jim Coleman hold a photo of their kidnapped children
Pakistan said on Thursday it rescued the family after their captors moved them across the border from Afghanistan in an operation made possible by intelligence provided by Washington.
The couple were kidnapped in October 2012 while on a backpacking trip that took them to Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.
All three children were born in captivity.
Maria Sharapova remains on course for a first WTA title since returning from a drugs ban after beating Peng Shuai in straight sets in the semi-finals of the Tianjin Open.
The five-time grand slam champion needed just 78 minutes to beat third seed Peng 6-3 6-1 and book a final date with world number 102 Aryna Sabalenka.
Sharapova, a tournament wildcard, made the perfect start by breaking Pengs serve in the first game of the match and closed out the set with another break.
MAria Sharapova celebrating her semi-final win in Tianjin
Peng had held her own for much of the opening set but former world number one Sharapova broke early in the second and completed a comfortable win.
Sharapova, who made her comeback in April, has advanced to her first WTA final since May 2015 without dropping a set.
The 30-year-old will meet teenager Sabalenka in Sundays final after the Belarusian defeated Italys Sara Errani 6-1 6-3.
By Sophie Hares
TEPIC, Mexico, Oct 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - D isaster-prone countries that keep rebuilding homes, roads and utilities are in danger of becoming uninsurable unless their new infrastructure is built to survive further catastrophe, experts said on Friday at a World Bank conference.
New construction must be low in carbon emissions and built on safe land at less risk of destruction as extreme weather intensifies under global warming, they said.
More infrastructure is about to be built in the next 20 years than was built in the past 2,000 years, said experts at the World Bank conference on infrastructure and resilience held in Washington, D.C.
The total cost of that infrastructure is seen at some $5 trillion a year.
"The expense of a constant construct, reconstruct, reconstruct, frankly, no country can afford," said Christiana Figueres, former United Nations' climate chief.
"Because we know we will be getting more of these effects, we cannot let ourselves get to a scenario where we are systemically uninsurable," said Figueres.
Among recent disaster losses, no more than half were covered by insurance, she said.
Extreme weather such as flooding, severe storms and drought is increasing with global warming, experts say.
Mapping risky areas and determining the cost of making infrastructure resilient must be done before rebuilding, said Figueres.
She estimated the cost of making low-carbon infrastructure that can withstand shocks might be an additional 10 percent.
Although governments are increasingly aware of the need for resilient infrastructure, residents need incentive and encouragement to rebuild wisely, said Kamal Kishore, member of India's National Disaster Management Authority.
"If you have a bridge across the River Ganges and you stop it for a day... the economic impact is huge," he said. "We really have to make the case of life-cycle costs and benefits, not just the upfront costs of infrastructure."
India has made considerable progress in reducing deaths from cyclones due to a combination of resilient infrastructure, community networks and scientific advances, he said.
Data indicating possible risk must be easily available to ensure infrastructure is not built on land prone to floods or other disasters, said Aris Papadopoulos, former chief executive of cement company Titan America. Papadopoulos recently set up a private-sector risk reduction network with the U.N.'s Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
"We build in vulnerable locations to the same standards as were built in the safer location, and what's the result? We have disaster," he said.
Urging a modern-day Marshall Plan to rebuild the Caribbean devastated by recent hurricanes, British businessman Richard Branson said the islands need more hurricane-proof homes and stronger electricity systems.
The original Marshall Plan was a multibillion-dollar U.S. program that helped rebuild Western European after World War Two.
Cutting dependency on costly fossil fuels and switching to solar or wind energy would free up resources for islands that spend as much as a quarter of their national expenditures on fuel, said Branson.
Branson is trying to set up a fund to help Caribbean nations replace fossil fuel-dependent utilities with low-carbon renewable energy sources.
"How much more destruction is needed to show that the way we treat our planet is having serious consequences and sadly will have even more serious consequences?" he asked. (Reporting by Sophie Hares, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst )
BRASILIA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A Supreme Court injunction on Friday temporarily blocked the extradition of Cesare Battisti, an Italian left-wing former guerrilla convicted of murder in his country.
The decision by Justice Luiz Fux prevents the Brazilian government from extraditing Battisti until the full court can rule on habeas corpus request from Battisti's lawyers, a ruling that is expected within two weeks.
The former guerrilla was briefly arrested this month when trying to leave the country.
Battisti faces life in prison in Italy, where he was convicted of four murders committed in the 1970s, when he belonged to a guerilla group called Armed Proletarians for Communism. He escaped from prison in 1981 and lived in France before fleeing to Brazil to avoid being extradited to Italy.
Brazil's Supreme Court authorized Battisti's extradition in 2009, but he was not sent back to Italy because former leftist President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva granted him refugee status on his last day in office in 2010. (Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by James Dalgleish)
By Terrence Edwards
ULAANBAATAR, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Mongolia's coal exports, which have helped lift its slow-growing economy this year, are losing steam, according to trade data.
In the first nine months of the year, exports earned $1.73 billion, or more than double the same period of 2016, data posted by the National Statistics Office on Friday showed.
But the pace of growth has slowed in recent months. For January through July, exports were more than four times the total for the first seven months of 2016.
The loss of steam reflects issues at the border with China, Mongolia's largest coal customer, that have created a queue of trucks stretching 100 kilometres (60 miles) into the Gobi Desert.
Coal miners in the desert have been planning to increase production on the back of stronger demand from China after the closure of mines there and bans on coal imports from North Korea and smaller ports.
The strong Mongolian exports in the first half helped spur economic growth of 5.3 percent from a year earlier.
This year's rebound in coal exports "is driving economic recovery," said Dale Choi, an analyst and head of Altan Bumba Financial Group.
Now, Choi said, "the key is resolving infrastructure and border bottlenecks, favourable Chinese pricing and geopolitical tensions between Mongolia, Russia and China".
Mongolias Foreign Affairs Ministry has been working since August to improve customs to more thoroughly inspect transported goods at the border after Chinese officials discovered irregularities in shipments.
A representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment.
In January-September, Mongolia's total exports grew 37.5 percent from a year earlier to $4.58 billion -- of which coal accounted for 38 percent. There was a trade surplus of $1.5 billion, 64 percent more than for the first three quarters of 2016.
Mongolia is waiting for disbursement of about $38 million from the International Monetary Fund after a government reshuffle delayed the payment. The IMF earlier this year approved a $5.5 billion economic bailout to relieve debt pressures and maintain stability in the local currency, the tugrik.
The prime minister has already made his nominations, and the president is expected to confirm appointments next week. (Editing by Engen Tham and Richard Borsuk)
BERLIN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - If the United States terminates the Iran nuclear deal or reimposes sanctions on Tehran it could result in Iran developing nuclear weapons and raise the danger of war close to Europe, Germany's foreign minister said on Saturday.
U.S. President Donald Trump refused on Friday to formally certify that Tehran was complying with the 2015 accord even though international inspectors say it is. He warned he might ultimately terminate the agreement.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told Deutschlandfunk radio that Trump had sent a "difficult and dangerous signal" when the U.S. administration was also dealing with the North Korea nuclear crisis.
"My big concern is that what is happening in Iran or with Iran from the U.S. perspective will not remain an Iranian issue but many others in the world will consider whether they themselves should acquire nuclear weapons too given that such agreements are being destroyed," Gabriel said.
"And then our children and grandchildren will grow up in a very dangerous world," he said.
He said if the United States terminated the deal or if sanctions were reimposed on Tehran, it would give Iranian hardliners, who are against negotiations with the West, the upper hand.
"Then they might revert to developing nuclear weapons," Gabriel said, adding Israel would not tolerate that and "then we will be back where we were 10, 12 years ago with the danger of war relatively close to Europe".
He urged the United States not to endanger the security of its allies and its own people for domestic policy reasons.
Hailed by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama as key to stopping Iran from building a nuclear bomb, the deal was also signed by China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and the European Union.
European allies have warned of a split with Washington over the nuclear agreement and say that putting it in limbo undermines U.S. credibility abroad.
Trump has given the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reinstate economic sanctions on Iran that were lifted in 2016. (Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Syria on Saturday demanded the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of Turkish troops that have deployed in the country's northwestern province of Idlib, state media said citing a foreign ministry source.
Turkish troops entered Idlib on Thursday night as part of efforts to enforce a so-called "de-escalation zone" agreed by rebel backer Ankara and regime allies Russia and Iran at talks in Astana earlier this year.
But the Syrian foreign ministry source slammed the "Turkish aggression", saying it had "nothing whatsoever to do with the understandings reached by the guarantor countries in the Astana process."
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NAIROBI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Seven people, six of them children, were killed in northern Kenya on Saturday when unknown assailants attacked a school, officials said.
Cattle rustling and clashes over grazing and farming land are relatively common between communities in the East African country's north, and often escalate into revenge attacks.
The region also borders war-torn South Sudan, and arms smuggling is common, with Kenyan police having little control over weaponry crossing the border.
In a report, Kenya's KTN television channel said four boys, two girls and a guard were killed during the attack on Lokichogio School, which it said was carried out by assailants whose identities were yet to be determined.
"The attack ... is a painful reminder of the state of insecurity along the border," Josphat Nanok, Turkana county's governor, said on Twitter.
The region is awash with guns due to its proximity to unstable neighbours including Somalia, where al Qaeda-linked militants have been fighting to topple the government. (Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
BERLIN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has upset fellow members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc by proposing that Germany introduce Muslim public holidays.
Germany is home to around four million Muslims, most of whom have a Turkish background. Many of the more than a million migrants who have arrived in the country from the Middle East and elsewhere over the last two years are Muslims.
Speaking on the campaign trail ahead of an election in the northern state of Lower Saxony due on Sunday, de Maiziere - a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) - said he was open to certain regions of Germany having Muslim public holidays.
He pointed out that All Saints' Day was only a public holiday in Germany's Catholic regions and adding: "In places where there are many Muslims, why can't we think about introducing a Muslim public holiday?"
In a speech posted in an audio clip on local news website regionalwolfsburg.de he also said Germany's public holidays were generally Christian and should remain that way.
His proposal prompted a backlash from fellow conservatives, who are due to start tricky three-way coalition talks with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens next week. The conservatives won a September election but suffered their worst result since 1949 as they bled support to the far-right.
Senior CDU member Wolfgang Bosbach told newspaper Bild that everyone in Germany could celebrate whatever religious festivals they wanted but added: "Whether the state should also protect non-Christian holidays with legal regulation in future is a different issue entirely."
Alexander Dobrindt, a senior figure in the Christian Social Union (CSU) - the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's CDU - told the same newspaper that Germany's Christian heritage was non-negotiable, adding: "We won't consider introducing Muslim public holidays in Germany."
No one at the Interior Ministry was immediately available to comment when contacted by Reuters. (Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Ros Russell)
DUBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has had a successful operation at a Sanaa hospital after a Russian medical team was flown in to perform it, government sources said on Saturday.
The Russian team arrived in Sanaa two days ago and operated on Saleh on Friday for wounds he sustained in an assassination attempt in 2011.
Saleh's General People's Congress Party said the procedure was successful, and that his condition was stable.
Saleh was severely wounded in an attack on the presidential palace in Sanaa in June 2011. He went to the United States for treatment on one occasion, before a travel ban was imposed.
The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Saleh in 2014, accusing him of threatening peace and obstructing Yemens political process, subjecting him to a global travel ban and an asset freeze.
Government sources told Reuters the Russian team had arrived with approval from the Saudi-led Arab alliance but did not reveal the precise nature of the surgery.
Saleh ruled Yemen for 34 years, but was forced from power after pro-democracy protests in 2012.
Forming a surprise alliance with the Houthi movement when they seized Sanaa in 2014, Saleh's army loyalists and Houthi fighters have weathered thousands of air strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition in more than two years of war. (Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters gathered at an unsanctioned rally on Saturday to demand action against Prime Minister Najib Razak over the mismanagement of billions of dollars by a state fund.
Malaysia's opposition are counting on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal to turn as many voters as they can against Najib, who can call for national polls anytime between now and the middle of next year.
The prime minister has so far been able to weather the scandal, consolidating power by clamping down on dissenters and curbing local media and activists even as he faces a fierce challenge from his former mentor, Mahathir Mohamad.
But rising living costs and a broad-based consumption tax are leaving people like Hasmurni Tamby, a 42-year-old single mother of five, fed up with the way things are going under Najib.
"Prices of everything have gone up but not our salaries. We can't save. So we don't want this leader anymore," said Hasmurni, who travelled several hours north from her home state of Malacca to attend the evening rally.
Saturday's rally was touted as the finale of a two month-long anti-kleptocracy roadshow, a platform set up by the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to convince the majority Malay-Muslim voters in rural battleground areas that the country has suffered from Najib's handling of 1MDB.
Najib's popularity took a hit from persistent bad press linked to 1MDB, especially after the U.S. Department of Justice filed civil suits to recover over $1.7 billion alleged to have been misappropriated from the 1MDB fund.
A rebounding economy and strengthening ringgit currency, however, are working in Najib's favour.
The prime minister is expected to announce plenty of people-centric initiatives later this month when he tables his last budget before the polls. Just a few months prior, he announced billions in housing and cash aid for the Malay community.
But Mahathir, who saw through Malaysia's industrialisation as its longest-serving prime minister, warned that nothing good will come out of allowing his former protege to continue to rule.
"Never before have we had a prime minister who is a thief. He steals so he can have a comfortable life," Mahathir told the crowd when delivering the final speech of the night.
"We need to bring down kleptocracy in our country... Najib's fate is in our hands. We can get rid of him, just by voting PH," the former prime minister said.
(Reporting by Emily Chow, Writing by Joseph Sipalan,; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
MILAN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Briton Matt Wallace opened up a two-stroke lead going into the final round of the Italian Open after hitting five birdies and a bogey on Saturday to leave him on 17 under par.
The Englishman, co-leader with Australian Marcus Fraser at the start of the day, began his round with a birdie at the long first and tapped in for another at the fifth before missing a par at the short seventh.
He holed an eight-foot birdie putt at the ninth, then a huge one at the 13th from about 40 feet before another birdie at the 14th. He finished by producing an impressive recovery for par at the 18th after sending his tee shot straight into the trees.
Holder Francesco Molinari of Italy and Englishman Tyrrell Hatton were two shots back in a tie for second while Tommy Fleetwood posted an eight-under-par 63 to get to 13 under in a tie for sixth place.
Fraser dropped to joint ninth after a one-over-par 72. (Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)
The Elections Commission said yesterday it would take up for consideration the argument that foreign passport holders should not become office bearers of any political party in Sri Lanka.
The dispute arose after National Democratic Party (NDF) secretary Shalila Moonesinghe, a foreign citizenship holder and the chairman of Litro Gas Ltd. was arrested and remanded in connection with a financial crime.
EC member Prof. Ratnajeewan Hoole told Daily Mirror but there was little or nothing the Commission could do because the NDF was registered as a political party under the relevant Act.
Parliament makes the laws. We have no way to alter them, he said and added that the law did not bar a foreign national from becoming an office bearer.
A foreigner cannot contest a parliamentary election as set out in the law. However, there is no way to bar a foreigner with a resident visa from contesting the provincial council elections. I think, such an eventuality was not foreseen at the time the law was formulated, Prof. Hoole said.
The then common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena contested the 2015 presidential election under the swan symbol of the NDF and elected President. (Kelum Bandara)
The Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas are teeming with Rohingya refugees now numbering well over half-a-million. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has elevated her stature several notches by organising massive humanitarian assistance and supply of relief material to the refugees not because they are Muslims but because it has improved her own image by demonstrating to the world that she is a statesman and not merely a run-of-the-mill politician finishing her political adversaries, trying war criminals and executing them.
Hasina has undoubtedly drawn immense political mileage out of the refugee crises and it is expected to go a long way.
Barely a couple of days ago, I was in Dhaka in connection with a conference and tried to get a first-hand assessment of the security situation vis-a-vis the Rohingyas. The security challenges are enormous needing a close watch on the high number of refugees, who remain vulnerable to the extremist forces. The extremist forces are bent on radicalising a section of them to push them towards IS or Al Qaeda ideology and destabilise the Hasina government. This will eventually abet terror in the fragile region, already reeling under security threats.
Back in Myanmar, we know of a segment of Rohingyas collaborating with a Bangladesh-based terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), for training and subsequent infiltration into Bangladesh to unleash violent extremism. Meanwhile, reports indicate the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba ( LeT) in training disgruntled Rohingya refugees too.
Both front organisations of Lashkar, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Fala -I- Insaniyat Foundation, are reportedly active among the Rohingya youth under the cover of providing relief and rehabilitation organisations. Security experts also warn that Myanmar, Bangladesh and India's eastern states must be closely watched as they seem to be on the verge of experiencing a sudden spurt in Islamic militancy.
There are also credible reports received from a section of the intelligence fraternity that the newly known outfit Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is active under the leadership of Hafiz Tohar, chief of its military wing. The ARSA nexus with LeT is more or less established. Tohar had earlier set up the Ahkam-ul-Mujahideen (AMM) and was trained in Pakistan after being inducted by one Abdul Qadoos Burmi chief of the Harkat-ul-Jihad- al-Islami (HuJI-A).
Subsequently, Tohar integrated his outfit into ARSA and is suspected to be behind the attacks on Myanmarese security forces in October 2016, and in August this year. What's also worrying, as per intelligence reports, is that refugee camps in certain areas are becoming hunting grounds for terror organisations. Recently, new cadres have been recruited from among the Rohingya community in the Rakhine state and in camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.
In the meantime, highly placed sources in the security establishment have indicated that a major ranking officer of the Pakistani Army (possibly from the ISI), has been earmarked to oversee recruitment and training once again proving Pakistans role in fomenting terror preceding radicalisation programmes directed principally against Bangladesh.
Amid these ongoing developments, external powers have evinced keen interest in the scene in Bangladesh emanating out of the Rohingya crisis.
It was quite surprising to note that Emine Erdogan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife, was perhaps the first to visit the refugee camps, aiding the refugees and expressing sympathies with the Bangladesh government. In addition, President Erdogan was seen as the first head of any country to criticise Myanmar for its excesses against Rohingyas, and out of sheer Muslim solidarity, coming to the help of the refugees and Bangladesh, rather expressly and demonstratively.
It must not be forgotten that its the same Erdogan who has always been a bitter critic of Hasina condemning her for trying war criminals and executing them. Erdogan's move thus appears more extraordinary. Dwelling on this development, pro Saudi, Wahabi elements, in the meantime, accuse Erdogan of jumping into the crisis in an attempt to radicalise the Rohingya Muslims with the tenets of Muslim Brotherhood replacing the alleged Wahabi school of thought currently suspected to be guiding the Rohingya Muslims.
It therefore seems that Turkey, in order to outsmart Saudi Arabia, is trying to draw the attention of the Muslim community to phase out Wahhabism in the region. In this light, the Turkey-Saudi ideological battle has a new theatre now in Bangladesh. It would be naive to think that Erdogan and others are interested only in humanitarian assistance.
Other than external powers, media agencies too are naturally drawn towards the present imbroglio. Voice of America (VoA) has already dispatched its senior-most Bangla representative to the refugee camps to learn Rohingya lingua franca. It would appear this is happening as part of their long-term plans as western nations assess that this crisis is going to last long and therefore professional investment is being pumped in. Their interest, both strategic and tactical, may lie in developments meriting watch by both Indian and Bangladeshi intelligence to thwart any nefarious designs.
Bangladesh security and intelligence agencies are on high alert to deal with the crisis and it is presumed that India too is onboard jointly tackling the radicalisation and terror menace. Cooperation between the two countries must be taken forward to yield tangible results from the security point of view.
It may be known that only after a couple of months, Bangladesh will hold one of the biggest congregations called Vishwa Itzema gathering of lakhs of Muslims from all over the world. Against the backdrop of the Rohingya crisis, extra vigil is needed to look out for the elements of Tablighi Jamaat, a congregation which espouses terror, attending this.
Largely, the congregation is of innocent pious Muslims but possibility of undesirable individuals or groups penetrating the gathering is a possibility. That's to be countered or pre-empted. Given Bangladesh's capability to contain terror, they are capable of handling the situation but the sea of human beings makes the task to put in surveillance difficult.
Judging from all the factors discussed above, extra and abundant caution seems essential to ensure de-radicalisation and security of Bangladesh. It is particularly imperative as long as Rohingyas are on the neighbouring countrys soil and their nexus with our hostile neighbour continues.
Attempts to downgrade the status of the armed forces has been an ongoing process ever since Independence. At the time of independence, there was mutual dislike between the polity and the Army, which was exploited by the civil services. The Army had been a tool with the British to curb the freedom struggle, in which all political leaders of post-Independence had been a part of. Hence, they disliked the military, to the extent that Jawaharlal Nehru had remarked that a peaceful nation does not require an Army.
The Army on the other hand, maintaining the British legacy, possessed a disdain for politicians, the feelings being mutual.
The political leadership considered the armed forces to be an instrument of imperial strategy guided by the British, and not Indian interests. Hence it planned on degrading the Army's status to suit the nations requirement.
The very first action taken by the government was to abolish the post of the commander-in-chief (C-in-C), who was the single point advisor on all military matters to the government, akin to a chief of defence staff, an appointment the nation presently requires and was amongst the most powerful members of the government.
Appointing of independent service chiefs resulted in the armed forces headquarters being separated and placed under functional control of a civilian controlled defence ministry, which continues to date.
With the passage of time, with coups in neighbouring Pakistan and Myanmar, fears began rising in the Indian polity of a similar possible action within India.
As has been the military ethos, it neither complained nor objected and accepted every decision of the government, including reduction in pensions, degradation in status vis-a-vis other services and even in the warrant of precedence.
The polity felt that degrading the militarys status, they could be moved away from the government and decision-making, thus reducing chances of a coup. Post the 1962 debacle, the government got its way, the cabinet secretary was appointed and the chiefs made subordinate to him. The Army proved its mettle in 1965 and '71, yet was let down by an ungrateful government headed by Indira Gandhi, in pay, pensions and stature.
As has been the military ethos, it neither complained nor objected and accepted every decision of the government, including reduction in pensions, degradation in status vis-a-vis other services and even in the warrant of precedence. Such actions have continued over decades, with no response from the armed forces hierarchy or the rank and file. Service chiefs remained muted and silent spectators, since most were from the old school of thought, considering it to be in the interests of democracy.
The situation began to change with the emergence of social media, enhanced awareness among the serving and veterans, increased role and projection of the Army in every sphere of national activity, either battling militancy in the Northeast or Kashmir, floods, earthquakes or even during civil disturbances.
The respect from the national public, which had largely remained subdued or silent began to grow manifold, giving a voice to the concerns of the silent soldier.
Most of the armed forces serve in cantonments and locations away from society and the bureaucracy, except co-located civilians belonging to services paid from the defence fund. Hence, most have little to no interaction with the bureaucracy on a regular basis. Simple degradation only in status (not salary) mainly impacts those posted to service headquarters in Delhi, who are involved in direct interaction. The higher an individuals appointment in Delhi, the more he is impacted.
Seniority within the government of India, between different services is based on salary or grade pay, hence those junior in service, but obtaining a higher-grade pay, are deemed senior. This became a major issue even within the armed forces after the release of the Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU). The release of NFU to all other central services, less the armed forces, led to major functional problems even within the service.
Civilians being paid from the defence budget, including the Military Engineering Service (MES), establishments like the DRDO, quality assurance, dockyards etc, who serve alongside the military suddenly jumped up notches, based on this additional package. Hence, while he was posted under a military officer, he refused to accept directions, claiming he was senior due to his salary. This made working conditions within the service as also with the bureaucracy in Delhi difficult.
Further, the attitude of the government, in supporting the bureaucracy and denying the military similar benefits, including its sudden downgrading in the Seventh Pay Commission increased heartburns and internal anger. The Seventh Pay Commission was the ultimate insult, resulting in the three service chiefs, rejecting its implementation, despite directions from the defence minister. This has happened for the first time in independent India. The anger was such that the PM had to intervene and direct the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), functioning under the PMO, to re-examine it.
The disappointment over the well-planned strategic degradation began to spread across the rank and file. While those serving remained quiet, as per their ethos, the veterans alongside the common Indian, whose respect for the armed forces continues unabated, jumped into the fray to challenge such unilateral and insulting actions.
With an unrelenting government, continuing on the warpath, there was no option but to approach the courts. The case is now in its final stages in the Supreme Court.
For the bureaucracy, the only option to gain a favourable judgment and hammer the final nail is to downgrade the military to a Group B Service (from the Group A service it presently is). This game has been seen through by the militarys well-wishers and its veterans. The veterans have now planned a mega rally against it at the end of the month in Jantar Mantar, the venue of the OROP agitation. The equivalence commission is also being closely watched, solely to ensure that justice is given to the silent soldier, serving in remote corners of the nation to ensure its security.
Never again will this grateful nation permit the government to maltreat its military, like the Seventh Pay Commission has done. Never again would they permit the military to be downgraded, as they seek to now. The common Indian has spoken, the nation will forever respect the militarys sacrifice and valour.
Foreign and Syrian Islamist militants from the Islamic State (IS) militant group are to evacuate their former stronghold of Raqa, as US-backed forces near the capture of the city, a senior official said Saturday.
Omar Alloush, a senior member of the local Raqa Civil Council, told AFP the deal would see IS fighters either turn themselves in or leave on buses, possibly to neighbouring Deir Ezzor province.
The news of an evacuation of IS fighters came shortly after the US-led coalition backing the assault on the city announced a convoy would leave Raqa in a deal to minimise new civilian casualties.
But the coalition specifically ruled out the exit of foreign IS fighters while making no mention of local fighters, and warned against any deal that allowed Islamist militants safe passage without "facing justice".
Once the de facto Syrian capital of IS's self-styled "caliphate," most of Raqa is now held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.
In recent days, fighting dropped off as local officials tried to negotiate a way to secure the last 10 percent of the city held by IS while preventing further civilian casualties.
Local tribal leaders issued a statement late Saturday saying they had urged the SDF and US-led coalition to find a way to "settle the status" of Syrian Islamist militants in the city and "secure their exit".
"The Syrian Democratic Forces agreed. We are now preparing a mechanism to evacuate (them)... to protect the lives of civilians who were taken as human shields," the statement added.
"We as tribal leaders guarantee the lives of those who will be taken out."
Alloush said up to 500 Syrian and foreign-born Islamist militants remained in Raqa.
"They have 400 hostages with them -- women and children -- in the national hospital," he told AFP.
He confirmed foreign IS fighters are "included in the deal" to evacuate Islamist militants .
"The foreign fighters have two choices: either surrender or be taken out" of the city, Alloush told AFP, saying it was "possible" they would be taken to Deir Ezzor, an eastern Syrian province where IS still holds territory.
The US-led coalition backing the SDF earlier announced a convoy would leave Raqa on Saturday under a deal negotiated by local officials.
"The arrangement is designed to minimise civilian casualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terrorists as people trapped in the city continue to flee the impending fall of Daesh's so-called capital," the coalition said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
"People departing Raqa under the arrangement are subject to search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces," it added.
It had earlier insisted that "foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa", and cautioned that it still expected "difficult fighting in the days ahead".
Deals to allow IS fighters to withdraw from territory have been negotiated in the past, including in May when an agreement allowed several dozen Islamist militants to flee the town of Tabqa, west of Raqa.
IS captured Raqa in 2014, and the city has become synonymous with the worst of the group's abuses, and infamous as a centre for planning attacks abroad.
Since breaking into Raqa in June, the SDF has captured around 90 percent of the city, backed by heavy US-led coalition strikes that have rendered whole streets unrecognisable and killed scores of civilians.
"Daesh is on the verge of being finished in Raqa in the coming days," said Nuri Mahmud, a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units that form the SDF's backbone.
The loss of Raqa would be only the latest in a series of devastating blows to IS, which earlier this year ceded the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The group now holds just a sliver of territory in Iraq, and is under attack from two separate campaigns by the SDF and Syrian army in Deir Ezzor province.
On Saturday, Syria's army seized the former IS stronghold of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor, in a campaign that is backed by President Bashar al-Assad's ally Russia.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
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Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle accused his kidnappers of murdering his infant daughter and raping his wife during his family's years-long captivity by the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Boyle leveled the accusations in a terse statement he read on his arrival in Toronto late Friday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three children, who were freed Wednesday by Pakistani troops.
He condemned the Haqqani network's "stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter" in "retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the miscreant of the Haqqani network had made to me, and the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife".
He said the rape was not the action of a lone guard, but was aided by the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commander he identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani group is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
The faction has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.
Providing few details, Boyle said the death of his daughter and his wife's rape occurred in 2014.
That was two years after he and Coleman, then "heavily pregnant," were kidnapped in a remote Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan.
He said they were in Afghanistan as "pilgrims" helping poor villagers when they were captured.
The three children who survived the ordeal were all born in captivity.
"Obviously it will be of incredible importance to my family to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus on edification and to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost," he said.
The Canadian government welcomed the family's arrival.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Mr. Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," it said, asking that the family's privacy be respected.
The Pakistani forces that freed the family said they acted on information received from the US intelligence services.
In his statement in Toronto, Boyle denied he had refused a return trip aboard a US military aircraft.
He chose to fly back from Islamabad to Canada on commercial airlines via London.
In 2009, Boyle was married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in battle in 2002 as a teenager in Afghanistan and held at the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay before being turned over to Canada and released in 2015.
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and transfer to Canada.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Boyle was not a target of investigation in Canada.
Boyle's parents live 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Ottawa.
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The speaker of the upper house of Russia's parliament will discuss North Korea's missile and nuclear programme with parliamentarians from Seoul and Pyongyang on Sunday, RIA news agency cited a source in the Russian delegation as saying.
Speaker Valentina Matviyenko will discuss the issue with the first deputy head of North Korea's legislature and the head of South Korea's parliament on the sidelines of an international congress of parliamentarians opening in Russia's second city of St Petersburg on Saturday, the source said.
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Thousands more Californians evacuated their homes on Saturday as fierce wildfires spread due to constantly shifting winds, and officials expected the official death toll of 35 from the week of fires to rise with hundreds of people still missing.
Sixteen major wildfires, some encompassing several smaller merged blazes, have consumed nearly 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares), roughly 334 square miles, an area larger than New York City.
The 35 confirmed fatalities - including 19 in Sonoma County - make this the deadliest fire event in California history. Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including another 3,000 evacuated from the city of Santa Rosa, about 50 miles (80 km) north of San Francisco, and another 250 from nearby Sonoma city.
"It's an unwieldy beast right now," fire information officer Dennis Rein said at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, the main staging area for the so-called Nuns Fire in Sonoma County, a wine-producing region.
More than 10,000 firefighters are battling the fires, which have destroyed 5,700 buildings and thrown California's wine-producing industry, and related tourism, into disarray, damaging or destroying at least a dozen Napa Valley wineries.
Ground crews gained on the wildfires on Friday but drier weather and fast-changing winds complicated efforts on Saturday, sparking a new large wildfire in Lake County, officials said.
The Nuns Fire, which had killed at least one person, was only 10 percent contained with winds threatening more residential areas, Cal Fire spokesman Antonio Negrete said.
But the more deadly Tubbs Fire, which killed at least 17 people in Sonoma County, was 44 percent contained, which officials considered a victory.
"It's cautious optimism but it's optimism," Negrete said of the Tubbs Fire.
Cal Fire had estimated the fires would be contained by Oct. 20 but may need to revise that date because of the winds that kicked up, Rein said.
"It'll set us back a planning cycle. Everything is very dynamic," Rein said.
The Nuns Fire forced evacuations north of Highway 12, which runs west-to-east from Santa Rosa inland.
"Unfortunately, due to the wind conditions and the type of topography and fuels, those winds and topography are causing that fire to be very erratic, going in several different directions.
The winds constantly change direction in that area," Scott McLean, a fire captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), told CNN.
The Nuns burned some 300 acres (120 hectares) near Sonoma, damaging some buildings on the outskirts of the city, McLean said.
Numerous ground-based strike teams barreled down Highway 12 toward the fire early Saturday and 20 of the 70 helicopters available throughout the state were concentrated on the Nuns Fire, McLean said.
Air tankers from one air base dropped a record 330,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) of retardant on the fire on Friday, he said.
Whole neighborhoods of Santa Rosa have been reduced to landscapes of gray ash, smoldering debris and burned-out vehicles.
Some victims were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, and many survivors had only minutes to flee.
The fires' death toll surpassed the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.
With 235 people still missing on Saturday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number of fatalities from the North Bay fires would likely climb.
The picturesque town of Calistoga, at the northern end of Napa Valley, faced one of the biggest remaining hazards. Its 5,000-plus residents were ordered from their homes on Wednesday night as a fierce blaze dubbed the Tubbs Fire crept to within 2 miles (3.2 km) of city limits.
The year's wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.5 million hectares) burned, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
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Several Charlottesville City Council candidates say they want to improve relations between the city and the University of Virginia. But, UVa and its students create challenges for the city, they told students and other residents at a candidate forum Thursday.
Too many in our community are cost-burdened I think the university is contributing to part of that, said Heather Hill, a Democratic candidate and president of the North Downtown Residents Association.
At various points throughout the forum, hosted by the Washington Literary Society and Debating Union at UVa, the six candidates who will appear on the ballot next month talked about housing and development within the context of city-university relations.
Voters will choose two candidates on Nov. 7. Councilor Kristin Szakos chose not to run for re-election, and Councilor Bob Fenwick lost to Hill and School Board member Amy Laufer in the June Democratic primary.
We have a housing issue where there is student housing continually being built, and we have gentrification issues in the city, said independent candidate Nikuyah Walker. I think having some conversations about the disparities in housing and how UVa contributes to them is definitely a conversation we need to have.
Walker also mentioned university employee wages, saying its an issue that students and community members still need to raise with university officials.
I think one of the reasons we have such a severe housing crisis, particularly for working people on the lower end of the economic spectrum, is because of the amount of building thats been going on to accommodate UVa students, said Paul Long, another independent candidate.
Throughout the year, candidates have faced questions about the need for more housing in the community, particularly for extremely low-income and low- to middle-income residents.
Some candidates have suggested that Albemarle County needs to take on a bigger role in permitting development. Long said Thursday that he thinks future student-housing developments need to be placed in the county.
If Im elected, Im going to vote against any proposal to build any further UVa housing in the city of Charlottesville, Long said. I think that space should be used on housing for residents of Charlottesville.
Hill said she thinks the university and citys interests are intertwined to some degree.
We need to remove this bubble around the university, she said. I feel like, right now, its so enclosed and independent of our broader community and frankly, out of touch with it.
She added: But we do share our community. Its in the interest of the city that the university is successful, and vice versa.
Hill noted that, because UVa President Teresa A. Sullivan is stepping down next year, she would prioritize developing a relationship with the incoming president, Jim Ryan, a dean at Harvard University.
If Im elected to council, one of the first things Id like to do before he even begins is to initiate some conversations about how we can change the way we work together, she said.
Kenny Jackson, an independent candidate, alleged that the public is left in the dark about whats being built in the city around the university.
Jackson said he would like for city, county and university officials to hold public quarterly meetings to discuss area issues and review whats being developed.
A lot of our council members have decided theyd rather work with the big developers and the big money and throw it on UVa, he said. I would like all three entities to sit down in front of people and really discuss this.
Laufer agreed that all three institutions need to work together. We need a real vision-oriented approach with the county and UVa, she said.
Near the beginning of the forum, Laufer said she supports the citys ongoing multimillion-dollar initiative to upgrade and alter the West Main Street streetscape.
Theyve put a lot of money into West Main Street, she said. Maybe thats controversial, but what were trying to do is connect UVa to the Downtown Mall in a different way. And I think thats something very exciting.
Though much of the new development on West Main has been hotels and student-oriented apartments, Laufer said she would like for more affordable housing in the corridor that could accommodate university employees.
If they were able to live in those buildings there, they could be walking [to work]. ... And our roads would have less congestion, she said.
John Hall, an independent candidate, said he thinks holding events like Thursdays debate help to improve relations between the residents of the collective community.
This forum tonight represents a good relationship between the university community, Charlottesville and Albemarle County.
At least one Pakistani child was killed and five civilians including four children were wounded after Indian troops fired into Pakistani Kashmir Saturday, officials said.
The incident took place in Nikial sector on the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing Kashmir between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India.
"An eight-year-old child... was martyred while five civilians including four children were injured due to Indian unprovoked firing targeting the civilian population," the Pakistani military said in a statement.
However a local civil administration official said that two children were killed in the cross border firing.
"Two children were killed in the firing by Indian forces in Nikial sector," assistant commissioner Waleed Anwar said.
"Intermittent firing still continues," he added.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947 but both claim the territory in full.
For decades rebel groups have fought Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding independence or a merger of the former Himalayan kingdom with Pakistan.
The rival armies routinely target each other across the heavily militarised LoC that divides the territory.
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About a year ago, Dr. Lawrence Lum and Dr. Daniel Trey Lee both arrived on the University of Virginias medical campus.
They joined a growing group of physician-scientists, and brought expertise to the rapidly expanding field of immunology. Lee uses gene therapy to target pediatric cancers. Lum uses antibodies to kill tumors. Others are discovering links between the brain and immune system, a vaccine to battle melanoma and treatments for infertility.
The targets of very basic and fundamental experimental research 20 years ago are now part of clinical experience, said Dr. David Wilkes, dean of UVas School of Medicine, who has led the push to increase the number of physician-scientists at UVa. And now, in the immunology space in a particular, its accelerating.
Lee, an assistant professor of pediatric hematology and oncology and director of pediatric stem cell transplantation, developed his own immunotherapy approach to treating childhood cancer at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
The approach, known as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, genetically modifies a persons immune cells, known as T cells, and makes them attack the cancer and muster an immune response. Lee removes a small number of blood cells from a patient, ships them to a facility where they can be injected with a special gene that makes the cells kill cancer, and then infuses the cells back into the patient. The entire transfusion process takes about two weeks, as opposed to other processes that can take months.
The genetically engineered CAR T cells continue to replicate in the body, generating a population of hundreds of millions within a few days.
Once its there in the T cell, its there for life, Lee said.
Lee focuses on soft cell liquid cancers, such as leukemia, where the cancerous cells present not as a solid mass but in the blood of patients, but he hopes to set his sights on one of the most difficult childhood cancers, neuroblastoma brain tumors.
He cautions that his trials so far have been investigational; no one knows yet if they will provide a cure.
Rather, he thinks of his approach as a bridge he is trying to get rid of cancerous cells of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer, in order to prepare patients for a bone marrow transplant.
Lee likes to take on the patients no other trials will treat. Many of his patients are refractory, meaning they have relapsed over and over again, or that chemotherapy was never effective in the first place. Some of the patients only were given months to live, but of those who made it through the side effects of CAR T, which typically resemble a serious case of the flu, 60 percent were alive three years later, a dramatic increase over conventional therapies.
Lee said he has been recruited by private companies, but hes pleased to have found a home in academia.
Being on the ground floor of some of this research, I felt like there were so many more places I can take this, he said. I try to see the kids that no one else will treat. And I wanted a place that shared that enthusiasm.
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Lum, a professor of medicine and director of cellular therapy in the division of hematology and oncology, takes cells out through apheresis, just like Lee, but he grows T cells in orders of magnitude greater than Lee does. And while Lee only performs one infusion, Lum does eight outpatient infusions.
Lums method can be described as a double-ended pitchfork. One set of prongs contains an antibody aimed at the T cell, while the other side contains an antibody aimed at a specific type of cancer. The two prongs join the T cell to the tumor, creating a bridge. That bridge allows the T cell to attack and kill the tumor.
After receiving Lums immunotherapy, patients received chemo, and several who had previously not responded to chemotherapy saw their cancer disappear.
Chemo following this immunotherapy works better than before, Lum said.
Results have been encouraging. Sometimes the treatment merely extends the life expectancy of patients; sometimes it allows doctors to eradicate the cancer. Its non-toxic and is much cheaper than other forms of treatment.
Lum has tested his approach on patients with severe forms of breast, prostate, neuroblastoma, pancreas, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and ovarian cancers. The infusions of targeted T cells create a lasting immunity by vaccinating patients against their own tumors and can be implemented against a wide variety of cancers.
It looks like were targeting multiple diseases, but its all one platform, Lum said. The whole process is dependent on a relatively intact immune system.
Outcomes so far have been promising one woman with a tumor in her pancreas was not responding to chemotherapy. She received three infusions, did another round of chemo, and has now been free of disease for more than two years.
If Lum can raise enough funds to move his research into the next phase of trials, he hopes to eventually receive FDA approval.
Lum was recruited from Detroit by the heads of the UVa Health System and School of Medicine. He had been planning to retire, but he was interested in the offer to connect with others big projects.
UVa is building a whole CAR T cell immunotherapy cancer facility, which Lee hopes to move into in about a year. From there, he says, perhaps researchers can ship their engineered cells to other hospitals and universities, becoming a cancer hub in Virginia.
Wilkes himself has a background in lung immunology and co-founded a company that researches and develops treatments for immune-mediate lung diseases. Wilkes hiring initiative, introduced in January 2016, aims to get 32 physician-scientists on faculty. He said such professionals increase the profile of both the hospital and the research institution.
They are the only group of individuals who can bridge the lab bench to the bedside, he said. And then they, coupled with our outstanding basic scientists, help us advance our research and grow our research dollars derived from the National Institutes of Health.
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New research wouldnt be possible without new insight into how the immune system works. Members of the Carter Center for Immunology, established in 1991, are changing approaches to AIDS, allergies and diabetes.
And while doctors like Lum and Lee focus on cancer, Jonathan Kipnis, director of the Center for Brain Immunology and chairman of UVas Neuroscience department, hopes his research one day will help provide treatments for chronic neurological disorders such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers.
Lets change how we look at neurological disorders from a neurocentric to immunocentric perspective, he said. We can make a vaccine for Ebola within three weeks. Even cancers can be well-managed. But neurological diseases dont have efficient therapies.
The problem, Kipnis believes, is that neurological disorders are treated as diseases with single causes and single cures. But if doctors and researchers can change how they think about brain diseases, perhaps they can create solutions for incurable diseases.
Kipnis research focuses on interactions between the immune and nervous systems. Two years ago, his team discovered lymphatic vessels that serve as drainage pipes for the brain.
The brain and lymph immune cells previously were thought to not communicate directly with each other. By finding those means of communication, Kipnis said, his team is filling in pieces of the puzzle in how the brain interacts with the immune system and how these interactions can be altered in a therapeutic approach.
Now Kipnis is drawing researchers from the northern and southern hemispheres for a neuroimmunology conference and helping to recruit other immunologists and researchers into the cross-disciplinary program.
The momentum was when the School of Medicine gave us money to form the [Brain Immunology and Glia] center, so we were able to recruit fantastic faculty members, he said. Now were going on this trajectory upwards, as a group.
Settlement negotiations are forthcoming in a $22.5 million lawsuit filed by the mother of a man who died in the custody of the Central Virginia Regional Jail.
Shawn Christopher Berry died in the Orange lockups custody in August 2014. His death was ruled an accident and attributed to adverse effects from heroin and alcohol.
While officials initially remained vague about the details surrounding Berrys death, Sherry Thornhills wrongful death suit, filed more than two years ago, claimed that her 37-year-old son suffered from withdrawal symptoms related to his alcohol and heroin addictions, a fact known to jail staffers who acted with indifference to his pain, the suit claims.
It continues that jail employees refused to give Berry proper medical treatment in the critical moments leading to his death. The suit names then-Superintendent F. Glenn Aylor, the Central Virginia Regional Jail Authority and nine jail workers as defendants in the case.
Counsel for the jail quickly denied the claims and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed on the grounds that the jail and its employees are entitled to immunity as arms of the state.
In February 2016, a federal judge dismissed six of the nine jail staffers from the suit, writing that they had acted reasonably based on the allegations made in Thornhills complaint. The remaining claims were allowed to go forward.
In the intervening year and a half, a trial in the case has been repeatedly delayed, first moving from early 2017 to the spring, then again to the fall. In April, the jail asked a federal judge to send the case to the Supreme Court of Virginia in the hopes that that court could answer the essential question of whether the jail and its staff were entitled to immunity from lawsuits. That request eventually was denied.
The following month, the jail again petitioned the court to have the case thrown out, accusing Thornhill of craft[ing] an elaborate account that ignored video recordings and incident reports that would disprove the allegation of deliberate indifference to Berrys medical needs. They again moved to have the case dropped in a filing from August.
Amidst the flurry of motions, objections and cancellations that have been filed ahead of what was expected to be a November trial date, an order was entered in federal court on Friday calling for a settlement conference. Currently set for Oct. 23 in Charlottesville, the hearing is purposed with conducting discussions, in good faith, toward a compromise resolution of this case.
Both parties are expected to provide a presentation outlining the factual and legal highlights of their cases, followed by separate, confidential caucuses with a magistrate judge.
The filing also calls for both parties to make good faith efforts to negotiate and settle the case ahead of the settlement conference.
Specific proposals and counter-proposals beyond the initial offer and demand should be exchanged, the order notes.
The content of the negotiations is to be confidential, and any party to the suit who appears at the settlement conference without having complied with the judges orders or fails to negotiate in good faith could be subject to monetary sanctions.
Neither Thornhills attorney nor counsel for the jail responded to a request for comment on the matter Friday.
First in a series of gubernatorial candidate interviews.
Reflecting on the recent white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam said leaders nationally, locally and everywhere in between need to be able to stand up and denounce hatred.
In an interview with The Daily Progress, Northam, who is facing Republican Ed Gillespie in the November election, said its time for common sense discussions on guns, that decisions about Confederate monuments are best left to the localities and that hed be able to work with people on both sides in Richmond if elected governor.
In the wake of a third torch rally led by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Northam reiterated his stance that its up to elected officials President Donald Trump included to speak out against such acts. He feels the president did not adequately do so in August after the Unite the Right rally, and that his actions and rhetoric have helped fuel that kind of behavior.
We want to make sure that leaders in Virginia, at least, stand up and say we dont promote hatred and bigotry in Virginia, and we dont condone it, and go wherever you came from and dont come back, he said.
The lieutenant governor said it is his belief that localities should make the decisions about whether monuments to the Confederacy should stay or go. Northam said he feels theyre divisive symbols and would be best placed in museums with historical context.
If this statue, Robert E. Lee, gave white supremacists an excuse to come into a beautiful town and do what they did we lost two state troopers, we lost Heather Heyer if it gave them an excuse to do that, then we need to have a discussion as a society whether that statue needs to be where it is, he said.
On the recurring torch rallies in Charlottesville and how to balance free speech and public safety, Northam said he draws a line between protests and violence.
I think there are a lot of things that we can look at to make a distinction between peaceful protesting and violent protests, he said.
Northam also said that its time for Virginians to have conversations on common-sense gun control and responsible gun ownership, including universal background checks.
Northam said his life experience has shaped how he views guns. Growing up in a rural part of Virginia, he used to hunt but doesnt as often as he used to.
In his time with the U.S. Army during Desert Storm, he treated soldiers suffering gunshot wounds.
Its not a pretty sight, and I dont think that we need assault weapons in our society and on our streets, he said.
At home, Northam said he has seen the results when toddlers and children accidentally got a hold of a loaded gun, and has seen victims of domestic abuse that involved a gun.
There are a lot of experiences Ive had in my life that make me want to come to the table and say, Lets talk about responsible gun ownership, he said.
I appreciate peoples thoughts and prayers, but its time to take action, because thoughts and prayers dont do a whole lot for a family thats just lost a child or lost a brother or sister, he said. So, lets take it a step further from just offering our thoughts and prayers. As a society, lets say that we have a challenge and do something about it.
If elected, Northam said he would work with both sides of the aisle in Richmond, and is more than willing to get bipartisan support for ideas.
I wont tell you that we agree on everything, but at the end of the day the Virginia way is to bring people to the table, agree to disagree and then do whats in the best interest of Virginia, he said.
The key to both general wellbeing and promoting economic growth in Virginia is inclusiveness, Northam said.
We have to understand that we live in a very diverse society, and so I tell people that it shouldnt matter your sexual orientation, shouldnt matter the color of your skin, the religion you practice or the country you come from, we have to welcome people to Virginia, he said.
Virginia is required to redraw legislative district lines in 2021. If elected governor, Northam said, he would not sign a map unless the lines are drawn fairly.
Hardly ever do you see anybody that defeats an incumbent, and thats because of gerrymandering, he said. And so I tell people all the time when I travel around the state, its time for people like us to choose our representatives rather that politicians choosing the voters.
Northam is in favor of a nonpartisan group redrawing the lines.
Three men who participated in the deadly white nationalist Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12 were found guilty Friday of failing to disperse after police declared an unlawful assembly.
On Friday, Nathan Benjamin Damigo, Ramsey Evan McLaren and JonPaul M. Struys appeared in Charlottesville General District Court on charges of misdemeanor failure to disperse. Damigo is the founder of the white nationalist party Identity Evropa and McLaren is the executive director of the National Policy Institute, founded by Richard Spencer, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The trio was represented by Elmer Woodard, who also is representing white nationalist Christopher Cantwell on assault charges in Albemarle County. Woodard argued that there was no rioting at the rally in Emancipation Park and police never had the authority to declare an unlawful assembly.
Charlottesville police Lt. Brian ODonnell, who was in charge of one of the police-controlled zones around the park, told the court he saw people getting pepper sprayed and saw members of the clergy, as well as other counter-protesters, being knocked back from the park.
He also said he saw water bottles filled with some kind of unidentified liquid flying through the air, and radio traffic about beatings in the streets around the park.
All zone commanders, made up of Charlottesville police supervisors, were authorized by city Police Chief Al Thomas to declare an unlawful assembly at any point they felt public safety was in danger, ODonnell said. That decision was made at about 11:30 a.m. that day.
Questioning the lawfulness of that decision and arguing that there was no violence happening inside of the park, Woodard asked ODonnell if he felt there was not enough reason to declare unlawful assembly himself.
I had every reason to call the unlawful assembly I just didnt have a bullhorn, ODonnell said.
Three Virginia state troopers who were part of the arrest squad that swept through the area soon after the declaration also recounted each mans arrest. One of the troopers said he found McLaren lying on the ground, not making an effort to leave the park. Both Struys and Damigo allegedly rammed into police riot shields and were arrested shortly afterward.
Woodard then made a motion to strike the charges against his clients and said the only evidence the commonwealth had for declaring an unlawful assembly was testimony from ODonnell that a water bottle was thrown by one person.
Judge Robert Downer Jr. interrupted and said ODonnell testified that multiple bottles were thrown, as well as instances of pepper spray use. He denied the motion.
Jason Kessler, who organized the rally and is currently facing an unrelated perjury charge in Albemarle County, then testified that he paid $25 for a permit to assemble in Emancipation Park. He said Damigo, McLaren and Struys were his guests who did not commit any violent acts or throw any bottles.
Woodard argued that because Kessler had a permit for the rally and because no one in the park was acting in a violent fashion, the police had no right to include the white nationalists in their declaration of unlawful assembly.
They were just standing in the park, bellyaching, Woodard said. They were not rioting.
All three men have appealed the verdict. Assist. Commonwealth's Attorney Nina Antony said it will go to the circuit court now pic.twitter.com/r4Kem5jcyH Lauren Berg (@laurenbergk) October 13, 2017
Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nina Antony said both sides were seen engaging in violent acts and throwing things and argued that not every single person needs to be doing those things for it to be an unlawful assembly.
The permit does not indemnify Mr. Kessler and his guests from following the law, Antony said. This is not akin to someone being on private property, and it does not cede control of the park to Mr. Kessler.
Downer said he agreed with prosecutors and reminded Woodard that just because Kessler had a permit to be there does not mean he did not have to follow the law. He agreed that the unlawful assembly was lawfully declared.
It is a permit to be there; it is not a lease, Downer said.
Downer found all three defendants guilty in the bench trial.
He said McLarens refusal to leave the park by lying on the ground was simply an act of civil disobedience and ordered him to pay a $100 fine. Because Damigo and Struys both ran into police shields before they could be arrested, Downer ordered them each to pay $200 fines.
Woodard immediately filed an appeal to Charlottesville Circuit Court, where the case will be re-argued later this year.
Four Moldovan citizens were killed and two others were injured on Saturday when a cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the sea near the airport in Ivory Coasts main city, Abidjan, Ivorian and French officials said.
Four French citizens were also injured in the crash, which occurred as the Antonov 26 plane, en route from Burkina Fasos capital Ouagadougou, neared the airport, said Sinaly Silue, director general of Ivory Coasts civil aviation authority.
A witness had earlier told Reuters that the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
There were 10 people aboard including six crew members, three French soldiers and a French civilian who was working for the (aviation) company, Silue said at a news conference. He said the plane was registered in Moldova, but did not name the company.
The control tower in Abidjan lost contact with the plane at 8:24 a.m. (0824 GMT) during a heavy thunderstorm, Silue added.
Abidjans airport is located in a heavily populated area but it did not appear that anyone on the ground was hurt.
The French military operates a logistics base next to the airport in support of its Barkhane operation, combatting Islamist militants in West Africas Sahel region.
This was a plane chartered by the French army in the framework of the Barkhane force in order to carry out logistical missions, French army spokesman Colonel Patrick Steiger said.
ilue said he did not yet have information about what caused the crash, though he noted that the weather was very bad along the approach to the airport.
An investigation had been launched and Ivorian authorities were in contact with their French and Moldovan counterparts, he said. The four injured French citizens were being treated at the French military base adjacent to the airport.
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If it were a plague, the government would rush to quarantine the infected, as occurred during Europe's Black Death in the 14th century.
An immigration debate at Seattle University School of Law is a plague of a different sort, but deadly in a different way. The victim here is the right to free speech.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that Annette Clark, the dean of Seattle University's Law School, has revoked the school's sponsorship of a Federalist Society event. The reason? The proposed debate on immigration, hosted by the school's Access to Justice Institute, might be "harmful" to minority students and "undocumented immigrants," aka people who broke the law to get to America, though we are not supposed to talk like that these days.
At first I thought it was a joke. It is. But a joke played on those elites who claim to believe in tolerance, academic freedom and inclusion. Dean Clark's edict reflects her and the school's intolerance, academic propaganda and exclusion of any view that does not conform to the university's imposed ideology. Isn't this the stuff of re-education camps and gulags?
Many college campuses claim devotion to diversity, while practicing and imposing conformity. To them, diversity has to do with skin color, ethnicity and sexual orientation. It is secular liberalism dressed up in different garb. Real diversity would include people of different opinions.
At Seattle U's Law School, the Federalist Society, a conservative organization that believes in an originalist view of the Constitution, was preparing for an immigration debate. The last I checked, a debate is supposed to include opposing points of view. The purpose of a debate is to inform people so they can decide which view is superior to the other.
In the 1980s, these were the kinds of debates in which I participated on many college campuses. With only a few exceptions, I was granted a respectful hearing, as was my debate opponent. Often we would attend a dinner before the debate, or a reception afterward, where students and faculty could observe us interacting with decorum, humor and mutual respect.
Invitations to college campuses began disappearing in the 90s, and I haven't had any since. The stories of high-profile speakers being denied the right to speak, or shouted down and demonstrated against should they actually make it onto a campus, are legion.
The kind of censorship practiced in Seattle is not unique to that school, either. It is trending across the country. Increasingly, campuses have become "safe spaces" so that "snowflakes" will not be troubled by ideas that rattle their still developing brains, which should, instead of stagnating, constantly evolve. If they think they already know everything, why spend time and money going to college?
The greater question is this: Why do so many parents, especially conservative parents, send their children to schools that undermine their faith and values, distort history and promote causes that will not help them get a job once they graduate?
A corollary question: Why do students take on so much debt to attend universities where their "consciousness" might be raised on the liberal side, but where they are shielded from what real life looks like?
Nat Hentoff, the late liberal journalist and social critic, said the answer to speech you don't like is not less speech, but more speech.
The students at Seattle Law School are being denied a well-rounded education by the speech and thought police. Students should demand that a portion of their tuition be refunded and the federal government should consider denying tax subsidies to institutions of "higher learning" that practice censorship.
Cal Thomas is a columnist syndicated by the Tribune Content Agency. Email him at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
That was no mini-disturbance.
In downtown Richmond this week, a bomb expert was called out and traffic was halted near a downtown building because of two unattended items left just outside the entrance.
Those two items?
A giant stuffed Minnie Mouse. And a bag sitting on top.
Police later told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the Disney toy and unidentified package posed no threat.
At 3 feet tall, the stuffed mouse was no mini. But she certainly managed to pack a major wallop in terms of attention-getting.
The goal of increasing the annual trade between the US and India to USD 500 billion is not a "distant dream", said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Photo: PTI)
Washington: The goal of increasing the annual trade between the US and India to USD 500 billion is not a "distant dream" given the opportunities that New Delhi offers to American companies, particularly in aviation and defence sectors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.
Jaitley said the relationship between India and the US had evolved into a very strong partnership in the last few years and goals like 'Mission-500' outline and re-emphasise the objective of the partnership.
"If one sees the opportunities that the defence and aviation sector in itself offers, increasing annual bilateral trade to USD 500 billion is not a distant dream," he told a Washington audience on Thursday when asked if the USD 500 billion bilateral trade target was achievable.
According to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) figures, India was US' ninth largest trading partner with the total two-way trade of USD 67.7 billion last year. It is loaded in favour of India, which runs a surplus of USD 24 billion.
Jaitley said a lot of US companies had made investments in India and now a lot of Indian companies feel comfortable in making investments in America.
"It is an exercise which requires to be taken forward," he said at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries held at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund.
Jaitley said one of the suggestions which was mooted in the meeting with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was that the two countries must get back governmental participation in private sector conferences.
For the first a different concept is taking place in November when a large number of American businesses are travelling to India for the Global Entrepreneurship (GES), he said, adding that the exercise will probably be repeated in the US next year.
"This would provide a great opportunity for Indian businesses here," Jaitley said.
He said over the next decade or so India's aviation sector is all set for a huge expansion. "US companies are a natural investor in that particular sector," he said.
"We have taken a huge initiative in the defence sector and we want these companies in partnership with Indian companies to set up manufacturing facilities in India itself," Jaitley said.
Responding to a question on land and labour reforms, Jaitley said they were not an immediate problem to the reform process started by the government in these two sectors. "We have allowed the State Governments to make whatever necessary changes they want to make in land acquisition laws," he said.
Noting that the labour problem is overstated in India, Jaitley said the age of workers strike is long over in India.
There has not been any hurdle of substantial nature in several areas, for instance the reforms in the banking and aviation sectors, he said, adding that in the last three and a half years, the government has been broadly sticking to the fiscal deficit targets. "We have realised the merit of trying to stick to that," he said.
The government was on target on direct tax, Jaitley said, asserting that on GST, it was too early to discover a pattern because of a transition phase.
"Our priority is to include fiscal prudence at a very high level," he said.
Jaitley said the government was trying to address the problem of non-performing asset on a very high priority. This has two aspects. One is to recover what is recoverable. For this the government has created new laws, amended laws and have created a new machinery, which will probably take care of it, he said.
Jaitley said there was a need to strengthen public-sector banks so that their ability to lend in India is maintained. This issue is at a high priority area for the government, he noted.
"I can tell you that when you undertake structural reform of this kind, there could obviously be short term impact, one quarter, for two quarters or so.
"But these transient impacts should not be construed as any form of a long-term challenge because I do see that the med-term and long-term impact of all these changes is certainly going to be very positive," Jaitley said while responding to a question on stimulus.
Mumbai: Linking of Aadhaar with PAN and for availing benefits of various welfare schemes has been a cause of worry for certain sections of society since the government issued a number of mandates over Aadhaar.
However, the flip side is, Aadhaar mandates have also brought with them certain benefits for the common man and another set of people who never stop praising the government's directives about Aahdaar.
Right from depositing food and fuel subsidy directly into consumer's bank account to making process of applying for important documents like driving licence and passport, Aadhaar has emerged as a single document that makes much more easier tasks that were earlier not easy to fulfill.
The 12-digit biometric based unique identification card can also make withdrawal, or for that matter transfer, of provident funds corpus a subscriber friendly exercise. For that purpose the very first step you need to take is to get your Universal Account Number from your employer.
Once you have got the UAN, link it with your EPFO account and then start availing the benefits that the exercise brings along with it. If you don't know how to connect Aadhaar with EPFO account then this column has a remedy for you. Keep reading.
Unified PF website
1) Log on to the unified web portal of Employees' Provident Fund Organistion. It's URL is; https://unifiedportal-emp.epfindia.gov.in/epfo/. After you have logged in, enter the UAN and password to proceed further.
2) On the top menu bar you will see a 'Manage' option on which if you click you will get a sub-section of KYC. Next page or step will take you to 'Add KYC' option. Here you can privide all the required details -- bank account number, PAN and Aadhaar number. After feeding them, you can press the 'Submit' button.
3) After pressing the 'Submit' button you can find all your details in 'Pending KYC' sub-section. The same details will show under 'Approved KYC' option after it gets approval from your company. The whole exercise doe not take more than 15 days after which it will show as 'Approved KYC'.
Farmers whose lands have been appropriated for the KSEZ have already been agitating against the KSEZ and have taken the state government and the management of KSEZ to court (Photo: ANI)
Kakinada: The agitation by those displaced by the Kakinada Special Economic Zone has started afresh. Farmers whose lands have been appropriated for the KSEZ have already been agitating against the KSEZ and have taken the state government and the management of KSEZ to court. Now, others who have been displaced have launched an agitation, demanding that the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package be properly implemented.
They allege that the authorities have cheated them and not given them the R&R package agreed upon. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is supporting them.
According to sources, KSEZ authorities have constructed rehabilitation colonies for the people of Buchireddypalem, Gorsapalem, Ramaraghavapuram and other villages. The houses have been constructed by the authorities for only a few displaced persons. Nearly 200 families are suffering due to lack of houses in the area. The KSEZ authorities or the state government should construct houses for everyone who has completed 18 years of age, provide Rs 5 lakh per family as compensation, and also give them employment, says P. Subbu Reddy, who is demanding justice for himself and his fellow villagers.
The rehabilitation colonies must accommodate everyone, the displaced people are demanding. Suppose there is a father and two sons in the family. The officials have provided only for the father. They have neglected the sons, though they are eligible, said one of the protesters.
The CPM district secretary, Duvva Seshubabji, said that the displaced persons are being cheated in the matter of the R&R package and the CPM will fight for justice for them. He has demanded that the government implement the R&R package under the New Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act 2013.
Mumbai: Ajay Devgn hasnt been having the best of forms. His last two releases, Shivaay and Baadshaho werent exactly reaping in great money. But the superstar is all set to bounce back with Rohit Shettys Golmaal Again. Ajay Devgn spoke candidly in an exclusive chat with Deccan Chronicle.
How different is this Golmaal going to be?
It has a genre which is not tapped in India. Golmaal Again is a horror-comedy which is not scaring you but it is really funny. One can only make a sequel if their characters are famous. All the characters in Golmaal series are famous and we need to take them forward in a different way. This film has a very emotional story base. Except for Kareena Kapoor Khan, we all five boys are same with same names and characteristics but the set up has changed. From Goa, we have moved to Ooty.
Any idea of Golmaal franchise you didnt approve of?
Rohit Shetty came to me with this idea four years ago. I really liked the idea and told him that he should go ahead with it. They took nearly three and half years to develop it and now it is ready for its Diwali release.
Are you under pressure considering high expectations from Golmaal Again?
I am under pressure when any Golmaal film releases. I feel it is about writing a good time. Thats why Rohit and his team took good amount of time to write.
How did Rohit evolve as a director from Golmaal to Golmaal Again?
I have known Rohit since he was an assistant so it is very difficult to answer. For me I have seen him growing in front of me but one gets mature with time and experience.
How was working with the new entrants Tabu and Parineeti Chopra to Golmaal family?
Tabu is again an old friend. I have known her even before we started acting. We share a great rapport. Parineeti is somebody who is very sweet. The moment she arrived on the sets, she made us feel so comfortable.
And you recreated your iconic dance number Neend Churayi Maine from the 90s
Rohit told me where I shot the song, I dont even remember it. Its been around 20 years sincewe shot the original song. When Kajol saw the song, she liked it.
Golmaal Again comes with a disclaimer this time, Iss Diwali No Logic Only Magic
We are not telling to the audience. This tagline is because of the storyline. When we talk about horror genre than there no logic to the ghosts. These things are magical.
What is your take on intellectual people hating Rohit Shettys film especially Golamal series?
When I talk to such intellectual people, they all have seen Golmaal films. They are closet watchers. Why anyone wouldnt enjoy? When a Hollywood film will release, everyone will like it just because it is in English.
With films like Drishyam, Shivaay, how far your sensibilities have changed in terms of filmmaking?
It has changed somewhere. Even the films I am doing in the future are different. I am concentrating on how the filmmaker is making it and I think it has become important. Audience have no concept of whos making the film. For them only actors is face of the films. So it has started that somewhere it is our responsibility to regulate.
Mumbai: Nagraj Manjule had taken the Indian movie scene by storm with his blockbuster Marathi directorial, Sairat. The auteur, whod also played a cameo in the film, is back on the big screen, but as an actor, this time round.
In The Silence, Nagraj, however, appears in a very dark role, playing a wife-beater and paedophile. This has resulted in Nagraj being flooded with hate calls.
Did I expect this kind of a backlash? I wouldnt say I am surprised. Because ours is a predominantly emotional audience and it reacts not to the performance but to the character played by the actor, he told DNA.
Nagraj, who is seen raping and assaulting his wife, played by Anjali Patil in the film, added, That perception of keeping away from morally-reprehensible characters is not to be judged by me. Actors, who say they will stay away from negative characters, are right in their own way, as they are seen as role models. I have a different take on the issue of actors prejudging their characters morality. Someone has to do the dirty job in order to bring out the morally-correct viewpoint in a film. If I hadnt played the evil, sexually-discrepant maama (uncle) in the film, its strong statement on protecting our children and women from violence would have been diluted.
Elaborating on his character, Nagraj revealed, He is that evil force, which is lurking in many middle-class homes. So often, we hear of children being violated by trusted relatives. The uncle who rapes the little girl in The Silence could be in any home. We need to be conscious of his presence. One way of doing so is by putting him on screen for all to see.
Nagraj is expected to direct none other than Amitabh Bachchan in his next directorial.
Mumbai: Vidya Balan is an actress par excellence and there's been no debate on that whatsoever. The actress, whoever, has been having an ordinary few films, with her last two releases, 'Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh' and 'Begum Jaan' failing at the box-office.
However, the actress seems to be in top form with her next release, 'Tumhaari Sulu'.
The actress plays a mundane housewife who becomes on overnight radio sensation thanks to her seductive voice and enunciation.
The actress, who pulls off the body language of a the average homemaker with much aplomb, is complemented well by Manav Kaul, who plays her husband. Vidya, a national award winning actress, is at home playing the emotions and histionics of the character to the gallery.
Helmed by Suresh Triveni, the film also stars Neha Dhupia and RJ Mallishka.
'Tumhari Sulu' is slated for a November 17 release.
Watch the trailer here:
Filmmaker Michael Moore, TV mogul Oprah Winfrey and Project Runway host Heidi Klum are the latest Hollywood personalities to have spoken out against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, who is facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse.
Moore said the investigations into Weinsteins repugnant and abhorrent behavior could actually ignite a historic change in our society. In a Facebook post titled Use This Moment to Create a World Without Harveys, the documentary filmmaker said this moment should be used to work towards ending womens harassment in the industry. Anyone with a flicker of a conscience or a modicum of decency stands, as I do, with the women whove summoned the courage to tell the truth about Harvey Weinstein. But well- meaning platitudes of support for the abused are simply not enough, Moore wrote.
Lets use this moment to end the abuse of women in our industry. Lets make this a call for men to take a stand against the men who perpetrate this corrosive, criminal behavior, to call them out and shut them down. We can do this. All it takes is the will and the decision to say enough is enough!, he wrote.
His contract allowed sexual harassment
Harvey Weinstein had a contract drawn up in 2015, in which the board of his film company could not terminate his employment over sexual harassment claims if he paid off women to silence them as long as he paid out the money himself, according to reports. The fine to the company was on a sliding scale, the gossip website TMZ reported $250,000 for the first payout, $500,000 for the second such instance, $750,000 for the third, and $1 million for each additional instance.
Mumbai: Dileep, who is the eleventh accused in the Malayalam actress molestation case, had recently received bail after four failed attempts. The actor had been incarcerated for 85 days before he had been released.
The actor has found support among peers, friends and his massive fan following through the case, which reflected in the box-office success of his latest release Ramaleela.
And if the latest rumours are to be believed, the Prime Miniters office has directed that the case must now be investigated by the Chief Secretary.
This development is allegedly after a FEFKA member, Saleem, approached the PM, asking for his intervention to get justice o Dileep.
The high court has imposed many restrictions on Dileep, severely warning him against trying to influence witnesses or tampering evidence. Main accused Pulsar Suni is still in the custody of the state police.
The incident had occurred on February 17, when the actress was traveling to Kochi from her house in Thrissur. A gang had followed her in a tempo traveler and hit her vehicle from behind when it reached Athani near Nedumbassery.
The gang members then reportedly entered her car by force and assaulted her inside the moving vehicle over the next three hours. They are said to have clicked and recorded invasive and objectionable pictures of the actress. The Special Investigation Team had reported that Dileep was in possession of the explicit content.
Dileep is expected to resume work on his stalled film 'Kammara Sambhavam,' soon.
According to a study conducted by Indiana University, the average penis size for American men is 5.57 inches, which is about an inch shorter than the standard condom size. (Photo: Pixabay)
Apparently the average size of condoms, i.e 6.69 inches is too big for most American men and they keep slipping off.
A company is now gearing up to address the issue by making smaller bespoke condoms for American men.
Recent CDC figures condom use revealed just a third of single men use protection, mostly, because they keep on slipping off.
According to a news published in The Daily Mail, a study conducted by Indiana University, the average penis size for American men is 5.57 inches, which is about an inch shorter than the standard condom size.
The FDA has now conceded that there is indeed a need for smaller condoms in a desperate bid to lower the rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
The agency has made a policy change to allow manufacturing companies to make condoms of all sizes.
One of the companies who are elated by the news is myONE Perfect Fit, a custom brand of condoms made by Boston company Global Protection Corp, which has been lobbying for a change for more than seven years.
According to data collected by ONE Condoms, they found that the average condoms only fit 12 percent of men. The rest have varying widths and lengths that are not catered to by the one-size-fits-all approach which is in line with scientific research.
The research team also found that the size of the erect penis varied depending on how it was achieved. Oral sex proved more arousing than masturbation or being stimulated only by sexual fantasies.
To buy a bespoke condom, men need to measure themselves or go print of a measuring kit from the ONE website. They can also order sample sizes of one bigger and one smaller than their size, in case the measurements were a bit off.
The workshop was inaugurated by Shri. Nitin Gadre, (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism and Culture.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation recently organised the Experiential Tourism Workshop by introducing Social Tourism to encourage social cause and promote tourism in Maharashtra on the juncture of Paryatan Parv.
The workshop was inaugurated by Shri. Nitin Gadre, (IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism and Culture in the presence of Smt. Swati Kale, General Manager, MTDC and other stakeholders.
Experiential Tourism Workshop offers a platform to the hoteliers, travel agents, tour operators, tourism professionals and college students which aims to assist them in understanding how to implement holistic tourism programmes in the country. In order to change the current trends; MTDC offers scheme of Mahabhraman to carry these projects under one roof.
There are 77 Mahabhraman units registered with MTDC, Social Tourism being one of them. The main intention of this scheme is to inspire people from various segments to offer an ultimate experience to the tourists and to provide sustainable livelihoods to families of farmers in villages.
On this prestigious occasion, Shri. Jaykumar Rawal, Honble Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra said, We are pleased to organize Experiential Tourism Workshop with the sole objective to offer variety of experiences for travellers across the globe."
He went on to add, "The hoteliers, travel agents, tour operators and tourism professionals are identifying new prospects in the country which aims to provide a unique experience to the travellers. We are ready to meet the growing demands and expectations of future tourist influx in the state.
The 31-year-old has renamed himself after his favourite tea brand, because he drinks so much of it.
Nathan Garner is now known as Nathan Yorkshire Tea Garner.
The 31-year-old has renamed himself after his favourite tea brand, because he drinks so much of it.
The tea fanatic hails from Sheffield, Yorkshire, and drinks at least 15 cups a day. He is so besotted with the beverage that he has even been known to knock back two cups before he has brushed his teeth.
According to a story published in The Mirror UK, Garner says, "I was at work one day and my mate Billy said, 'chuffin' hell, you drink so much of the stuff you should change your name to Yorkshire Tea'.
He actually though that it would be a great idea and at lunch got out his phone and went onto a website and got rid of Derek.
Derek was Nathan's middle name.
The tea enthusiasts employers even posted about his name change on Twitter.
"1of our GRC team has changed his name from Nathan Garner to Nathan Yorkshire Tea Garner you dont have to be mad to work in grc but it helps!," wrote Chiltern GRC, which "operates in Chesterfield providing both Glass Reinforced and Wet Cast concrete products nationally".
Laura Burton, senior brand manager at Yorkshire Tea, told Munchies that they were flattered by his overwhelming love for a proper brew and could not wait to welcome him to their Harrogate HQ for a tasting and to meet the team.
Nathan drinks his first brew of the day at 4am. He has milk and two sugars.
The minor victim was a resident of Kirthal village under Ramala police station and had been abducted in a car by five miscreants on July 5 who took her to a secluded spot and raped her by turns. (Representational image)
Lucknow: A 16-year-old minor gangrape victim committed suicide in Baghpat district due to police inaction.The accused had threatened to rape her again if she did not withdraw her complaint. The minor victim was a resident of Kirthal village under Ramala police station and had been abducted in a car by five miscreants on July 5 who took her to a secluded spot and raped her by turns.
Five days later, she was thrown on the outskirts of the village. Her parents took her to the police and lodged a named FIR against the accused. The inquiry was handed over to the sub-inspector Ajai Kumar but he did not initiate any action against accused who continued to roam free and kept issuing threats to the girl and her parents.
The victim and her parents had met the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his Janata Darbar in Lucknow about two months ago and the CM had directed that the accused should be arrested without delay. However, the police did not comply with the CMs directive and instead, put a final report. On Friday, when the victim had gone out to the market, the accused physically assaulted her and asked her to withdraw the case or she would be raped again. Unable to bear the humiliation, the victim rushed back home and told her parents that she had been threatened again by her rapists. She shut herself in her room and hanged herself from the fan.
Hyderabad: A suspected drug addict from Lucknow, who reached the city by boarding a wrong train, attacked four commuters at YMCA- Patny Junction with an iron rod on Friday night.
Raj Kumar, 40, picked up an iron rod from the Metro Rail worksite and hit motorists at around 10 pm. The victims sustained injuries on the arms, shoulders and hands. He also attacked Metro workers.
Mr Vishal Rajput , one of the victims, said, The accused had taken a spot near the first pillar at Patny-JBS route with a rod in hand. When I came close to him, he hit me below my shoulder. I was riding a two wheeler. When I stopped and looked back, I saw him hitting four others. I also saw him chasing Metro workers near Ganesh temple in West Marredpally. He was in an inebriated condition.
Metro workers informed the police that he has been creating ruckus since two days. He showed no remorse. With bruises on his hand and face, he spoke in Hindi to the public who tried to control him, said Shiva Shankar, another victim.
Three victims have lodged complaints at the West Marredpally police station. Ch. Uma Maheshwar Rao, inspector, Marredpally, said, He was sent to Gandhi Hospital for treatment, Doctors said he was under the influence of alcohol. Later, hedisclosed his personal details to the police. His relatives said that Raj Kumars father passed away and he created nuisance at his residence. A case under Section 324 of IPC was registered. He is currently in police custody.
New Delhi: Announcing the Assembly elections dates for Himachal Pradesh, the Election Commission on Thursday did not give the schedule for the Gujarat polls, though the two are to be held this year. The Congress, slamming the Modi-government, has questioned the delay in the announcement of dates.
The Congress alleged that this was done to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "announce sops" at a mega rally planned in state capital, Gandhinagar, next week.
Since the terms of the Gujarat and the Himachal Pradesh assemblies are ending in January, the poll schedule for the two states was expected to be announced together like in 2012.
"Modi Govt appears to be putting pressure on EC to defer announcement of Gujarat election along with Himachal, to suit its political ends," Congress spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.
He alleged that this delay was done because the Prime Minister will be visiting Gujarat on October 16 to announce sops, which is not permissible according to the model code of conduct of Election Commission of India (ECI).
"Onus lies on ECI to ensure level playing field by announcing Guj election dates and imposing Code of Conduct immediately," he added.
The exact dates for Assembly polls in Gujarat were not announced but Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said it will be held before December 18, the day when the results of the Himachal Pradesh polls are to be announced.
(With inputs from PTI)
BJP chief Amit Shah also came down heavily on the Congress, which had seized on the report to attack him as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: File | PTI)
Ahmedabad: BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said there was no question of corruption in his son Jay Amit Shah's company. He was referring to a report in a news portal, which claimed that Jay's business fortunes zoomed after the BJP came to power in 2014.
"The question of corruption does not arise in Jay's company," Amit Shah said during a programme organised by a news channel.
The BJP chief also came down heavily on the Congress, which had seized on the report to attack him as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Congress has faced so many allegations of corruption. Have they ever filed a criminal defamation or a Rs 100 crore civil defamation suit? Why did they not gather the courage to file such cases. Jay has filed a defamation suit. He has sought an inquiry (by approaching the court). Now, you can go to the court with the facts," Shah said.
The Congress has demanded an inquiry into the matter, while the BJP called the article defamatory.
On October 9, Jay Shah filed a criminal defamation suit against the news portal in a metropolitan court in Ahmedabad.
In his application, he prayed for "criminal action against the respondents for defaming and tarnishing the reputation of the complainant through an article, which is scandalous, frivolous, misleading, derogatory, libellous and consisting of several defamatory statements."
Agrarian experts are of the opinion that the new spray machines and norms of the Central Insecticide Board are responsible for the deaths. (Representational Image)
Mumbai: 36 farmers have died due to poisoning in the last one month after spraying pesticides in their cotton field in Yavatmal district of Maharshtra. Over 1,800 farmers have been affected by the inhalation of these lethal pesticides since August, according to The Hindu.
According to reports, many of them have also complained about losing their eyesight. The first death was reported in early August.
According to a report in The Indian Express, at least 800 are still in hospital, of which some have lost their eye sight while others are in the intensive care unit (ICU) in critical condition.
They were admitted in the district hospital in Yavatmal, about 670 km from Mumbai, with symptoms like blurred vision, nausea, skin rashes, headaches and dizziness.
Agrarian experts are of the opinion that the new spray machines and norms of the Central Insecticide Board are responsible for the deaths.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last week ordered an enquiry into the matter and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each deceased farmer.
Five Krishi Seva Kendra owners were booked for selling pesticides without protective gear, according to the report.
The Maharashtra government had on Friday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the death of farmers from Yavatmal district.
A Government Resolution (GR) in this regard was issued. It is a seven member committee, which has presumed that the death of several farmers is a "man-made disaster", mentions the GR.
The purview of the SIT would be fixing responsibilities on state government officials, organisations involved in it, assessment of quality control department's routine reports of pesticide samples and recommendations to withdraw or ban certain types of pesticides, said the GR.
The issue of farmers suffering from exposure to pesticides began in July this year but its gravity deepened after 36 farmers lost their life, according to local activists.
The mob, on Friday, surrounded and beat up an auto-rickshaw driver and four persons suspecting them of carrying beef. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)
Faridabad: In yet another incident of cow vigilantism, five people were thrashed by cow vigilantes in Faridabad, a few kilometres from the national capital of Delhi, on suspicion of carrying beef.
Faridabad Police has, however, registered a case against the victims under the Cow Smuggling Act.
"We will get meat tested," the district police chief said.
A senior police officer of the district said a case would be registered on the complaint of the victims too.
Registered FIR under Cow Smuggling Act. Will also register FIR on victims complaint; investigation underway, will get meat tested : DCP pic.twitter.com/CdJRGyJQcu ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
The mob, on Friday, surrounded and beat up an auto-rickshaw driver and four persons suspecting them of carrying beef.
It also told the driver to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' and 'Jai Hanuman'. When the driver refused, he was brutally thrashed.
The assault comes days after the Supreme Court asked for a compliance report from states on the cow vigilantism matter.
In his Dussehra address, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat slammed violence in the name of cow vigilantism. He said, "It is reprehensible that some people have been killed allegedly by gaurakshaks."
Bhagwat said rearing of cow is not a matter of religion. He said, "I know many Muslims are involved in rearing and protection of cows."
He added, "We must look at the issue of cow protection beyond religion. Many Muslims have sacrificed their lives in gauraksha - protection of the cow just as people of Bajrang Dal have."
Hawkers near the Alipiri Steps have been warned, on several occasions, by security officers, against illegally selling flowers (Photo: KPN)
Tirupati: Hawkers, without caring for the sentiments of devotees, are reselling flowers and leaves that are offered to the deities at the Alipiri Steps in Tirupati.
Devotees who climb the steps to Tirumala make offerings of flowers, holy leaves, and coconuts at the entry point, in Tirupati. Hawkers collect these flowers and leaves from the point where offerings are made and resell them to a new batch of devotees for Rs 30 - Rs 40.
As per Hindu customs, flowers and leaves that have been presented as offerings to a god must be dropped into a water body such as a river or a canal. However, these hawkers do not seem to care for the sentiments of devotees.
Hawkers near the Alipiri Steps have been warned, on several occasions, by security officers, against illegally selling flowers. Some devotees have also taken note of their actions.
B. Manognya, a devotee from Vizag, said, They are selling flowers at sky-high prices. We have observed that they are collecting goods and reselling them. When questioned, the hawkers don't have any response. We have some sentiments associated with the offering of flowers to god before we begin the walk. I am confused about whether to buy the flowers or not after seeing this.
Despite the warnings, these hawkers continue to do business in the absence of any action by the concerned officials. A security officer, on condition of anonymity, said, We have made them vacate the spot several times. The hawkers approach local political leaders who pressurise us. There are some talks underway within the TTD regarding the launch of a TTD-run coconut counter to avoid such incidents and control prices.
Visakhapatnam: Even after three years since the severe cyclone Hudhud hit the area, the Central government is still to provide funds to Vizag-based public sector undertakings that suffered an estimated loss of around Rs 10,000 crore, as per assessment reports.
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited or Vizag Steel Plant suffered the most recording a loss of almost Rs 1,000 crore. Visakhapatnam Port Trust and HPCL Visakha Refinery have recorded having suffered a loss of around Rs 250 crore and Rs 108 crore respectively. The PSUs have not yet received any compensation from the Union government.
Hindustan Shipyard suffered a loss of Rs 475 crore during the disaster and received a relief fund of Rs 200 crore from the Centre three months back.
According to sources, the funds were released because it is a loss-making PSU. The other PSUs are running in profits.
The cyclone has caused huge damage to the shipyard and the residential area. Almost all roofs were broken and the equipment badly damaged. Electric substations, roads and water lines were also damaged by Hudhud. The management immediately started repairs and restored the basic infrastructure. But, the number of trees uprooted was a long-lasting loss.
The city has regained its green cover on its own without much intervention of the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the city soon after Hudhud, announced a relief of `1,000 crore but not a rupee has been sent so far, CPM city secretary Dr B. Ganga Rao said.
He said, The municipal administration needs to give houses to those who lost theirs in the cyclone. Around 26,000 houses were damaged and none of their owners was allotted a house. The government had announced 12,000 houses and received funds from corporate bodies for another 4,000 houses.
The local administration is also reluctant to give details on funds received so far and how they were spent, CPM leaders said.
Housing Board project director P.M.G.S. Prasad said, Over 9,170 houses were sanctioned for the Hudhud victims of three districts. Of them, 5,468 were allotted to Vizag city. CM Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated 768 houses recently while another 1,800 houses are to be ready by December.
However, there was no clarity from the Central government officials on funds for the industries that were affected by the calamity.
Hudhud-hit birds make zoo premises their shelter
The Vizag zoo was badly hit by cyclone Hudhud. Birds escaped from their enclosure but many of them are not able to fly away like free birds and have made the zoo premises their shelters.
The eye of the cyclone Hudhud passed right over the zoo damaging the vegetation and property severely. The compound wall, bird aviaries, tiger enclosures, gates, visitors facilities, animal rescue centre, CCTV and other basic amenities were damaged. About 40 per cent of the trees in the park area were uprooted.
According to the damages assessment furnished by the zoo to the World Bank, some 180 birds escaped from their enclosures with the cages badly damaged.
The zoo buys additional 50-kg of a variety of fishes to feed birds that have taken shelter in the zoo premises. They come to the places near the aviary section every day.
The greenery on the zoo premises has largely improved in the last three years. This is also proved by the fact that the birds are not flying away as they are getting good nesting place here, said the zoo curator B. Vijaya Kumar.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi sought report from the Karnataka government on issue of deaths in Bengaluru due to potholes and rains. (Photo: PTI | Representational Image)
Bengaluru: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday sought report from the Karnataka government on issue of deaths in Bengaluru due to potholes and rains, said Congress sources.
AICC (All India Congress Committee) in-charge for Karnataka, KC Venugopal is in consultation with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and concerned Ministry over the matter.
Four people died in Bengaluru in October in accidents caused by the potholes.
Read: Bengaluru woman tries to avoid pothole, dies after running into truck
The incident has brought Karnataka government under light over alleged poor quality of metalling and corruption in road projects.
A day after the chief minister instructed Bengaluru development minister KJ George, local MLAs and the city's municipal corporation to fill all 16,000 potholes dotting Bangalore's roads within 15 days, a 21-year-old woman became the fourth victim of accidents caused by craters.
All the accidents have happened on arterial roads, including a state highway.
The woman died after allegedly ramming her bike into a lorry in Bengaluru's Devanahalli.
She was trying to avoid a pothole, which led to the accident.
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.
Earlier on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marched to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office demanding action against road department officials.
CHENNAI: The state government has informed the Madras high court that governments medical facilities themselves are well equipped to provide expertise and infrastructure to give the required treatment for dengue affected patients, whatsoever is their condition. The state health secretary J. Radhakrishnan stated this in his counter affidavit filed in response to the PIL from advocate A.P.Suryaprakasam, which sought a direction to the state government to immediately issue directions to all the private nursing homes and hospitals situated in the state to provide immediate medical treatments to all dengue affected people and claim the cost of such treatment from government later.
Radhakrishnan submitted that the government was making all efforts to sensitise the public about dengue prevention and control. The state insurance scheme was a cashless facility under which no target was fixed. The assistance include reimbursement of the expenditure incurred. Under the scheme, treatment at ICUs in the empanelled private hospitals for dengue complications like shock dengue syndrome and hemorroaphic syndrome were already covered, he added.
CHENNAI: DMDK chief Vijayakanth on Friday announced that his party will not contest the ensuing byelections to RK Nagar constituency as he feels Tamil Nadu will face general elections much before the poll schedule for the constituency is announced. Vijayakanth, whose DMDK drew a blank in the 2016 Assembly elections with he himself losing from Ulundurpet constituency in Villupuram district, said he had no confidence in the Tamil Nadu government and accused it of failing miserably in controlling dengue.
There is no point in contesting RK Nagar byelections. But I feel Tamil Nadu will face general elections much before that. This government will not last long, Vijayakanth told reporters after meeting Dengue victims at Stanley Government Medical College and Hospital here. Vijayakanth said he had no confidence that free and fair polls would be held and predicted fall of the AIADMK government by the end of 2017. His comments came as Chief Election Commissioner A. K. Jyoti on Thursday said byelections to RK Nagar will be conducted by the end of the year as per court directive.
Jyoti's statement put at rest speculation on when elections would be held in R K Nagar, which fell vacant after the death of chief minister J. Jayalalithaa. The EC had invoked a special clause in the law to postpone by-elections to the constituency by citing the extraordinary situation in the state. The elections, if held by December, will be the first acid test for the EPS-OPS government after the much-talked about merger in August and will come at a time the faction led by TTV Dhinakaran is fighting hard to rock the government's boat. Already, Speaker P. Dhanapal has disqualified 18 MLAs supporting Dhinakaran and the case is pending before the Madras high court.
Cancellation of bypolls to RK Nagar also came two days after I-T department allegedly recovered documents that said Rs 89 crore was to be distributed among voters in the constituency by members of the ruling AIADMK. The document allegedly had the names of top brass of the government.
Srinagar: One civilian was killed and another injured in crossfire between terrorists and security forces during operation in Litter area in Pulwama, on Saturday, Inspector General Munir Khan said.
According to an ANI report, clashes erupted between protesters and security forces after the terrorists were killed. There were also reports of stone pelting on security forces.
A top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, Waseem Shah, believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir, was killed along with his accomplice in an encounter early on Saturday morning by the security forces in Pulwama district, police said.
He was found at a hideout at Litter and police and its special operation group team cordoned off the area, police said.
Shah along with his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir made an attempt to flee the area but could not penetrate the cordon which had been strengthened by the presence of CRPF and Army, they said.
(With agency inputs)
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were gunned down on Saturday in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama. (Representational Image)
Srinagar: A top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, Waseem Shah, believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir, was killed along with his accomplice in an encounter on Saturday morning by security forces in Pulwama district, police said.
Shah, 23, also known as 'Abu Osama Bhai' was killed at Litter area in Pulwama, a place considered to be a safe haven for militants. This is the first counter-insurgency operation in Litter area in four years.
Jammu and Kashmir police has been tracking the movements of Shah, who is considered as the 'don of Heff', another traditional stronghold of militants in South Kashmir's Shopian district.
He was found at a hideout at Litter and police and its special operation group team cordoned off the area, police said.
Shah along with his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir made an attempt to flee the area but could not penetrate the cordon which had been strengthened by the presence of CRPF and Army, they said.
Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined militancy in May this year.
A college dropout, Shah, a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian, joined militancy in 2014 and was considered as the 'chief architect' of last year's unrest in various parts of South Kashmir.
Born in a middle class family of Gul Mohammed Shah, who ran his fruit business, Shah was an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group since his school days and had doubled up as a courier boy for the outfit, police said.
Off late, Shah, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was recruiting fresh cadres for the militant outfit.
He had been involved in various attacks on security forces in South Kashmir, police said.
Chennai: Russian tourist Evgenii Berdnikov (24) was detained by the Mambalam police on Friday, a day after he said that he would continue begging in the city. The police were quite stumped by his response when he told that he sought alms as per Lord Shiva's wish. I am a devotee of the Lord (Shiva). I wish to travel across the country, police quoted Evgenii as saying.
Mambalam police found him loitering on Venkata Narayana road on Friday morning and took him to the police station for questioning. He told police that he wishes to study about the monuments in the country. He claimed that he is in T. Nagar to meet his friend, Ankit, a customs department official, a senior police officer said, adding, We would be contacting Ankit to verify if the foreigners claims are true.
Police sources said that the customs officer met the Russian only on Thursday at a Gurudwara in T Nagar. Since he had valid travel documents, police let him off. His visa expires on November 22. Russian consulate in Chennai had earlier told that he had not contacted them and that they will assist him in a proper way if he contacts them. He was rescued by the police and sent to Chennai after he sought alms at a Kancheepuram temple on Tuesday. He told DC on Wednesday that he would continue begging and the purpose of his visit has been just to travel.
Rahuls elevation will come before the crucial Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is facing a tough challenge from the BJP. (Photo: PTI | File)
New Delhi: With Rahul Gandhi poised to replace his mother Sonia Gandhi as the Congress president, it is his humble man and friend of the poor image which party strategists are trying to highlight against Prime Minister Narendra Modis pro-industrialist persona.
On Friday, Sonia Gandhi broke her silence on her sons proposed elevation in the party and said, on the sidelines of a book launch, Rahul Gandhi will be Congress president soon.
The clamour for Rahul to take over as party president has grown over the past few weeks.
Former Union minister Sachin Pilot indicated recently that Rahul will take over the reins of the outfit after Diwali.
Sources in the Congress told this newspaper that the party is of the opinion that Rahuls campaign in Gujarat has boosted his image with his pointed attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The most recent tweet on Rahul Gandhis official twitter handle is a poem on hunger and a report on how India had come down in the Global Hunger Index.
In an earlier tweet, Rahul took a jibe at the Prime Ministers remark that a handful of people were trying to spread pessimism in India. After the International Monetary Fund and World Bank downgraded Indias growth forecast in their latest reports, the Congress vice-president tweeted: These pessimists are going global. Why dont they just go away?
The BJP was quick to hit back with Union minister Jitendra Singh taking pot shots at the Congress scion, saying that it was too late for Rahul Gandhi to change.
Dont you think 50 is too old to be coming of age? Singh said about Rahul, 47, being projected as a youth leader.
Trying to corner Rahul on the development plank, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Congress did everything when it was in power at the Centre to ensure that the Sardar Sarovar project was not completed.
He also attacked the Gandhi scion over his recent visits to temples in Gujarat saying, I am getting curious as Rahul Gandhi is visiting temples and paying obeisance to gods with sincerity. I am told that social media has highlighted that local leaders told him how to do aarti.
Political strategists feel that Rahul visits to temples are an effort to counter the BJPs Hindutva plank.
Various state units of the Congress, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have passed resolutions seeking elevation of Rahul as the party president.
Congress sources said that members of the party`s Central Election Authority (CEA), which is overseeing the process for electing the next party president, are expected to meet Rahul in a day or so to apprise her of the completion of various phases of the polls.
The Congress president will then call a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to approve a tentative schedule of the poll, before being notified by the CEA.
The elevation of Rahul has been in the works for a long time, with party leaders saying that the time has now come for him to take over as party chief. He was appointed the partys vice-president in 2013.
His elevation will come before the crucial Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is facing a tough challenge from the BJP.
The body of Slain don, Sridhar Dhanapal who allegedly killed self in Cambodia a week ago, is expected to reach India by Sunday.
Chennai: The body of Slain don, Sridhar Dhanapal who allegedly killed self in Cambodia a week ago, is expected to reach India by Sunday. Family members told DC that the body is likely to reach the city on Sunday morning.
Advocate V. Purushothaman, who has been assisting the dons daughter, Dhanalakshmi, is in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, and is coordinating with the Indian embassy and the Cambodian government, according to the family members. Sridhars daughter S. Dhanalakshmi petitioned the Kancheepuram district administration last Saturday to help bring her fathers body home and later also filed a petition at Madras HC, which directed the concerned authorities to facilitate the process.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that two Pakistani nationals will be given visa for undergoing liver transplant surgeries in India. (Photo: PTI | File)
New Delhi: Continuing her humanitarian gesture, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, on Saturday announced that two Pakistani nationals will be given visa for undergoing liver transplant surgeries in India.
The minister said that she has asked the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad to give visa to Naseem Akhtar, a Pakistani woman, for her liver transplant surgery in India.
Swaraj's intervention came after Akhtar's son requested for her help.
"I have asked Indian High Commissioner to give Visa for your mother's liver transplant surgery in India," the external affairs minister said in a tweet.
I have asked Indian High Commissioner to give Visa for your mother's liver transplant surgery in India. https://t.co/tiFwoiuDt8 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 13, 2017
Swaraj said another visa was being granted to Pakistani national Shabbir Ahmed Shah who also required a liver transplant surgery.
"We are giving Visa for your father's liver transplant surgery in India," she said on Twitter.
We are giving Visa for your father's liver transplant surgery in India. https://t.co/fStmff3bfr Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 13, 2017
Shah's son Ali Asadullah had earlier requested Swaraj on the social media platform to issue visa to his father for his treatment in India.
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.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are lodged in the Dasna prison in Ghaziabad since November 2013 after they were awarded life sentence in the case. (Photo: PTI | File)
New Delhi: The lawyers of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar have received a certified copy of the Allahabad High Court order acquitting the dentist couple in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.
It will be provided to a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on Monday, which will then issue an order to the Dasna prison authorities to release the couple, one of the Talwars' lawyers said.
Courts in Ghaziabad observe a holiday on second Saturdays.
The order's copy was received late Friday evening. "We have received a certified copy of the order of the Allahabad High Court. It is expected that they (Rajesh and Nupur) will walk out of the jail on Monday," Vandana Talwar, Aarushi's aunt said.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are lodged in the Dasna prison in Ghaziabad since November 2013 after they were awarded life sentence in the case.
The dentist couple had challenged the sentence in the Allahabad High Court, which acquitted them in the sensational double murder case earlier this week.
Srinagar: A Jammu and Kashmir policeman was killed when militants targeted him and his colleagues with gunfire at Nandinarg in southern Kulgam district on Saturday evening.
The officials said that the slain policeman Khurshid Ahmed Tak was part of a team deputed at a medical camp in the area. While returning from duty, the AST team and the bunker vehicle which was part of the entourage came under a sneak attack by militants at Nandinarg crossing in the jurisdiction of Damhal Hanji Pora police station, a police spokesman said.
He said that the police party returned the fire and due to brave retaliatory action foiled the attempt of weapon snatching planned by militants. It added, During the attack, the driver of the AST vehicle Khurshid Ahmad Tak was injured. But he displayed conspicuous act of courage by successfully taking the vehicle out of arch of fire and saved the lives of others. He attained martyrdom in the process,(sic) a statement issued by the police added.
It alleged that the assailants belonged to the Gulzar Paddar group and Umar Majid Ganie group of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The slain policeman is survived by aged parents, wife, 3-year old daughter and 2-year old son, the police said.
An earlier report had said that Tak and another policeman who was injured in the militant attack were part of the security detail of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Abdul Majid Padroo. According to this report, the lawmakers motorcade came under militant attack at Nandinarg crossing of Kulgam but he escaped unhurt.
The police statement denied it. Meanwhile, the assailants are reported to have fled the area. But the security forces launched a massive search operation for them immediately after the attack, the officials said.
Bengaluru: With Goa CM Manohar Parrikar digging his heels in on the contentious issue of sharing water of the river Mahadayi, BJP president Amit Shah has acceded to the plea of leaders of state unit of the party to step in and resolve the dispute amicably.
Mr Shahs decision comes at a time when Mr. Parrikar refused to come for discussions with his counterparts from Karnataka and Maharashtra to sort out the issue through an out of court settlement. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah efforts through two letters, requesting Mr. Parrikar to come for talks to resolve the dispute issue as suggested by Mahadayi River Water Disputes Tribunal went in vain as the latter maintained that since the matter was pending before the Tribunal, it would not be proper on part of Goa to agree for an out of court settlement.
Sensing that Mr Parrikars rigid stand would hurt the prospects of the party in next years Assembly elections, state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa and other leaders prevailed upon Mr Shah to intervene.
Sources close to Mr. Yeddyurappa confirmed to DC that Mr. Shah agreed to resolve the crisis by convincing Mr Parrikar, if possible within two-weeks, by inviting him and other leaders to New Delhi for discussions, sources added.
Sources said BJP leaders explained to Mr Shah the need for release of 7.56 TMC feet of water through Kalasa-Banduri canal to meet the demand for drinking water in Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkot and some part of Belagavi districts. The proposed drinking water project would provide to 11 taluks, including Bailahongala taluk in Belagavi district.
According to sources close to Mr. Yeddyurappa, proposed Kalasa-Banduri project would directly impact 25 Assembly segments. If the party failed to convince people over this most demanded drinking water project, his party would be routed in 25 Assembly constituencies in North Karnataka. This point was explained to Mr Shah, sources added.
Farmers to intensify stir
Irked by the lackadaisical attitude of Congress and BJP leaders in resolving Mahadayi dispute, local farmers have threatened to intensify the movement through self-immolition.
Leaders of both these parties had agreed to convince their respective leaders in Goa about the need for sharing water for the benefit of drought-hit farmers. But, they have not approached them despite three months after the all-party meeting, forcing farmers to resort to Gandhigiri by taking up fast in Navalgund town. But, the failure of elected representatives to fulfill their promise has forced the farmers to renew their strategy and planning to step up campaign against the candidates of both parties who will be in the poll fray. The agitation over Mahadayi water has completed 823 days in Nargund on Saturday. Still, Congress and BJP leaders are dragging their feet over the issue. They are indulging in blame-game as elections are few months away.
Meanwhile, BJP sources claim that the move for any dialogue would stir up hornets nest as there is chance of its own government in Goa reducing to minority with small parties withdrawing the support to it. Therefore, the agitators are planning to undertake indefinite fast in Bengaluru to exert pressure on the government as such movement held in Nargund and Navalgund has failed to attract the attention of the elected representatives.
New Delhi: In a new counter-terror strategy National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has in a clear directive to the security and intelligence agencies asked them to eliminate at least top four militant commanders operating in the Kashmir Valley before the onset of winter.
On basis of detailed inputs and analysis the Intelligence Bureau had in a recent report to the NSA zeroed down on these top four commanders who elimination it feels would deal a major blow to terror operations in the Valley.
We have identified some top militant commanders and if they can be neutralised before the onset of winter season when mountain passes are closed due to snow and infiltration drops drastically it would have a major impact on the Valleys overall security scenario, a senior intelligence official said.
Raipur: In a bid to promote the girl child, the Raigarh district administration in Chhattisgarh has come up with a unique initiative, under which women who give birth to girls at government hospitals, are given greeting cards that carry the message - Save and educate girl child.
Besides the greeting cards, which also carry the pictures of those women and their newborn daughters, their photographs are also put up on the display boards named Mahtari-Noni (mother and girl) at these hospitals for a month for the people to see.
Raigarh district collector Shammi Abidi said, The initiative was taken up under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme at 62 primary/community health centres in the district to encourage the birth of girl child as well as institutional deliveries. From August, the district administration started giving greeting cards to the women giving birth to baby girls in these hospitals.
The materials will be properly packed, sealed and sent to the CFTRI by a police team. The laboratory is among the reputed institutions, Mr Satyanarayana said. (Representational image)
Hyderabad: While the police has initiated a crackdown on food adulteration, they are puzzled on where to send the samples for analysis following inaccuracies in the findings at local laboratories.
In the recent raids on an edible oil unit at Bahadurpura, the police seized huge quantity of oil, which will be sent to the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, for analysis.
Earlier, the police used to send the food samples for analysis at the State Food Laboratory (SFL). The analysis reports serve as clinching evidence against those who resort to food adulteration. But for some reasons, the accused were not getting convicted, said a senior police official. The materials will be properly packed, sealed and sent to the CFTRI by a police team. The laboratory is among the reputed institutions, Mr Satyanarayana said.
It may be recalled that in July, ACB caught the chief public analyst at SFL for colluding with GHMC officials and bar owner whose food samples were found to be adulterated.
Hyderabad: The state government has moved the Hyderabad High Court to vacate the stay granted by the National Green Tribunal at Delhi on the construction of the Kaleswaram lift irrigation scheme. The government said the stay was costing it Rs 100 crore a day.
The NGT Delhi bench had on October 5 directed the TS government to stop work till environmental clearances were acquired for the project.
The TS Chief Secretary and irrigation principal secretary moved the petition stating that the NGT had not cited reasonable grounds while granting the interim order.
The government said it had informed the NGT that the work on the project was for drinking water purposes, which did not require environmental clearances.
It stated that it had assured the NGT that work for the irrigation component would be taken up after obtaining the clearances. It said the petitioner had misled the NGT; he had earlier moved the High Court seeking to stay the project works.
Srinagar: A top Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) militant Waseem Shah, along with an accomplice, was killed in a fire-fight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs southern Pulwama district on Saturday.
The police claimed that Shah was the main architect of 2016 unrest in south Kashmir and carried a cash reward of Rs 1 million on his head.
During the encounter, violent protests broke out in the area leaving, at least, one person dead and 35 others injured. While the police said that civilian was killed in the crossfire between the security forces and the holed up militants, the locals alleged that he was deliberately targeted by the security forces. The hospital sources said that he died of a bullet wound.
The police said that 31-year-old Shah and his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir were trapped in a private house in Pulwamas Littar area when the security forces including the J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group, the Armys Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation early on Saturday. The militants opened fire at the search party and Shah who was known also as Abu Osama Bhai and Mir were killed in the ensuing gun battle, the officials.
The house in which the duo was trapped suffered extensive damage in the fire fight. The officials added that this was the first encounter in Littar area, considered to be a hotbed of militancy, in four years.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The northern belt of the country, especially Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana, has been witnessing a series of attacks, demonstrations and protests by the BJP-RSS functionaries against the CPM offices over the alleged incidents of violence in Kerala. Despite having a weak presence in these states, the CPM is trying to counter the RSS-BJP campaign in its own way. At many places, the RSS-BJP workers have resorted to violence as was witnessed in Dehradun the other day where a district CITU member sustained injuries in stone-pelting. Those accusing us of politics of violence are themselves indulging in such violent activities. They are exposing themselves in a big way, said Rajan Singh Negi, CPM Uttarakhand state secretary.
He said the CPM may be a small party in Uttarakhand but all democratic forces are rallying behind it to counter the attack on its offices. BSP, SP, Uttarakhand Krantikari Dal, AAP, CPI and CPI (ML) joined our protest as they believe that the attack is on the freedom to conduct political work without fear, he added. In Himachal Pradesh, where the CPM has pockets of influence, the BJP-RSS attempt to attack the party office was foiled by workers on Thursday. We received intimation about the RSS-BJP plan. Our party workers assembled in large numbers at a short notice. Ultimately, they had to back off after holding a minor protest, said CPM Himachal Pradesh state secretary Onkar Shad.
On the threat posed by the RSS-BJP, former mayor of Shimla, Sanjay Chauhan, said, we are more than capable of defending ourselves and our party offices. Enforcement of law and order is the governments job. But we are prepared to take on the hooligans if the administration fails to step in, he said. CPM Haryana state secretary Surendra Singh said the high voltage anti-Kerala campaign of the BJP-RSS had turned counter-productive. "The RSS-BJP tried to desperately to portray Kerala as killing fields but after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanaths Kannur visit, the whole focus is now on development issues. The human development indicators of the two states clearly show that Kerala is far ahead of Uttar Pradesh. In a way, the focus on Keralas development model has helped in a big way to enhance the partys image, he added.The CPM leaders say they may not be having MLAs or ministers but the poor peasants, workers, youth and students who have rallied behind the party are capable of defeating the RSS-BJP 'fascist onslaught.'
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran on Friday hit out at Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan for insulting women and Ayyappa devotees through his highly objectionable statements. The minister said he came across Prayar's statement that he would not allow Sabarimala to be turned into Thailand. What an absurd parallel he has drawn? the minister asked.
Mr Surendran said there was no ban on women below 10 and above 50 years of age to enter the temple. Prayar has insulted them as well. On what basis is he saying that even if court allowed, women with dignity will not enter Sabarimala? Are all people who climb the hill shrine bad? he asked. The minister said that culture less blabber from people occupying important positions was unacceptable. The state government has no prejudice against the court verdict. Whatever may be the court verdict it would be binding on the state government and the devaswom board equally, he added.
Surendran said under these circumstances the devaswom board president has challenged the court, Sabarimala temple, devotees and the women community. If allowing women to enter Sabarimala irrespective of age barrier would lead to unethical activities as Prayar suspects, then what image is he painting of temples where there is no restriction based on gender or age.
ALAPPUZHA: A 250-year-old ritual that still persists in the Chettikulangara Devi temple is Chooral Muriyal by which children are tortured to get the blessings of the deity. Though the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) had banned the ritual in an order issued on November 1 last year, the temple conducted it on the 'Kumbha Bharani' day in the Malayalam month of Kumbam (March) this year. In this peculiar ritual, either side of the midrib of minor children adopted from underprivileged families is pierced with a needle and golden strands by a pujari. The children are then made to walk to the temple accompanied by cheering devotees and a cacophony of flute and slogans on the day of Bharani festival.
When children reach the temple with the golden threads hanging loose from their bodies, the elders pull out the string from the bleeding fissures and offer it to the temple. At least two kids need to be subjected to the ritual with each set of Kuttiyottam. Mr Suresh Gopi MP was one among 14 devotees who offered the children as symbolic bali (sacrifice) when the TDB subjected 28 minor children to the ritual in March. The Sreedevi Vilasam Hindu Matha Convention backed by the RSS had filed a petition in the High Court challenging the KeSCPCR order. But the court on March 7 refused to quash the order. The court intervened after Sandhya Raju, counsel for petitioner A.K. Rajasree, brought the Deccan Chronicle report titled 'Chettikulangara temple to hold 'Chooral Muriyal' despite ban' published on March 3 to the attention of the court.
Ms Raju said, "we have decided to post the case before the court as an urgent matter as the Kumbha Bharani is a few months away." Collector T.V. Anupama said that the district administration would study the matter and consult all parties and departments concerned. "I will take up the matter seriously," she said. It's learnt that the devaswom secretary had submitted a statement earlier that the government was against such regressive practices. The KeSCPCR also filed an affidavit saying that the temple administration had defied its order.
Mr C.P. Ramaraja Prema Prasad, devaswom commissioner, said he had no knowledge of the matter. However, the KeSCPCR order had asked the commissioner to explain to the public that the ritual would not be allowed in the temple. It also suggested finding an alternative to the ritual. The KeSCPCR had told the police that if the children were used for the ritual, the temple authorities and parents should be sued under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015. The commission found that each devotee who offers Kuttiyottam used to buy two minor children belonging to underprivileged/ lower caste families and offer them for sacrifice for the deity's blessings. The commission also observed that this kind of rituals should be abolished from society like 'Sathi' was eliminated centuries ago.
Thiruvananthapuram: UNDP advisor John Samuel who has been working in Thailand for more than seven years has come out with a detailed account of Thailand rubbishing Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan. Mr Samuel, a Malayali who has worked in many countries as part of the UNDP, pointed out in a Facebook post that Mr Gopalakrishnan can learn from that country how to keep both Sabarimala and Kerala clean. Mr Gopalakrishnan had made a statement that Sabarimala will be turned into Thailand if opened to women.
Mr Samuel listed reasons for tourists choosing Thailand as a destination: (a) A very safe country to travel. (b) So beautiful - tropical forests, beaches, hills and plains. (c) The best value for money hotels- where else in the world we can have a five-star hotel at USD 50? (d) Most people are honest (in my last twenty-five years of travel, I was never cheated or pickpocketed). (e) Very good food. (f) The best of heritage tourism-Angkorwat is very close to Thai - Cambodia border, and the place is well connected. You will get all foods in the world like New York and the best of the conference facility. One of the biggest reasons is health care. Bangkok has at least three world-class hospitals. Most of the Arabs and Bangladeshis come there, Mr Samuel pointed out.
Thailand is one of the most industrialised countries in Southeast Asia with a vibrant agro-processing base. The country is the largest producer of rubber, and one of the best export quality rice come from the country. Regarding tourism - the highest number actually from China and India- and most of them are package tourism where there is hardly any great opportunity for 'sex' - unless someone is desperate for it.
"The point is most of the tourists come for all the reasons I mentioned, and these are also due to relatively high-quality infrastructure," he says. "I have never seen electricity going there. The place is far safer than Delhi and many parts of India. Let him visit the Ganapathy temple in Silom and see how clean it is! Or visit Ayodhya or Sukhothai - or learn about the Thai version of Mahabharata- or learn that the best of Thai massage is also in some of the temples."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to GMERS Medical College, Vadnagar, Gujarat on Sunday. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani is also seen. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: All is not well for the BJP in Prime Minister Narendra Modis home turf.
This is the first time in 16 years that Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held without Mr Modi being directly at the helm of affairs in the state.
With party president Amit Shah setting the target of 150 in the 182-seat Assembly, all eyes are on Mr Modis proposed visit to the state to address a mega rally in Gandhinagar on October 16.
Some BJP functionaries say that the Prime Minister could play Santa Claus and offer major sops to Gujarat voters as a Diwali gift.
The Opposition, including the Congress, has accused the BJP of mounting pressure on the Election Commission to delay announcing dates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, to allow the Prime Minister to announce sops.
And now BJP MP Varun Gandhi, in a statement thats bound to embarrass his party, has described the Election Commission as a toothless tiger.
That the BJP is going all out to retain Gujarat by playing the Hindutva card was evident from the partys move to bring in hardliners like Yogi Adityanath and Uma Bharati for campaigning. To woo women voters, the BJP has fielded Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat is the latest victim of flattery. Recently, he said that the Election Commission of India would be capable of holding Lok Sabha and states Assemblies elections simultaneously by September 2018, and that the government had sought the ECs views. The government was told that funds would be needed for electronic voting machines and other equipment, but the EC had already placed orders; machines were already being delivered. But it is up to the government to take a decision and make necessary legal amendments for it. No government has the right to take such a decision without consulting all major political parties. Rawat knows they have done nothing of the kind. He also knows that many are opposed to the decision. Why, then, did he or perhaps his two other EC colleagues, assuming they were consulted do so without the requisite consensus and announce it?
Unsurprisingly, the day after his announcement, most Opposition parties responded by rejecting the proposal. They pointed out that there was no political consensus on the matter. Rawat belatedly acknowledged that all parties had to be brought on board. The EC itself favoured simultaneous polls, he said, to give the government more time to formulate policies. This absurdity was capped by a damning disclosure. The government had sought the ECs views in 2015, which it provided in March that year. The exchange was kept secret for two years. The government had floated the proposal in several trial balloons in recent months. Rawat was well aware of these moves he reads the newspapers. Why he chose to walk into a political minefield so confidently can only be guessed. On its merits, the proposal violates the countrys federal Constitution, parliamentary system and democracy itself.
It is well known that Narendra Modi and his energetic stooge Amit Shah are out to capture total power by targeting non-BJP-ruled states. Two of them, Karnataka and Tripura, will go to the polls next year, along with Gujarat where the ruling BJP faces serious challenge. In a parliamentary system, the head of government (Prime Minister or Chief Minister) wields a necessary and powerful weapon: dissolution of the legislature. It keeps his unruly followers in check. (After an aborted revolt, Prime Minister Harold Wilson warned Labour MPs that every dog is allowed one bite.) He could advise the queen to dissolve the House of Commons and send the MPs packing to their constituencies to fight a mid-term election at great expense and risk to their seats. He has the right to a dissolution if a major issue crops up on which he is entitled to seek a fresh mandate. To deny him this right by imposing a fixed term is to deny the electorate its right to pronounce its verdict on that issue. This is not all.
In a federal polity, states need not be ruled by the political party that holds sway at the Centre. Political diversity infuses life into federalism. In 1984, Rajiv Gandhis Congress swept the polls in the wake of Indira Gandhis assassination. Karnataka Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde who belonged to the Janata Party opposed to the Congress advised the governor to dissolve the Assembly even though he was not obliged to do so. An impressive majority returned him to power. Karnataka, AP, Kerala and West Bengal all had powerful Chief Ministers in the 1980s, who opposed the Congress and provided an invaluable political check on the Centres power by forming a group. Simultaneous polls at the Centre and in the states are not a matter of administrative convenience; they touch the entire constitutional and political system. We now have one EC member pronouncing his opinion and revealing the governments interaction with the commission. This is not a private affair between them. The people have a right to know. The entire correspondence must be published so that the public knows the terms of the governments reference and of the ECs response.
By arrangement with Dawn
All doubts are dispelled that Rahul Gandhi will succeed his mother as president of the Congress. Mrs Sonia Gandhi herself confirmed this to the media on Friday. For several years she hedged the question. Mr Gandhi never gave a clear-cut answer himself. This led to the thinking that his heart wasnt in the job, and that he was more like a social activist critic of the system or worse, a gadfly (and therefore couldnt be trusted to be PM even if the Congress won the next poll). The announcement by Mrs Gandhi also ends the speculation that her daughter Priyanka might succeed her. One thing is clear, though that the Congress is about to see a dynastic succession.
To be fair, the Gandhis have appeared somewhat embarrassed about this. Recently, while interacting with a Berkeley University audience in the US, Mr Gandhi urged them not to pillory him on the dynasty issue, saying this had become pretty much the norm in Indian politics. But he also added that his party was trying to do something about this. Alas, there is little evidence of change so far although it is true that, as party vice-president, Mr Gandhi has tried to raise a new kind of Congress organisation with election being held. But for a variety of reasons these efforts could not be sustained or expanded. For Indian democracy, the bad news is that the present ruling party, the BJP, too has now succumbed to the bad practice of choosing its party chief on instructions from on-high. Earlier, it was the RSS, the mother hen of Hindutva outfits, that led the proceedings behind the scenes in such matters while keeping up the facade of democracy. But the current BJP chief owes his election to the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From an organisation the RSS the onus has shifted to an individual the present PM. Of course, in BJPs case the anointing of the party chief is not linked to dynasty but to the whim and desire of the most powerful individual around.
Mr Gandhis acceptability in his party and in the country is far greater today than it ever was. The reason is that he has spoken out with clarity on a number of key issues in the US recently and within the country while campaigning for the Gujarat poll. He does not come across as mentally deficient at all, as opponents propaganda had portrayed him. Once Mr Gandhi is Congress chief in a few weeks, his first charge should be to raise a clean organisation based on the democratic principle. Such an effort can only strengthen his party, and not detract from the demands of fighting the next Lok Sabha election.
The underlying message from Supreme Court deliberations on the issue of 40,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing into India is clear. Dont do anything now about deporting them is what the court has said without quite ruling so, but only in deference to the Centres request not to pass an order that may have international repercussions. Truth to tell, Indias image as a nation sympathetic to refugees in general going back to the early 1970s when thousands of Muslim and some Hindu refugees came in a wave from Bangladesh and in the early 1980s when Sri Lankan Tamils sought refuge from the civil war has taken a hit internationally. However, in those times the economic pressures on the population may not have been felt so much as in the present when Indias population has soared beyond 1.25 billion people.
The unstated reason for resistance to the Rohingyas is obviously their religion. National security concerns are not to be ignored. And yet to lump an entire exodus of 40,000 people is not to be lumped as a terror threat. The top court probably meant just that without explicitly saying so. There are ways to deal with them if some among the refugees are perceived to be potential terror threats. India must not lose sight of the fact that the exodus in a humanitarian problem and we need draw no lessons from how the West, save Germany, behaved when it came to accepting Syrian and other refugees from the Middle East crises. India has shown a greater understanding of the problem facing Aung San Suu Kyi as she may have had a limited role in handling the Rohingya crisis. There has also been an offer from Myanmar to take back the nine lakh Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh and it may be possible to negotiate the return of those willing to go back to Myanmar from India.
For many years in the late Eighties and early Nineties, I used to work at our family textiles business. The factory was in Ankleshwar, an industrial estate about an hours train ride from my home in Surat. I would usually go to the factory in the afternoon, and return in the late evening. The business did not do that well and after Manmohan Singh liberalised Indias economy starting in 1991, we could not compete and shut it down a few years later. The factory put polyester yarn through a process called texturising, which made the plasticky yarn more wearable. This was done at high speeds and required a large air conditioning plant with a cooling tower. One day, the giant pipe, which was sending water up to the tower, fell apart. Its layers of metal flaked away like papad and I couldnt understand why. That evening I stayed back in the factory a little later. As I was going to the station around 6.30, my throat choked on a fume of something that was pure acid.
Another factory near ours was releasing something regularly at that time (possibly to avoid pollution inspectors) that was clearly dangerous enough to destroy metal, leave along the human lung. This is by no means a rare occurrence in industrial parts of India. In Udhna and Pandesara, a suburb of Surat where we ran some looms, I regularly saw dyeing and printing units discharge their brilliant colours directly outside, poisoning the ground water. I am writing this on reading news of the Supreme Court banning the sale of firecrackers in Delhi during Diwali. As a regular visitor to Delhi I notice nothing different about its air quality, and if it is polluted it is as much or as little as other Indian cities. Certainly it is less so than in places like Ankleshwar, which is where the real problem lies.
And so I find the constant tinkering in Delhi, one day with traffic laws and now firecrackers, to be bewildering. How will one days crackers change pollution levels? And why limit such genius solutions to just the capital when it is demonstrably true that the issue of air pollution and pollution in general is one that affects all of India? Of course the other problem is that in the current atmosphere (also poisonous) of Hindu nationalism, this has been turned into another stick to beat Muslims with. A BJP governor has asked if Hindus will be refused cremation next. Would an Indian court dare ban the slaughter of goats, Chetan Bhagat has asked. Have the Muslims asked for a ban on crackers? Why drag them into it? The court itself has said that it was unfortunate that its order was given a communal twist but it should understand the environment it operates in.
It was reported that some 50 lakh kg of crackers are in Delhi waiting to be sold and the ban will affect the livelihood of thousands of people who boost their modest incomes in the festive season. In a part of the world, which is among the poorest in the world, we must ask ourselves whether curbing cultural activity is productive. Pakistan makes the same mistake through the ban of kite flying in Lahore for the spring festival of Basant. Judges often believe that the practice is un-Islamic and therefore to be denied to the masses. The reason used for the ban is safety of birds and humans but the real intention is religious fervour. Of course kite flying leads to injuries and sometimes to death, but so do many other things. We do not and we should not be thinking of banning something merely because it does not keep us safe. The ban on crackers probably does not come from such piety but some sort of desire to bring change through a single stroke. This is usually a misplaced sentiment and usually it does not result in any real change.
Given the Indian Supreme Courts interest in things like love jihad and the national anthem (it would be instructive to see what matters the Supreme Courts of other large democracies like the United States take up and what they reject) we should not be surprised that it is trying its hand at improving the quality of air in the capital. The problem of pollution and the larger problem of climate change are very serious matters. Their gravity is reduced in some way when we jerk our knee and offer a ceremonial but ultimately meaningless solution to them. However well meaning they may believe they are with these things, our courts should be more circumspect when issuing such orders.
Readers of my generation will no doubt recall the horrors of the Vietnam War in which countless lives were lost in a pointless conflict. I was in my early 20s when the Tet Offensive of 1968 shattered American illusions that the Vietcong were on the verge of defeat. I remember all too well the anger many of us felt over the merciless American bombing of unarmed civilians in North and South Vietnam, as well as Laos and Cambodia. Watching the 10-part documentary about the war directed by Ken Loach and Lynn Novick, I relived those bleak times as harrowing images from old newsreels showed the unceasing American assault on Vietnam. In terms of archival research, this is a cinematographic tour de force. Spread over 18 hours of news reports and interviews, it overwhelms the viewer with its unrelenting coverage of events on the shifting battlefields, as well as in Washington, Hanoi and Saigon.
By weaving together factual coverage and a vast range of personal interviews, the documentary underlines the horrors and sacrifices on both sides. In particular, the implacable determination of the North Vietnamese Communist leadership, and its willingness to commit hundreds of thousands of men and women to the cause, comes through as an immovable force. Facing them were the mounting numbers of Americans in uniform: at one point there were nearly half a million US troops in South Vietnam. Almost 60,000 were killed. More bombs were dropped by the US on Indochina than on Germany and Korea combined. Seen on paper, these statistics do not move us as does the testimony of a 15-year-old North Vietnamese girl who volunteers to join a unit that hauls supplies to the south through the jungle. Known as the Ho Chi Minh trail, this network of paths was constantly bombed by US planes. Napalm was commonly used, and casualties were heavy.
Through the documentary (I have watched the first six episodes) runs one constant refrain: as casualties mount and success remains elusive, general after American general asks for more troops. The Pentagon keeps assuring President Lyndon Johnson that if field commanders were given extra troops, the enemys defeat would be assured. Inside the US, the daily TV coverage of the war made it increasingly unpopular, fuelling a significant anti-war movement. When four demonstrating students at Kent State University were shot dead by the National Guard, protests erupted across the US. Large demonstrations broke out in London, Paris and other capitals. Finally, following the 1973 Paris peace talks, the Americans withdrew from Vietnam, leaving behind the abiding image of a helicopter taking off from the US embassy in Saigon, with people clinging to its landing gear. Thus ended a needless war that consumed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Sadly, no lessons appear to have been learnt. The Americans are still bogged down in Afghanistan after 16 years of war. And the generals are still calling for more troops and promising victory. With their focus on body count and Powerpoint presentations, US generals have not factored in ideology and nationalism as force multipliers. Given the fact that American politicians are ultimately answerable to voters, they cannot afford an unending number of body bags. One reason there is so little interest in America about the Afghan conflict is that the class composition of US forces has changed since the Vietnam War. In the latter period, soldiers were conscripted into the armed forces, forcing many young, educated middle-class men to fight.
Now, the Americans have an all-volunteer military, and most foot soldiers are from the working class. They have a lower social profile, and get little sympathy or attention. There is thus far less media coverage of the Afghan war than Vietnam received. But the larger question to be asked is why Americans have not applied the lessons of Vietnam to Afghanistan? After all, in both conflicts they faced poorly armed but highly motivated foes, and both the Vietcong and the Taliban had contiguous territory they could shelter in. A retired Russian general, interviewed during the height of the fighting in Afghanistan, said he was amazed to see the Americans repeating the Red Armys mistakes. Why, he wondered, had they not spoken to him and his ex-colleagues to benefit from their experience? Why indeed? Obviously, hubris prevents US generals from learning from history, or the knowledge of others. They think their superior arms can win easy victories, but as the Vietcong and Taliban have shown, asymmetrical warfare depends more on resolve and a willingness to sacrifice.
By arrangement with Dawn
Russia successfully launched a satellite into orbit Friday that will monitor Europes atmosphere, helping to study air pollution. The European Space Agencys Sentinel-5P satellite was launched by a Rokot missile from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. The satellite will map the atmosphere every day.
After separating from the upper stage booster, the satellite deployed its solar panels and began communications with Earth, the ESA said. The first signal was received 93 minutes after launch as the satellite passed over the Kiruna station in Sweden. Controllers at ESAs operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, then established command and control links allowing them to monitor the satellites condition.
The Sentinel-5P satellite is now safely in orbit so it is up to our mission control teams to steer this mission into its operational life and maintain it for the next seven years or more, ESA Director General Jan Woerner said in a statement. The mission will contribute to volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and for services that warn of high levels of UV radiation causing skin damage. The measurements also will help understand processes in the atmosphere related to the climate and to the formation of holes in the ozone layer.
Its the sixth satellite in the ESAs Copernicus program. Other Earth-observing Sentinel satellites launched earlier provide radar and optical imagery of the Earth, and monitor the condition of the worlds oceans and ice sheets. Having Sentinel-5P in orbit will give us daily and global views at our atmosphere with a precision we never had before, ESA quoted Josef Aschbacher, the head of its earth observation programs, as saying. Philippe Gaudy, who oversees the Sentinel project for the European Space Agency, said data collected by Sentinel 5P would help scientists to better monitor air pollution, such as for Nitrogen Oxide emitted by cars.
A recent report estimated that more than 4,00,000 people die prematurely in Europe alone because of air pollution. Orbital observation can be used to compare reported air pollution by governments with actual data, to see whether countries are living up to their commitments under international treaties, Gaudy said. The data from Sentinel-5P will be made available for free to anyone who wants it, he added. It will take engineers several months to calibrate and validate the measurements, meaning data will start to become available in the first half of next year.
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Her voice is fresh, youthful and gentle even if the lyrics of her song are politely defiant. We are talking about her dance pop number, which instantly resonates in your head once you hear it. Her latest English single, No Need raced up to no 82 within 10 days release, on September 22 and is still climbing up the charts on the Indian Itunes platform. The 17-year-old old Chandrika Darbari was born to a Serbian mother, Andrea and an Indian father, Ravi. The teenager, who has rechristened herself Rika, grew up in North London. The teenager, who was subjected to the horrors of bullying and racism found solace in her music, where she hits out at her perpetrators through her intense lyrics: You are so damn obsessed with the way I dress and talk, with the way I move and walk, when you shouldnt give a you are oh so out of line, with the way you spend your time asking what is yours versus mine, when you dont know where Ive been whom Im with, what Im doing...
They will find an instant connect with every teenager. There is an underlying sense of hurt that comes across in her raw yet powerful voice. The song has been influenced by incidents that have happened in my past. I was bullied a lot when I was younger, for my appearance and race. Thats why it was easy for me to write this song as the words came naturally to me. It goes out to anyone who has experienced racism or have been bullied, as they will be able to relate to it, confesses Rika. Rika has already made it to the Brit Asia Artist of the Week list and her dance pop number with R and B influence is already a rage. And it all came to her one night when Rika had trouble sleeping, I went to my piano started playing around, came up with chords and began improvising, on it. I really like the way it sounded, developed the idea with my producer and co-produced the song in two days. I wanted it to appear youthful and colourful and yet project me in a slightly mature manner as I am still so young, says the soft spoken teenager.
Rika, who is currently in Serbia is blissfully unaware that her song is topping the charts in Britain but she shares her delight at having made it to BBC Radio Ones new Pop of the Week. They have placed me with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus, she excitedly reveals. Rika comes across as a sensitive and compassionate teen who yearns for peaceful world. Last year, she wrote a song For Peace in Syria after seeing images of kids suffering. In October last year I wrote that song, when I was 16. I was impacted by the graphic images of the children in Syria, who were hurt and starving. They didnt deserve to be a part of this mess and being a teenager myself, I wanted the children to have a better life. The music video raked up over 900,000 views on YouTube in just a few months of its release.
Rika is inspired by icons like Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson who she believes cared about music and their lyrics were soulful. I want to write meaningful songs. Today music has become so commercial, the song doesnt last for three minutes and pops on and off the radio, says the tender teenager who is strongly influenced by both her Indian and Serbian cultures. I love the food and clothes from both countries and find that there is a lot of similarity between both cultures. I love the bright Indian outfits and have visited India several times, as my grandfather used to live in Delhi. He has passed away now, she says. Rika comes from a close knit family and is gratified to have supporting parents. Im only here today because my parents are backing me. I wont feel complete without their support. Im really grateful that my parents love what I am doing. My mum is my biggest fan while my dad is my best critic. I have an older brother, Chandresh, who is 19. He helped me create the video for my Syria song. We created a UNICEF account because we wanted to donate that money to charity. He is extremely supportive and wants the best for me, says Rika who performed for the Indian community at Trafalgar Square, London as part of the Diwali celebrations. I also performed at the Miss Serbia contest as I like to support both cultures, she quickly adds. Rikas sole purpose in life is to create music with a social message. I want to connect with my audience. Im not hankering after money because it comes with fame, says the wise young lady, who hopes to be spread the message peace through her music.
"Six people were killed in the attack, including students, and we have others injured" (Representational | Photo: AFP)
Nairobi: Six people, including five students, were killed in an attack by suspected South Sudanese raiders on a boarding school in Lokichogio, in Kenya's far north, early Saturday, authorities said.
"Six people were killed in the attack, including students, and we have others injured," said Seif Matata, Turkana county's commissioner.
Matata said the incident occurred at around 03:00 am (00:00 GMT) while students at Lokichogio Mixed Secondary School were asleep in their dormitories.
Members of the Toposa tribal militia from South Sudan, 200 kilometres (124 miles) to the north, are believed to be responsible for the attack with Matata alleging that a suspended student participated in the raid.
Kenya Red Cross said it had evacuated some of the injured by plane to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for emergency treatment.
Turkana, an arid region bordering South Sudan, is awash with small arms and violent clashes between competing communities over resources and territory are common.
I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but were starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and theyre to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations, Trump said. (Photo: PTI)
Washington: President Donald Trump on Saturday said that Pakistan took tremendous advantage of the US over the years, but is now starting to have a real relationship.
Trumps remarks came a day after Pakistan secured the release of an American-Canadian family from the clutches of the Haqqani terror network, five years after they were abducted.
Yesterday, things happened with Pakistan, said the US president.
I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but were starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and theyre to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations, Trump said.
They are starting to respect the United States of America again, he said and thanked the leaders of Pakistan for what theyve been doing.
In this administration, we will call evil by its name, Trump said.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqani network on Friday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and south Asia policy in August.
President Trump yesterday hailed the release of the hostages from Taliban captivity. He said their release was a positive moment for US relations with Pakistan.
Trump also 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.
US Vice-President Mike Pence has said that Pakistan has taken an important step in the fight against terrorism by helping secure the release of a Canadian-American family abducted by the Haqqani networks five years ago.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqani network on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces.
The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Pences comments on Pakistan came as he listed out some of the key achievements of the Trump administration at the international stage.
The president is achieving real results on the international stage, as well, he said.
While some critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, thanks to the presidents leadership, he said, adding the ISIS is on the run, North Korea is isolated as never before, and US NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defence.
Just this week, Pakistan took an important step to answer the presidents call to do more in fight against terrorism, as they helped secure the release of an American family that had been held hostage for more than five years, Pence said.
US President Donald Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so.
Meanwhile, Canada welcomed the release of the family. Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones, said Global Affairs Canada, a department in the Canadian government that manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations.
Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle with their two children in this image from a video released by Taliban Media in December 2016 (Photo: AP)
Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle accused his kidnappers of murdering his baby daughter and raping his wife during his familys years-long captivity by the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Boyle leveled the accusations in a terse statement he read on arrival in Toronto late Friday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three children, who were freed on Wednesday by Pakistani troops.
He condemned the Haqqani networks stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter in retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the miscreant of the Haqqani network had made to me, and the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife.
He said the rape was not the action of a lone guard but aided by the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commander he identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani group is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Afghan Talibans deputy leader. The faction has long been suspected of having links with Pakistans shadowy military establishment.
Boyle said both incidents had taken place in 2014, some two years after he and Coleman, who was heavily pregnant at the time, were kidnapped in a remote Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan.
He said they were in Afghanistan as pilgrims helping poor villagers when they were captured. The three children who survived the ordeal were all born in captivity.
Obviously it will be of incredible importance to my family to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus on edification and to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost, he said.
The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure Irans deal cannot be renegotiated, Rouhani said. (Photo: AP)
Ankara: Iran harshly reacted to President Donald Trumps decision not to certify its nuclear deal with six major powers, and President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran might walk away if the continuing agreement does not serve the countrys national interests.
Defying Trump, Rouhani said Tehran will double its efforts to expand the countrys defense capabilities, including the countrys ballistic missile programme despite the US pressure to suspend it. Trump said in an address at the White House that he would not continue to certify the multinational agreement and warned he might ultimately terminate it.
No president can revoke an international deal Iran will continue to respect it as long as it serves our interests, Rouhani said in a live television address, adding that Trumps speech was full of insults and fake accusations against Iranians.
While Trump did not pull the United States out of the agreement, aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the pact.
That increases tension with Iran as well as putting Washington at odds with other signatories of the accord such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, who say the US cannot unilaterally cancel the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers .
The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure Irans deal cannot be renegotiated, Rouhani said.
Trump announced the major shift in US policy in a speech in which he detailed a more confrontational approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.
Pragmatist Rouhani backed Irans elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), saying the IRGC will continue its fight against regional terrorists.
The IRGC has always protected our nation against terrorists It will continue to help oppressed nations in the region, Rouhani said. Iran accuses its regional rival Saudi Arabia of fuelling regional tension and the Sunni Muslim kingdom is at odds with Tehrans revolutionary Shiite leaders in struggles across the Arab world, including Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon.
The IRGC is Irans most powerful security entity and wields control over large swathes of Irans economy as well as considerable influence within its political system.
Iran harshly reacted to US President Donald Trump`s decision not to certify its nuclear deal with six major powers, and President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran might walk away if the continuing agreement does not serve the country`s national interests. Defying Trump, Rouhani said Tehran will double its efforts to expand the country`s defense capabilities, including the country`s ballistic missile programme despite the US pressure to suspend it.
Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose criticism of their government by US President Donald Trump who threatened to tear up the landmark nuclear deal.
Trump's use of the phrase "Arabian Gulf" rather than "Persian Gulf" particularly hit a nerve in a country with a fierce nationalistic streak.
"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too," wrote Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, referring to the US alliance with Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia.
Despite pressure from the Arab Gulf monarchies, most international bodies still use "Persian Gulf" as the conventional name for the region's waterway, and many Iranians shared photos of US veterans' medals and graves referring to the "Persian Gulf conflict" of the 1990s.
In his White House speech on Friday, Trump reeled off a list of grievances committed by the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world."
Chinas Communist Party announced Saturday that it agreed to amend its constitution, ahead of a keenly-watched congress, with speculation mounting that leader Xi Jinpings name will be added to the document, enshrining his legacy.
The Central Committee said it had passed an amendment to the party's constitution at the end of a plenary meeting held in advance of the main twice-a-decade congress, which opens Wednesday and is expected to see Xi tighten his grip on power.
The document will be submitted to the upcoming 19th CPC National Congress for review, it said in a statement released through the official state news agency, without giving further details.
Chinas ruling Communist Party appointed party officials close to Xi as the CPC concluded a key meeting to finalise preparations for next weeks once-in-a-five-year Congress
The plenum has also ratified the Politburos earlier decisions to expel 12 disgraced Central Committee members from the party. The expelled members were replaced by 11 alternate members, including Jiangsu party chief Li Qiang, who was Xi's top aide during his time in Zhejiang and is seen as a frontrunner for promotion to the 25-member strong Politburo at the Congress.
Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Shesh Pal Vaid identified the slain militants as LeT district Pulwama commander Waseem Ahmad Shah and Nisar Ahmad Mir, both locals. Both LeT terrorists killed in a clean operation. Well done JKP boys and other SF (security forces), he tweeted.
Shah, also known by his alias Usama, according to police records, was a category A++ militant, while Mir was a category-C militant. Security forces have recovered an AK-47 and an AK-56 along with 6 AK magazines. A resident of Heff, Shopian, Shah, who had joined militancy in 2014, was on the army's most wanted list of 12 militants.
Police said Shah, a college dropout, was responsible for recruiting young people to join the LeT and had planned several attacks on security forces. Reports said as news about the killings of local militants spread in the area, announcements were made through mosque public address systems asking people to come out and stage protests.
Protesters from the village and adjacent areas gathered in large numbers pelting stones at the forces and shouting anti-India slogans. The forces responded by firing pellets, bullets and lobbing teargas shells in which more than a dozen people were injured. One of the injured, identified as Gulzar Mir, who had sustained a gunshot died in a hospital, reports added.
The latest encounter comes just five days after a top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Umer Khalid, a Pakistani national was killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir's Sopore area.
More than 150 militants, including top commanders Sabzar Bhat, Junaid Matoo, Ayoub Lelhari, Bashir Lashkari, Abu Dujana and Mehmood Gaznavi, have been killed by the security forces this year, which is highest in the last eight years. The security forces are going after militants as part of operation "hunt down" and on the basis of a hit list of militants.
Meanwhile, militants hurled a grenade at a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) party in Safa Kadal area of the old city in Srinagar on Saturday which failed to explode. A Bomb Disposal Squad was rushed to the area, who defused the device, police said.
Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter in south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday morning while a civilian died and more than a dozen were injured in subsequent clashes between security forces and stone-pelting protesters.Sources said security forces launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) in Litter village Pulwama, 32 km from here during the wee hours on Saturday following information about the presence of a group of militants in the area.As the security forces intensified the search operation, the militants hiding in the area opened fire triggering off an encounter in which two local militants were killed, they said.
Nitish thanked Modi profusely and lauded PMs efforts to grant more fund to the cash-strapped State.
This was for the first time that Nitish and Modi shared the dais here on Saturday after the JD (U) formed the Government in the State with BJPs support. Although Modi had visited Bihar in August this year after Nitish dumped Grand Alliance and deserted Congress as well as Lalu Prasads RJD, the Prime Minister basically undertook an aerial survey of flood-torn areas in north-eastern part of the State. The two leaders did not share any dais or public platform as the PM returned to New Delhi from Purnia after taking stock of the flood situation.
However, on Saturday, Modi graced the Patna University centenary celebration. But three prominent alumnus of PU - former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, BJP MP from Patna Sahib Shatrughan Sinha and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, all vocal critics of Modi, did not attend the programme due to not being invited properly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday doled out Rs 3769 crore worth projects as Diwali gift for the people of Bihar. The Centres largesse comes barely 75 days after Nitish Kumar formed his Government here with the help of BJP-led NDA.The Diwali gift came when Modi laid the foundation stone for four national highway projects worth Rs 3031 crore and as many sewage treatment plants (STPs) and other related works worth Rs 738.04 crore.Modi, who earlier in the day attended the centenary celebrations of Patna University, flew down to Mokama, some 100 km from the State Capital to lay the foundation stone of different projects. This includes six-lane Ganga bridge, worth Rs 1161 crore, and four-laning of NH-31.Bihar is now headed for speedy development and the fund will not be an impediment to its growth, said the Prime Minister while addressing a gathering in Mokama.Modi recounted how an earlier Chief Minister of Bihar (in reference to Lalu Prasad) would dissuade from the construction of roads on the plea that roads were meant for only well-off people with motor vehicles, and not poor.Modi said such leaders had done irreparable damage to the States development. However with development-oriented government at the Centre as well as in the State, Bihar will become a developed State by 2022, when the nation celebrates its 75th Independence Day, the Prime Minister added.
Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle accused his kidnappers of murdering his infant daughter and raping his wife during his family's years-long captivity by the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Boyle leveled the accusations in a terse statement he read on his arrival in Toronto late Friday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three children, who were freed Wednesday by Pakistani troops.
He condemned the Haqqani network's "stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter" in "retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the miscreant of the Haqqani network had made to me, and the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife".
He said the rape was not the action of a lone guard, but was aided by the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commander he identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani group is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
The faction has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.
Providing few details, Boyle said the death of his daughter and his wife's rape occurred in 2014.
That was two years after he and Coleman, then "heavily pregnant," were kidnapped in a remote Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan.
He said they were in Afghanistan as "pilgrims" helping poor villagers when they were captured.
The three children who survived the ordeal were all born in captivity.
"Obviously it will be of incredible importance to my family to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus on edification and to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost," he said.
The Canadian government welcomed the family's arrival.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Canada has been actively engaged onMr. Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," it said, asking that the family's privacy be respected.
The Pakistani forces that freed the family said they acted on information received from the US intelligence services.
In his statement in Toronto, Boyle denied he had refused a return trip aboard a US military aircraft.
He chose to fly back from Islamabad to Canada on commercial airlines via London.
In 2009, Boyle was married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in battle in 2002 as a teenager in Afghanistan and held at the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay before being turned over to Canada and released in 2015.
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and transfer to Canada.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Boyle was not a target of investigation in Canada.
Boyle's parents live 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Ottawa.
UNESCO's executive board has chosen former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay to be the UN cultural agency's next leader over a Qatari candidate in an unusually heated race overshadowed by Mideast tensions.
The US announcement this week that it's quitting UNESCO rocked the multi-day election and heightened concerns about the agency's funding and future direction.
Azoulay succeeds outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine's inclusion as a member.
On Thursday, the US and Israel said they plan to pull out of the Paris-based organisation over its perceived anti-Israel bias.
The 45-year-old took the stage to chants of "Audrey! Audrey!" following her victory and said the response to UNESCO's problems was to reform the agency, not to walk away an understated rebuke of the US and Israel.
"In this moment of crisis, I believe we must invest in UNESCO more than ever, look to support and reinforce it, and to reform it. And not leave it," she said.
In a short address, she also thanked "the Executive Board member states that gave me their trust" in her surprise 30-28 vote win yesterday over Qatari candidate Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari.
UNESCO's general assembly will have to sign off next month on the executive board's leadership pick, but it's seen as a formality.
The new director will set priorities for the organisation best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. The agency also works to improve education for girls, promote an understanding of the Holocaust's horrors, defend media freedom and coordinate science about climate change.
Azoulay, a Jewish woman, had started the week's voting with much less support but built up backing as other candidates dropped out and won a runoff earlier Friday against Egypt's candidate.
The vote was a huge blow to Arab states, who had long wanted to lead the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
UNESCO has previously had European, Asian, African and American chiefs, but never an Arab one since the organisation was founded in 1945 following World War II to promote world peace through culture.
The agency's inclusion of Palestine as a member state in 2011 complicated this push, as did Qatar's diplomatic dispute with Arab neighbours over accusations of sponsoring Islamic extremism.
Azoulay will be the second French leader of the organisation since Rene Maheu, UNESCO's director general from 1961-74. Azoulay's father is Moroccan and was an influential adviser to Moroccan kings, so she does have a connection to the Arab world.
"UNESCO is going through a profound crisis," Azoulay told journalists on Friday after making it to the final vote. "As a response to these difficulties, France has chosen not to leave but at the contrary to invest more ... because we believe in multilateralism. We believe in universal values."
Jewish groups took issue with al-Kawari's candidacy, citing a preface he wrote to a 2013 Arabic book called "Jerusalem in the Eyes of the Poets" that they claim is anti- Semitic. He wrote "We pray to God to liberate (Jerusalem) from captivity and we pray to God to give Muslims the honour of liberating it."
In March, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre wrote an open letter to German Ambassador Michael Worbs, chair of the UNESCO Executive Board, to criticise the organisation for accepting al-Kawari's candidacy.
Azoulay's late entry into the leadership race in March annoyed many UNESCO member states who thought that since France hosts the Paris-based agency it shouldn't field a candidate. Arab intellectuals urged French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw his support for her.
The voting process itself was highly politicised.
Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered over the past day in their one-time bastion Raqa, the US-led coalition backing the offensive on the Syrian city said Saturday.
"Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ISIS terrorists have surrendered in Raqa, and were removed from the city," the coalition said in an emailed statement to AFP.
"Foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa," it said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all Syrian IS jihadists -- numbering around 200 fighters -- had left their former stronghold with their families.
"All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqa over the past five days," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they headed to unknown destinations.
A Raqa official told AFP that Syrian IS members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.
"They sent a message to the Raqa Civil Council and to the tribal mediators," the official said.
"Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners -- the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," he said.
Members of the council -- a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF -- had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group.
According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.
"The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under IS control in Deir Ezzor province," in eastern Syria, he said.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.
"We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh," Nuri Mahmoud told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDF's Arab and Kurdish fighters have recaptured around 90 percent of Raqa from IS.
The minister said that he has called for a meeting of management of all residential colleges, hostels and parents on 16 October to discuss the issue of suicides in hostels. The trend of suicides which has begun few years has reached a crescendo with six students committing suicides in the state during the past two days. Even as the law stipulates that certain boarders should have a counsellor that they could talk to and a redressal system in case of ragging, no such arrangement exists.
Unfortunately, many of the hostels in the state have no CC cameras installed to keep a tab on the movement of the students. In the past two days, at least two students stayed back during breakfast and dinner time and committed suicide while their roommates were away at the mess. In many cases, the hostel staff was found deficient of knowledge of first aid or basics of police procedure. In many cases, the crime scene has been altered by the staff and the students due to lack of knowledge.
With over 38 young Intermediate students committing suicide owing to academic pressure in residential colleges during the last three years, the education minister of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday warned the colleges of stern action. The minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao visited the hostel of Narayana College in Visakhapatnam and spoke with the girl students present at the hostel.The minister who is related to the Municipal Minister Narayana who owns the Narayana-Chaitanya group of colleges has been criticized by the opposition for not even sending a notice to the college over the death of a long list of students. I will not spare even Narayana colleges if we find any lacunae, Ganta said. He added that problem is with the private hostels which are not owned by the colleges. There are 188 such affiliated hostels in the state, the minister said.
Banned militant outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (Peoples' War Group), in an email circulated to local media houses here, has claimed responsibility for last night's powerful bomb blast at a fair.
At least 10 people were injured, two of them critically, when unidentified miscreants hurled a hand grenade at Tera Loukram Leirak area in Imphal West district, police said.
In the email, the outfit expressed "satisfaction" over yesterday's incident and warned the local people against participation in fairs and carnivals.
A woman and a child sustained serious injuries in the blast and their condition continues to be critical, said a doctor of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital here.
In the past, too, the outfit had warned people against the practice of gambling and participation in local fairs.
Iranians responded with anger and mockery today to the bellicose criticism of their government by US President Donald Trump, who threatened to tear up a landmark nuclear deal.
Trump's use of the phrase "Arabian Gulf" rather than "Persian Gulf" particularly hit a nerve in a country with a fierce nationalistic streak.
"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too," wrote Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, referring to the US alliance with Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia.
Despite pressure from the Arab Gulf monarchies, most international bodies still use "Persian Gulf" as the conventional name for the region's waterway, and many Iranians shared photos of US veterans' medals and graves referring to the "Persian Gulf conflict" of the 1990s.
In his White House speech last evening, Trump reeled off a list of grievances committed by the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle-East and all around the world".
He also threatened to "terminate" the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers unless Congress passed stringent new sanctions.
But as Iranians headed to their offices on today - the first day of the work week in Iran - the reaction was often one of bemusement.
"Trump's statements are so ridiculous that it actually works in Iran's favour. Speaking about the 'Arabian Gulf' is taken very badly by people here," said Abbas, a 40-year-old banker, who only gave his first name.
"The reaction of the Europeans shows that the United States is isolated, and only Saudi Arabia and Israel have supported Trump," he added.
The other signatories to the nuclear deal - Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - have called for its preservation, saying that Iran is clearly sticking to its commitments.
Trump's efforts to reach out to ordinary Iranians, who he referred to as the "longest-suffering victims" of the Islamic regime, also appeared to have fallen on deaf ears, with many recalling the travel ban he slapped on them earlier this year.
"The most disgusting part of Trump's speech was when he tried to show himself as sympathising with Iranians," wrote one Twitter user.
"Reminder: Not even 6 months have passed from the execution of visa ban for Iranians!" wrote another.
For all the bluster, Trump's strategy was not as tough as many had predicted.
Although new sanctions have been placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards, it was not designated a foreign terrorist organisation as had been trailed in the weeks leading up to the speech.
This was spun as a victory by some elements in Iran, with the hardline Kayhan newspaper saying: "Guards' formula worked: Trump didn't dare put the Guards on the list of terrorist groups."
This was a reference to threats in recent days that US forces would receive a "crushing" response if the Guards were designated as terrorists.
President Hassan Rouhani took to the airwaves shortly after Trump's speech last night, dismissing it as "nothing but the repetition of baseless accusations and swear words".
"He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own?" Rouhani said.
Nonetheless, the deal's future hangs in the balance as the US Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions, or possibly new "trigger points" that would lead to new sanctions.
"If the Congress goes ahead with new sanctions, then the deal is dead and Iran will restart its nuclear programme and move forward full-steam ahead in all fields," Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told AFP.
"Iran will probably invest even more than before in order to show the Americans that they can't get away with destroying the agreement."
The leader of opposition in assembly Jagadish Shettar said Urban Development Minister R Roshan Baig by abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only shown his culture but also that of Congress.
Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, he said if the Congress leadership including All India Congress Committee future president Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dont take strict action against Baig by dropping him from cabinet, it would be understood by people as their (Rahuls and Siddaramaiahs) consent for the abusive language used by him.
So far none of the Congress leaders have condemned the shameful utterance of Baig, which means they are in support of his abusive language, he said. Baig, in a public meeting in Shivajinagar, Bengaluru had called PM Modi, a son of W****.
Calling Baig an unfit to be a minister, Shettar asked Siddaramaiah to either seek Baigs resignation or drop him from the cabinet. It is unbecoming of a minister to abuse the Prime Minister of India, who has dedicated his entire life for the betterment of India, he said.
In a shocking incident, a 16-year old gang-rape victim committed suicide in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district, about 450 kilometres from here, allegedly after the accused threatened her with rape again.
According to the police sources here, the victim hanged herself with the ceiling fan in her room at her village in Ramola area in the district on Friday evening.
Sources said that the minor girl had allegedly been gang-raped by five people, all residents of the same village, around five months back.
The parents had then lodged a complaint with the police and had also named the accused but the cops did not act on the report, sources said.
The family of the victim had also apprised the chief minister's office about the incident but the accused continued to roam freely.
On Friday, three of the five accused intercepted the minor girl, when she had gone to the local market to make some purchases, and threatened to rape her again if she did not withdraw her complaint. They also allegedly passed lewd comments on the girl, sources said.
Apparently feeling humiliated, the minor committed suicide upon reaching home. The parents held the cops responsible for the death of their daughter.
District police officials said that a case was registered in this connection and investigation was on. They also said that it was being investigated as to how the accused were not arrested and roamed freely.
''Stern action will be taken against the cops if any laxity was found on their part,'' said a senior police official in Baghpat.
The Army wants to continue with its old procurement system for a few more months as the new mode of doing it through the Government e-Marketing portal still has glitches.
The army also asked for an additional fund of Rs 8.5 crore for each military station for modernization required to bring the stations across the country at par with the smart cities being developed by the government.
The Indian Army commanders, who are currently meeting in New Delhi, resolved to obtain permission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Government to continue with the 2016 Defence Procurement Procedure in view of the certain hiccups in the newly introduced system of doing it through the Government e-Marketing or the GeM portal.
As per the government's directions, all procurements have to be (done) through (the) GeM. Presently, the complete system has not stabilized and certain procedural issues have come to the fore resulting in delays, Lt. Gen. Vijay Singh, Director General (Staff Duties) of Indian Army, said.
He was briefing journalists about the issues discussed by the army commanders in a conference, which commenced on Monday and would conclude on Sunday.
Necessary government sanction has been proposed to be obtained to allow procurement through the existing system, till March 31, 2018, when the GeM as a system is likely to stabilize, said Singh.
The GeM portal was developed by the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposal with support from National e-Governance Division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology - after two Groups of Secretaries recommended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a dedicated e-market for different goods and services procured or sold by the Government or the Public Sector Undertakings.
The portal was launched on by the then Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in August 2016. The government directed all its departments, PSUs as well as the armed forces to procure goods and services through the portal.
The Army, however, experienced several procedural problems while moving to the new procurement system, resulting in delay and shortage of not only military hardware but also of stuff in the depots of the Canteen Stores Department in the military stations.
The Army Commanders' Conference also discussed the development required for the military stations in accordance with the government's Smart City mission. There is need to modernize military stations at par with smart city plan and, with this in view, there is a need for allotment of 15% additional funds for a period of five years so that essential external services can be revamped, said Singh. A total cost of Rs 8.5 crore per military station is envisaged.
A Jammu and Kashmir policeman was arrested for allegedly taking pictures of a woman in central Ganderbal district on Saturday morning.
Reports said that the cop was caught by a woman after noticing him taking her pictures on the Manigam bypass road. The cop is said to be posted with an Indian Reserve Police (IRP)battalion in the district.
A video circulating on social media shows that policeman was caught by the people, his jacket taken off, and he was tied to a chair before beaten up by a mob. Slogans against police and in support of Al-Qaeda commander Zakir Musa could be heard in the video.
A senior police official said that a woman approached police station Ganderbal with a complaint that a cop took her pictures while she was standing at the bypass. "We have arrested the cop and he has been placed under suspension. A case has also been registered in this regard and further investigations have been taken up, he said.
Police claimed to have found some photos of the woman in the arrested cop's mobile.
Inspector General Police (IGP) Kashmir Munir Khan told reporters in Srinagar that prima facie, it appears that the woman was known to the policeman.
Earlier this year in June, Dy SP Ayoub Pandith was killed brutally by a mob outside Srinagar's Jamia Masjid in the old city, drawing widespread condemnation. Police have arrested 21 people, including four juveniles, in the case.
On her maiden visit to Tamil Nadu after assuming office, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today urged the state government to implement the Centre's Mudra Yojana scheme in the districts.
"Without producing any collateral, including gold ornaments, one can get a loan under the scheme. We say from Delhi that there is a Mudra scheme. But every state has a specific industry. Like the crackers business in Sivakasi. My request is that it (the scheme) should go to the deserving people," she said.
The minister was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Mudra loan campaign here.
"An awareness campaign should be held in every district. I request the Tamil Nadu government to give priority to those districts which have a specialised industry. Like in Pathamadai near Tirunelveli, they make mats. It is a specific industry. Do they get the benefits of the Mudra scheme?" she asked.
Similarly, the fishermen community should also be brought within the ambit of the scheme, Sitharaman said.
"I request the minister (Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani) here to take steps to implement the Mudra scheme for the benefit of the lower middle-class people", she added.
The Union minister urged the banks to check if the list of beneficiaries covered under the scheme, provided by the banking correspondents, matched with the list they had.
"If there is a mismatch, ask questions. It is your responsibility to ask questions of the banking correspondents. Only then can we get justice", she said.
The central government had launched the Mudra loan scheme to promote entrepreneurship at the bottom level. The disbursement amount under the scheme ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh without any collateral.
Sitharaman also suggested that the K Palaniswami-led AIADMK government in the state implement an insurance scheme, akin to the one in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for low income individuals, where they need not pay the premium cover.
Under the scheme in Andhra, Rs 171 of the total annual insurance premium of Rs 342 is borne by the state government and the balance by the Centre.
"I also request Tamil Nadu to come forward and take steps so that we (central and state governments) can together implement the insurance scheme for the benefit of the people," the defence minister said.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of late helped several critically ill patients from Pakistan get visas to visit India and seek medical treatment signalling a change in New Delhi's policy.
New Delhi took a more liberal approach in issuing visas to Pakistani patients seeking to undergo treatment in India, particularly after M Nawaz Sharif resigned as the Prime Minister of the neighbouring country in July this year. After being approached on Twitter by the near and dear ones of several critically ill patients in Pakistan, Swaraj asked High Commission of India in Islamabad to issue visas to them.
We are giving visa for your father's liver transplant surgery in India, Swaraj tweeted in response to a post by Ali Asadullah Shah of Pakistan on Twitter.
Shah wanted a visa for his father Shabbir Ahmed Shah to undergo liver transplant surgery at Max Super Speciality Hospital at Saket in New Delhi. He also wanted a visa for himself, another attendant Haq Nawaz Shah and the donor Muhammad Abdullah Shah.
Respected Ma'am, please grant us visa. My father needs a liver transplant. He's in very severe condition. This is our last hope, Shah tweeted to Swaraj, who later got the High Commission of India in the capital of Pakistan
Her prompt interventions earned accolades not only from critically ill patients and their near and dear ones in Pakistan but also from the Twitterati in the neighbouring country.
Good. Thanks a Lot..This is a great gesture by india..We Pakistani Give u (you) huge applause on it. Stay Blessed, Waqas Amjad, a resident of Lahore in Pakistan, tweeted to her after she responded positively to a request by Hamid Ali Ashraf for issuing visas for his father to visit India for liver transplant surgery.
Madam Minister, you are Masiha (a Saint) for Pakistani people. God Bless you, posted Shakil Ahmed, another Twitterti from the neighbouring country.
New Delhi earlier this year restricted grant of visas to Pakistanis seeking to undergo medical treatment in India, particularly after a military court in the neighbouring country sentenced Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, to death. New Delhi insisted that all applications for medical visas for citizens of Pakistan seeking to come to India must be accompanied by a recommendation from Sartaj Aziz, who had been her counterpart of Swaraj in Sharif's Government in Islamabad.
Aziz, however, had not issued any letter of recommendation to Pakistanis seeking medical visas to travel to India. He had also quit the top job at the Ministry of Foreign Office of Pakistan Government after Sharif had resigned in July following orders from the Supreme Court of the neighbouring country about the Panama Papers.
Sharif was succeeded by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who took over as Prime Minister in July. Khwaja Asif replaced Aziz as the Foreign Minister.
The BJP on Saturday lodged a complaint with Banashankari police seeking action against Urban Development Minister R Roshan Baig.
In a complaint, Ramesh N R, spokesperson, Bengaluru City and Bengaluru Urban District, stated that despite holding a responsible position as a minister, Baig used derogatory words to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa while addressing the Congress party workers.
He has insulted every Indian by his unparliamentary words which attracts action against him, Ramesh stated in the complaint.
He requested the police to register a criminal case against him and act immediately.
However, the police are yet to register a case against him. Senior officers said they would act on the complaint based on legal opinion.
Ramesh has enclosed CDs containing Baig's speech and newspaper clippings as evidences.
The Pakistan government today withdrew its request for extending the detention of Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed under the anti- terrorism law.
On January 31, Saeed and his four aides were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under preventative detention under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. They have been under house arrest since then. An official of the Home Department of Punjab government told a three-member federal judicial review board headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court that the government did not require the extension of Saeed and his four accomplices' detention anymore.
"The provincial government does not require an extension to the detention of Saeed, his aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - under the anti-terrorism law. Therefore it requests the board to accept the withdrawal of extension to the detention of Jamaat-u-Dawah leaders," he said.
The board accepted the government's plea and disposed of the matter.
Explaining as to why the government withdrew its application, a senior official of the Punjab government told PTI that since the government has extended the detention of Saeed and four others till October 24 under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 it does not require to have them house arrested under the anti-terrorism law.
He said the government was to produce Saeed and others before the review board for their detention under 11 EEE (I) and 11D of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
"But since all five of them are detained under the public order there was no binding on the government to produce them before the review board today to seek an extension to their detention," the official said.
The Punjab Home Department issued an order extending the house arrest of Jamat-d-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and four other JuD men for another 30 days with effect from September 25 under the public order. The previous detention order issued on July 28 was expired on September 25.
The last two extensions were made on the 'public order'.
The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
Sources said that heavily armed militants opened fire on two police vehicles at Nandimarg crossing in Damhal Hanjipora, 85 kms from here, on Saturday evening. Both the vehicles skidded off the road, they said, adding that a policeman, identified as constable Khurshid Ahmad was killed and two others injured in the attack.
A police spokesperson said the police team on duty for medical camp while returning was fired upon by the hiding militants. "The police party retaliated and due to their action, they foiled the attempt of weapon snatching by the militants. The courage of the slain policeman, who took the vehicle out of arch of fire saved lives of other cops," he said and added the slain policeman is survived by aged parents, wife, three-year-old daughter and two-year-old son.
The police identified Gulzar Padder and Majid Ganie group of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen behind the attack. The spokesperson also denied that the ruling PDP MLA was the target of the attack.
On June 16, in a similar attack, six policemen, including a station house officer (SHO), were killed after a group of heavily armed militants ambushed the vehicle they were travelling in Achabal area of neighbouring Anantnag district. The militants had also taken away the weapons of the slain policemen after the attack.
Just two weeks later, on July 1, LeT top commander Bashir Lashkari, the mastermind of the attack, was killed in an encounter with security forces along with his associate near Dailgam in Anantnag district.
The latest attack occurred barely a few hours after two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in neighbouring Pulwama district, leading to protests in which a civilian died.
A policeman was killed and two others were injured after militants attacked their vehicles which were returning from the medical camp in Damhal Hanjipora area of south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday.
Girls from two Uttar Pradesh universities held demonstrations and took out marches to protest against alleged incidents of molestation on their campuses.
According to the reports a large number of girl students of Poorvanchal university in Jaunpur town, about 200 kilometres from here, came out of their classes on Saturday and held demonstrations to protest alleged molestation of an MBA student inside the classroom on Friday.
The protesting girls alleged that two youths barged into the classroom, passed lewd comments on a girl and also torn her clothes when she protested.
The girls, who were joined by the boys also, took out a march on the campus carrying placards and posters giving vent to their anger over the incident and demanded adequate security arrangements.
''There are hardly any CCTV cameras inside the campus....the girls are scared,'' said a girl student of the varsity.
Girls from Rahilkhand University in state's Bareilly town also staged a protest demanding better security arrangements after two girls were allegedly molested on the campus a couple of days back.
Angry students also put up barricades at the main entrance of the varsity and refused to allow the officials to enter the institution, sources said.
The girls withdrew their protest only after the vice-chancellor assured them that security arrangements would be augmented on the campus.
Incidents of eve teasing on the campuses of varsities in the state have been on the rise.
Barely a few days back hundreds of girls from the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi had held a series of demonstrations after a girl was molested on the campus.
Police made a lathi charge on the girls wounding many of them and triggering a massive outrage in the country.
The vice-chancellor of the varsity was forced to go on long leave and three police officials were shunted out after the lathi charge.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee has batted for a stimulus package even as he advised the government not to make too many changes in the economy.
Mukherjee also made a nuanced opposition to the governments decision on demonetisation last year and said, What perhaps could have been done was to have adequately printed additional currency.
The former President said one can handle problems with resoluteness, but one should not make too many changes that may lead to the system not accepting it.
There is also a need for stimulus in public spending in order to generate demand.
It depends on the assessment of the current finance minister on what action needs to be taken, Mukherjee said on what would be he his advice to get out of the economic slowdown. Mukherjees comments came even as the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council virtually ruled out the possibility of a stimulus package as it emphasised on not breaching fiscal deficit limits.
On demonetisation
Asked whether he would have thought of demonetisation when he was the finance minister, he told India Today, a weekly, that he was too conservative to think about it. He always believed that Indian economy was not 100% monetised and keeping some sort of currency is always considered as an honour and prestige.
Mukherjee pointed that even the US does not think of not printing one dollar currency due to its higher production cost because they want to keep the faith of people in paper currency.
I would not like to elaborate further. One will understand what I mean when I say that the confidence in the government and its commitments should remain unshaken, said Mukherjee.
On demonetisation, he said: This is an afterthought but what perhaps could have been done was to have adequately printed additional currency. But you have to keep in mind that matters like printing currency are highly secretive, he said.
In a separate interview to India Today TV, Mukherjee said, he could not have criticised the government on GST and demonetisation when he was a part of the government.
But the former President said he had an excellent relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that the prime minister gave him respect despite their political differences.
The city woke up to a dull and gloomy Saturday following the devastating rainfall of Friday night that killed eight people, including the five who lost their lives in North Bengalurus Kurubarahalli.
Friday was a nightmare for people living close to a stormwater drain in Kurubarahalli.
Rainwater water filled with sewage has fully submerged at least 30 houses in the locality.
While Venkatappa and his wife Kamalamma died after the compound wall of their house collapsed, the house of Mahesh, right next to the stormwater, is in a pathetic condition.
All household articles refrigerator, television set and other appliances were damaged as water gushed into the house. Even until 3 pm on Saturday, he could do nothing as there was no water supply.
But he is happy that his son survived the catastrophe. I was away when it rained. My son was alone in the house, preparing for his exams. Some of our neighbours called him out just before the water level rose and thats how he escaped from the jaws of death, Mahesh said.
Adjacent houses were also damaged as water reached the first floor. Pushpa M S, who has been living in the locality for the past 30 years, was furious that no official came to her rescue. When we saw the water level rise quickly, we ran to the first floor to save our lives. Never have we seen this kind of rain. These officials come only after someone loses their life. No precautions will be taken until then. Everything has been destroyed, she said.
Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) started removing silt from the stormwater drain in Kurubarahalli.
The height of the retaining wall will be raised and all those affected by the rain will be sheltered, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said. The BBMP has made arrangements at Manjushree Kalyana Mantapa, Kurubarahalli Government School and a yoga centre. They will be provided with food and blankets. The relief cheques will be issued at the earliest, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said.
The situation isnt different in other parts of the city. The water level was 2-3 feet at the following places on Saturday: Laggere, Rajajinagar, Mahalakshmi Layout, Nandini Layout, Vijayananda Nagar, SNK Layout, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Ullal, Malleswaram, Yeshwantpur, Mathikere, Maruthinagar, Mysuru Road and Deena Bandhu Nagar.
A seven-foot-deep crater has formed in MS Layout near Vijayanagar after the earth caved in. Similar cases were reported from Vyalikaval and Sajjan Rao Circle.
Residents blamed the BBMP. This is because of the poor roadworks. This road was repaired recently but it caved in after the rain, said Muniyappa, of Vyalikaval.
Gali Anjaneya Swamy temple near Deepanjali Nagar and Shobha Theatre near Bapuji Nagar continue to be waterlogged. Two large trees were uprooted on Mysuru Road and Rajajinagar.
In a setback to the state government, employees of Mysore Minerals Limited (MML) have opposed diverting its surplus funds to cooperative banks to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs commitment of waiving farmers loans.
Getting the profit-making MML to deposit its investible surplus funds of Rs 1,400 crore with the Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank Limited is one way the government is looking to capitalise cooperative banks to make up for the Rs 8,165 crore waiver of short-term loans that 22.27 lakh farmers had borrowed.
Depositing funds with cooperative funds is not feasible, the Mysore Minerals Employees Association has stated, while painting a gloomy future ahead for the company. About 90% of the companys mining operations have been stalled due to environmental regulations and 2,422 employees have left the workforce since 1998, with over four-fifths of the existing 900 employees due to superannuate in the next three years, the Association pointed out.
Of the seven operational mines, only two iron ore mines at Subbarayanahalli and Thimmapanagundi are profitable and the formers mining contract is set to end in a few months. We stare at the possibility of having no mining activity due to unavailability of mines, the Association has warned the MML management in a letter dated September 29. At present, MML has Rs 1,980 crore in funds of which Rs 400 crore is earmarked for developmental activities and Rs 1,580 crore is deposited with Canara Bank, Union Bank, Vijaya Bank among others.
The government is keen on going ahead with the plan so much so that it has overruled guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) in 2012, according to which such an investment cannot be made.
Documents show that MML, internally, is uncomfortable with the plan. As per DPE guidelines, Apex Bank is not a scheduled commercial bank (neither public nor private); its net worth is less than Rs 500 crore and its three-year net profit is not considerable. Also, the investment sought (Rs 1,400 crore) is more than the 60% cap DPE has prescribed for fund deposits in public sector/rural banks.
BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa hit out at the chief minister for not implementing the farm loan waiver announced in June. Not a single farmer has benefited, he said. The government has loans worth Rs 1.33 lakh crore and the 14th Finance Commission grants worth Rs 2.19 lakh crore. Where did this money go? Why is the chief minister forcing MML to part with funds?
The BJP on Saturday lodged a complaint with the Banashankari police seeking action against Urban Development Minister R Roshan Baig for his objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the complaint, Ramesh N R, spokesperson, Bengaluru City and Urban District, stated that despite holding a responsible position as a minister, Baig has used derogatory words to attack Modi and BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa while addressing the Congress party workers.
He has insulted every Indian by using unparliamentary words which attract action against him, Ramesh stated in the complaint. He requested the police to register a criminal case against the minister and act immediately.
However, the police are yet to register a case against Baig. Senior officers said that they would act on the complaint after obtaining legal opinion.
Ramesh has enclosed CDs containing Baigs speech and newspaper clippings as evidences.
Drop him from Cabinet
In Hubballi, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar said that by abusing Modi, Baig has not only displayed his culture but also that of the Congress.
Speaking to reporters, Shettar said that if the Congress leadership, including All India Congress Committee future president Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dont take strict action against Baig by dropping him from the Cabinet, it would be understood by people as their (Rahuls and Siddaramaiahs) consent for the abusive language used by him.
So far none of the Congress leaders have condemned the shameful utterances of Baig, which means that they are in support of his abusive language, the BJP leader said.
Calling Baig unfit to be a minister, Shettar asked Siddaramaiah to either seek the ministers resignation or drop him from the Cabinet.
The Karnataka Janashakthi Vedike said on Saturday that corruption had taken place during the land acquisition process at Nagavi and Kalasapur villages in Gadag taluk, where the government has planned to set up the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University.
The university is functioning out of a private building in Gadag at present.
Speaking to reporters here, Vedike president Syed Khalid Koppal charged that a piece of government land, shown as private land, was sold back to the government. The government has been cheated to the tune of Rs 11 crore, he said. Koppal released documents in support of his claims.
He said the Vedike would soon file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau in this regard.
A total of 249 acres - 125 acres in survey number 179/b/1 and 124 acres in survey no 143/2b/b/1b/2 at Kalasapur and Nagavi villages, respectively, were purchased in the name of one Krishnarao Ramrao Huyilgol and his relatives in 2002. However, the purchased land belongs to the government, he pointed out.
He charged that the government had reserved more than 120 acres of land in these villages for freedom fighters. However, using political clout and with the help of Revenue department officials, the land was illegally transferred to the Huyilgol family. It was then sold back to the government. The district administration does not have records regarding the transfer of land. Hence, it is clear that corruption had taken place in land acquisition, he said.
Two brothers were injured after the battery of a mobile phone exploded at Honagunta village in Chittapur taluk on Saturday.
The victims are identified as Mallu Esappa Haabanora, 15, and Nagaraj Esappa Haabanora, 12.
Mallu, who removed the battery from the phone (Karbon K6), tried to connect it to a small bulb when the battery exploded. Mallu, who was injured in the right palm and chest, is admitted to a private hospital in Shahabad and his condition is said to be stable.
Nagaraj, who was with Mallu, suffered injuries to his left eye and on face. He has been admitted to the Basaveshwara Teaching and General Hospital.
Hospital ophthalmologist Dr Vishwanath Reddy told media that Nagaraj was injured in the cornea of his left eye. He said the boy will be operated upon in the eye.
The family of an elderly couple, who died after the wall of their house collapsed on them following the downpour on Friday night, have seen their lives turn upside down.
The story of Shankarappa and his wife Kamalamma, who died after the compound wall of their house in North Bengalurus Kurubarahalli, is disheartening. Vani, the second daughter of the elderly couple, was about to call them into the house when she saw the wall collapse. The couple was rushed to Victoria Hospital but declared brought dead.
She (Vani) is unable to bear the loss since she saw her parents die before her own eyes, said Prabhakar, a close friend of the familys. Vani teaches at Elite Public School in Laggere and was to get married next month. The wedding has been called off.
Prabhakar said the entire family was in shock. We didnt expect anything like this. We have been asking the civic authorities to raise the retention wall of the stormwater drain so that water does not overflow like it did yesterday. But they started the work only this morning, he added.
The central crime branch (CCB) may believe that inmates of the Parappana Agrahara jail have easy access to mobile phones, but prison officials beg to differ. They say the use of mobile phones is fully in check.
The conflicting claims come to the fore two days after a City Armed Reserve (CAR) constable, Dinesh, was caught red-handed trying to sneak two smartphones into the high-security prison on October 11. The smartphones were reportedly meant for T Nazir, an accused in the 2008 serial blasts.
On Friday, the case was handed over to the CCB for investigation.
The CCB says it has more than enough information about how many phones and SIM cards are being used inside the jail and the prisoners who use them frequently. The sleuths even track the prisoners phone calls.
A porous prison helps us a great deal in detecting and averting crimes, a senior CCB officer said. We have sufficient information about prisoners who frequently use mobile phones, whom they contact and for what. As soon as we get information about a SIM card being active in the prison, we tap the incoming and outgoing calls.
The CCB even knows that some prisoners use WhatsApp, Skype, IMO, etc to make calls and send messages to avoid coming under the radar. But we have our own policing tricks to know whats being shared through these calls and messages, the officer said.
Another senior officer said on a lighter note: It would have been interesting had the two smartphones reached Nazir. We could have learnt whom he was talking to and what was he talking. We may have also learnt if he was hatching a conspiracy or just wanted to keep in touch with his family and others fighting his legal battle.
Prison authorities and the jurisdictional police frequently raid the barracks to curb the use of mobile phones.
We raided the prison only three weeks ago and seized a few small packets of marijuana and four SIM cards. Whenever we receive information, we conduct raids, M B Boralingiah, DCP (Southeast), said.
Since its a sprawling prison, the news of the raids spreads rapidly, alerting the prisoners who quickly hide the gadgets and drugs. The raids fail most of the time, he added.
The advocates fraternity have expressed their displeasure over the recent transfer of Justice Jayant Patel and the lack of transparency in the collegium in the way the judges are appointed and transferred.
The symposium was organised by the The Lawyers' Community and the Advocates of the Advocates Association, Bangalore here on Friday.
Former Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar, President of the Gujarat HC Advocates' Association, Asim Pandya and the Additional Advocate General Aditya Sondhi expressed their concern over the existing collegium system.
The above speakers said that two well-deserved judges to be elevated to the Supreme Court had lost out because of transfer orders by the collegium.
Justice D H Waghela, the now retired Chief Justice of Karnataka was transferred to the Bombay High Court where he retired. Justice Jayant Patel resigned protesting against his transfer. Both these judges were known for their integrity and delivery of justice, the speakers said.
A four-year-old girl from Yemen was cured of a rare eye disorder by doctors in the city.
The girl, Lara Waleed, was treated and cured of corneo lenticular adhesion syndrome.
According to doctors who treated her, the birth defect, where the eye has not developed completely, is extremely rare and occurs only one in a million. The girl also had cataract which obstructed her vision, said Dr Bindiya Hapani, cataract surgeon and medical retina expert, Dr Agarwals Eye Hospital.
She added that the surgery, which lasted four hours, involved removing the cataract and rectifying the eye disorder. The girl has started gaining vision which will improve gradually, she said. Laras mother said, The last four years have been frustrating. We are mentally and physically drained. Coming to India was our last resort. Dr Ravi D, director of the hospital said they have never come across such a condition.
According to the U.S. National Parks Service in their informative Cabrillo National Monument brochure, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to set foot on the west coast of what is now the United States. His expedition brought Spains first great era of exploration to a close.
From the Cabrillo Festival we learned that on June 27, 1542, Cabrillo set sail from Navidad on Mexicos west coast with three vessels: San Salvador, La Victoria and San Miguel in search of gold and a route to the Orient and the Spice Islands. Sailing northwest into uncharted waters, they explored the west coast of Baja California. On Sept. 17 they anchored at San Mateo, known today as Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada. A few days later they departed. Sailing north they landed on Sept. 28 at an enclosed harbor, which was very good. Cabrillo named it San Miguel. We know it today as San Diego. Cabrillo and his men remained for six days, trading with the native Kumeyaay people living around the bay, exploring and taking on supplies and fresh water. On Oct. 3 they departed, continuing their voyage northward along the coast of Alta, Calif. Although Cabrillo died of an injury before completing his journey, he is one of the most recognized figures of the Age of Exploration.
Cabrillo re-enactor claiming the land in the name of Spain (Jan Wagner /) (Jan Wagner /)
An informative video recreation of Cabrillos journey is presented in the visitor center of the nearby National Parks Services Cabrillo National Monument.
On Sept. 30, 2017, the Cabrillo Festival brought Cabrillos historic landing to life, with a re-enactment of his arrival on Sept. 28, 1542 at the place that we now call San Diego. A replica of his galleon the San Salvador, recreated by the Maritime Museum of San Diego entered San Diego Bay. From this mighty sailing ship emerged costumed re-enactors of Cabrillo and his landing party. Cabrillo, his soldiers and a priest transferred to a small rowboat and then walked onto the beach at Ballast Point where he planted a flag to claim the land in the name of Spain.
Opening remarks by Captain Dickson, Commanding Officer (Jan Wagner) (Jan Wagner /)
After the recreation of Cabrillos historic landing, we were welcomed to the U.S. Naval Base Point Loma by Captain Dickson, Commanding Officer:
It is my honor to host the 54th annual Cabrillo Festival celebrating the exploration of West Coast United States by the explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, 475 years ago. Were excited to open the base to the San Diego community and to our distinguished representatives from the countries who share a part of this rich heritage, and it is a result of the events we celebrate today. I believe that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo would be honored to know that his accomplishment of exploration and daring is still recognized today and creates a wonderful opportunity for five distinct cultures to celebrate the heritage we share in a spirit of harmony and respect.
Traditional dancing (Jan Wagner / ) (Jan Wagner /)
Naval Base Point Loma serves a diverse group of naval commands who conduct a variety of sensitive operations and research. For that reason we generally do not open our base up to the public, to protect those sensitive operations and that research, but in addition to serving and protecting our war fighters, Naval Base Point Loma has a mission to protect our cultural heritage and build on a strong relationship with the community, so Cabrillo Festival is significant enough to provide a great opportunity to help us preserve that shared cultural heritage while building our relationship with the San Diego community.
The annual Cabrillo Festival was steeped in culture, including folklore; traditional Spanish, Mexican, Portuguese and Native American Indian music and dancing; colorful costumes; educational displays; demonstrations of common items from the period; arts and crafts; and food, including a large batch of delicious, slow-cooked Paella: a blend of shrimp, calamari, clams, bell pepper, peas, tomato, onion, garlic and rice all cooked in olive oil.
Paella being cooked by Jesus Benayas, President of the House of Spain (Jan Wagner / ) (Jan Wagner /)
I had never eaten this traditional Spanish dish before and I mistakenly assumed that it was spicy, like much of the Mexican food we enjoy here in San Diego. It was cooked under the expert supervision of Jesus Benayas, President of the House of Spain (houseofspainsd.com) in San Diegos Balboa Park . For those of you who will be in San Diego in early December, the House of Spain will prepare Paella at December Nights in Balboa Park.
For more information, visit www.cabrillofestival.org.
Join in the conversation. Send your comments and suggestions to AutoMatters@gmail.com.
Copyright 2017 by Jan Wagner AutoMatters & More #510
By Chris Flood 13 September 2017 (Financial Times) A coalition of institutional investors managing more than $1 trillion in assets is demanding that 60 of the worlds largest banks take action to protect the world from the threat of catastrophic damage due to climate change.The devastation caused by Hurricane Irma across the Caribbean and Florida has added urgency to efforts by pension funds and asset managers to step up the fight against climate change. Letters have been sent to the chief executives of banks including HSBC, Lloyds, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank to demand more information about their exposures to climate-related risks and their plans to ensure compliance with the landmark agreement to tackle global warming reached by governments in Paris in December 2015. The letters ask that bank leaders provide details of their plans to support the transition to a low-carbon economy, which could require up to $93tn of investment by 2030. Banks are exposed to climate-related risks through their lending activities as well as other financial services, including project finance and equity and debt underwriting. Millions of people have an interest in how banks respond to the threat of climate change, said Catherine Howarth, chief executive of ShareAction , the responsible investment campaign group. [] Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, has warned that investors risk potentially huge losses from the impact of climate change. [ more ]
Big investors take aim at banks over climate change risk
(ShareAction) A few weeks ago, amid stories of hurricanes, flooding, and a rise in global hunger after years of decline, another climate-related news item made the headlines. In a new show of strength, a group of investors managing nearly $2 trillion in assets wrote letters to 62 of the worlds largest banks, calling for improved disclosure of climate-related information. Why are investors focusing on banks? And what does this mean for global efforts against climate change?From an investor perspective, how banks manage climate change issues is a concern because it can have an effect on financial performance. Now more than ever before, investors understand that global climate change and the commitments the international community has made to addressing it will have a disruptive influence on the world economy.The impacts of a changing climate and the transition to a low-carbon economy bring with them a host of risks and opportunities across different regions and sectorsincluding banking.It is concern about these systemic risks, in fact, that is drawing further scrutiny of banks from regulators and policy-makers, notably the Bank of England.There are of course many ways to frame the problem of climate change, but on some level addressing climate change remains a matter of mobilising capitalat sufficient scale and speedto invest in a low-carbon, resilient economy. According to the widely-cited Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, $90 trillion is needed in investment in sustainable infrastructure by 2030 in order to keep global temperature rise to the limit for avoiding catastrophic climate change.As providers of capital, banks have a central role to play in this story. A recent report by McKinsey identifies the banking sector as the class of investor providing the most important source of debt financing for infrastructure.The Paris Agreement itself sets the global goal of making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. As of now, however, global financial flows are far from consistent with the Paris Agreement. For example, large sums of capital continue to be invested in fossil fuel projects that are inconsistent with a trajectory of rapid emissions reductions.It is these high-carbon capital flows, which threaten to lock us into a trajectory that puts a stable climate out of reach, that are drawing the ire of civil society, both grassroots and professional. Banks in particular have been the focus of protest and condemnation for their role in financing fossil fuel projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL pipeline, pressure that is only set to grow.To be sure, the actions taken by banks also depend on a variety of factors outside of their controlsuch as political will, market forces, or government regulationbut that does not keep banks from assuming the positions of leaders or laggards in the fight against climate change.Recent years have seen noteworthy pledges made by banks to seize opportunities of growing low-carbon investments, as well as commitments to curtail investments in fossil fuels, especially coal. Some major banks have even adopted long-term plans for the decarbonisation of their lending to levels in line with global climate goals.Greater progress is needed, however, and this forms at least part of the motivation for Septembers letter from the $2 trillion investor coalition. This is also why civil society will continue to be vocal in calling for change.Climate Week in September put climate change in the news once again as businesses, governments, and civil society gathered in New York in a reaffirmation of global efforts.The mood was one of some optimism in gathering momentum. When all is said and done, however, it bears recalling that whether the world achieves the goals of the Paris Agreement will ultimately depend upon the emissions trajectory taken by the global economy, and this, in no small part, depends upon the direction of capital flowspast, present, and futureand the actions of banks.Thanks Alexander! To find out more about our Banking on a Low-Carbon Future campaign, click here. Alexander Erzini Vernoit is Campaigns Officer at ShareAction.
12 October 2017 (UN News) Recent devastating natural events from hurricanes in the Caribbean to floods in South Asia and earthquakes in Mexico have again shone a spotlight on the importance of efforts to reduce disaster risk, and how impossible it is to achieve global development goals without addressing such hazards.If you look into countries that are exposed to hurricanes and cyclones for example, those hit by recent dreadful cyclones in the Caribbean you see the entire GDP, or huge percentage of it, being wiped out, said Robert Glasser, the United Nations Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, in an interview with UN News.The UN and its Member States have many priority issues, but there are very few that are as urgent as addressing climate risk and disaster risk, he added.Ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction, annually observed on 13 October, Mr. Glasser spoke about this years campaign objectives, and more broadly about how reducing disaster risk can contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how climate change adaptation and disaster risk management must go hand in hand.UN News: The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is around the corner. Last year, the Day was about reducing mortality, but this year, the focus is on reducing the number of people affected by the disasters why is that?Robert Glasser: We have a major campaign to raise awareness of the increasing costs, including loss of life and economic costs, of disasters. We model our campaign on seven global targets in the Sendai Framework an international agreement that UN Member States have signed, in which they have committed to reduce disaster risk. Sendai Seven Campaign incorporated these seven targets. The first target is about the loss of life. And the second, which we are featuring this year, is about reducing the number of people whose homes and livelihoods are affected.UN News: What is the status of implementation of the Sendai Framework?Robert Glasser: Well, this is a remarkable agreement because in it countries have committed to achieving really remarkable goals reducing significantly loss of life, reducing number of people affected, and reducing the economic impact of disasters. They are committed to do this because they are seeing huge costs economic, social and environmental costs of these disasters that are growing rapidly. Each country is exposed to a different range of hazards. They understand the impacts these hazards have on sustainable development. So, this agreement puts in place these seven global targets, and an accountability framework at the global level, for which we can monitor the progress Member States are making as they reduce disaster risk.UN News: How important is disaster reduction to the achievement of the SDGs?Robert Glasser: Well, it is hugely important. Let me give you a couple of examples. There are some estimates that the annual cost of disasters is something like $500 billion, and that 26 million people fall into poverty each year as a result of disasters a lions share of the people displaced from natural disasters. If you look into countries that are exposed to hurricanes and cyclones for example, those hit by recent dreadful cyclones in the Caribbean you see the entire GDP, or huge percentage of it, being wiped out. The average annual loss from these disasters in some countries equates to something like 60 per cent of their annual social expenditure.UN News: People still question the validity of a view that climate change is causing disasters. Does climate change play a crucial role in causing natural disasters?Robert Glasser: This is such an important issue. Lets say, the doctor says you have cancer. You go to seek a second opinion, and you were told you have cancer. You go to five, six doctors and they all say you have cancer. At some point, you have to listen to the experts, and this is what has happened with climate change. Those people who doubt that climate change is happening are not doubting it on the basis of any solid scientific consensus. Using multiple ways of demonstrating these lines of evidence, scientists are absolutely convinced that human activity is increasing the average global temperature of the planet. And the connection between rising temperature and natural disasters is very clear and is highlighted also by these scientists.We would expect changes in the distribution, frequency, and severity of disasters. We have seen sea-level rise and bleaching of coral reefs. Thats a disaster an economic disaster, a tourism disaster for many countries. If that continues and reefs still do not recover, it affects fisheries. In the hurricanes we have just seen this year in the Caribbean, we saw how sea-level rise can contribute to storm surges that resulted in much more severe damage in cities in Texas and elsewhere. Weve seen floods in South Asia. In the Horn of Africa, people say drought only happened every 20 years or so, but now its every couple of years, or even consecutive years.UN News: Many people are alarmed by a recent wave of disasters, such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria, and earthquakes in Mexico. So, there is probably new awareness about the importance of doing something on disaster risk reduction. What should we do?Robert Glasser: Well, two things. I hope that particularly the climate-related disasters raise peoples awareness about the urgency of action to reduce greenhouse gases. Because, if we do not reduce greenhouse gases, so much of everything else we are trying to do to reduce disaster risk will be overwhelmed by rising seas, stronger storms, droughts and alike. So, that is number one. Second thing is that, its a sad thing to say, but we find that if you look back historically, a major disaster also serves as a huge opportunity for countries to begin building back better from the previous disaster, and to begin thinking, okay, we do not want this to happen again. There is a lot of political energy for legislation to be enacted, for changes to be put in place in government, for disaster management agencies to be given more authority, or even to be moved into the Prime Ministers Office these are the reflection of the central importance of addressing this. You have seen this actually in Mexico. It was an earlier earthquake decades ago that actually triggered the formulation of the current National Disaster Management Office that is now putting in place a lot of measures first of all, responding to this disaster, the recent earthquake, but also to prevent future disasters.UN News: What is the role of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and more broadly the UN system, in disaster risk reduction?Robert Glasser: I am so grateful to so many of my colleagues and agencies in the UN that are working on various aspects of reducing disaster risk starting with climate change and the huge efforts that Patricia Espinosa and the UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] is working on; Petteri Taalas at WMO [World Meteorological Organization] and the amazing scientists there that are working on early warning systems, multi-hazard warning systems. UNISDR has great collaboration with WMO and the World Bank to do that.Virtually, every organization in the whole UN system including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which is increasingly playing an important role in these areas, and the economic commissions is really increasingly focused on addressing these risks, embedding risk in the Sustainable Development Goals, which is our overall framework for development and for all the work we are trying to do now. Of course, there is a lot of work to do. There are huge gaps, and we have the UN reform that hopefully will help us become even more strategic in targeting how we address these challenges. So, I am very grateful to my UN colleagues for the impact they are having on this important problem.UN News: What are your priorities for the remainder of this year?Robert Glasser: Getting back to your original question about the link between the Sendai Framework and SDGs, one priority is to build the integration the SDGs call for the coherence of our approach. To give you one example, we have, in many countries I visited, the environment ministry creating a climate adaptation plan, the disaster management agency producing a disaster management plan, but they do not come together even through probably 70 per cent of the disasters in the disaster management plan are climate-related. So, helping countries integrate two critical frameworks Paris [Agreement] and Sendai Framework in the context of their economic planning by embedding risk, by ensuring that they are not investing or building hospitals in flood zones, for example, is hugely important.Something like $100 trillion is invested in infrastructure, including the Belt and Road Initiative in China. If all of these initiatives are resulting in infrastructure that produces more greenhouse gas, and is vulnerable to climate risk and disaster risk more broadly, then we will never achieve the Sendai Framework, let alone the SDGs. That would be a huge waste of money that could be spent on fighting poverty, on a whole range of other social benefits.UN News: Anything to add?Robert Glasser: There are many priorities in the UN system and Member States have many priority issues, [but] there are very few that are as urgent as addressing climate risk and disaster risk more broadly. They have a huge impact on peoples lives, taking peoples lives, and on wasting money that should be spent on more productive things.
By Carol Rasmussen
12 October 2017 (JPL) High-resolution satellite data from NASAs Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 are revealing the subtle ways that carbon links everything on Earth the ocean, land, atmosphere, terrestrial ecosystems and human activities. Scientists using the first 2 1/2 years of OCO-2 data have published a special collection of five papers today in the journal Science that demonstrates the breadth of this research. In addition to showing how drought and heat in tropical forests affected global carbon dioxide levels during the 2015-16 El Nino, other results from these papers focus on ocean carbon release and absorption, urban emissions and a new way to study photosynthesis. A final paper by OCO-2 Deputy Project Scientist Annmarie Eldering of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and colleagues gives an overview of the state of OCO-2 science.
Emissions From Individual Cities and Volcanoes Visible From Space More than 70 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities comes from cities, but because the gas mixes rapidly into the atmosphere, urban emissions are challenging to isolate and analyze. Florian Schwandner of JPL and colleagues used OCO-2 observations to detect how carbon dioxide emissions vary around individual cities the first time this has been done with data collected in just a few minutes from space. Over Los Angeles and the surrounding area, they were able to detect differences as small as 1 percent of total atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations within the air column below the satellite.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.OCO-2s orbit also allowed it to observe significant carbon dioxide signals from isolated plumes of three volcanoes on the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. One orbit directly downwind of Mt. Yasur, which has been erupting persistently since at least the 1700s, yielded a narrow string of carbon dioxide that was about 3.4 parts per million higher than background levels consistent with emissions of 41.6 kilotons of carbon dioxide a day. This is a valuable quantification of volcanic emissions, which are small compared to the average human emissions of about 100,000 kilotons per day.
El Nino Suppressed Tropical Oceans Release of Carbon Abhishek Chatterjee of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and colleagues studied how the big 2015-16 El Nino affected carbon dioxide over the tropical Pacific Ocean.This ocean region is usually a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. As part of global ocean circulation, cold, carbon-dioxide-rich water wells up to the surface in this region, and the extra carbon dioxide outgasses to the atmosphere. Because El Nino events suppress this upwelling, scientists have conjectured that it reduces the oceans carbon dioxide emissions and therefore causes a slowdown in the growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. However, until OCO-2, there havent been adequate atmospheric observations over the remote tropical Pacific to confirm this theory.OCO-2 data show that in the first few months of the 2015-16 El Nino, the rate of carbon dioxide released from the tropical Pacific to the atmosphere decreased by 26 to 54 percent. That translates to a short-term reduction of 0.4 to 0.5 parts per million in atmospheric concentration, or close to 0.1 percent of total atmospheric carbon dioxide.A change of one-tenth of one percent in carbon dioxide may sound negligible, but it occurred over a region in the Pacific Ocean about the size of the entire continent of Australia. This reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for a few months was strong enough that it could be observed by OCO-2 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Tropical Pacific Observing System of buoys, which directly measure carbon dioxide concentrations at the surface of the ocean. The record uptick in atmospheric carbon dioxide that occurred in 2015 and 2016 would have been even greater without this decrease in tropical Pacific Ocean emissions.With OCO-2, scientists can observe these tiny changes for the first time, a first step toward understanding the sensitivity of the carbon cycle to climate variations on a scale of years to decades.
A New Way to Measure Photosynthesis Besides carbon dioxide, OCO-2s high-resolution spectrometers can observe solar-induced fluorescence, or SIF. This radiation, emitted by chlorophyll molecules in plants, indicates that photosynthesis is occurring. SIF provides valuable insight into global photosynthesis because it captures photosynthesis during the growing season and also its slowdown, for example, over evergreen forests in winter, when trees maintain chlorophyll but stop absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.Ying Sun of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and colleagues report on OCO-2s unique SIF measurements, which provide a much higher spatial resolution than any previous system. The improved resolution enabled the scientists to perform the first-ever validation of SIF from concurrent airborne observations.OCO-2s smaller image footprint on Earth allowed the researchers to do a more direct comparison of the satellite measurements with ground-based measurements of flows of carbon dioxide between plants and the air. They found a consistent relationship between SIF and carbon dioxide uptake in plants across different types of ecosystems. This finding sets the direction for in-depth studies that may further illuminate the relationship between SIF and global photosynthesis. Contact Alan Buis
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
818-354-0474
Alan.Buis@jpl.nasa.gov Steve Cole
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
Stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov
New Insights From OCO-2 Showcased in Science
(E&E News) President Trumps nomination of a former Texas regulator whos touted the benefits of carbon dioxide to lead the Council on Environmental Quality is being praised by industry but derided by environmentalists as creative evil and a nightmare scenario. If confirmed by the Senate, Kathleen Hartnett White would lead a short-handed White House office thats traditionally been seen as an environmental watchdog on Pennsylvania Avenue.She will more aggressively go after dismantling all environmental laws thats the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, thats the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act, said Christy Goldfuss, who led CEQ in the Obama administration. Its creative evil, is what someone told me today.Of particular concern to environmentalists is Hartnett Whites assertion that climate change is not a danger to society and that recent hurricanes, raging wildfires, and droughts are not a sign of increasingly severe weather, as well as her advocacy around the use of fossil fuels as a moral case. [ more ]
Nomination of climate skeptic to head White House environmental office draws strong reactions
(Texas Observer) Kathleen Hartnett Whites vote to allow construction of a new coal plant 150 miles south of Dallas was the final straw for environmental groups. Mayors and officials in 24 cities and counties opposed the Oak Grove coal plant. Residents of Robertson County took out ads in the paper and held protests opposing it. And administrative law judges, who reviewed the plants air permit, told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that the plants pollution controls couldnt reasonably be expected to work.But in the summer of 2007, then-TCEQ Chairman White argued that Oak Groves owner, TXU Corp., was under no obligation to prove its pollution controls would work. The commission voted 2-1 to issue the air permit. For longtime environmentalists in the state, Whites vote typified her attitude on environmental issues side with industry no matter what.In the decade since the permit for Oak Grove was approved, coal has become uneconomical and the plants parent company, Energy Future Holdings, is now desperately trying to shed its tax obligations. White should have seen the writing on the wall for coal and listened to the researchers and citizens who warned her against greenlighting a coal plant, said Neil Carman, a former TCEQ inspector who now works for the Sierra Club.She acted like everything was rosy, said Carman.The Oak Grove vote was among the final decisions White made as chairman of TCEQ, which she led from 2003 to 2007. By then, environmental groups, tired of Whites industry-friendly practices, purchased a billboard near TCEQ headquarters in Austin urging then-Governor Rick Perry to Get White Out! and campaigned to ensure she wasnt reappointed to the commission.During her time at TCEQ, White was consistent in her positions: Trying to curb carbon emissions is futile, renewables are a false hope and carbon dioxide has none of the attributes of a pollutant. Among her stranger beliefs is that fossil fuels dissolved the economic justification for slavery and that the United Nations has revealed themselves as advocating for communism as the only system of government which effectively would reduce carbon dioxide. [more]
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India in talks to revive Sri Lanka's near-defunct airport
India is in advanced talks with Sri Lanka to operate a near-defunct airport on the southern tip of the island, where China has invested in a seaport and is in discussions for setting up an investment zone, including a refinery, as part of its Belt and Road initiative.
Reports quoting Sri Lanka's civil aviation minister, Nimal Siripala, said the country is looking for alternative investors in the Mattala airport, which currently serves no purpose. The airport, named as the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport, is perhaps better known as the ''emptiest airport in the world.''
Sripala said India has come up with a proposal to revive the airport. ''They were ready for a joint venture with the Airport and Aviation Services Limited, which runs Sri Lanka's main airport in the capital Colombo and the one in the south, in Mattala, he said.
This, however, has met with resistance from Sri Lanka's former president who opened the country's economy for the Chinese to exploit. Reports say, Namal Rajapaksa the elder son of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Tuesday staged a protest at the Indian consulate in Hambantota against the prospective lease of his father's namesake airport to an Indian company.
The town of Hambantota sits near one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and China sees it as an important centre to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond to Europe.
China, which already operates a seaport at Hambantota on a 99-year lease, is planning to expand its presence in the area with a refinery, which would be Sri Lanka's largest, and an investment zone of about 6,000 hectares.
Beijing has promised billions of dollars in investments in the area, which, however, benefits only Chinese companies and bring little for the Sri Lankan people and its economy.
In fact, the initiatives of the previous Sri Lankan government had given rise to widespread protests in Sri Lanka over what critics say were unnecessary and loss-making projects that only pushed the country into long-term indebtedness.
Local residents facing eviction to make way for the projects have staged numerous protests.
India is reported to have offered to set up a joint venture with Sri Lanka to manage and expand facilities at the loss-making Mattala airport, which is adjacent to the Hambantota seaport.
A Reuters report said the airport project will have an initial investment of $293 million, of which India will provide 70 per cent on a 40-year lease term, according to a Sri Lankan cabinet paper.
The airport, built at a cost of $253 million by China, which also provided $230 million of funding, gets one flight a day, from Dubai, and has been dubbed the world's emptiest airport for its long, empty corridors.
As per the revival plan proposed by the Indian government, the airport will house a flying school and a maintenance hub at Mattala to boost revenues while it builds up traffic.
The airport could also be developed as a destination for tourists, especially from India a move that would help integrate the Sri Lankan and Indian tourist eco-systems.
China is also reported to have put in a bid to operate the facility, but failed to agree on financial conditions set by the Sri Lankan government. China, however, is in no mood to let India get hold of the airport which is within its zone of influence.
While China was among the first to step in to help reconstruct post-war Sri Lanka, exploiting the country's frayed emotions due to New Delhi's support for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority during the island's 26-year civil war, China is yet to gain acceptance by the local people and the Sri Lankan government.
New Delhi under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to claw back influence in the region and reports say India is flexible in its airport reconstruction plans and would allow Sri Lanka to determine the size of the Indian stake and decide on state or private companies as partner.
The $210-million Mattala International Airport (MRIA), which opened its doors in 2013, has hardly reached 5 per cent of its capacity to handle a million passengers per year. It's cargo service, with an annual capacity of 45,000 tonnes is in an even worse situation. Mattala moved a mere 69 tonnes in 2016.
Currently, just two airlines fly there - FlyDubai and SriLankan Airlines - each of whom operate a single daily flight.
The Sri Lankan government claims that it has lost $113 million on the Mattala airport, and has been looking for suitors to take it over since June 2016.
Indian airport development company GMR is reported to have offered to invest $205 million in the Mattala airport in exchange for a 70 per cent share for 40 years.
The issue, however, could heat up the polarised political landscape of the country and bring the India-China geopolitical rivalry to flash point again.
Qualcomm files suits in China to stop production, sales of iPhone
Qualcomm Inc has filed lawsuits in China seeking to halt the manufacture and sale of Apple Inc's iPhones in the country, Bloomberg reported on Friday. This is the chipmaker's biggest shot at Apple so far in a sprawling and bitter legal fight.
The San Diego-based Qualcomm filed the suits in a Beijing intellectual property court claiming patent infringement, and is seeking injunctive relief, Bloomberg said, citing Qualcomm spokeswoman Christine Trimble.
Apple is waging a global legal battle on Qualcomm's long-held practice of charging a percentage of the total price of iPhones and other Apple devices as a licensing fee for its patents.
Apple and Qualcomm did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
According to the Bloomberg report, Qualcomm is aiming to inflict pain on Apple in the world's largest market for smartphones and cut off production in a country where most iPhones are made. The product provides almost two-thirds of Apple's revenue.
"Apple employs technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying for them," Trimble said.
The two companies are months into a legal dispute that centres on Qualcomm's technology licensing business. While Qualcomm gets the bulk of its sales from making phone chips, it pulls in most of its profit from charging fees for patents that cover the fundamentals of all modern phone systems.
The latest suits come at a crucial time for Apple. It just introduced iPhone 8 and X models aimed at reasserting leadership in a market that's steeped in competition from fast-growing Chinese makers. Suppliers and assemblers in China are rushing to churn out as many new iPhones as possible ahead of the key holiday season, so any disruptions would likely be costly, Bloomberg points out. The Greater China region accounted for 22.5 per cent of Apple's $215.6 billion sales in its most recent financial year.
The legal battle started earlier this year when Apple filed an antitrust suit against Qualcomm arguing that the chipmaker's licensing practices are unfair, and that it abused its position as the biggest supplier of chips in phones. Qualcomm charges a percentage of the price of each handset regardless of whether it includes a chip from the company, and Apple has become averse to paying those fees.
Qualcomm has countered with a patent suit and argued that Cupertino, California-based Apple encouraged regulators from South Korea to the US to take action against it based on false testimony. Earlier this week, Qualcomm was fined a record NT$23.4 billion ($773 million) by Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission, a ruling the company is appealing. Qualcomm is also asking US authorities to ban the import of some versions of the iPhone, arguing they infringe on its patents.
Soon after its first legal salvo, Apple cut off licensing payments to Qualcomm. That's about $2 billion a year in highly profitable revenue, according to analyst estimates, and the chipmaker was forced to lower earnings forecasts.
Qualcomm stock is down 19 per cent this year compared with a 35 per cent gain by the benchmark Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index. Apple shares are up 36 per cent this year.
Even as China continues its road-building in the Doklam region - though away from the site of the showdown with India - Bhutan has reportedly again discussed the situation with the Chinese mission in New Delhi. Diplomatic sources told The Times of India that Bhutan's ambassador to India Vetsop Namgyel met Luo Zhaohui, his Chinese counterpart, at the Chinese embassy in Delhi on 27 September to discuss the Chinese activities in the region. This was exactly a month after India and China announced disengagement of their troops from the standoff on the Doklam plateau near Sikkim which both New Delhi and Thimpu say is located in Bhutan, but is claimed by China. As the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement earlier this month, there is no fresh activity at the faceoff site or its vicinity and the status quo remains. But China's People's Liberation Army troops remain stationed around 800-900 meters from the faceoff site though Beijing has shifted road construction equipment from that site. As reported earlier, China is currently building a road network 10-12 km north of the standoff site (See: China resumes road building near Doklam, but away from standoff site) . Bhutan and China are also learnt to have discussed the possibility of holding another round of border talks soon. Under its treaty with Bhutan, India is responsible for the external affairs and defence of the tiny Himalayan Kingdom. With Beijing apparently looking to wean Bhutan away from India's influence, any move which Thimpu makes on the issue of the disputed Bhutan-China-India tri-junction is of immense significance to India. The Bhutan envoy's meeting with Luo coincided with reports that China remained active in the Doklam region, looking probably to improve its access from Yatung, where the PLA has a base, to the territory which is disputed between China and Bhutan. Bhutanese authorities remained uncommunicative during the 74-day Sino-Indian standoff - after they issued a demarche to China in June, but after the disengagement was announced, Thimpu welcomed the development expressing hope that this would lead to "maintenance of peace and tranquillity and status quo along the borders of Bhutan, China and India in keeping with the existing and agreements between the respective countries". There is a 2012 agreement between India and China that tri-junction could only be established by holding consultations with Bhutan. An op-ed in China's Global Times recently said that road construction in Doklam area was going to be "a new trend". Chinese control of Doklam leading up to where Beijing believes the tri-junction is, Mount Gipmochi, will render India's Siliguri Corridor vulnerable but the government has to ensure that it works in harmony with Bhutan. During the standoff, Chinese media had sought to create an impression that Bhutan had been forced to take a position favouring India. This, Indian officials say, is not borne out by facts, according to the TOI report. Bhutan has never in the past accepted China's claim over Doklam, and in fact raised the issue of its sovereignty over the area in each of the over 20 rounds of boundary talks it has had with China. (Also see: Indian Army to step up road-building along Chinese border)
The Indian Army on Friday stated that there would be a concerted move towards road construction in the central sector of the border with China.
An Army statement said, "Indian Army has decided that there would be a concerted heft towards road construction activities in central sector of the borders with China. Niti, Lipulekh, Thangla 1 and Tsangchokla passes along Indo-China border decided to be connected by road on priority by 2020".
"It has also been decided to allot additional funds to Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for Northern Command for development of roads and infrastructure. To modernise military stations at par with smart city plan, 15 per cent additional funds will be allotted for five years to revamp external services," the statement added.
Earlier in the month, it was reported that China's People's Liberation Army had started constructing a road about 10 to 12 km from the site where the two armies were locked in a face-off (See: China resumes road building near Doklam, but away from standoff site) .
On 28 August, the two countries had agreed to pull back troops to end the months-long Dokalam face-off. Troops of the two countries had been locked in a standoff in Dokalam since June 16, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area.
(Also see: Bhutan discusses Doklam situation with China in Delhi)
Government Chief Whip Joe McHugh has congratulated local authorities on both sides of the border for their vision for the future of the region.
Minister McHugh accompanied Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during a visit to Derry where they met councillors and officials from Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council.
The joint North West Strategic Partnership put forward their vision for a cross-border city region.
Deputy McHugh said: "The Taoiseach takes a huge interest in what happens in Donegal and in Derry and the relationship between north and south. As Transport and Tourism Minister he committed finance to the development of the A5 and gave the go-ahead to the Wild Atlantic Way."
The Donegal deuty said that as Health Minister it was the Taoiseach's vision which now allows cancer and heart patients to be treated at facilities at Altnagelvin funded to the tune of 19M by the Irish taxpayer.
He said: The Taoiseach and I were given an up to date position on the incredible cross border work on job creation, education, tourism and a number of other important sectors. When it comes to job creation, both sides of the Border benefit, whether thats staff from Donegal going to work at Seagate in Derry, or staff from Derry going to work at Pramerica on this side of the border."
Deputy McHugh paid tribute to council chief executives Seamus Neely and John Kelpie and to local councillors and staff for their continued work benefiting citizens on both sides of the border.
Minister McHugh said he was also delighted when the Taoiseach announced today that the Irish Government is to release 2.5M in funding to help the work of the Partnership.
The Taoiseach also understood clearly the need to develop further the education links between LYIT and the Magee University Campus, said McHugh.
As for the A5, we both agreed a start to the Derry-Strabane part of the route cant begin soon enough and the Taoiseach expressed frustration at the delays in getting it started as our Government has committed to funding it.
Deputy McHugh said that everyone at the meeting agreed that enhanced transport links between the North West and Dublin are vital.
"The councils began all this work well before Brexit and we are seeing the results now. It was good to have the Taoiseach here to hear what has happened so far and what is needed for the future, he said.
Greenwood Mayor Phyllis Bowman said Monday she has no intention of quitting that job in the face of a petition that seeks to remove her from the position. She has prepared the written response shes allowed and will fight to retain her post, she said.
The original petition for her recall was submitted to the county Supervisor of Elections office after it was filed with the Greenwood town clerk last week. The county office has since verified 70 of the 73 names that appeared on the petition, enough to move the process forward another step.
The mayors response will be attached to a fresh copy of the petition, which the petitioners can then circulate as a single document in seeking signatures of those who agree she should be recalled. For the recall petition to move forward to the third step in the process, 15 percent of the towns registered voter must sign it and those signatures must be verified by the county supervisor.
If enough signatures are gained and verified, the chief judge of the judicial circuit must set a date for a formal recall election on the question of whether Bowman should be removed, and in the same election, allow voters to choose from a field of candidates who put their names in the running to replace her in the event that she is recalled by a majority vote.
The original petition, turned in at Greenwood Town Hall last Wednesday by Holly Ness, asserts that Bowman put employees in harms way by ordering them to work during a time that Gov. Rick Scott had called for non-essential government employees to stand down from duty due to Hurricane Irma. The petition further states that Bowman then chastised city employees upon which she took disciplinary action.
Ness claims specifically that Bowman wrote up the town clerk for telling other employees to stay home after she, Bowman, had ordered them to work that day. The petition alleges that Bowmans order to work and the subsequent reprimand of the clerk amount to malfeasance.
Bowman, in her written response, defended her decision to have employees work on Monday, Sept. 11, the day the hurricane was moving inland, and also her decision to reprimand the clerk.
In part, it reads: On Friday, Sept. 8, I requested the three essential personnel of the town to arrive in Greenwood on Monday, Sept. 11, at 7:30 a.m. to assess any damage, and be visible, to reassure our citizens. By requesting the deputy clerk to remain at home, this complied with Gov. Rick Scotts call for all non-essential personnel to stay home and off the roads.the town clerk was written up for telling the maintenance personnel to ignore my request without prior consultation and approval from meI have attempted to improve the efficiency of the town and fulfilling our duties to the citizens. This has required changing procedures, which have been unsettling to the employees. I do, and will continue to, listen to the employees and their concerns, to work together for greater efficiency. The response also notes that she took no disciplinary action against the maintenance employees who did not work their regular schedule Monday.
Bowman said she only found out after the fact that Corder had told the maintenance employees, who work on roads and in public works, to do something other than what was discussed in a town meeting that Friday.
Bowman said this Monday she was blindsided by the petition. She said she felt the plan for the Monday in question had been settled the Friday prior, with no employees objecting to the approach that was ironed out in a staff meeting with all workers present at a time when there were still unknowns associated with the storm.
Bowman asserts that everyone left that Friday with this understanding: If the weather was relatively mild, all were to report except the deputy clerk. If the weather turned out to include torrential rain and other severe, dangerous conditions, they would reassess and potentially cancel their plan to report for work. Bowman said no one objected at the time.
With some gusty wind and a little rain the only sign of a storm as the start of the work day approached Monday, Bowman said, she went to city hall and found herself alone there.
Ultimately, she said, she learned that town clerk Alicia Corder told the road and public works employees on Sunday not to go in Monday. Bowman said Corder didnt immediately advise her Monday of reportedly having given them that directive on Sunday. Bowman and Corder talked Monday. At some point in the conversation, Bowman asserts, Corder said shed driven through town and determined that all was well in Greenwood. She then announced she was going home, Bowman asserts. The mayor said she decided to let that pass, but says she told Corder that she wanted the maintenance men to report. She said Corder responded that shed let them know.
Bowman said she stands by her decision to discipline Corder and by the plan to have Corder and the two maintenance employees report on Monday.
"If a tree had come down in the middle of a road in Greenwood, our road maintenance supervisor would have been there to go out and put up a barricade so that if emergency personnel came through theyd know there was something in the road ahead to watch out for," Bowman explained.
"There were many reasons we needed people here that day. I got calls all day about the power being out. I needed someone at town hall to reassure people. Greenwood is one of the smallest municipalities in the county and we have limited resources to draw on. With four employees, everybodys job is important, and our citizens needed them. There were some major wind gusts and a little rain, not severe life-threatening weather. We needed to be here to let the citizens see that we were taking care of things as we should. Our population includes many older people who need the kind of reassurance that our being here, visible and available, would have provided."
First Free Will Baptist Church, 1387 South Blvd., Chipley, Florida, will host a high energy worship celebration through a state-of-the-art multi-media presentation on Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m. Music artist B-shoc will bring God's word in a laser light show. V.I.P. meet and greet tickets are $10 each and starts at 5:45 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring a canned or non-perishable item for the local food pantry.
The Dothan Evening Community Lighthouse of Aglow International will meet at Shoney's Restaurant located at 3054 Ross Clark Circle on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m. The guest speaker is Tina Zimmerman. All are invited to attend.
The Enterprise Aglow Community Lighthouse Meeting will be held Saturday Oct. 21, at 10 a.m. at Po Folks Restaurant in Enterprise. Guest speaker will be Barbara Wise from Defuniak Springs, Florida. For more information, call 334-406-9683.
Grimes Gospel Lighthouse, 1512 County Road 25, Grimes, will host Freddy Redmon from Cooksville, Tennessee, Oct. 21; and local artists on Oct. 28. Music starts at 7 p.m. A love offering will be taken. Call 334-983-4654 or 334-714-4658 for more information.
Klondyke Gospel Music Center, located between Newton and Ozark at 3885 Highway 123 S., will host Victor Glover & 3 Days Out of Dothan on Oct. 21; Crimson City Quartet of Pensacola, Florida, on Oct. 28. Music starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, contact Ron Jeffers, president and concert coordinator, at 334-797-9862.
Faith Independent Baptist Church, 4481 Rucker Blvd., Enterprise, will host a special Down Syndrome Worship Service during the 11 a.m. service on Oct. 22. Featured guest speakers include Abb and Paul Thomas, a father and son team that have traveled across America for the past 20 years encouraging individuals with Down syndrome. Paul, whose cheerful and persevering spirit is contagious, will share how Gods grace enabled him to deal with challenges in his life. The community is invited. Free infant and toddler care provided. Faith Independent Baptist Church is one-quarter mile outside the Fort Rucker gate.
St. Paul Church of God in Christ, 711 Oak St., Ashford, will hold a Family and Friends Day on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m. Guest speaker will be Elder Leonard Ward of Behold the Lamb of God Ministries in Dothan. Call 334-648-4305 or 334-618-0398 for more information.
New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2627 Kinsey Road, Dothan, will hold its annual Mens Day services on Sunday, Oct. 22. The Rev. Edward Williams of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Dothan will speak at 11 a.m. The Rev. Erick Jones of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Abbeville will speak at 2:30 p.m. The theme is The Lord is my Shepherd: Providing Rest in a Troubled World. Lunch will be served.
The New Hope Freewill Baptist Church, 3819 County Road 31, Abbeville, will celebrate their 151st Church Anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 22, beginning at 2:30 p.m. The guest speaker for the evening will be Pastor Walter Pogue of Union Grove Baptist Church in Eufaula. All churches are invited to attend. Dinner will be served.
New Hope Baptist Church, 5711 County Road 114, Brundidge, will hold a revival Oct. 22-25. The Sunday service will be at 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday services will be at 6:30 p.m. Guest preacher will be the Rev. Sonny Moore, and Johnny Anderson will direct the music.
County Line Baptist Church, 1000 Highway 92, Enterprise, will host the third annual Community Country Fest on Saturday, Oct., 28, from 4-6 p.m. There will be bluegrass music by the Jerry Gay Family; antique tractors, cars, and farming implements; old-time demonstrations; hay ride; petting zoo; carriage rides; as well as games, crafts, peanut boil, popcorn, cotton candy and door prizes. Country Fest is free and for all ages. For more information, call the church office at 334-347-6082.
Stringer Street A.M.E. Church will host an All Cancer Awareness program on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m. The program will honor survivors and include a candlelight vigil. Refreshments will be served. A special service will also be held on Sunday, Oct. 29, at the church at 11 a.m. The public is invited to attend the program, sponsored by the Daughters of Eve Women Ministry and Women Missionary Society. For more information, contact the Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Sherrod III at 334-479-8231.
Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Ozark will host Judgement House on Oct. 29 from 5-8:30 p.m. The church is located at 1971 Deese Road. Judgement House is a walk-thru drama that presents the consequences of peoples choices both in this life and the next. This years drama follows a Christmas celebration within a church where some of the members lack Christmas spirit. Alice struggles with the pain of losing her father to cancer. Becky is guilty of self-righteousness. Clyde cannot fathom the idea of Gods grace covering his multitude of sins. Visitors will see if the three acknowledge their broken spirits before a fatal Christmas Day accident. The Judgement House presentation takes approximately one hour to complete. For more information, call 334-774-5610 or visit RidgecrestBaptistOzark.org.
Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, East Geneva County Road 4, will hold a fish fry on Saturday, Nov. 4. Plates of fried fish or grilled chicken will be served from 4:30-7 p.m.
Christ the King Lutheran Church, 208 E. Watts St., Enterprise, will hold a free, child-friendly Reformation Walk on Nov. 4 from 10-11:30 a.m. Learn how the world was changed 500 years ago when the young priest Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany, sparking the Protestant Reformation that changed the Christian Church forever. Participants will visit 10 stations that will highlight the Reformation and some of the individuals who played a role in transforming the Church. Each of the 10 stations takes about 15 minutes to complete, including travel time between sites, so all 10 sessions would take an hour and a half. If you would like to walk, RSVP with Christina Hardy at 334-347-6716.
First Baptist Church of Slocomb, 225 N. Dalton St., Slocomb, will host Karen Peck & New River in concert on Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. There will be no admission charge.
Dothan Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, 2867 Fortner St., Dothan, will hold a Pastoral Anniversary and Appreciation Service honoring Superintendent William A. Brown, pastor, and first lady Brenda F. Brown on Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. Guest speaker will be Bishop Russel Gordon of Bible Way Church in Dothan. For more information, call 334-805-6096.
First Free Will Baptist Church is selling parade chair tickets for the National Peanut Festival Parade, scheduled for Nov. 11. The cost is $3 for the front row and $2 for the second and third rows. The chairs will be located between Pettus Street and South Alice Street. Call 334-792-3316 for tickets.
Local judge John Coughlan has said he aims to 'liquidate' drug dealers.
He issued the warning at Dundalk District Court last week where over 20 people were prosecuted, having been arrested in a covert Garda operation targeting the sale and supply of drugs in the area.
Operation Varlet - which involved undercover gardai buying small deals of drugs, came to light in February, when over twenty arrests were made with local garda and detective units working along with the Regional Support Unit and members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
Many of those who were detained appeared before Dundalk District Court last Wednesday charged with having drugs for sale or supply.
Judge Coughlan distinguished between those who were addicts feeding a habit, and others who he described as 'prolific' drug dealers and during a number of the cases he said "my idea is to liquidate drug dealers".
The court heard how undercover officers had made contact with the defendants by phone, and arranged to make a number of purchases.
Most of the prosecutions related to Diamorphine - better known as heroin, and cannabis, while others related to medication Alprazalom (Xanax), which is prescribed for anxiety and panic disorders and Zipiclone, which is for treating insomnia.
The locations where the deals were made included local housing estates, a bookies, a hotel and a fast-food outlet.
The sentences imposed ranged from eight months for which appeals were lodged, or suspended jail terms of up to 10 months.
Others had their cases adjourned for the preparation of Probation reports, or so they could raise 1,000 while bench warrants were issued for two of the defendants who failed to appear in court.
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Is small beautiful? Supervision, regulation and the size of banks
Statement by Sabine Lautenschlager, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at an IMF seminar, Washington D.C., 14 October 2017
The call for greater proportionality in banking regulation and supervision is growing louder not just in the United States and Europe, but also globally.
To put it bluntly, proportionality involves applying a different set of rules to banks operating in the same market. Careful consideration must therefore be given to the various objectives pursued, and the costs and benefits involved.
On the one hand, this means that we need to assess the financial stability risks posed by individual banks and groups of banks. And we need to look at the implications of proportionality for local competition.
On the other hand, we have to consider the costs of regulation and supervision. Small banks face greater difficulties in complying with complex regulation. This may put them at a disadvantage and therefore reduce diversity in the banking sector. However, a wide diversity of small and medium-sized banks makes the banking sector more stable. Thus proportionality may be necessary to foster such diversity.
These are the kind of trade-offs we need to talk about.
But let me begin by talking about risks, as this is the starting point for regulation and supervision.
It can generally be assumed that the failure of a small bank poses a smaller risk to the financial system than the failure of a big bank. So it might make sense to apply a different regulatory and supervisory regime to small individual banks.
However, when many small banks with the same business model form mutual liability arrangements via institutional protection schemes, qualified holdings or integrated cooperative structures, they might become systemically relevant at least at national level.
In the event of a failure, all these small banks taken together could pose a big risk to the financial system. This is known as the too many to fail problem. It deserves particular attention and probably a response that goes beyond the standard microprudential supervision that we are here to talk about today.
As small banks are generally less risky, the costs and benefits of regulation and supervision may not be balanced for small banks in some areas. Applying to small banks the same approach that is applied to large banks would not be proportionate, as the costs, in particular of complex prudential rules, would be higher in comparison and the benefits would be smaller.
So there is a strong case for proportionality.
Looking at the European situation, the EUs single rulebook already provides for such proportionality in many cases. For instance, reporting requirements for small banks are far less stringent than those for large banks: small banks have to report about 600 data points to supervisors, whereas larger banks have to report more than 40,000.
The question is whether more proportionality in banking regulation is needed?
Indeed, the discussion in Europe is currently focusing on changes in several additional areas which will enable banks to apply simpler rules and thus reduce compliance costs for smaller banks:
One proposal focuses on the capital requirement rules for market and counterparty credit risk. Banks with small trading books below 50 million could be exempted from the obligation to have a prudential trading book. This would enable them to use the simpler credit risk framework.
Banks with trading books below 300 million could use a simpler standardised approach to calculate market risk.
Similarly, in the field of counterparty credit risk, banks with small derivative portfolios might be able to use a simpler standardised approach to calculate capital requirements.
Another proposal looks at reducing the regulatory burden of small banks by softening reporting requirements. Some of the proposals discussed involve reducing the number of data points to be reported by using simplified templates and less granular data.
Less convincing are proposals which involve less frequent reporting. This would not result in cost savings, as banks would still have to invest in setting up reporting structures. But it would mean that supervisors would have to work with outdated information.
There are also suggestions to reduce the disclosure obligations for small banks, in particular non-listed ones. This would significantly reduce their administrative burden.
And there are proposals to exempt smaller banks from some remuneration rules something that is worth discussing.
A great many proposals have been put forward altogether I will refrain from listing them all.
The critical question is: what do we want to achieve through the proportional regulation and supervision of small banks? Would it mean that these banks could hold less capital, less liquidity?
In my opinion, proportionality means simpler rules for smaller banks. But it does not mean that the rules should be generally less stringent, or that banks can hold less capital or liquidity.
Finally, a crucial issue is where to draw the line between small and large banks.
Depending on the objectives of proportionality, the line might be drawn according to the volume of total assets; or it could be linked to the size of specific business activities. It might also depend on banks business models or on whether or not banks use internal models. And the size of a bank relative to the countrys total banking assets could also play a role.
Both quantitative and qualitative criteria need to be assessed when considering where to draw the line between small and large banks.
To sum up, small banks are generally less risky than larger ones. So a proportionate approach to regulating and supervising small banks is indeed appropriate.
An approach that resulted in simpler rules for small banks could help to balance the costs and benefits involved but it should not result in small banks holding far less capital, as they also need to remain resilient during an economic downturn in order to continuously provide credit to the economy.
High-profile education philanthropist Eli Broad has announced hes stepping away from day-to-day duties at the foundation that he and his wife foundedas well as public life in generalbut his legacy in reshaping how private money can influence policy and the politics around those ideas will extend into the foreseeable future, experts say.
The 84-year-old Broad is the founder of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, based in Los Angeles. Hes generated much national attention for his outsized influence on the charter sector, shaping hundreds of school district leaders through a training academy, some of whom continue to lead the biggest systems in the country, and energized school districts and charters seeking the prestigious Broad Prize that comes with a handsome cash award.
His departure, announced late Thursday in a piece by the New York Times, raises the question of whether the foundation will be as aggressive on education issues now that he is no longer at the helm.
Its true: Im retiring, Broad wrote on his official Twitter account. Im eager to spend time with my family, read, and maybe even watch a few movies.
Broad named a new president at the foundation, Gerun Riley, in 2016, but had remained active.
Its a real milestone announcement as someone who was part of a wave of really hands-on philanthropists who have built up a strong influence on the education sector, said Megan Tompkins-Stange, a public policy professor at Michigan State University who has extensively researched education philanthropy and profiled the Broad Foundation in her book, Policy Patrons, last year. Hes been at the forefront of this highly engaged venture-style philanthropy, wanting to move quickly to achieve outcomes and holding grantees to very specific metrics.
Unapologetic Mover and Shaker
Tompkins-Stange said whats helped set Broads style apart from a peer group in education philanthropy that includes Bill Gates and the Walton family, the founders of Walmart, has been his unapologetic nature in wanting to see change fast.
Broad, a native of Detroit, made his money through construction and insurance, building his empire in Los Angeles after relocating there as a young businessman.
Even in his business, Kaufman & Broad, I used to kid him that hes a little like George Bailey [the fictional protagonist of the film Its a Wonderful Life], because he made one of his first fortunes building homes for working men and women in Michigan, said Steve Barr, the founder of Green Dot Public Schools and the current CEO of Future is Now, an advocacy organization.
Broad has invested tens of millions in expanding Los Angeles charter schools, particularly schools with a college prep-focus that serve predominately low-income, minority students. Hes also spent hefty sums on school board elections to create a friendlier political environment for charters to grow. With the help of money from Broad, the most recent election for the Los Angeles school board was the most expensive in the nations history, and saw the board flip to a majority of pro-charter members.
I wish we werent in the position that were in right now, which seems to be a never-ending escalation in both an investment war and a political war over the control of our schools, said Steve Zimmer, the union-backed, former president of the Los Angeles Unified School District, who lost reelection this past spring. I never felt like I disagreed with Eli on the goals. The point of disagreement was how to get there.
Beyond shaping the charter sector nationally, Broads philanthropy has had a major impact on the city of Los Angeles. Broad helped fund redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles, and his vast patronage of the arts is embodied in a $140 million dollar art museum he opened in the center of the city in 2015.
Los Angeles is unique, and this is one of the beautiful things about this city, theres not an old establishment, said Barr. Broad is not a seventh generation [John D.] Rockefeller. Like the city itself, hes self-made. He didnt inherit wealth, he created it. And he never lost sight of the fact that he was the product of the public education system in Michigan.
A High-Profile Prize
When he unveiled the Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2002, Broad said he hoped to create the equivalent of the Nobel or Pulitzer Prizes for education. To win the annual prize, a $1 million award, districts had to demonstrate high academic improvement while closing the achievement gap among low-income and minority students. Districts including New York City, Miami-Dade, and Houston were among the recipients before the prize was suspended in 2015. The foundation continues to award a $250,000 annual prize to charter schools, an award that began five years ago.
The Broad Academy, meanwhile, has trained nearly 700 district superintendents, according to its website. They include John Deasy, the former chief of the district in Los Angeles, where the Broad Foundation was particularly active. However, critics of the academy say it trains future superintendents in harmful corporate-management techniques and encourages them to leave parents and teachers out in the cold.
The foundation also provides grants to numerous high-profile organizations, from Teach For America to Success Academy charter schools. Of the foundations $590 million in education-focused donations since 1999, $144 million has gone to charter schools, according to the foundation. (The foundation has provided grant support to Education Week in the past, but is not currently a funder.)
We wouldnt be where we are nationally or in Los Angeles without him. Full stop, said Richard Barth, the chief executive officer of the KIPP charter school network.
Broads desire to invest in fast results and scaling up promising ideas helped propel the growth of networks like KIPPthe largest in the country.
KIPP has 209 schools in cities all over the United States, including 15 in Los Angeles. Barth said Broad was highly engaged in his organizations work, and had exacting standards for his grantees.
When you took an investment from Eli Broad you were committing to very specific [performance] metrics, said Barth. I would say he was ahead of his time in setting explicit expectations. He was doing this before venture philanthropy or an investment approach in philanthropy was big.
Criticism for Imposing Change
Although Broad can count many fans among the charter sector, hes cultivated critics as well. Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Teachers College Columbia University, said the most common complaint has been that Broad is a powerful billionaire who has influenced public institutions without facing direct accountability.
The center of this reform movement that Broad is part of has been aimed at addressing the achievement gap, and I think thats a good thing, said Henig. But the flip side is that predominately white institutions and predominately white donors are leading a charge that affects predominately minority communities.
Tompkins-Stange echoed this concern as well, and said this could be an area where the Broad Foundation can improve with future funding decisions that are made as the nations demographics change.
Henig explained that Broad fit a trend of emerging philanthrophists in the last 20 years who can become relatively frustrated with the results of their investments. Henig thinks that impatience led Broad to shift his philanthropy over time away from traditional school districts and into charter schools, in particular large, sophisticated networks of charter schools.
This change in focus was seen with the disbanding of the Broad Prize for urban school districts.
When it didnt rapidly prove itself, when it wasnt clear that the winners of the Broad Prize continued on an upward arc, when it wasnt clear that other districts adopted those strategies with equal success, the Broad Prize switched emphasis more toward recognizing charter networks, said Henig.
For Barbara Jenkins, Broads impact is personal. She believes hes helped her have a successful career in education. Having attended his academy in 2006, she was superintendent of Orange County Public Schools in Florida in 2014 when the district won the Broad Prize, a distinction split with Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia that year. The two districts were the last traditional public school systems to win the prize, and Jenkins said the $500,000 in college scholarships for their high school seniors that came with the award immediately made an impact on her students.
Regarding the academy, it was the best professional development Ive had to date, Jenkins said. The rigor and expectation was high. Philanthropists can put their money wherever they want and for people like Eli Broad to see education as an important place to put it speaks tremendously of their belief in its importance.
Getting Involved
Patrick Dobard was accepted into the Broad Academy just after being named the superintendent of Louisianas Recovery School District. The RSD is not a traditional districtits run by the state and charged with taking over failing Louisiana schools and turning them around. Dobard, who is now the CEO of New Schools For New Orleans, faced a lot of unique challenges in that role.
Through the Broad Residency and Academy programs, they helped to steer significant talent to work in organizations throughout the city of New Orleans [after Hurricane Katrina], whether that talent is in the local charter schools, or in the New Orleans Parish school boards offices, or even in the state officetheyve had lasting impact through the human capital thats been placed in the city.
While injecting private money into the public services system can look encouraging to those who ascribe to free-market, libertarian-esque ideology, it can scare those who worry the United States is allowing a wave of rich people to dictate how policy should be shaped.
Political philanthropy has long been a part of the American fabric and people appreciate others giving away their fortunes to help kids and seeing their passion to make the world a better place, said education policy analyst Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank. (Hess also writes an opinion blog on edweek.org.) But the flip side of when we get passionate about something is that it is easy for our vision to become obscured as passion does not tend to lead to the best rational thought process. Then people will attack you for how you spend your money, and so you become defensive and shut out any criticism, which hurts your ability to make sustainably positive change like you wanted in the first place.
Broad cut an interesting figure: He identified as a liberal Democrat in blue California, but tangled with teachers unions on issues and was an ally to Republican and conservative folks through his work on charters.
But Broad is also a risk-taker in his funding, said Barr, whose Green Dot Public Schools is unique among charter networks because its teachers are unionized.
Broad, said Barr, is willing to back ideas no one else wouldsuch as a unionized charter school that Barr opened up in New York City with the help of Randi Weingarten, then the president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City. She is now the head of the American Federation of Teachers.
The only national donor for start-up funds for that school was Eli Broad, and that school would not have opened [without his support], said Barr. Thats a school that is now in its 10th year, and it just got a [National] Blue Ribbon and the average teacher makes a little over $100,000 a year.
Earlier this year, Broad lobbied senators to reject Betsy DeVos as President Donald Trumps nominee to be the U.S. Secretary of Education, citing her support for unregulated charter schools and vouchers as well as the potential conflicts of interest she might bring to the job. And he and his wife are adulated for their support of the arts, which seems to have allowed him to switch among polarized political groups to do his work.
I think hes poised to keep making an impact because of all those relationships hes made and that he cant be easily categorized in such a polarized environment, Tompkins-Stange said, adding that shes not sure how far away Broad may stay from the work hes been so engaged with for 20 years. But by being involved so deeply at the forefront, its allowing him to see an immediate legacy, and hes not known to stay quiet if he sees something he thinks needs fixing, so I think were doubtful thatll change.
When Edgardo Ortiz boarded a flight from Puerto Rico to Florida on Oct. 7, with his wife and 9-year-old daughter, he didnt have a concrete plan for what would happen next.
He planned to stay with his aunt in Kissimmee, enroll his daughter in school, and look for a job.
With recovery efforts on the island painfully slowhe still had no potable water or electricity when he left home in CaguasOrtiz wanted more stability for his daughter, elderly mother, and mother-in-law.
At Orlando International Airport, the family ran into Bridget Williams, the chief of staff for the Orange County school system, who, along with other district staffers, had set up a table at the airport five days earlier to greet Puerto Rican evacuees. They were there to inform them about schooling options and social services available in the Orlando area. (The education website, The 74, reported this week on efforts by school districts to accommodate Puerto Rican evacuees.)
Williams perked up when she overheard that Ortiz and his wife taught physics and chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico. By the end of the encounter, Ortiz and his wife had job offers to teach science at one of the districts high schools. The couple may start teaching as early as next week.
See Also: Inside Puerto Ricos Recovery Efforts: On-the-Ground Coverage
Since Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico in late September, school districts on the mainland in areas with large Puerto Rican populations have been bracing for an influx of students. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and thousands have migrated to the continental United States and settled in enclaves on the East Coast, including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Conn., Holyoke, Mass., and Miami.
Student Diaspora
As of Oct. 9, officials in Orange County had enrolled nearly 300 students from Puerto Rico and 92 from the U.S. Virgin Islands, which, like Puerto Rico, were heavily damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Miami-Dade County school district had enrolled 251 Puerto Rican students by Oct. 12, and was preparing for more.
Florida districts are used to taking in large numbers of students from Latin America and the Caribbean after natural disasters and political upheavals. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the states schools took in thousands of students.
The state is offering a number of flexibilities in the storms wake, including waiving application fees for Puerto Rican educators who want to continue working in the sector.
Around the rest of the mainland United States, school officials in cities that expect students to join their relatives have issued directives to principals to help make it easier for students who show up without birth certificates, immunization records, school transcriptseven clothing, in some casesto get back into the classrooms as seamlessly, and as quickly, as possible.
We are not asking for any documentationif they dont have it, they dont have it, said Rebeca Chaverri, the homeless education coordinator in the Holyoke, Mass., school system, where 80 percent of students are of Puerto Rican descent.
Districts have yet to see the thousands of students they were expecting, but officials say they anticipate the numbers to increase once flights to and from the island become more frequent and the infrastructure gets better. Three weeks after the hurricane, only 16 percent of the country has power.
Only 11 Puerto Rican students had enrolled in Holyokes schools by Oct. 13, but the district had information and inquiries from as many as 30 families indicating that school-age relatives from Puerto Rico may stay with them, Chaverri said.
Family Networks
Families were still trying to sort out where youngsters would stay because relatives may be scattered in different cities and the students final destinations are still unknown, Chaverri said.
Its a family effort to bring your relatives [from] Puerto Rico, she said.
But, she thinks what the school system has seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.
Its unclear right now how an influx will affect Holyoke, which, in a normal school year, always receives students from Puerto Rico, said Stephen Zrike, Holyokes state-appointed superintendent.
The district is providing counseling, housing assistance, and food for students. If there is a large influx, officials will have to think about whether there is enough classroom space, depending on where in Holyoke they settle. Some schools and grade levels are near capacity, he said.
If we get closer to 75 to 100 studentsthat would be very hard for us to absorb, Zrike said of the 5,300-student district. The district right now is committed to welcoming the students, making sure they feel comfortable, getting them enrolled as quickly as possible so they have uninterrupted [schooling] to the extent possible, and then coordinating with community agencies to make sure that the families have the wraparound supports that they need, he said.
Enlisting Outside Help
This week, the city designated the social service agency, Enlace de Familias, to coordinate city services for families arriving from Puerto Ricofrom directing families to social services, housing, and health care.
The possibility that she will have more students has pushed Chaverri to start contacting foundations earlier than she normally would to get winter suppliescoats, socks, and mittensfor students who may be facing their first New England winter. She also had to get additional donations for backpacks, with books and school supplies. And shes looking for grants for the districts welcome center.
Its not just students who are making the leap from the island. Adults, faced with back-to-back storms, on an island that was already struggling financially, are also leaving.
Taking advantage of regulatory leeway that Florida is offering, the Orange County school system had hired eight teachers from Puerto Rico by Oct. 10. The district also is vetting inquiries from 50 individuals interested not just in teaching but in working in custodial and food services, Williams said.
The Miami-Dade district is also vetting candidates from Puerto Rico who have expressed interest in teaching, officials there said. The district is also working with the Puerto Rico department of education to align standards so that students will have a smooth transition when their families return to the island.
In Search of Stability
Ortiz, the teacher headed to Kissimmee, has a masters degree in physics from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, while his wife has a Ph.D. in chemistry.
He said the family left Puerto Rico mainly because of their daughter, who needed stability, but also because they were not seeing a lot of progress with recovery efforts after the storm.
If you are there, and you see progress every day, you think there is hopeyou can see a light at the end of the tunnel, he said. But I wasnt seeing that.
We studied in the United States, and we went back to Puerto Rico because we wanted to contribute to our island and to the young people, Ortiz said. But at this time, I just had to do this. This is something that I need to do for my daughter.
He thinks its a difficult decision for professionals to leave the island, particularly at a time when they are needed to help rebuild.
The issue with the professionals coming here is that many people are losing their jobs, he said. If you dont have a job, you dont get paid.
Ortiz had planned to apply for a job in higher education or in K-12. In addition to teaching at the University of Puerto Rico, he spent a year working with teachers in Chicopee, Mass., while at Amherst, as part of a fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Whether he stays or not depends on how comfortable his daughter is in school and whether his new job is permanent. (They were on contract positions at the University of Puerto Rico, he said.)
We Are There to Help
Williams, the Orange County chief of staff, said school employees will be at the airport for as long as they are allowed to stay.
We are there to help, she said. But being able to say that we can also help you with finding employment, that makes folks feel even better.
Its been ... an eye opener because we realize those that are coming here from Puerto Rico, most have lost everything, she said. We try to make it quite clear that if there is anything that Orange County public schools can do to help, were here to help.
Barbara Jenkins, the superintendent of the Orange County school system, said the primary goal was to welcome families and let them know that the school district was ready with resources to help their children.
But if they are looking for employment, wed also like to help, she said.
Florida districts are always looking for science teachers, she said. And bilingual educators from Puerto Rico will help with any influx of students they receive from the island, she said.
But Jenkins said she understood that it was a particularly difficult time for the island, and that Orange County will support educators while they are in Florida and when they are ready to return home.
At schools like Englewood Elementary in Orlando, which has received five Puerto Rican students so far, students are greeted with open arms.
The principal, assistant principal, and front-desk clerk are either Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican descent.
Principal Vidal Alex Reyes, who was born in Puerto Rico, speaks to students in Spanish and lets them know that he attended schools on the island, and migrated to the mainland U.S. when he was 20 years old.
He tells students about his familys experience during Hurricane Maria as a way to let them know that he understands what they are going through. His father, who lives in Puerto Rico, must go to a relatives house to talk to him, and his mother spent days at the airport trying to get an flight back to Florida after the storm hit.
For overwhelmed parents, district officials tell them to just show up at schools.
We have bookbags, backpacks at the schools, we have clothes closets, we have pencils, we have paper, Williams said. Just show upthats the word that we are trying to spread. Dont worry about running to Walmart or Target to pick up anything.
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held a news conference in Brussels minutes after Trump spoke, saying the EU and the rest of the international community were committed to preserving the deal.
"Today the U.S. is more isolated than ever against the nuclear deal, isolated than any other time in its plots against [the] people of Iran," Rouhani said.
In a nationally televised speech following Trump's remarks, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on all parties to honor their commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. He also hit back at Trump's characterization of Iran as a "dictatorship" and "rogue regime," calling the American president a "liar" and a "dictator."
Iran's president said Friday that the nuclear deal it signed with six world powers in 2015 could not be revoked, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would not certify that Iran was in compliance with it.
Not Bilateral
"It is not a bilateral agreement. It does not belong to any single country. And it is not up to any single country to terminate it," Mogherini said.
She noted the multilateral agreement had been unanimously endorsed in UN Security Council Resolution 2231. "We cannot afford as an international community, as Europe for sure, to dismantle a nuclear agreement that is working and delivering -- especially now," Mogherini said.
The EU foreign policy chief noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency had verified eight times, via a "comprehensive and strict" monitoring system, that Iran was meeting all its nuclear-related commitments.
"There have been no violations of any of the commitments included in the agreement," Mogherini told reporters.
In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were concerned about the possible implications of Trump's decision not to recertify the Iran nuclear deal.
"Preserving the JCPOA is in our shared national security interest. The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step toward ensuring that Iran's nuclear program was not diverted for military purposes," the European leaders said in the statement.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was committed to supporting the Iran nuclear deal.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also voiced support for the Iran nuclear deal during Friday's regular news briefing. "China's position on the Iranian nuclear issue has been consistent. The JCPOA has played a key role in upholding the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and the peace and stability of the Middle East region," she said. "We hope that all relevant parties will continue to uphold and implement the JCPOA."
Praise from Netanyahu
Praise for Trump's tough stance on Iran came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who released a video statement in English. "I congratulate President Trump for his courageous decision today. He boldly confronted Iran's terrorist regime," Netanyahu said.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, strongly criticized Trump's decision.
The group's executive director, Beatrice Fihn, said Trump's "attempt to disrupt" the Iran deal despite Tehran's compliance was a reminder of the "immense nuclear danger now facing the world" and the "urgent need" to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
"In a time with great global tension, with increasing threats of nuclear war, the U.S. president is igniting new conflict rather than working to reduce the risk of nuclear war," she said.
Maharashtras Vidarbha region has faced an immense developmental backlog and an acute agrarian crisis that has led to nearly 14,000 suicides of farmers in its six districts in the last 16 years. Since July this year, it faces another kind of disaster with farm labourers and small farmers being hospitalised for symptoms of pesticide poisoning in Yavatmal district and other places. This has hardly drawn any government or media attention until recently, when 19 deaths were reported since August. Considering the public outrage over farmer suicides and the state of agriculture, both the state and central governments ought to have been extra vigilant about such occurrences. Despite cases of poisoning in previous years, preventive steps have not been taken. These deaths, a total of 30, including the 19 in Yavatmal district, highlight the urgent need for regulation of pesticides and close monitoring of their use.
Since 2002, when Bt cotton was approved for sale in India, rain-fed Vidarbha, which has little surface irrigation and generally depleted soils, has been growing that variety of cotton. Encouraged by good prices last year, Vidarbha farmers planted cotton on 16 to 17 lakh hectares. For several years, this region and other parts of India have seen a higher pest incidence and pockets of resistance to the green and pink bollworm, quite apart from the infestation of secondary pests. In the last two years, the efficacy of Bt cotton has failed in the northern and western states where the whitefly and the pink bollworm have wrecked Bollgard II. The pink bollworm had already developed resistance to Bollgard I in 2009. In 2015, in Gujarat and some parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the replacement Bollgard II was also damaged. In 201516, there were crop losses due to whitefly infestations in Punjab and Haryana. While unofficially there is acceptance that Bt cotton has lost its bio-efficacy, the government has not done anything significant to give the farmer alternatives or regulate the sale of this variety. On the contrary, farmers are blamed for not managing insect attacks and not planting refugia around the Bt cotton crop.
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My overall PTE score is 89 and above 85 in all sections.
My 457 visa will expire on 16 March 2018 (which was granted for 2 years)and my two years completions is on 18 April.
My career started as a developer but after 2.5 years I switched to support in a product company.
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A Pennsylvania frac sand mining company expects to start construction by the end of the year at its new location in Atascosa County a spot that it negotiated with the community.
Preferred Sands has purchased more than 4,000 acres in northern Atascosa and southern Bexar counties, and the acreage includes a sand mine thats already been in operation for decades.
The mines original proposed site had created an uproar among residents in Atascosa County, who were worried about heavy truck traffic on their rural, gravel roads, possible health impacts, the loss of their view and the placement of heavy industry right across from peoples homes.
Preferred Sands Sand Mining of Texas LLC already has its permit from the states environmental regulator and could have started construction on the corner of Bruce Road and Applewhite Road, but it voluntarily halted its plans in May to work with residents.
The new location ended up at a site off of State Highway 16 where Martin Marietta has operated a sand mine for decades.
T.J. Doyle of Preferred Sands said the company purchased the 4,000 acres, and that the new sand mine and Marin Marietta will operate on different parts of the property. Though part of the land extends north into Bexar County, the mining will happen on the southern portion of the property, he said.
Among the agreements the company made with Atascosa County residents was that it would set operations back from the fence lines, try to abate noise and dust, and leave perimeter vegetation in place or add new vegetation and berms.
Hopefully its out of the site lines for the neighbors, Doyle said.
The frac sand from the new mine, and others in the area, are destined for the nearby Eagle Ford Shale oil field where fracking uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals pumped at high pressure to crack tight rock and extract hard-to-get oil. In the past decade, a boom in shale drilling has set off a boom in sand, too.
In recent years, companies have started using an increasing amount of sand to frack wells after finding that more sand equals more oil. And theyve found that while Texas sand isnt as good as that from Wisconsin and Minnesota, its good enough, and has far cheaper transportation costs.
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Doyle said the company has the needed permits for the new site.
The company held a job fair at its new location this week and Doyle said it will be hiring for everything from heavy equipment operators to shift supervisors, diesel mechanics and office jobs.
The original location planned for Preferred Sands near a historical marker for the 1813 Battle of Medina, known as the bloodiest fight in Texas history will remain a hay field for now.
The group that formed in opposition to the project has said the company has addressed all of its concerns everything from creating buffers between homes and sand mining activity, to moving truck traffic off of dusty, gravel county roads and onto larger highways. Residents issued a letter in support of the project this summer. The group, known as Not Just Dust - Bruce Road, has continued to meet and hopes to work with other existing and potential sand mines in the region, and has a Facebook page that has attracted hundreds of followers.
jhiller@express-news.net | Twitter: @Jennifer_Hiller
Plains All American Pipeline
San Antonio-based refiner Valero Energy Corp. is being barred for a decade from buying a pair of storage terminals in California.
In an Oct. 12 ruling Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said that Valero, Valero Energy Partners and any entities under the companies control are ordered to not pursue the purchase of petroleum storage and distribution terminals in Richmond and Martinez owned by Houston-based Plains All American.
Federal prosecutors this week provided a further glimpse into the criminal fraud case involving state Sen. Carlos Uresti, including that the head of a now-defunct oil field services company allegedly spent investor money on prostitutes and controlled substances.
FourWinds Logistics CEO Stan Bates misused the money to further the scheme to defraud the investors, prosecutors alleged in a court filing Thursday. The controlled substances werent named.
FourWinds, which bought and sold sand used in hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas from shale rock, collapsed into bankruptcy in the summer of 2015 amid allegations by some investors that they were defrauded. Uresti, who recruited two company investors and served as FourWinds legal counsel for a brief time, Bates and consultant Gary Cain were charged in a 22-count indictment in May. They have each denied the charges. Trial is set to start Oct. 23.
Prosecutors disclosed in another court filing that Uresti refused to be interviewed by law enforcement in connection with the FourWinds case. The San Antonio Democrat told the San Antonio Express-News in August 2016 that he had been contacted by the FBI to be a witness in its investigation into FourWinds, but he denied he was a subject of the investigation.
Prosecutors intend to introduce during the trial excerpts of interviews Uresti gave to the Express-News last year, which the newspaper posted on its website. Prosecutors allege that Uresti provided conflicting answers, untruths and vague responses which are all indicative of consciousness of guilt.
The documents were filed in response to requests by Uresti and Bates to keep certain information out of the trial. Uresti wants the Express-News interviews excluded because they are not relevant to the charges against him unless (he) testifies and is being impeached, according to a filing Tuesday.
San Antonio lawyer Michael McCrum, who recently joined Urestis legal defense team, said he will address the prosecutors filings in court. He added that he believes that prosecutors will fail to prove that Uresti committed any crime.
I came late into the case, but Ive reviewed everything and my thought was, why did they indict him? McCrum said Friday. I guess because hes a senator. But I dont see that he did anything wrong.
McCrum added, We dont think the governments evidence will make it necessary for Carlos to testify. McCrum was a federal prosecutor in San Antonio from 1989 to 2000. During part of that time, he was chief of the white-collar crimes section, which oversees public corruption cases.
Karl A. Basile, Bates court-appointed lawyer, didnt immediately return a call. In an email, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Blackwell declined to comment.
Uresti and Bates both have objected to prosecutors bringing up nonrelated personal matters, though those matters have not been specified.
The United States intends to, as tactfully as possible, explore the various relationships between the defendants and victims in this case, prosecutors said in a response to Bates motion.
Uresti and Bates are charged with making false statements and material omissions to victims in the case, prosecutors allege.
The relationships between the various parties are integral to understanding why those victims would rely on those statements, trust the defendants and the import of the various material omissions, prosecutors say in their filing. At its core, this is a case about relationships, trust, lies and omissions.
Among the relationships likely to be explored is the one involving Denise Cantu, a Harlingen woman identified as Victim 1 in the indictment. Uresti represented her in a wrongful-death case involving two of her children and helped win her a substantial settlement. Cantu later invested $900,000, the bulk of the settlement, with FourWinds. She lost about $800,000. Uresti collected a $27,000 commission on her investment.
In the indictment, Uresti is charged with acting as an unregistered securities broker for soliciting prospective investors. Last year, he told the Express-News that he consulted with an attorney who told him that he did not need to register as a securities broker because he was not selling a security.
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A lawyer for Cantu, who sued Uresti for fraud in Hidalgo County in January, has said Cantu and Uresti had an intimate relationship. Uresti has denied the allegation.
Prosecutors say financial difficulties drove Uresti to exploit and defraud Cantu, described as a mentally and emotionally vulnerable client, by persuading her to invest in a company alleged to have been a Ponzi scheme.
Urestis financial troubles were so severe that he didnt even have the money in his account to pay the very first mortgage payment on a loan of more than $1 million, prosecutors allege. Uresti lives in a massive house in Helotes assessed at almost $1.6 million by the Bexar Appraisal District.
During the same time frame, prosecutors say, Uresti was trying to convince (Cantu) to invest even more money with FourWinds.
Uresti has objected to prosecutors bringing up loans he has taken out, saying they are not relevant to the charges and not admissible in the trial. Prosecutors countered that they plan to introduce details of the loans during the trial, including a $40,000 loan from FourWinds and a $200,000 loan from San Antonio lawyer Mikal Watts, who also represented Cantu in the wrongful-death case. Watts lent the money against fees Uresti expected to collect from Cantus settlement.
Prosecutors allege that the loan from Watts gave Uresti a financial interest in securing a quick settlement for Cantu to avoid paying additional interest. Uresti also received a $25,000 payment from Cantu, prosecutors add.
Uresti initially failed to disclose the three transactions on personal financial statements filed with the state, prosecutors allege. He later amended the statements to include the loans after questions from the Express-News. The $25,000 payment was later disclosed after prosecutors say Uresti was informed that he was under investigation.
pdanner@express-news.net
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AUSTIN At the five-top table in the corner at Russells Bakery, the conversation among the five women, all self-described recovering Republicans, veered from cinnamon rolls and traffic to Donald Trump and Dan Patrick.
I have two questions Id like to know the answer to: Is there any way for a Democrat to win a state office next year, and what would it take for some Republicans to lose in this state? Chrys Langer, a 47-year-old tech consultant and mother of three, asked.
Politics has taken a turn for the worse, in my opinion, in Austin with the bathroom bill and all kinds of other conservative-male nonsense and in the White House with well, with Trump being Trump, she said.
Recently, that means trouble as Trumps approval ratings have continued to drop to new lows, even down in redder-then-red Texas to just above 50-50.
The same questions came up over coffee in solidly Republican Georgetown, in Pflugerville, an Austin suburb known for its progressive and libertarian tinges, even in some places in Houston, which took on a blue tinge a year when voters elected Democrats to county seats.
Im conservative, and a Republican, but I just wonder why some of these issues they keep fighting over in Austin are so damn important, said Allen Cullen, 38, a consulting engineer. A lot of people are getting tired of it. They want things to move ahead.
Some Texas voters, it appears, seem to be asking the question, either unhappy with the Republican status-quo, yearning for a change in the way the GOP-led state government does businessk, or want their flavor of Republicanism to win in 2018.
Theres almost no way Republicans can lose to Democrats next year, in a state as red as Texas, even if Buffy the Clown was running for governor, said Lee Reed, 65, a Georgetown rancher who said he supports both Abbott and Patrick on most issues. The real fights will probably be between Republicans who are moderates and conservatives.
In statewide interviews with voters of both parties, the big question comes up, as does an underlying frustration with governments inWashington and Austin.
Trumps approval rating would have to drop into the teens where it might (hurt) Abbott and Patrick and the other Republicans on the ballot in Texas, and even then I doubt the effect would be significant, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. Even though the Democrats will try to tie Abbott and Patrick as close to Trump as they can, every time they get a chance, they can distance themselves from Trump because Texas voters in a mid-term election pay more attention to state issues than Washington.
According to a recent Real Clear Politics national poll, Trumps approval rating has dropped steadily since January to an Oct. 10 rating of 55.4 unfavorable and 38.9 favorable. Another poll shows Trumps approval in Texas has slipped from 54 to just over 50 percent during the same period.
Add to that the slowly improving Texas economy, even with the recovery from Hurricane Harvey, and that adds up to a significant issue for Democrats, who as yet have not announced the choice of party leaders to challenge Abbott even though two relatively unknown candidates are running, Dallas leather bar owner Jeffrey Payne and San Antonio businessman Tom Wakely.
Both say they believe they have a chance by tapping into voter discontent with Republican incumbents over the controversial bathroom bill, passage of a ban on sanctuary cities and with skyrocketing property taxes, among other issues.
Kathie Glass, a Libertarian Party candidate for governor, said small-government tea party activists are especially disenchanted with the way Republicans have enlarged government during their years in control.
She thinks Democrats are not feeling as disenfranchised in Texas as Republicans are, especially with Trump in the White House.
I am their alternative, she said. Republicans have owned everything in Texas for 25 years, and they now own everything in Washington, so there cant be any more excuses.
Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University, said Glass could have the most to gain in 2018 elections if Republicans casting a protest vote cause them to vote for someone other than a GOP candidate.
Donald Trump will definitely drag the Republican ticket down in Texas from where it would normally be, and Republicans should be worried about three congressional races (John Culberson in Houston, Pete Sessions in Dallas and Will Hurd in areas between San Antonio to El Paso), Jones said.
Without the negative of Trump, it would be a traditional Republican win, he added. Next year, Abbott will have the coattails that will help the other Republicans on the ballot, even though they wont be as long as they were in 2014.
Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, said that even if some Democrats think Trump may be their best friend against Republicans, they continue to have a wide lead over Democrats.
While sipping coffee at a Starbucks in San Marcos, Tyler McAdams, a 27-year-old grad student at Texas State University, wondered aloud about when the GOP control over Texas may end and which party might replace them.
Thats the big question, he said.
Authorities in Las Vegas think the shooter who targeted fans at a country music concert in the city two weeks ago intentionally fired on a pair of nearby aviation fuel tanks.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters Friday that Stephen Paddock shot at the fuel tanks at McCarran International Airport "with intent" to explode them.
Lombardo said the airport had since been in contact with fuel storage experts who have advised it on further measures it could take to safeguard its supply. He noted there was a low probability that the aviation fuel could have been ignited with gunfire, because the tanks allow for the continual release of fuel vapors.
The news came as police continued to sort out facts of the incident, in which Paddock killed 58 people and wounded hundreds before shooting himself.
Just a couple days before last Christmas, Kathleen Doria joined the SA 300 team to oversee its fundraising efforts for the citys increasingly imminent yearlong Tricentennial.
She created the fundraising framework for the organization, identified likely candidates for philanthropy, crafted detailed pitches for potential partners and accounted for nearly $5 million in contributions and pledges in the ensuing nine months, said Edward Benavides, CEO of the Tricentennial organization.
But officials acknowledged this week that SA 300 opted not to extend Dorias contract. The professional fundraiser, who was paid $125,500 under the contract that began in late December and ended Sept. 30, was unsure why her contract wasnt renewed.
Benavides was complimentary of Dorias efforts and work product but said that were going in a different direction with a fundraising plan.
That plan doesnt include a professional fundraiser. But it does include San Antonios salesman in chief.
I am getting personally involved, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. And Im meeting personally with the philanthropic community, with the corporate community, with the pillars of San Antonio to make sure that most importantly, we all understand what the Tricentennial is and what it means for this citys future.
That was the biggest gap that was unaddressed prior to getting here. And its not anything that can be accomplished without the direct action by the mayor of San Antonio and the judge of Bexar County. And Judge (Nelson) Wolff and I are united in that effort to ensure the Tricentennial is a success.
Fundraising for the Tricentennial has faced a number of obstacles, several people involved with the effort have said. Lionel Sosa, an informal Nirenberg adviser and one of five chairmen of the Tricentennial Commission, said theres a significant sense of urgency because fundraising began late. He also acknowledged that they face an uphill battle because theres a major misconception that the Tricentennial is a big party.
Thats a point often driven home by the mayor, whose mantra is that failure is not an option.
There is no alternative to the success of the Tricentennial. I believe firmly that this is our most important opportunity in a lifetime to demonstrate why people, businesses, organizations, should invest their families, their time, their resources and their businesses in our city on a world stage, he said. And the Tricentennial program will be a reflection, not just of our history, but also the city that we are to become.
It is not a party, he said.
Sosa said the commissions fundraising committee has been beefed up.
Were now able to make contacts at the highest levels, he said.
Several people involved with the effort said commission member Mary Rose Brown, an executive vice president and the chief administrative officer for NuStar Energy, has taken a leading role in Tricentennial fundraising. She works closely with Bill Greehey, NuStars chairman, who recently pledged $1 million to the event.
Meanwhile, Nirenberg is forging ahead. He declined to detail whom hes spoken with or what his work has amounted to, but a source with knowledge of the mayors efforts said significant pledges will soon be announced.
Late Friday, Benavides said the contributions and pledges continue to increase. Earlier in the day, SA 300 announced a $100,000 contribution from Baptist Health Care for a health initiative called 300 Miles, in which participants will accumulate 300 miles of walking, running or biking between Oct. 22 and May 6 at the YMCAs Siclovia. (That project, Doria said, began when she received a cold call from a representative from Baptist asking how the company could get involved.)
Less than a month ago, the San Antonio Express-News reported that SA 300 had secured less than half of its $10.3 million goal. By Friday, the number had grown to $5.96 million amounting to 58 percent of the goal.
jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaugh
Texas prison inmates donated more than $53,000 through their commissary funds to be used for Hurricane Harvey relief, according to a prison system spokesman.
The prisons put up a flyer near the commissary store in each facility, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The fund was open for donations from Aug. 31 through Sept. 30, Clark said.
During that time, 6,600 inmates donated $53,863, which will be sent to the American Red Cross fund benefiting victims of Hurricane Harvey. The average donation was $8, but several offenders donated a couple hundred dollars or more, he said.
After hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Texas prison system set up a similar fund because many inmates had asked how they could donate to help storm victims. Inmates raised well over $44,000 in a combined fund for Katrina and Rita relief, Clark said.
He said he wasnt surprised at the generosity of the people incarcerated in Texas facilities.
Certainly Hurricane Harvey was a prolonged event and many of these offenders had families and friends that were affected by it, Clark said. They saw what was going on and wanted in some form or fashion to help.
Clark noted that prison staff also stepped up to help each others families and people in their communities during the storm.
Many came and brought diapers, food, gift cards, money and delivered that to correctional officers and others affected, he said. Across the board, we have seen generosity from everyone during this difficult time.
Support for Texas prisons and employees, which experienced evacuations and storm damage, also came from the outside.
Individuals, businesses, organizations and prison personnel from other states sent monetary donations to the Texas Corrections Association, raising about $67,000 to help criminal justice employees affected by the storm, according to a social media post from Bryan Collier, Texas prison director.
The generosity shown is truly remarkable, Collier wrote. Thank you to the Association of State Correctional Administrators, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Indiana Department of Correction, Texas Public Employees Association, Texas Corrections Association and many others known and unknown who gave so unselfishly. Storms come and go, but the outpouring of support will not soon be forgotten.
CORPUS CHRISTI - The trial here of a former Mexican officials wife could be a test case for South Texas prosecutors who have been targeting foreign officials with criminal charges and asset seizures.
Over the last five years, federal prosecutors in two Texas judicial districts have alleged in court filings that more than 20 officials, businesspeople and their family members from four Mexican states laundered money embezzled from public funds through U.S. banking transactions and real estate transactions.
The U.S. government has seized tens of millions of dollars in real estate and bank accounts and secured at least five convictions as part of the investigations, but until this month had not been forced to go to trial.
Silvia Perez Ceballos, whose husband, Jose Saiz Pineda, was the finance minister for the southern Mexican state of Tabasco from 2007 to 2012, is the first defendant to make federal prosecutors put their cards on the table before a jury.
Jurors here on Friday convicted Perez of a bank fraud charge and acquitted her of money laundering charges. She faces up to 30 years in prison when shes sentenced at a later date, but under federal sentencing guidelines she will likely spend much less time in prison. Her lawyers said theyll appeal.
I think that this jurys verdict reflects that there was very little evidence presented of any kind of bribery or corruption in Mexico related to my client, said defense attorney Andino Reynal. Obviously they found that the money wasnt dirty, in effect, by finding her not guilty of money laundering.
Prosecutors said she had helped her husband launder $50 million in bribes through U.S. banks and real estate purchases in Texas, New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. Prosecutors allege they also used dirty money to purchase Cadillacs, Ferraris, Porsches and other high-end cars, including a $2.2 million Bugatti Veyron, one of the fastest cars in the world. The acquittal on the money laundering charges limits which of the assets they can take.
In reality I think its a setback for the government, because their money laundering theory in a lot of these cases I think is the same as this one, said Houston white collar crime attorney Chris Flood. If the jury couldnt find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on money laundering in this case, then they might not want to pursue money laundering.
Since 2012, prosecutors in South Texas have secured convictions against five people who faced similar allegations, claiming that state government officials across Mexico offered inflated contracts with the promise that the businesspeople who received them kick back a portion of the money. The contractors and state officials then laundered their profits in the U.S. by shifting the dirty money through layers of companies, banks and purchases, prosecutors allege.
Those five pleaded guilty and didnt go to trial. All received probation or are free on bond and allowed to live in the U.S. while they await sentencing.
At least six others avoided prosecution by turning over assets to the U.S. government. Nine others are fugitives who risked losing their property under a federal law that lets the government take the assets of defendants who wont come to the U.S. to face pending criminal charges.
The U.S. has indicted former Tamaulipas governors Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba and Eugenio Hernandez Flores, and former Coahuila Gov. Jorge Torres Lopez. In civil filings, prosecutors have sought to seize property tied to former Aguascalientes Gov. Luis Reynoso Femat and former Coahuila Gov. Humberto Moreira. Neither Moreira nor Reynoso have been charged with crimes. All the former governors say theyre innocent and neither the civil cases nor the criminal proceedings have gone to trial.
Perez has been living in the Houston area since 2013, when she came to the U.S. on a tourist visa with her two college-age daughters and requested asylum. Meanwhile her husband, an accountant and member of Mexicos ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party is in jail in Mexico, where he faces embezzlement charges.
During two weeks of testimony, prosecutors tried to prove that while serving in the cabinet of former Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier Melo, who also faces corruption allegations in Mexico, Saiz stole tens of millions of dollars. Prosecutors said that he purchased $36.4 million in U.S. real estate and $10 million in cars using a convoluted network of businesses and investment vehicles, including trusts in New Zealand that owned companies in Ireland.
The proceedings also highlighted the difficulties faced by both sides in trials of foreign citizens accused of laundering the proceeds of crimes committed abroad. As one of their witnesses, prosecutors called Luz del Alba Pardo Cruz, Tabascos anti-corruption prosecutor, who testified she seized 88 million pesos, about $7 million at the time, during a 2013 search of a building where Saizs secretary lived.
In response, Perezs lawyers tried to bring in a report from Mexicos human rights commission that found Tabascos current government engaged in torture during corruption investigations, but U.S District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos denied the request. The current administration, part of a leftist political group called the Democratic Revolutionary Party tortured the secretary in a politically motivated investigation, Perezs lawyers said.
Jurors also sat through hours of testimony from witnesses explaining stacks of bank records, tracing the flow of money through multiple countries and layers of companies. Much of the testimony had to deal with paperwork Perez provided U.S. banks.
Prosecutors focused on the addresses she put on banking documents, the networks of businesses that prosecutors said her husband used to hide his extensive wealth, Perezs failure to identify herself to banks as the spouse of a foreign official, and her admission that she removed her husbands name from bank statements that she showed a U.S. financial advisor when opening a new account.
In an unusual move, Perez herself took the stand. Her testimony allowed defense attorneys to paint a picture of her as a child psychologist who helped launch new ways of treating special needs children and show the jurors pictures of her working with children at clinics in Mexico who, along with her husband, was so financially successful her family had no need to steal from the state of Tabasco.
Putting her on the stand also allowed prosecutors to press her about why she removed her husbands name from banking records, failed to disclose his political position to bank officials, lived in a house owned by an apparent shell company and moved $1.9 million through multiple bank accounts in a short period of time before sending it to a Bermuda financial institution.
Shortly before taking office, Saiz began setting up his complicated network of businesses in this and other countries, then used them to filter dirty money, Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hampton said during her closing arguments. Perez opened bank accounts and dealt with U.S. lawyers and real estate agents through companies the money passed, paying for property and the familys living expenses to keep their names clean, Hampton said.
She didnt even put her bills in her name, Hampton said of Perez. She didnt put her cars in her name. She didnt put her house in her name.
Because the Department of Justice had yet to convict any of the targets in their recent Mexico corruption investigations in a jury trial, observers and defense attorneys had questioned whether prosecutors had the evidence to do so. Some defense attorneys also questioned why the U.S. government was spending so much money prosecuting people whose alleged crimes happened in Mexico.
I think when you apply a cost-benefit analysis to these prosecutions, its puzzling, because what benefit does the United States derive from prosecuting foreign politicians who havent done anything to harm the United States? This is Mexicos problem and should be dealt with by Mexico, Flood said. We are in effect telling a foreign country that theyre unable to effectively prosecute their own citizens. Thats a diplomatic problem.
The U.S. has historically been tolerant of the misdeeds perpetrated by the business and political elite of its southern neighbor, said Sergio Aguayo Quezada, a Mexican academic whos written about impunity in that country. That may be changing, Aguayo said, as Mexico deals with levels of corruption and criminal violence (that) have no precedence.
For a long time there was a very strong understanding between the federal executives in the two countries to support each other, and that included not prosecuting high officials. But perhaps something has been changing, Aguayo said. It is more and more evident that corruption and violence in Mexico harm the U.S. national interest.
The first public suggestion South Texas federal prosecutors were investigating allegations that Mexican officials took bribes from government contractors and laundered the money here came in 2012. In April of that year, an assistant U.S. attorney in San Antonio filed a dozen civil lawsuits called asset forfeiture proceedings against residential and commercial properties in San Antonio, Brownsville and South Padre Island tied to the former treasurer for the border state of Coahuila.
The lawsuits allow the government to seize property that they allege was bought with the proceeds of criminal activity without meeting the high burden of proof of criminal cases.
Over the next five years, prosecutors in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Brownsville and McAllen filed dozens more lawsuits and criminal indictments. They brought charges against businessmen, the two former governors from the state border state of Tamaulipas, the former treasurer and Torres, the former interim governor of Coahuila, and, earlier this year, Perez, her husband, Saiz, and businessman Martin Medina Sonda.
In a civil asset forfeiture case currently pending in San Antonio federal court, prosecutors have alleged that Reynoso, the former governor of the central Aguascalientes state, used stolen money to buy five houses, an empty lot and a commercial building in Bexar County and last year reached a settlement to take possession of a home owned by the mother-in-law of Moreira, the former Coahuila governor.
In 2010, then-Attorney General Eric Holder had announced the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, intended to return to foreign countries public funds that were stolen then laundered in the U.S. On the East and West coasts, federal prosecutors have seized assets they say were stolen from Eastern European, Caucasian and Asian countries. In Texas, the initiative has focused primarily on Mexico. Despite the tens of millions of dollars worth of assets seized in Texas, however, Mexico has not come forward to claim the money.
To convict someone of money laundering, prosecutors first must prove whats called the underlying crime, criminal activity that generated dirty money. If the crime occurred abroad, prosecutors have to show it was against the law in that country. Then they have to trace that dirty money to financial transactions in the U.S. and show the defendant knew the money he or she was spending came from criminal activity.
Fraud, which generally requires showing the defendant misled to bank employees, is much easier to prove.
Alfonso Cabanas, a San Antonio lawyer whos represented clients in the recent money laundering investigations, said well-heeled foreign nationals are often willing to cut deals after a judge denies their request for bond, even when its unclear the government has sufficient evidence to convict them. Those doing business with government officials in Mexico dont necessarily think its incumbent upon them to investigate rumors of corruption until they find themselves targeted by the U.S. government, Cabanas said.
The governments strongest weapon is that detention hearing, he said. If you have somebody whos successful, whos not a U.S. citizen or a resident theyre not going to get out. The governments going to argue theyre a flight risk. So when you hae someone successful whos detained for a month, much less nine months, theyll sign anything to get out.
One of the witneses against Perez was Antonio Espinosa De Los Monteros Leal, a businessman from Mexico who lives in Miami. Espinosa said his companies make $10 million to $12 million a year, 2 or 3 percent of his annual earnings, supplying fuel to the state of Tabasco. He testified that Saiz and his wife used Espinosas private airplanes 30 or 40 times and that in 2008 he wired $587,500 to the U.S. to pay for the cars of Mr. Saiz Pineda.
Espinosa referred to he plane trips as public relations, and when asked if hed ever offered a bribe to Saiz said, No. I dont need to either, with my company.
Hampton, the federal prosecutor, said the $587,500 actually went toward purchasing a $5.88 million condo in New York City and in her closing arguments expressed concerns about her own witnesses, who she said profited handsomely from their relationship with Saiz and Perez.
The purpose of this was to conceal the true owners of the property, Mr. Saiz Pineda and Ms. Perez Ceballos, and they dont want to admit it, she said of the lawyers, real estate brokers and state contractors who did business with the couple.
In the Houston-based Southern Texas judicial district and the San Antonio-based Western District, money laundering prosecutions have historically followed underlying crimes in this country, such as Medicaid and Medicare fraud and drug trafficking.
The investigations are lengthy, labor intensive and involve copious amounts of paperwork. Federal agencies must store or care for the assets they seize - when San Antonio prosecutors seize real estate in the exclusive Dominion subdivision they must hire homeowners association-approved landscapers - until the case is resolved and the property can be sold.
In another 2012 case, the arrest of a U.S. network of quarter horse buyers, breeders and trainers who were funded by the Zetas drug cartel, Internal Revenue Service and FBI agents had to convince their superiors to seize hundreds of animals, then feed and care for them.
That case did go to trial. In 2013, a jury in Austin convicted of money laundering conspiracy Jose Trevino Morales, the brother of the leaders of the Zetas; Francisco Colorado Cessa, a businessman from the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz; horse expert Fernando Garcia and Austin horse trainer Eusavio Huitron. Huitrons brother, Jesus, a home builder, was acquitted.
An appeals court later acquitted Eusavio Huitron and ordered Colorado tried again. He was convicted a second time in 2015 and is appealing that.
Despite the governments struggles in that case, its much easier to prove money laundering when the underlying crime is drug trafficking than it is when the basis for the money laundering is a white collar crime, like bribery, said Houston white collar crime attorney Andres Sanchez, who represented Colorado in the first trial. Flood represented him in his second trial.
When youre talking about drug trafficking versus foreign bribery, drug trafficking is a concept everybody can easily understand is illegal, Sanchez said. It usually doesnt involve documents or any kind of complicated financial transaction. Its just large quantities of drugs moving from Mexico and it usually ends up in the United States at some point. When youre talking about bribery, youre talking about having to prove up some sort of kickback scheme. Usually the jurys going to want to hear some kind of testimony from someone involved in the kickback scheme. Theyre going to want to see some kind of documents showing the financial transactions. And you have to prove its a crime in a foreign country.
In money laundering cases tied to drug trafficking, prosecutors have the added advantage of guilt-by-association as they call a parade of underworld figures to testify, Sanchez added.
When you have known drug traffickers and theyre linked in some ways with the defendant, its a lot easier for the jury to conclude, that guys money is linked in some way with drug trafficking, he said. Its a lot harder sell to say that guy, just because hes involved in the government or is connected with government officials, his money is dirty.
Would it be Shakira? Madonna? How about Fergie or Sting?
Saddled with an uncertain budget, leaders planning the citys yearlong Tricentennial celebration struggled in recent months to book a musical act to perform on New Years Eve at its kickoff event.
The process apparently led to the resignation of Asia Ciaravino, former chief operating officer of the nonprofit planning the celebration, according to internal documents obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.
The nonprofit, SA 300, has struggled with fundraising for the yearlong celebration.
Now, less than three months before the free soiree on New Years Eve, SA 300 has inked a deal with legacy classic-rock acts REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar to perform for an expected 24,500 people at the new downtown Civic Park, according to a source close to the Tricentennial Commission.
Edward Benavides, CEO of SA 300, disputed Friday that a contract had been executed and said the nonprofit is still in negotiations with potential acts.
Were still in exploratory mode, Benavides told me. Theres a lot of interest, which is great. But there are a lot of moving parts to that, and none of that is finalized. None of it has been fully executed.
The budget for the nights acts could range between $100,000 and upwards of $400,000, potentially, he added.
Seven months ago, the budget apparently was much higher: up to $1 million.
In a March 21 email to partners and colleagues, Ciaravino wrote, I understand it is challenging to pin talent down without a solid budge (sic) but at this point, we need to move forward with the information that we do know we have 3 different budget possibilities, $500K, $750K and 1 Million.
That same day, Ciaravino emailed a Talent Wishlist of more than 30 high-priced musical acts, including Shakira, Madonna, Usher, Pearl Jam, Sting and Cher. The most expensive acts on the list were George Strait and Guns N Roses; both commanded an unnegotiated price point of more than $2 million.
About a month later, Ciaravino wrote in an email to Benavides, Are we ready to make a formal offer of 1 million to Shakira?
A few days later, on April 24, Ciaravino mulled in another email what would be included for an act like Shakira when spending 1 million dollars.
Quoting a partner at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, she wrote, With this level artist there might be odd things needed / asked like extra or personal security, masseuse, oxygen tank, personal hair / makeup, helicopter ride over the city, or the most expensive bottle of wine youve ever seen.
Benavides responded: This is important and we need to incorporate within the $1.4M budget.
Agreed, Ciaravino wrote. We need to look at the lower level people and see how to make them work within the budget as well. It looks like we cant afford her.
By May, leaders seemed poised to offer Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas a $500,000 deal.
You gave the thumbs up to move forward with Fergie via text, Ciaravino wrote to Benavides.
About two weeks later, Ciaravino wrote, Fergie is drilling down. We need to pass her people to an executive producer (Unico) they also want to negotiate broadcast rights.
The next day, May 16, Benavides responded, Before we engage Unico & KSAT, we need to understand what is being asked on production and broadcasting.
A few hours later, he sent an email to Ciaravino that seems to have precipitated her resignation.
I had directed that internal discussion occur before engaging KSAT and Unico, Benavides wrote. This directive was not followed and staff is not engaged in this matter. As I left you on voicemail, please meet at Lori Stewards Office at 12:30 p.m. at Riverview Tower.
Steward is director of human resources for the city. Two days later, May 18, Benavides announced that Ciaravino had resigned.
At the time, Ciaravino cited recent events in my personal life as reason for her departure. She declined to comment Friday.
It was unclear Friday why Fergie fell through. Another deal, with Duran Duran, disintegrated as well.
We are looking for talent that has visibility, that people recognize at a local, regional, national level, and that is diverse, so were appealing to different age groups, Benavides said Friday, because we want people to come downtown.
An announcement on the kickoff party is scheduled for early November, he said.
bchasnoff@express-news.net
Tim Cook explains in this interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, what he thinks about Europes biggest economy, taxes, jobs - and the next big thing.
Tim Cook ist seit sechs Jahren der Chef von Apple. Bild: GOMBERT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Tim, as Apples CEO what is your take on Germany? Are we Germans living on the inventions of our grandfathers like cars and machines, improving them incrementally, but never willing to take the great leap into the unknown?
Germany has incredible skills. We do business with a number of companies there. You couldnt find companies with these types of skills elsewhere in the world. Because of the level of craftsmanship and precision - they are perfect. The base at which that transformation takes place is an unbelievable foundation. We have enormous respect for German engineering. Look even at the office that we are building
You will be looking through German windows
Absolutely, and it could only have happened here. In addition some of the furniture in Apple Park and the fixtures in our store is from German suppliers. Ive visited the places where these products are made. And there are lots of things throughout Germany that are only in Germany. Hopefully there is a lot of pride in those.
Well, of course it is, but pride could make you stay away from a higher-risk-approach to change. To find a business model that has a future in the digital world
Hm, I dont know, I think in Germany there are really great companies. I would bet that they do the things they need to do.
To what extend is an Apple CEO a teacher for technological change and to cope with life?
I wouldnt call myself a teacher. I love talking with students. There are the future. To the degree that I can import some morsel and how they can improve things - I will do that. The things I talk about are really about Apple, its not about me. Its about the DNA of the company. This is an unbelievably smart group of folks here in Oxford, the MIT classes are incredibly smart people. So it inspires me to be out with these and it gives energy back. Its a cycle. You get and you give.
But of course these audiences and those speeches, they lead to sentences that are larger than a man can be. That you want to serve humanity, make the world a better place, for example it gives critics of Apple the chance to ask, if you are really living up to your promises. For example when it comes to paying taxes or employing people in factories in certain conditions. How do you close this gap? You are setting the bar very high. And in the end you are just selling products.
Well, I dont see Apple as a company just selling products. Were making great products that enrich peoples lives and change the world in the process. I think that its good that people hold us to a very high bar. We welcome that. We have been somewhat successful and I think to successful companies much is given and much is expected. And I think that is good. In terms of the two subjects that you raised: If you look at our employment across Europe Apple has created 1.6 million jobs, directly and indirectly.
And they are real jobs?
Chance the Rapper will perform at Barack Obama's inaugural Obama Foundation Summit.
Chance the Rapper
The star is one of the first performers to sign up for the "immersive" event, which will take place on October 31st and November 1st in Chicago.
The National and Gloria Estefan will also take part.
Chance said in a video for the event: "As soon as I heard about the summit, I jumped at the opportunity.
"There's a lot of great things going on in Chicago and I love the collaborative effort of being able to be at some of these talks and hear what people have going on and figuring out how I fit in. The fact that the president is jumping ahead of programming before the [Obama Presidential Center] gets built is inspiring."
"I'm excited to see Gloria Estefan and the National and - I can't say right now but - all my friends that are coming, it's gonna be fire."
Chance the Rapper is also working with the Foundation on the creative design of the event
A message on Obama's website states: "On October 31st and November 1st, the Obama Foundation will welcome civic leaders from around Chicago, the U.S., and the world to join us for a two-day immersive event in Chicago. During this inaugural Summit, hundreds of leaders from around the world will come together to exchange ideas, explore creative solutions to common problems, and experience civic art, technology, and music from around the world."
The three-day Yarn Expo Autumn ended on October 13 in Shanghai with its huge display of the latest industry trends from 13 countries and regions. The Yarn Expo has been growing in popularity every year, with the number of exhibitors increasing to around 493 this edition, up from 319 last year and the exhibition space expanding by 115 per cent.The expanded exhibition space allowed suppliers to showcase more of their products to visitors. Given the reputation of Yarn Expo as the best trade platform in the Asian region, suppliers were keen on joining to meet their potential customers here, senior general manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Wendy Wen said. Suppliers from 13 countries and regions including Bangladesh, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam participated in this years autumn edition.
The three-day Yarn Expo Autumn is ended on October 13 in Shanghai with its huge display of the latest industry trends from 13 countries and regions. The Yarn Expo has been growing in popularity every year, with the number of exhibitors increasing to around 493 this edition, up from 319 last year and the exhibition space expanding by 115 per cent.#
Held in one of Asias major transport hubs, Yarn Expo gathered leading yarn and fibre suppliers from throughout the region. This year, the India Pavilion was once again a highlight of the fair, bringing around 40 of the leading Indian names to Shanghai. In addition, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) as an international organisation which promotes sustainable cotton production, joined the fair for the first time with five spinners demonstrating their cotton yarn made from eco-friendly cotton.Another show highlight included the returning Birla Planet Pavilion. Birla Group benefited from its participation in the previous Yarn Expo where it succeeded in increasing its brand awareness in China. This edition, they formed the pavilion with 16 companies to present a wide range of products, including Birla Modal and Birla Spunshades. The worlds largest rayon spun yarn producer, PT Elegant Textile Industry also joined as one of their important members.Exhibitors from Uzbekistan and Pakistan returned to the fair to cater to the growing demand for their high quality and competitive cotton yarn. Rubberflex Sdn Bhd from Malaysia, the worlds largest manufacturer of advanced latex threads, one of the newcomers, showcased their renowned products with features of heat-resistance, high elasticity and durability. Further, Indonesian companies showed much enthusiasm towards the fair that more of them choose to participate in this weeks Yarn Expo Autumn.In order to stand out from the competition, domestic yarn and fibre suppliers worked hard to upgrade their products, and caught the eyeballs of visitors from around the world. Buyers were able to see latest innovative products from five highlighted display zones including Fancy Yarn Zone, Natural Cotton Yarn Zone, Colourful Chemical Zone, Quality Wool Zone and Green Linen Zone. Amongst the five highlighted zones, the Fancy Yarn Zone, which places an emphasis on innovation, doubled in size and accommodated around 50 companies this year. (SV)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
UBM Fashion, the global leader in fashion tradeshows, has reorganised the prevailing market calendar to reflect the demands of the evolving retail landscape and to better serve the global community of brands and retailers. UBM Fashion has introduced two major changes in the New York tradeshow line up including a women's New York fashion tradeshow calendar.In partnership with Accessories Council, and after consultations with multiple customers and industry influencers, UBM Fashion is making two key changes in the New York tradeshow lineup to create new and more efficient business opportunities for both brands and retailers, mirroring underlying trends in fashion and retail.
UBM Fashion, the global leader in fashion tradeshows, has reorganised the prevailing market calendar to reflect the demands of the evolving retail landscape and to better serve the global community of brands and retailers. UBM Fashion has introduced two major changes in the New York tradeshow line up including a women's New York fashion tradeshow calendar.#
First, UBM Fashion is creating a women's New York fashion tradeshow calendar that aligns with the evolution of New York Fashion and Market weeks. Building on the importance of the women's Spring and Fall fashion weeks, UBM Fashion will introduce an additional June pre-collections show. Starting in June 2018, UBM Fashion's new June market, with Coterie at its core, will provide an inspiring and productive central locale for the fashion community to capitalise on this key market period.Second, UBM Fashion is unifying the men's and women's contemporary apparel, accessories and footwear communities, creating the first dual-gender fashion tradeshow in New York. In a period when so many companies serve both men's and women's markets, creating one inspiring, unified market enables brands and retailers to connect, discover new resources and grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently than ever before. UBM Fashion's dual-gender New York market will launch in July 2018, with PROJECT as its marquee show for both men's and women's lines."As the global leader in fashion tradeshows, UBM Fashion has been seeing firsthand the dramatic changes in the retail landscape. From the growth of e-commerce and fast fashion and changes in consumer buying patterns to the importance of delivering lifestyles and experiences we at UBM Fashion realised there was an opportunity, in fact a duty, to make real changes for our industry," says Mike Alic, managing director, UBM Fashion.The Jacob Javits Center will continue to be UBM Fashion's New York home base. MAGIC in Las Vegas will continue to run in February and August, encompassing major shows in all categories."As the world of retail shifts, it makes perfect sense that our market week and tradeshow dates would better align to meet the changing needs of our retailers and brands. We know there is not a 'perfect' date for everyone, but the logic behind this move makes a lot of sense for most. The power of UBM owning the bulk of the shows has been helpful to our industry and we (The Accessories Council) are excited to support their team and our members with the new dates. We plan to realign some of our event dates for 2018 to reflect this new schedule," says Karen Giberson, president, Accessories Council.UBM Fashion is part of UBM, the world's largest pure-play business-to-business events company connecting 2.5 million buyers and sellers supported year-round by over 200 online products and 100 publications. (SV)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
Lyons Consulting Group (LYONSCG), a leading digital agency and global commerce service provider, has announced that Destination Maternity Corporation, a leading maternity apparel retailer, has selected LYONSCG to support the transformation of its digital commerce operations, including the design, development, and optimisation of new ecommerce sites.The new ecommerce sites are for the companys Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod, and Destination Maternity brands in the US and Canada.
Lyons Consulting Group (LYONSCG), a leading digital agency and global commerce service provider, has announced that Destination Maternity Corporation, a leading maternity apparel retailer, has selected LYONSCG to support the transformation of its digital commerce operations, including the design, development, and optimisation of new ecommerce sites.#
Destination Maternity transitioned from a custom ecommerce platform to salesforce commerce cloud, working with LYONSCG to build a master, multi-site architecture with custom front-end development. The new sites, motherhood.com, motherhoodcanada.ca, apeainthepod.com, and destinationmaternity.com, were developed with a mobile-first approach and feature a new design with more intuitive navigation, improved site merchandising and on-site search, and easier check out. Since launch, conversion rates have increased by more than 40 per cent, and increased units per transaction have fuelled top-line sales growth. The initiative is a part of a broader growth strategy for the company, which includes improved inventory management, omnichannel fulfilment, and international shipping.LYONSCG provided strategy, experience design, development, and marketing services, including several back-end integrations such as order management, gift cards, store locator technology, and loyalty program technology. Post launch, Destination Maternity continues to work with LYONSCG for ongoing support and agency services.Gwen Bennett, VP ecommerce, Destination Maternity Corporation said, The Mom2Be is a digitally connected consumer who expects anytime, anywhere access. Moving our web operations to salesforce commerce cloud gives us the capabilities we need to deliver engaging mobile-first experiences to her. LYONSCG has been a great partner, delivering quality solutions that will scale as our needs evolve. Throughout the project, the team addressed our every need, while delivering on-schedule and on-budget.Dave Barr, co-founder and executive vice president at LYONSCG said, We are honoured to be working with Destination Maternity. The company has always been on the forefront of innovation, from production to distribution to the technology that underpins it all, so this was a natural evolution for them. We delivered a scalable, flexible solution that enables brand-centric shopping experiences tailored to the unique needs of its customers. We look forward to working with them further to drive digital innovation and growth. (GK)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
M33 Growth, a Boston, MA-based venture and growth-stage investment firm, closed its debut fund, at $180m.
M33 Growth I LPs limited partners include top endowments, institutional investors and philanthropic foundations.
The fund will initially make eight to 10 investments in bootstrapped companies with more than $5m in revenue in the software, healthcare and services sectors.
Co-founded by Managing Directors Brian Shortsleeve, Michael Anello and Gabriel Ling, M33 Growth is a venture and growth stage investment firm that partners with founders and CEOs and seeks to rapidly scale and build industry-leading companies, The founders will apply their experience and networks to accelerate the sales and marketing activities of its portfolio companies, and will seek to drive acquisitions and build value through data assets to expand portfolio companies in their respective markets.
FinSMEs
13/10/2017
If audiences felt 'Why Katappa killed Baahubali' was the question that the Baahubali makers would be asked the most, then they were wrong. Soon after SS Rajamouli's magnus opus Baahubali 2: The Conclusion released to great success, people started speculating about 'what next' "What will be Prabhas' next?", "What will Rajamouli helm next?" While Prabhas satiated their curiosity by announcing Saaho, the buzz around Rajamouli continued for a while, until now.
According to a report by Variety, Rajamouli has confirmed what his upcoming projects will be.
He will reportedly work with Telugu superstar and SPYder actor Mahesh Babu in a film with producer KL Narayana. The film is yet to be titled and is expected to go on the floors in 2019. The other film he alluded to is with producer DVV Danayya; Rajamouli will work on this project first and will be his first since Baahubali 2's release. The Danayya film is touted to be social drama.
"I dont know which language it is going to be in and who is going to be in the cast, yet. I have committed to Danayya and that will be my next," Rajamouli told Variety in an interview during the Busan Film Festival where his Baahubali films are being premiered in the Window on Asian Cinema strand.
Danayya, known to back films like Desamuduru, Julayi, Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu and Naayak, is also currently producing Babu's upcoming Telugu film, Bharat Ane Nenu also starring Kiara Advani.
A recent profile of the film director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, The Wrestler, Black Swan) described him as having a reputation for being combative and controlling, for breaking actors down and shooting them in extremis. Aronofsky, however, disputed this. Its not about breaking them down. They break themselves down. Theyre game, he told The Guardian's Xan Brooks. Sometimes they forget, but I think the original reason they started acting was to be able to cry in front of class... they love it, really.
That disturbingly thin line between the realistic and the real, between performance and truth, lies at the core of CRD. Set in a fictional version of Pune's Fergusson College, Kranti Kanade's film turns a student theatre competition into a stage for his provocative exploration of life, art and politics.
The film opens with new student Chetan (the astonishing Saurabh Saraswat) interrupting an acting audition to announce that what he really wants is to write the play. But a student-written play, he is told, cannot ever be good enough to win. To have a shot at winning, the play is always written and directed by someone established: usually a Fergusson ex-student who has gone into theatre, and whose participation in Purushottam thus ensures a pay-off both for himself and the college.
Persuaded by the French teacher, Veena (Geetika Tyagi), and the college cultural secretary, Persis (Mrinmayee Godbole), Chetan joins the theatre workshop being conducted by Mayank (a scarily believable Vinay Sharma). What follows is a masterfully executed dance, with these four characters playing off against each other, alternating between attraction and repulsion, admiration and disgust.
Although set in a similar universe of young Indians trying to out-nerd each other while exploring sex, CRD, unlike the puerile Brahman Naman, isn't out merely to shock. It also wants to hector, to insinuate, to challenge, to play. So there's a remarkable masturbation scene, but what's even better is a documentary-style insert in which various talking heads get asked their take on masturbation. In the Indian cinematic context, the film's treatment of sex stands out not because of what it is willing to put on screen, but because of the penetrating intensity of its gaze. Kanade zooms not just into the sexual underpinnings of every situation, but the power dynamics underpinning the sex. You surrender to me like a wife, and then see the magic, says Mayank to Chetan in one remarkable scene.
Sex, like everything else in CRD, is a complicated matter: it can be erotic and maternal, intense and funny, sleazy and playful, often at the same time. More than anything else, though, sex in CRD is a mind game. The film's most disturbing sequence pushes Chetan to the brink, but mostly it's the men who're playing and the women who are being played. To be fair, the film recognises this, often flagging the ways in which class or age or position are used to achieve sexual power. The talented Godbole brings Persis to sincere, quivering life, but she, Veena and Deepti (who does a fairly standard ugly-duckling-to-swan transformation) still seem like women imagined by a man. It seems to me no accident that CRD would not pass the Bechdel test.
Kanade and his co-writer Dharmakirti Sumant use a perfectly natural mix of Hindi and English to capture a very particular Marathi world. CRD's first achievement is to make us believe in the existence of this Pune: a still predominantly Brahminical cultural milieu in which theatre retains enough heft to be the site of a Bahujan actor's political prayog but where the fetishising of European thinkers now coexists with a trite, patriarchal nationalism. This world in which where Indianness is the subject of saccharine self-congratulation is also one where you can earn brownie points by namedropping Marx, Sartre or Foucault and political mileage by discussing their pronunciation. Kanade's gaze is sharp enough to indict our hypocrisies, but remains human enough to be affectionate about our aspirations.
CRD's second, quite singular, achievement is to make us think about art. Is good art award-winning? What is the line between moving an audience and manipulating it? Or between charming someone and deluding them? Does a performance ring true only when it wrings the truth out of you? Is there such a thing as truth? The character of Chetan and his mysterious alter ego Vikram offer great entry-points into these questions, without necessarily bludgeoning us with answers. Kanade displays both political and aesthetic courage, constantly moving registers between lyrical intensity and playful subversion. Just when you're settling into his serious central narrative, he departs from it with exhilarating abandon, bringing in everything from animated inserts to black-and-white faux footage, from Hindi film clips to dream-like sequences about characters' inner lives.
Theatre is, of course, the film's theme and locale but also its self-conscious choice of form. Conversations that seem utterly sincere drop, without warning, into wink-wink mode. People we have believed to be one thing turn out to be quite another. Nothing and no-one is quite what they seem, suggests CRD. An anti-rape narrative can be co-opted into nationalism. A lack of class privilege can be turned to one's advantage. The politics of sexual liberation can be used to shame and suffocate. We are all playing several roles, and the curtain might fall at any time.
Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who was supposed to make her maiden trip to India on the occasion of the ongoing Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival, has cancelled her visit as her daughter has fallen ill.
The organisers of the film festival tweeted on 13 October, explaining the reason of her absence:
We are so sorry to announce: pic.twitter.com/3zQWhLRcGG JioMAMIwithStar (@MumbaiFilmFest) October 13, 2017
Bellucci was to be the first recipient of the Trailblazer Award at the MAMI film festival for her contribution to cinema. The festival organisers have informed that the Wild Blood actress will be in India during February next year.
Apart from receiving the award, Bellucci was also supposed to be part of an event where she was to feature in a conversation with Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. This event was scheduled to take place on 15 October, reports Mumbai Mirror.
In the past, in an interview with Mumbai Mirror, the 53-year-old actress had expressed her appreciation for Indian films, some of which include the likes of Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, Anurag Kashyap's Ugly and Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan.
Bellucci began her acting career in the year 1990. Prior to that, she was a successful model. In her 27-year-long film career she has delivered many successful films including the 2003 sci-fi classics The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, The Passion of the Christ (2004) and much recently in the 2015 James Bond flick, Spectre.
The 19th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is finally here, and with it comes an unending list of critically acclaimed Indian and international films to watch. Some of these are submissions for the Oscars, while others are hitherto untold, hyperlocal stories. Firstpost will review the most promising of these films.
Wajib is a funny, heartwarming movie that explores the themes of alienation, importance of familial ties and relationships, and is set in contemporary Nazareth. Most of the film is devoted to the relationship between Abu Shadi and his architect-son Shadi as they go around town distributing invitations for the wedding of Abus daughter.
Shadi has spent years abroad in Italy and has returned home briefly for his sisters wedding. The father and son have not seen each other for years and are practically estranged. Shadi is in touch with his mother, but Abu has lost touch with his wife, rendering the situation impossibly complex and tense.
But director Annemarie Jacir brings a lightness of touch to the proceedings and even as the movie meanders in parts, it is never far away from being sweet and touching. The use of humour as a tool to comment on culture is not unique to Wajib, but Jacir is at ease in this format and treats it like her home turf.
This is not to say that the film is a gag it isnt. It is just that Jacir wants to tell her story, which gets at serious things in a humourous fashion. So all through the movie, the humour sparkles and so do the serious implications behind every funny situation.
The cast, including Mohammad Bakri and Saleh Bakri in plum roles, does an exemplary job as they riff off each other through most of the movie. Shadi is in a committed live-in relationship, but his father doesnt care; he wants his son to marry a local girl.
However, Shadi feels that things have forever changed between him and his family. His fathers objection to the father of the girl in question being in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) does little to deter Shadi.
Though these issues may seem quite serious, they are dealt with lightly in this case via a particularly humourous argument.
Jacir sets up a lot of scenes that are hilarious across cultures. The humour is everyday, but nevertheless penetrating and universal. Abu and Shadi lying to each other about their smoking habits and sneaking a cigarette whenever the other person is not around is something that happens between fathers and sons everywhere.
Added to this issue is that everyone thinks Shadi is working in the US when he is in Italy, with many not bothering to differentiate between the two countries. The fact that Shadis mother is in the US seems to have contributed to the confusion, which irks Shadi to no small extent. But these scenes are also a commentary on the outlook of people in the small town of Nazareth, where people cant tell Italy from the US. Anyone will be able to sense the tone of disapproval in the voices of Abus friends about his son being in Italy; quite a few go on to suggest he should return permanently.
At one pit stop to deliver an invitation, Abu tells a widow that he knows she cant come to the wedding, but it is his duty to invite her. When Abu asks about her husband, she says he died after having a heart attack ascending the staircase that Abu himself just struggled to climb, especially with his poor heart condition.
The community of Arabs seems to be closely knit in Nazareth, with everyone well-acquainted with others in their neighbourhood. Many of them are gearing up to celebrate Christmas a cheerful middle-aged woman has, in fact, been awarded a prize by a local magazine for her Nativity scene setup. Many of such sequences in the movie are sharply in contrast with the portrayal of Muslims in the media as parochial and fanatical.
After engaging us with comic situations in the first hour, Jacir plunges headlong into a sensitively done climax that was also laugh-out-loud funny. The tussle between father and son comes to a head in the end but as they say, all is well that ends well, and this applies to this film too.
Jacir offers us a peek into Arabs in Nazareth, their culture and customs. She gently lifts the curtain on their lives, which are rooted both in the local and universal. This makes it easy for us to understand and sympathise with the characters on screen. The movie, produced by Philistine Films, was shot by Antoine Heberle and edited by Jacques Comets. The camera work is largely functional and non-intrusive, but credit has to be given to the way Nazareth is shown in the movie. Even during the highly formal situations like inviting people for the wedding against which the movie is set in, Heberle keeps his work informal and casual. The focus is on capturing the action the frames may not be glossy and beautiful, but the camera is always at the right spot.
They say that a movie is made at the editing table, and this stands true for Wajib as well. The various sequences in the rundown car and smooth transition between the shots aid in telling the story to a large extent. Comets work is not of a visionary, but of someone who knows the simple rules of editing and rigidly follows them. Comets just allows the story to tell itself without drawing too much attention to her work.
The jail superintendent confirmed on Friday that the Talwar couple, exonerated of having conspired to kill their daughter Aarushi in 2008, may not leave jail despite the verdict of not guilty.
Talk about being unlucky.
This delay borders on the ridiculous. If an accused can be arrested in the same minute of a legal pronouncement of guilty, then the obverse should hold true and the legally innocent must be allowed the freedom of the sun at once. Despite our love for red tape and the sending of the file from pillar to post and a few other places, this is no longer the age of the postman. An order can be sent by email and by even a tweet or a phone call demanding the key be put in the lock and both husband and wife be let out.
Even one hour extra is unfair. A whole day is absurd and cruel. But by this argument, it is now second Saturday of the month and a general day off for officialdom. The next day is Sunday. By a logical stretch of the argument, the couple should wait in their respective cells till the order is received by the jailer.
Does it make any sense to you? Whether you or I or anyone else believes in the innocence of this couple under the law, they must go home.
This is 2017, we are supposed to be on the fast track of information highway and yet, we conduct ourselves in this shabby fashion.
Shouldnt the judges themselves be teed off that there is this inordinate delay? And where are the defence lawyers and why arent they waving the release papers in the jailer's face?
In 2016, the US faced 149 cases of prisoners spending an average of 15 years in jail and being found innocent. All the system could do was pay them compensation. Astronomical amounts.
In India, tort laws do allow for seeking compensation and the benchmark case is Rudhlal Sah versus the state but he got very little. If a case had been brought under Article 32 or 226, then the State and its officers are not protected by "Sovereign Immunity" and hence will have to pay compensation for their actions since it protects the weaker sections of society. Do the Talwars fit?
Do they then have the legal fiat to ask for compensation? There is no reason why the state cannot be held culpable through the messed up investigation and the path that was taken to send them to jail.
What normally happens in India, as opposed to the US and UK, two other democracies we tend to ape with enthusiasm, that the advice is to be grateful the nightmare is over, thank you very much. Go home, stop creating a fuss.
The semi-destroyed individuals, already traumatised in incarceration, now have to face the media glare and mumble all that blather about justice having prevailed and how they believe in the Indian system of justice. Isnt that jolly? No one else has the courage to say: Hey, this is the same justice that failed you and you dont even think of compensation.
Let it go? If the investigation was flawed, if the conclusions were cockamamie, if the period of life spent in jail was substantial, these are all basis for suing the state. For keeping them in jail an extra minute, they should throw the book at the authorities and put them to the wall.
Itanagar/New Delhi: Newly appointed Arunachal Pradesh governor BD Mishra on Friday called for a composite package for infrastructure development along the international border in the north-eastern state, official sources said.
Mishra, a retired Brigadier of the Indian Army, was addressing the 48th governors conference at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
He said that Arunachal Pradesh is a border state in which India shared a long boundary with Bhutan, China and Myanmar. "There is an urgent need to focus on development of socio-economic infrastructure in border villages. People of these villages serve a vital purpose of keeping the border intact," the Governor said.
The Army veteran drew attention to internal security problems in the state's eastern part and emphasised the need for more focus on developmental activities in the demarked disturbed areas.
" There is a requirement of a comprehensive package for development of three districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding," he said.
Underscoring the lack of private jobs in the state, the governor called for setting up entrepreneurship development centres in each district to facilitate startups.
The two-day 48th Conference of Governors was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday.
As many as 27 governors and three Lt governors of states and union territories are participating. administrators of Dadra and Nagar Haveli as well as Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep are special invitees.
Dhaka: Surendra Kumar Sinha, Bangladesh's first Hindu Chief Justice, is believed to have been forced to go on leave amid reports that the government was upset with him over his decision to scrap parliament's authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.
Sinha, 66, left for Australia last night, saying he was "embarrassed" over the controversy surrounding his July ruling. He also denied claims by the government that he was sick.
"I am the guardian of the judiciary, in the interest of the judiciary I am leaving temporarily so that its image does not get hurt. I will return," he said ahead of his departure for Australia.
But Sinha added he "firmly believes" his stance over a recent verdict was misinterpreted to the government, upsetting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but expected her to realise the fact soon.
He also rejected an earlier claim by Law Minister Anisul Huq about his sickness while his leave application to President Abdul Hamid was being processed.
"I am not sick, I am well... I am not fleeing either," the chief justice told newsmen in front of his official residence while on his way to the airport.
He also issued a written statement, in first such media interaction since the government announced his one-month "sick leave" beginning October 3.
Sinha, however, added the way a "political quarter, lawyers, and especially some honourable ministers of the government and the honourable prime minister are criticising me recently over a verdict embarrassed me".
The government row with the higher judiciary sparked in July this year when the apex court delivered a verdict declaring void the 16th constitutional amendment, scrapping parliament's authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.
The dispute grew in the subsequent weeks as several senior government leaders virtually attacked Sinha over his comments, blasting the government for its reaction and gave Pakistan's example where ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was stripped of his premiership under an apex court ruling.
Prime Minister Hasina accused him of defaming parliament and president and "humiliating" Bangladesh by referring to Pakistan's instance premier's removal saying "he (chief justice) should have quit (and) the most humiliating thing is the comparison with Pakistan which is intolerable.
Main Opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party of ex-premier Khaleda Zia has supported Sinha, saying the government was trying to control the higher judiciary by launching a campaign against the apex court judgment.
Hours ahead of his departure, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the government forced Sinha to go abroad to "establish its full control over the judiciary".
"It's now clear to the entire nation that the government has taken all the steps to send the chief justice abroad by force," he said.
Sinha, Bangladeshs first Hindu chief justice whose tenure expires in January 2018, in his written statement said he was a "bit worried about the independence of the judiciary".
He complained that the judge who became the acting chief justice to perform the "routine" job in his absence was encouraged by the government to bring changes to the Supreme Court administration soon.
"If any interference is made in the chief justice's administration, it can be easily assumed that the government is interfering in the higher court and this will further deteriorate the relationship between the judiciary and the government. It would not bring any good to the state," he concluded.
Shillong: The People's Democratic Front (PDF) has been allotted a "pair of candles" as their party symbol by the Election Commission. The president of the newfound party, I Marbaniang, said the poll body has accepted the registration of the PDF and allotted candles as its symbol on 3 October.
The party, formed last year, was informed about the allotment on 9 October, he said at the unveiling of the symbol on Friday evening. "The EC has also clarified that in constituencies where the party may not field candidates, independents can use candles as their symbol," Marbaniang said.
PDF general secretary Auspicious Lyngdoh claimed many sitting MLAs would be joining the party in the days to come. "Several members of the Khasi hills autonomous district councils have already joined the party," he said.
The chief executive member of Khasi hills autonomous district council, PN Syiem, along with Lamboklang Mylliem of the North East socialist democratic party, would be joining the PDF shortly, Lyngdoh said. Asked about their preparations for the upcoming elections, Lyngdoh said, "We are in the process of forming district committees. Once that is done, we will set up an election committee."
Meghalaya is likely to go to polls early next year. The PDF has plans to field candidates in all the 36 constituencies in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region and a couple of seats in the Garo Hills region, he added.
Mumbai: They adapt to hardships at the battlefield, but dread returning to home base. They gladly take charge of the countrys safety but nothing else about their job makes them glad. A total of 310 army personnel have committed suicide between the past three years while 11 cases of fratricide were reported during the period, said Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre at a Rajya Sabha session on 3 October.
Why is it that so many Indian jawans are either killing themselves or their fellows? Reason: Employing jawans for unsoldierly tasks, poor accommodation and sanitary facilities, administrative and cultural issues in the multi-arm Rashtriya Rifles (RR) units, subpar clothing and rations, and poor grievance redressal mechanisms for junior personnel are some service-related issues resulting in chronic stress and suicides among jawans, says a 2007 internal Army study, exclusively accessed by Firstpost.
The report, which was prepared by now-retired Colonel and trained clinical psychologist PK Mehrishi, has come to light after a decade as he sees not much has changed ever since it was presented to the then army chief in 2007.
"There have been instances of jawans in J&K being asked to guard evening parties organised by senior officers and then immediately after they have to leave for patrol duties along the LoC, with hardly any sleep," a serving officer said.
When it comes to personal causes, the report titled Psychological Stress Study, Analysis and Coping Skills for the Indian Army mentions issues like marital discord, childrens education, unwanted parenthood, illness of parents/spouse/children, financial problems and other difficulties arising out of prolonged absence of their families as causes of stress.
As for fratricides or soldiers running amok in army parlance "abusive language" by seniors and "unauthorised punishments" have been named as the triggers in the report.
Narendra R, 22, a jawan from Bengaluru, is the latest army man to have shot himself. He committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at Pahalgam camp in Anantnag district in South Kashmir on 8 October morning.
The last incident of fratricide was when Major Shikhar Thapa of 71 Armoured Regiment was gunned down by a soldier on the night of 18 July. He fired five bullets into the officer for admonishing him over using a mobile phone. Both were posted with the 8 RR battalion at Uri.
Mehrishi, principally recommends a pre-induction psychological testing to reveal suicidal and other emotional traits in army aspirants. "A robust grievance redressal mechanism for PBORs is absent. 'Arzi Reports' filed in a unit or a battalion are hardly acted upon," Mehrishi said.
It also suggests posting psychologists and counsellors in operational units to "promote awareness about psychological problems and remove attached stigma from the minds of soldiers".
This study was commissioned during the tenure of former army chief General JJ Singh and was conducted between 3 December, 2006 and 15 March, 2007. Questionnaires comprising 176 questions each was given to 1,100 jawans posted in counter-insurgency duties in Jammu and Kashmir.
While 2014 saw 84 suicides, the numbers stood at 78 and 104 in 2015 and 2016. The current year has seen 44 army men commit suicide. However, the period between 2011 and 2013 witnessed a consistent drop in suicides 105 in 2011, 95 in 2012 and 65 in 2013.
More than 90 percent of the victims were personnel below officer rank (PBOR) enlisted men who constitute nearly 70 percent of the army strength. They include Other Ranks (OR), Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO). Figures acquired by RTI activist Chetan Kothari further show that 125 of the 129 personnel who committed suicide in 2006 were from the PBOR category. For subsequent years until 2013, the break up stood at 116 out of 118 (2007), 120 of 123 (2008), 93 from 96 (2009), 112 out of 116 (2010), all the 105 and 95 in 2011 and 2012, and 62 of 65 in 2013.
Colonel Mehrishi said enlisted men are most prone to psychological stress. "Many of them come from poorly educated backgrounds and have no other skills than those they learn during combat training to be employable in the private sector," he said.
The report lists issues like employment on demeaning tasks, inadequate sleep, strained relations with subordinates/colleagues and seniors, alcohol abuse, lack of timely leave, disproportionate financial emoluments (pay and allowances), as some of the issues afflicting PBORs in operational areas.
The practice of employing army jawans in unsoldierly tasks has been specifically flagged as the reason for both psychological and physical stress for jawans. The armed forces are notorious for their hierarchy-conscious conduct, especially during social events in cantonments. The report said, "Many perceive that they are being employedlike cheap labour in tasks that are clearly non-military, especially in peace stations. Excess utilization of manpower during mess events and parties [must be stopped]."
The quality of food and clothing provided to jawans isn't great either. "Rations have not kept pace with changing times. Troops demand better, well-cooked food," the report said. "Clothing is a big sore point. It would be worth considering that the jawans get the uniforms stitched to their fitting."
General JJ Singh, while confirming the existence of the report, said the army acted on the issue of ration. "We sent feedback from the lower formations to the then defence minister AK Antony. Now, better quality rice, wheat, lentils, tea, salt and sugar are distributed," he said.
The report also recommends "refurbishing and modernising" infrastructure like living quarters, toilets, recreation and dining areas. Mehrishi also pointed towards the low compensation in Lieu of Quarters (CILQ) rates the armys equivalent of House Rent Allowance (HRA). "In peace postings when family accommodations are full, the jawan qualifies for a CILQ to rent a private house. The CILQ should be enhanced and the qualifying age for married soldiers should be lowered to 21 years from 25," Mehrishi said.
It proposes viewing leaves not as a "largesse" but as a rightful "requirement". "Anyone separated from his family would want it often. Should empathize and genuinely understand Away Without Leave (AWL) and Over-Staying Leave (OSL) cases," the report said. These cases are some of the most common causes behind disciplinary proceedings in the army. General Singh said, "Some are stingy and clamp down upon leaves before important events to make sure everyone is present. However, one must hand over his charge properly to the next in command," he said. Jawans are presently entitled to a 30 casual leaves and 60 annual leaves.
A particular issue the report touches upon, are problems with the RR, the primary counter-insurgency force which guards the fencing behind the LoC. Raised after the 1990s, it is made up of soldiers and officers from across the armys combat and support arms. Personnel are deputed to RR for a period of 2-3 years before going back to their parent units.
"Since the nature of the role is more leg work and is physically intensive, only infantry officers and soldiers cope with its demands. This causes friction with personnel from the other arms/services," said Colonel Rajinder Kushwaha (Retd), a former commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, Bihar Regiment. The report, therefore, suggests posting at least five jawans from the same unit together in RR to preserve group harmony and social support.
It also calls for incentivising RR postings by introducing a salary increment to those who have had a misdemeanor-free RR tenure. "The aim is to make jawans feel not as posted out of the unit," the report said. A common practice in army units is to send unwanted elements and troublemakers to RR tenures.
The report, throughout its findings, recommends holding pre-enlistment psychological tests to draw psychological profiles of candidates and training the units second-in-command and the education NCO in counselling. It also proposes setting up helplines at hospitals and formations up to the brigade-level. But a check revealed that the situation remained the same with the recommendations in the report not implemented.
The author is a Navi Mumbai-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.
In yet another incident of cow vigilantism, five people were beaten up in Haryana's Faridabad by cow vigilantes on suspicion of carrying beef.
What is worse is that the Haryana Police, instead of holding the culprits accountable, has booked the victims for allegedly carrying beef, reported CNN-News18.
Aaj Tak further reported that the cow vigilantes beat up the driver of an auto-rickshaw and four other people in the vehicle on suspicion of transportation of beef.
The culprits also told the driver to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' and 'Jai Hanuman'. When the driver refused, he was brutally thrashed.
In fact, the victims have claimed that they were beaten up in front of some policemen. On the other hand, the Haryana Police seems to be more interested in finding out whether the meat being carried inside the auto-rickshaw was beef or not.
Haryana BJP leader Raman Malik reacted to this incident and told CNN-News18, "First of all, as the prime minister himself has said, there has been a rise in events like these, which are not done by people who are actual gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) but by people who are gundas (goons) parading as gau rakshaks."
Sanjay Jha, Congress spokesperson, lashed out at the Manohar Lal Khattar government in the state and said, "It's like a wild banana republic out there (in Haryana)."
A June 2017 report by Indiaspend had revealed that 97 percent of violence related to cows since 2010 had taken place after the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014. Around 86 percent of those who had died in such cases were Muslims. They were also the target of over half of the violence related to bovine issues.
The Karnataka Police special investigating team (SIT), which is probing the murder of Bengaluru-based journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, on Saturday released the sketches of two suspects involved in the crime. Lankesh was shot dead outside her house on 5 September.
Based on info we made sketches, we want cooperation from ppl so releasing sketches of the suspects: Police SIT on #GauriLankesh pic.twitter.com/GwOuT8L565 ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
The SIT released three stretches in a press conference in Bengaluru, hoping locals in Lankesh's neighbourhood and elsewhere would come forward and help the police in the investigation.
"We have prepared these sketches with the help of separate eyewitness accounts and our technical inputs. We are probing two suspects, although we have released three sketches because of multiple eyewitness accounts," SIT chief BK Singh said. "I appeal to the locals to come ahead and help us in the probe if they have essential inputs."
The Karnataka government has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone giving information leading to the killers, CNN-News18 reported.
Saying that the police has investigated 200 to 250 people in the case so far, Singh said that details of the unidentified assailants are not yet known other than the fact that they were in Bengaluru for a week before the murder. "They might have been in the city for much longer, but we know that the suspects were in Bengaluru for at least seven days before committing the crime," he said.
He added that one of the suspects sported a tilak on his forehead, but that might have been done to "mislead" investigators, CNN News-18 reported.
Singh said that the police are investigating all angles in this case and are leaving no stone unturned.
"There is a personal angle, a professional angle given she was an active journalist and an activist angle here. So far, we have only ruled out the professional angle, which has to do with her journalism. We do not know anything else about the motive yet," he said.
The police also said that no link has been established so far to the murder of Narendra Dabolkar.
Earlier, reports had emerged of five people allegedly associated with the right-wing Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha being the key suspects in Lankesh's murder. However, the police have said no such association has been established with any organisation till now.
Panaji: The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) has urged the Goa government to ban the sale of Chinese firecrackers, saying they contain a chemical that is banned in India.
The right-wing Hindu organisation submitted a memorandum to the North Goa District Collector's office on Friday, seeking to ban the crackers manufactured in China, which will hit the markets before and during Diwali, being celebrated next week.
"A large consignment of Chinese crackers has been brought into the country. Mixture of the chemicals, namely potassium chloride and potassium per-chloride are used in the production of these crackers; but there is a ban on the use of these chemicals in Bharat (India)," the memorandum signed by HJS leaders, including its state convenor Manoj Solanki, says.
Solanki said that although these Chinese crackers are cheap, they pollute the atmosphere very badly and the Indian government has banned the sale of these crackers during Diwali.
He said that as per the Explosives Act, 2008 possessing and selling the foreign-made explosive material is a cognisable offence.
"The Delhi government, too, has put a complete ban on Chinese crackers. Despite this ban, the Chinese crackers are brought into India illegally and sold," he added.
The HJS demanded that the government should ban its sale immediately and take stringent action against those involved in its illegal trade. The organisation also pointed out that pictures of national heroes and deities are printed on the covers of some crackers. "When these crackers are burnt, these torn pictures also get strewn all over."
Pune: The fifth India-Sri Lanka joint training exercise "Mitra Shakti 2017" focusing on counter-terrorism operations kicked off on Friday at Aundh Military Station in Pune.
"The exercise is based on counter-terrorist operations and an infantry company from both countries is participating in the same", a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
The exercise "will send a strong signal to the world that both India and Sri Lanka understand the emerging threat of terrorism and stand shoulder to shoulder in countering this menace", said an official statement.
The grand opening ceremony commenced with a parade, followed by skill displays carried out by troops from both countries.
"The fly-past by two Cheetah helicopters of Indian Army Aviation Corps carrying national flags of both countries was held at the start of the opening ceremony.
"The exercise will be conducted for next 14 days till 26 October and will involve sharing and learning from each others' experiences," the statement added.
Jammu: Heavy shelling by the Pakistan Army along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday forced the authorities to shut schools in forward areas.
The schools along the LoC in Digwar and Khadi Karmara were closed because of the firing and shelling by Pakistan", said Poonch Deputy Commissioner Tariq Ahmed Zargar. He, however, pointed out that the schools have been shut for a day.
Zargar said the situation was under control as firing from across the border stopped in the afternoon.
Pakistan forces violated the ceasefire for the second consecutive day on Friday. They fired small arms and shelled the forward areas in Poonch district. An Indian Army jawan and a porter died in their firing on 12 October. Another six were injured.
The Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively, a defence spokesman said.
A Jammu and Kashmir policeman was killed and another injured when militants ambushed a police vehicle in the state's Kulgam district on Saturday evening.
Police said constable-driver Khurshid Ahmad was killed and another policeman injured when militants fired at the vehicle in Damhal Hanjipora area of Kulgam.
"The area has been cordoned off and security force reinforcements rushed to the spot," police said.
According to Times Now, the militants opened heavy fire damaging the police vehicle near Nandimarg. The injured policemen were rushed to the hospital where one policeman succumbed to his injuries.
A search operation has been launched to nab the terrorists.
This news comes hours after a top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, Waseem Shah, believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir, was killed along with his accomplice in an encounter by security forces in Pulwama district.
With inputs from IANS
A top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, Waseem Shah, believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir, was killed along with his accomplice in an encounter early Saturday morning by security forces in Pulwama district, police said.
During a press conference after the encounter, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Munir Khan said that one civilian was killed and another injured in the crossfire between the terrorists and the security forces.
1 civilian died & 1 civilian got injuries in cross fire between terrorist and security forces during the operation in Pulwama: IG Munir Khan ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
As news about the encounter spread in the area, announcements were made through mosque public address systems asking people to come out and stage protests.
Protesters from the village and adjacent areas gathered in large numbers, pelting stones at the security forces and shouting pro-Islam slogans.
Shah, 23, also known as 'Abu Osama Bhai' was killed at Litter area in Pulwama, a place considered to be a safe haven for militants. This is the first counter-insurgency operation in Litter area in four years.
Jammu and Kashmir police has been tracking the movements of Shah, who is considered as the 'don of Heff', another traditional stronghold of militants in South Kashmir's Shopian district.
Khan said that Shah's elimination is a big success because he used to recruit cadre for LeT.
He was found at a hideout at Litter and police and its special operation group team cordoned off the area, police said.
Shah along with his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir made an attempt to flee the area but could not penetrate the cordon which had been strengthened by the presence of CRPF and army, they said.
Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined militancy in May this year.
A college dropout, Shah, a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian, joined militancy in 2014 and was considered as the 'chief architect' of last year's unrest in various parts of South Kashmir.
Born in a middle class family of Gul Mohammed Shah, who ran his fruit business, Shah was an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group since his school days and had doubled up as a courier boy for the outfit, police said. Off late, Shah, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was recruiting fresh cadres for the militant outfit.
He had been involved in various attacks on security forces in South Kashmir, police said.
With inputs from agencies
Expressing displeasure over the affidavit submitted by Kannur University, the HC asked how did the screening committee evaluate Priya's eligibility documents.
Srinagar: The government forces are beefing up their surveillance capabilities in Kashmir to combat militancy and streets protests which have seen a spike in recent months. Apart from deploying the Indian Air force (IAF) commandos with the army to take part in anti-militancy operations, both army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters to keep track of protestors at the funerals of militants and to launch combat operations in forest areas.
Jammu and Kashmir Police have proposed to procure many UAVs for aerial surveillance and are planning to purchase at least two drones shortly which can fly at least 400 metre above the ground level and are capable of going up to a distance of 4 kilometre "from the line of sight" both during the daytime as well as the night. As per the police proposal the UAVs "should have at least the cruise speed of 25 kilometre per hour" and also "carry payload of electro-optic for daylight" and "thermal imagers for night". Also, the ground control station of the UAVs are proposed to display "both the geographical map" and the "videos" at all times during the flight and "have the capability to detect a person or a group of persons in a room".
Inspector General of Police Headquarters, Surinder Kumar Gupta, said that the UAVs are proposed to be deployed to beef up the capacity of the personnel who are engaged in anti-militancy operations. While the police are planning to procure the lightweight 4 kilogram UAVs, both the CRPF and the army have already been using such devices particularly in the South Kashmir, where the militancy has increased. The army is also deploying lightweight UAVs for surveillance along the Line of Control (LoC) to check the incidents of infiltration from across the border.
On 14 August this year as people had assembled in large numbers at the grave of Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Yaseen Yatoo, at Nagam area in Budgam, the government forces used the UAVs to keep a tab on the protestors.
The use of drones and helicopters come in the wake of the fact that an increasing number of local militants are carrying out weapons training in the forest areas of Kashmir and are even receiving the ammunition from local police personnel. They also depend on snatching weapons from the forces to carry on with the militant activities.
Moreover, officials said that the IAF commandos are also being used in anti-militancy operations which is also part of the plan to enhance their battle training. On Wednesday, two Garud commandos of IAF were killed as they were deployed for anti-militancy operations in Hajin area of North Kashmirs, Bandipora. The Garud commandos were associated with 13 RR and were deployed after the information that 8-9 militants had assembled at a house. A police source said that the IAF commandos are being used for combat operations in the areas that fall in the vicinity of Wullar lake in Bandipora.
"The place where the encounter took place is the area of responsibility of 13 RR. There were also commando attachments with the army and they operated and co-ordinated with Army and were deployed for a stealth operation like a room intervention," said Deputy Inspector General of Police, (DIG), North Kashmir, Vidhi Kumar Birdi.
Following the surgical strikes in September 2016, in April this year IAF, Navy and Army unveiled a "joint doctrine" that provided for deeper operational co-ordination and listed "proxy war" in Jammu and Kashmir as a key challenge.
Kolkata: The last rites of sub-inspector Amitabha Malik, who was killed when alleged supporters of GJM chief Bimal Gurung fired at a police team on Friday, was performed on Saturday with full state honours after his body arrived at his ancestral home in North 24 Parganas district.
The body was brought to the city airport in the afternoon from Bagdogra. Malik's wife accompanied the coffin.
It was later taken to his ancestral home at Madhyamgram in a hearse by road and subsequently to Nimtola crematorium at around 5 pm.
Malik was killed and four other policemen were seriously injured after allegedly Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters, owing allegiance to its chief Bimal Gurung, fired at a police team at a forest area near Darjeeling on Friday.
The police was on the trail to nab Gurung, who was suspected to be hiding there.
West Bengal higher education minister Partha Chatterjee and food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick received the body at the airport and offered floral tributes to the slain policeman.
Both the ministers, along with other leaders and senior police officials, accompanied the coffin to his ancestral home where gun salute was given by the state police in the presence of the DGP Surojit Kar Purokayastha and other top officials.
As Malik's wife broke into tears, his family members, neighbours and a large number of people assembled at a club ground at Madhyamgram, where the coffin was kept for people to pay their last respect.
Chatterjee handed over a cheque of Rs five Lakh to the family of the deceased on behalf of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and assured the family that appropriate action will be taken against those behind his killing.
"Our son's soul will rest in peace only if Bengal remains undivided and Darjeeling continues to remain a part of it," Malik's parents said.
Gurung has been on the run since August after cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were slapped against him for his alleged involvement in several bomb blasts in Darjeeling and its adjoining areas.
This is the first incident of violence after the 104-day long indefinite shutdown in the hills was called off on 26 September by Gurung, following an appeal by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.
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This will be the prime minister's first full-fledged official tour to the state since the BJP became a part of the ruling coalition in Bihar in July in 2017. In August, Modi along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who also holds the portfolio of water resources, will accompany the prime minister for the ceremony.
At Mokama, Modi will lay the foundation stone for four Rs 3,031 crore national highways projects and as many sewage treatment plants (STPs) and related works worth Rs 738.04 crore on Saturday, an official statement said.
Preparations were in full swing at the Patna University for Saturday's function. The prime minister will address the Centenary Celebrations of Patna University. According to reports, it will also be the first time that a sitting prime minister to visit the university.
The state BJP president has been hinting that a bonanza was on the cards, terming the prime minister's visit as a "Diwali gift" to the people of Bihar in general and Mokama in particular.
"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," state minister Nand Kishore Yadav said.
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.
Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Upendra Kushwaha, JP Nadda, Ashwini Choubey, Ram Vilas Paswan, and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi are alumni of Patna University. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is also a graduate of the Patna University.
After completion of these 11 projects, Patna will become a town having 100 percent sewerage infrastructure and no sewage water will drain into Ganga, it said.
"Considering the existing treatment capacity of the city and existing waste generation and (estimated) waste generation till 2035, a total of 11 projects under World Bank funding are sanctioned for six zones which will create a total of 350 MLD of STP capacity and will lay down 1140.26 km of sewerage network at a cost of Rs 3582.41crore," an official statement said.
In Patna, seven other sewerage projects are already at various stages of implementation. The existing population in the city is 16.83 lakh and the existing sewage generated in the city is 220 MLD and sewage load is expected to be 320 MLD by the year 2035.
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.
1.30 pm: Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of projects under Namami Gange programme, and National Highway projects at a public meeting in Mokama.
The prime minister was welcomed by Bihar governor Satyapal Malik and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the airport.
According to The Indian Express, after a rousing welcome at the Patna Airport, Modi will be proceeding towards Science College Ground for the centenary celebrations.of Patna University.
According to The Times of India report, vehicular movement will be restricted on certain roads during Modi's visit to Patna. Only government vehicles, ambulances, fire tenders and vehicles of doctors and civil court lawyers will be allowed to move from Kargil Chowk towards Ashok Rajpath in Patna. The report also added that only vehicles with passes will be allowed to go to Patna University.
There has always been a demand for making PU a central university since the past three or four decades, The Times of India notes. While the state government has given its nod on different occasions, nothing concrete has happened till now.
Watch: Narendra Modi is on the dais, expected to speak soon
However, a minor controversy has erupted with actor-turned-politician and local BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha raising the issue of not being invited to the programme despite being a Patna University alumnus. Sinha has also questioned the rationale behind the exclusion of senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from the function despite being university alumni.
Nitish Kumar said, "Patna University was founded in the year when the Champaran Satyagraha took place. I hope the central government will grant the Central University status to Patna University."
"Mahatma Gandhi stressed on cleanliness (swacchta) while being in Champaran. Gandhiji also spoke of literacy and education in Champaran, which did not even have a school. Champaran Satyagraha was a major event in giving farmers' their rights," Nitish Kumar told the gathering.
Meanwhile, the Bihar governor Satya Pal Malik is finding it difficult to keep his eyes open!
"Nitish told me I am first prime minister to come to Patna University. It is a previlage for me. I have observed that former prime minister's have left many good things for me. I now have the previlage to complete them," Narendra Modi said.
The seeds of Patna University were sown 100 years. Student studied here and then helped India reach newer heights. Thanks to Patna University, the top 5 students who are selected for UPSC each year are from this university," Modi said.
"Education's job is to clear the minds of students but our idea is to fill it with rote learning. Education also means to have an open mind. Universities need to start a campaign to help students open their minds," Modi said.
Need to focus on learning and not on teaching
"Only a country which gives importance to innovation will succeed. But innovation does not mean modification. Remember that IT revolution has helped India' change the perspective towards it. Before IT revolution, India was always considered a country of snake charmers and black magic," says Modi.
Once upon a time, our ancestors used to play with snakes but now our new generation is playing with mouse (computer), said Modi while narrating an incident he encountered in Taiwan.
Urging universities tap their alumni network to gain funding, Modi said that alumni play a major role in driving any university. He said that status and pride that comes with alumni always help an university. He added that the alumni culture is in its infancy in India, reiterating that universities need to tap them to seek funding and stop being dependent on government for funds.
"In 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of Independence, I want my Bihar to be among the prosperous states of the country," Modi said while praising Nitish Kumar's committment towards the people of Bihar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly by helicopter to Mokama, which is in Patna district about 100 km from the capital city, News18 is reporting.
Here are few images from Modi's address at Patna University
Nand Kishore Yadav, the senior BJP leader and state Cabinet minister claimed 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 added tha there will be 16 bridges on river Ganga in the next five years, which was only four till a few years ago.
Modi is to lay the foundation stones for several projects, including four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange project and four national highway projects in Mokama area of Patna district.
"Special arrangements have been made for Mokama where one company of CRPF and two units of STF will be assisting the local police in maintaining security," Singhal said.
"Four companies of the Bihar Military Police and a Quick Response Team comprising eight units of Special Task Force and two of Anti-Terrorist Squad have also been deployed," he said.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) said seven Superintendents of Police and 12 deputy SPs have been deployed to oversee the security arrangements and regulation of road traffic during nearly five-hour stay of the prime minister in the state.
Unprecedented security arrangements are in place for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. Patna has been turned into a fortress with thousands of security personnel deployed and traffic diversions made.
Different galleries at the museum showcase the states heritage and its contribution to world civilization from the figures of Buddha and Mahavir, to the Nalanda University, the Bihari diaspora (known as girmitiya labourers) of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Mahatma Gandhis first satyagraha from Champaran. Also highlighted here, are the philosophy of Chanakya and the reign of Emperor Ashoka.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remembered his days as a student in Patna Science College and said that even now parents want their ward to get admission into this college after completing their matric.
Before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Ram Vilas Paswan spoke from the dais. After Nitish, the prime minister is expected to address the gathering.
The other projects are four laning of Bakhtiyapur-Mokama section of NH-31 spending Rs 837 crore, two-lane construction of Maheshkhunt-Saharsa-Purnea section of NH 107 at a cost of Rs 736 crore and two-lane construction of Bihar Sharif Barbigha-Mokama section of NH-82 at the cost of Rs 297 crore.
The four highway projects for which the foundation stone has been laid, include the four-laning of Aunta-Simariya section of NH-31 and the construction of six-lane Ganga Setu at a cost of Rs 1,161 crore.
I request you to construct road connecting Buxar and Banaras as the number of pilgrims travelling to Banaras is quite high, Nitish Kumar said while addressing the gathering.
"The Centre has changed the fate of Bihar by launching so many schemes. I thank the Bihar government for implementing all central schemes, The Bihar government and the Centre is working in tandem to help the state prosper," Modi said.
"The bridge will connect Begusarai to Patna. Begusarai has become the industrial centre of Bihar due to the first chief minister Krishna Singh. I salute this great man," says Modi
"I can see a sea of humanity at this gathering. There are far more people at this rally, then it can hold. Yet, despite reeling under severe heat, they have come to bless us. I am thankful to them. "
Modi slams opposition leaders, says they have been dragging India back. He said that while leaders in the past were skeptical of developing roadways, the NDA government is in the process of doubling the pace of road building as part of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna.
Calling river Ganga the lifeline of India, Modi said, "Our first priority is that river Ganga must not be polluted. We are running this campaign to stop any waste from entering river Ganga."
"I meet several people from rural India. We are working tirelessly to fulfil their aspirations. And, projects whose foundation stones are being laid will give impetus to Bihar's development," Modi said.
"Even our critics will admit that unlike in the past, when political parties used to promise various yojnas with upcoming elections in mind, we always launch a scheme and make sure that we prepare a roadmap to fulfill it too," Modi said in an apparent dig at the UPA.
"My government took an important step towards unshackling the IIMs, freeing them from the clutches of restrictions and regulations set by the government. "We intend to do the same for our universities and ensure that our centres of higher learning figure among the best 500 in the world," Modi said.
Lamenting that no Indian university figures among the top 500 globally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the government intends to unshackle these institutions and provide Rs 10,000 crore to 20 varsities to ensure that they are counted among the best in the world.
"The bridge will connect Begusarai to Patna. Begusarai has become the industrial centre of Bihar due to the first chief minister Krishna Singh. I salute this great man," says Modi
"I can see a sea of humanity at this gathering. There are far more people at this rally, then it can hold. Yet, despite reeling under severe heat, they have come to bless us. I am thankful to them. "
Modi slams opposition leaders, says they have been dragging India back. He said that while leaders in the past were skeptical of developing roadways, the NDA government is in the process of doubling the pace of road building as part of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna.
Calling river Ganga the lifeline of India, Modi said, "Our first priority is that river Ganga must not be polluted. We are running this campaign to stop any waste from entering river Ganga."
Railway Min started 4 special trains so ppl in Bihar&North-eastern UP won't have any difficulty in reaching home for Diwali& Chhath: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/7w5jDgW2kg
"I meet several people from rural India. We are working tirelessly to fulfil their aspirations. And, projects whose foundation stones are being laid will give impetus to Bihar's development," Modi said.
"Even our critics will admit that unlike in the past, when political parties used to promise various yojnas with upcoming elections in mind, we always launch a scheme and make sure that we prepare a roadmap to fulfill it too," Modi said in an apparent dig at the UPA.
"My government took an important step towards unshackling the IIMs, freeing them from the clutches of restrictions and regulations set by the government. "We intend to do the same for our universities and ensure that our centres of higher learning figure among the best 500 in the world," Modi said.
Lamenting that no Indian university figures among the top 500 globally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the government intends to unshackle these institutions and provide Rs 10,000 crore to 20 varsities to ensure that they are counted among the best in the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bihar on Saturday to attend the centenary celebrations of the Patna University and launch several development projects worth over Rs 3,700 crore.
This will be the prime minister's first full-fledged official tour to the state since the BJP became a part of the ruling coalition in Bihar in July in 2017. In August, Modi along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
After attending the Patna University function, the prime minister will fly by a helicopter to Mokama, which is in Patna district about 100 kilometres from the capital city. Modi will launch a number of development projects in Patna.
The state BJP president has been hinting that a bonanza was on the cards, terming the prime minister's visit as a "Diwali gift" to the people of Bihar in general and Mokama in particular.
At Mokama, Modi will lay the foundation stone for four Rs 3,031 crore national highways projects and as many sewage treatment plants (STPs) and related works worth Rs 738.04 crore on Saturday, an official statement said.
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who also holds the portfolio of water resources, will accompany the prime minister for the ceremony.
The four highway projects for which the foundation stone will be laid, include the four-laning of Aunta-Simariya section of NH-31 and the construction of six-lane Ganga Setu at a cost of Rs 1,161 crore.
The other projects were four laning of Bakhtiyapur-Mokama section of NH-31 spending Rs 837 crore, two-lane construction of Maheshkhunt-Saharsa-Purnea section of NH 107 at a cost of Rs 736 crore and two-lane construction of Bihar Sharif Barbigha-Mokama section of NH-82 at the cost of Rs 297 crore.
The sewerage projects include development of STPs and related network at Beur and Saidpur. These will create a capacity of treating 120 million litres daily (MLD), the statement said.
The project also includes upgradation of existing 20 MLD-capacity system.
Besides, sewer network of 234.84 kilometres will also be developed in the Beur and Saidpur zones, the statement said.
In Patna, seven other sewerage projects are already at various stages of implementation.
The existing population in the city is 16.83 lakh and the existing sewage generated in the city is 220 MLD and sewage load is expected to be 320 MLD by the year 2035.
"Considering the existing treatment capacity of the city and existing waste generation and (estimated) waste generation till 2035, a total of 11 projects under World Bank funding are sanctioned for six zones which will create a total of 350 MLD of STP capacity and will lay down 1140.26 km of sewerage network at a cost of Rs 3582.41crore," the statement said.
After completion of these 11 projects, Patna will become a town having 100 percent sewerage infrastructure and no sewage water will drain into Ganga, it said.
The impoverished state has high hopes from the prime minister, who had announced a "package" of Rs 1.25 lakh crore in 2015.
Meanwhile, tight security arrangements were in place for the prime minister's visit. Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) said seven Superintendents of Police and 12 deputy SPs had been deployed to oversee the security arrangements and regulation of road traffic during nearly five-hour stay of the prime minister in the state.
"Four companies of the Bihar Military Police and a Quick Response Team comprising eight units of Special Task Force and two of Anti-Terrorist Squad have also been deployed," he said.
"Special arrangements have been made for Mokama where one company of CRPF and two units of STF will be assisting the local police in maintaining security," Singhal said.
Preparations were also in full swing at the Patna University for Saturday's function. However, a minor controversy has erupted with actor-turned-politician and local BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha raising the issue of not being invited to the programme despite being a Patna University alumnus.
Sinha has also questioned the rationale behind the exclusion of senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from the function despite being university alumni.
Patna University vice-chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh, however, sought to clear the air over the issue, claiming that the "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".
Bardoli : Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said no power in the world can stop the government from resolving the Kashmir issue and hit out at Pakistan for its "impious" activities against India. Singh said the NDA government has given a free hand to the Army to act against terrorists and give a befitting reply to any firing from across the border in Kashmir.
"I would like to say that nobody needs to be worried about Kashmir. No power in the world can stop us from resolving the issue," he said. Addressing a gathering in Surat district as part of the BJP's 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra', Singh attacked Pakistan saying it sends terrorists into India and wants to break the country.
"Pakistan is our neighbouring state. Its name is 'Pak'-istan, but it regularly indulges in 'napaak' (impious) activities, tries to break India and sends terrorists into India," he said.
"Our prime minister Narendra Modi tried his best (for peaceful resolution of bilateral issues) considering that Pakistan is our neighbouring state. He even went to Pakistan breaking all protocol, but Pakistan is not refraining from its activities. This can't continue for long," he said.
The home minister said he has asked the Army to reply with bullets to Pakistani firings on the Kashmir border instead of showing the "white flag" (of peace). "We have given a free hand to the Army. I have said you are free to act against terrorists," Singh said, adding this has resulted in a "record" number of militants being killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016-17.
"We do not need to tell you the numbers. Sometimes it is one (militant) in a day or two or four or six. The jawans of our Army keep greeting them with 'Jai Sri Ram.' It has never happened before that militants have been killed in such a large number," the Minister said. Singh recalled how a few months after the Modi government came to power in May 2014, he had given standing orders to the BSF DG to stop the practice of showing "white flags" to Pakistan in response to their firings at the India-Pakistan border.
Singh said he came to know about the practice after he talked to the BSF chief following news that five Indian citizens had been killed in firing by Pakistani personnel. He (The BSF DG) "told me it is an old practice to show white flag in response to Pakistani firing this is to tell them that we want peace. I asked the DG as to what was Pakistan response to our flags being shown 16 times.
"He said Pakistan did not show any white flag. On telephone I told him not to show white flag for the 17th time. And it is my standing order that while first bullet shall not be fired by India, if we receive even a single bullet, we will retaliate," he said.
Singh said had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country's first deputy prime minister who launched a satyagrah (in support of farmers) during the British rule from Bardoli in 1928, been allowed by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to act freely, India would not have been facing the Kashmir issue.
"Sardar Patel got Junagad and Hyderabad to become part of the country. Had Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru not stopped him from also deciding the fate of Kashmir, then, I think, the Kashmir issue would not have been before us today," he said.
The BJP has launched the `gaurav yatra' to galvanise support ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat. A number of BJP leaders and union ministers have taken part in the campaign and addressed rallies.
Bhopal: Terming the Rohingya issue as serious, a senior RSS leader said on Saturday that "outsiders" should not be allowed to stay in India beyond a specific period, and suggested that a policy be formed to deal with the refugees.
More than a million Rohingya people have left Myanmar to escape the violence following military backlash against the Muslim minority after militants raided police posts on 25 August. Many of the Rohingya refugees have come to India.
"No outsider should have the right to stay in the country after a definite period. This is a serious issue and the country should think deeply before allowing them in," RSS general secretary (Sarkaryawah) Suresh Bhaiyaji Joshi said.
He was talking to reporters in Bhopal on the last day of the three-day meeting of the Akhil Bhartiya Karyakari Mandal, a top decision-making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
"It should be pondered why they were expelled from Myanmar. When (the Myanmar government) realised that because of them there is a problem in the country, they expelled them," said Joshi, who is the second-in-command in the RSS hierarchy.
"Earlier too, such people came to our nation and settled in places like Hyderabad and Jammu," he said.
Joshi suggested running a background check on people coming to India in large numbers. "If we don't check the background of people coming to the country, then that will pose a threat to the nation's security."
"Those who arrived here (India) secured Aadhaar and PAN cards and got their names included in the voters' list. They did not come to take refuge... They have come under a conspiracy," he said.
Joshi also wondered why the Rohingya did not go to their neighbouring nations like China and Indonesia. "Taking this into consideration, our country should make a policy for them."
When pointed that some people in India were backing the Rohingya refugees, he said there was a need to find out who these people were and what was their background.
On ban on sale of firecrackers
On a question on banning of the sale of firecrackers in the national capital region (NCR), Joshi said there was a need to strike a balance on the issue.
Not all firecrackers should be banned, only those that cause pollution should be banned, the RSS leader said.
"Tomorrow someone may say burning of oil lamps on Diwali too is causing pollution. Therefore, there is a need to think seriously and strike a balance."
On reservation
Answering a question on the issue of reservation, he said the RSS believes that those availing this facility should decide till what time they want it.
If there were any discrepancies in the quota system, they should be removed, he said. "As such, we are in favour of giving reservation to those for whom it was meant."
Asked about contentious issues like the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Article 370 which grants special status to Jammu & Kashmir and the Uniform Civil Code, he said these questions should be asked to the Union government.
The meet, attended by top RSS leaders and delegates, including its head Mohan Bhagwat, reviewed programmes undertaken by the organisation in the past six months.
Mumbai: Former union minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday rejected suggestions that the Shiv Sena had poached MNS corporators and maintained that it is the BJP which engages in politics of engineering defections.
On Friday, six of the seven corporators of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) joined the Shiv Sena, giving the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, which rules the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, an edge over the ally BJP.
"It would not be fair to say that the Shiv Sena has poached (MNS corporators). The BJP is known for playing politics (of poaching)...they did the same in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Sena gave them a reply in the language they understand. I will not say much, but the BJP has sowed what it reaped," Pawar said.
He was talking to reporters after meeting around 35 people against whom summonses have been issued by police for speaking against the state government on social media.
The former chief minister said like others, young people, too, have the constitutional right to express themselves, but are now being harassed amid growing intolerance in the country.
"Youngsters who write on social media are neither related to any political party nor follow a particular ideology. They only want to uphold democratic values. It is every individual's right to express himself. However, today, when intolerance is rising, they are being troubled for airing their views."
The Maratha strongman said youngsters are being issued summonses by the cyber cell (of the Mumbai Police) and threatened with dire consequences for their social media comments deemed critical of the government.
"I will myself speak to the chief minister about this issue...All this is being done at the behest of an OSD posted in the chief minister's office. The chief minister should look into what is being done by his people," Pawar added.
The NCP stands firmly behind all these youngsters and will provide them help through legal experts, he said.
Mumbai: Coming out in support of young victims of social media trolls, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday exhorted them to speak out against the wrong policies of the government and oppose growing incidents of intolerance and fascism across India.
In an unique initiative, Pawar met around 35 youngsters who have been threatened on social media and/or booked by the police for speaking out their minds against the government and its policies on WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook or other public and community fora in the past few weeks.
Creating the right atmosphere to put the youngsters at ease, Pawar gently made it clear at the start of the three-hour interactive session: "You can bluntly criticize me Say anything you want freely. Tell me honestly where my party or I am going wrong."
Many of them displayed courage and gave an earful, mainly on NCP politics, to the 76-year-old Pawar who listened intently without interruption while some aides made notings of the suggestions thrown up.
"It was an absolutely free and candid exchange of views between the NCP chief and the youngsters who gave their frank opinions on a wide range of issues confronting the country, especially on the reduced tolerance levels, the attacks on freedom of thought, speech and expression," senior legislator Jitendra Awhad told IANS.
Another party leader who was present on the sidelines said the exercise was part of a long-term strategy to attract the liberal-minded youths to the NCP fold, infuse fresh thinking of GenNext vis-a-vis traditional politics and rejuvenate the party before the 2019 elections.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday slammed the Opposition for terming the BJP an "anti-women party" and said there are six women cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Rivals call BJP anti-women party but it gave 4 women CMs & 4 women guvs. There are 6 women cabinet ministers: Sushma Swaraj in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/LYFmgwncAr ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
"Prior to our govt, no woman was ever a member of CCS, comprising Home, External Affairs, Defence & Finance ministry," Swaraj further said, as per an ANI tweet. Swaraj was quoted by ANI: "I was made the EAM in May 2014 and now Nirmala Sitharaman is the Defence Minister. Two out of four Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) members are women now." In another tweet, Swaraj said that such remarks are not expected from politicians:
Mera wahi kehna hai jo aapka kehna hai, netaon ko aisi baat kehna shobha nahi deta: EAM responds to a question on Rahul Gandhi's RSS remark pic.twitter.com/juvGrJI8A0 ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
She added that the BJP is far ahead in the political empowerment of women. "The party is making every effort to resolve issues related to women's safety, empowerment and self-reliance," she said.
Apart from Swaraj, Sitharaman, Uma Bharti, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Smriti Irani are ministers of cabinet rank.
According to India Today, "Swaraj's remarks came at a town hall organised by the BJP in Gujarat's Ahmedabad today. Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel also attended the event."
On 3 October, as per India Today, Rahul Gandhi said at a public meeting in Vadodara that the RSS was an anti-women body: "Inka (BJP's) main sangathan RSS hai. Kitni mahilayan hain usme? Kabhi shaakha mein mahilaon ko dekha hai shorts mein? Maine to nahi dekha (Their main organisation is the RSS. How many women members does it have? Have you seen a woman in shorts at their shakhas? I haven't seen any)."
The Congress vice-president accused the saffron party of neglecting women and said that it neglected women's rights.
Earlier, according to PTI, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain hit back at Gandhi, saying the Congress vice-president is afraid of women leaders in the BJP.
Rahul Gandhi will take time to understand the BJP and the RSS he will have to do research for it, Hussain said on 11 October.
With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: Swine flu has claimed 12 lives, including eight of Delhi residents, in the national capital this year, health minister Satyendar Jain has said. The official data provided by him, however, contradicts the count of fatalities reported from various hospitals in the city.
"A total of 2,818 cases of swine flu have been reported here till 12 October, out of which 620 were traced to residents of other states. Out of 12 deaths recorded in the city, eight were residents of Delhi and rest belonged to other states," he told reporters.
According to data provided recently by four Centre-run hospitals, the H1N1 virus had claimed 47 lives, including 22 from Delhi this year till late August.
At least 680 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the city in the first week of October, taking the number of people affected by the vector-borne disease this season to 4,545, according to the latest report by civic authorities. Of the total 4,545 dengue cases, 2,152 were residents of Delhi, while the rest were from other states. Of the 2,152 Delhi cases, 345 were reported this month, the report said. According to the Delhi government as well, the total number of dengue cases are the same, which also includes one death.
As many as 638 cases of chikungunya have been reported as well till 7 October, the report by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) which tabulates data for the entire city, said. "From Delhi, 368 cases of chikungunya have been reported while 270 of them have been traced to residents of other states who had come to Delhi," Jain said.
All the three municipal corporations in the city have stepped up awareness drives, distributing pamphlets and plying vehicles with loudspeakers announcing dos and don'ts for prevention.
The Delhi government has banned over-the-counter sale of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Aspirin and Brufen as their use may "pose a threat" to dengue and chikungunya patients.
At least 21 deaths due to dengue were reported last year from various city hospitals, including nine at AIIMS, though the official figure of the civic bodies stood at 10.
Seventeen deaths, suspected to be due to malaria, were also reported by civic bodies last year.
At least 15 fatalities were reported last year from various city hospitals due to complications triggered by chikungunya, though civic authorities kept the death tally at zero.
One of the worst outbreaks of chikungunya was in 2016 when 12,221 were reported till December 24, 2016. Of these, 9,749 were confirmed.
Bhopal: RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Saturday said those levelling allegations against BJP chief Amit Shah's son should go to court, and the RSS does not want to take a stand on the issue.
Taking a different line from what was said by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Thursday, Joshi said those who have levelled allegations against Jay Shah should go to the court.
"It is not necessary that allegations levelled against someone are true. There is no reason to believe this. How allegations are levelled these days, everybody knows," Joshi said.
He said it is for the court of law to decide who is a guilty and who is not. "So those making charges against Jay Shah should approach the courts because RSS does not deem it fit to take a stand on such issues," he said at the conclusion of the three-day meet of RSS national executive committee in Bhopal.
Hosabale had earlier said that if there are corruption allegations against anyone, an inquiry should be done and "action can be taken accordingly. But there has to be prima facie evidence of wrong-doing".
The opposition has demanded a probe into allegations that the turnover of the junior Shah's company increased 16,000 times in one year after the BJP came to power in 2014.
Joshi also said the RSS will focus on working on the youth in rural areas to bring about social change.
"The Sangh will now focus on rural areas as social change is a big challenge there. We will work on the youth for Hindutva as well as societal transformation."
Joshi said that India's 60 percent population lives in villages and Sangh's two-third of all shakhas run in villages while one-third work in the cities.
He said that besides running regular shakhas there is also need for focusing on other activities such as promoting social harmony and equality and other societal challenges.
He said that efforts should be made to make farmers self-sufficient and the Sangh feels that the government should formulate agricultural policies only after consulting the farmers.
Ahmedabad: Calling languages as soul of society, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that India should have a pragmatic policy to encourage mother tongues at early stages of school.
Inaugurating two-day International Conference on 'The Journey of Indian Languages: Perspectives on Culture and Society', Naidu said : "We should have a pragmatic policy to encourage mother tongue at the early stages of schooling and gradually move on to other languages."
The program was organised by BR Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in Ahmedabad.
Naidu said that language is the binding thread of human existence and it has been a vehicle, from time immemorial, for communication of thoughts, feelings and ideas.
"Our societies have been built on the recognition of the fact that language is the lifeblood of a culture and building block of civilization. The richness of a culture is evident from the vocabulary, the syntax," he said.
Gujarat education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasmaji, Principal Secretary, higher and technical education, Anju Sharma, BAOU Vice-Chancellor Pankaj Vani, and IGNOU Vice-Chancellor Ravindra Kumar were also present during the occasion.
Naidu called for good researches that would aim to cement and enhance India's tradition of excellent critical, historical, theoretical and creative scholarship across a full range of periods, genres and linguistic research areas.
"Open Universities are making higher education opportunities available to a much larger number of students because they offer flexible schedules enabling learners like women and working population to study anywhere, anytime," he said.
A little over a week since its opening, the Bihar Museum has become Patnas new feel good destination. Patna residents are happy they now have a world class museum in their city. And art and culture aficionados find the museums modern structure with its gleaming architecture and interiors, soothing lighting, beautifully displayed artefacts and lush green laws an oasis of calm amid the crowds and congestion of Patna.
A visitor can really feel the history of Bihar here, said Vishi Upadhyay, curator of the Bihar Museum. It is not merely a gallery of exhibits.
Different galleries at the museum showcase the states heritage and its contribution to world civilization from the figures of Buddha and Mahavir, to the Nalanda University, the Bihari diaspora (known as girmitiya labourers) of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Mahatma Gandhis first satyagraha from Champaran. Also highlighted here, are the philosophy of Chanakya and the reign of Emperor Ashoka.
What sets the Bihar Museum apart from others in the state is in its measuring up to international standards. It is a well-crafted museum, like institutes of global repute. Its definitely a positive development, says OP Jaiswal, a Patna-based historian.
Spread across 13.3 acres of land with a built up area of 2.5 lakh square feet in the heart of Patna, the Bihar Museum has been built at a cost of Rs 517 crore. The brainchild of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the new museum is being projected as an essential stop for tourists even as it attracts local youths with its focus on interactive, educational and entertaining exhibits. While the museum was formally launched on 2 October 2017, a portion of the building has been open since 2015, before the last Bihar Assembly polls. Nitish Kumar had then inaugurated the portion that had been completed, perhaps spurred by the uncertainty of the elections outcome. However, being voted back into power, Kumar was able to fulfill what has been one of his dream projects, and oversee its complete launch.
Only three sections of the museum the childrens section, visible storage and orientation theatre, in addition to the main entrance area were opened to the public in 2015. On 2 October 2017, Kumar inaugurated four galleries, including one for regional art, contemporary art, historical art and one for Bihari Diaspora at the museum.
In total, there are seven galleries in this museum, on the ground plus first floor. All of them are inter-connected, said Ranbir Singh, one of the museums curators.
Singh told us that each of the galleries gives the visitor easy access to Bihars rich history. For instance, in the historical art gallery, the Didarganj Yakshi considered to be a unique and outstanding piece of Indian art is a huge visitor attraction. The Yakshi was probably made 2,000-2,300 years ago, possibly during Emperor Ashokas reign. It is carved out of single piece of bluff-coloured sand stone. This highly polished life-size sculpture was discovered by Maulvi Ghulam Rasul at Didarganj near Patna in 1917, exactly 100 years ago.
At the Bihari Diaspora gallery,visitors see pictures and rad up on how the first wave of Bihari migration happened in the 19th century after the abolition of slavery in England in 1834. In the 19th century, extreme deprivation and repressive colonial governance in Indian villages had forced many people to migrate to port cities like (then) Calcutta and Madras. This gallery explores the contribution of migrants from Bihar in the history and culture of lands where they settled, such as like Mauritius, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Vishi Upadhyay told us.
Nitish Kumar had announced that pre-1764 artefacts would be shifted to Bihar Museum from the Patna Museum (where they were previously housed; the post-1764 artefacts including many Buddhist manuscripts, sculptures and coins donated by Rahul Sankrityayan continue to remain at the latter institute). In fact, some activists, intellectuals and students have protested against the shifting of these invaluable artefacts, among which is the aforementioned Yakshi, from the Patna Museum.
Crores of rupees have been spent on this museum, but there is no official literature available here. There is no literature or anything (documents) to share on the Bihar Museum at present with me, the museum director JP Singh, sitting in his third-floor office in the administrative wing of the premises, told us. Even on 2 October, when it was inaugurated, the museum was not fully ready to be opened for the public. It was opened in haste; we were not ready but this is what the Chief Minister wanted. There is still some work underway at the museum, Singh added.
He revealed it had been a difficult task to shift artefacts from the Patna Museum to their new location a week before the Bihar Museums opening. It was not easy. These artefacts were shifted by a team of experts and professional handlers from a leading private agency, and we insured them with the Oriental Insurance Company for a sum of Rs 375 crore, Singh said.
The Bihar Museum has an excellent collection of contemporary artworks in the regional gallery. The works of more than 25 of the states best-known artists are being displayed here. An installation by Sanjay Kumar is particularly eye-catching, featuring a collection of 171 Buddhist monk figurines made of brass, with a big bronze Buddha begging bowl at the centre that weighs nearly 6,000 kg. On the anvil is an exhibition of leading contemporary artist Subodh Guptas work as well. As of now, there is only a flex board that displays an image of Guptas installation, titled Yantra. JP Singh told us that Yantra will be on display from 3 November, and the artist will be present at its unveiling. Subodh Gupta was here on the day the museum was inaugurated and he will come again when his art work is displayed, Singh said.
When the process for setting up the museum was initiated in 2011, the state government shortlisted five architecture firms. From among them, the Tokyo-based Maki and Associates was chosen to bring the project to life. Maki and Associates executed the design with the help of Mumbai-based Opolis Architects. The foundation stone was laid on 9 June 2013, and construction started in July the same year.
Maki and Associates visualised the design as having four different facets: the museum as an expanse to reflect the layers of Bihar's history, as a journey that reflects the memories and epics of the state, as an educational landscape, and as a symbol that reflects India's past and future. Instead of a compressed building, the architects chose a dispersed scheme in which the structure of the museum was spread out and integrated with the surrounding landscape. They also applied the Japanese concept of Oku to the building, which creates a sense of anticipation and contemplation. It allowed for the interplay of courtyards and terraces, alternating indoor spaces with the outdoors.
Corten steel a material that oxidises when exposed to weather was used in the buildings construction, in keeping with the metallurgical tradition of the state while sandstone, terracotta bricks, fly ash bricks, fly ash mixed concrete, rough granite and black stone made up the museums environment. The architects stayed away from any glossy materials, and incorporated solar panels, smart lighting and water conservation schemes in the design.
The Canada-based Lord Cultural Resources (the worlds leading firm specialising in the planning and management of museums) was a consultant on the project, while the construction was executed by Larsen & Toubro.
While the Bihar Museum seems to have met with near universal approval for now, some questions do remain. Historian OP Jaiswal, for instance, is among those whove expressed concern over why the Bihar Musem has been registered as a society and whether it is a private institution to which the government-owned artefacts from Patna Museum were shifted. The government should come forward with a specific public notification to inform people about Bihar Museums management and safety of the antiquities, Jaiswal said.
The high entrance fee for the museum is also a sticking point. The entry fee for adults is Rs 100; Rs 50 for children, and Rs 500 for foreigners. Patna Museum, in contrast, charges visitors only Rs 15 as the price of admission. This doesnt seem to have deterred visitors, however. The response from visitors has been very good, said one security guard, posted at the entrance gate. It has been more than we expected.
Editor's note: From May 2017, Firstpost is featuring a fortnightly column by Mridula Ramesh, titled 'Climate Conversations'. In this column, we take a look at pressing issues pertaining to climate change in an accessible way.
In South India, the conversation of late seems to always turn to dengue. The neighbourhood hospitals are overflowing with dengue cases, and sachets of Nila Vembu Kashayam (a herbal remedy against fevers) are being sent home, as per government instructions, in my five-year-olds homework diary. Offices and factories are reeling under a wave of absenteeism as workers fall sick or stay home to take care of a loved one. Indias productivity, already low, is being dealt a further blow by the bite of a small, fragile, female Aedes mosquito.
What is dengue?
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection characterised by high fever, excruciating pain (since Ive had it, I can vouch for this), an angry red rash and sometimes, vomiting. One of the original names for dengue was dandy fever because the West African slaves who contracted it walked mincingly like dandies because of the extreme joint pain. The more serious variant is Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, which can lead to bleeding and death if not given prompt medical attention.
There is no cure for dengue. The disease requires careful monitoring and care. Leading haematologists say that drinking plenty of fluids is the best practise.
The virus is carried by the female Aedes mosquito who requires a blood meal before she can lay her eggs. She can contract the virus during her blood meal, incubates the virus, and if she lives long enough, passes it on during her subsequent blood meals. This is the only way the virus is transmitted. Aedes females are day-biting using a repellent during the day and wearing appropriate clothing can go a long way in not contracting the disease.
A female typically takes her first blood meal 3 days after emerging from her pupae. In a life span of less than a month, the key determinants of whether she transmits dengue are: does she get infected by the virus and how long does it take her to become infective? The first depends on whether there is dengue present in her surroundings, and the latter, surprisingly, depends on the temperature.
The Climate Link
A-ha. There is the climate link. The time taken for an infected Aedes female to transmit it to her next victim is dramatically shortened as the temperature increases. This period almost halves from 9-15 days at 26-28C to about 5-7 days at 30C. One study shows this time falls further as the temperature rises beyond 30C.
Lets do the Math quickly: The Aedes females hatches, three days later she feeds off someone with dengue. Shes infected. Its hot (30C) and so, by day nine, shes a dangerous vish-not-quite-kanya. Given a life span of 25 days (this is affected by a combination of temperature and egg-laying), she has a good 16 days to infect someone.
What if its cooler?
What if young Ms Aedes is born somewhere with an ambient temperature of 26C? She hatches; three days later, she bites someone with dengue. But then it takes her anywhere between 9-15 days (or never as per one study) to become deadly. That means, she would have only 10 days to infect someone.
The current warming has expanded the range of the Aedes mosquito to more temperate climes (more of the US and Europe), taking diseases like dengue and Zika with it.
Temperature also influences size. One study shows that female mosquitoes become smaller when its hotter. Smaller mosquitoes tend to feed more frequently, which increases the chance of infection.
But isnt there something as too hot?
Possibly. Mosquito babies develop more slowly above 34C and there is some evidence of increased mortality above 40C. But remember these are urban mosquitoes who typically bite indoors, where temperatures in the shade can be much lower. Laboratory studies are not quite as useful for wily mosquitoes intent on living.
But temperature alone does not reveal the whole picture.
Enter rainfall.
Rainfall is literally manna from heaven for dengue. Mosquitoes need water to lay their eggs in. Without that moisture, the eggs will not develop. When it rains, especially when it is hot, the humidity of the air increases. Mosquito feeding, survival, development all receive a boost when that happens.
Paradoxically, drought can trigger dengue epidemics as well, but perhaps not in the way you might think. People store water during drought or when water supply from the municipal corporation is irregular. Mosquitoes love this the water containers in each house provides both a cool place to lay their eggs in close proximity to feeding grounds the arms and legs of those creatures (us!) that drink the water!
The Solid Waste Link
There is one more piece to the puzzle.
When rain falls on an open surface, some of it evaporates, some of it enters the soil, and a large quantity runs off along the slope.
Not so in our cities. Look around you especially if you are a city dweller.
Rain falls. Some of it evaporates, if there is soil, or an unclogged drain, some of it disappears below ground, some of it fills the convenient little pockets that unmanaged solid waste creates, and much of it pools, because the drains and canals are often clogged with waste. Rain combined with solid waste provides convenient scattered, nutrient-rich mosquito-nests.
A-ha! There is the waste link.
The pools of rain water and million tiny pockets of water all form inviting homes for the female mosquito to lay her eggs, thus giving rise to the next generation of unfriendly neighbourhood killers. Mosquitoes can breed in pockets of water which are about the size of coin. This is important a female Aedes mosquito has a flight range of about 400 metres which means neighbourhoods can take the initiative of keeping their own surroundings clean. Dengue is, to use start-up slang, a hyper-local start-up, with solid waste providing its seed funding.
The Emperor is naked
But we, as a society, have not come to grips with this problem.
Every doctor I have spoken to has spoken, in strong terms, but off the record, on the level of underreporting in dengue cases. This is important because names hold great value. Calling the fever by its appropriate name: Dengue gives the problem a name. When the numbers add up, they can serve as a strong call to action.
To understand the extent of underreporting, consider this:
In 2016, 13,115 cases of dengue were reported in Singapore. With a population of 5.6 million, the risk of dengue in Singapore works out to 0.23 percent.
Take India. In 2016, 1,29,166 cases were reported. With our population of 1.3 billion, the risk of dengue in India works out to 0.009 percent.
In other words, the risk of dengue in Singapore is 23 times the risk of dengue in India.
No, no. One might argue. Dengue is an urban disease. India is primarily rural.
Fair enough.
Let us take Tamil Nadu reasonably urban and hard hit by dengue at the moment.
Tamil Nadu has reported 11,552 cases up to 5 October this year. Since I do not have the breakup, let us for a moment assume that 80 percent of these cases were reported in the cities of Tamil Nadu (this makes for a highly overestimated risk only makes the point I am trying to make stronger). Given Tamil Nadus urban population of 35 million, this translates to a 0.026 percent risk of dengue in Tamil Nadus cities in the midst of a raging epidemic.
Which still puts the risk of dengue in 2016 in Singapore eight times higher than the risk of dengue in Tamil Nadus cities.
This is absurd.
Singapore is far cleaner, and far stricter about water stagnation than India is. Singapore has taken data collection, analysis and action to great levels (check it out here) and consequently brought down the risk by 80 ercent in 2017.
We, on the other hand, want to pretend the problem does not exist, both with outright denial and rampant underreporting.
This is not way to surmount the problem.
What needs to be done?
Because, you see, the problem has been conquered elsewhere.
Dengue existed and caused epidemics repeatedly in Europe and the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, they have all-but-disappeared. The climate has warmed, but dengue has not taken a significant bite. Cleanliness i.e., management of solid waste, can certainly claim an important role in that progress.
In India, while there is not much we can do about the temperature or the rain, we can do something about the waste and our water storage. In the past few years and days, when I have spoken to Waste Managers in the Public, NGO and Private sectors, they all say the same thing: we, the public, are unwilling to segregate or pay enough for effective collection and management of waste.
This is the first step to management. The first step to winning the war on dengue.
Humans as a lot care more about losing something, rather gaining something. Two Nobel Laureates in Economics, including this years winner, won the prize for this insight. Perhaps, getting to clean cities should focus more on not losing our lives to dengue rather than gaining a wonderful city to live in.
What can I do?
A leading Chennai haematologist told me that patients report corporation workers do visit the houses where dengue is reported and take countermeasures.
Prevention is always better than cure; this is something we can do proactively: search for pockets of stagnant water and remove them. Typically, this means ensuring waste is collected and managed. The Western world and Singapore have shown that community action against waste can help win the war against dengue.
If we want to solve our dengue problem, managing our waste is probably the best place to start.
This is the second of a multi-part series on waste. Read part one here.
The writer is the founder of the Sundaram Climate Institute, cleantech angel investor, teacher and author of a forthcoming book on Climate Change and India. Follow her work on her website; on Twitter; or write to her at cc@climaction.net
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar made a fervent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving central university status to Patna University but he fell short of announcing this and instead invited the university for a challenge league which will select 20 universities to be developed as world class institutions.
After Nitishs return to the NDA fold, this was the first occasion when he shared the dais with Modi in Patna on the occasion of centenary celebrations of Patna University.
Speaking on the occasion, Nitish turned back towards Modi and said, There has been a long demand of giving this university the status of central university. This is a great opportunity when our PM is with us. I appeal with folded hands to fulfil this long-standing demand.
The prime minister, though, said there was more in store for Patna University than the status of central university. Elaborating about his governments initiative, he said, Top ten private and government universities would be converted into world class educational institutions and we will give them financial assistance of Rs 10 thousand crore in the next five years.
The prime minister said that the selection of universities would be based on a challenge and not anyones recommendations and they would be given full autonomy.
This is more than the status of central university. I hope Patna University would not leave behind and grab this opportunity with both hands," he said.
On the other hand, opposition parties have accused the prime minister of diverting the demand. Main opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) said that the prime minister has fooled Nitish. RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary said, Narendra Modi has shown the mirror to Nitish Kumar and he should learn to be happy with that. We were also hoping that Modiji would announce the demand of granting central university status.
Senior Congress leader and former education minister Ashok Choudhary also lamented the way, as he said, the prime minister ignored the issue. Instead of announcing anything, he invited the university to participate in a challenge league. Who knows the result? He quipped.
However, Nitishs party Janata Dal (United) tried to play down the issue. Partys spokesman Neeraj Kumar said, RJD can only think of Charwaha schools. They have no understanding of education system. The PM is committed for the development of Bihar.
But he also hoped that the demand of central university would be met in future.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said in Patna that he wanted to see Bihar among the developed states by 2022 and the Centre would provide all possible help in this regard.
He was speaking at a function to mark centenary celebrations of the Patna University.
We are committed for the development of eastern states. I want to see Bihar among developed states by 2022 when the country will celebrate 75 years of independence. Bihar is the oldest custodian of intellect. This legacy is an inspiration itself which will sow the seed of further development, The prime minister said.
Modi also said that Goddess Saraswati, deity of intellect, has been kind to Bihar but now Goddess Laxmi, deity of wealth, will also be kind enough to make a prosperous Bihar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the contribution of Patna University in nation-building, saying it is serving the country for the last hundred years.
He referred the success rate of students from Patna University in civil services and said one can find a Bihari officer in the top five senior bureaucrats in every state.
Earlier, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar brought the prime minister's attention towards the long-standing demand of giving Patna University the status of a central university.
After creation of 100 years, it deserved the status of central university and I request the prime minister to fulfil the long standing demand, Nitish said.
He admired Narendra Modi for his presence and disclosed that the prime minister had given the consent to participate in the centenary program of Patna University in January this year itself when he was here for Prakashotsav.
The chief minister also remembered his days as a student in the science college and said parents still want their ward to get admitted in the college.
Chandigarh: The BJP in Chandigarh held a protest march on Saturday against the alleged killing of RSS and party activists in Kerala.
BJP workers led by the party's Chandigarh president Sanjay Tandon and Haryana chief Subhash Barala participated in the Janaraksha Yatra which started from Sewa Dham.
However, they were stopped at a barricade by the Chandigarh police's personnel near the CPM office in Sector 30 where the march was supposed to conclude.
Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters, who tried to cross the barricade, a official said.
"We were holding a peaceful protest march against the brutal killing of BJP and RSS workers in Kerala. However, the police stopped our protest march near the CPM office," Tandon said.
The BJP claimed that three to four party workers suffered minor injuries.
BJP leaders from Haryana, including minister Krishan Bedi and Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta, and Chandigarh mayor Asha Jaswal also attended the protest, Tandon said.
The monsoon is on the retreat but the clouds are yet to clear from the political firmament in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpoing districts of West Bengal. The region is fraught with a sense of uncertainty and disquiet as fresh alignments are forged even as it tries to shrug off the memories of the recent lockdown. The strike, which was called to press for a separate Gorkhaland state, was called off late last month. Although there are indications of a return to normalcy in these especially troubled times, deepening divisions within the principal organisation behind the statehood movement seems to have thrown the regions political future into question.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), whose supremacy in the hills has remained unchallenged ever since it came into being a decade ago, is today a faction-ridden party with leaders turning on each other. This ongoing feud has led to a re-drawing of political battle-lines in the region. Suddenly the West Bengal government, with its only too well-known policy of red-lining the Gorkhaland demand, does not seem to be the main adversary. The enemies are within, imparting an altered dynamics to local politics in the region. Developments in the aftermath of the agitation could well define the course local politics takes.
Of particular political salience is the fact that the dragnet of the security forces appears to be closing in on GJM president Bimal Gurung. The GJM leader has been on the run since being served a look-out notice and slapped with charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with incidents of violence during the strike. One policeman died in the wee hours of Friday in an armed encounter between the security forces and GJM activists. After the encounter, the police claim to have seized a large cache of arms from a hideout in the forest close to Darjeeling districts border with Sikkim. The seizure would go a considerable way to vindicate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees stand that Gurung and his cohorts have links with insurgency outfits. While the BJP-led government at the Centre has chosen to be taciturn in the face of such charges considering the ruling partys alliance with the GJM, the incident flies in the face of claims by Gurung that the statehood agitation led by him has been peaceful and democratic. Reports that he will come out of hiding and make a public appearance in the hills on 30 October have led to nervous anticipation, not just within a beleaguered GJM where his absence is coming at a cost to his popularity among its rank and file, but also the State authorities backing the rebel GJM forces, led by Binay Tamang who enjoys Ms Banerjees confidence.
Much to Gurungs chagrin, with every other passing day, sections of the GJM leadership including municipal councillors have been teaming up with the faction of Tamang who was handpicked by the chief minister to take over as chairman of a hurriedly constituted Board of Administrators for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The board has been left tottering after en masse resignations of its elected members following the call for the statehood agitation in June. It would indeed be naive to suggest the on-going switch of loyalties has nothing to do with Tamangs proximity with the powers that be in Kolkata and the trappings of authority he now enjoys as a consequence. Not to be discounted are those among the partys activists who look up to his patronage for a withdrawal of penal charges brought against them by the state police in the course of the recent agitation.
As for Tamang, he has his work cut out. His task calls for treading an exceedingly fine line; appeasing the state administration bent on keeping Mr Gurung at bay, while also ensuring a large swathe of the local population that had expressed its solidarity on the Gorkhaland issue during the recent strike that he remains steadfast to the statehood cause. At every given opportunity he has made clear that he will continue working towards taking the Gorkhakland movement forward. He hastens to add, however, that it had been derailed to a large extent by the violent tactics employed by Gurung for all practical purposes now a mentor-turned-adversary.
Tamang is only too well aware that any wavering on his part vis-a-vis the statehood issue could be politically suicidal. However, he also cannot afford to ignore the aspirations of Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress, which is keen to manoeuvre its way back into the reckoning in the region after having suffered a massive erosion in its support base in the wake of recent statehood agitation. What cannot be missed is the fact that any gain by West Bengals ruling political party can only come at the expense of the GJM in the hills, if the gain is to be substantial.
Against such a backdrop, the public discourse in the hills is now focused on whether the outcomes of the upcoming third round of bilateral talks between Banerjee and a section of the hill political leadership to be led by Tamang slated for later this month and the discussions the Centre reportedly plans to convene to resolve the impasse surrounding the statehood issue would help ensuring a less tentative and more enduring calm in the region. And then there is the crucial question whether the widening rift within the GJM itself will make things any easier.
Kolkata: West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Saturday held the Mamata Banerjee government responsible for the death of sub-inspector Amitabha Malik, alleging that it had sent police personnel "who were not properly trained" to capture GJM chief Bimal Gurung.
Ruling Trinamool Congress hit back saying Ghosh should refrain from "speaking in support of" the "anti-nationals" who killed the police officer.
Malik was killed and four other policemen were seriously injured after alleged Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters, owing allegiance to its chief Bimal Gurung, fired at a police team in a forest area near Darjeeling on Friday.
"The state government is responsible for the sub-inspector's death. It is sending police personnel who do not have proper training to capture Gurung," Ghosh said.
He alleged that the TMC had earlier "used" Gurung and now it wanted to eliminate him to make way for expelled GJM leader Binay Tamang, who was made chairman of the Board of Administrators for the Darjeeling hills by the state government.
TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee accused Ghosh of giving provocative speech and said those who killed the sub-inspector and those supporting them are "anti-nationals".
Chatterjee said the state BJP chief was speaking in support of those who had killed the police officer. "We feel ashamed of it," he said.
Ahmedabad: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday termed as a "sham" Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's recent visits to temples in Gujarat during his recent campaign tour in the poll-bound state.
Tearing into the Congress and its leadership, Adityanath also said they have no right to berate the 'Gujarat model of development'.
"As far as Rahul Gandhi's visits to temples are concerned, I am surprised. Rahul Gandhi's pakhand and dhong (hypocrisy and sham) is not going to work," Adityanath said, speaking to reporters at Nakhatrana in Kutch during BJP's 'Gaurav Yatra' election campaign.
"The same Congress was eager to destroy the Ram Setu. During a hearing in the Supreme Court, Congress government had raised question about the existence of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna," he claimed, and asked, "If the party does not believe in the existence of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna, then why Rahul Gandhi wants to take credit by visiting temples."
Ram Setu, also known as Adam's Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
PILs were filed in the Supreme Court in the past, demanding that it be declared a national monument.
"If the country is facing poverty, terrorism and Naxalism, then the Congress is to be held responsible for that. Congress and Rahul Gandhi have no right to discuss development; even the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has accepted the (genuineness of) development of Gujarat," he said.
The BJP government is not doing the politics of "caste and dynasty," the chief minister added.
"The BJP talks about the entire society, and the programmes that the BJP has launched under the leadership of respected Narendra-bhai (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) focus on farmers, villagers, poor, women and youth," he said.
Gandhi started his recent campaign for Gujarat Assembly polls by visiting the Dwarkadeesh temple and offered prayers at many other temples in the state.
Yogi Adityanath has been campaigning in the BJP-ruled state since Friday.
Sheldon Pinto
The festive season is finally here, and like every year, there are a new bunch of smartphones that manufacturers will launch just in time for Diwali in India. While Samsung, HTC and Sony already have their flagships out on sale in stores and online, there are other smartphone brands that seemed to have missed the opportunity for various reasons, like LG and Google with its Pixel 2.
The LG V30 and the Google Pixel 2, 2XL have yet to arrive in India. While there is still no sign of LG launching its V30 flagship smartphone, Google seems too late to the party with the Pixel siblings, which will only arrive in India by November (pre-orders will start on 26 October).
But there are still plenty more options to choose from this year because neither the V30 nor the Pixel twins utilize new chipsets. Both smartphones pack in the Snapdragon 835 platform just as the other flagships. So without further ado, let us check out the hottest premium and flagship smartphones on both iOS and Android platforms that are available this Diwali.
HTC U11: Rs 51,990
The HTC U11 is our favourite at the office. It performed well on all fronts and is indeed the true all-rounder we came across this year. Whether its construction, audio, performance and imaging quality, the HTC U11 did not fair below the mark on any front.
The display too, despite being a simple LCD (Super LCD 5) was high on colour accuracy. Despite not going for an edge-to-edge or curved-at-the-edges display like the Galaxy siblings, we found it sensible and quite accurate in comparison to the other smartphones in the lot. The bundled U Sonic headphones also come free in the box and are as good (if not better than) as the AKG-tuned headset Samsung has provided with the Galaxy S8.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Rs 67,900
A smartphone that comes almost two years after its predecessor in India, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 got a warm welcome not just from reviewers, but even the consumers. Last we heard, there were reports stating that the Note 8 is selling a lot more than both the Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus combined. In short, consumers seem to love it, and so did I in my review of the Galaxy Note 8.
While many may claim that the 128 GB model of the Galaxy S8+ offers more, the Note does have a few features that separate it from its siblings. It has a dual-camera setup, a class-leading portrait mode, an S Pen and a wider display that is a lot more accurate than its siblings. So much so that even at Rs 67,900, it's worth it.
Apple iPhone 8 Plus (64 GB) : Rs 73,000
Every year, the Apple fans who are more productive on their iPhones go in for the Plus model. This year, things are a bit different as Apple launched three new iPhones at its special event. While the iPhone 8 Plus is quite a bit of an upgrade over the previous 7 Plus, it is not exactly something entirely new.
There is a new Portrait Lighting mode, wireless charging and a blazing fast chipset that can put any Android evangelist to shame.
The only problem with the iPhone 8 Plus is that it has a newer sibling thats more exotic. While the iPhone X has yet to arrive (pre-order in November), the iPhone 8 Plus still makes for a good buy, but only in the 64 GB flavour that is priced at Rs 73,000. If you want to spend some more, you might as well wait for the iPhone X to arrive, which starts from a hefty Rs 89,000 (64 GB) instead of shelling out Rs 86,000 for the 256 GB version on the 8 Plus. You will get something fresh and new for your moneys worth instead of a 3-year old design as with the Plus.
In the 8 Plus' favour is the new camera system that allows for higher quality video recording, support for wireless charging, image quality that rivals the Note 8 and of course, that fancy new A11 Bionic chip.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (128 GB) : Rs 60,900
The Samsung Galaxy S8+ still exists for a reason. Its very unlike the Note 8. It isnt large and bulky, but rounded and curvy. A design that not only grabs everyones attention, but also manages to accommodate a massive display in a smaller footprint. Unlike the Note 8, it also comes with more internal storage, getting rid of the SIM switching headache when you need to swap a SIM for an SD card if it happens to run out of space.
Samsung Galaxy S8 : Rs 53,900
Dont like large displays and hate iOS? Well, there are barely any choices for you in the premium Android smartphone segment. So it is a good thing that Samsung came up with the smaller S8 this year. It looks more like a timepiece than a smartphone and it will turn heads no matter how many iPhone users are around.
Samsungs Galaxy S8 packs in imaging capabilities that are as good if not better than those of the Note 8, sans the dual camera, but it is available at a lower price and with a smaller display for humans with normal-sized hands.
Sony Xperia XZ1 : Rs 46,990
The Sony Xperia XZ1 is the successor to last years Xperia XZ. While my experience with the XZ was not that great, the XZ1 is supposed to pack in some major improvements to both the camera and the devices build quality.
The new XZ1 is made of metal as opposed to the plastic chassis of its successor. The design remains the same, but it is the only one in this line up to feature Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. Theres also the Motion Eye camera that can record slow motion videos at 960 fps in HD along with Predictive Capture and Autofocus burst, giving you clear photos in daylight situations. While the design may not appeal to all, the XZ1 also feature HiRes audio capabilities. With that we have LDAC support that delivers better than CD quality audio over Bluetooth. So if audio and software are your priority, then the XZ1 is the flagship to go for.
Apple iPhone 8 (64 GB) : Rs 64,000
Indeed, all eyes are on the iPhone X this year. But the iPhone X rubs shoulders more with the iPhone 8 Plus, than it does with the humble iPhone 8. With that said. Those coming from an iPhone 6, 6s or even an iPhone 7 can look at the 8 for an upgrade.
While the iPhone 8 may lack a Portrait Lighting mode (found on the 8 Plus and the X) it still offers a great camera upgrade over the previous models. In short, this could be the best (and may be the last) single camera option coming from Apple. With that said, I highly recommend the 64 GB option as the 256 GB model gets unnecessarily pricey at Rs 77,000.
Nokia 8 : Rs 36,999
Nokia made a big comeback with its flagship Nokia 8 dual camera smartphone this year. Indeed, this is a Nokias flagship inside out (no more Microsoft) so it makes sense for hardcore Nokia fans who have been waiting for a Nokia device powered by Android, to go in for one.
Nokia takes pride in the Dual-Sight camera mode, which uses both the front and rear cameras to simultaneously record and stream (live) video or even take pictures. You also get a dual 13 MP dual camera setup at the rear, with the usual bokeh effects. But it still falls short of both next two smartphones I have mentioned below.
Mi Mix 2 : Rs 35,999
Xiaomi recently launched the Mi Mix 2. The device will be available in limited flash sales but packs in something special (even in comparison to the OnePlus 5) in the form of an edge-to-edge display. If you are looking for something special in the sub Rs 40,000 range of flagship devices, you will not be disappointed keeping in mind the Mix 2s design. The use of a ceramic back plate and even an 18k gold-plated camera ring is interesting. You have to deal with Xiaomis MIUI, which is still stuck at Android Nougat, but, well, so is everyone else at the moment!
OnePlus 5 (64 GB) : Rs 32,999
A OnePlus smartphone has been the smartphone to buy for any true Android fan since the past three years. While the earlier models started off in the sub Rs 30,000 range, OnePlus now seems to have settled in the sub Rs 40,000 range in terms of pricing, with the 8 GB/128 GB storage model selling for as high as Rs 37,999.
If you have read my review of the OnePlus 5, it is obvious that the 8 GB RAM model demands a price tag that does not really warrant the extra Rs 5,000 you will shell out. Add to this the fact that the OnePlus does not look like anything new compared to the older model (unless you are a fan). This gets even worse when you have handsets like the Nokia 8 and the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 on sale, that have a similar feature set, and are even better at a few things, including better design. Buy one only if you or your giftee is a fan of the brand or an orphaned Nexus user.
IANS
The unique identity number given to over a billion Indians by the Aadhaar card had helped India save $9 billion in preventing misuse of its beneficiary welfare schemes, said its architect Nandan Nilekani.
"By having a unique number, you eliminate fakes and duplicates from your beneficiary and employee lists. That alone has saved the government $9 billion," said Nilekani at a World Bank panel discussion on 'Digital Economy for Development' here on Thursday.
Nilekani, 62, co-founder and Chairman of Indian IT major Infosys, steered the world's largest digital identity number project launched in 2009 by the then Congress-led UPA government and supported by the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It has really been a bipartisan thing. I was given a mandate by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on how to give everyone in India a unique digital ID. We have 1.18 billion in the system we have built with an architecture that could enroll 1.5 million people a day at 35,000 stations across the country," he said.
As the first Chairman of the Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI), Nilekani guided the ambitious Aadhaar project for five years till mid-2014.
"We also have half a billion (500 million) people who have connected their (Aadhaar) ID to their bank accounts. The government has transferred about $12 billion to their accounts electronically real time, which is the world's largest cash transfer system in real-time, Nilekani said.
Admitting that he was a great believer in digital economy for development, he said in the developing countries where there was no legacy systems, it was easier to build systems that could leapfrog.
"The notion of what is digital infrastructure has to move. We think about it as providing communication and internet, which are basic. In the new world of the data economy, identity, authentication, frictionless payments and paperless transactions are important layers of the new digital economy," he reiterated.
Noting that India was the only country where a billion people do paperless, cashless transactions on their mobile phones using the Aadhaar infrastructure, Nilekani said lower transaction cost would lead to more inclusion.
"The infrastructure India has created enables every individual to use one's own data for his/her advancement in personal life, which is fundamental. A small merchant who couldn't get a loan earlier can use his digital footprint to get it now. There's an inversion happening about the way we think about data for personal advancement," he said.
On the Supreme Court's ruling on the right to privacy, Nilekani said the apex court had recognised it as a fundamental right, but laid down a framework to circumscribe some of the privacies for achieving a state objective -- national security, prevention of crime, protection of revenue or for social welfare.
"The Supreme Court, however, said every time you circumscribe some privacies, there has be a certain law, it needs to be reasonable. It's a brilliantly drafted judgement," he said.
The panel discussion was held on the margins of the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the US capital.
tech2 News Staff
On 13 October, women all over Twitter observed #WomenBoycottTwitter. The trending hashtag was used to show solidarity with Rose McGowan whose tweet was suspended from Twitter on the grounds of violating Twitter rules.
Rose McGowan's tweeted about harassment by a well known American film producer, Harvey Weinstein, which was also reported by The New York Times. The tweet came up in response to Ben Affleck's comment about the same issue. It was a sensitive issue nda had to be dealt with carefully.
Now McGowan did reveal Weinstein's contact details in her tweet, which does breach his right of maintaining confidentiality and is a clear breach of Twitter's policies. However, Twitter's reaction to the tweet was admittedly heavy-handed and banning McGowan's account outright did not go down well with the public. Twitter's own rules state that a variety of options are available in the case of disclosure of private information. Suspending an account outright should have been the last resort.
The crux of the Weinstein debate lies in seeing the context in which the contact information was put forward. The internet, as we know, in this rising era of protectionism, has remained one of the sole spaces which still remains open.
Following the suspension of her account, McGowan took the screenshot of the response she was given and posted it on Instagram. This was when the #WomenBoycottTwitter began trending worldwide.
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
For Twitter to have suspended McGowan's account without warning is certainly harsh and extreme, given the circumstances. The same aspect was debated during the Charlottesville incident, which was against racism. Social media websites like Twitter, Facebook and search giants like Google came under the scanner for hosting racist groups and pages. The question remains the same: To what extent can the rules be followed and what kind of rules need to be put into place? Twitter's activities with respect to its tweets have not been faithful to its rules. When Donald Trump had tweet a threat to North Korea over an attack, it shied away from suspending his account with the excuse that Trump was the president and so his tweets were "newsworthy".
Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 September 2017
To which Twitter replied,
Among the considerations is "newsworthiness" and whether a Tweet is of public interest 3/6 Twitter PublicPolicy (@Policy) September 25, 2017
Meanwhile Jack Dorseys had to respond to the #WomenBoycottTwitter controversy and come up with a justification for their actions. As usual, his response wasn't nearly enough to limit the outrage.
1/ We see voices being silenced on Twitter every day. Weve been working to counteract this for the past 2 years. jack (@jack) 14 October 2017
Clearly, Twitter is perfectly comfortable to bend its own rules as convenient, and this should not be. Social media organisations need to be more responsible when it comes to handling privacy and important issues. If nothing else, Twitter's hypocritical attitude towards the enforcement of its own rules must come to an end.
Kobane: Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered over the past day in their one-time bastion Raqqa, the US-led coalition backing the offensive on the Syrian city said Saturday.
"Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 Islamic State terrorists have surrendered in Raqqa, and were removed from the city," the coalition said in an emailed statement to AFP.
"Foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqqa," it said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all Syrian Islamic State jihadists -- numbering around 200 fighters -- had left their former stronghold with their families.
"All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqqa over the past five days," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they headed to unknown destinations.
A Raqqa official told AFP that Syrian Islamic State members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.
"They sent a message to the Raqqa Civil Council and to the tribal mediators," the official said.
"Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners -- the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," he said.
Members of the council - a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF - had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group.
According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.
"The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under Islamic State control in Deir Ezzor province," in eastern Syria, he said.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.
"We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh," Nuri Mahmoud told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDF's Arab and Kurdish fighters have recaptured around 90 percent of Raqqa from Islamic State.
Yangon: Myanmar's military has said it is investigating its operations in violence-wracked Rakhine state, where the United Nations has accused troops of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims.
In the last seven weeks, more than half-a-million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, shocking the globe with accounts of Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs murdering and raping civilians, before torching their villages to the ground.
The western region descended into chaos when Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar police posts on 25 August, triggering the brutal military crackdown.
The latest UN probe accused Myanmar's military of leading a "systematic" effort to expel the maligned minority and block their return to the mainly Buddhist country.
The army, which has a long history of "scorched-earth" counter-insurgency campaigns, has steadfastly denied the charges while also blocking independent access to the conflict zone.
It is now preparing to publish results of its own internal investigation into the conflict, according to statements released on Friday. "Inspector-General Lt-Gen Aye Win is inspecting security forces and military units (to see) whether they perform the assigned duties or not," said a statement from the army's "True News Information Team." "When full information is received, the official press release will be released," it added.
A separate post published on the army chief's Facebook page suggested troops would be cleared of abuses, saying "It was found that all actions conformed to the law." "A lot of witnesses were questioned. Investigations were carried out as to how such incidents happened, how many casualties there were and whether or not those incidents were in line with the law," the post on General Min Aung Hlaing's Facebook page said.
Myanmar's military ruled the country through a brutal dictatorship for five decades until 2011, when it initiated a transition to partial democracy. Two years ago, it allowed free elections that swept
former democracy-activist Aung San Suu Kyi to victory in a power-sharing arrangement that still hands the military control over security policy.
The army was widely loathed by the Burmese people during its ruthless 50-year reign, a tenure marked by countless allegations of rights abuses and total impunity for soldiers. But its current campaign against the Rohingya has received widespread public support from a Buddhist population that believes the stateless Muslim minority are illegal immigrants.
The army chief has continued to push this view with regular Facebook posts describing the Rohingya as "Bengalis" with no claim to live in Rakhine, despite their long roots in the region. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has sparked international dismay for her perceived lack of sympathy towards the Rohingya and unwillingness to condemn alleged atrocities by the army.
Ankara: President Donald Trump reignited the decades-old US feud with Iran on Friday, vowing to confront the "fanatical regime" and throwing a landmark international nuclear agreement into doubt.
In a speech pocked with grievances dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Trump railed against the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world."
And he threatened to rip up the 2015 agreement curbing Iran's nuclear programme, saying it had failed to address Iranian subversion in its region and its illegal missile programme.
"It is under continuous review and our participation can be cancelled by me, as president, at any time," he warned.
And he later lashed out at countries that have stood by the agreement, appearing to accuse them of 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! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2017
Trump's bellicose message brought an instant rebuke from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who also leaning heavily on past injustices declared the United States was "more than ever against the Iranian people."
But behind Trump's hardline rhetoric was a subtle but significant presidential climbdown.
He stopped short of nixing a deal negotiated with European allies, China and Russia to lift sanctions against Tehran in return for Iranian curbs on uranium enrichment.
Instead he took a procedural step of "decertifying" the agreement, leaving its fate in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress.
'The worst deal'
The US president said he supports efforts in Congress to work on new measures to address these threats without immediately torpedoing the broader deal.
"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.
European leaders slapped back that notion, saying the agreement was not America's alone.
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.
Trump backed away from designating Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terror group, a move that would have triggered slew of sanctions and almost certain Iranian retribution.
Apart from running swaths of Iran's economy and Iran's ballistic missile programme, 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," Tillerson said.
'Snapping back' sanctions
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.
Trump had 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 West Asia.
Since coming to office, Trump had 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 programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
John Kerry, the former secretary of state who negotiated the agreement, accused Trump of "creating an international crisis" and called on the US Congress to stand in the president's way.
The legislature must now decide whether to end the nuclear accord by "snapping back" sanctions, which Iran demanded be lifted in exchange for limiting uranium enrichment.
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.
Mexico City: A 5.4 magnitude quake struck southern Mexico on Friday, according to the US Geological Survey, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
It was not immediately clear if the tremor was an aftershock from a powerful series of quakes in September that destroyed buildings in Mexico City and killed nearly 500 people.
The epicenter of Fridays tremor was just off the coast of Oaxaca state, in Mexicos southwest, and it struck at a depth of 59.5 kilometers, according to the USGS.
An 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck Oaxaca on 7 September near the town of Juchitan, flattening thousands of buildings in the humid market town.
Fausto Lugo, Mexico Citys emergency services chief, said on local television that Fridays earthquake was felt lightly in the capital, but there were no reports of damages.
Ottawa: Freed Canadian hostage Joshua Boyle accused his kidnappers of murdering his infant daughter and raping his wife during his family's years-long captivity by the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Boyle leveled the accusations in a terse statement he read on his arrival in Toronto yesterday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three children, who were freed on Wednesday by Pakistani troops.
He condemned the Haqqani network's "stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter" in "retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the miscreant of the Haqqani network had made to me, and the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife".
He said the rape was not the action of a lone guard, but was aided by the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commander he identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani group is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
The faction has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.
Providing few details, Boyle said the death of his daughter and his wife's rape occurred in 2014.
That was two years after he and Coleman, then "heavily pregnant," were kidnapped in a remote Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan.
He said they were in Afghanistan as "pilgrims" helping poor villagers when they were captured.
The three children who survived the ordeal were all born in captivity.
"Obviously it will be of incredible importance to my family to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus on edification and to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost," he said.
The Canadian government welcomed the family's arrival.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," it said, asking that the family's privacy be respected.
The Pakistani forces that freed the family said they acted on information received from the US intelligence services.
In his statement in Toronto, Boyle denied he had refused a return trip aboard a US military aircraft.
He chose to fly back from Islamabad to Canada on commercial airlines via London.
In 2009, Boyle was married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in battle in 2002 as a teenager in Afghanistan and held at the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay before being turned over to Canada and released in 2015.
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and transfer to Canada.
Tehran: President Donald Trump's speech in which he outlined an aggressive new strategy against Iran shows the US is "more than ever isolated in its opposition to the nuclear deal", President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday.
Rouhani spoke in a televised address after Trump gave a much anticipated White House speech in which he "decertified" his support for the 2015 nuclear agreement, and left its fate in the hands of Congress.
"Today the United States is more than ever isolated in its opposition to the nuclear deal and in its plots against the Iranian people," Rouhani said.
"What was heard today was nothing but the repetition of baseless accusations and swear words that they have repeated for years," Rouhani said.
"The Iranian nation does not expect anything else from you."
Rouhani dismissed Trump's threat to tear up the landmark deal between Tehran and six world powers including Washington if Congress does not impose tough new sanctions on Iran.
"He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own?" Rouhani said.
"Apparently he doesn't know that this agreement is not a bilateral agreement solely between Iran and the United States."
Rouhani responded in kind to Trump's list of alleged destabilising activities in the region, with his own catalogue of US misdemeanours, starting with the CIA's involvement in a 1953 coup, which toppled Iran's democratically elected government.
He also criticised US involvement in wars from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq, and highlighted the shooting down by a US naval vessel of an Iran Air passenger flight in 1988, which killed 290 people.
Trump called for tougher sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards and ballistic missile programme, and said the deal could still be "terminated" if Congress did not adequately confront "destabilising" Iranian activity in the Middle East.
But he stepped back from the sort of measures that would immediately torpedo the nuclear agreement.
Rouhani attacked Trump's characterisation of the Revolutionary Guards as a corrupt organisation propping up a "fanatical regime".
"Is the Iranian government a dictatorship... or is it the governments who are supported by the United States and still run their country on a tribal basis and have never seen an election in their country?" Rouhani said in a pointed reference to Iran's regional rival, Saudi Arabia.
Despite Trump's aggressive rhetoric, Rouhani said Iran remained committed to the nuclear agreement for the time being.
"We respect the JCPOA... so long as it remains in keeping with our national rights and interests," he said, using its technical name.
Rouhani also responded to Trump's criticism regarding the frequently heard slogans of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", which Iranians usually depict as opposition to the policies of those nations, rather than a call for their physical destruction.
"Are you upset with the slogans? Then stop your hostile policies," Rouhani said.
Tehran: Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose criticism of their government by US president Donald Trump who threatened to tear up the landmark nuclear deal.
Trump's use of the phrase "Arabian Gulf" rather than "Persian Gulf" particularly hit a nerve in a country with a fierce nationalistic streak.
"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too," wrote foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, referring to the US alliance with Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia.
Despite pressure from the Arab Gulf monarchies, most international bodies still use "Persian Gulf" as the conventional name for the region's waterway, and many Iranians shared photos of US veterans' medals and graves referring to the "Persian Gulf conflict" of the 1990s.
In his White House speech on Friday, Trump reeled off a list of grievances committed by the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world."
He threatened to "terminate" the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers unless Congress passed stringent new sanctions.
But as Iranians headed to their offices on Saturday the first day of the work week in Iran the reaction was often one of bemusement.
"Trump's statements are so ridiculous that it actually works in Iran's favour. Speaking about the 'Arabian Gulf' is taken very badly by people here (Iran)," said Abbas, a 40-year-old banker who only gave his first name.
"The reaction of the Europeans shows that the United States is isolated, and only Saudi Arabia and Israel have supported Trump," he added.
The other signatories to the nuclear deal Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia have called for its preservation, saying that Iran is clearly sticking to its commitments.
Trump's efforts to reach out to ordinary Iranians, who he referred to as the "longest-suffering victims" of the Islamic regime, also appeared to have fallen on deaf ears, with many recalling the travel ban he slapped on them earlier this year.
His Instagram page was inundated by more than a million comments, mostly from jeering Iranians.
"I was so angry last night. This person hates Iran so much that even if we don't support the ideas of the regime, we find ourselves supporting them and the Revolutionary Guards," said Layla, 42, in her Tehran artisan shop.
"Trump stopped Iranians going to the US. How can he say he's on our side?" she added.
'Baseless accusations'
For all the bluster, Trump's strategy was not as tough as many had predicted.
It placed new sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards, but did not designate them a foreign terrorist organisation as trailed in the run-up to the speech.
The hardline Kayhan newspaper spun this as a victory, saying Trump had not "dared" to do so after the Guards warned the US would have to move its regional bases out of reach of Iranian missiles.
President Hassan Rouhani had pushed back against the Revolutionary Guards' deep involvement in the economy after winning re-election earlier this year.
But Trump's threats have brought a new solidarity among Iran's often fractious institutions.
"We have dissatisfactions, for example there are economic problems," said Bahram Siavoshi, 36, as he walked to work at a private finance firm in Tehran.
"But if it comes to it, we will stand together to the end, and will defend even the Guards. Their efforts cannot be ignored. If it wasn't for them we would be like Syria or Yemen."
Rouhani took to the airwaves shortly after Trump's speech on Friday night, dismissing it as "nothing but the repetition of baseless accusations and swear words".
"He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own?" Rouhani said.
Nonetheless, the deal's future hangs in the balance as the US Congress has 60 days to decide how to tighten sanctions, or possibly introduce new red lines that would trigger a US response.
"If the Congress goes ahead with new sanctions, then the deal is dead and Iran will restart its nuclear programme and move forward full-steam ahead in all fields," Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told AFP.
"Iran will probably invest even more than before in order to show the Americans that they can't get away with destroying the agreement."
Las Vegas: Forty-five people remain hospitalised following the mass shooting in Las Vegas nearly two weeks ago and some are in critical condition, the county sheriff said Friday.
Meanwhile, the FBI said no evidence has been found so far that the man who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was motivated by "ideology or affiliation to any groups."
Paddock, a wealthy retired accountant, amassed an arsenal of weapons in his Mandalay Bay hotel room and opened fire on the evening of 1 October on a crowd enjoying a country music concert, killing 58 people.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told a news conference that the latest figure on the number of injuries from the shooting was 546.
He said 501 people have been discharged from hospital and of the 45 people still admitted, some were in critical condition.
Lombardo also sought to clarify some confusion over when exactly Paddock wounded a security guard, Jesus Campos, outside his 32nd floor room and opened fire on the crowd.
Police had earlier said they believed Campos was shot by Paddock at 9:59 pm, six minutes before he rained fire down onto the concert crowd.
But Lombardo said Friday that police now believe Campos was shot "in close proximity to 10:05 pm" - the time he started shooting at the concert crowd below.
Lombardo also said the authorities believe that Paddock deliberately fired on large jet aviation fuel tanks at Las Vegas' McCarran airport.
"It is believed the fuel tanks were fired upon with intent," he said.
The storage tanks did not catch fire and Lombardo said he had been informed in any event there is a "very low probability that aviation fuel could be ignited by gunfire."
The FBI special agent in charge, Aaron Rouse, said hundreds of FBI employees remained involved in the investigation of the shooting.
But the authorities appeared - at least publicly - to be no closer to determining Paddock's motivation.
The Islamic State jihadist group claimed shortly after the shooting that Paddock was one of its "soldiers" but Rouse said "to date, we have found no signs of ideology or affiliation to any groups."
Brussels: Military intervention against North Korea would have "devastating consequences", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned on Friday, after US President Donald Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
Tensions over North Korea's weapons programmes have soared in recent months, with Pyongyang launching a flurry of missiles and conducting its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
Trump's continued threats of military action against Pyongyang to tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula and next week the US and South Korea will begin a major naval drill as a show of force against the North.
Stoltenberg, who will visit South Korea and Japan in the coming weeks as a show of support, stressed that Washington had the right to defend itself and its allies, but called for greater diplomatic efforts.
"The use of military force will have devastating consequences, I think nobody really wants that, therefore we need to continue to push for a negotiated solution," Stoltenberg said in an interview at NATO HQ in Brussels.
"The US has the right to defend itself, to defend its allies, but at same time I am absolutely certain no one wants a military solution, so we still see a united effort to try to step up the pressure against North Korea."
Trump met his national security team on Tuesday and discussed a "range of options" to respond to Pyongyang's repeated recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The meeting came days after Trump, who last month threatened to "destroy" North Korea, said on Twitter that years of talks with Pyongyang had achieved nothing and "only one thing will work".
Next week's naval drills in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea will feature the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and two US destroyers alongside South Korean Navy vessels, part of a flurry of military hardware movement in the region in recent days.
Earlier this week two supersonic US heavy bombers flew over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea, the latest in a series of flyovers.
NATO's covenant of self-defence, under which an attack on one member triggers a response from all, does not apply to South Korea or Japan despite their status as "global partners" and Stoltenberg stressed that NATO was "not planning any military presence in that part of the world".
But he cautioned that a strike on Japan or South Korea would "trigger a really dangerous situation, it would have catastrophic consequences".
And the growing range and accuracy seen in the North's missile tests have prompted the 29-nation alliance to review its missile defence system, which has been partially operational from a base in Romania since last year.
"Our experts are working on technology, on how to improve our systems," Stoltenberg said.
The North Korea crisis will be high on the agenda at a meeting of EU foreign minister next week, where a fresh package of sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime are set to be approved.
Three individuals and six entities will be added to the blacklist, a senior EU official said, and the bloc plans to step up diplomatic pressure on countries who are not enforcing tough international sanctions against the North.
Pyongyang: North Korea criticised and threatened Australia on Saturday for aligning itself with South Korea and the US and for its attitude towards the Kim Jong-un regime, according to state-run media.
"Lately, Australia is showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the US against North Korea", KCNA said in a statement.
"The Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop personally expressed her support for the stand of the US to consider all options including the use of force towards the North,
"And turned up at Panmunjom on 11 October together with the Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne to condemn the North during her visit to South Korea," it added.
The statement refers to Bishop and Payne's visit to South Korea this week during which they met their counterparts and visited the truce-village of Panmunjom.
Panmunjom is located within the tense demilitarised zone (DMZ), a four-kilometer-wide (2.5 miles) strip that separates the two Koreas, which have technically been at war for more than 65 years.
During the visit, the Australian Ministers stressed the need for diplomatic pressure to thwart North Korea's nuclear ambitions and urged the country not to carry out any more weapons tests and halt its nuclear and missile programmes.
"Should Australia continue to follow the US in imposing military, economic and diplomatic pressure upon the North despite our repeated warnings, they will not be able to avoid a disaster," KCNA warned.
The visit by the Australian Ministers, one of the US' main strategic allies in the Asia-Pacific, came at a time tensions were high between the North Korean regime and US President Donald Trump.
Washington: US vice-president Mike Pence has praised Pakistan in helping secure the release of a Canadian-American family who were abducted by the Haqqani networks five years ago.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqani network on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces.
The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Pence has praised Pakistan in helping secure the release of a Canadian-American family.
Pence's comments on Pakistan came as he listed out some of the key achievements of the Trump administration at the international stage.
"The President is achieving real results on the international stage, as well," he said.
While some critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, thanks to the President's leadership, the Islamic State is on the run, North Korea is isolated as never before, and our NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defence, he added.
"Just this week, Pakistan took an important step to answer the president's call to do more in fight against terrorism, as they helped secure the release of an American family that had been held hostage for more than five years," Pence said.
Meanwhile, Canada welcomed the release of the family. "Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," said Global Affairs Canada, a department in the Canadian government that manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," it said in a statement.
However, some of the well-known counter terrorism experts appeared to be sceptical of Pakistan's move given its past history.
"Pakistan's aid in release of hostages is a classic Pakistani move. Pakistan has a history of making high-profile arrests before big meetings," said Bill Roggio, editor of Long War Journal.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Beijing: CPM leader Sitaram Yechury has praised China's achievements made under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and said the next week's Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China will be a milestone in the Communist nation's development.
Yechury, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary, said the upcoming congress is of great significance to both China and the world, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying ahead of the 19th Congress scheduled to be held from 18 October in which President Xi Jinping is expected to get party's endorsement for a second five-year term.
The decisions of the CPC National Congress will be a milestone in China's future development and progress, Yechury was quoted as saying.
CPC holds Congress once in five years to review its policies and selects new leaders.
"As far as the world is concerned, we think the Congress' decisions will be important for strengthening multilateralism in international relations as opposed to unilateralism and imperialism," he said.
Yechury spoke highly of the CPC's achievements under the leadership of Xi Jinping who is the general secretary of the CPC besides being the president and head of the military.
One major achievement of CPC was the successful adjustment to the global economic crisis that broke out in 2008.
He said when global trade was falling, it was not easy for a country that heavily relied on exports, investment and consumption to shift its focus to developing domestic demands and economy. "But China has done remarkably well under the circumstances, which is a very big achievement," he added.
Yechury noted that there have been remarkably positive changes in terms of governance by empowering the people and fighting corruption in China.
In his opinion, the concept of "Three Stricts and Three Earnests" has strengthened ties between the CPC and the people.
The "Three Stricts and Three Earnests" is an internal education campaign advanced by Xi Jinping in 2014 to urge officials to be strict in morals, power, and self-discipline, and to be honest in decisions, business, and behaviour.
"I think in the future, challenges such as economic development, social harmony and the fight against negative features will be met more effectively in China," he said.
Kobane (Syria): All Syrian fighters of the Islamic State group have left the jihadists' one-time bastion of Raqqa and preparations are under way for foreign combatants to leave, a monitor said on Saturday.
The jihadists left Raqqa with their families, heading to unknown destinations, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqqa over the past five days," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they numbered around 200 fighters.
A Raqqa official told AFP on Saturday that Syrian Islamic State members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.
"Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners - the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," the official said.
"They sent a message to the Raqqa Civil Council (RCC) and to the tribal mediators."
Members of the RCC a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group.
According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.
"The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under Islamic State control in Deir Ezzor province," in eastern Syria, he said.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.
"We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh," Nuri Mahmoud told AFP.
Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDF's Arab and Kurdish fighters have recaptured around 90 percent of Raqqa from Islamic State.
Damascus: Syrian troops and allied forces captured the city of Mayadeen from the Islamic State group on Saturday, state media said, in the latest blow to the jihadist group.
"Units of our armed forces, in cooperation with allied forces, have regained control of the city of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor, killing a large number of terrorists and destroying their weapons," state media said, citing a military source.
"Our units are chasing down remaining members of Daesh fleeing the city amid a collapse in their ranks, and the engineering units are removing mines and explosives planted by the terrorists in the streets and square of the city," the source added.
The capture comes despite Islamic State fighters managing last week to push advancing troops out of the eastern city, just two days after they entered it.
A renewed push by the Russian-backed Syrian troops saw them reenter the city, and sever the main road leading from it to the Islamic State stronghold of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border to the east.
The advance left Islamic State fighters in the city with the Euphrates river as their only route to escape.
Mayadeen's loss is the latest in a string of blows for Islamic State, which is on the verge of losing its former de facto Syrian capital Raqqa to the US-backed fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The jihadists' hold on Deir Ezzor province is also crumbling in the face of parallel regime and SDF assaults.
In September, Syrian troops broke an Islamic State siege of nearly three years on government-held parts of the provincial capital.
And on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported that Syrian soldiers had now encircled remaining Islamic State positions in the city after capturing new areas east of the Euphrates river.
In neighbouring Iraq, Islamic State has also lost almost all of its territory, holding now just a stretch of the Euphrates valley abutting the Syrian border.
Paris: French former culture minister Audrey Azoulay was named to head the UN's embattled cultural agency on Friday, beating her Qatari rival after a politically charged contest clouded by Gulf tensions and accusations of anti-Israel bias.
Azoulay, 45, came from behind to defeat Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, also a former culture minister, after he failed to pick up support from other Gulf states which are part of a Saudi-led coalition blockading Qatar. The vote was 30 to 28.
The campaign to succeed UNESCO's outgoing chief Irina Bokova was overshadowed by Washington's announcement Thursday that it planned to withdraw from the Paris-based body after years of tensions over decisions seen as critical of Israel.
In the face of the Arab divisions, France presented Azoulay as a consensus figure who could mend fences and soothe tensions with Israel.
"In a time of crisis, we need more than ever to get involved (and) work to strengthen the organisation," Azoulay said after the final vote.
Azoulay, who is Jewish of Moroccan origin, will face the difficult task of trying to persuade the United States and Israel to remain as members.
Just as daunting will be her job of reforming the agency struggling under the weight of a bureaucracy that has become unwieldy over the seven decades since it was founded.
French president Emmanuel Macron hailed her victory on Twitter, saying: "France will continue to fight for science, education and culture in the world."
Felicitations a @AAzoulay #UNESCO ! La France continuera a se battre pour la science, l'education et la culture dans le monde. Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 13, 2017
Azoulay, who will become UNESCO's second woman leader after Bokova, had edged out Egyptian rights activist Moushira Khattab earlier Friday as the main challenger to Al-Kawari, the frontrunner until the final run-off.
Azoulay's nomination must be approved by the agency's 195 member states on 10 November, a vote that has never previously gone against the board's nominee.
Arab states believed the job of director-general of the organisation should go to one of them for the first time, but regional rivalries and the US and Israeli withdrawals undercut their ambitions.
Egypt threw its weight behind Azoulay after Khattab dropped out, a member of her delegation told AFP.
Egypt is part of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia that has been blockading strategically placed Qatar since June over its alleged support for radical Islamists and its ties to Iran.
Arab divisions
Lebanon's candidate Vera El-Khoury, who bowed out at the fourth round of voting, told AFP that the power game at play in the race had shown UNESCO members "did not give a damn" about the candidates' programmes.
Qatar has generously funded UNESCO in recent years and lobbied intensively for the post, which would have helped bolster its international status at a time when it faces isolation in the Gulf.
Al-Kawari had also been dogged by old allegations of anti-Semitism after the Simon Wiesenthal Center accused him of remaining silent about anti-Semitic books at a fair in Doha when he was culture minister.
US walkout
UNESCO is best known for its World Heritage sites including tourist favourites such as the Grand Canyon or Cambodia's Angkor Wat, but it also runs science, media training and cultural programmes internationally with an annual budget of about $250 million (210 million euros).
The US decision to withdraw, which is to take effect on 31 December, 2018, underlined America's drift away from international institutions under President Donald Trump.
Washington has walked out on UNESCO once before, in 1984, after a row over funding and alleged anti-US bias.
Washington returned to the fold in 2002, seeing UNESCO as a vehicle for combatting extremism in the wake of the 11 September, 2001, attacks.
But in 2011 relations soured again after UNESCO admitted Palestine as a full member, prompting the US to cut its funding to the organisation, leaving a gaping hole in its finances.
In just over a year as culture minister under Socialist president Francois Hollande, Azoulay secured a budget increase for her ministry after years of deep cuts.
Islamabad: An American-Canadian family rescued from the clutches of the Haqqani terror network on Friday left Pakistan by a commercial plane, officials said.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqani network on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
The family left for Canada aboard Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-785, a security official said.
Earlier, media reports said the US military had offered to fly them on a special plane. However, the family refused and instead opted to go back by a commercial flight.
On Thursday, in a statement, the Pakistan army said that it rescued the "5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US national wife and their three children" from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation.
Washington: Pakistan took "tremendous advantage" of the US over the years, but the two countries are now "starting to have a real" relationship, President Donald Trump has said, a day after Pakistani forces rescued an American-Canadian family from the Haqqani terror group.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqanis on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and South Asia policy in August.
The president thanked Pakistani leaders for cooperating with the US on many fronts.
"Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts," Trump said in a tweet on Friday.
Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2017
"Yesterday (Friday), things happened with Pakistan."
"I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but we're starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and they're to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations," Trump said.
"They are starting to respect the United States of America again," he said and thanked the leaders of Pakistan for "what they've been doing".
He said that "in this administration, we will call evil by its name".
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said: "On this I agree" with Trump.
"Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists," he said in a tweet.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The Haqqani network has carried out a number of kidnappings and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan.
The group is also blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people.
WHY DONT YOU READ THESE?
Qualcomm seems to have no intentions to stop its fight against Apple as the chipset maker has yet again filed legal lawsuits in China seeking to ban of sale and Manufacturing of iPhones in the country. The San Diego based company is aiming to take a dig at Apple in the worlds largest market for smartphones where most of the iPhones are being manufactured.
Qualcomm filed the suits in a Beijing intellectual property court claiming patent infringement saying that Apple has employed the technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying the royalty fees. The lawsuits are based on three non-standard essential patents which cover power management, a touchscreen technology called Force Touch that Apple is currently using on its iPhones said Qualcomm. Furthermore, it says that Apple by using these patented technologies are bettering their products thus gaining more profits.
In contrast, a spokesperson from Apple; Josh Rosenstock states that over the years of negotiations with Qualcomm, these patents have never been discussed and similar to their courtroom move, this latest legal effort will also fail.
Qualcomm filed the lawsuits in Beijing court on September 29th, but the court is yet to make them official. Mike Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity Inc, says that it looks like an attempt to bring Apple back to negotiations and there is little or no importance for a Chinese court taking any such actions as requested by Qualcomm. More than anything, the Beijing court will also consider the fact that if the iPhone manufacturing in China is halted, it will cause lay off for Chinese employees.
Walkley further opines that if indeed Apple iPhone manufacturing and sale is stopped in China, it would give an advantage to Chinese brands such as Guangdong Oppo Electronics Co. to gain market share against Apple. Investors, on the other hand, arent concerned about the latest lawsuit as they firmly believe that Apple would come to compromise siting the more significant threat to their brand value.
Both these companies go back in months with this legal dispute, but the latest lawsuit on Apple comes at a crucial phase as the company just launched the iPhone 8 and X model with an aim to claim back the throne in China which off lately has been dominated by many Chinese brands. So, any disruption at this moment would cost Apple a fortune as just the greater China region accounts for a 22.5% ($215.6 billion sales) share in the recent financial year.
Source
Sai Krishna contributed to this post
Tax preparers may be the target of President Trump as the administration looks to push its massive tax reform plan and downsize your tax returns while doing it.
In an exclusive interview with FOX Business Liz Claman, Liberty Tax CEO Ed Brunot said his company remains optimistic over the Trump administration tax overhaul plan.
The good news is regardless of what the changes are if its good for small business its good for those individuals, Brunot said on Countdown to the Closing Bell.
Republican lawmakers from high-tax states such as New York, California and New Jersey are pressing the Trump administration to consider the elimination of state and local tax deductions that may push the tax reform by years end.
Its always very difficult to understand where the process will go and all our focus really is with our tax professionals standing ready to assist our customer base regardless where the change on how to navigate through that process, Brunot said.
Liberty Tax specializes in the preparation of tax returns for individuals and small businesses representing over 1,800 individual franchisee owners in over 4,000 individual location across the United States and Canada.
Theres still a large portion of the U.S. population that prefers to have tax professionals help them with their tax filings, he said.
Bob Weinstein dubbed his brother, Harvey, a predator and said he hoped the disgraced Hollywood producer gets the justice that he deserves.
Bob Weinstein, 62, who founded Weinstein Co. with his brother Harvey, 65, told The Hollywood Reporter in an intense interview released Saturday morning the situation was a waking nightmare.
I find myself in a waking nightmare. My brother has caused unconscionable suffering. As a father of three girls I say this with every bone in my body I am heartbroken for the women that he has harmed. I'm a fighter, Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEX SCANDAL: DETAILING THE ALLEGATIONS
This hurts, but I dont feel an ounce of remorse coming from him, and that kills me too, he continued. When I heard his written, lame excuse. Not an excuse. When I heard his admission of feeling remorse for the victims and then him cavalierly, almost crazily saying he was going to go out and take on the NRA, it was so disturbing to me. It was utter insanity. My daughters all felt sick hearing this because we understood he felt nothing. I dont feel he feels anything to this day. I dont.
Harvey Weinstein came under fire after The New York Times released an expose on Oct. 5 that detailed decades of sexual harassment allegations made against the Hollywood producer by actresses and employees. On Tuesday, the New Yorker reported the movie mogul had sexually assaulted three women.
Following the bombshell allegations, a number of A-list stars came out to condemn the producer and some, such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, told their own uncomfortable experiences with Weinstein.
When The Hollywood Reporter asked Bob how he did not know of his brothers misconduct, Weinstein said he had spoken to Harvey only a few times on any personal level in the last five years. However, Bob said he was aware of Harvey philandering with every woman he could meet.
I was sick and disgusted by his actions. But that's the extent of what [I knew]. I said, Harvey, you're just cheating. Why do you constantly cheat? I could see it. But I wasn't in the room with him, Bob Weinstein said.
For me, I thought he was literally just going out there cheating in a pervasive way, Bob said. It wasnt like he even had a mistress. It was one after another and that I was aware of. But as far as being in a room and hearing the description in The New York Times? No way. No f-----g way was I aware that that was the type of predator that he was. And the way he convinced people to do things? I thought they were all consensual situations.
I have a brother thats indefensible and crazy, Bob said. I want him to get the justice that he deserves.
Bob went on to say his brother was a bully, arrogant and treated people like st all the time.
Bob said employees would come into his office in tears due to something Harvey said to them.
On Sunday, Harvey was fired from the Weinstein Company. Bob confirmed he was on the board that fired his brother. Harvey planned to fight the firing.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN ACCUSATIONS CAUSE CHAOS IN HOLLYWOOD
Anybody can do what they want to do. I cannot control other peoples actions. But he was fired by the board, okay? I was on that board. I fired him. He can fight. It will be a losing fight, Weinstein said.
Weinstein said he was going to change the companys name and he was still planning on the future of the studios shares.
Bob Weinstein told the media outlet he was personally going to write a letter to the Academy to get Harvey booted and would be cooperating with police in their investigation.
Weinstein concluded that he felt mortified and disgusted by Harveys actions and he was sick for the victims.
I'm mortified and disgusted by my brother's actions. And I am sick for the victims. And I feel for them. I feel for them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Rachael Ray Show has launched the Cook Your Way to Culinary School contest, a competition for high school juniors and seniors (ages to 16 to 19) to win a $25,000 scholarship from Rachael Rays Yum-O! organization. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is accepting entries from now until December 4.
On RachaelRayShow.com, high schoolers with food industry dreams can upload a video of themselves preparing an original recipe dish along with an explanation for why they should win the scholarship.
Four finalists will be selected to travel to New York City to compete in food-related challenges just like on the Food Network! Not only will the winner receive a $25,000 scholarship, but they will also receive $500 worth of Rays cookware.
The 3 runners-up will each receive a $5,000 scholarship along with a set of Rachaels cookware which we hope will include all of these college kitchen essentials.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Meal.
It could have been worse. You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from America's allied capitals when President Donald Trump announced that he was kicking the Iran nuclear deal over to Congress to fix.
True to his campaign pledge, President Trump refused to certify to Congress that Iran has been complying with what he called the "worst" arms control deal the U.S. ever negotiated.
He also asked Congress to impose sanctions on Iran for its continued ballistic missile tests, its aggressive conduct in the region, its support for Syrian president Bashar al Assad, its support for terror and other efforts to destabilize the Middle East, and its human rights abuses.
He also added additional sanctions on members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ayatollah's shock troops.
Trump has bought the nuclear deal, and the pragmatists in Iran who negotiated it, some time.
Finally, he threatened to tear up the Iran nuclear deal if Congress and America's allies don't correct what he considers its unacceptable weaknesses. That's called leverage.
But he didn't shred the deal. He didn't unilaterally withdraw. "What's done is done," Mr. Trump said, after denouncing the deal's many failings.
Many of the nuclear agreement's most ardent supporters -- including America's European allies and even the most rational members of his own cabinet -- feared he might not listen to reason.
They worried that while struggling to contain North Korea, a rogue state that actually has nuclear weapons and has vowed to develop long-range missiles capable of striking San Francisco, Trump would open a second nuclear front by abandoning the nuclear pact his despised predecessor, Barack Obama, so painstakingly negotiated.
But despite his dire threats and bellicose rhetoric, the president listened to the adults in the room, among them, Defense Secretary Mattis, who recently told Congress that the deal was in the nation's security interests.
He accepted political reality -- that there would be no chance of a united front against Iran, as Michael Singh, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, argued, unless Mr. Trump decided to try to strengthen the deal while remaining in it. "This puts policy towards Iran on a much more solid footing," he said in an interview.
After weeks of discussions, Trump came to understand that the case for unilateral withdrawal was weak. While Trump officials have argued that Iran is violating the agreement, eight reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors nuclear programs and this pact, confirmed that Iran was adhering to its terms.
The leaders of France, England and Germany all warned of the consequences of a unilateral withdrawal by asserting their determination to abide by it.
Even many of the ostensible weaknesses the president cited in his speech Friday were misleading. For instance, though he said that the deal limits Iran's nuclear programs for too short a time, Anthony Blinken, a former senior Obama official noted that under another treaty that Iran has signed and ratified, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Iran is permanently barred from developing an atomic bomb. And its acceptance of intrusive inspections lasts far longer than the nuclear deal.
With his pugnacious speech Friday, Trump has bought the nuclear deal, and the pragmatists in Iran who negotiated it, some time. That's not great news, but considering the alternative, we should all breathe a bit more easily.
President Trump was right to sharply criticize the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran Friday and say that Congress and other nations must set stricter conditions for Iranian behavior in order to keep the U.S. from withdrawing from the pact.
"However, in the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated, President Trump said. It is under continuous review and our participation can be canceled by me as president at any time. As we have seen in North Korea, the longer we ignore a threat, the worse that threat becomes."
I would have preferred President Trump to announce a clean withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, but I support his decision to give Congress and European leaders a final chance to fix it even though the chances of this happening are extremely remote.
I applaud the president for calling out Iran for its sponsorship of terrorism, missile program and efforts to destabilize the Middle East. He explained clearly and accurately why the agreement designed to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons is in reality weak and dangerous.
I would have preferred President Trump to announce a clean withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, but I support his decision to give Congress and European leaders a final chance to fix it even though the chances of this happening are extremely remote.
The presidents compelling description of the growing threat from Iran explained why the Israeli and Saudi governments immediately endorsed his action.
President Trumps ultimatum was the most important part of his speech, since he announced that he will kill the agreement unless its many flaws are fixed. Given the low probability that Congress, U.S. diplomats or European officials can devise and implement any substantial changes to the nuclear agreement, the deals future is grim.
Congress now has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose severe economic sanctions on Iran that were lifted by the nuclear agreement. Congress also will consider legislation on how to address the agreements shortcomings and triggers imposing sanctions in response to Iranian behavior.
Any legislation or renegotiation of the nuclear agreement must address its three major flaws: allowing Iran to enrich uranium; allowing Iran to operate a plutonium-producing heavy-water reactor; and the deals very weak inspection provisions.
Other issues also should be addressed, such as Irans missile program, support of terrorism and meddling in regional conflicts.
While theres been some talk of extending the deals sunset clause when the agreement expires such a fix would be meaningless without the above changes concerning Irans nuclear program.
However, none of these vital changes is likely to approved by Congress in legislation or agreed to by other nations who signed the Iran deal.
Congress is very unlikely to pass legislation with any substantial fixes to the agreement because too many moderate Republican senators will vote with Democrats against changes that could cause Iran to withdraw. The Senate would require 60 votes to pass such legislation, meaning that even if all 52 Republicans supported it they would need to pick up eight Democratic votes.
Based on a statement by a senior European Union official Friday, European states plan to stubbornly resist any efforts by U.S. officials to fix the nuclear deal.
By not withdrawing from the pact immediately, President Trump is trying to work with Congress and follow the law. This is the opposite of how President Obama imposed the nuclear agreement on the American people by refusing to follow the U.S. Constitution and submitting the pact to the Senate for ratification as a treaty. To say that such a far-reaching international agreement is not a treaty was an absurd claim by the former president.
Its also worth noting that President Trump can reimpose most sanctions on Iran himself if Congress fails to act. The president could take such action and impose additional sanctions as part of a withdrawal decision.
Youll see many pundits and members of Congress on the talk show circuit this weekend discussing various schemes to fix the nuclear deal. Ignore their hot air. The nuclear deal with Iran is all but dead. In about two months, President Trump hopefully will put the Iran deal out of its misery.
Were more than two weeks from Halloween, yet the mainstream media is already itching to give the American people a mighty good fright, spinning President Trumps desperately needed tax reform framework as rash, ill-conceived and even dangerous.
At the same time, the president has been barnstorming across the rust belt and his tax reform plan has been met with enthusiastic approval by energized audiences. This show that our countrys elites still nearly on year after the election dont have a darn clue what matters to real, hardworking Americans.
Like an unfailing barometer, the things that get President Trumps detractors the most riled up dependably register as the things unapologetically designed to put America first. The fact that so many on the left are so hot and bothered is really all the reason the GOP-controlled Congress should need to pass the presidents tax plan as soon as possible.
Republicans in Congress have to get off their duffs and start supporting the leader who was elected to remake Washington. They blew the opportunity (several times) to eliminate one of the most egregious violations of personal liberty in modern history ObamaCare. Their failure dissipated a lot of the momentum that could finally make the federal government responsive to its citizens.
Republicans are overdue to deliver a common-sense, landmark piece of legislation. Summer break is over, school is back in session. GOP members of Congress cant afford another whiff and miss. Their constituents will not forgive them in the rapidly-approaching midterms.
President Trumps tax reform framework contains several major provisions, all of which bring a much-needed quality to The Swamp: simplicity.
Forking over our money to the IRS just so it can be flushed down into an opaque, bottomless pit of bureaucratic ineptitude is infuriating enough. On top of this, the Tax Foundation estimates that Americans collectively spent $147 billion last year to prepare business income tax returns and $99 billion preparing individual income tax returns. The IRS estimates that we spent a total of 8.9 billion hours complying with tax-filing requirements.
One provision of President Trumps tax reform framework calls for collapsing the current seven tax brackets into three, with marginal tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. This would have the immediate effect of eliminating legions of bean-counters who have built an entire industry and lined their own pockets by serving as the almighty interpreters of thousands upon thousands of pages of regulatory legalese.
Another perfectly sensible proposal is killing the death tax, which unceremoniously celebrated its centennial last year. A Gallup poll last year found that 54 percent of Americans want it eliminated. The tax has a devastating impact on the economy by increasing costs on small businesses.
Currently, 70 percent of family businesses do not survive to the second generation and 90 percent do not survive to the third generation. Families hit by the death tax are often forced to sell off land or valuable business assets, lay off workers, or even shut down entirely as a result.
The presidents tax reform framework further aims to help American businesses regain their competitive edge in a globalized economy increasingly stacked against them. It advises considering methods to reduce corporate double taxation, eliminating the corporate alternative minimum tax, and lowering the top corporate tax rate to 20 percent from the current 35 percent.
But if sustained growth and prosperity is this administrations goal, the framework is only half of the equation. Our country needs both tax reform and Social Security reform. For without the latter, we are arbitrarily punishing our economy, our most vulnerable citizens, and future generations of American workers.
Fortunately, President Trump is brave enough to clutch third rails with both hands. Having a president ready and willing to buck convention means the chance for the GOP to pivot finally and go big.
Because of demographic changes and decades worth of bad public policy, Social Security has ballooned in cost since its inception, consuming nearly one-quarter of annual federal spending. Social Security has two major trust funds, and both are expected to be insolvent by 2034. The inability to act will force a devastating 25 percent across-the-board cut in benefits.
Kicking the can down the road doesnt adequately express the continual unwillingness of our elected officials to tackle the systemic problems of Social Security. A can might get dented from being kicked, but its weight doesnt change.
Deferring action on Social Security is actually like pushing a snowball down a mountain. It ultimately can accumulate so much speed and mass that it turns into an avalanche. And the moment it destroys the quiet village at the bottom is imminent.
To be sure, when President Trump pledges to make America great again, he means making America a country in which we all have the chance to enjoy the fruits of personal and economic freedom, not just for four years or eight , or even for a few decades. He means beyond the horizon, farther than we can see, so that bureaucracy and the spinelessness of elected officials wont be the traps that seal our republics fate.
Editor's note: The following commentary first appeared on the Denison, Texas Police Department's Facebook page.
The Denison Police Department enjoys great support from most of our community and our businesses. I get it, especially with the anti-police rhetoric from the national media and police-hate groups we see in the country, that many people buy into that rhetoric and dislike police. Most of those that I have come across in my career that hate cops are very familiar with us because many have a lengthy history of arrests or have friends or family members with such a history. I get all this and we get used to it for the most part.
But when two of my officers were refused service by an employee of a local restaurant on October 14 just after midnight, then cursed by that employee and the on-duty managers only response is, I dont get into politics, that concerns me.
If a business does not want police officers as customers, just let us know. Theres no need to curse us and make a scene, just let us know you dont want us there and well go somewhere else.
Now going somewhere else in Denison in the middle of the night is not easy because our officers dont have many options. What really gets my goat with such an incident is that while most of us are sleeping sleeping! -- the officers are out there working hard to keep us safe and when trying to take a break to eat they face this type of reception from an employee of a local business and management calls it politics? The employee also said she would continue to refuse to serve officers.
Now we know. And rest assured officers will no longer patronize this business. Many of the officers also fear food-tampering with an attitude like this from such an employee.
As we most always try to do when there is a conflict, a police supervisor went to the restaurant and asked to speak to the employee in an effort to understand why she felt the way she did toward police.
The employee alleged cops beat up my boyfriend and are racists.
When questioned further, the employee said her boyfriend was beat up when arrested by DPD a few weeks ago.
The police supervisor went to the station and found the documentation of the arrest, then reviewed the video or audio of the arrest from the arresting officers dash cam.
It was a routine arrest. There was no physical altercation and no one [was] injured.
So the employee was simply lying about her boyfriend getting beat up by police.
Ive seen similar service refusal stories like this around the state and country but never thought wed see it locally.
Yet, while disappointing that this one business takes or supports such an anti-police stance, we relish in the fact the majority of the Denison businesses and citizens we serve greatly support us and what we do to try to keep our community safe.
Oh, one last thing -- Even though this one business accepts employees that refuse to serve and then curse cops, I guarantee you when they call 911 and need us, well come running.
Thats what cops do.
Reince Priebus, President Trump's former White House chief of staff, was interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Muellers team Friday as part of the probe into Russias alleged attempt to meddle in the 2016 election, his lawyer said.
Mr. Priebus was voluntarily interviewed by Special Counsel Muellers team today, attorney William Burck told Fox News. He was happy to answer all of their questions.
Priebus served as chairman of the Republican National Committee during the presidential election. He joined the White House as the presidents first chief of staff. He was replaced in July by John Kelly, the retired Marine general who had been serving as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
MUELLERS RUSSIA INVESTIGATION: WHAT TO KNOW
Mueller, who is investigating the firing of former FBI director James Comey and other actions of the Trump administration, has signaled that his team intends to interview multiple current and former White House officials in the coming weeks and has requested large batches of documents from the executive branch.
Fox News John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hillary Clinton could be headed to Columbia University.
The former secretary of state and first lady is reportedly in talks with the Ivy League school to both take on a formal role with the university and to keep her archives there, according to the New York Daily News.
It's all fluid. It could be a number of things. No decisions have been made, but there are talks, a source familiar with the 2016 presidential candidate told The News.
She's trying to figure out what she wants to do. It could end up with the papers at one place and she has some sort of faculty role at another. She hasn't quite come to a decision, the source continued.
Clinton could potentially be deemed a University Professor at the famed New York institution, a position that would permit her to lecture in multiple departments and schools but without a specific course restriction, a source told The News.
Clintons daughter, Chelsea, is an adjunct assistant professor at Columbias Mailman School of Public Health. And her old boss, former President Barack Obama, received his bachelors degree from the university in 1983.
A timeline on Clintons potential decision to teach at the school wasnt immediately clear. Shes currently on a book tour promoting her tome about the 2016 presidential election, What Happened.
I don't think it will be two years from now. She gave birth to this book last month. She's trying to get through that. But it will be a short time table, a source told The News.
When contacted by Fox News, Columbia University declined to comment.
Twitter has handed over to Senate investigators the profile names, or "handles," of 201 accounts linked to Russian attempts at influencing the 2016 presidential election. The company has stepped up its efforts to cooperate with investigators after it was criticized for not taking congressional probes seriously enough.
The handover occurred this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
What remains unclear is whether posts associated with those accounts have been deleted from Twitter's servers. Politico reported on Friday that the company had deleted the tweets in line with its privacy policy. Twitter had no comment on that report.
The company's policy calls for removing tweets that a user deletes on their own. But that policy also states that some tweets can survive the process. For instance, retweets of deleted tweets will remain live if the retweeter added a comment. Twitter also can't remove tweets that have been temporarily stored, or "cached," by services such as Google or reposted on other sites.
Twitter might be able to recover some information about any deleted tweets, according to another person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. That person added that the company is working with investigators to find information that's useful.
The account handles previously hadn't been submitted in part due to legal privacy issues, the person said.
Twitter is set to appear Nov. 1 before the Senate intelligence committee at a public hearing. Both Facebook and Google have been invited to testify at the same hearing.
Twitter previously uncovered the accounts linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency -- a notorious "troll farm" known for pushing out pro-Russian positions via fake accounts -- by using information provided by Facebook, which found 470 Russia-linked pages or accounts. After looking for patterns linking those accounts and pages to accounts on its service, Twitter said it had suspended 22 accounts that pushed divisive social or political issues during the 2016 campaign. It found another 179 related or linked accounts and took action against those that violated its spam rules.
The company enforces an anti-spam policy against bots and human users that exhibit unusual behavior. Such flags include having multiple accounts repeatedly retweet the same posts or having multiple accounts follow or block other users.
After Twitter's initial closed-door briefing with the Senate committee late last month, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner -- the top Democrat on the committee -- called the company's findings "frankly inadequate " and "derivative" of Facebook's work.
Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who has been trading barbs with the president, is now hitting President Trump for his castration of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The Tennessee Republican told the Washington Post that its the castration of Tillerson that I am most exercised about.
Corker said Trump undermined Tillerson's diplomatic efforts with repeated public statements denigrating the secretary of state.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee said such comments will lead to a situation where Trump will only have a binary choice of war or a North Korea and Iran that could threaten the United States with nuclear weapons.
You cannot publicly castrate your own secretary of state without giving yourself that binary choice, Corker told the Washington Post.
TRUMP SLAMS CORKER, WHO CALLS WHITE HOUSE ADULT DAY CARE CENTER
Trump last week told reporters he wished Tillerson would be tougher.
"You cannot publicly castrate your own secretary of state" Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee
We have a very good relationship, Trump told reporters. We disagree on a couple of things. Sometimes I'd like him to be a little bit tougher. But other than that, we have a very good relationship.
Trump also told reporters recently that he and Tillerson have "a little bit of a different attitude on North Korea than other people might have but ultimately my attitude is the one that matters."
Speaking last month in China, which wants Washington to resume a full dialogue with Pyongyang, Tillerson fueled speculation of a new diplomatic effort, acknowledging open channels of communications between the two countries.
But then Trump appeared to undermine his efforts.
"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump tweeted, once again deploying his pet name for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"
Corkers comments follow a week of the Republican, who recently announced he wont run for re-election, ramping up his criticism of the president.
After the president accused Corker of lacking the guts to run for re-election last weekend, Corker responded: "It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a rush transcript from "Your World," October 13, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, "YOUR WORLD" HOST: You know, I'm going to link the Iran deal, the health care thing, even tax cuts back to Congress, back to the president saying, I will unilaterally, on my own, do memoranda, and then decertify deals, because you guys are not doing it. So, I expect you to follow up and come up with something -- that would include DACA, by the way -- because you're not doing it.
Let's get the House Freedom Caucus star Jim Jordan, a Republican of Ohio.
What he's saying is, I think, Congressman, I'm tired of waiting for you guys, so I'm going to take this into my own hands.
Am I reading that right?
REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO: I think you're reading it that he's doing what he told the American people he was going to do.
And, frankly, that's what we all should be doing. I have said this on your show before, Neil. Congress' job is pretty basic. What did you tell the voters you were going to do when they elected you to come here and serve them? Let's make sure we focus on getting that done.
I think that is what the president is doing, whether it's, as you say, not doing something on the DACA issue. That was unconstitutional what President Obama did.
CAVUTO: Right.
JORDAN: Whether it's now on the CSR payments, these insurance bailouts, or, of course, now on the Iran agreement.
CAVUTO: But, I mean, I guess what I'm asking is, will Congress do something? I know there's a very big difference between the House.
JORDAN: We had better.
CAVUTO: The Senate has -- the Senate has far more rules. I know how that goes.
But even on the tax cut thing...
JORDAN: Yes.
CAVUTO: ... I'm beginning to wonder whether the votes are there. What do you think?
JORDAN: I think the votes -- I think the votes are definitely there in the House. The framework that was unveiled a couple of weeks ago is right where we want to be, bringing down the rates.
I mean, we said all along in the Freedom Caucus you show us a tax framework that actually cuts taxes that, that actually simplifies the code and one is that conducive to producing economic growth, and then we will support the budget and we will move this process along, because that's, again, what we told the voters we were going to do. And the framework seemed to do that.
So, I'm confident it will get through the House. But, frankly, with the Senate, I mean, Neil, six Republican senators on the health care issue, six Republicans senators voted against the very legislation they supported 20 months ago, exact same language, same commas, punctuation. Everything was the same. They voted against it, though, after they told the voters they were for it and after they had actually supported it. They then voted against it.
So, your guess is as good as mine in the Senate. I hope they're getting the message from their constituents and will pass it after we do. But we will have to wait and see.
CAVUTO: All right, now, the argument that had been raised against President Obama crafting this deal that was never approved by Congress is that he overstepped his bounds.
The same criticism of the president, this president is getting from Democrats that he overstepped his bounds, didn't consult Congress, et cetera, et cetera.
So, do you see Congress coming up with an enforceable treaty or mechanism to challenge the Iranians and to prove that they are honoring a deal that calls for them to avoid anything nuclear?
JORDAN: Well, we don't want Iran getting nuclear weapons. I think anyone knows that this is the largest state-sponsor of terrorism.
Their relationship with Assad, their relationship with Hezbollah, what they have said about us and our best ally, Israel, we don't want them to get nuclear. So, we start from that premise.
I liked what the president said today. I think it was a whole new tone, compared to the previous administration, which was the previous administration was about appeasement, weakness, and frankly leading from behind. That is not President Trump. And I...
CAVUTO: But did he approve anything or state anything that you think is going to work? Because he didn't reimpose any sanctions, didn't offer new sanctions.
JORDAN: But he followed -- he...
CAVUTO: I guess, Congressman, to your point, the threat is there. But do you think he should?
JORDAN: Yes, well, what he did is follow with the law what sets out.
There's a certification time frame. And he said, I'm not going to follow that certification. That's what the law says. Every so often, you have to recertify. He says, I'm not going to do it. It's time to refocus and look to see how we can make this agreement better or scrap it altogether, which is -- again, I didn't vote for it.
CAVUTO: Yes.
JORDAN: I'm one of the handful in the House who didn't vote for this thing, because I thought it was so bad.
So, I'm for scrapping it altogether. But I think what we should do is start focusing on what sanctions would snap back in place if, in fact, we get rid of this agreement. Think about that as we move forward.
But I think the president did the right move today on this and a host of other things that he's done in the last two days.
CAVUTO: It has obviously prompted a lot of protests in Iran.
But I do wonder whether the genie could be out of the bottle too late. By that, I mean, when this deal was signed, I believe, Congressman, the Iranians got better than $60 billion of assets quickly unfrozen, some of it coming on pallets and private jets as the deal was signed.
JORDAN: Yes. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: So, I'm wondering -- and this is my big fear -- do they feel emboldened and just say, well, the hell with Trump and whatever he's threatening, we got our money, we have got the wherewithal to survive whatever he throws at us?
JORDAN: Well, you're showing the problems with the original deal.
But, look, that's in the past. That happened. It's unfortunate that it did. I think the president's moving in the right direction.
And can -- and you -- also, look what our ally said. Look what Israel said today. They said this is the right move. They understand the threat that this -- that this country poses for the greater Middle Eastern area, but also just worldwide.
So, this is the right direction to move. The president, I think, showed a different tone, the right tone, set the right kind of -- sent the right kind of message, set the right kind of tone, I think, with this action.
And Senators Cotton and Senators Corker are already working on the kind of legislation that we may need to look at moving forward. But, right now, let's -- let's figure out what we have to do and let's begin to look at those sanctions that we may need have to -- may have to put back in place.
CAVUTO: Congressman, thank you. Always good catching up.
JORDAN: Thank you.
CAVUTO: All right.
END
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A woman in Illinois was reportedly able to protect herself with her concealed carry firearm after a stranger with a knife jumped into her car.
Police said a woman who was parked near a shopping mall in Moline on Sunday was attacked by a man who fought his way into her car, according to WQAD 8.
During the fight, the man reportedly slashed the womans arm with a knife. He then ordered the woman to drive to Rock Island County, a rural area, according to police.
DC GUN-FREE ZONES CAUSE CONFUSION OVER LEGALITY OF GUN CARRY EVEN WITH A PERMIT
Once the woman stopped the car, she was able to reach her gun, which she had a concealed carry firearm permit for, WQAD 8 reported.
After the attacker saw the weapon, he reportedly ran off and she was able to drive herself to the hospital.
Police subsequently opened an investigation and arrested Floyd R. May, 61.
May was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery with a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated assault.
He is reportedly in Rock Island County Jail on $550,000 bond.
Fire officials said crews were starting to make some progress in containing the wildfires that have ravaged Northern California since Sunday and killed at least 35 people.
An estimated 90,000 people were driven from their homes as flames ripped through cities and neighborhoods, destroying at least 5,700 homes and businesses.
More than 9,000 firefighters are battling the remaining 17 wildfires, but more manpower and equipment brought into the state is allowing workers to begin picking through the rubble and ash.
"The emergency is not over, and we continue to work at it, but we are seeing some great progress," said Mark Ghilarducci, the state's emergency operations director.
Investigators said it could be weeks before they can determine what caused the initial fires, saying the process is very technical and painstaking, according to Ken Pimlott, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE BURNS HOME OF PEANUTS CREATOR CHARLES SCHULZ
And due to the high level of damage that occurred, much of the evidence they would typically use has been burned beyond use, forcing them to look for other clues.
But investigators are considering the possibility that at least some of the fires were started by power lines brought down during fierce gusts of wind.
Officials also expect the death toll to continue to rise, as workers can now access previously unreachable areas.
Authorities have said that some victims were so badly burned they were identified only by metal surgical implants found in the ashes that have ID numbers on them.
Taken together, the various fires comprise the worst that the state has ever endured.
Two of the largest fires in Napa and Sonoma counties were at least 25 percent contained by Friday, which marked "significant progress," Pimlott said. But he cautioned that crews would face more gusty winds, low humidity and higher temperatures. Those conditions were expected to take hold later Friday and carry through into the weekend.
CALIFORNIA COUPLE HID IN POOL AS DEADLY WILDFIRES SWALLOWED EVERYTHING AROUND THEM
As the fires raged, many people were still searching for lost loved ones, with hundreds of people still reported missing, and picking through the ashes of their homes, both mentally and physically exhausted by the trauma of the past week.
"It wears you out," Kristin Belair said. Belair is a winemaker who was driving back from Lake Tahoe to her as-yet-undamaged home in Napa. "Anybody who's been in a natural disaster can tell you that it goes on and on. I think you just kind of do hour by hour almost, she said.
Air quality conditions have also continued to decrease, with many people in the areas starting to wear face masks.
I'm wearing the mask because I've been here two or three days now, said Wayne Petersen of Sonoma, Calif. I live here. It's starting to really affect my breathing and lungs."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An Alabama judge has refused to dismiss a sexual assault case against a teacher until another state court decides whether the law used to charge the teacher is constitutional.
Lawrence County Circuit Judge Mark Craig denied a motion to dismiss on Thursday in the case against Taylor Brooks Boyles, 27, a Moulton Middle School teacher who allegedly had a sexual relationship with a student during the students senior year at Lawrence County High School, the Decatur Daily reported.
She was arrested in May and charged with being a school employee engaging in a sex act or deviant sexual intercourse with a student under the age of 19, court records said.
Craig stayed the case until a separate court made a decision in two other trials concerning a similar matter, the report said.
TEACHER-STUDENT SEX LAW SHOULD BE TOUGHER, MINNESOTA PROSECUTOR SAYS
Boyles lawyer reportedly expressed disappointment with the decision, considering the circumstances.
This is a peculiar situation because we have a statute designed to protect students, Attorney Mark Dutton said. As a father, Im proud of that. But I believe when this code section was adopted, (the Legislature) failed to consider the conflict that was created versus the law in Alabama that a 16-year-old and above is able to consent to sexual contact if the consent is freely and voluntarily given I dont believe what (Boyles) is accused of doing may be right. But I believe what she is accused of doing is not criminal.
The law in question was passed in 2010 and prohibits school employees from having sex with students under the age of 19, the Decatur Daily reported. But defense attorneys argued that this regulation ran against a state law that deems 16 to be the legal age of consent.
In the cases Craig referenced, two teachers were separately accused of having sexual relationships with students, all of whom were reportedly older than 16.
BALTIMORE TEACHER SEX CASE: SPANISH INSTRUCTOR LEFT DURING DAYTIME HOURS TO RECORD SEX ACT WITH STUDENT
Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson deemed the 2010 law unconstitutional arguing that the students were legally old enough to consent to sex, the Decatur Daily reported.
This Court acknowledges that a disparity of power may inherently exist in a teacher/student relationship, but it clearly does not exist between every school employee and every student regardless of where the student is enrolled, he wrote. By eliminating the requirement that the state show a position of authority, grooming, abuse, coercion, or lack of consent, the state criminalizes behaviors outside the states legitimate purpose.
The ruling by Thompson is reportedly under appeal by the district attorney and state attorney general.
State Senator Arthur Orr requested a new draft of the legislation, modeled after other states constitutional versions of the law, in the event that the judges ruling is upheld, the Decatur Daily reported.
The goal remains to prevent inappropriate relations between teachers and students, Orr said.
A two-star general was fired and recalled back to Washington after allegations that he sent inappropriate Facebook messages to the wife of an enlisted soldier, the Army said Friday.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington, who heads U.S. Army Africa, was removed from his job due to a loss in confidence in his ability to command, the Army said in a statement.
He is the latest in a string of senior Army officials who have been disciplined for bad behavior, triggering the development of new programs aimed at shaping stronger, more ethical leaders.
A spokesman for the Army said Harrington is under investigation for sending the messages to the wife of a soldier who resides on the same base in Vincenza, Italy. Harrington, who is also married, was suspended from his post on Sept. 1, but had stayed in Italy.
The flirty Facebook messages include Harrington's referring to the woman as a "HOTTIE," inquiring about the whereabouts of the woman's husband and asking her to delete the messages, USA Today reported.
Army Col. Patrick Seiber said Harrington will remain in the Army but will be reassigned to the Pentagon.
Earlier this year, the Army began putting together a number of new mental health, counseling and career management programs in order to boost professionalism within the officer corps and get at what may be the root causes of the behavior problems.
Gen. Mark Milley, the Army's chief of staff, told The Associated Press last month that, "we recognized senior executive leaders, with varying amounts of stress, lacked a holistic program that focuses on comprehensive health." He said the military has strived to combat stress disorders, suicide and other problems, but often put the focus on enlisted troops or lower-ranking officers. A new emphasis must be placed on senior leaders, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Authorities in Georgia arrested five people Friday, including two law enforcement officers, in connection with a 1983 murder that investigators believe was racially motivated.
Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr., 58, were charged with murder in the death of 23-year-old Timothy Coggins. They were also charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing a body.
Milner, Ga. police officer Lamar Bunn and his mother, 58-year-old Sandra Bunn, were charged with obstruction. Gregory Huffman, 47, a detention officer with the Spalding County Sheriffs Office, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office. He was fired Friday morning.
Gebhardt and Moore were denied bond by a judge Saturday morning. A $25,000 cash bond on the violation of oath of office charge was set for Huffman, with another $10,000 cash bond set for the obstruction charge. The Bunns were released Friday after posting bonds of $706.75, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Coggins was found dead from traumatic injuries on Oct. 9, 1983 in a grassy area in the small town of Sunny Side, south of Atlanta. Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said the original investigation ground to a halt after potential witnesses were threatened and intimidated.
Dix said Friday that Coggins had been "murdered brutally, and we are going to make sure people answer to that crime." Dix added that had the killing would have been prosecuted as a hate crime had it occurred today.
"We have always wanted justice, held out for justice, and knew that we would have justice," Heather Coggins, the murdered mans niece, told reporters Friday. "We have endured grief for the past 34 years our journey is coming to an end; their journey is just beginning."
The Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) began re-examining the case this past March after receiving new information. Previously reluctant witnesses came forward and investigators received more tips after formally reopening the case this past July.
Dix said the investigation is ongoing and did not rule out the possibility that more arrests would be made. The sheriff added that the exact motive for the murder would not be revealed until trial.
Harper Lees Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was removed from a Mississippi school district lesson plan because the books language made some people feel uneasy.
Administrators at the Biloxi School District announced early this week they were pulling the novel from the 8th-grade curriculum, saying they received complaints that some of the books language makes people uncomfortable.
The Sun Herald reported that the book was pulled from the lesson plan because the novel contained the N word.
PARENTS OF FORMER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FILE LAWSUIT AFTER TEACHER ALLEGEDLY SUGGESTS THEIR SON, WHO IS BLACK, BE HANGED
A message on the school's website says "To Kill A Mockingbird" teaches students that compassion and empathy don't depend upon race or education.
School board vice president Kenny Holloway says other books can teach the same lessons.
However, the book will still be available in Biloxi school libraries.
The novel, published in 1960, chronicled the adventures of Jean Louise Finch aka Scout and her brother Jeremy aka Jem and the racial inequality that existed in their small Alabama town. The book followed a court case their father, Atticus, was involved in.
JESSICA CHAMBERS MURDER TRIAL: FIREFIGHTERS SAY WOMAN SET ON FIRE FOUGHT FOR HER LIFE
In the story, Atticus defended Tom Robinson, a black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Despite strong evidence of Robinsons innocence, he was found guilty of raping Ewell.
The book was adapted into a movie in 1962, starring Gregory Peck, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Atticus Finch.
The Sun Herald reported the novel was listed at No. 21 on the American Library Associations most banned or challenged books list in the last decade.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A worker at a Texas fast-food restaurant was fired after she refused to serve two police officers, the company said Saturday.
In a lengthy post on the Denison Police Department's Facebook page, Chief Jay Burch alleged the officers were cursed at by the employee and that the restaurant managers only response was I dont get into politics.
If a business does not want police officers as customers, just let us know, Burch wrote. Theres no need to curse us and make a scene, just let us know you dont want us there and well go somewhere else.
He added, "Now going somewhere else in Denison in the middle of the night is not easy because our officers dont have many options. What really gets my goat with such an incident is that while most of us are sleeping sleeping!, the officers are out there working hard to keep us safe and when trying to take a break to eat they face this type of reception from an employee of a local business and management calls it 'politics'?"
Burch never named the restaurant, but local media outlets identified the restaurant as Whataburger, a popular Texas-based chain.
In a statement, a Whataburger spokesperson said "an individual employee acted out of line with Whataburger's values to treat all customers with respect. We took swift action and this person is no longer employed by us."
Denison Sgt. Holly Jenkins said on Facebook that the employee was unapologetic, expressed her hatred toward police and said she would continue to refuse service to police officers.
Jenkins said the two officers were served by another employee.
I am saddened, disappointed and angry about the treatment these two officers received this morning, she said. However, when Whataburger or their staff call, we will respond. We will not hesitate. We will respond with courage, compassion and professionalism."
Burch began his post by saying that he understands, especially with the anti-police rhetoric from the national media and police-hate groups we see in the country, that many people buy into that rhetoric and dislike police.
He added, Most of those that I have come across in my career that hate cops are very familiar with us because many have a lengthy history of arrests or have friends or family members with such a history. I get all this and we get used to it for the most part.
The chief said a supervisor went to the restaurant afterward and spoke to the employee.
The employee alleged cops beat up my boyfriend and are racists, Burch said. He added that the woman told the supervisor her boyfriend was beat up when Denison officers arrested him a few weeks ago.
Burch said the supervisor went to the station and found the documentation of the arrest and then reviewed the video of the arrest from the arresting officers dash cam.
It was a routine arrest, Burch said. There was no physical altercation and no one injured. So the employee was simply lying about her boyfriend getting beat up by police."
Whatburger said the company plans to "speak with the other officers involved to apologize in person and make this right."
Aww-dorable.
A Texas girls priceless reaction to a birthday gift sent by her deployed father went viral this week in a heartwarming video.
David Villegas of San Antonio, Texas, sent his daughter, Ellianna, a teddy bear dressed as a soldier for her birthday to remember him while he was away in Fort Jackson, SC, for training, KSAT reported.
The sister of Villegas wife, Vanessa, captured the moment Elianna opened up her present, which she described, looked like daddy, but the real surprise was the message.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS, FANS SING 'STAR-SPANGLED BANNER' AFTER PA SYSTEM FAILS
Vanessa told Elianna to press on the bears paw for a special message.
The bear, with her father's voice, told Elianna: Hey baby, daddy loves you and misses you so, so much and I cant wait for you to be in my arms again. I love you very much.
The little girls eyes went wide before squealing in delight, Oh my God thats daddy!
Elianna gave her new soldier teddy bear a big hug.
The touching moment was posted on Twitter by Vanessas sister and immediately went viral Wednesday. As of Saturday, the video was retweeted more than 49,000 times and liked by more than 100,000 Twitter users.
Everyone has been basically saying Oh my gosh Im crying (and) another girl was even like I just put on my makeup and now its all over my face,' Vanessa told KSAT.
Theres also a lot of people on Twitter saying that they wish they had that from their dad or their mom and if they can hear their loved ones voice one more time, it would have made their entire world, Vanessa said.
She said David was ordered to travel to South Carolina for basic training in August, leaving the family of three a few weeks to spend together before he left.
B-17 BOMBER FLIES CROSS COUNTRY TO HONOR WORLD WAR TWO VETERANS
We only had three weeks to spend with him before he had to leave and, of course, we have no contact with him. Basically hes gone for nine weeks and a couple of days, Vanessa said. And after that, he has to go again for longer and so he wont be back until April (2018).
Vanessa said the deployment as hard on her daughter who has never been away from her father for this long.
It really meant a lot to give that to her so she can play it every time she misses him and it helps her a lot, she said. Its tough but in the end, I know itll be worth it.
Vanessa and Elianna plan to travel to South Carolina and visit David in November when he graduates.
After landing in Canada with his family Friday night, Canadian ex-hostage Joshua Boyle told reporters some frightening news about his family's ordeal in Afghanistan.
He said the Haqqani network, which held him and his wife captive for five years, had killed his infant daughter in captivity and raped his wife.
Boyle landed in Canada late Friday with his American wife and three young children.
The couple was rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip.
Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport.
"The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," he said.
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
He said he was in Afghanistan 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."
After returning to his parents' home in Smiths Falls, Ontario, on Saturday, Boyle emailed The Associated Press with a new statement saying they had "reached the first true 'home' that the children have ever known - after they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully."
"Our daughter has had a cursory medical exam last night, and hospital staff were enthusiastically insistent that her chances seemed miraculously high based on a quick physical. Full medical work-ups for each member of my family are being arranged right now, and God-willing the healing process - physically and mentally can begin."
It was reported earlier that one of his children was in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
On the plane from London, Boyle provided a written statement to the Associated Press saying his family has "unparalleled resilience and determination."
Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pa., sat in the aisle of the business class cabin wearing a tan-colored headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly when she confirmed her identity to a reporter on board the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest child in his lap. U.S. State Department officials were on the plane with them.
The handwritten statement that Boyle gave the AP expressed disagreement with U.S. foreign policy.
"God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organized injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege," he wrote.
He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, "Their interests are not my interests."
The family was able to leave from the plane with their escorts before the rest of the passengers. There was about a 5- to 10-minute delay before everyone else was allowed out.
Dan Boyle, Joshua's younger brother, said outside the family home in Smith Falls, Ontario, that he had spoken to his brother a few times in the past few days.
"He's doing very well. He sounds a lot like how he sounded five years ago. He sounds like he had his head on his shoulders and his wits about him," he said.
The Canadian government said in a statement they will "continue to support him and his family now that they have returned."
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the Canadian government said.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the Pakistani raid that led to the family's rescue was based on a tip from U.S. intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a "common enemy" when Washington shares information.
U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network, which was holding the family.
A U.S. national security official, who was not authorized to discuss operational details of the release and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani government officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages -- and they did.
On Friday, President Donald Trump, who previously warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Pakistan for its "cooperation on many fronts." On Twitter, he wrote that the U.S. is starting to develop "a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders."
The operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captor's final, terrifying threat to "kill the hostage." Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors' car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
U.S. officials did not confirm those details.
A U.S. military official said that a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan on 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 Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyle's father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America. 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.
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.
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.
The family had left Pakistan on a commercial flight after Boyle reportedly balked at taking a U.S. plane out of Pakistan, fearing that his background could land him in the American detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Around 100 fighters from the Islamic State group have surrendered since Friday in Raqqa, with the Syrian city said to be on the brink of falling to a U.S.-led coalition.
Meanwhile, a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistans eastern Kunar province on Thursday killed 14 ISIS militants, Afghan officials said Saturday.
In Raqqa, all of the combatants were removed from the city, a spokesman for the U.S-led coalition against ISIS told Reuters on Saturday.
ISIS was said to be on the verge of defeat in Raqqa, the report said. The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said Saturday that all jihadists might be gone as soon as Saturday or Sunday.
Daesh (Islamic State) is on the verge of being finished. Today or tomorrow the city may be liberated, YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud told Reuters.
"Daesh (Islamic State) is on the verge of being finished. Today or tomorrow the city may be liberated." Nouri Mahmoud, YPG spokesman
The U.S. military, however, was more circumspect is setting a timeframe.
We still expect difficult fighting in the days ahead and will not set a time for when we think (Islamic State) will be completely defeated in Raqqa, U.S. military spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Civilians flee Raqqa
In recent days, scores of civilians have been fleeing the last few remaining neighborhoods held by ISIS, ahead of an anticipated final push by U.S.-backed fighters seeking to retake the city.
A video that emerged Friday showed desperate, terrified residents emerging from destroyed districts, some of them collapsing on the ground in exhaustion as they arrive. They seemed to be taking advantage of a slowdown in the fighting and airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition amid efforts to ensure the safe evacuation of an estimated 4,000 civilians who remain trapped in the city.
The coalition has said that ISIS militants are holding some civilians to use as human shields, preventing them from escaping as the fight enters its final stages. The city, on the banks of the Euphrates River, has been badly damaged by the fighting, and activists have reported that over 1,000 civilians have been killed there since June.
Commanders said to be targeted
In Afghanistan, Abdul Ghani Musamim, a spokesman for the Kunar provincial governor, said Saturday that the drone strike took place Thursday afternoon in the Chawkay district. He said it targeted a meeting of IS commanders planning for a terrorist attack.
The government has no control of the remote area, where Afghanistan's ISIS affiliate has established a presence.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Dawlat Waziri, also confirmed the report. There was no immediate comment from the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.
However, lawmaker Shazada Shaheed rejected the report, claiming the victims of the strike were civilians.
The ISIS affiliate has grown in Afghanistan over the last few years
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
THE FOREIGNER (R)
2.5 STARS
Though hes showing his age, Jackie Chan manages to once again make moviegoers believe that he has the martial arts chops to take out the bad guys.
Smartly, those who made this film realized that he can use some help from a more accomplished actor to move a story along, hence the inclusion of Pierce Brosnan as the heavy here.
The story gets a bit more involved than a film like this needs to.
After an IRA terrorist bombing kills the daughter of a retired Special Forces vet named Quan (Chan), the distraught father wants answers, digging deeply into the forces involved in the act.
He singles out Brosnans Liam Hennessy, an Irish official who has a sketchy connection to the terrorist act. When the British investigators and the Irish instigators ignore Quan, he begins his own reign of terror, planting bombs, killing terrorists and anyone else who gets in his way.
In that way, Quan and the film sort of lose the high ground, as its pretty clear that anything goes for this father who wants revenge.
It all plays out interestingly enough, though with more twists in the guilt, innocence or combination of those that Hennessy eventually cops to.
Chan is still fascinating to watch turning martial arts into interestingly creative combat, using props in ways few others would consider.
And Brosnan helps things along by making his character a mix of good, evil and pragmatism.
Its not great, but is a fairly interesting tale of one fathers revenge.
Rated R for violence, language and some sexual material. 114 min. Playing locally at Marquee Southpoint 9 and Paragon Village 12.
MY GRANDSONS school had the blessing of the animals last week, so little Buck took the family dog, Kipper.
Remember in the Chevy Chase movie Funny Farm where the dog just runs and runs and never stops? Well, thats Kipper, only he does his non-stop running in the house.
That fool dog goes over, around and through people and things like a bat out of hell. He can fly through the air and clean your fork before you can lift the food from the plate to your mouth.
I cant relate to this because when I grew up the family stayed inside and Old Rover stayed outside. He had a nice warm bed in the hay down at the barn and he loved it. We had peace and quiet and we loved it.
Of course, society has changed. We have now gone back to the medieval days when dogs roamed the castle and fat lords threw bones down the hall.
This concept of blessing animals was also new to me, and I had to ask twice to make sure I was hearing right. We Baptists dont bless the animals unless they are part of a covered dish dinner after the 11 a.m. worship service.
But my grandson goes to a school sponsored by what my grandmother would call one of those foreign religionsthe Episcopaliansand apparently they bless animals.
Now Buck, even at 7, is a pretty savvy kid and he does know something about the Old Testament. So, you guessed it, he was concerned that Kipper would be sacrificed after he was blessed.
I had the same thought, which, for a brief moment, brought a smile to my face. But that was not part of the deal.
My suggestion was that after the blessing there would be another ceremonyan exorcism. Im not sure whether Kipper would throw up pea soup, but he might regurgitate all the carpet threads, couch covers and important papers that he has eaten over time.
An exorcism might prove to Bucks teachers that the family dog had really and truly eaten his homework.
I was not present at Kippers exorcismexcuse me, blessingbut I was told that it went well. He didnt wet on the minister nor did he spit up any pea soup.
Of course, I was devastated that I was unable to go. I would have so enjoyed spending a quiet morning among growling dogs and snarling cats.
Maybe I should take my cat down there for a blessing next year. He would claw that preachers eyeballs out.
Mine is truly an Old Testament cat because he brings sacrifices to the back door on a regular basis. Rabbits, moles, voles, mice. They all appear at the altar outside the kitchen door.
And I promise you he would spit up pea soup if exorcised. Thats one wild cat.
So now the world is at peace because Kipper has been blessed. But how long does an Episcopal blessing last? Is it like a rabies shot where you have to take him back next year for a booster?
I know that back in the day, the Baptists had to baptize some people more than once. Theyd be baptized during an August revival and then get caught dancing on New Years Eve. One immersion was often not enough.
Kipper, like the backsliding Baptists, may have been blessed, but he hasnt changed his ways. He about drove me nuts when I visited my daughter last weekend.
Before I left I recommended one more blessingfollowed by an exorcism.
And I didnt rule out a sacrifice, Father Abraham.
CITIES LARGE and small across the country are falling over themselves hoping to be crowned "HQ2," the shorthand name given to a second headquarters for online retail giant Amazon, or amazon.com, which is based in Seattle.
Take Stonecrest, Ga., for example. It's population is about 20,000, and it sits about five miles east of the Atlanta beltway. Local residents actually voted to create the town last November, and elected their first mayor and other officials in March. It voted earlier this month to rename the town Amazon, Ga. if the company would occupy the 345-acre parcel town officials are offering to give it.
Stonecrest is competing with cities like Chicago and Dallas, and entire states, like Michigan. Gov. Terry McAuliffe said recently that Richmond should put itself in the mix.
So why not Fredericksburg? Well, for a lot of reasons not Fredericksburg. For one thing, the deadline for overtures is Oct. 19, and it would probably be difficult for local officials to come up with the right presentation and incentive package in such a short time. And they are talking about an operation that would eventually generate 50,000 jobs. If you think State Route 3 traffic is bad now....
But this competition to win the heart of Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos is nevertheless fun to watch, and local officials across the Fredericksburg area should see what they can learn from it, both in the attributes Amazon says it is looking for, and in the pitches all these places are putting forward.
This is not to say that scouting for new business by organizations such as the Fredericksburg Area Chamber of Commerce, local officials and economic development authorities isn't already going on every day. But it never hurts to consider what's on a prospective employer's wish list, not to mention everything that this area has to offer.
We don't have the million or more people Amazon wants, but we do have at least 300,000 residents in Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania combined. The workforce here is ready to take on whatever opportunity comes along. The only question is whether we're producing enough capable workers to attract sought-after companies and industries.
There are certainly lots of smart, skilled people here who are qualified for jobs better than the ones they hold, but they make the trade-off in order to live here. On the flip side, there are lots of people here who hold lucrative jobs up north who would give up the commute in a minute if there was somewhat competitive employment here.
Transportation is a huge deal for Amazon. It is asking prospective host cities for their proximity to interstate highways and other major roads. It wants an international airport within 45 minutes and mass transit access. It wants traffic congestion statistics. Hmmm.
The good news is that we are centrally located for travel up and down the East Coast, and plans to improve Interstate 95 traffic flow through the Fredericksburg area are on the table. We have small and regional airports. We have Amtrak passenger and CSX freight train service. The Virginia Railway Express has established itself as a people carrier. We'd love to see it expand with weekend and even offer reverse-commute service, and we hope that promised track improvements are completed soon.
With respect to the universities Amazon wants near its HQ2, everything's relative. We have the University of Mary Washington and Germanna Community College, which are very good at what they do and getting better all the time. We have a state university system that's second to none.
Finally, Amazon wants HQ2 to have recreational opportunities and a lifestyle like Seattle which, as The New York Times puts it, is "sandwiched between mountains and water." That's an apt description of the Fredericksburg area, and a key element of the quality of life here. Throw in unparalleled roles in U.S. Colonial and Civil War history, along with a growing array of cultural activities, and you've got a lifestyle package any community of our size would find hard to beat.
When you think about it, companies ought to be falling over themselves looking to move or expand here.
I recently spoke by phone with Bob Thomas regarding the giant confederate battle flag that is being flown next to I-95 in Stafford County by the Virginia Flaggers. As Mr. Thomas, the Republican candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 28th District, has made few public comments on this, I thought residents would be interested in the substance of that call.
Regarding the removal or lowering of the flag, he agrees with legal counsel that the county lacks legal authority and that zoning changes would be ineffective. Regarding counter-messaging efforts, he feels the statement on the county website is sufficient and that the cost associated with posting billboards is not an appropriate use of county funds, though he would support community-based efforts.
As an elected official, this is fine. Assessing legal options and potential solutions while accounting for potential liability and setting priorities are all part of the job.
As a candidate, however, Mr. Thomas perspective on this topic is very relevant, as it provides insight into his character and leadership. Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas said little. When asked his opinion, he stated that it is irrelevant as there is nothing the state can do. Asked if he would be willing to make a statement condemning the Virginia Flaggers, their message of hate, and this effort to intimidate minority citizens of Stafford, he deferred, with the response "I have made my statement."
This response surprised me, so I emailed Mr Thomas to confirm that I understood his stance. After 10 days with no reply, I assume he considers the matter closed and has nothing to add.
Mr. Thomas, why would you refuse to take a stand on this or condemn a hate group? Is this the type of leadership we can expect in Richmond if you are elected?
John Dileo
Stafford
Ed Gillespie was raised in New Jersey. He has been a lobbyist and co-founder of a national lobbying firm, councilor to the president and chairman of national and Virginia political parties.
Ralph Northam was raised in Virginia. He was a U.S. Army doctor and then a pediatric neurologist in Norfolk. More recently, he has been a Virginia state senator and Virginias lieutenant governor.
Gillespie lobbied to immunize tobacco companies from legal responsibility for harm caused by their products.
There are similarities in the candidates goals. Both support transportation and school investment. There are also differences.
Gillespie supports charter schools. Northam supports early childhood education and reducing college tuition.
Gillespie proposes cutting the state income tax by $1.4 billion, with higher earners benefiting the most. Because Virginia law requires a balanced budget, some other tax would have to be raised or bonds issued to make up the deficit in revenues.
Northam has a modest proposal to reduce business taxes in rural areas and reduce the tax on food for low-income earners.
Gillespie opposes subsidizing health insurance for poor Virginians, while Northam supports it.
Ill be voting for Ralph Northam.
Aaron Markel
Fredericksburg
A Corvallis High School physics class put Trina Ray on the path for a flourishing career at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Ray, a 1985 Corvallis High graduate, is wrapping up her work on the Cassini spacecrafts 20-year mission to Saturn, which culminated last month in a descent into the planets atmosphere. Ray, who has worked at NASA for 28 years, said that high school physics class changed her life.
Gosh, I cant even imagine what would have happened in my life if I hadnt taken that class with Pat Canan, Ray said this week during a telephone interview with the Gazette-Times. He put me on the path to studying science.
Ray received a bachelors degree in physics from California State University Northridge and a masters degree in astronomy from San Diego State University. She joined the Cassini mission in 1996, about a year before the spacecraft launched. She has worked primarily on the Titan Orbiter Science Team, making her way up to co-chair of the team, which studied Saturns largest moon.
Cassini revolutionized our understanding of the Saturn system, Ray said.
Cassini launched with the Huygens lander in a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. Cassini and Huygens spent seven years traveling to Saturn, where the spacecraft parted ways in 2004. Cassini then spent 13 years orbiting Saturn, studying its atmosphere and magnetic environment, as well as the planets moons and rings. The spacecraft completed 294 orbits of Saturn.
During the mission, Ray worked with her fellow Titan scientists in coordinating what Cassini would do each time it passed by Titan, such as whether the spacecraft would take photos or use its ion and neutral mass spectrometer to collect data, and what type of data.
Before the Voyager missions, scientists knew Titan was the second largest moon in the solar system and that it had a thick atmosphere. However, when Voyager 1 made the first flyby of Titan in 1980, scientists discovered that not only was the atmosphere composed of nitrogen and methane, but that it completely obscured the surface.
The Cassini orbiter and the companion mission, the Huygens probe, have revealed the surface of Titan to be covered in things that are very understandable to someone who lives on the Earth, Ray said.
Titan has rivers, lakes and seas filled with liquid methane and mountains made of ice, she said. Scientists have been able to study similar processes to ones we understand on Earth, like erosion, but with new substances, Ray said.
They have also collected data from Titans chemically complex atmosphere, which is intriguing to astrobiologists, Ray said. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.
What we learned about Titan in the 13 years that weve been there is that Titan is very likely the most Earth-like body in the solar system, Ray said. So we can learn and understand about the Earth by learning and understanding about Titan.
Cassini departed Earth at a weight of 6,000 pounds, half of that being propellant, Ray said. Much of the propellant was used to get the spacecraft to Saturn. Once it was into orbit, scientists conserved fuel, using only small amounts to adjust the speed and direction of the spacecraft, she said.
Cassinis prime mission was set to be four years, but was extended twice for further exploration and to better understand Saturns four seasons, which last about seven Earth years apiece, according to NASA. But, scientists needed a plan for what to do with the spacecraft once it became low on fuel. They wanted to prevent the possibility of Cassini ever colliding with one of Saturns moons.
Ray said the navigation team came up with a very clever idea to plunge the spacecraft in between the planet and its rings in a series of final orbits into never-before-explored territory.
At the time, it was very exciting, she said. I was with everybody else. That is exactly what we should do with the spacecraft at the end. And I never changed my mind. It was exactly the right thing to do.
The Grand Finale, as NASA called it, allowed the scientists to better understand Saturns day, as well as the mass of the planets rings, its atmosphere and interior, she said. Following 22 such orbits, which began in April of this year, Cassini passed through Saturn's atmosphere, before plunging directly into the planet on Sept. 15.
The scientific return of the Grand Finale orbits have been and will continue to be extraordinary, Ray said. It was a great idea and it was extremely well-executed and the returns will come back to humanity for decades. Scientists will be writing papers that better understand the Saturn system for decades from the Cassini data.
Ray said there have been very few NASA missions that have been as successful as Cassini.
In the ever-expanding exploration of the solar system that NASA is leading the way in, the Cassini mission was a great step in that ever-rising staircase, she said. We were very successful, and theres a lot of pride in that.
Ray said she has made lifelong friends with the scientists and engineers working on the Cassini mission alongside her. Together, they shared Cassinis many great scientific moments as they viewed the photos and data being transmitted by the spacecraft.
I think it is one of the great privileges that those of us who work on a NASA mission have, Ray said. There is a moment when a mystery of the universe has been revealed to you and its just you and the people in that room who know it.
She recalled the first time Cassini exposed the dunes on Titans surface.
Just, who would have thought? Ray said. Nobody expected dunes. And the first time we saw the lakes at the North Pole. Its like Minnesota up there. Theres tons of lakes. Who would have thought that?
Her team gathered for a party a few days before Cassinis final plunge. They shared memories from the mission and appreciated the last set of Titan data being transmitted by the spacecraft. They made a toast to TOST (Titan Orbiter Science Team).
Ray will remain on the Cassini mission for another year as her team works to archive Cassinis datasets for future scientific evaluation. She has also accepted a position on NASAs upcoming Europa Clipper mission to investigate the habitability of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. She is serving as the investigation scientist for the ice-penetrating radar.
So, I will move on, Ray said.
A report by a team of scholars at Oregon State University says Corvallis founder Joseph C. Avery may or may not have been pro-slavery himself but was fine with using pro-slavery sentiment to advance his political career.
The report, released Thursday, was prepared as part of a process the university is conducting to determine if four campus buildings allegedly named for racists should be renamed. The university is hosting a meeting to gather public comment on whether to rename Avery Lodge at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Memorial Union Ballroom.
The report, written by Stacey L. Smith, an associate professor of history at OSU, notes that a large body of historical evidence connects Avery to the Occidental Messenger, an extremely pro-slavery and anti-black publication printed in 1857 and 1858.
The report states Averys name only appears in an advertisement in a surviving issue of the Messenger, but several contemporary sources identified him as a central force behind the publication. One of Averys rivals within the Democratic Party in Oregon even called the paper Averys Ox, as a play on Occidental.
The preponderance of the primary and secondary historical evidence suggests that, at the very least, Joseph Avery owned the Occidental Messenger printing press and played a role in the newspapers formation," the report says. "This does not mean that he absolutely controlled the newspaper content, as his enemies charged, but there is a strong likelihood that he had some kind of editorial input."
The report says the paper did express profoundly pro-slavery views for part of its existence but said it also existed as a way to attack Democrats in the wing of the party that Avery, then prominent in state politics, opposed. In rival publications, Averys contemporaries accused him of trying to use pro-slavery sentiment to attract political support for his wing of the party. These rivals said Avery did not actually support slavery, but merely wanted to gain influence to move Oregons capital to Corvallis, which would serve Averys financial interests because he owned so much land in and around town.
In the views of his enemies, the only reason that Avery published pro-slavery screeds in the Occidental Messenger, despite his own personal beliefs, was because he wanted to rile up pro-slavery Democrats in Oregon and win them away from the Salem Clique alliance, the report states.
Regardless of Averys real views or intentions, the Occidental Messenger did, indeed, carry pro-slavery editorials during 1857. The timing of these editorials was significant. Oregonians were voting on whether to adopt a state constitution and apply for statehood, the report states.
These reports apparently included statements that allowing slavery would allow cultivation of more crops in Oregon and would unleash a magic wand of improvement across the state.
The Occidental Messengers pro-slavery articles also depicted African Americans as uncivilized, barbarous, and beast-like," the report said. The depictions of African-Americans that appeared in the Occidental Messenger were relatively typical for the period. Most Democratic newspapers, and even most free soil Republican publications, declared whites racial superiority to people of African descent. In its pro-slavery views, particularly its assertions that Oregon should adopt slavery, the Messenger was an extreme outlier in the Pacific Northwest.
The report said Averys rivals claimed he was connected with two other publications, the Democratic Crisis and pro-Confederacy Oregon Union, but the connection there is more ambiguous.
The report also notes Avery served on the board of trustees for Corvallis College, which later became OSU, as the institution was being established in the 1850s and donated some of his personal funds for the institution to buy land, some of which the current campus is built on.
As a founder of Corvallis and an early supporter of Corvallis College, Joseph C. Avery made important contributions to the early history of Oregon State University. At the same time, a large body of historical evidence points to Averys involvement with the Occidental Messenger and its extreme pro-slavery and anti-black content.
Visit http://bit.ly/2hGlQHM to see the full report. (A copy of the report is attached to the online version of this story.)
OSU also will host discussions to gather community perspectives on potentially changing the names of Benton Hall and Gill Coliseum this week. The Benton Hall discussion is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and the Gill Coliseum discussion is planned for 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Both will be in the Memorial Union Ballroom.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has $69 million to spend on design and construction of a replacement for the Van Buren Bridge, and ODOT officials say construction could begin as early as 2021.
ODOT already had allocated $1.9 million to study the concept, as the Gazette-Times reported in May, but the Oregon Transportation Commission in September set aside another $67.1 million. The money was part of the $5.3 billion transportation bill that came of the legislative session that concluded in July.
Angela Beers Seydel, ODOTs public information officer for Region 2, which includes Clatsop, Tillamook, Columbia, western Washington, southwestern Clackamas, Lincoln, Yamhill, Polk, Marion, Benton, Linn and Lane counties, said the design work and public outreach for the project will begin in the next month or so. The only thing in the way, Beers Seydel said, is finishing the paperwork required to release the funds.
The new Van Buren Bridge would have two lanes for vehicles as well as bike lanes and sidewalks. Beers Seydel said that it is expected the construction will begin in 2021, but she cautioned that a project this large can experience bumps in the road.
The current bridge, which opened in 1913, when Oregon State University then Oregon Agricultural College was just 45 years old and Corvallis was home to about 5,000 residents, is unlikely to wind up in a landfill, officials said. It could be moved to another location or perhaps used by additional bicycle and pedestrian traffic. It was the first bridge in Corvallis across the Willamette River and is the third oldest anywhere on the river.
The bridge has been declared functionally obsolete since the 1970s, with an ODOT report released during the last legislative session noting that it's at full capacity now (ODOT assigned a 1.00 rating for full capacity) and that traffic over it only will increase in years to come. (The report said that 1.00 rating now likely would increase to 1.58 during peak times in 2040.)
And a decision to close the Van Buren without replacing it would produce capacity levels of 1.70 on the Highway 20/34 bypass by 2040, the study shows. The bypass opened in the 1990s.
The corridor also is a freight bottleneck, with ODOT projecting a 102 percent increase in travel times for freight haulers from 2010 to 2040 on the bypass and a 96 percent uptick on the Van Buren Bridge.
Replacing the Van Buren has been discussed for decades. A 2008 Gazette-Times article noted ODOT had set aside $4 million to study the situation and that "depending on state funding, any new bridges or bypasses wouldn't be constructed until 2013."
The cost of construction also has gone up dramatically. A 2011 Gazette-Times story mentioned that a new downtown bridge was expected to cost $24 million.
The issue with Measure 2-110, Renew Levy for Public Safety and Health Services, is not the Benton County criminal justice system's need for money. The issue is the Board of Commissioners' ability to manage our tax money.
Ever since the commissioners bought the railroad right of way to nowhere for half a million dollars, I have been wondering about their ability to set priorities and manage our money wisely.
The 2017-19 Benton County adopted biennium budget tells us that our health center has clinics in Lebanon and Sweet Home, towns in Linn County. Moreover, it tells us that there is a $5.1 million deficit in the health center all funds budget summary. Benton County appears to be paying for clinics in Linn County. Why? Aren't those clinics the responsibility of Linn County?
Benton County is letting a contract for a consultant to develop a criminal justice system master plan which it should have done years ago. The scheduled start date was Sept. 4, 2017. And, I have not heard of an expected completion date. My guess is that date will be long after the election. Will the plan change the criminal justice system?s funding requirements? Will we be asked to fund a new jail as part of the plan?
I am voting against renewing Measure 2-110 because I am not at all impressed with the Board of Commissioners' ability to set priorities and manage the taxpayers' money wisely.
John H. Detweiler
Corvallis (Oct. 8)
Policemen shot Bonn woman in Tunisia three years ago : Post lost evidence in Ahlem Dalhoumi case
Bonn German authorities lost evidence material in the case of the Bonn woman Ahlem Dalhoumi who was shot by police in the Tunisian town of Kasserine in 2014.
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Bullet splinters, which were surgically removed from the cousin of the victim, Yasmin, who was also shot, were sent by post and did not arrive in the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn. The Tunisian authorities had contacted the Office of the District Attorney in Bonn in March with an official letters rogatory, asking for the bullet splinters to be send to them. A severe blow for Ahlem Dalhoumis family, who lives in Bonn.
Our belief in the German judiciary has been shaken, said the aunt, Fadhila Dalhoumi. Ahlem and Ons Dalhoumi died on August 23 through bullet wounds inflicted by police staff in the Tunisian town of Kasserine. They were on the way home after a wedding. Sondes, Ahlems sister, was driving. The 21-year-old Ahlem was on the passenger seat. The cousins Ons from Tunisia and Yasmin, who grew up in Beuel, like Ahlem, were in the back of the car.
Precautionary closure : Scabies: Johanniter hospital in Bonn shuts down department
Bonn The department 1a in the Johanniter hospital in Bonn-Gronau is closed since Friday afternoon. The reason: Several cases of scabies.
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The departement 1a in the Johanniter hospital at the Strachensweg in the Gronau part of Bonn is closed since Friday afternoon. The reason for the closure are several cases of scabies. The department affected is internal medicine. According to first findings, a female patient infected several nurses with scabies. Scabies is a parasitic skin disease, caused by scabies mites.
Because several patients and employees had started to complain about pustules and blisters and severe itching, the doctors examined the people concerned and concluded that they were infected with scabies. Eight nursing staff, one doctor and three patients have been infected, Professor Yon-Dschun Ko, medical director of the Johanniter hospital and head physician, told the General-Anzeiger.
All affected received a suitable and fast acting cream. The infected staff were send home and replaced entirely. The affected patients were isolated in the department. The closure of department 1a is entirely precautionary, and the decision was made in cooperation with the health office Bonn, declared hospital director Marc Heiderhoff in a press statement. A further infection of scabies shall be avoided in this way.
The entire department is currently being cleaned and disinfected in several steps. The hospital also informs all persons who - in the past two weeks - came into the hospital as patients, visitors and employees and might be infected. Heiderhoff emphasised that there is no infection risk for patients, visitors and staff of other departments in the hospital. Professor Ko assumed that the department will be back to normal schedule on Monday. The oncologist underlined that scabies is not a dangerous disease. It is irritating and demands a strict hygiene.
You know, I am dealing with completely different diseases. The situation in our hospital today was stressful, but I could see it through with a smile. Because several health offices have registered an increase in scabies infections in the last while - scabies is notifiable when it occurs to an increased degree - the hospital already looked into the standard procedures against scabies (SOP procedure). Persons from a risk group who arrived in the hospital with a skin condition, need to be handled separately until scabies can be ruled out for definite. Among the risk groups are mainly refugees who come from various parts of the world to us and often have to live in cramped accommodation, where the infection risk is much higher.
bohlah at 14-10-2017 08:46 AM (5 years ago) (m)
Yesterday, a video went viral showing a man was brutalized and publicly humiliated after being accused of sleeping with a mans wife in Edo state. It has now been revealed by the victims lawyer that the mastermind of the whole act was Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe , A.K.A Smally, a Sergeant attached to the Special Anti Robbery Squad ( SARS), who is estranged with his ex-wife.
Yesterday, a video went viral showing a man was brutalized and publicly humiliated after being accused of sleeping with a mans wife in Edo state. It has now been revealed by the victims lawyer that the mastermind of the whole act was Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe , A.K.A Smally, a Sergeant attached to the Special Anti Robbery Squad ( SARS), who is estranged with his ex-wife.
Read the report shared by the victims lawyer, Jefferson Uwoghiren, on Facebook;
Brazen Impunity By a Lawless Policeman in Benin City.
Please be informed that the trending online video of the brazen abduction and battery of a young man in Benin City is now subject of a Criminal Investigation in Edo State.
The victim of the abduction and battery deny every allegation of amorous impropriety made in the said video.
The fact of the matter is as briefly stated here under. On Monday, 9th October, 2017, one Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe , A.K.A Smally, a Sergeant attached to the Special Anti Robbery Squad ( SARS), with an online history of acrimonious separation from his ex wife,attacked Mr Ese Idehen who he falsely accused of dating his ex wife with the assistance of over eight thugs specially hired for the purpose.
Mr Ese Idehen was beaten , dragged and locked up in a cell in Ugbor Police Station, GRA , Benin City. He was released the following day without any Statement obtained from him or bail application on the Order of The DPO who frowned at the brazen abuse of office and illegal detention without his approval. He thereafter warned the rampaging Police Sergeant to desist from using his Station to perpetuate illegalities and injustice. Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe claimed that he has spent millions in contracting his failed marriage and wanted compensation. The parties were asked to leave the Station and maintain peace.
Seemingly frustrated and unable to use the Police to perfect his illegal plans, on Thursday 12th October, 2017, at about 6pm the said Mr Eboigbe AKA Smally leading over 10 thugs and armed with assorted weapons including a Beretta Pistol stormed where Mr Ese Idehen was drinking on MM Way , Benin City with his friends, seized him, beat him up and bundled him into his personal Toyota Highlander Jeep with registration number AYB 518 FQ and drove off with him to unknown destination. Mr Idehen was blindfolded and severely beaten with assorted cudgels . In a video released by his abductors , later that night, Mr Idehen was shown being beaten, interrogated and forced to admit all sort of wrongful conducts he was incapable of doing. He herewith deny every allegation of amorous impropriety and challenges Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe aka Smally to show proof .
His abductors stole his money and other personal items and later dumped him still blindfolded at about 11pm closed to Ebenezer Primary School, Ihama Road, GRA , Benin City..
This unacceptable and brazen abuse of power by Mr Eboigbe aka Smally is very unfortunate and we shall ensure ,within the limits of the Law , that he is brought to book and made to answer for his illegal actions. Its a promise.
Jefferson Uwoghiren Esq.
Counsel to Mr Ese Idehen
13th October, 2017 Read the report shared by the victims lawyer, Jefferson Uwoghiren, on Facebook;Brazen Impunity By a Lawless Policeman in Benin City.Please be informed that the trending online video of the brazen abduction and battery of a young man in Benin City is now subject of a Criminal Investigation in Edo State.The victim of the abduction and battery deny every allegation of amorous impropriety made in the said video.The fact of the matter is as briefly stated here under. On Monday, 9th October, 2017, one Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe , A.K.A Smally, a Sergeant attached to the Special Anti Robbery Squad ( SARS), with an online history of acrimonious separation from his ex wife,attacked Mr Ese Idehen who he falsely accused of dating his ex wife with the assistance of over eight thugs specially hired for the purpose.Mr Ese Idehen was beaten , dragged and locked up in a cell in Ugbor Police Station, GRA , Benin City. He was released the following day without any Statement obtained from him or bail application on the Order of The DPO who frowned at the brazen abuse of office and illegal detention without his approval. He thereafter warned the rampaging Police Sergeant to desist from using his Station to perpetuate illegalities and injustice. Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe claimed that he has spent millions in contracting his failed marriage and wanted compensation. The parties were asked to leave the Station and maintain peace.Seemingly frustrated and unable to use the Police to perfect his illegal plans, on Thursday 12th October, 2017, at about 6pm the said Mr Eboigbe AKA Smally leading over 10 thugs and armed with assorted weapons including a Beretta Pistol stormed where Mr Ese Idehen was drinking on MM Way , Benin City with his friends, seized him, beat him up and bundled him into his personal Toyota Highlander Jeep with registration number AYB 518 FQ and drove off with him to unknown destination. Mr Idehen was blindfolded and severely beaten with assorted cudgels . In a video released by his abductors , later that night, Mr Idehen was shown being beaten, interrogated and forced to admit all sort of wrongful conducts he was incapable of doing. He herewith deny every allegation of amorous impropriety and challenges Mr Nagbama Osakpamwan Eboigbe aka Smally to show proof .His abductors stole his money and other personal items and later dumped him still blindfolded at about 11pm closed to Ebenezer Primary School, Ihama Road, GRA , Benin City..This unacceptable and brazen abuse of power by Mr Eboigbe aka Smally is very unfortunate and we shall ensure ,within the limits of the Law , that he is brought to book and made to answer for his illegal actions. Its a promise.
Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 14-10-2017 08:46 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
South African President, Jacob Zuma Arrives Imo State For Courtesy Visit (Photos)
bohlah at 14-10-2017 08:51 AM (5 years ago) (m)
President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma has arrived Owerri, Imo State Capital for a 2-day visit. He arrived Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport at exactly 7.10 pm and was received on arrival by former President, His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Rochas Okorocha.
President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma has arrived Owerri, Imo State Capital for a 2-day visit. He arrived Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport at exactly 7.10 pm and was received on arrival by former President, His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The former president had arrived one hour earlier before the arrival of President Zuma.
They had gone straight to the Palace of the Chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri where the august visitor was received in Igbo Traditional way of receiving such visitors to the State.
Welcoming the South African President, Eze Ohiri said Imo people would remain happy for his coming and added that the visit would bring a lot of good things to Imo state and her people.
President Zuma said he was in the State for collaboration between his Foundation and Rochas Foundation College of Africa to cater for the less priviledged children in Africa.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rochas Foundation College of Africa.
While in Imo, the Zuma Foundation would sign MoU with Rochas Foundation and he would also meet with Imo Businessmen and Women. Mr. Zuma would equally visit the Rochas Foundation College of Africa and interact with the students who are from African countries.
The former president had arrived one hour earlier before the arrival of President Zuma.They had gone straight to the Palace of the Chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri where the august visitor was received in Igbo Traditional way of receiving such visitors to the State.Welcoming the South African President, Eze Ohiri said Imo people would remain happy for his coming and added that the visit would bring a lot of good things to Imo state and her people.President Zuma said he was in the State for collaboration between his Foundation and Rochas Foundation College of Africa to cater for the less priviledged children in Africa.Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rochas Foundation College of Africa.While in Imo, the Zuma Foundation would sign MoU with Rochas Foundation and he would also meet with Imo Businessmen and Women. Mr. Zuma would equally visit the Rochas Foundation College of Africa and interact with the students who are from African countries.
Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 14-10-2017 08:51 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
BournIdentity at 14-10-2017 08:58 AM (5 years ago)
(m) Kkk,,, observation kwontinue..,, but na where freethinker dey hide? Posted: at 14-10-2017 08:58 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Kkk,,, observation kwontinue..,, but na where freethinker dey hide? Reply
fineboy77 at 14-10-2017 09:12 AM (5 years ago)
(m) We roll out red carpet for them,they shoot us in broad daylight. And we have leaders What is the color beneath your skin? Posted: at 14-10-2017 09:12 AM (5 years ago) | Hero We roll out red carpet for them,they shoot us in broad daylight. And we have leaders Reply
Afriqueenn at 14-10-2017 09:37 AM (5 years ago)
(f) Is this news? Who "it" epp?
All these meaningless and senseless visits and visitations that never add anything to the quality of life of the common Nigerian, from time immemorial Posted: at 14-10-2017 09:37 AM (5 years ago) | Upcoming Is this news? Who "it" epp?All these meaningless and senseless visits and visitations that never add anything to the quality of life of the common Nigerian, from time immemorial Reply
maizaxx at 14-10-2017 09:42 AM (5 years ago)
(m) Mr. Rochas, I do hope that half of the population of students in that school are Nigerians? And half of that half are Igbos from Imo state who are are barely managing to make ends meet? or else what you are doing is just eye service and a waste of the resources of Imo state and Nigeria in its entirety. Posted: at 14-10-2017 09:42 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Mr. Rochas, I do hope that half of the population of students in that school are Nigerians? And half of that half are Igbos from Imo state who are are barely managing to make ends meet? or else what you are doing is just eye service and a waste of the resources of Imo state and Nigeria in its entirety. Reply
gogoman at 14-10-2017 11:06 AM (5 years ago)
(m) ask the bastard why dem police dey kill naija citizen any how na... at least their not Biafra yet Posted: at 14-10-2017 11:06 AM (5 years ago) | Grande Master ask the bastard why dem police dey kill naija citizen any how na... at least their not Biafra yet Reply
crocatum at 14-10-2017 01:49 PM (5 years ago)
(m) i just dey look una. Posted: at 14-10-2017 01:49 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac i just dey look una. Reply
Wazubia at 14-10-2017 02:02 PM (5 years ago)
(m) you come to hide your money? these two that receive you are thief, meaning they will still steal the money from you. Posted: at 14-10-2017 02:02 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac you come to hide your money? these two that receive you are thief, meaning they will still steal the money from you. Reply
itumopapa at 14-10-2017 04:08 PM (5 years ago)
(m) Jacob Zuma can not stop the killing of Nigerians in South Africa n u people welcomed him. Na wao so people that are dying there you people are less concern about it. Anyway only God will judge. Over to God. Posted: at 14-10-2017 04:08 PM (5 years ago) | Upcoming Jacob Zuma can not stop the killing of Nigerians in South Africa n u people welcomed him. Na wao so people that are dying there you people are less concern about it. Anyway only God will judge. Over to God. Reply
10:40 p.m. update:
Danville police announced late Friday night that Jeremy OBrian Huffman, 25, of Cascade, has been arrested.
He is being held in Danville City Jail under no bond.
Original story:
The Danville Police Department is investigating two incidents involving threats made by two employees at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
On Tuesday, the department responded after Goodyear reported a threat had been made by an employee. That incident remains under investigation.
The department also responded to the plant Thursday regarding a threat by another employee, according to a news release from Danville Police Department Capt. Matt Carter.
As a result of comments made by the employee in the second incident, a warrant was obtained for ...make and communicate a threat to bomb, burn, destroy or damage a place of assembly, building or other structure, or a means of transportation in violation of Virginia State Code 18.2-83.
Jeremy OBrian Huffman, 25, of Cascade, has not been served and was still wanted Friday afternoon.
Goodyear Spokeswoman Laura Singleton would not provide details on the threats. She told the Register & Bee the first incident occurred Oct. 5 and the second one occurred Thursday.
We prefer not to share details while law enforcement investigates, Singleton said Friday.
The incidents involved two employees making verbal threats a week apart, she said, adding that they were removed from the property and the company is following our disciplinary process.
Goodyear has a zero-tolerance policy on workplace violence, she said.
We take all such threats seriously and take swift action to investigate and engage the support of local law enforcement, she said.
The plants security team is providing heightened security and working closely with law enforcement, Singleton said.
We have additional security on the premises, as well as a marked police car outside the plant, she added.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Huffman can call 911, contact Danville Crime Stoppers at (434) 799-6508 email crimetips@danvilleva.gov. Information given will remain confidential.
VANCOUVER, Oct. 13, 2017 - Core Gold Inc. ("Core Gold" or the "Company") (TSX-V:CGLD) (OTCQX:CGLDF) is pleased to announce that it has closed the second tranche (the "Second Tranche") of its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units announced on September 6, 2017 (the "Private Placement").For the Second Tranche, the Company issued 3,581,664 units of the Company (each a "Units") at a price of $0.30 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$1,074,499. As the financing was oversubscribed, the Company issued, together with the first tranche that closed on September 15, 2017, a total of 5,614,908 units pursuant to the Private Placement for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$1,684,472.Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole Common Share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.45 for a period of two (2) years following the date of issuance, subject to acceleration in the event that the closing price of the Common Shares is $0.60 or higher over a period of ten (10) consecutive trading days. The securities issued pursuant to this tranche of the Private Placement are subject to a four month hold period that expires on February 14, 2018.The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement for working capital and general corporate purposes.In connection with the Second Tranche, the Company paid cash finders fees totaling CAD$210 to Canaccord Genuity Corp.The Private Placement has been conditionally approved by the TSX Venture Exchange but remains subject to final exchange approval.The Company is a Canadian based mining company involved in the mining, exploration and development of mineral properties in Ecuador. The Company is currently focused on gold production at its wholly-owned Dynasty Goldfield project and continued development at its Zaruma mine. Mineral is treated at the Companys wholly-owned treatment plant close to the Zaruma mine operations. The Company also owns other significant gold exploration projects including the Jerusalem Project (located 30 kilometres south of the Fruta del Norte project), the Copper Duke area and the Linderos area in southern Ecuador.Keith Piggott, CEOSuite 1201 1166 Alberni StreetVancouver, B.C. V6E 3Z3Phone: +1 (604) 345-4822Email: info@coregoldinc.comThis news release contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking information which are prospective in nature. Such information in this news release includes statements relating to the timing of the symbol change on the OTCQX. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Core Golds actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Important risks that could cause Core Golds actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to differ materially from Core Golds expectations include, among other things, delays in the symbol change on the OTCQX and other risks relating to the Company found in Core Golds Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Other than in accordance with regulatory obligations, Core Gold is not under any obligation and Core Gold expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
(TNS) - Firefighters continued to gain control of some fires scorching Northern California on Friday, thanks in part to continued calm winds in some parts of the region. Altogether, the 15 fires have burned more than 212,000 acres and caused at least 33 deaths. Officials expect the death toll to rise as search efforts continue.In Mendocino County, where at least nine people have died, officials identified three victims from the Redwood Valley: Kai Logan Shepherd, 14; Roy Howard Bowman, 87; and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88.The teenager was found near his familys house on the 11300 block of West Road. Authorities believe he was trying to escape the fire when he was overtaken by flames, according to a Mendocino County Sheriffs Department statement.The Bowmans were found in their home in the 4000 block of Fisher Lake Drive. The residence was completely destroyed by the fire, according to the Mendocino County Sheriffs Department statement.The Redwood fire in Mendocino County has burned 34,000 acres and was 10 percent contained as of Friday. Between the Redwood fire and the 2,500-acre Sulphur fire, about 8,000 people have been evacuated, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.Steep inaccessible terrain coupled with critical fuel moistures, and northwest winds will provide challenges for crews working on the fire, a Cal Fire incident report read Thursday night.The town of Ukiah is quickly becoming a place of refuge for those displaced by the deadly Mendocino County fires.Employees at Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op make ham and turkey sandwiches every day for the volunteer firefighters. Officials are running an evacuation center at the high school, while the fairgrounds are home to a growing number of tents and RVs.Magnus Kuhne Petersson, 34, his wife and 10-month-old baby fled their home in Redwood Valley and are staying at a friends place in Ukiah.At Mendo Baby, a local store, the owner wouldnt accept money for the baby clothes, Petersson said.The owners own house burned down, but she still insisted on giving away the items for free, he said.Were very fortunate, Kuhne Petersson said. The community is very strong and supportive.The death toll from the Tubbs wildfire in Sonoma County rose to 18 Friday afternoon and will likely continue to rise as responders track down more missing person reports, officials said at a news conference Friday afternoon.The Tubbs fire has consumed at least 2,834 homes and 400,000 square feet of commercial space in the city of Santa Rosa alone, and has burned 34,770 acres overall as of Friday morning. The fire was 25 percent contained, a jump from the 10 percent containment gained Thursday night.Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey estimated the flames had caused $1.2 billion worth of damage and destroyed 5 percent of the citys housing stock.Firefighters scrambled Friday to dig fire lines and bulldoze debris to gain an advantage over the blazes before winds pick up later in the day. Meteorologists have predicted overnight gusts of up to 40 miles per hour on ridges above 2,000 feet where the Pocket and Tubbs fires are burning, officials said.That could cause problems for firefighters trying to restrain the fires from racing through canyons in the area.Were making a lot better progress today, said Steve Crawford, the Cal Fire operations section chief for the Tubbs and other nearby fires. We told the guys, Do hard work today and by this evening when this wind comes up, well be ahead of the curve.After the flames from the Tubbs fire died down in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano drove through the ruins of the citys Larkfield-Wikiup neighborhood.Twisted beams, layers of ash, and garage doors crumpled like old newspapers littered spaces once occupied by tidy homes. Cars were reduced to charred frames, their wheel rims melted into rivulets of gleaming aluminum that pooled in the gutters.I dont think anyone can comprehend the amount of damage, Giordano told the Los Angeles Times. Its devastating. Ive only driven maybe 5 percent of the fire area. I dont even think I understand what the damage toll is going to be, and I have a better handle on it than most.Rescuers are still sifting through the flattened neighborhoods, looking for victims. Then hazardous-material specialists will need to remove toxic substances from the areas, Giordano said.Officials said they were working to return lost power to homes and reopen the Kaiser hospital near the edge of where flames burned earlier in the week.Some Santa Rosa residents may be allowed to return home Saturday or Sunday, officials said Friday afternoon.Meanwhile, the citys residents are grasping for a sense of normality.At a synagogue in the southeast part of the city, about 30 families in the congregation of 460 lost their homes. A former president of the synagogue died, the rabbi said.At Santa Rosa High School, where the newspaper and yearbook clubs are using social media and word of mouth to keep a tally, students know of at least 40 classmates so far whose homes burned down.At a downtown motel where evacuees had taken refuge, David Joslyn, a longtime resident of Mark West Springs Road, asked a young woman wearing sweat pants and carrying a cat, Howre you doing?Im OK, she said. My house burned down, so its kind of sad.Mine, too, Joslyn said.Joslyn, a special education teacher, isnt sure if he and his wife will rebuild on the land, or when.For now, hes focused on the immediate future. On Thursday he went shopping for new clothes and a couple of pairs of shoes.He also found an apartment to rent, a three-bedroom unit in a complex with dozens of others like it. Its in the middle of town, with no views of trees.Even as thousands of families remain evacuated, Santa Rosa is beginning to return to the rhythms of daily life. Street lights have come back on. Restaurants have reopened. Rush hour traffic is picking back up.One of the things thats almost working against us is that the city is coming back to life everywhere, Giordano said, emphasizing that the community is not out of the woods yet. People think its over. Its not over. These fires are still blazing.Winds over the weekend could stoke the fires and stall the progress firefighters have made, officials said.We had the right conditions for weather (Thursday night), Richard Cordova, a Cal Fire spokesman, said Friday morning. But were really concerned about the winds that are going to come up this evening and overnight.The fires are primarily burning in woodland areas thick with brush, which grew explosively over the last year after a winter of heavy rain. The grasses are at their driest point, officials said, making them extremely susceptible to fires.There were no new mandatory evacuations related to the Tubbs fire, but the town of Calistoga, as well as large swaths of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, remained under evacuation orders, as the fire spread north and east Thursday.Hotels and shelters are packed with families wondering when they can get back home or if they even have a home to return to. As burn areas cool and recovery teams sift through the ashes for human remains, neighbors and family members outside the region are starting to find out who perished in the fire. On Thursday night, Sonoma County released the names of 10 people who had died because of the Tubbs fire many of them in their 70s.Of renewed concern is the Nuns fire in Sonoma County, which was active overnight and merged with the Adobe and Norrbom fires, growing to 44,381 acres and burning at 5 percent containment, according to Cal Fire.The fire has grown, Cordova said, but some of the growth can be attributed to more firefighters on the ground and in the air, getting better information on the fire.Before, it was kind of a guess on the map and the lines, Cordova said. Now we have guys out there, and our aircraft are mapping it. These fires are going to grow. That doesnt necessarily mean we had major fire activity.Families wont be able to get back to their homes for a while, Sonoma County Sheriffs Deputy Brandon Jones said. Crews have to remove debris and fix downed power lines, as well as trees that have been burnt out and may pose a risk of collapsing. In Sonoma County alone, about 16,000 homes are still without power.The massive Atlas fire, threatening Napa and Solano counties, grew to 48,228 acres overnight and was 27 percent contained as of Friday morning, according to Cal Fire.Firefighters managed to stretch control lines along the western edge of the Atlas fire facing Napa, according to Cal Fire incident planning documents. They also noted that the fires movement west had stopped, and it was mostly now moving north toward Lake Berryessa.Firefighters battling blazes to the south including the Atlas fire were told to expect a mild, warm day Friday, but strong winds returning Friday evening through Saturday. Gusts of up to 40 mph along ridges were again forecast.Residents were allowed back into areas of Napa County affected by the fire, including parts of the Silverado Country Club and Monticello Park, according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders in neighboring Solano County still remain in effect.Residents returning home were cautioned to be mindful of downed power lines and other hazards.Yuba County was hit with the 10,171-acre Cascade fire, 45 percent contained as of Thursday night. The fire claimed at least four lives, and the county has released a list of damaged homes.Among the 13 people identified by Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa county officials, the youngest victim was 14, the oldest 100.The bulk of them are in their 70s and 80s, so there is that commonality, Giordano told reporters at a news briefing.A majority were found inside their homes, unable to escape as the fire bore down. At least one was in a wheelchair. Another was lying next to a vehicle. The trend highlights a risk for elderly people when a natural disaster strikes: Health problems may limit mobility. They may no longer drive, and often live in areas with unreliable cellphone service.Immigration officials have suspended operations in the Northern California fire areas, authorities said Friday.The only time were going to pick someone up is in the event of a serious criminal presenting a current public safety threat, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman James Schwab said Friday.Immigration agents will not detain anyone from evacuation sites, assistance shelters or food banks in the region, Schwab said. He did not say how long the suspension would last.At a public meeting in Napa on Thursday night, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., told residents that immigration enforcement is commonly suspended following a natural disaster such as a fire or hurricane.(Nelson and Agrawal reported from Santa Rosa, St. John from Napa and Kohli from Los Angeles. Staff writers Cindy Carcamo, Dakota Smith and Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.)2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Nearly $100,000 will go to the Mammography Scholarship Fund and the Alight Program at Cone Health's Women's Hospital from today's 25th Women's Only 5K Walk & Run.
Greensboro's Sydney Gilstrap, a junior at Clemson who is a Grimsley High School alumna, won the race in 19 minutes and 28 seconds.
After the race, Cone Health officials announced that more than 2,100 women took part in the event, which raised $99,703 to help uninsured women receive mammograms to screen for breast cancer and to receive support during their treatments.
Gabrielle Merritt, 22, an Elon resident and Greensboro Day School and Wake Forest graduate who competed in track for the Deacons, finished second in 21:12, and 12-year-old Claire McDowell of Greensboro was third in 21:57.
Each year, the scholarship fund provides about 600 women with screening mammograms that they would otherwise be unable to afford, according to a news release. Many more receive emotional, educational and financial support through the Cone Health Alight Program.
Mammography remains the gold standard for diagnosing breast cancer, Womens Hospital president Debbie Cunningham said. A lack of money shouldnt be a reason for not getting this life-saving exam.
Cone Health Cancer Center treats more cases of breast cancer than any other type. Cone Health treated 904 cases of breast cancer in 2016.
One of the advantages of treating so many breast cancer cases is that we are able to offer outstanding support, Skip Hislop, vice president of oncology services for Cone Health, said in the news release. No woman has to go through this alone. Someone from Cone Health will support you every step of the way.
The next Women's Only 5K Walk & Run is scheduled for Oct. 6, 2018.
GREENSBORO Paramedics rushed through the emergency room doors at Moses Cone Hospital wheeling a John Doe on a stretcher with burns so severe his bones were exposed.
That John Doe turned out to be 46-year-old Stephen White, a Greensboro man and Army veteran who was set on fire inside the Battleground Inn.
Jurors heard details of Whites injuries Friday during the first-degree murder trial of Garry Gupton in Guilford County Superior Court. The 29-year-old defendant and Greensboro city employee could face the death penalty if jurors find him guilty of Whites death.
Friday was the 10th day of a trial expected to last at least three weeks.
Jurors heard from paramedics, firefighters, police officers and doctors who described injuries sustained by Gupton and White. Most of Fridays session focused on Whites injuries.
Gupton and White met on Nov. 8, 2014, at the Chemistry Nightclub, a gay bar and lounge in Greensboro.
They left the nightclub together as the business closed and took a cab to the Battleground Inn.
From attorneys, jurors learned that White and Gupton agreed to have oral sex in Room 417 of the hotel but something happened during their encounter that caused Gupton to allegedly snap.
The two men fought. Gupton left the room. White didnt.
Video from surveillance cameras showed jurors that less than two hours after checking into the hotel, Gupton ran into the hotel lobby and began screaming about bombs and terrorists.
Gupton then went outside, where he waited for police to arrive. Inside, the hotels fire alarm sounded.
Greensboro police officers broke down the rooms door, but the smoke was too thick, causing them to retreat downstairs. Firefighters had to crawl into the room.
One firefighter headed toward the bathroom. A second went toward the back wall. Firefighter Arthur Waddell crawled toward the bed.
Thats where his hand landed on a foot.
I think Ive got something over here, he shouted at his colleagues.
Illuminated by flashlights, the firefighters could barely make out through the smoke a naked person lying face down. That person, who would later be identified as White, was between the bed and a wall that divided the bedroom from the bathroom.
A pile of furniture and appliances were on top of the body from the waist up, Waddell testified.
Waddell also testified that as firefighters began to move the items off White, he began to move and tried to breathe.
The firefighters were able to free White and carried him downstairs. They had to get extra firefighters to help the amount of blood on White made his body slippery.
As the firefighters left the building, the cold November air caused smoke to rise from Whites body. Firefighters put him in the grass and paramedics began pouring water on him to try and stop further burning.
He was then transferred to a stretcher.
Guilford County paramedic Zachary Shelton testified that Whites body was very hot to touch.
Inside the ambulance, paramedics got their first indication of how badly White was injured.
He was not responsive at all, Shelton testified.
Most of the fingers on Whites right hand had been burned away. More than 50 percent of his body had third-degree burns or worse.
To prevent dehydration, paramedics tried putting an IV into Whites arm, but his veins were gone.
So paramedics drilled into the bone below Whites knee and put a catheter directly into his marrow to try and hydrate his body, Shelton explained.
The ambulance raced to Moses Cone, where Dr. David Yelverton was preparing staff for a severely burned John Doe coming to the emergency room.
In the trauma center, Whites physical responses indicated serious health problems.
Doctors also got a better grasp of the injuries White sustained in the hotel room.
A 3-inch cut was across the back of his head.
His neck had a mark consistent with strangulation.
Doctors decided that White needed to be airlifted to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centers burn unit in Winston-Salem.
I knew there was a good chance he would die, Yelverton said.
Court ended early Friday afternoon as police officers were testifying about Guptons hospitalization.
Several officers sat in the gallery for their turn to take the stand.
Their chance to tell what they saw will come Monday when the trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m.
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T.S. Eliot had it wrong. October, not April, is the cruelest month at least when it comes to California wildfires.
With 38 deaths blamed so far, the 15 blazes raging across three Northern California counties account for the deadliest wildfire disaster in state history. One of them, the Tubbs Fire which leveled whole blocks in Santa Rosa could well prove to be the deadliest single wildfire in California history.
Every year, you do your part to fund America's government by paying your taxes but have you ever felt compelled to pay a little extra to the government? After all, our national debt has topped $20 trillion, or almost $62,000 per U.S. citizen.
Donations to the government are not as rare as you may think. According to TreasuryDirect, through the first ten months of fiscal 2017, Americans have contributed over $2.5 million to reduce the national debt. Since 2010, we have contributed almost $30 million to national debt reduction.
You probably don't have an extra $62,000 to contribute, but how would you go about making a $50 or $100 contribution against the debt? Submitting donations to the IRS seems like a logical choice they take your tax money, why wouldn't they take your contributions? Fortunately for us all, if you send the IRS a check for more than the amount you owe, they will simply refund the difference. You really wouldn't want the IRS to assume that overpayments should be considered as donations.
Donations to most government agencies, including the IRS, are not allowed. But dont use this fact to avoid paying your taxes! The point is to keep control of government agencies within the realm of Congress. Otherwise, private entities could flood agencies with funding and influence them in the direction the entities prefer which may not coincide with the will of the people or the best choice for our country. Pay.gov has a partial contact list of agencies and foundations where contributions are allowed, such as the State Department and the National Archives and Records Administration.
The government has made it easy for you to send them donations through Pay.gov and the Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt page. You can make payments on the site using credit or debit cards, automated bank transfers, PayPal, or even your Amazon account! Contributions are added to a special account that goes toward redeeming outstanding government bonds, bills, and notes.
If you itemize your deductions, you can even claim your contribution to debt reduction as a deduction on your taxes. Given that you wanted to reduce the debt with your contribution, it seems odd to ask for some of it back through a tax deduction but who are we to argue?
The sad truth is if you sent in a $1000 check to do your part to help combat our national debt, and you managed to convince all of your fellow Americans men, women, and children to do the same, wed all have to do that annually for another 61 years to wipe out the debt. And that assumes no interest on the debt as we pay it off, and politicians not running up more debt! Not gonna happen.
On second thought, maybe you should use that $1000 to pay down your own debt and if you don't have any debt, place it in your retirement fund instead. You already give your fair share to the government. Take care of yourself first.
Let the free Retirement Planner by MoneyTips help you calculate when you can retire without jeopardizing your lifestyle.
It supposedly looks even cheesier than this. Photo: Big_Ryan
Alas, it seems the curtains been pulled back on Starbucks terrifying plan for Halloween, better known in the industry as the easiest time of year to sell corny sweets. Per a blog run by an exStarbucks barista, the chain is going to capitalize this time around by plaguing the living with a Zombie Frappuccino from October 26 until October 31. The blog, called Day of the Human, claims to have gotten pictures from a trusted source of the drink-prep manual already distributed to stores. The beverage is as Instagrammably gimmicky as every other recent multicolored iteration of the Frappuccino, and there are even purported shots of the signage, which features Zombie Frappuccino written in that ghoulishly oozy font thats like Octobers equivalent of Papyrus.
The drink hasnt been announced publicly yet, but Day of the Human argues the pictures speak for themselves. If this Frappuccino does happen, it will be even harder to take Starbucks seriously. The supposed internal document lays out the drinks specs, and they are eye-rolling: Its a creme base with swirly bright colors a la the barista nightmare that was the Unicorn Frappuccino, a Green Caramel Apple Powder plus another pink powder, and the obvious piece de resistance pink brains whipped cream.
Predictably, Starbucks is staying tight-lipped; a rep would only say that their Halloween plans are still under [mummy] wraps, but we look forward to sharing more details with the living soon. Thing is, baristas have been venting about the Zombie Frappocalypse since before Day of the Humans blog post, suggesting baristas are already preparing to be invaded by groaning hungry hordes:
We are getting a new Halloween frappuccino at work #zombiefrappuccino and I'm scared because it's colorful like the #unicornfrappuccino Everett Figueroa (He/Him) (@Anevfi0089) October 12, 2017
the stupid ass unicorn frappuccino is basically happening all over again and i want to fucking die Em (@emxsnapp) October 7, 2017
the fucking zombie frappuccino its the same bullshit just different colors Em (@emxsnapp) October 7, 2017
Btw Starbucks is rolling out a Zombie Frappuccino for Halloween it'll only be for like a couple days Rabbit (@Tulip_Teeth) October 10, 2017
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Haiti - FLASH : An agent of the BOID shot down
Thursday at Lilavois 39, (Croix-des-Bouquets) Wadson Jean, an agent of the specialized unit of the Brigade of Operation and Departmental Intervention (BOID) of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) while returning from a commercial bank, was shot down by several bullets by at least 4 unidentified individuals circulating aboard two motorcycles, which robbed him and carried his service weapon before fleeing...
In the afternoon, BOID agents in search of the perpetrators of the murder of their colleague conducted a very muscular operation in Lilavois which continued until late in the evening, during which many abuses, violence, intimidation and destruction of property against the population have been reported including the burning of more than 10 houses...
On Friday, Mayor Rony Colin of the Croix-des-Bouquets met with the families whose houses were set on fire during the BOID operation before visiting the family of the police officers murdered the day before to express his sympathies to the grieving family.
Mayor Colin asked the police and judicial authorities of the Commune to carry out an investigation in order to shed light on the assassination so that their perpetrators could be brought before the competent courts as well as on the acts that would have occurred on Thursday during the intervention of the BOID.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Economy : Haiti seeks funding with its partners
On Thursday, a delegation of the Government of Haiti (GdH) led by Jude Alix Patrick Salomon, Minister of Economy, accompanied by Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and Jean Baden Dubois Governor of the Central Bank held discussions with leaders of multilateral and bilateral institutions (henceforth development partners) involved in development efforts in Haiti. The meeting was convened by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a follow-up to conversations between the the President of Haiti Jovenel Moise and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22176-haiti-economy-jovenel-moise-met-with-christine-lagarde-director-of-the-imf.html , in the margin of the recent United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Government of Haiti (GoH) and development partners agreed that economic and social stability are paramount to achieve sustainable growth and development objectives. Accordingly, the Haitian Authorities and the IMF committed to work toward completing an agreement on a six-month Staff-Monitored Program (SMP). Under this SMP, fiscal policy will focus on mobilizing domestic revenue to make room for needed increases in public investment, including investments in health, education, and social services. The program will benefit from development partners support to ensure the concessional financing of key strategic sectors and implementation of structural reforms while mitigating social impacts in order to allow for the success of the program. The SMP is to be designed to build a track record and support a future request by the GoH for an arrangement under the IMFs Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
The GoH and development partners agreed that coordinated efforts are essential to address structural bottlenecks and implement key reforms in the energy sector, where large losses arising from the operations of the public electricity utility (EDH) have in recent years been responsible for approximately half of the public sector deficit. These reforms include increased flexibility in supplier pricing, reduction of administrative costs, improvement of billing and collection rates, rehabilitation and expansion of the national grid, and transition to lower-cost and renewable energy sources.
The GoH and development partners also identified improvements in public finance management as crucial to ensure long-term debt sustainability. Mobilization of domestic resources and institutional strengthening are also priorities. Haitian representatives cited agriculture, road and hydraulic infrastructures, reforestation and seed production, low income and affordable housing, information technology and technical and vocational training as areas where greater support is needed. All parties noted the need for the government of Haiti to foster a climate which facilitates investment and economic opportunity.
All parties agreed to maintain strong engagement to capitalize on the momentum for reform and economic development in Haiti. To facilitate investments and make optimal use of both domestic and development partner resources, the GoH committed to develop, in cooperation with domestic stakeholders and international partners, a long-term investment plan in order to sequence and prioritize needed investments.
HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Environment : 89% of quarries are illegal in the West
On Thursday, at the Ministry of the Environment, a meeting was held on the theme of the "Problem of the exploitation of quarries of rocks and aggregates in Haiti". Have participated to these exchanges Pierre Simon Georges Minister of Environment, Ronsard St Cyr, the Secretary of State for Public Security, geological engineer Claude Prepetit, Director of the Bureau of Mines and Energy (BME) and executives of the Ministry of Public Works and Environment.
Giving an urgent response to the problem of excessive exploitation of quarries of rocks and aggregates through the metropolitan area particularly Morne Cabrit and Laboule, was the backdrop to this important meeting which was chaired by the holder of the Minister of the Environment.
In his speech, Claude Preptit presented an overwhelming report concerning the excessive exploitation of quarries across the country and the metropolitan area in particular. According to this report, on 140 quarries listed in the Department of the West https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22394-haiti-news-zapping.html 89% of operators are illegal and have no state operating licenses. While recognizing the importance of the "Buildings and Public Works" sector for any country, Claude Preptit insists on the need to regulate and control it through a national policy on the exploitation, transport and marketing of quarry materials in order to to reconcile the development of this sector, the preservation of the environment and the rational management of natural resources in the country.
Minister St. Cyr emphasized the importance of acting in synergy, stressing that this problem must be tackled through a common front of state actors. He announced that he would submit this dossier to the Council of Ministers in the coming days, in order to mobilize the Government to take measures to curb these abuses.
The geologist engineer Claude Prepetit made several recommendations including :
Define Authorized Operating Zones and Unauthorized Zones ;
Define procedures for the granting of operating permits ;
Define the quality of the materials and the treatment methods in the authorized zones ;
Define modes of transport, storage of materials and movement of carriers ;
Define a system of taxation, methods of collection and marketing of materials ;
Define environmental regulations and procedures for the rehabilitation of quarries.
These recommendations provided an opportunity to set out the responsibilities of each institution in this regard, all of which were in favor of government ownership in the context of strengthening management and protecting the environment.
HL/ TB/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Health : First Lady visits La Saline Medical-Social Center
On Friday, the First Lady of Haiti Martine Moise, accompanied by Dr. Greta Roy, the Minister of Public Health (MSPP) visited the Saline Medico-Social Center to inquire about the work needed to the rehabilitation of this hospital center serving this vast disadvantaged area to the west of Port-au-Prince.
In the presence of various personalities including the Ambassador of Taiwan (Republic of China) accredited in Haiti, Guillaume Cheng-hao Hu and executives of MSPP and the National Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DINEPA), Martine Moise lamented the conditions in which the community of La Saline lives where a single outpatient clinic whose building on the physical and structural level is in a pitiful state observed the First Lady.
She promised to advocate for the families of this slum, who do not have access to safe drinking water, as well as the hospital that is of the utmost importance.
At the end of the visit, Mrs. Moise and the Center's staff discussed a number of other problems facing the La Saline Health and Social Center, including the problems of insalubrity and the possibility of making the the various departments of the hospital.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - FLASH : Large-scale Haitian migratory wave in French Guiana
In French Guiana, Haitian immigration is not new, however what is new is the extent of the phenomenon in the last 3 years, which has tripled the population of the slums where pile up, without water or electricity, most of the 11,000 asylum seekers which over 88% are from Haiti, for lack of hosting site in French Guiana (almost 200 for 5,000 applicants).
Note that the number of applicants has doubled in 2015 and again doubled in 2016 and the pace for the first 8 months of this year shows no slowdown.
It should be remembered that while the asylum application is a right, enshrined in the French Constitution and the Geneva Convention, very few Haitian applicants meet the conditions for asylum in France. Last year, only 2.6% of the applications were accepted by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and support from the French State. For those who are rejected and are without resources, it is the rule of clandestine work to survive in the fear of deportation...
This massive immigration also affects the school system which is overwhelmed, leaving more than a thousand children of migrants to the street due to lack of space in schools, some have been waiting for a place for more than a year...
Catholic relief made are possible in order to meet the growing needs of migrants for food, clothing and administrative assistance, but volunteers are worried every month about the rise of xenophobia in French Guiana.
TB/ HaitiLibre
Published on 2017/10/14 | Source
The Yongsan Disaster hurt many with the event itself and the subsequent politics, violence, and red tape. This documentary takes a look at how the wounds never closed and what they spur people into doing.
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"The Remnants" (2016)
Directed by Kim Il-rhan, Lee Hyuk-sang
Synopsis
In October 2015, the evicted residents who had imprisoned on a false charge of killing a policeman assembled in a place for the first time after the Yongsan Disaster six years ago. They had occupied a watchtower and in protest against violent suppression. Their colleagues had died, and they became criminals. The delight of meeting again lasts only briefly. The comrades bite out cruel words while blaming each other.
Festival
42nd Seoul Independent Film Festival 2016
No release date in Korea yet
Published on 2017/10/14 | Source
Added episode 2 captures for the Korean drama "Avengers' Social Club" (2017)
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Directed by Kwon Seok-jang
Written by Hwang Da-eun, Kim Yi-ji
Network : tvN
With Lee Yo-won, Ra Mi-ran, Myung Se-bin, Lee Jun-young, Lee Jun-youngg Ae-yun, Kim Sa-kwon,...
20 episodes - Wed, Thu 21:30
Also known as: "Buam-dong Revenge Social Club", "Avengers Social Club" and "Revenge Social Club" ( , bok-su-ja so-syeol-keul-leob)
Synopsis
This webtoon adaptation tells the story of three women from different walks of life - the daughter of a chaebol, an ahjumma in a fish market, and a housewife - come together to enact revenge.
Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/10/11
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This is the young thug with 90 previous convictions who carried out a violent attack on the Luas after breaking out of Oberstown.
Crumlin man Sean Byrne, who was then aged 19, was one of two people who assaulted and robbed a student after escaping from the young offenders' institution.
The teenagers smashed the glass door of the tram to make their escape after carrying out the attack.
The second attacker, who was 16 at the time, cannot be named as he was a juvenile when convicted.
In total, the pair have 110 previous convictions between them, including offences for robbery, violent disorder and assault.
Yesterday, at Dublin Circuit Court, Byrne (21), of Poddle Close, Crumlin, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for his role in the attack.
He also received a three-year prison term, with 18 months suspended, for a separate violent disorder incident that took place in 2014.
Garda Micheal Muldoon, of Sundrive Road Garda Station, told the court that the assault and robbery occurred on August 3, 2015.
The attackers, who were both teenagers at the time, were unlawfully at large from the Oberstown young offenders' facility, where they were both being detained.
The victim, a Brazilian student in his 20s, was on the Luas Red Line at Inchicore listening to music on his phone when he was attacked.
CCTV footage showed the two thugs approach the victim and attempt to steal his phone.
"A male approaches and tries to grab the phone, but the victim holds on to him and the doors of the Luas close," Gda Muldoon told the court.
Punches
The first male, who was identified as the juvenile, then begins punching the victim in the face.
The second male, identified on CCTV footage as Sean Byrne, joins in and begins throwing several punches at the injured party.
"Sean Byrne then took the phone out of the injured party's pocket. [The youth] then smashes the glass in the door and the two escape," Gda Muldoon said.
Two phones, valued at 500, were stolen during the incident. They were never recovered.
A victim impact statement read to the court by the prosecution told how the student was left psychologically affected by the incident.
"He wished to be in court but couldn't make it due to work commitments," the prosecution said.
The young student suffered bruising and cuts to his head.
In a hearing last week, Justice Patricia Ryan said that Byrne "will find himself back before the court again".
"He punches and kicks people in the head, and has 90 previous convictions. He should get a job," Justice Ryan said.
In sentencing, the judge said she was taking into account the defendant's guilty plea and his expression of remorse.
His co-accused, who is from Tipperary and now 18, was last year given a three-year prison term.
Milan Hosek shows off the injury he suffered in the attack
A young father has told how he had part of his ear bitten off during a horrifying attack by thugs who shouted racist slurs at him.
Milan Hosek was assaulted just 20 days after his wife Joanna was beaten up in a daylight attack outside their house while she was with their young child.
Joanna was assaulted on June 24 and Milan was hospitalised less than three weeks later following the incident in Dublin city centre. She has said the capital "has always been racist" in her opinion.
Their story was featured in the first episode of RTE2's new four-part documentary series Trauma, which follows the work of our medical emergency personnel.
Milan, who moved here from the Czech Republic in 2003, said: "They started saying insults like, 'f**king foreigners in our country', stuff like that.
"One of the guys turned to the other and said, 'Bite him, bite his ear off.' It makes no sense."
He said that it happened just weeks after his wife was also targeted.
"She asked them to move and they started being lewd and aggressive," said Milan, who owns a bike shop.
"When she was coming back she got smashed against the wall and beaten up with their fists, she was able to protect the baby but not herself."
Joanna said that she was understandably shaken after the incident and feels that racism is rife in Dublin.
"Living in Dublin there has always been racism. I was really afraid, I don't want to even go out with my kids, I haven't been going to the playground," said the mum-of-three.
"I have been really scared. This happened during the day, not at night, I was really frightened.
"After only a short time, he [Milan] was attacked also.
Disgusting
"I thought it would be impossible to bite off a human ear. When you think about it, who could even do that? It's disgusting," she added.
Both of Milan's attackers fled on foot after he claims they told him that they know where he lives.
He managed to recover the severed part of his ear and underwent surgery in the Mater Hospital to have it reattached.
Dr Sinead McArdle, consultant in emergency medicine at the Mater, said: "To remove a part of someone's body and the force required to take the whole pin of an ear would be unusual."
A thief who claimed his late mother's pension for 17 years after her death has been jailed for a year-and-a-half.
Father-of-two Brian Bobey (64) admitted stealing almost 160,000 between 1997 and 2013. At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, judge Patricia Ryan rejected an offer made through Bobey's lawyer, Blaise O'Carroll, to repay the debt at a weekly rate of 50.
The court heard it would take more than 63 years to reimburse the State at that rate.
"He's incredibly remorseful," said Mr O'Carroll
The court heard Bobey was in receipt of disability benefit after losing the sight in his right eye as a result of a tumour. His income from social welfare is 195 a week, and he has osteoporosis.
House
Judge Ryan said the serious nature of the fraud over such a long period of time warranted a custodial sentence.
However, she excused Bobey from repaying the debt due to his medical conditions, his straitened circumstances and his remorse. Bobey began claiming his mother's pension after her death in May 1997 and stopped in October 2013, following an investigation by the Department of Social Welfare.
In total, 158,726 was stolen by Bobey, who still lives at his late parents' house in Walkinstown Parade, Dublin 12, with his partner and daughter.
Mr O'Carroll said his client cared for both parents, who suffered ill health in their final years, his father dying in 1995. Bobey's daughter Grace told the court he had always supported her and was "a great dad".
Southwest Virginia lawmakers sparred with Gov. Terry McAuliffes administration Friday over a federal highway grant program and the Coalfields Expressway.
In a joint statement issued Friday, state Senators Bill Carrico, Galax, and Ben Chafin, Lebanon, and Delegates Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, Todd Pillion, R-Abingdon, and Israel OQuinn, R-Bristol, criticized the administration for not seeking federal funding for the proposed $5.1 billion project.
We are disappointed to learn from local Virginia Department of Transportation officials that the McAuliffe-Northam administration has yet to submit a request or a funding proposal for the Coalfields Expressway through the U.S Department of Transportations Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grants, the statement reads.
State Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne stopped short of calling it an election-year stunt but said no decisions have been made in regard to seeking the grants.
The proposed road would provide a 49-mile, four-lane connection across rural Wise, Buchanan and Dickenson counties, linking U.S. Highway 23 at Pound and Interstate 77 in West Virginia. Some work has occurred in Virginia and a portion of the roadway is open in West Virginia.
Weve put a lot of money, about $200 million, on the Coalfield [Expressway] and whether the INFRA grant is the right way, I dont know, Layne said in a phone interview. Theres only $800 million for the whole nation in the [federal] grant program and we need $4 billion or $5 billion for the Coalfield.
The federal program was established this past June to help fund regional transportation projects and includes rural infrastructure projects.
Were not prepared as to what were going to do. But you have to match it; it [grant] obligates the state also. Were taking our time going through this, and weve got people from all over the state asking us to look at these, the secretary said. Each state can put in up to three [projects], and we just havent made our decisions yet.
The local delegation also said its pleas have gone unanswered.
The grant application process opened on June 29 and will close on Nov. 2. An initial inquiry from Sen. Bill Carrico, chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation, to the McAuliffe-Northam administration on Wednesday has gone unanswered and unacknowledged as of the time of this release, according to the lawmakers statement, which was issued at about 10 a.m. Friday.
Layne acknowledged he received the mid-week email.
Sen. Carrico sent an email this week saying there is a grant period open; let me know if I [Carrico] need to do anything. It didnt ask for a response, Layne said. The only letter I ever got asking we put the grant in and asking for a response came Friday afternoon, after the press release went out.
The governors office forwarded a copy of the email from Carricos legislative aide Dylan Bishop to Secretary Layne that included Carricos letter questioning the grant. It was time stamped Friday at 1:46 p.m.
Layne said he doesnt know whats going on but acknowledged it is a gubernatorial election year.
The release specifically includes mention of Democratic Lt. Gov. Northam, who wants to succeed McAuliffe in the Nov. 7 general election.
Dr. Northam is committed to going after federal dollars to help it repair and rebuild its infrastructure for projects across the Commonwealth, according to a statement from campaign spokesman David Turner. Dr. Northam is not involved with the decision-making process here. However, he is committed to revitalizing infrastructure across the Commonwealth, which is why he supported the 2013 bipartisan transportation bill. He is proud to have worked with Gov. McAuliffe on reforming how Virginia repairs and builds its roads.
The GOP release specifically calls on Layne, the governor and lieutenant governor to honor a previous agreement.
During the 2017 General Assembly session, Sen. Chafin, Delegate Kilgore, and Delegate Pillion carried legislation to ensure any federal funding granted to the Coalfields Expressway would go toward construction of the road. This bill was not further pursued based on an agreement with the Senate Transportation Committee, Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne and the Southwest delegation that VDOT would pursue grant funding for the Coalfields Expressway and that all awarded funding would be spent on the construction of the project. Secretary Layne and the McAuliffe-Northam administration should honor their commitment to the Coalfields Expressway and the people of this region, according to the statement.
Layne acknowledged the February conversation but said it was unrelated to the grant request.
There is a mischaracterization or something, Layne said. They [lawmakers] were concerned, under VDOTs Smart Scale program, if they got specific monies from the federal government for the Coalfields Expressway that other people would be able to get hold of that money. I explained, if you get a specific grant or earmark from the federal government, it goes to that project and it would probably help them to attract state funds.
This program theyre talking about now the INFRA program wasnt even in existence then. It was established in June. There was no indication [then] that we would be submitting a grant because the program didnt exist. They were concerned President Trump was going to put specific monies in his infrastructure package for the Coalfields Expressway. How they linked it is just erroneous.
SW Va. grant recipients Bristol: $52,721 for its hazardous materials team and $50,000 for the Bristol Fire Department Heavy-Technical Team; Dickenson County: $35,886 grant to purchase a rural terrain response vehicle; Wise County: $88,331 grant for the Southwest Regional Mass Notification System, $26,000 for the Wise County Sheriffs Offices tactical team ballistic protection equipment and $76,750 for its hazardous materials team. Source: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffes office
BRISTOL, Va. The Bristol Regional Haz-Mat Team, which was deployed twice in the past week, has been awarded Homeland Security grants from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
The city received a $52,721 grant for its hazardous materials team and $50,000 for the Bristol Fire Department Heavy-Technical Team, according to a news release from Gov. Terry McAuliffes office.
On Friday, McAuliffe announced the allocation of more than $6.1 million through various federal grant programs to enhance emergency preparedness and security in Virginia. The funds will be administered by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to support a wide array of emergency preparedness and security operations, equipment replacement, training, planning and exercise programs by local governments.
The grants were made on a non-competitive basis because the two Bristol teams are recognized as participating in VDEM Regional Response Teams, Bristol Virginia Fire Chief Mike Armstrong said. He said the funds are typically used to purchase equipment and provide training for the team members who respond to specialized emergencies.
In the past week, the hazardous materials team was dispatched to a fuel spill in Washington County and to the report of an overturned tanker truck that was leaking acid along Interstate 81/77.
The Haz-Mat Team responded and upon their arrival they contained the leaking chemical until the remaining product could be transferred to another truck, Armstrong said.
When the two teams are activated by VDEM and deploy to an emergency, all expenses incurred are reimbursed to the city, he added.
Authorities in Wise County also received two competitive grants: an $88,331 grant for the Southwest Regional Mass Notification System and $26,000 for the Wise County Sheriffs Offices tactical team ballistic protection equipment.
Dickenson County officials received a competitive grant of $35,886 to purchase a rural terrain response vehicle. Wise County also received a non-competitive hazardous materials team grant for $76,750.
I remember when my aunt and uncle had a 2-acre allotment of tobacco. I didnt understand then, but growing small allotments of burley tobacco was in its twilight, becoming decreasingly profitable for years. My aunt and uncle stopped growing in 2006, as did most everyone else.
The death of small allotment tobacco finally occurred with Congresss passage of The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act in 2004. Ostensibly aimed at creating more jobs, this Act deregulated the tobacco market. But the Tobacco Buyout replaced the nearly 70-year-old Agricultural Adjustment Act and ended small allotment tobacco farming.
Now, cigarettes are more taboo, and pot is increasingly legally and morally acceptable. Marijuana has become an economic and entrepreneurial opportunity, no longer simply a problem to be suppressed by throwing tax dollars at it.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 29 states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized marijuana. Possession is either a criminal misdemeanor with no jail time or not punishable. Nine of these states have gone on to legalize the adult use of marijuana and its personal cultivation. Several other state legislatures are debating whether to decriminalize or legalize marijuana for medical and/or recreational uses.
Around our region, North Carolina has decriminalized small amounts of weed. Neither Virginia nor Tennessee are seriously grappling with the changing legal and moral status of marijuana, though Virginia did recently lessen the punishment of marijuana possession. Morgan Griffith of Virginias 9th district and Phil Roe of Tennessees 1st district have both given modest support to medical marijuana. Roe, for example, introduced House Amendment 748 in 2014 that prohibited federal agencies from preventing states from authorizing the use of medical marijuana. Griffith introduced the Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marijuana Act the same year.
In the mountains of Central Appalachia, though, congressional and state representatives are still rather aggressively fighting the war on drugs. In 2012, local, state and federal police agencies confiscated over $1.5 billion in marijuana, and 500,000 plants were seized in Kentucky alone in 2016. To put this in context, Tennessee and Kentucky were among the top three growers of marijuana in the country. North Carolina and West Virginia were also in the top ten.
Consider how much marijuana the police are not confiscating. The extraordinary amount confiscated may indicate that a lot more weed is grown in Appalachia, suggesting that marijuana is likely one of the regions largest exports. The absence of political will to initiate policy developments like other states is matched by a presence of local will to grow in the hills, mountains and steep valleys that make up central Appalachia.
A majority of average folks support some positive legal change to the prohibition against marijuana in part because the plant is less morally reprehensible. When referendums or initiatives on the decriminalization or legalization of weed have been up for a vote in other states, they usually pass. In states with marijuana-related ballot measures in 2016, for example, voters approved eight out of nine.
In Arizona, medical marijuana is legal. Its cultivators are highly regulated and produce small allotments, which they sell to state-sanctioned distributors.
In Michigan, medical marijuana is also legal. Patients can grow up to 12 plants; their caregivers can grow more. A new law going into effect this December will create a closely regulated but much bigger market for growing marijuana.
Several states have legalized marijuana for adult use. Maine residents can grow their own marijuana, but it cannot be publicly smoked. Instead, the state law plans to regulate and license social clubs where, instead of alcohol, people can buy and consume marijuana. With this legislation, Maine is entering a marijuana market, including weed tourism, that is worth billions of dollars annually.
These changing marijuana laws remind me of Virginias comparatively strict liquor laws that were legislated after the liquor prohibition ended in 1933. The state still controls liquor and has a monopoly on wholesale and retail sales through 367 ABC stores located across the commonwealth. Laws and morals have evolved with alcohol, and also with weed.
Imagine small allotments of state-regulated and licensed marijuana cultivation in Southwest Virginia or Northeast Tennessee. Imagine state-regulated, licensed and taxed XYZ pot social clubs in Southwest Virginia or medical marijuana dispensaries in Johnson City.
Small farmers could grow pot under state-regulated conditions today like they once grew tobacco. Transformations in the legal and moral status of marijuana have created economic opportunities for our region.
Ending weeks of speculation, United States President Donald Trump laid out a major re-orientation of US policy towards Iran and the wider region. As part of this new strategy, Trump refused to certify that Iran is taking measures to terminate its illicit nuclear program. Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act 2015, such a presidential certification is required for continued suspension of American sanctions on Iran. Trump has gone against the advice of his closest advisers including secretary of defence General James Mattis, secretary of state Rex Tillerson and even the commander of the US Strategic Command, General John Hyten. The presidents refusal however will not translate into an immediate reimposition of sanctions on Iran. The US Congress has 60 days to debate the issue and then decide on reimposition of economic sanctions.
In a bid to pressurise the Congress and American allies, Trump indicated that the US could unilaterally walk out of the Iran deal in case a solution could not be found by working with the Congress and US allies. However, neither the Congress nor US allies seem to be taking Trumps bait. The European Union, Britain and France have expressed their commitment to full implementation of the Iran deal. Trump is unlikely to find any support in Moscow and Beijing.
The joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), which was concluded in July 2015, was not a bilateral agreement between the US and Iran but a multilateral agreement reached after two years of intensive negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany). Further, it was incorporated into the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. The bottom line is that if Trump carries out his threat and terminates US participation in the deal, he would damage Americas international credibility and leadership. Such an action would isolate the US among its allies with the exception of Israel and Saudi Arabia who would support Trumps gambit.
Going through Trumps statement, very little of it is specifically about Iranian violations of the deal apart from two specific allegations. Without providing any details, Trump stated that Iran has exceeded the limit of 130 metric tonnes of heavy water on two occasions. On both these occasions, Iran has shipped the excess stock of heavy water to Oman and the same has been verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Trump also alluded that until recently, Iran had failed to meet American expectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges. However, here also Iran has remained true to the provisions of the deal and has agreed to limit its research and development efforts on advanced centrifuges.
A large portion of Trumps tirade against Iran was restricted to Tehrans support to terrorism, human rights abuses, its expanding ballistic missile programme and allegations of collaborating with North Korea. It is prudent to recall that the JCPOA, popularly known as the Iran nuclear agreement, was limited to the Iranian nuclear programme and did not delve into Irans role in the various crises in West Asia or Tehrans ballistic missile programme. In fact, the limited scope of USs negotiations with Iran were the result of decisions taken during the Bush administration. Trump should re-look at past American decisions before terming the Iran deal as one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the US has ever entered into.
The Iran deal was very successful in blocking the uranium and plutonium route available to Iran to build nuclear weapons. Prior to the agreement, Iran was operating close to 19,500 centrifuges, had a stockpile of about 7,000 kg of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6), stockpile of 200 kg of UF6 gas enriched up to 20%. It was also working on starting its heavy water plant at Arak.
As part of the agreement, Iran gave up about two-thirds of its centrifuges, shipped abroad 95% of its stockpile, including all weapons-grade fissile material, accepted to 300 kg limit on its entire uranium stockpile for 15 years. Iran also agreed to modify the Arak heavy-water reactor thereby blocking the plutonium route to producing fissile material for nuclear weapons. Tehran also agreed to one of the most intrusive IAEA verifications regime accepted by any country.
The most important achievement of the agreement was increasing the break out time (time required for Iran to build nuclear weapon) from two months to 12 months. This was the result of the restrictions imposed on Iranian nuclear programme.
It is possible to point out flaws in the Iranian deal. Like most international agreements, the agreement too is far from being perfect. Given that negotiators have to accommodate competing concerns of various actors and seek to achieve the best possible agreement, international multilateral agreements seldom are perfect. The Iranian nuclear deal was solely aimed at alleviating international concerns about Irans nuclear programme and the possibility of Tehran building a nuclear weapon. Criticising the agreement for not being able to improve Tehrans human rights record, curb its alleged support to terrorist networks or limit Irans expanding ballistic missile programme is blatantly unfair.
The US has the sovereign right, like all nation-states, to terminate its participation in the Iran deal. It is however likely to find itself largely isolated in such a move with none of its major allies supporting reimposition of sanctions on Iran. In the medium to long term such a move will harm US credibility, worsen the security situation in the region and harm its national security interests.
Arun Vishwanathan teaches at the school of international studies, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, and is co-editor of Troubling Tehran: Reflections on Geopolitics
Twitter: @ArunVish_
The views expressed are personal
After making the National Award-winning film Neerja, director Ram Madhvani has joined forces with ace actor Irrfan. What they have shot together is, however, not a feature film but an ad film.
While they havent thought of doing a film together yet, Irrfan says that he thoroughly enjoyed being directed by Ram for this advertisement, which is for a financial brand. It was a great experience working with Ram. His eye for detail is very interesting and it just adds to the creative energy of people around him, says the actor.
Both these creative individuals had a great time shooting for the advertisement and their camaraderie made it look like they had known each other for long when in fact, they were working together for the first time.
Irrfan also praised Neerja, which was based on the 1986 hijack of Pan Am flight 73, an incident in which air hostess Neerja Bhanot showed exemplary and unforgettable courage, saving several passengers from the murderous hijackers. The film starred Sonam Kapoor in the lead. Neerja was named the Best Film in Hindi at the National Film Awards 2017, while Sonam won a Special Mention Award.
Neerja was an exceptional film and working with Ram made me realise what made it a National Award-winning film, said Irrfan. The actor, who has been in acclaimed films such as Paan Singh Tomar (2010), Life of Pi (2012), Madaari (2016) and this years Hindi Medium, will soon be seen in his Indo-Bangladesh project, Doob.
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From proving her acting prowess in films such as Pink (2016) and Naam Shabana (2017), to revealing her glamorous side in Bollywood with an out-and-out commercial venture like Judwaa 2, Taapsee Pannu has seen the best of both worlds. But the actor doesnt feel she can relax just yet.
I still feel that I need to continue giving hits, and dont know when this feeling will go. I feel that Im a perpetual struggler. I always keep struggling to get certain roles, and when I get them, I struggle to get certain types of films. So, its always sort of a struggle one way or the other, says Taapsee.
While its natural for audiences to feel that Taapsee has finally arrived on the big stage, and will now be seen doing more commercial films in Bollywood, the actor retorts, I dont know what finally arriving means. Theres no moment when I can say Ab toh jo main karna chahti hoon, wahi karungi (Now Ill do whatever I want to do) without thinking what happens next. I havent reached that point yet.
When the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries call you back! After some real crazy weeks time for the mandatory ritual called "holiday" before I get into some real serious work! #EuropeCalls A post shared by Taapsee Pannu (@taapsee) on Oct 7, 2017 at 8:02am PDT
Now Taapsee has worked with industry veterans such as Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar and younger actors such as Varun Dhawan and Jacqueline Fernandez. Does she feel like a star? No, I genuinely dont feel like a star, with the kind of struggle Ive had to go through. There are a lot of things I still want to do, and Ill always have to struggle to get them. Ill always have to make sure things happen eventually, and dont slip from my hands, from under my nose. Ill always have to be on my toes, she says.
The actor, who is from Delhi, adds that she feels like an outsider in Mumbai even today, and has many things going on in her head while attending events full of people from Bollywood. Even today, I get conscious when I enter an event or an award show, wondering if people know me. Will they recognise me? Will they even realise and notice if I am sitting there, or will I be just looked through? she reveals.
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We may have never noticed it before, but Vidya Balan has a really sultry voice. Dont believe us? Just check out the trailer for her upcoming comedy, Tumhari Sulu.
The trailer for the film was released on Saturday and features Balan as a saree wali bhabhi, Sulu, who wishes to be more than a housewife. She lives with her husband and a son, but wants to bring more spice in her life. A regular winner at competitions hosted by the local radio station, she is not happy with just the pressure cooker she has won. She wishes to be an RJ.
Neha Dhupia plays the head at the radio station and while she isnt too sure about the demure middle-aged womans ability to host a radio show, she has the idea to let her have the late night slot. And to everyones surprise, Sulu is custom made for the job. With a voice as smooth as honey, she becomes an instant hit with the listeners.
However, her new-found success isnt all good news. Her husband complains of her not giving the family enough time anymore and a montage teases more problems that she would have to tackle.
The trailers biggest pull is, of course, Vidyas performance as an ambitious and lovable woman, the bright, colourful look of the movie and lastly, the brand new version of Hawa Hawai. The song, originally picturised on Sridevi in Mr India, gets a new life with slick beats and it fits the temperament of the movie just right.
The film is directed by Suresh Triveni and will release on November 17.
Watch the full trailer here:
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Former President Pranab Mukherjee has released the third part of his memoir The Coalition Years: 1996-2012, speaking candidly about believing he could have been the Congress choice for the Prime Ministers post.
Speaking on the release of his autobiography, Mukherjee said: I cannot claim to have the objectivity of a historian, which I am not. I am a party activist... I have tried to not bring my personal life, my family or any personal matter into the narrative.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, and leaders of other political parties were at the function.
Mukherjees memoir is the third in the series. The other two are -- The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years and The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996.
Here are some excerpts from the three parts of Mukherjees autobiography:
Part 3 -- The Coalition Years: 1996-2012
In the latest autobiography, Mukherjee made no bones of his ambitions and said he had a vague impression that Congress may project Manmohan Singh as its presidential candidate, leaving him to be the partys prime ministerial nominee for the 2014 general election. Excerpt:
I thought that if she (Sonia Gandhi) selected (Manmohan) Singh for the presidential office, she may choose me as the prime minister. I had heard a rumour that she had given this formulation a serious thought while on a holiday in the Kaushambi Hills.
The fact was that I was reluctant to join the government (led by Manmohan Singh) and informed Sonia Gandhi accordingly. She, however, insisted that I should join the government since I would be vital to its functioning...
Sonia Gandhi at the release of Pranab Mukherjee's book in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)
PART 2 -- The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996
* On Sanjay Gandhi
In the second part of his memoir, Mukherjee heaped praises on late Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi who has been a subject of intense criticism for his role during the Emergency. Mukherjee called the Congress leader the principal architect, along with his mother, of the partys victory in 1980 general elections. Excerpt:
Sanjay Gandhi had played a crucial role in the elections. He had planned as well as executed a nationwide campaign and he worked hard to ensure the success of the party in the assembly elections. He revamped the organizational machinery in the states and, post the elections, hand-picked new chief ministers --- ensuring that those who had stood by Mrs Gandhi during her days of crisis were suitably rewarded...
In much of post-Emergency literature, Sanjay Gandhi has been characterised as a villain, devoid of any good qualities. This animosity and venom against him was to a large extent the result of the euphoria surrounding the Janata Partys creation, a wave of anti-Mrs (Indira) Gandhi sentiment and the division in the Congress.
Every human being is a mixture of good and bad. However, no one can fault the intentions guiding Sanjays decisions --- whether these pertained to population control, tackling illiteracy or afforestation. His ideas were good, and all targeted at bringing about positive change. And, as someone who knew him well and worked with him for six years of his political life, I was privy to many of his positive virtues.
For full coverage, click here
Combination image of Sanjay Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee. (HT File Photo)
*On Operation Bluestar
The former president shared an insiders account of several significant events during the 1980s and early 1990s. Mukherjee, then a cabinet minister in the Indira Gandhi government, justified the 1984 military action to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Excerpt:
I still vividly recall Mrs Gandhi telling me, Pranab, I know of the consequences. She understood the situation well and was clear that there was no other option. Aware that her own life was at risk, she took a conscious decision to go ahead in the best interest of the nation.
It is easy to say that the military action could have. been avoided. However, nobody really knows if any other option would have worked. Such decisions are always taken based on the conditions prevailing at that time. The situation in Punjab was abnormal. Urgent action was needed to put an end to the indiscriminate killings, the misuse of religious sites for terrorist activities and all efforts to break up the Indian union. Intelligence officials and the army both expressed confidence that they would be able to neutralize the militants in the Golden Temple complex without much difficulty. No one anticipated the protracted resistance.
PART 1 -- Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years
* On Emergency
In The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years, Pranab Mukherjee described the Emergency years, during which fundamental rights were suspended, press was censored and political dissidents were arrested, as a misadventure . Excerpt:
While there is no doubt that it brought with it some major positive changesit was perhaps an avoidable event... some instances of the Emergency adversely affecting the interests of the people.
The Congress and Indira Gandhi had to pay a heavy price for this misadventure.
(With agency inputs)
I must try yoga. Im just waiting for the hype to die down.Thats the sum total of two-and-a-half decades of deep research into the cure for a condition that Ive likely inherited. My paternal grandmother and maternal aunt have both struggled with it, so I cant pin this down on an X or Y chromosome. My mothers line of hot-blooded descendants are from a pre-Partition Punjab, and my fathers line of cool-headed descendants are from Aligarh, UP, not far from Agra, home to what UP Tourism apparently believes a nondescript marble monument made by some megalomaniac marauder.
But I digress. Anything to change the topic. Migraine appears to be quite the glamorous headache from the outside. But if youre after glory, I urge you to try more hospitable conditions. A seasonal allergy. Or a gluten aversion. Something thats either visible in an array of terrifying, ideally contagious, symptoms itchy skin, runny nose, scratchy throat. Or a condition that hipster menus are only too happy to cater to. (Meatless meat on a bed of riceless rice, with lashings of nirvana.)
If youre a woman, a popular migraine remedy states the obvious: Have a baby, they say. Its the cure for everything!
So this migraine not only is it not glamorous, its impossible to ever communicate, leave alone transmit. Oh, you have a headache? Im asked at the end of a typical five-day attack. Yes, I utter weakly, knowing exactly how Napoleon mustve felt at the Waterloo village bar when asked, Bad day, huh? But thats not all. Have you tried drinking water? You must drink lots of water. I nod at an amplitude and frequency that controls the retching while also preserving a friendship thats rapidly galloped in the acquaintanceship zone. Before I can say acetaminophen, my friendly apothecary continues, You must be dehydrated. I say yes. Its that. Surely. Glug glug glug. Anything to stop my interlocutor from peddling homeopathy. Im rabidly homeophobic.
Lauki for some
To make a gory condition gorier still, Ive a suitably macabre name for it. Its called a menstrual migraine. A high percentage of women migraineurs (okay, that name is kinda glam) tend to develop this condition. It is a nervous system response to the ups and downs in the level of oestrogen during a typical menstrual cycle.
Why the nervous system in sufferers does this, science has not been able to discover so far. But what it does to a body is pretty much what Pete Townshend from The Who would do to his guitar at the end of a concert in his heyday. Smash it silly.
Enter friendly apothecary #7593956 on Day 3 of a particularly virulent attack. Lauki. At five in the morning. On an empty stomach. For 14 days. Lauki and 14 are interchangeable with a host of mystically curative edibles and numbers. Yes, yes, I promise and rush to the neighbourhood salon and ask for the most muscular employee in the establishment to give me a head massage, no matter if hes the visiting accountant or AC repairman.
Whats the cure for babies?
Another popular migraine remedy, if youre a woman, is the obvious. The cure for anything, if youre a woman. Have a baby. A womans body is designed for childbirth. I bribed someone and found out mine was designed to be a vessel for cheerful nihilism. But I do not say this to my friendly apothecary. I say, But dont you think there are too many humans already in a world full of suffering, and should I add to that just You read too much. You think too much. Thats why you have a migraine. I glug some water and humbly slink into a not-so-cheerful nihilism.
And so I keep away from the sun. Avoid wine, light and sound triggers. Eat and sleep at the right time. These days, I even snack on fruit. Of course it doesnt help. Its like evolution wants to keep some mysteries alive. Neurosurgeon and overall rock star Oliver Sacks followed about 1,000 migraine sufferers closely and wrote about it in his landmark 1970 book Migraine. Anyone with the condition, or with loved ones who suffer, is highly recommended this deep, incisive and compassionate study. Does it offer a miracle cure? (Spoiler alert) Nope. But it shows how much work has gone into finding one. And that will have to do for now. Time to slather on some Tiger Balm. Its been changing the smell of migraine since the 1870s.
From HT Brunch, October 15, 2017
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I got a scolding. The biggest one since school days. By doctors. Itni daant padi, by God, after last weeks column on patients running out of patience. It felt as if 5 saal ki MBBS studies ki saari bhadaas mujhe pe hi nikaal di. Sorry docs, I stand duly chastised. And in the good interest of the future of my health, I have decided to write this week on your side of the story.
Theres no denying that you go through a lot. The struggle that starts from slogging days and nights to crack the medical entrance exam just doesnt end, despite all the promises ki ek baar doctor ban jao, phir life set hai. Haina? At a point when friends and classmates have settled down with a kid or two running about the house, you are still studying away to glory to get through the PG specialisation of your choice. When you finally start practicing, theres a perception to deal with that youve landed a money-minting career, without much thought to the toll this profession takes on your life. Ab toh maine sahi kaha nah?
So heres what well do. I spoke to a lot of doctor friends to know about things patients do that annoy them the most. This Diwali, lets give a gift to our doctors by not being the following kind of patients, shall we?
1. Patients who Google symptoms: Well, this seems to be the biggest peeve of the doctor in our life. In the name of being informed, we often read up too much on the net about our bimari. And of course, Google baba helps us no end by telling us that our symptoms match with 2,000 different kinds of diseases. We go to the doctor armed with all this (mis)information and flaunt it without realising one simple fact. They are the domain experts and we are not. The chances of healing are far more when we trust ourselves into the hands of the expert. This does not, however, mean that we dont have a right to know from the doctor about whats ailing us. But let us not turn that into a tussle to indicate that Internet knows better than the doctor. You wouldnt be sitting with the latter in the first place, if it did, right?
2. Patients with contacts: We all are guilty of this at some level but for a doctor, sifaarishi patients are a big annoyance. A lot of doctors I spoke to said that while theyd like to prioritise patients on the basis of their state of health or their prior appointment, its the patients with contacts who break the queue and demand to be seen first. Patients get calls made from seniors doctors. We cant disregard them, says a young doctor, explaining how he or his staff has to then bear the brunt of the other patients who have been waiting for long for their turn to come.
3. Negligence hunters: You know, its a tricky one to write about. Because in reality, there are endless documented cases of massive negligence on the part of healthcare professionals that have led even to fatalities. Im not referring to those here. But a lot of doctors also have a grudge that these days, crying out negligence even in cases where the doctor did his or her best has become common. If the caretakers of a patient are unduly aggressive from the beginning of treatment, it puts the doctor under tremendous stress. Always being scared that wed be blamed for negligence doesnt help, because that keeps us from taking those risks in the treatment that are sometimes necessary. We are not magicians, wrote a doctor from Ludhiana. Doctors cant get away from taking responsibility if something happens to a patient because of their line of treatment.
A negligence of theirs can cost us our lives. Its not a reversible damage, says a friend whos battling a case against a prominent hospital. I really dont know what stand to take in this debate, because both sides have valid arguments. What do you think?
4. Iski bhi fees? patients: I have a smile on my face while writing this because recently, I witnessed this conversation at a neighborhood nursing home.
Patients relative (PR): Yeh 1,200 kis cheez ke?
Cashier: Duty doctors visit.
PR: But the patient is admitted here. Doctor toh dekhne aayega hi?
Cashier: Yeah but the doctor gave advice.
PR: Advice dene ki alag se fees lagegi?
I agree that healthcare is terribly expensive, and it pinches the pocket to pay high consultation fees. But we also encounter patients who, given a choice, wouldnt want to pay anything. Doctor bane kis liye ho? For doing good deeds or fleecing us? they say, writes a cardiologist from Delhi. I have a rather well-off patient who invariably calls up citing side effects of medicines prescribed in the previous meeting, so that he doesnt have to pay consultation fee for a new visit. There are also people who book one appointment and one by one show different family members, and then fight with the receptionist that they should be charged consultation fee for only one, he adds. I asked Chaddha ji for his views. Mein toh khud karta hoon yeh. Toh kya ho gaya dono bachchon aur unki mummy ko bhi saath mein dikha liya toh? Kaunsa doctor ki jeb se kuchh jaata hai, advice hi toh deni hai, thodi free de de, he says.
Sorry, doctor! Happy Diwali
Sonal Kalra has decided to take admission in MBBS next year, just like Munna Bhai. She will only treat herself, for free. Charity begins at home. Mail her at sonal.kalra@hindustantimes.com, facebook.com/sonalkalraofficial. Follow on Twitter @sonalkalra.
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As the mid-day Shatabdi Express made its halting way from Chandigarh to Delhi, slowing down time and time again because of speed restrictions or signals flashing red, I looked out of the window to see stubble burning or burnt in field after field, and was reminded of the word flail. A flail is an instrument for threshing corn but that was not why I was reminded of the word. The verb means to thrash around energetically but ineffectually. The burning stubble reminded me of a World Bank economists description of India as not a failing state but a flailing state, because the Haryana governments efforts to stop the burning of stubble were clearly yet another example of governmental flailing.
The Shatabdi was an example of the government railways flailing, their inability to run trains on time in spite of numerous punctuality drives. I have been on five Shatabdis recently and all were late. The Chandigarh Shatabdi was almost one hour late. As my driver attempted to find a way through the traffic jamming the station exit I was again reminded of the word flailing the Delhi police flailing ineffectually to enforce traffic rules. Two-wheelers in Delhi are allowed to be a law unto themselves. Crouched aggressively over their handle bars, riders shoot across crossroads when the lights are red, mount pavements, drive the wrong way down main roads. Cars jump queues at traffic lights by driving up the wrong side of road dividers. The police themselves violate traffic rules so frequently that Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has just issued a warning to officers that offenders against those rules will be booked under appropriate sections of the law, a typical hollow, bureaucratic threat which is unlikely to amount to much.
The government is now going to spend Rs 25,000 crore on the modernisation of the police forces. This is to include upgradation of infrastructure, of forensic science laboratories, institutions and equipment. In my last column I warned against the delusion that digitalisation would solve all Indias problems of governance without the need for institutional reform. As a result of this planned modernisation I think another warning might be appropriate throwing money at a flailing, corrupt, colonial, police force, incapable of disciplining its own officers is going to mean most of the money will go down the drain unless the police are reformed.
The new chairman of the Railway Board is planning to tackle one crucial weakness of all government institutions, their lack of inner democracy, the we and they division between officers and their staff. Ashwani Lohani has called for an end to treating senior officials as VIPs and to buttering them, a wonderful word for all the pervading sycophancy in government institutions. Officers have been told to get out of the comfort of their offices and spend most of their time on field duties, and most importantly treat all staff as equal and pay due attention to the suggestions of ground staff. Apparently as part of this democratisation, senior officers may well find themselves travelling sleeper class rather than in their private saloons.
During my national service, I found myself straight out of school, with only a few weeks training, commanding a troop of men some of whom were World War II veterans. Had I not listened to the suggestions of my men and treated them as my equals, I would have got into all sorts of trouble. I came to feel this so strongly that in an essay written for the regiments adjutant, responsible for disciplining young officers, I maintained that morale in the British army would never improve until the distinction between other ranks and officers was abolished. Needless to say the adjutant was not amused.
I dare say the adjutant was right, that in the armed forces you do need this division, but I think there would be a lot less flailing in the other government institutions if that division was abolished, if the word sir was banned, and if buttering was seen for what it is, an unattractive, perhaps I should say, obnoxious habit. At least all recruits to the central government services should work at the grassroots before becoming officers thereby learning from those placed lower in the hierarchy, and avoiding the embarrassment I felt as a young inexperienced officer.
The views expressed are personal
Hark back to schooldays. At an inter-school declamation contest, picture a schoolboy speechless on stage figuring out his counter-argument, after the girl from a rival school reels off her lines with pizzazz. As the crowd hoots, presto, from behind the scenes the belligerent schoolmaster plays prompter. Voila, the boy finds his voice.
Cut to the current stage that TV is. In an akin scenario, it was in prime-time Indias fabled amplifier-advantaged loudmouth Arnab Goswami that Hrithik Roshan found the pugnacious prompter programmed to get silences shattered.
Perhaps, it wasnt so much breaking the silence as it was being shamed into speaking, what with trolls taunting Hrithik for waiting for Papa Roshan or ex-wife to fight his battle.
With Republic TVs Hrithik coup, the war of the exes n sexes amplified into a war of the TRPs and a war of hashtags, reportedly translating into 10k or so tweets for #HrithikSpeaksToArnab. (Wonder if the shrillness of our Oriental Ex-files found some resonance in the US War of the Exes -- First lady vs First Wife -- playing the Trump card?)
Tamasha TV staged the Theatre of the Absurd thrice over, and how!
First, the trial by media template raced into overdrive. If Kangana scored Round 1 with Aap ki Adalat, Round 2 saw Hrithik taking centre stage on news hours Baap ki adalat. Prime time seemed so starved of meaningful narratives that Arnab & Co peddled explicit Ex-files with similar gravitas as a David Muir or Harris Faulkner deconstructing the Las Vegas attack. The war of the ex-poses was dissected as if it were the war of the roses.
The TRP wars triggered telling tweets: Hrithik should have outsourced this interview to Sh Rajdeep Sardesai. He would have implicated Kangana in the 2002 riots! or Republic TV should change its name to Kandha TV.
Secondly, what made it Theatre of the Absurd was the victim paradigm driving this trial by media template. Channels warred over portraiture of their protagonist as victim. Arnabs portraiture, scripting the saga a la Darr (in reverse) or Obsessed, imbued Hrithik with shades of a Shakespearean tragic hero, replete with hamartia silently suffering stalking. In contrast was Barkha Dutts or Aap ki Adalats portraiture of Kangana, more as a spunky survivor than victim.
The million-dollar question: Was Hrithiks Pope-like poise proof of innocence; or Kanganas tempestuous temptress typecasting proclamation of guilt? Does Hrithiks holier-than-thou narrative camouflage an embedded subplot to reunite with ex-wife (whos ex-factor is that she divorced Hrithik despite describing him a good soul and then allegedly couldnt perhaps officially unite with rumoured married (ex?)boyfriend, though thats another story), wherein Hrithik now wants to paint n project past flirtatious interludes, even if only at workplace, as stalking?
This victim stereotyping inspired Tweeple potshots plenty, Next time me has a spat with spouse, I shall speak to #Arnab and ask the nation: whose side you are on?
Thirdly, this Theatre of the Absurd gave isms their day out on Tamasha TV, riding righteously regurgitating vocal chords feminism to anti-feminism, sexism to voyeurism, legalism to nepotism. The one ism missing but desperately needed for comic relief was Sidhu-ism!
Sexism stood ingrained in this narratives paradoxes: Hrithik treaded the moral high ground of not naming the lady, yet Kangana was virtually disrobed as Tamasha TV peddled her personal emails made public by dignified dad-of-two Hrithik.
Werent nepotism-favouritism inherent in the irony that KJo, Sonam Kapoor & Co, who are opposing Kangana, had gloatingly toasted Deepika Padukone on Koffee with Karan for her daring digs about gifting c*ndo*s to ex-factor Ranbir Kapoor, after he ditched Dips?!!
But Ranbir showed grace and hadnt retaliated by complaining Deepika was hounding him or depicting her deranged. Rather, Ranbir appeased the aggrieved lady by teasingly touching Deepikas feet at an awards function!
Thats the mark of a man instead of facing hundred studio cameras preprogrammed to project the man holier than thou, a real man shows guts n grace to face the hurt woman, with a simple sorry, perhaps.
Had Hrithik emulated Rockstar Kapoor, Tweeple may have been spared this voyeuristic Theatre of the A(ha)bsurd!
The author can be contacted at chetnabanerjee@gmail.com
(Views expressed are personal)
The nativist yen that has gained currency in recent times, has cashed in further on the navel-gazing within Catalonia and Kurdistan, with a pair of referendums for independence. Each has predictably attracted furious pushback from Madrid and Baghdad, but both point to a zeitgeist zeroing in on going native.
This is a process that has gained ground since the Scottish referendum in 2014, which was narrowly defeated and actually preceded Brexit by over two years. A similar simmering sentiment persists in Canadas Quebec province, though a vote on separation there hasnt occurred since 1995. And depending on the result of the Presidential election in the United States, there are petitions of disunion in Texas (see 2012 after Barack Obama was re-elected) and California (see now).
It isnt surprising that others will seek to piggyback upon this burgeoning movement towards secession. That group certainly includes a section of the diasporic Sikh community thats hopeful this trend will help them gather support prior to its own non-binding referendum in 2020. That process began with a meet in a suburb of Toronto this spring succeeded by a series of events centred around this theme across North American cities.
The groups behind this effort have attempted hopping on to other separatist bandwagons, shilling for Kurdistan at one point, and then sending representatives to Barcelona to join the Si list prior to the vote. Curiously enough, they never pipe up about Tibet or Balochistan.
But what separates the Khalistanis from the Kurds or Catalans is that these proponents have little traction in what they consider their backyard Punjab. So, ironically, activists are trying to export their angst there.
In a sense, that may be history repeating itself. Shinder Purewal, a professor of political science Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, Canada, outlined the evolution of Sikh secessionism in Western liberal democracies in the International Journal of Business and Social Science. He wrote that a discussion paper on de-classified operations of Pakistans Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency states that the agency supported the original 1960s Sikh Home Rule movement, with the tacit approval of the United States and its Cold War allies.
Whats changed is the leaders of the movement are generals without an army on the ground, unlike in the past. Most of these torchbearers havent travelled to India in a quarter-century. One prominent Khalistani told this writer that among his regrets is that he is unable to make a pilgrimage to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He was last there in the early 1980s, after his marriage and not quite of the religious right, a space he now occupies. That disconnect is what differentiates this endeavour from its distant cousins in Catalonia or Kurdistan, which are grassroots uprisings. And the West, beyond wilful blindness to such divisive forces, has little appetite for actual division.
And that may be why Khalistanis abroad will find that breaking up is hard to do.
Anirudh Bhattacharya is a Toronto-based commentator on American affairs.
The views expressed are personal
DEHRADUN: Former chief minister Harish Rawat began his two-day tour on Saturday to the Kedarnath Valley where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reach on October 20.
Rawat will reach the holy town on Sunday, address public meetings and interact with local stakeholders. On the other hand, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawats entire cabinet is expected to accompany Modi at Kedarnath. The word is Modi will address a gathering at the shrine town which closes for the winter break on October 21.
In 2013, flashfloods left a trail of destruction as rainwater, boulders and muck came down on the Kedarnath shrine and the rest of the valley. The swollen Mandakini river claimed nearly 5,000 human lives and swept away roads, bridges and buildings that stood on its way.
Besides holding a special significance for the Hindus, Kedarnath is also a fixture in Uttarakhand politics which saw the Congress veteran, who replaced his bete noir Vijay Bahuguna to become the chief minister in early 2014, claim credit for having worked round-the-clock to rebuild the disaster-hit town.
Everyone knows how Rawatji changed the face of the valley. He has all rights to interact with the locals, said Surendra Kumar, spokesperson for the former chief minister.
Before beginning his journey from Rishikesh, the Congress veteran alleged that the BJP government failed in delivering good governance despite the huge mandate it got. Rawat had lost from Haridwar rural and Kitcha in the assembly polls that handed 57 of the total 70 assembly seats to the BJP. Kedarnath was a saving grace as the Congress snatched the seat from the BJP. The party credits the focus on Kedarnath by the erstwhile government under Rawat for the win.
Several works are going on in the shrine. For instance, huge protection walls have been erected around the temple to keep away the river water in future. A new township is yet to come up in place of the old Kedarpuri. During his visit, Modi will be inaugurating some works and is likely to lay foundation stones for new works.
Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party assert the party intends to project Kedarnath redevelopment as a major achievement. The BJPs Uttarakhand unit is upbeat with the PM at the helm. Redevelopment works in the Kedarnath valley were marred with wrongdoings during the Congress regime. Our government has ensured transparency and now with Modiji coming, the pace of development will get a boost, BJP state president Ajay Bhatt said.
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A former employee of Girdharilal Sahu, husband of a Uttarakhand minister Rekha Arya, has accused him of luring him to donate his kidney for his ailing first wife, a charge denied by Sahu.
In a letter to the Nainital police, Naresh, a resident of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, said he was taken to Sri Lanka and promised a flat and money for his kidney, which was transplanted on Sahus first wife, Vaijyanti Mala. However, Sahu did not keep his promise, he alleged.
Sahu, who is known to be facing several criminal cases, including of land frauds, in the police stations in Kichha and Terai region of Uttarakhand, said the matter was three years old.
He said as Nareshs kidney matched with Vaijyantis, he offered to donate it for transplant and denied all allegations of promising to give a flat and money, saying they were false and there was no truth in them.
A panel of 13 doctors decides upon the transplants in Sri Lanka and all clearances and approvals were taken in which it was said that he (Naresh) was willingly giving his kidney, Sahu said.
Naresh could not be contacted for comment.
Women empowerment minister Rekha Arya chose not to comment on the issue. I am into politics. My husband has his own work... Sahuji will be in a better position to comment on this, she said.
Congress spokesperson MD Joshi demanded a high level inquiry into the matter, and said his party will oppose any move to downplay the case.
Nainital SSP, Janmejay Khanduri said he had received the letter from Naresh, an employee of Sahu, and it had been forwarded to Haldwani inspector KR Pandey for inquiry.
Anti-human trafficking activist Gyanendra Kumar said it is a serious matter involving a ministers husband.
For long, we have been raising the issue of human trafficking in the hills. It is a well-oiled network of traffickers who target individuals for the flesh trade, labour and human parts smuggling, Kumar alleged.
The Uttarakhand government on Saturday demanded 579 crore from the Centre for irrigation projects taken up in the state under the central government-sponsored schemes.
The demand for the fund was raised by the state irrigation minister Satpal Maharaj at a meeting with the Union minister of state for irrigation Arjun Ram Meghwal on Saturday.
Maharaj told Meghwal that irrigation projects, including cleaning of canals and constructing flood protection walls are growing needs of the state apart from creating new irrigation channels in the hill areas.
Maharaj also requested the Union minister for an early commencement of the proposed Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project along the Indo-Nepal border on the River Kali to be constructed by the National Hydro Power Corporation and help in expediting the Jamrani power project on the Gaola River in Nainital district with the support of the Uttar Pradesh government.
The Union minister responded positively on demand for irrigation fund and assured to expedite the Pancheshwar and Jamrani power projects soon, Satpal Maharaj said.
We hope that construction of the Pancheshwar multipurpose power project will start in February 2018. The Union minister of state for irrigation, however, will first visit the proposed Pancheshwar dam sites to take stock of the situation and pace of rehabilitation of affection people.
To decongest Ajmeri Gate and its neighbourhood, the Centre has proposed to construct a flyover from Ajmeri Gate Chowk to Ring Road, up to Rajghat. The proposal has been accorded in principle approval in a meeting held recently to deliberate on measures to be taken for decongestion of the city.
The meeting was chaired by the Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadakri, which was attended by Delhi lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal, Members of Parliament, PWD minister Satyendra Jain, Delhi Development Authority chairman Udai Pratap Singh and senior officials of other local government agencies.
A transport ministry official said the Delhis Public work Department (PWD) has been asked to get a feasibility study done of the proposal through a technical consultant. The issue of bottleneck at Ajmeri Gate was raised by Union minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who is an MP from Chandni Chowk.
The L-G will monitor the development and if required further discussion will be held in future. The PWD will pursue the matter. The project is an important step towards Shahjahanabads redevelopment. This will certainly ease traffic movement on tributary roads of the Walled city, said Vardhan.
About 2.5-km-long proposed facility will not only reduce traffic chaos at Ajmeri Gate-New Delhi Railway Station precinct but it is also expected to decongest Asaf Ali Road and Delhi Gate area, where three big city medical institutions Lok Nayak, GB Pant, and Guru Nanak Eye hospitals are located. They jointly receive daily footfall of more than 30,000 people.
A senior PWD official said the flyover will facilitate smooth transition between central Delhi and east or northeast Delhi. People in sizeable numbers use this stretch (Paharganj-Ajmeri Gate-Delhi Gate) every day to commute between western and eastern part of the city. There is perennial bottleneck like situation here, which is likely to be resolved once the flyover is made, he added.
The area has grown into one of the largest commercials hubs in the recent past with thousands of buyers coming to wholesale markets GB Road, Chawari Bazaar, Lal Quan, Khari Baoli, Chandni Chowk, and Jama Masjid situated in its vicinity. Among several government and private offices on Asaf Ali Road, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited complex and Zakir Husain Delhi College at Jawaharlal Nehru Marg are big institutions, which are frequented by hundreds of visitors and students every day.
The Ajmeri Gate side of the New Delhi Railway Station caters to 50% of the total footfall, which receives around five lakh travellers on a daily basis.
The flyover will provide relief to residents of old Delhi as they have to suffer a lot especially if there is a big rally at Ramlila Maidan. As soon as all the formalities are done, I may arrange funds from the Centre if required and it will take four to five years to complete the project, said Vardhan.
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Every night as the lane outside her house in Uttar Pradeshs Badaun town quietens, Fatima Nafees remains awake. Lying down on a bed in the room which is closest to the main door of the house, she waits for a knock in the hope of seeing her son return.
Her sleepless nights come with the hope that her son Najeeb Ahmad will return someday.
It is this hope that drives her to continue her regular travels to the National Capital in a ten-hour, 275-km bus journey from Badaun to participate in protests and press conferences.
Najeeb, a biotechnology student at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University, went missing from the campus, a year ago, following a reported scuffle inside the hostel with members from RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Nafees, 48, has been the face of the majority of protests organised in Delhi and other cities to find Najeeb. The struggle has taken a toll on Nafees and her family which include her husband, three sons and a daughter.
Her husband Nafees Ahmad does not keep well and largely restricts himself to prayers.
Every time I leave for Delhi, I prepare food for at least two days and store it. One of my sons comes with me and the other one stays at home to take care of his father. We can only afford to take a bus to Delhi even though it takes far longer compared to travelling by a car, she says.
The family has no stable income and is dependent on the savings from a plot that Nafees had sold recently. A round trip to Delhi in a bus for Nafees and her son costs over 2,000.
My eldest son Mujeeb was about to get a job when Najeeb went missing, but now he is busy looking for his brother. I am managing the expenses using savings from the plot I sold. But now that money is almost over. I hope Mujeeb gets a job soon, otherwise things will become difficult for us, she says.
If its not enough that theyre told constantly that there is no trace of Najeeb, the family says they also have to deal with comments about him on social media. Najeebs brother Mujeeb Ahmad says he regularly comes across posts claiming that Najeeb has gone to Syria and joined ISIS.
Police have denied such reports.
There is so much of slander on social media. People write posts and comment without any proof. It impacts us. I used to take screenshots and send it to the crime branch officials. But I never tell ammi (mom) about these comments, says Mujeeb.
The family says they are disappointed with the police and CBI probe. It is only when I make a call that the CBI officials talk to me. Even during court hearings the CBI investigation officer doesnt come, only their lawyers come, she alleges.
She may be disappointed, but that has not dashed hopes yet. Nafees is aware of what many others think Najeeb may never come back but she refuses to give up.
I know what others think, but I am hopeful my son will return someday. He may return tomorrow or ten years later, but he will. Every day I pray to God to keep him safe and healthy wherever he is, Nafees says as she removes dust from Najeebs four year-old identity card from his college.
The identity card hangs on a discoloured wall inside Najeebs room. Next to the identity card is a small wooden cupboard. Najeebs books are neatly stacked inside. Nafees says she makes it a point to wipe the dust off the books every day.
I need to keep his room tidy and make sure his books are kept neatly. What if he comes back tomorrow? she adds.
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While many may have given up the hope of finding Najeeb Ahmad, the 29-year-old JNU student who has been missing for a year, there is someone, or rather something that still awaits his return his bed in Room 106 at the Mahi-Mandavi Hostel.
Najeebs spot at the hostel in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has not been allotted to a new student this year. His roommate, Mohd Qasim, who was one of the last people to see Najeeb before he disappeared, has vowed that he will not allow the room to be allotted to anybody else.
It remains unclear why the room has not been allotted this year; the registrar, the spokesperson and the hostel president all said they are unaware of the reasons why it has not been allotted. The dean of students, and the Rector-III, to whom HT was directed by other officials were unavailable for comment.
Qasim said that he had protested when the hostel caretaker had attempted to list the spot as empty to get it allotted earlier this year.
I told them that if they really need one more bed in the hostel, let them allot mine. I would have made other arrangements for myself. But this has to remain Najeebs room, at least for the years he would have been a student here, he said.
Room 106 has been central to Najeebs case. The reported scuffle between him and the alleged members of the RSS-backed ABVP broke out here. He had then spent his last night at the hostel here, before he went missing the following morning.
Najeeb had been allotted the hostel in late September, and had gone missing on October 15. In this short span, he had also visited home for almost a week, leaving very little time for his peers to get to know him.
His only interaction during his very short-lived stay at JNU seems to have been with Qasim; even that did not pervade basic niceties. Qasim said, that during his stay, he had not seen many people visit or call Najeeb. His mother was the only person Najeeb regularly called.
I liked that about him. My parents passed away when I was young, so I liked how close he was to his mother. Only those dont have one will know the value of a mother, he said.
Even though Qasim is a member of the Left-wing All India Students Association (AISA), he said that Najeeb displayed no interest in politics. He had even asked me once what AISA was, and I had teased him about it. How could he not know what AISA was when he was my roommate? But I did not want him to be political either. I did not want a politically active roommate. Otherwise, after all the work when I got back to my room, I would end up discussing politics again, said Qasim.
Qasim said he distinctly remembers a conversation he had about his love for poetry with Najeeb. He was a science student. But I remember I recited a couplet for him and he immediately understood what it meant. It had taken me, a language student, far longer than that to decipher it when I first heard it, he said, recalling the couplets they had discussed.
Woh ashkh banke, mere chashm-e-tar mein rehta hai,
Ajeeb shakhs hai, pani ke ghar mein rehta hai,
Qasim said that he had been away when the reported scuffles broke out between Najeeb and the others, and he still regrets it to this day. Sometimes I wish I had been in the room when the others had come knocking. Maybe they would have spoken to me, instead of Najeeb. Maybe none of this would have happened, he said.
What will Qasim do if the administration allots Najeebs spot to someone else?
It will always be Najeebs room. No matter who stays there, said Qasim.
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A group of men was allegedly assaulted by so-called cow protection groups in Old Faridabad on Friday, the latest in a string of attacks by right-wing Hindu groups on people over suspicions that they may be selling or consuming cow meat.
Police have filed cases against the victims as well as 15-20 unknown persons who attacked them, and will investigate the origin of the meat that the men were carrying for which they were assaulted.
We were beaten black and blue and told to raise slogans like gau mata ki jai (hail the cow mother) and hanuman ki jai (hail hanuman) which we refused, said Azad, who was one of the people attacked. Three of the four victims appeared to be Muslims.
He added that the assault continued even after the policemen arrived on the scene.
We have registered a case under sections of Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act Act against Asad, Shehzad, Shakeel and Sonu, said ACP Mujesar Radhey Shyam. The officer said another FIR has been registered under sections of rioting, causing hurt and criminal intimidation against 15-20 unknown people.
Azad, being treated for his injuries at a hospital, said he and his accomplices buy meat from the Fatehpur Tageh area and sell it in the Old Faridabad meat market.
We sell buffalo meat in Old Faridabad market and we do this every day, he said, denying they were carrying cow meat.
The cow is a sacred animal for Hindus and vigilante groups that claim to be working to stop its smuggling and killing have been behind a growing number of attacks in recent years. The incidents have coincided with the growing strength of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The PM and the chief of the RSS have condemned people who attack others in the name of cow protection.
Killing of cows and consumption of its meat is illegal in Haryana, but the law does not mention buffalos.
Fridays attack, according to the victim, started after the group was intercepted near Bajri village on Nangla-Pali road.
The attackers allegedly rained blows using wooden sticks.
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In a significant step towards establishing the citys first affordable diagnostic laboratory, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a concessionaire for the project.
The MCG officials signed the MoU with HLL Lifecare Limited at their sector 34 office on Friday.
According to MCG officials, the diagnostic lab will be situated at the Huda dispensary building in Sector 39.
The laboratory has been proposed to help residents undergo medical tests such as blood tests, X-rays, CT scans and ultrasound at affordable rates.
The laboratory will be built at a total cost of over 6 crore.
While the Sheetla Mata Shrine Board will contribute a sum of 3.5 crore to the project, IFFCO Tokio, IIFCL and the MCG will pump in 50 lakh, 1 crore and 30 lakh respectively.
HLL will be responsible for setting up the laboratory, which will be supervised by officials of the district health department and Parivar Kalyan Samiti, the MCG officials said.
A body comprising officials from MCG, HLL, Sheetla Mata Shrine Board, IFFCO Tokio and IFFCL will oversee its functioning.
Work on the project is expected to commence within the next four months. Charges for the tests will be in accordance with the standard rates under the Central Government Health Scheme.
MCG officials added that patients below poverty line or belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, as well as those with disabilities, can avail of the facilities on the recommendation of the civil surgeon at the Gurgaon civil hospital.
Read I Gurgaon: Mandatory for private hospitals, labs to display dengue test charges
With Sector 10 hospital and civil hospital drawing patients in bulk, we felt the need to set up an affordable diagnostic laboratory to reduce the burden of these two facilities as ensure prompt access to health care for residents, SS Rohilla, public relations officer, MCG, said.
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Two Indian palm civet cats were released back into the Aravallis on Saturday after they were rescued by wildlife department from near Bhondsi Jail on Friday.
The residents of Bhondsi village informed the department about the eight-month-old male civet cats doing the rounds of the area. Upon getting the information, the wildlife wing rushed to the spot with a cage, first-aid, water and food for the animals. The species is protected under Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
A three-member rescue team arrived at the location around 5pm on Friday and safely rescued the animals within 30 minutes from the tree where they had taken shelter after a few stray dogs tried to harm them.
The cats must have gotten separated from their mother and they were unable to come down from the tree as they are very young. They were given the required fluids and were rescued properly, Vinod Kumar, conservator of wildlife, south Haryana, said.
Civet cats are common to the region, however, Indian palm civet species is a rare breed that feed on fruits, berries, insects and small mammals.
The Indian palm civet cats are a rare and shy species, Dr Ashok Khasa, a veterinary surgeon, who works with the wildlife department, said.
The cats were given boiled eggs at night and they were released back into the Aravallis at 11:30am on Saturday in Bhondsi.
Both the cats were kept under observation by the wildlife department at its Gurgaon office the entire night. As both cats were found to be healthy, the officials released them back into the wild.
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in its survey of 51 sites in the Aravallis, had revealed presence of 10 mammalian species that also include small Indian civet which is found in the Aravalli hills. However, the Indian palm civet cats is rare, said Khasa. The survery findings were released in June.
The WII report had pointed out that the Aravalli has a variety of wildlife which include leopard, striped hyena, golden jackal, grey wolf, Indian fox, jungle cat, grey mongoose, small Indian civet, Indian crested porcupine, Indian hare, wild boar, Rhesus macaque, blue bull (Nilgai) and the Indian gazelle (chinkara).
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Head constable Paramjeet Singh, the prime accused in the South City-1 casino racket busted on Wednesday night, who was also an absconding accused in the Sandeep Gadoli encounter case, was produced in the Gurgaon local court on Friday.
Singh was taken on production warrant by the Mumbai police in connection with the Sandeep Gadoli case.
Four Gurgaon police officials, including Singh, were booked by the Mumbai police in the Gadoli encounter which took place in a hotel in Mumbai in February 2016.
The Mumbai and Gurgaon police have been contesting each others claims over the authenticity of the encounter that killed Gadoli at a hotel in Andheri East of Mumbai on February 7. The Gurgaon police officials maintain that they killed him in retaliatory fire. The Mumbai police, based on the familys claim, allege that the encounter was staged.
Paramjeet had been declared a proclaimed offender by a local Mumbai court after he did not join the investigation of the Mumbai police.
The city police arrested Singh and his associate during a search at an illegal casino in South City-1 being operated by them.
A countrymade pistol and four cartridges were recovered from Singh during the raid along with large sum of cash.
Singh was produced in a local court and was sent to two-day police remand.
It is also being suspected that the brother of a local gangster is also involved in the gambling operation.
Two policemen of the Gurgaon police were suspended and sent to the district police lines after their names cropped up in the casino case.
The two (Gurgaon) police officials have been sent to the police lines for dereliction of duty. Paramjeet Singh, the prime accused, has been taken in custody by the Mumbai police in connection with another case, said Sumit Kuhar, DCP (crime).
An official said that a team of Mumbai police reached Gurgaon on Friday to take Singh in custody in connection with the Gadoli encounter.
A petition against this encounter was lodged in the Bombay High Court by the sister of Gadoli, who had asked the Mumbai police to investigate the case.
Mumbai police had booked five Gurgaon police officials in the case.
While four were arrested, Paramjeet Singh was absconding. He stayed in Goa for some time to escape incarceration and during this period he learnt about operating a casino.
Meanwhile, Jharkhands dreaded gangster Akhilesh Singh, who was recuperating from bullet injuries in Civil Hospital, Gurgaon was produced in a local court on Friday which sent him to judicial custody in Bhondsi jail. The gangster was transferred with heavy police as there was suspicion that his gang members or his rivals could attack.
Singh is involved in 56 criminal cases including 10 murders and has a reward of 5 lakh on his arrest.
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For Steven Ray Swanson, a retired NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) astronaut, the best thing about being in space is the idea of floating. As a kid, I loved the idea of experiments and in space, youre experimenting everyday. Its like being at the best playground of the world, says Swanson, who visited Gurgaon for Mission Discovery an international programme that provides an opportunity to students to learn and work directly with astronauts, rocket scientists, and NASA leaders.
On this trip, Swanson wished to go touristy in the city. Last year, when I was in Delhi, I went to see the Taj Mahal. This year, I plan to go to Akshardham (Temple). My team had previously shown me around the Capital. The people here are nice. And, since I like spicy food, I explored the restaurants of Delhi, too, he recalls.
Swanson has flown two space shuttle flights, logged 643 hours and completed four space walks. He says, Watching the earth from the space is beautiful. It was something we liked to do in our free time. We would take pictures, too. I could spot the Egyptian Pyramids, but didnt get a chance to spot anything in India.
Dressed in a NASA astronaut flight suit, Swanson got the students hooked to his talk at the sessions organised in the Millennium City. My journey started as a child, who loved science. There on, I got a degree in engineering and did masters and PhD in computer science. I started working for NASA and got selected to be an astronaut in 1998, he recollects.
Last year I stayed in Delhi and went to Agra for the Taj Mahal. I had to do that, as it was a must. And went to a couple of spots around Delhi. They [team] was taking me around, so half the time, I didnt know where I was(laughs). I was like Thats a nice restaurant, Thats a nice place. And, I like spicy food, so,Im happy with that and the people [here] are very nice
Steven Ray Swanson
Post his interaction with the science enthusiasts in the city, he said that he saw a lot of potential in them. A lot of them wanted to know about the science experiments, as the main purpose of the International Space Station is explore science. They were interested in whats going on in space, science wise, the successes and failures of the projects undertaken. I spoke to them about the film Martian (2015); on the parts that were real and that werent.
I was here a year ago, for the same kind of programme. The experience has been good. The kids are very enthusiastic, intelligent and have the urge to learn.Their future is bright. And if we are able to guide them, they will be successful in whatever they do. Its great to work with them and promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). And, I am happy to be doing that, he adds.
Follow @HtGurgaon for more
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Hollywood actor Colin Firth has revealed he felt ashamed for not doing more when a British actor told him about an upsetting encounter with studio mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Sophie Dix, who starred with him in The Advocate, went public with allegations of a sexual assault in a hotel room when she was 22, reports The Guardian.
Firth said that Dix managed to run to the bathroom and, after spending some time there hiding, escaped the room.
He said, She told me she had had a distressing encounter with Harvey Weinstein. I dont think she went into all the horrific detail Ive read in her interview. But I remember her being profoundly upset by it. To my shame, I merely expressed sympathy.
The Oscar-winning actor also shared that the fact he had that conversation has come back to haunt him in the light of these revelations.
An avalanche of claims of sexual harassment, assault and rape by hugely influential Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have surfaced since the publication last week of an explosive New York Times report alleging a history of abusive behaviour dating back decades. (AFP)
I didnt act on what she told me. It was a long time ago and I dont know if she remembers telling me, but the fact that I had that conversation has come back to haunt me in the light of these revelations. Its the only direct account of this kind of behaviour by Harvey Weinstein thats ever been told to me, Firth shared.
Several Hollywood actors have come forward with accusations against the studio mogul, including Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cara Delevingne.
Weinstein has denied any allegations of non-consensual sex and has said that he is hoping to get a second chance.
He is facing allegations from more than 30 women of sexual misconduct, including at least three of rape.
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Oscar-winning actor Emma Thompson, who worked with The Weinstein Company in 2015s Bradley Cooper starrer Burnt, has revealed that the disgraced studio mogul, Harvey Weinstein, is not a sex addict, but a sexual predator.
The 58-year-old actor has branded the movie mogul dangerous, and warned his actions are only the top of a very particular iceberg, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
During an interview, Thompson said, I dont think you can describe him as a sex addict. Hes a predator. Hes an actual predator, hes dangerous and what hes done and what hes doing is criminal.
Adding, What I find sort of extraordinary is that this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg. At the top of the ladder of is a system of harassment, and belittling, and bullying, and interference, and what my mother would have referred to in the old days as pestering.
The Beauty and the Beast star insisted Weinstein wasnt the only man to behave in such a way within the movie industry, but admitted his actions seem to be worse and more widespread.
She noted, Maybe not to that degree. 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. I think the latter.
The star also called the men to step up to combat the crisis in masculinity and make big changes.
So what we need to start talking about is the crisis in masculinity, the crisis of extreme masculinity which is this sort of behaviour 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, explained Thompson.
Thompson also admitted that she was persuaded by director Mike Nichols to sign a petition in support of Roman Polanski against his extradition, until she was called on it by women who brought his rape accusations to her attention.
Many Hollywood actors including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow have come out with the claims that the movie mogul tried to sexually harass them.
Several Hollywood A-listers have hit out at Harvey over the allegations, including Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep.
Other names include Rose McGowan, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence.
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Nearly 25,000 farmers who gave up more than 35,000 acres of land to the Andhra Pradesh government for construction of new capital city Amaravati might not be able to see the areas transformation in the near future courtesy the slow progress of development.
However, at least some of them will soon get an idea of what their capital city will look like.
The Andhra Pradesh government has selected as many as 123 farmers from Amaravati capital region and is sending them to Singapore on a four-day tour.
According to sources from the chief ministers office, the trip is aimed at making farmers learn the best practices in business and entrepreneurship. The farmers will leave in three batches the first batch will depart on October 30 under the auspices of state urban development minister P Narayana and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) managing director Cherukuri Sridhar. The last batch is expected to leave in the last week of November.
However, it is not a free trip for the farmers. While the entire expenditure for accommodation, food and tour within Singapore city which comes to around Rs 30,000 per head will be borne by the APCRDA, the selected farmers have to bear the to-and-fro flight expenses, besides visa and insurance charges that amount to around Rs 25,000.
If it is a free trip, all 25,000-odd farmers will come forward and it will be too big a burden on the government to take them to Singapore, CRDA media advisor A Chandrasekhar Reddy said. Srinivas Rao Damineni, a 52-year-old farmer, said spending Rs 25,000 was not a big deal compared to the experience they would gain.
Critics, however, said the government was trying to divert attention from inordinate delay in Amaravatis construction.
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Outraged by the 2008 Mumbai terror strike, India called visiting Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi out of a press conference and asked him to leave immediately, then external affairs minister and former president Pranab Mukherjee has revealed.
Mukherjee even offered an aircraft to take Qureshi home, the former president has written in the third volume of his autobiography, The Coalition Years 1996-2012, which was released on Friday.
At least 162 people were killed and more than 300 injured in the four-day siege of Indias financial capital by a group of terrorists from Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. One of the militants, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive and hanged on November 21, 2012.
On the morning after the siege began on November 26, Mukherjee was informed that his Pakistani counterpart was at a press meet. Mukherjee interrupted the press conference through a journalist he knew and asked her to inform Qureshi that he wanted to talk to him urgently.
When Qureshi came on line, Mukherjee read out a note prepared by the foreign secretary.
Mr Minister, no purpose will be served by your continuing to stay in India in these circumstances. I advise you to leave immediately. My official aircraft is available to take you back home. But it would be desirable if a decision is taken as quickly as possible, Mukherjee told the minister.
The BJP, then in the opposition, had blamed the UPA governments alleged soft stance towards Pakistan for the attacks though Islamabad denied any knowledge of the terror strike.
Mukherjee said the Pakistani high commission later informed him that Qureshi had expressed gratitude for the offer and that a Pakistani air force aircraft would take him back home.
Qureshi had excused himself from a dinner with Mukherjee on the evening the terror strike began as he had scheduled an engagement with his countrys high commissioner.
The Indian government, he said, had evidence that the terrorists came from Karachi port in a small vessel. They were dropped mid-sea where they captured an Indian fishing vessel and killed the crew before reaching the Mumbai coast.
Giving details of the aftermath of the attack, Mukherjee said the first call from a foreign country came from then US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who was concerned about the fallout.
The situation is grave. I do not believe in romanticising relations or indulging in any sort of adventurism but there is a limit to ones patience, Mukherjee told her.
Over the next three days, he spoke on phone to more than 100 foreign ministers across different time zones. I didnt seek support from Israel since it carried the risk of isolating 54 Islamic countries that backed India, Mukherjee disclosed in the book.
He also shed light on the political developments post-26/11.
On 29 November, a Congress Working Committee meeting was held to discuss the post-attack scenario.
At the meeting, P Chidambaram was stridently vocal against then home minister, Shivraj Patil, and wanted him to be replaced. Two days later, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Mukherjee to his office and informed that Patil had resigned.
Singh said Congress president Sonia Gandhi had suggested Mukherjees name as Patils replacement but the PM advised her against it as the external affairs minister was handling a warlike situation.
It was decided that Chidambaram would replace Patil.
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Heavy rains continued to lash Bengaluru leaving three people dead and two others missing as Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said continuous downpour in the city prevented desiltation of storm-water drainages.
The body of Vasudev Bhat, a priest who was swept away in a storm-water drain on Friday night in Kurubarahalli area, which saw waterlogging, was recovered on Saturday morning by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Vasudev Bhat (35)
Shankarappa and wife Kamalamma died after the wall of their house fell on them in Kuruburahalli. The search for the 57-year-old Ningamma and her 22-year-old daughter Pushpa, who were swept away in a stormwater drain at Laggere after water from it flooded their house, was underway.
There were also instances of citizens coming to each others aid, as was witnessed in a video doing the rounds on social media.
A woman, who was stranded in a car floating on a waterlogged Mysuru road, was seen being rescued by bystanders.
Bengaluru mayor Sampath Raj said the unprecedented rain on Friday night had caused extensive damage. So far, three persons have died and all efforts are on to locate two women who are missing, he said.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), Bengaluru Urban district received 14 mm rain on Friday, which was 293% more than normal. The district has received 100% rainfall in excess since October 1.
Sunil Gavaskar, scientist at KSNDMC, said heavy rains were expected for another two days as a result of cyclonic conditions prevalent in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. This has created a trough over Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Gavaskar said.
Politics over tragedy
Chief minister Siddaramaiah, who toured rain-affected areas of the city with Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, visited Bhats house and promised to take care of the education of his children and also to provide employment to his wife.
Under criticism for the tardy progress on removing silt from storm water drains, the chief minister said this work could not be done because of the continuous rain that has been lashing the region.
I am very pained by the deaths that have occurred after the rains last night. However, you should know that the state this year has received unprecedented rains. We had continuous rains for 47 days. Nobody should indulge in politics at such a time, but BJP leaders are making false allegations for political gains, he said.
Shankarappa and wife Kamalamma died after the wall of their house fell on them in Kurubarahalli in Bengaluru on Friday. (Kashif Masood/HT)
Criticising the state government over these deaths and the four who had lost their lives in accidents related to potholes in the city, former chief minister and BJPs state unit president BS Yeddyurappa on Saturday said the government had entrusted blacklisted contractors with the responsibility of maintaining the storm-water drains.
Around 350 km of storm-water drains have been encroached upon, Yeddyurappa said, holding the government responsible for water overflowing from the drains.
He said the government had released Rs 800 crore for work on storm-water drains that had now proved to be useless.
The BJP leader also announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of the deceased.
Former prime minister and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda took on the BJP, saying they had not done any better when they were in power.
Poor design and quality
Urban expert V Ravichandar blamed the poor design and quality of the roads and storm-water drains for the citys problems.
At such times we end up running for a quick fix. But these staccato fixes are not long-term solutions, he said, adding that nobody is held accountable for bad planning.
Ravichandar said internationally, all the big cities had a protocol to deal with natural disasters. But we do not have anything of this sort. History is just repeating as a farce.
According to him, the only solution for Bengalurus woes was bipartisan consensus on urban planning issues.
(With agency inputs)
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The lawyers of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar have received a certified copy of the Allahabad High Court order acquitting the dentist couple in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.
It will be provided to a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on Monday, which will then issue an order to the Dasna prison authorities to release the couple, one of the Talwars lawyers said.
Courts in Ghaziabad observe a holiday on second Saturdays.
The orders copy was received late last evening.
We have received a certified copy of the order of the Allahabad High Court. It is expected that they (Rajesh and Nupur) will walk out of the jail on Monday, Vandana Talwar, Aarushis aunt, told PTI.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are lodged in the Dasna prison in Ghaziabad since November 2013 after they were awarded life sentence in the case.
The dentist couple had challenge the sentence in the Allahabad High Court, which acquitted them in the sensational double murder case earlier this week.
In the run-up to the assembly election, Gujarat has witnessed announcements and foundation laying of infrastructure and social welfare projects worth at least Rs 12,500 crore in October alone.
And, with breaking away from tradition, when Election Commission Of India(ECI) did not announce Gujarat elections schedule along with Himachal Pradesh, the BJP government here has got window for coming out with more poll doles before model code of conduct gets effective .
Inauguration of Rs 550 crore ferry service , Garib Kalyan Mela(Poor welfare fair) in district like Porbandar where in doles around Rs 1 crore for education bond, housing units, kits for self-employment are in the offering this in the next week. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation was quick as it on Friday itself planned an event for Sunday for Chief Minister Vijay Rupani where projects worth nearly Rs 800 crore to be announced.
The administration is hurriedly planning an event for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inauguration of ferry service between Ghogha and Dahej around next weekend. The sources in the BJP maintained that the party would want this program to be over before elections schedule is out.
This ferry service connecting two shores of Bay of Khambhat, reducing travelling distance between Saurashtra and south-Gujarat, is Rs 550 crore project and has been delayed atleast by 2 years. Instead of earlier date of October 17, it is now likely to be inaugurated on October 23.
While there has been no final word from the PMO over this event, Modi will be in the home state on October 16. He will addressing around 7 lakh party workers in Ahmedabad, along with BJP president Amit Shah. With model code of conduct not in the effect, the administrative machinery still can be employed by the BJP for the event of by the PM for various arrangements.
The Goody Bag Rajkot Greenfield international airport: Rs 1405 crore (Oct 7) Okha-Bet Dwarka four-lane cable-stayed bridge: Rs 962 crore (Oct 7) Four laning of Porbandar-Dwarka: Rs1600 crore (Oct 7, Cabinet nod in May) Four laning of Gadu-Porbandar: Rs 370 crore (Oct 7) Six-laning of NH47 between Ahmedabad-Rajkot- Rs 2893 crore (Oct 7) Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers and chemicals plant Bharuch-Rs 550 (Oct 8) Bhadbhut Barrage over Narmada river Bharuch: Rs 4337 crore (Oct 8) Vadnagar Hospital and medical college: Rs 450 crore (Oct 8)
Hours before the ECI had called press conference on Thursday, the BJP government also announced 1 per cent DA allowance for all the state employees, Rs 3500 bonus for 35000 fixed pay salary employees along with withdrawal of over 130 police cases of rioting and arson against Patidar youths, who are up against the government over the OBC quota.
Earlier, the Rupani government reduced the VAT on fuel by 4 per cent, which will translate into upto Rs 3 in petrol and diesel prices.
Among the big-ticket projects rolled out by the BJP in the last 10 days are Bhadbhut barrage over Narmada river in Bharuch, six-laning of NH47 between Ahmedabad and Rajkot, four-laning of Porbandar-Dwarka highway and an international airport at Rajkot.
The Bhadbhut barrage project, foundation of which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, is worth Rs 4,337 crore. The second biggest project in terms of cost (Rs 2,893 crore) is widening of the 201km Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway. The foundation of this project was also laid by Modi on October 7.
During his two-day state visit last week, the PM on October 7 also laid the foundation to widen the Porbandar-Dwarka highway at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore. This project was given the go-ahead by the Union Cabinet in May this year. The same day, the foundation of Rs 1,405-crore Rajkot greenfield international airport was laid by Modi.
The foundation of a four-lane cable-stayed bridge between Okha and Bet Dwarka and four-laning of Gadu-Porbandar highway was also laid on October 7. The 2.32-km long bridge will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 962.43 crore while the highway widening project is worth Rs 370 crore.
On October 8, Modi laid the foundation of a hospital-cum-medical college worth Rs 450 crore in his hometown Vadnagar. Later that day, Modi laid the foundation for a Rs 550-crore Di-Calcium Phosphate (DCP) plant at Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd facility in Bharuch.
As the Congress accused BJP of luring people, the BJP called the inauguration spree a continuous development process. ``The projects and schemes announced or to be announced are those which people of Gujarat needed. By calling it poll planks, the Congress is hurting the sentiments of people of Gujarat, said BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya.
Rs 2-4 reduction in fuel prices, 1 per cent hike in DA or bonus for fixed salaried who were demanding permanent job is too late too little. All these planks shows the BJP is nervous following good response that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has received during his Navrsarjan Yatra in the state, said Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.
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The Bombay High Court quashed an order passed by a college expelling a computer engineering student, observing that an FIR cannot be treated as gospel truth and cannot be a reason for expulsion.
A division bench of Justices B R Gavai and S K Shinde quashed and set aside an August 5 order passed by Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering College affiliated to Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) expelling the 21-year-old student.
The order expelling the student was passed after an FIR was lodged against him in June for allegedly raping and cheating a girl under the false pretext of marriage.
The student approached the high court challenging the institutes order on the ground that he was not given an opportunity to put forth his case.
The bench earlier this week after hearing the parties concerned concluded that the institute had admittedly acted upon the FIR lodged against the petitioner and expelled him without holding any enquiry.
In other words, the petitioner has been punished and kept away from pursuing further studies without a hearing given to him. Thus, the order of the institute was in violation of principles of natural justice, the court said.
We are also of the view that, registration of a crime cannot be taken as a gospel truth and held out to be a foundation to expel the petitioner, it noted.
The bench said the petitioner had not indulged in illegal activities in the campus of the institute.
No doubt, the offence registered against the petitioner is serious in nature, however, the fact remains that the institute expelled the petitioner merely on the ground that FIR is being registered against him by the complainant who is no way concerned with the institute, it said.
In our view, if the impugned orders are not quashed, would certainly harm his career, which cannot be compensated in terms of money or otherwise. The petitioner cannot therefore be made to suffer the consequences merely on the basis of the allegations made against him and that too, before trial, the court said.
The bench while quashing the order directed the institute to admit the petitioner to resume his studies and condone any deficiency in attendance from the time the order of expelling him was passed till date.
As many as 243 barbers working at the famous Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh have been sacked on charges of taking tips from pilgrims for tonsuring heads, following which they staged a demonstration demanding they be reinstated.
The barbers were sacked through notices issued three days back by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages Indias richest temple, the abode of Lord Venkateshwara, in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
On Saturday, the barbers staged a demonstration in front of the administrative office of the TTD, demanding that they be re-instated on humanitarian grounds as the sacking would deprive them of their livelihood.
The Tirumala temple has an estimated footfall of nearly 60,000-70,000 pilgrims on weekdays which touches the one lakh-mark during weekends and holidays. Nearly 70% of the pilgrims get their heads tonsured before having the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara as part of their vow to donate hair to the temple.
As many as 943 barbers, mostly recruited on contract basis, work in shifts round the clock at Kalyana Katta, the huge hair-cutting saloon complex located near the temple.
While tonsuring has to be done free of cost, the TTD has been receiving complaints from pilgrims that many of the barbers making them pay tips ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 50.
After a thorough verification of the complaints by the Vigilance and Security wing of the TTD and footage obtained from closed circuit cameras installed in Kalyana Katta, TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal on Wednesday sacked 243 barbers.
They are not regular recruits but taken on outsourcing at piece rate basis of Rs 10 per head. We have given them warning not once, but three times, asking them not to collect bribes from pilgrims. But they continued to fleece the pilgrims and hence, we were forced to take action, TTD official spokesman T Ravi told Hindustan Times.
The sacked barbers, however, said they never demanded bribes from pilgrims, but the latter themselves would offer tips to them out of their own will.
Some pilgrims do not want to get the tonsuring done free of cost. So, they give us some nominal amount, Rs 10 or Rs 20, for their own satisfaction. How can they call it as a bribe? a barber told the local media.
The TTD authorities, however, are firm on their action. We should not allow any corrupt practices on the holy hills. The barbers action is getting the temple a bad name. We shall recruit new barbers with good conduct shortly, Ravi said.
The TTD engages several barbers on contract or outsourcing basis regularly to cope up with ever increasing pilgrim rush. In September 2006, the TTD even recruited 60 female barbers to facilitate tonsuring of female pilgrims, who feel embarrassed to go to male barbers.
The barbers also have to strictly follow hygienic practices like use of fresh blades for every head and regular sterilising of their razors.
Though it is not uncommon to sack barbers in small numbers whenever such complaints of corruption come to the notice of the TTD, it is for the first time that more than 200 barbers were removed at one stroke.
Interestingly, tonsuring of heads of pilgrims fetches huge income for the TTD. Every year, the TTD auctions human hair in a big way and earns Rs 150200 crore.
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Making time during his short visit to the state capital, to attend the centenary year function of Patna university, Prime minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit to the newly-constructed Bihar museum, a favourite project of chief minister Nitish Kumar.
The PM was evidently impressed with what he saw during the 30-minute visit. For, he penned in his native Gujarati his impressions in the museums digital visitors book. It read:
Faith inspires viewing. The exhibitions encourage curiosity. Best place to experience history and cultures heritage. Congratulations - Narendra Modi
With people eager to know what the PM penned down in his mother tongue during his visit, museum director J P N Singh, took help from a Mumbai-based Gujarati historian, to get it translated into English.
Modi, soon after reaching Patna, expressed his desire to visit the museum. Chief minister Kumar readily agreed to play the role of a gracious guide. So, he altered his programme and headed straight for the museum.
He visited all the nine galleries and showed keen interest in history, said museum director Singh.
Kumar, like a true guide, was seen explaining to the PM the rarity that was the Deedarganj Yakshini one of the finest polished chunar stone ancient Indian sculptures, how it was found and preserved. The Prime Minister, all along, was full of praise for the museum, said Singh.
The new museum, with its luminous interiors, soothing lights, galleries showcasing the states heritage and its contribution to world civilization, houses artefacts including figurines and statuettes of The Buddha and Mahavir, besides Nalanda University.
It also has sections on the Bihari diaspora , Mahatma Gandhis first satyagraha in Champaran of 1917, philosophy of Chanakya and the reign of Emperor Ashoka .
Spread across 13.3 acres of land with a built up area of 2.5 lakh square feet, in the heart of Patna, the Bihar Museum has been built at a cost of Rs 517 crore.
The brainchild of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the new museum is being projected as an essential stop for tourists. The museum was formally launched on October 2 this year, though a portion of the building has been open since 2015.
When the process of setting up the museum was initiated in 2011, the state government awarded the contract to Tokyo-based Maki and Associates, which executed the design with the help of Mumbai-based Opolis Architects.
The foundation stone of the museum was laid on June 9, 2013, and construction started in July the same year.
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Punes High Spirits Cafe, one of the most popular hangout zones, is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. It all started on Thursday when lifestyle blogger Sheena Dabolkar called out the owner of the cafe, Khodu Irani, in a series of tweets. The blogger accused him of sexually harassing her.
Sheena alleged that over the years Irani has behaved inappropriately with her and various other women, and also made sexist comments. As she continued to tweet, multiple women joined in with their stories of being harassed by Irani - just like the Harvey Weinstein case in Hollywood, which has been in news since last week.
High Spirits has used the veil of family and home to normalise its abuse. A reminder that many many families are fucked up. pic.twitter.com/dY78I53tYf Sheena (@weeny) October 14, 2017
Whatchu hiding High Spirits pic.twitter.com/ymTU2YYA0d Sheena (@weeny) October 14, 2017
People who sent me screengrabs to cheer me up I love u. You can also tweet me pics of ur pets (no humans). pic.twitter.com/j4ZhSveELl Sheena (@weeny) October 14, 2017
However, the tweet thread reached its peak when popular stand-up comedian Tanmay Bhat wrote that he was once groped at High Spirits because of his weight.
Since then comedians across the country have announced that they wont perform at this spot anymore.
I was once on stage at High Spirits when Khodu jumped onto stage and groped me, you know, coz I'm overweight. Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) 14 October 2017
Heres what city-based comedians have to say on the issue:
Sexual harassment of any kind, against anyone is just not acceptable. This man clearly has an issue but hanging him out to dry doesnt help. This guy needs therapy and his groping is a desperate measure; his self worth is low. Ive performed at High Spirits myself, I guess he didnt find me attractive and thats why he didnt grope me. The fact that everyone is speaking out collectively shows that we will not stand for this. Vasu Primlani
If somebody is physically violated, regardless of gender, it is simply wrong. People need to speak up and punish the perpetrators. The law also needs to protect victims of such abuse regardless of their gender. We need to start sensitising our children at an early age that such behaviour is unacceptable; be it with a man or a woman.
Papa CJ
We need to take a stand against this. I hope more comedians [like Tanmay] speak up. Also, its funny how we attack Bollywood when they remain silent, but stay silent when something like this happens in our own industry [in the world of comics]. We cant stay silent on such issues. Only together, we can make a change.
Rajneesh Kapoor
No comedian will perform there now! For too long, a man making sexual advances has been dismissed with an indulgent smile and an attitude that men will be men. Its about time that we shame them, and name them. As comedienne (female comedian), we face unwanted advances because the mentality is that if she is open on stage then shes an easy game off it. Neeti Palta
HT tried to get in touch with the management at High Spirits Cafe, but no one was available for a comment.
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Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said that his ministry would soon take a positive decision about the recommendations made by the Haj review committee for formulating the new Haj policy.
We have got the recommendations as also some objections to a few recommendations. Some of these are very valid points. We will soon take a positive decision regarding this, Naqvi said after a delegation of the Haj Committee of India members met him and handed over a resolution.
The ministry had formed a committee headed by retired IAS officer Afzal Amanullah in February this year to review the Haj policy with a view to make it more streamlined. The committee submitted its report recently.
Some of the main recommendations of the committee include reducing the number of embarkation points from 21 to nine, allowing women above 45 years of age to perform Haj without a mehram and abolish the reserved quota for applicants above 70 years of age and the fourth timers.
The ministry is currently considering the recommendations and has not taken a final decision.
The Haj Committee had held a meeting on Friday in Mumbai and discussed the recommendations by the review committee.
Haj Committee chairman Mehboob Ali Qaiser, who led the delegation, said that they have given a resolution to the Minister against some of the recommendations made by the review committee.
Our main contention is that the number of embarkation points from where pilgrims board the planes to Jeddah should not be reduced to nine, at least for Haj 2018, he said.
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate organisations have fanned out in poll-bound hill state to bolster the campaign of Bharatiya Janata Party, which is attempting a comeback after it lost power to the Congress in 2012. Elections to pick a new legislative assembly for Himachal Pradesh will be held on November 9 and results will be declared on December 18.
BJPs parent organisation, RSS, has expanded by leaps and bounds after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh, where power alternates between the Congress and BJP. The number of shakhas (daily gathering of activists) has almost doubled in the last two years.
Also, more youngsters have shown interest in participating in RSS activities for the Lok Sabha elections. In six years, 300 shakhas have increased in the state. Till 2010, around 300 shakhas were active in every part of the state, which has now increased to around 640 shakhas, said an RSS pracharak.
Sanghs cadres worked extensively in 2014 elections held for four seats and the BJP won all Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Hamirpur. The sangh cadres have become more active in the last one month even though their activities in Himachal continued throughout the year.
Interestingly, Sangh has put in more energy in areas where BJP candidates struggled to defeat Congress candidates, particularly its vanguard leaders.
This time, the BJP targets to win over 50 seats. We cannot be complacent this time. We have leant a lot from the previous election. People in the state are fed up with the Congress, said partys organisational office bearer requesting anonymity.
Unlike Lok Sabha elections, RSS cadres this time are fanned out at the booth level, Along with its associate organisations such as Vishav Hindu Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Mazdoor Sangh and Kisan Sangh Sevika Samitis.
There are 7,479 booths in the state. Currently, an estimated 30,000 sangh workers are campaigning for the BJP. RSS has divided the state into 23 organisational districts so that its work could intensively be done in each part.
Earlier, RSS deployed senior pracharaks at the district level while now the average age of zila pracharaks is around 35.
Besides 23 districts, there are around six zones in the state.
Moreover, RSS has also been expanding its Saraswati Vidya Mandi to etch Hindu ideology among the youth. The first school in India was set up in 1952 in Garakhpur. Currently there are 280 schools established across the state having nearly 40,000 enrolled students.
RSS CONDUCTS SURVEY IN HIMACHAL
The RSS has also deputed professionals to assess BJPs situation on ground in the state. Several people who are not Swayamsewaks but affiliated to Hindu organisations have been touring the state to gather information on polls and prospective candidates.
Every segment in Himachal has different election issues and people have high expectations from the government, a person, surveying assembly segments told HT, requesting anonymity.
He added, It is not exactly a survey but an assessment regarding of the overall situation.
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Ahead of the November 9 Himachal Pradesh elections, the Congress suffered a severe jolt with minister Anil Sharma and his father, former Union minister Sukh Ram, set to join the BJP. A formal announcement is expected in Delhi on Sunday in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah, sources told HT.
This is a significant blow to CM Virbhadra Singh a week after he was declared the partys face for the polls.
In a Facebook post whose screenshot was tweeted by BJP MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, Anil said he has resigned from the cabinet. He held the animal husbandry and panchyati raj portfolios. In that post, in Hindi, he said he will try to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modis dreams.
Welcome to @BJP4India, Sh Anil Sharma Ji,best wishes 2yu fr taking a stand agnst corruption & joining @narendramodi jis vision fr #NewIndia. pic.twitter.com/FGJF8bb9Ra Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) October 14, 2017
Sukh Ram, once convicted in a scam related to telecom ministry that he held in the PV Narasimha Rao cabinet, has been unhappy over being sidelined by the Congress. He and Anil were absent at the public rally on their home turf Mandi when Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi declared Virbhadra as the CM face. While Anil that day was in Mandi, Sukh Ram and Anils son, Ashray Sharma, who is now likely to get a BJP ticket, had met Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi in Delhi.
Anil, a three-time MLA from Mandi and former Rajya Sabha member, earlier served as minister of state in the Virbhadra cabinet from 1993 to 1996 but resigned after his father was arrested. He then joined Himachal Vikas Congress floated by his father in 1997. The party merged with the Congress ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. It was amid protests within the party in 2014 that the Congress gave him the state ministry that he has now quit.
A day after elections were declared to the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly on November 9, the Bharatiya Janata Partys poll panel met in Chandigarh to finalise the names of candidates in 12 contentious assembly segments.
Fridays meeting followed deliberation on the names of the candidates at Naina Devi two days ago. The panel, comprising senior leaders, has shortlisted the names of 45 candidates. The BJP has 26 members in the outgoing House.
Sukh Rams grandson to switch from Cong to BJP? Former Union minister leader Sukh Rams grandson, Ashray Sharma, is likely to switch from the Congress to the BJP. The name of the state Congress committee general secretary was deliberated upon at the BJP poll panel meeting on Friday. Ashray is the son of Anil Sharma, the rural development minister in Virbhadra Singhs cabinet. He is the younger brother of Ayush Sharma, who is married to Bollywood actor Salman Khans younger sister Arpita Khan. The party panel also discussed the ticket applicants for Kasumpti after Virbhadra Singhs wife Pratibha Singhs elder brother, Veer Vikram Sen, and his wife, Vijay Jyoti Sen, along with Prithvi Vikram Sen joined the BJP recently. Jyoti contested as an independent candidate from Kasumpti in 2012. She got about 7,000 votes. The party is likely to choose her as its nominee this time.
Sources said that efforts are on to select candidates for 12 seats but if a consensus eludes the panel, central leaders will take a call. Among the seats for which the BJP is yet to finalise its candidate is Shimla Rural, the segment chosen for chief minister Virbhadra Singhs son and state Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh.
The party has finalised the name of former BJP legislator Rakesh Verma to take on Virbhadra Singh in Theog, which Congress veteran Vidya Stokes has represented for eight terms.
The leaders deliberated in detail on the candidate for Chamba. It is learnt that the party has decided not to field its two-time legislator BK Chauhan, a former bureaucrat. Chauhans name has been rejected in view of the anti-incumbency against him.
The leaders were indecisive on Dalhousie though they have drawn up a panel of three names. The BJP won Dalhousie in 2007 when Renu Chadha defeated Congress heavyweight and All India Congress Committee secretary Asha Kumari. The party is in a dilemma over fielding Chadha as it is looking for a younger candidate.
The panel has not finalised the candidate from Arki. Govind Ram Sharma won twice from the constituency and faces anti-incumbency in his home turf.
The BJP poll panel discussed chances of rebellion in the party. It decided to pitch senior leaders to keep rebels under control. The senior leaders include the BJP in-charge of the state who is also the health minister of Bihar, Mangal Pandey, election in-charge for Himachal and Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union health minister Jagat Parkash Nadda and former chief ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar besides Hamirpur Lok Sabha member Anurag Thakur.
The party lost the 2012 assembly elections due to infighting between Dhumal and Shanta Kumar.
In the last elections, the party faced rebels in 18 constituencies and two of them even made it to the assembly.
The list will be finalised after consultation with BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi on Saturday. State party chief Satpal Singh Satti, Dhumal, Shanta Kumar, Nadda and Pandey will be meeting Shah.
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Continuing her humanitarian gesture, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has announced two Pakistani nationals will be given visa for undergoing liver transplant surgeries in India.
The minister said she has asked the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad to give visa to Naseem Akhtar, a Pakistani woman, for her liver transplant surgery in India.
Swarajs intervention came after Akhtars son requested for her help.
I have asked Indian High Commissioner to give visa for your mothers liver transplant surgery in India, the external affairs minister said in a tweet.
Swaraj said another visa was being granted to Pakistani national Shabbir Ahmed Shah who also required a liver transplant surgery.
We are giving Visa for your fathers liver transplant surgery in India, she said on Twitter.
Shahs son Ali Asadullah had earlier requested Swaraj on the social media platform to issue visa to his father for his treatment in India.
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.
Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was in its last phase and that militants are on the run.
They (Militants) are on the run and are under tremendous pressure. I am sure that this is going to be the last phase of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, he told reporters here.
Singh was replying to a volley of questions on the recent killings of militants in Kashmir Valley.
Police and security forces are doing a commendable job. What is more praiseworthy is that the special operation group of J-K Police is cooperating and working shoulder to shoulder in these operations, he said.
The minister said that the security forces had been successful in effecting a positive change in the security situation.
Life span of every terrorist has been shorten, he said.
Replying to a question about Pakistan making desperate attempts to keep the pot of militancy boiling in the state, Singh said, This speaks of their (Pakistan) helplessness and despair.
The longer Pakistan continues to remain in denial mode, the more it is risking its own security and its own existence, he added.
On the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of Rohingya immigrants, the minister said, As far as the BJP and its government are concerned, we are very clear about it...The security concern is the prime concern for all of us including those of us who have stakes in Jammu and Kashmir, where you have a sizable population of Rohingyas.
He said it was not the right interpretation to say that Rohingyas are not to be deported from India.
The Supreme Court has said that there was security concern and at the same time, there is a human angle that is to be kept in the mind, he said, adding that judicious view of the entire matter will be taken.
Reacting to the diktat of Majlis Shoura that boys and girls should not study together, the minister said, Without intruding into anybodys religious prerogative, as far as we are concerned, we believe in policy of justice for all and appeasement to none.
We live in a democratic country and heterogeneous society, where gender equality is inherent... I think concerned agencies will take cognisance of it, he said.
To a question on separatist leader Asiya Andrabis photo being showcased in a government poster, he said, The government has taken serious view of it and taken action also. It is condemnable.
Singh said the Congress was raising frivolous issues in Gujarat ahead of the assembly polls later this year.
The Congress was totally demoralised (in Gujarat) and they are trying find various futile issues...When they flagged various futile issues during Rahul Gandhis three-day visit to Gujarat, I told them this is childish behaviour, which do not mean anything to us, he said.
As far as (BJP president) Amit Shah and his son are concerned, instead of the oppositions demand for a probe, his son has gone to court with a defamation suit and let them put their views in the court or prove it, Singh said.
A Jammu and Kashmir policeman was arrested on Saturday after people suspected him of stalking and taking photographs of a girl on a street at Manigram in Ganderbal district.
Videos and photos circulating on social media show residents catching the constable, taking off his jacket, and tying him to a chair.
They alleged that the constable hurt the dignity of a woman.
We registered an FIR and he was arrested soon after. Law will take its course, senior superintendent of police Fayaz Ahmad Lone told reporters.
Police claimed to have found some photos of the woman in the constables mobile.
A clip shows a screaming crowd vowing to teach a lesson to anyone caught hurting a womans dignity. Slogans against police and in support of slain militant commander Zakir Musa could be heard in the videos.
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More than one-third of the intelligence inputs and security threats received by state and central agencies across India in 2017 had to do with left-wing insurgency. The intelligence inputs relate to a multitude of issues such as terrorist threats, left-wing extremism, militancy in Kashmir and north eastern states, law and order situation and communal strife, an official from the home ministry has said.
The official said the data are collected on monthly basis by various security and intelligence agencies, collated and then shared with the concerned state and central government authorities. According to the data obtained by HT, 30,019 intelligence inputs were received by agencies across India in 2017 (until the end of September ).
The data, divided in four categories, shows left-wing extremism made up for 10,898 or 36.3% of the total inputs. The other three are Jammu and Kashmir (27.72% or 8,321 inputs), Northeast militancy (6,651) and Rest of India (4,149 inputs or 13.82%).
Numbers definitely indicate a spike in Maoist activities but forces are determined to tackle any security threat, the official told HT.
The 10,898 inputs on left-wing insurgency relate to movement of Naxalite and Maoist cadres, meetings of banned groups, mobilisation and impending threats to the security forces.
Earlier this month, the cabinet committee on security cleared the implementation of the modernisation of state police forces (MPF) umbrella scheme, under which over 6,000 crore will be spent in areas hit by left-wing violence, an official said.
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh come under the list.
Thirty-five districts in these ten states, especially Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, are considered to be the worst affected.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday his government ensures the schemes launched by it are implemented within a time limit, unlike in the past when projects were announced during election time and forgotten later.
Modi deplored the thinking of many political leaders that projects like roads were not meant for the poor. We cannot imagine the extent to which this mindset has damaged the country.
The prime minister was addressing a gathering after launching development projects relating to highways and sewage treatment in Mokama, about 100 km from Bihar capital Patna.
Bihar governor Satyapal Malik, chief minister Nitish Kumar and Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Ram Vilas Paswan were among those present at the programme.
Modi began his nearly 30-minute speech in Magahi dialect and praised the people of Mokama. He recalled the citys connection with the mythological warrior sage Parashuram.
He also recalled the contributions of poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Bihars first Chief Minister Shri Krishna Singh, pointing that both of them hailed from Begusarai just across the Ganges.
Underscoring his governments commitment to boost inland water transport, Modi said during the British era, when we had excellent waterways, Mokama was known as mini Kolkata. We must revive the lost glory.
My government is working tirelessly to provide better road, rail and internet connectivity and power connections and potable water to all. We have launched many schemes with these specific targets in mind, he said.
The prime minister said his government launches schemes keeping a roadmap ready and ensures implementation within time limit, unlike past regimes, which were in the habit of announcing projects during election time, only to forget about these later.
Extending his greetings for Diwali on October 19, and Chhath - Bihars most celebrated festival which falls six days later, Modi said once the Ganges is cleansed of pollutants, for which we have launched a special project called Namami Gange, it would be a real delight to observe the austerities of Chhath.
Modi lauded Gadkari, who holds the surface and transport ministry, for expanding Indias road network. He also had a word of praise for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for his cooperation and his concern for the initiatives taken by the Centre.
Kumar urged Modi to undertake key projects like a bridge parallel to the Vikramshila Setu over the Ganges in Bhagalpur and a direct road connecting Buxar with Varanasi, which is the prime ministers parliamentary constituency.
He also recalled his connection with Mokama, which forms a part of the Barh Lok Sabha seat, which he has represented a number of times in the parliament.
This was Modis first Bihar visit since the BJP return to the coalition with the JD(U) in Bihar in July this year.
Bihars Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, a BJP leader, said this was the first time in 27 years when the same dispensation rules both at the Centre and in Bihar.
To use an expression of the prime minister, Bihar now has two engines to propel it on the path towards progress, Sushil Modi said.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister attended a function held to celebrate 100 years of establishment of Patna University followed by a brief, unscheduled visit to the newly-opened Bihar Museum. PTI NAC ABH
Two more deaths due to pesticide poisoning were reported from west Vidarbha regions Yavatmal district in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 50.
Kishore Tiwari, chairman of government-run Maharashtra State Agriculture Mission, said two farm labourers identified as Gaju Netam, 32, and Madhukar Bawne, 44 died at the government medical college and hospital in Yavatmal on Saturday.
Both the labourers collapsed suddenly after spraying pesticides in the cotton fields of their respective landlords.
They were rushed to the Yavatmal hospital last week and were on life support since then.
Tiwari, who has been camping in Yavatmal after the incident, said over 50 farmers and farmland labourers had died due to pesticide poisoning since August.
Around 1,000 farmers, most of them landless labourers, were affected by pesticide inhalation. With symptoms such as breathing problems, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, skin rashes, dizziness and headaches, around 50 farmers are still recovering at the hospital, he said.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought to present Bihar as a success story in terms of infrastructure growth under NDA rule at the Centre, saying that the people of the state were themselves stunned to know that projects worth over Rs 38,000 crore were implemented or launched within a short span of three years.
Speaking at a function organised to mark the foundation laying of various infrastructure projects worth Rs 3769 crore in the Taal area of Mokama, about 100 km east of Patna, Modi said, the government had demonstrated that fate of any state could be changed in such a short span of time.
Bihar may not have seen such a huge volume of ongoing work going ever since Independence, he said, adding that Bihar would be among prosperous states by 2022.
Underscoring the necessity for development of communication links as precondition for growth, Modi said he had significantly increased the budget size in the last three years so that the pace of development could be doubled.
He said the network of rural roads had increased significantly at the national level. However, it needs to be backed up with roads, which connect growth centres to help assure economic prosperity to villages, he said, amid a steady chant of Modi...Modi from a huge crowd, comprising mostly of youngsters.
The PM also targeted his political rivals, alleging there were people who sought to run down investments in road and other communication projects. Road projects worth Rs 53,000 crore are either going on or set to be launched soon. That will bring about a massive change in basic infrastructure of Bihar, he said.
The projects for which the foundation stones were laid by the PM included Rs 1161 crore six-lane bridge over the river Ganga in Mokama, parallel to existing Rajendra Setu, for widening of four national highways and Rs 738-crore for revamp of sewerage treatment plants and laying new sewage network in Patna under Namami Gange project.
Apparently ignoring chief minister Nitish Kumars opposition to development of waterways in the river Ganga, Modi said the operation of waterways from Patna to Haldia would go a long way in bringing down the cost of transport and thereby reduce the prices of commodities. The PM also remained non-committal on the CMs request for a comprehensive plan for development of Mokama Tal area.
Spread over 1,016 square kilometres, from Fatuha (in Patna) to Barbigha (Begusarai) along the river Ganga, the Tal area remains submerged in water. The area is known as the bowl of pulses. But farmers are unable to reap good yield for want of timely clearance of water.
Starting his speech in the local Magahi dialect, Modi sought to connect with the locals, as he cited historic and literary contributions of the region. He referred the place as tapobhumi of Baba Chauharmal, a Dalit reformer, and Parshuram, the legendary fighter-saint Brahmin, and cited contributions of Rashtra Kavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, who spent his childhood near Mokama, while referring to the place as once a mini-Kolkata.
He also recalled the importance of Simaria Ghat, where Jayaprakash Narayan had spent time before launching the students movement and said he wished to bring back the old glory of Mokama as the industrial capital of Bihar that was set up during the regime of first chief minister Srikrishna Sinha.
Union minister of surface transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said his ministry was committed to implementing Rs 53,000-crore road projects, announced as part of the special package worth Rs 1.25 crore by the PM, on time.
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Underscoring the necessity for development of communication links as precondition for growth, Modi said he had significantly increased the budget size in the last three years so that the pace of development could be doubled.
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One civilian was killed and at least four others critically injured when security forces allegedly opened fire on protesters in Pulwama district near the site of the gun-battle in which two militants, including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Waseem Shah, were neutralised in the morning.
According to locals, the civilian casualty and injuries occurred when forces opened fire to quell the protest. A senior Pulwama police officer, however, told HT that the civilian was killed because he was caught in the cross-fire.
Locals gathering in large numbers near an encounter site and pelting stones on security forces carrying out counter-insurgency operation to distract them and help militants escape has been a common phenomenon in Kashmir lately.
Read more: Two LeT militants including commander killed in encounter in Kashmirs Pulwama
Gulzar Ahmad Mir was brought dead with a firearm injury, an official at the district hospital Pulwama told HT. He added that two others were rushed in critical condition with firearm injury and they were referred to Srinagar hospitals.
Another two were brought with pellet injuries -- with one of them hit in the right eye. We have referred them to Srinagar hospitals as well after preliminary check-up.
Waseem Shah and his accomplice were killed by security forces in an encounter in Litter village in Pulwama early Saturday. Shah hailed from Heff village in Shopian and was a category A++ militant who joined the LeT in March 2014.
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Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday termed as a sham Congress vice president Rahul Gandhis recent visits to temples in Gujarat during his recent campaign tour in the poll-bound state.
Tearing into the Congress and its leadership, Adityanath also said they have no right to berate the Gujarat model of development.
As far as Rahul Gandhis visits to temples are concerned, I am surprised. Rahul Gandhis pakhand and dhong (hypocrisy and sham) is not going to work, Adityanath said, speaking to reporters at Nakhatrana in Kutch during BJPs Gaurav Yatra election campaign.
The same Congress was eager to destroy the Ram Setu. During a hearing in the Supreme Court, Congress government had raised question about the existence of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna, he claimed, and asked, If the party does not believe in the existence of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna, then why Rahul Gandhi wants to take credit by visiting temples.
Ram Setu, also known as Adams Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. PILs were filed in the Supreme Court in the past, demanding that it be declared a national monument.
If the country is facing poverty, terrorism and Naxalism, then the Congress is to be held responsible for that. Congress and Rahul Gandhi have no right to discuss development; even the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has accepted the (genuineness of) development of Gujarat, he said.
The BJP government is not doing the politics of caste and dynasty, the chief minister added.
The BJP talks about the entire society, and the programmes that the BJP has launched under the leadership of respected Narendra-bhai (prime minister Narendra Modi) focus on farmers, villagers, poor, women and youth, he said.
Gandhi started his recent campaign for Gujarat Assembly polls by visiting the Dwarkadeesh temple and offered prayers at many other temples in the state.
Yogi Adityanath has been campaigning in the BJP-ruled state since Friday.
In Himachal Pradeshs electoral politics, the regional divide is more dominant a factor than caste.
The state is divided into upper and lower Himachal. While the former comprises Shimla, Sirmaur, parts of Mandi, Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, Solan, Kinnaur and Chamba districts, the latter is made up of Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Una and the lower region of Mandi district.
Before the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, Himachal Pradesh comprised four districts of Shimla, formerly Mahasu, Sirmaur, Chamba and Mandi. Kangra was then a district in Punjab.
After the merger, the divide in Himachal was evident. Parts of old Himachal and the newly merged areas differ in their political and economic development, and social mobilisation.
Political leanings
Old Himachal has traditionally been a Congress bastion. Three of the five chief ministers so far Yashwant Singh Parmar, Thakur Ram Lal and Virbhadra Singh belong to this area.
It was only in 1998 when Prem Kumar Dhumal-led BJP-Himachal Vikas Congress coalition came to power that the saffron party found support in the belt. In 1996, BJP tasted defeat because of using force to quell an apple farmers agitation. Three farmers were killed in police firing in Kotgarh and the BJP lost power.
Why Kangra counts
Kangra gave Himachal its first non-Congress chief minister when the Janata Party formed the government under the leadership of Shanta Kumar in 1977. The BJP has come a long way since it set up its first unit in Kangra. Dhumal, who served as the BJP governments CM from 1998-2003 and 2007-12, also comes from lower Himachals Hamirpur.
It is a popular saying in Himachal politics that the road to Shimla goes through Kangra. Population-wise, it is the largest district and sends 15 legislators to the House. With one-fourth of the total House strength, the party that wins Kangra, forms the government.
Divide bid backfires
To break Kangras monopoly, the BJP proposed to divide Kangra into three districts but the decision backfired and anguish among locals was seen in 2003 when the Congress won 10 seats .
In 2012, the BJP again raked up Kangras division into smaller districts but faced opposition.
Kangras decision will only be clear on December 18, the day that counts.
A tigress that had killed at least five villagers and wounded several more was found electrocuted in a farm on Saturday morning in Maharashtras Wardha district, 85km from Nagpur.
The adolescent animal was shifted this July from a rescue centre in Nagpur and released at Bor tiger sanctuary, close to the place where it was found dead.
The tigress was originally from Bramhapuri forest division of Chandrapur, but was tranquilized and taken to Nagpur a few months ago after it killed two villagers.
She spent a month in rehab, but remained rogue and attacked people and livestock at villages near Bor.
Back-to-back attacks triggered protests, prompting the state wildlife department to order shooting her dead a couple of days ago.
Animal activists challenged the move at the Bombay high courts Nagpur bench, which rejected the petition to stall the killing on Friday.
However, before she fell to a certified hunters bullet, an electric fence killed her near Sindhi village.
The carcass was found in the farm of Bhagwan Tekam, who was arrested. The famer said he put the electric fence in a wildlife-sensitive area to protect his crop from marauding herbivores.
Tigers and leopards often stray into human settlements because of shrinking habitat and become victims of cruel man-animal conflicts. They are poisoned, electrocuted or clubbed and gored to death.
Indiscriminate killing of animals, whose population has shrunk to alarming levels over the past century because of game hunting, poaching and illegal trade of bones and skins, continue despite strict wildlife laws in India.
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It is seldom that a city goes back to being what it was once was, except for perhaps in photographs. And this is exactly Sooni Taraporevalas gift as Mumbais relentless documentarian. In her new exhibition, Home in the City, she presents the city as Bombay in 1977 and Mumbai now, via a rich landscape of visuals that are intrinsic to the citys charm. She began photographing the city in 1977 with her first SLR camera, which was bought with money borrowed from her roommate at Harvard, Cathy Dement. After I repaid her, I took a leave of absence for a semester and returned home with my new camera and 50mm lens. The photos dated 1977 were taken at this time and I havent stopped since then. I think my eye is still the same, my style as well, as well as what interests me has remained the same. What has developed is my speed and technical skills, said Taraporevala about the work.
Gun battle at Cusrow Baug, Bombay 1985 ( Sooni Taraporevala / Courtesy Sunaparanta)
Spectator at an airshow, Marine Drive, Mumbai 2005 ( Sooni Taraporevala / Courtesy Sunaparanta)
Taraporevala is known for the proximity she exhibits in her images, be it the subject or her own relationship with the place she chooses to portray. Her photographs of Mumbai (then) are a rare document of the change it has seen, even in the most publicly frequented spaces. However, some parts of the city remain stuck in the past. I can still sit on my parents balcony and make the same frame I did in 1980. However, that is a narrow focus, she said.
Security Guard, Juhu Airport, Bombay 1982 ( Sooni Taraporevala / Courtesy Sunaparanta)
There is no doubt that the photographs are driven by a strong sense of a memory of Mumbai, even as Taraporevala continues to live in the same city. The photographs seem simple, but reflect the layered complexities that Mumbai is known for, as one of Indias most dynamic cities.
Sarfu and Irrfan Khan, Salaam Bombay! workshop, Bombay 1987 ( Sooni Taraporevala / Courtesy Sunaparanta)
When asked if she was reluctant to share her old photographs before this, she says, In the old days, that (sharing) was impossible unless you showed in a gallery or published a book. This is why I am such a fan of Instagram. I love that I can take a photo in Mumbai and instantly share it with a friend in California.
Spectator at an airshow, Marine Drive, Mumbai 2005 ( Sooni Taraporevala / Courtesy Sunaparanta)
Naseeruddin Shah and Stellan Skarsgard on the sets of The Perfect Murder, Bombay 1987 ( Sooni Taraporevala / Courtesy Sunaparanta)
From unguarded moments on film sets to public events, her eye is trained on the oddities of daily life, a characteristic that is rather specific to Mumbai and never really hidden from those who truly wander in the city. In my experience it (Mumbai) has always been an extremely welcoming city for photographers, said Taraporevala when asked if it was harder now to make photographs than before.
Home in the City: Bombay 1977 - Mumbai 2017 runs from October 14 - 31, 2017 at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai.
The Indian Railways will run a special Rajdhani train between Delhi and Mumbai beginning Monday that will decrease the travel time the existing Rajdhanis take by two hours.
The special train will not have the flexi-fare system. Here are five things to know about the new train:
1) The new Rajdhani will run from Delhi on three days -- Wednesday, Friday and Sunday -- at 4.15pm and will reach Mumbai at 6.10am the next day. It will leave Mumbai on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 4.15pm and reach Delhi at 6.10am.
2) Railway Board member Md Jamshed said the special Rajdhani will initially run for three months. The idea was to reduce the travel time by two hours with the current infrastructure and rolling stock. The trials have been successful, he said.
The railway ministry said the train would be introduced on an experimental basis to gauge the response of the public to a concept of flat increase in fares against existing flexi-fare.
3) The train that will run between Delhis Nizamuddin station and Mumbais Bandra terminal will have specialised catering facilities. The passengers can opt out of the catering services.
4) The base fare of the train will be 20% higher than the existing Rajdhanis, but will not have flexi fare system. In September 2016, the railways had introduced flexi-fare for premier trains -- Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi.
Under this, the base fare increases by 10% with every 10% of berths sold, subject to a prescribed limit. There was no change in the existing fare for 1AC and EC class of travel.
But on December 19, Railways started to provide 10% rebate on any seat left vacant after the preparation of the chart.
As compared to the maximum flexi fare for the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani for second AC of Rs 4,105, the new train will have a fixed price of Rs 3270. As compared to the third AC flexi fare of Rs 2925, the new train will cost Rs 2,325.
5) The train will stop at Kota, Surat and Vadodra. A railway official said to increase the maximum speed of the train to 130 kmph, it will be hauled by two WAP5 locomotives of 5,400 horsepower each.
The central government will transfer states share of federal revenues only once every three months beginning next financial year, leaving most states worried over their already-stretched finances.
States now get 42% of central taxes on the first day of every month, much of which goes into paying salaries, pensions, wages, administrative costs and interest on loans.
On August 16, the central government wrote to states that their share from the federal pool of taxes will be sent on the fifteenth of every month till end-March. Thereafter, the money will be transferred once every quarter.
Finance ministry sources told Hindustan Times that the central government has often had to borrow money to meet its revenue transfer commitments because tax receipts are usually subdued during the first few months of a financial year.
A slight alternation in the payment schedule would give the Centre additional elbow room as well as a clearer line of sight on revenue collection under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
There are uncertainties about revenue collection and the quantum of tax credits under the new tax regime, a senior ministry official said on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to journalists.
With a major shift such as the GST, this is natural in the first few months of its implementation. Given this situation, the tax devolution schedule has been slightly altered.
But the plan has sent shock waves through states whose profligacy of the past few years is in sharp contrast to the central governments fiscal prudence.
The Reserve Bank of India data showed the combined fiscal deficit of states has been rising sharply since 2015, mainly on account of the restructuring of debt of state power discoms.
Several states have called the deferred payment plan unfair, and at least two, West Bengal and Telangana, have written to the Centre in protest. West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra cited several reasons why the central government should reconsider its decision.
Financial pressure to the state exchequer becomes the maximum at the beginning of every month due to huge liabilities..., Mitra wrote. He also said changing the tax devolution schedule would force states to borrow or seek overdrafts, hence increasing its interest burden.
Many experts agree with the states.
A change in schedule will impact the cash-flow planning of states. This money is used for expenses that cannot be postponed such as salary, pension, interest on borrowings and contracts. This change would lead to overruns for states, said economist Mohan Guruswamy.
States share in the central tax pool was increased from 32% to 42% in 2015 following the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
The share is calculated on the basis of a formula that takes into account a states geographic mass, demographic change and income.
Theres a mermaid on the streets on Bengaluru and she has a message for the civic authorities: fix the dangerous potholes.
A Bengaluru-based artist has turned a pothole near Cubbon Park Junction into an art installation, with a woman dressed as a mermaid protesting the poor condition of roads in the city that have led to fatal accidents.
Baadal Nanjundaswamy, who has previously highlighted civic issues with visual-3D art, painted the street around the pothole on Friday to make it appear like a pond with a mermaid sitting next to it. He roped in Kannada actress Sonu Gowda, who has modelled for his earlier campaigns, for the art.
Four people in Bengaluru have died since the beginning of October allegedly while trying to manoeuvre around potholes. A woman, 21, was killed on Tuesday after the two-wheeler she was riding pillion on was hit by a truck when the rider swerved to avoid a pothole.
The issue has turned into a political slugfest, with the Opposition BJP blaming the ruling Congress government for the condition of public infrastructure in city that hosts Indias IT industry.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has blamed heavy monsoon rains for the damaged roads and asked the civic agency, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, to fix about 15,000 potholes urgently.
The 37-year-old alumnus of Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts has drawn the attention of civic authorities with his art installations in the past. Last year, he got a princess to kiss a frog using a pothole as his canvas on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Before that, Nanjundaswamy placed a replica of a crocodile in the middle of a pothole, which was subsequently fixed by authorities. He also used an open manhole to create Yamaraj, which, when viewed from above looked as if the Hindu god of death was waiting to swallow commuters.
I am an artist and this is a small way of contributing to the betterment of society, Nanjundaswamy told HT last year.
Read | Crocodile rescuer and other interesting protests that shook the world
His campaigns are self-funded and he has created at least 25 art installations based on civic issues.
Heres a look at Nanjundaswamys other campaigns:
Close on the heels of an alert about the possibility of Babar Khalsa International (BKI) militants trying to cross over into Punjab for carrying out disruptive activities, the security forces have received intelligence inputs that three Pakistani militants are planning to sneak into the Indian territory through Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
The inputs, received a few days ahead of counting of votes for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypolls scheduled for Sunday, have sent the security agencies, including the Punjab Police, into a tizzy.
Punjab, which shares its border with J&K near Pathankot, has also been put on alert by the central agencies. The state has been asked to sensitise security forces to take all necessary preventive measures.
Pathankot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vivek Sheel Soni, while confirming the receipt of inputs, claimed that he is in touch with his counterparts in Batala and Gurdaspur to thwart any possible infiltration attempt from Punjab side.
As per the inputs received by the central agencies, the group of three militants, led by Babar Khan, is reportedly camping at Lehari Kalan village in Jhelum district of Punjab province in Pakistan, situated opposite the border outpost (BOP) MalluChak on the Indian side.
Two other militants, identified as Ajmal and Manzoor, are camping at terror launch pads in Pakistan to sneak into the Indian territory.
The trio was planning to make their infiltration bid through the breaches in the Basantar river, close to Pakistani village Dandote in Chakwal district of Punjab province, between October 7 to 15, said the intelligence inputs, adding that the militants will aim to target camps of security forces in J&K.
These inputs pose a fresh challenge for the security agencies in Punjab, which were already handling the threat of BKI militants, including Wadhawa Singh Babbar, trying to sneak into the state.
Under the late afternoon sun of an October day, the Taj Mahal rose dazzling and regal, both the subject of awe for the many visitors gazing at its beauty, and a pristine backdrop to the colourful human saga around it. Time has left its sullying touch on the monuments white marble facade. The dome especially looks somewhat soiled, as if marked by the muddy palm prints of centuries.
It is a monument that evokes emotions. I have seen women cry when they see it, says Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) northern region chairman, Sunil C Gupta. The impact must have been more powerful in the past when, as Gruffudd Owen, a 25-year-old journalist from London pointed out, photographs of the monument were less easily available, and people didnt know what to expect.
It is a monument that evokes emotions. I have seen women cry when they see it, says Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) northern region chairman, Sunil C Gupta
The 17th century monument, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as the resting place of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, has been in the eye of a political storm recently, after it was reported that it had not been included in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) governments list of tourist attractions in the state. Earlier, the Taj a UNESCO World Heritage Site was excluded from the list of heritage sites that were to benefit from the UP state budget. The state government later clarified that the list of tourist draws referred only to the new projects being promoted by the government and also released a statement saying that the monument and its surrounding areas was also part of a tourism project proposal prepared in consultation with the World Bank. After the recent controversy, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has made a statement to say that the Taj is a part of our heritage and the state is serious about its preservation.
But on Monday, BJP MLA Sangeet Som added to the controversy, saying that the Taj Mahal did not deserve a place in history because its creator wanted to wipe out Hindus. The BJP distanced itself from the comments.
Protecting the Taj
The Taj is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which, along with the Agra Development Authority, jointly levies an entrance fee to the monument. But it is the ASI that carries out the conservation work. HT made repeated attempts to get a response from the ASI, but officials did not respond. The money that the Taj earns goes to the consolidated fund of the government and only a fraction of it is allocated for the upkeep of the building, says conservationist and one of the founder members of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), AGK Menon. The welfare of the Taj requires a broader civic and multi-layered administrative engagement and merely allocating the ASI some funds for its maintenance cannot suffice as discharge of governance responsibilities.
Heritage management specialist and representative in India of the World Monuments Fund, Amita Baig, agrees. The monument does not exist in isolation of the city and there needs to be a political commitment to invest in Agra in a comprehensive and holistic manner, she says. The city is poorly developed and there is little thought given to improved public spaces, roads or even adequate sewage and sanitation much of which will make the city more habitable for its citizens and also an improved environment for the Taj.
Much can be done to improve the Taj complex itself, she says, giving the example of the restoration of the central concourse. Highly polluted water, either ground water or from the river bed, feeds the water channels. To me this is perhaps the most critical aspect as water contamination does impact the sandstone and can be easily addressed, says Baig. She adds, Much more cutting edge research is needed to understand the changes being wrought in the monument by climate change, increased tourism and not least the impact of the drying riverbed, water contamination etc. Equally micro studies undertaken by scholars or universities could easily provide a more informed basis on which to plan the conservation.
TAJ EARNS MORE, GETS LESS Rs 2388.83 lakh was the revenue from entry tickets and other paid services at the Taj in 2015-16, whereas it was Rs 830.74 lakh in 2016-17 (up to June 2016) Rs 366.60 lakh was the amount spent on the conservation, preservation, maintenance and environmental development of the Taj in 2015-16. The amount was Rs 24.71 lakh in 2016-17 ( till June 2016) DIP IN VISITORS 6.07 MILLION the footfall at the Taj in 2014 which dropped to 4.63 million in 2015 Source: Ministry of Tourism lakh was the revenue from entry tickets and other paid services at the Taj in 2015-16, whereas it was Rs 830.74 lakh in 2016-17 (up to June 2016)lakh was the amount spent on the conservation, preservation, maintenance and environmental development of the Taj in 2015-16. The amount was Rs 24.71 lakh in 2016-17 ( till June 2016)the footfall at the Taj in 2014 which dropped to 4.63 million in 2015
Problems Of Pollution
One of the primary challenges facing the Taj, and one often talked and written about is pollution and its effects on the marble monument. While the 500-metre green belt ordered by the Supreme Court in 1996 has proven to be effective as a filter around the monument, says Baig, and other measures such as the diversion of highways, reduction of traffic in the immediate vicinity have also helped, other sources of pollution from the city still exists, she says. There are both local and distant sources of pollution. The local sources include automobile fumes and dust, while the distant source is the Mathura oil refinery, says Menon. The authorities have also introduced shoe covers for visitors to control pollution by dust and only battery-operated vehicles are allowed in the immediate vicinity of the monument.
The monuments facade is cleaned with a fullers earth pack that removes surface grime and pollutants, but though it seems to be yielding results the parts of the monument that have been recently cleaned appear much whiter than the dome which is yet to receive the treatment the process is time-consuming, and while underway, takes away from much of the beauty of the monument.
The scaffolding for maintenance work at the entrance to the Taj. Many believe that the scaffolding put up around the monument earlier resulted in the dip in tourists since it obstructed the view of the monument and spoilt photographs. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
Executive director of the IATO, Gour Kanjilal, blames the obstructed view of the Taj from the scaffolding (erected for conservation work around the monument) for the recent drop in tourists (see figures on the right). For many people a visit to the Taj is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the scaffolding not only obstructs the view of the monument, but also spoils the photographs that tourists take at the site as a keepsake, he says.
Even Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, had their Taj moment photo-bombed last year by the scaffolding around the minarets. It affected business for Sharief, who earns a living by photographing tourists at the Taj creating a dent of almost 25 per cent, according to his more vocal friend and Agra resident Zulfikar. At the moment, conservation work is on only at the entrance to the Taj, but work on the dome is said to be scheduled for next year.
What Tourists Want
It is not, however, the only reason for tourist dissatisfaction. We dont have proper roads. We do not have a tourist-friendly atmosphere, rues Rajiv Tiwari, convener of the Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber. Sunil C Gupta agrees, As you move into the Taj Mahal, the first bottleneck is the entrance itself. There are not enough X-ray machines at the gates. Often the queue of visitors is a mile long. Visitors are given water bottles and shoe covers. But there are not enough wastebins for the discarded items. The toilets in and around the Taj are often not maintained.
The immediate vicinity of the Taj has been beautified, with cobbled streets, filigreed stone columns covering the lights and an old world-looking facade to the shops. But just a few steps away is the chaos and congestion of the city.
View of the Taj Mahal, Agra, from the East, circa 1858, taken by John Murray. This is arguably the first photograph to be taken of the Taj Mahal. (Alkazi Collection of Photography)
Over it all hangs the shrill cacophony of people trying to make a living off the tourists shops, guides, photographers soliciting business, touts promising the best deals, autorickshaws looking for passengers. Its a minor complaint, but all these people coming up to you... It can be intense, admits Owen. The locals have a name for it lapka or to pounce on someone.
Then there is the Yamuna once upon a time Shah Jahans barge would sail down the river, carrying the emperor to the tomb of his beloved queen. Today it is little more than a shrunken canal. If the authorities could just do something to increase the flow of water in the river and introduce boat rides, it would boost tourism, says Govind Gupta, who runs a restaurant near the monument.
Beauty must have its admirers. But as daylight fades and the security begins the process of herding visitors out of the Taj, and closing the gates for the night, one can almost hear the monument stretching its aching muscles and sighing in relief like an artists muse, who after holding a pose all day, is finally free to let go.
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Was Congress president Sonia Gandhi considering a replacement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2012, about two years before the general elections?
Then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee says that after a meeting with her on June 1 that year, he returned with a vague impression that she might wish to consider Manmohan Singh as the UPAs presidential nominee. In the third volume of his autobiography, The Coalition Years, Mukherjee has written that at the meeting Gandhi had a frank discussion with him on a range of issues, including the functioning of the government and the Prime Ministers Office, ways to improve the UPAs image, the apparent distance between the party and the government and the lack of pro-activeness within the UPA, the ruling coalition.
I thought that if she selected Singh for the presidential office, she may choose me as the prime minister. I had heard a rumour that she had given this formulation a serious thought while on a holiday in the Kaushambi Hills, Mukherjee says in his autobiography that was released on Friday.
At that time the UPA government was facing severe criticism for what political adversaries and a section of political commentators called a policy paralysis leading to economic downslide. The UPAs image had also taken a battering following a string of corruption scandals.
Mukherjee, in his autobiography, has made no bones about his prime ministerial ambitions. In 2004, after Gandhi had declined the PMs post, he notes in his memoir, the prevalent expectation was that he would be the next choice for PM. Referring to media reports at that time about his unwillingness to work under Manmohan Singh, his junior when he was the finance minister, Mukherjee writes, The fact was that I was reluctant to join the government and informed Sonia Gandhi accordingly. She, however, insisted that I should join the government since I would be vital to its functioning. When the government was being formed, he was absolutely clear that he didnt want the finance portfolio since Manmohan Singh and I held different views on economic issues.
In the run up to the 2007 presidential election, when Mukherjees name started doing the rounds, Gandhi called him to say that it was difficult for her to spare him as he was a strong pillar in the government and in Parliament. She was reluctant five years later, too. Pranabji, you are most eminently suited for the office, but you should not forget the crucial role you are playing in the functioning of the government.
Gandhi, however, changed her mind later after Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav addressed a press conference to declare their presidential nomineesAPJ Abdul Kalam, Manmohan Singh and Somnath Chatterjee. A day after their press conference, Gandhi decided to nominate Mukherjee who enjoyed good personal equations with leaders across party lines. And he proved it again as both Banerjee and Yadav relented later.
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Baba Bajrang Das, popularly known as Rajasthans mountain man for carving out a passage through a hill in Bundi to connect two villages, passed away after a prolonged illness.
The 82-year-old Hindu holy mans health was deteriorating from some time and was on Friday flow in an air ambulance from Kota to Delhi for further treatment. He breathed his last on arrival at the Delhi airport.
His body was taken out in a procession through the streets of Bundi before the funeral at the Narsingh Aashram on Saturday.
Former Congress legislator Harimohan Sharma, district administrative officials and his disciples were present during his last rites.
More than a dozen villages around Gendoli and Mandpur have benefited from the 300m long, 20ft wide and 25 ft deep passage cut through the hill. (HT Photo)
While the love of his wife had prompted Dashrath Manjhi of Bihar to carve out a passage over the Gahlour hills near Gaya, it was for the benefit of the villagers that inspired Das take up the initiative to cut open a road through the Mandpur hill in Bundi.
People of Gendoli and Mandpur villages living on either side of the hill until a couple of decades back had to travel more than 40km but now they travel just 3km to reach each others villages across the hill, thanks to the efforts of Das.
Concerned about the villagers problem, Das started cutting the rocks on the hill in the 1980s using just hammers and chisels and was later joined by his disciples and local villagers in his efforts.
More than a dozen villages around Gendoli and Mandpur have benefited from the 300m long, 20ft wide and 25 ft deep passage cut through the hill.
Mahaveer Modi (55), a resident of Gendoli village, said the passage took shape on the hill in 1995 after more than 15 years of painstaking work of Das, his disciples and local villagers.
Although the passage is still an unmetalled makeshift road even after two decades as the land belongs to the forest department, but still two-wheelers, pedestrians and cattle can pass through, he said.
The carved out passage on hill is more than 1km and has been developed to connect Gendoli and Mandpur villages across the hill.
In 2015, HT published a story about the construction of the passage through the hill and Dass initiative prompted villagers to name the hill after the Hindu holy man as Bajrang Ghati.
Das, who mostly wore a langot--a red loincloth-- and was popularly known as lal langot waale baba, spent the charity received from devotees on social welfare work.
Mukesh Wadhwani, a municipal corporator from Bundi said the demise of Baba Bajrang Das has left a void, which cannot be compensated as he not only curved out a passage on the hill but also did charity for social causes.
Gendoli sarpanch Madan Gurjar said the Baba did the major work of curving out a passage through the hill but now the government must lay a metalled road to make traveling easier as the existing passage becomes difficult to cross during the monsoon.
Years after Lucknow lost his grave to gross neglect, the city of culture has failed to treasure yet another milestone related with legendary Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir.
In a latest example of how we treat our heritage, a plaque with Mir Taqi Mir Marg inscribed on it has gone missing from near Chatte Wala Pul in Wazirganj area.
It was not just a plaque welcoming the art connoisseurs to the culturally rich Old Citys area but the only visible proof of the fact that Mir spent his creative years here, said Sultan, a local resident.
The neglect, as expected, has induced a wave of anger among writers and poets.
It is a reflection on the reality on how negligent and apathetic we are towards our culture. While Mirs work will live on, we have failed in protecting a plaque with his name, said noted poet Munawar Rana while talking to Hindustan Times.
Insisting that Mir was the poet who belonged to everyone, and not just to one community, Rana said, Like his grave that vanished eight year back, the road named after the legend will be lost too.
Poets, litterateurs and scholars play an important role and societies cannot flourish unless they learn to respect them, Rana added.
Mir was referred to as `Khuda-e-Sukhan (God of poetry). Such was his class that even his critics used to respect him. Poets and writers must not be disrespected, said noted poet Mukul Mahan while quoting Mirs ghazals that were used in Hindi films: Patta patta, boota-boota and `Dikhaai diye yun ke bekhud kiya, hamen aap se bhi juda kar chale.
Noted poet Khushbir Singh Shaad too expressed his surprise over the neglect of Mirs legacy in Lucknow.
While he deserves much more than a plaque, we could not even save such a small signpost of the poet of his stature, he said.
Mir is claimed to have written six Diwans (collection of poems) containing 13,585 couplets.
One of the leading poets of the 18th century, he shifted to the court of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula in Lucknow in 1782.
According to Nawab Zafar Abdullah, Mirs plaque was removed months back and was not even noticed.
Why all of a sudden people have started talking about it, he wondered.
The Lucknow Municipal Corporation, meanwhile, says it has not removed any such plaque.
I am also a fan of his poetry. The matter has been brought to my notice for the first time and if at all anyone has removed his stone we will place it there again. The road will always remain on his name, said municipal commissioner Udairaj Singh.
Anyway, name of roads cannot be changed overnight and without the consent of the LMC house, he said.
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This Dipavali, there seems no better wish to people of all faiths than the Sanskrit song sung by MS Subbulakshmi at the UN General Assembly on 23rd October 1966.
The song is attributed by popular report to the Kanchi Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati (1894-1994). Ive also read that it was composed by the eminent musicologist Dr V Raghavan with the Paramacharyas blessings and set to music by Vasant Desai. The Kanchi Paramacharya was the saintly personage whom the Dalai Lama described as the only monk of the century and whom heads of state, PMs, CMs, the Queen of Spain and the poorest and the shyest felt drawn to. Warring factions united in respecting him. So the song came from a very good place.
The story goes that MS suddenly lost her voice prior to the UN concert. She prayed to the Kanchi Paramacharya to save her, as Indias representative, from the disgrace of a no-show and recovered in time to sing and win a standing ovation for the song. We can hear it on YouTube and watch that shy Indian lady back in October 1966, draped in a sari with a bindi on her forehead and a string of jasmine and roses tucked into her hair.
The words are:
maitrim bhajata, akhila hrit jaitrim/Atmavad eva parann api pashyata/ yudhham tyajata, spardham tyajata/tyajata pareshu akrama-kramanam. janani prithivi kamadugharte/janako devah sakala dayaluh/damyata, datta, dayadhvam janata/ shreyo bhuyat sakala jananam.
They mean: Cultivate friendship and humility, which will conquer the hearts of everyone. Look upon others as akin to yourself, as your own. Renounce war, give up competition (jealousy), give up aggression; do not be aggressive.
Mother Earth gives us all that we desire, God is One and compassionate to all, as we should be. Practise restraint (damyata), generosity (datta) and compassion (dayadhavam), people of the world (janata). May all be happy and prosperous.
The words damyata, datta and dayadhvam occur in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in a story by Rishi Yajnavalkya, in which these words are the message from the universe contained in the roar of thunder.
Inspired by the luminous personality of the Kanchi Paramacharya, who was known for his divine insight, and for whom nobody was apparently too small or insignificant, heres a tiny true story for Dipavali.
Sometime in the 1960s, a poor bangle-seller wandered from place to place selling his wares at villages and rural fairs. One day, he wandered into the temple town of Kanchipuram. Somehow, nobody seemed interested in buying anything. Tired and dejected by late afternoon, he sat down at the doorway of the Kanchi Kamakoti Matth. From deep within, the Kanchi Paramacharya suddenly told an aide, Give the bangle-seller at the gate food and buttermilk. Ask him to wait. Quietly tell the devotees who come for evening darshan to buy bangles for their womenfolk in Devis honour.
Of course they did, and the bangle-seller went away feeling cherished and successful.
Not everyone may be in a position to perform great deeds of service but good thoughts and small, sweet acts of loving kindness could be the lamps we light this Dipavali.
shebaba09@gmail.com
The views expressed are personal.
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In 2014, Kolkata actor/director Prasun Chatterjee was ready with his dream script. Hed woven a tale about the friendship between two boys in a village in West Bengal in the backdrop of the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Chatterjee was aware that his film, without a song and dance sequence or stars, would be difficult to sell to producers. But he hoped to be able to convince at least someone. For three years, meetings went fruitless.
But in March this year, he abandoned the idea but not the film.
Chatterjee and a small crew travelled to the Indo-Bangladesh border in Murshidabad and shot the trailer for Dharmik, bearing the expenses from their own pockets. They put it up on the Kolkata-based crowdfunding platform Beeyodo, hoping to get potential viewers to contribute Rs 43 lakh to make the rest of the film.
I am a great fan of Ritwik Ghatak and I believe strongly in the idea that he repeated often: It is a sin to lose faith in people, says Chatterjee. Now that there is a way to reach out to people directly with your idea, I decided to bypass the struggle with producers.
The campaign started in July and so far, Dharmik has collected nearly Rs 30 lakh. The film will start shooting early November.
Crowdfunding helped us in multiple ways, the filmmaker says. People helped us by transferring money, sharing the information with others and even contacting us and handing over money in cash personally. People transferred as much as Rs 60,000 online and as little as Rs 50.
Like Chatterjee, Indian filmmakers with scripts that are unlikely to get traditional producers excited are increasingly going the crowdfunding route, says Priyanka Agarwal, CEO and co-founder, Wishberry, a crowdfunding platform.
Two feature films Rainbow Fields by Bidyut Kotoky and Out of Time by Arijit Lahiri are currently on Wishberry, hoping for funds from the general public.
Funding from fans
Approaching people to help make a film has a long history in India. Shyam Benegal made Manthan, a film inspired by the dairy revolution, using contributions from 5 lakh dairy farmers in 1975.
But with online crowdfunding, the numbers have increased manifold. Platforms like Ketto or Wishberry now see films looking for funding. Kettos last campaign, for the Hindi-English film Hindrapura directed by T Mohanraj, Jiya Rawat and Pratik Narayanan Kutty, ended on September 20 and raised Rs 61,000.
Indians have become more e-payment friendly, accolade-winning filmmakers have inspired other filmmakers, big names like Illayaraja and Nandita Das have come on-board by campaigning for films like Punyakoti and the 2016 film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai? Agarwal says. Digital distribution platforms like Netflix and Amazon have helped in expanding monetising options. With every success story the cycle keeps rolling.
Kenny Basumatary, director of popular Assamese films Local Kung Fu 1 and Local Kung Fu 2 put up Local Kung Fu 2 on Wishberry with a target of raising Rs 8 lakh last year. The first edition of the movie was really cheap [Rs 50,000], he says. But after we made some money and grew a fan base we decided to make a bigger film.
Crowdfunding, however, was not the obvious choice for National Award-winning director, Bidyut Kotoky, whose film Rainbow Fields is hoping to raise Rs 10 lakh on Wishberry.
I felt a little awkward asking for money, he admits. A lot of directors do face this dilemma. But it is easier when the platform does it on your behalf. The detailed brief about the film and the reason for the campaign with the trailer is helpful, he says.
What works
A well-thought-out pitch conveys sincerity and offers clarity to potential funders, says Viswa Ranjan Das, 59, who works for Reserve Bank of India in Kolkata. Das contributed Rs 10,000 towards Prasun Chatterjees project Dharmik online. A friend sent me the project on Facebook and I found the idea and the trailer really impressive. These days we spend a few thousand rupees each time we go out to watch a film. Why cant we contribute a little bit to support the kind of cinema we keep saying we want? he says.
Kotoky says that putting out a film on a crowdsourcing platform also helps in getting the word out. Big films have a huge publicity budget and they get a lot of media coverage too. In case of smaller independent films, there is no money left for publicity at all, he adds.
Director of the film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hain (a remake of the Saeed Mirza classic), Soumitra Ranade had managed to raise more than Rs 40 lakh on a crowfunding campaign in 2015. He maintains that this method to raise money works best for independent projects. People know that these films will not interest producers and they want to see them happen, he says.
One difficult part of this process, according to Ranade, is that the filmmaker needs to constantly communicate with the audience. You need post something on social media like some trivial about the film, the subject or the campaign every day, respond to all queries. This can be exhausting, he warns.
T Mohanraj, co-director of Hindrapura, says that crowdsourcing is like a lifeline for newcomers. No one even wants to listen to a newcomers script. An open platform is far more democratic and allows the audience to judge for themselves and pay for a project, he says.
Mohanraj started working on Hindrapura with money contributed by the crew and actors who worked for free but after a point, he realised there is still 15 more days of shooting to be done when their budget ran out in July. By September, they managed to raise Rs 61,000.
I would suggest anyone who wants to fund a film through a crowdfunding platform, to make a very good trailer. It is often the most crucial factor for someone contributing, he says.
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Stopping an apparent misuse of the beef ban law, the Bombay high court has struck down criminal proceedings initiated against a Nagpur-based hide and skin dealer, who was booked under provisions of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995.
Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Kareem, 62, is a Chindwara Road resident and a registered dealer of the hide and skin of dead animals.
He owns a business called Baba Traders. On November 25, 2016, officers attached to Jaripatka police station raided his godown. On finding 4,200 hides and skins and 1,500 tins of processed fat, they booked him under section 9 and 11 of the Act.
Police also seized a truck parked in front of his godown. Kareem approached the high court seeking that the first information report registered against him be quashed, saying that he could not be prosecuted under the act as he had not been involved in any cow slaughtering.
Looking at the first information report makes it clear that the applicant has not committed any offence with regard to the slaughtering of animals, said a division bench of justices Anoop Mohta and MG Giratkar.
The record and applicants submissions show that he deals with dead animals. He therefore cannot be punished under sections 9 and 11 of the Maharashra Animal Preservation Act, the bench said.
The hide and skin business is not prohibited under this Act, it added.
The high court thus accepted Kareems plea.
Former Maharahstra Congress spokesperson, Mahadev Shelar, committed suicide at his Mulund residence on Saturday. The incident took place at Vilva Kunj society at 2.30 pm.
The police said that the 64-year-old hanged himself from a ceiling fan using a nylon rope. Police have registered a case of accidental death and are probing the matter.
According to the police, the deceased resided on the third floor of the building, while his son lived on the first floor with his wife and two children. Shelars elder daughter lives in the US.
An officer from the Mulund police station said, On Saturday, Shelars wife went out for some work at 1.30pm. When she came back, she found her husbands body hanging from the fan. Shelar was immediately rushed to Fortis hospital, and was declared dead before admission.
The police said that they have recovered a suicide note from the spot. The deceased in the note mentioned that he decided to take the extreme step as he was suffering from diabetes and other illness.
The officer said, The deceased wouldnt converse much with anyone since last year. He was probably suffering from depression owing to his health issues. He had also decreased his visits to their partys CST office.
Shelar had also worked as a general secretary at the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.
Deputy Commissioner of police, Akhilesh Kumar (zone 7), confirmed the incident and said, We have found a suicide note which confirms that Shelar committed suicide due to health issues, he was suffering from high diabetes.
University of Mumbai (MU) has goofed up the schedule for its first semester examination yet again. The university has scheduled its second-year Bachelors in Commerce (BCom) and Bachelors in Accounting Finance (BAF) exams without checking the timetable for the Chartered Accountancy (CA) exams first.
Many students studying for BCom and BAF also pursue the CA course. They have complained that three papers from both Bachelors courses are clashing with the CA exams in November.
CA exams will be held from November 2 to November 15. Around the same time, MU has scheduled our SYBCom exams. Three papers on November 9, 13 and 15 are clashing. We now have to choose which exam we want to appear for, said Sharad Shah, a second-year BCom student. He said many of his classmates have asked their college to tell the MUs examination department about this problem.
This is neither the first time that MU has messed up the examination schedule for CA aspirants nor first time students have complained this year. Two weeks ago, HT had reported that third-year BCom students were complaining about their exams clashing with CA test dates. After receiving complaints from commerce and law students, MU released an updated schedule to accommodate all exams. However, the reworking of examination schedules has not resolved the problems that second-year students are facing.
CA exams are always held between the first and second week of November. How can the university not take this into account? We end up panicking and complaining every time and then the officials try to repair the damage, said a third-year Bachelor of Accounting Finance (BAF) student.
While the university is yet to respond to students demand for a change in examination schedule, colleges are hoping that the modified timetable will be announced in advance. Many BCom and BAF students juggle undergraduate degree as well as CA or Company Secretary (CS) studies at the same time. Such overlapping exam schedules are discouraging. We hope the university hears their complaints and finds a solution soon, said Parag Ajgaonkar, principal, N M College, Vile Parle.
Officials from the universitys examination department were unavailable for comment.
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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday hit out at the police for targeting youth who have criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social networking sites.
During a meeting, which lasted for more than three hours, at at YB Chavan Centre in South Mumbai, he interacted with more than 40 youth from diverse social and economic backgrounds and different districts in the state. They unanimously complained to Pawar that their right to freely express their views against the government was curtailed.
In the meeting which lasted for more than three hours , they also told Pawar that they were being trolled by right-wing netizens. Pawar told the media that his party will support the youth.
We have decided to stand firmly by these youngsters to oppose suppression of the fundamental right of freedom of expression. They have been aggressively writing their views in the interest of democracy and secularism. I dont think they belong to any particular party or subscribe to any political ideology. It is shocking that the police are after these people for expressing views on social media. We will provide legal aid to them, the NCP chief said.
The meeting comes after 27 people were recently summoned by the crime branch of the state police for their statements on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. A few of them were examined in a case related to a fake account created under the name of an officer from the chief ministers office and subsequent derogatory messages sent out from the profile.
The group consists of farmers, students and mostly professionals. Some of us were routine blog writers and active on social media. Their major complaint was that they were being watched. One of them was summoned in a case which was not even remotely related to him. It was because he wrote about the Maharashtra governments dubious stand on farmers strike,said a man, who attended the meeting.
The youth had requested Pawar to hear them out after he expressed his concern on Twitter last week that law-enforcing agencies were targeting them. NCP leader Jitendra Avhad facilitated the meeting.
Pawar expressed his shock over governments role and reportedly told them in the meeting that it was worse than the situation during the Emergency in 1975. He also said that the leaders from previous government never reacted so aggressively, like being done today to the people writing against the incumbent leaders.
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For the past two years, the two allies-turned-foes-turned-allies Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been trying to score over each other when it came to controlling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), considered to be the richest in India.
Earlier this year, the BJP came within striking distance of power as it bagged just two fewer seats than the Sena in the civic polls. However, with the stability of the state government in mind, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis allowed the Sena to rule the BMC by extending unconditional support. Still, the bickering between the two parties was on with the BJP announcing that it would play role of a watchdog for the people. Now, with Sena strengthening its position by poaching six MNS corporators on Friday and widening its gap from BJP to 10 seats, the power tussle between the two parties has taken another turn. Now all eyes are on the BJPs response to Senas move.
There is possibility of a legal battle as the MNS has challenged the decision of its six corporators to join the Sena.
The defected corporators led by Dilip Lande have written to the divisional commissioner (Konkan) informing him their decision to join the Sena. They, however, have to complete the procedure before the ruling is given by the divisional commissioner. The corporators have also been accused of graft by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. The BJP has also approached state election commission for the action against the corporators. The decision on these three fronts depends on the stand taken by the state government, especially chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Section 50 (s) of the BMC Act allows the formation of a separate group/support to join any party with the defecting members not less than two-third of total strength. The MNS challenging it in the court, may not hold any standing, but it all depends on the interpretation of the provisions, an official from the state election commission said.
Until the divisional commissioner grants the request, the group of six corporators could be treated as the members of the MNS and their votes will not be considered in any other party. The MNS, too, has threatened to move the court calling the defection illegal. In this backdrop of the involvement of various government agencies, the government may ensure delay in the decision. It all depends on the viewpoint of the CM and the state BJP unit,said a senior BJP leader.
According to the leaders from the BJP, the party is more interested in wresting control over the standing, improvement and other two committees by improving their numbers. As there is no provision of dislodging the mayor before the conclusion of a term of two-and-a-half years, the party has been attempting to turn the tables on the Sena during the elections for committees in next March. With the widening gap in numbers of corporators of the Shiv Sena and the BJP, the latter is unlikely to succeed immediately in its aspirations.
Advocate Uday Warunjikar said it is high time that the government thinks of amending the law. The defection will be legal once the corporators are allowed to form their own group. But I think the time has come to increase the percentage of defectors from two-thirds to at least 75% members, he said.
The only option left with the BJP is to poach the corporators from the Congress or the Nationalist Congress Party. But again defection of two-third corporators from any of these parties seems difficult. It is more so in case of NCP, as 6 of its 9 corporators are Muslims, who will never join either of the saffron parties. The Congress is battling with infighting and groupism, but despite it, a vertical split is unlikely, a BJP leader said.
Congress city chief Sanjay Nirupam said that their house was in order and no such split was possible. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, Our corporators would not go anywhere.
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Following the defection of six of his seven corporators in the Mumbai civic body on Friday, questions are being raised about the future of Raj Thackerays battered Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which he has been struggling to revive.
The six MNS corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) defected to its arch-rival Shiv Sena, making the MNS chiefs struggle to stay relevant in Maharashtra politics more difficult.
The party has been on the back foot ever since its dismal performance in the 2014 Assembly, and this year in the BMC elections. In the past few months, Thackeray has been infusing fresh blood in his party through the appointment of youngsters to key posts.
Most recently, Thackeray led a protest march against the railway administration after the Elphinstone Road station stampede. He has also been seen consistently attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an attempt to tap into peoples resentment against the ruling party over its controversial demonetisation and GST decisions.
Fridays defection is a huge blow to Thackeray and his party, said political analysts. The MNS workers are highly demoralised as there is no vision for the party. They are confused, and this defection is both a political and psychological setback for the party, said political expert Surendra Jondhale. With both the BJP and the Sena busy fighting among themselves despite being in power, the MNS workers see no future for themselves in the current scenario.
In its early days, the MNS had tasted huge success, bagging 13 Assembly seats and 28 seats in the BMC. However in 2014, it saw a severe drubbing, with its Assembly tally dipping to just one legislator. After these polls, the MNS had seen large-scale defections, especially by top leaders such as Pravin Darekar and Vasant Gite, who joined the BJP. Now, six of its seven corporators in the BMC have defected after its poor performance in the civic polls held earlier this year.
Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar, however, claimed that the latest defections will make hardly any difference. They were traitors, and their exit will not affect us. The revival programme is going on and we will see the results in the next elections, he said.
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Four people, including a woman and her mother, have been arrested on Friday for killing a one-day-old baby boy, in Mumbai Metropolitan Regions Dombivli area.
The accused, identified as Mata Mandir Banerjee, 20, and her mother Shanta, 45, killed the baby that she gave birth to on Saturday to hide the fact from her two boyfriends. Sources said Mata was unmarried and did not want the two men to know that she had delivered and spoil relationships.
The police have also arrested the two boyfriends, Kamlesh Bhanushali, 29, a Kalyan resident, and Mahesh Bande, 24, a resident of Kalwa. All four accused do odd jobs for a living.
On Monday, residents of Sai Siddhi Park apartments at Manpada, Dombivli, called the police after they opened a plastic bag dumped at the back of their building and discovered a newborns body in it. Residents said they investigated what was in the bag as they had just cleaned the buildings garbage area on Sunday.
The Manpada police registered a case of murder and alerted the Thane crime branch unit 3, which took over the investigation.
There were no CCTV cameras at the spot, so the police tracked down the accused through investigations. Saju Jhon, senior police inspector from Thane crime branch unit 3, said: We found that the child belongs to a woman who lives in Kalyan, and tracked her down. We found that she had two boyfriends.
We also found that the woman had been given pills by both boyfriends to terminate the pregnancy, but the pills did not work, so the accused decided to kill the child, a police officer from Thane commissionerate said, requesting anonymity. The accused, Mata, and her mother did the actual killing. On Sunday, the two women slit the infants throat with a sharp weapon, packed the body in a plastic bag and dumped it at Manpada.
Both boyfriends are denying that the baby is theirs. We will be sending them both for DNA tests to clear the matter, the officer added. They will be produced in court soon.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Monday Bihar had the blessings of Saraswati (Goddess of learning), but the government planned to make Saraswati meet Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) in the state.
That will ensure that Bihar joins the front-ranking states by 2022, when India will celebrate the 75th year of its independence. The commitment of the Bihar government to development and the east-focused approach of the Centre will make it happen, he said, while addressing the centenary year celebration of PU.
Though PUs quest for central university status did not materialize despite chief minister Nitish Kumar batting strongly in its favour, the PM said the kind of legacy PU and Bihar enjoyed in the field of education was a big inspiration.
The streams of knowledge in Bihar are as old as the streams of the Ganga, he said, but hinted at the paradigm shift in higher education funding and approach.
From conventional teaching, the universities need to move towards innovative learning. Owing to rapid changes happening in a dynamic world, people need to unlearn and pick up new things, he added.
CM Kumar made a strong case for PU being granted central university status, starting off with his own experience as a student at Patna Science College and dwelling on the long and illustrious list of the PU alumni.
The year 1917 was significant for Bihar. While Bapu started the Champaran Satyagrah, PU was set up through an imperial legislation, which was a central legislation those days, the same year. Everyone is looking at you with huge expectation. I request you with folded hands to give it the status of central university, he said.
Earlier, deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi also batted strongly for PU. JP would not have become Loknayak had PU not been there. It was PU that played a big role in the change of government in 1977. With both the PM and CM on the dais, the glory of PU will certainly return, he said.
He also had a dig at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, while listing the alumni of PU. The list of alumni is long and cuts across all fields be it politics, education, law, bureaucracy, business, science. And Laluji is also from here, he added.
PU VC Rash Behari Prasad Singh said PU would start 12 new under-graduate courses from 2018 academic session. It is to the credit of PU that seven out of the seven dignitaries on the dais are from PU, he said, pointing out how girls education had got a boost in PU both in enrollment numbers and performance.
Governor-cum-chancellor of universities Satpal malik, union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ashwini Chaubey and Upendra Kushwaha and Bihars education minister Krishnandan Prasad Verma were also present on dais.
A number of dignitaries including High Court judges, Bihar ministers, former and present VCs, MLAs, MLCs and academicians, among others witnessed the event.
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The Bihar building construction department (BCD) has served notices on former ministers, including former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, to vacate their official residences immediately or pay rent 15 times the standard market rate of the premises.
Except former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, all other ex-ministers who were provided accommodation by the BCD, have not vacated their bungalows, said BCD minister Maheshwar Hazari. As per norms, former ministers are liable to pay in lakhs as monthly rent if they decline to move out of the premises immediately.
This is the second time when the BCD has served notices on them to vacate the bungalows. A month after Nitish Kumar parted ways with the Grand Alliance comprising the RJD and Congress and took oath as chief minister on July 27 early this year to form an NDA government with support from the BJP and its allies, the BCD asked the ministers belonging to the RJD and the Congress to vacate the houses.
At present, many ministers of the new dispensation, mostly belonging to the BJP, are compelled to reside and discharge their duties either out of their own flats or small houses provided from the state legislature quota. Urban development minister Suresh Sharma said he was facing a lot of inconvenience in meeting people and officials at home as he was staying in a flat of an apartment.
Tejashwi and his elder brother and former health minister Tej Pratap Yadav are occupying spacious bungalows adjacent to the chief ministers official residence.
The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government had earlier turned down Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadavs plea to allow him to retain the bungalow alloted to him when he was the deputy chief minister.
The 5, Deshratna Marg bungalow of Tejashwi has now been alloted to Sushil Kumar Modi, the Deputy Chief Minister in the JD(U)-BJP coalition government.
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Any political party would ideally wait for adverse poll results to go into damage control. But the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) does not consider such a formality a necessity. Conceding defeat a day before the Gurdaspur bypoll verdict, the party dissolved its units in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts with immediate effect.
Partys state secretary Gulshan Chhabra made the formal announcement on Saturday attributing the decision to extensive deliberations and feedback from the state president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and co-incharge Aman Arora, an MLA from Sunam.
Chhabra said the new structural units of both Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts would be announced soon after having detailed consultations and feedback from the party office-bearers and MLAs who campaigned extensively in the Gurdaspur byelection.
The decision also laid bare the chinks in the party unit. On why did the party not wait for the results, leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira, when contacted, said he had not been informed about the decision.
While AAP was the first to go off the block by announcing a candidate, Maj Gen Suresh Khajuria (retd), the party campaign, right from funding to planning, suffered major jolts.
Of nine of its candidates in the assembly segments in Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency, five had joined rival camps. Partys face in the 2014 parliamentary polls, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, had already been discredited and expelled by the party ahead of the state polls in February.
AAPs Majha zone head and Qadian candidate Kamalpreet Singh Kaki abandoned the ship and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal soon after announcement of the bypoll. Party general secretary and Gurdaspur bypoll coordinator, Lakhvir Singh, defected to the Congress days ahead of the bypoll.
The phrase who campaigned extensively itself shows where lies the blame. According to party sources, two MLAS each were assigned duties in one assembly seat but not all camped there.
Partys ally, Lok Insaaf Party, joined the campaign but the Bains brothers of Ludhiana, Balwinder and Simarjit, have no sway here and did not venture beyond Dera Baba Nanak seat.
The campaign crumbled due to lack of support, strategy and planning. No funds came from Delhi. Most state leaders contributed from their own pocket, including Bains brothers. Partys co-incharge Aman Arora returned from his foreign trip few days before the campaign ended, sources said.
The AAP was also fighting the legacy of poor assembly results here. The party had failed to open its account in the Majha belt, which the Congress had swept.
Grappling with absence of local leaders to lead the campaign in the nine assembly segments, the AAP had also to contend with depleted cadre strength and morale.
Eventually, the bypoll which began as a three-horse race between the Congress, Akali Dal-BJP and the AAP, became a bipolar battle between the two ruling parties, one at the state and the other at the Centre, leaving AAP a persona non grata in the elections, despite Khajurias focusing his campaign on local issues and not political slander.
Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday said Rahul Gandhis election to Congress presidents post will be a game changer for the party.
BJP state president Vijay Sampla, taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, had said that if Congress will appoint Gandhi as party president, the party will disappear from India.
At a party function in Mudhal village, near Verka, where Amritsar MP Gurjit Aujla adopted the village, Sidhu said Congress was in power, party president Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi sacrificed their positions.
Either of them could have been the Prime Minister. This shows their character. In those ten years of rule, madam (Sonia Gandhi) held back Rahul bhai . And now when time is tough Rahul Gandhi is bearing the brunt of everything and marching on. He is a man of character,, Sidhu said.
Lashing out at Delhi Chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Sidhu said that he went to him once after party leaders approached him, seeking support.
Everything was leaked to the media. But, I met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi at least ten times and not a single word was leaked to the media. People look up to a credible leader and here is the man who gave away all the credit in good time to other party leaders and is bearing the burden during difficult times. He is the best choice as Congress president and I am glad to work under him, Sidhu said.
Talking about the Gurdaspur bypoll result, which will be declared on Sunday, the Punjab local bodies minister said Congress will register a win by huge margin and it will serve as trailer to the change in power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Vinod Khanna won thrice and now we will snatch the seat from BJP, which will lose because of some tainted Akalis leaders.
Claiming that the party was united, Sidhu said all leaders will stand by Rahul Gandhi.
People are with the Congress. It is important to be a believer so that you can become an achiever. Making Rahul Gandhi the party president will boost spirit of the party workers, he said.
As MP Aujla adopted Mudhal village, he announced Rs 1 crore for the development of the village from the MP fund. Pertinently Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of Navjot Singh Sidhu, was earlier the MLA from east Amritsar.
Sidhu on Saturday announced Rs 2 crore for the development of the village. He formed a ten-member committee to keep a check on the development works there and claimed that work will be started within 20 days.
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Despite a lot of hue and cry raised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), farmers in Punjab continue to resort to stubble burning. In its aerial surveys from September 27 to October 10, the state remote sensing department recorded incidents of raging fires at 1,002 points.
Thick smoke billowing from the farmlands of Punjab and Haryana is seen as one of the causes of smog over New Delhis skies at the onset of winters. Smoke from bursting of firecrackers around Diwali is another main reason behind smog.
In 2015, the NGT banned stubble burning but looking at the scale of paddy sown all over Punjab, the state agencies are finding it difficult to curb the practice. Last year, a total of 2,414 cases of stubble burning were reported in the state.
The claims of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), agriculture directorate and the revenue department that there has been a drastic fall in the number of cases fall flat if one looks at the trend. With the paddy harvesting yet to start in southwestern Punjab and the Majha belt, there is all likelihood that stubble burning incidents will rise.
This time, the PPCB has so far imposed Rs 6 lakh fine on 220 farmers for stubble burning. Last year, the PPCB had imposed Rs 30 lakh penalty on 736 farmers. In 2016, the Akali-BJP government chose not to act tough against stubble burning since the assembly elections were due in a few months (in January 2017).
This year, the farmer unions have asked farmers to defy the NGT order demanding Rs 3,000-4,000 per acre compensation to dispose of the paddy residue. We are making efforts to stop farmers from burning stubble and many have agreed to this. There has been considerable fall in burning of stubble in Doaba belt, PPCB chairman KS Pannu said.
In 2016, the Akali-BJP government chose not to act tough against stubble burning since the assembly elections were due in a few months (in January 2017).
Farmers understand the problems caused by burning to the soil and environment and are gradually desisting from burning, he said.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal, who was also present at the NGT hearing, said, I conveyed to the tribunal that its unbelievable that smoke from Punjab travels to New Delhi, and not from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana has more number of burning cases, he said.
Studies say stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and UP contribute 12-60% of smog in New Delhi.
Apart from Rajewal, a group of farmers from Kalarmajri were also produced before the NGT by the state agriculture directorate. These farmers told the tribunal that the state government was taking adequate steps to check stubble burning. The NGT has fixed next hearing for October 17.
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Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumars film 2.0, directed by Shankar, will have a grand audio launch in Dubai, on October 27, in the presence of the cast and crew of the film. Music for the highly-anticipated project is scored by the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman. The mega-budget project, that also stars Amy Jackson as a robot, is the sequel to the super hit 2010 film, Enthiran.
The event is expected to take place at Burf Park at 6 pm. The film, which is slated to release during the Republic Day weekend, is already gaining buzz thanks to a couple of making of videos. Especially the second one, in which Shankar, Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar explain how they shot the film in 3D.
While the prequel starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Rajinikanths love interest, 2.0s female lead, Amy Jackson, plays a robot. Is she paired opposite Chitti, Vaseegarans (Rajinis character) personal robot assistant? One of the making of videos hinted at the return of the crazed version of Chitti, who was destroyed by Vaseegaran in Enthiran.
Akshay Kumars look was revealed by director Shankar on the occasion of the actors birthday. Akshays look with the help of prosthetics gives one a sense of him being an otherworldy creature. By introducing Akshay Kumar as Rajinikanths adversary, Shankar has only raised the expectations pinned on this film.
Follow @htshowbiz for more.
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A couple in Madurai has reportedly confessed to strangling their 16-year-old daughter for sullying the familys name with her relationship with a Dalit youth, police have said.
The parents of this young girl of Kilavaneri village in Madurai district confessed to the police that they had indeed strangled her with a rope.
They were distraught over what they described as her wayward lifestyle and relationship with a boy from a different caste, a local police officer told HT.
According to the police, the parents who belong to the upper caste and are agriculturalists had told them that their 16-year-old daughter had committed suicide on the night of October 7 as she had failed in her Class X examinations. Police sent her body for post mortem to the government hospital in Madurai.
On Thursday, the post-mortem report questioned the suicide theory as doctors found strangulation marks on the neck of the girl -- G Annalakshmi.
Read more: Couple hacked to death in Telangana in alleged case of honour killing
After sustained questioning the parents R Gnanavel and Sitalakshmi admitted that they had strangled their daughter with a rope. The reason for taking the life of their fourth and youngest daughter was her inclination to have relationship with many boys in the village and bringing bad name to the family, the police officer said.
Police have arrested the parents and have launched an investigation. Police sources said that the boys in village with whom the girl was friendly are likely to be questioned. The couple was remanded to 14 days in judicial custody on Friday.
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Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered over the past day in their one-time bastion Raqa, the US-led coalition backing the offensive on the Syrian city said Saturday.
Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ISIS terrorists have surrendered in Raqa, and were removed from the city, the coalition said in an emailed statement to AFP.
Foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa, it said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all Syrian IS jihadists -- numbering around 200 fighters -- had left their former stronghold with their families.
All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqa over the past five days, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they headed to unknown destinations.
A Raqa official told AFP that Syrian IS members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.
They sent a message to the Raqa Civil Council and to the tribal mediators, the official said.
Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners -- the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet, he said.
Members of the council -- a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF -- had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group.
According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.
The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under IS control in Deir Ezzor province, in eastern Syria, he said.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.
We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh, Nuri Mahmoud told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDFs Arab and Kurdish fighters have recaptured around 90 percent of Raqa from IS.
Surendra Kumar Sinha, Bangladeshs first Hindu Chief Justice, is believed to have been forced to go on a leave amid reports that the government was upset with him over his decision to scrap parliaments authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.
Sinha, 66, left for Australia last night, saying he was embarrassed over the controversy surrounding his July ruling. He also denied claims by the government that he was sick.
I am the guardian of the judiciary, in the interest of the judiciary I am leaving temporarily so that its image does not get hurt. I will return, he said ahead of his departure for Australia.
But Sinha added he firmly believes his stance over a recent verdict was misinterpreted to the government, upsetting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but expected her to realise the fact soon.
He also rejected an earlier claim by Law Minister Anisul Huq about his sickness while his leave application to President Abdul Hamid was being processed.
I am not sick, I am well... I am not fleeing either, the chief justice told newsmen in front of his official residence while on his way to the airport.
He also issued a written statement, in first such media interaction since the government announced his one-month sick leave beginning October 3.
Sinha, however, added the way a political quarter, lawyers, and especially some honourable ministers of the government and the honourable prime minister are criticising me recently over a verdict embarrassed me.
The government row with the higher judiciary sparked in July this year when the apex court delivered a verdict declaring void the 16th constitutional amendment, scrapping parliaments authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.
The dispute grew in the subsequent weeks as several senior government leaders virtually attacked Sinha over his comments, blasting the government for its reaction and gave Pakistans example where ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was stripped of his premiership under an apex court ruling.
Prime Minister Hasina accused him of defaming parliament and president and humiliating Bangladesh by referring to Pakistans instance premiers removal saying he (chief justice) should have quit (and) the most humiliating thing is the comparison with Pakistan which is intolerable.
Main Opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party of ex-premier Khaleda Zia has supported Sinha, saying the government was trying to control the higher judiciary by launching a campaign against the apex court judgment.
Hours ahead of his departure, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the government forced Sinha to go abroad to establish its full control over the judiciary.
Its now clear to the entire nation that the government has taken all the steps to send the chief justice abroad by force, he said.
Sinha, Bangladeshs first Hindu chief justice whose tenure expires in January 2018, in his written statement said he was a bit worried about the independence of the judiciary.
He complained that the judge who became the acting chief justice to perform the routine job in his absence was encouraged by the government to bring changes to the Supreme Court administration soon.
If any interference is made in the chief justices administration, it can be easily assumed that the government is interfering in the higher court and this will further deteriorate the relationship between the judiciary and the government. It would not bring any good to the state, he concluded.
Fire officials in Northern California reported further headway on Friday against the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in state history, as the death toll rose to 35 and teams with cadaver dogs combed charred ruins for human remains.
The wind-driven blazes, which erupted on Sunday night in the heart of Californias renowned wine country, north of San Francisco, have destroyed an estimated 5,700 homes and businesses and forced the evacuation of at least 25,000 people.
With more than 200 people still missing on Friday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number fatalities from the so-called North Bay fires would likely climb higher.
Even as firefighters gained more ground during a second day of better weather, they braced for a return of higher temperatures, lower humidity and strong, gusty winds that could increase the threat to communities still in harms way.
Ground crews raced to clear drought-parched vegetation along the southern flanks of fires, removing highly combustible fuels adjacent to populated areas before extreme heat and winds were forecast to revive over the weekend.
Weve challenged the troops to get out there and secure mainly the south parts of these fires in preparation for those strong north winds, Bret Gouvea, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), told a news conference.
Pamela Garibaldi looks over burned remains of her parents home destroyed by wildfire in Napa, California, US, October 13. (Reuters)
As of Friday afternoon, 17 major wildfires - some encompassing several smaller blazes merged together - had consumed nearly 222,000 acres of dry brush, grasslands and trees across eight counties.
Governor Jerry Brown planned to visit the area with Californias two US senators on Saturday.
Officials have said power lines toppled by gale-force winds the first night may have sparked the conflagration, though the official cause remained under investigation.
Much of the devastation centered in and around the Sonoma County town of Santa Rosa, where whole neighborhoods were reduced to landscapes of gray ash, smoldering debris and burned-out vehicles.
Some victims were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, and many survivors had only minutes to flee.
Resort in danger
The picturesque town of Calistoga, at the northern end of Napa Valley, faced one of the biggest remaining hazards. Its 5,000-plus residents were ordered from their homes on Wednesday night as a fierce blaze dubbed the Tubbs fire crept to within 2 miles (3.2 km) of city limits.
On Friday evening, fires raged along mountain ridges overlooking Calistoga, threatening to rain embers onto the town if strong winds blow out of the north as predicted, Cal Fire spokesman Dennis Rein said.
A home off Glen Eagle Court in Fountaingrove, lies in ruin in the devastation of a wildfire, Friday October 13, 2017, in Santa Rosa, California. (AP Photo)
A resort and spa destination dating from the mid-1800s, Calistoga is famed for its mud baths, hot springs, geysers and a historic Western-style downtown.
The enclave is surrounded by vineyards and wineries, upscale hotels and even a replica of a medieval Italian castle, Castello di Amorosa, one of its best known attractions.
The 35 confirmed fatalities - 19 in Sonoma County - mark the greatest loss of life from a single fire event on record in California, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.
Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said his office had investigated nearly 1,500 missing-persons reports stemming from the fires, and all but 235 had since turned up safe as of Friday evening.
Search and Rescue personnel from Alameda County take a break from a body search at Journey's End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa, California, Friday, October 13. (AP Photo)
Disruptions in communications and the failure of many evacuees to promptly check in with authorities or loved ones accounted for the overwhelming majority of individuals initially reported missing, authorities said.
Still, Giordano said 45 search-and-rescue teams and 18 detectives had been deployed to scour obliterated neighborhoods for more victims.
Finding shelter
At a fairground converted to a shelter in the nearby city of Petaluma, about 250 cots were full by Friday, and people slept in tents in the parking lot as volunteers served porridge and eggs for breakfast.
Yasmin Gonzalez, 28, her four children and husband, a grape picker, were anxious to leave the shelter and return to their apartment in Sonoma.
Its horrible to leave your home, and your things and not know whats going to happen, Gonzalez said.
The regions health system has also been weakened by the fires. Kaiser Permanente was forced to close its Santa Rosa medical center and pharmacy, and many doctors and small practices evacuated.Kaiser said on Friday that it was rerouting patients, some of whom complained of respiratory ailments as a result of smoke, to nearby medical centers.
A Cal Fire tanker is used to create a retardant box on the north peak of Mt. St. Helena, Friday, October 13 to protect critical communication infrastructure. (AP Photo)
At least 40 Sonoma County physicians have lost their homes in the fires, leaving the county medical association to seek alternative accommodations for them, agency director Wendy Young said.
The years wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.5 million hectares) burned, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In the worst year, 2015, about 9.3 million acres burned.
The fires have thrown Californias wine-producing industry, and related tourism, into disarray at the end of the regions annual grape harvest, damaging or destroying at least a dozen Napa Valley wineries.
The states newly legalized marijuana industry was also hit hard, with at least 20 pot farms in Sonoma, Mendocino and Napa counties ravaged, a growers association said.
A Chinese museum has removed photographs which compare African people to animals from a controversial exhibition after being accused of racism, the curators said Friday.
Social media users in Africa had led outrage over the montages, including one showing an open-mouthed African child alongside a monkey in the same pose, and another showing a black adult man baring his teeth alongside a photograph of a lion, reported the Shanghaiist.
Following the complaints, a dozen offending works were removed from the exhibition called This is Africa, which has been showing for three weeks at the Hubei Provincial Museum, in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
To show our goodwill and sincerity, we have replaced the photos that our African friends find shocking, curator Wang Yuejun told AFP.
The exhibition contained 150 images by photographer Yu Huiping, who has visited Africa many times and greatly loves the continent, said Wang.
In creating his collection the photographer was simply trying to show the harmony between man and animal in Africa, the curator said. There is no discrimination at all in this.
It is not the first time in recent years that Chinese institutions have been accused of showing a lack of sensitivity on race. According to the Shanghaiist, black foreigners visiting or living in China are often dumbfounded by the casual instances of racism that they experience because of their skin color.
Last year, a laundry product firm apologised after a TV advertisement for its detergent showed a black man being forced into a washing machine before emerging transformed into an Asian man.
Four Moldovan citizens were killed and two others were injured when a cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the sea near the airport in Ivory Coasts main city, Abidjan, on Saturday, Ivorian and French officials said.
Four French citizens survived the crash but were injured, Ivory Coasts Security Minister Sidiki Diakite told reporters at the scene. Several Ivorian security sources said French soldiers were among the wounded.
What we can say for the time being is that this morning around 8:30 (0830 GMT), an Antonov plane crashed...with 10 on board including the crew members, he said.
The crash occurred during a storm with heavy rain and lightning and rescuers were hampered by rough seas. Though Abidjans airport is located in a heavily populated area, it did not appear that anyone was hurt on the ground.
The French military operates a logistics base next to the airport in support of its Barkhane operation, combatting Islamist militants in West Africas Sahel region.
This was a plane chartered by the French army in the framework of the Barkhane force in order to carry out logistical missions, French army spokesman Colonel Patrick Steiger said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash, he said, adding that the four injured French citizens were being treated at the French military base adjacent to the airport.
Frances ambassador to Ivory Coast along with French gendarmes and soldiers quickly arrived at the crash site.
Hundreds of residents of the heavily populated neighbourhood of Port Bouet, which surrounds the airport, crowded around the crash site. Some of them assisted firefighters and rescue divers who freed the bodies of the dead from the wreckage, which had broken into several large pieces.
French soldiers and Ivorian security forces later sealed off the area and French and Ivorian military vessels patrolled waters surrounding the crash site.
The name of the company operating the aircraft was not immediately known.
Gunmen suspected to be from neighbouring South Sudan shot dead seven people, including six students, in a raid on a high school early Saturday that appeared to be a revenge attack, a Kenya police official said.
The shooting occurred at dawn at Lokichogio Mixed Secondary School near the countries border, Rift Valley regional criminal investigations chief Gideon Kibunja said.
A key suspect is a senior at the school who was suspended last week after he was found fighting and vowed to take revenge, Kibunja said.
The gunmen were looking for the schools principal and the student involved in the fight but couldnt find them, so they shot other students out of frustration, he said.
The shooting comes a month after a high school girl was charged with murdering nine of her colleagues in a fire at a Nairobi boarding school.
Kenyas border areas are littered with firearms from neighboring countries that have experienced war, including South Sudan and Somalia. High schools have experienced a wave of violent incidents in the past two years.
Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose criticism of their government by US President Donald Trump who threatened to tear up a landmark nuclear deal.
Trumps use of the phrase Arabian Gulf rather than Persian Gulf particularly hit a nerve in a country with a fierce nationalistic streak.
Everyone knew Trumps friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too, wrote foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, referring to the US alliance with Irans regional rival Saudi Arabia.
Despite pressure from the Arab Gulf monarchies, most international bodies still use Persian Gulf as the conventional name for the regions waterway, and many Iranians shared photos of US veterans medals and graves referring to the Persian Gulf conflict of the 1990s.
In his White House speech on Friday evening, Trump reeled off a list of grievances committed by the Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world.
He also threatened to terminate the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers unless Congress passed stringent new sanctions.
But as Iranians headed to their offices on Saturday -- the first day of the work week in Iran -- the reaction was often one of bemusement.
Trumps statements are so ridiculous that it actually works in Irans favour. Speaking about the Arabian Gulf is taken very badly by people here, said Abbas, a 40-year-old banker who only gave his first name.
The reaction of the Europeans shows that the United States is isolated, and only Saudi Arabia and Israel have supported Trump, he added.
The other signatories to the nuclear deal -- Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- have called for its preservation, saying that Iran is clearly sticking to its commitments.
Trumps efforts to reach out to ordinary Iranians, who he referred to as the longest-suffering victims of the Islamic regime, also appeared to have fallen on deaf ears, with many recalling the travel ban he slapped on them earlier this year.
The most disgusting part of Trumps speech was when he tried to show himself as sympathising with Iranians, wrote one Twitter user.
Reminder: Not even 6 months have passed from the execution of visa ban for Iranians! wrote another.
Baseless accusations
For all the bluster, Trumps strategy was not as tough as many had predicted.
Although new sanctions have been placed on Irans Revolutionary Guards, it was not designated a foreign terrorist organisation as had been trailed in the weeks leading up to the speech.
This was spun as a victory by some elements in Iran, with the hardline Kayhan newspaper saying: Guards formula worked: Trump didnt dare put the Guards on the list of terrorist groups.
This was a reference to threats in recent days that US forces would receive a crushing response if the Guards were designated as terrorists.
President Hassan Rouhani took to the airwaves shortly after Trumps speech on Friday night, dismissing it as nothing but the repetition of baseless accusations and swear words.
He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own? Rouhani said.
Nonetheless, the deals future hangs in the balance as the US Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions, or possibly new trigger points that would lead to new sanctions.
If the Congress goes ahead with new sanctions, then the deal is dead and Iran will restart its nuclear programme and move forward full-steam ahead in all fields, Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told AFP.
Iran will probably invest even more than before in order to show the Americans that they cant get away with destroying the agreement.
Former hostage Joshua Boyle said upon arriving back in Canada that the Haqqani network in Afghanistan had killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity.
Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada late Friday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.
The couple was rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport.
The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani networks kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, he said.
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
He said he was in Afghanistan 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.
On the plane from London, Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press saying his family has unparalleled resilience and determination.
Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, sat in the aisle of the business-class cabin wearing a tan-colored headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly when she confirmed her identity to a reporter on board the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest child in his lap. U.S. State Department officials were on the plane with them.
The handwritten statement Boyle gave the AP expressed disagreement with U.S. foreign policy.
God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organized injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege, he wrote.
He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, Their interests are not my interests.
He added that one of his children is in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
The family was able to leave the plane with their escorts before the rest of the passengers. There was a short delay before everyone else was allowed out.
It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home, he said in his later statement at the airport. To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost.
Dan Boyle, Joshuas younger brother, said outside the family home in Smith Falls, Ontario, that he had spoken to his brother a few times in the past few days.
Hes doing very well. He sounds a lot like how he sounded five years ago. He sounds like he had his head on his shoulders and his wits about him, he said.
The Canadian government said in a statement they will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned.
Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones, the Canadian government said.
Pakistans foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the Pakistani raid that led to the familys rescue was based on a tip from US intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a common enemy when Washington shares information.
US officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network, which was holding the family.
A US national security official, who was not authorized to discuss operational details of the release and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the US obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani government officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages and they did.
On Friday, President Donald Trump, who previously warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Pakistan for its cooperation on many fronts. On Twitter, he wrote that the US is starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders.
The operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captors final, terrifying threat to kill the hostage. Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
US officials did not confirm those details.
A US 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 and had a transport plane ready to go, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyles father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America. 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 US troops following a firefight and was taken to the US 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 US Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.
US 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.
US 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.
Facing prison for a string of bank robberies, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock beamed cheerfully at a psychiatrist evaluating his fitness to stand trial, and mused at length at times with becoming modesty about his life stealing cars, running cons, enduring solitary confinement and getting fired from a job as a bus driver after playing tag with the buses.
Im a third time loser, Paddock, the father of the Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock, told the doctor with a smile, according to a summary of the doctors evaluation. Though he was in a jail cell in Phoenix, Paddock expressed no regrets, and claimed to have a genius IQ.
A few years later, he ended up on the FBIs most wanted list.
Nearly two weeks after the shooting in Las Vegas, investigators have found few clues to explain why Stephen Paddock amassed an arsenal of assault-style weapons and turned them on concertgoers at a country music festival. FBI profilers are trying to construct a psychological makeup of Paddock, which probably includes the family history of mental illness.
If so, one of the most telling documents might be a yellowed, four-page psychiatric evaluation from 1960 that details the father who raised Stephen Paddock until he was 7 and who loomed over the family even after he disappeared.
When Benjamin Paddock sat for the examination, he chain smoked through the interview, offering an gripping biography with a fluent command of language.
He smiles frequently, sometimes winningly, shows occasionally just a touch of ruefulness, the psychiatrist, William B. McGrath, noted. The doctor concluded that Paddock was bright, with no history of mental defect, and was able to stand trial. But, the doctor added, Paddock had a sociopathic personality.
The portrait of Stephen Paddock that investigators have assembled stands in stark contrast: Reserved, even boring, he was an accountant and investor who liked to gamble only after calculating all the risks. Before the shooting, authorities say, he had never broken the law. Among the many questions that are unanswered is what influence, if any, his fathers absence and infamy had on his life.
While Stephen Paddock was playing at the familys white ranch house, his father was robbing banks with a snub-nosed revolver and getting away in the family station wagon.
Benjamin Paddock was caught in 1960. But the bank robbery charges, he insisted to the psychiatrist, were a case of mistaken identity. A judge sentenced him to 20 years in a federal prison. He broke out after eight and spent much of the rest of his life on the lam.
North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said today, citing a government source.
The US navy said yesterday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit states weapons programme.
The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
The US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching the US territory, the newspaper said.
This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.
Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: We dont comment on any matters of military intelligence.
We are keeping a close watch over the North, he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.
These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
Yesterday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine -- the USS Tuscon -- left after a five day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night- time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was highly likely that the North could launch missiles in response to next weeks joint navy drill.
US President Donald Trumps continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have devastating consequences, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned yesterday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.
The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit states weapons programme.
The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching US territory, the newspaper said.
This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.
Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: We dont comment on any matters of military intelligence.
We are keeping a close watch over the North, he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.
These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
On Friday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine -- the USS Tuscon -- left after a five day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was highly likely that the North could launch missiles in response to next weeks joint navy drill.
US President Donald Trumps continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have devastating consequences, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
President Donald Trump on Saturday said that Pakistan took tremendous advantage of the US over the years, but is now starting to have a real relationship.
Trumps remarks came a day after Pakistan secured the release of an American-Canadian family from the clutches of the Haqqani terror network, five years after they were abducted.
Yesterday, things happened with Pakistan, said the US president.
I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but were starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and theyre to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations, Trump said.
They are starting to respect the United States of America again, he said and thanked the leaders of Pakistan for what theyve been doing.
In this administration, we will call evil by its name, Trump said.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqani network on Friday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and south Asia policy in August.
President Trump yesterday hailed the release of the hostages from Taliban captivity. He said their release was a positive moment for US relations with Pakistan.
Trump also 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 Pakistan government on Saturday withdrew its request for extending the detention of Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed under the anti- terrorism law.
On January 31, Saeed and his four aides were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under preventative detention under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. They have been under house arrest since then.
An official of the Home Department of Punjab government told a three-member federal judicial review board headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court that the government did not require the extension of Saeed and his four accomplices detention any more.
The provincial government does not require extension to the detention of Saeed, his aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - under the anti-terrorism law. Therefore it requests the board to accept withdrawal of extension to detention of Jamaat-u-Dawah leaders, he said.
The board accepted the governments plea and disposed of the matter.
Explaining as to why the government withdrew its application, a senior official of the Punjab government told PTI that since the government has extended the detention of Saeed and four others till October 24 under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 it does not require to have them house arrested under the anti-terrorism law.
He said the government was to produce Saeed and others before the review board for their detention under 11 EEE (I) and 11D of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
But since since all five of them are detained under the public order there was no binding on the government to produce them before the review board today to seek extension to their detention, the official said.
The Punjab Home Department issued an order extending the house arrest of Jamat-d-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and four other JuD men for another 30 days with effect from September 25 under the public order. The previous detention order issued on July 28 was expired on September 25.
The last two extensions were made on the public order.
The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
Britains old one-pound coin is being phased out completely midnight Sunday, with businesses complaining they have been given too little time to switch to the new one and many planning to defy the deadline.
Around 1.2 billion old round coins have been withdrawn from circulation but about 500 million are remaining with hours to go before the deadline ends.
The changeover period has been fairly short, said Mike Cherry, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses. It would help if small firms knew they were allowed a short transition period to collect the old coins if they wish to, and are willing to bank them.
Poundland, a chain of shops where almost all items cost 1, extended the period during which its customers would still be able to pay with the old coin until October 31.
The countrys main banks, Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds and Santander and the Post Office have also announced that they will continue to accept the round coin after October 15. The currency change was announced in the 2014 budget.
Reports said shoppers were rushing to use the old coins as the deadline neared. Some of them were angry that shops continued to give the old coins as change, the BBC reported.
A report in the Daily Mail said several furious shoppers had their old 1 coins rejected by major retailers across Britain. ...McDonalds and Aldi have gone the other way and have brought the cut-off point forward... This has left people frustrated and confused at the tills, with firms being branded dreadful and the old coins already labelled as worthless, the report said.
A sense of value
The Royal Mint, the official agency that makes the British currency, created the new coin in an attempt to combat fraud, with 3% of the old coins -- or 45 million -- deemed to be counterfeit.
The outgoing round coin, of which two billion were minted, first appeared in 1983 in an attempt to cut costs by replacing the one-pound note.
The new coin, of which 1.5 billion copies have been made, is the safest in the world, said Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum.
Security features on the new coin include 12 sides, a bi-metallic composition, a holograph and tiny lettering called microtext around part of the design.
Two different coloured metal alloys, based on nickel and copper, also make it easier to distinguish between fakes and genuine coins.
The new piece, at 2.8 millimetres thick, will be thinner than its 3.15 mm predecessor, but will remain the thickest British coin in circulation.
The idea of having a thicker coin, back in 1983, when the round one pound coin was introduced, was to give it a sense of value, said Clancy.
With the new one pound coin, we continued with that approach.
The coin will also have a new design on its tail side, created by 15-year-old David Pearce, who won a competition origanized by the Treasury.
His drawing depicts a rose, a leek, a thistle and a clover -- the symbols of the four nations of the United Kingdom -- surrounded by a royal crown.
On the opposite side is a new portrait of Elizabeth II, the fifth to decorate a British coin.
Supermarket trolleys
The new coin, which was put into circulation on March 27, is supposed to fully replace the old one, which will no longer be legal tender, on October 15.
The authorities have therefore intensified efforts to encourage people either to spend their old coins or change them at the bank.
But many institutions across the country may still accept payments with the old coin after the cut-off date, although they will no longer be able to use it when giving change to customers.
The transition to the new currency could nevertheless cause some difficulties.
Supermarkets Tesco and Sainsburys have not yet adapted their trolleys to take the new coin, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Rail travellers are also expected to face problems, with automatic ticket machines of certain companies, including Southern, Great Northern and the Gatwick Express, not able to take the new coins.
US President Donald Trump has said he has started to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan, a day after Pakistani forces rescued an American-Canadian family from the Haqqani terror network.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqanis on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and South Asia policy in August.
The president thanked Pakistani leaders for cooperating with the US on many fronts.
Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts, Trump said in a tweet yesterday.
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said: On this I agree with Trump.
Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists, he said in a tweet.
Earlier in the day, US vice president Mike Pence also praised Pakistan in helping the US secure the release its citizens.
Pences comments on Pakistan came as he listed out some of the key achievements of the Trump administration at the international stage.
The president is achieving real results on the international stage, as well, he said.
While some critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, thanks to the presidents leadership, ISIS is on the run, North Korea is isolated as never before, and our NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defence, Pence said.
Just this week, Pakistan took an important step to answer the presidents call to do more in the fight against terrorism, as they helped secure the release of an American family that had been held hostage for more than five years, the vice president said.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson is expected to visit India for the first time in his capacity as Americas top diplomat tentatively on October 24, as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him to neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The October 24 date is tentative for now, an official said on condition of anonymity, adding, we are still not certain if he starts the visit in India and works his way westward to Pakistan and Afghanistan, or the other way around.
Neither the United States nor India has announced the visit yet. We have nothing to share on the Secretarys travel schedule at this time, a state department spokesperson said.
Sources in India had said Tillerson will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on October 24.
The visit is significant in the context of President Donald Trumps new Afghanistan-centric South Asia policy, and the administrations stated willingness to work with Pakistan one more time, as laid out recently by secretary of defence James Mattis.
He told lawmakers in two back-to-back congressional hearings that the US was putting together, in consultation with allies that have committed troops to the international coalition in Afghanistan, a list of demands for Pakistan to be delivered by US officials. Tillerson, as the lead on the issue, would be the first, he had said.
Tillerson met Swaraj on the sidelines of the recent UN general assembly meetings but never in India, which he will be visiting as secretary of state for the first time.
He will be the second senior member of the Trump cabinet to visit India after Mattis, who visited in August but skipped Pakistan and went straight to Afghanistan before heading back.
These visits followed Prime Minister Modis trip to Washington DC for his first meeting with President Donald Trump.
Tillerson and Mattis had called on Modi in his hotel room before he had started for the White House for a one-on-one with Trump, delegation level meetings, a reception hosted by First Lady Melania Trump, followed by a working dinner.
The two leaders had shortly after announced a new two-plus-two ministerial-level dialogue to take place every year of the defence and foreign ministers of the two countries, simultaneously at the same venue. Thats hasnt worked out yet.
There was an effort to coordinate the travel schedules of the four ministers so that they could all be in New Delhi at the same time for the inaugural session, but the US was unable to get both Mattis and Tillerson in India at the same time around the time of Mattiss visit, according to sources.
President Donald Trump sharply criticised Iran and the international agreement aimed at curbing its nuclear program Friday, refusing to certify Tehrans compliance and warning the United States could pull out at any time.
These are some key points from his remarks:
Fanatical regime
Trump denounced the Iranian government as a fanatical regime that backs a wide array of militant groups and laid out a long list of US grievances against Tehran to set the stage for his specific remarks on the nuclear deal.
He described Tehran as the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, saying it backs al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist networks, and warning of the increasing menace posed by Iran.
Multiple violations
Trump lambasted the 2015 nuclear deal struck with Iran, Germany, Britain, China, France and Russia as one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.
He accused Iran of multiple violations of the agreement, but was light on specific examples.
The President said Iran had on two occasions exceeded the 130-metric-ton limit on heavy water, and that Tehran had repeatedly said it would not allow inspectors onto military sites suspected of having been part of Irans clandestine nuclear weapons program.
But the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been monitoring Irans compliance with the deal, said that the nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran... are being implemented, and that it has had access to all locations it needed to visit.
US President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington. (Reuters Photo)
Trump also cited many people who think Tehran is dealing with North Korea, and said that Iran continues to fuel conflict, terror, and turmoil throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Neither are part of the legal requirement of the nuclear deal.
Nuclear deal left hanging
Trump stopped short of nixing the nuclear deal, instead taking the procedural step of decertifying the agreement and leaving its fate in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress.
I am directing my administration to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deals many serious flaws so that the Iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons, he said.
Trump singled out sunset clauses that eliminate restrictions on Irans nuclear program in just a few years, while citing insufficient enforcement and near total silence on Irans missile programs.
Iran and other parties to the agreement have said that they are not open to revising the accord.
Trump threatened to scrap the deal if his concerns are not addressed, warning that our participation can be cancelled by me, as president, at any time.
A member of the Iranian army walks past pictures of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (top left) and of late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (top right), in Tehran. (AFP Photo)
Sanctions on Revolutionary Guards
Trump announced targeted sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards, a key instrument of Tehrans military and foreign policy that the president described as the Iranian Supreme Leaders corrupt personal terror force and militia.
He said he is authorising the US Treasury Department to further sanction the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its support for terrorism and to apply sanctions to its officials, agents, and affiliates.
But the US leader backed away from designating the Guards Corps as a terror group, a move that would have triggered a slew of sanctions and almost certain Iranian retribution.
There were higher-scoring fighter aces and other hotshot test pilots, but nobody did both quite like Chuck Yeager.
Few, if any, individuals are as well-known in the annals of aviation history as Charles E. Chuck Yeager. An 11.5-victory fighter ace in World War II and a renowned test pilot, Yeager took his place alongside the Wright brothers and Charles Lindbergh on October 14, 1947, when he became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. On October 2, 1997, as the 50th anniversary of his historic flight approached, Brigadier General Yeager visited the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., to mark the occasion with a speech. Earlier that day, he had been hoisted into the cockpit of the Bell X-1 that is suspended from the ceiling of the museums main lobby. It was the first time he sat in the plane that took him through the sound barrier since he had personally delivered it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1950. Ever opinionated and never inclined to mince words, Yeager talked that day with Aviation History about his storied career.
AH: In your book, you mentioned that you didnt think there was any such thing as natural pilot.
Yeager: Well, no, in my opinion theres no such thing as a natural-born pilot. A pilots ability depends on experience, and the more experience a pilot has, the better he is. Its that simple.
AH: Why did you get into flying in the first place?
Yeager: I had no knowledge of airplanes and I couldnt care less about them. Until 1941, Id never seen an airplane on the ground, or looked at an airplane, so it didnt mean anything to me. But when I enlisted, like a lot of the high school kids did in 41, I was put into aircraft maintenance when we were mobilizing because of my mechanical aptitude and was made crew chief. I served in October and November at Moffett Field as crew chief on T-6s. I couldnt get into pilot training then, because I wasnt 20 years of age and didnt have two years of college. That was the requirement up until about November of 41. Then, since the Army Air Corps was not getting enough applicants for pilot training, they lowered the requirement to 18 years of age and a high school diploma. But you would not be an officer; you had to go through the flying sergeant program. You went through as an enlisted trainee, enlisted pilot, and then made staff sergeant. So I applied, and the only reason I applied was, number one, the 150 bucks a month that the pilots were getting was a lot more money that the 30 dollars a month that I was getting.
AH: So at that time it was the money.
Yeager: And the fun of flying, I suppose. The pilots seemed to have a lot more fun. They didnt work like we did, busting our knuckles. So I applied, and then I served about six or seven months, waiting to be called up for pilot training, because they were setting up pilot schools, and in the meantime I got my first ride in an airplane. About February of 42, I took my first ride in an AT-11 that I was crew chief on at Victorville. I was deathly sick and puked all over the airplane, and I said to myself after the flight, Youve made a big mistake.After that, I never flew anymore til I was called up to the flying school. Then, once I got into a PT-21a little low-wing Ryanwith the instructor, on the first flight I was a little woozy, but when I started flying the airplane it all went away.
AH: At what point did you feel comfortable in an airplane?
Yeager: Probably when I soloed.
AH: When did it get to be fun?
Yeager: Well, theres always fun. Probably after my second flight it began to be, when you found out that you could do a good job, then it got to be fun.
AH: One gets the impression that at a certain point you got so into flying that you could barely see doing anything else.
Yeager: The reason was, you werent allowed to do anything else. You trained as a fighter pilot, you went off to war. Whats your job? Fly in a fighter and shoot down airplanes. Or fly escort missions. You werent allowed to do anything else. And thats probably been the whole story of my life; I was always faced with a job to do where duty became paramount. In combat you learn real quick that if you dont have any control over the outcome of a situation, forget it. Concentrate on what youre doing. Just stay out of that death arena, and thats exactly the way we went through it, and I was disciplined that way. Sure, guys were getting killed on missions, but you never gave any thought to it cause you dont have any control over it. And then when I came home and was assigned to Wright Field as a maintenance officer, not as a test pilot, I used to put on shows. Well, obviously, being a fighter pilot in combat, youre pretty sharp at doing aerobatics, because thats your lifeblood, so I used to do air shows there at Wright Field in the P-80s. The test pilots werent trained like Bob Hoover and I were, cause we were fighter pilots, and knew airplanes and flew them very well. Test piloting was a little different arena, you know; its a little more precision-type flying, and the Old Man [Colonel Albert G. Boyd] liked the way I put on the shows. Here Im a maintenance officer, and he offered me the opportunity to go to the test pilot school. There I learned what precision flying was, and then when I got in the X-1, a lot of people said, Well, what was your attitude toward the airplane? And it didnt make any difference what my attitude was. Duty is paramount. You dont give any thought to the outcome. They said, Did you think youd be able to break the sound barrier? It didnt make any difference whether I thought I could or not. I had to try, because thats my duty. And consequently, it was easy for me to transition into research flying because of my discipline in combat. It was easy for me, probably easier than anyone else who was available to fly the X-1.
AH: Could we talk a little bit about your combat experience?
Yeager: Basically, when we first got over there, with the Mustangs capability, it opened up the possibility of taking the escort fighters all the way to the targets with bombers, bring them all the way back to the Channel, and then go back into Germany for targets of opportunity. It was a tremendous eight-hour airplane. Also, it was a tremendous high-altitude airplane, and it surprised the Germans very quickly. Now, initially we were required to stay around the box of bombers that we were charged to escort. Thats a bad deal, because the Germans just merely sit back and would hit and get away. Then when [Major] General [James H.] Doolittle came over, probably in March or April 44, he said, OK, lets get these fighters away from the bombers and let em get out and tangle with the German fighters. And thats what we started doing then, ranging out 50 to 70 miles in front of the bomber stream to hit the fighters that were forming up to hit the bombers. Thats when the Mustang really started taking off. And on my eighth mission, the first daylight raid on Berlin on March 4, 1944, I was sitting over Berlin by a box of B-17s. If you look at the history, they try to give the first daylight raid on Berlin as March the 6th, but there was a recall on that [March 4] mission, when the whole force was going to Berlin. And this one box [31 B-17s of the 95th and 100th Bomb groups] didnt get it; it went, we went with it, cause we didnt get the recall either. The Germans sent the 109s up and we tangled with them. I shot down my first airplane that day, a 109. First I overshot the guy cause I was doing everything wide open, and he was not as fast as I thought. I overshot and pulled up to do a big roll, then come in under him. It was just like in the films, you know, the pieces just fly off and they explode, and you just make damn sure none of the pieces hit you. Then I found a Heinkel 111 and I got a few hits on it before it got in the clouds, and I came home and that was my first airplane that I shot down. The next day we went to Bordeaux with the B-24s and tangled with some 190s. I tried to make a head on pass with some 190s and got hit and thats when I bailed out and evaded. And see, people are surprised, like they read about Scott Gradys experience of escape and evasion [in Bosnia]hell, thats a way of life for a fighter pilot. It was not unusual at all. It was just blown out of shape by the White House and the press. Cause we were trained in escape and evasion. When I got shot down, it was easy for me to evade.
AH: Your experiences growing up in West Virginia, hiking and hunting, must have helped.
Yeager: It wasnt in the Germans training to catch a West Virginian in the woods.
AH: Taking a wounded man across the Pyrenees rather complicated matters a bit, though.
Yeager: Well, thats just the way of life; thats the way it goes. That worked out good. Then being interned down there [in Spain] was really a piece of cake. They put you up in the best hotel, gave you money and cigarettes. I didnt smoke so I sold the cigarettes on the black market for a tremendous amount of money. It was a soft life.
AH: You know Franco was ideologically closer to Hitler than to the Allies, though he played a careful game to stay out of the war.
Yeager: Spain was a neutral country and it complied with the international regulations. The American consul came up to Lierda, where we had gotten to, and put us up in a hotel, and gave us money and came to see us every week. We had the life of Reilly there; it was really neat. Then, finally, they gradually worked us down [south], then they made arrangements to deal with the Spanish government. Spain didnt have any gasoline and no way of getting it, so the U.S. government traded gasoline for the airmen that were interned in Spain. They turned us over to the British at Gibraltar.
AH: But then came the tough part, trying to get back into combat.
Yeager: We went back to England, and the system was really good because they kept you isolated in a house there at 63 Brooks Street and interrogated you: Whats your outfit? When did you get shot down? How did you get into Spain? They were very meticulous about nobody infiltrating the system. And then they called a guy down from your outfit to identify you and then, after theyd satisfied their requirements to make damn sure nobody was trying to infiltrate the system, then you went back to your outfit and you went home. I didnt want to go home, so I worked my way up through all these colonels and generals. The Old Man, General Eisenhower, the only reason he saw us was just, I think, because he thought it a compliment to see somebody who didnt want to go home. He was a nice guy. He said, I cant give you permission to go back on combat, because if youre shot down again, you compromise the underground system, but you go on back to your outfit and Ill go on back to the War Department, and ask for permission for me to make a decision. He did, and a week later the invasion started, the Maquis surfaced, the underground surfaced, and I got right back to the front.
AH: Did you feel it was your duty to get back in there and give it another shot?
Yeager: Well, thing is, I felt like all my buddies were still in this squadron, those who hadnt been shot down, and I just felt I hadnt done my job. Id been taught to do my job, and thats the reason when I went back I felt good about it. And I said, Hell, if I come home as a flight officer, with one airplane, Ill be a flight officer the rest of my life.
AH: Can you tell us about the day you shot down five airplanes [October 12, 1944]?
Yeager: By then, I was still a really low-ranking officer in the [357th Fighter] Group, but I was one of the old hands and had a lot of experience and could see probably better than the majority of the guys in the group. So they let me lead the group, and hell, that really puts you in an excellent position. They had three squadrons, had a couple of lieutenant colonels leading the other squadrons, and here I was, a lieutenant leading the whole damn group. We were fragged [given an additional fragment order to the days operational order] to escort two boxes of bombers, so I put the 362nd Squadron on one box and the 364th on the other box, and took my squadron, the 363rd, and went out in front of the stream about 80 to 100 miles. There were Germans reported and there were broken clouds around and I spotted these 22 109s. I think the 109s probably thought we were 16 190s trying to join up, because after the fray I ran into 16 190s, but they got in the weather on me so I couldnt get anymore. But when I spotted them, I moved around into the sun and they didnt see us. We came in behind them and just overtook them, and hell, they let us crawl right in behind them. I know they saw us, we were so close, and when I opened up this guy broke in midair collision with one of the others. Thats when the crap hit the fan and we dropped our tanks and they all broke. As I rememberyou tell it the way you remember it, and thats not necessarily the way it happenedI pulled in behind a 109 and was hammering him, and his wingman cut the power back. I caught it out the corner of my eye, and about the time my target blew up, I broke full right, cut the power way back, slapped the flaps down about 20 degrees and came around. I was really about 50 feet from that guy, I was decelerating, and all I did was move off his right wingtip, kick right rudder and open up. And man, that sawed that airplane in two. Im sure I killed the pilot.
AH: You sawed him, you mean, with your machine-gun fire?
Yeager: Yeahwe were so close. Then I followed another guy down with my wingman, and I blew him up. And then there were clouds and there were airplanes starting to go into clouds. We were climbing back up through the clouds, trying to stay VFR [visual flight rules] so we could see what was going on, and thats when I saw this flight of 16 190s down below. They had tanks on them, and we started down after them, and they went in the weather and we could never find them. We came home, and then you sat down with the intelligence guys, wrote up an encounter report and they took your gun camera film. Then your wingman would write up an encounter report to confirm, and theyd send the package in and theyd come back with confirmed kills. I didnt shoot down five. I hammered one guy, and there was a midair collision, but I claimed those two anyway.
AH: Later on [November 6], you got a Messerschmitt Me-262 and damaged a couple of others.
Yeager: Yeah, the 262swed been briefed, been shown pictures of them and knew their performance capability. We knew they were 100 mph faster, straight and level, than we were. The first time that I saw the airplane I was at about 15,000 feet with a flight of four. Wed escorted bombers in and came back out, and then we went back inwe were just fooling around over Bremen. I looked down and at about 1 oclock there were three 262s coming 180 degrees to us. I recognized them, probably after I saw they were moving so damn fast, so we went wide open, up to 3,000 rpm, and went down, trying to get a deflection shot. We rolled up behind them and got a hit or two on the wingman, then they just disappeared into the haze. We had no chance in the world. Then we saw two more, same thingI climbed back up to 8,000 feet, they were down around 5,000, so we got a few hits on another one. Finally, we found the field they were all working out of, evidently, and there was one on the final approach, gear down, and so that was easy. I just rolled over, left my guys up for top cover and went on down. I overtook the guy fastI was going 500 mph and he was going about 200and just opened up at about 200 yards. I sawed his right wing up and the guy crash-landed short of the base.
AH: Didnt you get a chance to fly a 262 later?
Yeager: Yeah, at Wright Field. But Id also flown P-80s. Looking at the 262, had they dedicated it to air defense, it probably would have caused the war to last six months longer. But Germany was pretty well going down the tubes by the time they got the 262 in the fall of 44. Now the P-80 had about the same performance and the same duration as the 262both were Mach .8 airplanes. The P-80 had a little less armament, but we had three P-80s in England in January 1945, and had we needed the P-80s to match the 262, we could probably have had them in England in squadron strength by the summer of 45, but then the war ended.
AH: In your book you described the Fw-190 as the most formidable opponent.
Yeager: It depends a lot on the pilot capability, but in my opinion, having equal pilots, the 190 was a little more superior than the 109. And the day I got four 190s [November 27], that was really a classic late-war dogfight, when either the Germans didnt come up, or they sent every damn thing they had upone of the two. Youd go for days and never see a German airplane, then all at once, man, they were thicker than hornets. On that particular day, our group had 48 planes up in three squadrons, 16 each. We were tasked to escort another P-51 group of 48 airplanes that each had one 500-pound bomb and one 170-gallon drop tank, to an underground fuel storage site somewhere in Poland. They were doing the navigatingthey knew their target; we were just escorting. And so we had two drop tanks and eight hours of fuel initially. We were on long range cruise sitting up at 36-37,000 feet, and they were sitting at about 33,000, and evidently the Germans misinterpreted our force as a box of B-17s, not an escort, and they scrambled 150 190s and about 50 109s to intercept us. What we saw first was they were pulling [contrails] at about 33-35,000 feet. Looked like a cumulus cloud, then pretty soon itd get dots in it. Andy [Clarence E. Bud Anderson] was leading the squadron, and then white flight, blue flight and green flight. I was in green flight, hidin high left at about 38,000, and when we saw them and they saw that we were fighters, they were very surprised probably. Anyway, when we broke into em that put me in the lead. Something like that only lasted about four or five minutes, total, and then youd find yourself alone, without a wingman or nobody around and all the enemy going, either shot down or running home. It happens very quickly. I was climbing out to come home and I got the four 190s on that flight. Thats pretty much as I remember it, just a mass of airplanes going every way, every direction. You had to really be careful and watch your tail.
AH: That was an interesting story about your last flight [on January 15, 1945, during which he and Bud Anderson peeled off from the group and took a grand tour of the European sites Yeager had visited as an evadee].
Yeager: When Andy and I were down in Switzerland and Spain and Italy and France. Yeah, that was a good flight.
AH: Then to come back and find out that
Yeager: The group had shot down 57 enemy planes. We mightve got shot down, too, thats the way we thought about it. Thats the way it goes.
AH: So how did you end up at Muroc [Army Airfield in California, now Edwards Air Force Base]?
Yeager: Well, I came back home, made basic instructor in the summer of 45. The war ended in Europe, all of the POWs were released and all of the airmen, pilots, navigators, bombardiers and gunners who had been shot down and either evaded or were prisoners of war could select any air base in the United States and the Air Force would assign you there. That was a gift. And I said, man, that includes me, cause I was an evadee, and I was an instructor in T-6s at Perrin Field, Texas. The closest air base to my home was Wright Field, and I asked for it. They assigned me there. When I reported in, the personnel guys looked at my records. I was a 22-year-old fighter pilot, I had about 1,200 hours in P-39s and P-51s, but the thing that caught their eye was that I was a maintenance officerhad a maintenance Air Force specialty code. There was an opening in the fighter test section for a maintenance officer, and thats where they assigned me. It was just pure luck. I got there and started flying functional test flights on all the airplanes they made. You know, when the crew chief worked on them, youd fly them, just to check the systems out, and then youd turn the mover to the test pilots. Like I said, the Old Man liked the way I flew, and I put on air shows, and he selected me for test pilot school. Then Bell got in a big flap with the NACA [National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASAs predecessor]. You see, the military had never been allowed to do research flying. Never. But the Air Force had conceived and paid for the X-1, which Bell then was managing. The NACA used civilian pilots, and there was bonus money involved. Well, old Colonel Boyd, chief of the flight test division, told the Air Force, since we were footing the bill, Hey, goddamn, if you take that airplane over, weve got pilots that are a hell of a lot better than NACA has. And by God, he was successful in getting it.
AH: Why were you selected for the X-1 program?
Yeager: I had a maintenance background and understood systems, and that little airplane hanging out there was a very dangerous little airplane. You had to really stay on top of the systems, in addition to flying it. I was the right guy for it, because I was a maintenance officer, and could obviously fly an airplane. That opened up Pandoras box. Everything the NACA did was [aimed at] trying to keep the military out of this arena of research flying, and it was reflected in their attitude. In spite of them we got above Mach 1 in 93 days, and that got the military involved in research flying from then on with the X-1, X-1A, X-2, X-3, X-4, X-5, X-15. The military got into the arena and it opened up Pandoras box.
AH: So for you it was never a situation of, Gee, it would be nice to be a test pilot?
Yeager: I trained, went to the test pilot school, and flew experimental planes from there on out. A lot of people think that I was only flying the X-1. Hell, the X-1 was one of about 10 different test programs that I was working on at that time. You worked seven days a week, and about 18 hours a day, and it was really a hard job.
AH: What was the X-1 like to fly?
Yeager: I only flew it a couple times a week, but it was a fun airplane to fly. It got you out of the grind of the other test programs. The day we got it above Mach 1 was the ninth powered flight. The way I looked at it, I finished that one, Ive got nine more [test programs] to go. It didnt mean anything, you know, breaking Mach 1. Yeah, it had been a barrier all of my flying life up until that time. Once we got the airplane through Mach 1 and found out that we needed a flying tail to control it, it took the rest of the world five years to find that outhow we got above Mach 1. Not the fact that we had got above Mach 1; the Air Force admitted that seven months after we did it, but not how. And it took the British and the French and the Soviet Union five years to find out that little trick.
AH: On that flight, did you have any expectations about what might happen at all?
Yeager: No, we werent planning on going Mach 1; we didnt know we could go Mach 1. We were just increasing the Mach number and whatever happened, happened.
AH: What was the first thing you heard when you came out? Was it Bob Hoover [flying chase in a P-80] talking?
Yeager: No, we knew wed got the airplane [through], cause we got a jump in the Mach meter, all the buffeting seemed quiet on the airplane, we had supersonic flow over the airplane. And when we got down the Air Force classified the whole program. You couldnt say a goddamn word, but everybody knew it anyways.
AH: Did it bother you any that you didnt receive recognition for it right away?
Yeager: No. That wasnt the reason I flew the X-1. I did it because it was my duty. It didnt make a rats to me what happened. Like I said, that was one test program finished, I got nine more to go now. We were doing test programs, working with flight test engineers. We were working on a lot of airplanesP-84s and weapons management systems we were developing and things like that.
AH: Did you try to get out into Korea at all?
Yeager: No, I was tied up at Edwards in research flying. I only went out there to fly the MiG-15 that the guy defected with in January or February of 53.
AH: So again, it was a case of doing your duty.
Yeager: We were doing research flying on the airplanes like the X-3, X-4, X-5 and the X-1A. On December 12, 1953, I got the X-1A out to 2.5 Mach.
AH: In Europe, youd already had the challenge of leadership, and got better at that, but as a wing leader in Vietnam, what did you consider the real challenges there?
Yeager: Well, they were bigger. I had five squadrons, three different kinds of airplanes. As you mature from a flight leader, a captain, to a squadron commander, a lieutenant colonel, you no longer concentrate on being a flight leader. You gotta start delegating authority. Then, when you move up to wing commander, youve got a bigger outfit. Then you have to look at the big picture, youve got more support. Thats the way you mature in the Air Force. In Vietnam, I had my first wing. You gotta learn, you gotta know a lot about maintenance, which was easy for me because Id been a maintenance officer and a crew chief and a GI.
AH: Youve talked about combat as being really the ultimate experience for a pilot and how it gives you that edge over a civilian pilot. Where do you think that puts todays military pilots, where combat is a rare experience?
Yeager: Well, its a specialized thing. Here again, capability depends on experience. If a pilot has experience in a modern fighter, like the F-15 or F-16, obviously hes the best. I think one of the big things thats happening, especially in the Reserve or Guard, is in the F-16 squadron, taking an airline pilot and letting him serve duty in an F-16. The airline experience he has doesnt help a damn bit in the F-16. When he gets in the F-16, what do you have? Midair collisions and accidents. Thats stupid in my opinion.
AH: Is it possible for a pilot whos good in one type of airplane to cross-train himself into another?
Yeager: Listen carefully. Experience makes the best pilot. Obviously, if the pilots going to fly an F-16, hes got to have experience in fighters.
AH: What do you think of todays Air Force?
Yeager: I think its highly capable. An airplane today is 10 times more effective than it was 10 years ago, and its a platform that goes Mach 2. Period. The big improvement: weapons systems, precision guided munitionsboy, [theyre] lethal. Itll do a beautiful job.
AH: How do you think thats changed the nature of a fighter pilot, or do you think fighter pilots are still the same?
Yeager: The same, only thing is, you cant tangle close in anymore. Some guy on the periphery blows you out of the sky with a missile. Look at Iraq33 airplanes shot down, every one of them beyond visual range with F-15s, F/A-18s.
AH: So you think the day of the dogfight is gone?
Yeager: Well, a close-in dogfight is becoming a thing of the past. Its standoff weapons systems. Like I say, in Iraq, 33 airplanes shot down, every one beyond visual range. Wasnt a gun used.
AH: If you look back over your career, is there a time you felt was the most exciting for you?
Yeager: Combat. WorldWar II, obviously.The most useful thing I ever did was fly the X-1.
AH: Its certainly what made you a household name.
Yeager: Right place at the right time.
AH: To what do you attribute your survival over the years?
Yeager: A knowledge of egress systems and a feel for machinery, and also some luck.
AH: Do you have any advice for the youth of today who might want to take up flying?
Yeager: Hey, man, get a job you like and youll probably be quite good at it. And make your lifestyle fit your income. Dont try to make your income fit your lifestyle. Its that simple. Guys who like their job, theyre very good at it. I dont care what it is.
AH: You dont seem like the sort who would have any, but are there any regrets at all?
Yeager: No. And the same way, if I had it to do it all over again, would I? Sure. Naturally. Its kind of a stupid question. Cause you have no control over something so you dont cry about spilled milkthats a good SOP.
AH: You just grab the moment and make the most of it.
Yeager: Hey, you live from day to day and you learn the threeyou honor your flag, and your country and by God, duty is paramount. Thats the way you live your life in the military, and thats the way it should be. Thats the facts of life.
This is an abbreviated version of a two-part interview that originally appeared in the May/July 1998 issues of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here!
Even as China promotes reforms to its oil and gas industry, access to its shale and offshore fields remains largely off limits to foreign companies, a U.S. trade official said.
Interest has grown around China's oil and gas reserves in recent years, as new drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology employed in the U.S. 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. "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 toward developing shale and oil sands fields. But complicating matters, said Turley, who spoke at the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, is that leaders of state-owned oil and chemical companies tend to be politically powerful and are not eager to give up the 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 its economy has grown exponentially over the past decades. It has a long-established oil industry, but at present it is only able to supply roughly a third of the country's demand, with the bulk of the supply coming from the Middle East, Africa, Iran and Russia.
At the same time, China has invested heavily in alternative energy, including solar, wind and battery technologies. China has become one of the world's biggest producers of solar panels and solar energy.
China also has bought up increasing amounts of liquefied natural gas from abroad as it seeks to reduce its reliance on coal-fired power plants, which have been the source of dangerous air pollution surrounding many Chinese cities.
Some of that LNG has come from Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass facility near Port Arthur. But with the United States, Australia and the Middle East all quickly developing LNG export facilities, there are limits to how much American companies should expect China to take, said Robert Fee, chief of staff of external affairs at Houston-based Cheniere.
"There's still a lot of supply coming online," he said. "China's not going to suck it all up."
At present, about 80 percent of Chinese oil imports move through the narrow Malacca Strait, which separates Indonesia from mainland Asia. The Chinese government has expressed interest in finding new energy supply routes, like those coming from Texas that would move through the Panama Canal to the Pacific and avoid the Malacca Strait.
"They say they're very interested in U.S. gas, but it remains to be seen whether that's rhetorical," Turley said. "Who would've guessed 20 years ago we'd be talking about U.S. energy exports to China?"
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It's not unusual for passers-by to knock on the door of Brett Zamore's office. It's a tiny, 12-foot-wide building with a butterfly-style roof in a busy part of the Heights, and they're curious to know what's going on inside.
No one will need to be shy about asking Saturday-Oct. 22, when the annual AIA Houston Home Tour includes Zamore's 504-square-foot pre-fab prototype along with nine other homes that range up to an 8,369-square-foot home in Piney Point.
In between are several homes in the 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot range, proving that you don't have to live in a mansion to live in a well-designed home. The annual juried event features homes that include modern, midcentury and traditional styles, and for families ranging from couples who are downsizing to those with young children.
On one end of the spectrum is Zamore's new pre-fab concept that he calls zFab Housing. Though meant to be a home, Zamore uses it as office space for his small architectural firm, Brett Zamore Design.
On the other end is the Piney Point home designed by Dillon Kyle Architects for Julia and Matthew Rigdon.
More Information AIA Houston Home Tour When: noon-6 p.m. Saturday-Oct. 22 Where: 4210 Whitman; 1501 Laird; 1700 Haver; 1427 Waverly; 2411 Swift; 420 Oak; 721 Redan; 702 E. 13th; 5280 Caroline; 5007 S. Braeswood Featured architects: 2scale architects; Brett Zamore Design; Collaborative Designworks; CONTENT Architecture; Cusimano Architect; Dillon Kyle Architects; m & a architecture studio; McIntyre Robinowitz Architects; Munoz & Albin Architecture & Planning; studioMET Tickets: $25 advance or $35 the weekend of the tour, $20 for cyclists and $10 for a single-house ticket; aiahouston.org/hometour or at any home on the tour. Tickets are good both days of the tour. See More Collapse
Together, the 10 tour sites are scattered throughout Houston, with four in the Heights and others in Memorial, Meyerland, Montrose, Highland Village and West University Place. It even includes one of Hines' latest projects, The Southmore, a Midtown luxury apartment high-rise that opened in January. Its exterior was designed by Munoz & Albin Architecture & Planning, and its interiors were done by Mayfield and Ragni Studio, MaRS.
Southern Living home showcase: Another home tour features a casual-but-elegant home in the Bluejack National golf community.
Zamore is the first to admit that his small building isn't for everyone; it's part of a lineup of services from this zFab structure, plus a collection of seven kit homes and the custom residential work that he does all over town.
His smallest kit home is even tinier - just 384 square feet - and he's sold these plans to people who use them for an art studio and a mother-in-law suite. Other designs go up to more than 2,300 square feet.
But it's his 504-square-footer that's opening to the public next weekend, a building that not only made it into this juried tour but also recently won a first-place AIA Houston Design Award.
"It's definitely an honor and helps market it. There's no doubt it makes you feel like you have something good here," Zamore said.
An homage to a bungalow: Architect designs a new home in tribute to another he loved.
The front is its living room, and the dining area is a counter off the spare kitchen's island in the center. There's a no-nonsense bathroom with an Ikea cabinet, then in the back, a pocket door slides out to provide privacy for the 12-by-10-foot bedroom.
Every part of it is meant to reduce its carbon footprint and support local businesses. It has easy-to-get Baltic birch plywood and windows and doors that are made or purchased locally. Its frame is Douglas fir, all forested in Texas. Even its front and back porches are made of green-forested Cumaru decking.
It's also elevated 3 feet so that the crawl space allows for better drainage - there's more bare land for heavy rains to dissipate.
Kyle's design for the Rigdon family in Piney Point is just as thoughtful, but on a different scale and budget.
Julia and Matthew Rigdon and their three children - ages 4 to 9 - use every inch of their 8,369-square-foot home.
Kid-friendly design: Tough fabrics are your best friends.
Matthew owns Jackson Offshore Operators, which provides marine services to the offshore gas and oil industry.
Julia always wanted to build a house, but neither she nor her husband had worked with an architect. They connected with Kyle because they liked a home he'd designed for friends.
The home and the site, lush and green, are right in Kyle's wheelhouse. Indoor-outdoor themes repeat in his work, so big windows provide great views, and materials - brick, concrete, steel and glass - are found on the interior and exterior.
"I tend to do things that string out on the landscape to create a courtyard. It's an attenuated, long, C-shaped house," Kyle said. "I like a strong presence of materials. It's not fussy, so the consistency is important.
Because the home has huge spans of floor-to-ceiling windows and double doors, brick became the background, rather than an accent, for the furnishings inside, he said.
The Rigdons' early wish list was more conceptual: They wanted a home that was midcentury-modern inspired, though not midcentury in size. They'd lived in Marseille for a few years and wanted their Houston bedrooms to feel like their old apartment in France. And Julia knew she wanted a bold green La Cornue range as the centerpiece of their kitchen.
A white stucco exterior was the original plan, but when Julia saw a brick home she liked, they switched gears. Matthew works in shipping, so steel also became a material to use. It's found at the front door, where curved panels frame the tall front door, and in the kitchen, where stainless counters line the perimeter of the room.
The main expanse of the home starts with a living room, then shifts to dining room, family room and then the kitchen. Original midcentury-modern furniture fills most of the space, much bought on 1stdibs.com or from dealers of vintage decor, with a good deal of help from Kyle.
"When I saw his house, we said, 'Dillon, you can just design our house's interiors. We're already paying you for your time, just keep charging us," Matthew said. "He and I like a lot of the same things, and there were a lot of things I just wanted to steal out of his house. We sat at our old dining room table one day for hours looking online."
Kyle said his goal was for a home that looked collected over time rather than bought in a massive shopping spree.
"We had a nice time, but it wasn't supposed to be overly polished or overly complete. There's an open-endedness to it," Kyle said of the finished look. "When everything is brand-new it looks too unified. When it's not new, they have their own distinct presence that disappears into the whole."
He especially likes the big, round, concave mirror above the fireplace. He and Julia are admirers of Anish Kapoor's "Sky Mirror" sculpture, so they hired a metal worker to create one like it.
A stunning Milo Baughman circular sofa dominates the living room alongside vintage Hans Wegner chairs that still have their original moss-green upholstery. Two custom-made chandeliers hang over an Edward Wormley dining table with vintage chairs and a burled wood buffet.
Modern art greets you in the foyer and fills the sections of brick walls throughout the home. Much is from local artists, such as Paul Fleming, Joe Mancuso and Gavin Perry at the Barbara Davis Gallery.
Only the family room has more contemporary furnishings, a Roche Bobois Mah Jong sectional sofa in lively Missoni prints atop a bright fuchsia rug.
The family's bedrooms anchor the other end of the home, all with vaulted ceilings and soft colors reminiscent of a French palette.
Much of the home is devoted to play space for the Rigdon children and their friends. Their scooters have the run of the home, and there's plenty to do in the rumpus room if they get tired of their own bedrooms.
There's a pool in the backyard, and their parents have strung up a kid-size zipline on the side of the house.
But there's adult play, too. Julia and Matthew host friends in small and large groups for parties that often lead to after-parties.
"We're going to be hosting 45 people for a PTA event and about 25 of them will stay later. We'll see what happens. We have a crowd that likes to party, dancing on the countertops and stuff like that," Matthew said, smiling. "It's happened many a time in the two years we've been here."
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Greg Laurie drives around in a 1968 Ford Mustang just like Frank Bullitt. That's the effect Steve McQueen had on some dudes: They wanted to emulate the cool he projected on screen. But Laurie, the pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in California, saw other connections to the actor.
"As I delved more deeply into his life, I was surprised to find our childhoods were almost exactly parallel," Laurie says. "He had an alcoholic mother, I was born to an alcoholic mother. He had an abusive stepfather, so did I. He lived with grandparents and aunts and uncles as I did. He was sent to reform school, as was I. I'm not a psychologist, but I understand something about why this guy would have all this armor on. Why he was removed and aloof and had a hard time with relationships. Difficulty giving and receiving love. When you're not properly raised by adult role models, you have to raise yourself. That contributed to his coolness, that cool detachment on screen. But also all the accolades and attention in his life left him searching for meaning."
Laurie's path led him to the church. So he was intrigued by McQueen's spiritual awakening late in life. Laurie wrote a book about it, "Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon," which became the backbone of a documentary, "Steve McQueen: American Icon," directed by Jon and Andy Erwin and screening this month during special theatrical events.
More Information 'Steve McQueen: American Icon' When: 7 p.m. Thursday. Where: First Colony 24, Sugar Land; Cinemark 18, Webster. Information: stevemcqueenmovie.com See More Collapse
Laurie is among the talking heads in the film, along with admirers like Mel Gibson and friends and family.
"Icon" presents McQueen's knockabout youth, as well as his rise in Hollywood, through the roles everybody knows: Vin Tanner in "The Magnificent Seven," and Hilts in "The Great Escape." And it also touches on the inevitable misfire, the race car film "Le Mans," and the career resurrection with "The Towering Inferno" in 1974. After that film McQueen became scarce, demanding a $50,000 fee just to read a script.
"He had everything he ever dreamed of: global fame, incredible wealth, the coolest cars and the hottest women," Laurie says. "But he knew there was something more."
Which is where the film takes a different turn. Laurie and the filmmakers reached out to the pilots and stuntmen McQueen befriended late in life, as well as wife Barbara Minty McQueen. They portray a wild-haired, bearded man looking to find some anonymity and some sort of spiritual salvation.
The star befriended Rev. Billy Graham, whose Bible McQueen was believed to be holding when he died in 1980 while being treated for cancer in Mexico. McQueen was 50.
On screen, viewers will see that Bible, with "Billy Graham" on the cover, and Graham's personal note to McQueen:
"To my friend Steve McQueen, May God bless you and keep you always. Billy Graham." The evangelist also wrote "Phil 1:6," a reference to a passage in Paul's Letter to the Philippians in the New Testament.
It reads: " ... being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
The team behind "Steve McQueen: American Icon" also found some tapes made weeks before McQueens death. The audio can be heard in the film.
"He was a man of few words, but we wanted people to hear more of his voice," Laurie says. "So those cassettes were valuable. You could hear him in his own words talking about his faith.
The film ends with audio of the actor talking three weeks before his death.
"I want to change some people's lives somehow, to tell people that I know the Lord," McQueen says. "I used to be more macho. And now my body is gone, is broken. But my spirit isn't broken."
It's a perspective on McQueen that's rarely displayed or discussed.
"The last years of his life have been largely ignored. But to me that's the interesting part. Here you have the No. 1 star in the world talking about putting his faith in Christ. Imagine if Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or George Clooney came out tomorrow and said, 'I'm a Christian.' I think it makes him more interesting. He was called 'The King of Cool.' I think the coolest thing he did was become a Christian. It took so much courage for a man in his position to do."
Tim Funk of The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.
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Halfway up the 3,300-foot climb through the muggy forest on the north side of Hope Pass, I was panting, sweat-soaked and pining for a pint.
It seems every tiny mountain town in Colorado is blessed with a great microbrewery and pizza restaurant. At nearly 500 miles long, the Colorado Trail provides several opportunities to hitchhike to a fantastic IPA and a pizza. But my husband, Honeybuns (or "Clif," to nonhikers), and I had just finished our resupply in Twin Lakes and now had several long, beerless days ahead of us.
As he and I paused to catch our breath in a high meadow at tree line before the final ascent, a strange noise behind us set my most primitive survival instincts on edge.
Mountain lion? Bear?
Worse.
"Youths!" I hissed.
We had passed a score of brightly ponchoed summer campers a few miles back, and it sounded like the horde was in hot pursuit. The last thing I wanted, in my rumpled exhaustion, was to small-talk teenagers who seemed buoyant enough to float up the mountain.
Honeybuns laughed gently, further stoking my wrath, and started the final climb. As the chipper chatter came closer, a new fire was lit under me. I struggled after him, hobbling along on my trekking poles like a bandylegged goblin.
I cursed the trail. I cursed myself. I very much cursed the lack of beer.
More Information If you go Colorado Trail Foundation: 303-384-3729, coloradotrail.org There are no permits required to hike the Colorado Trail. I recommend using Yogi's Guide (yogisbooks.com) and Paul Magnanti's free online guide (pmags.com) for planning your trip. During travel, I carried the Colorado Trail Databook (coloradotrail.org) and used the Guthook app (guthookhikes.com, available in the app stores). See More Collapse
But at the top, I stopped hard in my tracks.
The world bloomed before me.
Endless dark peaks jutted out of the earth, roadless and wild and spellbinding.
I reeled, trying to see everything all at once. The outcroppings of vegetation dotting the mountains. The breathtaking geometry that governed the rock, leading my eyes between sharp edges of shade and light, swooping down long hollows carved by avalanches.
I imagined the tiny pikas who would live on these mountains, the soft seashell curve of their ears. I imagined the wildflowers - plumes of Indian paintbrush, tight clusters of sky pilot - that would be born and wither and die without ever being seen by a human eye.
This was worth the climb. This was worth anything.
This was even better than beer.
B B B
Having gotten the long-distance-backpacking bug after our six-month "thruhike" (end-to-end, single-year hike) of the Appalachian Trail two years ago, Honeybuns and I were looking for a hike to tide us over until we started a Pacific Crest Trail hike the following spring.
Of the domestic middistance trails, the CT attracted us with its fantastic scenery and a promise of a gentle introduction to "Western backpacking."
We had hiked more than 2,000 miles on the East Coast, but the relatively developed surroundings of the Appalachian Trail had provided few opportunities to feel truly remote. The Colorado Trail promised much that would be new to us - chances to summit fourteeners (mountains taller than 14,000 feet), days in the backcountry without easy escapes to civilization and tougher planning requirements involving food and water.
Most of the thruhikers we met were experiencing their first long-distance trail. Many were teachers or students on summer break. The four-to-six-week time frame, well-maintained trail and wealth of data and guides make the CT a great choice for those dipping their toes in.
That July evening on Hope Pass, we decided to camp midway down the descent at a dry campsite tucked onto a ledge. The altitude and the wind made for an astonishingly cold night, perhaps in the mid-40s, but we couldn't bring ourselves to leave the view behind just yet.
As I sat boiling sun-dried tomatoes and couscous for dinner, I kept turning my head to watch the sunlight dying on Emerald Peak. I felt like I was being watched back.
The bone-deep astonishment at the mountains did not fade, no matter how many passes we crested as the days wore on. The last moments before peering over the top of a climb - the giddy anticipation - became my favorites on the trail.
There's a bit of an art to hiking at high elevation in Colorado. One wants to camp at a low-enough elevation to be warmly ensconced below tree line but high enough to cross the passes before midafternoon, when the daily thunderstorm rolls in like clockwork.
But for all their thunder and bombast, the mountains felt heartbreakingly fragile. Pine beetles had ravaged several segments of the trail, leaving vast swaths of dead forest. The trunks and lifeless limbs remained, lacy lichens making the trees look like gossamer-draped wraiths from a distance, up close like bones.
B B B
As we crossed Snow Mesa chewing on granola bars, ominous clouds began to coalesce behind us. We picked up the pace to no avail. In a matter of minutes, our blue-skied, desktop-wallpaper dream had vanished.
The unrelieved gray seemed boundless, unknowable. My mind became unfocused as the dark storm enclosed us in all directions. There was nothing but this storm, this flat plain, this gray, the lightning falling like cleavers on a cutting board.
One safety measure in a lightning storm is to get to lower ground and assume the lightning position: sitting on your pack, feet off the ground, crouched down.
We paused to assess the situation. My poncho was plastered against my skin, as useful as a soggy leaf. My legs trembled. Hypothermia seemed even more imminent than a lightning strike. We decided to keep going and try to find a way to lower elevation.
"We should spread out!" Honeybuns shouted over the storm. He was right - hiking next to one another only increased our lightning risk. But as I watched him hurry ahead, I felt anything but relieved.
I hoarsely sang Britney Spears songs to myself as we hurried on, my voice keening feebly against the roar of rain and wind, knees shaking, hands aching with cold. "As long as you're singing," I told myself, "you're not dead."
When I ran out of Britney songs, I started on show tunes. When I ran out of show tunes, I started on hymns. When I ran out of hymns, I started back on Britney.
Finally, I watched Honeybuns disappear over the edge of the horizon as the trail finally descended. I struggled after him, awash with relief as the torrent slackened to a cold drizzle. I was frantic to get to the nearby road crossing where we could hitch to town and warm up.
But Honeybuns stopped suddenly and pointed off with one trekking pole.
Flashes of white caught my eye. A herd of dozens of female and juvenile elk were winding their way through the trees before us, moving up toward a ridge.
The trail had provided many animal encounters. I had cooed over the bell-bottomed ptarmigans and chirruped at the pikas and whistled at the marmots. But seeing this huge group of huge animals was stunning and humbling.
The elk leader struggled to find a path to the top, trying this route and that before sliding down the slippery scree. She kept looking over her shoulder at her fellow elk. I don't know if elk are capable of embarrassment, but she did seem a bit sheepish after each failed attempt.
We stood, transfixed, rain pooling in our shoes. Finally, the leader managed to scramble up and over the ridge. The rest of the herd followed, some of the juveniles slipping before gamely plowing on.
Off to their side, the two shivering humans held absolutely no interest to the elk. They had their own dramas and concerns.
Honeybuns and I stumbled down to the road crossing soaked, exhausted and in awe.
B B B
Mornings were my favorite time of day. We rose just before dawn to a gray-and-black world, and would watch the color pour into the trees as we ate cinnamon oatmeal and took down our tarp. My favorite places to camp were among the aspen groves. In the early morning, silhouetted against the sky, the shimmering leaves looked like glitter.
But nights were worth remembering, too.
On one of our last nights, we were camped on a high ridge with a section-hiker friend.
We were all due to recommence our lives off-trail. Honeybuns and I had jobs and friends and family and a cat waiting for us. But our month on the trail just didn't seem like enough. Not yet.
As the setting sun shifted from electric oranges to honey pinks, we stopped doing our chores and walked out to the closest exposed switchback to watch. Honeybuns and I stood side by side, admiring the spires of the distant mountains, watching the light as it drifted and shifted and changed color.
I wanted to build a house around myself right there. I wanted my feet to turn to roots, to hold me there forever, where every sunset would be just a little bit different.
It seemed like a decent way to spend a life.
In the weeks, months and years after Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle went missing in Afghanistan, their families repeated the same story:
They were young adventurers, drawn off the beaten track. "They were interested in cultures that are under-developed," Caitlan's mother Lyn said in 2014. They didn't do things like stay in hotels or visit tourist traps. They were idealists, and also a little naive.
Soon after the pair married in 2011, they spent four months in Guatemala. And in the summer of 2012, they jetted off for Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Family members called it a backpacking trek. Afghanistan was not a part of the plan, at least not as far as anyone knew.
What happened next has become, by now, well-known. Coleman and Boyle did make their way to a remote area of Afghanistan outside Kabul, where they were kidnapped by the Taliban and imprisoned for five years before being rescued this week.
Why did Boyle and Coleman, seven months pregnant, decide to go to Kabul? What were they trying to accomplish? We don't have the full story yet. But in the past couple of days, we've gotten some clues.
In comments to reporters, Boyle said he and Coleman went to Afghanistan to try to help "the most neglected minority group in the world, those ordinary 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." In that same statement, Boyle described himself as a "pilgrim."
It's not clear how he and Coleman intended to help, or what they were up to when they were kidnapped.
Coleman's friend suggested to USA Today that she and others had at least a vague notion that the couple intended to do some volunteer work. Sarah Flood said she related to Coleman's travel plans because she had just come back from a service trip to Ukraine. "The idea of going to a country and being helpful is something we absolutely shared," Flood told USA Today. She also said that the trip had been Boyle's idea, but Coleman quickly got excited about it, even though she was ready to settle down in the United States and start a family.
And then there's the insight of Richard Cronin, who met Coleman and Boyle while they were in Central Asia. The pair befriended Cronin at a hostel in Bishkek. In a blog post from 2012, Cronin wrote that Boyle's excitement about Afghanistan convinced him to go. "I hadn't thought seriously about traveling to Afghanistan until I started talking to Josh," he wrote. "He was planning to travel there with his wife Caitlan very shortly. We started talking about Lawrence of Arabia and the explorer Richard Burton. He asked me if I admired these explorers. Of course I did. 'Wouldn't you like to be like one of them?'"
"I asked Josh where he wanted to go in Afghanistan and he replied All over," Cronin continued. "He had also said it was safe provided you didn't go to a region where there were foreign troops and the Taliban, namely the south."
Boyle's fascination with the Middle East and Central Asia was more than a decade in the making.
After the 9/11 attacks, Boyle became consumed by questions of terrorism and Islam, studying up on the issue and even learning Arabic. A few years later, he got involved in an effort to get Omar Khadr, once the youngest detainee at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, released. Khadr pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. Special Forces medic. Boyle briefly married Khadr's sister.
As my colleague explained:
"Boyle's associations with the family led some U.S. intelligence officials to speculate that the visit to Afghanistan may have been part of a larger effort to link up with Taliban-affiliated militants. "I can't say that [he was ever al-Qaida]," said one former U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. "He was never a fighter on the battlefield. But my belief is that he clearly was interested in getting into it."
Authorities denied that Boyle had any ties to terror.
His "first concern in life has always been helping others," Alex Edwards, a friend of Boyle's since 2002, told Philadelphia magazine. "If things were different, and I was the one being held hostage, Josh wouldn't rest until I was free," says Alex. "He'd stage sit-ins. He'd put up posters. He'd dedicate his life to it. That's just who he is."
Texas prison inmates donated more than $53,000 through their commissary funds to be used for Hurricane Harvey relief, according to a prison system spokesman.
The prisons put up a flier near the commissary store in each facility, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The fund was open for donations from Aug. 31 through Sept. 30, Clark said.
During that time, 6,600 inmates donated $53,863 which will be sent to the American Red Cross fund benefiting victims of Hurricane Harvey.
The average donation was $8, but several offenders donated a couple of hundred dollars or more, he said.
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Texas prison system set up a similar fund, after many inmates asked how they could donate to help storm victims. Inmates raised well over $44,000 in a combined fund for Katrina and Rita relief, Clark said.
He said he wasn't surprised at the generosity of the people incarcerated in Texas facilities.
"Certainly Hurricane Harvey was a prolonged event, and many of these offenders had families and friends that were affected by it," Clark said. "They saw what was going on and wanted, in some form or fashion, to help."
Clark noted that prison staff also stepped up to help each other's families and people in their communities during the storm.
"Many came and brought diapers, food, gift cards, money and delivered that directly to correctional officers and others affected," he said. "Across the board we have seen generosity from everyone during this difficult time."
Support for Texas prisons and employees - which experienced evacuations and storm damage - also came from the outside.
Individuals, businesses, organizations and prison personnel from other states sent monetary donations to the Texas Corrections Association, raising approximately $67,000 to help criminal justice employees impacted by the storm, according to a social media post from Bryan Collier, Texas prison director.
"The generosity shown is truly remarkable," Collier wrote. "Thank you to the Association of State Correctional Administrators, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Indiana Department of Correction, Texas Public Employees Association, Texas Corrections Association and many others known and unknown who gave so unselfishly. Storms come and go but the outpouring of support will not soon be forgotten."
Apart from hosting and possible maintenance costs, there are not exactly downsides to having your own website. Even if its just a personal blog it can always become more useful down the line, if you utilize it in the right manner. In other words, more
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday officially disavowed the international nuclear deal with Iran, undermining but not terminating an agreement he called weak and poorly constructed.
The administration asked Congress to attach new caveats that could either alter the pact or lead to its rupture. Sounding frustrated and angry, Trump also threatened to unilaterally withdraw from the seven-nation accord if his concerns are not met.
"We will not continue down the path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakout," Trump said in remarks delivered at the White House.
His decision to withdraw presidential "certification" of the deal throws its future into doubt by tying continued U.S. participation to new requirements for Iran. But the approach also falls well short of Trump's repeated campaign vow to scrap the deal altogether, marking the latest collision between his "America first" worldview and the realities of global diplomacy and dealmaking.
The move was immediately met with opposition Friday from U.S. allies that are part of the pact and with skepticism from many U.S. lawmakers, including some Republicans. Iran, meanwhile, responded with a threat of its own, vowing in a statement to walk away if Iranian "rights and interests in the deal are not respected."
If the amendment is approved by Congress and Iran fails to meet the new requirements, the United States could impose new sanctions that would effectively break the deal. Or, if Congress is unwilling, Trump said he could back away on his own.
"As I have said many times, the Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," Trump said, later charging that Tehran is "not living up to the spirit of the deal."
Prized by key allies
U.S. officials acknowledge that Iran is meeting its technical obligations but accuse the Islamic republic of using the deal as a shield for an expansion of "destabilizing" activities such as the funding and arming of terrorist groups.
Trump said nothing in support of the agreement, which is prized by key U.S. allies and backed, with caveats, by leading members of his administration and many Republicans in Congress.
The agreement - known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - limits Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that were imposed in response to worries that Tehran was driving quickly toward a bomb.
European allies lobbied Trump hard in recent weeks to not scuttle an agreement. In a joint statement, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany did not hide their disappointment.
"We encourage the U.S. Administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the U.S. and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the JCPoA, such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement," the statement said.
The leaders said their countries would work with the Trump administration to address concerns over Iran's ballistic missile program and "regional activities" that threaten European security. That is a reference to alleged support for terrorism and Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped negotiate the agreement, called Trump's speech "inane."
"Allegations, threats & profanity will never intimidate Iranians," Zarif said on Twitter. "Trump will eventually discover this, as every predecessor did."
The 2015 agreement among the United States, Iran, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China set limits on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of what had become crippling economic sanctions.
Acted under U.S. law
Critics of the deal say the agreement does not prevent an eventual Iranian bomb and at best merely delays that capability.
The pact as negotiated is limited to Iranian nuclear activity, which the country claims has always been peaceful. Under the agreement, Iran was allowed to keep some uranium-enrichment capacity.
The deal was not designed to address many other areas of international concern, including Iranian missile programs, its alleged support for terrorism and its human rights record. All of those are subject to separate international and U.S. sanctions that are unaffected by the nuclear agreement.
Trump acted under a U.S. law that is separate from the deal itself, which requires the president to endorse the deal every 90 days with a certification that Iran is meeting its obligations and that the deal remains in the U.S. national interest.
Trump does not think either condition is true, and he made clear he has not changed his low opinion of the deal itself.
The Trump administration is now asking Congress to add conditions for U.S. cooperation that would address Iranian ballistic missile development as well as alleged support for terrorist or extremist groups in Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere.
The president also announced new unilateral sanctions on Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps related to its alleged activities in support of terrorism.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters during a briefing ahead of the president's address that the administration also wants to address "sunset clauses"that allow Iran to resume certain nuclear activities that raise proliferation concerns beginning 10 to 15 years after the accord took effect in January 2016.
Tillerson called that a "countdown clock to when Iran can have a nuclear program again."
Congress now has 60 days to consider whether to reimpose sanctions. Congress could buck the administration's request and slap the sanctions back on now, but some of the leading Iran hawks in Congress have already suggested that they are likely to be on board with the administration's approach.
Have you taken a close look at your ads lately?
Washington and Silicon Valley have been shocked by each new discovery recently of how Russian operatives bought ads on Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks during the 2016 campaign. Kremlin-linked troll farms bought cheap advertising with a very wide reach, possibly getting their messages in front of millions of American voters.
Such ads are our clearest example yet of the ways that personalization and microtargeting - basics in the business of data on the Internet - can be weaponized.
And it's not just ads we need to worry about - it's all forms of personalization. In a world where more and more interfaces are personalized, we need better means to exert our preferences and protect against misuse. Russian interference using standard business practices such as buying ads on Facebook puts into stark relief the lack of oversight of the potential misuses and abuses of technologies that filter our daily lives.
Ads are the best signal we have to show us how our personal data is being used. We've begun to see examples of how targeted advertising online has moved from the commercial into the political sphere. ProPublica has reported that Facebook made it possible for advertisers to target racial proxies buying ads for categories like "ethnic affinity groups" and "jew haters." An Australian Facebook ad team presented leaked research suggesting how emotionally unstable teens might be targeted. The Trump campaign deployed "Super Predator" dark posts targeting black voters to suppress turnout just before the election. But Russia's digital tactics demonstrate just how far exploitative microtargeting can go.
Today there is no neutral interface, no unfiltered feed. From music recommendations to algorithmically generated news feeds, even search results and front pages of news sources, our digital lives are tailored to match our unique behavioral patterns. We can't toggle between a neutral experience and a personalized one.
Most of what feeds into microtargeting is based on assumptions - algorithms observe past behavior, process it through a prioritization system and spit back out more of what you will like, or what will get you to spend more of your money or time. At best, these systems anticipate our needs and interests and tailor our experience accordingly. At worst, though, they are deployed to take advantage of us.
It's hard to find the fuzzy line between appropriate uses and misuses of the technology. What's the difference between a retargeted ad selling shoes vs. one discussing protection of the Second Amendment?
This is about more than just annoying ads. It's about our agency to understand and control the interfaces with which we live every day.
Facebook has responded with an action plan to address election integrity issues. Ads targeted to various users will be available on one page for users to compare to what others are seeing. Facebook will also finally make political advertising disclosures more transparent, as regulation of TV and other media already requires. But these efforts do not address the wider influence of microtargeting and personalization on this and other platforms.
Interfaces dealing in user data need to be held accountable to their users. Beyond the ones Facebook has proposed, there are a number of solutions that platforms and regulators can pursue.
First, interfaces need to develop means of expressing the degree to which an experience is personalized to users. This allows platforms to explain the inputs that go into the personalized feed or recommendation, and also gives users a means of interacting with and responding to those inputs or algorithm weights. Imagine telling the Facebook feed that for the next week you want to see more news articles and fewer cat videos. Platforms can test their assumptions against us and provide even better personalized experiences. We need that level of granular control over the personalized interfaces to gain more control and agency over our experiences.
Second, we need to apply some of the lessons from traditional advertising to the Wild West that is online advertising. We need to regulate appropriate and inappropriate uses of microtargeting, with consumer protection principles in mind. Whether updating Federal Election Commission regulations for political advertising standards, or looking to industry self-regulation as was once done for subliminal advertising, further oversight over digital targeting is needed.
Finally, we need to develop more data and better literacy of these practices to develop normative stances on what are acceptable and appropriate forms of targeting. The Russian-bought ads have struck a nerve, but we need more examples of microtargeting out in the open to clearly articulate our appetite for personalized experiences.
Facebook allows users to manage the categories its algorithms have determined you might be interested in, often based on apps you've installed or pages you've liked or interacted with. We can also ask, "Why Am I Seeing This Ad?" about a particular ad by clicking on the ". . ." in the top right corner of a post or ad. You might be included on brands' customer list or could be targeted in a broad category such as "women ages 18 to 34 who live in the United States." You can also use the same feature to remove certain people or publications from your feed. For now, though, these opportunities to provide input happen through micro-interactions or are buried in Ad Preferences settings.
These approaches won't solve all problems. We may remove protected categories from ad-targeting drop-down menus, but advanced data services such as Cambridge Analytica will be able to microtarget based on proprietary email lists. Platforms maintain that giving users more control results in information overload and management fatigue, but the option for further insight and control needs to exist for at least the savviest users. For the rest of us, we need mechanisms for oversight to identify instances of misuse and abuse to protect against further exploitation and manipulation.
Subliminal advertising has been regulated away - for good reason. This is the modern equivalent in our digital lives. It's time we take personalization personally.
- - -
Watson is a technology critic and an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
Solutions available
Regarding "Tensions between Houston firefighters and City Hall" (Page A18, Wednesday), the editorial mischaracterizes recent firefighter contract negotiations, the rate of fire-EMS incidents, fire department overtime costs and the mayor's initiation of public confrontations with firefighters.
Had we been asked about these issues, we would have clarified, for example, that the city never offered firefighters a 9.5 percent "raise," as the editorial asserts. In fact, we were asked to consider 3 percent annual raises over three years - before other pay cuts and a 1.5 percent increase in pension contributions.
More important, no blue-ribbon panel is needed to fix the Houston Fire Department. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of independent and firefighter-funded analysis has been provided to the city in the past year. The solutions offered are simple, but they are costly. This is a predictable consequence of the city's neglect of the fire department for a generation.
So far, Mayor Sylvester Turner has ignored the analysis provided, apparently preferring to deflect political blame to firefighters and manufacture crises of "insubordination." But when he's ready to refocus on addressing the challenges facing HFD, we will be ready to find a sensible way forward.
Patrick M. Lancton, president, Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association
Promises made
Regarding "Fire union says Turner enraged after handshake rebuffed" (Page A3, Wednesday), Councilmember Michael Kubosh observed that Houston firefighters may feel jilted due to the pension reform efforts, and I think this illustrates how poorly understood this issue is, even by good and intelligent people.
"Jilted" does not begin to describe the gut-wrenching feeling of having one's career choice upended. The men and women who joined the Houston Fire Department in the last 15 years weighed their choices, and rejected other careers, based on the package offer that our city presented. For most, this meant accepting a life of low wages in return for a comfortable retirement. Their lifes' plans were made based on this offer. They can't back up and start over. They are stuck with the sickening knowledge that they were fooled once into making a poor career choice and then fooled two more times into accepting salary concessions that supposedly would preserve their pension.
For 15 years, we have used the excellent pension as bait to attract and assemble an exceptionally high-caliber force at HFD. Every cadet class since has been filled with the best of the best of the large numbers that applied, and our city is safer and better for it.
If we are going to break our promise to these folks, we should at least have the decency to acknowledge it as such and not minimize it. Our firefighters cannot shrug this off, and neither should we.
Donald E. Uhle, Hockley
Think different
Given the long running acrimony, poor financial control and massive overall costs associated with the Houston Fire Department, perhaps it is time to think outside the box. Since 80 percent of their current calls are EMS related, why not explore privatizing that work and redeploy those dollars. My guess is there would be countless legitimate companies willing to do this work for a fraction of the costs the citizens of Houston pay today.
Heck, we have the largest and best medical center in the world with locations all over. Do we not think those folks could not staff these units at least as well as they are today? Contracts could be written in a way that mandate response times, quality and training of EMS technicians and ensure equipment was up to date and in working order - things we have little direct control of today. Then the remaining core resources; 20-25 percent could focus on responding to fires.
This potential solution directly addresses the huge pension bill that keeps piling up, the problems associated with much of the mismanagement of budget dollars and recognizes the changed role of the HFD in a way that the city and its taxpayers can actually afford.
John Shupe, Houston
Communist foes
Regarding "Vietnam: bitter memories" letter (Page A15, Oct. 7), the writer expresses his dismay about the outcome of the Vietnam War, stating "Too many have condemned the great endeavor that was not a military failure but a political one." However, his claim that we were "a people bamboozled by anti-war protesters who knew nothing about what was going on in Vietnam" is errant.
Instead, our political-military theory of the need to take millions of lives in the name of preventing the dominoes of governments falling to the unified Communist menace was what bamboozled our government and military leaders. The anti-Vietnam war protesters saw through the fallacy, and the proof of their anti-war rationale exists in the fact that after U.S. withdrawal, Vietnam did not become a puppet of the Communist bloc.
Rather the Republic of Vietnam has maintained its independence and today is a trading partner if not an ally. Sadly, the war caused great loss and pain to many Vietnamese and American families (my brother served in the Army, stationed in the Central Highlands in 1965-66), and I don't take lightly the writer's sense of distress about the outcome. However, I believe he comes to an inappropriate conclusion regarding which party knew what was going on, and who was responsible for the bamboozling.
Alan Husak, Houston
Tragic war
The magical thinking of the military chaplain who wrote the letter has led him to deny evidence presented to him in black and white and vivid color by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick in the Vietnam documentary. Four presidents, also magical thinkers, and repetitive liars plus the majority of Congress deceived the American public. They were not alone in the massive lying. The generals all lied and perpetuated the slaughter.
As for the peace demonstrators, how wrong could the chaplain be? Did he not see the maimed, wounded Veterans Against the War throwing their medals on the capitol steps? They knew first hand if anybody did the bloody consequences of this tragic war.
Tim OBrien, the great author of the best books on Vietnam and a bona fied combat soldier, told everyone straight to our faces how this tragic, useless, wicked war sent brave American soldiers to be killed, maimed, scarred for life, all for nothing but the ego and re-election of presidents.
Jim Rytting, Houston
Hard lessons
I was very surprised to read the letter about the Vietnam War from the writer who served as a chaplain in the 101st Airborne division. He blames Congress and American cowardice for the defeat of South Vietnam. I thought Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary made the point that the government of South Vietnam did not have the support of the people of South Vietnam.
If the government had made an alliance with the Buddhists, they might have had a chance.
I think the lesson of Vietnam is that you don't use military means when the problem is political.
Carol Hensel, The Woodlands
Houston ISD, Trustee, District VII: Anne Katherine Sung
Anne Katherine Sung won in a runoff for this district last year after former trustee Harvin Moore resigned. Now voters are faced with a rematch between Sung and her former opponent, John Luman.
During her short time on the board, Sung has proved herself an engaged and effective trustee who deserves a full term representing this west Houston district, which covers River Oaks, Briar Grove and parts of Montrose and the Heights.
Sung, 38, brings in-depth knowledge of the educational landscape to the task. For more than a decade, she has been attending trustee meetings and preparing herself in multiple ways to assume a leadership role on the board.
The alumna of Bellaire High School has been a Teach for America Corp. member, an award-winning HISD physics teacher and co-founded an education advocacy group, Community Voices for Public Education. She's currently serving as the chief strategy officer and vice president of the nonprofit Project GRAD Houston.
A Harvard graduate, Sung is theright person for the board duringthese troubled times. She has worked as a teacher and a chair of the science department of an underperforming school and has first-hand experience about what it takes to improve student learning.
Sung's priority has been the governance of HISD, and she has helped provide a framework for the board to avoid a "nine-person tug of war."
After years of preparation, Sung is just getting started in her work for taxpayers. She's playing a valuable role on the ad hoc special education committee to help HISD ensure that students who need special education services are better served.
Opponent John Luman, who narrowly lost to Sung in 2016, is an attorney and lobbyist who has been an active member of Briargrove Elementary School's parent-teacher organization. A smart and unwavering advocate, we hope he remains engaged in HISD.
Houston ISD, Trustee, District IX: Wanda Adams
This troubled south Houston district needs all the help it can get. Fourteen schools within the boundaries, which stretch from the Westbury to Sunnyside, are failing according to ratings by the non-profit Children at Risk.
Despite these problems, none of the challengers provide a compelling case to remove incumbent Wanda Adams from her seat.
While there's no question that the district is rife with inequity and that some schools need more attention and resources, Adams is one member of a nine-member board in charge of setting policy. The responsibility for these failing schools falls on past superintendents, the entire board and the community, not on a single trustee.
Adams, 50, knows her community well. A former City Council member, this professor of political science at Texas Southern University currently serves as HISD board president and has worked to make key changes to governance. She's applied time limits to trustees' remarks to reduce grandstanding at board meetings and has worked to develop a framework to measure district progress.
Adams has also backed Superintendent Richard Carranza and his Achieve 180 program, which is designed to give extra help to the schools that need it - including those in her district. Adams supports the superintendent's program and the wrap-around services to be provided, and believes that it will help address the achievement gap in her district. Neither of Adams' opponents offered a better path forward to turn around failing schools.
Community activist Gerry Monroe serves as a passionate fighter for students, but his rabble-rouser style works better in opposition to the system than working within it. In one notable instance, he showed up at a HISD board meeting and threw dollar bills at trustees to make a point about priorities.
Karla Brown seems to be a consensus builder and ought to consider another run. But as Adams has been a calm voice on a tumultuous board, voters should cast their ballots for her.
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Secretary of State Tillerson's Meeting With OAS Secretary General Almagro
Washington, DC - Secretary Tillerson hosted Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro today at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. The two leaders underscored the important role and leadership of the organization in addressing the situation in Venezuela in collaboration with the broader international community, and reiterated the need for Venezuelan authorities to conduct fully free and fair gubernatorial elections on October 15.
They also discussed the importance of pressing ahead with OAS reform so as to build a stronger and more vibrant institution capable of responding effectively to regional challenges. They discussed the vital role of the OAS as the premier multilateral forum for the promotion and defense of democracy, human rights, development and regional security cooperation in the Western Hemisphere.
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A journalist and author has recalled a story about how Donald Trump once tried to convince him that he owned an original Renoir painting.
Years ago Tim O'Brien, who wrote the explosive book TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald, accompanied the then-business mogul on his private jet for an interview.
Speaking to Vanity Fair podcast 'Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton'. O'Brien explained how the plane was ornate as you would imagine.
On one wall he spotted a painting of two young girls, one in an orange hat and the other with a floral bonnet, in the impressionistic style of Renoir.
O'Brien asked Trump about the painting: "Was it an original?" Trump said it was. O'Brien disagreed, and Trump protested: Yes, it was an original.
"Donald, it's not," O'Brien said. "I grew up in Chicago, that Renoir is called Two Sisters on the Terrace and it's hanging on a wall at the Art Institute of Chicago. That's not an original."
Trump apparently did not agree but O'Brien dropped the subject and continued the interview, thinking it would not be discussed again.
However, boarding the jet again to return to New York City, O'Brien says Trump pointed to the painting again.
As though the previous conversation had never happened, he reportedly said: "You know, that's original Renoir." O'Brien chose not to respond.
Years later, when Trump became President of the United States of America, O'Brien says he spotted it hanging in the background during one of his first interviews as president-elect.
In another interview with First Lady Melania Trump, the painting can again be seen in the background.
The original painting is, of course, on display at the Art Institute of Chicago and appears on its online archive. It was completed by Renoir in 1881 and was worked on in the same locaton as another of his well-known paintings, Luncheon of the Boating Party.
The Art Institute of Chicago website shows that the painting is currently on display there (Screenshot)
Two Sisters was sold in 1925 to Annie S. Coburn for $100,000, and was bequeathed to the gallery after her death, where it has remained since 1933.
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
O'Brien said that the story was emblematic of how Trump "believes his own lies in a way that lasts for decades."
"Its foundation is that he's the final arbiter of what is true and what isn't," he continued, "and it's one of the reasons that he's so dangerous."
You can listen to the full interview with O'Brien on Vanity Fair below:
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Colin Firth has said he feels shame for not doing more after a co-star told him about an distressing encounter with Harvey Weinstein.
The British actor spoke out after Sophie Dix, who starred with him in The Advocate, went public with allegations of sexual assault in a hotel room when she was 22.
Dix claimed that Weinstein invited her to a private room at the Savoy Hotel in London in 1990, where she was forcibly shoved onto a bed while Weinstein tugged at her clothes.
She told The Guardian that she managed to run to the bathroom and, after spending some time hiding in there, decided to try and escape the room. She claims she opened the door and found Weinstein facing her, standing there masturbating.
Dix says the incident left her traumatised. I decided if this is what being an actress is like, I dont want it.
Firth has now said that he remembers Dix being profoundly upset.
I am extremely pleased that Sophie is speaking out after so many years. I ran into her at a party some time after filming Hour of the Pig around 25 years ago. She told me she had had a distressing encounter with Harvey Weinstein.
I dont think she went into all the horrific detail Ive read in her interview. But I remember her being profoundly upset by it. To my shame, I merely expressed sympathy. I didnt act on what she told me.
Recommended Hollywood elite to hold emergency meeting over Harvey Weinstein
He goes on to explain: It was a long time ago and I dont know if she remembers telling me, but the fact that I had that conversation has come back to haunt me in the light of these revelations. Its the only direct account of this kind of behaviour by Harvey Weinstein thats ever been told to me.
What I heard, it turns out, was part of a horrifying pattern. Other women have been hurt since. And those of us who didnt act on our one bit of knowledge and especially those of us who went on to work with Weinstein have that on our conscience.
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He added: I admire Sophies courage. This cant have been easy.
Dix responded: I am delighted Colin has spoken and I remember him being very supportive at the time. Its never easy speaking out, but I wanted to help resolve this problem and show that women cannot be treated like this in the workplace.
More and more women in Hollywood have come forward with accusations against the film mogul, including high profile actresses such as Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cara Delevingne, and Mira Sorvino.
In a statement issued earlier this week, 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.
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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The organisation behind the Oscars has expelled film producer Harvey Weinstein over a string of sexual assault and harassment allegations made against him.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, convened an emergency meeting on Saturday about how to deal with the scandal that has enveloped Hollywood.
Dozens of women, including actresses Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have gone public with accusations against Harvey Weinstein following recent reports by The New York Times and The New Yorker detailing allegations of rape, sexual assault and harassment. Meanwhile, police forces in the UK and US have announced they are investigating allegations made against the mogul.
Harvey Weinstein has said through a spokeswoman that any sexual contacts he had were consensual, and he denies all accusations of sexual harassment, rape and sexual assault.
Comprised of leading artists, directors and executives including Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg, the 54-member board of the Academy said in a statement that it had voted well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to expel Mr Weinstein.
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 behaviour and workplace harassment in our industry is over, the statement added. Whats at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society."
The expulsion came as the brother of Harvey Weinstein gave an interview in which he said that he is a waking nightmare and that he had no idea the type of predator his brother is accused of being following a string of sexual assault and harassment allegations.
Bob Weinstein, with whom Harvey co-founded The Weinstein Company production house, said that he wants his elder sibling to get the justice he deserves. He also urged the Academy to expel Harvey. I am gonna write a note to them saying he definitely should be kicked out of the Academy, he told the Hollywood Reporter, calling his brother sick and depraved.
Bob, 62, said that he and Harvey, 65, had barely spoken in five years and were running divisions of The Weinstein Company on separate coasts Bob in Los Angeles and Harvey in New York.
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The members of the board, including myself, did not know the extent of my brother's actions, Bob Weinstein said. He claimed he knew his brother was unfaithful to wife Georgina Chapman, but he insisted he had no idea his brother was allegedly committing acts of sexual harassment and assault. Ms Chapman announced she was leaving her husband in the wake of the allegations.
I'll tell you what I did know: Harvey was a bully, Harvey was arrogant, Bob said. I'm mortified and disgusted by my brother's actions. And I am sick for the victims. And I feel for them.
Weinstein at the 2017 Oscars ceremony (Reuters)
Harvey was sacked from the board of the Weinstein company, having taken an indefinite leave of absence to seek therapy. Having apologised for some of his actions in an initial statement after the first of the allegations surfaced last week, Harvey Weinstein was later quoted as saying he was hopeful of being given a second chance in Hollywood.
As for the company that bears the name of the two brothers, it is exploring a possible name change as it seeks to find a way to deal with the scandal. Bob Weinstein had come out on Friday to deny reports of a possible sale or shutdown of the company saying it was business as usual.
In his latest interview he said there is a plan for the company to come out the other side of the crisis.
Meanwhile, more fallout can be expected from the scandal, with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also said to be considering nullifying the Oscar awarded to Harvey Weinstein in 1999 for his work on Shakespeare In Love, according to reports.
The British Academy Film Awards (Bafta) has suspended Harvey Weinsteins membership, while organisers of the Cannes Film Festival said they were dismayed by the allegations.
France has also started the process of stripping Harvey Weinstein of his Legion of Honour, France's highest civilian distinction, over the allegations, President Emmanuel Macron's office has said. Harvey Weinstein received the Legion of Honour, Chevalier grade, from President Nicolas Sarkozy in March 2012.
The French Presidency has started discussing this case with the Grande Chancellerie de la Legion d'honneur, a spokeswoman said. A decision will be taken after this discussion.
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Some of Hollywood's most powerful figures are due to discuss what action should be taken by the hosts of the Oscars against Harvey Weinstein.
The board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is convening for an emergency meeting called as the film industry reeled from the sex abuse scandal.
Comprised of leading artists, directors and executives including Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg, the 54-member board may choose to expel Weinstein from the Academy's illustrious ranks.
Meanwhile the Oscar awarded to the producer in 1999 for his work on Shakespeare In Love may also be considered for nullification, according to reports.
Harvey Weinstein: The celebrities who have accused him of sexual misconduct so far
The British Academy Film Awards (Bafta) has suspended the producer's membership, while organisers of the Cannes Film Festival said they were dismayed by the allegations.
Since accusations of sexual harassment first emerged last week, Weinstein has faced a litany of allegations, including three of rape.
Police forces in both the US and the UK have announced that they are investigating allegations made against the mogul, who has apologised for elements of his past behaviour but strongly denies any claims of non-consensual sex.
The scandal, which now has potential to see criminal action, has destroyed Weinstein's reputation as one of Hollywood's leading executives, which he acquired as a co-founder of studios Miramax and Weinstein Company.
The mogul was dropped by the firm's board soon after being placed on indefinite leave earlier this week while he underwent therapy.
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On Friday his brother and co-founder, Bob Weinstein, was forced to deny reports that the company or its board were trying to find a buyer, saying it was business as usual.
Our banks, partners and shareholders are fully supportive of our company, he said in a statement.
US banking giant Goldman Sachs had earlier confirmed it was exploring options for its near 1 million (752,000) stake in the Weinstein Company.
The bank's announcement came amid questions about what the independent film studio's board may have known about the movie mogul's actions.
Meanwhile the list of female stars to go public with allegations of sexual impropriety against the 65-year-old has continued to grow on Saturday, with UK actress Alice Evans alleging Weinstein made a sinister advance towards her.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she suggested that her refusal to respond when he said he wanted to touch your tits. Kiss you a little influenced his decision not to give her film roles.
On Thursday US actress Rose McGowan - one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment - tweeted that HW raped me.
The 44-year-old actress made a series of claims in several tweets to Amazon chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos.
She wrote: I told the head of your studio that HW raped me. Over & over I said it. He said it hadn't been proven. I said I was the proof.
Harvey Weinstein: The celebrities who have accused him of sexual misconduct so far
Amazon said studio head Roy Price had been put on leave of absence effective immediately and said it was reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co.
McGowan's disclosure followed accusations from stars including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and UK model Cara Delevingne.
British actress Kate Beckinsale has also described an alleged encounter when she was a 17-year-old schoolgirl.
The stream of lurid allegations has seen condemnation heaped on the producer, with figures from showbusiness to politics describing their horror and disgust at the scandal.
On Friday filmmaker Alexander Payne told the Press Association Weinstein was a bully and a thug who was asking for his downfall.
Meanwhile former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton commended the women who had spoken out, telling the BBC such behaviour cannot be tolerated anywhere.
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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 the Second World War.
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 26 October.
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 13 October 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.
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 26 October, which has been declared a national holiday.
More than 3,000 performers will join in a night-long 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.
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In the summer of 2016, Lauren Mahon, a then 31-year-old blogger from London, was told three devastating words: you have cancer.
Something that, as a woman with breasts on the smaller side which she describes as a goodwill gesture she thought must have been the universes idea of a cruel joke. But, it was in fact very real, and she was diagnosed with an aggressive 2.8cm, grade III cancerous lump in her right breast.
Despite life as she knew it being sent into a tailspin, the feisty blogger refused to let the c-word get the better of her and began sharing her journey under the hashtag #girlvscancer on her blog and Instagram.
Alongside stunningly crafted images, the tales of her treatment were told authentically; full of grit and countless expletives in a bid to ditch the perception that cancer is a disease solely reserved for the over fifties.
Now a fully-fledged website that offers fierce women affected by the cretin that is cancer a place to feel empowered, GirlvsCancer has launched its second range of T-shirts, aptly named Tit-Tees.
Unable to work during her treatment, Mahon single-handedly masterminded the design and distribution of a range of boobie-inspired T-shirts to financially support herself, raise awareness and earn money for charities close to her heart.
Jubblies Tit-Tee, 28, GirlvsCancer
While the first round saw words like Mammaries, Bangers, Jubblies, and Fun Bags emblazon the tops, this time the euphemisms have taken on a more visual standing with mini bumblebees, fried eggs, melons and milk jugs placed over each breast.
At just 28 each, 25 per cent of the proceeds is donated between four charities Coppafeel!, Trekstock, Future Dreams and Look Good Feel Better to ensure they continue to beat the cancer taboo.
And, with someone diagnosed every 10 minutes in the UK, now is the time to let your Tit-Tees do the talking. Buy yours here.
Bee Stings Tit-Tee, 28, GirlvsCancer
Fried Eggs Tit-Tee, 28, GirlvsCancer
Knockers Tit-Tee, 28, GirlvsCancer
Jugs Tit-Tee, 28, GirlvsCancer
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Iceland might not necessarily be your first port-of-call when it comes to sourcing good quality chocolate, but that could all be about to change.
The frozen food retailers bargain offering has beaten the likes of M&S and Waitrose in a blind taste test conducted by Cambridge Market Research, reports The Sun.
At just 1.29, the 100g chocolate bar is significantly cheaper than its competitors, with M&S charging 2 for a bar the same size and Waitrose pricing their version at 1.60.
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Icelands luxury milk chocolate was rated better for quality, creaminess and taste, with 66 per cent of tasters choosing it as the winner.
The budget bar is part of the food chains new upmarket range which launches this week.
It includes a number of high quality frozen dishes such as enrobed profiteroles, filo pastry wrapped prawns and sushi, all of which cost 3.
Our Luxury range has been carefully crafted, we have taken time to create delicious food for our customers, and the taste test results prove this, said Neil Nugent, head chef at Iceland.
(Iceland (Iceland)
Waitrose and M&S were quick to jump to their chocolates defence, accusing Iceland of biased research.
Our customers love this chocolate - and the vast majority of those who've reviewed it have given it five stars out of five.
"This seems to contradict this research which Iceland paid for, a spokesperson for Waitrose told The Sun.
M&S were equally as defensive, explaining that their customers love their product and insisting that its one of the supermarkets best sellers.
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Business leaders have rallied to the defence of Philip Hammond, in the face of a clamour among Brexiteers for him to be sacked by Theresa May.
The Chancellor provoked fury among Brexiteers last week when he told the Treasury Select Committee he would not authorise the release of public funds to prepare Britain for a no deal Brexit scenario in 2019, just to make some demonstration point.
This prompted one of his predecessors, Lord Lawson, to accuse Mr Hammond of engaging in Brexit sabotage and say the Prime Minister ought to remove him from the Treasury at the next Cabinet reshuffle.
The JD Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin similarly accused the Chancellor of being a blocker, and the Daily Mail called him treacherous.
But Mr Hammond has the backing of the Confederation of British Industry lobby group. The CBIs president, Paul Drechsler, said: Business wants to see the Government united and working together in the national interest in these challenging and turbulent times.
The Chancellor is working tirelessly with cabinet colleagues to get the best possible deal for the UK and should be supported in his efforts.
That positive verdict was echoed by the British Chambers of Commerce. Businesses want answers on Brexit and a vision for improving the business environment here at home, not endless political noise, said Dr Adam Marshall, its director general.
Personality politics and public division do nothing to shore up business confidence or instil faith that the economy is being put first.
A spokesperson for the EEF Manufacturers Organisation said: The current Chancellor has so far done a good job of both highlighting the dangers and trying to offset the problems we face by supporting common sense over dogma.
A spokesperson for another business organisation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Mr Hammond had historically acted in the best interest of business and that sacking him would not be the right thing to do.
There was also strong personal backing for Mr Hammond from Sir Mike Rake, the chairman of BT. The Chancellor has widespread support and respect of the business community, and clearly understands the significant economic consequences of a hard Brexit, he told Sky News.
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.
Brexiteers have argued that the Treasury must authorise spending in preparation for a collapse in the Brexit negotiations, such as expanding the capacity of the UKs ports to cope with the need for extensive new customs checks in April 2019.
At the TSC last Wednesday, Mr Hammond said he would only allocate significant amounts of taxpayers money to cope with a collapse in talks at the last possible minute.
Every pound we spend on contingent preparations for a hard customs border is a pound we cant spend on the NHS, social care, education or deficit reduction, he said.
Mr Hammond also admitted it was theoretically possible that a no deal could ground all flights from the UK to Europe.
In its submission to the Chancellor ahead of the November Budget, to be published on Monday, the CBI is expected to call on Mr Hammond to turn his attention to supporting UK growth, rather than deficit reduction and to break the cycle of austerity.
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I wasnt there. Which is a shame. But it turns out that when Denis Villeneuve was giving his intro before the press screening of Blade Runner 2049 and threatened to set android dogs on over-eager hacks who might give away the plot, he was having everyone on. He was kidding. He had to be. Because, manifestly, there is no plot. There is nothing to give away. No spoilers. No clear-cut linear narrative to hang your hat on, no characters to speak of either. No decent car chases. Nothing. Nada. Or nothingness.
Which is not to say that there arent all the sorts of ingredients you might expect from a decent sci-fi flick: flying cars, post-apocalyptic landscape, replicants galore, and Harrison Ford. There is a beginning, middle, and end. But as Jean-Luc Godard once said, not necessarily in that order. This is not a Hollywood blockbuster. Its more of a post-Cartesian meditation, a quintessentially French-inflected film, that should be thought of more as science-philosophy than science fiction. Sci-phi, with echoes of those similarly philosophical films 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick), Solaris (Tarkovsky) and The Matrix series (Wachowskis).
The first Blade Runner had a classical narrative architecture and depended on a convergence of pursuer (Deckard/human) and pursued (Rachael/android/female). It was, in other words, a romantic robot thriller. The new Blade Runner is a deconstructive dystopia, that brings back Deckard but kills off his partner not just once but twice and tends to dissolve meaning and identity to boot. It is not a narrative, more a loosely collated set of discrete and disparate statements, resonant but rather mysterious aphorisms, floating in space-time.
Even to say its two hours 45 minutes long is misleading because, on the one hand, its still going around in my head, and on the other the sense of time inside the film is out of joint. Which is not so surprising given that Villeneuve also directed another recent sci-phi flick, Arrival, which argues that more advanced aliens have an elastic, freewheeling, non-linear perspective, and we need to overcome our inadequate and overly simplistic consecutive sense of chronology. Time is not a straight line or an arrow, it is a circle, a snake swallowing its own tail. TS Eliots the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time could work as the films tagline. (Maybe its not quite up there with In space no one can hear you scream).
Like 'Blade Runner 2049', the film '2001: A Space Odyssey' (Kubrick) is more science-philosophy then science fiction Rex) (Rex)
The New Wave Blade Runner dramatises the seeming oxymoron of the maternal machine. As in any child-centred drama there are bound to be Biblical and Freudian overtones. The word miracle is perhaps too explicit. But I want to set aside the portentous religiosity and the occasional angelic choirs. It strikes me that there are two central themes: tekhne and existential angst.
Probably the key scene in the whole film is also what I take to be the most technically challenging: in which there is an attempted, partial synthesis of two women, one real, the other a virtual construct, Joi, the product of an emanator. Both of them have a soft spot for Ryan Gosling. What makes it visually fascinating is how precarious and tenuous and flickering the fusion is, how the two kind of become one but also remain two. The twain do meet but in a perpetually unstable way. Not exactly harmonious. Interlinked to use a recurrent word from the film. Superposed quantum theorists might say.
The idea that gets put about all too readily is that the appeal of sci-fi is to the future: this is a prophetic vision, just a step or two ahead of the latest gizmo. I was reading just this week about how Jules Verne inspired the submarine. Rubbish. Verne invented nothing, dreamed up nothing, and was even cautious about the new-fangled bicycle.
Sci-phi appeals to history and archaeology. Blade Runner 2049 is all about digging things up. Villeneuve is clearly a follower of the French philosopher and ex-bank robber Bernard Stiegler, whose work on tekhne (making or doing or communicating) focuses on the deep history of our close encounter with technology over the ages.
Its not that we have suddenly become weirdly and freakishly dependent on our phones: we always have been intimately hooked into our tools and vehicles and accessories. This is why still the greatest cut in film history is when, in 2001 A Space Odyssey, one of the ape-men tosses a bone up into the air in triumph (having just beaten some rival ape-man to death with it), which then goes spinning across the sky in slow motion, and then (cut) morphs into a space station orbiting earth to the sound of a Johan Strauss waltz. Sci-fi emphasises the continuum through time.
Darko Suvin in Metamorphoses of Science Fiction argues that every significant work of SF must contain a novum. Maybe. But if so the novum in the new Blade Runner is an ancient, perhaps primal insight. It also explains the essence of the appeal of Philip K Dick, the author of the original Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep novel that inspired Blade Runner.
Dick, whose work has inseminated contemporary culture, was not a particularly good writer. His prose is weightless, barely adequate. His plots are flimsy and ramshackle. But they are held together by a beguiling anxiety, verging on schizophrenia. As Emmanuel Carrere brings out in his brilliant biography, I am Alive and You Are Dead, Dick was perpetually on the verge of breakdown and disintegration (and attempted suicide).
There is a house in San Francisco where the walls are covered with his writing. Quite literally, the writing was on the wall for Dick. Having consumed more drugs than Hunter S Thompson at his peak, Dick spiralled into hallucination and mystic visions and filled thousands of pages with his ostensibly non-fictional ramblings towards the end of his life. Perhaps it is not so surprising if Dick was unclear about what was real and what was imaginary. At one time he believed that he had been taken over by the spirit of the prophet Elijah, at another that he was a Christian persecuted by Romans in the first century.
Dicks fundamental insight spins out in two directions, sociological and psychological. The first of these takes the form, what if everything and everyone out turn out to be fake? In its most extreme expression, this is a type of solipsism, the sense that nothing is real. This perspective underpins such alternate histories as The Man in the High Castle (recently dramatised in the Amazon series) in which Germany and Japan won the Second World War and have divided up the US.
Bertrand Russell once suggested that the world could have been invented five minutes ago and all our memories simply implanted (just as, in Blade Runner, with Officer K). Likewise fossils and old dinosaur bones. And whether or not this is the case, nothing you can come up with (try it and see), no conceivable evidence, could possibly demonstrate that this is not so.
Everything would be an integral part of the lie (perhaps the work of aliens from a parallel universe with a perverse sense of humour). That is pure Philip K Dick. Everything is potentially a fake, phoney (in the word of his contemporary, JD Salinger, as voiced by Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye). One of the more beautiful scenes in the film consists precisely of a woman who invents memories for a living, who has made a career out of false memory syndrome.
Real or fake: the alternative history offered by 'Man in the High Castle' (Rex)
But to me the more profound suspicion at the core of his work concerns not the world at large but rather the inner self. The soul of his work is the sense that there is no soul. The greatest illusion of all is the self and it is out of this miasma of mirages that all other delusions flow. This is at the core of Blade Runner 2049. The original Deckard never has any doubts about himself. Classic Harrison Ford, in short. Ryan Gosling (Officer K), in contrast, is eaten up with angst about his own identity just as Dick was.
To come back to Bertrand Russell, he once said that we should never say, There is a dog. To be on the safe side, and bearing in mind the potential for deception and hallucination and sheer error, we really ought to say, I see a canoid patch of colour. Canoid: dog-like. Similarly, android (or replicant) (wo)man-like. But the factor that Russell misses and which Dick himself could hardly manage to escape concerns the I in that sentence. What if the I likewise is only I-like, I-lite? What if I is more i, the fabrication of faceless corporations? Amid so much that is false and fictional, the biggest fake of all is me.
Which is where we come to the timeless appeal of Dicks imagination. He speaks to the impostor syndrome in all of us. The difficulty of establishing any clear line in the sand between the real and the ideal lies at the origin of philosophy both in the west (Socrates theorised that the True, the Good, and the Beautiful must lie only in the realm of the archetypes) and the east (where the illusory samsara and maya predominate, but only until satori finally kicks in). David Hume in the Enlightenment and today Daniel Dennett insist on the essential constructedness of the self. The point of consciousness appears to be to fool us into thinking that I exist. Everyone is faking it.
When Simone de Beauvoir said that a woman is not born but made, she was speaking on behalf of everyone, not just women. And certainly for someone like Dick, who always feels himself becoming unmade all over again, the carefully constructed web of self-assurance coming undone and falling apart. This is the precariousness of existence that lies at the heart of Blade Runner. We are haunted not so much by the threat of death (which is peculiarly consoling, as is the fate of Joi If I can die then I must be real surely?), but rather nothingness, exemplified in the sheer bleakness of the Blade Runner eco-system (in which nature has to be conjured up). I assume that this anomic mental state inspires the pervasive paranoia of so much science fiction, to the effect that they (always so much more self-assured) are taking over, whether its body snatchers, zombies, or triffids.
According to the uncertainty principle, there is a cat somewhere Schrodingers cat attached to a random particle-driven apparatus, who is both alive and dead, simultaneously. To be and not to be. This is the Dick paradox, who has a quantum cat built into his brain. This is the twilight zone, betwixt and between, neither-nor. Anyone who has ever said to themselves, This cannot be real, or Who am I? will feel right at home in the world of 2049.
Andy Martin is the author of Reacher Said Nothing: Lee Child and the Making of Make Me. He teaches at the University of Cambridge
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Spare a thought for Michael Fish this weekend. Thirty years ago the familiar face of the BBCs weather broadcasts took up his usual position in front of the meteorological map of the UK and imparted a jovial bit of advice.
Earlier on today, apparently, Fish informed the nation on 15 October, 1987, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isnt!
As far as it goes, Fish wasnt wrong. A hurricane is the name for a cyclone that originates in the tropics. The storm that lashed Britain later that evening, while certainly flexing its muscles with hurricane-strength winds, was an extratropical cyclone. But thats splitting hairs, perhaps, and those who were subjected to the storm which claimed 22 lives would not have been arguing the definition.
Fishs forecast is logged in history. But he would argue that how we remember it is a bit wrong. The broadcaster, who started work at the Met Office in 1962 and retired in 2004, has always maintained that he was talking about a potential hurricane that was thought to be about to hit Florida. In the same broadcast, he has said, he warned Brits to batten down the hatches, theres some very windy weather on the way.
But never let the facts get in the way of a television legend Fish is resigned to the fact that thats how hell always be remembered. His website features footage of his infamous broadcast and accepts that the incident will probably be engraved on my tombstone.
In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A fallen tree brought down by high winds from Storm Doris lies across a main road in Isleworth in London, Britain Reuters In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Emergency personnel attend the scene in Cardinal Place, Victoria aftera man is thought to have been injured by a section of falling debris PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Commuters waiting at King's Cross Station in London, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain. PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A bin blown onto the tracks at Waterloo station in London, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A car damaged by a tree which left two men injured, on the A49 north of Church Stretton in Shropshire PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK The scene in Wolverhampton city center after a woman died when she was hit by a piece of roof the 'size of a coffee table' as Storm Doris has claimed its first victim PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A double decker bus blown onto its side by Storm Doris in Walton Highway near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A double decker bus blown onto its side by Storm Doris in Walton Highway near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Spikes protude from a colourful umbrella as a woman struggles against the elements on the seafront at Seaham, in County Durham, north east England EPA In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK ESB workers attend to power lines damaged by a fallen tree as allmost 46,000 Irish households woke up to no electricity after violent gusts battered large swathes of the country through the night PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A children's play area is crushed by fallen trees in Stoke-on Trent, as Storm Doris battered swathes of the country PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A plane comes in to land at Leeds Bradford Airport as flights have been cancelled and commuters were warned they faced delays after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK People make their way across Westminster Bridge while gusts of winds sweep across the capital in London EPA In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Queues outside Peterborough railway station after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A tree which has fallen onto a van in St Anne's Road in Aigburth, Liverpool, as Storm Doris battered swathes of the country PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK A rainbow over the Nottingham Wheel in the Old Market Square, as Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph on its way to batter Britain PA wire In pictures: Storm Doris hits the UK Waves crash over the lighthouse in Newhaven, East Sussex PA
And an epitaph to a bygone age of weather forecasting it will remain, because three decades on from the Great Storm, the Met Office has rather stuck its neck out to say it is unlikely to be caught out on the hop in the same way again.
In any case, what exactly was the Great Storm? It began life as a kink in a cold front off the Bay of Biscay, marking the boundary between warm air from Africa and colder air originating in the Arctic region.
Where cold air and warm air meet like that theres a drop in pressure as the warm air rises above the cold, creating clouds and rain. But the pressure dropped quicker and further than usual, for reasons not really fully understood, and it created a deep depression with driving winds that forced it towards the UK.
There might have been more warning of the storm but the media was focused on the industrial action crippling France. And while there had been warnings of gale-force winds in the Bay of Biscay, with little maritime traffic in the area there were fewer first-hand reports on what was brewing.
WInds of 100mph swept the English Channel (Getty)
By the time the storm was noticed by the Met Office it was predicted to follow the path of the English Channel, but its exceptionally low pressure made it unpredictable, and it suddenly veered north over Cornwall and Devon and towards the Midlands and southern England.
There were winds of up to 100mph, widespread disruption and damage to the tune of around 1bn. In the South-east, where the greatest damage occurred, gusts of 80mph were recorded for three to four consecutive hours. The highest gust recorded over the UK was 115mph at Shoreham on the Sussex coast at 3.10am.
According to Fish, the Met Office was criticised for not forecasting the storm but did no worse than any other National Met Service. The storm was in fact well forecast earlier in the week but later computer forecasts tended to back off and changed the emphasis from wind to rain as it had been so wet up till then and many places were close to flooding.
As it happened, the soggy ground contributed greatly to the disaster. The trees were still in leaf and could not hold on with their roots in the soggy soil, coupled with the fact that they were attacked from a side that they were not naturally braced for.
A disaster and a tragedy, for sure. But what the Great Storm did was also blow in a sea change in the way we not only forecast weather and track storms, but also how warnings are given out.
The Met instituted improvements including the observational coverage of the atmosphere over the ocean to the south and west of the UK... from ships, aircraft, buoys and satellites and brushing up its computer systems.
Back in 1987, very little data was obtained from satellites, but now the majority of the 215 billion individual weather observations made every single day are provided by the satellite network, which contributes to around 65 per cent of the weather prediction model.
The extratropical cyclone which hit Britain in 1987 had not been since since 1703 (Getty)
As direct results of the Great Storm, the Met Office was determined not to be caught out by lack of information, especially from the Bay of Biscay, so it located a number of deep-ocean weather buoys all around the waters of the British Isles to provide hourly weather information.
Supercomputing capability has also hugely advanced since 1987, says the Met Office. A typical smartphone of today has a least five times more computer power than our supercomputer of 1987 that could perform four million calculations per second. Today our latest supercomputer is able to perform 14,000 trillion calculations per second helping us to unlock new science and provide more detailed forecasts and warnings.
This vastly increased computing capacity allows for forecasting models that hone coverage down to the mile todays four-day forecast is as accurate as the one-day forecast in 1987.
And theres also the way we get our information. We dont have to wait for the weather round-up after the news; were constantly connected. Met Office meteorologist and presenter Alex Deakin says: In 1987 people received their forecasts either via newspapers or at fixed times on TV and radio. Now over 90 per cent of adults consult forecasts via social media, websites or mobile apps. A forecast is now available whenever you want and information about up and coming storms can be accessed in seconds.
Which means were more prepared, as are the authorities. Says the Met: The three-tier National Severe Weather Warning Service was in introduced following the investigation into the storm and now informs Government, civil contingency stakeholders, emergency responders and the public of the risks of severe weather.
And in case you were wondering why the Great Storm of 1987 didnt have a name, as storms do today, thats a new development, being first introduced in 2015. This pilot scheme has been well received by the public, raising awareness of severe weather and helping highlight the potential dangers and impacts of storms crossing the UK and Ireland. Names also make it easier to follow a storms progress via TV, radio, the internet or social media, says the Met Office.
But was the Great Storm worthy of its apocalyptic name? Well, it is considered to have been the worst storm since the previous holder of the title in 1703, which felled 4,000 oak trees in the New Forest and brought down 2,000 chimney stacks in London.
London was badly hit and 22 people lost their lives around the country (Getty)
Its considered a once in 200 years event, though Northern Scotland, being closer to the main Atlantic storm tracks, can expect to see winds as strong as those which battered the south-east in 1987 roughly every 30 to 40 years so any time now.
We cant say we wont see another storm like the one in 1987 but we are able to better forecast and warn of severe weather, helping to minimise the impacts by working with our partners and emergency responders, and the general public to prepare and take action all helping to protect life and property in the future, maintains the Met Office.
Thirty years on, Michael Fish seems to have reconciled himself with the negative publicity he received over the forecast that never really was, but hell doubtless be the name on everyones lips this weekend.
Still, take heart, Michael; only a couple of years to go and we can celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Met Office telling us we were in for a barbecue summer followed by one of the most miserable summers on record.
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Rapists are among hundreds of sex offenders in London only given cautions for their crimes, new figures have revealed.
The revelations have prompted criticism from womens rights campaigners, who said it was always in the public interest to bring charges against sex offenders.
There were 1,115 cautions for sexual offences including 16 for rape handed down in the capital between 2012 and last year, responses to Freedom of Information requests by the Evening Standard showed.
Ministry of Justice guidance says that while cautions are available for any offence, they are primarily intended for low level, mainly first-time offending.
Police cautions are not convictions, but they require an admission of guilt. They can still appear on criminal records checks and offenders are made to sign the Sex Offenders Register.
The circumstances of the 16 rape convictions are not known, but police forces have previously defended giving cautions for some sex offences, saying they can be in the best interests of a victim. They have also previously argued that the recipients of cautions are often children.
Mary Mason, chief of charity Solace Womens Aid, told the Standard that cautioning attackers risked the impression that sexual predators could be let off with a slap on the wrist. She said: Its always in the public interest to bring a charge.
The new figures came after it was revealed that nationwide, 45 rapists were given cautions in the five-and-a-half years to May.
The Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) said it carefully considers each case before cautions are given.
It is rare for the CPS to advise the police to administer a caution in sexual offence cases, and even more so in a rape case, a spokesperson said.
However, before doing so we will carefully consider the offence and a number of other factors, such as the ages, maturity and individual circumstances of those involved.
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Reports of sexual abuse have risen sharply in recent years, with alleged sex crimes and domestic abuse offences now comprising 20 per cent of all cases pursued by the CPS.
More defendants than ever before are being prosecuted for sexual offences in England and Wales, with 5,190 rape cases completed in 2016-17, up from 4,643 in 2015-16, according to the latest indepth CPS report on violence against women.
Prosecutions for sexual offences excluding rape also reached a new high of 13,490 in the latest financial year.
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Waless first black head teacher has died at the age of 82, her husband has said.
Betty Campbell, who made history when she was appointed the head of Mount Stuart Primary in Cardiff in the 1970s, died at home in the Welsh capital on Friday after being unwell for several months, according to BBC Wales.
She was born in Cardiff in 1934 to a Jamaican father and Welsh Barbadian mother, and qualified as a teacher in the 1960s.
She later became known as an academic and authority on education outside Wales, and in 2015 was awarded an MBE for services to the community and education.
Ms Campbell also served as a councillor for the Butetown area, and was a governor of BBC Wales during the 1980s.
She went on to become a prominent campaigner for a more diverse curriculum, and was involved in the movement to establish a Black History Month.
Ms Campbell said: When I was a head in my school, I looked at Black History, the Caribbean, Africa and slavery and the effects.
That was just a junior school but there were people that said: You should not be teaching that. Why not? It happened. Children should be made aware.
Discussing Black History Month - London Live
More than 40 years after Ms Campbell was appointed head teacher at Mount Stuart, black and minority ethnic teachers remain substantially underrepresented at the highest level.
97 per cent of head teachers at state schools in England are white, according to a 2016 investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Just 7.6 per cent of teachers overall are from BAME backgrounds, according to the investigation, while 25 per cent of pupils come from a minority ethnic background.
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A group of Muslim men have offered a wonderful gesture to their local Jewish community, after a synagogue was targeted with racist graffiti.
The swastika and a racial slur were daubed on the sign outside the Etz Chaim synagogue in Leeds on Tuesday night, shocking the community.
In response, four local Muslim men brought flowers to show support and solidarity, where they were welcomed by the synagogue.
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A members of the Etz Chaim community, Harry Brown, commented on Facebook: I was truly humbled by [the] amazing gesture the gift of flowers and your support.
This is what we want to see, and equally the Jewish community should reach out not only to Muslim faiths but to all other faiths.
From an unpleasant episode came a wonderful outpouring of support which the whole community appreciates.
The instigator of the gesture was 36-year-old Shahab Adris, the Yorkshire and Humber regional manager of Mend, a not-for-profit company which hopes to reduce Islamophobia and increase engagement and development within British communities.
Speaking to The Independent, Mr Adris said: When I was first shown the images of the graffiti, I was disgusted. Unfortunately it is something we are accustomed to in the Muslim community, and it is the same as a mosque being desecrated with a pigs head, or similar vile graffiti.
I asked around if people would like to come with me, and four of us went with a bunch of flowers to show our support and empathy.
Mr Adris said they arrived at the synagogue at the end of a service. Some of our group had been a bit nervous as they had never been to a synagogue before. We didnt know how they would react to a group of quite obviously Muslim men standing outside.
But the men were greeted by the rabbi and immediately welcomed into the synagogue. Mr Adris said: We spent 40 minutes discussing religion and how we can work together to promote love and peace. Not the hatred shown by those who had left the graffiti.
He hopes to continue to build stronger ties with the Jewish community, other religions and even the people who may have painted the graffiti.
If these people are found I would definitely want to engage with them and speak with them, he said. We must continue to work within local communities to dispel misconceptions and also hatred it is important.
It extends to other faiths too. Last night I helped cook dinner for 60 people with the All Hallows Church in Leeds; working in local communities is the best way forward.
We can spread love and not hate, and get rid of the misconceptions held about Islam as well as Judaism.
Others also praised his actions on Facebook, with Elsje Prins commenting: Thank you for your support and standing up against racist behaviour.
It is very much appreciated and like [] others have already mentioned, I would very much like to be part of a dialogue and help to develop our connections. Your actions show the way forward.
In a statement on their website, the Leeds Stand Up to Racism group wrote: We condemn in the strongest terms the recent foul antisemitic attack on the Etz Chaim synagogue in Leeds, and offer our full solidarity and support to the worshippers at Etz Chaim and the wider Jewish community in Leeds.
Leeds is a proud multicultural and multi-faith city in which people of all religions and none live happily side by side.
The person or persons who carried out this shameful attack represent a tiny fraction of our population, and their Nazi- and hate-filled ideology and behaviour is not welcome here or anywhere.
Police said they were treating the original incident as a hate crime, and that patrols in the area had been stepped up.
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Authorities are pleading with the Government to overhaul slavery policies because child victims of trafficking are slipping back into exploitation within weeks of being rescued, The Independent can reveal.
Social workers, police and lawyers are warning that the National Referral Mechanism the UKs official framework for identifying victims of human trafficking is failing to protect young people both during and after the identification process.
Children as young as 13, from a number of countries including the UK, are subsequently being identified as victims of slavery and recorded on the national database, but sliding back into exploitation within weeks or even days.
While the Government funds an annual 9m contract for the delivery of specialist support in England and Wales for adult victims after they are referred, the responsibility for child victims falls onto the local authority, meaning they usually enter the mainstream care system, where no national funding is offered for specialist care.
The process of assessing whether a child is a victim can take up to a year, practitioners warn, and even when they have been identified as a victim they are often not provided with the necessary care, such as specialist accommodation or adequate counselling to cope with the trauma of exploitation.
A survey carried out by child slavery charity Ecpat UK, seen exclusively by The Independent, reveals that the overwhelming majority of professionals who come into contact with trafficked children do not believe that the system ensures appropriate safeguarding for young victims.
Just seven per cent of respondents said the NRM always provides adequate protection, while more than one in 10 said it never met this objective and 31 per cent said it rarely did. Four in five respondents did not believe that NRM decisions were made in a suitable timeframe, and that the process is not in the best interests of the child.
One 15-year-old British girl was referred to the NRM in April last year over concerns that she was being sexually exploited and trafficked after police found her in possession of Class A drugs and condoms.
Jo, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was placed in an emergency foster placement in another county, but was stopped the next day by British Transport Police trying to board a train back to where she had been discovered.
It took seven months for the first decision on her identification as a victim of trafficking to come through, despite the fact that a first-stage decision should be made within five days. Although this was positive, no practical support was provided as a result of this or the referral being made.
More than a year on, a final decision over Jos status as a victim of trafficking in the NRM - which should have happened within just 45 days has not yet been received. This has left police prosecution unclear on whether to treat her as a victim or perpetrator of crime, and she has been a repeat victim of exploitation while waiting for an outcome on her case.
Jo is one of many, with research last year by child trafficking NGO Ecpat UK showing that 167 of the 590 children suspected or identified as child trafficking victims in the year from September 2014 to 2015 vanished from foster and care homes across the country.
Paul Smith, a detective sergeant in the Missing Persons Unit in Croydon, who was involved in Jos case, told The Independent that when adult victims come to their notice the support mechanisms are there, but that these mechanisms simply arent there for child victims with this responsibility placed solely on local authorities.
Its quite clear that with cuts to local councils, care placements in the UK dont have the capacity to accommodate child victims in the UK who need enhanced protection, he said.
The level of knowledge - and its no critique of local authorities but that level of experience and care needed for a young person in that situation just isnt available. We are seeing child trafficking victims re-trafficked an awful lot. They are often really vulnerable, having been drug mules or victims of sexual exploitation, and at high risk of sliding back into this.
When we prove that somethings going wrong with a young person and that a young person is being exploited or is vulnerable, the NRM just seems to be paying lip service to the young people rather than safeguarding and putting protection around them.
Detective Smith urged that the national funding for adult victims support must also be provided for children, saying: We as police want to safeguard and put these young people into a place of safety where they can get support the kind of blanket support that goes around the adults.
There needs to be a more holistic approach, which currently just isnt available. We need to see more funding for specialised placements for young people in this situation.
Andy Elvin, a social worker and chief executive of the UKs largest fostering charity TACT Care, who has worked with a number of young victims in care, said a lack of consistent and proper attention on trafficked children makes them liable to repeatedly return to their abusers.
There isnt a central repository of expertise and leadership, because it falls under the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the NCA goes with the prevailing political wind. Whatever type of crime is most important that month gets the attention. There is no consistent, proper attention on trafficked children. he said.
These children have some very specific problems. Theyre liable to run from their placements because theyre scared of the trafficker and they have said they need to go meet up with them. Theyll go because they fear threats to their family; some of them are debt bonded so they will owe money.
They may be found again by the police, but theyll continue to run from care unless you have specialised placements for them. They need to be offered permanent nationality status and be worked with to avoid them going back to their trafficker and to feel that their safe and move on from their experience.
Philippa Southwell, a criminal defence solicitor at Birds Solicitors who specialises in defending young victims of human trafficking, said she had to reach out to charities to access support for her clients.
The framework is flawed. I rely a lot on the NGOs for the specialised support, and when young people do have that one-to-one person it really helps them with integrating back into the community, she said.
A lot of these things a social worker doesnt have the capacity or the funding to do. Some of the children are so traumatised that they cant take public transport on their own. Its basic things like that.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 370 councils in England and Wales, has joined the call for Government to make the national funding for adult slavery victims available for children as well.
Cllr Richard Watts, chair of the LGAs Children and Young People Board, warned that the reliance on councils to provide support for child slavery victims with no additional funding was putting more pressure on already stretched local authorities.
Councils are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society, including those who have been subjected to modern slavery. Victims can be adults or children, but children are currently unable to access the nationally funded Government support that is available to adults, he said.
With local authority childrens services already facing a 2 billion funding gap by 2020, this lack of national support is putting more pressure on already stretched council services.
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, including for those who have been subjected to modern slavery.
He called on the Government to act to close the 2 billion funding gap for children's services, and to make nationally funded support available for child victims of modern slavery as well as adults.
Councils will not tolerate the exploitation of people in their communities and are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society, especially children, he added.
Because of its hidden nature, modern slavery is a growing threat across the country, and it is vital that local and national government works together to ensure that victims of all ages are able to access the support they need.
The Home Office is currently examining the process for identifying and supporting victims of trafficking, after a review of the NRM is 2014 revealed failings. But campaigners urged this is taking too long.
Practitioners are rallying behind a petition launched by Ecpat UK calling on ministers to overhaul the NRM and create a new system that has child rights at its heart, bringing together trained, child protection actors with expertise in recognising and dealing with children at risk of trafficking and exploitation.
Chloe Setter, head of policy at Ecpat UK, warned that the failings in the current system were in some ways playing into the hands of people traffickers, who are using a stretched care system as a "holding pen" for young victims.
The response to exploited children in the UK is nothing short of a national scandal. We have a system the NRM for identifying and supporting victims that currently is failing on both fronts," she said.
Many children are not identified due to a lack of practitioner training, decisions about identification are frequently flawed, and the support provided to those identified is often so inconsistent that children fall back into situations of exploitation.
In some ways, we are actually playing into the hands of traffickers who anticipate the failings of the care system and use it as a holding pen for young victims."
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When contacted for comment, the Government said it believed it was "vital" that children in care were protected from harm and the slavery and trafficking of children is a very serious offence. A spokesperson said it was introducing new independent child trafficking advocates and spending 2.2 million to protect vulnerable children in the UK and overseas who are at risk.
All local agencies have statutory duties to safeguard children and we have strengthened regulations on childrens homes and placed a duty on local authorities to tell us about all incidences of children going missing from care, even those lasting less than 24 hours," the spokesperson said.
Child victims of trafficking require support addressing their specific needs and vulnerabilities and that is why last year we commissioned ECPAT UK and the Refugee Council to deliver training on the care of unaccompanied and trafficked children to foster carers, support workers and other professionals.
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Support for a second independence referendum in Scotland could surge in the event of a no-deal Brexit, an expert on Scotlands relationship with the EU has said.
Kirsty Hughes, director of the Scottish Centre on European Relations (SCER), has said a hard or no-deal Brexit could potentially be a triggerfor a new independence referendum".
In a new SCER paper, Brexit Uncertainty, Scotland and the UK in 2018, Dr Hughes considers four Brexit scenarios and their impact on Scotland.
The paper predicts that support for independence could surge in the event of a no-deal or hard Brexit, and that the parties who oppose tumbling out of the EU without a deal might come to power in the event of an early general election in 2018 or 2019.
One possible outcome for a crisis election would be that the Liberal Democrats, along with the Scottish National Party, could end up holding the balance of power, Dr Hughes wrote.
On the other hand, the paper says a soft Brexit would significantly undermine any case for an urgent second independence referendum.
Now a no-deal Brexit seems a serious possibility, we could end up staying in the EU after all
It also calls for greater clarity on Brexit policy from both Labour and the SNP.
"Labour cannot simply stick to Brexit vagueness, pretending opposition to hard Brexit. Both Labour and the SNP need to think through whether to support a second EU referendum [on the terms of the deal]," the document says.
"The current support for Brexit by the Tories and Labour in Scotland did them no harm in the 2017 election but that might change rapidly amidst the chaos of a no deal scenario."
According to the What Scotland Thinks poll aggregator, which takes a rolling average of all polls conducted on the independence question, 50 per cent of Scots would vote No to independence, compared to 30 per cent who would vote Yes.
The Scottish National Party insists it still has a mandate to hold a second independence referendum before the next Holyrood elections in 2021.
However, party leader Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly refused to set a date for an independence vote until the outcome of Brexit becomes clear.
The report comes as the UK government has been criticised for not publishing any research on the impact of Brexit in Scotland.
Defending the decision, a spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the EU told The Herald such research could undermine Brussels talks".
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The former top civil servant at the trade department has criticised Theresa May for failing to set out the harsh consequences of a no deal Brexit.
Sir Martin Donnelly who quit his post earlier this year said crashing out the EU without an agreement would be a very serious outcome for the British economy.
The Prime Minister had failed to set out the repercussions to jobs and investment of leaving the single market, let alone from failing to strike a different trade deal with the EU, he said.
Asked about the Prime Ministers no deal is better than a bad deal mantra, Sir Martin said: Im not sure I understand what no deal means.
The former permanent secretary to Trade Secretary Liam Fox added: Am I worried about our future choices? Yes I am.
Sir Martin also urged MPs to flex their muscles when it came to a final decision about leaving the single market, saying: That is a choice for Parliament to make.
The warning comes after Ms May started to prepare the British public for a no deal exit, with emergency plans to avoid border meltdown for businesses and travellers.
Huge inland lorry parks to cope with lengthy new customs checks were among steps to minimise disruption outlined for Brexit day in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Brussels negotiations remained deadlocked over Britains failure to make sufficient progress on the withdrawal divorce terms blocking talks on future trade.
At home, Brexiteer Tories are openly urging the Prime Minister to walk out of the talks and embrace the no deal option, if the EU refuses to bend.
But Sir Martin said no deal and being forced to trade without the European Court of Justice as a referee would make cross-EU business impossible for some groups, such as lawyers.
The jobs lost would not just be in London, but in back offices in Belfast, in Leeds, in Edinburgh, in Southampton.
Our lawyers, our accountants, our digital start-ups, professions from teachers to hairdressers, can work openly across that market and we are very good at it, Sir Martin said.
What we have to do is be very clear about those trade offs we cant have our cake and eat it.
He added: Digital start-ups come to the UK, rather than to Berlin or Paris, because they know they can send data across borders, they can move people around freely.
No deal would mean falling back on World Trade Organisation terms, but that did not include services which make up 80 per cent of the British economy.
It could mean an awful lot of legal uncertainty and thats very bad for businesses, for jobs, for investment in Britain, Sir Martin told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.
He warned of a chilling effect on investment, also making it far harder to strike trade deals with non-EU countries, which would be in the dark about market access to the EU.
The EUs refusal to move onto future trade making no deal a growing possibility will be confirmed at a summit of member states at the end of next week.
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The first phase of Brexit talks has run out of road with no further rounds of meetings currently scheduled between British and European officials, despite continuing deadlock on key issues.
Officials on both sides confirmed that there were no meetings with the other side currently scheduled, despite widespread recognition that sufficient progress will not be judged to have been met to move to trade talks following next weeks European Council meeting.
Though further talks are expected to be scheduled following the meeting, there is an increasing recognition in Brussels that negotiations are at a crossroads.
Recommended EU president says Brexit will take longer than initially thought
European Council President Donald Tusk warned this week that if the deadlock were not broken by the end of the year then both sides would have to think about where we are heading.
The latest round of talks this week featured, for the first time, a day-long gap. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier also explained on Thursday that officials had not even sat down to seriously discuss the divorce bill this week because of a lack of agreement.
The European Council meeting, attended by the heads of state or government of the EU nations, will take place in Brussels on Thursday and Friday of this week and will officially judge whether sufficient progress has been made.
But officials are adamant that following the recommendation of the two other main pillars of the EU the Commission and Parliament not to grant sufficient progress, the Council will follow suit. After next week, the next opportunity for sufficient progress to be declared will be in December, the next time the leaders will meet as European Council.
Britains Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and European Unions chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (Reuters)
There have been five rounds of talks so far, one in each month since negotiations first began in June. Despite some agreement in the early stages on issues like EU citizens, the latter rounds have been somewhat slower, with fewer briefings and public statements from the two sides during the course of talks.
David Davis also stayed away from Brussels on Monday of this weeks talks, eschewing the usual introductory press conference with Michel Barnier because of parliamentary business.
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
According to a leaked draft of Mr Tusks statement, the EU will call on Britain to improve its offer but, if this condition is met, offer a swift move to trade talks by December.
Following Theresa Mays Florence speech, however, the Prime Minister has said she believes the ball is in the EUs court and that it is now for Brussels to make proposals or concessions. Though Brussels chiefs have dismissed the ball-game metaphor, they are of a similar belief that it is Britain that should be giving ground.
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Hillary Clinton has suggested Theresa May's Tory Government lacks "empathy" as she called for an end to the "divisive rhetoric and policy" that has emerged in the wake of Brexit.
The former US presidential hopeful, speaking in Swansea as she completes a tour of the UK, raised the issue of EU citizens' uncertain futures once Britain cuts ties with Brussels in 2019.
She also warned that children were being given short shrift in the Brexit process.
As she was presented with an honorary doctorate at Swansea University for her commitment to promoting the rights of families and children around the world, the former first lady said: Teachers and schools are reporting an outbreak of bullying and racially motivated insults.
Here in the UK, divisive rhetoric and policy shifts are having their own effects.
Right now, the residency rights of half a million children, including many who were born in the UK, are hanging in the balance.
So there are reports of children being worried, feeling uncertain, even unsafe. Trying to make sense of their places in the world.
The children's commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already raised concerns that children's interests are getting short shrift in the Brexit process.
Ms Clinton said she continued to believe in the value of the European Union, but added: What's missing in both of our countries at the moment it seems to me, and what we need more than anything else, is empathy.
It should not only be at the centre of our individual lives, families and communities, but at the centre of our policy, politics and public lives.
Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Ms Clinton's visit.
The university's college of law was renamed The Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law and she was presented with a book about her Welsh roots.
Hillary Clinton: Trump is the most dangerous president the US has ever had
Ms Clinton also took a swipe at the Trump administration, accusing political leaders of stoking divisions and saying that anger and resentment were underpinning the national conversation.
The bonds of community that once united us are fraying. Too much of the current discourse on both sides of the Atlantic is dominated by a zero-sum view of life, which argues that if someone else is gaining, I must be losing, she said.
The measure of any society is how we treat the most vulnerable among us, especially our children.
Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Rodham Clinton as a Wellesley College senior Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham in at Wellesley College Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Rodham Working with the House Committee on Nixon's Impeachment Case Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures US Presidential candidate Bill Clinton with wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea at the Democratic National Convention Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Bill and Hillary Clinton at the Inaugural Ball Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Bill and Hillary Clinton with Barbara Bush Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, President William Jefferson Clinton their daughter Chelsea, at the first state dinner of the Clintons administration Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Clinton meets with 12 chidren in response to their letter to the President concerning their health problems Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Nelson Mandela jokes with First Lady Hillary Clinton Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Senator Hillary Rodham comforts Maren Sarkarat the conclusion of the Family Memorial Service held at Ground Zero of the WTC Getty
And when we lose empathy, when it does become everyone for themselves, children are the first to suffer.
Just look at my own country where currents of anger and resentment are underpinning our national conversation.
Americans are divided and less trusting of democratic institutions. But instead of bringing people together we have leaders who stoke our divisions, try to distract us with controversy, after controversy, and undermine free speech and the press."
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Children must be taught about Britains rich history of immigration if Theresa May is to achieve her mission of tackling racial injustice, the UKs anti-discrimination watchdog says.
The Prime Minister has been urged to follow up her promise to make addressing inequalities a personal priority by putting immigration in the national curriculum.
Educating children on the topic of immigration would tackle prejudiced attitudes and build community links by helping children understand peoples different backgrounds, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission said.
The failure to include a detailed exploration of immigration in school citizenship lessons has previously drawn criticism as a lost opportunity.
The former UK government mental health champion, Natasha Devon, suggested it would help combat the belief seen in the Brexit campaign that immigration is a threat to the UK.
Now the issue has been given fresh impetus in the Commissions response to the race audit issued by the Prime Minister to highlight inequalities between different ethnic groups.
The Government's Ethnicity Facts and Figures website provided a blizzard of statistics to highlight the problem in provision and achievement but few concrete proposals for change.
The Commission said that project had to start early, by ensuring equality and human rights are part of the curriculum to instil shared values.
The curriculum should also include Britains immigration history to enable children to understand how this has shaped all aspects of our country, its response said.
David Isaac, the Commissions chairman, added: Immigration has played a large part in the history of our country, from ancient times right up to the debates during the Brexit referendum.
As classrooms become more diverse, its important that children fully understand the role immigration has had in shaping our communities.
Teaching immigration will instil shared values, help tackle prejudiced attitudes, and foster community cohesion, allowing our young people to fully participate in a democratic society.
The call comes after the Prime Minister described the audit as evidence that tackling racial inequality in the provision of public services is her mission in politics.
It provided an unprecedented level of transparency and would be followed up by intensified efforts in 20 hotspots across the UK, No 10 said.
Ms May admitted the statistics were uncomfortable reading and that Britain had a way to go to create an equal society.
What this audit shows is there isn't anywhere to hide. That's not just for Government, it's for society as a whole, she said.
Britain has come a long way in promoting equality and opportunity but what the data we've published shows is that we still have a way to go if we are going to truly have a country that works for everyone.
But her only mention of education was a review of expulsions to focus on the experiences of groups who are disproportionately likely to be excluded.
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A half-smoked cigar owned by Sir Winston Churchill has sold for $12,000 (9,000) at auction.
The former British prime minister enjoyed the cigar during a trip to Paris in 1947.
The cigar was kept by British airman, Corporal William Alan Turner, after finding it at Le Bourget Airport.
Sir Winston Churchill was rarely seen without a cigar - pictured in 1939 (AP)
Corporal Turner and his crew flew Churchill and his wife to and from Paris during the trip.
The La Corona cigar from Havana, Cuba, is personalised as it includes Churchills name on the label.
Also included in the online auction was a photo signed by the prime minister that shows him with the cigar in his hand at the airport.
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A plane has crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from the international airport in Ivory Coasts main city Abidjan.
Four Moldovan citizens were killed and a further two injured, Ivorian authorities said. Four French citizens, reportedly soldiers, were also hurt.
The crash happened during a storm with heavy rain and lightning.
Images showed the plane in pieces in the surf as witnesses and officials arrived at the shoreline near Port-Bouet.
A spokesman for French armed forces in Ivory Coast said it was carrying military cargo. The injured have been transported to Abidjans Port-Bouet camp for treatment, he added.
One aviation analyst claimed the aircraft was a Soviet-designed Antonov model belonging to a charter company sometimes used by the UN.
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
Its tail appeared to have shorn off from section of the plane where the wings join the fuselage.
Insignia on the tail suggested it may belong to Valan International Cargo Charter, whose logo is a distinctive winged white V on a blue background.
A call to the companys head office in Moldova by The Independent was not answered. The firm operates the Antonov AN-26-100 model.
Hundreds of onlookers gathered at the beach on Saturday as rescue workers ran to the scene.
There was winds yesterday and I saw how planes seemed to have difficulties in getting up, a witness said.
Air traffic at the airport appeared to continue after the crash, according to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
In February 2000, a Kenya Airways Airbus 310 carrying 179 people destined for Lagos, Nigeria crashed into the ocean after take-off from Abidjan, leaving only 10 survivors.
Additional reporting by agencies
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Seven people have been shot dead and two girls allegedly raped in what is believed to be a revenge attack on a secondary school in northern Kenya.
Gunmen killed six children and one security guard in the dawn attack on Saturday which is thought to have been led by a former pupil suspended for fighting, a Kenyan police official said.
The suspected ringleader, a senior at the Lokichogio Mixed Secondary School, had vowed to take revenge after his punishment last week, according to Gideon Kibunja, Rift Valley regional criminal investigations chief, covering the Turkana region where the attack took 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
Kibunja said the gunmen, believed to be from neighbouring South Sudan, were looking for the head teacher of the school and the other student involved in the fight that led to the ringleader's suspension. The gunmen then shot other students in frustration at not finding the pair, he added.
The suspended student was arrested later on Saturday, but was killed when a mob of angry residents overwhelmed the police and took hold of him, Kibunja said.
Kenyas KTN television channel said the victims included four boys and two girls and witnesses say the gunmen raped two girls and injured another 18 students, according to the BBC.
Clashes over cattle grazing and farming land are relatively common among communities in the north of Kenya and often result in revenge attacks.
Turkana county borders war-torn South Sudan and arms smuggling is a common problem along the border with police having little control over the weaponry being brought in.
The attack ... is a painful reminder of the state of insecurity along the border," Josphat Nanok, Turkana county's governor, said on Twitter.
There has been a wave of violent incidents taking place in schools along Kenyas border areas over the past two years.
The shooting comes a month after a girl was charged with murder following a fire which killed nine of her fellow pupils at a Nairobi boarding school.
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Pakistani officials have described the mission to free an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children as a harrowing operation, but a rare bit of positive news in the troubled relationship between their country and the US.
Pakistani soldiers, acting on American intelligence, appear to have opened fire at the tyres of a car carrying Caitlan Coleman, 31, her husband, Joshua Boyle, 34, and their three children, not long after it crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistans tribal areas on Wednesday.
Shortly after the familys release, a senior Trump administration official compared their ordeal to living in a hole for five years.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Mr Boyle said, God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination.
But, as with so many aspects of the murky and often confusing US-Pakistan relationship, the familys dramatic rescue has raised as many questions as it has answered. On Friday night the couple and their children arrived in Toronto, after the family at the husbands insistence had refused to get on a plane bound for the United States.
The familys refusal to travel to the United States led some former US officials to speculate about the couples motives in journeying to Afghanistan five years earlier, and suggest that they may be trying to avoid tough questions from intelligence officials.
Mr Boyles father told The New York Times that his son did not want to stop at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, where Americans have been accused of abusing detainees.
However, other US officials played down that explanation. The administration made very clear that if they wanted to come back to the United States, there would be no problems, said an official who is familiar with the case, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Shortly after marrying in 2011, Ms Coleman and Mr Boyle visited Central America and then headed off to Russia and Central Asia. Ms Coleman was pregnant with their first child in 2012 when they decided to go hiking in Wardak province, a dangerous region south of Kabul that is dominated by feuding militant groups.
The couples decision to visit Wardak and Boyles unusual personal history set off widespread speculation inside the US intelligence community about his motives. Before he wed Ms Coleman, Mr Boyle had married and divorced the oldest sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was arrested by US forces in Afghanistan in 2002 and was alleged to have ties to al-Qaeda.
The patriarch of the Khadr family was killed in 2003, along with al-Qaeda and Taliban members, in a shoot-out with Pakistani security forces near the Afghanistan border. Boyles associations with the family led some US intelligence officials to speculate that the visit to Afghanistan may have been part of a larger effort to link up with Taliban-affiliated militants.
I cant say that [he was ever al-Qaeda], said one former intelligence official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. He was never a fighter on the battlefield. But my belief is that he clearly was interested in getting into it.
After they were taken captive, Boyle and Coleman appear to have suffered through a harrowing ordeal. In a video released in December 2016, Ms Coleman described her captivity as a Kafkaesque nightmare.
Just give the offenders something so they and you can save face,and we can leave the region permanently, she said in the video aimed at President Barack Obama.
The successful rescue set off a flurry of questions about what it might portend for US-Pakistani relations.
The first thing to recognise is that this relationship is as broken as its been since 2011, (when the US launched a clandestine raid into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden) said Moeed Yusuf, an associate vice president for the United States Institute of Peace.
The Trump administrations new strategy in Afghanistan has put a heavy emphasis on military operations to punish the Taliban, and has increased pressure on Pakistan to eliminate enemy sanctuaries there.
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
Pakistan would prefer a plan that prioritises peace talks with the Taliban over a military-focused effort. In the aftermath of the successful mission, President Donald Trump suggested that his tough rhetoric had helped to bring Islamabad into line.
But Yusuf and other analysts suggested that the President was misreading Pakistani motives.
The danger here is that Washington internalises the message that tough talk with the Pakistanis is working, Yusuf said. I am overall pessimistic about the relationship ... If there is one thing that underpins everything, it is a deep mistrust between these two countries.
Other analysts who follow South Asia were slightly more positive in their assessments, and saw potential for cooperation between the two nations.
The United States and Pakistan have some key areas of aligned interests, including on counterterrorism and counter-extremism, said Daniel Feldman, who was the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Obama administration.
This demonstrates that there are opportunities to work together in both our nations interests.
At the Coleman household in south-east Pennsylvania, the focus wasnt on geopolitics but on the return of a long-missing daughter.
Her family posted a note on their door referring to the joyful news and asking for privacy as we make plans for the future.
The Washington Post
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California has become the first US state to ban the sale of animals from puppy mills.
A new law signed on Friday means that pet stores are required to work with animal shelters or rescue operations if they want to sell dogs, cats or rabbits.
Despite 36 cities across the state, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, already having bans on mass breeding this is a landmark move in the campaign against large-scale operations that breed dogs for profit.
More than 80 puppies seized by police investigating dog trafficking after being found in shocking conditions Show all 2 1 /2 More than 80 puppies seized by police investigating dog trafficking after being found in shocking conditions More than 80 puppies seized by police investigating dog trafficking after being found in shocking conditions article_e84c8e3799007aa4_13.jpg More than 80 puppies seized by police investigating dog trafficking after being found in shocking conditions 84660498.jpg Getty Images
Puppy mills have been widely criticised for failing to prioritise animal welfare and for keeping animals in overcrowded conditions and over-breeding.
Supporters of the measure said it ensures better treatment of animals.
Matt Bershadker, president and CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told Business Insider: This landmark law breaks the puppy mill supply chain that pushes puppies into California pet stores and has allowed unscrupulous breeders to profit from abusive practices.
But the pet shop industry responded to the ban by saying the changes remove important consumer protections.
Governor Jerry Brown, who signed the law, made no comment on his decision.
Animal rights groups in the UK have also called for tighter legislation on the sale of puppies.
Since 2015 the RSPCA has run a campaign to halt the illegal trafficking of puppies and ensure all dogs are bred in an environment which prioritises their welfare.
In February this year it was announced that the sale of puppies under eight weeks old was to be made illegal and anyone breeding or selling three or more litters of puppies a year would have to apply for a formal licence.
However, the move was criticised by some who felt it did not go far enough.
Neil Parish MP, chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, welcomed the announcement but said he was unhappy the Government had not banned the third party sale of dogs.
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Thousands more Californians have evacuated their homes as fierce wildfires spread due to constantly shifting winds, and officials expected the official death toll of at least 35 from the week of fires to rise with hundreds of people still missing.
Sixteen major wildfires, some encompassing several smaller merged blazes, have consumed nearly 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares), roughly 334 square miles, an area larger than New York City.
The 35 confirmed fatalities - including 19 in Sonoma County - make this the deadliest fire event in California history. Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including another 3,000 evacuated from the city of Santa Rosa, about 50 miles (80 km) north of San Francisco, and another 250 from nearby Sonoma city.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the affected areas include the Oakmont retirement community that was evacuated earlier in the week when fire ravaged portions of Santa Rosa.
It's an unwieldy beast right now, fire information officer Dennis Rein said at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, the main staging area for the so-called Nuns Fire in Sonoma County, a wine-producing region.
More than 10,000 firefighters are battling the fires, which have destroyed 5,700 buildings and thrown California's wine-producing industry, and related tourism, into disarray, damaging or destroying at least a dozen Napa Valley wineries.
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
Dean Vincent Bordigioni, winemaker and proprietor at the Annadel Estate Winery awoke at 3am with flames erupting on the ridge above his property. Things went to hell last night, he told the Associated Press. They've got a good fight going on.
Ground crews gained on the wildfires on Friday but drier weather and fast-changing winds complicated efforts on Saturday, sparking a new large wildfire in Lake County, officials said.
The Nuns Fire, which had killed at least one person, was only 10 per cent contained with winds threatening more residential areas, Cal Fire spokesman Antonio Negrete said.
But the more deadly Tubbs Fire, which killed at least 17 people in Sonoma County, was 44 percent contained, which officials considered a victory.
It's cautious optimism but it's optimism, Mr Negrete said of the Tubbs Fire.
Cal Fire had estimated the fires would be contained by 20 October but may need to revise that date because of the winds that kicked up, Mr Rein said.
It'll set us back a planning cycle. Everything is very dynamic, he added.
Deadly fires rage across California
The Nuns Fire forced evacuations north of Highway 12, which runs west-to-east from Santa Rosa inland.
Unfortunately, due to the wind conditions and the type of topography and fuels, those winds and topography are causing that fire to be very erratic, going in several different directions. The winds constantly change direction in that area, Scott McLean, a fire captain with the, told CNN.
The Nuns burned some 300 acres (120 hectares) near Sonoma, damaging some buildings on the outskirts of the city, Mr McLean said.
Numerous ground-based strike teams barreled down Highway 12 toward the fire on Saturday and 20 of the 70 helicopters available throughout the state were concentrated on the Nuns Fire, Mr McLean said.
Air tankers from one air base dropped a record 330,000 gallons (1.2 million litres) of retardant on the fire on Friday, he added.
Whole neighbourhoods of Santa Rosa have been reduced to landscapes of gray ash, smouldering debris and burned-out vehicles. Some victims were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, and many survivors had only minutes to flee.
The fires' death toll surpassed the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.
With 235 people still missing on Saturday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number of fatalities from the North Bay fires would likely climb.
Governor Jerry Brown and US Senators. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris were expected to attend a community meeting Saturday afternoon in Santa Rosa.
The year's wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.5 million hectares) burned, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Reuters
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A Canadian man who was rescued from captivity in Afghanistan has claimed his wife was raped and their child killed during a five-year ordeal.
Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their three young children arrived in Canada late on Friday night, after a dramatic rescue by commandos on the Afghan-Pakistan border. They had been held captive by the Haqqani network, a group linked to the Taliban.
The existence of the couples fourth child was unknown until Mr Boyle announced her death to reporters at Toronto Airport. All their children were born in captivity.
Mr Boyle referred to himself as a pilgrim but his motives in travelling to the region remain unclear and have raised suspicion among US security officials.
American-Canadian family held by Taliban-affiliated network speak on video in 2016
He said: "The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, but by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
Another one of his children is believed to be in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
Mr Boyle, who is said to be from a fundamentalist Christian background, was backpacking with his heavily pregnant wife in a Taliban-controlled area of the war torn nation, as part of a wider tour of central Asia. They were kidnapped in Wardak province in 2012.
He said he wanted to help people "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."
During his flight to Canada, he gave a statement to the AP which apparently indicated he might not be settling down.
He said: "God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organised injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege."
But later, he added: "It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home. To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost."
Having arrived at Mr Boyle's family home in Smiths Falls, 50 miles southwest of Ottawa, and being reunited with his parents, who have long campaigned for his release, Mr Boyle said full medical exams were being arranged for him and his family.
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty
In a new statement to the Associated Press he said his family had reached the first true 'home' that the children have ever known after they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully.
Our daughter has had a cursory medical exam last night, and hospital staff were enthusiastically insistent that her chances seemed miraculously high based on a quick physical. Full medical work-ups for each member of my family are being arranged right now, and God-willing the healing process physically and mentally can begin, the statement added.
The Canadian government has been accused of not doing enough to help the family but released a statement saying it has been actively engaged with Mr Boyle's case at all levels and would continue to support the family.
Some aspects of the case, in particular why Mr Boyle and Ms Coleman decided to travel to an ungoverned and dangerous part of Afghanistan, are still shrouded in mystery.
Mr Boyle was previously married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of a man who was arrested by US forces in Afghanistan for alleged ties to al Qaeda.
Some US security officials believe Mr Boyle may have been trying to join jihadi extremists in Afghanistan, and asked why he refused to board a US military flight. Others have said he was just naive.
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A former deputy director of the CIA has criticised Donald Trumps decision not to re-certify the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers.
John McLaughlin said it was one of the President's "worst decisions" and would "shred" America's credibility.
Iran speech - one of Trump's worst decisions: feeds Iran hardliners, splits allies, shreds US credibility, roils congress, gift to Russia, he wrote on Twitter.
Trump could combat Iran's testing of missiles etc without touching nuclear deal, he continued.
John McLaughlin at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in 2004 (Getty)
But needs POTUS [President of the United States] discipline, hard work so far lacking.
The Obama-era deal lifted crippling international sanctions on Iran in exchange for Irans agreement to restrict its nuclear programme for at least 10 years.
In a speech on Friday, Mr Trump said removing sanctions had given the fanatical regime in Iran a financial boost, increasing its ability to fund terrorism. He accused Iran of spreading death, destruction and chaos around the globe.
Mr Trump said he would not re-certify Irans compliance with the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He threatened to terminate the agreement unless Congress devised a deal placing tougher requirements on Iran.
We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakout, he said.
Iran announced in September it had successfully tested a ballistic missile and claimed its tests did not contravene JCPOA. But a UN resolution asks Iran not to develop any ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump's speech "hands a tool to Iran's hardliners who attacked Irans more pragmatic president Rouhani for entering the deal", Mr McLaughlin wrote in The Cipher.
Five of the six other parties in the deal, including the EU, UK, France, Germany, Russia, have declared their continuing support for the agreement following Mr Trump's announcement. The sixth party, China, called on the US before Friday to preserve the agreement.
Russia of course does not support the US position, nor does China, pro-Kremlin MP Alexi Pushkov told Russias state-run Rossiya-24 TV station.
So Trump will be left in proud isolation in an attempt to improve his image among his own supporters.
However, US allies Israel and Saudi Arabia have come out in support of Trumps decision.
Mr McLaughlin previously said Mr Trumps address to 40,000 Boy Scouts at their annual meeting had the feel of a third world authoritarians youth rally.
Mr McLaughlin was deputy director of the CIA under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, then acting director.
He retired in 2004 after 32 years of service and now teaches at Johns Hopkins University.
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A recording that reveals the sound of a sonic weapon said to have been used against US embassy staff in Cuba has been released.
The high-pitched frequencies are believed to have injured at least 22 diplomatic staff, who suffered problems with hearing, cognitive function, vision, balance and sleep.
The allegations have caused relations between the two countries to deteriorate significantly, just over a year after former President Barack Obama made a historic trip to the Caribbean island.
Earlier this month, 15 Cuban diplomats were expelled from the communist governments embassy in Washington, DC.
Trump says a America has 'rejected the Cuban people's oppressors'
Any sound played at normal levels is not thought to be harmful to humans but the affected staff said they heard it played at high levels through what device is unknown.
The recordings from Havana have been sent for analysis to the US Navy, which has advanced capabilities for analysing acoustic signals, and to the intelligence services, the Associated Press reported.
A closer examination of one recording revealed it was not just a single sound. Roughly 20 or more different frequencies, or pitches, are embedded in it, according to reports.
To the ear, the multiple frequencies can sound a bit like dissonant keys on a piano being struck all at once. Plotted on a graph, the Havana sound forms a series of "peaks" that jump up from a baseline, like spikes or fingers on a hand.
"There are about 20 peaks, and they seem to be equally spaced. All these peaks correspond to a different frequency," said Kausik Sarkar, an acoustics expert and engineering professor at the George Washington University, who reviewed the recording with the AP.
But the recordings have not significantly advanced US knowledge about what is harming diplomats in Cuba and the US government has not officially blamed anyone.
The islands government, led by Raul Castro, has denied involvement or knowledge of the attacks.
But US officials believe more could be done to prevent 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
"We believe that the Cuban government could stop the attacks on our diplomats," said John Kelly, White House chief of staff.
On the street in Havana, the reaction among locals was markedly different, with many people mocking the allegations, citing the tense relations between the US and Cuba.
"It isn't the first or the last excuse that they invent to discredit Cuba and its leaders," said lawyer Alexander Tamame, 36. "I don't think anything really happened."
Agencies contributed to this report
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U.S. Republican Senator Bob Corker stepped up his public feud with Donald Trump on Friday, saying the U.S. president's undermining of his top diplomat was like castrating him in public.
Corker told the Washington Post in an interview that Trump had undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's efforts to enlist China in reining in North Korea's nuclear program by denigrating the diplomat.
"You cannot publicly castrate your own secretary of state" without limiting the options for dealing with North Korea, Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, told the Post.
Tillerson told a news conference in Beijing two weeks ago that the United States was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but it had shown no interest in dialogue.
Trump took to Twitter the next day, saying Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"The greatest diplomatic activities we have are with China, and the most important, and they have come a long, long way, Corker said.
"Some of the things we are talking about are phenomenal.
"When you jack the legs out from under your chief diplomat, you cause all that to fall apart, Corker told the Post, adding that working with China was the key to reaching a peaceful settlement with North Korea.
"When you publicly castrate your secretary of state, you take that off the table.
Reuters
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Donald Trump's former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was interviewed on Friday by the special counsel investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 US election.
"Mr Priebus was voluntarily interviewed by Special Counsel Mueller's team today," said his lawyer, William Burck.
"He was happy to answer all of their questions."
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators are interviewing a number of White House and other officials as part of the inquiry into any ties between Mr Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
Mr Mueller's inquiry includes whether Mr Trump might have obstructed justice by trying to persuade then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation of Michael Flynn, the President's first national security adviser.
Mr Flynn resigned in February after disclosures that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images
Mr Priebus, who was Republican National Committee chairman during the campaign, became White House chief of staff upon Mr Trump's taking office in January.
He resigned in July after major pieces of legislation on Mr Trump's agenda failed to pass Congress.
Reuters
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In his speech on the Iran nuclear agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), President Trump made a number of factual assertions. The deal was negotiated by Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China), Germany and the European Union.
Heres a guide to some of his rhetoric, in the order in which he made these statements.
The regime harbored high-level terrorists in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, including Osama bin Ladens son.
The president recounted a long list of aggressive acts by the Iranian government toward the United States since the shah was overthrown in 1979, many of which would be familiar to Americans. This claim that Iran harbored al-Qaeda terror suspects might be less well-known, but it was recently documented in a 2017 book, The Exile, by investigative reporters Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy.
The book noted that the steady flow of senior al-Qaeda figures into Iran after the 9/11 attacks was controversial among various factions. The government actually made some arrests and sent some al-Qaeda figures back to countries of origin. But the Revolutionary Guard was more supportive. Trump, in using the phrase regime, glosses over the debate within the country.
The regime remains the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, and provides assistance to al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist networks.
Trump suggests the assistance to al-Qaeda continues to the present day. This is in line with the latest State Department Country Reports on terrorism, released in July, which said: Since at least 2009, Iran has allowed AQ facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through the country, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria. This phrasing marked a shift from previous reports, which indicated the support was in the past.
The previous administration lifted these sanctions, just before what would have been the total collapse of the Iranian regime, through the deeply controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
There is little evidence that the Iranian government was on the verge of total collapse, though it was certainly struggling because of international sanctions. The Obama administration had been able to win broad international support for crippling sanctions precisely because it convinced Russia and China, two major Iranian partners, that the pressure was designed to curb Irans nuclear ambitions and force the government into negotiations. If the government had started to totter because of the sanctions, especially if it was perceived as part of an American campaign of regime change, that support likely would have been withdrawn.
JCPOA also gave the regime an immediate financial boost and over $100 billion its government could use to fund terrorism. The regime also received a massive cash settlement of $1.7 billion from the United States, a large portion of which was physically loaded onto an airplane and flown into Iran.
Trump often suggests the United States gave a $100 billion to Iran, but these were Iranian assets that had been frozen. The Treasury Department has estimated that once Iran fulfills other obligations, it would have about $55 billion left. (Much of the funds were tied up in illiquid projects in China.) For its part, the Central Bank of Iran said the number was actually $32 billion, not $55 billion. Iran has also complained that it cannot actually move the money back to Iran because foreign banks wont touch it for fear of U.S. sanctions and their U.S. exposure.
As for the $1.7 billion in cash, this was related to the settlement of a decades-old claim between the two countries. An initial payment of $400 million was handed over on Jan. 17, 2016, the same day Irans government agreed to release four American detainees, including The Washington Posts Jason Rezaian. The timing which U.S. officials insisted was a coincidence suggested the cash could be viewed as a ransom payment.
But the initial cash payment was Irans money. In the 1970s, the then-pro-Western Iranian government under the shah paid $400 million for U.S. military equipment. But the equipment was never delivered because the two countries broke off relations after the seizure of American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.
Two other payments totaling $1.3 million a negotiated agreement on the interest owed on the $400 million came some weeks later.
The deal allows Iran to continue developing certain elements of its nuclear program and, importantly, in just a few years, as key restrictions disappear, Iran can sprint towards a rapid nuclear weapons breakout.
JCPOA has been in place for two years. Certain provisions of the nuclear aspects of the deal do not last indefinitely, but virtually all phase out between years 10 and 25. Its doubtful Iran would have agreed to an indefinite ban on nuclear activities, given that it has a right to have a nonnuclear program under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Critics of the agreement argue that Irans past behavior suggests it will cheat in any case and thus has forfeited its rights.
Trump does not mention that under the agreement, Iran is permanently prohibited from acquiring nuclear weapons, and will be subject to certain restrictions and additional monitoring indefinitely.
Its unclear why Trump refers to a few years before a potential nuclear breakout. Non-nuclear provisions having to do with arms-related transfers to and from Iran will expire in three years, or possibly sooner. In six years, U.N. Security Council restrictions end on any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Those who argue that somehow the JCPOA deals only with nuclear matters and should be judged separate from the restrictions in [U.N.] resolution 2231 fail to explain that a nuclear weapon is a warhead and a delivery system, noted David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, in testimony before Congress. Today, the delivery vehicle of choice is a ballistic missile.
The Iranian regime has committed multiple violations of the agreement. For example, on two separate occasions, they have exceeded the limit of 130 metric tons of heavy water. Until recently, the Iranian regime has also failed to meet our expectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges.
Trump is right that Iran twice exceeded the deals limit on heavy water. But supporters of the deal say it shows JCPOA is working. Iran tried to take advantage of fuzzy language in the agreement but it was immediately caught by international inspectors; the other partners objected and forced Iran to come back into compliance.
As for the centrifuges, the deal limits both the number and type of centrifuges Iran is permitted to use. Again Iran tried to take advantage of ambiguous limits roughly 10 advanced centrifuges by operating slightly more than that number.
The dispute for the moment also appears to have been resolved, though Albright in his testimony noted that Iran has also built and operated more advanced centrifuges than it is allowed, and it has misused quality assurance limitations to conduct banned mechanical testing of advanced centrifuges.
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty
There are also many people who believe that Iran is dealing with North Korea. I am going to instruct our intelligence agencies to do a thorough analysis and report back their findings beyond what they have already reviewed.
This was a puzzling statement. The phrasing suggests there is not enough evidence to claim that Iran has dealings with North Korea, but the intelligence agencies will keep looking. But it raises the question about why the president made the assertion in the first place.
It is under continuous review, and our participation can be cancelled by me, as president, at any time.
The other partners to the agreement dispute that Trump has the authority to end the deal. In an unusual joint statement, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron noted: JCPOA was unanimously endorsed by the U.N. Security Council in Resolution 2231. The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly confirmed Irans compliance with the JCPOA through its long-term verification and monitoring program.
Similarly, Federica Mogherini, the E.U. foreign policy chief, said no one country could terminate the deal. This deal is not a bilateral agreement, she said. The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will, continue to be in place. However, a president can stop waiving nuclear sanctions at any point, causing nuclear sanctions to come back into force. Moreover, U.S. law requires him to waive nuclear sanctions regularly so he could simply not do anything and nuclear sanctions come back. In effect, that would terminate the deal, whether the other partners like it or not.
The Washington Post
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North Korea has issued a fresh threat against Guam, claiming a salvo of missiles will be unleashed on its waters if Donald Trump continues his provocations.
The small US island territory in the Pacific is a strategic hub and the North Korean (DPRK) government believe it could be used as an advance base for a US invasion of their country.
The DPRK also cited Mr Trumps frequent Twitter outbursts as a key incitement. Tensions between the two countries have been mounting in recent months, following a series of missiles tests by North Korea.
Trump: US's military solution for North Korea would be 'devastating'
A commentary written by Kim Kwang Hak, a researcher at the DPRKs Institute for American Studies, said: We have already warned several times that we will take counteractions for self-defence including a salvo of missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam, an advance base for invading the DPRK, where key US bases are located, as the US has resorted to military actions in sensitive regions, making the waters off the Korean peninsula and in the Pacific restless.
US military shows of force in the region have become more common. This week, US B-1B strategic bombers flew over South Korea with fighter jet escorts from the allied nation.
Jim Schoff, a former senior Pentagon adviser for East Asia policy, told the AP the B-1B flights were not just intended to signal US resolve, but to practice making the long flight from Guam where they are based, and "to get a feel for what kind of air defences North Korea has and how we see them react".
Mr Kims commentary referred to the Presidents social media habits and said: What should not be overlooked is that such military moves have been conducted at a time when the Trump group posted on Twitter such letters reading that the US failed to handle North Korea for the past 25 years and only one thing will prove effective, while frequently hinting at military option backed by such rubbish as a calm before a storm and total destruction."
The comments came just days after Mr Trump said "only one thing will work" with North Korea and referred to "the calm before the storm".
The DPRK commentary also said the US actions justified the continuation of its nuclear weapons programme, which has been widely condemned by the international community.
Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Show all 6 1 /6 Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Photos released by North Korea show Kim Jong-un talking to subordinates next to a device thought to be the new thermonuclear weapon. There is no way of independently verifying the pictures STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korea claims it has successfully tested an advanced hydrogen bomb which could be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A diagram on the wall behind Mr Kim shows a bomb mounted inside a cone STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) attending a photo session with participants of the fourth conference of active secretaries of primary organisations of the youth league of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters
Its senseless military provocations make us keenly realise once again that we were quite right when we decided to bolster the nuclear deterrence for self-defence in every way, and harden our conviction that we have to keep to this path forever, it said.
Mr Kim added that the US military manoeuvres would make it more likely that North Korea would react aggressively.
The US military action hardens our determination that the US should be tamed with fire and lets us take our hand closer to "trigger" for taking the toughest countermeasure, the commentary said.
Additional reporting by agencies.
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North Korea was behind the devastating WannaCry ransomware attack that temporarily crippled dozens of NHS trusts, the president of Microsoft has said.
Brad Smith said all observers in the know now believe Kim Jong-uns regime stole the technology needed to create the exploit from the US National Security Agency before unleashing it on the world.
The attack in May struck where computers were running outdated software, infecting hundreds of thousands of machines around the world.
Mr Smith said the threat from state-sponsored cyber attacks was increasing.
He told ITV News: I think over last six months weve seen threats come to life, unfortunately, in new and more serious way. The problem has become bigger.
We need governments to come together as they did in Geneva in 1949 and adopt a new digital Geneva Convention that makes clear that these cyber-attacks against civilians, especially in times of peace, are off-limits and a violation of international law.
Mr Smith said Microsoft was not to blame for the infection of systems using older operating systems mainly, in this case, the obsolete Windows XP, for which the company ended mainstream support in 2014.
He told ITV: We repeatedly asked people, we explained to people, we virtually pleaded with people please dont rely on software that now belongs in a museum.
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The Philippine president said he has asked his finance secretary to reject an unspecified British financial aid package and that he's ready to cut diplomatic ties with all European countries critical of his deadly anti-drug crackdown.
President Rodrigo Duterte also threatened in a state TV talk show late Friday "to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term" to allow him to arrest opponents and launch an all-out war against communist guerrillas if they seriously attempt to destabilize his government.
Duterte's latest outburst against critics came after an independent poll made public this past week showed that his public satisfaction rating has dropped to its lowest level although it remains classified as "good" since he took office last year amid an outcry over unabated drug killings and allegations that he has unexplained wealth.
Amid renewed criticisms of his anti-drug campaign, which has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead, Duterte has barred the national police for the second time from enforcing his crackdown and designated a small antinarcotics agency to spearhead his controversial crackdown.
The volatile leader has also been incensed by concerns over the drug killings raised by a small group of European parliamentarians and human rights advocates.
"I am prepared to lose all diplomatic relationships with all of the European countries now. ... You're not allowed to enter here now. I will write that letter," Duterte said, adding that the Philippines could drop European imports.
Duterte said his country could survive "as long as I have China, Russia and Eastern Europe," along with a bloc of Southeast Asian nations that he currently heads.
He said that Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III recently informed him of a financial package Britain wanted to provide, but that he told Dominguez to reject the offer. "Tell them Duterte may use that to buy guns and ammunition to carry out extrajudicial killings, so keep your money," Duterte said he told his finance chief.
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 72-year-old president, known for his bombastic speeches, also warned that he would declare "a revolutionary government" to contain any serious threat by political opponents and communist rebels to undermine his administration. "I will arrest all of you and we can go to a full-scale war against the Reds," Duterte said. "I'm prepared, that's why I've gotten more soldiers. ... Why did I ask for new arms?"
Duterte has denied he has a policy condoning unlawful drug killings. Following public outrage over the shooting death of a teenage student in August, he has warned police officers that they would be locked up in jail if they murder drug suspects.
The president, however, has continued to threaten drug and crime suspects with death and mock human rights advocates. "The human rights of the criminals end where the survival of my country begins. Simple as that," Duterte said.
Associated Press
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An elephant killed two Rohingya children and injured three more Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
A five-year-old girl died at the scene, while a 13-year-old died later in hospital, the UNs migration agency wrote on Twitter.
A three-year-old child and two others were also injured in the incident at Balukhali camp in Coxs Bazar, on Bangladeshs south-eastern border with Burma.
Two Rohingya, including a two-year-old boy, were trampled to death by an elephant in September in the same area.
Since Burmas military forces launched a brutal offensive against the countrys Rohingya population on 25 August, more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh.
The desperate refugees are building makeshift shelters in areas designated as wild elephant routes. Coxs Bazar, the region where Fridays attack took place, is home to around 78 of Bangladeshs 268 wild elephants. It hosts eight designated routes through forest land for the elephants to use, which keep locals safe by steering the animals away from land occupied by humans.
But the numbers of refugees fleeing to the area has required the Bangladeshi government to fell more than 1,000 acres of forest to make space for 150,000 tarpaulin shelters, Bangladeshs Secretary of Disaster Management and Relief Mohammad Shah Kamal told Reuters.
The deforestation confuses the elephants and can cause them to approach human settlements, according to AHM Raihan Sarkar, associate professor at Chittagong Universitys Forest and Environmental Science Institute.
If this practice of establishing unplanned settlements on the elephants path continues, it will not only increase human-elephant conflicts, but also cause the extinction of elephants in the country within 10-20 years Mr Raihan Sarkar told the Dhaka Tribune in September.
The persecution of the Rohingya population has caused a humanitarian emergency in the region.
Save the Children has warned of a malnutrition crisis among the refugees. More than 14,000 children are already suffering acute malnutrition and 280,000 refugees need food urgently, including 145,000 children under five and more than 50,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.
As the EU and the US consider targeted sanctions against Burmese military leaders, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Burma to allow the Rohingya home from their temporary camps in Bangladesh.
Burma needs to create conditions that will allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security, Mr Annan told an informal Security Council meeting on Friday.
They should not be returned to camps, he said, but rather given assistance to help rebuild their homes.
Burmas actions against its Rohingya population seem like a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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Australia is to be elected uncontested to the United Nations Human Rights Council amid stern criticism of its asylum policies.
The nation was competing with France and Spain for one of two seats but its election was made almost certain when Paris retracted its bid.
It comes at the end of a two-year-long international campaign by Australia, which has vowed to be a "pragmatic, principled and passionate" promoter of human rights.
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Canberra said it would champion freedom of expression and indigenous rights and would push for the global abolition of the death penalty.
But the nation has come under fire for its asylum policies, which include turning back boats and detaining immigrants offshore. The UN has also criticised Australia's treatment of indigenous people, who are 14 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-indigenous people.
Tom Clarke, Director of Campaigns at the Human Right's Law Centre, said in a July statement: "Australia has stubbornly rejected every single call from the UN to abandon its cruel treatment of people seeking asylum its policies blatantly and deliberately breach international human rights law in a gruesome attempt to deter people from seeking safety in Australia."
He described the country's asylum policies as an "elephant in the room", adding: "The UN couldnt make it any clearer. Every expert report, every committee finding, every investigation, every time, has made it abundantly clear that Australias refugee policies breach international law in numerous ways. There is simply no escaping this reality.
"If the Australian Government truly wants to be a human rights leader at the UN, then it must stop being a human rights laggard at home."
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
A number of countries on the council have attracted criticism for their human rights records. Saudi Arabia, which was elected to the council this year, severely restricts the rights of women and is one of the world's most prolific executors.
The countries set to be elected alongside Australia on Monday Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mexico and Senegal have also been accused of grave human rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch called for the DRC's bid to be blocked, citing fighting between Congolese security forces and militia in the central Kasai region that has killed up to 5,000 people and displaced 1.4 million more since last August.
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A French intelligence agent accidentally texted a suspected extremist preacher to say he was under surveillance, crippling his own investigation, it has been reported.
The spy tried to send secret information to a colleague, but tipped off his quarry instead by mixing up their phone numbers, it is said, leaving bosses furious at what French media labelled a monumental blunder.
The preacher, a suspected Islamist extremist in the Ile-de-France region, which includes the French capital, Paris, mocked the officer by phoning him back minutes later, The Local reported.
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He was under investigation by Frances central territorial intelligence service, but the errant text also scuppered a similar probe by the countrys main spy agency, the DGSI.
France is on high alert following a string of terror attacks in recent years, with a state of emergency still in effect after it was instituted following the 2015 Paris attacks.
It is due to remain in place until the end of October, but President Emmanuel Macron plans to enshrine a number of its provisions into law.
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Ireland is bracing itself for what could be the worst storm since 1961, according to Met Eireann, the countrys national meteorological service.
Hurricane Ophelia, which is currently south-west of the Azores islands near Portugal, 2,500km away from Ireland, is expected to hit the countrys west coast on Monday.
By this time, it will have lost its hurricane status but will still be a powerful storm. Areas including Cork, Kerry, Clare and Galway & Mayo are set to see wind speeds in excess of 130kmh (80mph).
The Irish meteorological service has issued its highest possible "status red" warning ahead of the arrival of Ophelia.
It is feared large waves may lead to flooding in coastal areas.
The tropical storm is currently making its way across the Atlantic as a category 1 hurricane with winds of up to 100mph.
Predicted path of Hurricane Ophelia
A Met Eireann spokesperson told The Independent the storm could cause as much damage as Hurricane Debbie, a 1961 storm which killed 16 people in the Republic of Ireland and two people in Northern Ireland.
The tail end of hurricanes often affect Britain and Ireland, but usually, by the time they reach us they will have lost most of their power, the spokesperson said.
Weve had a very active hurricane season, but the remains of Hurricanes Maria and Jose passed us by harmlessly, as is usually the case.
But Ophelia is unusual because hurricanes would usually come from America or the Caribbean, whereas this one is coming from the southwest, below the Azores.
Its worth noting that Hurricane Debbie also came from this unusual direction and source region.
Damage to properties, infrastructure and the agricultural sector from Hurricane Debbie cost as much as 37m, according to meteorologists Kieran Hickey and Christina Connolly-Johnson.
This Atlantic hurricane season has produced 15 named storms, the most since the late 19th century, resulting in more than 200bn worth of damage.
The weather front will have lost most of its power over the sea before making landfall in the British Isles, although Cornwall, Devon and Dorset can expect some disruption, according to the UK Met Office.
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A bride-to-be fears that her dream wedding on a Greek island may have to be cancelled after another couple posed in a photo seeming to show them in a sex act.
Gemma Hunter, 37, of Bradford, fears her special day with fiance Matthew Hewitt, 38, which has been booked at St Paul's Chapel in Rhodes for August 2018, may have been scuppered by the "obscene" actions of another couple.
Matthew and Carly Lunn's photo, appearing to perform a sex act at the sacred Greek monastery, went viral and now there is a suggestion of a ban on all foreign marriages on the island. The photo was said to be a joke.
Ms Hunter, a healthcare assistant, said the wedding was booked in May during a specially-arranged family trip where they fell for the chapel which was a "lovely place and just perfect".
Ms Hunter, who is waiting for more information from her wedding planner, said: "Now it is all a bit of a shock.
"You imagine how it is all going to be and then to find out that it could all fall apart. We are in limbo."
Estimating that her wedding party have spent around 20,000, she said: "It is all added stress. We thought we could get married abroad and there would be a wedding planner and it would be straigth forward.
"We do not know really what is going on. We have not been told that it has been officially cancelled."
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It has been reported that the mayor of Rhodes is due to make a final decision on the ban in the next couple of weeks.
Ms Hunter and Mr Hewitt have four children between them aged from eight to 11 years old, who were "really excited" about being part of the wedding.
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She said: "I have not even told them to be honest that all this is going on and I cannot even show them the picture about why we might not be able to have the wedding there because it is obscene."
She described the controversial image as "disrespectful", adding "why would you think to do that in a religious setting?"
Giorgos Eleftheriou, president of Lindos community in Rhodes, told The Times: "I have hundreds of soon-to-be brides from Britain and all over the world calling me today in tears because of this decision. It's a huge damper on our society here.
"We are one of the most famous wedding destinations in the world and we are booked solid through to 2021."
PA
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Kimmie Taylor sits at the top of an open concrete staircase gazing at the sun as it sets over Isis-held Raqqa city, cigarette between her fingers.
She turns her head slowly towards the entrance to the courtyard, and just as slowly raises her free hand in greeting.
Its exactly how you imagine the female fighters of the YPJ (Kurdish Womens Protection Units). But Kimmie isnt what I expected at all.
Kimmie and Jianda, a Kurdish member of her unit, at their base in East Raqqa (Bethan McKernan)
Oh, yours is the first British accent Ive heard in ages, she says, her Lancastrian accent a reminder the same is true for me.
When the story broke in February that the then 27-year-old had smuggled herself into Syria to join the fight against Isis, most of the news coverage painted her as a naive, self-styled revolutionary.
In reality, she knows exactly what shes doing. After studying for a masters degree in political theory at Stockholm University, Kimmie was invited by friends with similar left wing politics to explore Rojava the self-declared autonomous Kurdish region of Northern Syria for the first time in 2015.
In a country turned upside down by a brutal civil war, she found something to believe in. The Kurdish democratic, feminist movement is building a fairer society and fighting off Isis at the same time.
I picked up a gun because I knew how people at home would react to that. Id already been in Rojava for ages at that point, working with Yazidis and other people fleeing Isis, learning Kurdish, learning about the revolution and how society works here.
A Raqqa science college. Isis dug a 10m deep tunnel from one classroom which they used to escape after fighting for the building began pic.twitter.com/AAlFtSqrhN Bethan McKernan (@mck_beth) September 18, 2017
I came back to Europe and gave talks and tried to raise awareness. But nothing happened. The interest just fizzles out. So when I came back I decided to join the YPJ because I knew it would get peoples attention.
She was right. The softly spoken northerner has been able to bring the complex reality of Syrias war home for people in the UK in a way they otherwise may not have been able to imagine.
Particularly before July, when the US-backed Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) managed to encircle Raqqa, the capital of Isis so-called caliphate, she played a major role helping the YPJs media team, filming herself talking about what it was like to be shot at by Isis snipers and witness a suicide bomber detonate his explosives just metres in front of her.
The past year has been hard. Kimmie has witnessed extreme suffering in the communities ravaged by Isis and lost three friends and a mentor along the way.
Like the Kurdish, Arab and Yazidi women who have trained as fighters, though, it has hardened her resolve to fight. The seven other women of Kimmies unit have on occasion cried after learning they havent been picked for front-line missions.
I have given everything to this fight and I am willing to die for what Rojava is trying to achieve. I keep moving units because I want to stay on the front line as long as possible, she says.
Woman celebrates after being rescued from Isis in Raqqa
But as the SDF closes in on the last few hundred jihadis left in the city, an unanswered question is looming: what will she do next?
Build the rest of the revolution, obviously. Going home to the UK is not an option, she says.
While Kimmie may travel back to mainland Europe to raise awareness of the Kurdish cause, she is worried trying to go home would get her arrested.
While in previous interviews her family members have said that they have had no contact with the British authorities over their daughters presence in Syria, Kimmies lawyer has warned that their communications are probably being bugged.
There remains little precedent in British law for returning YPJ and YPG (Mens Protection Units) fighters. Some manage to walk back in with little questioning but Josh Walker, a YPG volunteer from Wales, became the first person to be prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws on his return from Syria last year. His trial is later this month.
Besides, Kimmie says, there is still work for her to do in Syria. There are civic institutions and election processes to strengthen, womens history syllabuses to write for university curriculums and water channels, school and hospitals to rebuild.
This revolution, this building of the society and empowerment of women is about changing society, she says. The people wont accept groups like Daesh again.
People are relearning their place in the world as Syrians, as Arabs, as Kurdish people, as Turkmens or Assyrians theyre understanding how to organise democratically and its working. This is the answer for Syria.
Ive learned [in my time] here and the struggles that Ive been through. This is an education that I couldnt have got anywhere else.
So does she finally feel like shes found her movement? That shes a true revolutionary? Yes, I am a revolutionary, she says. A grin breaks out on her face. I believe her.
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The last remaining Isis fighters in the group's self-styled "capital" Raqqa are expected to leave the city on Saturday night, taking civilians with them as human shields, according to reports.
In a withdrawal agreed with US-backed Syrian militias that have them surrounded, Syrian Isis fighters will leave the city on Saturday evening.
Officials gave conflicting accounts on whether foreign fighters would also be leaving the city, where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been battling to defeat Isis since June.
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SDF spokesman Talal Silo said any fighters who were not signed up to the deal that allows them to leave Raqqa would be left behind "to surrender or die.
Omar Alloush, a member of Raqqa's Civil Council, said the evacuation would include foreign fighters. He said it would take place overnight into Sunday. The jihadists would be taking some 400 civilians with them as human shields, he said.
The final defeat of Isis in Raqqa would be a milestone in efforts to roll back the theocratic "caliphate" the group declared in 2014 in Syria and Iraq, where earlier this year it was driven from the city of Mosul.
Isis used Raqqa as a base to plan attacks against the West.
Woman celebrates after being rescued from Isis in Raqqa
The US-led coalition against Isis said a convoy was due to leave Raqqa on Saturday, in an arrangement agreed by local parties.
It described the arrangement as "a civilian evacuation" and said it would not condone any arrangement that allowed "terrorists to escape Raqqa without facing justice".
The coalition statement said the arrangement brokered by the Raqqa Civil Council and local Arab tribal elders on Oct. 12 was "designed to minimise civilian casualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terrorists".
Reuters
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A mother and son who were lost for ten days in the Australian bush used survival tactics inspired by Bear Grylls, local police have said.
Michelle Pittman and her ten-year-old son Dylan were found in Mount Royal National Park, New South Wales, on Thursday, dehydrated but otherwise healthy.
The mother and son had set out for a trek in the National Park on Monday 2 October, and were the subject of a large scale search and rescue mission after their family reported them missing the following Friday.
Hunter Valley Acting Superintendent Rob Post told news.com.au: It is amazing they have actually survived for so long.
Even more amazing is that nine-year-old Dylan has come out with insect bites but quite fit and able he looks like he could do the whole thing again, he said.
Superintendent Post said the pair had gathered water using techniques learned from adventurer and expert survivalist Bear Grylls.
Missing poster showing Michelle and her son Dylan (Pittman family)
"They managed to get hold of water by licking water off plants and digging water from holes and using leaves to collect it."
It appears they got lost after mistaking dried up creeks for walking tracks.
Police managed to locate Ms Pittmans car after finding a note in her home with a list of walks she was intending on doing with her son, sparking a four day search of the park, which covers 17,000 acres.
"We had located their tracks on a creek bed and we were tracking them," Superintendent Post said.
"Just prior to us finding them they crawled out onto the road and were picked up by a passing police unit.
The pair have now been transferred to Singleton Hospital to receive treatment for dehydration and insect bites.
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Paris, Copenhagen and Oxford announced bans on petrol and diesel cars this week.
Paris will ban all petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars by 2030, a decade ahead of Frances 2040 target. Copenhagen plans to ban diesel cars from 2019, while Oxford has proposed banning all non-electric vehicles from its centre from 2020. This would make central Oxford the worlds first zero-emissions zone, officials believe.
The public health risk from polluted air is the main reason for the bans, according to city officials.
Nitrogen dioxide is released from car exhausts and can cause serious respiratory diseases. In the UK, diesel cars and vans account for more than half of all roadside nitrogen oxide levels.
Its not a human right to pollute the air for others, Copenhagens mayor Frank Jensen told Danish newspaper Politiken.
Thats why diesel cars must be phased out.
The ban would mean something for the many, many Copenhageners that are affected by respiratory illnesses, Mr Jensen said.
Toxic and illegal air pollution in the city centre is damaging the health of Oxfords residents, said Councillor John Tanner of Oxford City Council.
A step change is urgently needed.
The zero-emissions zone would gradually expand to cover the whole city centre by 2035, in proposals outlined by the council.
Oxford was one of 11 British cities revealed last year to exceed the safe limits for toxic particles, according to the World Health Organisation.
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, including hybrids, will be banned in the UK from 2040.
Paris City Hall said in a statement that in order for France to reach its 2040 target of banning cars dependent on fossil fuels, bigger cities had to phase out cars sooner.
Paris already has car-free days, car-free zones and fines for drivers using cars more than 20 years old. On 1 October, the most recent car-free day, nitrogen dioxide levels dropped 25 per cent and noise levels dropped by an average of 20 per cent.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told the Journal du Dimanche in January that she wants to reconquer the public space for cyclists, pedestrians, and other non-polluting vehicles.
"This is about planning for the long term with a strategy that will reduce greenhouse gases", said Christophe Najdovski, a transport policy official at Paris City Hall.
"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.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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WeChat, the Chinese messaging app, has apologised for translating black foreigner into the N-word.
It was noticed by Ann James, a black American director and actor who featured in Chinas highest-grossing film ever, this summers Wolf Warrior 2.
Ms Jones recently texted Chinese colleagues to tell them she was running late. When Ms Jones translated their Chinese response into English using WeChats translation feature, it read: The [N-word] is late.
I was just horrified, Ms James, who has lived in China for five years, told news site Sixth Tone.
But a Chinese colleague assured Ms James that the original Chinese used hei laowai was a neutral phrase.
Local news outlet Thats Shanghai tested the app. It found that in some sentences the phrase black foreigner was translated neutrally, but when the phrase was used in a negative context, the app translated it into the N-word.
WeChat admitted the error.
"We're very sorry for the inappropriate translation, a spokesperson told Sixth Tone.
After receiving users' feedback, we immediately fixed the problem."
The app's translation software uses artificial intelligence. It learns how to use language in context by analysing huge volumes of material, which is why it may choose insulting language to translate negative sentences.
Ms James questioned why WeChat included material containing the N-word in its machine learning process.
Why is that word even in the translator?
Nearly a billion people used WeChat for chatting, shopping and gaming. It is censored by the Chinese government. Whatsapp, another messaging app which WeChat resembles, which has been blocked in China.
WeChats parent company, Tencent, is worth $275 million, making it the worlds tenth most valuable public company, according to The Economist.
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Quite suddenly the US high-tech giants find themselves on the back foot at least in European markets. The still unresolved tussle between Uber and the London authorities is one of the highest-profile examples of the push-back against what many see as socially questionable practices, but it is one of many.
Working conditions in Amazon distribution centres, privacy controls, exploitation of international tax loopholes, and other issues have all come under fire.
Dont be evil was introduced as a corporate objective for Google some 15 years ago. Now I dont think many people think of Google as evil, rather as a reasonably benign near-monopoly. But many of the things it does for example the manipulation of search results do seem like sharp practice.
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
So whats happening? There are several strands, so lets try and unpick them.
First, there is the issue of working conditions. That is probably the biggest charge against Uber. Were it to be more driver-friendly, it could respond better to the charge that its drivers were effectively employed rather than self-employed. Fares would be a bit higher, training for drivers a bit longer, and driver receipts a bit higher. It would be hard then to say the competition was unfair, and most users would be content to pay a bit more, provided it was only a bit.
It is also the main charge against Amazon. That it prioritises the interests of the consumer swift, cheap, efficient service over the interests of workers. Amazon has received less stick because it does not have the same aggressive attitude of Uber, something that the latter is seeking now to correct.
'To me, it's a political decision,' declares Uber driver
The second issue is tax. One of the side effects of the EU is to construct corporate tax havens. Luxembourg and Ireland have been clever at exploiting loopholes so that they have become bases for US companies in Europe.
The EU has taken Ireland to court over its refusal to collect from Apple more than $15bn in back taxes. It is estimated that Google, which for tax purposes is resident in Ireland, paid less than one per cent of EU revenues between 2013 and 2015 in tax.
Unsurprisingly the EU is trying to tackle this and we will have to see what happens. Morally the case is clear because some of the tax arrangements look artificial and contrived. What happens legally is another matter.
Uber loses licence to operate in London - reaction highlights
Third, there is the matter of privacy. One of the difficulties here is that Europe and the US have different social attitudes towards privacy. For example, Americans who come to the UK are astounded at the number of cameras observing Britons every movement. Such surveillance would not be socially acceptable in the US. Europeans on the other hand are concerned at the extent to which companies such as Google and Facebook track their thoughts and actions. Americans by contrast dont seem to care, being happy to give away information about themselves in exchange for free, or nearly free, services.
There is a further twist to the privacy issue. China, of course, is different again and China will quite soon be the worlds largest economy, able to exert its influence over our own Western standards.
Uber has licence stripped in London
These are all very new problems. The iPhone was launched in 2007. The first Android smartphone to be commercially available came on the market in 2008. Phones know a huge amount about us: who we are, where we are, what we look like, what we are interested in, how far we have walked or whether we have taken an Uber, maybe what we paid for our lunch.
The first reaction of everyone, or just about everyone, has been to welcome this. No-one tells us to have a smartphone, go on Facebook, buy a book on Amazon, or take an Uber. It is a choice. It is only after a decade or so of us having such choices that the various national governments, pushed both by pressure groups and by voters, have sought to order things. (The Chinese, by the way, moved most swiftly.)
So what we are seeing now is a natural reaction to something that is utterly new but has happened before. The steam train, cars, aircraft, telecommunications and so on, all went through the same process: explosive growth, then regulation and control. It is a learning process for the providers as well as the regulators, and there will be mistakes. Because these new technologies and applications were pioneered in America, actually West Coast America, it is US companies that have come under scrutiny. Expect the tensions to continue.
But heres a prediction: whatever the outcome of the current row, in a years time Uber will be operating in London. Londoners want the service and consumers usually win in the end.
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Donald Trumps motive for refusing to certify the Iran anti-nuclear agreement was as transparent as glass. He had already certified it twice, and nothing has changed except that his opinion-poll ratings have resumed their downward drift after Septembers respite. Some of his supporters are beginning to realise he is all hat and no cattle, so he felt the need for a costless gesture.
He hasnt started building the wall, now downgraded to the renovation of fences, across the US southern border. He hasnt scrapped Obamacare although this week he did what he could to sabotage it for some poorer Americans. So it was time to go back one of the few things he can do, which is, as David Usborne writes, pulling the US out of international agreements.
Fortunately, most of this is puff and bluster. It was the same story with President Trumps repudiation of the Paris climate-change agreement. This was, of course, bad news because it removed the symbolic power of the US Presidents bully pulpit from the complex task of implementing the deal. But it was less bad than it appeared, because President Trump was only giving the required three years notice of the USs intention to withdraw something that will not actually happen, if at all, until near the end of his term in the White House.
EU condemns Donald Trump's decision to decertify Iran nuclear deal
In the case of the Iran deal, President Trump has not ended it. Indeed, he has no authority to do so. He has sent it back to Congress, which now has 60 days to decide whether to renew it. It has no good grounds for terminating the deal. Even President Trump could say only that Iran had violated the spirit of the agreement secured by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in 2015.
He knows full well that the UNs International Atomic Energy Agency, the body charged with monitoring the agreement, has found no violations. Of course, Iran continues to sponsor some of the most unsavoury forces in the Middle East and its anti-American rhetoric is a constant provocation, but the deal is intended to curtail its ambition to acquire nuclear weapons and there is nothing to suggest it is not working.
Trump accuses Tehran of spreading 'chaos around the globe'
That is why President Trump was urged by all interested parties, including the UK Government, not to decertify the agreement, but all that has done is to turbo-charge the boost he gains from his electoral base by doing so.
Unfortunately, sending the Iran deal back to Congress may not be cost-free. Mr Obama never submitted the deal to Congress to be ratified as a treaty, knowing that the votes were not there reflecting the history of attacks on Americans by Iran or its proxies over decades. It must be hoped that some compromise will emerge, preferably one which absolves President Trump of the obligation to certify the agreement every 90 days.
However, we should be aware that if the Iran deal falls, it is likely to be replaced by a policy of confrontation and aggressive rhetoric similar to that applied by President Trump to North Korea. That would be a worrying outcome for the world. Let us hope that calm voices in Congress prevail.
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Unity is the most misused and misunderstood word in Arabic. Ittihad. Every dictatorship, every nation in the Middle East must believe in ittihad. And the Palestinans the poor, divided Palestinians more than all others.
For years they have been torn apart between Hamas and Fatah, between Islamism (if you believe in such a thing) and the Palestinian Authority, between Islamic rule again, if you believe in this and secular authority. And when Mahmoud Abbas was called by the United States to be told of Americas concern that Hamas would be involved in such a government, you knew there would be a problem.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced, of course, that Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) had said Yes to terrorism and no to peace. This was ridiculous. If Abbas has managed to bring Hamas to heel through financial threats then the old PLO of Yassir Arafat has been re-created once more.
Recommended How the Qatar crisis ended up bringing Hamas and Fatah together
Netanyahu will have to talk to the Fatah-led PLO and will have to return to the peace treaty in which the West (and Tony Blair, remember him?) believed. Far from terror, Gaza will belong to the Palestinian Authority, in which Israeli leaders claimed they believed. Well, we shall see.
The real question is: do the Israelis want peace with the Palestinians? Or do they want the land of the West Bank? If the latter is the case, then the Netanyahu government will refuse to accept a new PLO-Hamas accord.
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
They will say and the Trump regime will follow suite that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, and that Israel has no-one to negotiate with. At which point, they must decide whether they want to run an apartheid state in the West Bank (no votes for Arabs) or an Israel which is not democratic.
Read any of the recent articles by Uri Avnery, if you want to find out. He is a great Israeli philosopher, a wonderful writer, a true messiah, a leader of his people if they will listen to him.
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The chances that Britain will stay in the European Union increased slightly this week. It was no surprise that Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, said that insufficient progress had been made to move to the next stage of the Brexit talks. But he also said the talks were deadlocked, which he found disturbing.
This may be tough talk for the purposes of negotiation, but it has the effect of turning a corner to find that a low murmur is actually the noise of a burning building. Those close to the negotiations have known this for months, but now we all know that what Theresa May set out in her Florence speech is not going to happen. We are heading for a deal pretty much on the EUs terms or no deal at all.
And the prospect of a no deal Brexit has concentrated minds. It caused a spat at Cabinet, when Philip Hammond refused to authorise spending to prepare for border checks that would be needed if we were shut out of the single market on 30 March 2019.
It also prompted Labour to restate its opposition to no deal. Jeremy Corbyns spokesperson said on Wednesday: If the Government comes back with that outcome, we will seek to push for continued negotiations to get the kind of deal thats in the interests of the country.
Labour said in its manifesto that we will reject no deal, but it remains unclear what this means. It could mean sending David Davis back for more talks before the deadline expires, or it could mean trying to extend the deadline. But extending the deadline would require the EU27 to agree which they may do only if they thought it was a way of averting Brexit altogether.
All of which creates just enough uncertainty to keep Corbyns options open, despite his insistence (echoing Theresa May) that Brexit will happen.
Here is how it could be stopped: the only plausible way of reversing the decision of the referendum is to hold another one. For that to be possible, three things need to happen.
Jean-Claude Juncker: Brexit will take longer than initially thought
Firstly, public opinion has to shift. This weeks YouGov poll showing more people think Brexit was the wrong decision could be the start of a sustained movement that could pave the way for the other two things.
The next thing that needs to happen is Corbyn changing Labours policy. He said this week that there will be no second referendum, but this may have been a way of trying to play down his answer as to how he would vote if there were one. In any case, it may be wise for him to hold back from supporting another referendum until the pressure for one increases.
That pressure is likely to grow. As Andrew Grice wrote yesterday, on the question of Europe Corbyn is unlikely to lead public opinion, but might follow it.
There is also the opinion in the Labour Party that it is one thing to be in favour of Brexit, but another to support it on Tory terms.
Harold Wilson came under pressure in 1971 to oppose Tory terms for joining the European Economic Community. By the summer of 1972, he had taken refuge in the policy of renegotiation followed by a referendum, which held the Labour Party together and resulted in the 1975 vote to stay in the EEC.
The third thing that needs to happen is that an amendment to Brexit legislation requiring a second referendum has a prospect of getting through the Commons. That means reminding pro-EU Tories that they can vote for a referendum without bringing down the Government.
There have to be enough of them to cancel out Labours Eurosceptics, but there are many more pro-EU Tories than the well-known quartet of Kenneth Clarke, Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan and Dominic Grieve. Many are ministers, but enough of them may put what they see as the national interest ahead of keeping their jobs.
Theresa May caught in Brexit trap after EU leaders block future trade talks
The Commons arithmetic would become easier if the DUPs 10 MPs took refuge in another referendum as the way to solve their partys contradictory position. At the moment, it wants to leave the EU single market and keep an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Something has to give, and this might be it.
If those three things happen, Theresa May will not be in control of events. As I have pointed out before, the Government does not control the House of Lords. The EU Withdrawal Bill is expected to arrive in the Lords in February. That is probably too early for an attempt to go for a second referendum, given that the shape of any deal wont be known until early summer 2018. But there are several other Brexit bills in the the pipeline, and the Lords can amend any of them.
If that happens, the Commons will be forced to vote to remove or keep the Lords amendment.
All this is, as the Prime Minister said when she was asked about a new referendum, hypothetical. I suspect that public opinion wont shift decisively enough to make it possible in the next six months or so. But it seems more possible today than it did last weekend.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told business leaders there is "huge goodwill for Northern Ireland right across Europe"
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said European leaders are willing to grant a unique solution for Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations.
In an address to business leaders in Derry city, Mr Varadkar said EU nations understand peace on the island of Ireland is "young and still fragile".
Mr Varadkar said there is "huge goodwill for Northern Ireland right across Europe" and a willingness to make exceptions for the country that would not be made for others.
"In my contacts with European presidents and prime ministers, I have received considerable support and understanding for the particular challenges we face," he said.
"From Berlin to Brussels, they understand that Northern Ireland is unique, that the peace is young and still fragile, and are willing to make exceptions for Northern Ireland that would not be made for others."
Mr Varadkar said it is hoped that the ultimate outcome of the negotiations will be the "closest possible trade and customs relationship between the UK and the EU".
However, he added: "So, if this is ultimately not attainable, then we will seek a unique solution for Northern Ireland, reflecting its unique history and geography.
"A solution which does not undermine the constitutional settlement in any way, rather one that takes account of the realities on this island and builds on common regulatory approaches, frameworks and systems."
And with powersharing in Northern Ireland deadlocked for months, the Taoiseach told the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce that the best way to secure a unique solution for Northern Ireland is "to ask for it".
Mr Varadkar said there was a willingness to change the rules and create "a flexible solution, a unique solution, one for Northern Ireland, one that may not be available to the rest of the UK or even the rest of Ireland".
The Taoiseach's speech came in the wake of Brexit negotiators revealing that the talks over the UK's divorce bill are stalling.
The discussions are stuck on phase one with some progress reported on the issue of the Irish border and the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland.
Mr Varadkar raised the lack of a powersharing executive in Belfast and said it was essential the institutions are revived.
He said Stormont could play an important role in the Brexit negotiations, as there are mechanisms for the devolved administrations to be consulted and have a say on legislation from Westminster
The Taoiseach said: "Now more than ever we need an answer to the question, of who we - and others in Europe - talk to in Belfast?
"Who will speak for Northern Ireland and her 1.8 million people?
"The clock is ticking and it is later than you think.
"We must protect what has been achieved in recent decades through the Peace Process and with the support and facilitation of the European Union."
Paschal Donohoe at Budget 2018 presented by INM and sponsored by KPMG. Photo: Kyran O'Brien
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has confirmed that he will not include any provision in the Finance Bill to cut the exit tax on investments.
Calls for a reduction in the tax, which is 41pc, were made in the run-up to the Budget.
But there was no reduction announced on Budget day despite the deposit interest retention tax (Dirt) coming down.
The exit tax and Dirt tax rates used to move in tandem.
Mr Donohoe confirmed at the Independent News & Media Budget briefing in the Hibernian Club on Dublin's St Stephen's Green that he would not include any change to the exit tax in the Finance Bill.
The bill gives effect to the Budget measures and is often used to include additional changes to those announced on Budget day.
Mr Donohoe said he had limited resources so was restricted in what he could deliver.
The exit tax applies on life insurance investments or funds sold by life insurance and investment firms.
Standard Life estimates that around one million people hold these funds. The investment firm's head of distribution, Jennifer Richards, said she was taken aback at such a definitive 'no' from the minister.
"The Government's job is to improve, not damage, people's long-term financial well-being," she said.
"Making it more tax-friendly for people to put their money on deposit where they're virtually guaranteed to lose money over the long term is not in their best interests," Ms Richards said.
"The minister and his Government need to understand this is a serious issue for over one million savers.
"Working people and pensioners will be the most affected, the latter being particularly big deposit owners."
The cost of reducing the exit tax by 2pc is around 14m, Standard Life said. It argued that this was a tiny percentage of the annual tax take.
Having an exit tax that is higher than Dirt doesn't make sense any which way you look at it. It's bad for savers, it's not good for Revenue's tax take going forward, and it's far from optimal policy making," Ms Richards added.
Dirt will go to 37pc next year.
The 2pc cut will be repeated in future years until Dirt is brought down to 33pc in 2020.
Donal Hurley (50) runs a small dairy farm where he lives with his four children in Bandon, Co Cork.
He is worried not enough is being done to tackle the effect Brexit will have on the agriculture sector in Ireland.
"With Brexit coming up we need to focus on infrastructure, we need to focus on beefing up what we have in hand," he said.
Mr Hurley is also worried about our reliance on the UK, not only in terms of a market, but in terms of access to other markets in Europe.
"We are too reliant on their ports... we have to be prepared to go around them if we can't go through them," he said.
Reacting to the Budget, Mr Hurley said: "Overall we're happy, I'm glad to see the help being given to SMEs."
However, he said the farming community was concerned about the effect of the higher tax on land sales, which was introduced by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.
"The rise in the stamp duty though, that's a negative aspect," he said.
Another area Mr Hurley had hoped to see addressed was the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Although there was an increase of 200, many farmers are saying that it does not go far enough.
"It's a step in the right direction, that's for sure," he said.
The modernisation of Irish farming is a hot topic right now, with the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) calling for 100m for the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) in the Budget just gone, a move which Mr Hurley supported.
"The figures now need to be doubled, that's for sure," he said.
He has the help of one of his sons on the farm, while the other three children are all in college.
The expansion of the Irish presence in foreign markets is another area that he believes is an important issue, and hopes to see it tackled next year.
Mr Hurley also welcomed the introduction of a low-interest loan package.
Irish company Cubic Telecom has signed a memorandum of understanding for automotive connectivity services with Australian telecommunications company Telstra.
Cubic specialise in global connectivity solutions aimed at the locomotive industry.
The partnership will enable in-car access to a suite of infotainment apps and a Wi-Fi hotspot throughout Australia via Cubic's integrated e-SIM and software platform.
This partnership with Telstra Wholesale is a significant step for Cubic Telecom which complements the company's overall Asia-Pacific roll-out strategy.
"Car manufacturers were metal-pressed companies," CEO Barry Napier said. "They are software companies - they don't want to deal with 40, 50 suppliers around the world.
"We created a single point of contact. They can connect their car through one pane of glass. They can just connect in and see how their cars are working in Australia, the US and China.
"They don't have to deal with different integration, different SIM cards, different billing agents."
Yesterday, Cubic signed an MOU to launch initially with the Volkswagen group in Australia. The contract will see the company launch 200,000 cars in a three-year period for the VW group.
The partnership has been two years in the making.
"Telstra is a big engineering company so when a startup like us comes along we have to cut our mustard with them, show them under the hood, show them that we are very, very capable so we have been working with them for the last two years," said Mr Napier.
The contract is believed to be worth 20m to 30m over the next three to four years.
Cubic, which is based in Sandyford in Dublin, made overall revenue of 15m and expects that figure to grow to more than 45m over the next two years.
The deal-signing ceremony formed part of the Government's trade mission around Australia, led by President Higgins.
Enterprise Ireland CEO Julie Sinnamon, who attended the event, said: "This is a tremendous milestone for Cubic Telecom, a company that Enterprise Ireland has been supporting to achieve its global ambition.
"Irish companies are ranked as some of the leading innovative companies in the world and it's this key competitive advantage that they bring to markets worldwide."
A farmer in Ballybunion has been warned that he must protect a river near his farm from manure run-off.
The Kerryman reports that John Quilter, Gortnagurrane, Ballybunion, was prosecuted by Kerry County Council before Judge James O'Connor at Listowel District Court on Thursday.
Kerry County Council inspectors said that exposed manure near an 'unlined' lagoon on his land - witnessed during a number of site visits - posed a threat to local waterways; in particular The Cashen into which the run-off ultimately arrives.
Mr Quilter was prosecuted under the provisions of the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Waters) Act.
Council officers inspected the farm - where up to 15 horses are habitually kept - on February 2 of last year; November 2 of last year and, most recently, on October 3 of this year - presenting photographs to the Judge.
Mr Quilter said he used the services of a contractor to clear the manure at regular intervals.
"But they (inspectors) seem to come when there's any bit of manure on the ground...it's only ever there for two or three days," he said.
The Council require that he ensures no further seepage of soiled water from his land and have now been directed by Judge O'Connor to write to Mr Quilter telling him, within reasonable cost, exactly what is required to remedy the situation.
One of Argentinas biggest farm groups said Friday that South Americas Mercosur should be able to export 400,000 tonnes of beef a year to the European Union under a free-trade deal the two blocs are negotiating - more than five times the EUs offer.
Luis Etchevehere, the head of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA), called the EUs proposal to lower tariffs on 70,000 tonnes of beef per year from Mercosur nations as absurdly insufficient.
We aspire to 5pc of the European beef market, which is about 8 million tonnes. That is, we want...400,000 tonnes, Etchevehere told Reuters on the sidelines of a business event.
The EU and Mercosur - made up of the beef-producing South American nations Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - had been aiming to reach a trade agreement by the end of the year.
But Brazils chief negotiator said earlier this month that the EUs offer on access to its beef and ethanol markets was far from what Mercosur expected and would make that timeframe difficult.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently insisted Ireland will not ratify a trade deal which damages Irish farming and food processing.
Mr Varadkar also hit back at Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on the issue accusing his party of having things both ways on EU issues.
The Taosieach was speaking in the Dail as farmers took to the Dublin streets to demonstrate against an EU offer to buy 70,000 tonnes of beef as part of a trade deal now under negotiation with South American states.
The farmers warn that farm and meat processing standards in countries like Brazil and Argentina are far below those in the EU, allowing the imports to unfairly undercut home produce.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said the deal with South Americas so-called Mercosur states added to the economic threat from Brexit.
All the main farming organisations across this island are rightly opposed to this move, Mr Adams said. He said beef and poultry should be taken out of the Mercosur negotiations.
The Taoiseach agreed that there were concerns about Ireland and the EUs high standards on animal welfare, health and food processing. He said Ireland may not give the necessary ratification to the Mercosur deal if this countrys interests were not respected.
But we need to bear in mind, though, that free trade deals are free trade deals. They are not just for any one sector, Mr Varadkar said.
The Taoiseach added that Sinn Fein remained ambiguous about the European Union despite strident statements on Brexit. He said the EU was ultimately a free-trad bloc and Ireland had benefitted from this.
"The cows got used to it a lot quicker than I did - it was simply amazing how easily they adapted," said Mary Casey on the change over to robotic milking for a 100 cow herd.
The two-unit Lely Robotic Automated Milking Units operate on the farm near New Inn in South Tipperary.
Mary's husband, Donal (pictured), runs a construction contracting business, but dairying is in the blood of his Cork-born wife and she says switching to robotic milking has made a huge difference to her daily work load on the farm.
"My biggest job each day is changing the (paddock) fencing for the cows, because the incentive for them to move is getting fresh grass every eight hours.
"I was a bit worried in the beginning as to how the cows would take to it and what would happen if something went wrong. It took me a lot longer to get used to not having to worry about it than for the cows to adapt. The way the cows adapted was just amazing," said Mary.
Her husband Donal added: "The workload with 100 cows on the robotic is a lot less than 64 cows was with the conventional system. It does make the job a lot easier."
Expand Close Robotic milking has reduced the need to be present for the dairy milking routine. / Facebook
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Mary reckoned: "It has reduced the work load by at least three hours per day."
She concedes that robotic systems are more expensive to install, and service and operational costs are higher than for conventional systems.
However, major breakdowns are now the exception and both day-to-day performance and reliability has become very satisfactory.
Installation costs
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Installation of a single unit costs in the region of 125,000, with a two unit system usually installed for a little over 200,000. Service contacts run at around 2,000/unit per annum and electricity can cost up to 2.2c/1.
Jordan Molloy of Lely explained that one unit may be sufficient for up to 90 cows depending on yield, but most farmers milking more than 80 cows should be considering a two unit system.
"The hardware of the system is pretty much perfected now and I don't see many further changes coming. The software is constantly being further developed and we upgrade the software in the system regularly," she said.
"On most farms the quarterly service under the contract is sufficient for maintenance. Service call-outs in between are rare enough now. For something small we can usually give instruction to the farmer over the phone."
Jordan said that the experience with the introduction of the robotic systems now is that most cows adapt to it very quickly and the change over is easier for the animals than for the farmer.
It was generally agreed that the robotic system is more capital demanding for the farmer who wants to expand the system for bigger throughput at a later stage unless adequate provision is made at the initial planning stage.
On the plus side, promoters of the robotic system claim that the option for the cow to choose the frequency of milking can contribute to increased yield.
Investment needed on dairy farms
The majority of dairy farmers - at least three in every four - will be faced with considerable investment in updating or expanding facilities within the next few years, said Teagasc area manager Donal Mullane.
His concern is that "very many of them could make costly mistakes" unless they put adequate thought into what is best suited to their particular needs and financial situation "both of which will vary a lot from farm to farm".
"The Tipperary advisors and myself have been discussing the capital investment on dairy farms for some time," he said, adding they feel farmers must carry out significant investigation before making their decision.
"The background is an expanding dairy industry and almost every dairy farmer either has, or will have to, spend some money on facilities. With that in mind we don't want to see people making mistakes which at the end of the day could be very costly," he added.
Brian Prendergast, Lely area sales manager, south west region, told the Farming Independent that sales of robotic milking systems in Ireland are up 70pc on 2016. "Ireland is now the largest market for our robotic milking systems in Europe," he said.
There is now a lead time of up to six months for supply from the placing of the order with the Lely European production plant in Holland because of the demand.
"Farmers are adopting to robotics more easily, and the systems are more reliable because the guesswork is gone. A lot of farmers are going robotic because of the labour saving.
"Most of the farmers are including heat detection and SCC monitoring in their systems but they are not anxious to overspend and more or less installing what is considered necessary," said Mr Prendergast.
The number of robotic milking systems installed by the company in Ireland and the UK has now passed 1,500 units and sales have grown rapidly since the abolition of EU milk quotas
Meanwhile, Donal Mullane cautioned: "The biggest mistake a farmer can make is to put in a system that they find out afterwards is not suited to their particular situation, be that the type of unit, the size of the unit, or the location of the unit on their farm. Building the dairy unit in the wrong place can become a big issue on some farms.
"We are asking farmers to consider where they plan to be in five to 10 years and make their decision to fit in with that."
An artists impression of the data centre planned for Athenry in Co Galway
Data centres will consume up to 20pc of all electricity generated in the State within a decade, which will pose an enormous challenge for Ireland meeting its climate change targets.
The amount of power needed to store emails, texts and other online data could rise seven-fold as Ireland chases inward investment from tech giants including Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft, data from EirGrid shows.
The national grid operator says that data centres could account for 75pc of new demand by 2030, and that the grid will have to be bolstered - particularly in Dublin - to meet projected growth, which could require additional power generation.
"Large industrial connections normally do not dominate a country's energy demand forecast but this is the case for Ireland at the moment," the All-Island Generation Capacity Statement 2017-2026 says.
It adds that conventional generation capacity is falling as older plants are due to shut down over the coming years.
While the amount of renewables being added to the system is increasing, capacity in Dublin is on a knife edge.
Expand Close The amount of power needed to store emails, texts and other online data could rise seven-fold as Ireland chases inward investment from tech giants including Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft, data from EirGrid shows. Stock photo / Facebook
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The IDA is actively encouraging firms to develop data centres, and appointed an engineering firm over the summer to identify at least six strategic sites with grid access across the country.
Critics point to the fact that while jobs are generated during construction, relatively few full-time positions are available once they are completed.
This week, the Commercial Court ruled that a 850m data centre proposed by Apple in Athenry, Co Galway, could go ahead following a lengthy planning and legal appeal. Up to 150 full-time jobs will be created on completion.
At full capacity, the first phase of the plant will use some 30MW of power, the equivalent use of almost 26,000 homes. Over time, this will rise to 240MW.
Despite the climate impacts arising from generating this enormous quantity of power, there is still no Government policy in place setting out the most suitable locations, the jobs potential and environmental impact of data centres.
The Commercial Court noted that there was no national climate change policy regarding high energy consuming projects such as data centres, but it is understood the cabinet will discuss developing policies on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice and Attorney General are also considering what structures are required to avoid the delays as occurred in the Apple case. It is not clear if climate impacts will be addressed.
And while sources suggest the Government is keen to promote Ireland as being a location where it can meet the needs of the IT sector by providing certainty around planning and power supply, not all ministers are convinced. There are concerns about emissions from power generation, as well as potential issues in relation to fuel poverty and impact on energy bills for consumers, coupled with the cost of grid upgrades.
Analysis from EirGrid shows that data centres already connected to the grid consume 250MW of electricity, sufficient to power more than 210,000 homes.
Another 550MW is due to be connected over the coming years, enough for almost 470,000 houses, while projects under discussion could consume as much as 1,000MW - enough for 850,000 homes.
"If all of these enquiries were to connect, the data centre load could account for 20pc of all-island peak demand," it says in its ten-year transmission forecast statement.
"Clearly the potential connection of demand on this scale is equivalent to decades of national demand growth," the statement adds.
Massive investment in sub-stations and other infrastructure - particularly around Dublin - will be required, sources said.
The level of proposed connections is highest in north Dublin, and there is "limited additional network capacity" available to meet demand.
Measures such as encouraging some industry to power down during periods of high demand could be used.
"If these connections materialise, new large-scale generation, transmission solutions, demand side response and/or storage will be required in the Dublin area to accommodated further demand increases and ensure continued security of supply," EirGrid says.
Line refurbishments and upgrades, coupled with construction of new sub-stations and additional generation are likely to be required in the capital.
Sources suggest the cost of upgrading the network could run into tens of millions of euro, which will largely be met through connection and annual fees which cover power bills and the cost of upgrades and maintenance.
Independent News & Media (INM) has named media veteran Michael Doorly as interim group chief executive officer (CEO).
It is understood Mr Doorly is set to be confirmed in the role on a permanent basis, and appointed as a director of the plc by the board next week.
INM's chairman, Leslie Buckley, said: "On behalf of the board, I wish Michael every success in his new role and very much look forward to working with him in driving the business forward."
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Doorly said: "I look forward to planning for the long-term future of the business, including diversification and the transition to a sustainable digital strategy, and to continuing to work with the exceptional team that we have at INM."
Mr Doorly has been with INM for more than 20 years, holding a number of senior executive posts, most recently as company secretary and chief risk officer.
Before that he was finance director from 2007 to 2012, and was previously chief operations director in the group's distribution division, Newspread.
Before joining INM, he worked in Technicon Ireland (now Bayer Diagnostics) and KPMG. He attended Belvedere College in Dublin, and is a graduate of UCD. Mr Doorly is a qualified chartered accountant and chartered director.
The native of Mount Merrion in Dublin has taken up his role with immediate effect, following the departure of the previous CEO, Robert Pitt.
That exit followed a long-running board-level row between Mr Pitt and the INM chairman, which culminated in August when the CEO publicly declined to vote in support of Mr Buckley in a show of hands at the group's annual general meeting in Dublin. The re-election of the chairman with backing from the rest of the board and shareholders had left the CEO increasingly isolated.
Customers Charles and Theresa Heaney, and Donal and Mary Deady, outside the branch. Photo: Liam Burke/Press 22
The winding up of another credit union has prompted fears for the safety of other locally owned lenders.
Concerns were raised as provisional liquidators were appointed to Charleville Credit Union after an application made by the Central Bank to the High Court.
The closure prompted Charleville residents to accuse the Central Bank of launching an "blatant assault on rural Ireland".
Troubled Charleville in Cork is the third credit union to have a liquidator appointed. It follows wind-up orders for the Rush branch earlier this year, and Berehaven two years ago.
However, the Irish League of Credit Unions insisted the latest closure does not affect the position of any other credit union.
"Overall, the credit union movement is strong and extremely well capitalised," it said.
There are 292 credit unions across the country. Savers with money in the Charleville branch were assured by the Central Bank that their funds will be returned to them within a week.
It has 11,000 members and 40m in savings.
The shut-down of the credit union is despite Agriculture Minister Michael Creed directly lobbying the Central Bank a number of months ago in a bid to stave off the closure.
Charleville CU's former board condemned the liquidation as unnecessary and draconian.
The lender has been struggling for years to bring its reserves up to a point that satisfies the credit union registrar, based in the Central Bank.
High Court President Mr Justice Peter Kelly was told its reserves are just 3.5pc of assets. The Central Bank requires reserves of 10pc.
The Irish League of Credit Unions had been prepared to provide rescue funding to it, but a deal was never finalised.
The High Court has now appointed accountants David O'Connor and Jim Hamilton of BDO as provisional liquidators.
Senior counsel Paul Gallagher, for the Central Bank, said the regulator was unhappy with its poor lending policy, its costs- to-income ratio and its overall business model.
Councillor Ian Doyle, who is based in Charleville and is deputy mayor of Cork County, said he was "absolutely furious" that such a closure could be sanctioned while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was making a high-profile visit to Cork.
"As far as I am concerned, this is a blatant attack on rural Ireland," he said.
Charleville Chamber of Commerce president PJ McCarthy warned that it was a "catastrophic development" for the town on the Cork-Limerick border.
"The worrying part of this is that credit union members and the entire Charleville community were kept in the dark about what was happening," he said.
"There has not been an AGM (for some time) and members had no idea what was happening."
Mr McCarthy said there was a palpable sense of shock when Charleville Credit Union closed its doors at 11am and put a notice in the window about the High Court action.
"It is absolutely devastating for the town," he said.
"This is clearly going to have a significant impact on the local economy.
"We have worked very hard in Charleville throughout the recession and the subsequent economic recovery to preserve and protect local jobs."
Founded earlier this year, ethical food company FEED already has its healthy meal pots on the shelves of SuperValu and Dunnes Stores, however for its owner Shane Ryan, success has not come easy.
FEED was born out of a previous business that Shane set up. The original business was a meal delivery service, delivering plant-based lunch boxes to offices, however for Shane it became more like an expensive hobby rather than a viable business.
Working long hours to keep the business going, Shane says that he didnt have time to develop a business strategy, and eventually he had to walk away from the business.
"The failure took a toll on me personally...I moved back into my parents house with a bruised ego, but I was not ready to give up on the concept of the company," he says.
So he went back to the drawing board.
Shane was still interested in delivering food to people, and standing for something other than making money, but after the initial business failure, he was determined to, as he says "sort my head out" before he tried something else.
From the failure of the first business Shane had learnt some valuable lessons, including the fact that he needed to produce something that would work in a retail context, and that he would need a strong team around him to make it work.
After about six months he came up with the FEED product - quick and healthy 4-minute meal pots. His next move was to choose a manufacturer to produce the product, something that proved more difficult than he had expected,
"I had to kiss all the frogs before I found the right manufacturer, but we now have a stronger business because of this," he says.
FEED, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland, is operated on a very lean basis, and is now funding itself,
"The first failure has helped with this, I hit the ground running. After the first business everything became cost focus, the business is very lean," he says.
Along with the support from Enterprise Ireland, Shane cites the Dublin Chamber as being really helpful, "the mentor support has been invaluable," he comments.
What makes FEED especially unique is the strong ethical element to the company, which sees the company donate a meal to a child in the developing world for every pot sold.
The meal donation which is built into the cost structure of the product - is done with Marys Meals, a Scottish charity, which feeds over 1.1 million children in schools across
the world.
"My parents always drove home how lucky we are, also I think consumers are more conscious about supporting companies that have a bigger impact, and I think this is the way businesses are going to have to go."
Looking down the line, Shane is now on a programme to develop the business in order to make it export ready.
"For the next few months I want get fully established in Dublin, then move outside of Dublin and establish the brand," he says.
FEED has a loyal customer base but Shane says that he really needs to focus on getting the brand out there, and getting it recognisable,
"When people are hungry and thinking about what they will have for lunch I want them to think Ill just go and get a FEED."
With two flavours in the range (Lemongrass and Turmeric Curry and Moroccan Spiced Tagine) FEED is available now in selected Supervalu and Dunnes Stores outlets as well as independent retailers priced at 4.99 (RRP).
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board have voted to expel Harvey Weinstein by "well in excess of the required two-thirds majority" over allegations of sexual assault.
A string of harassment and assault allegations that have emerged against Weinstein over the last week, including a recent claim by actress Rose McGowan that he raped her.
Weinstein's spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister said: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein."
Three women had previously accused Weinstein of rape in an article in the New Yorker, claims he also denied.
Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, has been accused of ignoring Rose McGowan's allegations that Weinstein raped her.
He is also accused of sexually harassing Isa Hackett, the producer of Amazon show The Man In The High Castle, according to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter.
In a memo to Amazon employees seen by the Press Association, Jeff Blackburn, senior VP of business development, said: "The news coming out of Hollywood over the past week has been shocking and disturbing - and unfortunately we are a part of it. It's sad and very disappointing to me.
"Amazon does not tolerate harassment or abuse of our employees or our business partners.
"If a concern is brought to our attention, we investigate it quickly and thoroughly. Sometimes we will hire an outside investigator to ensure impartiality.
"I'd like to emphasise, that at any time, if you have any concerns related to harassment or abuse at Amazon, please immediately report the incident to your manager, your HR business partner, the legal department, or the Amazon Ethics Hotline.
"I recognise that you may have questions as a result of the recent media reporting, but please understand that we cannot discuss the specifics of investigations that we conduct regarding the behaviour of individual employees.
"As you know, Roy Price is on leave of absence for an indefinite period of time."
Eileen Doyle took matters into her own hands when she decided to appear on Blind Date at the age of 60.
Eileen, from Dublin's Whitehall, was delighted when she was picked to go on the show, hosted by Al Porter, and ended up at The Helix for filming. She said she had given up waiting for her girlfriends to set her up on a date so seized the initiative herself.
"I said, 'right, I will have to take matters into my own hands'," she said. She applied for the show after seeing an ad on TV.
Eileen explained that some of her friends were shocked at her appearance on the programme, but that she enjoyed the experience.
"My daughter was home from New Zealand. She was home for my birthday on May 14," she said. "We were in the house and it was after dinner and we stuck the TV on, and my daughter saw Al Porter on the screen. She said 'mam, you have to do that'.
"I said OK. I didn't need any encouragement. She wanted me to do it straight away and gave me her laptop."
Viewers will see on tomorrow's show that Eileen was one of the three ladies hoping to be picked.
"I was number one," she said. "The other girls on the show were great craic and we all got on great."
Eileen is no stranger to life in front of the camera as she also works as a movie extra.
"In the one I did recently, I was a corpse called Maggie in a coffin. The movie is called Dark Lies The Island."
Gardai investigating the murder of Linda Evans Christian, whose body was discovered at Coolmine Woods on Monday 17th July, 2017 make a fresh appeal at Coolmine Woods. Pictured is Sgt Louise McHugh Pic:Mark Condren
GARDAI have issued a fresh appeal for information over the murder of a 29-year-old woman in Dublin.
Linda Evans Christian was found dead in Coolmine Woods, Blanchardstown on July 17, over two weeks after she was reported missing.
She was last seen leaving the Ash Ward of James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown around 9am on June 24.
Today, Detective Inspector Des McTiernan of Blanchardstown Garda Station renewed calls for anyone who saw her to come forward.
He said: Did anyone see her on Saturday around the Blanchardstown or Coolmine area?"
I genuinely believe that members of the public have information in relation to the murder and I am asking these individuals to come forward. Information can be given to investigating Gardai at Blanchardstown Garda Station or any Garda Station."
Expand Close Gardai investigating the murder of Linda Evans Christian, whose body was discovered at Coolmine Woods on Monday 17th July, 2017 make a fresh appeal at Coolmine Woods. Pic:Mark Condren / Facebook
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Whatsapp Gardai investigating the murder of Linda Evans Christian, whose body was discovered at Coolmine Woods on Monday 17th July, 2017 make a fresh appeal at Coolmine Woods. Pic:Mark Condren
Gardai have established that Ms Evans left the Ash Ward at the hospital with a man at 9.08am on Saturday 24 June.
She was also seen with the same man at 9.24am at the junction of Church Avenue and main street in Blanchardstown.
Detectives believe the man is Romanian and is no longer in the country.
A post-mortem carried out on Ms Christian's remains proved inconclusive but Gardai are treating her death as a murder.
She was wearing a green bomber jacket, blue jeans and was carrying a pink gym bag when she was last seen.
Neighbours and residents in the Dublin 15 addresses where she lived previously told the Irish Independent that they felt Ms Evans Christian was failed by the Irish care system and should have been protected by the State.
She was fostered by the Christian family early in life and spent the first few years with them, living in their home on Hadleigh Green in Castleknock.
Her foster father, Myles Christian, was a lecturer at UCD.
Anybody with information can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 1800 25 00 25.
An Irishwoman has won a London divorce court fight with her wealthy estranged Iranian husband.
Businessman Mehrdad Radseresht (72) claimed Barbara Spain-Radseresht (49) agreed to a divorce when they lived in the Middle East more than seven years ago.
The couple, who met through work in 1990 and married in Tehran two years later, ran successful businesses together.
Mrs Spain-Radseresht, who comes from Dublin and now lives in London, said she was "completely unaware" of the alleged divorce in Dubai and says she is entitled to a fair share of a marital fortune - running into tens of millions of pounds.
The mother of three said she only found out about it a year ago when she made a separate divorce application.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Cohen rejected Mr Radseresht's claim that they reached a settlement in September 2009 after Mrs Spain-Radseresht was unfaithful, and that the divorce was entitled to recognition in his jurisdiction.
Mrs Spain-Radseresht said she signed whatever documents were put in front of her because she was feeling guilty about the affair.
The judge said one of the documents was in a language she did not understand, and she was given no explanation or opportunity to seek advice.
He ruled that the divorce should not be recognised because of the lack of notice and ability to participate.
The judge said that after 2009, the divorce was not mentioned to their children or friends, hotel bookings and financial transactions were made as husband and wife, and Mr Radseresht even presented her to the vice-president of Iran as his "wife".
"All of this is inconsistent with what the husband says was their now-divorced status.
"This case has been a financial and emotional disaster for the parties and the children," he added.
"It has been obvious throughout that the parties have found it very difficult.
"I have not found that either party has the monopoly of truth or virtue.
"I am sure they both care deeply for their children, who have been so affected by these proceedings, and I urge them as strongly as I can to sit down and mediate their remaining differences so they can cease this battle and the whole family can benefit."
A Dublin man allegedly caught with a sub-machine gun and ammunition in a garda raid is to face trial.
Brendan Ward (38) replied "the law system is a joke" after being further charged at Blanchardstown District Court.
He was arrested as part of Operation Thor by gardai and plain-clothes detectives attached to Finglas Garda Station.
The accused, of Barry Drive in Finglas, is charged with the unlawful possession of a sub-machine gun.
The incident took place at Barry Drive on August 17 last year.
Mr Ward is also accused of having unlawful possession of 49 rounds of Parabellum Sellier and Bellot ammunition and 28 rounds of 9mm Parabellum CBC mark ammunition.
He is further charged with possession of cocaine, cannabis, MDMA and heroin, as well as having the drugs for the purpose of sale or supply at the same time and place.
Value
Mr Ward is also facing a charge under Section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act, where the alleged value of the drugs is greater than 13,000.
Gardai previously estimated the street value of the drugs in this seizure was in the region of 500,000.
Garda Gary Brennan said that he further charged Mr Ward before the court. He was handed a true copy of the charge sheets and in reply after caution he said: "The law system is a joke."
The officer said the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed trial on indictment in the circuit court on the charges.
Defence solicitor Simon Fleming said there was no objection to an adjournment to December for the book of evidence.
As part of his bail conditions, Mr Ward must sign on at his local garda station and be contactable by gardai at all times.
Mr Ward has not yet indicated how he will be pleading to the charges.
Businessman Denis O'Brien has failed to get court orders directing Red Flag Consulting to give him documents that might disclose the identity of its client for an allegedly damaging dossier about him.
Mr O'Brien was entitled to know if the client is his "absolute sworn number one enemy in the world", his counsel Michael Cush SC had argued.
Red Flag denies defamation or conspiracy or that Mr O'Brien suffered harm or loss from the dossier. It has also raised issues concerning his claim he got the dossier anonymously from a USB stick in an envelope left in his Dublin offices in October 2015.
A three-judge Court of Appeal (COA) yesterday dismissed Mr O'Brien's appeals over the High Court refusal of discovery of the client's identity.
The identity was not relevant for determination of his case against Red Flag and some of its executives and staff, with the effect he had not met the legal test for discovery, it ruled.
A cross-appeal by Red Flag over orders requiring it to discover documents relating to its communications with the client about the dossier, with the client's name redacted, was also dismissed.
The president of the COA, Mr Justice Sean Ryan, with Mr Justice Michael Peart and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, said Mr O'Brien's claim against Red Flag is of conspiracy to damage him in a variety of ways, including defamation.
The "simple" issue in this appeal was if the client's identity would enable Mr O'Brien to advance his own case or damage the defendant's case. He could not see how the client's name could give rise to a deduction of intent to collect and publish untrue material, or conspire to do so.
Compilation of the dossier in itself was not sufficient to establish a conspiracy on the part of that client, or to demonstrate Red Flag was a co-conspirator with the client.
Mr O'Brien was not entitled to ascertain the client's identity by seeking discovery from Red Flag. Mr O'Brien had failed to show the discovery sought was relevant, directly or indirectly, to the matters at issue between the sides in this case.
The "fundamental point" is that Red Flag's client was free to collect and/or publish material critical of Mr O'Brien even if this was done "for the basest of motives". If material hostile to a person is published and they sue, truth is a full defence.
After the judgment, Frank Beatty SC, for Mr O'Brien, said his client would consider whether to seek an appeal to the Supreme Court.
CONVICTED killer Marta Herda is crying behind bars, sure she will be staying in prison until the end of her life after she lost an appeal against her conviction on Thursday, a close friend has revealed.
Herda (30), of Arklow, Co Wicklow, was jailed for life for driving a Volkswagen Passat with a man who couldnt swim in the passenger seat into a deep harbour in Arklow on March 26, 2013.
The passenger, Hungarian-born Csaba Orsos (31), died from drowning.
A close friend of the killer waitress revealed Herda wants to fire her solicitor after Thursdays ruling; has befriended fellow Polish national, Monika Matracka (35) who stabbed a man to death in 2015, and has landed a jail job in the prison library.
Katarzyna Bloszczyk (29), told Independent.ie: She was crying but I asked her to be really angry and go and fight for her life and deal with this. She feels guilty but she didnt mean to do it.
During the trial, the jury heard that Herda believed she was being stalked by Mr Orsos. In her statement to gardai, she said the 31-year-old died because he loved her, that she couldnt take it anymore.
Expand Close Marta Herdas Sister Monika Lyzwa (second left ) with friends from left Rafal Czekaj, Katarzyna Blaszczyk and Mariusz Blaszczyk outside the Dochas Prision where Marta is held. / Facebook
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Whatsapp Marta Herdas Sister Monika Lyzwa (second left ) with friends from left Rafal Czekaj, Katarzyna Blaszczyk and Mariusz Blaszczyk outside the Dochas Prision where Marta is held.
Supporters have painted a different picture of the killer, claiming the murder was an accident, and pals now want a retrial in which Herda can testify on the stand.
Ms Bloszczyk said: In my opinion she could have run away from Ireland. But she knew a man died and she didnt do it.
She said she will be staying in prison until the end of her life. Shes not a murderer. Its not fair.
People get five or six years for stabbing with a knife. She could really have died in that accident.
The convicted killers new prison pal did get six years for stabbing her housemate and former partner: Monika Matracka was found guilty of manslaughter by a majority jury verdict in February in relation to the death of Michal Rejmer.
Ms Bloszcyk revealed Herda fears other inmates but does speak to the fellow Polish national behind bars.
She has no contact with anybody. Shes afraid to contact with the women in there. Theyre not really behaving. She has one friend a Polish woman - just a person to say hello to, she said.
Ms Bloszcyk became close with Herda when the pair met in Arklow, and has been visiting the convicted murderer at the Cedar House complex of the Dochas Centre women's jail where she spends her days studying English, art and computers and working in the library.
She said she is supporting Herda who wants to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Shes really bad. Shes like its unbelievable it was overturned. Her barrister was sure the appeal would be in her interest. She wants to explain what happened," she said.
A young man has been shot in north Dublin.
The incident happened shortly before 10pm on Friday night in Darndale Park.
An 18-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to his leg and was rushed to Beaumont Hospital.
His injuries are not thought to be life threatening.
Gardai are currently at the scene.
No arrests have been made and anyone with information is asked to contact Coolock Garda Station on 01-6664200 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
Soaring temperatures this weekend will be short-lived as Hurricane Ophelia is set to hit with a combination of storm-force winds and heavy rainfall.
Temperatures of up to 19C have been forecast for today and tomorrow as the country enjoys unseasonably high temperatures.
But enjoy the good weather before it's too late as forecasters have warned Hurricane Ophelia has "continued to strengthen" as it tracks towards Ireland.
Ophelia is currently south of the Azores and is expected to bring winds of over 120kmh when it reaches Ireland on Monday.
The Florida-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said it is gaining strength but it is expected to be downgraded to a post-tropical storm by the time it reaches Ireland.
However, heavy rain, wind and "dangerous marine conditions" are predicted.
"Ophelia is expected to transition to a hurricane-force post-tropical cyclone by Monday when it moves near Ireland and the United Kingdom," an NHC spokesperson said.
"While post-tropical Ophelia will likely bring some direct impacts from wind and heavy rain to portions of these areas, as well as dangerous marine conditions, given the forecast uncertainty at these time ranges it is too soon to determine the exact magnitude, timing and location of the impacts.
"Residents in Ireland and the United Kingdom should monitor the progress of Ophelia for the next several days."
Met Eireann has issued a status yellow weather warning for Ireland until 6am on Tuesday as it advised of "potential high-impact events".
A spokesperson warned: "A combination of a vigorous Atlantic weather system and the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia will pass close to Ireland on Monday, and has the potential to be a high-impact event in parts of the country.
"There is a lot of uncertainty as to the exact evolution and movement of this weather system during the coming four days, but storm-force winds, outbreaks of heavy rain, and very high seas are threatened."
AA Ireland has also urged people to prepare a "home storm kit" ahead of the adverse weather. "As Ophelia is the first severe weather event we'll have encountered this year, homeowners may not be fully prepared for the potential heavy rainfall and risk of flooding," said Conor Faughan, AA director of consumer affairs.
A total of 26 vehicles were wrongly clamped on two Dublin streets in just six months this year, Independent.ie has learned.
Dublin City Council (DCC) has been forced to apologise and reimburse motorists who were unfairly clamped on Noel Purcell Walk and Longford Street between January and July this year.
Work is still underway to refund the drivers who were wrongly clamped.
Every December the council removes road markings and signs in parts of the capital as part of Operation Freeflow to add an extra driving lane in a bid to ease traffic congestion during the busy Christmas period.
The council is banned from clamping vehicles unless they have correct road markings to indicate where parking is and is not allowed and also signs stating clamping operations are in place.
DCC has blamed an "oversight" on the correct road markings not being reinstated and their enforcement contractor, Dublin Street Parking Services, clamping 26 vehicles on Longford Street Lower and Noel Purcell Walk between January and mid-July this year, when a member of the public brought it to the council's attention.
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A spokeswoman for DCC told Independent.ie: "In December 2016 as part of Operation Freeflow parking control road markings and signage were removed on Noel Purcell Walk and Longford Street to accommodate an additional traffic lane.
"In January 2017 the parking control road signage was re-erected but due to an oversight the required road markings were not re-instated until July 2017.
"A total of 26 vehicles were clamped by the Councils parking enforcement contractor (DSPS) on Noel Purcell Walk and Longford Street over the period January to July 2017 even though, in the absence of the required road markings, no parking offence had been committed by the owners of these vehicles."
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The motorists faced an 80 fine and if they didn't pay the release fee and move their vehicle within 24 hours it was towed away. Additional fees are charged per day from that point.
The council will now have to pay back a total of at least 2080 and said they are trying to track down the affected motorists.
The spokeswoman said: "The Council is in the process of contacting the registered owners of the vehicles concerned to apologise for the clamping of the vehicles and to make arrangements for a refund of the de-clamp fees that were paid.
"This has been delayed on account of the fact that neither the Council nor DSPS retain details of the individuals who paid de-clamp fees in respect of these vehicles for data protection reasons. It is expected that this process will be finalised over the next two weeks."
She said that the system is being reviewed and that DSPS has been instructed not to clamp people uness the correct road markings and signage are visible.
She said: "A revised regime for renewal of road markings was immediately put in place and the Council has instructed DSPS not to take enforcement action where road markings and /or signage as required are not in place and clearly legible."
When contacted by Independent.ie DSPS declined to comment.
OVERCHARGED customers whose tracker mortgages were taken away from them by banks should be repaid and compensated immediately, the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis has been told.
And the party's finance spokesman Micheal McGrath hit out at the banks branding their handling of the issue as a "disgrace".
He also told delegates that the Central Bank will be grilled on the tracker mortgage controversy when officials appear at the Oireachtas Finance Committee on Thursday.
"Customers were overcharged often by hundreds of Euro, every month, yes every single month for many years.
"To put it in plain and simple language the banks took their money," he said.
Mr McGrath added: "Some customers have lost their home as a result. Others have had their lives turned upside down, their dreams shattered."
He said: "Those who hhave not yet been repaid need to be repaid now.
"Customers should be compensated immediately and people have to be held accountable for how this happened in the first place," he said.
Meanwhile, he said there is a risk that the made revenue raising measure in the Budget won't bring in as much funds as the government hopes.
The raising of stamp duty on commerical sales is expected to generate 376m.
Mr McGrath said: "Ultimately it is a tax on property transactions so the Revenue depend on the volume and value of those transactions and weve all heard anecdotally there was a made rush to get contracts signed on Tuesday...
"It is the principle revenue raising measure in the Budget and a lot of the commitments that have been made are going to be derived in terms of Revenue from that.
"So its undoubtedly a risk and I think its one well have to watch closely," Mr McGrath said
Pictured at the opening of the 78u Fianna Fail Ard Fheis at the Royal Dublin Society main hall.
Fianna Fail members have overwhelmingly backed a motion urging opposition to changing the Eight Amendment to the Constitution which bans abortion.
Delegates at the partys Ard Fheis voted by three to one to back a motion from Kildare North constituency urging the party to oppose any attempt to diminish the constitutional rights of the unborn.
A second motion from the partys London branch backing a womans right to choose was also heavily defeated.
The result comes as a special cross-party committee of TDs and Senators is examining the controversial issue.
The committee is considering a report by the Citizens Assembly which recommended radical change to the 1983 amendment which guarantees the right to life of the unborn child while giving equal importance to the life of the mother.
The party leader Micheal Martins call for a respectful discussion was for the most part respected during a two-hour debate on health issues which was dominated by the abortion resolutions.
Former Senator John Hanafin urged no change to the constitution.
He said he was an adoptive father of three children and he noted that adoption agencies were now closing in Ireland.
Mr Hanafin also demanded fair play in the media for the forthcoming debate.
Tadhg ODonovan from Leixlip said he believed the pro-life lobby was not getting fair play in the Oireachtas committee and in the Citizens Assembly.
Audrey Eager from the London branch said divorce had not devalued marriage and giving a woman the right to make her own decisions would not devalue human life.
She pointed out that 4,000 Irish women travel to Britain each year to have an abortion.
But Roisin Bradley from Donegal said the Eighth Amendment had a hugely positive effect and society should build upon its gains.
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Cllr Kate Feeney said the Eighth Amendment had not stopped Irish women travelling to England for an abortion and risking their health.
Her County Council colleague Jennifer Cuffe also referred to the numbers travelling to London saying: its happening we cannot turn our backs on it anymore.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has already signalled that the government intends to hold a referendum on abortion next year.
FIANNA Fail leader Micheal Martin has hit out at Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams accusing him of leading a movement that supported 30 years of death and destruction and mayhem in Northern Ireland.
Last night the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis passed a resolution ruling out any future coalition with Sinn Fein.
Mr Adams this morning said he was bemused at the Fianna Fail move and he said its no surprise Mr Martin doesnt want Sinn Fein in government.
He argued that this is because For nearly 100 years, both they and Fine Gael have run the state in their interests, the interests of elites, and not the interests of citizens.
Mr Martin responded to Mr Adamss remarks saying: wed readily compare Fianna Fails record in politics with his record over the last 50 years any day.
He said that Mr Adams is the leader of a movement that supported and endorsed violent action, citing three decades of death and destruction and mayhem and wrecking the Northern Ireland economy.
Mr Martin argued that Mr Adams is in no position to criticise or to try and compare himself in a benign manner with any other political party on this island.
Fine Gael chairman Martin Heydon today claimed that Fianna Fails resolution ruling out coalition with Sinn Fein is not worth the paper it is written on.
He said: We all know what will happen when it comes to the crunch; Fianna Fail would do a deal with Sinn Fein and the devil himself if it meant getting back into power.
Mr Martin described these comments as silly talk.
He said he demonstrated his bone fides on pre-election commitments last year when he didnt go into government with Fine Gael or Sinn Fein.
Mr Martin said that Fine Gael are desperately trying to put Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein in the same corner.
I and the party have resolutely dismissed that out hand and Fine Gael are very disappointed about that for their own political playacting, he added.
Ive made it clear in my position as leader of Fianna Fail in relation to Sinn Fein on a consistent basis, Mr Martin said.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his ministers hold at a Cabinet meeting in University College Cork. Photo: Daragh McSweeney/Provision
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that the peace process in the North must be protected whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.
Mr Varadkar said he wants to ensure there is no return to a hard border that would restrict trade and movement of people .
He was speaking at the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, where he said he would do all he could to make the case for Northern Ireland during negotiations.
Speaking at the Chamber's annual President's dinner, Mr Varadkar said: "Perhaps no part of Europe will be affected by Brexit more than areas such as this one," he said.
"Our priorities are clear. We must protect the peace process and ensure there are no new barriers to trade or movement of people across our island.
"We are committed to safeguarding the Common Travel Area and the associated rights enjoyed by Irish and UK citizens - a commitment that is shared by the UK Government and supported by the EU.
"We also hope that the ultimate outcome of the negotiations will be the closest possible trade and customs relationship between the UK and the EU."
Speaking earlier as the Cabinet met in Cork, Mr Varadkar said he fears preparations for a hard Border after Brexit could become "a self-fulfilling prophecy".
Mr Varadkar said the Government was committing every diplomatic resource possible to avoid the re-introduction of Border customs controls.
Earlier this week, an unpublished Revenue Commissioners report laid bare the possible impact of Brexit on everything from ports to the postal service.
It starkly warned that an open Border would be impossible from a customs perspective.
British Chancellor Philip Hammond later said cameras and other infrastructure along the Border would be deemed a "legitimate target" and risk undoing the peace process.
Yesterday, the Taoiseach said a hard Brexit would be a "political failure all around".
"Of course we have to prepare for all scenarios but preparing for all scenarios and doing desktop planning and war-gaming is a far cry from what some people seem to be suggesting.
"Some people seem to be suggesting we should admit defeat already. That we should start implementing the worst-case scenario - looking for sites for truck stops and customs posts and training dogs.
"I can absolutely guarantee you that is not the kind of preparation we are doing.
"When you start doing that kind of preparation, there is a risk that it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy."
Mr Varadkar's comments came as relations between Europe and Britain remained strained. UK Chancellor Phillip Hammond was forced to apologise for describing the EU as "the enemy".
President Michael D Higgins chats with Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau at Government House in Melbourne, Australia, as part of his state visit. Photo: Maxwells
We're all familiar with glowing reports about the success of the waves of Irish emigrants to Australia.
The typical story involves a tough start for them, but ends happily with their new families, big houses and well-paid jobs.
But not everyone is so lucky - there are always going to be those who don't find their footing in a strange land, and drift into isolation.
The death of two such Irishmen in the late 1970s resonated deeply with the Irish community in Melbourne at the time. These two elderly Irishmen were retired labourers. They died within a month of each other, and with no family in Australia and little money, they were buried in the same desolate plot in Bulla.
Expand Close President Michael D Higgins and Sabina Higgins meet bureau members, from left, Cathy Mortell, Esme Friel and Anne Toner. Photo: Maxwells / Facebook
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Whatsapp President Michael D Higgins and Sabina Higgins meet bureau members, from left, Cathy Mortell, Esme Friel and Anne Toner. Photo: Maxwells
When five Irish emigrants heard this, they decided to do something.
Phyllis McGrath, Johnny Dodds, Tom Hopkins, Steve Cushnahan and John Flaherty founded the Irish Australian Support and Resource Bureau in 1978.
Its purpose was to create "a hearth" where these men and women could seek sanctuary. At the very least, it was designed to ensure they would receive a proper burial.
"We buried thousands, they came over here - just old people left on their own," Ms McGrath said. She moved to Australia from Ireland via New Zealand in 1962. She settled in Melbourne, and soon began volunteering and working with the elderly.
"I would just go to the food bank and get food of a Wednesday. I would collect sheets. Then, I would go to the flats with food, and I'd check the beds for the old men and women and that's what I did.
"There was a need there, and I went in and did it."
In the 1970s, one of the men she cared for died, and left her his entire estate.
"People told me to put it in my pocket and walk," she said. Instead, she bought a house in the suburb of Northcote for the bureau, which became a centre for the Irish in Melbourne. It now receives funding of 107,000 from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Anne Toner is one of the bureau's members. She moved to Australia almost 70 years ago - on April 14, 1950 - part of the wave of emigrants dubbed the 'Ten Pound Poms'. Tickets to Australia cost just 10 back then, and migrants were required to stay in Australia for a minimum of two years. They had to surrender their passports on arrival, and were only able to return to Britain or Ireland if they paid back their outward fare in full, in addition to paying for their journey home.
"You were considered lucky if you had that money," she says. Against that background, many emigrants lost contact with friends and relatives in Ireland. But, at that time, Australian politicians saw immigration as the only way forward, if the country was to prosper.
"We had to populate or perish," Ms Toner said. "That's what the prime minister said. There were only eight million people in Australia back in 1950. I now have four children, 10 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren," she adds.
The population now stands at more than 24 million so the policy was clearly a success.
Yesterday, President Michael D Higgins visited the bureau as he continued his exhaustive state visit to Australia.
He said the bureau had become a safe place where young families, missing their parents, could connect with their homeland.
It has kept to and continues its original mission: to become "a hearth" where some of the Irish in Australia could escape "the tyranny of isolation".
Members of an Irish university's Students Union which is at the centre of an abortion stance controversy have now slammed their president in an explosive meeting.
The latest comments come after a week which saw the President of the UCD Students' Union hit international headlines as she is facing impeachment.
The second petition for her impeachment, comes after Katie Ascough was criticised for withdrawing information over access to abortion services in a magazine circulated to new students.
Ms Ascough said she took an "executive decision" to redact the abortion information after receiving legal advice that the information was illegal in Ireland, despite the fact the information was previously 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.
Ms Ascough's decision was widely criticised by the student body as the decision to remove the page, which required reprinting the annual guide, was reported to have cost the union 8,000.
In the latest twist, Independent.ie has seen the minutes from the SU sabbatical officers' meeting on the day Ms Ascough showed the legal advice she had attained to her colleagues.
The minutes reveal that the sabbatical officers stated no confidence in the president and three out of the four walked out of the meeting.
The meeting took place on September 21, despite Katie Ascough receiving the legal advice weeks previously.
During the meeting, Graduate Officer Niall Torris stated that he had no confidence in the president saying that a "falsity had been given to the electorate" and that "leadership was a question here".
Mr Torris went on to ask; "Can the student body still trust us?"
The minutes also detail how the other four sabbaticals argued with Ms Ascough about the issue for over two hours.
The Campaigns and Communications Officer Barry Murphy said officers decided to walk out of the meeting after the two-hour argument.
"After over two hours arguing with Katie, officers decided to walk out of the meeting. Reason for this walk out was that all Sabbats advice had been given to protect Katie and the union and the role of the president. Katie would not take this on board.
"After this, I then presented informative info to Katie that was legal. Katie refused to take this information on board. Katie decided to redraft the page.
"Katie then requested negotiation around the UCD for choice stand and recruiting of pro-choice class reps."
Mr Murphy added that he had no confidence in the president.
Independent.ie received a copy of the legal advice sought by Ms Ascough. The advice is four pages long.
One sabbatical officer told Independent.ie that there was "information overload" at the meeting and that they were left confused with some of the lengthy terms.
An extract from the legal advice states:
Having had the opportunity to peruse the intended publication, I have some serious concerns about UCDSU proceeding in the manner envisaged.
"For reasons I will set out hereunder, I have formed the conclusion that distributing the handbook with this text will almost undoubtedly constitute a breach of the Act in one respect, and may well be at risk of being considered a breach of the Act in two other respects, depending on how any case on the points proceed."
The legal advice then concludes that the handbook should be reprinted or cancelled.
The controversy comes as Ireland prepares to hold a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment next year.
This week, the calls for Ms Ascoughs impeachment attracted attention across the water, with The Guardian headlining a story; 'Calls to impeach Dublin student president over anti-abortion stance'.
"The bid to oust University College Dublins Katie Ascough over her strong anti-abortion views comes ahead of what is widely expected to be a rancorous wider campaign in the run-up to next years planned abortion reform referendum," The Guardian wrote.
Ms Ascough, a member of 'Students for Life', whose father Tom Ascough sits on the board of the Iona Institute, was elected following a ballot of students last March.
Since, more students have signed the petition for her impeachment than those who voted to elect Ms Ascough in the first place.
In a letter seen by Independent.ie, Ms Ascough said it "is no secret that she is pro-life and many students are not."
She said the calls for impeachment are "without legitimate cause" and described as "alarming" the "bullying tactics" of a group of students to "try and discard a democratically elected SU president."
"It was clear from the outset that some students didnt want to give me a chance as SU President because of my views on abortion," she said.
The Students Union has already committing to running a Repeal the 8th campaign. It first decided not to remain neutral in 2014 and the stance was voted on again last year.
"I am going to be a president for everyone," Ms Ascough said in her speech after her election was announced, But I will be a president that represents everyone.
Students at UCD have called for Ms Ascoughs petition as they feel like she no longer represents them.
Graduate Officer Niall Torris told Independent.ie that students feel "outraged" by Ms Ascough's actions, not because she is pro-life, but because she didnt stick to her mandate.
"Katie's campaign promise that she had researched and that she would be able to delegate any issues relating to choice and repeal and that it could be done.
"There are a few questions there from the students on whether money is being spent prudently and are core election promises being upheld.
"She promised that she would delegate because of her compromising position and the student body took that on good faith. Whether that promise was made in ignorance or in cynicism isn't really the issue.
"The problem is that the electorate took that promise in good faith and the electorate see it as a betrayal of faith."
The referendum to impeach Ms Ascough will be held on October 24 and 25.
Harvey Weinstein and fashion designer Georgina Chapman at the Oscars Vanity Fair Party in Beverly Hills, California, in February. Photo: Danny Moloshok
Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker has joined the growing band of high-profile figures in condemning the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The Dubliner worked with the New York super-producer for the promotion of 'My Left Foot' in 1989. But she said she had seen first-hand just how "predatory" he could be when it came to young actresses.
"There was something dangerous about him and I disliked him intensely," she told the Irish Independent.
"He wasn't interested in me because, let's be honest, I was a middle-aged, frumpy woman and he was after young, beautiful girls. And at the time I first got to know him, you'd have lots of girls hanging off him.
"He gave off this sense that he could make things happen for people."
The Jim Sheridan-directed film, on the life and times of disabled Irish writer Christy Brown, yielded Weinstein his first Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. "And I gave him his first Oscar," Fricker said. "There were times when you'd ask yourself what it was exactly that he did.
"He certainly exuded an air of someone who was very important and there was an awful lot of a***-licking around him, although I certainly didn't do that, and neither did Ray McAnally or some of the other members of the cast.
"But there really was something repulsive about him and he would have been very aware of my dislike for him."
Fricker praised those actresses who first revealed Weinstein's behaviour and said she believed the revelations would spell the end of his glittering career in the movies.
Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan also called Weinstein a "creep".
Meanwhile, actors' union Irish Equity has urged victims of sex attacks to come forward in the wake of the scandal, and claimed there were "repeat offenders" here to whom many actors would give a "wide berth".
The union's call came as Irish filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson said "powerful abusers" in Ireland would be hoping their colleagues remain silent.
Irish Equity president Padraig Murray assured members it would support them if they reported inappropriate behaviour.
But Mr Murray, a brother of 'Fair City' actor Bryan Murray, revealed that research has shown that the majority of those who experience or witness this type of behaviour are too afraid to come forward because they fear they will lose work.
Irish Equity organiser Karan O'Loughlin said that she knew anecdotally of one or two "repeat offenders" in the industry.
The actors' representative has not come across anything as bad as the Weinstein case, but said she heard anecdotally of one or two people that actors would warn others against.
"Actors are in a really precarious position," she said.
"I believe the number of repeat offenders is small but, in general, some individuals get away with a lot of inappropriate behaviour including harassment, bullying and other bad behaviour under the guise of artistic endeavour."
She added: "It's not on."
Sparsely-populated counties which are seeing their towns and villages die on their feet are also actively striving to keep non locals out
Seven Irish city councils are considering the implementation of a new, cities-wide 'locals only' planning initiative which will block rural-born people and foreign-born citizens from building or buying new homes within city boundaries.
The new City-dwellers Only Directive (COD) is being considered by Fingal Council, Dublin City Council, South Dublin Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council as well as Limerick, Cork and Galway City Councils.
Under this plan, from January 2018 only those born in the four main cities will be permitted to build new homes or purchase units in new schemes located within their boundaries. However, non-city born people will continue to be permitted both to purchase second-hand homes and to rent existing properties in suburban locations. The restrictions would apply to newly built homes only. The initiative by Ireland's city councils is being pushed into effect to mirror similar 'locals only' clauses long operated by a slew of rural councils around the country since the early 2000s.
It is envisaged that COD will result in significantly reduced competition for new homes in cities and thus ultimately make them more affordable for young city-born people who have hitherto been priced out - to some degree due to an influx of competing purchasers from towns and rural locations in Ireland and from foreign workers who have flooded into cities to take up jobs with firms like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook.
Independent councillor Derek McFogarty of Dublin City Council says: "In Dublin, we have already have had continuous influxes of rural people, in particular around the D6, D7 and D9 postcode areas and in locations close to hospitals, colleges, schools and garda stations. We don't mind them coming up on match occasions, staying in hotels or travelling for Christmas shopping. But the time has come to draw a line under them buying up our new housing, in the process pushing our young, city-born people out of the market." Among the finer points being teased out by city councils is the possibility of an exemption for medical professionals such as doctors and nurses and perhaps members of the gardai.
Okay so how many of you got this far without smelling a rat? Yes, the City-dwellers Only Directive is a total COD. Such action would, of course, be thoroughly unconstitutional and fly in the face of basic human rights - of citizenship, of rights of movement, of capital transfer and of property ownership. And rightly there would be ructions and outrage - because this sort of exclusion by origin is akin to something you'd find in the southern states of Jim Crow or the regimes of apartheid era South Africa.
But recently the EU has yet again had a go at Ireland for the continued operation of just such clauses by more than a dozen rural councils. Their operation has meant that thousands of young, priced-out city dwellers forced to move out of their cities and counties in the past few years have run slap bang into regimes which have prevented them building a new home. Some councils have even embarked on rigorous tests of 'localness' to gauge whether planning applicants are 'local enough' for their tastes.
While we're at it, consider that those priced-out city dwellers now attempting to move to cheaper counties for those affordable homes might have been able to source them in their own back yard in the first place had a restrictive scheme like COD been in operation for the last two decades; just as it has been in counties Kerry, Clare, Galway and Sligo.
Not only would city-born couples have been able to stay put, but they'd also have less traffic congestion, less competition for jobs and less argy bargy for school places.
All of the latter is, of course, the reasoning behind 'locals only' policies in the first place and all based on the sort of discriminatory logic which Europe has been cracking down on for decades.
Which is exactly why a shocked European Commission is once again taking issue with Ireland even as our central government (most TDs were born in rural constituencies) keeps its head in the sand and fails to simply make it illegal to discriminate against fellow citizens on the basis of their origin. In the past when the EU poked into this, councillors from Kerry and Galway were among those to tell the Europeans to "mind their own business".
But as far back as 2002, Jim Connolly of Rural Resettlement Ireland railed against Clare County Council's actions to keep Dublin families out when he said: "They, as a planning authority, are presiding over the demise of the countryside. They cannot wash their hands of this."He was right. Not only are locals-only planning clauses straight from the cherry-pickers citizens' charter, but their exertion is also seriously misguided at a time when many rural towns are dying on their knees. City families resettling in rural locations bring enterprise, new incomes to spend locally in local businesses and children to help save sparsely attended schools.
The locals-only mindset is the "me fein" outlook that seeks drink driving laws for city dwellers only, that demands that they pay almost all rates (property tax), that only elects politicians who go to the city only to bring back booty, that seeks city-only enforcement of pub closing times and traffic offences. Obviously we can't have it every way. Either we are in it all together as Irish citizens, city and rural dwellers alike or we are not. And if we want to keep up selective regional protectionism on housing then perhaps it's time cities starting acting the COD too.
As 4,000 Fianna Fail voters met in Dublin for the Ard Fheis, the Cabinet was meeting in Cork for the first time in 12 years. The country's two major parties are making something of a comeback when it comes to holding the middle ground in Irish politics.
They are pretty much neck and neck: Fine Gael is at 31pc with the Soldiers of Destiny coming in at 29pc.
Fianna Fail deserves credit for stepping up and doing the State some actual service by reluctantly agreeing to the confidence and supply agreement. The delivery of a Budget by committee was inevitably going to leave many deflated.
But it fell to Sinn Fein to be utterly incensed. The indignation would have been more convincing were it not for the fact that the party had preferred to be snipers in the wings from the backbenches, spurning the chance to play a role in government when they had a chance.
Micheal Martin's role as Fianna Fail leader over the last six years has been commendable.
He can claim credit for having put the party's meltdown of 2011 behind him.
But it is up to Fianna Fail to convince that "no" really does mean "no" when it comes to going into government with Sinn Fein after the next election.
The position has been unclear. With senior figures giving contradictory or at best ambiguous answers in recent months it behoves them to spell out unequivocally where it stands definitively.
This was the week that Nama announced with justifiable pride that 30.2bn it used to pay for bad loans from banks had been paid back.
But the ledger has yet to be bound big enough to contain the balance of suffering visited on the people of this country by the banks.
There is no margin for human cost.
This week we got some sense of it when the Oireachtas Finance Committee heard harrowing evidence from four courageous people caught up in the tracker mortgage tragedy. The four homeowners relived experiences of being forced to pay tens of thousands more than was necessary.
One man, Thomas Ryan, revealed he had suffered a stroke in 2013, while his wife had a nervous breakdown in 2015 after being wrongly taken off their tracker.
Over recent years we have heard much lofty talk about how we would strive to be a "society", and not merely an "economy". Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's aspiration to create a 'Republic of Opportunity' is already in danger of being consigned to the same scrap-yard of broken dreams.
Scott Fitzgerald wrote: "At 18 our convictions are hills from which we look; at 45 they are caves in which we hide." There must now be nowhere for errant banks to hide.
Mr Varadkar said as far as he was concerned, "yesterday should have been a deadline for the banks".
"They should repay what is owed, offer an apology and pay compensation," he added.
As head of Government, Mr Varadkar must draw a line under what the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation has described as the single biggest consumer rip-off in the history of the State. We found billions to pay banks, but the banks themselves have yet to atone. As many as 30,000 people could have been drawn into this whirlpool of despair. All in a country with the family at the heart of its Constitution. Sure, we can aspire to becoming a 'Republic of Opportunity', but clearly we have a way to go.
In the meantime we appear destined to work with what we have got.
On Saturday night I headed for the Cooley Kickhams clubrooms where a special 80s disco was being run as a fundraiser for the club and coming out of retirement to spin the discs for one last time was Dynamo Disco's peninsula legend DJ Michael Duffy who had resurrected his original 80s disco unit complete with Fal lights and turntables.
I was only in the door when I met up with Gerry Maloney from Petestown who was busy on the door and told me it was going to be an excellent night and no mistake.
Next I headed over for a chat with Sean and Joanne Traynor from Greenore who told me they were far too young to remember any of the 80s and were only there to see what their parents were enjoying in their heyday!
I then headed over for a word with Kevin and Julia Long from Willville who told me they remembered when Dynamo Disco was in action in the front hall of the Cooley Complex each and every Friday night and that was what kept them sane during the week, looking forward to Friday nights.
Seated close by were Donal and Eunice Rice from Rockmarshall who were enjoying the tunes and told me they were waiting for Donal and Anne McDonald to get there, they were still over in Long's pub getting a few in before they came over.
After this I got a word with Kevin Copas from Drogheda and Garreth McKevitt from Kilkerley who were enjoying the nostalgia and had a photo on their phone of the 1st year from Bush School from 30 years ago and were busy picking out all the heads they knew.
Just arrived in were Brian and Susan Rafferty from Ballagan who told me that once Mickey was on the decks they were guaranteed a great night. Brian went on to talk about the Bellurgan and Lordship halls that were in use for discos in the 80s as well and the mad nights they had.
Heading for another table I then got a word with Kevin 'Angus' Smyth and Ricky Watters both from Lugbriscan. Kevin was in full Angus Young fancy dress, complete with his electric guitar and the lads told me they couldn't wait to boogie, but were hoping the DJ's selection was better than what he plays up in Oriel Park!
The lads were with their wives Angela Malone and Regina Watters from Lugbriscan who told me they only had vague memories of the 80s because they would have been far too young then.
Seated close by I then had the pleasure of talking to Margaret Sheelan from Irish Grange, Colette Sheelan from Rathcor (official photographer for the night) and Josie Tuohy from Riverstown who remember the 80s discos and were huge fans of Prince, Madness and the Police back in the day.
Just arrived in the door was Mary and Elvis Murphy from The Bush who were with Mary's brother Neil McNally from Knockbridge and Paul Callan from Louth Village. Mary said she was far too young to remember the 80s and was only there to keep Elvis company!
I headed over for a quick word with Seamus Fee from Carlingford who told me he's actually the DJ's security guard and would be keeping an eye on everything for the main man.
Meanwhile up near the bar I met up with Margaret Guy from Omeath, Breda O'Shea from Gaultrimsland and Fidelma Elmore from Greenore who were just in and were ready for some serious fun with all their friends there.
Finally, before I departed I got a word with Karen Kane from Ballinamara, Audrey O'Rourke from upper Willville, Sandra Gormley from Rathcor, Una McGoley and Susan Reilly both from Carlingford who were in fantastic from and were going to have a mad night with everyone there.
CASA, the Caring and Sharing Association, are in urgent need of stock for its chain of charity shops. CASA is a genuine registered Irish charity which has been in existence for over 30 years. They rely heavily on funds generated through their charity shops to finance their services to disabled people in Ireland.
Hanlon Transport, Greenore, are once more coming to the aid of CASA Their truck and trailer will be parked at Cooley Parochial Hall on Saturday morning next, October 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations of second hand clothes, footwear, handbags, belts, jewellery, curtains, sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc are all warmly welcomed. Unfortunately CASA cannot now accept donations of electrical goods, toys, or children's car seats.
Hanlon Transport and their team of volunteers will travel with the container to Dublin in the early hours of Sunday morning. Forming a human chain, the volunteers will off-load the cargo of kindness, bag by bag. It will then be distributed to the various CASA charity shops all over Ireland. On arrival at each individual shop, the bags are then opened with the contents sorted, steam cleaned, and very quickly are offered for sale in the CASA charity shop.
CASA would like to express their heart felt thanks to all who have supported their appeals in the past. Each donation given with such kind hearts is deeply appreciated. The generous support which CASA continue to receive from Cooley and it's surrounding areas is phenomenal and has had a huge positive impact on the charity. No other rural community in Ireland has ever given so much - an astounding 15 full trailer loads of donations have left Cooley over the last number of years.
Many disabled children and adults have received respite care in the CASA breakhouse in Malahide. Hundreds continue to attend the CASA monthly socials which take place all over Ireland. For many disabled people and those with life limiting conditions, a dream of travelling to Lourdes has been realised. Priceless gifts which the people from Cooley continue to give in a quiet unassuming way.
CASA wishes to thank Hanlon Transport and their team of men who continue to ensure that each cargo of donations reach their destination. For enquiries, or to have your donation picked up from your home, please contact Anne at 086 3938289.
For more information, visit casa.ie.
The fundraising charity for Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin and the National Children's Research Centre - CMRF - has launched an urgent appeal in Louth for help in raising 20million needed to fund vital services and research.
In 2016 1,436 children from Louth were treated in the outpatients department at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, services which are in urgent need of funding.
The fundraising need of 20 million was highlighted at the annual report launch of CMRF Crumlin, the charity that raises funds to provide extraordinary care and cures for some of Ireland's sickest children. This essential funding is needed over the next two years to continue supporting sick children at Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin and to invest in research for more transformative treatments and cures at the National Children's Research Centre.
Speaking at the launch, CMRF Crumlin CEO Lisa-Nicole Dunne highlighted the need for the public to keep supporting sick children. The funding received by CMRF Crumlin is used for priority projects, equipment and research for sick children on their toughest journey at Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin. The funding is also required to expand the capability of care givers to use new research and procedures developed at NCRC to treat sick children now and in the future.'
Contact www.cmrf.org for more information on fundraising.
Local designers are taking part in a national initiative aimed at raising funds for the mental health charity AWARE.
Killian Walshe of Grandson and Sarah Daly of CreativeSpark are looking for those engaged in the design industry to get involved in the National Day of Design on November 2.
'We signed up for the day but the nearest venues were in Dublin or Belfast so I asked Sarah Daly if CreativeSpark would like to get involved as it's the ideal space,' explains Killian Walshe of Grandson studio, Jocelyn Street.
For a fee of 60 anyone from an established business to a start-up or an entrepreneur can book a consultation hour with a designer.
The fee goes straight to Aware - while during the hour designers will exchange knowledge and ideas and hopefully open up new opportunities while raising money for a great cause.
'We hope that those involved in graphic design, print, video, web design, etc will come on board,' says Killian, who was recently involved in developing a new creative brand for Blackrock village.
'It's a great opportunity for local design companies to get together and raise awareness about mental health as well as meeting new customers.'
'If there are any businesses out there who would like to discuss a new logo or website, they will be able to have an hour long consultation with a designer for 60, with the money going towards AWARE.'
The day is being promoted by the Institute of Designers Ireland, with the event taking place in towns and cities around the country.
Details of the clinics will be uploaded to the IDI Mind Over Matter website where potential clients can book a time slot with a designer from Wednesday October 11.
A 63-year-old former secondary school teacher has been convicted at Drogheda court of a charge of causing criminal damage to a taxi.
And, Judge Coughlan has directed papers in the case be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, with a view to a prosecution being taken against the defendant for a fraudulent injury insurance claim, arising out of the same incident.
The judge also felt a complaint should be made to the Law Society about the solicitor handling the claim on behalf of John King, The Simon Community, Barrack Street, Dundalk.
It emerged during evidence in the case, that Mr. King is taking a personal injury action against the taxi driver, Derek Bradley, following an incident which occurred on 12 November, 2016, outside the Lourdes Hospital at Crosslanes.
Mr. Bradley said that at around 1am/1.15am, he was driving on Boyle O'Reilly, when he saw a man acting suspiciously at the hospital gates.
He stopped the car, and this man jumped on the bonnet, cracking the windscreen.
The taxi driver continued, he contacted gardai, who met him at the hospital, where he identified the man.
'I didn't strike him with the car. He jumped onto the car.
'He is bringing a personal injury action against me, looking for easy money,' Mr. Bradley said.
He denied confronting John King in the hospital afterwards, and saying he ought to give him a good whacking.
Garda Carmel Dunne investigated the incident, and she gave evidence that John King admitted to her jumping onto the car, saying he wanted 'to end things.'
The defendant had been in hospital before the incident, and she was not informed of any injuries sustained by him before or since.
John King testified he had been in hospital, and went outside for a smoke.
He was crossing the road when struck by a car.
Afterwards, he was brought back into hospital, and while awaiting attention, a man threatened him, putting his head up to his face and saying, 'I ought to give you a good whacking.'
The accused added he was in shock, and didn't know what to say.
He suffered injuries to his forehead, noses, knees and arm.
Mr. King denied saying to the garda that he jumped onto the car to end things.
Asked by Inspector Brendan Cadden why he crossed the road to have a smoke, the witness replied he wanted to get away from the hospital grounds.
Judge Coughlan remarked he was satisfied John King jumped on the taxi driver's car.
He was also satisfied the defendant was bringing a personal injuries fraud case against the insurance company.
The court heard King has a Science Degree from UCD, and taught in various schools in Dundalk.
He has no previous convictions, and is unemployed at the moment, and receiving benefit.
The judge imposed an eight months sentence, suspended for eight months.
Bail in the event of an appeal was set at 400 cash.
Fingal flower power was exhibited at a major horticultural show in the UK recently when two exhibits featuring local green-fingered flower growers scored major successes.
Christopher White, the famed horticulturist from the Naul took the top prize for his dahlias.
Also exhibiting dahlias at the Harrogate show was a team from Canada with their roots in Fingal.
Malachy Byrne who is originally from Balbriggan and John Mooned originally from Dublin, came from Ontario in Canada where they both now live to compete in the show.
Just getting to the show proved difficult for the Canadian pair as John explained: 'Deciding to attend the show was the easy part, making the box, timing the blooms and transporting them, that was another story!
'We had to get the box, 30in x 30in x 48in to Toronto airport, through check-in and customs. The problem with oversize baggage was we had to open the box, which was sealed with 1.5" screws and our screwdriver was in our checked baggage; we had to borrow one from a shop. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking for take-off! We also had to request the captain heat the cargo hold.
'When we got to Manchester, the box would not fit into the first car we hired and we had to go through the entire renting process again. The second car did not have sat nav (GPS), so we had to navigate our way to Harrogate by asking the locals for directions. We were jet-lagged, tired and completely lacking in knowledge of roads, round-abouts and signage. Whew!'
They eventually arrived at the show and John said: 'We got there and were quite happy with the quality of what we staged. The English competitors were gracious and helpful and made us very welcome! The show was over a 3-day period and we came away with three seconds and a bronze medal.'
He commended Christopher White and the Irish Dahlia Society for their incredible performance at the prestigious show.
John said: 'The Irish Dahlia Society should be very proud, having brought exhibition dahlia blooms of the highest quality to compete with the elite of dahlia competitors from the UK and won the 'Arthur Luck' trophy, which is open to affiliated societies of the National Dahlia Society, at the Harrogate Great Autumn Show.'
A local TD has backed a call from a Rush school principal to have defibrillators installed in every school in the country in the wake of a dramatic incident that saw a nine-year-old boy collapse in the school playground.
The boy fell unconscious in the playground at Gaelscoil Ros Eo but due to the quick actions of school staff and the school's proximity to the local GAA club which had a defibrillator machine, the nine-year-old has made a good recovery from a situation that could have ended very differently.
The incident prompted school principal, Tim O Tuachaigh to front a public campaign calling for the installation of defibrillators in every school in the country.
The campaign has already made it to the floor of the Seanad when it was backed by Fingal senator, Lorraine Clifford Lee and now a Fingal TD has put his weight behind the campaign.
Deputy Brendan Ryan TD (Lab) said he supported calls by Gaelscoil Teo principal Tim O Tuachaigh to install defibrillators in all schools as a life-saving measure.
Deputy Ryan said: 'There should be a programme put in place to provide defibrillators to all our schools. It's a vital modern day piece of life savings equipment. We have them in Leinster House so why not our schools.'
The Labour TD added: 'Having defibrillators in schools should be the equivalent of lifebuoys beside lakes. Installing defibrillators in schools could be rolled out over a number of years, with appropriate training for teachers and school staff.'
He concluded: 'It's essential to the modern day first aid kit.'
Mr o Tuachaign said he has been disappointed by the Department of Education's response to the campaign for defibrillators in schools, so far. He said the Department has 'passed the buck' to the Department of Health and are shirking their responsibilities.
He said to fit every school in Ireland with a defibrillator would cost less than 8 million which he said 'is not a great deal of money in the grand scheme of things'.
The school principal has rejected the title of 'hero' for his role in the incident at the school and said that it was a 'team effort' in the day that involved about five members of staff directly but needed the whole school community's co-operation in dealing with it effectively.
The school was rewarded for its effective action on the day with the presentation of defibrillator recently, donated to the school by the Ciaran Carr foundation and the school intends to add a second portable defibrillator to take with it on school trips.
The school principal said that paramedics told him on the day that the nine-year-old boy collapsed in the school yard, that if CPR and the defibrillator had not been applied at the incident, it would have been a 'very different result'.
The boy has since left hospital and is recovering well at home but the incident has lit a fire in the school principal who is now determined that every school in Ireland should have a defibrillator.
The issue reached the floor of the Seanad recently with Senator Clifford Lee saying: 'This shocking and traumatic incident has highlighted a glaring gap that must be addressed. The Department of Education must explore the possibility of introducing them in schools.'
Retail Excellence embark on a five day, eleven county Retail Road Trip to find Ireland's Best Store and McCabes Pharmacy at the Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords is among the contenders.
Retail Excellence, Ireland's largest retail representative body, have embarked on a country wide Retail Road Trip visiting the 30 finalists in their Store of the Year competition to find the number one Store in Ireland, including the Pavilions pharmacy.
The Store of the Year competition is the central part of the Retail Excellence Annual Awards, which were established in 1997 to promote best practice and encourage the highest standards in the Irish Retail Industry. They are now the largest and most prestigious of their kind in Ireland.
Over the course of the five-day Retail Road Trip the Top30 stores will be rigorously tested with an onsite visit from Retail Excellence and Echochamber, its UK Retail Excellence Consultant partners and a financial audit.
The council said it will take a 'common sense' approach to a growing problem with commercial 'sandwich boards' blocking the pavement for wheelchair users and parents pushing buggies.
Cllr Daire Ni Laoi (SF) brought the issue to the attention of the council Ni Laoi and said it was a 'huge problem', particularly for people with disabilities.
She said she knew of one local shop that had five sandwich boards outside of its premises. 'It's cluttering, it's almost littering,' the Sinn Fein councillor said.
She said that some businesses were 'obviously taking liberties' and she called for inspections by the council and approaches made to business owners who are blocking the pavement and in cases where there was persistent offenders, the signs should be removed.
The council reported that 'footpaths in the village centres are monitored on a regular basis and frequent complaints are received from members of the public on the issue of various impediments on footpaths'.
The local authority has resisted a hard-line approach to the issue and said 'a common sense approach to the problem is generally the preferred option'.
Senior Executive Officer at Fingal County Council, Stephen Peppard said that informal approaches had been made to local chambers of commerce on the issue and perhaps the council should now pursue an agreement with local chambers on a 'code' for the use of sandwich boards.
Mr Peppard told councillors that in the meantime, the council can do inspections over a period of time and talk to individual businesses about the issue.
He acknowledged though that signs removed today can 'reappear tomorrow' but he said he was 'not anxious' to go down the road of removing the boards permanently.
Despite some reservations on how effective the measure will be, the council has agreed to trial a 'Yield' sign to give right of way for traffic coming out of Malahide Village going under the Railway Bridge at Bissetts Strand.
Cllr Anthony Lavin (FG) said that at peak times motorists sometimes go under the bridge without giving way to the other side and are forced to reverse back 'clogging everything up' at this location. He suggested trialling a Yield sign at the bridge.
Cllr Eoghan O'Brien (FF) agreed and said a Yield sign 'might well work' but he wondered if a Yellow Box was a more appropriate solution.
Cllr Brian McDonagh (Lab) acknowledged the problem but was concerned that a single Yield sign would favour traffic in one direction over the other.
Senior Executive Officer at Fingal County Council, Stephen Peppard said he was 'quite happy to try a Yield sign for a period of time' but said it 'might improve things but it might make things worse'.
He said it was difficult to say if the sign would be effective until it as tried.
Frank Fleming (centre) of Fingal Community Alert with Task Community Care Ronan Bunting and vice chair Nuala Deignan which will install free panic alarms to elderly people in their homes
Fingal Community Alert who install free panic alarms for the elderly in homes across the county have warned the over-65s that private companies are selling similar systems without notifying customers of the cheaper alternative.
Frank Fleming, who volunteers his time with Fingal Community Alert told the Fingal Independent of one case where an elderly woman complained to the Gardai after losing a 100 deposit to a private company after she learned of the Fingal Community Alert scheme.
The scheme installs the system for free and then charges a 66 yearly monitoring fee which can be paid in instalments. By contrast, Mr Fleming said some of the private systems can cost up to 400 each year.
Fingal Community Alert has fitted the system in hundreds of homes in the Fingal area and Frank is appealing for people to get in ouch to have their alarms fitted free of charge for those over 65.
For any elderly person who wants to avail of the panic alarms they can contact Frank at Fingal Community Alert on 01-8436707.
Postmasters in Fingal and around the country have set their face against a new contract offered by An Post that would make each post office a stand alone commercial entity and according to unions, 'places no value on the social function of post offices'.
The row comes at a time when 400 rural post offices, which could include small post offices in Fingal, are reportedly under threat of closure.
Postmasters have voted to reject an An Post proposal on the future of Post Offices - after they said their contracts were threatened by the Company.
At a special National Meeting in Athlone, members of the Irish Postmasters' Union (IPU) called on the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten to support an investment programme in the post office network which financially recognises the social value of Post Offices.
IPU General Secretary, Ned O'Hara, said An Post had contacted all Postmasters over the past two weeks threatening their contracts over members' non co-operation with training on the new An Post Current Account.
IPU members had withheld taking part in the training pending an overall plan being agreed between An Post and Postmasters. Mr. O'Hara said following the threat and concern raised among members, they will now engage with An Post on the account.
However, the new Postmasters' contract proposal which An Post made to the IPU in recent weeks was rejected.
IPU Executive member and Dublin spokesperson Tony Wall said: 'The proposed new Contract is for each Post Office to operate on a stand-alone commercial basis and places no value on post offices' social function.
Mr Wall said: 'The Post Office Network is under huge pressure as Postmasters' incomes are falling dramatically. The IPU's aim is to keep as many Offices as possible open, to introduce new services and to develop the Network's social function within communities.
'We need to agree and introduce a mechanism of payment to Postmasters for the core social services they provide. Minister Naughten needs to address this issue. A much better plan is possible, and is required, if we are to keep Post Offices open in communities,'
In correspondence with its members, the Irish Postmasters Union said that An Post has prepared a plan which will result in 400 post office closures. An Post has denied that it has decided on any definite number of post office closures. It claims that the final number will be determined on the number of staff that take up an exit package.
Three Fingal villages are to collectively benefit from 200,000 in funding from the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
A children's playground in Balrothery will get half the funding while a sculpture and culture park in the Naul will receive some 76,000 in funding from the national scheme.
Portmarnock village will gain 24,000 from the fund for 'village enhancements'.
Only villages of less than 10,000 in population could be considered for the scheme, according to Cllr Tony Murphy (IA) who congratulated the three Fingal villages who were successful in applying for funding, particularly Balrothery and the Naul which lie within the councillor's Balbriggan ward.
Chairperson of Balrothery Community Association Kevin Tolan said: 'On behalf of the community, we would like to thank Minister Michael Ring for his recognition of the requirement for these facilities in Balrothery and also Paul Smyth in the Economic Enterprise & Tourism Development Department of Fingal County Council.
'Paul and his colleagues worked closely with the Community Association to ensure the application was as strong as possible because Balrothery was competing against other villages throughout Ireland for a share of the available funding .
'We would also like to thank Cllr Tony Murphy for his on-going assistance in identifying the various streams of community funding that are available from Fingal County Council and from central Government.
'The Town and Village Scheme is a new funding model that joins the community with the local authority right from the initial concept stage and the works that have been carried out as a result of the 2016 funding have been very well received in Balrothery and the 2017 funding will undoubtedly be equally well received especially by parents of young children.
'All-in-all, it is an exciting time for Balrothery and we really look forward to now arranging a workshop with the children to ascertain exactly what they would like to see in their playground and to working together with Fingal County Council to make the children's dreams a reality in 2018.'
Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell welcomed the allocation of 200,000 in funding to complete projects in three communities, saying: 'I am delighted with the announcement of 200,000 in funding for local projects in three villages in Dublin Fingal by my Fine Gael colleague, the Minister for Community and Rural Affairs, Michael Ring TD.
'The Town and Village Renewal Scheme forms part of the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development and the funding provided aims to work towards revitalising local communities in the North County and across the country.'
Senator James Reilly welcomed the funding, saying: 'Here in Fingal we have placed a particular emphasis this year on projects which have the capacity to support the economic development of rural town and villages as well as their neighbouring townlands.
'The scheme will also support improvements to public amenities in our town and village centres, to help make them more attractive places in which to live and work and to visit. I particularly welcome the grant for Balrothery 100,000 Children's Theme Park for the hard working Balrothery Community Association.'
Dermot Maypotter hanging up his fire helmet for the last time
Skerries Fire Station has seen its third retirement of the year when Skerries Sub-Officer, Dermot Maypotter finally hung up his helmet for the last time after 30 years of dedicated service.
For three decades, the Skerries fire officer was on 24-hour call with the Delta 241 crew and even on the night of his retirement, the presentation at the station was interrupted by a 999 all.
Dermot was presented with his plaque by the Assistant Chief Fire Officer of Dublin Fire Brigade, Mick O'Reilly and Skerries Station Officer, Damien Dorey.
There was also presentations on the night to two Skerries Fire Station colleagues who retired this year, in the shape of Pat 'Reggy' Redmond and Barney McGuinness.
Fire Brigade colleagues from Balbriggan, Swords and Dublin Fire Brigade HQ attended this special night for the Skerries station and wished all three men a very happy retirement, Skerries and the surrounding areas owe all three a debt of gratitude for their service.
Three generations: founder member and player Kit Kennedy, with Mary MacSweeney and her children Shauna, Orla and Aoibhe
Front row: founder members and players, Nancy Kehoe, Mary O'Connor, Kit Kennedy, Peig Moore, and Bridie Fox. Back: Percy Hogan for his late wife Nancy Hogan (nee O'Connor), Mary Byrne for her late sister Margaret Whelan, Ann Lancaster for her late father Martin Lancaster, Brenda Coleman, chairman Wexford Camogie Donnacha Kerins, Mary Coleman, Mary Byrne, Mary Grennan for her late sister-in-law Nancy Grennan Whelan, and manager Sam Brickley
The five founder members of Kilrush Camogie Club were honoured at a special 50th anniversary celebration held in Askamore Hall recently.
Kit Kennedy, Peig Moore, Mary O'Connor, Bridie Fox, and Nancy Kehoe received flowers, while the 1967 team or their representatives, and mentors, were presented with commemorative medals.
The Under 14 premier team were presented with county final medals by Una Leacy. Oldest club member Kit Kennedy, and the youngest member, Nessa Byrne, were invited to cut a celebratory cake.
Also present were county board chairperson Donnacha Kerins, and county secretary Kathleen Kehoe, while the president of the Camogie Association Catherine Neary phoned earlier to wish them well.
Kilrush is one of the biggest camogie clubs in the county with just under 200 members. Thanks went to all who supported the evening, including those on food and sound, and Lorraine Rothwell who made the cake.
It was a great day at FCJ Secondary School Bunclody recently as the sizeable student body, staff and proud parents gathered for the beginning of year mass and awards ceremony at The Church of the Most Holy Trinity. Principal Ms Frances Threadgold got things underway by welcoming everybody, particularly those who had just started their journey with the school in first year.
'Today marks a significant development in the growth of FCJ Bunclody as it is the first time in the history of the school that we have over 900students - 902 - to be exact,' she said. 'That growth has allowed us to appoint our second Deputy Principal and I wish Ms. Osborne all the very best as she formally begins her work in that role.' Ms Threadgold also welcomed 12 new members of staff who had taken up roles at the school as well as the parents of students who were to receive academic awards. She said it was an especially big day for the O'Cheallaigh and O'Muiri families who had more than one child receiving an award.
Ms Threadgold said that last year's Leaving Cert Students had performed particularly well with 10% of students attaining over 500 points and exactly half getting over 400.
The first order of business was the presentation of badges to students elected to the Student Council and those appointed as Meitheal Leaders for the coming year, along with those appointed as Senior Prefects. From these, Cian Fitzhenry was selected as Head Boy and Ciara Banville as Head Girl. Ballycadden Wind Farm also presented a scholarship worth 1,000 before a long list of awards were handed out for each class.
A total of 14 students received more than 5 A's in their Junior Cert and were presented with awards before Grace Kehoe was presented with the overall Junior Cert Award. The Leaving Cert Award went to Orlagh Hickey who scored a whopping 613 points in the Leaving Cert and is now studying to become a Home Economics teacher.
Ms Threadgold congratulated those who received awards and thanked Fr Power for celebrating the mass along with her staff for all their efforts in ensuring the day was a success.
Herman and Candelaria Zapp with their Co Wexford hosts, Leo and Emer Kerwin
An Argentinian family who have been travelling the world since 2000 visited the New Ross area recently, remarking on how beautiful the area is.
Hermann and Candelaria Zapp started their adventure in January 2000, touring around the world in a 1928 Graham Paige car, having four children along the way.
Their eldest son, Pampa (15) was born in North Carolina, Tehue (12) born during a brief visit home in Argentina, Paloma (9) born in Vancouver Island and Wallaby (8) born in Australia.
Candelaria was proud to mention that her, great-great-grandfather was a Kehoe from Ireland.
The family spent the night in Dunmain with Leo and Emer Kerwin and the couple remarked on how quaint New Ross town is, remarking on how beautiful the Dunbrody ship is. They told the Kerwins that they wished they could have spent more time here.
The following morning the family drove to Rosslare where they boarded the ferry en route to Wales. They are presently in The Netherlands.
The Zapps have invited Leo and Emer to stay in their home in Argentina when they wrap up their venture in 2018, having visited over 80 countries across five continents.
Leo said: 'The short time the Zapps spent with us was very educational and interesting, The children were a pleasure to spend time with, well spoken and well mannered and we look forward to spending more time with them when we visit Buenos Aires.'
The Zapp family's story can be followed on Facebook.
Harry Murphy from Ferns; William Hutchinson, Kilkenny; and John Kelly of ABP on a visit to the ABP Research and Demonstration Farm in Clonegal, on the Wexford/Wicklow border
A research farm on the Wexford Carlow border is playing a key role into how improved genetics in the dairy herd can improve yields for farmers.
The research is being conducted at a 280-acre ABP Research and Demonstration Farm in Clonegal which is set up to resemble a typical beef farm and is owned by James and Michael Sheppard.
The farm was selected due to its typical Irish farm characteristics and the animal husbandry skills of the owners.
Initial results from the Gene Ireland Dairy Beef Programme, a major multi-year collaborative research study involving ABP Food Group, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Teagasc indicates that improved genetics in the dairy herd can improve carcass weight and feed intake for the beef farmer without compromising calving difficulty or gestation length for the dairy farmer.
The first animals have been slaughtered with initial analysis suggesting a difference of between 150 and 200 per slaughtered animal between individual AI sires.
Dr Andrew Cromie, Technical Director, ICBF, said the programme is delivering real benefits for the beef and dairy industries, by helping ICBF accurately identify the beef sires that have proven traits for use on the dairy herd in the future.
Chief Operations Officer at ABP Finbarr McDonnell, said the findings are as a result of a culmination of three years' collaborative work between ABP, ICBF and Teagasc.
'These are the first set of results from this multi-year initiative and they already represent significant success. Having a research and demonstration farm has allowed us to consistently monitor and record valuable data on all aspects of animal development right through from calf to slaughter.' These findings are now available to farmers through ICBF and Teagasc so that they can make an informed decision when it comes to choosing sires for the dairy herd.
County Council Chairman, John Hegarty (right), and Pat Collins, County Secretary, open the book of condolence to remember victims of the Las Vegas tragedy at County Buildings
Books of Condolence have been opened throughout the county in memory of the hundreds killed and wounded in the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Speaking after opening the book at County Council headquarters in Wexford, council chairman Cllr John Hegarty said the people of Wexford and Ireland stand united with the people of the United States.
'For centuries, Ireland and the United States have shared a unique bond forged through family, friendship, culture, business and tourism,' he said.
'Today, as the people of Wexford come to terms with this atrocity, we stand beside the people of the US, united in sadness and in horror at the nature and scale of this attack, while our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those people caught up in this unspeakable act.' Fifty-nine people were killed and more than 500 people were injured, most shot and some trampled in the rush to escape, when retired accountant Stephen Paddock opened fire with arsenal of high-powered weapons from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on crowds of people attending a country music festival. No motive has been yet been established for the killings, the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
Books of condolence are open during business hours at The Book Centre, South Main St., Wexford, Wexford County Council Offices, County Hall, Carricklawn, New Ross Municipal District Offices, The Tholsel, New Ross, Enniscorthy Municipal District Office, Market Square, Enniscorthy and Gorey Municipal District Offices, Civic Square The Avenue, Gorey. The books wil remain open for signing until Friday, October 20.
A Wexford gravedigger who slipped on ice fracturing his ankle during a funeral at Crosstown has been awarded over 50,000 by a High Court judge.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross said gravedigger Nicky O'Brien struck him as a most decent individual who did not exaggerate his injuries and did not even mention to the court he has been left with scars.
Grave digging, the judge said, is a noble vocation and the graveyard where the accident occurred - St Ibar's - is a typical old Irish graveyard which has hazards and is not laid out with precision and military grace as those in continental Europe.
The judge believed the accident was caused by the slippy nature of the ground which was sheltered by a headstone. If there had been grit, the judge said this accident would have been avoided.
Mr Justice Cross also rejected there was contributory negligence on the part of Mr O'Brien.
'He was not running. He was wearing his work boots. He did nothing inappropriate,' Mr Justice Cross stated. Mr Justice Cross said he had been asked by the council to prefer the theory offered by a witness from the Met Office, who had examined the reports and the data for the date in question, over the evidence of witnesses to the accident.
Mr Justice Cross said he believed the witnesses to the accident.
Mr O'Brien, from Windmill Heights, had told the court he was walking away after the grave of an elderly woman had been covered to be filled in later when his foot went and he fell.
'I felt a crack in my foot. The path was slippy. It should have been salted and it wasn't,' said the 56 year old.
He said rumours that he fell into the grave were untrue.
Mr O'Brien had to have reconstruction surgery on his right ankle and said he was out of work for about eight months after the January 8, 2009 accident.
James Flood, the caretaker in charge at the time of the incident, said he had previously asked for grit for a New Year's Eve funeral, but did not get it.
On that occasion, mourners had to get out and push the hearse, he said.
Mr Flood said he saw Mr O'Brien falling and had called an ambulance.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross said the issue in the case was what caused Mr O'Brien's fall and was it because of the slippy nature of the ground because of frost and ice. The judge accepted that salt had been requested and a bag of sand at the cemetery had been exhausted.
Mr O'Brien, in his evidence, said he was supported by the cemetery caretaker at the time and a mourner at the funeral. He awarded 40,000 for pain and suffering to date and a further 10,000 for pain and suffering in to the future with special damages came to a total of 50,850.
A De Bug beach wheelchair which the Council is looking for businesses to sponsor here
The Council is hoping to partner up with local businesses to have beach wheelchairs provided next year.
Cllr Declan Bree tabled a motion on the issue which was supported by all members.
A number of councils including Donegal, Kerry and Wexford have introduced beach-friendly wheelchairs at popular beaches.
Regular wheelchairs get stuck in the sand but beach-friendly chairs are very easy to operate and to manoeuvre on sand.
"For many people with a disability the beach wheelchair provides the opportunity to enjoy what most people take for granted - a day at the beach and a dip in the sea," said Cllr Bree.
"I am aware that funding will need to be identified or perhaps sponsorship could be sought for the provision of the chairs. I believe that Donegal's beach-friendly wheelchairs have been sponsored by local businesses," he added.
Director of Services Dorothy Clarke told members the two beach wheelchairs are the Hippocamp and De Bug and would cost approximately 3,000 each.
She said the main considerations for the suitability of a beach wheelchair are choice of beach, style of chair and the logistics of storing, staffing, managing them and insurance.
"It is vital to have appropriate partners, such as local businesses to store and manage the day to day service. Some local businesses have funded the beach wheelchairs for other local authorities," she said. They can be considered in the 2018 budget if funding is found, she said.
Sr Rita Clare with Bishop Denis Brennan, Fr Cushen and the Sisters of Mercy at Sr Ritas 100th birthday celebrations at Valentia Nursing Home, Camolin, Co Wexford
Warm tributes were paid at Valentia Nursing Home in Camolin recently as a special celebration was held to mark the 100th birthday of Wicklow woman Sr Rita Clare.
Sr Rita is fondly remembered by many who went to school in Wexford or Enniscorthy and some of them were among those who attended a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by her life-long friend Bishop Denis Brennan at the nursing home. Also present were 20 of her family members, and 20 Sisters of Mercy who travelled from all over, as well as residents and staff of Valentia Nursing Home.
Daughter of James and Mary Clare from Tinahely, Sr Rita was born Alice Clare on September 23, 1917, the youngest of 12 children. She is affectionately known in the family as Aunt Bella.
She was educated at Tinahely NS, and then went to secondary school in Arklow before entering the Mercy Convent in Summerhill, Wexford, on May 6, 1937. She trained as a teacher in Carysfort, before going on to teach in John's Road in Wexford, and then the 'top secondary' Mercy School. She later taught in Colaiste Bride and St Senan's primary school in Enniscorthy.
She 'retired' in 1983, but stayed active in the community, working with the poor in Wexford through the convent and local organisations, visiting people in their homes and in nursing homes. One such nursing home was Valentia, and she decided to move there in 2010, where she maintains her deep devotion to the Divine Mercy, and to St Padre Pio.
She was delighted to receive a letter from President Higgins on her birthday, and Sr Miriam Kerrisk, Provincial of the Sisters of Mercy southern province helped her cut a celebratory cake.
Sr Rita thanked all for their good wishes. Thanks to went to the director of nursing an her staff at Valentia for the loving care they give Sr Rita.
Those who know her often speak of the air of joy and peace that Sr Rita has about her. She is known as a woman of prayer, and a woman of mercy who is filled with the love of God, and will always pray a blessing on those she meets.
Arklow pulled out all the stops as the judging panel for the Bank of Ireland's National Enterprising Town Awards competition arrived in town last week.
Arklow was nominated in the population category greater than 7,001, and locals were keen to highlight recent and forthcoming initiatives for enterprise in the town.
The judges - Tom Dowling (Chairperson), John Fitzgerald and Kate O'Donnell - were welcomed to the office of the Municipal District by Cllr Tommy Annesley, Cathaoirleach of Arklow Municipal District; Frank Curran, Chief Executive of Wicklow County Council; Donal Murray, President of Arklow Chamber; Michael Geaney, and members of the Town Team.
To highlight all that is good about Arklow, Cllr Annesley, Donal Murray and District Administrator Linda McDonald made presentations highlighting the co-operation between the local authority, community, voluntary groups and the business sector in Arklow.
The presentations concluded with a screening of the promotional video, 'Making a Difference', which was launched last year and brought together a variety of community, business, hospitality and local authority interests to promote Arklow.
Following afternoon tea, the judges were brought on an tour of Arklow and visited the sites for the new sewerage treatment plant and primary health care centre.
The judges concluded their tour with a walk through the new library, viewed the George Campbell RHA Exhibition in the gallery and were amazed to hear that over 2,000 people visit the library each week.
The judges commented on how well Arklow town was looking with its newly resurfaced Main Street and complimented the Tidy Towns Association on their recent achievement in the national Tidy Towns Awards.
The results of the competition will be announced on November 15.
Donald Trump appeared to forget who the president of the US Virgin islands was when he said he met him.
Speaking to the audience and the media at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, Trump said: I will tell you I left Texas and I left Florida and I left Louisiana and I went to Puerto Rico and I met with the President of the Virgin Islands.
He added: The Virgin Islands and the President of the Virgin Islands, these are people that are incredible people, they suffered gravely and well be there, were going to be there, we have really, it is not even a question of a choice.
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Trump was referring to Kenneth Mapp, the governor of Virgin Islands, who has been in office since 2015.
As the president of the United States, Trumps jurisdiction extends to several US territories including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the US Virgin Islands which was torn apart by Hurricane Irma last month.
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The official transcript of Trumps speech from the White House was later corrected to governor.
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But that hasnt stopped the internet from rolling out the jokes.
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Trumps slip comes only a day after after his energy secretary Rick Perry made a similar error on Puerto Rico by calling the island a country.
A tiny newborn spider monkey has been spotted clinging tightly to its mum at Chester Zoo.
The Colombian black-headed spider monkey was born on October 9 to 29-year-old mum Christine and 28-year-old dad Popoyan.
Found mainly in Colombia and Panama, the rare South American primates are listed as critically endangered on the International Union of the Conservation of Natures (IUCN) red list of endangered species.
They have been pushed to the edge of extinction by deforestation and hunting for their meat.
Around 80% of its population is estimated to have been lost in five decades.
Dr Nick Davis, the zoos deputy curator of mammals, said: Spider monkey babies are very dependent on their mums, being carried almost exclusively for the first six months before they start learning how to climb.
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Spider monkeys have an interesting social system more similar to chimps than other monkeys.
The group at Chester Zoo are very important in terms of our scientific understanding of the species and many conservationists have spent time studying them here, learning how to record behavioural data, before heading out to their habitat in Latin America to study them in the wild.
Regional president Carles Puigdemont said he wants to delay an outright declaration of independence to give talks with Spain's central government a chance (AP)
One of Catalonia's top separatist leaders pushing for a break from Spain has called for unity as disputes over strategy threaten to split the secessionists.
Oriol Junqueras, Catalonia's regional vice president and head of the Republican Left party, said on Saturday: "We must preserve the unity that is necessary to go all the way on this path to a republic."
The leaders of the prosperous northeastern region of 7.5 million people want to leave Spain.
Fissures have appeared among Catalan separatists ever since regional President Carles Puigdemont announced on Tuesday that he was delaying an outright declaration of independence "for a few weeks" to give talks with Spain's central government in Madrid a chance.
The far-left party CUP and a grassroots secessionist group have both asked Mr Puigdemont not to wait any longer.
AP
Mr Junqueras said: "We must reiterate our belief in unity, in unity behind our government and the majority of the parliament."
He delivered his message to 200 party members at its headquarters in Barcelona. The Republican Left party forms a governing coalition with Mr Puigdemont's conservatives in Catalonia's regional parliament and its allegiance is critical to the secessionist drive.
Mr Junqueras said the best way forward was for secessionists to show "the world who it is, who wants to offer dialogue and who rejects it."
Spain's conservative government, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is also pressing Mr Puigdemont.
It has given him a Monday deadline to clarify his position on independence as well as an ultimatum to fall in line with Spain's laws by October 19 or face losing some or all of the region's autonomous powers.
Mr Puigdemont is facing an exodus of banks and businesses relocating their headquarters from Catalonia to other parts of Spain over fears they would be out of the common European Union market in the case of secession.
Spain's government has also warned that the constitutional crisis in Catalonia is already hurting the economy.
Mr Puigdemont claimed he has a mandate for secession after a Yes vote for independence in the referendum on October 1, which Spain's top court had suspended on grounds it is likely unconstitutional.
Only 43% of eligible voters cast ballots amid a violent crackdown by Spanish police. Parties against secession boycotted the vote.
A crowd gathers after a cargo plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Ivory Coast's international airport in Abidjan (Ange Koutaye Ismael/AP)
Four crew members were killed when a cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Ivory Coast.
The plane was on its approach to the international airport in Abidjan when it crashed, killing four crew members from Moldova and injuring six others from Moldova and France.
Ten people were on board the plane arriving from the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso.
The French Defence Ministry said the four French nationals included a civilian and three military personnel. It said the plane was chartered for operations in Western Africa.
The French have forces in several Sahel countries, including Burkina Faso, to help combat extremists.
Ange Koutaye Ismael, a 19-year-old student, told The Associated Press he saw the four bodies carried out of the plane, which had been broken in two in the shallow waters.
Mr Ismael said he he noticed a plane flying low over his neighbourhood on Saturday morning. When he heard a plane had crashed on the beach, he ran down to film it.
Stormy weather probably played a role, he said.
"There was winds yesterday and I saw how planes seemed to have difficulties in getting up," he said.
Chrisian Kouame, who also lives near the airport, said he was awakened before 7am by a loud noise.
"We thought at the beginning it was the waves of the sea in the rain, but the cries of our neighbours caught our attention," he said. "When we went out we saw the aircraft broken by the beach. Airport authorities were alerted and rescue workers were immediately sent to help recover those wounded."
Air traffic at the airport in the West African nation continued after the crash, according to the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
In February 2000, a Kenya Airways Airbus 310 carrying 179 people destined for Lagos, Nigeria, crashed into the ocean after take-off from Abidjan, leaving only 10 survivors.
AP
The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State terror group says militants remaining in the Syrian city of Raqqa are likely to have only small arms left to fight for the sliver of land they still control.
The coalition said on Saturday that IS fighters still in Raqqa were completely cut off from their leadership and probably had only pistols, rifles, light machine guns and a dwindling supply of ammunition,
Despite this assessment, the coalition says it expects difficult days ahead until Raqqa, once the militants' de facto capital, is retaken.
Earlier this week, the coalition estimated that 300 to 400 militants remained in the city. On Friday, a local official said an estimated 100 fighters surrendered.
Meanwhile the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said the final battle for Raqqa was under way.
A spokesman for the Kurdish militia that forms the backbone of the SDF, Nouri Mahmoud, said IS extremists still in Raqqa were mostly suicide bombers and special units that go behind enemy lines.
The battle could take hours or days, said Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Losing the northern city of Raqqa, in many ways the symbol of IS' caliphate, would be yet another blow to the group and its reign of terror in the region as its strongholds crumble one after another in Iraq and other parts of Syria.
IS militants were desperately fighting in a number of neighbourhoods in the city, Mr Bali said.
"They are still able to fight but they will no longer determine the fate of the battle," he said.
"Our forces are waging the final phase of the battle of the presence of Daesh ( the Arabic term for IS) in Raqqa. We have not decided if this battle will last hours, days or weeks."
Over the past days, mediation efforts by local tribesmen and the civilian council have secured the release of a number of civilians from Raqqa.
Council official Omar Alloush said 100 IS fighters surrendered to US-backed forces.
US officials have said only surrender, not a negotiated withdrawal for IS, would be accepted.
Hundreds of terrified civilians have been filmed fleeing towards the Syrian Democratic Forces from the last remaining neighbourhoods held by IS in Raqqa before the anticipated final battle between SDF and IS.
Earlier this week, US officials said an estimated 4,000 civilians were believed to be still trapped in the city.
A new video that emerged on Friday shows desperate, terrified residents emerging from destroyed districts, some of them collapsing on the ground in exhaustion as they arrive, in haunting scenes reflecting their years-old ordeal.
Militants seized Raqqa in 2014, the first city to fall under the full control of the extremist group.
It has since become synonymous with IS' rule of terror in the region, with civilians punished in public killings over the slightest perceived offence - videotaped killings that have shocked the rest of the world.
It was also from Raqqa, which became a destination for foreign fighters from around the world, that many of IS attacks in the West were plotted.
The latest battle for Raqqa began in June, with heavy street-by-street fighting amid intense US-led coalition air strikes and shelling.
The battle has dragged on in the face of stiff resistance from the militants and civilians trapped in the city.
On Saturday, the SDF said it seized the al-Nahda neighbourhood in Raqqa's western sector.
A day earlier, IS carried out an offensive on SDF forces near the city's main hospital, an IS fortified headquarters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group with activists on the ground, said negotiations over the fate of foreign fighters who remained in Raqqa had delayed the final push to regain control of the city.
SDF officials deny there are talks to evacuate IS fighters.
AP
Meanwhile Syria state media said pro-government troops had seized the town of Mayadeen, an Islamic State stronghold in the country's east, after weeks of fighting.
The Central Military Media, an outlet affiliated with the Syrian military, says the military and allied troops regained full control of the town after intense fighting with the militants.
Mayadeen has emerged as refuge for the IS leadership after several other strongholds in Syria crumbled.
AP
'Magic' mushrooms can treat depression by "rebooting" the brain, research suggests.
Scientists tested the drug psilocybin, found in the mushrooms, on 19 depressed patients who could not be helped by conventional treatments.
The patients reported an immediate mood improvement described as an "afterglow effect" that lasted up to five weeks. Brain scans indicated the drug had reset the activity of key neural circuits known to play a role in depression.
Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, head of psychedelic research at Imperial College London, said: "Several of our patients described feeling 'reset' after the treatment and often used computer analogies. For example, one said he felt like his brain had been 'defragged' like a computer hard drive, and another said he felt 'rebooted'."
The drug may be giving patients the "kick-start" they need to break out of their depression, he said. Magic mushrooms containing psilocybin can cause hallucinations, changes in perception and an altered sense of time. The study was reported in the journal 'Scientific Reports'.
A still image from a video posted by the Taliban on social media on December 19, 2016 shows American Caitlan Coleman (L) speaking next to her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their two sons. REUTERS
A US-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week, nearly five years after being abducted in Afghanistan, returned to Canada on Friday where the husband said one of his children had been murdered and his wife had been raped.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network. They arrived in Canada with three of their children.
"Obviously, it will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," Boyle told reporters after arriving at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, wearing a black sweatshirt and sporting a beard.
Pakistani troops rescued the family in the northwest of the country, near the Afghan border, this week. The United States has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
"The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim ... was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," Boyle said, reading from a statement, in a calm voice.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, but by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
Expand Close Joshua Boyle speaks to the media after arriving with his wife and three children to Toronto Pearson International Airport, nearly 5 years after he and his wife were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, in Toronto. REUTERS/Mark Blinch / Facebook
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Whatsapp Joshua Boyle speaks to the media after arriving with his wife and three children to Toronto Pearson International Airport, nearly 5 years after he and his wife were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, in Toronto. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
He did not elaborate on what he meant by "pilgrim", or on the murder or rape. Coleman was not at the news conference.
Boyle said the Taliban, who he referred to by their official name - the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - had carried out an investigation last year and conceded that the crimes against his family were perpetrated by the Haqqani network.
He called on the Taliban "to provide my family with the justice we are owed".
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," said an exhausted-looking Boyle.
Expand Expand Previous Next Close Mothers Linda Boyle and Lyn Coleman hold a photo of their married children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman (AP) 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. (AP Photo/Bill Gorman, File) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Mothers Linda Boyle and Lyn Coleman hold a photo of their married children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman (AP)
He did not take questions form reporters.
The family traveled from Pakistan to London and then to Toronto.
Boyle provided a written statement to the Associated Press on one of their flights saying his family had "unparalleled resilience and determination."
AP reported that Coleman wore a tan-colored headscarf and sat with the two older children in the business class cabin. Boyle sat with their youngest child on his lap.
U.S. State Department officials were on the plane with them, AP added.
'HELPING VILLAGERS'
One of the children was in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers, Boyle told AP.
Reuters could not independently confirm the details.
They are expected to travel to Boyle's family home in Smiths Falls, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Ottawa, to be reunited with his parents.
Canada has been actively engaged with Boyle's case at all levels and would continue to support the family, the Canadian government said in a statement.
"At this time, we ask that the privacy of Mr Boyles family be respected," it said.
The journey home was complicated by Boyle's refusal to board a U.S. military aircraft in Pakistan, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Boyle instead asked to be flown to Canada.
But Boyle said he never refused to board any mode of transportation that would bring him closer to home.
Boyle had once been married to the sister of an inmate at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay. The marriage ended and the inmate was later released to Canada.
The families of the captives have been asked repeatedly why Boyle and Coleman had been backpacking in such a dangerous region. Coleman was pregnant at the time.
Boyle told the news conference he had been in Afghanistan helping "villagers who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan where no NGO, no aid worker, and no government" had been able to reach.
The Taliban and Haqqani network share the same goals of forcing out foreign troops and ousting the U.S.-backed government in Kabul but they are distinct organizations with separate command structures.
Donald Trump said Iran is not living up to the "spirit" of the nuclear deal that it signed in 2015 and announced a new strategy (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The head of the UN has said he " strongly hopes" the Iran nuclear deal will remain in place, after Donald Trump accused Tehran of violating the accord and said he might pull the US out.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reacted to the President's harsh criticism of the deal as US defence secretary Jim Mattis said his first priority on Iran is to confer with allies.
A spokesman for Mr Guterres said he has long praised the 2015 pact as a very important breakthrough to stem the spread of nuclear weapons and advance global peace.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that his country would continue to stick to the nuclear deal and that the U.S. was isolating itself, "more lonely than ever," by condemning the accord.
The UN agency monitoring the nuclear deal has said Iran is honouring its commitments.
However the US President said on Friday that Tehran has failed to honour the spirit of the deal and has committed "multiple violations" of the pact.
Mr Trump blamed the Iranians for a litany of sinister behaviour and hit their main military wing with anti-terror penalties.
Mr Mattis later told reporters at the Pentagon that he wants to hear first-hand from allies in the Middle East and beyond, to understand better their views on what the Trump administration calls " misbehaviour " in areas other than nuclear weapons.
He was referring to Iranian support for extremist groups and its ballistic missile program, among others.
Mr Mattis said the US intends to "dissuade" Iran from shipping arms to Yemen, where it supports Shiite rebels known as Houthis.
He said this does not imply any US military action but rather a sharing of intelligence with allies and partners who share a concern about Iranian behaviour.
Mr Trump, breaking his campaign pledge to rip up the agreement, did not pull the US out of the deal or re-impose nuclear sanctions.
He still might, he was quick to add. For now, he is tossing the issue to Congress and the other nations in the seven-country accord, telling lawmakers to toughen the law that governs US participation and calling on the other parties to fix a series of deficiencies.
Those include the scheduled expiration of key restrictions under "sunset provisions" that begin to kick in in 2025, as well as the omission of provisions on ballistic missile testing and terrorism.
Without the fixes, Mr Trump warned, he would likely pull the US out of the deal - which he has called the worst in US history - and slap previously lifted US sanctions back into place.
That would probably be a fatal blow for the seven-party accord.
"Our participation can be cancelled by me, as president, at any time," Mr Trump declared in a carefully delivered speech read from a teleprompter in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House.
He added later, speaking of Congress, "They may come back with something that's very satisfactory to me, and if they don't, within a very short period of time, I'll terminate the deal."
Under US law, Mr Trump faces a Sunday deadline to certify to Congress whether Iran is complying with the accord.
That notification must take place every 90 days, a timetable that Mr Trump detests.
Since taking office, he has twice reluctantly certified that Iran is fulfilling its commitments.
AP
CONCORD- Abu Dhabi is in for a little taste of Cabarrus and Rowan counties.
WorldSkills Abu Dhabi starts Sunday, Oct. 15 and a competitor from this area, Luke Dutton, will battle it out against 31 other countries in the bricklaying category. Dutton, 20, is a graduate of West Rowan High School and has spent the past few months training for the competition with Todd Hartsell, masonry instructor at Central Cabarrus High School and United States WorldSkills bricklaying instructor.
WorldSkills is the greatest international vocational skills competition. Launched in 1950, the competition is held every two years around the world. The event will include 51 skills competitions with students from the United States competing in 15 of them.
Dutton was selected to be the bricklaying competitor after his win at SkillsUSA Nationals in 2015, while Hartsell was named the United States instructor because of the winning tradition at Central Cabarrus.
Ive been teaching here since 1997 and weve had eight national champions since then, Hartsell said. I was contacted by the nationals and asked if I would be willing to take on the role as U.S. expert because of the success Ive had in the past. It was an honor for me to be asked, so I took that on.
Every Saturday for about the past three months, Hartsell and Dutton met at Central Cabarrus to prepare. During the competition, Dutton will have 22 hours to build three different panels.
Dutton practiced with various different designs for his walls, because the actual designs for the competition will be a surprise. The designs will be based on Abu Dhabi since it is hosting the event.
Hartsell said that the United States has competed at the world level since 1975 and never placed.
My goal is to have a winner or have someone place in the top five, Hartsell said. Between now and when I retire, thats my goal.
And Dutton said hes pretty confident. He currently works at McGee Brohers, the largest residential masonry company in the country, which is another reason why he was selected to compete. Dutton was required to submit an application and go through an interview process before being named the countrys competitor.
Hartsell said when making a decision, the committee looks at performance in national competitions, career path and future plans.
Ive been bricklaying now for six years. I took it in high school. Whenever I saw it while picking out classes, I thought it would be easy and then I just ended up liking it, Dutton said. I like building stuff with my hands. At the end of the day when I get down off the scaffold, being able to look at what Ive built that day. Being able to drive around see all the stuff, all the houses and apartment buildings Ive built.
Even though Dutton said hes never been out of the country, he said he is excited for this opportunity and felt good after being selected. While in Abu Dhabi he will also get to go on a tour and visit some schools.
Hes improved. Hes done a great job. Hes going to be very competitive, Hartsall said. Its a once in a lifetime experience and he gets to actually do it.
For more information about WorldSkills visit https://www.worldskills.org.
The Deep State's Bogus 'Iranian Threat' By David Stockman October 13, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Yesterday we identified a permanent fiscal crisis as one of the quadruple witching forces arising in October 2017 which will shatter the global financial bubble. Today the Donald is on the cusp of making the crisis dramatically worse by decertifying the Iranian nuke deal, thereby reinforcing another false narrative that enables the $1 trillion Warfare State to continue bleeding the nation's fiscal solvency.
In a word, the whole notion that Iran is a national security threat and state sponsor of terrorism is just as bogus as the Russian meddling story or the claim that the chain of events resulting from the coup d' etat fostered by Washington on the streets of Kiev in February 2014 is evidence of Russian expansionism and aggression.
Likewise, it's part of the same tissue of lies which led to Washington's massive, destructive and counterproductive interventions in Syria and Libya -- when neither regime posed an iota of threat to the safety and security of the American homeland.
To the contrary, all of these false narratives are the cover stories which justify the Warfare State's massive draw on the nation's broken finances. We will get to the Big Lie about Iran momentarily, but first it is useful to demonstrate just how enormously excessive the nation's defense budget actually is, and why the denizens of the Imperial City---especially the neocon ideologues----find it necessary to peddle such threadbare untruths.
Spoiler alert: Iran has actually never attacked a single foreign nation in modern history whereas Washington has chosen to unilaterally intervene in or arm virtually every surrounding country in the region.
Here's some historical context that dramatizes our point about Washington's hideously excessive spending on defense. Back in 1962 on the eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US defense budget was $52 billion, which would amount to $340 billion in today's (2017$) purchasing power.
Needless to say, the world came to the brink of nuclear Armageddon at a time when the Soviet Union was at the peak of its power and was armed to the teeth. In addition to thousands of nuclear warheads deliverable by missiles and bombers, it had 50,000 tanks facing NATO and nearly 4 million men under arms.
The now open Soviet archives, of course, show that the Soviets had far more bark than bite and never conceived of attacking the US or even western Europe; they didn't remotely have the wherewithal or the strategic nerve.
Nevertheless, by 1962 false moves and provocations by both sides had created a state of "cold war" that was real. Yet even then, the $340 billion military budget was more than adequate to deter the Soviet threat. Nor is that our view as an armchair historian.
The 1962 defense budget was essentially President Dwight D. Eisenhower's budget, and it is one that he had drastically slashed from the $500 billion (in today's dollars) he had inherited from Truman at the end of the Korean War.
That is to say, the greatest general who ever led American forces had concluded that $340 billion was enough. And that came as he left office warning about just the opposite----the danger that the military/industrial complex would gain inordinate political power and pursue foreign policies which required ever larger military spending.
Unlike standard cold warriors, Ike believed that the ultimate national security resource of America was a healthy capitalist economy and that excessive government debt was deeply inimical to that outcome.
That's why he balanced the Federal budget three times during his tenure and presided over a fiscal consolidation---thanks to sharply reduced defense spending---that generated an average deficit of hardly 1 percent of GDP. That's an outcome scarcely imaginable at all in the present world.
Even then, the Soviet empire with all the captive republics that have become independent nations since 1991 (e.g. Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan etc.) had a GDP in 1960 that was estimated to be 50 percent the size of the US. So Ike's bet was that capitalist growth over time was the ultimate source of national strength; that a healthy domestic economy would eventually leave the centralized command-and-control Soviet economy in the dust; and that ultimately the Kremlin's brand of statist socialism and militarism would fail.
He was right. Russia today is a shadow of what Ronald Reagan called the Evil Empire. Its GDP of $1.3 trillion is smaller than that of the New York metro area ($1.6 trillion) and only 7 percent of total US GDP.
Moreover, unlike the militarized Soviet economy which devoted upwards of 40 percent of output to defense, the current Russian defense budget of $60 billion is just 4.5 percent of its vastly shrunken GDP.
So how in the world did the national security apparatus convince the Donald that we need the $700 billion defense program for FY 2018----12X bigger than Russia's---- that he just signed into law?
What we mean, of course, is how do you explain that---- beyond the fact that the Donald knows virtually nothing about national security policy and history; and, to boot, is surrounded by generals who have spent a lifetime scouring the earth for enemies and threats to repel and reasons for more weapons and bigger forces.
The real answer, however, is both simple and consequential. To wit, the entire prosperity and modus operandi of the Imperial City is based on a panoply of "threats" that are vastly exaggerated or even purely invented; they retain their currency by virtue of endless repetition in the groupthink that passes for analysis. We'd actually put it in the category of cocktail party chatter.
For crying out loud. Why is Russia considered a threat to the American homeland when it doesn't even have a blue water navy or any other basis to project offensive power to the North American continent?
Indeed, its "attack" fleet consists of a single, 40-year old smoke-belching aircraft carrier that could never get out of the Mediterranean bathtub ringed by overwhelming US forces.
Beyond conventional offensive power there is the non-power of its 1500 or so deployable nuclear warheads. Whatever you may think of Vlad Putin's kleptomania and hard-edged suppression of internal dissent, he is surely the "Cool Hand Luke" of the modern world. Do you think he would be rash or suicidal enough to threaten the US with nuclear weapons?
Or for that matter that Russia with its pipsqueak $1.3 trillion GDP and limited military capacity actually intends to invade and occupy Europe, which has a GDP of $17 trillion and sufficient military force---even without the US----to make such a project unthinkable No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Likewise, so what if the Chinese want to waste money building sand castles (i.e. man-made islands with military uses)in the South China Sea. It's their backyard---just as the Gulf of Mexico is ours.
Besides, the great Red Ponzi is utterly dependent upon exporting $2 trillion per years of goods to the US, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea etc. Without those markets its massively leveraged, speculation-ridden, malinvested bubble economy would collapse in 6 months or less. So does anyone really think that the PLA (People Liberation Army) will be bombing 4,000 Wal-Marts in America any time soon?
The truth is, the US defense budget is hideously oversized for a reason so obvious that it constitutes the ultimate elephant in the room. No matter how you slice it, there just are no real big industrialized, high tech countries in the world which can threaten the American homeland or even have the slightest intention of doing so.
Indeed, to continue with our historical benchmarks, the American homeland has not been so immune to foreign military threat since WW II. Yet during all those years of true peril, it never spent close too the Donald's $700 billion boondoggle.
For instance, during the height of LBJs Vietnam folly (1968) defense spending in today's dollars was about $400 billion. And even at the top of Reagan's utterly unnecessary military building up (by the 1980s the Soviet Union was collapsing under the weight of its own socialist dystopia), total US defense spending was just $550 billion.
That gets us to the bogus Iranian threat. It originated in the early 1990s when the neocon's in the George HW Bush Administration realized that with the cold war's end, the Warfare State was in grave danger of massive demobilization like the US had done after every war until 1945.
So among many other invented two-bit threats, the Iranian regime was demonized in order to keep the Imperial City in thrall to its purported national security threat and in support of the vast global armada of military forces, bases and occupations needed to contain it (including the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf and US bases throughout the region).
The truth, however, is that according to the 2008 NIE ( National Intelligence Estimates) of the nation's 17 intelligence agency, the Iranian's never had a serious nuclear weapons program, and the small research effort that they did have was disbanded by orders of the Ayatollah Khamenei in 2003.
Likewise, what the Imperial City claims to be state sponsored terror is actually nothing more than Iran's foreign policy---something that every sovereign state on the planet is permitted to have.
Thus, as the leader of the minority Shiite schism of the Islamic world, Iran has made political and confessional allliances with various Shiite regimes in the region. These include the one that Washington actually installed in Bagdad; the Alawite/Shitte regime in Syria; the largest political party and representative of 40 percent of the population in Lebanon(Hezbollah); and the Houthi/Shitte of Yemen, who historically occupied the northern parts of the country and are now under savage attack by American weapons supplied to Saud Arabia.
In the case of both Syria and Iraq, their respective governments invited Iranian help, which is also their prerogative as sovereign nations. Ironically, it was the Shiite Crescent alliance of Iran/Assad/Hezbollah that bears much of the credit for defeating ISIS on the ground in Mosul, Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and elsewhere in the now largely defunct Islamic State.
In tomorrow's installment we will address the details of the Iran nuke agreement and why the Donald is making a horrible mistake in proposing to decertify it. But there should be no doubt about the consequence: It will reinforce the neocon dominance of the Republican party and insure that the nation's $1 trillion Warfare State remains fully entrenched.
Needless to say, that will also insure that the America's gathering fiscal crisis will turn into an outright Fiscal Calamity in the years just ahead.
Reprinted with permission from David Stockman's Contra Corner .
Hacked - The Secret Pictures Of Trump's Australian Sex Life
By Moon Of Alabama
October 13, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Headlines lie to catch attention. Only few read beyond them.
They will miss the facts, and the falsehood of the headlines. It is a dangerous development.
Here is an Australian example of current headline writing:
Top secret information about Australias military hacked
The lede:
TOP secret technical information about new fighter jets, navy vessels, and surveillance aircraft has been stolen from an Australian defence contractor.
The story could be relevant - if true. But it does not hold what the headline promises. The text says:
".. the firm was subcontracted four levels down from defence contracts."
".. a mum and dad type business ... with about 50 employees"
"the admin password, to enter the companys web portal, was admin and the guest password was guest"
"the information ... included a diagram in which you could zoom in down to the captains chair and see that it was one metre away from the navigation chair"
"the information disclosed was commercially sensitive, it was unclassified"
The last snippet completely rebuts the headline. It appears in 18th of the 20 paragraph story.
A truthful (but boring) headline might have said: "Mechanics rat-shop puts marketing stuff on open website". No one would have clicked on it.
Headlines disproved by the following text have become common:
"It was not immediately clear what Trump was responding to."
"A large number of ads appeared in [other] areas of the country that were not heavily contested in the elections."
"It is too soon to map out exactly how the drug war will affect the health of Filipinos."
News content is now of lesser relevance than ever. "Clicks" are generated by headlines:
"Clicks" generate "visits" which convert into advertising revenue. Such headlines make economic sense - short-term. But the best paying advertisers seek a quality audience. In the long-term they will avoid such sites.
Once upon a time sensationalist false headlines were the loony realm of tabloid media. That is unfortunately no longer the case. Headlines of even reputable media no longer transmit facts . One has to dive deep into the stories to get to real information.
This trend will lead to a further stultification of the population. It makes it easier to manipulate the plebs.
The Merchant of Menace
By John Andrews October 13, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - About fifteen years ago I was a normal person. I had an average job, to help pay my average mortgage and average living costs. I was of average intelligence and had received an average education. I thought I pretty much understood how the world worked, because I followed the news every day on the BBC and frequently read The Times newspaper which, as everyone knew, was the best newspaper in the whole world. If anyone had suggested otherwise I would have been slightly offended, as if Id been called stupid. But the fact was, like most normal people I knew next to nothing about how the world really works.
I was perhaps slightly more cynical than the average person, because many years previously I read an excellent book called Bodyguard of Lies, by Anthony Cave Brown. It suggested a darker side to the business of government than the average person might suspect. Although Browns book was about World War Two, and suggested that the lies to which the title referred were justified because of the extreme circumstances of war, it probably made me just a little more suspicious of governments than the average person.
So when the Bush/Blair partnership frogmarched their countries into an illegal war in Iraq in 2003, I was possibly a lot more suspicious of their claims than the average person.
I actually resigned my comfortable job in protest against Blairs terrible decision. I wanted to write a book. I had an idea for a political novel, but first I needed to do some research. I knew a bit about government, but not enough.
Ive always been an avid reader, seldom without a book on the go since I was at school. But mostly I had read fiction. Reading fiction is sometimes better than not reading at all, but its actually a huge distraction, diverting attention away from the stuff we should be reading. Fifteen years ago I started reading non-fiction.
My first forays into the research I wanted to do was history. I wanted the background story. I had a vague inkling that somewhere there was a different type of history to the type I learnt at school the history of great kings and queens, emperors and presidents, admirals and generals. Somewhere, surely, there would be histories of ordinary people. There are, of course, and what they reveal began to pour fuel on a slowly-burning fire.
Next I started reading politics, but like history, I suspected there might be two types of politics one type thats taught in schools and universities and which fills countless pages in newspapers and occupies countless hours of TV and radio time, the sort people can obtain university degrees in; and another type of politics which somehow remains just below the radar: mostly unseen and undiscussed, and definitely not taught in university courses. My early guides were the well-known greats Pilger, Chomsky, Blum, Monbiot As my range stretched slightly further afield, to include writers like Klein and Palast, and as I started trying to comprehend the world that the likes of Max Keiser and Matt Taibbi were describing, from their remote platforms of Russia Today and Rolling Stone, I realised that I needed to teach myself economics. At the heart of it all, somewhere, was money.
I first read a bit into economics many years ago. At school Id done maths, physics and chemistry, so I was partially trained in empirical evidence-gathering and the importance of peer-reviewed research. My earliest impression of economics was that it was the purest bunkum Id ever seen a series of unproven, unprovable assertions dressed up with mathematical symbols to try to give it some sort of mystical credibility. Perhaps I was missing something, I thought back then. Perhaps it was me. But at the time I wasnt interested enough to pursue the thing, so I kicked economics into the long grass where it remained until about ten years ago, and I tried once more.
I spent a bit more time with the school textbooks, but my early impressions of the subject remained unchanged. When I read the Australian economist Steve Keens excellent Debunking Economics I almost jumped for joy: here was confirmation from an expert in the field that all my early suspicions about economics were well-founded a view later reinforced when I read Baloghs brilliant The Irrelevance of Conventional Economics a book that preceded Keens by a couple of decades. Economics was indeed pure bunkum.
So I dug a bit deeper, tried the original sources. How could something thats so important be based on so little? I read Adam Smith and Keynes. About that time I picked up a little book that I thought might be interesting: Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. Jaw-dropping is perhaps the best way to describe my reaction to it. I couldnt believe it was serious. I thought it was some kind of spoof. Although Perkins described a shadow-world I suspected existed, I didnt know if I could take him seriously. After all, it was just his story, there was no other verifiable evidence. But it made me start digging even deeper.
Since then Ive read quite a lot of economics-related books, by well-respected economists such as Galbraith and Stiglitz, but also less well-known specialists such as Prins, Rickards, Das, Baker, and Henry. About this time I also read Joel Bakans superb The Corporation, and another chink of light helped illuminate the darkness even more: big business was closely connected to the heart of the problem. Then I found Thom Hartmanns superb Unequal Protection and a bit of the history of how corporations began to achieve their control of our political system was revealed.
But still the nagging question remained: how exactly did such an obviously flawed belief system come to exert so much real power over our supposedly fool-proof democracy, with its much-vaunted system of checks and balances?
Nancy MacLeans recent publication Democracy in Chains pretty much answers that question. Its a superbly researched account of how one man, the economist James Buchanan, helped the super-rich to seize control of our system of government. As I was reading her book, I was continually reminded of Bakans work, in The Corporation, where he showed that the personality of corporations is almost indistinguishable from that of psychopaths. Much of Buchanans work, too, could be seen as psychopathic in my view.
The basic reasons for this, I think, are two-fold. Firstly he appeared to not only have no concern about the effects of his theories on the vast majority of ordinary human beings or the planet in general, but he appears to have shown contempt and disdain for anyone other than the super-rich or those he deemed his intellectual equals. Secondly, right from the very beginning of his rise to power and influence, he was obsessed with secrecy. He clearly knew that his work would be rejected by the wider world if it became known; he knew that it wouldnt withstand the challenge of peer-reviewed debate. So he insisted on secrecy, living and working behind closed doors in a world of shadows.
The Beginning
This particular story really begins in the first years following the end of World War Two. Given that most of the planet was in post-apocalyptic chaos, something of an intellectual vacuum existed in planning how the new world economy would shape up. There were two powerful competing forces. On the one hand, the old order of super-rich tyrants were anxious to resume their control of the new world; but on the other hand, a brash new force, previously unknown, was strongly asserting itself. Socialism, with its new and powerful champion in the Soviet Union, was presenting a major challenge to the old world order. Its promises of social justice and economic equality were strong attractions to hundreds of millions of people who had never known either, and all around the world new socialist movements were sprouting up everywhere. The most important of these were the fledgling socialists in the powerful western nations, because those countries would determine the future course of the world.
In Britain, home of the recently-demised global empire, Clement Attlees Labour Party won the first general election after the war, trouncing Winston Churchill, the iconic hero of wartime Britain. Such a result was truly seismic. Attlee had promised total social reform of the decrepit and corrupt regime, and the people listened; so his new government proceeded to deliver. Massive public investment would follow, producing tens of thousands of new homes, nationalised industries, free university education, decent state pensions and the incredible National Health Service.
The United States, not yet familiar with its new role of global emperor, recognised the shift in wind direction. Its social reforms were nothing like as extensive as in Britain mostly because it had emerged unscathed from the war and was about the only country capable of supplying the manufactured goods necessary to rebuild the world. Its economy boomed. Nevertheless, significant public spending flowed into new infrastructure, not least of which was public education, and affordable university education suddenly became accessible to countless young Americans from modest family backgrounds. It was seen as perfectly normal, by the mid-1950s, for the state to be active in the economy, and for trade unions to be active in the workplace. As MacLean puts it,
Almost all professional economists then accepted the pump-priming doctrines of Keynes to ensure demand to keep the economy growing
[T]his refutation of the late-nineteenth century ideology of the sanctity of private property rights and the concomitant embrace of an affirmative role for organized citizens and their government as the counterbalance to corporate power, had become the new stance of virtually every western democracy.1
As an aside, its interesting to ponder the opinion of Bruce Cumings, a Korea specialist, who observes that a significant element of this pump-priming was down to the creation of what Eisenhower would call the military-industrial complex something which had never really existed prior to the Korean War:
The military was never a significant factor in peacetime American national life before NSC68 announced the answer to how much preparedness the country needed, thus closing a long American debate: and in mainstream Washington, it has never returned. [NSC68 was passed through Congress in 1950, allowing a quadrupling of American defence spending] By 1951 the United States was spending $650 billion on defense in current dollars, and finally reached that maximum point again in the early part of this new century a sum greater than the combined defense budgets of the next eighteen ranking military powers in 2009.2
So given the fact that pump-priming of the economy by the state was widely accepted in the 1950s and 1960s as essential, what happened after that to reverse that thinking, and produce todays dogma of economic austerity in almost every field of government activity barring the military and so-called security services?
A major contributory factor was a gradual coming-together of what at the time was a small minority of academic opinion those on the far right of the political spectrum. In the early 1950s James Buchanan was a young economics graduate from Chicago University. Hed been tutored by Frank Knight, the only American-born economist invited to establish the Mount Pelerin Society, along with the likes of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. The society is an organisation of right-wing economists and other academics funded by the super-rich.
In 1956 Buchanan approached Colgate Whitehead Darden Jr., president of the University of Virginia, with a proposal to create a brand new school of economics. The two men clearly had similar views of how the Keynesian world was evolving, and they didnt like it. Buchanans plan was warmly welcomed. They would establish the Thomas Jefferson Center for Studies in Political Economy and Social Philosophy. Buchanans naturally conspiratorial nature was revealed in that name for his new school: he noted privately in his precis to the president that the venture needed an innocuous name that would not draw attention to its members extreme views no matter how relevant they might be to the real purpose of the program.3
He would later write that in such an era: Our purpose was indeed subversive.4
Buchanan appears to have applied one particularly constant principle to the way his school operated: secrecy; for MacLean records several instances of him saying so.
Years after he had established himself inside the inner circle of powerful conspirators who had started to transform the very way academics working in politics and economics actually thought, he hosted his own clandestine retreats with specially invited guests. At one such gathering he recorded that: The key thing moving forward, he stressed, was that conspiratorial secrecy is at all times essential.5 No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter MacLean explains Buchanans basic strategy:
[K]ey to his plan was the creation of a small Founders Group of about ten; these men would generate what he called the Blue Book to reach another two hundred people through their own personal contacts. The centerpiece of the operation would be a Society of Fellows that would include political leaders and possible donors, along with scholars. Remaining were such strategic questions as How is respectability to be established and maintained? How much hypocrisy is necessary? How much internal criticism is to be allowed? The key thing moving forward was to maintain secrecy, with outsiders kept in the dark.6
Obtaining funding from a variety of wealthy donors, such as the Scaife Foundation and Charles Koch, people who well understood the value of securing academic validation for their enterprises, Buchanans schools sent hundreds of right wing economists out into the world for half a century. Buchanan never saw himself as an economic scientist, but rather a social philosopher, someone who was determined to put right the perverted thinking that believed the super-rich should pay their way. Buchanans economists would find work at major corporations as well as other universities who found that a good way to attract funding from the super-rich was to employ these people to ensure the Buchanan gospel could be spread even further. And so the cancer spread.
Fixing the scales of justice
James Buchanan was clearly a highly effective strategist. He understood the vital institutional changes that needed to happen before his vision of a world directly ruled by the super-rich could be securely established. Simply changing politicians through the electoral process would not be enough, and he told his allies that no mere changing of the political guard will suffice, that the problems of our times require attention to the rules rather than the rulers. The project must aim toward the practical removal of the sacrosanct status assigned to majority rule.7
To this end he formed an alliance with Henry Manne, an academic who held a very similar world-view to that of Buchanan. But Manne was a law professor, and would school his disciples to use the law to help bring about the same changes that Buchanans secret army of economists were fighting for. So for decades, aided and abetted by the same billionaires that paid for Buchanans schools, Manne produced a steady stream of right wing lawyers to match Buchanans output of right-wing economists. Mannes summer legal programs had provided intensive training in applying free market economic analyses to legal decision-making for law professors and for federal judges, luring them with luminaries and luxury accommodations. To name just one index of how successful Manne had been: by 1990, more than two of every five sitting federal judges had participated in his program a stunning 40 percent of the U.S. federal judiciary had been treated to a Koch-backed curriculum.8
The devastating effect of manipulating the legal system is perhaps best revealed by what happened in Chile. The story of how Chiles economy was made to scream by the Chicago boys as a means of overthrowing the progressive government of Salvador Allende is a fairly well-known and very horrific tale. What is less well-understood is the demonic role played by James Buchanan after General Pinochets regime seized power.
Seemingly untroubled by the dictators murderous policies, Buchanan agreed to help Carlos Francisco Caceres, economic adviser to Pinochet, and who he knew from the Mount Pelerin Society, to draft a new constitution for the long-term management of Chile. This story is so important that I make no apology for quoting MacLeans telling of it in some length.
Buchanan gave detailed advice:
[O]ver the course of five formal lectures to top representatives of a governing elite that melded the military and corporate world, to say nothing of counsel he provided in private, unrecorded conversations He defined public choice as a science (even though he, of all people, knew that there was no empirical research to back its claims) that should be adopted for matters ranging from the power of a constitution over fiscal policy to what the optimum number of lawmakers in a legislative body should be. He said of members of his school of thought, We are formulating constitutional ways in which we can limit government intervention in the economy and make sure it keeps its hands out of the pockets of productive contributors
The net impact of the new constitutions intricate rules changes was to give the president unprecedented powers, hobble the congress, and enable unelected military officials to serve as a power brake on the elected members of the congress. A cunning new electoral system, not in use anywhere else in the world and clearly the fruits of Buchanans counsel, would permanently overrepresent the right-wing minority party to ensure a system frozen by elite interests.
Pinochet personally reviewed the penultimate document then announced that citizens would have to vote a simple yes or no on whether to adopt the new constitution, in its entirety, in a plebiscite to be held within a month of its release. The balloting would take place during the prolonged state of emergency in which all political parties were outlawed, no voter rolls existed to prevent fraud (because the junta had had them burned), and no scrutiny or counting by foreign observers was to be allowed
Chile emerged with a set of rules closer to [Buchanans] ideal than any in existence, built to repel future popular pressure for change. It was a virtually unamendable charter, in that no constitutional amendment could be added without endorsement by supermajorities in two successive sessions of the National Congress, a body radically skewed by the overrepresentation of the wealthy, the military, and the less popular political parties associated with them. Buchanan had long called for binding rules to protect economic liberty and constrain majority power, and Chiles 1980 Constitution of Liberty [a title directly lifted from Hayeks book] guaranteed these as never before.9
Although the inevitable economic turmoil the constitution created resulted eight years later in near revolution, and a rather more representative congress was formed, the legal constraints of the constitution meant that:
[T]he skewed electoral system still remains in place, with its provision effectively granting the one-third minority of right-wing voters the same representation as the typical two-thirds majority attracted by center-left candidates.
It is deeply troubling, then, that Chile is held up today as an exemplary economic miracle by the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, and others on the US right.10
Buchanan correctly identified the importance of constitutional reform for ensuring long-term control by the super-rich of government, and hence the economy. His gospel is still being followed today. An article recently published in the New Yorker reported:
Article V [of the US Constitution] allows an alternative method of proposing constitutional amendments, which cuts Congress out entirely: two-thirds of the state legislatures can call for a constitutional convention. To be in a position to do this, the G.O.P. needs to gain control of just one more statehouse, which could happen as soon as next year. (Last year, the Times reported that twenty-eight states had already adopted resolutions calling for a constitutional convention on a balanced-budget amendment, an effort supported by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which is funded by the Koch brothers, among others.)11
MacLeans book is a fine, well-researched overview of just how the far right bribed and manipulated the academic world to provide the philosophical justification for changes to a planet which, at the dawn of the 1950s had started to make some real progressive socio-economic advances, transforming it into todays world of Permanent War and global economic austerity. Underpinning it all was, and is to this day, a devious secretive conspiracy acknowledged as such by the evil genius behind it which was utterly devoid of any intellectual substance. Buchanans lifelong conviction that the super-rich should have absolute control of the economy a view thats widely held today was (and is) unburdened by any evidence whatsoever to support it.
Indeed, even a sympathetic economist soon cited as the major deficiency of [Buchanans] Virginia School the failure to search for empirical tests of the new theories.12
Similarly lacking in any of Buchanans work, as its still lacking today in the work of his disciples, was any sense of morality or responsibility for the wider welfare of our planet generally and for the majority of humanity in particular.
The scholars were conducting, in effect, thought experiments, or hypothetical scenarios with no true research no facts to support them, while the very terms of their analysis denied such motives as compassion, fairness, solidarity, generosity, justice, and sustainability.13
A constitution for the people
Most people are normal people, in the same way as I was a normal person fifteen years ago. They have no idea about the depth of cynicism and downright evil to which their trusted leaders will sink in order to further enrich themselves (for they are invariably rich already), and/or seize more power. Most normal people like to sneer at their politicians and say they do not trust them, but the fact is that mostly they do thats why they keep on voting in a basically rigged electoral system. For all their bluster and affected contempt, they have no real inkling of just how depraved our political system is, nor how monstrous the people who control it.
James Buchanan was beneath contempt, as are all of those who share his views today. He was clearly not a nice person:
(Even among his comrades, Buchanans red-faced rages were the stuff of legend.) His insistence on having his own way, other colleagues also reported, wrecked the give-and-take on which communal life depended [E]ven administrators who appreciated Buchanans contributions lost patience with his bullying.14
So it was possibly fitting that,
When he died in 2013, neither Koch nor Fink, nor Cowen nor Meese [whom Buchanan supported and possibly considered friends], bothered to attend his memorial service. Why should they? His days of usefulness to them had passed.15
If theres one useful lesson to be learnt from Buchanans story (apart from the obvious evidence it provides of the evil geniuses who influence those who rule our lives), its the example of the effectiveness of constitutional reform. Buchanan understood quite early on the importance to his mission of laws generally, and constitutional laws in particular: The problems of our times require attention to the rules rather than the rulers.
Just as he helped to write a constitution for the super-rich to control the 99%, so too could we have a constitution for the 99% to control the super-rich. John Andrews is a writer and political activist based in England. Check out John's books: Fiction: The Road to Emily Bay ; Non Fiction: The School of Kindness ; The Peoples Constitution . Read other articles by John . Democracy in Chains, Nancy MacLean, pp. 46 and 47. []
The Korean War: A History, by Bruce Cumings, p. 217. []
MacLean, p. 48. []
Ibid, p. 46. []
Ibid, p. 117. []
Ibid, p. 120. []
Ibid, p. 184. []
Ibid, p. 195. []
Ibid, p. 158 161. []
Ibid. p. 166. []
Jelani Cobb, Republicans and the Constitution, The New Yorker, March 13, 2017. []
MacLean, p. 79. []
Ibid, p. 97. []
Ibid, p. 171. []
Ibid, p. 204. [] This article was originally published by Dissident Voice -
Che Guevara Viva! Hasta la Victoria Siempre! By Peter Koenig October 13, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Che! You are one of the greatest revolutionaries of the 20th Century. You inspired tens of millions of people throughout the world to fight for justice, for their freedom and civil rights. You have left a vision of hope, of never giving up a legacy of solidarity and of Venceremos! we shall overcome. You have been murdered by the most criminal organization of the most evil empire, the CIA of the United States of America but your spirit lives on in Latin America, Africa, Asia and even in vassal Europe, inspiring generation after generation for class struggle, that there is universal justice that must be fought for and will be won. Che you are a true Hero an icon for the poor and powerless! Ernesto Che Guevara was born in Rosario, Argentina, on 14 June 1928 and was assassinated in Higuera, Bolivia, by CIA-led Bolivian forces on 9 October 1967. It was a summary execution no trial, no questions asked 50 years ago. What has changed in 5 decades? At the surface, one might say not much. The world is still divided between the capitalist, neocolonialist west and the much more visionary and peaceful east. However, moral consciousness is rising everywhere. There is slow progression; the vessel is slowly veering towards a more peaceful multi-polar world. Not just the ascent of Russia and China are bringing a new wind of consciousness to millions of people, but the sensation of change is noticeable everywhere from South to North and from East to West. It is still brittle and weak but it is growing and gaining strength. And Che his unquestioned determination to fight for a better world was instrumental in this awakening. Che left Argentina in the early 1950s as a medical student, accompanied by his pal, Alberto Granado, a young doctor, on a single-cylinder sputtering 1939 Norton motor cycle they called it La Poderosa (the Mighty), exploring the Latin American Subcontinent which they knew only from books. Granado was probably the first one to give Ernesto the famous nickname Che an Argentinian equivalent to buddy or pal. They travelled through South America and discovered misery, poverty and disease. Combining Ches The Motor Cycle Diaries and Granados With Che Through Latin America, Robert Redford turned the diaries in 2004 into an epic movie that has since become as symbolic for young revolutionary rebellion as has Alberto Kordas famous photography of Ches. The film portrays the two friends exposed to utmost destitution throughout South America, turning Che gradually into the revolutionary, who eventually was instrumental in freeing Cuba, at the side of Fidel and Raul Castro, from the deadly oppression of US-supported dictator, Fulgencio Batista . During their trip, the two friends served as doctors in San Pablo, an isolated leprosy colony near Iquitos, in Perus Amazon region. They went their separate ways at the end of their trip in 1953 in Venezuela. Granado stayed on in Venezuela, where he felt his raison detre was to be a medical doctor, working as a leprosy specialist in a Venezuelan hospital. It took 8 years until they met again in Havana, when Che, who by then was second-in-command to Fidel, invited Alberto Granado to Cuba, where he was to teach biology at Havana University and in 1962 created the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Santiago in Cuba. As a medical doctor, Che saw often hopelessness and misery. When he treated once a woman dying from tuberculosis, he was horrified by the public health system: How long this present order, based on the absurd idea of caste, will last is not within my means to answer, but its time that those who govern spent less time publicizing their own virtues and more money, much more money, funding socially useful works. And he continued, It is at times like this, when a doctor is conscious of his complete powerlessness, that he longs for change: a change to prevent the injustice of a system in which only a month ago this poor woman was still earning her living as a waitress, wheezing and panting but facing life with dignity. In circumstances like this, individuals in poor families who cant pay their way become surrounded by an atmosphere of barely disguised acrimony; they stop being father, mother, sister or brother and become a purely negative factor in the struggle for life and, consequently, a source of bitterness for the healthy members of the community who resent their illness as if it were a personal insult to those who have to support them. Ernesto Che Guevara moved on from Venezuela on a cargo boat to Miami and from there through Central America to Mexico. He later learned about Guatemalas President Arbenzs assassination by a CIA-led coup detat in 1954 on behalf of United Fruit which Arbenz wanted to nationalize. Che became increasingly a revolutionary, whose goal it was to fight for justice and equality, for a better world and to free oppressed people throughout the globe from nefarious capitalism starting with Latin America. In Mexico, Che met with Fidel and Raul Castro. Together with a small revolutionary armada, they sailed on the now famed yacht Granma, participating in the historic 26th of July 1953 Movement (M-26-7) against the Moncada army Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The assault failed. Che was injured, Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison but freed after two years in an armistice. They then returned to Mexico, where they organized and planned another, better prepared attack on the Batista regime. In 1955, together with others by now renowned Cuban revolutionaries, like Camilo Cienfuegos and Juan Almeida Bosque, Fidel, Raul and Che formed a disciplined 82 men-strong guerilla force, aiming at overthrowing Batista. They left Veracruz, Mexico in late November 1956 and targeted the small town of Niquero, Oriente Province of Cuba. However, they were discovered by Cuban air force helicopters and had to land on 2 December 1956 on a beach called Los Colorados, about 25 km south of the designated spot where Celia Sanchez, a comrade revolutionary in Cuba, waited for them with jeeps, petrol, weapons and food. Due to the emergency landing, they could not benefit from this essential guerilla war materiel. They fought hard against Batistas troops and lost 70 of the 82 men that sailed aboard Granma. But they did not give up. They regrouped in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where they attracted hundreds of young Cuban volunteers. They won many battles against Batistas army. These battles became the Cuban Revolution and eventually ended on New Years Eve of 1958, when they marched victoriously into Havana. In January 1959 Batista fled to the Dominican Republic. Following the triumphant Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara gained prominence and was soon promoted to second-in-charge to Fidel. He occupied several key roles in the new government, like instituting the agrarian land reform, leading a successful countrywide literacy campaign; he was Minister of Industry, Director of Cubas Central Bank, instructed Cubas armed forces. As such, he also trained the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and was instrumental in bringing the Soviet nuclear missiles to Cuba which prompted the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Che also toured the world as Cubas chief diplomat, representing Cubas socialism at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva, as well as everywhere he traveled. In 1965, Che decided to leave Cuba. His major contribution to the Cuban Revolution, though ongoing to this day was done. He was heavily influenced by Marxism-Leninism and saw the so-called Third Worlds underdevelopment poverty, destitution, disease as a dependence on the abusive exploitation by the west that which, in turn, is the inherent result of imperialism and monopoly capitalism. The only remedy to fight it was socialist internationalism, a world revolution. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Che left Cuba for Congo-Kinshasa, now Zaire, where he was unsuccessful in fomenting a revolution against Joseph Mobutu, one of the most corrupt and murderous dictators Africa has known until this day. Che Guevara was particularly inspired to help the people of then Congo (a former Belgian colony, today neocolony), because his comrade Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected President of the Congo in 1960, was overturned in a coup detat by Colonel Mobutu, helped by Belgian forces. Mobutu ordered Lumumbas murder by firing squad in January 1961. After a second coup, the brutal authoritarian Mobutu assumed power in 1965. With the help of the neocolonial US and the UK, he stayed in power more than three decades, until 1997, putting the extraordinary riches of minerals and petrol basically at western disposal (against a hefty fee, of course, for his own (Swiss) bank accounts, not for his country), to the detriment of the Congolese people. Che Guevara was powerless against these boundless and ruthless military forces forces that continue to protect also the Kabila dynasty that followed Mobutu in 1997, first by Laurent Kabila, and after his assassination in 2001, by his son Joseph who to this day is ruling mineral-rich Zaire, while sustaining bloody civil war-like conditions that has killed millions of people, including women and children, all for the benefit of western mostly US mineral giants feeding mainly the US military industrial complex. Back to Che. After his unfortunate experience at revolution in Africa, he went back to his roots Latin America, a culture which he was familiar with and where he believed a true and lasting revolution was possible to bring dignity and sovereignty back to the peoples who were miserably oppressed by Washington backed military regimes for decades. On November 4, 1966, Che crossed the border into Bolivia under false identity. He thought Bolivia, the center of South America, was ideal to start and spread a revolution throughout Latin America. Che formed a small army of 47 fighters from Bolivia, Cuba, Peru and Argentina, the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional de Bolivia ELN (The Bolivian National Liberation Army). Che and his people fought on several occasions the army of the cruel military dictator, Rene Barrientos, (1964-1969), who came to power in 1964 by a coup helped by whom else Washington. Che and his troops had also a non-fighting network that kept them informed and supplied them with food and water as their hardship and information inaccessibility made them vulnerable in the jungle of Bolivia. Two members of Ches support team, Regis Debray (French) and Ciro Bustos (Argentinian), were captured and tortured. It is said, but has been often contested, that they revealed Ches whereabouts, which allowed Barrientos army to intensify its battle and eventually by the end of September 1967 have a clear advantage over Ches guerilla army. Che and his men fought their last battle on 8 October in the Churro gorge, when they were captured and taken to an area called La Higuera, in the Department of Santa Cruz in Bolivia. Che was executed on 9 October and his body hidden by the military, though his diary made the way into Fidels hands. Fidel eventually published it. In 1995, Fidel Castro initiated with the President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozado, also called Goni the Gringo, a search for Ches remains. They were found in Vallegrande near La Higuera and sent to Cuba, where they were laid to rest in Santa Clara in a Mausoleum especially built for Che. On 17 October 1997 CNN reports Cuba paid tribute to revolutionary hero Ernest Che Guevara with a pomp-filled state burial and a ringing tribute from Fidel Castro, the man he helped propel to power nearly four decades ago. He said: His inerasable mark is now in history, and his luminous gaze of a prophet has become a symbol for all the poor of this world. Fidels words still keep ringing through the ether of the universe. Undoubtedly, Che, Fidel and Hugo Chavez were among the most influential revolutionaries of the Western Hemisphere in the 20th Century. Their legacy keeps emitting signals of peace and justice throughout the world. Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media (China), TeleSUR, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! Essays from the Resistance .
Iran President Hassan Rouhani On Trump's Decision Not To Certify Nuclear Deal Watch US presidents anti-Iran speech pile of delusional claims: Rouhani Posted October 13, 2017 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says US President Donald Trumps speech against the Islamic Republic was nothing more than insults and delirious talk. Mr. Trumps remarks on Irancontained nothing but expletives and a pile of delusional allegations against the Iranian nation, Rouhani said in a televised speech on Friday moments after Trump delivered a speech outlining US strategy on the Islamic Republic. The US president refused to certify the 2015 international nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and warned he might ultimately terminate it, in defiance of other world powers and undermining a landmark victory of multilateral diplomacy. Trump said he would choose not to certify that Tehran is complying with the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump also said his goal is to ensure Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, adding, "We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Irans nuclear breakout." While Trump did not pull Washington out of the nuclear deal, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact. Reimposing sanctions would put the US at odds with other signatories of the accord such as the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, as well as the European Union. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Rouhani urged the US president to brush up on his world history and geography to improve his comprehension of international obligations and global ethics, etiquette and conventions. Rouhani further pointed to the history of US antagonism toward Iran, saying, "He has to study history better and more closely and know what they (US officials) have done to the Iranian people over the past sixty-something years and how they have treated the people of Iran during the past 40 years after the victory of the Revolution [in 1979]." The Iranian president further rejected Trump's demand that the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany be revised, saying the agreement would remain intact and no article or paragraph would be added or taken away from it. He added that one president alone cannot abrogate an international deal, saying, He [Trump] apparently does not know that this is not a bilateral document between Iran and the US for him to act in any way he wishes. The Iranian nation has not yielded to any power and will not do so in the future, Rouhani said, emphasizing that many countries supported former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the imposed war against Iran in the 1980s but they failed to defeat the Iranians.
A 15-year-old Nigerian girl, Slimzy Jay who committed suicide after her boyfriend broke up with her is to be buried today.
According to source, the young girl took her life, after she found out she was pregnant, and told her boyfriend, Ro Se, who later broke up with her.
Today, screenshots of a purported chat that claims it was all a prank, made rounds, which led many to believe, that Young Loveth apparently faked her death just to be famous.
According to Slimzys sister, who confirmed that indeed Slimzy Jay (Loveth) committed suicide, but not because of a guy. She revealed to us that Slimzy died on Thursday, at around 10 PM, thats 7 hours after she made a post on Facebook about a friend of hers.
We then asked her sister to also confirm if Slimzy was really pregnant, but then she debunked the claims that Slimzy was pregnant.
Shed be buried today, Slimzys sister confirmed to YabaLeftOnline.com
SLimzys Boyfriend, Identified on Facebook as Ro Se, has already reacted to the news that he was the cause of her death, In a post he made on Facebook, He wrote;
For all of you guys that said i was the fault of my hearts deathno problem. may God judge your case.i wont say muchbut God bless you all.
He has since deactivated his Facebook account, after he got bashed heavily!
More Details soon.
-Yabaleftonline
A Federal High Court sitting in Kainji, Niger State, has convicted and sentenced 45 Boko Haram members to between three and 31 years in jail, following the conclusion of the first phase of the trial during which 575 Boko Haram suspects were arraigned.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the court also discharged 468 suspects who had no case to answer.
He added that 34 cases were struck out while 28 suspects were remanded for trial in Abuja and Minna.
He added that the court ordered that the 468 discharged persons should undergo de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programmes before being handed over to their respective state governments.
The trial commenced with the formal remand by the court of 1,669 suspects for a period of 90 days, with the court ordering that they should be arraigned within the specified period or released unconditionally.
The court adjourned the trial of other suspects to January 2018.
Boko Haram insurgency has led to the deaths of more than 20,000 people and the displacement of over two million persons.
The group had been trying to create an Islamic state in the Lake Chad region, which covers some parts of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad.
The terrorist sect gained notoriety when it abducted more than 200 girls from the Chibok community, Borno State in April 2014.
Source:( Punch Newspaper )
New revelation has emerged revealing that Nigerias president, Muhammadu Buhari has not used his office yet, seven weeks after rats invaded the building.
Acording to a report by Saturday Punch, it is almost two months after he returned to the country from his medical trip to London, United Kingdom, but President Muhammadu Buhari has yet to return to his office inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
However, the Presidency says the situation has not in any way hindered the President from performing his duties.
Buhari, who arrived the country on August 19 to a wild jubilation by Nigerians after spending over 100 days abroad, has been operating from an office located inside his official residence and another one located inside the Presidential Banquet Hall.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had said the Presidents office needed renovation because of its devastation by rodents during his long period of absence.
Following the three-month period of disuse, rodents have caused a lot of damage to the furniture and the air conditioning units, he had said, explaining that it was impossible for the President to operate from the office in that condition.
Although he said he could not tell when the renovation would be completed, the presidential spokesperson had stated that the maintenance company had been asked to speed up its pace of work.
However, 56 days after the Presidents return to the country, he has yet to resume in his office.
His residence and the Presidential Banquet Hall, where he operates from are less than five minutes walk from his office.
The President has been hosting meetings and other events in the two venues.
This week alone, he held separate meetings with some state governors and the nations security chiefs at the venues.
Governors that met Buhari during the week included Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State; Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State and Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State.
The President has also been attending weekly meetings of the Federal Executive Council inside the Council Chambers located less than 50 metres to his office.
Buhari has also been joining Muslim faithful for Jumaat service inside a mosque located behind the Council Chambers.
When contacted on Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said where Buhari has been operating from are also offices.
Adesina said the most important thing is that the President is working.
The presidential spokesman was, however, silent on when Buhari will resume in his main office.
Office na office. He (the President) uses one now, and the work goes on, he simply said.
Our correspondent had sought to know from him the stage of the renovation in the Presidents office; if there is any truth in the claim that Buhari does not plan to return to his office anytime soon; and when exactly he would return.
Ibiaku and Nduetong communities in Uruan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have threatened to boycott future elections over the collapse of their only access road to Uyo.
Southern City News learnt that the two communities used to transport their agricultural produce to Uyo quickly and easily through the once easily-accessible road said to be two kilometres away from Government House in Uyo.
A community leader in Ibiaku, Mr. Augustine Udoibit, told our correspondent in Ibiaku on Friday that the indigenes of the two communities were living in fear of the imminent disaster which the road posed.
In fact, this morning, the community had a meeting in the community hall to see how they could raise money to rectify their electrical problem.
Part of the discussion was that they (the communities) may not be able to vote for any government again because the government seems to have neglected them. Government in and government out, these people dont seem to be recognised, yet they are very close to the seat of government.
I dont know how the attention of government can be called to this imminent disaster. If we are proactive, we can nip the disaster in the bud.
Some of the disasters we see and read about in the newspapers and televisions and in social media, apart from maybe, something like the hurricane, they dont just happen; they start from somewhere. If somebody is able to stop it at the point it is starting, we may be able to prevent a major problem, he said.
According to Udoibit, who is also a lawyer, it is not something that is good for a whole local government to be cut off from Uyo. He stated that farmers from the areas can no longer transport goods to Uyo, giving rise to high cost of food items in the capital city.
Udoibit revealed that indigenes from the two communities were now contending with insecurity, owing to the heavy presence of Fulani herdsmen.
He said, For a whole local government to be cut off from Uyo, it is not something palatable. In the 70s and 80s, people used that road to transport produce from the local communities in Uruan to Uyo.
What the people are now facing is insecurity as the Fulani herdsmen have taken over the whole of the area. So, if theres anything the government can do to assist us, it will not only please me, it will add to the achievement of government; it will please the entire community, then the entire local government of Uyo and Uruan because that road connects the two LGAs.
A resident of Nduetong and an engineer, Mr. Inimfon Inyang, expressed surprise why government had allowed the road that links Uruan with Uyo to collapse.
He explained that the two communities had made several appeals to government to rehabilitate the road when signs of gully were noticed.
Source: ( Southern News )
According to a Metro UK report, the mere five-year-old, who suffers from a rare genetic condition, was regularly beaten with a stick to make her cry in order to evoke sympathy from passersby.
The girl, known only as Anabelle, was then made to ask strangers for money on the streets of the Philippines.
She lived as a slave and all the money she made was taken by drug dealers who held her captive. But she was given a new lease of life after an organisation who rescues little boys and girls caught up in child exploitation stepped in to help.
Her story touched the heart of Gonzalo Erize, an Argentinian who worked for the Kalipay Negrense Foundation. He became Anabelles friend and stood by her side while she had surgery to ease the effects of Crouzon Syndrome.
Gonzalo said: The people in charge of her care told me that she woke up at night, shouting from the nightmares from the past.
But I was there ready to give Anabelle the opportunity of a better life, where she could play without pain and live worthily.
Little Anabelle was born into poverty in Bacolod city ironically, known as the City of Smiles on the northwest coast of Negros Island in the Philippines.
Her mother could not care for Anabelle and her six siblings so she sold the little girl to a drugs gang. They took advantage of Anabelles appearance after the Crouzon Syndrome left her with bulging eyes.
The condition, also called congenital craniofacial dysostosis, is characterised by malformations of the skull which limit the development of the face and brain. Anabelle was unable to close her eyes in order to sleep which left her constantly exhausted.
On the streets she was accompanied by a woman who pretended to be her mother. This woman was burnt repeatedly by the gang before being sent out to beg for money.
The pair were moved from one city to another by traffickers to prevent police from locating them. But Anabelle was eventually rescued becoming one of around 200 children helped by the Kalipay Negrense Foundation.
Anabelle was treated by paediatricians, dentists and neurologists in the Philippine capital of Manila, who decided she needed urgent surgery.
The controversial governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has been accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of diverting large sums of money.
Nigerias foremost anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of diverting N680m from the states coffers to a private fixed deposit account, which was yielding N6m interest every month.
According to Punch Metro, the N680m was alleged to have been part of the bailouts paid to the state government by the Federal Government for the payment of salary and pension arrears, according to the EFCCs preliminary investigation into the matter.
The anti-graft agency also asked the states Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, and the Accountant-General, Yemisi Owolabi, to report back to the commissions head office in Abuja next week.
Owolabi and Ojo had spent about 12 days in the custody of the anti-graft agency after allegedly refusing to honour its invitation in the past. They were arrested for their alleged roles in the diversion of the bailout .
According to the anti-graft agency, there is a reason to believe that the people of Ekiti State have been short-changed.
The report states, A total of N680m was diverted on January 25, 2016. The funds, comprising N200m from the Ekiti State Local Government salary account, N300m from the Ekiti State Pension Account and N180m from the Ekiti State FAAC Account, were first credited into the Consolidated Revenue Account in Zenith Bank on January 25, 2016, and later transferred on the same day into an account called 2015 MDG-CGS state project domiciled in Zenith Bank.
Analysis of the bank statement revealed that the money was later placed in a fixed deposit, where it was yielding a monthly interest of about N6m at a time pensioners and workers in Ekiti State were owed months of unpaid entitlements.
It was learnt that investigators were going through several documents to uncover the beneficiaries of the monthly interest on the fixed deposit.
The report concluded, The detained Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance and its Accountant-General committed to assisting the commission with relevant documents before they were granted administrative bail and ordered to report back in two weeks.
It was learnt that in the course of investigating alleged misapplication of the bailouts by the Fayose-led administration, especially the N1.7bn contract awarded to a Lebanese company, which later moved part of the money to allegedly purchase properties for Governor Fayose, investigators stumbled on evidence of diversion of funds meant for payment of state and local government employees and pensioners in Ekiti State.
Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has been accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ) for diverting N680m from the states coffers to a private fixed deposit account, which was yielding N6m interest every month.
The N680m was alleged to have been part of the bailouts paid to the state government by the Federal Government for the payment of salary and pension arrears, according to the EFCCs preliminary investigation into the matter.
The anti-graft agency also asked the states Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, and the Accountant-General, Yemisi Owolabi, to report back to the commissions head office in Abuja next week.
Owolabi and Ojo had spent about 12 days in the custody of the anti-graft agency after allegedly refusing to honour its invitation in the past. They were arrested for their alleged roles in the diversion of the bailout .
According to the anti-graft agency, there is a reason to believe that the people of Ekiti State have been short-changed.
The report states, A total of N680m was diverted on January 25, 2016. The funds, comprising N200m from the Ekiti State Local Government salary account, N300m from the Ekiti State Pension Account and N180m from the Ekiti State FAAC Account, were first credited into the Consolidated Revenue Account in Zenith Bank on January 25, 2016, and later transferred on the same day into an account called 2015 MDG-CGS state project domiciled in Zenith Bank.
Analysis of the bank statement revealed that the money was later placed in a fixed deposit, where it was yielding a monthly interest of about N6m at a time pensioners and workers in Ekiti State were owed months of unpaid entitlements.
It was learnt that investigators were going through several documents to uncover the beneficiaries of the monthly interest on the fixed deposit.
The report concluded, The detained Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance and its Accountant-General committed to assisting the commission with relevant documents before they were granted administrative bail and ordered to report back in two weeks.
It was learnt that in the course of investigating alleged misapplication of the bailouts by the Fayose-led administration, especially the N1.7bn contract awarded to a Lebanese company, which later moved part of the money to allegedly purchase properties for Governor Fayose, investigators stumbled on evidence of diversion of funds meant for payment of state and local government employees and pensioners in Ekiti State.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was visited by an aspirant of the national chairmanship position of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Gbenga Daniel to seek his support for his ambition.
Mr. Daniel, a former Ogun State Governor, is contesting the position alongside other chieftains of the party including Bode George, Tunde Adeniran, and Raymond Dokpesi.
Mr. Obasanjo, who served as president on the PDP platform for two terms, publicly quit the part in the build up to the 2015 elections.
In spite of his quit, Mr. Obasanjo is still considered influential within the party.
Although the former president had altercations with Mr. Daniel in 2011, both men resolved their differences and Mr. Obasanjo assigned the ex-governor a role during his 80th birthday anniversary held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Mr. Daniel, who governed Ogun State for eight years on the platform of PDP, had earlier disclosed that he will formally declare his intention for the PDP chairmanship position in Abuja next Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists after the visit, Mr. Daniel said he came to consult with Baba Obasanjo and seek his advice on his ambition.
He added that he can not make any move in that direction without the ex-presidents input.
Im contesting for the PDP chairmanship position. Im consulting and Baba is one of the foundation member of the party and we cant move without him, Mr. Daniel said.
The aspirant said the party is now united and being rejuvenated to make it a party to beat both in Ogun State and at the centre.
We have been united. You can see all of us are here. We have realised that united we stand and divided we fall. There are no many problems or many challenges. What you see is just called internal democracy, he said.
And to summarise it, we just want to return the party to the people and once that is done, I think the people will be in control, Mr. Daniel added.
Mr. Daniel had earlier visited ex-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida to also seek his support for the election coming up next month.
Source: ( Premium Times )
Three local government officials of the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance, (APDA) Kogi State Chapter have been abducted by unknown gunmen.
According to reports, it was learnt that the abducted officials are principal officers in their respective local governments. They are Ademu Kadir from Idah, and Messrs Alilu Omo and Ocholi from Igalamela-Odolu.
The Kogi State Chairman of APDA, Abdulmumini Ibrahim, said the officers were on their way to Idah after attending the inaugural meeting of the state working committee of the party in Lokoja yesterday.
He explained that the bus conveying the party leaders was attacked by armed bandits along Idah road, and passengers were robbed while the trio were taken to an unknown destination by the kidnappers.
Mr. Abdulmumini said he has contacted the Commissioner of Police, Kogi state command, Ali Janga, to report the incident.
He said the police chief assured that the police command would do its best to secure the release of the officers.
He appealed to all members of the party to remain calm and promised that nothing will deter the party from winning the state in 2019.
Meanwhile, publicity secretary of the party, Tosin Adeyanju, on Saturday said the kidnappers had not yet reached out to anyone.
Source: ( Premium Times )
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has revealed for the first time the response of President Muhammadu Buhari to the controversial memo on the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru.
It would be recalled that the ministers memo raised issues over the conduct of the NNPC GMD on contracts and appointments.
Kachikwu, who spoke in Owerri, Imo State at the end of a three-day Nigerian Content Workshop organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, said the content of his letter did not border on fraud but on governance.
He said, The conversation has been largely misunderstood to bother on fraud. It was not on fraud, but on governance and suggestions on ways to go about it. I think a lot of people got it wrong.
People dwell much on issues of sensationalism and leave the main substance. The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, and I are working together as Mr. President had directed to move forward.
Mr. President has urged the two of us to find ways of working together to remove doubt and rift. He added, Mr. President is a decent man and what he wants to achieve in this country is to live a legacy for posterity. He is a sincere leader, so nobody should accuse him of engaging in fraud.
He commended the management of NCDMB led by its Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wakote, for scoring high in her efforts to promote Nigerian content in the oil and gas sector of the nations economy.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
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Even as Emeka Ikes marriage to his ex wife, Suzanne, was dissolved by the court not too long ago, Emeka said it was a Kangaroo judgment, as he didnt sign any document and neither he nor his lawyer was in court.
Emeka said he would only sign the necessary documents if his estranged wife would debunk the stories of domestic violence against her.
The court dissolved my marriage illegally; I want people to get it right. For you to dissolve a marriage, the man and his lawyer must be present in court to sign some documents. Ask them, was either my lawyer or myself present in court on that day? Is it possible to say the marriage has been dissolved? My wife says that I am a wife beater but the same woman two years ago in church during counselling, wrote it down that I am a caring man who is selfless and loves his family. She wrote that I love her and my lawyer still has the written note. She made this statement at The Redeemed Assemblies of God church in Magodo, Lagos. Can I possess all these and still beat my wife? Six months later, she began to sing another tune and I know she was advised by some people that it was the only way to leave the marriage.
The reason why I have not signed the papers is because of the blackmail involved and my name that has been tarnished. She is spoiling my name; I would fight to clear myself of being called a wife beater with everything I have. I hate being referred to as a wife beater because I am not one. Any man that does that does not deserve to be called a father or a man because you are stronger than the woman, he said.
Since Emeka is currently staying with their kids as the court granted him custody, he claimed the children do not want to see their mother.
My children do not want to see their mother. When my daughter heard she would be taken to Lagos to be with her mother, she was crying profusely because she did not want to go to meet her. The children are scared of her. People have been asking me how my children have been coping with this whole drama but the truth is that they dont want to see her. If you threaten our daughter that she would go to Lagos to meet her mother, she would cry and do everything you want her to do in the house just because she doesnt want to see her. Now my children are suffering emotionally, I even had to pay their matron double the money she asked for to make my children comfortable so they dont really miss their mother. I am not happy that my daughter does not have a role model. The children are really irritated by their mother. I have a lot of evidence of child abuse against her but I am waiting for the right time to arrest her. Even in court, her son testified against her. She has tried to use the press against me by saying that I am a wife beater but I have never touched her in my life. This is a real story and not a joke. Her best TV station is the criminal investigation channel; she stays up till 4am to watch the channel for over five years. At first, I used to enjoy watching it with her. She watched the programmes about women who killed their husbands, children, relatives. How would you wake up by 4am and not see your wife on the bed only to go downstairs and see her watching that station as if she is taking notes. I had to ask her if she wanted to kill somebody with the way she watched the station but she just switched off the television, went to her room and slept.
This is the story of my life. This is a woman whom I brought out of a one room apartment she was living with her mother, the other room was covered with zinc but I built a two-bedroomed apartment for them. I went to her village and built a three-bedroomed apartment for her. I trained her from secondary school to Masters degree level. Is this how she is supposed to pay me back? No one is looking at all this but they would go online to say that I am bitter. Some men suffer like me but they died for nothing. That is why I dedicated my award to all the men that lost their lives to the women they loved, he said.
Also, recently, a picture of the actor and a lady surfaced online and so many believed the lady with him is the new love in his life.
But in the chat with Saturday Beats, Emeka said the lady is just a friend.
People saw a picture of me and a lady together and they have already begun to conclude different things. Love is not a public thing but a private matter, however, the lady I was pictured with is truly a South African and also of a German descent but she is my friend and we took pictures. People should leave it like that. When I want to get married again, everyone would know and that is if there will be anything like that. But at the moment, the lady is just my friend, he said.
Source: Punch
One of Nigerias most recognised actors, Emeka Ike has said the dissolution of his marriage of his ex wife, Suzanne not too long ago was a Kangaroo judgment, as he didnt sign any document and neither he nor his lawyer was in court.
According to Saturday Punch, Emeka said he would only sign the necessary documents if his estranged wife would debunk the stories of domestic violence against her.
The court dissolved my marriage illegally; I want people to get it right. For you to dissolve a marriage, the man and his lawyer must be present in court to sign some documents. Ask them, was either my lawyer or myself present in court on that day? Is it possible to say the marriage has been dissolved? My wife says that I am a wife beater but the same woman two years ago in church during counselling, wrote it down that I am a caring man who is selfless and loves his family. She wrote that I love her and my lawyer still has the written note. She made this statement at The Redeemed Assemblies of God church in Magodo, Lagos. Can I possess all these and still beat my wife? Six months later, she began to sing another tune and I know she was advised by some people that it was the only way to leave the marriage.
The reason why I have not signed the papers is because of the blackmail involved and my name that has been tarnished. She is spoiling my name; I would fight to clear myself of being called a wife beater with everything I have. I hate being referred to as a wife beater because I am not one. Any man that does that does not deserve to be called a father or a man because you are stronger than the woman, he said.
Since Emeka is currently staying with their kids as the court granted him custody, he claimed the children do not want to see their mother.
My children do not want to see their mother. When my daughter heard she would be taken to Lagos to be with her mother, she was crying profusely because she did not want to go to meet her. The children are scared of her. People have been asking me how my children have been coping with this whole drama but the truth is that they dont want to see her. If you threaten our daughter that she would go to Lagos to meet her mother, she would cry and do everything you want her to do in the house just because she doesnt want to see her. Now my children are suffering emotionally, I even had to pay their matron double the money she asked for to make my children comfortable so they dont really miss their mother. I am not happy that my daughter does not have a role model. The children are really irritated by their mother. I have a lot of evidence of child abuse against her but I am waiting for the right time to arrest her. Even in court, her son testified against her. She has tried to use the press against me by saying that I am a wife beater but I have never touched her in my life. This is a real story and not a joke. Her best TV station is the criminal investigation channel; she stays up till 4am to watch the channel for over five years. At first, I used to enjoy watching it with her. She watched the programmes about women who killed their husbands, children, relatives. How would you wake up by 4am and not see your wife on the bed only to go downstairs and see her watching that station as if she is taking notes. I had to ask her if she wanted to kill somebody with the way she watched the station but she just switched off the television, went to her room and slept.
This is the story of my life. This is a woman whom I brought out of a one room apartment she was living with her mother, the other room was covered with zinc but I built a two-bedroomed apartment for them. I went to her village and built a three-bedroomed apartment for her. I trained her from secondary school to Masters degree level. Is this how she is supposed to pay me back? No one is looking at all this but they would go online to say that I am bitter. Some men suffer like me but they died for nothing. That is why I dedicated my award to all the men that lost their lives to the women they loved, he said.
Also, recently, a picture of the actor and a lady surfaced online and so many believed the lady with him is the new love in his life.
But in the chat with Saturday Beats, Emeka said the lady is just a friend.
People saw a picture of me and a lady together and they have already begun to conclude different things. Love is not a public thing but a private matter, however, the lady I was pictured with is truly a South African and also of a German descent but she is my friend and we took pictures. People should leave it like that. When I want to get married again, everyone would know and that is if there will be anything like that. But at the moment, the lady is just my friend, he said.
Parents and guardians withdraw their children following rumours that the Nigerian Army was conducting immunisation as part of its ongoing Operation Crocodile Smile II in the Niger Delta.
The parents, whose actions created panic in Yenagoa, the state capital, were reportedly told that some persons in military uniform were injecting their children with poison under the guise of vaccination for monkeypox virus.
Some schools were said to have closed as early as 10 am, with children running in different directions to leave their school premises, prior to the arrival of immunisation officials.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was panic in his Onopa community in Yenagoa as some unidentified men in military uniforms, stormed schools in the area to inject children with an unknown vaccine.
Also, another resident, who gave his name only as Robert, claimed some women at Captain Ayeni Street were seen taking their children away from schools to prevent them from receiving the vaccine.
It was learnt that some parents also besieged St. Jude Secondary School in Amarata, saying they were there to take their children home.
The parents, who reportedly met the gate of the school locked, reportedly waited outside and called on the school management to release their children.
It was gathered that seven people, five males, and two females, escaped lynching by a whisker at Zarama in Yenagoa, as a mob accosted them, following the suspicion that they were immunisation workers.
The mob reportedly beat them up and dragged them to their community leader, despite appeals by the victims that they were in the village to promote a brand of beer.
The mob stripped the suspects and threatened to lynch them before some persons contacted the police, who came to their rescue.
Subsequently, the state government issued a statement, suspending all forms of medical outreach in public and private schools across the state following the incident.
The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, announced the suspension at a joint press briefing with his counterpart in the Ministry of Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu.
Iworiso-Markson described as unfortunate the misinformation which had led to the panic and withdrawal of pupils by parents from schools, insisting that the fears had no basis.
Etebu described the rumour as unhealthy.
Spokesperson for the 16 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Yenagoa, Captain Danjuma Danjuma, said that there was no truth in the rumours that the army was carrying out immunisation in schools as part of its ongoing operation in the Niger Delta.
The Brigade is not conducting vaccination in any school in Bayelsa. The reports are rumours peddled by mischief makers. There is no evidence to prove this allegation. It is rather unfortunate, Danjuma stated.
Meanwhile, the Registrar, Veterinary Council of Nigeria, Dr. Kantiyok Joshua; the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali; and the Chairman, Kwara State Chapter of Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Ibrahim Abdul, have said that scientists in Nigeria have commenced research for vaccines or drugs to address monkeypox.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The woman who accused rapper, Nelly of rape, has refused to testify against him in court and has asked for the case to be dropped.
Her lawyer, Karen Khoeler says that her client asked for the case to be dropped because she feels the system has failed her and that she thinks because Nelly is a celebrity, nothing will work in her favour.
In a letter dated Friday, the womans attorney said she regretted calling 911 and reporting that the rapper had raped her on his tour bus after a concert in Auburn, Washington, on Oct. 7.
In the letter, attorney Karen Koehler said the woman stands by everything she told police. But, she said she will not be testifying in any criminal case.
Koehler said:
Who will believe her. People are saying horrible things already. She cannot handle this. She is about to break.
Koehler added that her client was very disappointed in the police and prosecutors for telling the media that she had met with them, after they had assured her that no one would know about it, until after the investigation was over.
Hence she wants the case dropped.
In the letter, Koehler started by saying:
We do not live in a society where a 21-year-old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape, Koehler wrote.
Koehler described what happened to the woman after she called 911: She was interviewed and detained, then taken to a hospital for a rape kit. When she returned home, she was besieged by text messages and news articles detailing the incident, Koehler said, then she was called by a reporter.
As she cries alone in her apartment with mounting hysteria, she will learn that the celebrity and his lawyer are issuing public statements that her allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness. That her agenda is money, fame and notoriety,' Koehler said.
The letter read:
Nellys lawyer, Scott Rosenblum however, said that the accuser only dropped the case once thorough investigation exposed her lies for what they were- a pure fabrication.
A fabrication that has caused Nelly and his family to suffer emotionally and financially.
Rosenblum also says he wants a public apology from the woman, and will recommend Nelly consider taking legal action against her for the defamation.
The Auburn Police Department will continue to investigate if any crime took place, Commander Steve Stocker said.
As soon as were done with the investigation, well be referring it to the prosecutors, he said, adding that could take place next week. The detectives have been working very hard on it.
Source: Linda Ikejis blog
A Nigerian man who has spent 2 years in ritualists den has just tegained his freedom, after he was released by his captors because he wasnt useful. He was reportedly dropped along BCJ road, Apata area of Ibadan.
According to ConnectIbadan who shared the story;
A Good Samaritan, Miss Opeyemi was passing by along BCJ road, Apata area of Ibadan and found people gathered around a man that was dropped by kidnappers/ritualist.
The short video conducted by the Good Samaritan showed that he had been kidnapped for the past 2 years but when it was his turn to be used for ritual they said he is not useful and that there are still a lot of people in the captivity of the ritualist den.
His name is Dayo Ajala and further interview also confirmed that he attended Oke Nla Grammar School, Ogun State.
Anybody with useful information about his family or relatives should go to that area or the nearest police station
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Friday gave further insight into the Presidential approval it received from the Presidency while President Muhammadu Buhari was out of the country on medical vacation.
According to the corporation, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo only gave approval for joint venture financing, adding that it was the NNPC Tenders Board that actually approved contracts that were within its purview.
When contacted to tell who approved the contracts for NNPC while Buhari was out of the country, considering the fact that Osinbajo had stated that he never approved any contract for the oil firm, the corporations Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, told our correspondent that it was wrong to state that the then Acting President gave approval for contracts.
Ughamadu said, The media house (not The PUNCH) that made the initial error didnt read our response carefully. Two issues were raised in the response. One was that the NNPC Tenders Board under the provision of the Act that established it, gave approval for contracts. Secondly, we said there was a Presidential approval for financing of some joint venture projects.
But the media house lumped everything under contracts. We made it clear that we got a Presidential approval for JV financing, which is for the corporation to go and source money. And this was what the Vice-President was referring to, which he gave approval for when he was Acting President.
Asked to further explain if there was approval for contracts to be handled by the corporation, Ughamadu replied, There was approval for contracts. Contracts approval by the NNPC Tenders Board has certain limits but yet within a framework and in line with the NNPCs Act.
The second aspect refers to JV funding of which we dont own 100 per cent, but own some equity shares. So there was never a time that we said Osinbajo gave approval for 100 per cent NNPC contracts; we never said so. The contracts that got approval were the ones that fall under the purview of the NNPC Tenders Board. But to source for JV financing, you need Presidential approval and that was what Osinbajo gave.
Osinbajo had on Thursday stated that he never approved any contract for the NNPC.
The vice-president, however, stated that what he approved for the oil firm when Buhari was away on medical vacation were financing loans and not contracts.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The Nigerian Army have announced that the Crocodile Smile II, which was launched in Lagos on Friday, would target pipeline vandals, kidnappers, and cultists operating in the South-West and South-South.
The controversial Operation Crocodile Smile II kicked off in Tarkwa Bay, as the army said the exercise would be reinforced by the Special Boat Services of the Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Air Force.
The operation was inaugurated by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai.
It would be recalled that the air force had joined the Operation Python Dance in the South-East, which would round off today, Saturday, deploying its fighter jets and troops to provide close air support.
Saturday PUNCH learnt from sources that plans were being concluded in the air force to also deploy fighter jets to support the Operation Crocodile Smile II.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen Sani Usman, said the exercise was to curtail the operations of illegal oil bunkers, pipeline vandals, kidnappers, militants and cult members.
He said, It will be recalled that last year, between November and December 2016 Exercise Crocodile Smile I was conducted within the Niger Delta States to curtail prevailing challenges then.
Similarly, security challenges in the South-West and Niger Delta geo-political regions such as illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, cultism, kidnapping, militancy and other challenges are now becoming rampant.
The army spokesman had told one of our correspondents in an exclusive interview weeks ago that the Badoo cult was one of the deadly groups the exercise would combat.
When contacted on deployments, the Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Captain Suleman Dahun, said, The details are being worked out.
Health care personnel in Plateau State have been urged by the State government, to watch out for signs and symptoms of the monkeypox viral disease.
According to the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kamshak Kudeng, although the government cannot completely compel people to stop consumption of monkeys, it should be cooked properly because at certain temperatures the virus might not survive.
The measures, he said, were to curtail and check the spread of monkeypox, which was first reported in Bayelsa State, South-South Nigeria over a week ago.
What we do in the Plateau State Ministry of Health is to ensure that we enlighten members of the public to ensure that if anyone comes down with fever, body ache, muscle pains and later on you start developing rashes, you should be able to report early to the hospital.
When you come to the hospital, we embark on a symptomatic management because we dont have particular drugs for it, Kudeng said.
The commissioner, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH in Jos, gave a brief history of the disease in West Africa.
He said, The viral disease is not new and has been in West and Central Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first case in humans was detected in 1970. But the disease was actually found in laboratory monkeys in 1958.
Kudeng confirmed that Plateau indigenes eat monkeys but said he could not give the percentage of consumers.
He said, There are local hunters who look for monkeys to eat. In fact, there are some tribes on the Plateau that eat monkeys as delicacies, just like when we were talking about Lassa fever and we wanted to single out the Tiv people in Benue State, who eat rats.
We cannot stop people from completely eating monkeys because when you tell them that it is a risk, they say, man must die of one thing or the other.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed delight at the mutually beneficial cooperation that exists between Nigeria and China.
According to a statement on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President stated this in a congratulatory letter he sent to President Xi Jinping on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The Chinese President is also the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC.
Adesina quoted Buhari as lauding China for becoming an indispensable force in the comity of nations.
The letter from Buhari read in part, On behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I have the pleasure to send our warmest congratulations to you and through you to all the 2,287 delegates and the 89 million party members on the auspicious occasion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
It is my firm belief that the 19th National Congress of CPC will be a new starting point in the history of China, and it will usher in a new period of great accomplishment for your party and the nation.
The leadership of CPC is understood to be the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. China has made remarkable progress under the leadership of CPC and remains an inspiration to developing countries and the whole world. In the past 30 years and more, over 700 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty, creating a Chinese miracle in the history of poverty reduction.
As you often say, Empty talk harms the country, while hard work makes it flourish. Under the strong and focused leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Your Excellency as its core, the CPC has continuously guided the Chinese people to achieve the Two Centenary Goals and realise the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, while China is becoming an indispensable force in the comity of nations. Indeed, I am satisfied with the mutually beneficial cooperation between Nigeria and China.
While expecting the delivery of policy guidelines and framework for Chinas development and foreign relations in the next five years and beyond, and the election of a new CPC Central Committee, we wish the 19th National Congress of the CPC a complete success.
Source:( Punch Newspaper )
Six people, including five students, were killed in an attack by suspected South Sudanese raiders on a boarding school in Lokichogio, in Kenyas far north, early Saturday, authorities said.
Six people were killed in the attack, including students, and we have others injured, said Seif Matata, Turkana countys commissioner.
Matata said the incident occurred at around 03:00 am (00:00 GMT) while students at Lokichogio Mixed Secondary School were asleep in their dormitories.
Members of the Toposa tribal militia from South Sudan, 200 kilometres (124 miles) to the north, are believed to be responsible for the attack with Matata alleging that a suspended student participated in the raid.
Kenya Red Cross said it had evacuated some of the injured by plane to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for emergency treatment.
Turkana, an arid region bordering South Sudan, is awash with small arms and violent clashes between competing communities over resources and territory are common.
Source: ( AFP )
The just concluded 30th anniversary celebration of Akwa Ibom State took a new dimension recently in Uyo, with the arrest of two indigenous tourism consultants to the event.
Ini Edo, allegedly accused the Ubong Ekpe and Joseph Utin of stealing her idea of Ibom Fest, which was cancelled last year and also threatening her life.
In a petition to the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, Edo alleged that the duo sold the idea of Ibom Fest to the State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and renamed it Orange September the official brand of the 30th anniversary of the State.
The actress who is also an SA to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Tourism, is said to be angry that she wasnt carried along in this years event. The consultants however debunked her claims and described her petition as baseless. The duo have now been released after being dragged to Abuja.
source: Ib9ja
David Adeleke popularly known as Davido has cancelled a show in Zimbabwe meant to have held on Friday night after Nigerian police reinvited him to explain what he knows of his friend, Tagbo Umeikes death.
The police are also interested in getting information from Davido on a separate incidence where 2 of his friends Olugbemiga Abiodun a.k.a. DJ Olu and Chime Amechina were found dead in a car at Ocean Parade, Banana Island, Ikoyi.
All of this meant that Davido could not be in Zimbabwe as scheduled for the launch of Jah Prayzahs Kutonga Kwaro album launch at Harare International Conference Center.
Spokesman for the event organizers Dee Nosh claimed that Davidos team had given them assurances that he would attend, telling Zimbabwean media:
When we learnt that Davido was picked for questioning by the police we continuously got in touch with his camp and we were being told everything was under control that even part of his advance team had already left Lagos, Dee Nosh said.
As the concert organisers we were also optimistic that he will make it for the launch, but its unfortunate that due to circumstances beyond his or our control he will not be part of us tonight as initially scheduled.
The organizers of the show slashed the ticket price from $20 to $10 and got some local acts as replacements. However, they are appealing to those fans who bought tickets specifically to see Davido to wait for a make-up show that is scheduled for the future.
They explained it thus: For those who had purchased tickets specifically to see Davido in action if they decide not to come tonight they can keep their tickets for another Jah Prayzah and Davido concert coming soon.
This goes to show that things are not going too well for Davido as the recent troubles threaten to stifle his career even if he avoids any criminal proceedings related to the death of his friends.
Source: Naijaloaded
According to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, says government alone cannot provide the kind of support required for universities to develop at the rate expected of them.
He said a lot of the support had to come from alumni of the universities as well as the private sector.
According to a copy of his speech made available to journalists on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice-President spoke at the Distinguished Alumni Awards and celebration of University of Lagos at 55 held in Lagos on Friday.
He said great universities all over the world are run by alumni and the private sector.
Just as the pro-chancellor pointed out, government alone cannot support universities to the extent that is required, to keep them even at the current levels.
A lot will have to come from the Alumni and the private sector. Thats how great universities all over the world are run.
I am so excited to see that our fundraising project is one that has clearly shown the way to go with respect to developing our University, the Vice-President.
Osinbajo, himself an alumnus of UNILAG, said the university had proved many times that it is not only a university of first choice but also the University of firsts.
He cited examples of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; and his counterpart in the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministry, Dr. Daniel Olukoya, who he said recorded firsts in their careers.
He noted that while Olukoya was the first to clone genes, Adeboye is the first Nigerian to get a PhD in a Nigerian university in Applied Mathematics.
He said, I want to say that UNILAG has proved time and time again to be not just a university of first-choice but also the University of firsts! So many firsts in different areas; just reading about Dr. Olukoya, he was the first to clone genes.
Hardly anyone would know that the pastor and founder of Mountain of Fire and Miracles was also the first to clone genes. That is an absolutely outstanding thing.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God was also the first Nigerian to get a PhD in a Nigerian university in Applied Mathematics.
I think that there are so many other firsts, but the most important thing today is to ensure that those firsts do not become the last.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
There are more than 4,000 cyber-attacks each year aimed at small- to mid-sized businesses, many of which are exposed because they havent given cyber security a high enough priority, according to Stephanie Christensen, who heads up cyber and intellectual property crimes in Californias central district for the U.S. Attorneys Office.
The number or cyber attacks aimed at small-sized businesses is huge, because small businesses are seen as a soft target, Christensen said.
She was speaking on Friday to an audience of mostly small- to mid-sized business owners, insurance professionals and others at an educational symposium called Cyber: Prepare, Prevent, Mitigate, Restore.
The symposium was hosted by the Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies Inc., in collaboration with the RAND Institute for Civil Justice and The Sullivan Group.
The event was held at the Santa Monica offices of the RAND Corp., a nonprofit think tank.
The symposium focused on the current threat landscape for small- and mid-sized organizations and offered strategies for preparing for and responding to a cyber incident.
Christensen delivered the events keynote address.
That was followed by a panel discussion, Tackling Evolving Cyber Threats, moderated by Joan Woodward, president of the Travelers Institute and executive vice president of public policy at Travelers.
The panelists were Gerald J. Sullivan, chairman of the national insurance wholesale brokerage Gerald J. Sullivan & Associates, Lillian Ablon, an information scientist for RAND, Tim Francis, enterprise lead for cyber insurance at Travelers, and Will Rasmussen, director of the Brunswick Group.
Ablon cited RAND research showing that cyber attackers are getting more sophisticated, better coordinated and more numerous.
Attackers are really outpacing defenders, she said.
Among the topics Francis touched on was ransomware, which is often when hackers take a companys data and offer to return it for a fee.
There are times in which we, working with our vendors, will pay some of it, he said. Ransomware is now the single most common event we see with our insureds.
According to Francis, every claim is unique and he said Travelers always works with its customers to get the best outcome.
He also said that research from the Travelers Institute shows it takes 266 days on average from an event to the realization by a company that it was hacked.
Sullivan introduced data from Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Centers 2016 Internet Crime Report, which showed cyber losses nationwide grew from $1 billion in 2015 to $1.4 billion in 2016.
The top crime type was non-payment/non-delivery, followed by personal data breach, the report shows. California topped the list with a reported 39,547 victims and a total loss of more than $255 million.
Sullivan noted that, according to the FBI, many cases do not get reported.
This is a lot bigger problem than I think most people realize, he said.
Sullivan also emphasized the importance of partnering with a firm that can offer quick and useful help once a cyber attack has occurred, such taking a company through the steps of what to do after an attack, and where to go to report it.
He called such experts the unhackers.
Despite all the publicity cyber attacks get, theres a tremendous need for more education and more information in this area, he said.
Sullivan, who deals with retail insurance agents, said the top question he gets from clients when discussing cyber insurance is: Why does my client have to buy it?
Rasmussen offered a few best practice suggestions, which include creating a crisis public relations plan.
He said the plan should define the roles people in the organization will play and everyones responsibilities, as well as a playbook to take a company through the first 48 hours after an attack, and how to deal with media questions.
You should be able to mitigate as much as the reputational damage as you can, he said.
Either some affected companies are doing a good job of handling the PR after a data breach, or theres a low bar of expectation from consumers who have had their data stolen or affected, Ablon said.
According to a consumer poll conducted by RAND, 77 percent of respondents said they were happy with the way the breach was handled and only 11 percent said they stopped doing business with that company.
However, some companies havent done so well at getting the word out customers affected by a breach as soon as possible.
According to the RAND poll, 44 percent of respondents learned about the breach from a source other than the affected company.
Francis that in the early days of offering risk management to clients in regard to cyber events the focus was on prevention, but as these events have become so prevalent, that focus has shifted somewhat.
Its more about what are you going to do if an event takes place, he said.
Often these cyber events occur to outdated systems that should have been updated to prevent the attack.
According to Francis, the majority of hacks they have seen at Travelers were directed at a system vulnerability for which a patch was available for more than year.
The Travelers Institute has held its Cyber: Prepare, Prevent, Mitigate, Restore educational series across the country since 2016, and it expanded the series to Canada this year.
Topics California Cyber Commercial Lines Business Insurance
Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese.
Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa.
Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista.
E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta.
A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito.
A former hostage has said upon arriving back in Canada that the Haqqani network in Afghanistan killed his infant daughter and raped his American wife during the years they were held in captivity.
Joshua Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada late on Friday with his wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.
The couple was rescued on Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip.
Ms Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Mr Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport.
"The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter," he said.
Mr Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," he said.
He said he was in Afghanistan 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."
On the plane from London, Mr Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press saying his family has "unparalleled resilience and determination".
Ms Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, sat in the aisle of the business-class cabin wearing a tan-coloured headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly when she confirmed her identity to a reporter on board the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Mr Boyle, with their youngest child in his lap. US State Department officials were on the plane with them.
The handwritten statement that Mr Boyle gave the AP expressed disagreement with US foreign policy.
"God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organised injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege," he wrote.
He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, "Their interests are not my interests".
He added that one of his children is in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
The family was able to leave the plane with their escorts before the rest of the passengers. There was a short delay before everyone else was allowed out.
"It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," he said in his later statement at the airport. "To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost."
The Canadian government said in a statement they will "continue to support him and his family now that they have returned".
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the Canadian government said.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said the Pakistani raid that led to the family's rescue was based on a tip from US intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a "common enemy" when Washington shares information.
President Donald Trump, who previously had warned Pakistan to stop harbouring militants, praised Pakistan for its "cooperation on many fronts." On Twitter, he wrote on Friday that the US is starting to develop "a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders".
AP
A Vatican court has convicted the former president of the Pope's children's hospital of diverting around 378,000 in donations to renovate a cardinal's flat.
The original charges against Giuseppe Profiti had been embezzlement, but the court convicted him of a lesser offence of abuse of office after the defence argued the money was intended as an investment to benefit the hospital.
Profiti was given a one-year suspended sentence.
The three-judge tribunal cleared Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital's former hospital treasurer, Massimo Spina.
Notably, neither the cardinal who benefited from the renovation nor the contractor who was apparently paid twice for doing the work was charged.
More than anything, the trial exposed how Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's former secretary of state, bent rules to get his retirement apartment ready after Pope Francis was elected in 2013 and named a new secretary of state.
It also revealed the "opacity, silence and poor management" in the handling of Vatican assets, prosecutor Roberto Zanotti said in his closing statements.
A lack of financial transparency and accountability has bedevilled the Holy See for centuries and has been a top concern for Francis' reform-minded papacy.
In addition, the trial shined further light on Bambino Gesu hospital, which was the subject of an Associated Press investigation earlier this year.
The news agency uncovered a secret 2014 Vatican-authorised probe that found that the hospital's mission under the Profiti administration had become "more aimed at profit" than patient care.
After retiring in 2013, Cardinal Bertone was assigned a 4,305 sq ft top-floor bachelor pad in the Vatican-owned Palazzo San Carlo, which sits on the edge of the Vatican gardens and offers fabulous views of St Peter's Basilica and overlooks the hotel where Francis lives.
During the trial, Cardinal Bertone was shown to have personally engineered the unprecedented manoeuvre to get an old friend, Gianantonio Bandera, to do the renovation.
Cardinal Bertone's project jumped the queue for Vatican property repairs and avoided the normal external bidding process required for such an expensive overhaul - presumably because he promised to foot the bill himself.
And Cardinal Bertone did pay some 300,000 euros (269,000) out of his own pocket.
The problem is the hospital foundation also paid Mr Bandera's firm 422,000 euro for a job that totalled 533,000 euro, including communal repairs to the palazzo's leaky roof.
In closing arguments on Saturday, Profiti's lawyer Antonello Blasi insisted there was no crime in using foundation money as an investment since Profiti intended to use Cardinal Bertone's apartment for fund-raising events for the hospital.
"Investing is not the same thing as spending," Mr Blasi told the court.
Profiti, for his part, told the court the only reason the operation did not return the investment was because the new administration that replaced his had a "new style of fund raising" and did not use the apartment.
Prosecutors did not dispute the investment motive for Profiti's actions.
In the end, Mr Bandera's firm, Castelli Re, went bankrupt, and the hospital's 422,000 euro were sent instead to another Bandera company located in Britain, Lg Contractors.
That was presumably the transaction that tripped up the Vatican's financial regulators, who were called to give evidence at trial but declined to provide details, citing the need to keep their intelligence-gathering operations secret.
The only hint of a potential pay-off involved a proposed six-figure "donation" from Mr Bandera to the hospital foundation.
Profiti said he "didn't exclude" that he had sought such a donation, and Mr Spina said he tried to get the money out of Mr Bandera.
Mr Bandera, however, pleaded financial hardship after his company went bankrupt and never paid up.
Neither Cardinal Bertone nor Mr Bandera were indicted in the case, though it is possible prosecutors in the Vatican and Italy now have the evidence they need to mount a case against the builder over the allegation he was paid twice for the same work.
At the trial, Mr Bandera said he never billed twice for the works, though acknowledged he was no longer fully in control of the company after it went bankrupt in early 2014.
Cardinal Bertone has insisted he knew nothing of the hospital's payment.
After the scandal came to light in late 2015, he quickly made a 150,000 euro (134,000) "donation" to the hospital, insisting it was not a payback but a gesture of goodwill.
- AP
A brute force cyber attack on the UK parliament that compromised MPs' email accounts was carried out by Iran, it has emerged.
Blackmail fears were raised when hackers tried to break into the system used by MPs, peers and staff by searching for weak passwords.
Around 90 of the 9,000 email accounts were undermined in the "sustained and determined" attack in June.
Russia faced accusations it was behind the attack but investigators have traced the source of the hit to the Tehran regime, according to The Times.
The UK House of Commons said it did not comment on security matters.
A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate to comment further while enquiries are ongoing."
The revelations come as Britain tried to keep the Iran nuclear deal on track after Donald Trump's refusal to back it.
The US president accused Tehran of violating the spirit of the landmark 2015 agreement and believes the international community is being naive in its dealings with the regime.
Theresa May joined Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron to issue a statement insisting preserving the pact was "in our shared national security interest" and calling for Washington to "consider the implications" of taking action that undermine it.
Mr Trump stopped short of ripping up the deal but said without measures to toughen it up "the agreement will be terminated".
The statement from the UK, France and Germany said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had "repeatedly confirmed" Iran's compliance to the terms it signed up to.
It said: " We, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump's decision not to recertify Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) to Congress and are concerned by the possible implications.
"We stand committed to the JCPoA and its full implementation by all sides. Preserving the JCPoA is in our shared national security interest.
"The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step towards ensuring that Iran's nuclear programme is not diverted for military purposes."
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry accused Mr Trump of an "act of wanton vandalism" and said it was "high time" the Government stopped kow-towing to the US president and challenged him on his actions.
She said: "I t is an act of wanton vandalism for Donald Trump to jeopardise the future of that deal today, and to move the goalposts by linking it to important but utterly extraneous issues around Iran's wider activities in the region.
"It is also totally disingenuous to suggest that the deal just needs to be fixed, when the only evidence that it is any way broken is inside Donald Trump's head.
"Yet sadly, this kind of reckless and thoughtless behaviour is what we have come to expect from this president.
"From the Paris climate change deal to US membership of Unesco, he has demonstrated a flagrant disregard for the institutions and agreements that bind the international community together in the shared pursuit of a better future.
"That is not what we expect from the President of the United States, and it is high time for the British Government to tell him so.
"Because yet again, this shows that the strategy of kow-towing and hand-holding operated by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary has utterly failed, and they have once more allowed our so-called closest ally to treat them like fools.
"When he fooled Theresa May and Boris Johnson on climate change, we can say shame on him, but now the same pair have been fooled on Iran as well, we can only say shame on them."
The decision brings to an end a 19-month planning saga that has now resulted in Mr OBriens Purleigh Holdings securing planning permission for the 86 apartments across five blocks.
The firm lodged plans for a 90-unit plan last December in a revised application with the city council. However, this was reduced to 86 by Dublin City Council in its grant of permission last April which ordered the omission of a top floor in one apartment block.
In a statement, the board said: It committed to doing same in an e-mail to the Charleville Board in August 2016.
The credit union movement would have underwritten a merger with another credit union without any cost to the State. This would have allowed credit union services to continue without any cost to the taxpayer.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Charleville and Clonmel credit unions were in talks to merge. However, the two CUs failed to reach agreement on the fine details of a post-merger entity.
Yesterday, the former Charleville board said that, with the backing of the Irish League of Credit Unions, its credit union was able to meet the 10% regulatory reserve.
Despite all the restrictions placed on the business by the Central Bank, the Charleville membership has remained totally loyal to the credit union business, it said.
They want to save and borrow more, but the Central Bank restrictions have prevented them from doing so.
"This scenario does not represent a credible outcome. If this is the outcome of a credit unions seven-year involvement with the Central Bank, then the State urgently needs to find another structure for the regulation and oversight of credit unions.
The Central Bank itself confirmed that, as it made yesterdays High Court application ex parte, the credit union was not represented and had no opportunity to make its case to the court.
However, the credit unions directors can make an application in relation to the winding-up by Monday, with the court able to reconvene on Wednesday.
The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) said the decision to appoint provisional liquidators is very disappointing for the members of Charleville Credit Union who have relied on its valued services for over 50 years.
The eligible savings of members of Charleville Credit Union will be covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, up to 100,000 per member, it said.
The Board of Directors of Charleville Credit Union had, for some time, sought to bring about a transfer of Charleville Credit Union to another credit union on a voluntary basis.
"However, this was found not to be feasible. ILCU is conscious of the demand for the services of a credit union in the local area and the restoration of services is of the utmost priority.
Local Fianna Fail TD Michael Moynihan said Charleville is the latest in a string of credit unions to have gone under.
Last November the Central Bank issued 22.3m to Rush Credit Unions 9,700 members under its deposit guarantee scheme after the union was put into liquidation. Councillor Ian Doyle, who met the 14 staff affected by the closure, has called a public meeting on Monday.
The last time a Taoiseach and Cabinet met in the countrys second city was when Bertie Ahern hosted his own council of ministers in the historic surroundings of Cork City Hall.
That was some 12 years ago and as it later emerged it was a lavish affair, costing taxpayers 5,811 for the politicians away-day.
This time around, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar brought some goodies for the citizens of Cork: Committing to a major motorway project linking Limerick and promising major infrastructure plans for Munster, a region that now is home to the fastest rate of employment in the country.
A packed business breakfast meeting at the spectacularly refurbished Pairc Ui Chaoimh stadium was the setting for Mr Varadkars first public engagement in Cork since taking office.
No pressure then, especially as onlookers wondered what it would have been like if Corks own Simon Coveney (also at the breakfast briefing), the foreign affairs minister, had trumped Leo Varadkar in the Fine Gael leadership race and was the Taoiseach instead.
But Leo Varadkar knows his audiences and, as well as referencing past Munster politicians and sports accolades, he knew the crowds gathered for the early fare were hungry for news of what the Government will do for Cork, especially under a Dublin Taoiseach.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Varadkar who today is exactly four months in office outlined his vision for major infrastructure projects. He also spoke about the recent pensions discrimination scandal which has erupted in the wake of the budget this week.
He said the 10-year capital plan to be announced in December will boost spending in schools, roads and railways: But of crucial importance for Munster and Cork and Limerick, is that it allows us now to resume and get back on track the M20 motorway connecting Cork and Limerick.
The announcement, initially made at the Cork chamber breakfast launch, sets in motion a commitment to build the long-awaited 80km stretch of road between the two biggest cities outside of Dublin.
This is a huge commitment. The building of the road alone will cost more than 800m. Given that planning and design could take three to four years, it now looks like its construction is likely close to a decade away.
It is too long a time to improve connectivity and commuter road safety in the region.
Nonetheless, Mr Varadkar now has given the green light to put the M20 back on track: So the Gort-Tuam motorway opened just a few weeks ago, connecting Galway to Limerick and Clare.
Now we want to do the next part of that, making sure that all roads no longer just go to Dublin by connecting Cork and Limerick via the M20.
Crucially, Mr Varadkar revealed that the 10-year capital plan will, in fact, include details about building the M20.
This is likely to include some cost elements or timeframe. Most importantly, even after allocating some tight spending for next year in this weeks budget, he also said: The money is no longer a barrier to progressing that project.
Mr Varadkar remembers all too well when during his tenure as transport minister plans for the new motorway were halted with the country facing huge cuts: I remember when it had to be suspended because we didnt have the money to progress it anymore.
"Now we do have the money, so its the most important transport project in Munster. Its going ahead, just like the Dublin metro is going ahead.
This is an important comparison and confirms how serious the new Taoiseach understands the project to be.
He also told the Irish Examiner he is committed to building the Cork City events centre. The future of the 6,000-seat facility is in doubt after its developers hiked up the estimated cost to more than 70m.
The ensuing disagreement has seen the Government held over a barrel by being asked to increase the taxpayers contribution to some 38m. The State is only willing to pay 30m and the stand-off continues. Now, a value-for-money review is underway, confirmed the Taoiseach.
We also need to make sure we wouldnt run into any problems with the tender, having to repeat that for example, which would set it back, which is obviously something that nobody wants.
"So any time there is a change of plan and increase in cost, we have to do due diligence, which is ultimately taxpayers money. It is absolutely a project that I am enthusiastic about and I look forward to seeing, not just under way, but completed.
As fallout from the Governments budget announcements continues this week, Mr Varadkar also addressed the pensions discrimination scandal. This has resulted in widespread concern about tens of thousands of older people whose State pensions were left short by hundreds or in some cases thousands of euro.
The State pension is calculated by adding up PRSI contributions a person makes and dividing that by the number of years between when they started work and when they retired.
A complex anomaly arose after law changes in 2012, which saw many older people, particularly women, punished because they had taken time off to bring up a family or taken up part-time work.
The source of the contributory pension row dates back to when eligibility rules changed in 2012. Many contributory applicants are now getting smaller amounts. Advocacy groups had hoped the fiasco would have been addressed in the budget. But it was not.
In the interview, the Taoiseach admitted it may take years to alter the pension rules. A simple reversal of the 2012 criteria would be unfair for people who worked all their life, he
explained:
We are going to examine it but it is important to say that if we went back to the rules that were there before 2012, they werent particularly fair either because in those rules before 2012, people who made an average contribution of 20 [years] got 98% of the pension but people who made an average contribution of 48 [years] got 100% of the pension.
Simply reversing the 2012 rule would result in people who worked substantially different numbers of years possibly getting the same amounts.
Instead of this, the Taoiseach and the Government want to have a much longer look at the pensions anomaly, but this could take years, he admits.
But like all these things, any time you change the way you calculate something, some people will be better off, some people will be worse off. And before we make that change, we need to properly understand the profile of people who would be affected.
The Taoiseach also spoke about Irelands hopes of winning the Rugby World Cup bid, an announcement on which will be made in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, it was all smiles for the cameras yesterday as the Cabinet enjoyed its away-day and think-in on the leafy grounds of University College Cork.
It was also a clever move by the Fine Gael-led coalition, which stole the news headlines yesterday as Fianna Fail prepared to open the doors on its Dublin-based Ard Fheis at the RDS.
While Fianna Fail leader and Cork South Central TD, Micheal Martin, was drumming up support among lieutenants in Dublin, Leo Varadkar was in his backyard stealing a march on him with big promises for voters and leaving his own indelible mark on the second city.
READ MORE: Money no longer a barrier to motorway
The gross unfairness of the anomaly in calculations of the contributory old age pension is to be raised at the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis in Dublins RDS today.
It comes after Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, came under criticism this week for not addressing the pension inequalities as part of Budget 2018.
Women who took time out of work to look after children or care for sick or elderly relatives feel cheated that their contributory pensions have been cut. Workers, mainly women, who left work to care for young or sick in the home, are being penalised as their contributions are averaged out from the day they first began working and do not take account of a period of leave.
The anomalies were exacerbated after then Social Protection Minister Joan Burton introduced changes in 2012 which have made it even more difficult to qualify for contributory pensions.
The motion around these anomalies, which Fianna Fail say negatively impact on women, has been put forward by the Glasnevin North cumann.
Fianna Fail TD Dara OBrien said: It has something that we have been consistently raising, we initially opposed those measures that were brought in by the last Fine Gael-Labour Government way back in 2012.
Speaking ahead of the Ard Fheis which began last night, he described the 2012 changes as a backward step that effectively means that the thresholds for women to receive contributory pensions have doubled.
Many who worked from home for periods of their lives are now being penalised, Mr OBrien told RTEs Morning Ireland.
However, yesterday Sinn Fein deputy leader, Mary Lou McDonald, claimed Fianna Fail is now exploiting those on lower pensions after previously ignoring them.
Last December, Sinn Fein put forward a motion to try to address these issues. Sinn Fein attempted to address the pension inequality against women and to reverse the changes made in 2012. Fianna Fail chose not to support that initiative.
Fianna Fail did nothing for them in the Budget negotiations. They did nothing for them in the last Budget. They excluded them from their election manifesto. They did not even make reference to them until it was a chance to feign concern in the Dail.
Penal reformers welcomed the move but said it is still a delayed response given previous commitments.
In Budget 2018, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said additional funding is being provided.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) told the Irish Examiner that the IPS and the Probation Service are currently advancing the tender documentation.
He said the facility, catering for the Dublin region, is intended to assist women as they move from custody, or other residential settings, to the community: It is envisaged that the facility would accommodate women for a period of time following custody, or on probation supervision in the community, who are assessed as suitable to reside in the community and have accommodation and other needs requiring support.
He said suitable premises will need to be identified by the service provider, with accommodation and recreation and therapeutic facilities: It is envisaged that the service provider will coordinate individualised care plans for this vulnerable group with complex needs, linking women to a variety of community-based services and equipping them with skills to move towards independent living.
There are currently 133 spaces for women offenders within the prison system.
Dochas can accommodate 105 women and, according to the IPS, some 20 of these are for women preparing for release.
Limerick Female Prison has the capacity for 28 women.
According to figures for October 17, there were 128 women in custody and a further 17 women on temporary release.
The budget provision for a step-down facility for women in 2018 is welcome, but in fact represents a delay on previous commitments, said Fiona Ni Chinneide, acting executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust.
She said the new timeline of early 2018 must now be met: Female offenders are 4.6 times more likely than males to experience difficulty accessing accommodation, so it is essential that safe, secure and supported accommodation is provided for women on release.
She said the new facility should not distract from the need for an open prison for women serving long sentences.
Open prisons play an important role in normalisation and preparation for release from prison, but currently in Ireland only medium-security prison facilities are available for women. There are two open prisons for men.
She said there is a stark difference in outcomes for men and women on the Community Return Programme, a structured and supervised prison release programme, with only 10% of men returning to prison, compared to 60% of women: An estimated 85% of women in prison have addictions, with a much higher prevalence of mental health issues and histories of abuse outside prison.
Exclusive edited extract from Clodagh Finns biography of Mary Elmes: A Time to Risk All
Dear Mademoiselle,
All of the pupils in my school, even the littlest ones, know your
name Miss Elmes. Those words will always conjure up for us the idea of snacks that we have been without for so long: chocolate and jam. Thank you so much for
all that we owe you.
FRANCINE Delmas, a pupil in the village of Cases-de-Pene, north-west of Perpignan, was nine years old when she wrote those words, but her elegant script, beautifully spaced on a copybook grid, belies her years.
Another note, from seven-year-old Marcelle Mas at the same school, reads: Please, Mademoiselle, pass on lots and lots of thanks-you to our friends in America.
Yet another, from 12-year-old Rosette Arnaud, said: In exchange for all your good things, we have nothing to offer you but our friendship, but we do so with all of our heart.
Mary Elmes and her colleagues received thousands of similar letters from grateful French schoolchildren and their parents who wanted to convey truckloads of thank-yous for the food, medical aid and clothes received during the war years and afterwards.
As well as helping the refugees in the camps, the Quakers did what they could to alleviate the acute suffering that also affected the French population. Food shortages were already severe in the first winter after the fall of France. In November 1940 the mayor of Carcassonne, Dr Tomey, warned that the region was facing near-famine conditions.
The mayor happened to mention to Mary, in passing, that the local council was no longer able to finance the school-feeding scheme that it had run in creches and nursery schools for years.
She was said to have been profoundly moved by the news and immediately contacted her superior, Howard Kershner, asking him to intervene.
Children being fed at a childrens home set up by Mary
He was able to rally 50 days worth of food supplies and sent 1,600kg of rice, 128kgs of cocoa and 512kg of sugar to Carcassonne, the makings of a comforting chocolate-pudding snack.
Some days later a local newspaper published an account of the Quakers generosity, praising Mary Elmes in particular. The mayor said he was profoundly touched by the gesture.
During her tenure Mary and her Quaker colleagues provided school snacks or a midday meal to more than 84,000 children in schools in the south of France. The most common and most popular snack was the famous Quaker chocolate pudding, made from rice, chocolate, and sugar.
It was a favourite with schoolchildren, but delegates also spent considerable time trying to work out the right proportion of ingredients to maximise the nutritional content. They also wanted it to taste good and on occasion sampled it for themselves.
I tasted the pudding and found it quite palatable, Marys colleague Donald Stevenson reported after one school visit.
The children evidently liked it for it disappeared very rapidly. I wish that the ration for each child could have been larger. Double the amount would seem to me to have given them more of a meal.
But food was increasingly scarce, and children in the region lost a tenth of their weight in one 10-month period in 1941, Howard Kershner reported with alarm in a letter to Mary.
Her office in Perpignan monitored the crisis by distributing weight charts to schools. They noted each pupils weight increase or loss after the distribution of food aid. Some gained weight, but many remained the same and often lost weight.
The Quakers responded by issuing millions of doses of vitamins incorporated in little squares of chocolate. Each one was done up in a small wrapper explaining that it was a gift from the American people which was delivered by the Quaker workers as a symbol of friendship.
In every school, grateful recipients wrote postcards and letters of thanks, like the ones written personally to Miss Elmes.
A Christmas card from refugees at St Cyprien camp (Pictures Courtesy of MCUSA Archives)
A pupil was chosen to say a special word of thanks; then everyone would shout Vive lAmerique and Vive la France before tucking in.
There are hundreds of surviving examples of childrens poems, drawings and handwritten notes of thanks. From a school at Elne, south of Perpignan, Marguerite Chalverat addressed her note to the dear Americans and told them that she had gained two kilos (4 pounds) because of their gift and was now in good health.
Her classmate Simone Baile wrote: Thank you for the good things that you have sent us and that do so much good. I am always very happy at 4 oclock when we are given our snack.
Meanwhile, the class at the Jules Ferry school in Montpellier was inspired to write a poem:
We, the little children of France
We salute our faraway friends
We thank with all our hearts
Our generous benefactors,
Who give us every morning
A good American meal.
Please accept the gratitude
Of all the mothers in France.
They will never forget
Your goodness.
A new year card from one of the refugees.
However, the letters and cards were not only touching expressions of politeness: they were a vital part of a well-oiled publicity machine that was designed to keep American donations flowing.
Howard Kershner frequently reminded volunteers that propaganda in America was of the utmost importance for replenishing the funds. He knew the burden of the work load on volunteers but said it was vital to send stories and pictures of the children who benefited from American largesse.
One Quaker delegate, Katrina McCormick Barnes, put it more bluntly in a letter to Mary Elmes: The London and Philadelphia offices have been howling for human interest stories. I know how swamped you are with work, and so I dont dare to set a date in the month for the stories and pictures.
But she added: I cant stress too much the importance of these two items.
Some of those stories were written on postcards with studio-produced images of idealised French children: unrealistic representations of perfect boys and girls.
The contrast between those images and the contemporary photographs taken of schoolchildren eagerly drinking from bowls could not be more marked.
The head office of the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia was particularly interested in the latter, as they were more likely to provoke a generous public response. In January 1942, the committees executive secretary, Clarence Pickett, issued a press statement to warn that the conditions of malnutrition and starvation throughout Europe were becoming increasingly acute.
It read: The results of hunger are already manifest not only in arrested growth, pale and ashen complexions, thin legs, and lack of resistance to contagious diseases, according to Quaker workers.
They quote a principal of a large school who states: A rule understood and known the day of the lesson is forgotten the next day, and absolutely forgotten as though they had never learned it, and this by painstaking, studious pupils. There is less [gaiety]. A badly nourished child is a sad child. What will become of our schoolchildren if this keeps on? The future of our race is at stake.
Until food could be sent from America, Europes people would live in misery. If Europe is ever to find her way back to enduring peace we must find some way to save her children.
Mary Elmes Quaker ID. Postcard image: courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee
HOWEVER, getting that food from America to Europe posed another problem. The delivery of food was being severely hampered by the Allied blockade, which had been implemented to restrict the supply of goods to Nazi Germany but was causing widespread hardship.
The English Quakers pointed this out in a declaration to the office of the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, in April 1942:
Hunger is a weapon that affects an entire population, taking no notice of gender, friend or foe, age or youth, but ravages the young to the greatest extent. The food blockade does not only contribute to hunger, it also creates and encourages a heartless attitude in those responsible for the blockade.
This results, in the end, in the destruction of our Christian values, such as charity, empathy, etc. Values our land is fighting for.
The Quakers acknowledged the serious political and technical difficulties that could be caused by food parcels but urged the British government to find a solution so that food and clothing could be delivered to the countries that were cut off. Their appeal did not lead to any concessions.
There was the added complication of trying to stay on the right side of the Vichy and German authorities, a point made on several occasions by Howard Kershner in France. In one memo he warned the staff to be careful of what they said when it came to publicity:
Nothing should be said that might make it more difficult to carry on our work in cooperation with the many authorities of different nationalities with whom we have to deal. For instance, not a can of milk comes from Switzerland without the approval of the German control.
Without going into details, I think you will see, therefore, the necessity for preserving strict neutrality and speaking most respectfully for all. When we remember furthermore that our life-line goes through Spain and know all the influences that are at work there, we are reminded that we must not allow anyone who is supporting us to make statements or engage in activity which is not directly in accordance with our well known principles of impartiality in conducting relief work.
If hunger was an issue among the French population as a whole, it was even more so in the camps. In January 1942, Mary Elmess report on the Rivesaltes camp told of the terrible hunger among the internees (968 men, 1,833 women and 1,209 children): They never can eat their fill even of the miserably unpalatable and un-nourishing soup served to them twice daily.
The memory of those deprivations stayed with Carmen Canadell for the rest of her life. She had fled her home town, Girona, in 1939 with her sister Mercedes and her mother, Maria, while Mary was still working in Spain. Mary would later play a role in their lives, but in the intervening two years Carmens family endured untold suffering.
The Canadell sisters Carmen and Mercedes (Picture courtesy of MCUSA Archives).
When they arrived in France they were moved from camp to camp. In February 1941, at Recebedou camp, south of Toulouse, Marias mother gave birth to her third child, Josefa.
Her husband, Jose, worked on a farm, but, like so many other Spanish refugees, the rest of the family had to apply for documents to be able to join him, a process that could take years.
In June that year, Maria and her three daughters were moved to Rivesaltes, where they were separated. Maria and her baby were interned in the improvised nursery in Block J, while her older daughters were left alone in Block K.
Carmens daughter Brigitte Twomey recounts her mothers memory of that time:
Carmen and Mercedes could only talk to their mother through a wire fence. To go from one Ilot [block] to the other, they needed a pass. There was no adult supervision and the children were left to fend for themselves. It was sweltering hot in summer and freezing in winter. The conditions were desperate.
There were rats and lice; latrines without doors; thin mattresses made of straw always damp; not enough blankets, no tables, chairs, toiletries. The ground was very rocky and hard to walk on for kids without shoes, or just cloth wrapped around their feet.
My mother and aunt didnt have any shoes and only very few clothes. Kids were left to themselves with nothing to do all day. Idleness weighed heavily upon them.
But, she says, what stayed with her mother most forcefully was the memory of hunger:
Starvation was the worst, always the worst. During the war, the French people did not have enough food for themselves; refugees had even less and always came last. When my mother was nine and living in one of the camps, she would go out at night to steal fruit from local orchards.
One farmer chased her and shot at her with his rifle. When I asked her if she had been very scared, she told me that it did not matter, she was too hungry. Starvation took over everything.
Mary Elmes in her flat in Perpignan.
Brigittes mother also related stories of seeing the bodies of the many who died of malnutrition and other diseases in the camp. She and Mercedes would visit the dead and pinch their toes: they believed that could bring them back to life.
When both sisters contracted scabies they were sent to the Hopital Saint-Louis in Perpignan. They have memories of mould on the hospital walls and having to scrounge in the bins for food. They also spoke about the terrible pain of having their scabs buffed with hard brushes as part of the treatment.
IN January 1942, the sisters were sent back to the camp at Rivesaltes and were moved to the infirmary. The register at the childrens home, the Villa Saint-Christophe at Canet-Plage, has a note of their arrival later that month. Their transfer to the home would have been overseen by Mary Elmes, although it was her colleague Friedel Bohny-Reiter who drove them from the camp to the home on the coast.
Their six-month stay provided a blessed reprieve. My mother remembered the long walks along the waters edge, Brigitte says.
And, of course, she recalled the food. Many years later the thought of the big bowls of vegetable soup and thick crusty bread and the four oclock snack of bread and chocolate brought a huge smile to her face.
As adults, neither sister spoke much of those painful times, but the experience of being deprived of so much food, shelter, security, parental support in their early years had a lasting effect. Brigitte says her mother made sure that food was always available in their house, and in great quantity.
Meanwhile, the Quakers and other relief agencies were attempting to distribute scarce resources as widely as possible. There were increasing tensions within the organisation about how aid should be allocated: to the needy French population or to the refugee undesirables in the camps.
In a reply to Mary Elmes, Howard Kershner said he was against asking the already overburdened government at Vichy to improve conditions in the camps. However, he agreed to support Marys efforts to provide assistance to the camp refugees and gave her permission to go full speed ahead to do everything within her power.
His attitude was a source of disquiet among volunteers. Marys colleague Helga Holbek had furious exchanges with him on the subject of food. Another colleague, Ross McClelland, head of refugee camp work in Marseille, accused Kershner of making ridiculous general statements to the effect that many children in the camps are better fed than lots of children outside.
He said that Kershner was interested in French children only because it might bring him positive publicity.
Mary Elmes in a picture taken by Emily S. Parker in Spain
Mary wasnt prepared to mince her words either. When Noel Field of the Unitarian Committee singled out Rivesaltes as the sore spot after a week-long tour of the camps, she wrote a fierce rebuttal, tackling his accusations point by point. She didnt accept his charge that the internees were practically on a starvation diet.
An incident described by Marjorie McClelland opens another window on what was happening in the south of France in late 1941 and early 1942. By then many of the Spanish refugees had been contracted to work in France; others had joined the French army, and some were being repatriated to Spain.
In a letter to Margaret Jones at the Quaker headquarters in Philadelphia, Marjorie described meeting a convoy of about 20 Spaniards as they were being repatriated to Spain.
They begged a gendarme to call at the Quakers office in Toulouse, as they had heard there was a chance they might get something to eat. The gendarme called at the office and was told to bring the group of men immediately. Marjorie was struck by the desperation of the group of wan men who ate what they were given in silence. She said their eyes lit up when plates of steaming beans were put in front of them; for many it was the first real food they had seen in months.
At least, she thought, the Quakers had been able to provide a little oasis between two lost existences: the miserable camp they had left and the uncertain future that awaited them when they returned to Spain.
The Spanish refugees were repatriated to Francos Spain. The Quakers were not able to say what became of them.
A Time to Risk All: The Mary Elmess story
Ive been startled in the bathroom, a flowerbed and up a Stira loft ladder. But this morning when she calls, its different: I dont know where I am at all.
How are you? she says. Just a sec while I find my bearings, I say. I look around the room: first I need to remember where I lost them. Im fine, I say, Im in bed. At this hour? she says, its 9am over here. I remember now where I lost them. It was at a wedding I attended last night. But an Irish wedding requires Irish stamina. Im from London: its a work in progress. I also remember where over here is. My mother is in Turkey, holidaying with my sister and her girlfriend. The infinity pool looked wicked on Whatsapp.
Are you two hours ahead or behind? I say. Ahead, she says, so what have you been up to? I was at a wedding last night, I say. I describe the ceremony at the same time as trying to work out what ahead means for me. What was the reception like? Did you have a nice table? Weddings can be terrible if youre put next to someone ghastly. I look at the time. I have worked out what ahead means for me: exhaustion.
I got talking to a woman sitting behind me, I say, an architect. She was delightful. About my age. She had eight children.
Easily done, my mother says, I mean six would have been the least of it if my womb hadnt finally fallen out. But I thought women nowadays didnt have to wait for their wombs to fall out in order to stop having children. I mean after all, these days theres the pill. Moving on from wombs, I say, the woman was a grandmother three times over too. She was saying she enjoys her grandchildren but shes so much more safety-conscious with them than she was with her own. All this consciousness, Mum says, it must be exhausting for parents and grandparents these days. Im glad I had you all at a time when being unconscious was the norm. I can hear my sisters voice in the background. Are you sure it wasnt just the norm for you, Mum? All I know is that there was no consciousness of the things youre all conscious of now, Mum says, you cant open a paper without reading about the psychological impact of basically absolutely everything a parent does. Take nutrition, just for example. I mean giving a child beans on toast is tantamount to poisoning these days.
Safety consciousness isnt exactly niche, I say, and I dont think its something thats particular to my generation. Well it certainly wasnt particular to mine, she says, I mean we were reasonably vigilant but we werent hyper-vigilant. Hyper-vigilance is a modern-day tyranny. Tell her the story you told me yesterday, my sister says. What story? Mum says, Ive told you lots of stories. Tell her any of them, my sister says, theyve all got the same thrust. The one about you in the pram? Mum says. Where Mum came downstairs, my sister shouts in the background, and found me choking to death on the pram-reins. No, not that one, Mum. Tell her the one about Tom. Talking of your brother, Mum says, he recommended the book Im reading. I meant to tell you about it. Its called The Hired Man. You must read it. Never mind Tom and the book, my sister says, tell her about Tom and the cot. Its not my fault he was too heavy for the cot, Mum says.
What happened to Tom in the cot? I say. Nothing he didnt survive, Mum says, I mean look at him now. Talk about thriving. His foot wouldnt fit in a cot now. My sister takes the phone. The base of the cot used to collapse, she says, Mum would go in in the mornings and find Tom on the floor. Regularly. In the house in Corran.
Like I said, Mum says, he survived. In spite of you, my sister says. In spite of being too heavy for the cot, Mum says.
Giving a child beans on toast is tantamount to poisoning these days.
THE phone beeped, and Finian McGrath jumped up and moved to step outside the office on the ground floor in the Department of Finance.
Its all right Paschal, dont worry, I am not leaking the budget. By the way, Ireland is 1-0, came the quip as he exited, which drew laughter from those present.
But there was tension in the air.
Last Monday night, as the country sat down to watch the Ireland v Wales match, the Independent Alliance ministers Mr McGrath, Shane Ross, John Halligan, Kevin Boxer Moran, along with whip Sean Canney, were locked in last-minute talks with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe over Budget 2018, which he would deliver less than 18 hours later.
There was a tongue-in-cheek demand from Mr McGrath at the start of the talks: Listen Paschal, we need to be out of here by a quarter to eight. They werent, and ended up getting updates on the game via text messages. When James McCleans goal went in, all phones in the room went into meltdown.
At the same time, Mr Donohoe was also trying to finalise matters with Fianna Fails public expenditure spokesman Dara Calleary, and it was on Monday that agreement to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio was reached. His colleague Michael McGrath had agreed the tax side earlier in the day.
It was after 11 before the deal was done and the budget was sent off to the printers. But it was an arduous deal which was six long weeks in the making.
When we came back off our summer holidays, at the end of August, you go in to talks with Paschal. You present your submission and your estimates. The boys take it away and that goes on for five or six weeks and it was only toward the end that Paschal and the boys have one-on-one meetings with you, said one minister.
As it was his first full budget, the pressure on Mr Donohoe was immense. For the first time since the late Brian Lenihan delivered his last budget in 2010, there was one minister in charge of both the finance and public expenditure elements of the budget.
Having thrashed out the framework of the budget with new Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during the summer, Mr Donohoe set to work. He was clear from the off that this budget was a three-way deal Fine Gael, Independents, and Fianna Fail and all had to be listened to and taken care of.
Today, five members of the Cabinet recount their experience of the process of Budget 2018.
I found things got done quicker when I met Paschal on his own. When the officials were there it was very formal and less productive. You meet Paschal maybe as many as six times before the real run-up to the budget in the past two weeks. And then you would meet him a few more times to finish it off, said one.
From speaking to ministers, it is clear Mr Donohoe is a formidable negotiator.
Paschal is total cool hand Luke... a serious negotiator. He is always very courteous and very warm. When it comes down to the tough decisions, he is very honest. He would tell you straight out what he cant do. He would get the things he cant do out of the way first but always finish with what he can, so you leave feeling delighted with yourself, said one Independent minister.
When he has bad news, he will ring you personally. He doesnt pull any strokes like others used, said one Fine Gael minister.
His great trick is to run down the clock and let people blow off steam and run out of gas.
He would help you find a way to take ownership of what got the money and what didnt. It was highly effective and astute, said another Fine Gael minister.
THE INDEPENDENTS:
It has emerged that Mr Donohoe met the Independent ministers both in his department for the more formal meetings during the six weeks, but also in their offices on the ministerial corridor. Transport Minister Shane Ross office tended to be the venue. He would make his way over by himself, armed only with a pen and a small notebook for the face-to-face discussions.
When he came to us, we had a lot of meetings in Shanes office; he would only arrive in with a little notebook. But when you were in the big posh room in Finance, the parlour, he would have all of his staff on side. He was much more formal in DPER [Department of Public Expenditure and Reform]. Robert Watt [Mr Donohoes secretary general] was always hanging around, said one minister.
It was all very slow in the beginning but it ramped up very quickly. Like I gave Paschal a list of 20 things I wanted done and he would come back and say I cant do this or that, knock it down to five or six things and you leave the room happy, said one.
It has emerged that Mr McGrath had gone in looking for 100m extra for disability services and was told he couldnt have that. Mr Donohoe and his officials told him he could have 50m. In the end, they settled on 75m. But what was clear from the talks was that Mr Donohoe was keen to ensure the Independents [the Alliance as well as Denis Naughten and Katherine Zappone] are happy. There is a complete change of attitude to what went before. He wants us all on board. He says that and reinforced that at all the talks, an Independent minister said.
FIANNA FAIL:
While Mr Calleary and McGrath did the heavy lifting on behalf of Fianna Fail, leader Micheal Martin and his core team of Deirdre Gillane and Pat McPartland were never far away.
Bilaterals began a number of weeks back in the department, with engagement continuing over the phone between Mr Donohoe and Mr McGrath and Mr Calleary. It has come out that there was annoyance within Mr Donohoes office that Fianna Fail was slow in bringing forward its social welfare demands, given how large a budget it is. It is also clear that throughout, Mr Donohoe was doing his best to ensure all sides were kept up to speed, while demanding virtual omerta from everybody. We were afraid that when he went back to Fianna Fail and told them what we were looking for, they would steal our ideas, said one Independent minister.
FINE GAEL:
Interestingly, some of the most tricky conversations Mr Donohoe had were with his own party colleagues. It is understood it was agreed early enough that Health would be a big beneficiary of an increase, with Mr Donohoe backing Simon Harris in his demands for more cash. But with his 685m increase, Mr Harris and Mr Donohoe broke the trend of Health being the last department to be finalised, concluding his business last Friday.
Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty found the going a little tougher and only signed off on her allocation on Monday. But two ministers who were said not to be happy at all were Heather Humphreys and Michael Ring, the latter especially so. Mr Ring would lash his colleagues out of it at Cabinet on the morning of the budget to highlight his displeasure.
THE LAST PUSH:
With the pressure on, Mr Donohoe was working seven days a week, with serious hours put in on Saturdays and Sundays. He would spend a lot of time on the phone over the weekends trying to make progress. By last Friday, he had succeeded in closing off most of the smaller departments, but then a series of rows erupted.
McGrath was having an individual row with him over the UN Convention funding, and that row kicked off last Friday evening and in fairness to him, they had a bit of a ding-dong on Friday evening. We resolved it late on Sunday evening, said one minister.
But Mr Donohoe also had bad news for Mr Halligan, who had pushed for an increase in the betting tax to pay for addiction services. He shot that down, to Mr Halligans sharp annoyance.
Most of the discussions last weekend were over the phone but we were on standby to go in. The betting tax thing was ruled out on Saturday; he spoke to Halligan on Saturday, said one minister.
At the conclusion of their meeting late on Monday, the Alliance ministers couldnt resist a playful jibe at an exhausted Mr Donohoe. Wed always slag him in the meetings Your head must be fried dealing with us, they would joke with him.
He responded: Ah no, we just keep the show on the road and do our best.
Mario Tama/Getty Images(SAN JUAN) -- Hurricane Maria has been blamed for the deaths of at least 48 people in Puerto Rico since it roared ashore last month and knocked out power there, officials said.
Authorities there raised the death toll by 3 on Saturday based on a review of medical records. The number could increase as the medical examiner continues to review all deaths that occurred in hospitals on the U.S. island territory around the time that the powerful hurricane hit, according to Puerto Rico's Secretary of Public Security Hector Pesquera.
"We are reviewing each and every case to see if the storm was a direct or indirect cause," Pesquera told reporters, following a news conference in the San Juan. "I doubt seriously that we will have any direct at this juncture."
Maria made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, turning roads into rivers and ripping roofs from homes.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said about 85 percent of the island was still without power Saturday. Meanwhile, 42 percent of cell phone customers in Puerto Rico don't have service and 36 percent of residents still don't have access to safe drinking water.
The goal is to restore electricity for half the island by mid-November and for 95 percent by mid-December, Rossello said.
"These are aggressive goals," the governor told a news conference Saturday.
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Update on solicitors
The two young men soliciting money who R.R. asked about in Fridays SAM column are not representatives of the R.J. Reynolds High School Home Field Advantage Campaign, according to organizers from the group. The men were traveling around a neighborhood last weekend asking for money that they claimed was for the group, which is raising money to help build a stadium for Reynolds, which currently shares a stadium with Parkland High School.
But the group says that is not how it does its fundraising.
We do not solicit door-to-door, said Stan Dean, the groups spokesman. We solicit through our website and through direct mail and solicitation of our alumni and the RJR community.
Im afraid that your reader was the victim of a scam. We are editing our website to warn of this scam, Dean said.
People who believe they may have fallen victim to scammers should call their local law-enforcement agencys non-emergency phone number to file a report.
Watch for deer
In light of several recent questions to Ask SAM, and the fact that deer mating season typically runs from mid-October to mid-November, some tips on safe driving at this time of year may prove useful.
According to the N.C. Department of Transportation, 17,901 collisions with deer were reported in 2016, with more than 47 percent of those happening between October and December.
The fall is a big season for the deer population in North and South Carolina, said Tiffany Wright, the president of the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety. With deer more apt to be on or around the roads, motorists need to be extra vigilant when driving. Visually make a continuous sweep of the road and give yourself room between other cars.
Here are AAAs tips for drivers:
Be especially attentive in the early morning and evening hours as many animals (namely deer) are most active from 5 to 8 a.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. prime commuting times for most drivers.
Use high beams when there is no oncoming traffic your lights will often reflect off the animals eyes and reveal their location.
Watch for water on the side of the road as it often attracts deer.
If you spot a deer, slow down and watch for other deer to appear, as they rarely travel alone.
As you slow down, blast your horn to frighten the animal away from the road.
Brake firmly. Do not swerve or leave your lane as many wrecks involving deer are a result of hitting other cars.
Check with your insurance agent to make sure you have comprehensive coverage that includes animal collision.
In the event of a collision with an animal, AAA recommends the following steps:
Avoid making contact with the deer as a frightened or wounded animal can hurt you or further injure itself.
Put your vehicles hazard lights on whether it is light or dark out.
If possible, move the vehicle to a safe location, out of the road, as you wait for help to arrive.
For insurance purposes, call the law-enforcement agency or the N.C. Highway Patrol.
To report an injured deer, call the N.C. Department of Natural Resources wildlife-enforcement division at 800-662-7137.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.C. said Friday that its platform on the federal individual health insurance marketplace will not be affected significantly by President Trumps decision to end consumer subsidies.
However, Trumps executive order could make it harder for insurers to plan to participate in 2019.
Josh Stein, N.C.'s attorney general, is among 19 nationwide who filed a federal lawsuit Friday to halt the executive order.
Blue Cross confirmed Aug. 1 its premium-rate-increase request for 2018 individual Affordable Care Act insurance plans would be 14.1 percent, down from its initial projection of 22.9 percent. Blue Cross still plans to cover all 100 North Carolina counties.
The subsidies help lower-income individuals buy plans that have reduced out-of-pocket costs for medical care, such as lower deductibles and co-payments.
North Carolina had the fourth highest enrollment rate for 2017 at 549,158, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The N.C. Justice Center said that 356,560 North Carolinians 65 percent of those who enrolled in a plan qualified for a subsidy.
Trump defended his decision to halt payments to insurers, saying the subsidies are almost a payoff to insurance companies to lift their stock prices instead of helping low-income people afford their premiums.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said Trump's actions are "attempting to drive up health care costs for middle-income families by sabotaging our health care system and withholding tens of millions of dollars a month from North Carolinas economy"
"As a result, North Carolinians will see their health insurance premiums rise and our federal deficit will actually increase.
"At the same time, yesterdays executive order will promote junk plans with high deductibles, no limits on catastrophic costs, and no protections for people with pre-existing conditions. This is unfair and unnecessary."
Blue Cross said in a statement we were disappointed to learn that cost-sharing reduction payments will no longer be made to insurers by the federal government.
The insurer said it prepared for the potential for eliminating the subsidies with its 2018 rate request with the N.C. Insurance Department.
Ending cost-sharing reduction payments will result in higher premiums for some of our customers next year, and the cost of coverage is already a burden for many, the insurer said.
We will continue to analyze information and guidance coming from Washington, D.C., on this developing issue. Our focus will continue to be on lowering health care costs and improving quality for all of our customers.
Brian Tajlili, director of actuarial and pricing services for the insurer, said Aug. 1 that the individual market in North Carolina has become less volatile.
We have gotten a better handle on the anticipated medical costs of people covered in this group (during June and July), which has made it easier for us to estimate the necessary price of our ACA health plans, Tajlili wrote.
We think this (14.1 percent) increase will allow our ACA plans to be financially viable, while being more affordable for our customers.
Mark Hall, a law professor at Wake Forest University and a national health-care expert, said the presidents executive order costs the government more, it costs lower-income people a lot more, it drives up insurance rates, and it drives health insurers from the market.
So, it does not make sense for anyone, other than those who want to bring the Affordable Care Act to its knees.
Brendan Riley, policy analyst for the Health Advocacy Project of the left-leaning N.C. Justice Center, said the president's "latest ACA sabotage effort will not only drive up premiums and destabilize the market, it will also cost taxpayers."
Congress must act immediately to appropriate funding for cost-sharing reductions.
Other ripple effects of the Trump administrations strategy for de-emphasizing the ACA is by shortening the open enrollment period for 2018 to Nov. 1 to Dec. 15, as well as drastically reducing the amount of marketing money to be spent on promoting the exchange.
Blue Cross is offering 18 plans in 2018. The silver, or mid-range, plan was the most popular in 2017 at 78 percent, with the low-range bronze plan at 17 percent, and the high-end gold plan and the catastrophic plan at less than 3 percent each.
There is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the law, Tajlili said. Many customers, particularly those not receiving federal subsidies, will face challenges affording any premium increase.
Mitch Kokai, a policy analyst with Libertarian think tank John Locke Foundation, said congressional health-care policymakers should devote more attention to ideas that are likely to play a role in helping to reduce costs.
This means bringing market forces into the process, he said. It means having patients and doctors playing a larger role in health care decisions, not just government bureaucrats and insurance companies.
If it were a plague, the government would rush to quarantine the infected, as occurred during Europes Black Death in the 14th century.
An immigration debate at Seattle University School of Law is a plague of a different sort, but deadly in a different way. The victim here is the right to free speech.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that Annette Clark, the dean of Seattle Universitys Law School, has revoked the schools sponsorship of a Federalist Society event. The reason? The proposed debate on immigration, hosted by the schools Access to Justice Institute, might be harmful to minority students and undocumented immigrants, aka people who broke the law to get to America, though we are not supposed to talk like that these days.
At first I thought it was a joke. It is. But a joke played on those elites who claim to believe in tolerance, academic freedom and inclusion. Dean Clarks edict reflects her and the schools intolerance, academic propaganda and exclusion of any view that does not conform to the universitys imposed ideology. Isnt this the stuff of re-education camps and gulags?
Many college campuses claim devotion to diversity, while practicing and imposing conformity. To them, diversity has to do with skin color, ethnicity and sexual orientation. It is secular liberalism dressed up in different garb. Real diversity would include people of different opinions.
At Seattle Us Law School, the Federalist Society, a conservative organization that believes in an originalist view of the Constitution, was preparing for an immigration debate. The last I checked, a debate is supposed to include opposing points of view. The purpose of a debate is to inform people so they can decide which view is superior to the other. In the 80s, these were the kinds of debates in which I participated on many college campuses. With only a few exceptions, I was granted a respectful hearing, as was my debate opponent. Often we would attend a dinner before the debate, or a reception afterward, where students and faculty could observe us interacting with decorum, humor and mutual respect.
Invitations to college campuses began disappearing in the 90s, and I havent had any since. The stories of high-profile speakers being denied the right to speak or shouted down and demonstrated against should they actually make it onto a campus are legion.
The kind of censorship practiced in Seattle is not unique to that school either. It is trending across the country. Increasingly, campuses have become safe spaces so that snowflakes will not be troubled by ideas that rattle their still developing brains, which should, instead of stagnating, constantly evolve. If they think they already know everything, why spend time and money going to college?
The greater question is this: Why do so many parents, especially conservative parents, send their children to schools that undermine their faith and values, distort history and promote causes that will not help them get a job once they graduate? A corollary question: Why do students take on so much debt to attend universities where their consciences might be raised on the liberal side, but where they are shielded from what real life looks like?
Nat Hentoff, the late liberal journalist and social critic, said the answer to speech you dont like is not less speech, but more speech. The students at Seattle Law School are being denied a well-rounded education by the speech and thought police. Students should demand that a portion of their tuition be refunded and the federal government should consider denying tax subsidies to institutions of higher learning that practice censorship.
Since 2010, our community has been quietly welcoming refugees from around the world. Winston-Salem will celebrate its interfaith response to the global refugee crisis from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, with an afternoon of activities for children, youth and adults at Knollwood Baptist Church, featuring families of refugees who have resettled in Winston-Salem; members of Good Neighbor Teams; and an address at 3 p.m. by Stephan Bauman, former president/CEO of World Relief.
Every American is either an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants even Native Americans arrived from another continent millennia ago. The United States has been described as a melting pot or a mosaic, a beautiful mixture of diverse peoples. In search of the American dream, historically waves of immigrants have streamed into our harbors. They still arrive today, fleeing from war, famine and economic or educational deprivation, enriching our culture through their energy, talents and determination to succeed.
Our Statue of Liberty proclaims: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe freeI lift my lamp beside the golden door! However, amid controversy, immigration policies have often shifted from welcome to stiff quotas to slamming the door.
Political rhetoric around immigration obscures the heroic stories of individuals escaping violence and loss of home, possessions, extended family and everything familiar. Striking out for the unknown requires great courage, determination and ability. Examples abound of the contributions by immigrants to our nation: in science, Albert Einstein; in business, Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google); in journalism, Joseph Pulitzer and Ariana Huffington; in politics, Madeline Albright; in literature, Isabel Allende; and many more! Since 2000, 40 percent of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine and physics were awarded to citizens who immigrated here. In 2016, all six U.S. winners of the Nobel Prize in economics and scientific fields were immigrants. Additionally, 21.7 percent of all MacArthur Foundation Genius awards went to citizens originating elsewhere.
Now, we have the privilege of welcoming another wave of refugees escaping turmoil in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Who is a refugee? The United Nations defines refugees as persons forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence. Internationally, there are 22.5 million classified as refugees. After thorough vetting, those granted refugee status become eligible for many types of aid. Africa and the Middle East host 55 percent of these refugees, while the Americas have received only 16 percent. Since the annual quota of 50,000 was reached in July, refugees waited anxiously for the doors to the United States to re-open on Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year began; only 45,000 refugees will be allowed to enter this year.
While policies have become more restrictive nationally, Winston-Salem has demonstrated compassion. In 2013, our mayor and city council unanimously endorsed the Charter for Compassion, becoming the 18th city in the world to become a City of Compassion. Since that time, Interfaith Winston-Salem and numerous local faith congregations have established Good Neighbor Teams to support arriving refugees toward successful integration and citizenship. Good Neighbor Teams have crossed boundaries, with a Baptist and Jewish congregation forming partnership teams; as well as people of many other denominations, university faculty, local Muslims and others working together to welcome the new arrivals.
In our area, World Relief oversees resettlement efforts, as one of 10 organizations nationally approved to resettle refugees. World Relief began resettling refugees in Winston-Salem in 2010, including families from The Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mali, Chad, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam, Yemen, Somalia and Cuba.
Refugees face multiple challenges, ranging from learning a new language (often with a totally new alphabet); seeking preventive medical and dental care; finding work; acquiring new skills; and understanding the schedules and expectations of a totally new culture.
Responding creatively, Good Neighbor Teams, congregations, neighborhoods and informal groups have hosted potluck dinners; provided transportation; arranged appointments; helped talented individuals start their own catering or other businesses; assisted with school assignments; and have formed deep friendships. Local health providers, governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations have stepped up to connect families to services. Forsyth Tech, the YMCA and Centenary Methodist Church are actively teaching refugees English. During the summer, Summit School offered a Welcome Week with educational experiences for children and families; Summit School and Imprints Cares offered a number of scholarships to summer camps; and an interfaith task force provided a series of Fantastic Thursday experiences for refugee children and their families. Annoor Islamic Center in Clemmons has been active in assisting with interpretation and cultural understanding.
Our community may be unique in the depth of welcome and volunteer assistance being provided. Join us on Oct. 21 to salute both our new arrivals and the generous heart of our city!
[JURIST] The Council of Europe [official website] published a letter [text] Wednesday in which Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks [official website] asked the government of Italy to explain why the Italian navy dispatched ships to the coast of Libya.
In July the Italian government announced [ABC report] that it was sending ships to the Libyan coast to help the Libyan government prevent people from fleeing the country.
The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts is seeking applications for the 21st annual Nebraska Young Artist Awards.
The awards annually recognize 11th-grade students from Nebraska who are talented in visual art, dance, music, theatre, and film and new media. These students exemplify the pinnacles of creativity in one of the fine and performing arts.
For the areas of music, dance, theatre, and film and new media, students must submit an application online, which includes uploading a sample of their work and a letter of recommendation from a teacher. Full instructions are available at http://go.unl.edu/nyaa.
The visual art category is different. The School of Art, Art History and Design will again host the Nebraska Young Artist Awards/Statewide Invitational Exhibition, which will be on display at the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery in Richards Hall in March 2018.
Each public and private school in Nebraska is eligible to nominate up to three visual art students for the exhibition.
School of Art, Art History and Design faculty will then jury the exhibition and select the recipients of the Nebraska Young Artist Awards. The winners will be announced at a reception in March, and they will be invited to the Hixson-Lied Colleges Nebraska Young Artist Awards Day.
The deadline for online applications and nominations is Dec. 8. The winning students will be invited to a special recognition day on April 4.
Honored students will take tours of the arts facilities, attend classes, meet faculty and college students and have lunch. Their parents will also be invited, and they will also take tours, as well as receive information on careers in the arts and college curriculum. The day will conclude with an awards ceremony.
Students selected to participate in the Nebraska Young Artist Awards will also be asked to nominate the teacher who provided them with the greatest amount of mentoring and support in the development of their special talents.
For more information or questions, contact Matthew Knight at 402-472-0897 or e-mail matthew.knight@unl.edu.
The Nebraska Alpha Delta Kappa organization for women educators held its state executive board meeting on Sept. 9 at College Park in Grand Island.
Alpha Delta Kappa is an international organization whose mission is to support outstanding women educators and promote educational excellence, altruism, and world understanding. The Nebraska state organization is made up of 30 chapters from across the state.
Before the business meeting, members celebrated Nebraska Alpha Delta Kappas 60 years of sisterhood.
A business meeting followed. The state altruistic chairmen presented a donation of $500 to Camp Catch-up, one of the Nebraska state altruistic projects.
Camp Catch-up offers foster care, guardianship, or adopted youth ages 8-19, an opportunity to spend quality time with their siblings in a relaxed and fun summer camp environment. It is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for siblings living in different homes to come together for a week adventure.
There are two Camp Catch-Up sites in Nebraska: Eastern Nebraska Camp located near Gretna and the Western Nebraska Camp located near Halsey.
At the International Convention held in New Orleans, Nebraska chapters and members received many awards. Glenda Bachmann, Upsilon, received the North Central Membership Service Award. Nebraska Alpha Delta Kappa received a very special Membership Campaign Award for having the highest level of participation in the 2017 North Central Membership campaign. Nebraska chapters receiving the seven pearl awards were: Epsilon, Kappa, Mu, and Psi chapters. Nebraska chapters were also recognized with the Certificate of Gratitude for 100 percent reporting for Altruism.
Representatives from Lambda Chapter from Fremont and Blair present at this meeting were: Nancy Morris, co-president, and Nancy Meier, co-president elect and historian.
KEARNEY The St. James Catholic Church Grief Ministry Committee in Kearney is hosting a video viewing and discussion Nov. 5 after the 10:30 a.m. service.
The gathering will take place at 11:30 a.m. in the parish hall and is open to the public. The video, A Ray of Hope: Facing the Holidays following a Loss with Paul Alexander, will be shown with a discussion following. A light soup lunch will be served. All are invited and there is no charge to attend.
According to a news release from the committee, this video can benefit those who have lost a loved one or those who are looking for ways to help others who have lost a loved one cope with their grief during the upcoming holidays regardless of the length of time the loved one has been gone.
St. James Catholic Church is located at 3801 Ave. A. For more information, contact Mary or Deb at the church office at 234-5536 or mary@stjameschurchkearney.org.
Weddings can be occasions for great celebration with friends and family. I remember the excitement my wife and I felt when our wedding day finally arrived. I also remember how nervous I was during the rehearsal the night before. I even asked our officiating pastor to run through the ceremony a second time!
During a marriage ceremony, we may hear the minister quote from Genesis 2:18 these words, It is not good for the man to be alone. Sometimes the pastor might also quote from Ecclesiastes 4:9 these words, Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. And then the minister might continue with the next three verses, If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:10-12)
I believe these words of wisdom need not be limited to certain marriage ceremonies, because they speak so powerfully to the universal need that each of us has for community. Even the most self-sufficient among us will need the help of others; at times we are simply unable to get by or go it alone. For instance, were probably going to want or need assistance when trying to move a heavy piece of furniture. That requires at least two people. Community fills our practical needs.
Theres a unique kind of community that goes beyond filling practical needs, and it has its basis in the earliest church gatherings in Jerusalem:
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lords Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lords Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:41-47)
This expression of Christian community continues today here in Kearney and all over the world where people still gather in each others homes and smaller venues. Throughout the New Testament, those who gather for this purpose get to and are exhorted to show special treatment to one another like: love, accept, serve, teach, encourage, build each other up, and pray (John 13:34, Romans 15:17, Galatians 5:13, Colossians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11, James 5:16).
For those who have participated in such groups, it can be a pretty amazing, meaningful and even life-transforming experience. As a pastor, I witness this kind of Christian expression on a regular basis among the smaller Christian communities that I get to visit. At our church, we called them LifeGroups.
I realize that we in the church dont always live up to these New Testament ideals regarding community. At the same time, whenever seekers experience genuine Christian community, the foundational beliefs behind the message can suddenly become attractive and worthy of their serious consideration. If you are one of those people tired of being alone and looking for genuine Christian community, I hope your search is successful and transforming.
The Rev. John W. Watson is pastor of LifeGroups and Care Ministries at Kearney Evangelical Free Church.
AMHERST When Brian Bosshamer returned home in December 1990, intending to carry on a generations-old family tradition of farming and raising cattle in the rolling hills north of Amherst, he had just graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelors degree in general agriculture.
I couldnt wait to get it done and get home, he said. ... At the time, it was what I thought I wanted to do.
By fall semester 1991, he was back at UNL to start work on a masters degree.
It was one of those life-changing things, Bosshamer said about deciding the timing was not right. That was a hard lesson, a very difficult decision. And it probably was disappointing to my parents.
He returned to Buffalo County in 1994 for a job as a UNL Extension assistant focusing on 4-H youth education programs. By the time he completed his masters thesis in August 1996, he was an Extension educator.
I had no idea that Extension would be in my life, Bosshamer said, but it allowed him to move back to the family farmstead in October 1996 and spend weekends helping his dad run a cow-calf business.
Twenty-three years later, Bosshamer is back on the farm full time. His last day at the Buffalo County Extension office was Sept. 29, his 50th birthday.
To a certain extent, it wasnt planned, he said about the timing. But my family needed me and family comes first.
His family is his wife Ann Marie, the executive director of the Kearney-based Nebraska Beef Council, and daughters, Breanna, 11, and Brooke, 7, who are sixth- and first-graders, respectively, at Amherst Public School.
The Extension and Beef Council jobs both required time and travel away from home. Bosshamer said he and Ann Marie decided it was important to have one parent at home something they had as farm kids especially as the girls get older and involved in more activities.
Its been a spiritual journey as well. Just trusting the Lord that this is what I needed to do, Bosshamer said. This is for now. I dont know what the next thing will be. This is where I grew up. This is where I live and the opportunity is now.
Family first
The familys brick home is on the site where Bosshamer spent much of his childhood visiting his grandparents.
The long driveway continues to the home of his parents, Emmit and Ann, in a farmyard that includes an old granary, two-story red barn that is getting new siding, grain bins, tractors and cattle handling facilities.
Another family first issue for Bosshamer is that his dad is now retired and no longer able to do much of the physical work required to run a commercial cow-calf operation.
Emmit made the transition to full-time farming after a total of 11 years teaching at Axtell, Loomis and Elm Creek. He worked weekends on the farm with his in-laws.
The family moved to the Amherst farm in 1975 and Brian grew up in what is now his parents remodeled home.
I just remember coming up to the farm all the time with Dad, Bosshamer said about childhood visits to three sets of grandparents. He was the only grandchild then for two of them.
One set were the parents of his birth mother, Wanda. She and his younger brother, Brad, were killed in a car accident when Brian was age 4.
His three younger sisters are Andrea Sebits of Hesston, Kan., Kelli Herrick of Amherst and Joni Harms of Paris, Ky.
Bosshamer said the familys cropland is leased and its too early to know if he might expand the cattle herd.
Im just taking it one step at a time, he said, including getting used to working and parenting from home. When Dad retired from teaching school, he said, Every day is like a Saturday.
4-H future
Some cattle breeding is done using artificial insemination and embryo transplants for the calves Breanna shows as a Diamond Willow 4-H Club member.
She exhibited the grand champion market beef at the 2016 Buffalo County Fair, matching one of her dads accomplishments as a 1970s-1980s Diamond Willow member. He had the grand and reserve grand champions at the 1985 fair and also the 1982 reserve grand champion.
Bosshamer said he hopes his girls also will want to also have future projects as Amherst FFA members.
As a 4-H dad, he still looks forward to being part of the his favorite Extension-related event, the Buffalo County Fair. The county fair certainly is a huge celebration. Ive always enjoyed the county fair. Its where everybody gets together in one spot, Bosshamer said.
He also is proud of other youth education programs developed with many partners during his Extension years, including Life on the Farm to teach third-graders about agriculture and the Big Red Ag Growers (BRAG) for older kids led by Extension Assistant Kerry Elsen.
I will miss the people, the relationships and the partnerships, Bosshamer said, including those outside of 4-H with Gateway Farm Expo, Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce, Nebraska Cattlemens Classic and Buffalo County fairgrounds leaders, and with many area businesses and volunteers.
He has offered to be a 4-H program resource or volunteer, but is taking a wait-and-see approach to other possible activities.
Im not ruling anything out, Bosshamer said. ... I just know this is what the Lord was telling me to do and I have to trust him.
KEARNEY Heartland Bank, which has locations in Kearney and Riverdale, was named one of the Best Banks to Work For in 2017. This is the first time a bank from Nebraska has been named to the list, with Heartland Bank ranking 45th out of 75 recipients of the designation.
The Best Banks to Work For program, initiated in 2013 by American Banker and Best Companies Group, identifies, recognizes and honors U.S. banks for outstanding employee satisfaction. Full results of this years program are available at American Banker and in the September issue of American Banker magazine.
Determining the Best Banks to Work For involved a two-step process. The first step involves an evaluation of participating companies workplace policies, practices and demographics. In the second step, employee surveys are conducted to directly assess the experiences and attitudes of individual employees with respect to their workplace. The combined scores determine the top banks and the final ranking.
The program is open to commercial banks, thrifts, savings banks and other chartered retail financial institutions with at least 50 employees in the United States.
Public Power Week across the United States is an opportunity each year for Nebraska utilities to celebrate their role in providing electrical power to communities and to help customers understand the benefits of public power.
Okay, it was last week and Im a week late, but not too late to provide an abbreviated history of public power, including the important role of irrigation in developing the Nebraskas unique public power system.
Electrical generation equipment first was seen in Nebraska in the early 1880s, primarily as small coal- or diesel-powered generators.
As electricity use became more common, some cities and towns contracted with local private companies to provide the service. By the start of the 20th century, Nebraska communities were served by 43 private power companies and only 11 municipal (or public) systems.
Big changes
Development of our statewide public power system was tied to efforts in the 1930s and early 40s to harness rivers for maximum beneficial uses, including development of large-scale irrigation projects in the Platte and Loup River basins.
Prior to 1930, there was little public appreciation of the rivers hydroelectric potential. Total installed power of all Platte Basin hydroelectric plants then was only about 8 megawatts.
Surveys by federal, state and private engineers were not particularly optimistic about prospects for much more.
As early as 1925, Nebraska Sen. George Norris and others tried without success to promote federal financing of irrigation and hydroelectric projects. The economic depression and drought of the 1930s changed some minds.
Norris, who would become well known for sponsoring the Tennessee Valley Authority Act in 1933 that allowed hydroelectric power under public ownership, firmly believed that no person or company should become enriched by providing such basic necessities as water and electrical power.
Key legislation for Nebraskas projects was an amendment to the federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act in 1932 that permitted the RFC to make loans to public entities for irrigation and/or hydroelectric projects. It stimulated interest in such projects and also the jobs created during and after construction.
The Nebraska Legislature had to act before federal funding could be tapped. Despite opposition from private power companies, the Enabling Act of 1933 authorized formation of public power and public power and irrigation districts as political subdivisions.
Public power advocates in Columbus were the first to meet the legislative requirements and were organized in June 1933 as the Loup River Public Power District. A project was approved in November 1933, construction started the following October and hydroplants were generating electricity by March 1937.
Platte projects
The Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District at North Platte also was organized in June 1933. Project construction started in August 1934 and plants began generating electricity by late 1936 as irrigation water was being delivered from Sutherland Reservoir to Platte Valley farms.
The Hastings-based Tri-County Project was organized in November 1933 as the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, now based in Holdrege. Platte Valley project organizers opposed it, believing there wouldnt be enough river water for both.
Norris intervened on behalf of Tri-County with Interior Secretary Harold Ickes and President Franklin Roosevelt.
Norris was confident in assurances from Tri-County Project Chief Engineer George E. Johnson that there was a sufficient water supply and that construction of Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy would firm up the water supply and thus the power generating capacity of both Platte River projects.
The Tri-County Project was approved in 1935 and construction began 1936. Generation at three Central Supply Canal hydroplants began in 1941, with full irrigation deliveries made the following year.
The REA
Meanwhile, the Rural Electrification Act was passed by Congress and signed by FDR in 1936.
Here is an example of its impact. In 1929, less than 6 percent of Nebraska farms had electrical power. By 1950, the number had grown to more than 78 percent as rural electric districts grew and transmission lines were built.
Hydropower districts began purchasing the private power companies facilities to secure the additional generating capacity needed to meet the fast-growing demand for electricity. By 1946, all of Nebraskas private power companies had been purchased by public power.
Consumers Public Power District was organized as a separate legal entity in 1939 to facilitate such purchases. It had no connections to the hydropower districts other than agreements to purchase and market their power.
The three hydropower districts (Loup River, Platte Valley and Tri-County) approved a joint operating agreement in 1940 to pool their generation and revenues as a way to provide stability in their operations, avoid competition among the districts and improve their ability to finance growth.
That entity, the Nebraska Public Power System, firmed up their ability to repay federal loans and to coordinate generation from all of the hydroplants. Central withdrew in 1949 when the board decided to focus on irrigation, but retain control of its hydroelectric facilities.
On Jan. 1, 1970, Nebraska Public Power District was formed with the merger of Consumers Public Power District, Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District, and the Nebraska Public Power System. Assets formerly operated by the Loup River Public Power District were included.
The rest is history.
Nebraska is the only state served solely by public power. However, there are more than 2,000 other public power entities providing electricity to 49 million customers in the other 49 states and five U.S. territories.
Public powers role in Nebraska is to provide reliable, low-cost electric service while also being accessible to customers through locally elected boards of directors.
That certainly is something worthy of celebration.
Jeff Buettner is the public relations coordinator for Holdrege-based Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.
BERTRAND It took the Young at Heart Senior Center in Bertrand almost 15 years to raise the funds to build their own facility, and in less than a month supporters hope to be moving into the new center in downtown Bertrand.
The Young at Heart Senior Center has been part of Bertrand since the 1970s, but it has never had its own location. Seniors have been gathering at the American Legion Building to take part in the activities the center provides.
One of the members of the board of directors, Leland Anderson, decided more than a decade ago that the seniors needed a place to call their own.
Almost 15 years ago, he decided that it was kind of silly that we were in this building, using the Legions building, and we needed a building of our own. He got a couple of other board members on the same path with him, and they decided to start fundraising, said Coni Park, the centers manger. Its taken them this much time to get all the funds raised because they have done every ounce of the work themselves to get the money raised for it.
Board members organized fundraisers such as soup suppers and barbecues, and they recently began applying for and receiving grants to fund their cause. Phelps Memorial Health Center also donated tables and chairs for the new senior center.
The center has been able to raise $325,000 for the more-than-$350,000 building. The board plans to continue raising funds for the cost and upkeep of the building, as well as more than $40,000 for kitchen appliances and furniture for a lounge area.
The board plans to have a baked potato bar fundraiser from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the American Legion. Donations will be accepted. It also will participate in Phelps County Community Foundations give2Grow fundraising day Nov. 16.
Finally, this last year, about a year and a half ago, when they felt like they had all the funds to actually put up the building, they took bids for the building and started to break ground. And since they broke ground, its gone fairly quickly, Park said.
At age 102, Anderson continues to drive every day to Bertrand to watch the progress on the building.
This is kind of Lelands baby. This was kind of his idea. ... He just grins from ear to ear every time he sits down there watching them, Park said.
The new center, located next to the American Legion in downtown Bertrand, will feature a large open area where seniors will participate in the activities the center provides, including a homemade meal at lunchtime, an exercise class, crafting, billiards, educational sessions, quilting, puzzles and health clinics. There will be an office, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a pantry and storage room.
Its a pretty open space so, hopefully, it wont take them very long to finish up, Park said.
Park is most excited for the centers cook, Tonya Mayo, to have a larger kitchen where it is easier to regulate the temperature.
As silly as it sounds, we have separate heating and air conditioning units in the kitchen and the main area and the hallway. Im actually looking forward to my cook, actually being comfortable, Park said.
The building should be move-in ready by Nov. 1. Once the move has been made to the new center, Park said, the plan is to have an open house. The center is currently open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and the board is considering opening four or five days a week.
Since Park began working at the Young at Heart Senior Center in May, she has been posting updates about the new buildings progress on Facebook. The support and the feedback from the community has been nothing but positive.
I set up that Facebook page when I first started here, and its been amazing. Even people that used to live in Bertrand and dont live in Bertrand anymore love watching the progress of the building, she said. Theyve heard the fundraising going on, and theyve heard the conversations about it, but to see the physical building actually becoming real its great. People just love it.
KEARNEY Next year, if tornadoes batter Nebraska or hurricanes pound the Gulf Coast, Hot Meals USA will be there to feed disaster workers and victims.
Dick Cochran, franchise owner of Dickeys Barbecue Pit at 222 W. 42nd St. and in Grand Island, has launched the nonprofit that will feed 10,000 to 15,000 people a day for up to three days after a disaster or emergency.
We arent trying to replace the Salvation Army or the Red Cross. We just want to help, Cochran of Elm Creek said.
In 2011, he and his wife, Cheryl, lived 11 miles outside Joplin, Mo., when the deadly twister roared through that city and killed 158 people. The Cochrans home was spared. Using a chainsaw, Cochran cut his way to a friends house and began gathering food.
Early the next morning, he and friends drove four pickups with eight barbecue grills, 200 pounds of hamburger and nearly 500 hot dogs to a college campus in Joplin where someone told them, We dont need the food yet.
Cochran responded, What about the fire and safety crews who have been up all night?
Within 10 minutes, two police cars escorted Cochrans entourage to the damaged-but-useable city hall, which was doubling as the command center. Within 40 minutes, SUVs were unloading the food, and tents were being set up. Cochrans group served the public for the next three days.
We had storms again the next day. I was holding the tent down with one hand and cooking with the other, Cochran said.
Since then, he has focused on creating a mobile food operation that can respond to any disaster. In Joplin, he had experience with disaster response as an employee of Schwans, a food-delivery company. He works with big events with Dickeys, such as a recently catered lunch for 3,800 people in Grand Island.
With one 56-foot semitrailer, we can hit the ground running, he said. Well keep the semi in mid-Nebraska where we are less than 36 to 72 hours away from anywhere in the country.
After a disaster, the Hot Meals USA semi will hurry to the site, set up, and begin serving three meals a day along with coffee, tea and ice cream. If you dont think ice cream is important, youve never handed a child an ice cream cone and watched the reaction, Cochran said.
The semi will be equipped with a generator, two smokers, two 12-foot grills, a walk-in cooler, four warming cabinets, hot and cold serving tables, two ovens, an ice cream machine and more. It will be able to serve 11,000 people per day over 72 hours, or 33,000 people.
Each truck will cost $350,000, including the equipment and preparations needed to make it good to go. Its generator will allow it to travel into devastated areas that have lost electricity.
And if we have to evacuate, say, for rising flood waters, it would take just 45 minutes to pack and run, Cochran said.
Cochrans staff will work in the semi when it arrives, but they will train locals to take over and pay them minimum wage. It will turn victims into helpers, he said.
He anticipates having one semi ready in 2018. A second large one and two smaller ones staffed by two people will be ready to go in 2019. Within five years, he envisions more.
I envision having eight to 10 large units and four to five smaller ones. If I had them all right now, Id send them to Houston and Florida, and Id send three on a barge to Puerto Rico. Then, if I could, Id send another one to northern California to assist in the wildfires. He noted that the American Red Cross is still serving 7,000 people per day in Houston and 4,000 people per day in Florida after the recent hurricanes.
Hot Meals USA, a nonprofit, has a board which includes Brad Holbrook and Marilyn Barnett of Kearney; Bruce Schreiner of Grand Island and Jeff Booth of Joplin. Cochran is seeking two more board members.
He is also seeking support from churches, civic organizations and nonprofits. All donations will be invested in food, equipment and labor. A website is underway, too.
He will soon create a database where people can sign up to work in emergencies. Every five years, they would need to be become ServSafe Certified under the National Restaurant Association program requiring nine hours of study.
Donations can be made to Hot Meals USA through any Wells Fargo Bank in the country.
For five years, since that Joplin tornado, this idea has bugged me, Cochran said. I want to be ready by tornado season next spring.
KEARNEY The Nebraska chapter of Singles in Agriculture will meet Nov. 17-18 in Kearney, with tours to sites and events in surrounding towns.
Participants will stay at the Microtel Inn & Suites and meet at noon Nov. 17 for lunch at Old Chicago, followed by tours of the Classic Car Collection and Cabelas, supper at Ruby Tuesdays and the annual meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the motel.
The Nov. 18 schedule includes stops in Oconto, Macs Creek Vineyard and the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles at Lexington, supper in Kearney, and a dance at Miller.
For more information, visit the website at singlesinagriculture.org click on the Nebraska chapter for annual meeting-tour details or contact Cindy Ruskamp of Stamford at 308-920-0364.
KEARNEY South Central Economic Development District Inc. will host the Nebraska Development Network Central Region meeting on Thursday.
The focus will be on how zoning, housing studies, nuisance abatement, blight studies, etc., fit together to build an effective Community Plan. City council, village board, chamber of commerce and community club members, economic development professionals and others from regional communities are invited to A Holistic View of Community Planning Workshop.
The workshop will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Central Community College-Kearney at 1215 30th Ave. Registration starts at 4:45 p.m., and an optional tour of CCC will be at 5 p.m.
Cost is $15 and includes dinner. Checks should be made payable to SCEDD.
To register, email jennifer@scedd.us or call 308-455-4770.
While its obvious that government works best when its open and involves people in the process, achieving transparency can involve a lot of work. At least thats what we concluded over the years as we watched a master of open government, Tim Anderson at Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.
As CNPPIDs longtime director of communications and public relations, Anderson sought ways to depressurize the contentious issues involving the hundreds of cabin owners who leased their lots around the lake from CNPPID. He worked hard to keep people informed, and when lake issues came up at meetings, he encouraged the people affected by the decisions to attend and participate.
Anderson, 68, died earlier this week at his home in Plum Creek Canyon west of Johnson Lake, but were certain his many efforts for the betterment of our region, and his positive effects will be evident well into the future.
Keeping everyone informed and inviting them to participate in meetings was part of Andersons formula for resolving issues at Johnson Lake, but he was an expert in the many facets of his work for CNPPID. He was an excellent lobbyist, and he knew how to disagree without being disagreeable. As a tour master, he introduced thousands of regional residents to CNPPIDs extensive network of canals, reservoirs, hydroelectric facilities and dams.
Beyond his positive impact at CNPPID, Anderson played a major role in resurrecting the South Platte United Chambers of Commerce. Comprised of chambers from communities south of the Platte River, SPUCC promoted tourism and economic vitality, and it was a strong supporter in 1990 of Kearney State College evolving into the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
After SPUCC gradually lost its steam, Anderson worked hard with other regional leaders to resuscitate the organization.
Among SPUCCs contributions since its rebirth was advocating for the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis. In reaction to SPUCCs input and support from many Nebraskans, the University of Nebraska reversed its decision to close the Curtis campus. Today, Curtis is a key institution in equipping future farmers and ranchers for success in Nebraskas number one industry.
In his 68 years, Anderson set a stellar example for residents of south-central Nebraska. He was a true professional who united people for progress. Well miss his steady hand, positive attitude and unifying influence.
The current Republican administration is showing an unprecedented cruelty toward children. The Republican controlled House voted to take access to health care away from 20 million people, including our nations poorest and sickest children, those using Medicaid. Nebraskas congressional representatives, all Republicans, voted in favor of this cruel action.
This month, the Republican controlled Congress allowed funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to lapse, putting 9 million children and their families into medical limbo.
Trumps proposed budget does not contain any funding for CHIP. Trump has ended protection for young Dreamers and made them a bargaining chip for his border wall, which he said Mexico was going to pay for, and pitted their status against that of unaccompanied children fleeing gang violence in Central America. Trumps proposed budget also cuts funding for victims of sexual assault and sexual violence, many of whom are adolescents or children of women who are trying to escape abusive partners.
Trump has also made it harder than ever for teenagers to get contraceptives and counseling on reproductive health issues because he has expanded the rights of employers to deny coverage for contraception.
All these are totally cruel, unnecessary acts that harm children and their families. And if all this was not enough damage, the Trump administration has issued guidance that erodes civil rights protections for LGBTQ people, victimizing our most vulnerable youths and putting them in the hands of bullies. It is time to stop this cruelty.
Jayne Lyons, McCook
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The logo of the Tesla Model S on display at the Paris Auto Show in Paris on Sept. 30, 2016. Under the California sun, Marc Garneau pressed a button to let a car take him for a spin as part of a joy ride that was more business than pleasure. While much attention this week went to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's trip to Washington and Mexico to save North American free trade talks, the transport minister and two senators quietly travelled to Silicon Valley to meet officials from one of the world's biggest tech companies. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Christophe Ena
Canadian actress Erika Rosenbaum poses in this undated handout photo. Two Canadian actresses have spoken out against embattled Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein as he faces mounting allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. In an interview with the CBC Thursday night, Erika Rosenbaum of Montreal alleged the fallen movie mogul made aggressive sexual advances during three separate meetings nearly 15 years ago. Weinstein, who has been fired from the film company he co-founded, has previously denied through a spokeswoman any allegations of non-consensual contact. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Reisler Talent
President Donald Trump plans to demand this week that the international agreement limiting Irans nuclear programs be revised to make it stronger. Hell claim that Iran isnt complying with the 2015 pact, which he has called the worst deal ever negotiated. His language will be Trumpian and tough, intended to show that hes keeping his campaign promise to rip the deal up. But Trump isnt ripping it up. Instead, hes climbing down slowly, awkwardly, reluctantly from a position that made no sense.
In formal terms, Trump is refusing to certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal, which requires Tehran to reduce its holdings of enriched uranium and allow international inspectors into its facilities.
But Iran is, in fact, complying with the agreement, as even U.S. officials acknowledge. The main U.S. complaint is that Iran has violated the spirit of the deal by engaging in non-nuclear activities, including missile research, which the agreement doesnt cover.
Even more awkwardly, Trumps closest aides want the deal to remain in force. Last week, Defense Secretary James Mattis told a Senate hearing that its in the national interest to keep the agreement alive.
The reason is simple: Whatever its flaws, the deal has stopped Iran from building a nuclear weapon for at least 10 years.
If the United States walks away from the agreement, Irans supreme leader would be free to restart uranium enrichment and most other countries would blame Trump, not Iran.
Trump aides have therefore quietly asked Congress not to reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran. And instead of dismantling the deal, Mattis and other advisors have given Trump an alternative: Try to fix it.
Theyve listed changes theyd like to see, including more intrusive inspections and longer sunset provisions. (The current deal lifts the ceiling on low-enriched uranium and allows almost unrestricted enrichment beginning in 2030.)
They also want new limits on Irans ballistic missile effort and international action against pro-Iranian forces in Iraq, Syria and other countries.
Trump aides have floated the idea of demanding a formal renegotiation of the 2015 deal, in keeping with language Trump occasionally used during the campaign. But renegotiation isnt going to happen. All the other countries in the agreement including U.S. allies Britain, France and Germany have said its not feasible.
Instead, French President Emmanuel Macron has offered what some officials call a third way: new negotiations to extend the nuclear deals sunset provisions and impose new limits on Irans missile development, plus joint Western action against pro-Iranian proxy forces in the Middle East.
Those are ideas with broad support in Europe as well as Washington.
Trump and his aides are actually right when they say the 2015 pact should be strengthened. Even the Obama administration officials who negotiated the deal acknowledge that it didnt settle every U.S. concern.
Heres a best-case scenario: After Trump announces his decision, Congress, instead of demanding new sanctions, endorses negotiations to improve the deal, perhaps with additional sanctions authority to give the president more leverage. Trump appoints a tough, high-powered special envoy to pursue negotiations; someone like Dennis Ross, who worked on the Middle East for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Clinton.
Once talks are under way, President Trump can announce that hes accomplished the moral equivalent of renegotiation, and declare at least partial victory.
That would put the U.S. confrontation with Iran in a category with other Trump foreign policy positions that turned out to contain more bluster than action: his threats to walk away from U.S. obligations to NATO, for example, and his promise to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (which, in Trumps mind, is another worst deal ever negotiated).
There are plenty of ways that benign outcome could be derailed.
Republicans in Congress could bow to pressure from hard-liners and impose new nuclear sanctions (although that looks unlikely; even Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a noted hawk, has agreed to hold off).
Other countries could balk. Trump is deeply unpopular in Europe. Even Russias Vladimir Putin may not be in the mood to help an American president who has turned out to be an unreliable friend.
Any negotiations to extend the deal will be multinational, and theyll require compromise two words that rarely apply to Trumps bluster-based diplomacy.
The president will grow impatient. Hell still have to report to Congress every 90 days. Hell still have the authority to reimpose sanctions any time he wants. (He doesnt need Congress approval for that, even now.)
But the administrations internal debates have brought Trump to an unexpected and unwanted conclusion, that ending the nuclear agreement is not in the national interest.
He wont admit it. Hell continue to denounce the deal. But hes not walking away from it and that gives nuclear diplomacy with Iran another chance to survive.
A parade of entrepreneurs, sharing struggles theyve encountered trying to start their businesses, have become the faces of occupational licensure reform in Nebraska.
The masseuse who chose to locate her practice in Council Bluffs, Iowa, rather than Omaha because Nebraska required hundreds more hours of training before she could get her license. The reflexologist who received a cease-and-desist letter from the state after 12 years of working from home.
The list goes on, as these individuals are among the many who have spoken out against what they feel are excessively onerous hurdles to clear in pursuit of their chosen career. Their testimony, alongside a growing body of research, indicates Nebraska has room to ease such regulations.
Occupational licenses are important in many businesses, and consumers must be protected from potentially fraudulent or dangerous situations. But the regulations governing these licenses must do so in a way that doesnt unduly hinder new people or businesses from entering the field, thereby stifling competition or innovation to protect existing industry.
People with lower incomes, minorities and those who have served time in prison tend to be disproportionately affected by occupational-licensing requirements. The libertarian Institute for Justices national report on the topic found vast differences in the number of jobs requiring licenses and whats needed to obtain a license, varying widely from state to state.
The Nebraska Legislature has recently come out strongly in favor of examining and reducing these burdens. Roughly 200 jobs require occupational licenses, according to the Platte Institute; some of the standards reside in state code, while others are written and governed by industry and trade groups.
This session alone, senators introduced 23 bills that would have at least some effect on licensure reform or reciprocity agreements with other states. Three have already been signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts, while several others remain alive. The Legislature has also approved eight interim studies on licensing reform to be completed by years end, according to The Associated Press.
Such efforts appear to have bipartisan support in Nebraska, too.
The Platte Institute and American Civil Liberties Union are set to soon kick off a joint tour of the state to promote occupational licensure reform. Their partnership illustrates that not all legislation is monolithic and that disparate groups can work together toward a goal that benefits all parties.
Nebraska finds itself in strong position to make meaningful reform to improve the lots of its residents when lawmakers return in January. The political will certainly exists on both sides of the aisle, and reducing the burden for license-seekers within reason makes sense for the state.
In this case, less truly is more for Nebraska.
Journal Star, Oct. 10, 2017
The morning wasnt shaping up the way I had planned. With barely an hour to go until daybreak, the rain drops were rolling off my roof. Under the driveway yard light, the goose trailer was hooked to the truck and ready to go. But those decoys wouldn't be heading anywhere today. The semi-remote corn field I planned to hunt would already be a muddy mess. There was no way to get a truck and trailer in without tearing things up.
When legal shooting time arrived, I was still at home drinking coffee, pacing the floor, looking out the windows. It was a sorry state of affairs. And then it struck me; that dim light at the end of the tunnel. I had suddenly remembered another field that I could reach on foot. My would-be goose hunt quickly switched to Plan B. Unhooking the trailer and trading more than 50 full-bodied decoys for a bag of two dozen single dimensional silhouettes, I cranked up the truck and headed out. By the time I arrived at the field, the rain had backed off to a drizzle. Shouldering the decoys and shotgun, I headed for a prominent hillside halfway down the field. Reaching my destination, I quickly set the silhouettes on their stakes. Mission accomplished, I stepped back to evaluate the spread. Although that single bag of flat decoys didnt look like much; it definitely beat staying indoors.
Settling in, it wasnt long until I heard a couple bunches of geese in the distance although I never could see them through the gloom. Pretty soon, I heard another goose that sounded a lot closer. Attempting to strike up a conversation, I hit a few notes on my Eastern Shoreman call. I was soon pleased to determine that, with each answering honk, the sound of the real thing was becoming louder. Before long, the sound became a pair of honkers which suddenly burst through the haze. The geese were locked on; coming straight to the silhouettes. The closer the birds approached, the louder and more aggressive their honking became. Arriving at the decoys, the geese dropped their black legs and braked for a landing; presenting me with easy ten-yard chip shots. I always love it when a plan especially a Plan B comes together.
Rushing to retrieve my hefty goose dinners, I was excited even more excited than I usually get when Canada geese almost land on my head. Heres why. As the Canadas had closed the distance, I could clearly see that the front bird had a light, almost white colored breast and a noticeable white bar across its entire forehead the historic and unmistakable, diagnostic markings of the legendary Giant Canada geese of yesteryear. Although I commonly observed birds with these unique characteristics during the early days of Iowas giant Canada goose recovery, the traits are seen far less frequently these days; although a handful will occasionally show up during statewide summer banding drives. Its probably been more than 20 years since Ive actually bagged one with markings as distinctive as the gander that sailed into the decoys this drizzly morning. Nice to know that at least a few of the old fashioned, True Giants are still in the gene pool.
The giant Canada goose is the largest of the 11 or so recognized races of Canada geese and is, in fact, the largest goose in the world. At the time of settlement, giant Canadas were an exceedingly common inhabitant of Iowa wetlands and homesteaders were quick to capitalize on this ready source of food, feathers, and eggs. Unable to cope with unregulated hunting pressure and widespread drainage of its breeding grounds, the species began a rapid decline. By 1907, the bird had completely vanished from the state. Meeting a similar fate elsewhere across its range, the bird was soon listed as an extinct species.
Early accounts of the giant goose were dramatic and intriguing. In addition to its enormous size, the bird was also famous for its light-colored breast and noticeably longer neck than other Canada geese. Pioneer hunters in Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas also made frequent mention of the giant's tendency to display a distinct "forehead bar", a wide patch of snow white feathers often extending from "eyeball to eyeball". Naturalists, sportsmen and birders lamented the species demise and universally mourned the fact that all that remained of this magnificent bird were a few mounted specimens and museum study skins.
Emerging from the Ashes
No wildlife species has ever returned from the abyss of extinction. But in the case of the giant Canada goose, the scientific world was turned on its head when in 1962, Harold Hanson rediscovered a small population of true giants wintering in Rochester, Minnesota. Reading of the event as a junior high school student, I immediately began dreaming of someday traveling to Minnesota during winter and, if everything went just right, maybe having opportunity to catch a glimpse of the birds for myself.
As scientific interest surrounding the giant Canada continued to escalate, a small number of captive flocks were eventually discovered. The wild ancestry of at least one of those collections discovered on a farm near Lotts Creek, Iowa could be traced all the way back to when eggs and goslings were taken from the cattail wetlands of northern Iowa. Many of those captive giants were acquired by wildlife biologists with the Iowa Conservation Commission and the resoundingly successful goose restoration began. Today, the giant Canada goose has emerged from obscurity to become one of the world's most abundant and recreationally important species of waterfowl. Totally funded by hunter dollars, the return of the giant Canada is one of the worlds most remarkably successful conservation victories. Its an incredible achievement that all outdoor enthusiasts should be aware of.
Six deputies have left the McKenzie County Sheriff's Office since the sheriff was reinstated two months ago.
Gov. Doug Burgum reinstated Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger following his removal proceeding on allegations of bullying and retaliation.
Deputy David Christensen quit earlier this week along with two other deputies. Christensen said morale has been "extremely bad" and that he plans to file a state labor complaint and pursue a civil lawsuit.
Schwartzenberger says he gave everyone a fresh start after he was reinstated in August. He says if deputies quit the department that's their choice. One deputy decided to retire after 24 years with the department.
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Meet the Bizarre family all have 12 fingers and toes
14 members of the same family in Brazil were all born with 12 fingers and toes. The De Silva's from Brasilia, recently welcomed the youngest member into the clan, a baby boy born with the same rare genetic abnormality, The Sun reported. In this family, having this abnormality is a unique mark and not something to be worried about.
This type of genetic syndrome is called Polydactyly. One out 1,000 people is born with the disorder. Read More...
CHARLES CITY | In a third-floor courtroom at the Floyd County Courthouse, Edmund Brown recalled the events surrounding a fatal shooting outside the Clarkview Apartments in Charles City June 30.
He admitted he was drunk at the time, but his testimony during the first-degree murder trial Friday afternoon provided many details about Antoine Williams a 36-year-old Chicago native who police say shot Nathaniel Fleming, 36, last known address in Mason City.
"At one point, he was OK," Brown told jurors about Fleming's behavior shortly before his death. "But then he took off in another land ... and got tough for no reason."
Steve Kolberdanz, one of the attorneys representing Williams, questioned Brown about his encounter with Fleming in the Clarkview Apartments now known as the Casa Apartments parking lot, about an hour before he was shot by Williams.
Brown, who said he was one of Williams' best friends, testified that the parking lot was a place where people would frequently hang out. He added that Fleming was acting strange the night of June 30, and heard about a threat he made toward Williams.
"He said, 'this MF talking about killing me,'" Brown testified based on a previous conversation with Williams.
When cross-examined by Iowa Assistant Attorney General Coleman McAllister, Brown testified he was drunk when he encountered Fleming June 30, and when he was later interviewed by police.
He added he remembered the threat, however, because it was something that "stuck out."
Earlier in the trial, multiple investigators testified that they believed Brown had sold a black handgun to Williams, the weapon used for the murder.
Brown, however, denied selling Williams a gun, but added he had seen him with a weapon in the past.
One of those investigators was Jon Turbitt, an Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation Special Agent who interviewed Williams July 7 at the Cook County Jail in Illinois.
Turbitt told jurors that Williams initially denied involvement in the incident, but then admitted he fatally shot Fleming on June 30.
He added that Williams approached Fleming that night in a red Chevy Equinox to see if he would pull a gun on Williams, according to the interview. Williams told Turbitt that he "should've let it go," regarding the brewing conflict between him and Fleming.
"I said, 'But you didn't let it go, Antoine,'" Turbitt testified Friday. "And he said, 'No, I didn't, it's on me. That's on me.'"
In cross-examination, Nellie O'Marathe other attorney representing Williamsasked Turbitt if he asked Williams during the July 7 interview whether Fleming threatened him.
After re-consulting an 18-page report of the interview, Turbitt said a threat had been made.
"He made a threat when talking about the gun that he had," Turbitt testified. "But he (Williams) said he never saw the gun, he never saw the gun in Nate's possession that night."
At several points during the trial, both sides have debated what evidence should be admissible, and how certain laws pertaining to the case should be interpreted.
One of these discussions occurred after the jury broke for lunch, concerning a new "stand your ground" law enacted by the state legislature July 1.
The new law states that individuals do not have to retreat when in a self-defense situation. Furthermore, it states that individuals can be wrong in their "estimation of the force necessary to repel the danger, as long as there is a reasonable basis" that such self-defense is needed.
O'Mara argued that since Williams was not charged until after July 1, the new law should stand, despite the shooting occurring June 30.
Judge Rustin Davenport, however, denied the motion, saying the law is not "retrospective," giving a common fine as an example.
"It would be like if you were changing the speed limit from 55 to 65 on June 30," he said, adding that just because the paperwork isn't filed before the change, that doesn't exempt the motorist from a speeding ticket.
Testimony finished around 3:30 p.m. Friday. The defense is scheduled to call several more witnesses, as Brown was the only one called so far.
The trial resumes 9 a.m. Monday.
Previous story:
CHARLES CITY | Prosecutors rested around noon Friday in a trial involving a Chicago native accused of fatally shooting a Mason City man in June.
Antoine Williams, 36, has been charged with the first-degree murder of Nathaniel Fleming, 36, last known address Mason City.
Iowa Assistant Attorney General Coleman McAllister questioned law enforcement official and criminalists from the state crime lab unit in Ankeny.
Perhaps the most important testimony came from Jon Turbett, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation special agent who interviewed Williams at the Cook County Jail in Illinois July 7.
McAllister questioned Turbett about the interview.
Turbett testified Williams said it was crazy to think he was involved in the shooting, but later admitted he shot Fleming. Turbett said Williams never told him he acted in self-defense.
Did he ever say 'shoot or be shot'? McAllister asked.
No, Turbett testified.
Nellie OMara, the public defender representing Williams, then cross-examined Turbett.
Was he trying to find him to calm him down? she asked about the interview between Turbett and Williams.
I dont recall, Turbett testified.
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Nokia 8 Variant launched with 6GB of RAM, 128GB Storage
A new variant of the flagship Nokia 8 smartphone with 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage has gone on sale in Finland, hinting that the company intends to further improve its top offering as it fights back the likes of OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Samsung for a slice of the premium Android smartphone market.
Prior to the availability of this new variant, the Nokia 8's configuration topped-out at 4GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage. It wasn't immediately clear if Nokia plans to launch this new variant outside of Finland market. In markets like India, for instance, the Nokia 8 with 4GB of RAM is the top-of-the-line model for the company's first flagship smartphone ever since its return to the market by HMD Global. Read More...
BAGHDAD, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Kurdish fighters are deployed in the multi-ethnic oil region of Kirkuk to confront possible "threats" from Iraqi forces, Kurdish TV channel Rudaw said on Friday, citing the vice-president of the Kurdistan region, Kosrat Rasul. "Tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces are already stationed in and around Kirkuk," he said. "At least 6,000 additional Peshmerga were deployed since Thursday night to face the Iraqi forces' threat."
(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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.
WARSAW, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Poland will quit a precautionary Flexible Credit Line (FCL) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $9.2 billion, the country's Finance Ministry said on Saturday.
"We are resigning from a $9.2 billion credit line from the IMF," the Finance Ministry said on Twitter, quoting Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. "The Polish economy is in such a good situation that we can do it."
Poland's state budget posted a record surplus of 4.9 billion zloty ($1.36 billion) for the period from January to August, thanks to, among other things, a steep rise in revenue from the value-added tax as economic growth has neared 4 percent.
"I have taken the decision to quit the FCL after an analysis of tax data, macroeconomic parameters, assessment of our budget stability and currency reserves," the ministry said quoting Morawiecki.
In January, the Executive Board of the IMF approved a two-year arrangement for Poland under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) with access in an amount equivalent to SDR 6.5 billion, worth about 8.2 billion euros at that time. It was not immediately clear whether Poland would let the current FCL agreement expire or withdraw beforehand.
Poland has since 2009 had a FCL agreement in place to use at times of crisis, but has never drawn on the funds. In December 2016, Poland asked the IMF to halve the value of the FCL. ($1 = 0.8459 euro; $1 = 3.5925 zlotys)
(Reporting by Marcin Goettig, editing by G Crosse)
DUBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Qatar's consumer price deflation deepened in September as a downturn in the real estate market deepened because of economic sanctions imposed by other Arab states, official data showed on Saturday.
Consumer prices fell 0.5 percent from a year earlier last month, after a 0.4 percent drop in August that was the first fall since at least early 2015, when the current data series began.
Housing and utility prices sank 4.7 percent from a year ago in September, their biggest drop for at least several years, and fell 0.7 percent from the previous month. In August, prices had slipped 4.0 percent from a year earlier.
Housing prices were already in a downtrend before June, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
But the sanctions have contributed to the slide by hurting investor sentiment, stifling demand among nationals from other Gulf states, and tightening liquidity in the banking system.
Food and beverage prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier in September.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
MOSCOW, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank has approved a rescue plan for B&N Bank, including a capital increase and liquidity support, the regulator said on Saturday, without saying how much the financial assistance would cost.
B&N was the second private bank rescued by the central bank in less than a month, following Otkritie bank. The capital top-up and extra liquidity for B&N Bank aim "to increase its financial stability and will assist the further development of the credit organisation", the central bank said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Central Bank Deputy Chairman Vasily Pozdyshev has said that the financial rehabilitation of B&N Bank may cost 350 billion to 370 billion roubles ($6.1 billion to $6.5 billion). "The final volume of the additional capitalisation needed by the bank will be established after the evaluation of its assets which will be conducted by the end of this year," the central bank said. It said it "does not deem it expedient" to disclose now the volume of its financial assistance to the bank.
Finding a new investor "is not a relevant issue in the short term", it added.
Once the plan is approved, B&N Bank may either write off its subordinated debt, or convert it into shares in the volume needed for its successful financial rehabilitation, the central bank said.
B&N Bank said last week it would write off subordinated debt worth $226.56 million owed to its shareholders. The subordinated debt write-off is scheduled to be completed within three to four months from the introduction of temporary administration at B&N Bank, the central bank said. It imposed its administration at the troubled lender on Sept. 21, 2017.
B&N, which was Russia's 12th biggest lender by assets before the central bank said it would bail it out, does not have publicly traded subordinated debt in issue.
The central bank's Pozdyshev has said that B&N Bank's additional capitalisation must be completed, new top management appointed and its development strategy approved by year-end.
The central bank has estimated that the financial rehabilitation of B&N Bank will take no more than two years. ($1 = 57.1705 roubles)
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Adrian Croft)
Shenandoah, IA (51601)
Today
Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High near 35F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..
Tonight
Mainly clear. Low 19F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
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
Children who stopped by Toytown got a treat to see slime in the making and play with it Friday afternoon.
From 'clay' slime to 'sand' slime and 'ghost' slime, a group of children got the opportunity to get their hands on the sticky product.
Eleven-year-old Sydney Paulsen hosted the event, showing others how she makes her slime while they played with five varieties of her creation.
"If I'm going to be restocking, I will pour in almost a half a gallon of Elmer's glue. Then I will add scents and colors. Then I will activate it. Then I will add the add-ons," explained Paulsen.
Her slime-making all started a year ago while spending time with her godmother, who recently passed on.
She initially sold her product at school and has since decided to expand it to the public.
She sold packs of slime at the event and plans to hold future demonstrations at Toytown in the coming months.
From left, Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Defense Minister Song Young-moo attend a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, Oct. 13. / AP-Yonhap
North Korea condemned Australia on Saturday for what it sees as its "dangerous" moves to join the U.S. in hostile action against its regime, warning that it could result in a "disaster" for the country.
"Lately, Australia is showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the U.S. against the DPRK while these provocations aggravate the situation of the Korean peninsula into a touch-and-go phase," said the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) monitored in Seoul.
"The Australian foreign minister personally expressed her support for the stand of the U.S. to consider all options including the use of force towards the DPRK, and turned up at Panmunjom... together with the Australian defense minister to condemn the DPRK during her visit to South Korea," it added.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
It referred to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defense Minister Marise Payne who visited the truce village on Thursday, a day before holding a two plus two meeting with their South Korean counterparts in Seoul.
During the visit, they emphasized the need for "maximum diplomatic pressure" to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Following the Seoul meeting, they also issued a joint statement in which they seek "all necessary measures" for the North to fulfill its international obligations and called on Pyongyang to refrain from provocative behavior and to abandon all nuclear weapons and programs.
The KCNA said that there are media reports that Australia is preparing for a war on the Korean Peninsula, citing a joint military drill with the U.S. It warned of a disaster should it continue the hostile acts.
"Should Australia continue to follow the U.S. in imposing military, economic and diplomatic pressure upon the DPRK despite our repeated warnings, they will not be able to avoid a disaster," it said. (Yonhap)
The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy submarine, arrives in the port of Busan on Oct. 13. / AFP-Yonhap
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo on Saturday emphasized the significance of the "regular deployment of U.S. strategic assets" to the peninsula, citing continued North Korean threats.
He made the comments while visiting the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN-727), which arrived at the Busan naval port on Friday for a routine tour.
He was accompanied by Rep. Kim Young-woo of the minor opposition Bareun Party, who chairs the parliament's defense committee, and other members of the panel.
"Now is the very time to show the power of close South Korea-U.S. coordination under the circumstances that North Korea's threats go on," Song said, according to his ministry.
He added, "The strengthening of the regular rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets demonstrate the allies' strong commitment to the defense of the Korean Peninsula."
Song also said the two sides will keep bolstering such "extended deterrence" measures against the North.
Let's start out with the caveat that President Donald Trump's Republicans control the entire federal government, so none of this is going to happen short of a mass rebellion against the President by his own party. Until that happens, the following is a purely academic discussion. But it is completely fascinating.
With that out of the way...
The fabulous Googlers of the Washington press corps and political class were searching for the 25th Amendment this week after reading an anonymously sourced piece by Gabe Sherman in Vanity Fair that was sensationally headlined: "'I hate everyone in the White House!' Trump seethes as advisers fear the President is 'unraveling'".
The piece begins with mention of Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker's broadside warning of his fear that Trump could march the country into World War III, comments he made to The New York Times, and that some of the members of Trump's national security team were essentially "adult day care." Sherman's piece ends with the anonymously sourced description of an exchange between Trump and strategist Steve Bannon, who has since been fired from the White House, although the two are thought to remain politically simpatico. Here's that portion:
"Even before Corker's remarks, some West Wing advisers were worried that Trump's behavior could cause the Cabinet to take extraordinary Constitutional measures to remove him from office. Several months ago, according to two sources with knowledge of the conversation, former chief strategist Steve Bannon told Trump that the risk to his presidency wasn't impeachment, but the 25th Amendment -- the provision by which a majority of the Cabinet can vote to remove the president. When Bannon mentioned the 25th Amendment, Trump said, "What's that?" According to a source, Bannon has told people he thinks Trump has only a 30 percent chance of making it the full term."
Again, that's anonymously sourced material and it hasn't been verified by CNN.
But how intriguing! For either people who are worried about efforts to remove the President from office or those who'd love to see him leave, it's worth knowing the facts. There are plenty of scholarly articles on the 25th Amendment. This one from Brookings describes the process as "more difficult" than impeachment.
Impeachment requires an investigation by a House committee of "high crimes and misdemeanors," a vote in the House, a trial in the Senate and a super majority vote there in order to remove a President from office.
There's no requirement of a crime to be committed to invoke the 25th Amendment. Rather, the President's colleagues must simply deem him unable to do his job with a simple vote by the Cabinet and vice president. The Vanity Fair story, by the way, was released on the same day that Rep. Al Green introduced an impeachment resolution in the House (which has zero chance of passing). Regardless, the story sparked an immediate discussion of the 25th Amendment, which was enacted in 1967 in the years after the Kennedy assassination and clarifies presidential and vice presidential succession.
Three of its sections have been invoked. Section 1, in 1973 when Richard Nixon left office and Gerald Ford became President. Section 2, when Gerald Ford used it to bring Nelson Rockefeller on as his Vice President. Section 3, periodically when the President undergoes a medical procedure.
But the final section, Section IV, contains provisions for a dire emergency. Here's that portion in full:
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.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days 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. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
Putting that into plainer English, the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet (or some other body determined by Congress), can tell the leaders of the House and Senate the President is unfit for duty and the vice president -- in this case Mike Pence -- takes over. The President can disagree with them, sure, and try to get his powers back.
But if a majority of the Cabinet (or some other body determined by Congress) stays strong and says he's unfit to do the job, then it's up to Congress. Super majorities would have to ratify the suggestion of the Cabinet and vice president, who at that point would be acting president, or else the President would take back over.
It seems hard to believe that two-thirds of both chambers, which are controlled by Republicans, would vote to depose the Republican President, but by even considering this 25th Amendment option we're so far into a maze of hypotheticals, why not just go with it?
Imagine the US being in such straits that Pence, in the role of Brutus here, organizes this mutiny and that all these people Trump appointed join forces against him. Anti-Trump Republican super majorities don't seem so crazy in that very unlikely light.
The 25th Amendment option is a paranoid conspiracy theory extraordinaire that puts the notion of a deep state -- a favorite of Bannon's -- to shame. In this case, the Deep State is Trump's own Cabinet.
On the other hand, Trump has used some very tough love on some of his Cabinet secretaries of late. He said he regretted picking Attorney General Jeff Sessions, challenged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to an IQ test after reports that Tillerson called him a moron. Then said he was kidding!
Just for kicks, here's the full list of 24 Cabinet officials, with two acting heads at HHS (Tom Price was pushed out) and DHS (John Kelly became his chief of staff after Reince Priebus was fired):
Vice President Michael R. Pence
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson
Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin
Secretary of Defense James Mattis
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.
Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.
Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao
Secretary of Energy James Richard Perry
Secretary of Education Elisabeth Prince DeVos
Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke
Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Don J. Wright
White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats
Representative of the United States to the United Nations Nikki Haley
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt
Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda E. McMahon
There are plenty of organizations and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have raised questions about Trump's fitness to perform his duties.
The New York Times editorial board, as one example, called on Congress Thursday to pass legislation that would denude him of the ability to launch a unilateral nuclear strike. And it's on this issue -- a nuclear strike, perhaps -- that you could see the Cabinet actually moving to remove Trump from office, even if only temporarily.
The 7-year-old girl, dressed in bright pink and holding one of her favorite stuffed animals, sees her mother for the first time in nearly a year. A brilliant smile spreads across Namata's face, punctuating her excitement.
She and her mother are speaking via Skype more than 7,400 miles apart. Namata, or Mata as she's known, talks from the home of her adoptive parents in Ohio. Her mother watches via a laptop in Uganda, in a quiet spot away from her village.
"Hello," Mata says. "How are you doing?"
Her mother laughs. She's in awe of laying eyes on the daughter she thought she'd lost forever. Mom holds a newborn, and Mata says she wants a closer look at her sister. Her mother stands and lifts the baby, cradling her over the computer screen.
Mata beams, as does her adoptive mom, Jessica Davis.
As the conversation continues, Mata wants answers. She wants to know why her mother gave her away.
By the time the call ends, Mata's radiant smile has turned to sobs. "My mom was tricked," she says. "My mom was tricked."
Her mother told her it was never her intent to give Mata up for good -- that she'd been deceived. She had been told that Mata would be given a great educational opportunity if she was sent away but that she would one day return. That Mom would always be a part of her daughter's life.
For Mata's adoptive mother, the revelation was earth-shattering. Devastating. Traumatizing. Every possible emotion rolled into one.
It also confirmed a gut feeling: that something was amiss about the story the Ohio-based adoption agency had told Jessica and her husband, Adam, about Mata's background. The agency, European Adoption Consultants, told them that Mata's father had died and that her mother neglected her and couldn't afford to feed her. The paperwork said Mata had never attended school.
But in the months after she arrived in America, as Mata's command of English improved, she spoke glowingly about her mother. How they cooked together, how they went to church together and how her mother walked with her to school.
The Skype conversation, on August 29, 2016, confirmed Jessica's suspicions. As she absorbed the news, Jessica realized that she didn't participate in an adoption at all but had unwittingly "participated in taking a child from a loving family."
And she knew what she had to do: return Mata to her mother.
'Pull the wool over their eyes'
The Davises shared their story exclusively with CNN, saying they believe that Ugandan children like Mata are being trafficked, with American families not knowing the real stories behind their adoptions.
An investigation by CNN into this alleged trafficking scheme found that children are being taken from their homes in Uganda on the promise of better schooling, placed into orphanages even though they aren't orphans, and sold for as much as $15,000 each to unsuspecting American families. CNN's investigation discovered that multiple families were duped this way.
Keren Riley of Reunite, a grass-roots organization that helps return trafficked children to their birth mothers, says facilitators on the ground prey on vulnerable moms, often widows, promising educational opportunities for their children.
The traffickers, she says, can include police and lawyers, teachers and local leaders. Complicating matters, there is no word for "adoption" in the language many Ugandan villagers speak, Riley says, so mothers are easily deceived.
"It's easy to pull the wool over their eyes," says Riley, who arranged the video reunion between Mata and her birth mother. Traffickers "know when somebody has lost a husband in a tragic way and is vulnerable and is not coping -- and then they get flagged."
That's exactly what happened in Mata's village, Riley says: A villager-turned-trafficker made a pitch at a local church and managed to get seven children into the adoption circuit, including Mata, who was sent to a place called God's Mercy, about a four-hour drive away. That's where the Davises met her: "She was at an orphanage. No toys. Bars on the windows," Jessica said.
According to an affidavit obtained by CNN, Mata's mother ultimately told a Ugandan family court that she was grief-stricken after her husband died in a vehicle accident March 28, 2014, and was told about a way to get Mata a good education.
"I had not realized that I had gone through a process to take away my parental rights completely," the mother said in sworn testimony September 8, 2016. "I had all along thought and understood that the child was going to be educated and returned back to me."
But the original orphan referral form that sent Mata to God's Mercy painted a different picture, saying the mother was "helpless" and "can't provide basic needs of the child for better growth."
The referral form is dated October 21, 2014 -- exactly one week after the Davises say they got a call from European Adoption Consultants telling them Mata was available for adoption.
At the time of that call, the Davises now believe, Mata wasn't an orphan at all but was still living at home with a mother who loved her. They believe she was pulled from her home and placed in the orphanage after the adoption agency found an American couple -- buyers, in a sense -- with money to adopt a child.
The Ugandan government would later determine that Mata's mother had been deceived, with a Ugandan court finding that the referral form had been forged and wasn't actually signed by Ugandan police.
Believing that the story in the referral form was false, the Davises began their own investigation and contacted the US State Department about the discrepancies.
"We were told her father was deceased, that she was being severely neglected at home and her mother was leaving her open to abuse, leaving her for days," Jessica Davis says. "It was a pretty dramatic file."
A woman named Debra Parris with European Adoption Consultants was the first person to tell the Davises about Mata, saying they needed to decide quickly whether they wanted to pursue the adoption.
Adam Davis says he's never forgotten that phone call because, amid the pain of hearing about Mata's background, there was a moment of joy: "When she said her name, it was so beautiful." It made the adoption process real.
Little did he know that it was the beginning of a heart-wrenching journey.
Shuttered business, elusive owner
The headquarters of European Adoption Consultants, or EAC, sits abandoned on a manicured lawn in a business park in Strongsville, Ohio, outside Cleveland. A glimpse inside its front windows reveals time cards still hanging on a wall and brooms sitting on the floor amid a smattering of office furniture.
The company logo remains emblazoned on the side of the building, but a letter is missing from its address along Alameda Drive.
"Alameda Dive," it says.
The building was shuttered in December after the State Department debarred the agency for three years -- meaning it could no longer place children in homes. The FBI has since raided the building, taking away boxes of materials, and the Ohio attorney general's office filed suit in June to dissolve the adoption agency altogether.
The State Department said EAC "failed to adequately supervise its providers in foreign countries to ensure" that they didn't engage in the "sale, abduction, exploitation or trafficking of children."
It said that EAC had exhibited "a pattern of serious, willful or grossly negligent failure to comply" with standards for international adoption and that it failed safety procedures that prevent "solicitation of bribes" and "fraudulently obtaining birth parent consent."
"EAC offered consideration to birth parents to induce them to release their children for adoption" and failed to take the proper steps to make sure birth parents consented to the termination of their parental rights in accordance with applicable laws, the State Department determined.
"Failure to provide adequate supervision contributed to many of the violations described above," the department said.
Four months after the State Department took action against EAC, the Ugandan government shut down God's Mercy orphanage, where Mata had been sent. It told CNN in a letter that the orphanage had been closed for "trafficking of children," "operating the children's home illegally" and "processing guardianship orders fraudulently."
The government also found that all of the guardianship orders processed for children from God's Mercy were done through a Ugandan law firm that was dealing directly with EAC, according to the letter, which was signed by Pius Bigirimana, permanent secretary for Uganda's Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development.
CNN was unable to reach anyone from the orphanage. But the lawyer who processed the adoptions for EAC at God's Mercy, Dorah Mirembe, denied any wrongdoing by the orphanage. CNN spoke to Mirembe by phone, and she insisted that children are not being trafficked in Uganda through orphanages and that neither she nor EAC ever trafficked children.
She also said Mata's birth mother knew that her daughter was being adopted and taken to America, despite the Ugandan court's finding that Mata's mother had been lied to. She said the same about another woman from the same village whose daughter, CNN learned, also was sent to God's Mercy and placed with adoptive American parents by EAC.
According to the Ohio attorney general's lawsuit, about 300 families had paid EAC for international adoptions that were in various stages when the agency was debarred. The State Department said that those cases would have to be transferred to other approved adoption providers and that it was helping guide a number of families through the process.
The State Department allegations effectively brought to a close an agency that had placed more than 2,000 children from overseas in homes across America since 1991 -- a dream that reportedly began after its founder, Margaret Cole, lost a child to SIDS. Cole said she already had four children, but after the death of her fifth child, a girl, she established the adoption agency and soon flew to Russia to set up contacts for adoptions, the start of what she said was her new life mission.
"The agency is the only good thing that's happened from my daughter's death," she told the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in 1995.
The agency flourished. As EAC grew, it handled adoptions in more than a dozen countries, including Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Haiti, Russia and Uganda. Tax records from 2000 to 2015 show that EAC reported more than $76.1 million in revenue and more than $76.3 million in expenses over that period.
In a 2004 Cleveland Magazine story in which several families raised questions about their EAC adoptions, Cole was asked how she avoided crooks amid the shadowy business of international adoptions.
"I just have a radar," she said.
CNN wanted Cole to answer similar questions about the Davises' adoption and others, the State Department allegations and the FBI investigation. Was EAC purposely deceiving families as part of a scheme to traffic children for profit? Or was it simply negligent, unaware due to a lack of background checks that the children it was getting from Uganda were being trafficked? Could EAC also have been a victim of this apparent trafficking scheme?
CNN made repeated phone and email requests for comment to Cole, with no response. We visited seven properties associated with the EAC founder -- six locations in Ohio, one of which was raided by the FBI, and one in Florida -- but Cole was nowhere to be found. CNN reached out to one of Cole's daughters about speaking with her but never heard back.
However, we tracked down Parris, the woman who notified the Davises about Mata, who had identified herself to Mata's adoptive parents as the director of EAC's African adoption program.
In YouTube videos, Parris speaks of life-changing moments, of traveling with adoptive parents to Africa to meet children for the first time. "A lot of times, I take five or six sets of parents with me and get to see children experience their parents for the first time," Parris says in one video. "For us, that's something that is a reward at the end of the day."
But on a recent summer day, Parris was in no mood to talk. After trying to reach her by phone numerous times, CNN confronted her outside her son's home in Lake Dallas, Texas.
We asked whether we could talk to her for a moment about Uganda adoptions.
"No," Parris responded.
She went on to deny being EAC's Africa head and playing a role in organizing Ugandan adoptions.
Instead, she said "there were people in Uganda who did it."
We continued to press, asking whether the adoptive and birth mothers had been lied to.
"No. Absolutely not," Parris said.
No charges have been filed against Cole, Parris or EAC. The FBI declined to comment, saying its investigation is ongoing.
Not in it 'to buy a child'
Around the time the Davises realized that their adoption was a sham, a family in West Virginia made a similar discovery.
Stacey Wells and her husband, Shawn, had adopted a 7-year-old girl named Violah from Uganda using EAC. Parris, the family says, was their EAC contact for the adoption. Like Jessica Davis, Stacey Wells described Parris as aggressive on the phone, demanding an answer right away as to whether they'd take the child.
For the Wellses, questions began mounting in the year Violah lived with them. Things didn't add up. As her English improved, she'd talk about walking with her mother to church and cooking dinner with her -- not the story of abandonment the Wellses had been told by the agency.
Violah spoke of the day she and her sister were ripped away from their mother, with the girls screaming and crying. "Her experience in her home just did not match the paperwork," Stacey Wells says.
Then, one night in September, Shawn Wells went to the Facebook page of Reunite. It had the story of a woman who said her children were taken away against her will. Shawn called his wife over to the computer. They were shocked.
"That's Violah's mother," Stacey said. "That's her."
It's not uncommon in Uganda for American adoptive parents to be in court with a biological mother -- proceedings that happen quickly, often without translators, the birth mother not fully understanding what she's agreed to and the American parents equally confused about what's transpiring.
Such was the case with the Wellses, who were devastated after seeing the Facebook page.
"We were just sick," Stacey says, "because, really, the lie she had been given."
They already had two children when they took in Violah. They thought they were giving an orphan a home. Instead, Stacey says, "she was made an orphan."
"I just wasn't in it to buy a child."
Like the Davises, they began the extraordinary step of returning Violah, who hailed from the same Ugandan village as Mata and had been sent to the same orphanage, God's Mercy. The Wellses reached out to Reunite's Riley, who said Violah's birth mother was also lied to by local traffickers using the same false promise of education in America.
Violah was one of four girls taken from her mother. One was previously reunited with her; two others remain missing, believed to be in homes in America.
"They are getting the orphans because there is a dollar sign, you know. A market's been created," Stacey says. Like the Davises, the Wellses paid about $15,000 to EAC. They said they spent their life savings on the adoption. Both Jessica Davis and Stacey Wells have been interviewed by the FBI.
In November, Stacey Wells brought Violah back to her home village, an emotional moment that is forever seared in Stacey's mind. Violah's mother emerged from a little shop where she worked and sprinted toward them. She wrapped her arms around Stacey and then gave Violah a giant hug.
At her home, Violah was greeted by jubilant siblings. Her oldest brother took her by the hands and broke out in a dance, swinging her around in celebration.
"In that moment," Stacey says, crying, "I knew she was where she was meant to be."
Saying goodbye
After learning about Mata's background, Jessica Davis says, her mantra became "I want the truth for my child, because living a lie will never work."
Unsure how to proceed, she contacted the State Department.
Jessica said that at one point, the department told her, "you can just keep her if you want."
"I said to them, 'I didn't purchase her at Walmart.' "
She urged government officials not to notify the adoption agency, fearing that something could happen to Mata's birth mother in retaliation.
After a nearly three-year saga, Jessica and Adam Davis were exhausted, physically and emotionally. They'd spent about $65,000 on the adoption, flights to Uganda, fees and other expenses.
At first, adopting had seemed the right thing to do. It was in line with their strong Christian beliefs, and it allowed Adam to practice what he preaches as an associate pastor at a Methodist church in St. Clairsville, Ohio. Blessed with four children of their own, they believed that adopting an orphan who was in a desperate situation was a way of making something good happen in a difficult world.
They opened their home and their hearts, only to suffer the crushing blow of what really transpired.
"We unwittingly placed an order for a child," Adam says. "The only trauma this poor kid ever experienced was because we essentially placed an order for a child."
"They selected her for us," Jessica adds.
The Davises filed paperwork to have Mata's adoption vacated, and in September, the Ugandan government gave parental rights back to her birth mother.
With Riley's help, Mata's return was set in motion.
The family threw her a goodbye party before leaving America last fall. The Davises told their four other children to put on happy faces -- and try not to cry in front of Mata. Home videos provide a glimpse into the emotional scene.
"What's today?" asks Jessica.
"I'm going home," Mata says, smiling.
"Are you excited?"
"Yeah."
The first thing she'll do when she sees her mom, she says, is "hug her."
Soon, Mata and Adam were on a 14-hour flight to Uganda while Jessica and the rest of the family stayed home. Mata had lived with the Davises for a year, blending in well with their other children and adapting to life in America.
Returning her was not only the right thing to do -- in the Davises' mind, it was the only thing to do.
The day after landing in Uganda, Adam and Mata traveled to her village. As they approached her home, Adam told Mata that he loved her and was proud to have been her dad for the past year.
When Mata and her mother saw each other for the first time, Adam said, it was like the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. Her mother rushed toward Mata, scooping her into her arms. They were laughing and crying, overwhelmed with pure joy.
"I've never seen anything like it," Adam says.
Mata was home.
Epilogue
The Davises still speak to Mata via Skype every couple of months. She's back in school in her village and enjoying her new sister. The Wellses have kept in touch with Violah, too.
Mata and Violah have become friends and have blossomed since returning home.
When asked how she felt since Mata's return, her mother said with a smile, "I'm very, very, very happy."
Violah's mother echoed that sentiment: "I'm very happy and very grateful."
Two of her daughters remain missing, however. Riley, of Reunite, says she has notified the two families in America who she believes adopted them. She has not heard back.
"Both families are aware of the truth," Riley says. "They appear to be continuing to live their lives and let the children believe what they've been told, which isn't true at all."
A study from 2015 by the Ugandan government, sponsored by UNICEF, found that Ugandan parents were being "bribed" and "deceived," often with financial incentives, and that the orphanages were complicit.
The report says orphanages don't always properly verify information about children's histories before taking them in. The findings of that study match up in many ways with what happened to Mata and Violah and support what CNN found.
CNN's Kerry Rubin and Ismael Estrada contributed to this report.
PRESS RELEASE
European Development Bank Works with Asian Infrastructure Bank and Chinas Belt and Road
Oct. 13, 2017 (EIRNS)The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti, told Xinhua that the EBRD and the Belt and Road Initiative, together with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), are working together in areas along the Silk Road route. "The core values of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative are shared by the EBRD," Chakrabarti said on Thursday, adding that "There is very much an overlap between what we do and the Belt and Road Initiative."
The vision for the initiative was a framework for cooperation and development across nations and continents which the EBRD supported, Chakrabarti told Xinhua. "If you look at the number of countries we work in, 37, then 32 of them are on the Belt and Road initiative," he said. "We have become really rather big in Central Asia which is the heart of the Belt and Road Initiative."
Chakrabarti said that EBRDs investment has increased by about 75 percent annually in the past few years in Central Asia with a total of $12 billion. Cooperation between the EBRD and the AIIB is demonstrated, said Chakrabarti, as a team grouping AIIB/EBRD officials are working together in the AIIBs headquarters in Beijing. "With AIIB we have co-financed the project in Tajikistan, the road from Dushanbe to the Uzbek border," he said. The first joint project of the two banks will form part of the east-west highway in Central Asia, which is designed to connect Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Chakrabarti said that he hoped the two institutions could further broaden their cooperation: "There are potential co-financing projects in Georgia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistanfurther projects that we will do together."
PRESS RELEASE
Tillerson Talks to Lavrov and Yang Jiechi
Oct. 13, 2017 (EIRNS)Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a telephone discussion yesterday. Lavrov strongly protested the removal of Russian flags at its diplomatic properties. The Russian Foreign Ministry statement said: "Lavrov said the U.S. authorities order to remove Russian flags from our diplomatic facilities previously seized by them was unacceptable," and "confirmed Moscows determination to prepare legal cases in order to return the illegally seized Russian property."
Lavrov also said said that "the U.S. authorities ongoing arbitrariness runs contrary to Washingtons high-level statements expressing willingness to normalize bilateral relations which have hit an unprecedented low."
Commenting on their discussion of the Ukrainian situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry statement said:
"The two top diplomats touched upon the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, taking into account the results of the October 7 meeting between the Russian and U.S. special representatives, Surkov and Volker,"
adding that "the parties expressed their support for continuing meetings in this format." This is a reference to the meeting between Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov and U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker which took place in Belgrade on Oct. 7.
Referring to the discussion on Korea, the statement said: "In an exchange of opinions on the situation on the Korean peninsula, the Russian minister once again called for giving up on heightening tensions and for creating preconditions for a political dialogue."
Tillerson also spoke with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiachi on Thursday, preparing for Trumps visit to China next month and discussing other issues.
When it comes to the artful science of economics, most American farmers and ranchers are classic Ricardians, or followers of David Ricardo, an 18th century English stock trader whose influential book "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" explained what he saw as the markets guiding lights.
Any ag econ student from the last 150 years can spot a Ricardian principle a mile away. Some of his classics include comparative advantage, the law of diminishing returns, opportunity cost, and the ever-useful theory of economic rent.
All, not coincidentally, fit snugly into most U.S. farmers and ranchers near-sacred belief that, given free markets and free trade, theyll out produce everyone else.
Maybe, but production doesnt mean profit, and free trade and free markets are ideals, not realities. In fact, there are huge barriers to both: over-the-moon land prices, soaring seed costs, market bubbles, currency manipulation, price inelasticities, monopolies, monopsonies, tariffs, weather, sanitary barriers, ongoing global conflicts
Moreover, any of these external influences can lead to negative market consequences like market losses and even bankruptcy. Thats one reason why Ricardos economic principles are labeled theories, not truths or facts.
An even better reason, explains Richard Thaler, a non-Ricardian economist at the University of Chicago, is that humans are not always rational so, often, the markets they live and operate in wont always be rational either.
That makes sense. Why else would hardware stores put the cherry licorice display next to the checkout lane if they didnt want me to make a completely irrational purchase? Does anyone really need two pounds of chewy, artificially flavored fructose?
Irrational behavior, in fact, explains so many market consequences that the Nobel committee just awarded Thaler its 2017 Memorial Prize in Economics. In announcing the award, the committee not only honored his work on how people are economically irrational, but how they are predictably irrational that they consistently behave in ways that defy economic theory.
Predictably irrational?
For example, Thaler explained to the New York Times, the theory of supply and demand clearly states that people will pay more for an umbrella during a rainstorm. In real life, however, many people will become angry if you charge more for one during a rainstorm. Most, in fact, wont buy it.
Thats predictably irrational: you really need an umbrella because its raining but refuse to buy one because, well, its raining.
We down-to-earth farm and ranch folks are predictably irrational, too. How else can you explain why some of us only buy green machinery and others only red?
Right its complicated. And predictably irrational.
If thats complicated, how do predictably irrational people around the world design and implement farm and food policies that are effective both nationally and internationally?
Thaler, the newly minted Nobel laureate, might call on his fictional friend, Homo Economicas, to tackle that knotty problem. Econ Man, as Thaler calls him, is part of a group of highly intelligent beings that are capable of making the most complex of calculations but are totally lacking in emotions
In other words, Econ Man is always predictable and perfectly rational.
On one occasion, Thaler put Econ Man to work in his classroom after a group of high-achieving students averaged 70 points on an exam. When their bitter complaints over the test scores finally ebbed, Thaler assured the students that, on his grading curve, 70 still equaled a B. That meant nothing to the students; all they saw was 70.
Econ Mans solution was beautiful: Thaler raised the value of the next exam from 100 points to 137 points. As a result, the average score on this second exam hovered near 100, not 70. The relative letter grade, however, still was a B. The students didnt care; they saw 100, not 70, and were elated. Predictably irrational? In spades.
How would Econ Man score the 2018 Farm Bill?
I dont know, but on his principle alone, Ricardo would give it a 100.
PRESS RELEASE
Trumps New Iran Strategy
Oct. 13, 2017 (EIRNS)President Trumps "New Iran Strategy," which was released late last night, focuses not on the nuclear deal per se, but on "neutralizing the Government of Irans destabilizing influence and containing its aggression," including the "funding of its malign activities." The policy proposes to "rally the international community to condemn the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gross violation of human rights" and the governments oppression of its people. The Administration "will seek to bring about a change in the Iranian regimes behavior," it states.
The document includes a litany of alleged Iranian threats and "reckless behavior," including cyber attacks against the United States, threatening the freedom of navigation, and support for the Assad regime. Countering the Revolutionary Guard is an emphasis, "through a strategy that neutralizes and counters Iranian threats."
On the nuclear agreement, the policy document alleges Irans violations of the agreement, even though this has been contradicted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and all other signers to the agreement. Trump announced the decision today to not certify that Iran is fulfilling the terms of the agreement, despite all evidence to the contrary. This now passes the baton to the Congress, where some members are trying to make changes in the agreement.
Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) say they will introduce legislation to "address the flaws" in the nuclear agreement. A main issue is the sunset agreement on ending the sanctions, which now is the perogative of the President. The legislation would institute an automatic reinstatement of U.S. sanctions if Iran comes within a year of a nuclear capability, replacing the 90-day recertification by the President.
The Iranians have made clear that they will not accept any "renegotiation" of the agreement. And neither will Russia or China, nor our European allies.
Amazon Studios on Friday severed ties with the Weinstein Co. in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal engulfing Harvey Weinsteins struggling production company.
The move means a high-profile television project from Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell (American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook) no longer will be made. Amazon had ordered two seasons of the untitled drama, which would have brought together on screen actors Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore. The shows budget was rumored to be a pricey $160 million for the two seasons.
The filmmakers on Friday announced the project was dead.
We support Amazons decision in light of recent news and out of respect for all those affected we have decided together that it is best to not move forward with this show, read a statement from Russell, De Niro and Moore.
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Amazon, however, plans to continue with a second show it was co-producing with the Weinstein Co., this one from writer-producer Matthew Weiner. His show The Romanoffs will go forward but without the involvement of the Weinstein Co., according to a person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to comment.
Weiner was the force behind AMCs Mad Men, and his latest project an eight-episode anthology already was well into production.
Amazons decision is the latest blow to the Weinstein Co., which is reeling from the fallout of the sexual harassment scandal that has clouded the companys future. More than 30 women including such high-wattage stars as Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually harassing them. A spokesperson for Weinstein has said the movie and television mogul unequivocally denied that he had sex with women without their consent.
The Weinstein Co.s board has been divided over whether to sell the business in whole or in pieces. Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs said Friday it is exploring options for what to do with its small stake in the movie and TV company. Apple has already dropped a planned Elvis series from the Weinstein Co., and Hachette Book Group, one of the countrys top publishers, said Thursday that it has terminated its arrangement with Weinstein Books.
Amazons move to cut ties with the New York-based production company comes 24 hours after the e-commerce giant announced that it was suspending the head of its Santa Monica-based TV and movie studio, Roy Price. He has been accused of sexual harassment by Isa Hackett, a producer on a prominent show. On Thursday, Amazon said that Price had been placed on an indefinite leave of absence.
In a memo to employees on Friday, Amazon senior vice president of business development Jeff Blackburn said, Amazon does not tolerate harassment or abuse of our employees or our business partners.
meg.james@latimes.com
@MegJamesLAT
UPDATES:
7:34 p.m. This article was updated with more information about the Weinstein Co. projects that were being produced in conjunction with Amazon Studios.
This article was originally published at 6:30 p.m.
For an ambitious college or film school graduate looking to break into the cut-throat movie business, there were few jobs in Hollywood as coveted as working for Harvey Weinstein.
The pay was often bad and the hours long, but simply having Miramax or Weinstein Co. on your resume was seen as a golden ticket that could be parlayed into a better-paying job at other independent film companies and even a major studio.
Toiling in the trenches for Weinstein, however, was not for the weak or easily intimidated.
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Weinstein is currently facing allegations that he sexually harassed and assaulted a series of women over a period of more than 20 years, as reported recently by the New York Times and New Yorker. Those who worked with him on a daily basis knew a different kind of abuse that was more psychological in nature.
Former employees and other indie veterans said working for Weinstein frequently involved bearing the brunt of his volcanic temper, which was legendary in an industry filled with supersized egos. His rage-fueled outbursts were mostly verbal but would sometimes turn physical, with employees finding themselves on the receiving end of his brute force, including thrown objects and altercations, according to three people who worked for the producer.
The company was packed full of young people, driven by the idea that they were cheap. The attitude was that the company paid them with experience. The abusive behavior was part of the deal, said Mark Tusk, who worked as vice president of acquisitions at Miramax during the 1990s.
FULL COVERAGE: The Harvey Weinstein scandal>>
The employees who survived best were able to stand up to Weinstein, Tusk said. You had to know how the bully mentality worked. He respected you more if you pushed back but he still put his foot down and made it clear he was the boss, he said.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter published Saturday, Bob Weinstein acknowledged his brothers behavior in the workplace.
Harvey was a bully. Harvey was arrogant. He treated people like all the time, Bob Weinstein said. That I knew. And I had to clean up for so many of his employee messes. People that came in crying to my office: Your brother said this, that and the other. And Id feel sick about it.
Some of Harvey Weinsteins outbursts toward business partners were negotiating tactics aimed at scoring a better deal. He could also turn his rage into charm in a matter of seconds, drawing on his film-geek background to talk about arthouse cinema as a way to put his subordinates at ease after a tense standoff.
Former employees expressed a mixture of sadness and shock over the sex allegations against Weinstein. Most of the accusations have come from actresses, but some were former employees, including at least two unnamed assistants who reached settlements with the movie boss in 1990 and 1998, according to the New York Times.
Many rank-and-file employees didnt know about their boss alleged sexual transgressions, hearing only vague whispers about extramarital flings. The open secret among staffers was that he was a philanderer, not a harasser and assaulter of women, said one former employee who worked for Weinstein for about five years in the early 2000s.
The rumors didnt stop eager young film buffs from lining up to work for him, attracted by the edgy auteur titles that New York-based Miramax distributed in its early days and later by the Oscar-winning prestige movies that Weinstein released at his creative peak, including Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love and Chicago.
The potential career upside was often too tempting to resist. Weinstein alumni have gone on to work for Netflix, Showtime, New Line Cinema and Focus Features as well as the major Hollywood studios. Others have created their own production and distribution companies.
But employee turnover was brisk. You put in your year or two, then you got the hell out of there, said one former film executive who wasnt employed by Weinstein but who worked in the same indie film circles.
When it came to his brothers bullying in the workplace, Bob Weinstein told the Hollywood Reporter, I would often counsel people and say, You know what? You have a choice here. Leave. Leave, please leave. I dont know why some of them stayed.
Bernice Ledbetter, a faculty member at the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management, said it may have been difficult for people to leave because of the allure of the Weinstein Co.
Its a very seductive industry at all levels. It draws people in who are willing to be abused, to work for pennies, for the sake of being there. Its part of the lure and lore of Hollywood, she said.
During his scrappy early days in the 80s, Harvey and Bob Weinstein managed a small staff of about 20 individuals. The atmosphere was intimate and even familial Harveys wife at the time, Eve, headed Miramaxs family film division, while his mother, Miriam, worked the reception area.
Even then, Harvey Weinstein was known as an overbearing boss who pushed his employees to their limits, calling people at all hours. Former and current Weinstein employees would gather informally after work to share their horror stories about him and commiserate.
The mogul often played mind games with his new mid- to senior-level hires, whom he put into two general categories: those who received a six-month honeymoon period where the brothers treated them as part of the family, and those whom Harvey Weinstein would immediately grind down as a test of sorts. If they stood up to him and didnt let the verbal abuse crush them, he would grant them leeway.
These people stayed longer once they got through the hazing process, said Tusk, the former acquisitions executive. It was a strange dichotomy.
Harvey Weinsteins personal assistants were often treated as glorified servants, but everyone from the top down was called upon to perform secretarial duties, including taking meeting notes and fetching him cigarettes.
The culture was partly a holdover from Miramaxs start-up years when it operated hand-to-mouth. The company had many lean years when it survived on a line of credit of about $25 million, according to one person with knowledge of the situation.
After Walt Disney Co. acquired Miramax in 1993, the brothers had access to more money and the staff eventually grew to a few hundred, with offices opening in Los Angeles and London.
Success only exacerbated Harvey Weinsteins anger issues and need for industry recognition. Things really took a turn for the worse around the time of The English Patient, said one former Miramax executive who worked for the company for several years in the 90s.
The 1996 movie was his first release to win the Oscar for best picture, and it whetted his appetite for more awards. By the time Shakespeare in Love was released two years later, his worst traits became amplified, the executive said.
The Oscar campaign for Shakespeare in Love was aggressive and at times nasty as it took aim at its chief rival for best picture, Saving Private Ryan. Ultimately, Harvey Weinsteins movie triumphed on Oscar night, but his reputation as a campaigner who played dirty was sealed.
While he has seldom been caught red-handed in his attempts to sabotage the competition, he did apologize to Universal Pictures in 2002 after a Miramax staffer was caught steering a journalist to a negative story on the Drudge Report about John Nash, the subject of A Beautiful Mind.
Out of the limelight, Harvey Weinstein terrified his employees with his physical outbursts.
Once, he became so dissatisfied with poster artwork for a movie release that he picked up a framed picture of his parents and hurled it across the room, narrowly missing an employee, said a former executive who worked for the Weinsteins for several years.
Hes basically an angry man who is never going to get over his anger and that manifests itself in many ways, the executive said.
His size was another factor. Standing more than 6 feet tall and sporting a massive frame, he was a physically imposing character who could strike fear in his employees simply by lunging forward or pounding his fist on a desk.
He threw his weight around literally and figuratively, said a press agent who worked with the Weinsteins.
But mostly it was vulgar outbursts. He sometimes directed his anger at his younger brother Bob. The siblings frequently feuded but stuck together as business partners until Weinstein Co. announced Sunday that it was firing Harvey Weinstein.
The elder Weinstein declined requests for comment, but in an interview with the Los Angeles Times this year, he said he was working on his personal issues.
Im trying to be a better person, he said.
david.ng@latimes.com
@DavidNgLAT
Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.
ALSO
Amazon Studios cuts ties with Weinstein Co. following Harvey Weinstein sex scandal
The fallout: How the Harvey Weinstein scandal exposed sexual harassment as Hollywoods dirty secret
In Hollywood, what shouldve been scandal was long met with a shrug. A new outcry has changed that
UPDATES:
11:35 a.m.: This article was updated to include comments Bob Weinstein made to the Hollywood Reporter.
This article was originally published at 5 a.m.
Add Pomona to the long list of cities hoping to land Amazons proposed $5-billion second headquarters.
The Fairplex, Cal Poly Pomona, Los Angeles County and the city of Pomona are teaming up to submit a bid to be home to the online retailing giants new campus, a project that would create 50,000 jobs at what is expected to be named Amazons HQ2.
To accommodate the headquarters, the Fairplex plans to offer 100 acres of land used for parking on the east side of White Avenue while Cal Poly Pomona is considering offering 300 acres that are now used for the shuttered Lanterman Developmental Center. The two properties are not adjacent.
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The Pomona City Council is expected to vote Monday night to endorse the bid, which is due to Amazon by Thursday.
We are audacious enough to think we, in fact, can submit a very competitive proposal and are on par with any other bid in California and North America, Fairplex Chief Executive Miguel Santana said.
The Pomona sites will meet many of Amazons requirements, Santana said. For example, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to extend the Gold Line train to include two stations near the Fairplex by 2027, meeting an Amazon requirement that the new headquarters be accessible to mass transit.
Also, Santana said the Ontario International Airport is about 11 miles away from the Fairplex, which meets another Amazon requirement. The region around the sites also has affordable housing and access to an educated workforce, he added.
Amazon launched the search for its second North American base because its current headquarters, which covers 33 buildings in greater Seattle, is brimming with 40,000 workers following the companys remarkable growth that lifted its sales to $136 billion last year.
So far, cities across the U.S., including Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles have expressed interest in bidding for the project.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said the county would consider offering Amazon incentives to choose the Pomona bid, such as tax credits or a favorable lease agreement.
This is one of many proposals but I think its one of the better ones, she said.
hugo.martin@latimes.com
To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.
Longtime Orange County columnist, government watchdog and foodie Gustavo Arellano said Friday that he has voluntarily resigned from his role as editor of alternative weekly newspaper OC Weekly.
In an interview Friday on the Tom Leykis Show, Arellano said he was told by the papers owner to cut half the staff, and he refused. OC Weekly now has nine staffers in the editorial department.
Arellano said that in September he gave the papers owner an alternative plan that would not involve layoffs. He offered to help sell ads and even cut his own salary in half.
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In his proposal, Arellano said his resignation would be effective Oct. 13 if Irvine-based Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. didnt like the plan.
Last year, Voice Media Group sold OC Weekly to Duncan McIntosh, which publishes nautical magazines such as Boating World and Sea. Terms of the deal were not disclosed at the time.
When Arellano didnt hear back about his plan, he approached the owner Thursday and was told to attend a meeting Friday morning, where he received his final paycheck.
Theyre claiming were not making the money we used to, Arellano said on the show. The thing I told them is, no newspaper has ever cut their way to profitability.
Arellano said he asked for, but did not receive, financial figures. He said that historically, OC Weekly always finished the year in the black.
Jeff Fleming, OC Weeklys vice president and general manager, described Arellano in a statement as the ambassador and face of OC Weekly and said he would be missed.
In the same statement, Duncan McIntosh, the papers president, said OC Weeklys editorial staff and budget have remained virtually unchanged for a decade and that editorial expenses consistently exceeded the set amount.
McIntosh said Arellano was asked to come up with a new plan with a reduced budget, the workings of which were totally left to his discretion.
Arellano started freelancing for OC Weekly in 2001 while attending Chapman University in Orange. He gained national recognition with his syndicated column, Ask a Mexican. The column plays off white Orange County residents stereotypes of their neighbors, answering questions in an often irreverent style. (Two recent entries: Why Do Mexicans Customize Their Trucks So Ugly? and How Mexican Should I Allow My Adopted Mexican Son to Be?)
In 2011, Arellano became editor of the alt-weekly, which is known for challenging powerful county officials and close coverage of the local food scene. He is the author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.
Arellano said his column could not continue in its current form because OC Weekly owns the copyright to its name, but said he would continue answering questions from readers on the Leykis show, on which he regularly appears.
Arellano was temporarily suspended from Twitter earlier this week after trading insults with another user. However, Arellano said that wasnt a factor in his departure and noted that his plan for the paper pre-dated that incident.
The newspaper will now be headed by Nick Schou, the papers managing editor, Arellano said.
As long as Nick Schou and the team is there, the paper will continue to do the great work it has done, he said. If the current ownership is smart, they will keep the current staff as it is.
samantha.masunaga@latimes.com
Twitter: @smasunaga
UPDATES:
6:05 p.m.: This article was updated to include a comment from Duncan McIntosh, OC Weeklys owner.
This article was originally published at 4:55 p.m.
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.
Embattled film mogul Harvey Weinstein a once-dominant force in the Academy Awards who rewrote the rules of Oscar campaigning has been expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in response to mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him.
The film academys 54-member board of governors, which includes such industry luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kathleen Kennedy and Whoopi Goldberg, voted in an emergency meeting on Saturday morning to remove Weinstein from the organizations ranks in an unprecedented public rebuke of a prominent industry figure. The move marked the latest blow in Weinsteins stunning downfall and, in symbolic terms, amounts to a virtual expulsion from Hollywood itself.
In removing Weinstein from the organizations ranks, the academys board said in a statement, 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. Whats at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society. The Board continues to work to establish ethical standards of conduct that all Academy members will be expected to exemplify.
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The board noted that its members had voted well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to immediately eject Weinstein.
A representative for Weinstein told The Times he would not be commenting on his expulsion.
Since reports of Weinsteins alleged misconduct toward dozens of women first surfaced in the New York Times on Oct. 5, the academy had been under increasing pressure to take action against him. A petition on Change.org demanding his ouster gathered more than 140,000 signatures from the general public. On Tuesday, the National Organization for Women joined the calls for Weinsteins removal, stating, A sexual predator doesnt deserve the privilege of an academy membership and all the opportunities to wield outsize power that come with it.
Twenty-one members of the film academys board are women as is its chief executive, Dawn Hudson and in recent years the organization has taken steps to dramatically increase the number of women in its historically overwhelmingly male ranks.
In the past several days, a number of academy members expressed their feelings both privately and publicly that Weinstein had no place in the film industrys most prestigious organization. CBS Films President Terry Press, who regularly battled Weinstein on the awards trail during her tenure as a marketing executive at DreamWorks, vowed in a Facebook post to quit the academy if he was allowed to remain. The idea that anyone would give him a second chance or entertain the notion that he can change is beyond absurd, wrote Press.
Even Weinsteins brother, Bob with whom he ran Miramax Films and then Weinstein Co. said in an interview published Saturday in the Hollywood Reporter that he felt the academy should expel him, adding that he planned to write a note to the group to that effect.
But within the academy some wrestled with the decision, fearing that it could set a precedent that would require the academy to police its members behavior going forward. As many have pointed out in recent days, other Hollywood figures who have come under attack for their treatment of women and other behavior that could be seen as violating what the academy now calls ethical standards of conduct including Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski and Mel Gibson remain members of the academy in good standing.
The academys bylaws give the board of governors free rein to expel members for cause, but that power has very rarely been exercised. The last member to be banished from the group was actor Carmine Caridi, who was booted in 2004 for sharing promotional copies of films that were later pirated. Sources close to the academy say that other members had been more quietly suspended in years past for selling their tickets to the Oscars ceremony, but nothing ever rose to the level of attention surrounding Weinstein.
The academys move follows the British Academy of Film and Television Arts decision earlier this week to suspend Weinsteins membership. The Producers Guild of America is set to hold a meeting on Monday morning to decide whether to take similar action.
During his years at the helm of Miramax and Weinstein Co., Weinsteins films including such hits as Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, The Artist and The Kings Speech racked up more than 300 Oscar nominations. He himself took home a best picture statuette in 1999 for producing Shakespeare in Love. Weinsteins ability to mint awards nominations was so renowned that, in 2003, when he had a hand in four of the five best-picture nominees, The Times wrote that the ceremony should be renamed the Harveys.
A 2015 analysis by the website Vocativ found that Weinstein was second only to Steven Spielberg in the number of times he had been thanked in Oscar acceptance speeches. (God ranked sixth.)
But beneath the surface, the brash, fiery-tempered outsider from Queens had long rankled many in the academy. His aggressive, spare-no-expense style of campaigning for his films sometimes stirred animosity and created a kind of arms race with other distributors, and he was accused on a number of occasions of starting whisper campaigns against rival films. (What can I say? Weinstein once said, professing his innocence. When youre Billy the Kid and people around you die of natural causes, everyone thinks you shot them.)
Some in Hollywood had used the platform of the Oscars not to thank Weinstein, but to make sharp digs at him. In 2002, at the 74th Oscars, Nathan Lane, presenting the award for animated feature, quipped, Gosh, up until now I thought Monsters, Inc. was a documentary on the Weinsteins.
In 2013, host Seth MacFarlane, after announcing the nominees for supporting actress alongside actress Emma Stone, said, Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.
In an interview with The Times on Saturday, actress Kate Winslet said she had deliberately avoided thanking Weinstein from the Oscars stage when she won the lead actress award for The Reader in 2009 due to his disgraceful behavior during the films production.
I remember being told, Make sure you thank Harvey if you win, Winslet said. And I remember turning around and saying, No I wont. No I wont. And it was nothing to do with not being grateful. If people arent well-behaved, why would I thank him?
Among the academys board, several members have worked on Weinstein projects over the years, including Laura Dern, who starred in Miramaxs Citizen Ruth; screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, who co-wrote and produced Weinstein Co.s Big Eyes; and governor-at-large Reginald Hudlin, who produced Weinstein Co.s Django Unchained. Christina Kounelias, a governor for the academys public relations branch, and David Linde, who serves on the executives branch, both worked at Miramax earlier in their careers.
Other academy members have worked on movies that have gone head to head against Weinsteins films at the Oscars, including Hanks and Spielberg, who respectively starred in and directed Saving Private Ryan. That film was beaten out for the best picture prize in 1999 by Shakespeare in Love in what is still regarded as one of most bitterly fought contests in Oscars history.
Over the years, a few board members had aired less than warm feelings toward Weinstein, including producer and former studio executive Bill Mechanic. Speaking of Miramaxs bullying tactics to author Peter Biskind in the 2004 book Down and Dirty Pictures, Mechanic said, Bad behavior doesnt get punished in this business, and theirs certainly doesnt. People just ignore it and say, Theyre good at what they do, which they are.
Speaking of the Weinstein revelations this week on the talk show The View, Goldberg made a plea for women to stop taking payouts in exchange for keeping silent about harassment. We need to start talking to our sisters and say, You do not have to take this, Goldberg said. Your career does not rise and fall on this. Because if you take this, people are going to assume that youre OK with the behavior.
For his part, Hanks who famously almost never has an ill word to say about anyone told the New York Times this week, Ive never worked with Harvey. But, aah, it all just sort of fits, doesnt it? ... Im not the first person to say Harveys a bit of an ass.
Staff writer Glenn Whipp contributed to this report.
josh.rottenberg@latimes.com
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UPDATES:
5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with details from a Weinstein representative and an interview with actress Kate Winslet.
This article was originally published at 1:15 p.m.
In White Famous, premiering Sunday on Showtime, Jay Pharoah plays Floyd Mooney, a successful nightclub comic whose agent, Malcolm (Utkarsh Ambudkar), is eager to take him to the next level. The goal has always been white famous, Malcolm tells Floyd, which is to say, so famous that you transcend color. But is that what Floyd wants?
Hollywood, you may have noticed, has been in the news lately. Not for the first time have the abuses that the powerful visit on the less powerful been dragged out into the light. Indeed, the degree of humiliation one is willing to withstand to have a career and when saying yes becomes more damaging to a performer and person than saying no has been a thematic signature of backstage (and soundstage) dramas and comedies and musicals since forever.
The series is reportedly inspired by some of the experiences of one of its executive producers, Jamie Foxx, who appears in the opening episode as (a skirt-wearing version of) himself, and I dont doubt that at any given minute someone in show business is saying or doing something more horrible, strange or stupid than anything anyone says to Floyd in White Famous. Indeed, I would not be surprised to learn that every awful line uttered here has been transcribed verbatim from the real world. And yet the way the show has been constructed, it undercuts its own credibility; it feels altogether too on-the-nose, a rigged game in which almost all the points are awarded to Floyd.
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First there is the hot comedy director, Jason Gold (Steve Zissis), whose fumblings with handshakes and ethnic appellations Floyd offhandedly describes as well-meaning West of the 405 racist. Gold wants to cast him in a new film, but as an old woman and drag is a line Floyd is loath to cross. Every time theres a funny black brother in Hollywood they try to emasculate him, he tells Sadie (Cleopatra Clovis), his girlfriend, from whom he is semi-separated, and the mother of his son (Lonnie Chavis). I know this might sound corny, but I dont want to sell out.
Then there is the powerful producer, Stu Beggs (Stephen Tobolowsky, reprising his Californication character), who mistakes Floyd for a valet, and whose not-quite apology of racial stereotypes, caught on camera, goes viral and results in an offer of a part in the Jamie Foxx movie hes making. (Hes black as the ace of spades, says the producer by way of establishing his non-racist bona fides.) Even resurrecting the character played by Tobolowsky, an actor whose resume is heavily stocked with schlemiels, seems a step too much; putting him in a tight swimsuit and bathrobe, and setting their conference against the overused hillside backdrop of Pierre Koenigs modernist Stahl house, is a jump off a little cliff into the obvious.
Were told that Floyd is a great talent; we see a fan beg a photo. But apart from a snippet of stand-up at the beginning, which seems mostly intended to establish that Floyd is a black comic with a devoted black audience (On behalf of the black community, I adopt you, he says to the white woman in the crowd), and a Denzel Washington imitation, we dont see him at work. But suddenly, hes blowing up.
It is pilot season in the golden age of diversity, Malcolm tells him, and you have a superpower. Youre Black Man. Theres never been a better time in Hollywood to be a POC.
The second episode does improve on the first. Happily, it dispenses with the openers quota of Pointlessly Naked Women of Premium Cable. (Foxxs notion was developed into a series by Tom Kapinos, who created Californication, Showtimes quasi-celebration of toxic masculinity, along with comic-actor-comedy writers Chris Spencer and Buddy Lewis; Floyd at least apologizes for his male bravado.) And then there is the promising introduction of Michael Rapaport as Teddy Snow, a mad genius director who wants Floyd for his (actually quite interesting) film about the rise and fall of a 1980 black L.A. punk band. Teddys problem isnt that hes racist, its that hes off his rocker.
Pharoah, an SNL veteran who has not done much straight acting, pulls his weight throughout, but working with Rapaport, as with Coleman and the low-key excellent Jacob Ming-Trent as Floyds wisdom-dispensing friend and roommate Ron Balls, lifts him to that vaunted next level. The more these actors are given to do, and the more their characters are developed, the better it will be for White Famous.
Ron is incidentally a comic-turned-postal-worker a job change that might be a nod to the fate of Robert Townsends character in Hollywood Shuffle, Townsends 1987 film of the plight of the black movie actor. Thirty years, and here we (still) are again.
robert.lloyd@latimes.com
Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd
There are celebrities who speak out against vaccines. And some in the yoga community do too. But yoga practitioner and actress Judith Light is different. Shes encouraging you to get your flu shot. Now.
Light, who stars in the critically acclaimed comedy-drama Transparent, now in its fourth season, has long been a fan of physical activity as part of her approach to health and longevity.
Ive been doing yoga for close to 20 years, Light, 68, said. She practices Kundalini yoga, saying: Its a great breadth of core work, which is why I like it so much. It keeps my body working properly and functioning at a high level.
Light lauded the breathing techniques taught to practitioners of Kundalini and when working in the theater will practice yoga immediately before going on stage to enhance her diaphragmatic control. Its a very strenuous workout, Light said.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Beyond that, her fitness is achieved by walking the streets of New York. The city is my gym, she said.
But exercise can do only so much to keep a person well. Thats why Light has become such an outspoken advocate of people getting an annual flu vaccination. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , fewer than 60% of children get the flu shot annually, and barely more than 40% of adults do.
Ive had the flu, she said. Its just awful. In the past, Light was intermittent in getting the flu shot, but now she is resolute about getting it every year. But its not just not wanting to get sick that has made her such an advocate of the vaccine.
Light, who is working with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (you can watch her public service announcement at www.nfid.org/flualert) to promote flu vaccination, said, Every four minutes in the U.S., someone over 65 is hospitalized with the flu. And every 12 minutes someone over 65 dies from it. Im over 65. Those are powerful statistics for me.
But its not just self-interest motivating her message.
My manager, who died last year, had emphysema. I was concerned about his health and how the flu would affect him. Not putting other people at risk is a big part of why I advocate for the flu shot, she said. Light explained that working in theater means lots of contact: You greet supporters and fans and everyone is hugging and kissing and posing for photos. You want to be responsible by not infecting other people. The more people who get the flu shot, the greater the herd immunity protects those at greater risk.
When asked about people turning to Dr. Google for information on vaccines, Light had this to say: Everyone who is smart knows that you talk to your doctor. There are a lot of people out there with a lot of opinions, and I understand that. All Im saying is, talk to your doctor.
And most doctors, along with Light, the CDC, and the NFID, recommend that everyone over the age of 6 months, barring a contraindicated medical condition, get the flu shot every year.
People dont make it a priority, Light said. Getting the annual flu shot needs greater focus. Take the family. Make it an outing.
Patty Ginochio saw the long line of headlights arriving in the early-morning gloom.
When day broke, four hours later, the beaches of this coastal town straddling Highway 1 teemed with refugees fleeing the wildfires that had destroyed thousands of homes and killed dozens of people.
Many of the arrivals were immigrants, who huddled together and spoke their worries in Spanish.
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Some parked into turnouts and slept in their vehicles. Others hunkered down on the cold asphalt, bundled up in blankets. Ginochio opened up her restaurant, Ginochios Kitchen, and served free meals to an estimated 300 people.
Nobody thought this situation would occur in Bodega Bay, she said.
On Thursday evening, she directed a team of volunteers at the Bodega Bay Grange community hall. Some packed up medical supplies in large plastic tubes. Others heated up food. A few sorted out clothing and blankets.
They recruited Spanish-speaking volunteers and received donations, though Ginochio said the town was not equipped with the resources of government-run shelters in places such as Santa Rosa. The operation in Bodega Bay had the feel of improvisation.
This is not a shelter, Ginochio said. This is a Band-Aid.
Ashley Vasquez, 11, and her father Sergio Vasquez relax after dinner at the Bodega Bay Grange community hall. Services are available for people displaced by the devastating fires. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )
She said the volunteers were mindful not to scare away people who might worry because they are not in the country legally. They asked only for first names, the sizes of families and whether anyone needed medical attention. Volunteers handed out fliers in English and Spanish encouraging people to seek help at government-run shelters.
Ginochio said some immigrants told her they worried about being around any government or law enforcement presence, despite assurances from officials that they would not be targeted because of their legal status.
But some people interviewed by the Los Angeles Times said they came to the coastal town to not only get away from the fires, but the poor air that contaminated places farther inland because of them.
Kelly Ramirez, 17, said that is why her family evacuated Windsor and headed to Bodega Bay. Ramirez, a U.S. citizen whose parents are in the country without legal status, said their home survived the fire. But they did not want to go to one of the shelters in Santa Rosa because of the lingering smoke.
She said her family had read rumors on Facebook about people being hauled away by immigration officials. But her parents did not believe it, she said.
We just needed fresh air to breathe, the teenager said.
Patty Ginochio, right, and Lira Filippini are helping to provide services to people displaced by the fires at the Bodega Bay Grange community hall. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )
On Thursday evening, her family and neighbors camped out in tents at a beach campground at Doran Regional Park.
Maria Zurita, 32, has immigration relief through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals better known as DACA, an executive action that provides a work permit and deportation reprieve to people who were brought to the U.S. as children and stayed illegally.
Zurita and her family, which included two sisters and their families, live in Santa Rosa. They evacuated early Monday when they started hearing explosions probably from propane tanks set off by the intense heat of the fires.
We got scared, she said. We were scared that the flames would burn down our homes.
They did not think of going to a shelter in Santa Rosa because they imagined it would be full. They also worried about the smoke-choked air.
We just wanted to get as far away as possible, and we thought wed be safer near the ocean because of the water, Zurita said. Surely, the fire wouldnt get to the water.
But the beach was cold, so they took shelter at a local church. The family ate meals at the Bodega Bay Grange community hall, where children played with toys and tapped away at a piano.
As the week trudged forward, many families moved on to stay with relatives throughout Northern California.
Zurita said her family will probably stay away from Santa Rosa for a while at least until the air improves enough for her three children to return to school.
Twitter: @thecindycarcamo
cindy.carcamo@latimes.com
In an aggressive move to dismantle Obamacare, President Trump announced Thursday that the government was ending payments to health insurers that help fund the law.
The approximately $7 billion a year in federal dollars have allowed companies to offer discounted plans to low-income Americans who buy coverage through the healthcare exchanges.
According to experts, withdrawal of the subsidies could lead insurers to drop out of the exchanges, healthcare marketplaces to collapse and premiums to increase. The biggest effect would be on the individual insurance market, through which about 3 million Californians buy a health plan.
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Wait, what happened?
Under the Affordable Care Act, there are two kinds of subsides intended to make insurance more affordable in the individual market.
One goes toward premiums and is given directly to consumers. The other reduces co-pays and deductibles, and is paid to the insurance companies so they can afford to lower the cost of their plans.
On Californias exchange, Covered California, 90% of the approximately 1.5 million enrollees receive the first kind of subsidy and 50% benefit from the second one, according to officials.
What Trump got rid of was the second subsidy, known as cost-sharing reductions.
How did he do that?
House Republicans sued the Obama administration in 2014, alleging the then-president had broken the law by giving those billions of dollars in payments to insurers. They said the president had failed to get congressional approval to make the payments. The lawmakers prevailed in court last year, and the administration filed an appeal.
When Trump took office, his administration became the defendant in the case. That meant Trump could drop the appeal at any time, and he had threatened to do so repeatedly before announcing that he would indeed end the payments.
Will I be affected if I buy insurance through Covered California?
Not immediately.
Officials at Covered California knew that Trump had been considering this move, so they developed a workaround.
The rates for 2018 health plans that were announced earlier this week include a surcharge on silver-tier plans. Officials were trying to prevent an immediate rate increase if the federal funding disappeared.
The surcharge on premiums for silver plans one of four options, from bronze to platinum, in which the health plan pays 70% of your medical expenses will range from 8% to 27%. But most consumers who choose these plans will be shielded from those increases because as their premiums go up, so will their premium subsidies.
In California fearing just this turn of events we took steps to minimize the impact, said Peter Lee, the executive director of Covered California.
Still, the undoing of the funding means that the 11 health plans in the state will not receive payments totaling $188 million over the final three months of 2017, Lee said. The annual cost-sharing reduction payments to California are around $720 million.
This action will make the health insurance market unprofitable by definition, he said.
Insurance plans for next year will be available for purchase in California from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, 2018.
What if I dont buy insurance through Covered California?
In the individual market, premiums are likely to increase. A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found that insurers would increase their premiums on silver plans by about 19% nationwide.
Though Americans who qualify for subsidies are somewhat shielded by the premium tax credits, those who dont could see insurance costs become out of reach.
This is just one in a long line of decisions by the Trump administration to attack not just the Affordable Care Act, but the health system we all rely on, said Anthony Wright, head of the advocacy group Health Access California. This latest decision was particularly galling and particularly shocking because it was so destructive.
What now?
California and other states filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the Trump administrations decision.
It argues that the subsidies are lawful, that the administrations action conflicts with federal law and that the president failed to follow proper procedure to change the subsidies that benefit 6 million people, including 700,000 Californians.
The president cant pick and choose which laws he wishes to follow, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said. The federal action, he said, is essentially a $7-billion tax increase for working families trying to hold on to their health insurance.
Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report.
soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com
Twitter: @skarlamangla
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Brace yourself, all you suffering renters and over-extended homeowners.
I can get you into a clean and airy two-bedroom apartment for $650 a month, close to shopping and great outdoor adventures.
I can line you up with a comfy three-bedroom, two-bath ranch with a half-acre yard for a mere $200,000.
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But you have be willing to forget this whole idea of going west, young man.
The great California housing crisis may never leave us, but you can. Turn out the lights, load up the truck and go east, old man.
A reader who lives in Joshua Tree had seen my columns about people living in cars and getting knocked into poverty by bumps in the rent. I hear from lots of readers who suggest the answer is to move inland, or even out of state. It seems that for every 50 miles you travel away from the coast, rental prices drop by $1,000. The guy in Joshua Tree went so far as to send me a page of real estate listings from the Hi-Desert Star. Featured in an ad for Affordable Rentals were a one-bedroom apartment for $575 a month and a two-bedroom for $650.
On a day when my colleague Andrew Khouri reported that Southern California apartment rents are expected to jump to an average of $2,304 next year and $2,373 in 2019, curiosity got the best of me. So I drove out to see what can be had for less than one-third the price.
To get to Yucca Valley from Interstate 10, you go left when you see the windmills on the approach to Palm Springs and proceed through the Morongo Valley. Up and over the next mountain is Yucca Valley, a high desert town of 21,000, followed by Joshua Tree and then Twentynine Palms.
It took me two hours to get there, so this is not a place for anyone whod still have to make a daily commute to Los Angeles. But the area has attracted retirees and those who can work from home, as well as commuters who work in the Palm Springs area but got squeezed out by rising rents.
Whatever your politics or taste, the area seems to offer something for everyone. When I got to the home of the guy who had sent me the real estate listings, a Confederate flag was flying out front and his pit bulls raged at the gate.
I decided Id rather not lose a leg on a Confederate battlefield, but as I began my retreat, the 75-year-old owner stepped outside. He told me hes a white nationalist who escaped the madness of L.A., and he enjoys everything about his adopted home, including the fact that it has relatively few minorities.
I cut the visit short.
Just down the hill from where he lives, the small outpost of Joshua Tree gateway to the otherworldly national park has a gluten-free funk. Locals have spent months fighting a proposed Dollar General Store because the chain doesnt fit the organic local vibe.
Yucca Valley, on the other hand, has a Walmart, a Starbucks and all the rest. It also has lots of home-grown joints, and before I could think of ever living there, I had to conduct a test.
Las Palmas makes a good margarita and the enchilada suizas are first-rate. So the town makes the grade.
You have to be OK with blowing dust and sand, by the way, because they seem to have plenty of both. On the high side, theres no grass to mow. Sunrise and sunset are glorious events, and they say snow will soon paint the tops of the peaks.
The first place Rochel Whiting of Affordable Rentals showed me was a three-bedroom, two-bath house with a two-car garage and fenced yard. Its listed at $1,200 a month, which, in Los Angeles, might get you a cramped studio overlooking an alley dumpster.
The market goes so fast up here, Whiting said, predicting that the house would be rented as soon as new carpet was laid and some other upgrades were completed.
I also saw a three-bedroom with a living room, family room, eat-in kitchen, two-car garage, guest house and half-acre lot. That one, also listed at $1,200, has already been claimed.
The $575-a-month apartment is no palace. But its decent, and sits on a quiet street not far from stores and restaurants. The two-bedroom apartment next door had a sweet front porch and good-size yard for just $650. I saw it on Wednesday. A day later, it had been rented.
A $575 one-bedroom, in a complex with a swimming pool, also just got taken. But theres one more left.
Jennifer Shaumyan, the office manager at Affordable Rentals, said she and her husband, a truck driver, lost their Glendale house in the sub-prime crash. They couldnt afford to rent in greater Los Angeles, so they rented in Palm Springs and then bought a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Yucca Valley last year.
For $147,000.
Its a rural town and theres not a lot going on here, Shaumyan said, so its not for everyone.
But it works for her, and for Leslie Shaw, an editorial assistant at the Hi-Desert Star.
I couldnt stand in one more line or be in one more traffic jam, said Shaw, who moved here in 2003 from Woodland Hills. She and her acupuncturist husband ditched Woodland Hills and bought a Yucca Valley spread with a big sun room for $129,000.
When cities get overpriced, people tend to go further out, said Madelaine LaVoie of the Cherie Miller real estate agency, which has homes for sale from just over $100,000 all the way up to $950,000. I was expecting it to happen sooner, but we are basically a suburb of Los Angeles now.
She sold a home to Jeff Lane of the band Burningdown. Lane told me he lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Long Beach for $2,300 a month. Then he and his new wife went to Joshua Tree on their honeymoon three years ago.
We fell in love with it, he said.
They bought a 1,500-square-foot house in Yucca Valley with a big yard for $169,000.
Just around the corner from Lane, a house recently sold for $230,000 to Brenda Underwood, one of the Manchester Square residents being forced out of their homes near LAX because of the airport expansion project.
The universe directed me one morning and I said, Joshua Tree, said Underwood, who had friends in the high desert and knew there was an active music and arts scene.
If you want to check out the offerings, I suggest you hurry. The agents who showed me around said prices have gone up by a third or so in the last few years as more people arrive, fleeing higher rents elsewhere. Some of the newbies are turning their homes into short-term rentals, which takes units off the market, driving prices up and forcing people out.
Following a trend, they are going east.
Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez
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Kevin de Leon: In the Oct. 13 California section, an article about the possibility of state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon challenging Dianne Feinstein for her U.S. Senate seat said that De Leon was the first lawmaker to have held the position of Appropriations chair in both houses of the state Legislature. Former legislator Carole Migden earlier held both posts.
If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Deirdre Edgar, readers representative, by email at readers.representative@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.
As the death toll rose to 40, firefighters struggled to get the upper hand against several massive wildfires that have ravaged Northern California for almost a week.
The winds that bedeviled firefighters Saturday are expected to die down Sunday, allowing firefighters to go back on the offense after a day of new evacuations. Cooler temperatures are also forecast. So evacuations in Napa city were lifted Sunday.
Officials said Sunday they are making good progress on the Tubbs and Atlas fires, which are both more than 50% contained. Firefighters will concentrate their forces on the Nuns fire, which is 30% contained.
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At a Sunday afternoon briefing, Cal Fire Cmdr. Bret Gouvea told reporters that overall things are feeling optimistic for us we are very cautious about that.
SUNDAY UPDATE: The latest on the fires in Northern California
It was a different story Saturday, when strong winds kicked up overnight in the central Napa Valley region, causing some fires to spread and triggering evacuations in Sonoma and elsewhere, officials said.
Fire officials feared that winds forecast for Saturday would be similar to those that stoked the first flames on Oct. 8 and that have since exploded to more than 15 fires that have scorched 220,000 acres, destroyed an estimated 5,700 structures and caused at least 40 deaths.
Despite low humidity and red flag warnings throughout the region, however, the winds appeared to calm down Saturday afternoon, aiding firefighters who have been battling the fire around the clock, officials said.
Officials warned that the biggest threat remains the low humidity, with the dry air continuing to transform grass and vegetation into fuel.
Its been drying out the mountains, said National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson. Its still going to be bone-dry out there overnight.
Northerly winds, similar to Southern Californias Santa Ana winds, are expected to move across the region at about 15 mph overnight with some 25 mph gusts, he said. Temperatures are expected to drop into the mid-40s overnight, with temperatures expected to hover in the mid-80s Sunday.
More than 10,000 firefighters from California and other states are fighting the fires in Northern California, said Dave Teter of the California Dpeartment of Forestry and Fire Protection, and officials are readying more crews in Southern California, where red flag warnings are in place through Sunday.
Firefighting efforts include 880 fire engines, 134 bulldozers, 224 hand crews and 138 water tenders, Teter said. At first light Saturday, 14 helicopters were in the air conducting water drops.
During a night of strong winds, the 46,000-acre Nuns fire in Sonoma County grew by at least 300 acres, threatening the outskirts of the city of Sonoma and the Oakmont neighborhood in Santa Rosa. It was 10% contained as of Saturday, and had destroyed some buildings in the city of Sonoma.
Firefighters were asleep in Healdsburg early Saturday morning when they got the call around 3:30 a.m.: Get over to the Oakmont neighborhood of Santa Rosa.
High winds had sent the Nuns fire branching toward the city, which had already been devastated by the Tubbs fire earlier in the week. Another branch was heading toward the city of Sonoma.
When firefighters arrived, police were helping to evacuate the area.
I dont think Ive ever seen that many cop cars Code 3, CalFire spokesman Jeff Allen said, meaning they were flashing their lights and blaring their sirens.
The firefighters headed up the ridge in the darkness, trying to hold the flames at bay with hoses and shovels. When the sun came up, air tankers and helicopters started dropping fire retardant and water. Bulldozers cut through the earth to create fire breaks and firefighters set backfires to slow the blazes advance.
They were helped by the weather as winds started to slow later in the morning.
The ridge remained blanketed with smoke late Saturday morning as helicopters circled. Occasionally a tall tree would become engulfed, and flickers of flames would be briefly visible from the road.
An offshoot of the Nuns fire, which ignited early Saturday when a downed power line touched a tree branch, has grown from 300 acres to more than 400 acres in several hours near Oakmont, Cal Fire operations section chief Steve Crawford said Saturday afternoon. Flames were pushing east, and closer to Highway 12, he said.
Firefighters are also working to hold flames back from reaching the outskirts of Sonoma. The wind has hit us pretty hard, and theres a pretty good firefight going on in the field right now, Crawford said. Winds have also stopped some air tankers from making water drops on flames closer to St. Helena, Crawford said.
Twenty-two people have died in the Tubbs fire in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and six in Napa County.
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)
Napa County officials identified two new victims of the Atlas fire as George Chaney, 89, and Edward Stone, 79. The two men owned a house in the 2300 block of Atlas Peak Road, where officials found their bodies Thursday, county spokeswoman Molly Rattigan said.
Much of their neighborhood was reduced to debris after the Atlas fire scorched 50,403 acres. The fire, which continued to threaten about 5,000 homes,, was 48% contained Saturday evening.
All around, the view was one of entire hillsides charred black and some wineries with nothing but brick frames and melted equipment.
Just down the road from the house where Chaney and Stone were found, one spot remained untouched by the fire: the Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park, a pet cemetery on Atlas Peak Road. The park was still covered in lush, bright green grass.
The sound of its babbling brook was interrupted intermittently with the sound of a firetruck or utility crews diesel engine powering up the mountain to extinguish hot spots or continue the arduous task of reconnecting the mountain residents homes to the valley city below.
On Saturday afternoon, a deer and two fawn found shady refuge under an oak tree as smoke from the Nuns fire could be seen rising from the hills on the other side of Napa Valley.
One of the wettest winters on record, followed by the hottest summer on record, has created possibly the worst potential for fire in Napa County that the state has seen, a Cal Fire spokesman said Saturday.
Experts use a scientific formula to determine the potential of a fire, called the energy release component, said Cal Fire spokesman Mike Smith. On Saturday, that potential was the worst in recorded history, Smith said.
Crews have not seen this amount of fuel this dry in the path of a fire in at least 26 years, he said.
Today is going to be a much different day than youve experienced unless you were here from the beginning, Tom Wright of the National Weather Service told fire crews in Napa at a Saturday morning briefing. Its a really critical day.
The Atlas fire saw 35-mph winds over ridge tops Friday night, blowing to the south and southwest.
The fire is continuing a slow march north toward Lake Berryessa, Smith said. The fire spread slightly along its southern and northwestern edges overnight, officials said Saturday morning. The strongest containment lines have been built around the southern and western faces of the fire, closest to the city of Napa.
But Napa County officials expressed optimism at a Saturday news conference, saying they were confident that the Atlas fire would remain under control. Around 9 a.m., as supervisor Belia Ramos spoke, winds were light and no new evacuations were expected.
No one was going to be allowed into the evacuation areas Saturday, officials said, because Caltrans was spending the day trying to restore the roads.
The National Guard has been called in to help the California Highway Patrol block the roads, as Caltrans crews in the hills work to remove rocks, mud, burned trees, fallen branches and downed power lines, CHP Capt. Chris Childs said.
Locals have been urged to avoid trying to help the cleanup. The county public health director declared a local emergency in order to bring in more resources to remove toxic ash and burnt remnants of homes and cars.
Of 224 people unaccounted for in Napa County, 146 have been found safe, four have been identified as dead and 74 remain missing, Rattigan said.
But the combination of high winds and high temperatures raises the potential for burn areas to expand quickly, officials said.Crews continued to gain ground against the 35,270-acre Tubbs fire, which is 44% contained. The nearly 11,000-acre Pocket fire, east of Geyserville, is 5% contained.
In Mendocino County, the 34,000-acre Redwood fire was 20% contained as of Saturday.
Taken together, the death toll from the wildfires in wine country has 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.
Officials expect the death toll to rise as search efforts continue in neighborhoods from Santa Rosa to the hills of Napa County.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is conducting damage assessments, providing aid to local agencies and offering federal funding to residents affected by the fire, the agency announced Saturday.
The road to repair will be a long one. In Napa near Atlas Peak Road, 51-year-old Robert Vickham controlled the traffic flow on a two-lane highway with a sign as his colleagues at Traffic Management Inc. methodically cut down eucalyptus trees lining its edges.
Were going to be here for weeks, the Pittsburg resident said. Im 51 and been in California my whole life, and Ive never seen a fire this bad.
Teams like Vickhams dotted the Atlas fires burn scar area first hit by the flames last weekend. Slowly but surely, every tree in the way of a damaged utility line is going to come down, he said, with tall brown power poles down the hill waiting to fill in the gaps.
Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris visited affected areas of Sonoma County on Saturday. Brown has declared a state of emergency for Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Butte, Lake, Mendocino and Orange counties. The Canyon 2 fire in Anaheim Hills was 70% contained as of Saturday morning.
The devastation is just unbelievable. I just drove by hundreds of houses that were totally destroyed, Brown said during a news conference at Santa Rosa High School on Saturday afternoon.
Harris shared her awe after their tour of the devastated areas.
Its unpredictable. It skips over certain houses. Its not logical in the way that it burns, she said.
Despite the visits, theres often little politicians can do on the ground when wildfires strike besides comfort people who lost their homes and monitor emergency efforts to make sure theyre getting the help they need. But Assemblyman Jim Wood has another job.
Most of my work is in the morgue at this point, he said.
A Democrat from Healdsburg, Wood also is a dentist who is helping law enforcement identify victims of the deadly fires in Northern California.
Wood represents an enormous, mostly rural district stretching from Santa Rosa to the Oregon border in the north. There arent many people in the country with his skills and experience. So when the latest fires started, he said, I knew at some point I would be called.
Its the kind of work hes done with sheriffs offices in counties like Mendocino and Sonoma for years.
Sometimes bodies are recovered mostly intact. Other times, there are only bone fragments.
Its slow work, and getting the right dental records to identify the remains can be difficult.
Its a process that will take awhile, Wood said.
At a time when distraught families are desperate for information about missing loved ones, Wood said he is grateful theres something he can do to help those families.
Theres times were all standing around wondering what to do, he said. The dental work, Wood said, gives me a sense of purpose.
Since Monday, aircraft across CA have dropped over 2 million gallons of retardant to help aid firefighters on the ground. #CAwildfires pic.twitter.com/hp2gXsRrVZ CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) October 14, 2017
joseph.serna@latimes.com
laura.nelson@latimes.com
chris.megerian@latimes.com
sonali.kohli@latimes.com
Nelson reported from Santa Rosa, Serna and Megerian from Napa County and Kohli from Los Angeles.
Times staff writer Paige St. John in Napa County contributed to this report.
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UPDATES:
4:25 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 15: This article was updated with more details from Sunday.
11 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 15: Updated with some evacuations lifted.
8 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 15: Updated with Sunday conditions.
9:40 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials.
8:05 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials.
6:00 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from the National Weather Service.
5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials.
4:15 p.m.: This article was updated with dispatches from Atlas Peak Road.
2:50 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Kamala Harris, as well as information about the Nuns fire.
1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with a new death toll.
1 p.m.: This article was updated with information about firefighting efforts and wind conditions.
11:20 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Napa County officials and Assemblyman Jim Wood.
10:35 a.m.: This article was updated with more information about Napa County.
10 a.m.: This article was updated with information about the Atlas fire, Sen. Kamala Harris plans to visit Sonoma County and FEMAs response.
This article was originally published at 8:50 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 14.
City officials issued a set of stringent rules Friday that an oil company must follow if it wants to continue operating a drilling site next to homes in South Los Angeles.
Included is a requirement that all drilling equipment be permanently enclosed in a 45-foot-tall structure to dampen noise, reduce odors and block bright lights. That was a key demand from community activists, who had argued that the site at Jefferson Boulevard and Budlong Avenue was an example of the noxious effects of oil drilling in urban neighborhoods.
The facility, which is overlooked by apartments west of the USC campus, faces what officials described as the toughest rules imposed on any drilling site in L.A. The action was quickly lauded by environmental and neighborhood activists as a pivotal step.
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The city has finally listened to the concerns of the community, said Richard Parks, president of the South L.A. nonprofit Redeemer Community Partnership.
But Sentinel Peak Resources, which runs the Jefferson Boulevard site, said the need for tougher rules was unsubstantiated.
This means that any business could be subject to onerous restrictions placed on them, frankly, without merit, said Christine Halley, its director of environmental health and safety. Thats what were facing.
Parks and other community activists had lobbied the city to hold a public hearing earlier this year on whether the site was operating in line with requirements and whether stiffer rules were needed to protect neighbors from noise, foul smells and other nuisances.
In addition to enclosing drilling equipment, the decision released Friday requires monitoring systems to continuously track noise and vibrations, as well as to detect noxious fumes and inform people of the results online in real time. Sentinel Peak Resources also would have to alert the Los Angeles Fire Department if hydrogen sulfide or methane were detected.
Angela Johnson Meszaros, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice, said the monitoring systems would help hold the facility accountable.
We can do away with the he said, she said disputes about whether or not there are impacts, Meszaros said.
Theodore Irving, an associate zoning administrator with the city, also ordered the facility to bar its trucks from traveling north on residential streets alongside the drill site, undergo regular reviews and appoint a community liaison. Flouting any of the new rules would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and six months in jail. In his decision, Irving warned that zoning officials would refer any possible violations to the city attorneys office.
The new rules may very well represent the most stringent set of operating conditions on a drill site in the country, and I expect nothing less in South Los Angeles, City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents the area, said in a statement.
The Jefferson site, which was first approved more than half a century ago, sits closer to homes than any other Los Angeles drilling facility, according to the nonprofit Community Health Councils.
In his decision, Irving found that it had not been following soundproofing and insurance requirements, and deemed the existing rules insufficient to protect the neighborhood.
Petroleum Administrator Uduak-Joe Ntuk, who was hired last year to oversee oil and gas operations in the city, noted in a report that a state agency had designated the Jefferson Boulevard site as an area with hydrogen sulfide gas, which can give off an odor like rotten eggs and cause people to lose their sense of smell. Toxic chemicals such as benzene have also been emitted from the site, Ntuk wrote.
In recent years, oil droplets have been sprayed onto cars in the neighborhood, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District twice issued violations to the company for excessive emissions. In one case, an inspector said he smelled an odor like diesel exhaust.
The rules for the Jefferson site, Ntuk said, are stricter than those imposed under a court order on the Allenco drill site in University Park, which shut down amid complaints of nosebleeds and other health problems. But the requirements were not new to the industry.
Were in the middle of a neighborhood, Ntuk said. We have a role and a responsibility to maintain quality of life and public health in the city.
But petroleum companies tied to the drilling site have defended its track record: Freeport-McMoRan Oil and Gas, the previous operator of the facility, said it had changed its practices after an oil and water mist drifted from the site years ago. Sentinel Peak Resources, which bought the operation in December, has said that no problems were identified during recent inspections by the Fire Department and that allegations of noise and odors were apparently not sufficient to constitute a violation.
Such claims have been fueled by special interest groups with a vendetta against the oil industry, Halley said.
Sentinel Peak Resources plans to appeal the decision, Halley said. Under the decision released Friday, the company is supposed to begin construction on the enclosure within nine months of the rules going into effect, but that process would be delayed during the appeal.
emily.alpert@latimes.com
Twitter: @LATimesEmily
Supporters of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a coalition of partner organizations plan to protest President Trumps latest travel ban Sunday with a march through downtown.
Participants of the #NoMuslimBanEver march and campaign will gather at noon at the Japanese American National Museum at 100 N. Central Ave. Speakers will focus on the similarities between the current ban and exclusionary policies throughout United States history, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
This administrations actions have been deplorable, and we will stand with our Muslim American brothers and sisters because our motto is Never again, said former internee Kanji Sahara.
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The march will continue to the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on Temple Street, a plaza that houses the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Metropolitan Detention Center. Speakers there will address what they call the governments use of criminal justice and immigration policies to oppress minority communities.
The march will end at the Federal Courthouse on North Spring Street, where speakers will discuss the ways they have personally been affected by the ban.
Muslim leaders have called the presidents latest version of the travel ban unconstitutional, unethical and unjust.
In September, the Trump administration announced its latest ban on most travel to the U.S. by nationals of seven countries North Korea and six in the Mideast and North Africa. The order replaced the much-disputed ban that Trump issued in March, parts of which were blocked in court and which has since expired. The latest version, which is indefinite, takes full effect on Wednesday.
andrea.castillo@latimes.com
@andreamcastillo
It was the kind of night that caused the skin on the back of David Shews neck to prickle.
Dry. And wind so strong the loose boards on his neighbors fence made a racket.
Twice, the Cal Fire chief stepped out of his house in the Napa Valley to scan the ridges for the orange glow he dreaded.
Nothing.
Man, if we got a fire right now, he told his wife, that would be the worst thing ever.
By 9:30 Sunday night, his fears were already playing out.
An October windstorm pushed over trees, snapping branches, downing power lines and blocking roads. Fires popped up across the ridges and valleys of the Mayacamas range, in the dry grass and brush thick from last springs rains. And each one was threatening to blow out of hand.
There was a transformer explosion near Santa Rosa. Two minutes later, a structure on fire a half-mile north. At the Silverado Resort north of Napa, a PGA tour event had ended and thousands of spectators departed just before workers emptied ice buckets on a temporary pavilion that had begun to burn. They called the fire department. A report of another vegetation fire nearby came in at the same time.
Dispatchers began to juggle engine assignments. But at 9:43 p.m., when a fresh batch of vegetation fires broke out all at once in Santa Rosa, in Napa, in Calistoga and in between, the alarm went out to everyone: All units multiple starts. Stand by for fire assignment.
On Atlas Peak high above the golf course, the gusting wind reminded longtime resident Garrett Brown, 73, of a hurricane. He went to bed as the power began to cut on and off.
California Highway Patrol pilot Jan Sears was returning to the Napa airbase when he noted a glow in the distance. He banked his plane toward the remote ridge named Atlas Peak for a closer look.
The stage was set for what in the next hour would become one of Californias worst fire disasters, killing at least 34 people and destroying more than 5,000 structures and still largely out of control.
From left, firefighters Gary Mattingly, Tim Zanotelli, Brandon Tolp and Devon Elenburg, all based in San Bernardino, stand ready to swing into action along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
The monster is coming
Sears called in his report of the fire, already kindled to 100 acres on Atlas Peak ridge.
At the other end of the Napa Valley, 24 miles away, a traveling nurse from Mississippi stood outside her rented house in sleepy Calistoga to see what her landlord was calling about. It was the top of a fire the next road over. In 10 minutes, the bright spot behind the trees transformed into a towering, roaring blob that began to move to the left. South.
Oh, my God, Terry McGregor said aloud as she caught the birth of the Tubbs fire on her cellphone.
Two miles south, a house was burning. A 57-year-old man would later be found dead, the first fatality.
Back across Napa Valley, the Atlas fire was climbing down its own mountain, a repeat performance of a similar fires behavior in 1981. Thirty-six years ago, when the ridge was sparsely populated, 65 homes were lost. Garrett Browns homestead survived because his boys threw water from the swimming pool onto the roof.
Now a haven known for wineries, luxury villas and retirees, the stakes on the high rocky ridge were raised.
Fire lights up the night sky framed by a vineyard near Kenwood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Chief asked for 100 fire engines, he got 50
Within 20 minutes of that chance spotting by a pilot, wind drove the wildland fire into housing developments. It looks like the whole mountain is on fire, a fire official radioed in over dispatch. Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann, among the first to arrive, called in requests for 100 fire engines, of any type or size. He got 50.
Biermanns request was the fire world equivalent of an SOS, and the beginning of a night of terrible choices.
From then on, decisions had to be made on where to send fire engines, rescuers and resources. The winds, and fires, were popping up across Northern California. Help from the outside could not be expected until morning.
Across the Mayacamas, 79 engines were assigned to the Tubbs and related fires spreading across Sonoma County and the town of Santa Rosa. It would take a week for the firefighting force to reach 500 engines.
Fire engines rolled up Atlas Peak Road to wake sleeping residents and get them out. Biermann followed, even though as chief officer he assumed incident command. Barely a mile up, he was forced to turn around, and fire engines could go little farther.
A home destroyed in the fast-moving wildfire that ripped through Glen Ellen in Sonoma County. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
911 jammed: Parents trapped in garage Elderly lady trapped
Napa County emergency phone lines were flooded with 911 calls, more than operators could answer.
By 10:12 p.m., callers getting through included Atlas Peak residents trapped by the fire, some in already burning houses. In another 10 minutes, the calls included those on the slopes other side, Soda Canyon. Many were elderly: Parents trapped in garage. Elderly lady trapped.
CHP paramedic Whitney Lowe and helicopter pilot Peter Gavitte took up the evacuation effort inside the fire line. As their flight instruments recorded wind gusts as high as 75 mph the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane they blared the siren, shouted over the public address speaker and flashed their night sun spotlight to wake and warn ridge residents of the fire at their doors.
Then, when they saw a string of eight cars trapped on the mountain, they set down in a field not far from a wall of fire. Lowe ran a quarter-mile down the road to the blocked cars and beckoned the stranded evacuees. They would airlift them out. A few at a time.
The helicopter Gavitte and Lowe flew was one of the few in Napa capable of night flight. But it also had little passenger space, and a wall of medical gear took up hundreds of pounds of load-carrying capacity in the flying ambulance. Lowe told the first group to reach the helicopter, a family of five, that only three could board. Four did.
The fifth, the father, announced he would stay.
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)
Forget the dog
The significance of that instant decision was unspoken, but Lowe saw it clearly. He assured Pepe Tamayo that he would be back.
We believed 100% we were coming back, the paramedic said, but he could tell the father doubted it. When the crew dropped their passengers at a nearby fire station, Gavitte and Lowe also jettisoned their medical gear and hoists, lightening up to take on maximum human payload, and returned to the fire.
Tamayo was gone. My heart dropped, Lowe said, but at that point, we have to continue to do what we are doing. He lifted a 94-year-old woman out of a car and carried her like a baby to the helicopter and onto the lap of her son.
Gavitte and Lowe were on their third round when they saw Tamayo. Lowe ran over and grabbed him by his shirt to pull him to the helicopter. Tamayo asked if he could bring his dog, a 15-pound terrier named Lizzy, and Lowe said no.
I cant take your dog instead of people, Lowe said.
Forget the dog. Lets go, Tamayo said.
Lizzy was left in the truck.
A second CHP helicopter joined the shuttle effort, which extended over to Soda Canyon road. The crews listened for calls for help from those in the luxury homes, and found vineyard workers among the grapes. By the end of their flights, 5 a.m., they had picked up 41 people, five dogs and a cat.
From the helicopter, Gavitte and Lowe heard the dispatch calls of Atlas Peak residents trapped in homes that firefighters could not reach. Nor could they. The fire was too intense, or there was nowhere to land. Lowe shared a picture of one roiling mass of flame a house fully engulfed. There were people on the other side, he said. It haunts him.
A firefighter works along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
We were overwhelmed. We had to make a decision
All night, Gavitte and Lowe heard calls coming from the other side of the Mayacamas, where the Tubbs fire razed swaths of the town of Santa Rosa. There were people trapped in swimming pools and other people in a water tank hoping for rescue. And from the air, they could see a third fire moving toward Gavittes house.
We were overwhelmed. We had to make a decision, that the people right here are the ones we can make a difference for right now, so thats what we have to do, he said.
Cal Fire Chief Dick Shew said those on the ground worked under the same agonizing cloud.
There were too many instances that time, where you couldnt get there, Shew said. It was too, you just, couldnt get there.
To date, the death toll from the Atlas fire stands at two, an elderly husband and wife who lived at the foot of the ridge with their caretaker. But dispatch recordings contain reports of people running back into burning homes, or firefighters reaching the site of a help call to find the house fully engulfed and the fate of its occupants unknown.
Pepe Tamayos truck withstood the fire that eventually overcame the helicopter field the char line ran right up to the tires.
Lizzy the dog survived.
She was found two days later, still in the vehicle, apparently having survived on the familys Starbucks drinks.
paige.stjohn@latimes.com
After the fires had roared through, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano drove through the wreckage of Santa Rosas Larkfield-Wikiup neighborhood.
Twisted beams and garage doors crumpled like old newspapers had replaced street after street of tidy homes. The hubcaps from charred cars had melted into rivulets of gleaming aluminum that pooled in the gutters.
I dont even think I understand what the damage toll is going to be, and I have a better handle on it than most, Giordano told The Times on Friday. Santa Rosa will be a different planet. There is so much to rebuild. It will absolutely change the community.
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Thousands of other Santa Rosa residents also struggled Friday to come to grips with the magnitude of their losses from a firestorm among the states most devastating that has coursed through California wine country since Sunday night, causing at least 34 deaths and damaging thousands of buildings.
More than half of the confirmed fatalities came in Sonoma County. Santa Rosa, the countys largest city and home to 175,000 people, lost almost 3,000 buildings, including the hilltop house of the late Charles Schulz, the Peanuts cartoon creator.
The Charles M. Schulz Museum, perhaps the citys leading landmark, still stood, but two hotels the 124-room luxury Fountaingrove Inn and the 250-room Hilton Sonoma Wine Country on 13 acres were destroyed. Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey on Friday said that the city had sustained $1.2 billion in damage and that 5% of the housing stock was wiped out.
Santa Rosa started to come back to life early Friday, and some residents may be allowed to return home Saturday or Sunday, officials said.
But the threat of new damage from the far-from-controlled fire complex still hung over the region. Firefighters scrambled Friday to dig fire lines and bulldoze debris to gain an advantage over the blazes before the gusts that fanned the flames reached expected speeds of up to 40 mph later in the day along the ridges.
The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office on Friday issued a mandatory evacuation north of Highway 128 from Geysers to Chalk Hill roads. Immigration officials suspended most enforcement in the Northern California fire areas, authorities said Friday, and Gov. Jerry Brown announced that the White House had agreed to send direct aid to those affected by the disaster.
Adding to Santa Rosa residents maelstrom of emotions was their shock that wildfire, which more commonly burns through ridges and valleys of oak brush, had swept into the neat suburban tracts miles away.
The once-placid Coffey Park neighborhood, where at least two people died, turned into a hellscape of ash and fallen timber, punctuated by the turquoise square of a swimming pool.
We have always thought about earthquakes, and we are prepared for an earthquake, said Luis Hernandez, a 10-year Coffey Park resident whose house was destroyed in the early morning hours Monday. But we never thought about a fire. This caught us very off guard.
Nearly everyone in Santa Rosa lost a home or knows someone who did or worse. Thirty of one Santa Rosa synagogues 460 families found their houses destroyed, and a former president of the synagogue died, the rabbi said.
At a downtown motel where evacuees had taken refuge, David Joslyn ran into a young woman in sweatpants carrying a cat.
Howre you doing? he asked.
My house burned down, so its kind of sad, she said.
Coffey Park? he asked.
Yeah, she said, with a pained look on her face.
RELATED: What causes the powerful, dry winds that are fanning the flames in Napa and Sonoma counties
Joslyns own house on a ridge on Mark West Springs Road at the northern end of the city our extravagance is presumed gone, he said. Joslyn, a special-education teacher, and his wife, Sara, a psychologist, loved the private, remote feel of the house, with its 360-degree views of trees and its open living area, where their two sons did their homework and played while Joslyn cooked or did dad stuff in the office.
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)
The deck bigger than the Joslyns entire former house was full of memories of family barbecues. Every day, sometimes twice daily, the family walked their dogs to the nearby clearing at the top of a dirt road.
Authorities on Friday added several names to the list of those who died in the fire. Many of them were elderly the average age was 79. Some died alone. But family members also died together.
In Mendocino County, Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88, were found dead in their Redwood Valley home, the Sheriffs Office said. The structure was decimated.
Kai Logan Shepherd, 14, was trying to escape the fire when he was overtaken by flames near his familys Redwood Valley home, authorities said.
The Redwood Valley and Potter fires in Mendocino County had burned 34,000 acres and were 10% contained as of Friday, according to Cal Fire. Eight people had died and about 8,000 people had been evacuated there.
Joslyn isnt sure if they will rebuild on their land, or when. Its up to my wife, he said. She was thinking maybe not [because] she cant deal with the emotion of it.
But Zack Browne, who lives in Santa Rosa with his wife and two cats, expects people will rebuild. Their house is fine, but his in-laws place was destroyed.
Thats home to them, he said.
Agrawal and Nelson reported from Santa Rosa, Kohli and Holland from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Chris Megerian in Santa Rosa, Paige St. John in Napa County and Dakota Smith, Javier Panzar, Benjamin Oreskes and Kate Mather in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
nina.agrawal@latimes.com
laura.nelson@latimes.com
sonali.kohli@latimes.com
gale.holland@latimes.com
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It was nearly one year ago when Derek Miller walked inside a Sephora store in Huntington Beach with his younger sister and locked eyes with Andrea Castilla.
For five months Miller, a dirt bike rider, found excuses to visit the beauty store where the blond, brown-eyed makeup artist worked, getting butterflies as he tried to work up the courage to talk to Castilla, but each time ultimately failing.
For the record: An earlier version of this article said Derek Miller attended a candlelight vigil on Monday. It was on Sunday.
His previous relationships hadnt worked out, and hed never been the one to make the first move. Still, he couldnt stop thinking about her. He even told his mom.
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So Millers mom took things into her own hands. She went to Sephora and told Castilla her son had a crush on her.
Castilla told Millers mom to have her son come by.
I gave my mom the biggest hug, Miller said.
He went to Sephora a few days later, still nervous.
The conversation started off awkward, but after a few minutes, Castilla got right to the point:
So do you want my number?
Yes, he replied.
He texted her 10 minutes after he left and asked her out on a date.
It didnt take long before Castilla, 28, and Miller, 24, moved in together.
They both enjoyed simple pleasures: sunsets at a favorite hiking spot in Laguna Beach and lazy Sunday afternoons watching TV at their apartment in Huntington Beach.
They also enjoyed the outdoors; Castilla was an avid swimmer in high school, where she often the raced the boys.
Although they had different interests, they came to appreciate each others hobbies. Castilla would venture out with Miller to the desert and watch him ride his dirt bike.
And Miller, who is a technician at a clean-room certifying company, graciously encouraged Castilla to explore her passion for makeup, often placing her lipstick, foundation or eyeliner inside his pocket when they went out.
Everything I did, she wanted to do, and everything she did, I wanted to do.
He also grew to appreciate her quirks.
She would lose everything. Shed say, Baby, wheres my phone? at least three times a day, Miller recalled, fighting back tears. Id say, Babe, its right behind you.
We wanted every single second together. We did more in seven months than most couples get to do in a lifetime, Miller said.
Even though theyd been dating for just seven months, Castilla and Miller often spoke about marriage. Castilla would lay her head upon his chest in the mornings, and Miller would look at her and say: Baby, youre going to be my wife someday.
Or, as they drove somewhere, he would look over at her and say: Baby, Im going to marry you soon.
Castilla smiled at the thought.
In the weeks before a trip to Las Vegas, friends and family said, she hadnt looked this happy in years. Her mother had died of cancer when she was 13. Throughout the years, Castilla dated men who didnt treat her well, according to Miller.
We gave each other the relationship we had waited for, he said.
On a recent trip together, Castilla marveled at a moonstone gem she spotted at a store. It was too big for an engagement ring, but Miller made note and had one custom-made.
Family and friends of Andrea Castilla console one another as the names of those killed in the Las Vegas massacre are read aloud at the plaza near the Huntington Beach Pier. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )
It was Friday, Sept. 29 Castillas birthday and she was sitting around the breakfast table at Woodys Diner in Old Towne Orange with Miller, her father and older brother Adam, 32.
She was going to leave for Las Vegas with Miller later that day to celebrate at the Route 91 Harvest festival. Unbeknownst to her, Miller would be bringing a ring.
During breakfast, Castilla expressed her excitement for the future. She told her brother how she wanted to pursue a career as a makeup artist for cancer survivors.
She wanted to make them feel beautiful, Adam Castilla said.
On Sunday, Oct. 1, at the festival, Castilla and Miller met up with her sister, Athena Castilla, and her sisters fiance, Shane Armstrong.
As Jason Aldeans songs blared in the background, Castilla locked hands with Athena.
Then, someone yelled, Duck!
They dropped to the ground as a gunman fired on the crowd from the Mandalay Bay hotel. After a few moments they got up except Castilla.
With bullets flying around them, Athena and Miller carried her over a fence to a road, where they flagged down a driver who took them to a hospital.
Athena placed her sisters head on her lap. They had never seen so much blood.
It was late Sunday evening when Adam Castilla got the call that his sister had been shot.
He and his father drove through the night until they arrived at a Las Vegas hospital early Monday morning to a scene of chaos, though they were able to meet up with Miller. Amid all the confusion, doctors told Adam that they found a young woman who matched Andreas description and that she was in surgery.
But by 6 a.m. one of the doctors emerged to say they had confused Andrea with another patient. She had actually died the night before.
In all, 58 people would die in the rampage. Three of them were engaged.
Her father, brother and other family members left Las Vegas on Thursday, which is when Castillas body was brought back to Huntington Beach.
Miller left Las Vegas during the week after the shooting and also returned to Huntington Beach. On Sunday, he attended a public candlelight vigil for Castilla and other victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
In his possession, the moonstone engagement ring he had planned to give her when he proposed.
melissa.etehad@latimes.com
Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad
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Twitter has handed over to Senate investigators the profile names, or handles, of 201 accounts linked to Russian attempts at influencing the 2016 presidential election.
The company has stepped up its efforts to cooperate with investigators after it was criticized for not taking congressional inquiries seriously enough.
The handover occurred this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
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What remains unclear is whether posts associated with those accounts have been deleted from Twitters servers. Politico reported Friday that the company had deleted the tweets in line with its privacy policy. Twitter had no comment on that report.
Twitter is set to appear Nov. 1 before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Facebook and Google have also been invited to testify.
Perhaps greater than fear of death is fear of severe illness or disability for months or years before you expire. No one wants to rely on others for help bathing, dressing or taking medications. Yet avoiding an institution means finding someone to deliver that assistance in your home.
Who is going to provide it?
Nearly 70 percent of older seniors believe resources and services will be available in their communities to help them live independently, according to a 2012 AARP survey.
That is certainly optimistic, but likely not realistic. There are simply not enough caregivers to meet the needs of Iowans, a state with a higher percentage of seniors than most other states. And the shortage is expected to grow.
Unfortunately, lawmakers are making matters worse. The Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature cut funding for direct-care workforce programs from about $500,000 to $188,000 for the current fiscal year.
More than $100,000 was slashed for Iowa CareGivers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating a quality, caregiver workforce in this state. The money previously appropriated was used for mentoring programs, partnerships with community colleges, workforce training, stakeholder forums, public awareness and other efforts to recruit and retain direct-care workers.
"I think few realize the work Iowa CareGivers does behind the scenes to promote policies and changes that benefit workers, people served and employers. The solutions to these complex issues have been identified, tested, vetted and presented for a number of years, but rather than investing to bring to scale the efforts that hold promise, they are cut to the quick," said Di Findley, executive director of Iowa CareGivers.
Do Iowa lawmakers think they will not grow old enough for their bodies to wear out? Do they think they could not be a victim of a sudden accident, stroke or debilitating illness? Why don't they recognize the need to increase Iowa's financial investment in attracting and retaining caregivers instead of slashing funding by more than half?
Have lawmakers talked to Iowans to learn how difficult it is to find experienced, reliable caregivers?
They could start with Michael Wolnerman of Des Moines. His mother, Jennie, was ravaged by Alzheimer's for three years before she died nearly two years ago. The family sought in-home caregivers through services and word of mouth to provide around-the-clock assistance.
"Most people were great," Wolnerman said. "Some weren't. Sometimes they would just abandon her. They left her in the middle of the night. They wouldn't show up. Not well-educated on how to care for a person." One worker spilled soda and food she didn't clean up.
Although this family had plenty of money, workers did not simply materialize. Finding and keeping them was an ongoing challenge.
Attracting and retaining workers requires raising awareness, valuing caregivers as much as other health professionals and paying them a decent wage.
Home-care workers earn a median hourly wage of $10.49 per hour. Because of inconsistent work hours, they typically earn $13,800 annually. About half of them rely on some form of public assistance. While they care for others, many do not have health insurance.
All of us can help. Parents and teachers can encourage young people to become certified nursing assistants. Early retirees should consider this line of work, recognizing it is as much a public service as a job. Health insurers, including Medicaid, could raise reimbursement rates for in-home services.
An adequate, trained workforce makes social and fiscal sense. Elderly and disabled people who want to remain in their homes cannot do so if there is no one to help care for them. Publicly financed Medicaid frequently pays the bills for more expensive nursing home stays.
Elected officials are willing to give away millions in tax incentives to attract new businesses. They have taken action to lure doctors to the state and encourage Iowans to pursue teaching as a profession. They must finally be willing to invest in the workers who literally do the heavy lifting in caring for the most vulnerable Iowans.
Iowa CareGivers was founded in 1992 by Di Findley. After working as a nurse's aide for 13 years, she wanted to give a voice to direct-care workers. With her garage sale telephone and desktop computer, she started the organization in her basement. Twenty-five years later, she is more passionate than ever.
Yet state funding for the non-profit's direct-care worker programs and services was cut from about $290,000 to $173,000 this fiscal year. The Iowa CareGivers' Board and Direct Care Professional Leadership Council are equally passionate about these issues and are launching the Iowa CareGivers Endowment with contributions from two former members of the organization's board. The fund will be managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines and will support education, recognition, advocacy and research.
Contributions can be made online at iowacaregivers.org or a check can be mailed to Iowa CareGivers, 1231 8th Street #236, West Des Moines, Iowa 50265. Call 515-249-0138 to learn more about how to support the Endowment.
Among the arguments against the use of airborne camera-wielding drones by the Los Angeles Police Department, a statement made by one critic at a recent Police Commission meeting stood out: Drones should not be talked about.
Thats the most extreme position, boiled down to its essence: that law enforcement drones (or small unmanned aerial systems, as police prefer to call them) pose such a serious threat of police surveillance and militarization that the subject should not even be broached.
But of course its far too late for that. Technology steadily advances, and inexpensive drones will become more common, whether they are controlled by police, commercial ventures or criminals. Drones must be talked about, often and in depth.
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The LAPDs proposed drone guidelines are a good start but leave many open questions.
The LAPDs openness to such talk has been mixed. To its credit, in response to public outcry it grounded and eventually destroyed the two drones it accepted in 2014 as gifts from Seattle and began a process of public outreach and input. But many participants in the LAPDs recent community meetings left with the impression that police were less interested responding to public concerns about drones than they were in checking off the outreach boxes before moving ahead with their program.
Now the Police Commission the LAPDs civilian overseers has before it a set of proposed guidelines for deploying drones that provides for important measures of transparency, accountability and oversight. During a yearlong pilot project, drones would be deployed only in limited circumstances, with a chain of required approvals that goes up to a deputy chief. Drones would include cameras but not weapons, the point being to extend the vision of police without extending their physical reach.
Each use would have to be logged and reported after the fact to Chief Charlie Beck. The commission and the public would also have to receive periodic reports on drone activity.
Drones could not be used for stakeouts or general surveillance, but only during critical incidents, such as when suspects are barricaded or holding hostages, or to search for missing people in wilderness areas, giving officers a view they could not otherwise get without putting themselves in extreme danger.
The proposed guidelines are a good start but leave many open questions. As a device flies over a neighborhood in search of a missing person, for example, what becomes of the images it captures on the way, as it moves over backyards or past apartment windows? Would those recordings be available to the public? Would gathered images be subjected to facial recognition software or studied for evidence of criminal activity? Would video be subject to more disclosure, or less, than video collected by officer body cams or patrol car dash cams? It is hard to be enthusiastic about a drone program in the absence, as yet, of a revised policy on release of body-cam video that reflects the input and lessons learned from the recent public outreach project on that issue.
Members of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition argue that mission creep is inevitable that once allowed to use drones for rescues and perimeter searches, police will find an excuse to use the devices to snoop or serve warrants. As for drones becoming weapons, police helicopters were never supposed to be weaponized either, yet earlier this year an officer shot a suspect from a helicopter. Last year, police in Dallas used a non-flying, explosive-carrying drone to stop a suspected sniper.
These are good arguments for strict and consistent oversight, but not for keeping a potentially valuable and even life-saving tool, if used responsibly, out of police hands altogether and for all time. The commission ought to move forward with a yearlong pilot project and use it as an opportunity to allow the public to see more clearly what its Police Department does, rather than the other way around.
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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra appears never to have met a Trump administration policy he didnt like to sue. On Friday, Becerra joined the attorneys general from 17 other states (plus the District of Columbia) in a lawsuit against the administrations decision Thursday to stop reimbursing health insurers for the subsidies they give millions of low-income customers for their out-of-pocket costs.
Previously, Becerra had sued the administration over its actions on the contraceptive mandate, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the border wall, the travel ban the list goes on and on.
Theres one obvious problem with the newest lawsuit, though: A federal court has ruled that the administration had violated the Constitution by paying the reimbursements, which total about $7 billion annually. So the attorneys general are suing Trump for, ummm, not doing something unlawful (at least in one federal judges eyes).
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When asked about that during a press conference, Becerra and Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Maura Healey (no relation) pointed to two laws and a constitutional principle that the administration allegedly violated with its declaration Thursday.
The first law at issue is the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), which created the cost-sharing reductions for certain low-income Americans. To be eligible, you must not be covered by a large employers group plan, your income must be no more than 200% of the federal poverty level, and you have to buy comprehensive coverage through a state Obamacare exchange, such as Covered California. The law requires insurers to provide the reductions, which reduce the deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses. But it also states that the federal government shall cover the cost.
That may not be as binding as it sounds. The law didnt provide a funding source for the subsidies, and under some court rulings, theres no entitlement without a permanent appropriation. Underscoring that point, the ACA provided a permanent appropriation for a different subsidy: the tax credits that help low- and moderate-income Americans pay their premiums.
Thats why the House Republican leadership sued the Obama administration for making the reimbursements after Congress declined to appropriate money for them. The GOP argued that Congress constitutional power of the purse was being usurped, and last year U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer in Washington, D.C, agreed. Still, she put her ruling on hold pending an appeal, which the White House announced Thursday that it would not pursue any further.
Undaunted, Becerra insisted that the ACA makes very clear that the out-of-pocket subsidies are required. In fact, he said, the ACA cant function properly without them, because they work in tandem with the laws premium subsidies.
Like the Obama administration, Becerra and his allies believe Collyer misread the constitutional principle at issue. To them, the ACA mandates the reimbursements, and the president is obligated to carry out the laws dictates. The president cant pick and choose which law he chooses to follow, Becerra said.
And then theres the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how executive-branch agencies make decisions. The Trump administration has already run into a number of APA minefields see, for example, the federal court ruling that stopped the Bureau of Land Management from halting enforcement of a rule on greenhouse gas emissions from drilling rigs on federal land. Presumably, the argument is that the Department of Health and Human Services didnt jump through the correct procedural hoops before announcing that the reimbursements would stop.
It wouldnt be at all surprising to find that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act here. Still, Becerra et al. have to persuade the courts that the administration wasnt free to abide by Collyers ruling, which California and numerous other states were appealing alongside the Trump administration.
Theyre seeking a temporary restraining order soon to prevent the reimbursements from being cut off in about a week, so well have the first clue soon whether this is a long-shot claim.
By the way, Becerra may be the attorney general with the least at stake in the outcome. Anticipating President Trumps move, Covered California worked out a surcharge with insurers that will raise Silver plan premiums by 12.4% on average next year to cover the cost-sharing reductions. Although an estimated 65,000 Californians have Silver plans, more than half of them wont feel any increase because they receive premium subsidies from the feds. The rest are being encouraged to buy nearly identical policies outside Covered California, where the surcharge will not be applied.
jon.healey@latimes.com
Twitter: @jcahealey
Columbus Day tends to come and go without much notice while Italian American groups celebrate a 15th century hero and many public employees and some schools get the day off, most people show up to work as if it were any other Monday.
But in L.A., Columbus days are numbered. Both the city and county of Los Angeles decided recently to make 2018s Columbus Day the final one, thereafter commemorating the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day.
Reactions by our letter writers have been mixed; most bristled at what they felt was political correctness run amok. Several suggested holidays besides Indigenous Peoples Day.
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Their ideas are below:
Burbank resident Jen Tait looks to Canada for a solution:
In a letter you printed on Oct. 10, one of your readers protested that when Columbus arrived, there were no indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere, given that the people the Europeans encountered upon their arrival had presumably only gotten here via the land bridge from Alaska or by boat.
First Nations Day has a ring to it, doesnt it? Besides which, its a bit less bulky than Indigenous Peoples Day. Jen Tait, Burbank
As such, your reader felt that the term Indigenous Peoples day should be changed to something more truthful and accurate, such as We Got Here First day.
Interestingly, Canadians already have solved this problem of nomenclature. They use the term First Nations.
First Nations Day has a ring to it, doesnt it? Besides which, its a bit less bulky than Indigenous Peoples Day.
Nona Pyron of Altadena proposes a holiday for Columbus critics:
I would like to propose that Columbus Day be replaced by PEP Day (Perfect, Enlightened People Day) and dedicate it to those who are so perfect in their thinking and actions, so possessing of an incredible 20/20 hindsight and an unassailable knowledge of history that they are perfectly positioned to sit in judgment on the benighted peoples of the past.
These Perfect Enlightened People, who, through their extraordinary accomplishments and insight have lifted civilization to unimaginable levels, will be celebrated for generations and centuries to come by grateful citizens who will no doubt erect monuments to honor them.
Future generations will stand in wonderment that the dark ages of the 20th and 21st centuries could possibly have produced such extraordinary individuals.
San Jose resident Phillip Doppelt notes that North American Indians were not the only people to suffer because of Columbus exploits:
Columbus was Italian, but he turned to the newly rich Spanish monarchy to get funding for his attempt to find a new sea route to India. The Spanish monarchs took some of the money and property from the Jews they expelled from Spain in 1492 and funded Columbus expedition.
Since these Jews (Sephardic Jews) had no involvement in this (other than the use of their stolen property) or the subsequent events from it (enslaving the indigenous population, reducing them by disease, forced conversion and so on), I propose we use the politically correct name Sephardic Jewish Heritage Day for the first Monday in October.
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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
Trump promotes sons Justice with Judge Jeanine interview President Trump promoted via Twitter an interview with his son Eric Trump just before it aired Saturday night on Fox News Justice with Judge Jeanine. Eric Trump on @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews now! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 Eric Trump called into the show to defend his father from criticism prompted by the first government shutdown in more than four years, as well as a series of Womens March events that saw protesters in dozens of cities take to the streets to oppose the presidents policies. .@EricTrump joined me over the phone from Mar-a-Lago ! pic.twitter.com/Hro3TzUW52 Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) January 21, 2018 Speaking to host Jeannine Piro who is reportedly an old friend of the presidents Eric Trump offered effusive praise for his father, ticking off glowing statistics to illustrate the strength of the U.S. economy and gains against Islamic State fighters overseas. My fathers working like no ones ever worked before to bring back this country and to fulfill his promise to make America great again, said the executive vice president of the Trump Organization. He also repeated a sentiment recently expressed on Twitter by his father: That Democratic lawmakers forced a government shutdown on the anniversary of the presidents inauguration in a bid to distract from his achievements. You look at this whole government shutdown, and the only reason they want to shut down government is to distract and to stop his momentum, Eric Trump said. I mean, my father has had incredible momentum. Hes gotten more done in one year than arguably any president in history. Facebook
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Trump tweets: a perfect day for all Women to March President Trump hailed the nationwide Womens March gatherings Saturday. On Twitter, the president called it a perfect day for all Women to March, seeming to imply that those taking part were celebrating his administrations accomplishments: Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Participants in the marches across the United States were actually seeking to deliver a powerful rebuke to Trumps policies and mount a crucial mobilization for this years midterm elections. But Trump continued to tout his administrations unprecedented success in tweets sent later in the day: Unprecedented success for our Country, in so many ways, since the Election. Record Stock Market, Strong on Military, Crime, Borders, & ISIS, Judicial Strength & Numbers, Lowest Unemployment for Women & ALL, Massive Tax Cuts, end of Individual Mandate - and so much more. Big 2018! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The Trump Administration has terminated more UNNECESSARY Regulation, in just twelve months, than any other Administration has terminated during their full term in office, no matter what the length. The good news is, THERE IS MUCH MORE TO COME! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 In addition to the roll call of major American cities where womens marches took place including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta protesters also raised their voices in suburbs and small towns, reflecting the aim of coalescing a broad-based movement on the anniversary of Trumps inauguration to oppose the presidents stance on immigration, healthcare, racial divides and an array of other issues. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook
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Trump calls shutdown a present from Democrats By Associated Press President Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown tweeting that they wanted to give him a nice present to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration: This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 That comes after Senate Democrats late Friday killed a GOP-written House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Democrats were seeking a stopgap bill of just a few days in hopes that would build pressure on Republicans, and they were opposing a three-week alternative offered by GOP leaders. Democrats have insisted they would back legislation reopening the government once theres a bipartisan agreement to preserve protections against deporting about 700,000 immigrants known as Dreamers who arrived in the United States illegally as children. Trump on Saturday accused Democrats of holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration: Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Cant let that happen! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Democrats are laying fault for the shutdown on Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president tried to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans to Congress in November in order to power through this mess: Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 He noted that there are 51 Republicans in the 100-member Senate, and it often takes 60 votes to advance legislation: For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 #AMERICA FIRST! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The stopgap spending measure won 50 votes in the Senate, including five from Democrats. Although the House and Senate were in session Saturday, it was unclear whether lawmakers would take any votes of consequence. Trump had been set to leave Friday afternoon for a fundraiser at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he intended to mark the inauguration anniversary. But he remained in Washington and ended up scrapping his plans to attend the Saturday fundraiser. Read More Facebook
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Trump tweet casts doubt on likelihood of averting shutdown President Trump appeared to cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching a deal to avert a government shutdown Friday night in a tweet. Trump also sought to blame Democrats for what would be the first shutdown since 2013. His message came just hours before the midnight deadline by which lawmakers must pass a measure to fund government agencies, or some operations will cease. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Despite last-minute negotiations Friday between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Congress remained deadlocked over a spending bill and the federal government was headed toward a shutdown at midnight. Senate Democrats joined by some GOP deficit hawks and immigration allies were set to filibuster a stopgap funding bill approved by the House on Thursday. A Senate vote was planned for 10 p.m. Eastern, and even White House officials predicted it would fail. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro. Facebook
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Trump signs surveillance law after confusing tweets By Associated Press President Trump on Friday signed a bill into law to renew a foreign intelligence surveillance program, announcing his action in the latest in a series of confusing tweets about the spy program: Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection. This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Trumps tweet on Jan. 11 created chaos in the House just before it voted to reauthorize what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He linked the intelligence program to a dossier that alleges his presidential campaign had ties to Russia. That caused people to wonder if he didnt support the program that allows U.S. spy agencies to collect intelligence on foreign targets abroad. Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Obama administration officials improperly shared the identities of Trump presidential transition team members mentioned in intelligence reports. Democrats say there is no evidence that happened. Shortly before the House vote, and after conferring with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump did an apparent about-face. This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land, he tweeted. We need it! Get smart! In his tweet announcing that he had just signed the bill, Trump wrote: This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first! There are no obvious links between the dossier Trump spoke of, which includes salacious but unsubstantiated allegations against him, and the reauthorization of the spying program, or between the program and Trumps oft-repeated claims that the Obama administration conducted surveillance on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. Facebook
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In tweet, Trump suggests that Pennsylvania trip is a political one The White House press office was once again forced to walk back a tweet from President Trump on Thursday morning after he described a trip to Pennsylvania later in the day as a political one a statement that would force the Republican Party, not taxpayers, to pay for the journey. The White House had said Trump was going to an industrial equipment company outside of Pittsburgh to highlight the good economy and new tax cuts, making it an official, policy-oriented event. It was widely assumed that the trip had a political cast the area is holding a special election to fill a congressional seat vacated by a Republican who resigned. Trump, by his tweet, seemed to confirm that politics was the whole purpose: Will be going to Pennsylvania today in order to give my total support to RICK SACCONE, running for Congress in a Special Election (March 13). Rick is a great guy. We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 Trump later shared via Twitter a pair of video clips of his speech at H&K Equipment, in which he touted the tax cuts he signed into law just before Christmas and tried to turn the conversation back to his accomplishments after weeks dominated by distractions, including questions about his mental health and comments about immigration that some considered racist: Departing Pittsburgh now, where it was my great honor to stand with our incredible workers, and to show the world that AMERICA is back - and we are coming back bigger and better and stronger than ever before! pic.twitter.com/kWPgylqFzj Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 AMERICA will once again be a NATION that thinks big, dreams bigger, and always reaches for the stars. YOU are the ones who will shape Americas destiny. YOU are the ones who will restore our prosperity. And YOU are the ones who are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/f2abNK47II Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 The Republican National Committee, rather than the White House, is supposed to pay for political travel so that taxpayers are not financing party activities; for trips that combine policy and politics, parties have split the cost under past presidents. Neither the RNC nor the White House responded to emails sent Thursday asking who would pay. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement later Thursday suggesting that taxpayers would foot the bill. She insisted that Trump would be conducting government business while in Pennsylvania. Read More This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook
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Trump tweets praise of Bob Dole after awarding him Congressional Gold Medal By Associated Press Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole knew the art of the deal before President Trump published the 1987 book of the same name. The two shared a stage under the Capitol dome Wednesday as Dole, 94, accepted Congress highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, for his World War II service and decades of work in the House and Senate. Trump later praised Dole in a tweet, attaching to his message a video composed of clips from the ceremony: Today, we witnessed an incredible moment in history the presentation of Congress highest civilian honor to our friend, and true AMERICAN HERO, Bob Dole. #CongressionalGoldMedal pic.twitter.com/qNQqDLRmCk Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2018 At the ceremony, the president saluted Dole as a patriot and gave tribute to Doles struggle as a veteran who worked his way back from a grievous shoulder wound he suffered in Italy. He knows about grit, said Trump. But it was Doles penchant for working across the aisle that earned him his latest award, according to the legislation. Bob Dole was known for his ability to work across the aisle and embrace practical bipartisanship, reads the legislation Trump signed in September. Some of the awards 300 recipients include George Washington and Mother Teresa, according to the Congressional Research Service. Read More Facebook
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Trump touts report that seeks to link terrorism cases with immigration By Joseph Tanfani The Trump administration on Tuesday released a report attempting to link terrorism with migration, arguing that it was evidence of the need to dramatically reshape the nations immigration system. New report from DOJ & DHS shows that nearly 3 in 4 individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges are foreign-born. We have submitted to Congress a list of resources and reforms.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 ....we need to keep America safe, including moving away from a random chain migration and lottery system, to one that is merit-based. https://t.co/7PtoSFK1n2 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The report, ordered by President Trump in an executive order last year, said that 75% of the 549 people convicted of terrorism charges since 9/11 were born outside the U.S. Administration officials called that a sign that the U.S. needs to scrap its policy of family preferences for visas, which they call chain migration, and a diversity visa lottery program. But the report did not specify how many if any of the convicted terrorists entered the country through those means. It also did not detail how many of the convictions were related to attacks or plans in the U.S. versus overseas and how many involved people who went to fight overseas for the Islamic State or another terrorist group. Those details were not available, officials said. The report, due last year, is being released in a highly charged moment in the immigration debate, as Trump and some Republicans in Congress seek tough new border and immigration measures in return for a deal protecting the 690,000 people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump also fired off a pair of tweets on the topic earlier Tuesday: We must have Security at our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER, and we must have a great WALL to help protect us, and to help stop the massive inflow of drugs pouring into our country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The focus of our immigration system should be assimilation, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition that his name not be used. He said the nation should give priority to potential immigrants who speak English, who have an education and those who are committed to supporting our values not family members of people already here. The official said the timing of the report was coincidental. Read More Facebook
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Trump tweets welcome to president of Kazakhstan By Associated Press President Trump said Tuesday that he and the president of Kazakhstan are united in a shared determination to prevent North Korea from threatening the world with nuclear devastation. Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed North Korea along with other issues during meetings at the White House. Today, it was my honor to welcome President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/TerYFZViax Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 Trump said Kazakhstan, once part of the Soviet Union, is a valued partner in our efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. Together we are determined to prevent the North Korean regime from threatening the world with nuclear devastation, he said, as both presidents addressed journalists between meetings. Nazarbayev noted that his country once had one of the worlds largest nuclear arsenals but voluntarily gave it up after the Soviet Union collapsed. He said his country is in talks with Iran, which was the focus of a global deal that lifted some economic sanctions in exchange for Irans curbing its nuclear program. Trump has sharply criticized the Iran nuclear deal and threatened last week to pull out soon unless other countries fix what he says are terrible flaws. Read More Facebook
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Trump falsely claims his approval rating among black Americans has doubled By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump lashed out at the news media Tuesday morning in a tweet denouncing the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion among members of his campaign team. Do you notice the Fake News Mainstream Media never likes covering the great and record setting economic news, but rather talks about anything negative or that can be turned into the negative. The Russian Collusion Hoax is dead, except as it pertains to the Dems. Public gets it! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the presidents tweet, but it appeared as though he was watching Fox & Friends. A short time later, Trump tweeted a headline from a report that aired during that mornings episode: 90% of Trump 2017 news coverage was negative -and much of it contrived!@foxandfriends Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The segment focused on the latest survey results from conservative watchdog Media Research Center, which purportedly analyzed the evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 and found that 90% of the statements made about Trump were negative. Study: 90% of Trump media coverage in 2017 was negative pic.twitter.com/vbrwup4Drg FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 16, 2018 But believe it or not, through all this negative coverage, they did a survey of 600,000 people about how black America views this president, co-host Brian Kilmeade said. His numbers have actually doubled in approval. Trump highlighted the statement in another tweet: Unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded. Trump approval ratings with Black Americans has doubled. Thank you, and it will get even (much) better! @FoxNews Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 But its not true. The claim appears to have originated from a misreading of data from the online polling firm SurveyMonkey, according to factcheck.org. The firm polled 600,000 Americans in 2017 and found that Trumps approval rating among blacks actually dropped from 23% early in his presidency to about 17%, as of the week ending Jan. 3. Some conservative outlets, including Breitbart, produced an average from those and other SurveyMonkey figures and compared them to the scores Trump received from black voters in the 2016 exit polls. That methodology is not sound. And since the statistics measure different things, the comparison is misleading. Facebook
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Trump goes after senator who surfaced his immigration remark By Associated Press President Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Richard J. Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting, Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 Trump was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young people who came to the United States illegally as children. Members of Congress from both parties are trying to strike a deal that Trump would support to extend that protection. Trump also cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching an agreement in tweets sent earlier Monday: Statement by me last night in Florida: Honestly, I dont think the Democrats want to make a deal. They talk about DACA, but they dont want to help..We are ready, willing and able to make a deal but they dont want to. They dont want security at the border, they dont want..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 ...to stop drugs, they want to take money away from our military which we cannot do. My standard is very simple, AMERICA FIRST & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 On a day of remembrance for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessors staged in honor of the civil rights leader. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to Kings memory, saying Kings dream and Americas are the same: A world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from. That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trumps concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from shithole countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well. Without explicitly denying using that word, Trump lashed out at the Democratic senator, who said Trump uttered it on several occasions. Read More Facebook
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Trump thanks pundit for laudatory Fox & Friends spot By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump thanked Fox News personality Stuart Varney after Varney praised Trump during an appearance on Fox & Friends. In a pair of tweets early Sunday, Trump quoted from Varneys commentary, in which he argued that Trump deserves more credit for the booming economy. The pundit, who also hosts a show on Fox Business Network, cited moves by some corporations to raise workers minimum wage or pay out one-time bonuses in response to the GOP tax cuts. President Trump is not getting the credit he deserves for the economy. Tax Cut bonuses to more than 2,000,000 workers. Most explosive Stock Market rally that weve seen in modern times. 18,000 to 26,000 from Election, and grounded in profitability and growth. All Trump, not 0... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 ...big unnecessary regulation cuts made it all possible (among many other things). President Trump reversed the policies of President Obama, and reversed our economic decline. Thank you Stuart Varney. @foxandfriends Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 Varney was reacting to a quote from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who on Thursday called the bonuses handed down to workers pathetic in comparison to the gains corporations are expected to see from the tax cuts. In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic, Pelosi told reporters. Its pathetic. Varney shot back Sunday that the bonuses, along with explosive stock market growth, are enriching all Americans. This is a huge shot in the arm, its the result of this tax cut deal and I think President Trump should get the credit for it, he said. .@Varneyco Sets the economic record straight after Nancy Pelosi calls U.S. mass bonuses crumbs pic.twitter.com/BvjIHGm3HE FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 14, 2018 The sweeping tax plan passed last month lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and cuts personal income taxes. Analysts say the benefits will largely flow to corporations and the wealthy, as theyre more likely to be in positions to share in corporate profits. For instance, Wells Fargo & Co., which responded to news of the tax overhaul by announcing it will raise workers pay to at least $15 an hour, also reported that it expects to pay an effective tax rate of 19% this year, down from about 31% in previous years. That should amount to tax savings of more than $3 billion annually. On average, middle-class Americans are expected to see a very small tax cut in the near term and a tax increase after 2025, when all of the tax cuts for individuals expire. The tax cuts for corporations, however, are permanent. This post contains reporting from Times staff writer James Rufus Koren. Facebook
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Trump touts MLK proclamation in tweet, but ceremony is overshadowed by reports of racist remarks By Associated Press President Trump signed a proclamation Friday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, noting the contributions of a great American hero. Today, it was my great honor to proclaim January 15, 2018, as Martin Luther King Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service activities in honor of Dr. King's life and legacy. pic.twitter.com/samlJsz1Nt Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 Overshadowing the event was mounting backlash from Trumps comments during a private meeting with lawmakers the day before. A short time after the meeting, which was called to discuss a possible immigration deal, reports emerged that Trump had asked participants why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senates second-ranking Democrat, appeared to confirm those reports on Friday. Trump did not respond Friday to several questions about the incident, including whether he actually used vulgar language to describe African nations, or if he is racist. The president said at the White House that love was central to the slain civil rights leader. Trump said the nation celebrates King for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no matter what the color of our skin or place of our birth, we are all created equal by God. This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook
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Trump criticizes Democrats in tweet calling for stricter immigration rules President Trump hit out at Democrats on Thursday night in a tweet calling for stricter immigration rules. Trump wrote that members of the party seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the border with Mexico: The Democrats seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the Southern Border, risking thousands of lives in the process. It is my duty to protect the lives and safety of all Americans. We must build a Great Wall, think Merit and end Lottery & Chain. USA! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the tweet. Earlier Thursday, Trump rejected a bipartisan compromise to resolve the standoff over so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children but have temporary permits to work, attend school or serve in the military. The president drew widespread condemnation after reports emerged that he had asked participants in an Oval Office meeting about the proposal why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Read More Facebook
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Trump touts bill aimed at improving border screening for fentanyl By Associated Press President Trump signed legislation Wednesday aimed at giving Customs and Border Protection agents additional screening devices and other tools to stop the flow of illicit drugs. Speaking at a surprise bill-signing ceremony while flanked by members of Congress from both parties in the Oval Office, Trump described the bill as a significant step forward in the fight against powerful opioids such as fentanyl, which he called our new big scourge. He echoed that language Thursday in a tweet: Yesterday, I signed the #INTERDICTAct (H.R. 2142) with bipartisan members of Congress to help end the flow of drugs into our country. Together, we are committed to doing everything we can to combat the deadly scourge of drug addiction and overdose in the United States! pic.twitter.com/ELZvFol5Lo Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 The legislation will pay for new portable and fixed chemical screening devices to detect and intercept fentanyl at ports of entry and in the mail, along with other laboratory equipment and personnel, including scientists. Trump has made fighting the opioid epidemic a centerpiece of his administration, though critics say he hasnt dedicated nearly enough money or resources to make a difference. Trump suggested during his remarks on Wednesday that hed like to take a more aggressive approach to the drug crisis but the countrys not ready for what he has in mind. So were going to sign this. And its a step. And it feels like a very giant step, but unfortunately, its not going to be a giant step, because no matter what you do, this is something that keeps pouring in, he said. And were going to find the answer. There is an answer. I think I actually know the answer, but Im not sure the countrys ready for it yet, he added. Does anybody know what I mean? I think so. Facebook
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Trump applauds news that Toyota-Mazda plant is slated for Alabama By Associated Press Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda on Wednesday announced plans to build a mammoth, $1.6-billion joint-venture plant in Alabama that will eventually employ about 4,000 people. President Trump lauded the news in a tweet: Cutting taxes and simplifying regulations makes America the place to invest! Great news as Toyota and Mazda announce they are bringing 4,000 JOBS and investing $1.6 BILLION in Alabama, helping to further grow our economy! pic.twitter.com/Kcg8IVH6iA Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Good news: Toyota and Mazda announce giant new Huntsville, Alabama, plant which will produce over 300,000 cars and SUVs a year and employ 4000 people. Companies are coming back to the U.S. in a very big way. Congratulations Alabama! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 Several states had competed for the project, which will be able to turn out 300,000 vehicles per year and produce the Toyota Corolla compact car for North America and a new small SUV from Mazda. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and company executives held a news conference to announce that the facility is coming to the Huntsville area not far from the Tennessee line. Production is expected to begin by 2021. The decision to pick Alabama is another example of foreign-based automakers building U.S. factories in the South. To entice manufacturers, Southern states have used a combination of lucrative incentive packages, low-cost labor and a pro-business labor environment, because the United Auto Workers union is stronger in Northern states. Read More Facebook
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Trump highlights call for border wall in tweets on visit with Norways prime minister By Associated Press President Trump praised Norways prime minister in a tweet on Wednesday after Erna Solberg became the first foreign leader to visit with the president in 2018. Today, it was my great honor to welcome Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway to the @WhiteHouse - a great friend and ally of the United States! Joint press conference: https://t.co/qWR1BhfQZI pic.twitter.com/PJvwznjRCO Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Trump also shared via Twitter a video clip of a joint news conference he held with Solberg on Wednesday afternoon. In the clip, Trump responds to a question from a reporter by saying there can be no bipartisan immigration deal absent funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been seeking a solution for hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the United States as children and are living here illegally. The United States needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval. The safety and security of our country is #1! pic.twitter.com/4CFzQXb5aS Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 We need the wall for security, we need the wall for safety, we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in, Trump said Wednesday. Any solution has to include the wall because without the wall, it all doesnt work. On Tuesday, Trump drew widespread attention when he said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. That contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill in subsequent tweets and public comments. Read More This post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook
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Trump praises Cabinet in tweet touting meeting By Associated Press President Trump promoted a meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, sharing via Twitter a link to a video of the session posted on the White House YouTube account. In his tweet, Trump thanked his Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country and wrote that the last year has been one of monumental achievement. I want to thank my @Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country. 2017 was a year of monumental achievement and we look forward to the year ahead. Together, we are delivering results and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/ptXa1hAPwW pic.twitter.com/yv6RALkQf3 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The former reality television star continued to dispense accolades at the meeting Wednesday, greeting reporters in the Cabinet Room by saying: Welcome back to the studio. Then he proceeded to relive a Cabinet Room session from the prior day, when he had allowed reporters and TV cameras to stick around for much of his meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators on the thorny issue of immigration. It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good. And my performance you know, some of them called it a performance I consider it work, Trump said. Trump went on to say he had received letters from news anchors calling it one of the greatest meetings theyve ever witnessed. He added that the media will ultimately support Trump in the end, because theyre going to say, if Trump doesnt win in three years, theyre all out of business. Asked for examples of letters received from news anchors, the White House said it had received private communications. It also offered a series of positive on-air comments and tweets from journalists about the unusual access to the meeting. During his remarks, Trump swung from praising his own meeting coverage to telling journalists that they were dependent on his presidency for ratings to threatening a strong look at libel laws. Still, Trump thanked the journalists in front of him, joking: Youve gotten very familiar with this room. I appreciate your nice comments yesterday. Facebook
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Trump blasts DACA ruling in tweet calling courts broken and unfair By Lisa Mascaro President Trump denounced the federal courts Wednesday as broken and unfair after a district judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction keeping protections in place for so-called Dreamers. Trump tweeted: It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 On Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administrations decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which has protected from deportation some 700,000 people who came to the country illegally as children. Alsup granted a request by the state of California, the University of California and other plaintiffs to stop Trump from ending DACA on March 5. The administrations decision to end DACA, which was announced in September, was based on a flawed legal analysis, Alsup wrote in his decision. Dreamers would be irreparably harmed if their DACA protections, which allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., were stripped away before the courts had a chance to fully consider their claims, he ruled. The action is the mirror image of a ruling in 2015 by a federal judge in Texas who ruled in favor of that state when it sought to block President Obama from expanding DACA to include the parents of Dreamers. Trump administration officials praised that judicial ruling. By contrast, they sharply criticized Alsups decision. Read More Facebook
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Trump thanks lawmakers for productive immigration meeting, says deal must include border wall President Trump thanked a bipartisan group of lawmakers for participating in a meeting on immigration legislation on Tuesday. Much of the discussion involved so-called Dreamers, an estimated 700,000 young people who were brought to the country illegally as children and are now facing deportation. In a tweet, Trump wrote that there was strong agreement to negotiate a bill to protect Dreamers, as well as put into place some of the reforms favored by Republicans. Thanks to all of the Republican and Democratic lawmakers for todays very productive meeting on immigration reform. There was strong agreement to negotiate a bill that deals with border security, chain migration, lottery and DACA. https://t.co/SdqAQ3aL3z pic.twitter.com/8DYHZHspAy Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 The most notable exchange of the meeting came when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the San Francisco Democrat, asked Trump whether he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. Yeah, I would like to do it, Trump responded. The statement drew widespread attention because it contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump later backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill, tweeting that a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico must be part of any deal: As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Pressure has been mounting for Congress to broker an immigration deal by Jan. 19 as part of a must-pass budget package to fund the government. This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook
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Trump thanks officers and veterans in tweets President Trump doled out a slew of accolades Tuesday via Twitter. He thanked the nations law enforcement officers, including in his message a hashtag denoting a day of appreciation organized by a national support group for law enforcement families. On behalf of the American people, THANK YOU to our incredible law enforcement officers. As President of the United States - I will fight for you, and I will never, ever let you down. Now, more than ever, we must support the men and women in blue! #LawEnforcementAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/Qb4uxB4JRm Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trump later expressed gratitude for federal immigration agents, in particular: .@ICEgov HSI agents and ERO officers, on behalf of an entire Nation, THANK YOU for what you are doing 24/7/365 to keep fellow Americans SAFE. Everyone is so grateful!#LawEnforcementAppreciationDay
President @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/HXCpTlruVo Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The president thanked veterans as he cited his administrations efforts to curb the number of veteran suicides by improving mental health treatment for the high-risk group: Today, it was my great honor to sign a new Executive Order to ensure Veterans have the resources they need as they transition back to civilian life. We must ensure that our HEROES are given the care and support they so richly deserve! https://t.co/0MdP9DDIAS pic.twitter.com/LP2a8KCBAp Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trumps tweet included photos of the president signing an executive order Tuesday directing the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to provide seamless access to mental health and suicide prevention resources for 12 months for members leaving the armed forces. Also on Tuesday, Trump touted a law he signed the day before designating the birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a national historic park: It was my great honor to sign H.R. 267, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Act, which redesignates the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site in the State of Georgia as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. https://t.co/Qe0b6HBFTY pic.twitter.com/QTgaqTawPT Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 And he thanked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) for sharing a video compilation comprised of clips of politicians and commentators praising the GOPs tax cut bill: Thank you @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy! Couldnt agree w/you more. TOGETHER, we are #MAGA https://t.co/QaxtqpyXTR Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook
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Trump hails tax bill in tweets recapping speech to farmers By Associated Press Connecting with rural Americans, President Trump on Monday hailed his tax overhaul as a victory for family farmers. Farm country is Gods country, Trump told the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Trump became the first president in a quarter-century to address the federations convention. His Southern swing also included a stop in Atlanta for the national college football championship game. Cant wait to be back in the amazing state of Tennessee to address the 99th American @FarmBureau Federations Annual Convention in Nashville! #AFBF18
On my way now - join me LIVE at 4:00pmE: https://t.co/QaljAqekdD. pic.twitter.com/Wm7Io0hYT8 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and a group of Tennessee lawmakers, Trump said most of the benefits of the tax legislation are going to working families, small businesses, and who the family farmer. The package Trump signed into law last month provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families. In every decision we make, we are honoring Americas PROUD FARMING LEGACY. Years of crushing taxes, crippling regs, & corrupt politics left our communities hurting, our economy stagnant, & millions of hardworking Americans COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN. But they are not forgotten ANYMORE! pic.twitter.com/MdYS7xnukQ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The president vastly inflated the value of the package in his speech, citing a total of $5.5 trillion in tax cuts, with most of those benefits going to working families, small businesses and who? The family farmer. The estimated value of the tax cuts is actually $1.5 trillion for families and businesses because of cuts in deductions and the use of other steps to generate offsetting tax revenue. We have been working every day to DELIVER for Americas Farmers just as they work every day to deliver FOR US. #AFBF18 pic.twitter.com/QDH7fvFkZ7 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 From Nashville, Trump traveled to Atlanta to watch Alabamas Crimson Tide and Georgias Bulldogs face off Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship. We are fighting for our farmers, for our country, and for our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG. We want our flag respected - and we want our NATIONAL ANTHEM respected also! pic.twitter.com/16eOLXg6Fi Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Before departing for the game, Trump referenced his ongoing defense of the American flag and the national anthem, saying there was enough space for people to express their views. We love our flag and we love our anthem, and we want to keep it that way, he said. Facebook
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Trump tweet hails drop in unemployment rate for African Americans By Associated Press President Trump touted a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans on Monday in a tweet. African American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded in our country. The Hispanic unemployment rate dropped a full point in the last year and is close to the lowest in recorded history. Dems did nothing for you but get your vote! #NeverForget @foxandfriends Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The rate fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Trump also hailed the development via Twitter on Saturday. His latest tweet on the topic came about an hour after it was discussed during an episode of Fox & Friends, according to Mediaite. Facebook
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Trump talks up the economy and dresses down the media in Sunday tweets With President Trump cheering from the sidelines, the White House on Sunday pressed its defense of the presidents fitness to govern, as fired former aide Stephen K. Bannon reversed course and apologized for his role in a new books explosive portrait of Trump. The presidents critics, meanwhile, said Trumps stream of taunts and insults in response to the book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, released last week served only to underscore the authors unsettling portrayal of Trumps year-old presidency, depicting a leader whose own aides consider him childish, ignorant and dangerously erratic. Trump provided more ammunition Sunday morning, as he continued to attack the book via Twitter while preparing to depart Camp David for the White House: Leaving Camp David for the White House. Great meetings with the Cabinet and Military on many very important subjects including Border Security & the desperately needed Wall, the ever increasing Drug and Opioid Problem, Infrastructure, Military, Budget, Trade and DACA. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Ive had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for President. Now I have to put up with a Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 The most vehement defense of Trump on Sunday came from senior advisor Stephen Miller, a onetime Bannon acolyte who distanced himself from his former mentor. In a combative appearance Sunday on CNNs State of the Union, Miller called the book grotesque and writer Michael Wolff the garbage author of a garbage book. Trump is known to closely monitor aides televised performances in putting forth his case, and he gleefully weighed in within moments of Millers televised clash with host Jake Tapper. CNN has long been a particular target of Trumps ire. Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trumps reaction, however, seemed to bolster Tappers on-air depiction of Miller as using his appearance on the show to play to the president rather than addressing questions put to him. I get it theres one viewer that you care about, the host said exasperatedly after Miller turned the discussion repeatedly to negative news coverage of the president while deflecting specific queries. Later on Twitter, Trump took up two themes that have been prevalent on his social media feeds recently. The president again went after the news media, tweeting that the recipients of his self-proclaimed most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year, which he promised earlier in the week to announce on Monday, would actually be revealed the following Wednesday: The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trump later lauded a New York Post opinion piece that compared him favorably with his predecessor, President Obama, as well as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In quoting the op-ed, Trump initally misspelled consequential as consensual, but he deleted those tweets and re-sent the messages. His is turning out to be an enormously consequential presidency. So much so that, despite my own frustration over his missteps, there has never been a day when I wished Hillary Clinton were president. Not one. Indeed, as Trumps accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 ...Clinton in the WH, doubling down on Barack Obamas failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice. This was truly a change election and the changes Trump is bringing are far-reaching & necessary. Thank you Michael Goodwin! https://t.co/4fHNcx2Ydg Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Trump also continued talking up the economy, which has been enjoying a period of strong gains. The Stock Market has been creating tremendous benefits for our country in the form of not only Record Setting Stock Prices, but present and future Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Seven TRILLION dollars of value created since our big election win! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 In addition to Miller, other senior administration officials made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows to decry the claims made in Wolffs book. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Wolffs characterization of Trump as averse to digesting classified briefing material was ludicrous, and the ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, insisted that that those around Trump love their country and respect their president. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook
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Responding to book that mocks his intelligence, Trump tweets hes like, really smart By Tracy Wilkinson President Trump declared himself a very stable genius on Twitter on Saturday and later in a televised news conference called the author of a book that questioned his mental fitness a fraud. His comments came on a bone-cold day at Camp David during a weekend retreat with top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders strategizing on the years legislative agenda, including matters such as infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and national security. Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Still, Trumps explosive rebuttal to author Michael Wolffs claims not only opened the day, but it also ensured the presidents capability to fill the highest office in the land was a topic that would not go away. In his early-morning tweets, Trump said two of his greatest assets have been mental stability, and being, like, really smart. He noted that his former Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, played these cards [about competence] very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). Read More Facebook
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In morning tweets, Trump touts job numbers and takes digs at news media By Associated Press President Trump used Twitter on Saturday morning to tout a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans. He also used the tweets as an opportunity to take digs at media outlets whose past coverage he has found to be critical. The African American unemployment rate fell to 6.8%, the lowest rate in 45 years. I am so happy about this News! And, in the Washington Post (of all places), headline states, Trumps first year jobs numbers were very, very good. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Still, the rate for black workers remains well above those for whites and some other groups, something experts attribute in large part to decades of discrimination and disadvantages. Robust job creation has lowered unemployment for all Americans. U.S. employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs in 2017 the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million. In his tweet, Trump praised a report that noted the numbers, touting the fact that it appeared in the Washington Post (of all places). Minutes later, Trump renewed his attack on an ABC News reporter who was suspended last month after filing an erroneous report on Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Brian Ross, the reporter who made a fraudulent live newscast about me that drove the Stock Market down 350 points (billions of dollars), was suspended for a month but is now back at ABC NEWS in a lower capacity. He is no longer allowed to report on Trump. Should have been fired! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The reporter, Brian Ross, was reportedly reassigned within ABC News upon returning from his unpaid suspension. But on Saturday, Trump wrote that he should have been fired. Trumps tweets came hours before he was set to host congressional Republicans and administration officials at Camp David. The meeting scheduled to begin at midmorning Saturday was expected to touch on the budget, infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and the shape of the midterm election this fall. Facebook
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Trump commends Sen. Rand Paul after he proposes eliminating all U.S. aid to Pakistan President Trump commended Sen. Rand Paul after the Kentucky Republican announced plans to introduce legislation that would eliminate all U.S. aid to Pakistan. Trump tweeted Friday night: Good idea Rand! https://t.co/55sqUDiC0s Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 On Thursday, the Trump administration announced it was suspending security assistance to Islamabad until the country moves aggressively against local militants who have attacked U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at the apparent inability of Pakistani authorities to rein in militants who cross out of the countrys rugged tribal areas to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson. Facebook
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Trump continues to lash out at Sloppy Steve Bannon in tweets on tell-all book By Associated Press President Trump is praising a major Republican donor family for distancing themselves from his former advisor Steve Bannon. Trump tweeted Friday: The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trump has continued to lash out at Bannon over an explosive new book that quoted his former aide as questioning Trumps competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower among Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as treasonous and unpatriotic. On Thursday, billionaire GOP donor Rebekah Mercer issued a statement distancing her family from Bannon. Mercer is a co-owner of Breitbart, the populist website Bannon helps run. I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected, Mercer said. My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements. The book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, quickly shot atop Amazons best-seller list, and the publisher moved up its release date by four days, to Friday. Trump took up the topic again on Twitter on Friday night, denouncing both Bannon and the books author, Michael Wolff, in starkly personal terms: Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad! https://t.co/mEeUhk5ZV9 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Trumps message linked to a meme depicting a parody book cover titled, Liar and Phony, that featured a photo of Wolff and disparaging quotes about the author. In a tweet sent earlier Friday morning, Trump suggested the book was intended to serve as a distraction from the FBIs investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which Trump wrote is proving to be a total hoax. Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 That came amid reports that Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Departments Russia investigation. Trumps effort to keep Sessions, a vocal and loyal supporter of his election bid, in charge of an investigation into his campaign offers special counsel Robert Mueller yet another avenue to explore as his prosecutors work to untangle potential evidence of obstruction. Read More Facebook
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Trump praises the economy ahead of meetings at Camp David By Associated Press President Trump is praising the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of meetings at Camp David with congressional Republicans. Trump tweeted early Friday: Dow goes from 18,589 on November 9, 2016, to 25,075 today, for a new all-time Record. Jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history. This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Six trillion dollars in value created! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The president also told reporters on the South Lawn that the tax cuts are really kicking in after Congress passed a package of tax cuts at the end of 2017. And the president praised the December jobs report, which found U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, the lowest level since 2000. The modest but steady pace of hiring is a reassuring sign for investors who have been buoyed by the just-passed Republican tax plan and have been sending stock market indexes roaring to uncharted heights. The president is meeting with Republican congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet on Friday and Saturday to discuss the 2018 agenda. Read More Facebook
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Trump tweets as Dow crashes through 25,000 By Associated Press President Trump dispatched a congratulatory tweet as the Dow Jones industrial average rose above the 25,000-point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000. Dow just crashes through 25,000. Congrats! Big cuts in unnecessary regulations continuing. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 After the Dow closed above 25,000, Trump shared a graphic depicting the stock indexs record-setting rise. MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/iONbr1DkVk Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Later in the day, the president was back on Twitter, complaining that news outlets had barely covered the stock market milestone. He suggested that the strength of the economy would be the biggest story on earth, had it unfolded during the presidency of his predecessor. The Fake News Media barely mentions the fact that the Stock Market just hit another New Record and that business in the U.S. is booming...but the people know! Can you imagine if O was president and had these numbers - would be biggest story on earth! Dow now over 25,000. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The Dow broke past 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25% gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics. Strong global economic growth and good prospects for higher company earnings have analysts predicting more gains, although the market may not stay as calm as it has been recently. The Dow has made a rapid trip since it reached 24,000 points Nov. 30, partly on enthusiasm over passage of the Republican-backed tax package, which could boost company profits this year with across-the-board cuts to corporate taxes. Read More Facebook
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Trump reacts to Fire and Fury book in tweet lashing out at author and Sloppy Steve President Trump lashed out at the author of a soon-to-be-released book about the chaotic first year of his presidency Thursday night. In a tweet, Trump called Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a phony book and claimed that hed never spoken to its author, Michael Wolff. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve! Trump wrote. He appeared to be referring to former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, whose stunning criticisms of Trump and his circle figure prominently in the title. I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that dont exist. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trumps tweet came hours after he had his lawyer demand that Henry Holt & Co. and Wolff stop publication the book. Instead, the publisher expedited the books release to Friday, four days before it was slated to hit bookstore shelves, in response to unprecedented demand. Published excerpts on Wednesday and Thursday whetted that appetite and roiled Washington. Bannons comments, including that it was treasonous and unpatriotic for Trumps son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort to have met in 2016 with Russians said to have dirt on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, prompted Trump on Wednesday to rebuke his former advisor, saying Bannon had lost his mind. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook
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Trump thanks senators who attended meeting on immigration President Trump tweeted thanks to Republican senators who attended a meeting about possible immigration legislation on Thursday. In his message, Trump also listed his top priorities when it comes to any type of overhaul of the nations immigration system. Thank you to the great Republican Senators who showed up to our mtg on immigration reform. We must BUILD THE WALL, stop illegal immigration, end chain migration & cancel the visa lottery. The current system is unsafe & unfair to the great people of our country - time for change! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Trumps tweet echoed his remarks at the beginning of Thursdays meeting, when he insisted again that constructing a border wall and overhauling two legal immigration programs must be part of any deal with Democrats to protect the so-called Dreamers from deportation. Two-year deportation protections and work permits given under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begin to expire March 6 under an executive order. Trump announced in September that he was ending the Obama-era program, but told Congress to draft a law to continue protections for people brought to the country illegally as children a group that has widespread public support. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett. Facebook
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Trump resumes Twitter war against kneeling NFL players President Trump has resumed his Twitter war against NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and racial inequality. In a tweet early Thursday, Trump replied to a supporter who shared a meme that appears to depict family members lying on the grave of a fallen soldier with the caption: This is why we stand. Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! Trump wrote. So beautiful....Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! https://t.co/tJLM1tvbvb Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The president has denounced players who kneel during the anthem in previous tweets. Hes also called for the firing of players who do so. His latest message came amid news that the NFL finished the regular season with TV ratings that fell nearly 10% below the previous season. Analysts attribute the drop to controversies facing the league, as well as changing viewing habits and a possible saturation point in the number of games available. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook
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Trump credits himself with facilitating talks between North and South Korea By Associated Press President Trump says his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk. Trump tweeted early Thursday: With all of the failed experts weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasnt firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the North. Fools, but talks are a good thing! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 That assertion is in conflict with some of the presidents own statements. Last year, he ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talking about negotiations with the North. This week, Trump seemed open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Years Day address. But Trumps ambassador to the United Nations insisted that talks wont be meaningful unless the North is getting rid of its nuclear weapons. The overture about talks came after Trump and Kim traded more bellicose claims about their nuclear weapons. In his New Years Day address, Kim repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Kim said he has a nuclear button on his office desk and warned that the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike. Trump mocked that assertion Tuesday evening in a tweet. Facebook
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After disbanding his vote fraud panel, Trump still says voting system is rigged By Brian Bennett One day after disbanding his troubled voter fraud commission without any findings of fraud, President Trump continued to call the U.S. voting system rigged and said states should require that Americans have voter-identification cards. In two tweets on Thursday morning, Trump blamed the commissions failure on the lack of cooperation from mostly Democrat States that refused to hand over voter rolls because they know that many people are voting illegally. However, voting supervisors in Republican-led states refused as well, objecting on privacy and other grounds. Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 As Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do.....except when it comes to the most important thing, VOTING for the people that run your country. Push hard for Voter Identification! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Despite Trumps assertions, analysts have not found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May after alleging, without proof, that millions of illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump was elected after winning a majority in the electoral college, but the nationwide count showed Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes. The commission sought personal data on voters across the country and faced mounting lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns. Read More Facebook
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Trump touts another good day for stocks, credits tax cut By Associated Press President Trump touted another good day for the stock market Wednesday in a tweet. Stock Market had another good day but, now that the Tax Cut Bill has passed, we have tremendous upward potential. Dow just short of 25,000, a number that few thought would be possible this soon into my administration. Also, unemployment went down to 4.1%. Only getting better! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Big gains for technology and healthcare stocks helped U.S. indexes set records again Wednesday. Some analysts attributed the surge to investor enthusiasm for Trumps $1.5-trillion tax cut. All told, Wall Street analysts estimate the tax package should boost earnings for companies in the Standard & Poors 500 index by roughly 8% this year. Thats much more generous than the average tax cut of 1.6% that middle-class families will receive, according to the Tax Policy Center. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The public has been less enthusiastic about the tax law. A Monmouth University poll last month found that nearly half of Americans disapproved of it, with only 26% in support. Still, as Trump also noted on Twitter, some workers have seen a benefit: So far, dozens of companies have announced bonuses and higher minimum wages as a result of the tax cut. AT&T, Comcast, Bank of America, and American Airlines have all pledged to pay $1,000 bonuses to their employees. Some 40 U.S. companies have responded to President Trumps tax cut and reform victory in Congress last year by handing out bonuses up to $2,000, increases in 401k matches and spending on charity, a much higher number than previously known. https://t.co/bmWrwWzxMR Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Investors also appear less concerned than many politicians about how the additional profits will be used. The Trump administration says it expects companies will plow much of the extra profit back into their businesses, purchasing more software, machinery, and other equipment. Those investments will make workers more productive and provide a key boost to the economys long-run growth. They should also boost wages and salaries for employees. Opponents of the tax law respond that companies are more likely to pass the windfall on to shareholders in the form of higher dividend payments and share buybacks, which raise the price of those shares still in investors hands. Previous cuts in corporate tax rates, in the United States and overseas, havent always led to higher wages. For Wall Street, its all good, at least in the short run. Most analysts take the view that either way, companies and the economy will benefit. Facebook
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Trump reacts to death of Mormon Church president By Associated Press President Trump mourned the death of Mormon Church leader Thomas S. Monson on Wednesday evening. Trump tweeted a link to a statement in which he said that Monson demonstrated wisdom, inspired leadership, and great compassion and delivered a message of optimism, forgiveness, and faith. Melania and I are deeply saddened by the death of Thomas S. Monson, a beloved President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...https://t.co/ETD3fWtfU3 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 A church bishop at the age of 22, Monson became the youngest church apostle ever in 1963 at the age of 36. He served as a counselor for three church presidents before assuming the role of the top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008. After a life of church service, Monson died Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City, according to church spokesman Eric Hawkins. He was 90. Read More Facebook
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Trump tweets that Iranian protesters will see great U.S. support at the appropriate time By Associated Press President Trump continued to express support for Irans anti-government protesters on Wednesday. In a tweet, Trump commended the protesters and pledged that the United States will support them at the appropriate time. Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Trumps tweet Wednesday morning came as Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo sent a letter to United Nations officials complaining that Washington was intervening in a grotesque way in Irans internal affairs. The President and Vice-President of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts, the ambassador wrote to the U.N. Security Council president and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The U.S. didnt immediately respond to the letter, which maintains that Washington has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran during a week of anti-government protests and unrest over economic woes and official corruption. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations Wednesday backing the clerically overseen government, which has said enemies of Iran are fomenting the protests. Trump has unleashed a series of tweets in recent days backing the protesters, saying Iran is failing at every level and declaring that it is time for change in the Islamic Republic. Facebook
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Trump congratulates Sen. Orrin Hatch upon news of his retirement By Associated Press President Trump congratulated Sen. Orrin Hatch for an absolutely incredible career upon news of Hatchs impending retirement. In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Trump called Hatch a tremendous supporter and wrote that he will be greatly missed in the Senate. Congratulations to Senator Orrin Hatch on an absolutely incredible career. He has been a tremendous supporter, and I will never forget the (beyond kind) statements he has made about me as President. He is my friend and he will be greatly missed in the U.S. Senate! pic.twitter.com/0VjzLEeHTl Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Hatchs decision to retire from the Senate after four decades lets the Utah Republican walk away at the height of his power after helping to push through an overhaul of the tax code and persuading Trump to downsize two national monuments. Retirement also preserves the 83-year-olds legacy by allowing him to avoid a bruising reelection battle that would have broken his promise not to seek an eighth term. Read More Facebook
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Trump tweet exaggerates progress in improving veterans care By Associated Press President Trump played up tremendous progress in improving care for veterans in his first year on Tuesday in a tweet. His message linked to an Instagram video describing eight accomplishments that show Trump is fighting for our veterans. But it overstates the impact of these steps. We will not rest until all of Americas GREAT VETERANS can receive the care they so richly deserve. Tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time. Keep up the great work @SecShulkin @DeptVetAffairs! https://t.co/ir25vW15hx pic.twitter.com/OtuzIgxMn6 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Of the eight achievements cited, two are ceremonial proclamations recognizing National Veterans and Military Families Month and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Two are pieces of legislation that extended the troubled Veterans Choice program on a temporary basis. This became necessary because the Trump administration repeatedly miscalculated the amount of taxpayer dollars available to pay for care from private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs system when veterans had to endure long waits for treatment at VA medical centers. The departments poor budget planning caught lawmakers off guard. A fifth claim involves telehealth, a step letting doctors practice medicine across state lines using digital technology. Announced in August, it has yet to take full effect because a proposed VA regulation hasnt been completed. The VA wants authority to practice across state lines to come from legislation, not a regulation. On Wednesday, the Senate approved a telehealth measure that now goes to the House. A sixth claim refers to legislation that streamlines the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA. This step has had limited effect so far because it applies to new disability claims, not the 470,000 pending claims. The last two initiatives make it easier for the VA to discipline employees. The department has pointed to more than 1,300 employees who have been fired under Trumps watch. Because their infractions are not detailed in public documents, the effect on veterans care is not fully known. Facebook
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Trump unleashes his first tweetstorm of 2018 By Noah Bierman President Trump clearly didnt resolve to change his Twitter habits this year. With nine disparate tweets over three hours on Tuesday morning, the first working day of 2018, Trump continued to exploit social media to be the most aggressive commentator in chief in American history. For any other president, his posts would have made for a monumental day of (mis-)statements. Yet for Trump, the series attacks on political foes and media, provocations of foreign leaders and self-praise for events he had nothing to do with was all but unremarkable. His Twitter barrage sent between 7:09 a.m. and 10:16 a.m. reflected a familiar gamut after nearly a year in office: Attacks on political foes: Nearly 14 months after his election, Trump called for the jailing of Huma Abedin, Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid (his misspelling, another occasional feature of Trump tweets). Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 In the same tweet, he disparaged the Deep State Justice Dept, headed of course by his appointees, calling on it to act against James B. Comey, the FBI director he fired for investigating the Russia thing. Diplomatic provocations: Trump again called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Rocket man, ridiculed the volatile nuclear-armed foe for recent military defections and openly speculated about potential talks between North and South Korea. Sanctions and other pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not we will see! Trump wrote. Later Tuesday, Trump tweeted: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Also later Tuesday, Trump tweeted an attack on Pakistan, his second in as many days, and added a new one against Palestinians: It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They dont even want to negotiate a long overdue... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ...peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Undermining media: Trump offered Congratulations! to A.G. Sulzberger, who took over as publisher of the New York Times this week. The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved. Get... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ....impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent sources, and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you wont have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the two-part post was really yet another slam against a perceived media foe: Trump said the paper had a last chance to fulfill its journalistic mission, and accused it of relying on phony sources and substandard reporters just days after he granted another exclusive interview to the paper. As a bonus, the tweet contained a recycled falsehood, that the paper apologized after the election for reporting on him unfairly. It didnt. Trump later said on Twitter that he would soon announce the most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year. Stay tuned! I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 oclock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 The president also tweeted a quote from Fox Business Networks Lou Dobbs Tonight, which aired a segment praising Trumps first-year accomplishments. Dobbs reportedly joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday for a gala to celebrate New Years Eve. President Trump has something now he didnt have a year ago, that is a set of accomplishments that nobody can deny. The accomplishments are there, look at his record, he has had a very significant first year. @LouDobbs Show,David Asman & Ed Rollins Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Taking credit: Trump congratulated himself for policing the border with Mexico, an area where his policies and anti-immigration rhetoric are believed to have had some effect on reducing illegal crossings. Thank you to Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council for your kind words on how well we are doing at the Border. We will be bringing in more & more of your great folks and will build the desperately needed WALL! @foxandfriends Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 He took credit for employee bonuses by companies after he signed Republican tax cuts into law last month. Companies are giving big bonuses to their workers because of the Tax Cut Bill. Really great! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the jaw-dropper was Trump congratulating himself for planes not crashing. Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 It was the safest year on record worldwide, but the American streak without commercial jet passenger deaths goes back to 2009. Trump, who has promoted deregulation as one of his top accomplishments, has not signed off on any new airline safety regulations. The White House pointed to new security screening of passengers, to electronic devices to prevent terrorist attacks and to Trumps support for privatizing air traffic control a proposal that has gotten nowhere in Congress. Falsehoods: Trump said President Obama, in brokering the 2015 nuclear arms limitation deal with Iran, foolishly gave money to the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. He didnt. The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets. The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 The nuclear deal, which included major U.S. allies as signators, released Irans own funds that had long been frozen. Trumps art of the deal: When Trump sees a big deal looming, he often blasts the other side to gain leverage, as hes written. This week he resumes a showdown with Democratic lawmakers over funding the government and immigration protections for so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats are doing nothing for DACA - just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start falling in love with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Trump, who in September ordered a gradual end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sought to shift blame for the resulting controversy, saying Democrats are doing nothing for DACA and are just interested in politics. Trump has insisted that any help for Dreamers be paired with funding for a border wall and a crackdown on legal immigration. Democrats, and some Republicans, are opposed. Read More Facebook
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In tweet, Trump suggests U.S. will withdraw financial assistance to Pakistan By Shashank Bengali Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of lies & deceit and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. It was the presidents latest broadside against Pakistan after a speech in August in which he demanded its leaders crack down on the safe havens enjoyed by Taliban militants fighting U.S.-backed forces in neighboring Afghanistan. The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018 U.S. Ambassador David Hale was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the presidents statement, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said. Pakistan lodged a strongly worded protest and asked for clarification about Trumps comments, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistans prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trumps New Years Day tweet. Read More Facebook
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Trump continues to tweet in support of Iranian protesters By Laura King President Trump expressed renewed support Sunday for protesters in Iran, declaring that people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. In a tweet from his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, the president said the nationwide economic protests that began on Thursday and have taken on wider political overtones as they have grown in size were a signal that Iranians will not take it any longer. Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Trump has tweeted about the protests for three days straight as Iranians took to the streets despite a heavy police presence, tear gas and scores of arrests. The defiance gained urgency after two people were reported shot to death in the city of Dorud, about 200 miles southwest of Tehran. As the conflict escalated, Iranian authorities on Sunday slapped a temporary ban on Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, which were widely used to fan protest fervor. Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Irans leaders already are casting Trumps increasingly effusive expressions of support for the demonstrators as opportunistic meddling and are painting the demonstrators as foreign pawns, adopting a strategy that some analysts say could jeopardize the legitimacy of the nascent antigovernment protests. Read More Facebook
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Trump tweets condolences after Colorado deputies are shot in ambush, one fatally By Associated Press A man fired more than 100 rounds at sheriffs deputies in Colorado early Sunday, killing one and injuring four others, before being fatally shot himself in what authorities called an ambush. Two civilians were also injured. President Trump expressed sorrow, writing on Twitter: My deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting in Douglas County @DCSheriff, and their families. We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all! #LESM Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said deputies came under fire almost
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.
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NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 23, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA), if they purchased the Companys American Depository Shares (ADSs) and/or shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange between November 15, 2016 and August 2, 2017, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
What You May Do
If you purchased ADSs or shares of Teva Pharmaceutical and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit http://ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-teva/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 23, 2017.
About the Lawsuit
Teva Pharmaceutical and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.
On August 3, 2017, Teva disclosed the recording of a goodwill impairment charge of $6.1 billion for Q2 2017 related to the acquisition of Actavis Generics as a result of poor performance in its U.S. generics sector, as well as lower overall expected poor performance due to increased competition and delays in product launches.
On this news, the price of Teva Pharmaceuticals shares plummeted.
About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
KSF, whose partners include the former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.
To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.
Contact:
Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner
lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com
1-877-515-1850
206 Covington St.
Madisonville, LA 70447
A burglar made away with an unknown amount of Lotto scratchers after breaking into an Arco gas station early Friday, according to the Burbank Police Department.
Around 3:10 a.m., a person broke into the Arco at 3701 W. Magnolia Blvd. by smashing through its front window. Burbank Police Sgt. Derek Green said the gas station was closed for business at the time of the burglary.
Russ Lopez, deputy director of corporate communications for California Lottery, said every scratch-off ticket sold is numbered and tracked.
Once were alerted by the retailer or police that a theft involving Lottery merchandise occurred, we immediately get involved, he said. We visit the retailer and determine what tickets were stolen.
Because tickets are tracked and due to the prevalence of security cameras in stores, Lopez said its difficult for thieves to profit off stolen Lotto tickets.
Stolen tickets are rendered ineligible, Lopez said, meaning a thief would be unable to cash out a winning ticket.
The burglary remains under investigation.
andy.nguyen@latimes.com
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
As a mother of an eighth-grade student who will be attending Burbank High School next year, I agree with the existing dress code. I do not want my daughter to feel peer pressure to wear short shorts, short skirts and low-cut tops.
I do not feel the dress code is sexist. I feel that the dress code is practical and makes sense. If there are changes to the dress code, that will bring new problems. I think its rather sexist to try and change the dress code so that girls may be open to wearing clothing that is more exposing.
Also, as a mother, I do not want to have to battle the clothing issues any more than I already do with a teenage daughter. Lets remember that these children are still children. When theyre 18, they become adults. Right now they live in a home with parents, caregivers.
If children want to wear more revealing clothing, they can do it after school. School needs to have uniformity.
Thanks for listening, I want to be heard. Im guessing I am not the only parent who would feel this way.
Pam Arnot
Burbank
--
As everyone will be out shopping at their local stores this weekend, look for volunteers outside many stores collecting food for Holiday Basket families. These are families on free-lunch programs and they need our help.
If you see one of the volunteers at Pavilions, Vons Pass, CVS at Hollywood Way and Verdugo, Ralphs on San Fernando Road, or Ralphs on Victory and Buena Vista, think of helping. Buy an extra can of soup or fruit or vegetables, or breakfast, lunch and dinner items that are non-perishable and leave it in the grocery cart outside the store, where items will be collected. You win by helping, the families win by receiving.
At Smart and Final stores, on Burbank Boulevard, Verdugo at Hollywood Way and on Glenoaks at Allan, they will be accepting $5 donations at the cash registers to buy items for Holiday Basket families too. Ask your cashier for a flier!
We are helping over 600 families this year and we need you to make this project a success. If you would like more information about the Holiday Baskets, please check out our website at www.burbankcoordinatingcouncil.org and see all the opportunities to be a part of this wonderful program. Or, call (818) 216-9377 or email ccholidaybaskets@aol.com.
Thank you for being the warm and giving Burbankians you are, always helping friends and neighbors.
Janet Diel
President
Burbank Coordinating Council
After five meetings, the Laguna Beach Planning Commission appears on the cusp of recommending an amended historic preservation ordinance to the City Council.
Commissioners will review and discuss the document at their meeting Wednesday.
Laguna staff incorporated a few changes into the ordinance that commissioners suggested during their Sept. 6 meeting on the matter.
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The proposed ordinance replaces Lagunas letter-rating system of E, K, and C with California Historical Resource Status Codes.
E- and K-rated properties would be assigned codes 1 through 5, according to a city staff report. C-rated structures would be assigned the code 6L and, if not currently listed on the citys historic register, are no longer considered historic resources under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Under the proposed ordinance, property owners of commercial buildings with codes of 1 through 5 could receive a 75% reduction in the amount of parking spaces they are required to provide, or a decrease of 15 spaces, whichever scenario is more restrictive, the staff report said.
Property owners of commercial buildings with a 6L code could receive a 50% reduction in the amount of parking spaces they must provide, or a decrease of 15 spaces, whichever scenario is more restrictive, according to the city.
The idea behind the incentives is to reward property owners for preserving or enhancing a buildings historic character.
In its report, the city said it has recently seen applications from property owners seeking to convert spaces from retail to restaurant use which would require them to provide more parking.
Restaurants must provide one space for every 100 square feet of floor area while the ratio for retailers is one space for every 250 square feet of floor area, according to Lagunas municipal code.
Commissioners at prior meetings were concerned that neighborhoods close to a commercial structure would see more motorists trying to find spaces if a property owner did not need to provide as many spots because of a parking incentive.
In addition to the suggested ordinance changes, commissioners will recommend the city hire a person to oversee historic preservation and additional training be given to Design Review Board and Heritage Committee members, the report said.
Wednesdays meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.
bryce.alderton@latimes.com
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
Four popular community events usually held at Costa Mesas Fairview Park may have to find new homes as a result of concerns raised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about their possible effects on nesting birds, city officials said Friday.
Affected are the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry, the Costa Mesa Community Run, the Costa Mesa Foundations Concerts in the Park series and the pancake run presented by the Orange County Track Club and Estancia High Schools track and cross country programs.
After much thought and painful deliberation by city staff, we have decided that moving these four events out of Fairview Park is the right direction given the facts at hand, city spokesman Tony Dodero said. We are fully committed to assisting these groups with a smooth transition and in finding alternative locations for their events.
The decision detailed Wednesday in a message from City Manager Tom Hatch to City Council members and department heads comes on the heels of communications from Fish and Wildlife regarding the negative effects larger-scale events could have during bird nesting season in the park.
In short, the federal government highly recommends that the city look for another location to host these events, Hatch wrote.
Christine Medak, a biologist with Fish and Wildlife, outlined the agencys concerns in an email to the city Oct. 2. Her comments are related to all events during the nesting season of approximately February through September of each year, Hatch wrote in his memo.
Of particular concern are the federally endangered least Bells vireo and the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, Medak said.
Over the years, Hatch said, the city has retained a biologist to conduct nesting surveys at a cost of about $500 each before each event in Fairview.
A biologist also has been present during events to keep an eye on things, he added.
If the biologist had detected an active nest as part of the survey or observed a federally listed bird species in distress during any of these events, then the city would have been required to immediately make adjustments to the footprint of the event or potentially immediately stop the event, Hatch wrote.
Despite that, Hatch said, the city has been hearing from Fish and Wildlife for a few months that the agency doesnt want to see any larger events like these at Fairview Park.
City staff has been in contact with the events organizers to tell them they will likely need to relocate to another park or area of the community, Hatch said.
I understand that it is a significant change for the community and that it creates more work and expense for everyone, but I do not see an alternative that fits within the guidelines expected from the federal government, he wrote.
In May, Lions Club board Vice President Mike Scheafer told the Daily Pilot that he had heard the Fish Fry might have to move from Fairview Park because of environmental concerns.
Scheafer could not be reached for additional comment Friday afternoon.
While its not yet clear what the future holds, one option for the Fish Fry might be to temporarily move to the Civic Center area along Fair Drive, Dodero said.
Once work wraps up in Lions Park where the city is building a new library its possible the Fish Fry could move back there, he added.
Karen Barloon, president of the Costa Mesa Community Run, said she hopes to find a date outside of nesting season when the event could be held in Fairview Park.
We want that park feel and we want to showcase Fairview Park, she said. Were not looking to keep it in April and move the event. I would rather change the date and still have all the ambiance the park offers to the community and our runners.
luke.money@latimes.com
Twitter @LukeMMoney
Before Ruth Sowby Rands was an English and film studies professor at Glendale Community College, Paul McCartney asked her to marry him.
It was 1965 and the Beatles had just completed their second U.S. tour, which included the record-breaking show at New Yorks Shea Stadium. At the height of Beatlemania, Sowby Rands was asked to interview each band member at Capitol Records for KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
Sowby Rands, following speculation at the time that McCartney would marry actress Jane Asher, asked him if he has any definite plans for marriage.
No, unless youll marry me now, McCartney replied.
Decades later, with the playful proposal from the legendary rocker still in the back of her mind, Sowby Rands wondered what her life would be like had she said yes.
Sowby Rands tells her journey to reconnect with McCartney in a 2008 mockumentary film titled Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney, which will recirculate as part of the Glendale International Film Festival at 6 p.m. on Tuesday with a free screening at the Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St.
Sowby Rands said, half-jokingly, that she hopes the showing will generate enough renewed interest to continue her pursuit of the elusive Beatle.
Although Sowby Rands had often considered writing a film about the proposal, it wasnt until writer and director Marc Cushman heard her pitch at an Alameda writers group meeting and soon took on the project.
The film is done in a similar vein as This is Spinal Tap, where truth and comical fiction collide. Cushman plays an antagonist director to Sowby Rands, leading her pursuit of McCartney at all costs to numerous L.A. homes and awards ceremonies.
The documentary was shot in a month, and Sowby Rands said she was able to resume her duties as a professor.
Sowby Rands said she hopes festival attendees will enjoy her search for closure.
Does he say this to all the girls? she said.
For more information about all of the film festivals events, which will wrap up on Oct. 22, visit glendaleinternationalfilmfestival.com.
jeff.landa@latimes.com
Twitter: @JeffLanda
I have been living in south Glendale for a dozen years now, and I have learned the rules of the road:
1. The lines in the street that indicate the lanes are merely suggestions, and no one really takes them seriously.
2. When driving on narrow residential streets, you will want to drive in the exact center of the street, because as you cruise along at 40-50 miles per hour, you will have more flexibility to dodge pedestrians or people pulling out of their driveways. Dont swerve to avoid oncoming traffic until the last possible second.
3. When you are making a left turn through an intersection, dont drive to the middle of the intersection in order to turn, because that would force you to slow down. Take the shortest possible route; this will mean cutting across the path of cars approaching the intersection from your left, but its their responsibility to brake or swerve in order to avoid a collision.
4. This pretty much goes without saying, but a yellow traffic signal means you should accelerate.
5. When entering a busy street from a side street, you must be assertive. No one ever yielded the right of way to a car that actually stopped at the stop sign. Show that you mean business.
Now technically, these agreed-upon community standards do not exactly match up with the laws on the books, but that doesnt matter because there will never be a traffic police presence in south Glendale. They are needed in the more affluent neighborhoods. We do have have extremely aggressive parking enforcement, but that has probably been farmed out to the private sector and the people giving tickets must be working on commission. If it hasnt happened yet, its only a matter of time.
Im getting old and I frankly dont think my driving skills are up to the task of operating by the south Glendale rules, so I am, at long last, moving out of town. Ill miss Glendale. But I am going to save a ton of money on auto insurance.
Daniel Platt
Glendale
--
I ask that the Glendale City Council stop allowing landlords cruel practice of increasing rents in our city. If you dont stop it, none of your work is worth a cent, because you are here to serve the poor.
Of course, not all landowners are bad or cruel; there are many who are kind. Some of them even help the poor renters, but most of them here in Glendale are inhumane. All they believe in is making more money. Because of that, I will talk and talk and I will write and write until I make them fall down on their knees. I will succeed and I will win and the bad ones will fall and ask for help and forgiveness, but it will be too late; no one will want to help them.
So, City Council, think about that and let the people love and respect you. Your seats on the council are not yours forever.
Finally, I say God bless the kind and humble people everywhere.
Razmik Simonian
Glendale
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Re: Ochoa accepts city managers job in Ontario, Oct. 4. During a recent City Council meeting, current City Manager Scott Ochoa, at the behest for his expert opinion by then-acting Mayor Paula Devine, slammed my pitch to have at least one Central Library pay phone reinstalled, more or less like it was during its pre-renovation years.
Well, when I asked, via the putative Ontario Central Library website, about whether they currently have a pay phone anywhere on the premises there, I received the essence of the following email in reply: Ovitt Family Community Library has a pay phone. It is located near the entry of the library, inside, near the book returns. Helen. What say you now, Mr. Ochoa? Will you be telling the likes of one very nice Helen that you will be allowing their current pay phone to slide into a state of disrepair or perhaps even recommend ripping it out without further ado? Im sure inquiring Ontario minds want to know!
Harvey Pearson
Los Feliz
--
While City Manager Scott Ochoa was most likely packing his bags for the move to San Bernardino County on Tuesday, Oct. 3, Assistant City Manager Yasmin Beers was exhibiting her finely tuned skills at a City Council meeting that night.
While largely credited with doing all the work and not getting the acknowledgment during Ochoas unremarkable term, Beers again showed shes got what it takes to run this city like a finely tuned machine. Her answers were clear, concise, easily understood, and when she turned to staff to provide details, it was obvious they were prepared and informed.
It is unfortunate that we lost some very good staff during Ochoas tenure, but we are lucky that Beers decided to stick it out amid difficult times. Now its time for Council to step up and select Ochoas replacement from within the current ranks, especially when the best choice is so obvious.
Peter Rusch
Glendale
--
Harvey Weinstein gets fired from his own company for abusing his power over women. Roger Ailes and Bill OReilly for the same offense.
Democrats across the land who have received campaign contributions from Weinstein are sending the money back or giving it to charity. They cant abandon the relationship fast enough.
The hypocrisy of this whole thing is that the biggest sexual harassment and power abuser in recent history, Bill Clinton, is held up as a shining example of all that is good by the Democrats. And to make it even worse, his wife, Hillary Clinton, stands up for him and demeans the women he has sexually assaulted.
Amazing!
Jim Kussman
Glendale
Catalonias leader faced mounting pressure Friday from all sides, with hard-liners in the separatist movement demanding he definitively declare independence from Spain. Spains government and the European Union, on the other hand, insisted he must abandon the regions secession plans.
Spains deputy prime minister blamed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont for sinking tourist numbers and for creating such economic uncertainty that a recession could be in the cards. She also said that Spains government is considering lowering the growth forecast for the Spanish economy in 2018 if the standoff in Catalonia continues.
Its in Puigdemonts hands to avoid the extraordinary measures that would allow central authorities a partial or full suspension of the prosperous regions autonomy, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said.
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The central government has given Puigdemont a Monday deadline to make clear whether he has already declared independence for the region and to fall in line with Spains laws by Oct. 19 if he wants to avoid losing some or all of the regions autonomous powers.
For Spain, Puigdemont simply has to say one of two words in his response.
Its just a yes or a no, Saenz de Santamaria told reporters after a weekly Cabinet meeting.
In addition to pressure from Madrid, two key allies of Puigdemonts government called on him to ignore the Spanish governments threats and press ahead with proclaiming a new republic.
On Tuesday, Puigdemont told regional lawmakers in a speech that Catalonia was proceeding with a declaration of independence from a mandate provided by a disputed referendum held Oct. 1.
But he immediately suspended its implementation for a few weeks to allow for the possibility of negotiations with Spain. The move disappointed some of the hard-liners in the secessionist camp.
Spain considers the referendum to be illegal and unconstitutional, and says its results are invalid. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has rejected any possibility of dialogue unless Puigdemont returns to legality and takes independence off the table. Rajoy has also said that Spain doesnt need international mediators to get involved.
If Puigdemont says he did declare independence, then he would have three more days to cancel any secession plans. If he refuses to, or doesnt answer, Rajoy has threatened to trigger for the first time a constitutional article that could give central authorities power to intervene directly in Catalonia.
The far-left separatist Catalan party CUP said in a letter dated Friday that Puigdemont should ignore the Spanish governments warning, lift the suspension and definitively proclaim independence.
The Catalan National Assembly, or ANC, a civil society group that organized massive protests in support of secession, also issued a brief statement with a similar message.
It doesnt make sense to keep the suspension of the independence declaration given Madrids rejection of any dialogue, the ANC said in the statement.
Some politicians of the two parties in the ruling coalition have also expressed similar views on social media, with only a few of them calling for calm. Catalonias government hasnt given any signal of what it intends to do, but Catalan media reported that closed-door meetings were being held Friday.
Years of growing separatist sentiment erupted on Oct. 1 when Catalan leaders held the banned referendum despite court rulings and fierce opposition from Spain.
About 2.3 million Catalans or 43% of the regions electorate voted amid police violence to halt the referendum. Catalonia said 90% of the ballots cast favored secession, and it declared the results valid. Opponents boycotted the vote.
Starting from a week before the vote, more than 500 companies, including Catalan banks, multinationals and midsize businesses have moved their registered addresses out of the troubled region, Saenz de Santamaria said Friday.
The move is so far mainly symbolic and has limited economic impact because it doesnt involve relocating offices, jobs or assets.
But Saenz de Santamaria said investment in Catalonia is falling. Citing industry sources, she said the tourism sector in the regional capital, Barcelona, has seen business drop between 20% and 30% in the last month.
The Catalan government is creating the conditions to plunge Catalonia into a deceleration and even an economic recession, she said.
Barcelonas main association of hoteliers and tourist apartment businesses said October bookings so far are down 10% from a year ago. The Hotel Guild of Barcelona blamed the decrease on Augusts deadly extremist attack in Barcelona, airport delays and the disturbances caused by secession-related protests.
However, tourists at the citys beaches and landmarks seemed unbothered by the unfolding political drama.
If the airports are open and there is not too much going on, we are going to come, said Kim Russel, a tourist from Denver. Everything changes sometimes, countries split. Whoever wins that particular battle, I hope there will be peace afterward.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker joined the appeal for Catalan separatists to drop their secession bid. Though the conflict is a Spanish issue, it could affect the EU by encouraging other places with ambitions of independence, he said.
I wouldnt like a European Union that in 15 years consists of 98 states, Juncker said in Luxembourg. Its already pretty difficult with 28.
A Midtown Manhattan man has been arrested and accused of threatening to murder an office full of employees at a Colorado company after they caught on to what they said as an attempt at fraudulently earning referral bonuses by opening fake accounts with the company.
Prosecutors with the Eastern District of New York have accused Victor Casillas, 34, of sending multiple threats to an internet company over their refusal to pay him referral bonuses. Casillas allegedly sent multiple threatening emails with pictures of guns to the company, and in one email told employees to "GET READY FOR LAS VEGas part 2."
According to the criminal complaint against him, Casillas signed up with a company that makes an app which "allows users to review and obtain promotional sales offers from various retailers." The company also gives users referral bonuses if they get other people to sign up for their service. The company got into a dispute with Casillas after they said he opened 14 fraudulent accounts in 2016 and 2017 in an attempt to get referral bonuses from them.
When the company wouldn't pay Casillas, federal prosecutors say he began sending them threatening emails, with the first one coming on September 26th, 2017.
such a cowardly act on your behalf whats your name btw? I wanna know who your spouse and children are too and I'm not asking you I'm telling you, I want to know who your parents are as well if the pieces of trash are even still alive (for now) for that matter,
The next day, Casillas allegedly sent the company an email with a picture of two submachine guns and a message that read in part, "THE ACT THAT WAS COMMITED WAS COLD HEARTED SADISTIC, FALSE, I DID NO SUCH THING OF DUPLICATING [Victim Company] ACCOUNTS..... YOU WILL GIVE MY GODAM FTINDS YOU SONS OF BITCHES,".
A picture of guns that Casilla allegedly sent. (US Attorney's Office)
On September 28th, Casillas allegedly sent another email to the company telling them he was in Colorado and "I AM READY EQUPPIED AND READY TO STRIKE (RETALIATE TO RECOVER STOLEN FUNDS OF 113 BY CRIMINALS OF [Victim Company] INC) IN ANY GTVING MOMENT."
After more threatening emails, the company received one last threat according to prosecutors, in which they say Casillas wrote
GET READY FOR A LAS VEGAS REPEAT (Final Warning), I I STILL HAVE NOT RECIEVED MY GOD DAM FLTNDS.....ASSHOLES . . . WELL GET READY 4 LAS VEGaspart2....MAYBE TODAY YOU WILL MEET YOU MAKER.
Casillas was arrested in Midtown by FBI agents on Tuesday night, and faces up to 20 years in prison for making extortionate threats. Authorities say they didn't find any weapons in his apartment when they arrested him.
Here's a pretty slick grift: A man claiming he was a messenger picking up iPhones managed to get away with $58,000 worth of the gadgets last month, according to the NYPD.
The incident took place at the Apple Store at 401 West 14th Street, in the Meatpacking District on September 14th, 2017. Right after the store opened at 9:06 a.m., police say the impostor entered the store and told an employee "he was a messenger and was there for a pick up." The employee handed over three boxes of Apple phones totaling approximately $58,000.
The suspect, who fled in a white Ford van with unknown license plates, is described as being about 45-55 years old, 5'10" and 195 pounds with a bald head. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt, black sneakers and camouflage pants. Authorities also released security camera footage:
Impersonation theft is nothing new at Apple store: Last year, a man who put on a blue shirt with the Apple logo, similar to the ones employees wear, managed to enter a repair room and steal 19 iPhones. You just never know who really works there, do you?
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
UPDATE: Gunman in Wilson gas station robbery arrested, police say
One of two masked men who held up a Wilson Borough convenience store was captured after a pursuit Friday on Route 22, according to borough police.
Officers were called just before 10:30 a.m. to the Penn Jersey convenience store at a Mobil gas station 2134 Northampton Street, where the bandits -- one of them brandishing a handgun -- took an undisclosed amount of cash, police said in a news release Saturday morning. The clerk was not hurt.
A witness called 911 and followed the robbers' silver Ford Focus west on Route 22, police said. Officers caught up at the Route 512 exit in Hanover Township, Northampton County, and the car chase ended when the Focus crashed into a telephone pole at Stoke Park Road and Shelley Lane, police reported.
Police said the suspects ran off, but one was a short distance away: 23-year-old Luis Cedeno Jr., of Reading. He is to be arraigned on charges of robbery, conspiracy, theft, terroristic threats, possession of instruments of crime and simple assault.
Authorities identified the other suspect still at large as Carlos Serrano Jr., 25, from Laureldale, Berks County. He is wanted on a warrant for armed robbery and related charges, and should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Anybody with information on the robbery is asked to call Wilson Borough Detective Jason Hillis at 610-258-8542 or 610-759-2200.
The same convenience store has been a target for crime a few other times this year. It was robbed at gunpoint in February, a local teen was charged for an August holdup, and a credit card skimmer was found on a gas pump in September.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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The Mansfield Township police are losing their K-9 unit, almost a year and a half after the team completed community-funded training and joined the force.
Officer Greg Zytko took a new job in Flemington, and Jax, a Dutch shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix, will follow, Mansfield police Chief Michael Reilly confirmed Thursday.
The township sent an email alert announcing the move, saying it was best for Jax if Zytko's new department purchases the dog.
"Although it is extremely difficult for us to see Jax go we believe the bond he has with his handler is too great and would cause Jax too much distress," the email said.
Officers Greg Zytko and Jax became Mansfield Township's K-9 unit in 2016. Jax will follow his handler to a new job in Flemington. (Courtesy photo)
Training for Mansfield's K-9 was covered by $12,000 in community donations. Reilly said Flemington will pay $15,000 for Jax, money that will go back into the township's K-9 trust fund.
That amount will fully cover training should the department restart the K-9 program.
"We will not be starting another unit until we have an officer who is interested and is able to take on such a large responsibility," the chief said. "We would like the community to know that we appreciate their support and we are looking forward to continued participation in our school and community events."
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A woman charged with her 20th shoplifting or theft offence now has a chance of getting a job in a shop, Portlaoise District Court has heard.
Im hoping this is another isolated incident, said Judge Catherine Staines, imposing the probation act on Patrycja Bruszniewska (30), with an address listed at 49 Woodgrove, Ballyfin Road, Portlaoise.
The accused was charged with theft, from Dunnes Stores, Mountmellick Road, Portlaoise, on June 27 this year.
Inspector Ollie Baker gave evidence at last week's court that the accused passed all points of payment and left the store without paying for certain items.
She had 19 previous convictions, all under the theft act, the most recent of which was imposed in Portlaoise District Court last October, for which she received community service.
Defence, Ms Josephine Fitzpatrick acknowledged that her client was very much at risk of going to prison.
In relation to the offence, defence said that the accuseds parents had returned to Poland to deal with a death and the accused ran out of funds in their absence, so she turned to a friend for assistance.
However, her friend then asked her to obtain clothes for her and she was put under pressure, acceding to that pressure.
Ms Fitzpatrick said her client had apologised to the shop and was now not allowed into either Dunnes Stores in the town.
The accused also had 100 compensation in court and a letter of apology.
Defence asked the court not to impose a prison sentence as the accused had a job interview that day for a job working in a shop.
She has an appalling record, admitted Ms Fitzpatrick.
Judge Catherine Staines noted that the clothing, valued at 33, had been recovered and the accused had stayed out of trouble for some six months since her last offence.
Im hoping this is another isolated incident, said Judge Staines, adding that the accused had a chance of getting a job.
Directing the accused to donate 100 to the Simon Community in Portlaoise, Judge Staines applied the probation act, section 1.2.
Hurricane Ophelia has already had impact with confirmatino that school bus services operated by Bus Eireann along the Wast coast have been cancelled.
The company has said services in Cork, Kerry, Clare, Mayo & Galway will not operate on Monday October 16th, due to Met Eireanns Status Red weather warning. The company can cancel other services with immediate effect.
Met Eireann Hurricane Ophelia Warning details here
Parents, schools and school management bodies have previously been advised of this policy - adopted in 2015- to ensure school children are not endangered in any way.
Bus Eireann contacted parents, school management bodies and school transport contractors on Friday by email to inform them that this situation may arise.
The company says its decision is guided by Met Eireanns Status Red weather warning, which advises that action is taken to protect against the possible effects of severe weather.
Many of the 116,000 children who use the School Transport Scheme daily make their way to pick up points to board the bus, on minor roads, and could therefore be exposed to severe elements said a statement.
Bus Eireann says want to eliminate any risk this might result in.
The company says it is aware this decision may cause inconvenience, but safety of schoolchildren is our number one priority. Please see www.buseireann.ie/RedAlert for further details.
Under its policy Bus Eireann will with immediate effect stand down school transport services when Status Red weather alerts are issued nationally or regionally, as part of a new policy.
Beyond the west coast an Orange alert is in place but Met Eireann have warned the situation could change in the next 24 hours ahead of Ophelia's expected arrival on Monday.
Schools will make their own decisions on whether to open or remain closed, but School Transport Scheme services will not operate in or into areas affected by Status Red.
Bus Eireann says services are expected to resume in these counties on Tuesday - as Met Eireann have advised that the Status Red alert ends at 3am on October 17.
Please see www.buseireann.ie for updates in relation to this - and other service disruption - along with @buseireann on Twitter and Faceboook.
Local businesses are being urged to support a campaign to get Purple Flag status for Naas.
A number of towns in Ireland, including Maynooth in North Kildare, already have the Purple Flag, the international accreditation for town centres in the evening and night, which indicates there is a lively nightlife scene there from 5pm to 5am.
Applications are made on a self-assessment basis to an Irish company and the application must highlights areas in the town that require any improvement or action. These include dark alleys, for example, or transport needs.
Naas-based County Kildare Chamber is coordinating the campaign to have the flag awarded to Naas. Jennifer Forster of CKC said that 23 towns in Ireland have the flag which the gold standard for night time destinations.
Ms. Forster said it will be a year-long process to get the flag and it is a key requirement that local businesses (like hotels, restaurants, cafes and pubs)get involved, especially those with an interest in securing the accreditation.
If Naas succeeds it will be marketed as a Purple Flag town. NKC wants Kildare County Council to assist the endeavour.
WHEN MICHAEL Buckley took over the reins as chairperson of the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2008, the arts world was preparing for a score of widespread cuts.
The tone of the recessionary times was that, in order to survive, arts groups must recoil and curtail activity. But the ambitious businessman wanted to sing a different tune.
Instead of pulling back and waiting for the recession to roll over, Michael looked to overseas opportunities with the intention of expanding the UL-based group into Europe. And now, reflecting on a prosperous 10 years, Michael can say that he led the ICO to becoming one of the most creative small orchestras on the continent, having performed 136 times in 49 venues since 2012.
The culmination of this notable success was seen in February, when the ICO made its debut at the prestigious Vienna Konzerthaus, attracting an audience of 3,200 over two evenings.
The second strand of Michaels efforts to tackle the economic downturn was to spearhead the ICOs community engagement programme, primarily through its Sing Out With Strings initiative.
Since it began in 2008, up to 700 children in disadvantaged areas in the city have seen massive personal development as a result of music education. And costing 180,000 a year, Michael has been able to secure 1.2m to date through a mix of public and private investments.
It is for these efforts that the ICO chief was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UL this Tuesday evening. Congratulating Mr Buckley, UL president, Prof Des Fitzgerald said that he had made unique and powerful contributions to the field of arts.
Talented up-and-coming musicians at Le Cheile NS with ICO chair Michael Buckley who receive an honorary doctorate at @UL this evening pic.twitter.com/8t7u9uSx5M Fintan Walsh (@FintanYTWalsh) October 10, 2017
On the morning of his big day, Michael looked back over the 10 years at Le Cheile national school, one of the many participating Sing Out With Strings bases. Children could be heard playing in the schoolyard, as he started to reminisce.
It is really a great honour for the organisation. I think its well due in terms of what the Chamber Orchestra has done over the last 10 years.
After studying at Maynooth, Michael, 72, started working at the Department of Finance in 1967, marking the start of a crescendo of success stories. After developing the International Financial Services Centre in 1987, Michael joined AIB where he played a leading role in internationalising the bank.
He acted as CEO of energy and distribution group DCC, retiring in 2005, the same year he joined the ICO board.
Like most Irish people, he says, he was always mad about music.
He immediately saw that the ICO was a tremendous bunch of musicians with great personality and an innate ability to engage with a variety of conductors. When Regeneration star-ted in 2008, he felt it was the orchestras duty to be involved with these communities.
I am passionate about giving kids, from wherever they start, an opportunity to develop, he explains. And from there, the ICO built its community engagement initiatives.
Two key figures in this are Irish World Academy lecturer Dr Kathleen Turner, who has been involved in the Sing Out With Strings programme from its embryonic stages, and Kathrine Barnecutt, the ICOs education manager.
Around 680 children, aged four to 12, from St Marys national school and Le Cheile national school have participated in the programme, the aim of which is develop personal skills and qualities while learning an orchestral instrument.
And we have managed to follow a whole bunch of children, from junior infants up to 6th class, and now we are following them through their secondary career, says Michael, as it has expanded to Colaiste Nano Nagle and Thomond College.
And over the past 12 months, a large contingent of these young musicians have completed Royal Irish Academy of Music exams, each receiving honours and distinctions.
As the bell rings to end the short break, a reverb of strings can be heard from the school halla. More than a dozen Le Cheile pupils used their break time to form a mini orchestra, made up of violas, violins, cellos and double bass.
In the midst of the silence after performing an opus, Kathrine says that new instruments have arrived thanks to Arts Council funding.
But securing the money is hard work, Michael admits, and that he would hope more Limerick businesses would become supporters in the future.
A fair amount of our support come from outside the Mid-West area, and I think this is a gem of an organisation that any region should be proud to have, he explains.
Kathrine says that she has seen the young artists acquire a great, expressive quality and are able to arrange their own pieces. If we can keep this running and expand it, and who knows where they are going to be. Everyday I am blown away by what comes out of these schools, she enthuses.
When some of the young musicians are at ease with their bows, I ask them what they make of the programme.
One boy chirps: Its really fun. I want to be a musician, and thats what I want to be when I grow up.
Dr Turner works with this collective of rising talent. She says that the children, parents and teachers have had a massive impact on her life. When I was asking one of the kids how they could describe Sing Out With Strings, the words they were using were things like: We are skilled and they could describe all the different things that they could do. They talked about being valued and valuable. And they are important.
Kathleen says that Michael has been an incredible support to the orchestra and its community projects. At the end of this month, Michael hands over his chairmanship to festival director Aibhlin McCrann.
She will influence things in a different way, and I think she will be absolutely terrific, he says, adding that he will continue to work with the ICO.
And reflecting on Michaels charisma and leadership through the years, Kathrine describes him as a real doer.
Michael has great ideas and he does them. When Michael is around, things happen.
A LEADING local economist has expressed concern over the sharp increase in the commercial stamp duty will have on Limerick.
Billy McMahon, of Grant Thornton, was speaking at a special Budget Breakfast held at the Radisson Blu Hotel this Wednesday.
Among the measures Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe announced was a trebling of the stamp duty commercial developers will pay on properties from 2% to 6%.
The measure is forecast to bring in just shy of 400m. So its a very important component in financing the overall budget package. But is this a return to the bad old days, where we finance large expenditure programmes on the basis of one-off transactions, Mr McMahon asked the room. He said he would fear its impact locally.
The reason for the increase was essentially that the previous decrease worked, according to Mr Donohoe. Well it worked in Dublin which has performed well. Im not so sure it has worked in Limerick, and that would be a concern, he said.
Meanwhile, Kemmy Business School economist Sheila Killian, who addressed the event, organised with the Shannon Chamber, does not believe the much publicised sugar tax will work.
With the sugar tax, you can eat as much sugar as you like, so long as it is not dissolved in a liquid. Its not really going to stop kid shaving sugar. Its convoluted, she said.
Ms Killian added an opportunity has been missed to do something imaginative in the property sector.
There are problems around homelessness and affordability. We have unaffordable homes and people are unable to get properties around the country. They needed to look towards balanced regional development and creating a counterpoint to Dublin, she added.
Limerick Chamber chief executive Dr James Ring said the organisation is broadly happy with Budget 2018 but he would have liked to have seen a fund set aside by government to provide financial support to airlines to sustain loss-making, but key routes from Shannon all year round.
A SECOND-hand car dealer who unwittingly bought a stolen car in the UK has been given the go ahead to sell the vehicle after a judge ruled he was the legal owner of the vehicle.
The English-registered silver Ford B-Max was seized by gardai earlier this year after they were alerted to its status.
During a Police Property Application, which was heard at Limerick District Court, Judge Marie Keane was told there was a dispute as to who owns the vehicle and that gardai were seeking clarity from the court as to who it should be returned to.
The vehicle is not the property of gardai, we are trying to source the owner, said Detective Garda Anthony ODriscoll.
Both Dermot Graham of Coonagh Road, Coonagh and Lex Autolease, which has a registered address at Stockport, England were notice parties to the application.
In his evidence, Mr Graham said he buys and imports around 40 second-hand cars a year and that he was not aware the Ford B-Max had been stolen when he bought it.
Having viewed the car online, he said he agreed to buy it on May 9, last and travelled to Enfield, near London the following day to collect it.
Mr Graham told the court he met a man who he believed to be the owner and paid him 4,700 in cash before driving the car back to Limerick.
I had no reason to doubt anything, he said explaining he had conducted an online search and had received various documentation including the log book and service history.
He said he first learned there was a problem when he attempted to register the vehicle in this jurisdiction a number of days later but was unable to do so.
After he attended at Henry Street garda station, Mr Graham was informed the car had been reported stolen in the UK and that it was being seized by gardai.
Judge Keane was told the car, which had been leased to another company by Lex Autolease, was stolen from the car park of a swimming pool in February of this year and that a cloned licence plate was fitted on the vehicle before it was advertised for sale online.
Detective Garda ODriscoll told the court the VIN number on the windscreen was interfered with to ensure it matched the various documentation which was given to Mr Graham.
A solicitor representing Lex Autolease submitted Mr Graham should have been more diligent and should have checked the second VIN on the main body of the car and not just on the windscreen
She said the 2013-registered car had a retail value of almost 14,000 and that Mr Graham should have exercised more caution given the bargain price he paid.
Mr Graham insisted he had done everything by the book adding that checks performed as late as last week did not show the car as being reported stolen.
Ruling the car should be returned to Mr Graham, Judge Keane said there was no more that he could have done.
Im satisfied he carried out the appropriate searches, she said adding that she did not believe there was any significance to the price he paid for the car.
The judge also commented that it was very disturbing that online searches relating to the car were still showing up as clear several months after the car had been seized by gardai.
A HALF century after the new Church of the Assumption was dedicated and opened its doors to the faithful, parishioners in Abbeyfeale are gearing up to mark the Jubilee Year with a series of events in 2018.
And they are getting off to an early start with a celebratory concert with internationallly acclaimed Irish tenor Finbar Wright on February 9.
Already, ticket enquiries are coming in, Fr Tony Mullins said at a reception to launch the event this Monday. In fact, he told the gathering, one woman rang to book for 12 people even before the tickets were printed.
I have a very good feeling about this, he grinned. It will be a great event in the life of the parish. It will bring people together.
The concert is the first in a number of events to mark the 50th anniversary, Fr Mullins added, listing a special Mass, a book and a video documentary as other elements of the parish project. It is really about building up community spirit.
The church in Abbeyfeale is no stranger to high-calibre music. Among those who have sung there are Tommy Flemming, Phil Coulter, The Celtic Tenors and, a decade ago, Finbar Wright.
Welcoming Finbars return visit to Abbeyfeale, Fr Mullins pointed out that the concert on February 9 would be his second performance following his return from the US. Finbar, he reminded people, has performed in all the major concert halls around the globe, from the Albert Hall in London to Sydney Opera House, from the Hollywood Bowl to Carnegie Hall. And he has sung with many of the world greats including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Montserrat Caballe.
Tickets cost 30 each or two for 50 and come with a special presentation envelope, as the organisers hope to encourage people to buy tickets as Christmas or Valentine presents. They can be bought in local shops in Abbeyfeale and Templeglantine or ring 089-4356981.
Last year, thousands of pigeons dazzled spectators as they flew, with LED lights on their ankles, in the sky above the Brooklyn waterfront in Duke Riley's magical (and somewhat controversial) Fly by Night performances. Riley had trained the pigeons to swirl overhead before heading back home to coops on a decommissioned naval ship at the Navy Yard. Now you can see work inspired by and related to the show at Magnan Metz gallery in Chelsea.
In an exhibition called Now Those Days Are Gone, Riley has put together large-scale photographs from Creative Time-commissioned Fly by Night. The photos showing the dreamy flight patterns of the birds as well as "1,000 individual, hand-painted and embroidered portraits of pigeons from the project, "complete with their name and loft and crew info. From Magnan Metz:
This information is typically found on a bird's leg band and is a nod to a tradition deeply rooted in New York City pigeon keeping culture. In some instances, the different types of breeds inform the pigeons' assigned names and make related references. For example, two Egyptian Swifts are named Cleopatra and Nefertiti, one Damascene bird, Nassrin Abdallah, is named after a Commander in the Syrian Womens Protection Unit, and New York Flight pigeons are named after New York streets such as Jackie Robinson, Schermerhorn and Myrtle. Lastly, personality, physical traits and the artist's own sense of humor determined the naming of pigeons like Luke Floorwalker, Foghorn Leghorn and Quilty.
There are also three mosaic pieces, including one made from seashells and two 6' x 6' works showing pigeons being attacked by falcons. Those pieces are, the gallery says, a "direct response to the post-2016 U.S. election turmoil, the timing of which also coincided with the winter season when hawks most aggressively prey on New York City's pigeons. Hawks have been a long-standing symbol of fascist power, and just as all pigeon fanciers are forced to remain helpless amidst the destruction of their most beloved from above, Riley simultaneously grappled with the notions of fear, paralysis and resistance in the face of the country's charged political climate."
Now Those Days Are Gone is on view at the Magnan Metz gallery through October 21. The gallery, at 521 West 26th Street, in Chelsea, is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am - 6pm
Police are searching for a man who exposed himself to two girls in the Schuylerville neighborhood in the Bronx.
According to the NYPD, the incident occurred on October 11th at around 4:10 p.m. The suspect got out of a light-colored Subaru and approached the victims, ages 12 and 7. The man then exposed himself and asked them for directions to a McDonalds before fleeing, police said. Cops also released surveillance video of the man getting out of his car:
Police described the suspect as between 30 and 40-years-old, 5'10" and was last seen wearing a black tee shirt with a white Jack Skellington logo, khaki shorts, and carrying a jacket.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website or texting their tips to 27467 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
A wildfire near the town of Sonoma flared around noon Saturday, throwing 40-foot-high flames down the hillside to chew through several acres before reversing course away from the city.
The explosion, which sent ground crews rushing in and a helicopter swooping overhead, showed the unpredictable nature of a fire that had turned the tiny mountain area near town into a war setting. The Nuns Fire, it turns out, is not a flatland blaze that marches in one line its a snake leering at the ridgeline, ready to strike.
The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office knew by 2 a.m. Saturday that trouble was coming, and ordered mandatory evacuations on the northeast edge of town. But other residents also decided to leave.
Sixty-two-year-old Jim Caroompas, who lives on West Spain Street one block from historic Sonoma Square said he was jerked awake well before dawn by a phone call.
A buddy down the street called and said, Hey, we gotta move now. Caroompas threw on his clothes and stepped outside into a pea soup of smoke.
Now Playing: Fighting the Wine Country fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle
It was the thickest it has been since the fires started, he said. It was stinging my eyes, and I had trouble breathing. I couldnt see the house across the street. I got the hell out of there.
He left to stay with friends in Martinez, returning late in the morning to find his home intact and the hills still burning.
Erratic gusts shoved embers from the hillsides down the slopes around 3 a.m., heading south and then west toward the town until they eased just before sunrise.
By 8 a.m., the winds had shifted and were blowing north, away from Sonoma. Firefighters stamped out the worst of the blaze before dawn, but at 9 a.m., they were still battling flares whipped by unpredictable winds on the highest ridges.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Jordan Motta called the blaze a reburn.
This area had already burned two or three times, and (the fire) just went at it again, Motta said.
Rockland Fire Department engineer Paul Grenier said he and other supervisors scrambled at least three strike teams into the hills to attack the fire front. The whole hillside in Woods and Lovall valleys was in flames, he said as he supervised a crew working on a flaming three-car garage on Lovall Valley Road. It was slow going up those narrow twisty roads. Fierce fire.
The hills, which rise steeply from the edge of Sonoma, are dotted with upscale homes amid towering oak and eucalyptus trees, many now blackened into spindly sticks.
As the blazes marched through, they left jagged paths of destruction behind them water lines spouting geysers over a charred landscape, flaming fence posts, water tanks and cars strewn like ash-covered childrens toys.
Kevin Trainor, 61, drove up from town around 9:30 a.m. to find his family home on Lovall Valley Road with its storage shed of vintage motorcycles turned into melted glass and charred timbers.
He stared at the wreckage and shook his head. All my tools gone, all my bikes, all gone. Aw, well, its just stuff. I mostly care about my animals, he said, referring to the two cats and two dogs he evacuated that morning.
Up along Wood Valley Road, where the fire crews dug a line and stopped the main advance before dawn, yards and stretches of grapevines lay covered in soot and debris, but few houses took the brunt.
One spacious green-sided house with a swimming pool and a view overlooking the town sat with small fires still burning around it, its sloping front yard a carpet of ash. Wind chimes tolled out a lonely tune. A sign tacked to the entrance read Defensible Space.
An Office of Emergency Services fire rig pulled into the front yard quickly to check the property, then tore out again, tires throwing gravel.
Throughout the wooded slopes, yards, cars and the occasional house spewed smoke into the sky. Houses with gates flung open sat empty. At one house on Hatpat Lane, the entrance sat wide open, a new shovel hastily flung in the driveway. Across the street, a pickup truck smoldered, burned to a hulk.
By late morning, all was quiet. Firefighters waited around by their trucks. A smoky haze drenched the air.
All through the empty streets, fire engines and water trucks took respite in between battles with the blazes. One water tender, a private contractor toting water supplies to fire crews, was parked along Wood Valley Road, streaming supplies from its 3,800-gallon water tank to thirsty pumper trucks.
Then, shortly before noon, the winds picked up at Lovall Valley and Wood Valley roads. A spot fire suddenly reared up, tearing downhill toward the town. The helicopter flew in to dump water on the blaze, and ground crews raced back to the attack.
Kevin Fagan and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron, @rachelswan
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Signs of progress cheered battle-weary firefighters Friday after their multipronged attack using helicopters, air tankers and hand crews significantly corralled the deadly fires spreading across Northern California.
Firebreaks are now encircling nearly half of each of the two biggest fires in the Wine Country as crews shield the cities of Napa, Calistoga, Geyserville, Sonoma and Santa Rosa. The progress was tempered by a rising death toll and new estimates of the destruction: Thirty-five were known to be dead and 5,700 structures destroyed as of Friday night.
Two of the fires in California have been contained and five others burned into each other, combining forces. There are now 17 fires burning statewide, including 15 in Northern California, which have blackened 222,000 acres, or about 330 square miles.
The battle, however, remained far from over as weather forecasters issued red-flag warnings from 5 p.m. Friday through 11 p.m. Saturday, signaling the expected return of the dangerous Diablo winds that kicked up the disaster on Sunday night.
Now Playing: Cal Fire Deputy Chief Scott McLean explains the process of round-the-clock firefighting crews. Good news Tubbs Fire is 25 percent contained. Christien Kafton reports. Video: Fox5DC
As if to emphasize that point, authorities Friday evacuated part of the Alexander Valley north of Healdsburg in the Geyserville area as flames from the nearly 11,000-acre Pocket Fire crackled toward the community.
The extreme danger was obvious in a video from a deputys body camera released Friday showing the frightening scene from Santa Rosa on Sunday night as fire engulfed the Mark West neighborhood. The deputy is clearly alarmed as he evacuates residents amid showers of sparks, shooting flames and a dark blanket of smoke.
This is still a very dangerous event, said Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano, who played the terrible scene in the video to make his point. I really want to impress on people to stay out of the evacuation zones, stay out of the burned areas.
At least 19 people have died in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and four in Napa County.
The six-day inferno marks the deadliest week for wildfires in the states modern history, officials said. The fires, taken together, have killed more people than the 1933 Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles County, which recorded 29 deaths, and the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991, which killed 25.
Still, the death toll is expected to grow as dozens of search-and-recovery specialists with cadaver dogs scour the burned areas looking for bodies. Officials said 235 residents of the burn areas in Sonoma County were still missing. Napa County officials said they had 47 people who were unaccounted for and seven others whom they upgraded to missing.
Were not out of the woods yet, said Chief Ken Pimlott, the Cal Fire director, who warned of hot weather, dry conditions and wind. We are preparing for this. We are moving resources and predeploying.
The firefight has, over the past two days, become one of the most intensive mobilizations in California history, with more than 9,000 firefighters some from across the nation manning the trenches. They have been divided into quadrants, with four incident commanders mapping out plans, directing strategy and organizing the activities of the massive force.
The bulk of the troops are attacking the two most destructive fires.
The first is the 35,270-acre Tubbs Fire, which ignited near Calistoga before spreading west and slamming into the northern part of Santa Rosa, flattening whole neighborhoods. It was 44 percent contained Friday night, up from 10 percent on Thursday.
At least 19 people have died in that conflagration, making it the third-deadliest single wildfire in modern state history.
The other priority is the Atlas Fire northeast of the city of Napa, which did heavy damage in the epicenter of California winemaking and spread into Solano County. It was 45 percent contained a big gain from the 3 percent estimate Thursday after burning more than 48.000 acres.
The trick in fighting the fires is to cut off their fuel supply and keep them away from communities, but doing that involves an incredible feat of planning.
Daniel Berlant, an assistant deputy director and chief of planning and risk analysis for Cal Fire, said hand crews have been working on either side of the fires, cutting away vegetation in an attempt to slowly pinch off the burnable area.
Air tankers, meanwhile, are bombarding the ground in front of the fire in an attempt to impede the advance.
The fire retardant sucks out the oxygen, he said. Its not putting the fire out, its slowing it down so the ground resources can build a firebreak in that area.
Meanwhile, helicopters are dropping water on hot spots where the firefighters are working. Attack planes are deployed high above each fire to direct communication with resources on the ground and to pinpoint where the retardant should be dropped.
The bulldozers are used to build what are called contingency lines, which are 50-foot-wide dirt firebreaks anywhere from a mile to 3 miles in front of the fire. Berlant said the incident commanders decide where to build those breaks, with help from fire meteorologists, fuels-behavior analysts and research on what past fires in the area have done.
We have to read that fires movements, look at the forecast and wind and determine where and how far ahead of the fire to build the line, Berlant said.
When the flames approach homes or communities, the tactics change from attacking the fire to protecting lives and property, Berlant said. After everybody is evacuated, strike teams are deployed to identify homes that are in jeopardy and clear away all bushes, trees, woodpiles, flammable furniture and lawn mowers.
These firefighters are not attacking the fire directly, they are preparing for it and waiting for it to come directly to the home, and thats where they take a stand, Berlant said.
He said the technique they use is to shower the ground in a circle in front of the advancing flames with a hard mist spray from their hoses.
The home by itself is fuel, so when you turn the hose onto a spray, you are preventing the fire from getting to the fuel itself, he said.
Once the fire moves on, at that point firefighters will make sure the home is secure, with no hot spots or spot fires and then they move on and protect the next home, Berlant said. If the homeowner hasnt created defensible space by removing brush around the home, then the firefighters may decide to leave it to its fate.
Thats a very hard decision and it is made by the fire captain on the ground in a split second, Berlant said. This is also why we have spent a lot of effort especially in the past decade to change our way of thinking when we build homes in wildland areas.
Crews are currently protecting homes on the southern edge of the Atlas Fire near Green Valley, a community southwest of Fairfield in Solano County. Another team is protecting Calistoga, on the northern edge of the Tubbs Fire, he said.
Firefighters are also concentrating on a cluster of five fires, including the Nuns Fire, that merged northeast of Glen Ellen and west of the Napa Valley. They had burned more than 46,000 acres and were 10 percent contained Friday.
The Redwood/Potter Fire has burned 34,000 acres northeast of Ukiah in Mendocino County. It was 10 percent contained. Sheriffs officials on Friday released the names of three victims, including 14-year-old Kai Logan Shepherd, who succumbed to flames and smoke as he ran from his home in Redwood Valley.
Meanwhile, the search for bodies continues. On Friday, 50 search-and-recovery volunteers picked through the rubble of Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa a tree-lined retirement community on Mendocino Avenue that was decimated in the Wine Country fires.
Its now a wasteland of torched trees, singed roof shingles, pieces of bathtubs, broken toilet seats and melted electronics. The swimming pool is brackish and filled with ash. The beach chairs are twisted metal.
Sgt. Dave Thompson of the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office led the search effort, believing that three to five people had died at Journeys End. But the crew found the remains of only one of them before decamping. That person has yet to be identified.
In some places in the North Bay, authorities were able to shift their footing Friday, escorting evacuated residents back to their homes, or the wreckage of their homes.
Other parts of Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties continued to operate as disaster zones, with many thousands of people living in shelters inside community centers, gymnasiums and churches. Schools remained closed all over due in part to smoke that permeated much of the Bay Area, sickening people and prompting a run on respirator masks.
In Sonoma County, Santa Rosa could be threatened anew by warm, dry winds caused when a sloping air mass that travels downhill becomes warm and compressed which could lead to increased wind speeds. Such winds were a driving factor for fanning flames and rapid growth throughout the wildfires, Peterson said. The wind advisory for the North Bay and East Bay hills said winds may topple trees and down power lines.
Its just going to be all-around poor conditions for fire weather, said Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the weather service. The good news is after this event it looks like the conditions are going to be improving through the area, as far as fire weather goes. The winds are going to be subsiding after Saturday.
Still, he said, I would keep my eye on Napa Valley. Thats where the most critical fire weather danger is.
Peter Fimrite, Kimberly Veklerov and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com and jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Helping and getting help
FEMA is offering assistance to fire victims in Sonoma and Napa counties. For more information go to www.disasterassistance.gov/ or call (800) 621-3362.
The Red Cross is organizing relief efforts in the North Bay. Evacuees trying to connect with family and friends should post on the organizations Safe and Well website: redcross.org/safeandwell.
Community volunteers who want to help in relief efforts can sign up with the Red Cross at http://tinyurl.com/RedCrossVolOctober2017.
Donations to help those affected by California wildfires and other disasters can be made at redcross.org. People can also call (800) 733-2767 or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
People needing to report or ask about a missing person in Sonoma County can call the county Fire and Emergency Services Department at (707) 565-3856.
For tips on how to prepare for a wildfire, go to http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/wildfire.
For fire information in Sonoma County, call (707) 565-3856.
Donations to help fire victims can be made here: https://www.redwoodcu.org/.
To help Tubbs Fire victims, donate here: http://biturl.in/64.
Food donations can be made at the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa: http://refb.org/.
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These are developments in the Northern California wildfires as of 3:35 p.m.; click here for more recent updates:
3:25 p.m. Two Napa victims IDd: Two bodies found on the 1900 block of Soda Canyon Road in Napa County are believed to be Sally Lewis, 90, and her caretaker, Teresa Santos, 50, according to the Napa County sheriff. The bodies were found at 10 a.m. Saturday. Their discovery brings the death toll from fires in the county to six.
Now Playing: Body cam footage of a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy responding to a wildfire on October 8. Video: San Francisco Chronicle
3:15 p.m. Mendocino compiling survivor list: The Mendocino County Sheriffs Office issued an urgent request for people who were evacuated from Redwood Valley, Potter Valley and Willits to contact the emergency operations center for the area and report themselves safe. The county has been overwhelmed by missing persons reports and though most of those people have been found safe, its a time-consuming process, the sheriffs office said. Evacuees should call (707) 467-6428 and be prepared to give their full name, address and phone number; confirm that all residents at that address are safe; and provide the name of anyone who was not able to leave the property during the fire.
2:50 p.m. Sebastopol evacuation center closes: Analy High School in Sebastopol, which had been opened as an evacuation center earlier this week and reopened Saturday morning, has now shut down again, officials said.
2:39 p.m. State, federal officials talk relief: Gov. Jerry Brown joined U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris at a short press conference in Santa Rosa after the three were briefed on the North Bay fires. Feinstein, 84, told reporters these fires were unlike anything shed ever seen. There is no question that this is about the worst fire weve had in my lifetime, she said. It ought to be treated as such. The dollars have to come.
2:10 p.m. Red flag warning extended: The National Weather Service extended the red flag warning for the North Bay hills to 8 a.m. Sunday. The previous warning was to end Saturday at 11 p.m.
1:33 p.m. New Napa County death toll: Two additional deaths have been reported in the Atlas Fire in Napa County, officials say. That brings the number killed in fires in that county to six, and the death toll in all the Wine Country and other Northern California fires to 38.
1:23 p.m. Sutter Hospital to stay closed: Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital will not reopen Saturday. Officials had earlier said the hospital would reopen at 3 p.m., but announced a delay in lifting the evacuation order. The hospital is located near Highway 101 on Mark West Springs Road.
1:15 p.m.: Death toll rises: The death toll in Sonoma County is now up to 20, bringing the total from the fires in the Wine Country and elsewhere in Northern California to 36, according to Sgt. Spencer Crum, a spokesman with the sheriffs office. There are 223 people missing in Sonoma County. In Napa County, 74 people are unaccounted for.
12:35 p.m. Evacuation lift: Officials in Sonoma County will lift the evacuation order for Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital at 3 p.m. The hospital is located just off Highway 101 on Mark West Springs Road. Other areas around the hospital will remain under a mandatory evacuation order.
Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle
12:10 p.m. Spot fire explodes in Sonoma: Winds kicked up a small fire at Lovall Valley Road and Wood Valley Road, causing it to explode in 30- to 40-foot flames that marched downhill toward the town of Sonoma. In a matter of minutes the fire had chewed up several acres. A helicopter swooped in to dump water on the blaze, and ground crews rushed to the attack.
Noon. Aid secured: The Trump administration has approved the states request for direct aid to families and individuals impacted by the fires in Butte, Lake, Mendocino, and Yuba counties. Such assistance was approved Friday for residents in Napa and Sonoma. To request aid: https://www.disasterassistance.gov/
11:25 a.m. Food donation call: Santa Rosa city officials report on Twitter that food usually given to local homeless shelters has been diverted to the wildfire shelters in the area and now homeless shelters are in critical need of unprepared food.
10:50 a.m. Football game postponed: A high school football game in Santa Cruz County has been postponed because of poor air quality. The game between St. Francis High and Soquel High has been rescheduled for November.
10:30 a.m. Mail pickup: People who have been displaced by the wildfires in Santa Rosa can pick up their mail this weekend at two U.S. Postal Service locations in town. The Santa Rosa Fire Department is listing specific locations on its Facebook page.
10:10 a.m. Brown, Feinstein and Harris: Gov. Jerry Brown and Californias U.S. senators, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, will attend a community meeting Saturday afternoon at Santa Rosa High School, the governors office said. The meeting will start around 2 p.m. at the school, 1235 Mendocino Ave. The meeting will follow a private briefing involving the governor, senators and local emergency officials and community leaders, as well as a news conference, Browns office said.
9:10 a.m. Napa County update: Napa County fire officials say there was only minimal growth in the Atlas Fire overnight, and that overnight winds in the area were not as strong as feared. The fire has burned more than 50,000 acres and is 45 percent contained. Officials say they have investigated 224 missing-person reports since the fires began, and that 74 people are still unaccounted for.
8:35 a.m. Sebastopol evacuation center: The main gym at Analy High School in Sebastopol has been reopened as an evacuation center. The gym, at 6950 Analy Ave., can accommodate about 400 people.
8:12 a.m. Power restoration update: Pacific Gas and Electric Co. say it has restored electricity to 93 percent of the 279,000 customers who had lost service because of the fires before Saturday. Gas service has been restored to 13,000 of the 36,000 customers who have lost service since Sunday night.
8:06 a.m. Homes burned in Sonoma: Several homes have burned within a mile east of the Sonoma town square. Capt. Jordan Motta of the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said homes were burned on Wood Valley and Lovall Road, but that the exact number was not known.
7:15 a.m. Scene from Sonoma: The town square in the city of Sonoma was deserted early Saturday as firefighters battled heavy flames nearby, causing brown smoke to kick up in the air. Cars were seen leaving the town and a sign in one wine tasting room read: The love in the air is thicker than the smoke.
7:10 a.m. Residents evacuated: A flare up on two portions of the Nuns Fire early Saturday caused crews in Sonoma County to evacuate an estimated 3,000 residents in Santa Rosa and another 250 in the town of Sonoma, according to Cal Fire.
6:50 a.m. Update on the weather: Strong winds are expected to continue from Santa Rosa to Sonoma through Saturday afternoon, forecasters said. A red flag warning for the North Bay region will remain in place through Saturday evening, and winds of 20 mph have already been documented in Santa Rosa within the past hour, said Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey. We do expect winds to sustain and maybe even increase over the next few hours, he said.
6:30 a.m. Atlas Fire update: The blaze in Napa County has grown by more than 2,000 acres to 50,383 acres, according to Cal Fire. The fire is 45 percent contained.
5:55 a.m. Fire battle intensifies: Fire crews early Saturday are extremely concerned about the evacuated areas along Highway 12 and evacuated spots in the northeastern portion of the city of Sonoma, said Jonathan Cox, a Cal Fire battalion chief. Fires were burning near and around structures in both spots, he said. Firefighters are contending with heavy winds that resurfaced in the area overnight.
5:20 a.m. Recent evacuation order cause: The orders released early Saturday by the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office are due to the #NunsFire, according to a tweet sent by Cal Fire.
4:55 a.m. New evacuation order: A new mandatory evacuation order was sent early Saturday for spots in eastern Santa Rosa. Sonoma County Sheriffs Office has Highway 12 between Adobe Canyon Road in Kenwood and Calistoga Road in Santa Rosa, under a mandatory evacuation order, which includes both sides of the highway and all side roads. Everybody needs to evacuate westbound on Hwy 12 to Santa Rosa immediately, the order read.
4:45 a.m. Evacuation order in Sonoma: Officials in Sonoma County issued a mandatory evacuation order for the Sonoma Valley at around 2:45 a.m. Saturday. The areas under mandatory evacuation order include the following from Seventh Street East from East Napa Road to Denmark Street, the north side of Denmark Street from Seventh Street East to Napa Road, Eighth Street East north of Denmark Street, East MacArthur Street east of Seventh Street East, along with Quail Run Way and Hamblin Road.
11:39 p.m. Firefighters prepare for battle: A crew of firefighters have taken a stand to protect the Napa Valley tourist town of Calistoga, which is threatened by the Tubbs Fire only two miles away. High winds are expected overnight and the town remains evacuated.
10:50 p.m. Mendocino County update: The Redwood and Potter fires, burning north of Highway 20, were at 34,000 acres and 20 percent containment Friday.
10:35 p.m. Evacuation advisory in Sonoma: An evacuation advisory was issued for the east side of East Seventh Street between East Napa Street and East MacArthur Street in Sonoma. While the order is not mandatory, Sheriff Rob Giordano said at an earlier press briefing that residents in advisory areas should consider packing up regardless.
Remember, an advisory in this kind of fire? Leave, he said.
9:31 p.m. The missing in Napa County: The Napa County Sheriffs Office is categorizing the people reported missing since the fires began Sunday as unaccounted for instead of missing, said Kristi Jourdan, a spokeswoman for the sheriffs office, as some may be just unable to get in touch with their loved ones to let them know they are safe. Since Sunday, deputies have received 156 reports, which can involve more than one individual, she said. Of those 156 reports, 105 reports have been cleared and 47 remain outstanding.
Four people have been confirmed dead and seven people declared officially missing. Jourdan said deputies elevate a person from unaccounted for to missing when they come across information that the person may not just be unable to get in touch with a loved one.
9:20 p.m. Mendocino corrects death toll: The county sheriff in Mendocino County said officials had double-counted one fatality and that the correct number is eight, not nine.
9:14 p.m. Pocket Fire update: The fire threatening Geyserville grew almost 1,000 acres to 10,996 acres, according to Cal Fire. The blaze remained at 5 percent contained.
8:14 p.m. Tubbs Fire is 44 percent contained: Cal Fire made significant progress getting the Tubbs Fire under control. Its now 44 percent, up from 25 percent.
8:06 p.m. Evacuations reduced in Santa Rosa: State fire officials called off mandatory evacuations this evening in portions of Santa Rosa but said residents were still advised to leave their homes. The areas are east of Fulton Road, from Francisco Avenue to Guerneville Road and Highway 101, and east of 101, from Steele Lane and Chanate Road to Calistoga Road. But evacuation remains mandatory on fire-damaged streets leading up to the Fountaingrove area, fire officials said.
7:55 p.m. Atlas Fire is 45 percent contained: The most recent information from Cal Fire shows significant progress in getting control of the Atlas Fire that has been burning in Napa and Solano counties. Its now 45 percent contained, from 27 percent. The other big Wine Country fire, the Tubbs Fire, is 25 percent contained.
6:49 p.m. Governor to visit Sonoma County: Gov. Jerry Brown announced earlier this evening that will be heading to the disaster zone along with Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris Saturday afternoon.
6:28 p.m. Horrific deputy body-cam video: The Sonoma County Sheriffs office released a deputys body-cam footage that captured the evacuation scene and the danger and difficulties people faced when the fires began raging on Sunday.
6 08 p.m. Fire sends mountain lion to Fairfield: A mountain lion, apparently driven from its usual habitat by fire, was spotted walking in Fairfield Thursday afternoon, police said. Officers got the call around 3:15 and said they headed to the area but saw no sign of the lion, which apparently had wandered off. Wildfires and smoke tend to displace such creatures from their usual surroundings, said police, who offered advice to anyone who encounters a mountain lion far from home: Call the police, dont approach the puma, and, if confronted, stand upright, wave your arms, and make noise to try to scare it away.
5:14 p.m. 4.0 earthquake hits Mendocino County: A magnitude 4.0 earthquake rattled Redwood Valley Friday at 4:10 p.m., where fires have burned over 34,000 acres.
The U.S. geological survey first reported the quake as a 3.7 before upgrading it to a 4.0.
Yulisa Naba was helping a customer check out at the register at Redwood Valley Market when the quake started. She and everyone else in the store ran outside to avoid getting hit by falling objects.
All of a sudden, it was like something popped or fell really loud, Naba said. Everything started shaking and stuff started falling off the shelves.
Redwood Valley Market has stayed open despite being in an evacuation zone. Naba said the store has been donating food and providing meals to firefighters and the community while the fires continue to burn.
4 p.m. At least 35 confirmed dead in Northern California wildfires: Two more people have died in Napa County wildfires, bringing the death toll there to four. As of Friday afternoon, a total of 35 confirmed deaths have been reported by law enforcement agencies in fire ravaged areas of Northern California.
The remains of 89-year-old Dr. George Chaney and a 79-year-old man believed to be Edward Stone were found at their home in the 2300 block of Atlas Peak Road in Napa about 9:30 a.m. Thursday by the countys forensic search team, according to a statement from Sheriff John Robertson.
In addition to the Napa County deaths, wildfires have claimed nine lives in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County, and 18 in Sonoma County.
3:50 p.m. An estimated 5,700 structures destroyed in California wildfires: The series of deadly wildfires burning across the state have wiped out an estimated 5,700 structures, according to Cal Fire officials. Wildfires raging across California have marked the deadliest week in modern state history with at least 35 fatalities as flames blackened more than 221,000 acres. At least 90,000 people have been displaced by the fires.
3:25 p.m. Mandatory evacuation ordered for northern Geyserville: Everyone in areas north of Highway 128 from Geysers Road to Chalk Hill Road must evacuate immediately due to an approaching wildfire, according to Sonoma County Sheriffs Office.
Geyserville is being threatened by the Pocket Fire, which started about 3:30 a.m. on Monday near Pocket Ranch and Ridge Ranch roads to the northeast of Geyserville. The fire has burned nearly 10,000 acres and is only 5 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
3:15 p.m. City of Napa air quality now at most dangerous EPA classification: The city of Napa air quality already the worst in the nation due to wildfires has now reached the hazardous level the most dangerous level on the Environmental Protection Agency scale.
The citys combined measurements of particulate matter and ozone recorded an air quality index of 312, according to the EPA. An air quality index above 300 designates hazardous levels, the highest of the six air quality classifications.
At such an alarming poor air level, the EPA warns of emergency conditions that will most likely affect all residents in the area, especially those already experiencing respiratory problems. The majority of the United States is at good levels, the lowest classification, which has an index value between 0 and 50.
The city of Fairfield recorded the second worst air quality in the country with an index value of 211, a very unhealthy level, according the EPA standards. Oakland came in third with a value of 177, an unhealthy level.
2:50 p.m. Wildfire death toll at least 33 with additional Mendocino County victim: The fatality count in Mendocino County wildfires rose to nine on Friday, according to Capt. Greg Van Patten, a sheriffs office spokesman. Northern California wildfires have now claimed at least 33 lives with 18 killed in Sonoma County, two in Napa County and four in Yuba County, marking the deadliest week in modern history for California wildfires.
2:20 p.m. FEMA aid available for Napa and Sonoma County residents: Wildfire victims can now apply for federal aid following White House approval of Californias request for disaster assistance, according to Gov. Jerry Brown.
Well keep working day and night with our local and federal partners to fight these fires and help residents get back on their feet in these trying times, Brown said in a statement.
To apply, visit disasterassistance.gov or call (800) 621-3362. Additional contact numbers and more information is available online.
1:55 p.m. Wildfires destroyed at least 5 percent of housing stock in Santa Rosa: An estimated 3,500 homes destroyed by wildfires ravaging Santa Rosa account for 5 percent of the citys housing stock, said Mayor Chris Coursey. About 400,000 square feet of commercial space in the Sonoma County town of 175,155 people was also lost in blazes since Sunday night.
Its a huge hill that we have to climb, Coursey said at a Friday afternoon news conference. Our job right now is to get though this emergency. Then well start taking the next steps.
1:20 p.m. Death toll hits at least 32 in Northern California wildfires: Another fatality has been confirmed in Sonoma County, bringing the number of deaths in the county to 18, Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a Friday afternoon news conference. Wildfires that broke out in Northern California have also claimed eight lives in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and two in Napa since Sunday.
Giordano said the number of missing people in Sonoma County has fallen to 256. Of the 1,308 missing persons reports filed since the fires began Sunday, 1,052 of those people have been located safe.
12:45 p.m. Wildfires leave nearly 30,000 without power statewide: An estimated 29,500 people remain without power after a series of deadly California wildfires downed power lines, according to California Office of Emergency Services. Power has been restored to about 17,500 homes and businesses, most of them in Northern California, and all but eight of the 77 damaged cell towers in the fire zones are operating again, officials said.
Were not out of this emergency. Not even close, Mark Ghilarducci, the states director of emergency services, said at a Friday news conference. We continue to address current and future needs.
Click here for past updates from the Wine Country fires.
Chronicle staff writers Steve Rubenstein and Jenna Lyons contributed to this report.
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Wind-charged fires across California have ravaged homes, businesses, vineyards and farmland over the past week. As of Saturday, 40 people were confirmed dead. 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:
Forty people are confirmed dead 22 in Sonoma County, six in Napa County, eight in 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 Saturday that 223 people were unaccounted for. Napa County officials said 74 people there were unaccounted for.
Those looking for relatives and friends may file a missing-person report with Sonoma County at (707) 565-3856. In Napa County, the number to call is (707) 253-4501.
Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle
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. Those include several homes that were destroyed early Saturday a half mile east of the Sonoma town square.
In Santa Rosa alone, Mayor Chris Coursey said 2,834 homes and 410,000 square feet of commercial space had been destroyed. 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.
The National Weather Service has posted red-flag warnings for North Bay and East Bay hills through 8 a.m. Sunday.
Winds gusting up to 20 mph overnight prompted mandatory evacuation orders early Saturday for about 3,000 residents of eastern Santa Rosa and more than 250 people in the eastern part of the town of Sonoma.
Some 10,000 firefighters are battling wildfires across the state, most in Northern California. Firefighting resources include 880 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.
It was not immediately known how many homes were destroyed early Saturday in the area east of the Sonoma town square.
Officials do not know how many people have been injured in the fires this week. Hospitals reported treating more than 100.
The exact number of damaged and destroyed structures was not known.
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 and from other states were assisting in the efforts.
Annie Ma is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ama@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @anniema15
In his speech on the Iran nuclear agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), President Donald Trump made a number of factual assertions. The deal was negotiated by Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China), Germany and the European Union.
Here's a guide to some of his rhetoric, in the order in which he made these statements.
"The regime harbored high-level terrorists in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, including Osama bin Laden's son."
The president recounted a long list of aggressive acts by the Iranian government toward the United States since the shah was overthrown in 1979, many of which would be familiar to Americans. This claim - that Iran harbored al-Qaida terror suspects - might be less well-known, but it was recently documented in a 2017 book, "The Exile," by investigative reporters Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy.
The book noted that the steady flow of senior al-Qaida figures into Iran after the 9/11 attacks was controversial among various factions. The government actually made some arrests and sent some al-Qaida figures back to countries of origin. But the Revolutionary Guard was more supportive. Trump, in using the phrase "regime," glosses over the debate within the country.
"The regime remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, and provides assistance to al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist networks."
Trump suggests the assistance to al-Qaida continues to the present day. This is in line with the latest State Department Country Reports on terrorism, released in July, which said: "Since at least 2009, Iran has allowed AQ facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through the country, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria." This phrasing marked a shift from previous reports, which indicated the support was in the past.
"The previous administration lifted these sanctions, just before what would have been the total collapse of the Iranian regime, through the deeply controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran."
There is little evidence that the Iranian government was on the verge of "total collapse," though it was certainly struggling because of international sanctions. The Obama administration had been able to win broad international support for crippling sanctions precisely because it convinced Russia and China, two major Iranian partners, that the pressure was designed to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and force the government into negotiations. If the government had started to totter because of the sanctions, especially if it was perceived as part of an American campaign of regime change, that support likely would have been withdrawn.
JCPOA "also gave the regime an immediate financial boost and over $100 billion its government could use to fund terrorism. The regime also received a massive cash settlement of $1.7 billion from the United States, a large portion of which was physically loaded onto an airplane and flown into Iran."
Trump often suggests the United States gave a $100 billion to Iran, but these were Iranian assets that had been frozen. The Treasury Department has estimated that once Iran fulfills other obligations, it would have about $55 billion left. (Much of the funds were tied up in illiquid projects in China.) For its part, the Central Bank of Iran said the number was actually $32 billion, not $55 billion. Iran has also complained that it cannot actually move the money back to Iran because foreign banks won't touch it for fear of U.S. sanctions and their U.S. exposure.
As for the $1.7 billion in cash, this was related to the settlement of a decades-old claim between the two countries. An initial payment of $400 million was handed over on Jan. 17, 2016, the same day Iran's government agreed to release four American detainees, including The Washington Post's Jason Rezaian. The timing - which U.S. officials insisted was a coincidence - suggested the cash could be viewed as a ransom payment.
But the initial cash payment was Iran's money. In the 1970s, the then-pro-Western Iranian government under the shah paid $400 million for U.S. military equipment. But the equipment was never delivered because the two countries broke off relations after the seizure of American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.
Two other payments totaling $1.3 million - a negotiated agreement on the interest owed on the $400 million - came some weeks later.
"The deal allows Iran to continue developing certain elements of its nuclear program and, importantly, in just a few years, as key restrictions disappear, Iran can sprint towards a rapid nuclear weapons breakout."
JCPOA has been in place for two years. Certain provisions of the nuclear aspects of the deal do not last indefinitely, but virtually all phase out between years 10 and 25. It's doubtful Iran would have agreed to an indefinite ban on nuclear activities, given that it has a right to have a nonnuclear program under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Critics of the agreement argue that Iran's past behavior suggests it will cheat in any case and thus has forfeited its rights.
Trump does not mention that under the agreement, Iran is permanently prohibited from acquiring nuclear weapons, and will be subject to certain restrictions and additional monitoring indefinitely. (Readers may also be interested in a previous fact check we did on whether Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons; we found the claim dubious.)
It's unclear why Trump refers to a "few years" before a potential nuclear breakout. Nonnuclear provisions having to do with arms-related transfers to and from Iran will expire in three years, or possibly sooner. In six years, U.N. Security Council restrictions end on any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
"Those who argue that somehow the JCPOA deals only with nuclear matters and should be judged separate from the restrictions in [U.N.] resolution 2231 fail to explain that a nuclear weapon is a warhead and a delivery system," noted David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, in testimony before Congress. "Today, the delivery vehicle of choice is a ballistic missile."
"The Iranian regime has committed multiple violations of the agreement. For example, on two separate occasions, they have exceeded the limit of 130 metric tons of heavy water. Until recently, the Iranian regime has also failed to meet our expectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges."
Trump is right that Iran twice exceeded the deal's limit on heavy water. But supporters of the deal say it shows JCPOA is working. Iran tried to take advantage of fuzzy language in the agreement but it was immediately caught by international inspectors; the other partners objected and forced Iran to come back into compliance.
As for the centrifuges, the deal limits both the number and type of centrifuges Iran is permitted to use. Again Iran tried to take advantage of ambiguous limits - "roughly 10" advanced centrifuges - by operating slightly more than that number.
The dispute for the moment also appears to have been resolved, though Albright in his testimony noted that "Iran has also built and operated more advanced centrifuges than it is allowed, and it has misused quality assurance limitations to conduct banned mechanical testing of advanced centrifuges."
"There are also many people who believe that Iran is dealing with North Korea. I am going to instruct our intelligence agencies to do a thorough analysis and report back their findings beyond what they have already reviewed."
This was a puzzling statement. The phrasing suggests there is not enough evidence to claim that Iran has dealings with North Korea, but the intelligence agencies will keep looking. But it raises the question about why the president made the assertion in the first place.
"It is under continuous review, and our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time."
The other partners to the agreement dispute that Trump has the authority to end the deal. In an unusual joint statement, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron noted: "JCPOA was unanimously endorsed by the U.N. Security Council in Resolution 2231. The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly confirmed Iran's compliance with the JCPOA through its long-term verification and monitoring program."
Similarly, Federica Mogherini, the E.U. foreign policy chief, said no one country could terminate the deal. "This deal is not a bilateral agreement," she said. "The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will, continue to be in place."
However, a president can stop waiving nuclear sanctions at any point, causing nuclear sanctions to come back into force. Moreover, U.S. law requires him to waive nuclear sanctions regularly so he could simply not do anything and nuclear sanctions come back. In effect, that would terminate the deal, whether the other partners like it or not.
Many schools go to great lengths these days to ensure their campus communities are ready for whatever emergency might arise, such as a hurricane, a blizzard or, worse, an active shooter. The University of Hawaii took that spirit of preparedness a step further this week with an email to students and staff that began, "Subject: In the event of a nuclear attack."
The email from the Aloha State's university system went to 50,000 students and 10,000 employees at 2:25 p.m. Monday Hawaii Standard Time. It made reference to growing tensions between the United States and North Korea over the isolated Communist nation's nuclear-weapons ambitions.
"In light of concerns about North Korea missile tests, state and federal agencies are providing information about nuclear threats and what to do in the unlikely event of a nuclear attack and radiation emergency," the email said.
"For this type of event, the ten campuses of the University of Hawaii will rely on the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency siren system and follow agency instructions on 'sheltering-in-place.' "
The Hawaiian Islands lie roughly 4,600 miles southeast of North Korea, in the Pacific Ocean, raising the question of whether the island state could someday be a target of a North Korean missile strike.
The email drew immediate and widespread notice. It is not routine in academia for schools to broadcast "what-if" guidance on nuclear attacks. Soon after he sent it, a university communications official wished he could take it back.
"I take full responsibility for it," Daniel Meisenzahl, spokesman for the University of Hawaii system, said Tuesday. "It was a mistake on my part."
Meisenzahl said it is routine for the university to send out precautionary emails about hurricane season and tsunami warning systems and the like. Generally, the emails provide a link for members of the community to sign up for UH Alerts, an electronic notification system.
As it happened, Meisenzahl said, university officials have been getting inquiries for the past few months about a possible North Korean nuclear threat. So they wanted to send a message that would be responsive.
"If I were to do it all over again, the one thing I would have done is put 'unlikely' in the subject line," Meisenzahl said. He then added that he also might have put into all caps: "NO REASON FOR ALARM" and other language to the effect of, "Don't take this the wrong way."
"The subject line could use some work," he concluded.
He quipped that he'd been dealing for several hours with "the fallout from a nuclear email." He would much prefer if the world took note of the university for its high-level oceanography, astronomy and other academic programs.
But there was a bright side: "At least people are clicking on it."
Pakistani officials have described the mission to free an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children as a harrowing operation and a rare bit of positive news in the troubled relationship between their country and the United States.
Pakistani soldiers, acting on American intelligence, appear to have opened fire Wednesday at the tires of a car carrying Caitlan Coleman, 31, her husband, Joshua Boyle, 34, and their three children not long after it crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan's tribal areas.
A senior Trump administration official, shortly after the family's release, compared their ordeal to "living in a hole for five years."
But, as with so many aspects of the murky and often confusing U.S.-Pakistan relationship, the family's dramatic rescue has raised as many questions as it has answered. On Friday night, Coleman, Boyle and their children arrived in Toronto after the family, at the husband's insistence, had refused to get on a plane for the United States.
Boyle's father told the New York Times that his son did not want to stop at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, where Americans have been accused of abusing detainees.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Boyle said, "God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination."
The family's refusal to travel to the United States led some former U.S. officials to speculate about the couple's motives in journeying to Afghanistan five years earlier and suggest that they may be trying to avoid tough questions from U.S. intelligence officials. Other U.S. officials played down that explanation.
"The administration made very clear that if they wanted to come back to the United States there would be no problems," said a U.S. official who is familiar with the case and was speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss dealings with the family.
Shortly after marrying in 2011, Coleman and Boyle visited Central America and then headed off to Russia and Central Asia. Coleman was pregnant with their first child in 2012 when they decided to go hiking in Wardak province, a dangerous region south of Kabul that is dominated by feuding militant groups.
The couple's decision to visit Wardak and Boyle's unusual personal history set off widespread speculation inside the U.S. intelligence community about his motives. Before he wed Coleman, Boyle had married and divorced the oldest sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was arrested by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2002 and was alleged to have ties to al-Qaida.
The patriarch of the Khadr family was killed in 2003, along with al-Qaida and Taliban members, in a shootout with Pakistani security forces near the Afghanistan border. Boyle's associations with the family led some U.S. intelligence officials to speculate that the visit to Afghanistan may have been part of a larger effort to link up with Taliban-affiliated militants.
"I can't say that [he was ever al-Qaida]," said one former U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. "He was never a fighter on the battlefield. But my belief is that he clearly was interested in getting into it."
After they were taken captive, Boyle and Coleman appear to have suffered through a harrowing ordeal. Coleman in a video released in December 2016 described her captivity as a "Kafkaesque nightmare."
"Just give the offenders something so they and you can save face and we can leave the region permanently," she said in the video aimed at President Barack Obama.
The successful rescue also set off a flurry of questions about what it might portend for U.S.-Pakistani relations. "The first thing to recognize is that this relationship is as broken as it's been since 2011" when U.S. officials launched a clandestine raid into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden, said Moeed Yusuf, an associate vice president for the United States Institute of Peace.
The Trump administration's new strategy in Afghanistan has put a heavy emphasis on military operations to punish the Taliban in Afghanistan and has increased pressure on Pakistan to eliminate enemy sanctuaries there.
Pakistan would prefer a plan that prioritizes peace talks with the Taliban over a military-focused effort. In the aftermath of the successful mission, President Donald Trump suggested that his tough rhetoric had helped to bring Islamabad into line. But Yusuf and other analysts suggested that the president was misreading Pakistani motives.
"The danger here is that Washington internalizes the message that tough talk with the Pakistanis is working," Yusuf said. "I am overall pessimistic about the relationship. . . . If there is one thing that underpins everything, it is a deep mistrust between these two countries."
Other analysts who follow South Asia were slightly more positive in their assessments and saw potential for cooperation between the two nations.
"The United States and Pakistan have some key areas of aligned interests, including on counterterrorism and counterextremism," said Daniel Feldman, who was the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Obama administration. "This demonstrates that there are opportunities to work together in both our nations' interests."
At the Coleman household in southeastern Pennsylvania, the focus wasn't on geopolitics but on the return of a long-missing daughter.
Her family posted a note on their door referring to the "joyful news" and asking for privacy "as we make plans for the future."
- - -
Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad and Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he would not certify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that is a legacy of his predecessor, and asked Congress to figure out ways to address his concerns or he will end it himself. Trump's decision keeps the nuclear deal intact for now, but maybe not for long.
Q. Why doesn't decertification blow up the deal?
A. Nothing in the nuclear deal requires certification, and none of the six other countries that signed it require their heads of state to do so, as U.S. law does. When Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) in 2015, the idea was that the president would notify Congress if Iran was cheating so Congress would have a brief, 60-day window to "snap back" U.S. sanctions.
Certification wasn't envisioned as a tool for a president to undermine the deal or use it as a tool to reopen negotiations. But INARA isn't just about whether Iran is meeting its obligations. It requires the president determine whether the suspended sanctions are "appropriate and proportionate," and in the U.S. national interests. That he was not prepared to do. Still, decertification is not the same as walking away from the deal, at least not for the time being. It just transfers the decision to Congress.
Q. What will Congress do?
A. It has several options. The most extreme would be to reimpose U.S. sanctions that were lifted as part of the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But that would immediately place the United States in violation of the deal, and Trump is not asking Congress to do that. Instead, he's asking them to amend INARA to impose new U.S. requirements on Iran. However, Iran would view that a one-sided renegotiation of the agreement's terms, and is unlikely to accept it. So it would fall to a Joint Commission of the seven signatories to determine whether the United States was violating the deal.
If Iran decided to resume its nuclear program in response, the United Nations Security Council would get involved to decide whether to put U.N. sanctions back in force.
Another option for Congress is to simply change the timetable so the president doesn't need to certify Iran's compliance every 90 days as is now required. That could be more palatable to Trump, who certified Iran twice before, in effect admitting that the deal he lambasted on the campaign trail is working.
Q. So is the Iran deal safe?
A. Far from it. The administration wants Congress to set new conditions that address Iran's support for militias in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and rein in Iran's ballistic missile testing. It also wants Congress to make it clear that the United States will snap back sanctions at various "trigger points," such as if Iran resumes nuclear activities after the various "sunset" provisions expire years in the future. Merely passing the provisions may not alter the deal until sanctions are actually imposed. But Iran would probably argue that the U.S. is indeed changing the deal's terms, by promising sanctions for activity that the deal permits. In any case, the deal may be doomed long before the deadline nears for a single sunset provision. Trump said that if his concerns aren't addressed by Congress and European allies that were partners in the deal, "then the agreement will be terminated."
Q. Is the administration applying any pressure on Iran to get it to bend?
A. Shortly after Trump began speaking Friday, the Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an independent arm of the Iranian military that sends fighters into neighboring countries, conducts missile tests and is heavily involved in the Iranian economy, including smuggling black market goods. But the IRGC is already heavily sanctioned. And the Treasury sanctions were part of an Executive Order, not a more onerous State Department designation. It telegraphs the administration's get-tough attitude.
Q. What will Iran do?
A. Iran has a lot to gain by doing nothing, particularly if Europeans stick to the deal and keep conducting business with Iran. To much of the world, the United States is the country that may end up reneging on its commitments, not Iran. That gives it a claim to hold the high ground, and it can just stand by watching while a wedge is driven between the United States and Europe.
Federica Mogherini, foreign policy chief of the European Union, said after Trump's speech that the nuclear deal is working, and the United States does not have the right to unilaterally change it. If Congress tries to reimpose sanctions, Europeans already are considering ways to protect their own businesses that want to keep investing in Iran.
Volunteers began a grim and grueling search Friday, picking through the smoldering ruins of the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa for the remains of people they are all but certain died there.
Before the sun went down Sunday, Journeys End on Mendocino Avenue was a well-manicured retirement community where hundreds of people lived, with hedges and a swimming pool. It was leveled when the Tubbs Fire tore through it Sunday night, and authorities believe several residents didnt escape.
About 50 trained civilian volunteers arrived Friday from Sonoma, Marin, Monterey and Alameda counties. They wore hard hats and hazmat suits, and carried rakes and shovels. They brought five cadaver dogs.
For four hours, they searched a wasteland of torched trees, singed roof shingles, broken toilet seats and melted electronics, looking for human remains.
They focused initially on high probability addresses where people who have been reported missing lived. Detectives have exhausted all other leads for where those people might be. After searchers finish checking the homes, they will sweep the entire mobile home park.
We will do this (search) as long as there are missing people out there, said Sgt. Dave Thompson of the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office, who led the recovery effort.
Thompson, who lives in Windsor, was off-duty and listening to a police scanner when the wildfire reached Santa Rosa. He put on his uniform, jumped in a patrol car and headed to the Fountaingrove Inn, where he helped evacuate all the guests before it burned to the ground.
Journeys End was just south of the Fountaingrove, and Thompson watched as a wall of flames engulfed it that morning. Over the next few days, he shifted from saving lives to excavating the dead.
This is very labor-intensive, as you can imagine, he said Friday as his crews picked through the exoskeletons of mobile homes and sifted the ash for bone fragments. The air was choked with soot, and a film of orange-brown smoke stained the sky.
Its real dangerous, said Sgt. Spencer Crum, a spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office. Theres a lot of sharp nails and debris.
By noon, the crew had uncovered one persons remains and turned them over to the coroners office for DNA testing. The person has yet to be identified.
Another Journeys End resident, 69-year-old Linda Tunis, died early Monday when the blaze consumed her trailer, family members said. Authorities have not confirmed her death.
Thompson suspects that as many as four more people died at Journeys End, but said finding them wont be easy. Some may have hunkered down and been all but incinerated. Others may have tried and failed to outrun the flames and died well away from their homes, with no identification to tell the search crews who they were.
The teams left at 2 p.m. and moved to the nearby Coffey Park and Fountaingrove neighborhoods, where a combined 8,000 people lived before the flames consumed virtually every home in them.
Thompson said the crews would be back at Journeys End with bigger equipment to continue the search. It wont stop until we 100 percent rule (each) address out, he said. One way or the other.
Kimberly Veklerov and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov, @rachelswan
RICHMOND, Va. - In her bid to become Virginia's next lieutenant governor, Republican state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel campaigns as an ethics attorney who represents charities and nonprofit organizations.
But her firm's specialty is helping wealthy donors, corporations and political action committees influence elections - often in secret.
Vogel and her boutique law firm represent some of the nation's largest super PACs and their related nonprofits, which are often called "dark-money" groups because they are not legally required to disclose the names of their donors.
Those entities include American Crossroads, the super PAC co-founded by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie and strategist Karl Rove, as well as Americans for Prosperity and other arms of the conservative political network founded by billionaires Charles and David Koch.
Those groups took off in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, which found individuals, corporations and unions could spend unlimited sums on politics as long as they did so independently of campaigns and parties.
And Vogel's firm - Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC, known as HVJT - became one of the premiere legal shops to help the PACs distribute their largesse.
Between 2005 and 2016, PACs and nonprofits that have hired Vogel's firm spent close to $1 billion on federal elections, representing nearly a quarter of all outside spending over that period, according data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. For the 2016 cycle alone, those organizations accounted for more than $234 million of $1.4 billion in total outside spending.
Critics say Vogel's firm profits from a national problem - untraceable money in politics that is corroding democracy.
"They represent the who's who of secret, dark-money groups that are pumping a lot of money into our elections," said Steve Spaulding, chief of strategy for Common Cause. "She's not exactly an ethics lawyer representing mom-and-pop nonprofits. . . . We're talking about the Koch brothers' nonprofits."
Vogel and attorneys working for her firm - based in rural Warrenton, 50 miles west of Washington - declined to be interviewed. Through a campaign spokesman, Vogel issued a brief statement that said attorney-client privilege prevents her from discussing her work.
"As an ethics attorney, I hold myself and my firm to the highest ethical and moral standards possible and I don't settle for anything less," read the statement, which then sought to shift attention to the law practice of her Democratic opponent, Justin Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor-turned-corporate lawyer. "There is absolutely no basis to this story at all."
Cleta Mitchell, a prominent GOP elections lawyer with Foley & Lardner and a longtime friend of Vogel's, said it's "outrageous" for anyone to question Vogel's integrity based on her legal specialty.
"What she does, what all of us in this field do, is we advise our clients how to exercise their First Amendment rights . . . without running afoul of the law," Mitchell said, noting that conservatives do not have a monopoly on dark money.
"The darkest of dark money is when unions take their members' dues and spend it on political activities about which the member actually either doesn't know and with which the member may not agree," she said. "AFP, Crossroads, any other advocacy group left or right . . . that's voluntary, after-tax dollars. . . . Compare that with the unions, where Joe Lunchbucket doesn't know where that money's going to be spent."
Vogel's firm has sometimes been accused by regulators and election officials of pushing the limits of election law.
That was the case in California in 2012, when mysterious donors poured $15 million into two California proposition battles not long before Election Day.
Some of the money was to oppose Proposition 30, which eventually passed and raised the California sales tax and income tax. The rest was to support Proposition 32, which failed and would have prohibited unions from using payroll deductions for political purposes.
The size of the donation raised eyebrows, as did the source: out-of-state nonprofits that had never been involved in California politics.
When California regulators finally unraveled it - on the eve of Election Day, after the state Supreme Court held an unprecedented Sunday session to order disclosure - the source of the $15 million turned out to be close to home: wealthy Californians, including the Fisher family that founded the Gap retail chain and San Francisco investor Charles Schwab, who had wanted their names kept under wraps.
Under federal election law, the names could be kept private. But California state lawrequires the disclosure of donors who sponsor ads within 60 days of an election. Rather than disclose, the money was shifted from one Koch brothers' nonprofit to another with help from Vogel's firm, said Ann Ravel, a former Federal Election Commissioner who was then the state's chief elections watchdog as chairwoman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
"It's like if a restaurant gave money to all their employees to make donations to a political issue," Ravel said. "That's illegal. You have to give contributions in your own name. You cannot essentially launder it."
Those involved were not charged with any crime; they reached a civil settlement with the FPPC and state attorney general and were ordered to pay a record fine of $1 million. And the two California political committees that had received and spent the money were ordered to pay the state $15 million.
Vogel did not play any role in the California case, her campaign spokesman said.
But legal experts say that as managing partner of the 13-lawyer firm, Vogel is ultimately responsible for its actions, much as a chief executive is responsible for the activities of a corporation.
Vogel's firm was at the center of controversy again last fall, right after Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina came up short in his reelection bid. HVJT was enlisted to help McCrory, a Republican, who was refusing to concede.
Within weeks, the firm filed protests against 600 voters across the state. It said some voters were dead and others had voted in two states or were felons who had not completed their sentences.
But the state and local elections officials eventually threw out the protests because they were riddled with mistakes - sometimes confusing legitimate voters with ineligible people with similar names, according a study by the nonpartisan Democracy North Carolina.
Voters saw their names appear in newspapers, as suspects in an alleged felony voter fraud conspiracy. Some had to defend themselves before they were cleared by local election boards.
Pressly M. Millen, a North Carolina attorney for several voters who were falsely accused of voting illegally, said the protest was an attempt to delegitimize the election.
Stephen T. Smith, a prominent Raleigh lawyer, filed a grievance with thestate bar against four lawyers from Vogel's firm, saying they had violated rules of professional conduct. Bar officials would not confirm or deny the existence of a pending complaint. Smith said he believes it remains pending.
In her brief statement to The Washington Post, Vogel said she was "never aware of any such complaint made against my firm."
The bar complaint is not against the firm per se but against the four lawyers, who did not respond to requests for comment. Vogel was not among the four. But the firm was recently added as a defendant in what could become a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all voters falsely accused of illegal voting. A judge will decide whether Vogel's firm should be part of the suit.
Chris West, a spokesman for the Vogel campaign, said she was unaware that her firm had been named in a lawsuit.
"[C]ertainly no allegations even link Senator Vogel to any work in North Carolina, nor has any document been cited to name Senator Vogel," he said via text. "All work done in North Carolina by other lawyers in the firm was done under the supervision of North Carolina lawyers. There is no basis to this story at all and none of this has anything to do with Senator Vogel or the Lt. Governor's race in Virginia."
Vogel, 47, is a Shenandoah Valley native and the daughter of a longtime Republican donor, Holtzman Oil founder William B. Holtzman. He has donated $1.9 million to her campaigns and those of other Virginia Republicans over the last 10 years, including $611,000 toward Vogel's current bid.
Vogel was appointed chief counsel to the Republican National Committee in 2004, under her ticketmate Gillespie, who was then chairman.
After establishing her own firm, Vogel made "strategic hires" from the world of politics that helped fuel its rapid growth, Mitchell said.
Vogel's firm includes her husband, Alex Vogel, former chief counsel to then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); Tom Josefiak, a former Federal Election Commission chairman and general counsel to President George W. Bush's 2004 campaign; and Jason Torchinsky, deputy general counsel for that campaign.
Along with super PAC American Crossroads, HVJT has represented its tax-exempt affiliate, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, which pioneered the use of nonprofits as dark-money political players. Known as 501(c)(4) groups, they are allowed to keep their contributors secret as long as they don't spend most of their money on politics.
Vogel's ties to many of the super PACs and dark-money groups are a matter of public record, disclosed in Federal Election Commission and IRS filings. In addition to reporting payments to the firm, the organizations sometimes use HVJT's Warrenton address as their own and list HVJT lawyers as their treasurers or other officials.
Years ahead of Vogel's statewide campaign, one of her partners spoke to a reporter about the firm's work, which he described as helping clients with legitimate free-speech rights navigate a shifting legal landscape.
"The rules keep changing," Torchinsky told Bloomberg in 2012, "which is part of the reason that people need law firms to figure out how to speak."
Federal prosecutors in Washington appear willing to limit the scope of search warrants for the Facebook accounts of local activists connected to protests of President Donald Trump's inauguration.
The U.S. attorney's office for a District of Columbia told a judge Friday that the government has "little interest" in obtaining the names of thousands of people who "liked" the Facebook page of a political group that helped plan the Jan. 20 demonstrations, and agreed to narrow the timeline for photos the government is seeking as part of its investigation.
The statement from Assistant U.S. attorney John Borchert came during a hearing in which civil liberties attorneys said the warrants were too broad and would have a "chilling effect" on political organizing by revealing private information about individuals unrelated to the investigation.
More than 200 people were arrested and are facing felony rioting charges in connection to the Inauguration Day protests that injured police and damaged property in an area of downtown Washington.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Morin proposed limiting the searches to certain keywords and expressed concern on Friday about sweeping up irrelevant information, but he noted that another judge had signed off on the initial warrants, finding "probable cause" that the accounts contained evidence of criminal activity.
Morin pressed the prosecutor about why investigators would want access to the names of users who "liked" certain posts or photos in the lead-up to the inauguration.
"Explain to me the 'likes,' " Morin said, noting that he'd had a tutorial on the ins and outs of Facebook in advance of the hearing.
Borchert said that "likes" of certain posts describing criminal activity could in some instances suggest a person's criminal intent. The vast majority of likes would not be relevant and investigators are not, for instance, interested in "cat pictures." He said his office is "amenable" to some type of "minimization" of the searches.
"There is simply no risk," according to the government's court filing, that investigators could use the warrants "for compiling information about the account holders' political affiliations and private lives."
Sitting in the front row of the courtroom were two of the targets of the search, Lacy MacAuley and Legba Carrefour. The third warrant is for the Facebook page of DisruptJ20, the political organizing group moderated by Emmelia Talarico.
None of the three - all represented by the American Civil Liberties Union - has been charged by the U.S. attorney with Inauguration Day-related crimes.
The hearing raised questions about whether individual account holders could legally seek to block or narrow government searches of information they share on Facebook.
John Roche, a Facebook attorney, said in court that the company is "eager to protect these folks' privacy and their right to engage in political speech."
The company alerted the three users - MacAuley, Carrefour, and Talarico - to the warrants, after the government backed off their request to keep Facebook quiet about the searches.
Morin said he would rule quickly on the ACLU's request to intervene on behalf of the account holders and outline an approach for limiting the searches.
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After nearly a month stranded in a north San Antonio warehouse, 155 pallets of food and water will finally leave for Puerto Rico with help from Houston Astros slugger Carlos Beltran.
Volunteers planned to load trucks Friday night with supplies gathered by Puerto Rico Rises - San Antonio, a local group which formed over social media last month.
It gathered 250 pallets of material, around $300,000 worth, but has struggled in its quest to get it to the storm-ravaged island.
Hurricane Maria swept across the U.S. territory as a fierce Category 4 storm on Sept. 20, leaving most of its 3.4 million people without power and many without water.
Sending help to an island with devastated infrastructure has proved difficult. After nearly a month of frustration, Puerto Rico Rises learned Friday that the Carlos Beltran Foundation and the Houston Astros would pitch in, group spokeswoman Francheska Rios said.
Beltran, a former Met and Yankee, has donated $1 million to help his native Puerto Rico, according to the New York Daily News. He brought supplies to the island in two planes from Houston with the assistance of Astros owner Jim Crane, the Associated Press has reported.
Trucks will bring the San Antonio supplies to Jacksonville, Florida, to be put on a ship for Puerto Rico.
The resolution of the stranded pallets saga will be bittersweet for Rios. She said and her husband learned Wednesday that his 80-year-old grandfather died in the hurricanes wake, after machines that were helping him fight cancer lost their power.
We had been receiving bad news back to back to back, and this is now happening to me, Rios said. And now Im trying to work toward this not happening to others.
Albert F. Garza, who escaped an impoverished childhood by joining the military as a teen and serving in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, died Oct. 3 at 90.
Garza had a difficult start in life.
After his mother died while giving birth to him, Garza and his sister were given up by his father, who was illiterate and couldnt raise two children, his daughter Jeanine G. Salazar said.
Garza had a sister who was four years older who he never saw again because she went to another family; no one ever really knew what happened to her, Salazar said.
More Information Albert F. Garza Born: Nov. 17, 1926, San Antonio Died: Oct. 3, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Infant daughter Alberta G. Garza; parents Alberto Villastrigo and Rebecca San Miguel; adoptive parents Maria Antonia Flores and Juan M. Garza. Survived by: Daughters Juanita G. Carpenter and Jeanine G. Salazar; three grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren. Services: Visitation at 6 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Brookehill Funeral Home, 711 S.E. Military Drive; Funeral Mass at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Mission San Jose Catholic Church, 701 E Pyron Ave., with burial to follow at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. See More Collapse
Garzas adoptive father, a World War I veteran, was forced to leave the family to get treatment for wartime exposure to mustard gas, leaving his wife to raise Garza and an adopted niece by herself. The family was so poor, they often shared one meal a day.
His (adoptive) mother shelled pecans was raising him plus an adopted niece on $2 a week, Salazar said.
She would pay a local lady for a plate of food, Salazar said. He would take a third, his sister would take a third and his mother would come home and eat the rest.
Garza, who owned one book, read by the light of a kerosene lamp.
The home was just one room, with no inside toilet, Salazar said. Everything was outside in the courtyard.
Garza found ways of adding to the household income early on.
He built a shoe shine kit that he used to make extra money in the downtown area, another daughter, Juanita G. Carpenter, said.
Dropping out of Lanier High School at 14, Garza worked first as a busboy at the St. Anthony Hotel and later at Kelly Field in the mess hall, where he could get an extra meal.
Joining the Navy at 16 he tricked his mother, who knew only Spanish, into signing the release papers Garza was impressed by the meals.
He never knew so much food existed, Salazar said.
Serving in the Pacific Theater starting in 1943, Garza was discharged in 1946 and returned to San Antonio. After working in construction, Garza re-enlisted in the Army.
He wanted to jump out of planes wanted to be a paratrooper, Salazar said.
Graduating from jump school in 1950, Garza was based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a jump master with the 82nd Airborne Division, ultimately making124 jumps throughout his career.
Garza was a friend of Roy P. Benavidez, who later received the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam.
At Fort Bragg there was a group of Mexican-Americans and they all found each other, hung out together, Salazar said. He and Mom would hang out with other couples, including Benavidez; Dad was the older one in the group.
Sent to Korea in 1952, Garza would later tell his family about a near miss in a foxhole.
The soldier next to him got hit by a mortar shell, which blew his leg up, Salazar said. He realized it could have been him.
Sent to Iceland after Korea, Garza later injured his knee during a jump in 1960. Although he returned to active duty, another injury to the same knee a few years later ended his paratrooper days.
That really bothered him, Salazar said. He knew it ruined his chances of advancing.
Garza served in the Panama Canal Zone and at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in the early 1960s, then received orders to go to Vietnam in 1967.
He was in charge of leading a convoy of trucks to different areas within the Da Nang area, Salazar said.
Retiring from the Army as a sergeant first class in 1968, Garza settled with his family on the South Side and started a second career as the supervisor of laundry at what was then the Robert B. Green Hospital.
Having earned his GED early in his military service, Garza attended San Antonio College to earn an associate degree in business before being promoted to director of the laundry department.
He was very wise very honorable, Salazar said. He was so proud of having served thats who he was; he was a soldier.
mheidbrink@express-news.net
1 Plane crash: A cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on its approach to the airport in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan, killing four crew members from Moldova and injuring six others from Moldova and France, officials said Saturday. Ten people were aboard the plane arriving from the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, said Lt. Issa Sakho, commander of the military fire brigade. The French Defense Ministry said the four French nationals were a civilian and three military personnel. It said the plane was chartered for operations in Western Africa. The French have forces in several Sahel countries, including Burkina Faso, to help combat extremists. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but stormy weather possibly played a role. Hundreds of onlookers gathered at the shore to look at the debris.
2 Kenya shooting: Gunmen fatally shot seven people, including six students, in a raid on a high school Saturday that appeared to be a revenge attack organized by a student who had been suspended for fighting, police said. The shooting occurred at Lokichogio Mixed Secondary School in Turkana County near the border with South Sudan. The attackers were thought to be from South Sudan. A key suspect was a senior at the school who was suspended last week after he was found fighting and vowed to take revenge, said Rift Valley regional criminal investigations chief Gideon Kibunja. The student was arrested later Saturday, and Kibunja said angry members of the public overwhelmed police and killed him.
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Oct. 12
At 10:45 a.m., an officer responded to the 1100 block of Hauser for a report of a disturbance. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 31-year-old female was placed under arrest for two District Court warrants and a Justice Court warrant.
At 2:57 p.m., an officer observed a male who he knew to have confirmed warrants for his arrest. The officer made contact with the 30-year-old male and he was placed under arrest for the Justice Court warrant.
At 6:37 p.m., an officer responded to the 3200 block of Highway 12 for a welfare check on an individual. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 27-year-old female was placed under arrest for a violation of a no contact order.
At 7:47 p.m., an officer responded to the 1000 block of Road Runner for a report of a possible disturbance. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 34-year-old male was placed under arrest for 1st offense DUI, Aggravated DUI, and 2nd offense no insurance.
At 9:19 p.m., an officer responded to the 600 block of Euclid for a report of a trespass to and theft from a motor vehicle. The case is active.
At 9:20 p.m., an officer responded to the 800 block of Breckenridge for a report of a theft. The case is active.
At 10:09 p.m., an officer responded to the 500 block of Logan for a report of a suspicious individual. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 22-year-old female was placed under arrest for a warrant out of Broadwater County and a warrant out of Justice Court.
At 11:50 p.m., an officer responded to the 1200 block of Prospect for a report of a male at that location who had been trespassed previously but had returned. At the conclusion of the investigation, a 44-year-old male was cited for trespass to property.
As of Friday morning, the county jail held 79 inmates (72 for felonies and 7 for misdemeanors). In total, the county has 104 inmates at various detention facilities. In addition, 43 are PBT (Personal Breath Test) and 31 are SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor bracelet). 93 clients are serviced by the 24/7 sobriety program. We also have 8 testing out of county, 1 is pre-trial, 4 are GPS (Global Positioning System bracelet), and 6 are on house arrest.
Capital High School biology students were part of a zebra mussel monitoring project at Canyon Ferry Lake Reservoir and Upper Holter Lake Reservoir this week.
The sophomore biology class collected data on environmental conditions in the lake and collected water samples for environmental DNA analysis. They also learned about the spread and prevention of invasive species.
Routine water sampling detected larvae from either quagga or zebra mussels in Tiber Reservoir last year, along with a suspected detection in Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The detections were the first in the Northwest. Where infested, quagga and zebra mussels can cause a host of ecological issues and clog infrastructure such as hydroelectric dams and municipal water.
The state of Montana convened a rapid response team including officials from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to address the threat. The team recommended and the Legislature funded, to the tune of about $5 million, a bolstered aquatic invasive species program featuring double the number of watercraft inspection stations, additional water testing and an education campaign.
Inspectors stopped 17 boats this season infested with mussels, and water testing did not detect new larvae. Visual inspections have yet to find any adult mussels in the state.
Biology teacher Jean Placko said the field work will be part of both their ecology and cell units. Fish, Wildlife and Parks showed Placko how the monitoring project works and she showed her fellow teachers.
Placko said students examined pieces of PVC pipe in the water to see whether adults or juvenile mussels were growing, but didnt find anything. Next week, theyll look at collected plankton tows under a microscope to check for larvae. Plack said DNA filtered out of water samples will be frozen and eventually extracted during their unit on cells. That data will be sent to the USGS lab in Bozeman to see if mussels are present or not.
They got to use the most recent technology that a lot of aquatic invasive scientists are using as they start to look at environmental DNA, Placko said. Its how weve moved away from more invasive techniques of monitoring animals.
The biology classes plan to continue the monitoring project next year, hopefully with funding for some of their own equipment. Placko said she hopes to continue the project with agencies like FWP and USGS who have a use for the data.
Ive done a lot of involving students in actual research projects where their data goes to somebody, she said. Theyre so much more careful and thoughtful.
Culture / Art Republik
Oct 14, 2017 | By Ilyda Chua
Magic, mysticism and mythology in these lie the essence of Chinese artist Wu Jianans distinctive paper-cut creations. Wus fascination with the ancient and mystical is evident in his works, many of which are rooted in dreams and legend.
In the conclusive piece to his seven-part series based on a Chinese folk tale, The White Snake Hid Immediately, the titular white snake is coiled into a reverse pyramid, a helix of coloured wax amidst a white canvas of intricate cutouts. On display at Bulgaris Serpentiform exhibition at the ArtScience Museum, it is easy for the viewer to get lost in the painstaking intricacy of the medium. But paper cut, which makes up much of Wus oeuvre, holds much more than simple beauty.
Art Republik speaks with Wu Jianan to find out more about the traditional Chinese technique he uses, the mythologies behind them, and what he has in store for the future.
For most of your works, you use the traditional Chinese paper cut medium, paired alongside unconventional materials such as oxhide, brass and stainless steel. Whats the reason behind your choice of medium, and what is the biggest challenge in creating your artworks?
Today, when we think of paper cutting, its just like drawing or painting, or any other kind of art. But paper cut has traditionally had a relationship with magic. In the old days, it was used to bring back souls from the dead, or to heal the sick. Theres a mysterious energy in the medium, and I was attracted to that.
Every medium has its challenges. Paper cut is special because in order to get the image you want, you have to remove parts of it. Its an immensely controlled technique that requires patience and careful thought. But sometimes, you want to express an intense, strong emotion, and thats difficult with paper cut because you have to translate that into something slow, delicate and controlled.
Mythical animals feature heavily in your works in Omens, for example, and also here in Serpentiform where you explore the snake, a powerful symbol in Chinese mythology. What ideas do you explore through them?
Sometimes we see strange things. For many people, these anomalies are a source of fear or disdain. Theres a system in a world, a proper construct, and these irregularities defy that. But for me, these strange things these monsters are a key to something else. And while I may not know where the door is, or what lies beyond the door, I know that these things are incredibly important. So if a strange image appears in my imagination or in front of my eyes, I feel a need to capture it in my work and my stories.
Your works often reference ancient Chinese legends and tales. Is there a story behind this?
In the beginning, it was because of fear. As a child in China, I read these folk tales about these strange and mystical beasts, and I was both terrified and enchanted by them. I guess Im the kind of person who doesnt forget easily. I have carried those memories until now, and I use my work to express those strong feelings from my past.
Also, I believe mythology is the root of human civilisation. These stories that are told generation after generation, about heroes and heroines, adversaries and ghosts. They inspire us, and we design our attitudes based on them.
For example, in China, most of our stories are set on land. In Greece, they have many stories about the ocean and, traversing the seas, and after two thousand years, their grandsons go to Asia and South America, searching for new land. But the Chinese still remain on land.
Speaking of which, tell me more about your work in Bulgaris Serpentiform exhibition, The White Snake Hid Immediately. Is it a reference to the Legend of the White Snake ()? If not, what was the inspiration behind the piece, and how did you go about creating it?
Yes. The Legend of the White Snake is one of the most important folk tales in China, and it is at its core a love story. But there are some parts that I felt were unclear. For example, why does the monk try and keep the White Snake and the man apart? Because they did have a happy life together, and the snake did not want to kill the boy or harm him in any way.
So is it because, as the legend says, that the monk did not believe it was right for a beast to marry a human? No, I dont think so. In Chinese folk mythology, there are many of these marriages. So what was the reason? There must be one, but it wasnt mentioned in the original tale. And so I came up with my own.
My work has seven panels. Put together, the images tell the full story. The White Snake Hid Immediately is the conclusion.
Just now, you gave a talk to the students at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, and youre also an associate professor with the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Is it important for you to share your work with the next generation of artists, especially considering its roots in tradition?
Of course. In school, we always discuss tradition, and why we need it. In this day and age, we see plenty of new, interesting things. Some of them may last, and others may not. But in tradition we see and learn about the things that have already withstood the test of time.
As artists, no one wants their work to be shown for just one day. We all want our creations to be shown for a long time, to communicate and express our messages and emotions to many people. Through tradition, we learn how to infuse longevity in our works and creations.
Is there anything we can look forward to in the future? Perhaps an upcoming exhibition?
Right now, Im working on a new project for next spring. Its inspired by the Miao nationality, a Chinese ethnic group from Southwest China. They have special folk tales and powerful, interesting mythologies. The project will incorporate elements of their mythology and handcraft techniques into a new, original story, which will explore the concept of immortality.
The first stop will be Prince Gongs Palace in Beijing, and then well travel to other art museums and galleries along the way.
The White Snake Hid Immediately by Wu Jianan will be on display at Bulgaris Serpentiform exhibition at the ArtScience Museum until 15 October, as part of a joint effort between Bulgari and Asia Art Initiative.
Read more about the exhibition at http://www.luxuo.com/culture/art/serpentiform-snake-through-art-jewellery-and-design-exhibition-at-artscience-museum-singapore.html.
Ilyda Chua
Oct. 14 is Second Saturday at the Montana Historical Society and the Original Governor's Mansion, which means admission to both facilities is free.
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 225 North Roberts, across from the Capitol. Tours of the Old Governor's Mansion at 304 N. Ewing begin on the hour at noon, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
This Second Saturday program at the museum will focus on Montana during World War I. At the Montana Historical Society, MHS historical specialist Martha Kohl will speak on Montana and the Great War at 1:30 p.m. In this illustrated discussion, Kohl will share some of the surprises she encountered while working on the Montana Historical Societys new website, Montana and the Great War. (You can visit that website at mhs.mt.gov/education/wwi.)
Among the great pleasures of research is the joy of discovery, learning things that startle you and make you reexamine your assumptions, Kohl said. Ive been studying Montana history for over 20 years, and I was startled by what I learned when I began to dig into Montanas World War I history. Im looking forward to sharing some of the interesting stories I encountered, as well as some very troubling history.
Montanas World War I history is also on display at the Original Governors Mansion, where you can take a special interactive tour designed to commemorate the World War I centennial. Titled "Doing Our Bit: Montanas Home Front during the Great War," the tour is great for families and offers a hands-on look at what women and children, including Montanas first family, were doing to support the war effort 100 years ago.
Second Saturday at MHS is sponsored by the Helena Community Credit Union.
Story contributed by the Montana Historical Society.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > BJPs image dims with economic disruption; Rahuls image glows with US tour. (...)
impressions
The Congress party published full-page advertisements in New York to announce a Rahul Gandhi meeting there. It made history by including, alongside the pictures of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, those of Lal Bahadur Shastri and P.V. Narasimha Rao. Shastri was never recognised during the Sonia years while Narasimha Rao was actively ostracised. To give the non-person that was Rao all these years a place now in the galaxy suggests something of an internal revolution.
Is there one? Is the Congress finally acknow-ledging the need to re-invent itself if it is to have an address in Narendra Modis India? Rahul Gandhis American tour was itself a pointer to the partys willingness to do new things. It was essentially a tour of intellectual America by a man considered uniquely un-intellectual. Apparently he made efforts to catch up. Early photographs showed him in Silicon Valley flanked by IT wizard Sam Pitroda, author-diplomat Shashi Tharoor and savvy Mumbaikar Milind Deoraall practitioners of the Kalam art of igniting minds.
Whether it was their influence, or the bracing holiday weather of California, or the compulsions imposed by Modis relentless march, Rahul Gandhi rose to unexpected heights, impressing university crowds that are usually hard to impress. The key tactic was to compliment the enemy where necessary and to acknowledge mistakes on his own side. He praised Modis communication skills and also his Make In India programme. The focus of this policy, he said thoughtfully, should be on small and medium businesses which do not get access to finance and the legal system. If this was done, Make In India would be a powerful idea, said Rahul. Frank, balanced, informed.
He was just as frank when he said that the Congress party had developed a certain amount of arrogance at one time, that some concepts of UPA-2 had use-by date ten years old. The only off-colour remark was that dynasty is the way India runs. Thats not the way India runs right now. And its fatuous to compare private industrial dynasties with contrived political dynasties. That slip-up apart, Rahuls American tour was a success. This was proved when Smriti Irani was scared into calling him a failed dynast.
However, Rahuls success in the US is unlikely to help him or the Congress. The big problem that makes rejuvenation hard for the Congress is the internal fight between the old generation and the young. This is a unique Indian problem.
In civilised democracies Presidents and Prime Ministers serve their term, then leave it to others. Obama is still young and active, but he is not manoeuvring to become President again.
In our country, Mulayam Singh and Mayawati still imagine that the nation needs them. Laloo Prasad, discredited and legally debarred from public office, is convinced that Bihar and India itself will be the poorer without his services.
Oommen Chandy, caught in a maze of scandals that brought humiliation to his party, insists on serving the people. Political leaders never see what others see.
In the Congress, Rahul Gandhi brought in some new faces. Some of them were miserable failures, like Arun Yadav in Madhya Pradesh. But some did well, like K.C. Venugopal who replaced Digvijay Singh as the in-charge in Karnataka. (Digvijay Singh and before him Gulam Nabi Azad had contributed mightily to the devaluation of the Congress in Karnataka because they became patron-saints of the States corrupt Congressmen.)
Rahul will be unable to move forward unless he takes a good chunk of the veterans with him. Veterans who still have clout must be in, like Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh. Those with poor track record must be sidelined, like Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan. State-wise, personalised adjustments, patiently canvassed and carefully implemented, can give the Congress a new look, essential for a new future.
Rahul Gandhi cannot bring this about. Sonia Gandhi can because the old guard is beholden to her. She can make them accept a restructuring by telling them that without the infusion of some new blood and new thinking, the Congress will sink. This is perhaps the only chance she will get. The gap between words and deeds under the BJP Governments dispensation, the many policy breakdowns of recent years and the economic dislocation that has become too serious for the government to hide have created a situation where the BJP is no longer the unstoppable force it seemed at first. By uniting the old guard and the younger leaders who have proved themselves, Sonia Gandhi can make history in 2019. This is her moment.
Lifestyle Led to criticism
Emily Ratajkowski courted controversy after she uploaded some very revealing photos of herself on Instagram on a trip to Marrakesh in Morocco.
Merci Marrakech, you are amazing Publication shared by Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) el 9 de Oct de 2017 a la(s) 4:25 PDT
The model took the pictures at the Mamounia Marrakech hotel, were she was staying, and where clients are asked to respect an 'elegant dress code which is required in all areas'.
Ratajkowski was inundated with messages of criticism and she clarified that the photos were taken in the confines of her hotel room where she was able to wear what she wanted.
DECATUR A 17-year-old faces charges in the shooting death of a 2-year-old Decatur boy Saturday morning on the citys north side.
Police did not provide information about how the child came to be shot. The incident took place in the 1400 block of East Wellington Way at 8:40 a.m., where police were dispatched in response to a report of an injured child, Sgt. Steven Carroll said in a statement.
The boy was taken to Decatur Memorial Hospital by ambulance, where Macon County Coroner Michael Day said he later died at 9:35 a.m. The cause of death appeared to be a single gunshot wound.
Police said they would not release more information Saturday.
The 17-year-old was taken to police headquarters and interviewed. He was then arrested for his role in the death of the 2-year-old, Carroll said. He was taken to Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center. Carroll said he was charged with homicide, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Day said the child's identity was being withheld until family members were notified. An inquest is pending.
Less than 12 hours later, children were zipping down East Wellington Way on bicycles, and playing on the jungle gym on an unseasonably warm day.
But residents of the apartment complexes that line the street off East Mound Road say the quiet family-oriented street can be a frequent host to gun violence and domestic disturbances.
"So much stuff happens out here that we don't know nothing about because we stay to ourselves," said Mary Dear, a nearby resident.
Other residents declined to give their names to the Herald & Review, but cited several recent shootings in the area and growing concerns over what feels like a rise in violent incidents.
"That is terrible for a 2-year-old to get shot the way he did. Somebody's got to do something. Everybody needs to get together and protest about these guns because it's ridiculous," Dear said.
This is the sixth homicide in Decatur in 2017.
Police have made arrests in three homicides this year and have said they continued to seek suspects in others, including the shooting death of 21-year-old man Andrian T. Chatman on Sept. 26. Police found Chatman dead in the 800 block of West Decatur Street shortly after midnight.
Police arrested three suspects in the murder of 22-year-old Zachary Hubbartt of Windsor, who had been found shot to death in the 1200 block of East Condit Street on Aug. 27. Jason A. White and Ryan D. Waters face preliminary charges of first-degree murder, and Autumn D. Billings, faces a preliminary charge of obstructing justice.
Demesheo M. Lovelace died after being gunned down in Greenwood Cemetery on July 2. The three suspects in the crime are Darelle Fox, 31, his brother Joseph Fox, 27, and Shawn Eubanks, 25. They were arrested a week later and jailed on preliminary first-degree murder charges.
Duan L. Lewis, a 23-year-old Decatur man, was arrested March 29 and faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of a 5-month-old girl. The girl died March 28 after suffering injuries "consistent with shaken baby syndrome" on March 23.
James M. Basse, 40, of Decatur, was found in the 1400 block of East Wood Street on Sept. 15 dead of multiple gunshot wounds.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to remove a reference to a Decatur man whose death police say appeared to result from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
DECATUR Decatur had 2,050 traffic wrecks during the first nine months of 2017 and an increasing number of collisions for each of the past four years, traffic data shows. The intersection most prone to crashes annually was North Monroe Street and West Pershing Road, the data shows.
Decatur police say they're taking proactive steps to curb speeding and other bad traffic behavior, but they can't pump the brakes fast enough for residents who are tired of increasingly reckless behavior and the trouble it causes.
I would say your main reasons are speed, disobeying traffic signals and failure to yield, said Decatur police Sgt. Steve Hagemeyer, the department's DUI coordinator and a third shift patrol supervisor.
The Herald & Review asked the Decatur Police Department for a list of five intersections that have the most traffic crashes of all kinds. The data, which reflects any incident in which police responded, shows more than 250 accidents at the five intersections from 2013 to 2016, the most recent period for which complete information is available.
The data set shows most of the crashes were clustered around the busy Pershing Road corridor over the three-year period, including 53 at the intersection with North Monroe Street, four of which were serious. On East Pershing Road, 52 crashes were at the corner with North Water Street and 51 at North 22nd Street, according to the police data.
Also at the top of the list are 51 crashes at North Water Street and East Mound Road and 50 wrecks at East Eldorado Street and North 22nd Street.
Eighty-five injuries were a result of the crashes, the data shows.
Decatur's crash total for the total through September sat above 2,050. Keeping up that pace would place the full year total around 2,733. That's slightly below the nearly 3,000 crashes reported in 2016, but close to the number reported in 2014.
While larger cities sometimes report dozens of crashes a day, the Decatur numbers are a cause for concern among local officials. Hagemeyer said the department tries to be proactive about enforcing traffic law.
Traffic (officers) will typically patrol high accident-type areas, where its common knowledge that cars usually speed in those areas, he said. Like around St. Teresa (High School on North Water Street). If you have that much room to drive, theyll always pay attention to that area.
All of the top five intersections are four-way stops, have multiple lanes and are flanked by businesses ranging from fast-food restaurants to gas stations. Traffic from Illinois 121 comes onto West Pershing, and U.S. 51 Business goes through North Water. Speed limits on the streets vary from 35 to 40 mph.
Dustin Rynders is a manager at CVS Pharmacy, 2990 North Monroe St. He said an accident took place at the Pershing and Monroe intersection last week. The accident was minor, he said, and the drivers involved pulled their vehicles in the store's parking lot to call the police.
Hagemeyer said most of the accidents that happen at the five intersections are usually fender-benders or other minor collisions. In the past four years, only four crashes at Pershing and Monroe were considered serious by police.
Rynders doesn't think the amount of accidents that happen near his store will hurt its business.
"We've got a lot of customers that come through here to pick up prescriptions," he said. "I don't think it'll affect us too much."
An increasing amount of traffic accidents have happened within Illinois for the past four years, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. State records show that 296,049 crashes were recorded in 2014. In 2015, that number jumped to 313,316.
To help officers monitor certain problem areas in Decatur, Hagemeyer said concerned citizens are also important to their enforcement methods.
If a citizen complains, officers will spend extra time there, he said.
'That's OK with me'
While the top five intersections pose clear traffic concerns, residents across the city say there are plenty of others. The Herald & Review received 198 answers to a recent question on Facebook about problem traffic areas, with readers mentioning more than 50 different locations.
Laura Brown has seen her fair share of car accidents and near-misses at the intersection of West Mound Road and North Taylor Avenue, a two-way intersection near Casey's General Store, 1525 W. Mound Road. Taylor has two stop signs on both sides that connect with Mound.
The 54-year-old Decatur resident has lived in that area since she was young. Some drivers tend to speed through both roadways, Brown said, which has led to several collisions at any time of the day with other vehicles or with property.
She recalls times where her father helped pull crashed cars out of ditches along Taylor. Once, a vehicle lost control and crashed into a tree outside of her parent's home.
Thank God there was a tree there, because they probably would have ended up inside of the house, Brown said.
At the intersections of North Wilder Avenue with both West Packard and Marietta streets on Decatur's west side, Shaneek Freemon said she's seen two accidents caused by drivers who went through with no regard to right-of-way rules.
While there are no yield signs at either of the intersections, Freemon, 36, said she's surprised that so many people are unwilling to obey even the most basic of traffic laws.
They must not have taken drivers ed classes before, she said.
Hagemeyer said it's important for police to hear the concerns of people like Brown and Freemon, because it gives officers a better understanding of areas that may be hotspots for accidents away from Decatur's busiest streets.
People will see that we're out there paying attention and responding to what the issue is, he said. By being a little more proactive, we can get some to stop before its too late.
Brown said making the Mound and Taylor intersection a four-way stop would make her neighborhood much safer. Residents can request the Decatur Traffic Commission to install stop signs at certain junctures by submitting an informal petition to the city traffic engineer.
According to the city of Decatur's public works website, a formal traffic study must be performed at the intersection in question. The traffic engineer will present the information gathered from the study to the traffic commission, which will make a formal recommendation about the stop signs to the city council.
Brown also said that she wouldn't mind a larger police presence at the intersection.
Anytime they want to park on my lot when the corns not up to catch speeders, thats OK with me, she said.
Patrolling the city
Hagemeyer said traffic officers have to split their time between monitoring street activity and responding to any other situation in Decatur that would require their assistance.
In its monthly report to the city council, the police department said it had 137 authorized patrol officers during the month of September. Those officers handled 4,576 calls for service last month, and reported 221 traffic accidents.
Patrol officers will try to set aside time to measure speeds in problem areas, Hagemeyer said, but that ultimately depends on both the number of units on the streets and what else is happening in the city on any given day.
We have to answer our calls for service, he said. Thats equally as important, so, we do what we can.
For about a year, police Officer Austin Lewis has worked as a second-shift traffic officer. He regularly patrols District 10, which encompasses the area between North Monroe Avenue and North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Decatur has 11 patrol districts, he said.
District 10 is a big area, and there are a lot of accidents in it, Lewis said. To keep the city safer, weve got to figure out what people were on, or how they were driving, and try to pinpoint these things so they dont happen again.
During his shift, Lewis moves from accident to accident, filling out reports and issuing citations for traffic offenses. He said citations are key in traffic enforcement because the financial responsibility they bring usually keeps people from doing the same thing again.
However, Lewis said, thats not always the case.
Some people just have this mentality where they think they can do whatever they want, he said.
Lewis agrees with Hagemeyer about the importance of reminding all citizens that they are active within the community. Whether hes patrolling his district, or monitoring a construction site that people are reportedly driving through, he knows that police presence is vital when it comes to traffic enforcement.
Car accidents are going to happen regardless, but Hagemeyer said many can be prevented if officers remain vigilant and drivers remain aware.
If (drivers) see a police car, theyre going to remember where the police car is, he said. Theyll think, Im going to slow down. Just by seeing the police cars out in high visibility ways, thats going to help some of the problem.
Editors note: This is the first of a two-part series about the Macon County Beltway. Come back Monday to learn about the timeline for beltway construction and quest for funding.
DECATUR The upcoming start of construction on a piece of the Macon County Beltway has galvanized opponents of the project, a long-awaited road that would carry traffic around the citys east side.
The proposed beltway is a 22-mile stretch of road that advocates say would help develop Decaturs potential as a transportation hub. Nearby landowners and farmers, some of whom previously saw the project as theoretical, worry it will bring unwanted noise, safety issues and declining property values.
We didnt move out here to hear trucks clanging and banging up and down the road all day, said Ron Patrick, who lives on Reas Bridge Road. Now we may have to look at starting all over somewhere else, and we dont really appreciate that.
County leaders recently approved the first tangible step, a $10 million project to redevelop an area on the citys northeast side that will serve as the beltways starting point. Work could start as early as next spring near the intersection of Brush College Road and Illinois 48.
The whole beltway would cost an estimated $220 million. City and county leaders are lobbying in earnest for federal money that will be the linchpin of the project.
For now, they are focused on the first segment of the beltway, a $140 million project that would create 6.2 miles of four-lane road between Illinois 48 near Interstate 72 and Illinois 105, or William Street Road. The road would closely follow Reas Bridge Road and Prairie View Road before connecting with Illinois 105 east of the Decatur Airport.
Community leaders since the completion of Interstate 72 decades ago have entertained the idea of a beltway around the city to spur economic development.
"It's an idea that's been around for 20-some years, Paul McChancy, then-director of the county planning and zoning department, told the Herald & Review in 1997.
The Macon County Board commissioned a feasibility study on developing a four-lane beltway on the south and eastern part of Decatur in 1997. What followed was a yearslong parade of discussions, town halls and studies about whether to build a road, where to put it and how to pay for it.
Similar themes run through every public discussion of the project: Nearby residents worry that the development will encroach on their property. More than 100 of them signed a petition in protest in 2003. I don't feel there's that much need for (the beltway) now, one of the residents, Emmett Sefton, told the Herald & Review at the time.
Meanwhile, advocates consistently trumpet the need to open up access to industry and ease access for trucks carrying goods to and from the city.
"The important part of the project is it would supply much-needed access to the industrial area from the east and south," Craig Coil, then-president of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County, also told the Herald & Review in 2003.
The economic landscape of the city has changed dramatically in the past 14 years, but reasons for the beltway push have not.
We know without a doubt that transportation infrastructure makes a difference in economic development, both in business retention and expansion and also in business attraction,said Ryan McCrady, the current president of the development corporation. I think theres no doubt that having good infrastructure like this project is helpful.
McCrady cited a recent survey of company CEOs by Area Development Magazine, which said highway accessibility was the second-most appealing factor when businesses decide where to locate or expand.
Multi-lane beltways have been used for similar economic development purposes in places like Lincoln, Nebraska, Nashville, Tennessee and outside Pittsburgh.
In the Metro East, there has been an ongoing conversation about a contentious plan to build a beltway in Madison and St. Clair counties, providing a thoroughfare around the St. Louis region.
New opposition emerges
With the county set to break ground on the first piece of the beltway, the trickle of opposition to the project has grown closer to a tide. It includes the Macon County Farm Bureau, which came out against the plans in August in a move that city and county leaders said took them by surprise.
Valuable farmground could be lost in the construction, Executive Vice President Tim Stock said. Moreover, he said the beltway could hurt the Farm Progress Show, the biennial tradeshow that brings in more than 100,000 visitors from across the world to Macon County.
Speaking Thursday, Stock said the bureau members are slated to meet later this month with officials including Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, City Manager Tim Gleason, county board Chairman Jay Dunn, county highway Engineer Bruce Bird and others.
Our members have asked that we speak out on this, because it affects their livelihood, Stock said. We just want to be able to have a seat at the table.
Stock said the bureau is not opposed to the concept of an eastern beltway if plans changed so that it did not hurt Farm Progress or local farmers.
If there are ways where we can leave farmground intact and maybe still have this beltway, then by all means, thats a win-win in both cases, Stock said.
As planned, the road would separate the field where suppliers demonstrate their farm equipment from the rest of the show site near Richland Community College.
Before this years event, show Director Matt Jungmann echoed Stocks concerns about the projects impact on the show. He said the beltway cuts the show in half and would impact the field demonstrations he called critical to the show. He said at the time that he hoped a meeting scheduled after the show with local leaders could clear up any uncertainty about the project and its impact on the show.
Bird said there has been several meetings with Jungmann and other members of Farm Progress, including one last week in Springfield that included representatives of the Federal Highway Administration. Bird said the situation is still fluid and there are some options to move forward, which could include alternate routes that would not affect the show and still receive federal approval.
The Farm Progress Show has made its home at the Progress City USA event site in the northeastern part of Decatur every other year since 2005. Per a 2004 agreement, the show will continue to alternate between Decatur and Boone, Iowa until at least 2024.
In an email, Jungmann declined further comment on the beltway or ongoing discussions.
Local concern
When he moved to his home on Reas Bridge Road two decades ago, Patrick felt he and his wife had found the perfect place to spend the rest of their days.
Patrick has spent years remodeling and expanding his home and landscaping multiple acres of land, which is tucked away a few miles east of Richland Community College. With the thought of a busy, four-lane road just outside his front yard, he wonders whether his dream home has become a place of sunken cost and time.
We moved out here because we wanted to be out of the way, Patrick said.
Aside from possible noise and traffic, he worries officials are not being upfront about how the road could affect the property and lives of those who live along the roads path.
Bill Voorhees, who farms 60 acres of land just north of the Farm Progress Show, did not realize until this summer that the beltway would cut right through his farmland.
The Maroa farmer bought the land at an auction about six years ago, adding it to 2,500 acres he already farms in the northern part of the county and using it as part of the field demonstrations during the Farm Progress Show.
While he was aware of talks about the beltway, Voorhees did not realize how it would affect his property until a July meeting with Bird and other farmers. The road would split his land into triangles too small for Voorhees to access with his farm equipment, he said.
Crossing any highway is dangerous as it is with big farm equipment, he said. And this just looks like a cluster that Im not ready to deal with.
It would not be the first time the Voorhees family has had to deal with a beltway.
For decades, Voorhees said his family lived and farmed in New Jersey. They remained there even after the government built an interstate smack in the middle of their land in the 1950s, but when a beltway project started construction on their farm in the 1980s, Voorhees said his family left the East Coast and settled in Central Illinois to continue farming.
We moved here because we thought Illinois would be more farmer-friendly, but I guess not, he said.
Unlike Voorhees, David Brix is only set to lose a small corner of farmland. The problem for the Decatur farmer is the beltway is set to be right in front of his house on Garver Church Rd.
The idea of having heavy truck traffic rattle around near his house is not a pleasant thought.
I really do not want to listen to it, he said.
Clearing misconceptions
Bird, the county highway engineer, said some concerns about the beltway are rooted in misconceptions he hoped to clear up.
Some people picture the road as structured like an interstate or freeway, with higher speed limits and on-ramps and exit ramps for those who live near the road. Bird said that would not be the case.
People will still be able to get out of their driveways and get right back onto the road, and their services (garbage, mail) will not be changed, Bird said, adding that speed limits will not increase. Were also not going to be relocating anyone to build this.
The project does widen some existing roads in the north and eastern parts of the beltway to four lanes and creates some additional roadway, he said.
Critics also ask why officials would spend time and money creating new roads, rather than improving existing infrastructure.
Bird said he would happily use millions of federal dollars to do just that, but there is almost no chance of receiving federal money unless it is tied to a larger project. He also noted that 65 percent of the tentative beltway path would use existing infrastructure.
In addition to the economic benefits, Bird said the beltway would also relieve traffic stress in residential areas of the city by moving trucks to the edge. Drivers driving into the city from the south and east often clog up major roads like U.S. 36 and Illinois 121, or take narrow roads like Lake Shore Drive to cut across town.
Lessening heavy truck traffic on those roads would create fewer headaches for drivers and reduce stress on the pavement, he said.
Bird stressed he does not want people to think that city and county officials are attempting to do anything in secret. He urged anyone with questions to contact his office at (217) 424-1404 for more information.
We want to be transparent. If you want to talk to someone or get a detailed look at the map, then were happy to help, he said. Please, just give us a call if you have any concerns.
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PIGEON Voters Not Politicians, a non-partisan ballot committee, is seeking to put before voters a proposal to end gerrymandering in Michigan.
As part of a statewide series of public meetings, the gatherings are an opportunity for voters to learn about gerrymandering and discuss a proposed redistricting reform amendment to the Michigan State Constitution.
When Democrats struck a tentative deal last month with the president to protect dreamers from deportations, they were skeptical it would turn into anything real.
That skepticism was well founded. Either President Donald Trump has changed his mind about shielding from deportation thousands of young immigrants in the country illegally, or he never really wanted to in the first place. We know this because late Sunday, the administration released a wish list of immigration principles it wants in any deal. No. 1 is funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Except, the wall is a manifestation of everything Democrats despise about Trump and his hard-line immigration stances, simplistic policy ideas and identity-focused politics. Basically, it's a total nonstarter for Democrats and their base. Trump knows this well.
He's spent the better part of this year pushing his wall right up to the edge of negotiations with Congress, only to back off at the last minute because of Democrats. In April, Congress was up against a deadline to keep the government open. Trump wanted Congress to make a down payment to build his border wall. Senate Democrats threatened to filibuster any spending bill that funded a dime for it, which would effectively force the government to shut down on Republicans' watch. Trump backed off.
The exact same scene played out in September's budget negotiations: Trump demanded wall funding. Democrats threatened to walk away. Trump backed off.
"The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017"
Congressional leaders haven't ruled out that Trump will ask for wall funding in December, when it's time to pass yet another spending bill. They have no idea how serious he'll be about fighting for it, but it's a threat they have to take seriously because it's one of the policy issues that could cause a government shutdown. And now, Trump is pulling out his wall card for this deal to give dreamers deportation protections that he, himself, is removing.
"The administration can't 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," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a joint statement Sunday evening, referring to the wish list.
Trump could be derailing a deal to protect dreamers for a wall that he hasn't, to date, been serious about getting built. He's not even pretending anymore that Mexico will pay for it. He's backed off every opportunity he's had to force Congress to include money for it. And he waffled on whether the wall was even seriously discussed when he and top Democrats announced their late-night September deal to protect dreamers.
Democratic leaders left the White House that Sunday night sure that a wall wasn't part of any deal. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders then said it was. Trump said the wall would come later. Then he said, "If there's not a wall, we're doing nothing."
"While DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to.
- Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 14, 2017"
The whole deal devolved into murkiness that raised Democrats' suspicions they weren't going to have a trustworthy negotiator on the other end of the table. Sure enough, there haven't been any significant developments on a dreamer deal since then - until Sunday, a development that could very well end the deal.
The thing is, Trump has very few friends in Washington who want to help him build this wall. Mainstream Republicans don't like the wall, either. Some of the more hard-line members of the party like the idea, but nearly every border Republican is opposed. They argue that money could be better spent on more technologically advanced border security tools.
Plus, using untold billions of dollars for building a wall along 1,900 miles of mostly desert - without a check from Mexico - would be a fiscally irresponsible thing to do for the party that thinks it's the fiscally responsible one.
House Republicans voted through a $1.6 billion down payment this summer, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., put out a flashy video championing it. But they did all of this knowing the wall was dead on arrival in the Senate and that they wouldn't be forced to actually write that check.
It's hard to overstate what a barrier Trump's border wall has been for getting things done in Washington. It's just as difficult to discern whether he's serious about getting Congress to approve the wall. But by even bringing up the wall as part of a deal with Democrats, it's pretty clear he doesn't want to make one.
---
The Trump administration released a list of hard-line immigration principles Oct. 8, which could threaten to derail a deal in Congress to protect "dreamers" from deportation. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
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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...
Alpha Diallo
ANN ARBOR, MI - A 41-year-old Columbus, Ohio man accused of causing a fatal crash while distracted by a Facebook quiz on his smartphone was found guilty on six counts Friday, Oct. 13.
After a four-day trial, a jury found Alpha Oumar Diallo guilty of three felonies and three misdemeanors of the original nine counts he faced.
The jury - made up of 10 men and two women - found Diallo not guilty on one count of operating while intoxicated causing death and two counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brenda Taylor argued Diallo was under the influence of oxycodone and impaired when he crashed his semi truck into stopped traffic on U.S. 23, killing one and seriously injuring two July 8, 2015.
Authorities found evidence of the painkiller in his blood after the crash, according to Taylor. Attorneys argued about the effect the 9 nanograms of oxycodone had on Diallo's driving.
While the jury didn't convict on those charges, they did find Diallo guilty of reckless driving causing death and two counts of reckless driving causing serious impairment of bodily function.
A forensic search of Diallo's cellphone showed he had opened his Facebook app and clicked on a quiz entitled, "What Country in the World Best Fits Your Personality" just seconds before the crash, according to Taylor.
A witness testified Diallo didn't brake before slamming into a white Toyota Corolla, killing the passenger, 83-year-old Edyth Ellsworth, and seriously injuring the driver, Ellsworth's daughter, Carolyn Darnielle.
Diallo, driving an empty Kroger semi truck, also hit a black Chevy Impala, seriously injuring Kenneth Revoir. His wife was also injured in the crash.
Taylor argued that the pain pills combined with the phone distraction caused the crash.
"He was not at all attentive as to what was happening in front of his 30,000-pound vehicle," she said.
Reckless driving causing death is punishable by 15 years in prison.
The jury also found Diallo guilty of three similar misdemeanors.
Diallo took the stand Friday morning, telling jurors how he escaped war-torn Sierra Leone in the 1990s and came to America, where he became a cab driver before getting his truck driver certification in 2007.
Diallo said he didn't recall taking the Facebook quiz, though he did admit to taking one pain pill around 9 p.m. July 7, 2015 after he finished fasting for Ramadan.
Diallo testified he suffers from sickle cell anemia, which causes "shooting pain" all over his body from time to time. A doctor prescribes him the oxycodone for this condition.
He picked up his truck's load from Delaware, Ohio, unloading it in Jackson and White Lake, he testified. He was headed to Columbus, Ohio from White Lake on southbound U.S. 23, just after noon the next day when the crash occurred in York Township near Willis Road, according to testimony.
Diallo confessed he was speeding, having set his cruise control for 65 mph when the limit for trucks then was 60 mph. He attempted to pass another semi truck and didn't notice that traffic had backed up as a result of construction, according to testimony.
Diallo said he didn't see the cars he hit until the very last second. He broke down in tears on the stand while recounting the story.
"I would never, ever get my CDL license in the first place," he said. "I wish you met me before the accident. I wish I could take this back."
Diallo's attorney, Michael Rex, argued that the crash was a tragic accident.
Closing statements from the attorneys wrapped up around noon Friday. The jury had a verdict just after 4 p.m.
Diallo is set to be sentenced Dec. 6. He remains free on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.
YPSILANTI, MI - Michigan girls and women showed up in blue shirts and red bandanas to smash the world record of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter.
On Saturday, Oct. 14 3,755 girls and women dressed as Rosie at the Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center.
It's a new world record by more than 1,500 people.
The youngest was six months old and the oldest was 110.
Michigan held the world record for a year after 2,090 women and girls of all ages gathered at the former Willow Run bomber plant near Ypsilanti in 2015.
But in 2016, 2,229 Rosies gathered in California to set a new record.
Rosie the Riveter was a patriotic symbol pictured in a poster of a women wearing a bandanna and flexing her muscles under the slogan: "We can do it!"
The character was inspired by Michigan native Rose Will Monroe, one of thousands of women who worked at the Willow Run plant producing B-24 bombers during World War II.
PINCKNEY, MI - The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued a violation notice on Friday, Oct. 13, to Rover Pipeline for discharging water containing petroleum into wetlands near Pinckney.
Rover Pipeline LLC - which is building a 713-mile gas pipeline that ends in Livingston County - has until Wednesday, Oct. 18, to submit a response stating how the company intends to resolve multiple issues identified by the DEQ.
Rover Pipeline's media relations department did not respond to a request for comment on the situation Friday.
The DEQ began investigating the water runoff - near the northern crossing of Dexter-Townhall Road - in response to complaints made by area residents who discovered a dewatering enclosure related to the pipeline project was spilling water into the wetlands near the Portage River and Silver Lake.
Residents first observed the leak on Tuesday, Oct. 10, according to the Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline citizen group. On Wednesday, residents noticed the water had the smell of gasoline and alerted the DEQ.
A representative from the DEQ visited the site Wednesday evening, and then Rebecca Taylor, from the DEQ's Remediation and Redevelopment Division, returned to the site on Thursday to test the water, according to Taylor's field notes. Taylor also spoke with the environmental coordinator for Precision Pipeline, a construction company working on the Rover Pipeline project, which was developed by Energy Transfer.
Taylor smelled gasoline in the water, and she determined the source was a nearby former gas station on Cedar Drive, according to the DEQ's violation notice and Taylor's records.
"The contaminated groundwater is being captured through the dewatering process, which is being employed for the pipeline installation and is being discharged to the wetland," the DEQ notice states. "Regardless of the potential source, the presence of odor and sheen indicates a discharge of petroleum-contaminated water from the dewatering activities being conducted on site."
Due to the petroleum contamination, the company needs to apply for a special permit and to treat the water prior to discharging it, according to the DEQ violation notice.
Also, the water withdrawal system should be registered with the DEQ prior to operating because it has the capacity to pump more than 100,000 gallons a day - or 70 gallons per minute for a pump running continuously, the DEQ said. Taylor's notes from her site visit say the water was coming in at over 100 gallons per minute.
"Finally, Rover's dewatering activities may be exacerbating the spread of contaminated groundwater," the DEQ violation notice states.
To remedy the situation, the DEQ asked Rover Pipeline LLC to cease any unauthorized discharges, submit an application for the proper permit and register the water withdrawal.
Matthew Borke, a local resident and member of the citizens group against the Rover Pipeline, was initially frustrated with the response time to the spill.
"There is no movement to contain [the spill], no movement to stop it," Borke said in a press release issued by the Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline on Thursday. "There was barely any movement to even study it. No one showed up with a test kit until more than 24 hours [after it was reported] as they continued to pump the fluids into the stream."
Borke could not immediately be reached for comment after the DEQ issued the violation notice on Friday to Rover Pipeline.
ALLEN PARK, MI - He did not successfully steal the car, or evade witnesses, police, and the prosecutor.
Earl Joseph Larche
Earl Joseph Larche, whose efforts to take a vehicle Thursday were thwarted by the owner and a tanker truck driver, was expected to be arraigned Saturday, Oct. 14, on a charge of carjacking, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office reported.
Police arrested Larche, 37, of Allen Park on Friday, a little more than 24 hours after authorities released security footage of Larche getting into a car while the driver was pumping gas after 2 p.m. Oct. 12 at a BP station on Southfield Road, south of Detroit.
"Without the public's assistance, the suspect would not have been apprehended so quickly," Allen Park police reported in a statement posted on Facebook. The department received tips and phone calls that led to Larche's identification. He was taken into custody in Detroit.
His actions were caught vividly on surveillance videos.
The woman jumped in the passenger side of the vehicle and fought with the would-be thief. She managed to put the sedan in park, according to police. Meanwhile, the tanker truck driver ran to the driver's door and tried to apprehend the man.
The two managed to stop the car from leaving the station, according to the prosecutor's office, but Larche pulled away during a struggle.
He somehow slipped out of two sweatshirts, left at the scene, and ran, police reported.
The woman was not harmed and Larche did not use a weapon.
Carjacking is punishable by up to life in prison. A habitual offender, Larche is being held on a $15,000 bond.
DETROIT, MI - Four female Detroit Free Press employees, two photographers, an editor and a designer, contend they have systematically received lower pay than their similarly situated male peers.
A lawsuit filed Friday, Oct. 13, alleges the newspaper and its owner, Gannett Co., violated the federal Equal Pay Act and the state civil rights law, which bars gender discrimination, by disparately compensating women while they do equal work with the same skills as comparable men.
"The differential... was not due to seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex, but was due to gender," states the document, posted online by WXYZ-TV, Channel 7.
It was filed by Deborah Gordon, a prominent Bloomfield Hills civil rights lawyer, on behalf of Kathleen Galligan, a photographer; Mary Schroeder, photo editor; designer Rose Ann McKean; and Regina Boone, a photographer laid off in 2016.
The lawsuit cites a study compiled by the Newspaper Guild of Detroit, the union representing employees, showing the male median wage at the newspaper was higher than the female median wage in almost every analyzed category.
Gannett and the Free Press, when the Guild shared this information, were "uninterested in resolving the pay disparities," the women contend.
"The Detroit Free Press -- which has a longstanding commitment to supporting equal employment opportunities for all employees -- believes the claims asserted have no merit," Editor and Vice President Peter Bhatia said.
According to the lawsuit and the study, posted online, male photographers earn a median hourly wage $4.04 more than the median wage for women photographers. Male assistant editors earn a median wage $7.62 per hour more than the median wage for female assistant editors.
The report relied on data from 2013 to 2015. It found men make a median wage of $37.56 per hour while women earn a median pay of $35.25 per hour in a newsroom that is 60 percent male.
Amounts paid to employees beyond union-negotiated minimums are decided by Gannett and the Free Press.
The women are demanding an unspecified award for damages and court orders prohibiting further acts of wrongdoing or retaliation and policy changes in determining pay and evaluating performance.
All four of the women filing suit are or have been longtime employees with lists of awards.
Schroeder began working for the Free Press as an intern in 1979, became a full-time photographer and took an iconic picture of victorious Detroit Tiger Kirk Gibson at the 1984 World Series.
McKean has been in various positions with the newspaper since 1981. Galligan won Emmy's in 2006 and 2009 for her photography and videography and a picture Boone took of a child while chronicling the Flint water crisis was featured on the cover of Time Magazine.
Their performances were always "satisfactory or better," the lawsuit states.
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Transmission and equipment company Adani Transmission rallied for 12th straight day as the stock price zoomed 67 percent from Rs 127 since September 26, hiiting a fresh 52-week high of Rs 223.85 on the NSE and a new 52-week high of 223.35 per share on the BSE on October 13, 2017.
Reliance Infrastructure on On October 10, 2017, said in a BSE filing that the company has entered into a period of exclusivity until January 15, 2018 in relation to discussions for the proposed sale of its integrated business of generation, transmission and distribution of power for Mumbai city to Adani Transmission. If agreed to, it will be Adani transmission's third significant purchase in less than two years.
Analysts peg the valuation of Mumbai power business (which is having a sales turnover of about Rs 6,000 crore) at an enterprise value of around Rs 10,000- 13,000 crore. Reliance Infrastructure announced that the company has entered into discussions with the Adani Transmission for the proposed sale of Mumbai electricity assets comprising the 500 MW power plant at Dahanu near Mumbai and power distribution assets. In Mumbai the company distributes about 1800 MW of power to close to 30 lakh customers.
Since these assets are fairly old and established the component of debt is expected to be less. The consolidated debt of Reliance Infrastructure stood at Rs 26,556 crore whereas the standalone debt is merely Rs 16,321 crore. The deal, if it goes through, would not only reduce the significant amount of debt but it will also release a significant amount of equity, which could possibly be used as growth capital for some of its other focused businesses like defence and EPC construction business.
The projections should comfort investors. Also, the Mumbai distribution business works on a regulated business model. It offers a growth opportunity. If the company reduces transmission losses and expands its customer base, it stands to gain.
However, rating agencies, the likes of ICRA said that further project acquisitions can have a bearing on Adani Transmissions ratings when a year ago the company announced the acquisition of Reliance Infrastructures transmission line assets leading to reduction in financial headroom.
Research and broking firm Edelweiss Financial Services expects that as Adani Transmission integrates recent acquisitions, it expects the company to generate strong cash flows, which should support acquisitions. "With existing assets generating Rs1,000 crore free cash flow per annum, Adani Transmission is positioned to satiate its growth and M&A appetite. Moreover, potential to fund its aggressive growth plan at lower cost lends an edge," Edelweiss said in a note.
Global research firm Moody's Investors Service says that Adani Transmission Baa3 senior secured rating is not immediately affected by its announcement that it has entered into a period of exclusivity with Reliance Infra in relation to discussions for a proposed acquisition of certain power generation, transmission and distribution assets of Reliance.
Abhishek Tyagi, Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst said that the ultimate impact on Addani Transmission's credit profile would depend upon a number of factors, including the ultimate terms of any deal and potential impact on the company's financial profile and capital structure.
Adani Transmission closed at Rs 217.85, up Rs 5.10, or 2.40 percent. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 223.35 and 52-week low Rs 40.00 on 13October, 2017 and 09 November, 2016, respectively.
N Chandrababu Naidu | Andhra Pradesh | Total cases: 3 | Serious IPC: Nil
Andhra Pradesh government has tied up with Reliance Retail and Future Group to convert fair price shops under the Public Distribution System into 'Village Malls'.
Incidentally, Future Retail last year purchased the retail business of Heritage Foods in which Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's family has a stake.
Both Reliance and Future will now be partners in the 'Village Malls'.
In all, there are 29,000 fair price shops across the state of which 6,500 would be converted in the first phase and christened 'Anna' Village Malls after former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao.
The Chief Minister, at a high-level review meeting here today, directed the Civil Supplies Department to make the Anna Village Malls attractive and also design a special logo.
The state government, he said, would bear 25 percent of the establishment cost while another 25 percent would be provided as a loan to the dealers under the Centre's Mudra Yojana.
Products manufactured by women self-help groups and Girijan Cooperative Corporation would also be sold at the proposed malls along with the agriculture produce procured directly from farmers.
"The Anna Village Malls will enable anyone to sell their products," the Chief Minister added.
Interestingly, it was revealed during the review that as many 4,599 FPS dealerships were lying vacant in the state for the past several months.
Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
The Chief Minister directed the authorities to fill these vacancies soon.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Religare Finvest, the NBFC arm of listed holding firm Religare Enterprises, for the failure to comply with the directions/orders issued by RBI from time to time.
An inspection of the company was conducted under section 45N of the RBI Act, 1934 during September-October 2015. During the inspection, it was observed that the company has failed to comply with various directions/orders issued by RBI inter alia in respect of an assignment transaction, the central bank said in a statement on its website on Thursday.
The RBI had pulled up the NBFC (non-banking financial company) for outstanding loans of Rs 1,156 crore to entities which were given under the "influence of its promoters", flouting lending guidelines and corporate governance norms, as per reports.
The Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, the erstwhile promoters of pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories, are the promoters of Religare group, including Religare Enterprises.
Religare Finvest was issued a show cause notice (SCN) on November 7, 2016 for the purpose of imposing penalty. The companys response to the SCN was not found to be satisfactory, RBI said.
The company was also accorded a personal hearing by RBI on July 10, 2017.
After considering the entire facts of the case, the companys reply, and the submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI came to the conclusion that the violations as observed during the inspection were substantiated, which warranted an imposition of monetary penalty on the company. Accordingly, a penalty of Rs 20 lakh has been imposed on the company, RBI said.
Background
Earlier reports suggest that RBI had also questioned Religare Finvest's exposure in the loan-against-shares segment although the company did not have any board-approved policy to lend through this channel, some of RBI's communications to the NBFC revealed.
In its March 2016 letter, the banking regulator noted that Religare Finvest had unsecured loan exposure of Rs 1,156 crore under corporate loan book, which was "sanctioned only on the basis of vintage relationship without taking into account the financial fundamentals of the borrower."
The central bank said that sanctioning of such loans showed the "influence of promoters on the functioning of (Religare Finvest) and therefore not in line with corporate governance principles".
In January, the auditors of Religare Enterprises also highlighted in its report, the issues of creditworthiness and governance raised by RBI on the corporate loan book of Religare Finvest for the financial year 2014-15, aggregating Rs 1,845 crore.
Price Waterhouse highlighted in a report on Religare's results for the financial year ending March 2017, the directions from RBI in January over the corporate loan portfolio of Religare Finvest.
In early January, Religare Enterprises planned to merger several of its subsidiaries with itself, except Religare Finvest. In July 2016, the Singh brothers, who were not on the boards of Religare Enterprises for over six years, have come back as chairman and vice chairman of the company. Reportedly, the brothers are preparing to divest their stakes in several group companies. It already sold off its stakes in the domestic and global assets management businesses and also life insurance arm.
Further, last month, NCLT or the National Company Law Tribunal declined to grant a stay on a Religare Enterprises board resolution to invest Rs 500 crore in unit Religare Capital to enable the repayment of an Axis Bank loan. Citing irrational and fraudulent management of funds by Religare Enterprises, the stay and ouster of companys management was sought by Mauritius-based India Horizon Fund (IHF), supported by IDBI Trusteeship, representing a combined shareholding of 11 percent in Religare Enterprises.
NCLT has sought a response on these allegations from REL and Malvinder and Shivinder Singh within 4 weeks and the matter will be heard on November 7.
business Young Turks: Here's the success story of Greek yoghurt brand Epigamia On Young Turks watch two startups that have one thing in common - both are betting big on their first mover advantage - India's primary all natural Greek yoghurt brand Epigamia and catch the story of India's first industrial hemp startup Bombay Hemp Company.
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Banking sector this week kick-started with the financial results for the second quarter from July to September. While the insolvency process to resolve bad loans continued, banks are playing the hardball even as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) attempts to strengthen it further. The government also appointed senior executives in nine public sector banks.
The Reserve Bank of India also released the guidelines for interoperability of prepaid instruments including Wallets.
Few banks also announced some customer convenience offers and some laid out capital raising plans.
Heres the brief of what happened this week:
Bank Results
To begin with some results, IndusInd Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, South Indian Bank and Karnataka Bank posted their profit numbers for the second quarter ending September 2017.
While IndusInd Bank reported 25 percent rise in net profit in its September quarter at Rs 880 crore, it aims to double its microloan book from Rs 3,000 crore at present, with the Bharat Financial Inclusion merger likely.
Old private sector lender, Lakshmi Vilas Bank reported a 83 percent drop in net profit at Rs 11 crore due to rise in provisions towards NPAs. The bank is in a transformation phase to step-up its retail franchise.
Karnataka Banks net profit fell 25 percent while South Indian Bank posted a 96 percent drop in profits.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy
The IBBI has sought public comments on dealing with the insolvency process involving guarantors and individuals having businesses.
Banks are struggling to make headway in the insolvency proceedings amid non-cooperation from some promoters, even as they try to find buyers for the assets at the right value.
RBI rules for Prepaid instruments
In an attempt to promote interoperability in the usage of prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as mobile wallets, the banking regulator directed all financial companies to make know-your-customer or KYC-compliant PPIs interoperable within the next six months.
Also Read: Heres everything you need to know about PPIs
SBI cheque books
The cheque books of State Bank of Indias (SBI) former associate banks will be valid till December 31 after the earlier deadline of September 30 was extended.
Kotak Mahindra Bank announced festive offers on home loans, loan against property, working capital loans and business loans along with waiver of part of full processing charges.
Appointment in banks
Even as the senior-level placements for public sector banks are underway, the government has approved the appointment of nine executive directors.
Capital raising plans
ICICI Bank plans to raise USD 150 million overseas funds, while public sector lender Bank of Baroda plans to raise up to Rs 1,650 crore from additional tier-I (AT-1) bonds to fund business expansion.
Dena Bank raised Rs 401.26 crore by issuing equity shares through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route
Andhra Bank will also issue bonds on a private placement basis to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore.
Other banking news
In some other news, IDBI Bank employees along with the members of various bank unions would hold a two-day strike on October 24 and 25, demanding wage revision.
Disruptions arising from Demonetisation and GST (Goods and Services Tax) have further delayed the capex or capital expenditure by companies till FY20, according to a report by India Ratings and Research
20:39 A huge explosion from a truck bomb killed 20 people in Somalia's capital, police said today, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years, reports PTI.
The explosion appeared to target a hotel on a busy road in Hodan district and at least 15 people were injured, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. Security forces had been trailing the truck after it raised suspicions, he said.
issue as serious, a senior RSS leader said today that "outsiders" should not be allowed to stay in India beyond a specific period, and suggested that a policy be formed to deal with the
refugees.
More than a million Rohingya people have left Myanmar to escape the violence following military backlash against the Muslim minority after militants raided police posts on August 25. Many of the Rohingya refugees have come to India.
19:33 The National Company Law Tribunal has approved the withdrawal of merger deal between Reliance Communications and Aircel, as per a regulatory filing.
The order also approved withdrawal of demerger of tower business of Reliance Infratel to Towercom Infrastructure, the filing said.
19:04 A day before the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll result, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dissolved its units in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts.
18:28 Gauri Lankesh murder case: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder has released sketched of two suspects along with footage from the CCTV cameras installed near the journalist's house.
The 21-member team has released sketched based on information collected from witnesses, and the CCTV footage.
Lankesh was gunned down by unidentified assailants in front of her residence on September 5.
18:03 Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today his government ensures the schemes launched by it are implemented within a time limit, unlike in the past when projects were announced "during election time" and forgotten later.
Modi deplored "the thinking of many political leaders" that projects like roads were not meant for the poor. "We can not imagine the extent to which this mindset has damaged the country."
17:40 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said no power in the world can stop the government from resolving the Kashmir issue and hit out at Pakistan for its "impious" activities against India.
Singh said the NDA government has given a free hand to the Army to act against terrorists and give a befitting reply to any firing from across the border in Kashmir.
"I would like to say that nobody needs to be worried about Kashmir. No power in the world can stop us from resolving the issue," he said.
16:12 Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, including top commander Waseem Shah, were today killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
16:08 Targeting the BJP after its victory in Bhandup civic bypoll, the Shiv Sena today said power and money are being used to 'muzzle' opposition's voice and elections are being won through 'corrupt' means, reports PTI.
The US navy said yesterday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme. The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province. Read the full report here.
Adityanath also hailed the Gujarat model of development, which is often mocked by the Congress vice president. Participating in the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Valsad district, the saffron leader alleged that the Congress party
Participating in the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Valsad district, the saffron leader alleged that the Congress party has "insulted" Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the two tall leaders from Gujarat. "He is not a supporter of development, but a supporter of destruction. Rahul Gandhi has supported Ishrat Jahan, a terrorist who was killed by security forces here (in 2004)," Adityanath told a rally during the yatra.
North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said today, citing a government source.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tore into Rahul Gandhi, dubbing him and the Congress "anti-development" and supporters of "destruction".
11:45 Oil prices are poised to crash to just $10 per barrel over the next six to eight years as alternative energy fuels continue to attract more and more investors, Chris Watling, chief executive of Longview Economics, told CNBC on Friday.
When looking ahead to 2018, Watling acknowledged that a key catalyst for the oil market would most likely be Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of next year. And when he was asked about Saudi Arabia's state oil group being launched on the international stock market, he replied, "Well I think they need to get it away quick before oil goes to $10 (per barrel)." Read the full report here.
11:33 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's creaky blue Wagon R, which was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat two days ago, has been found abandoned in Ghaziabad, the police said today.
PM Narendra Modi arrives in Patna, received by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pic.twitter.com/D2HKVGkKD2
ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
The humble hatchback, Kejriwal drove around in his early political career and which helped cement his position as the "aam aadmi", was being used by an AAP functionary before it was stolen. Read the report here
10:49 Top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, Waseem Shah, believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir, was killed along with his accomplice in an encounter early this morning by the security forces in Pulwama district, police said.
Shah, 23, also known as 'Abu Osama Bhai' was killed at Litter area in Pulwama, a place considered to be a safe haven for militants. This is the first counter-insurgency operation in Litter area in four years. Read the report here
09:42 Congress president Sonia Gandhi today indicated that the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the party chief could be done "soon".
"Soon it will be done," she said, when asked by reporters repeatedly as to when Rahul Gandhi, who is at present the vice president of the party, will be elevated.
Read the full report here
09:40 Good Morning and welcome to the Moneycontrol News Live blog where we keep you updated with the day's happenings from India and around the world.
The IEA's latest monthly report was published amid optimistic forecasts from the major oil producer group OPEC, with the cartel arguing there was evidence of the global oil market rebalancing following several years of low prices
Sam Meredith
CNBC
Oil prices are poised to crash to just $10 per barrel over the next six to eight years as alternative energy fuels continue to attract more and more investors, Chris Watling, chief executive of Longview Economics, told CNBC on Friday.
When looking ahead to 2018, Watling acknowledged that a key catalyst for the oil market would most likely be Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of next year. And when he was asked about Saudi Arabia's state oil group being launched on the international stock market, he replied, "Well I think they need to get it away quick before oil goes to $10 (per barrel)."
While Watling explained that he did not necessarily expect such an intense decline in oil prices over the coming weeks or months, he did argue that over the long term "what happens with electric vehicles is really, really important" given that around 70 percent of oil is used for transportation.
"We forget don't we? I mean 120 years ago the world didn't live on oil. Oil hasn't always driven the global economy The point is alternative energy in some forms is gathering speed (and) things are changing," he added.
The Longview Economics CEO forecast the price of oil would ultimately slump to $10 a barrel over the next six to eight years.
OPEC optimistic oil market rebalancing
On Thursday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said the global outlook for oil markets in 2018 could put a dampener on hopes for higher prices. In its closely-watched report , the IEA said global stock builds, rising non-OPEC production and static oil demand could weigh on the oil price.
The IEA's latest monthly report was published amid optimistic forecasts from the major oil producer group OPEC, with the cartel arguing there was evidence of the global oil market rebalancing following several years of low prices.
The price of oil collapsed from almost $120 a barrel in June 2014 due to weak demand, a strong dollar and booming U.S. shale production. OPEC's reluctance to cut output was also seen as a key reason behind the fall. But, the oil cartel soon moved to curb production along with other oil producing nations in late 2016.
Brent crude traded at around $57.39 a barrel Friday morning, up 2 percent, while U.S. crude was around $51.50 a barrel, up 1.8 percent.
Do you fancy wearing a Sabyasachi sari this Diwali? Do you feel like pairing it up with a GUCCI clutch? That would cost you a minimum of Rs 3 lakh. What if you get it for half the price this festive season? No there isnt a sale happening around. The budget fashionistas are just embracing the idea of pre-owned luxury.
Enter Confidential Couture. Offering a wide range of coveted products from brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, etc, all of which comes with a guarantee on its authenticity, all products on the website are curated and priced on the basis of their condition.
The condition guide varies from never been used, gently used to a fairly used product. We gather products from various sources; be it a shopping spree in New York or an over-flowing wardrobe of a fashionista. Confidential Couture aims to simplify the concept of luxury by creating a loyal hub of buyers and sellers and making luxury affordable. People can get the next guaranteed authentic designer handbag at a great price or get a good deal for the last season's purchase, said Anvita Mehra, Founder, Confidential Couture.
To make the deal even better Confidential Couture also provide services like private viewing and handbag cleansing for their clients.
Cut to Stage3. Another platform with similar services and more Stage3 has a special section devoted to pre-owned fashion. Christened S3 shop, it acts as an omni channel marketplace where users can sell their gently worn designer outfits and monetize their wardrobe and buyers can get up to 80% off on a great selection of designer wear collection. In addition to this Stage3 also features a flash sales store where new designer sample pieces and excess inventories are sold.
If you get lucky S3 Shop also stocks new sample pieces and gently used outfits from well-known designers such as Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Ridhima Bhasin and RidhiMehra. A lot of these silhouettes have been worn by Indias leading celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Malaika Arora and Diana Penty, amongst many others, said Sanchit Baweja, co-founder and chief business officer at Stage3.
Stage 3 presently operates in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Ludhiana.
These two are however not the only players in the segment. Surging demand has led to more and more providers venturing into the category. There is another player Luxepolis with similar services offering options from brands like Omega, Prada, Cartier, Dior, Chiara Ferragni, Montblanc and others.
How it works
As a seller, one can just log on to these websites and fill a form with the products they wish to sell and its details so that their values can be determined.
"We require our customers to upload a minimum of 4 images of the item they wish to sell or consign. Within 3-5 business days after sending us the item information, they receive a custom price range in which their product fits in. We can get their products picked up personally from their desired location (Nationwide pick up service) or they can send it directly to us. The final price determination and product analysis along with the first round of authenticity checks are done in person by our experts after which a consignment contract is signed between Confidential Couture and the customers for a period of 3 months, said Mehra.
At Confidential Couture before the product can be listed on the website, the product goes through examination by their authenticating partners in the US, bio-cleansing (if necessary) and professional photography which usually takes up to 2 weeks.
The sellers get paid once their items are sold, earning up to 70% of the value of the item. In some cases, we also do instant cash buyouts based on the demand of certain items, she added.
India loves pre-owned luxury? Perhaps
Catering mostly to the millennials, pre-owned luxury is a lucrative option for those between 18-35 who aspire to have global fashion in their wardrobe but do not want to burn a hole in their pockets.
A millennial luxury consumer wants to definitely experience luxury but is questioning the need to spend a large sum of money on the most recent goods with no clear value proposition besides being one of the first few to own it. This is, in turn, encouraging them to look elsewhere, especially towards the pre-owned luxury sector. Pre-loved clothes are cost-effective and make for a highly sensible purchase-decision, which highly resonates with our value-conscious millennial customers, said Baweja.
What's next?
Innovating never stops in fashion. With pre-owned luxury becoming more familiar fashionistas now want more. So whats next? Customization is the answer. Most of these players are getting into personalisation and monogramming onto fashion accessories.
This means one can turn any piece into distinctive, one of a kind, works of art by having a design or the initials custom-painted on them.
Still cant buy it? Rent it
If you are the kind who wouldnt want to repeat an outfit or if you are still in college but still want to wear a designer wear to Diwali party this year you can rent your designer wear. Stage3 and Flyrobe are players in the rental space that would rent out anything from a gown to a lehenga and even a tuxedo.
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The past week was a mixed for pharma companies with Sun Pharma getting EIR for its Dadra plant, Lupin's US acquisition and Biocon's receiving CRL for its biosimilar.
The BSE Healthcare index rose 0.54 percent in the past week while the benchmark Sensex gained 1.79 percent.
Sun Pharma, Lupin and Cipla were the biggest gainers in large caps, gaining 1.52 percent, 1.62 percent and 1.21 percent respectively. The other stocks that rose include Divis Laboratories (0.93 percent) and Biocon (5.71 percent).
The stock that declined include Dr Reddy's (-1.92 percent), Torrent Pharma (-2.11 percent), Glenmark (-1.76 percent), Aurobindo Pharma (-0.3 percent) and Cadila Healthcare (-0.52 percent).
Here's what kept the sector buzzing:
> Sun Pharma, Indias largest drug maker announced that it received establishment inspection report (EIR) from US FDA for the company's Dadra formulation facility.
EIR indicates closure of plant inspection by the US regulatory agency. Dadra is the companys second largest USFDA-approved plant after Halol with several pending generic filings.
> Lupin announced aquisition of US-based Symbiomix Therapeutics for USD 150 million. The acquisition gives Lupin control over Symbiomixs lead product Solosec oral granules for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis in adult women.
Lupin also said the company is readying for mega specialty drug play with USD 1 billion war chest.
> Biotechnology firm Biocon said the US health regulator has issued complete response letter (CRL) for proposed biosimilar Pegfilgrastim, indicated for use in the treatment of cancer. The company, however, said it does not expect this CRL to impact the commercial launch timing of biosimilar Pegfilgrastim in the US.
> Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) continued to be sluggish even in September as the recovery from the supply chain disruption caused due to GST rollout in July seems to be a protracted one.
The industry grew at 2.8 percent in September with sales worth Rs 10,420 crore compared to 13.5 percent growth at Rs 10,136 crore during the same period last year, according to market research firm AIOCD-AWACS.
Bhutan has initiated talks with their Chinese counterparts in New Delhi regarding the dispute in the Doklam region.
According to a report in the Times of India, Vetsop Namgyel, Bhutan's ambassador to India met Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui to discuss matters relating to the Chinese activities in the disputed region. The meeting took place on 27th September at the Chinese embassy, exactly a month after the Doklam standoff between India and China had ended.
Even though Chinese troops have moved away from the actual point of engagement with the Indian troops, it is reportedly carrying on with construction activities in an area that is approximately 10 km from the standoff site.
The discussion between China and Bhutan, which is expected to continue is of high significance to New Delhi. Bhutan has been a close ally to India and stood in support of the country even during the Doklam standoff. China, on the other hand, seems to be bent upon weaning the country away from New Delhis sphere of influence to strengthen its control over the Himalayan region.
There has been a widespread campaign by the Chinese media during the standoff alleging India is forcefully dominating and controlling Bhutan. However, Bhutans strong and open support to India had effectively blunted the Chinese arguments.
The present step to bring a closure to the border disputes between Thimphu and Beijing could be an interesting affair as there could be attempts from Beijing to use the occasion as a tool to increase its influence in Bhutan.
A Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) counsellor was attacked by a drunken man who also threatened to kill her when she had gone to Tughlakabad to enquire into a case, the women's panel said.
An FIR has been registered against the assailant, named Vinod, at the Govindpuri Police Station.
The counsellor works at the DCW's mobile helpline, said the women's panel in a statement.
The incident happened when the counsellor was sent to Valmiki Street in Tughlakabad after a resident called 181 helpline to complain about her daughter, who seemed to be suffering from mental illness and required assistance from the DCW, it said.
When the counsellor was conversing with the girl's family, a drunken Vinod came and started abusing her and her driver, the statement added.
As the locals tried to calm the situation, the man got more agitated and brought a stick from his house and ran after the counsellor, it added.
Even though he was stopped by the locals, it left the counsellor with a horrendous experience, the DCW said in the statement, adding the accused called himself a local politicians henchman.
"Vinod persisted and tried his best to assault the counsellor with a brick while chasing her," the statement said.
The counsellor had to call the police for assistance, it said.
The accused fled before the police could reach, following which a complaint was filed against him and an FIR registered.
Delhi Commission for Women's chairperson Swati Maliwal said if anyone obstructs the work by threatening the staff of the DCW, strict actions will be taken against them.
Four persons have been arrested for stealing British-era coins, currency notes and postal stamps worth Rs 95 lakh from an antique shop in south Mumbai, police said.
Abdul Sheikh, who deals in old coins and stamps, had lodged complaints about two thefts. The first theft took place last year while the second took place this year, said a senior police officer.
The thieves had broken into the shop through a window.
"After going through CCTV footage, police zeroed in on Dinesh Khade who had visited the shop on both the days when the break-ins took place," said a senior police officer.
Khade had already been arrested in a robbery case. When police questioned him, he confessed to his involvement in thefts at Sheikh's shop too, the officer said. Following which his accomplices Vijay Waghmare (19), Vinod Jadhav (23) and Praful Shinde (23) were arrested yesterday, the officer said.
The accused have been booked under IPC sections 454 (house-breaking), 380 (theft in dwelling house) and other relevant sections.
Torrential rains today continued to lash Bengaluru where the body of a temple priest, which was washed away yesterday, was recovered while a mother-daughter duo, who were swept away, remained untraced, police said on Saturday.
Nine deaths in the past 15 days due to potholes and rains drew sharp criticism from the opposition BJP, which alleged that chief minister Siddaramaiah has failed in his duty.
Siddaramaiah, however, flayed the opposition for "politicising" the deaths.
City civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) along with the National Disaster Rapid Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Rapid Force (SDRF) intensified the search operation and formed three teams.
The priest of a temple near Kurubarahalli Circle was swept away in a stormwater drain after water gushed inside the temple yesterday. His body was recovered today, the police said.
The search for the 57-year-old woman and her 22-year-old daughter, who were swept away in a stormwater drain at Laggere after water from it flooded their house, was underway, they said.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George who toured around the rain-affected areas faced the ire of the residents, who said there was no one around to save them when water entered their houses.
When reporters pointed out the substandard civic works leading to the deaths, the chief minister lost his cool.
"It is unfortunate that people have lost their lives... I condole the deaths that happened due to rains. Compensation will be given to the families of those who lost their lives," he said.
"However, you should know that the state this year has received unprecedented rains. We had continuous rains for 47 days. But, politics over deaths is condemnable. Our priorities should be to offer relief to the affected people," he added.
Siddaramaiah said the removal of encroachments and de- silting of stormwater drains would be intensified in the coming days.
BJP state unit president Yeddyurappa, who visited the rain-wracked areas, also blamed Siddaramaiah for the deaths.
"Chief minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government are responsible for each and every death... Had the government completed the construction of stormwater drains on time, people would not have faced such a bad situation," he alleged.
"The state government has spent Rs 800 crore (for the remodelling of stormwater drains) and contractors who were blacklisted were given the contract... At least 75 percent of the money spent was squandered," Yeddyurappa claimed.
The BJP leader announced a compensation of Rs one lakh to the next to the kin of deceased.
Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was in its "last phase" and that "militants are on the run".
"They (Militants) are on the run and are under tremendous pressure. I am sure that this is going to be the last phase of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir," he told reporters here.
Singh was replying to a volley of questions on the recent killings of militants in Kashmir Valley.
"Police and security forces are doing a commendable job. What is more praiseworthy is that the special operation group of J&K Police is cooperating and working shoulder to shoulder in these operations," he said.
The minister said that the security forces had been successful in effecting a positive change in the security situation.
"Lifespan of every terrorist has been shortened," he said.
Replying to a question about Pakistan making desperate attempts to keep the pot of militancy boiling in the state, Singh said, "This speaks of their (Pakistan) helplessness and despair."
"The longer Pakistan continues to remain in denial mode, the more it is risking its own security and its own existence," he added.
On the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of Rohingya immigrants, the minister said, "As far as the BJP and its government are concerned, we are very clear about it...The security concern is the prime concern for all of us including those of us who have stakes in Jammu and Kashmir, where you have a sizable population of Rohingyas."
He said it was "not the right interpretation" to say that Rohingyas are not to be deported from India.
The Supreme Court "has said that there was a security concern and at the same time, there is a human angle that is to be kept in the mind," he said, adding that "judicious view of the entire matter will be taken".
Reacting to the diktat of Majlis Shoura that boys and girls should not study together, the minister said, "Without intruding into anybody's religious prerogative, as far as we are concerned, we believe in the policy of justice for all and appeasement to none."
"We live in a democratic country and heterogeneous society, where gender equality is inherent... I think concerned agencies will take cognisance of it," he said.
To a question on separatist leader Asiya Andrabi's photo being showcased in a government poster, he said, "The government has taken a serious view of it and taken action also. It is condemnable."
Singh said the Congress was raising frivolous issues in Gujarat ahead of the assembly polls later this year.
"The Congress was totally demoralised (in Gujarat) and they are trying to find various futile issues...When they flagged various futile issues during Rahul Gandhi's three-day visit to Gujarat, I told them this is childish behaviour, which does not mean anything to us," he said.
"As far as (BJP president) Amit Shah and his son are concerned, instead of the opposition's demand for a probe, his son has gone to court with a defamation suit and let them put their views in the court or prove it," Singh said.
Law professionals | Corporate lawyer- Rs 6,10,000 | Senior attorney- Rs 9,50,000 | Interpreting and using the rule of the law to win arguments in favour of the client is a lucrative profession. The best lawyers earn several lakhs, even crores for a case. So much so that lawyers give up offers to become a judge so that they can maintain their incomes as lawyers! Being a lawyer requires a high level of patience, education and communication skills.
The Madras High Court has directed the police to submit a status report on the probe into a case filed against Tamil Nadu minister R Kamaraj and an official in the secretariat for allegedly cheating a real estate businessman of Rs 45 lakh.
Justice M S Ramesh gave the direction recently to the inspector of the Mannargudi police station, on a petition filed by the businessman, S V S Kumar, seeking to transfer the probe against Food Minister Kamaraj and the official either to the CB-CID or CBI.
The judge has also directed Kumar to appear before the Mannargudi police on October 23.
Kumar, in his petition, alleged that Kamaraj had promised to evict an occupant from his property and taken a bribe of Rs 45 lakh from him through Ramakrishnan, the official in the secretariat, in 2011 for the same.
After becoming a minister, he neither got the job done nor did he return the money, the petitioner alleged.
He also alleged that he was being threatened by some unidentified persons.
Kumar had submitted before the court that though the Mannargudi police had lodged a case against the minister and the official on the basis of his complaint on May 5, no further action had been taken by them.
Hence, he had prayed that the case be transferred to the CB-CID or CBI.
Rajnath Singh
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said no power in the world can stop the government from resolving the Kashmir issue and hit out at Pakistan for its "impious" activities against India.
Singh said the NDA government has given a free hand to the Army to act against terrorists and give a befitting reply to any firing from across the border in Kashmir.
"I would like to say that nobody needs to be worried about Kashmir. No power in the world can stop us from resolving the issue," he said.
Addressing a gathering here in Surat district as part of the BJP's 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra', Singh attacked Pakistan saying it sends terrorists into India and wants to break the country.
"Pakistan is our neighbouring state. Its name is 'Pak'-istan, but it regularly indulges in 'napaak' (impious) activities, tries to break India and sends terrorists into India," he said.
"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried his best (for peaceful resolution of bilateral issues) considering that Pakistan is our neighbouring state. He even went to Pakistan breaking all protocol, but Pakistan is not refraining from its activities. This can't continue for long," he said.
The home minister said he has asked the Army to reply with bullets to Pakistani firings on the Kashmir border instead of showing the "white flag" (of peace).
"We have given a free hand to the Army. I have said you are free to act against terrorists," Singh said, adding this has resulted in a "record" number of militants being killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016-17.
"We do not need to tell you the numbers. Sometimes it is one (militant) in a day or two or four or six. The jawans of our Army keep greeting them with 'Jai Sri Ram.' It has never happened before that militant have been killed in such a large number," the Minister said.
Singh recalled how a few months after the Modi government came to power in May 2014, he had given standing orders to the BSF DG to stop the practice of showing "white flags" to Pakistan in response to their firings at the Indo-Pak border.
Singh said he came to know about the practice after he talked to the BSF chief following news that five Indian citizens had been killed in firing by Pakistani personnel.
He (The BSF DG) "told me it is an old practice to show the white flag in response to Pakistani firing... this is to tell them that we want peace. I asked the DG as to what was Pakistan response to our flags being shown 16 times.
"He said Pakistan did not show any white flag. On a telephone, I told him not to show the white flag for the 17th time. And it is my standing order that while the first bullet shall not be fired by India if we receive even a single bullet, we will retaliate," he said.
Singh said had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country's first deputy prime minister who launched a satyagrah (in support of farmers) during the British rule from Bardoli in 1928, been allowed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to act freely, India would not have been facing the Kashmir issue.
"Sardar Patel got Junagad and Hyderabad to become part of the country. Had Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru not stopped him from also deciding the fate of Kashmir, then, I think, the Kashmir issue would not have been before us today," he said.
The BJP has launched the 'gaurav yatra' to galvanise support ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat. A number of BJP leaders and Union ministers have taken part in the campaign and addressed rallies.
Punjab's main opposition party AAP accused the Congress government of "harassing" farmers in the name of stubble burning.
The party said it will, on October 16, submit memorandums to the deputy commissioners of each district in the state to seek stoppage of alleged undue harassment of farmers.
"AAP MLAs and other office bearers will submit memorandum representations to the deputy commissioners concerned throughout Punjab on Monday for stopping the undue harassment of farmers by the government in the name of stubble burning," said party state co-president Aman Arora in a statement here.
A meeting of Aam Aadmi Party MLAs and office bearers was held in the presence of party state president Bhagwant Mann and co-president Arora here yesterday in this regard.
The issue of alleged harassment of farmers by the government in the name of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders on stubble burning was discussed thoroughly, Arora said.
He accused the government of failing to perform its duty and was now "forcing the farmers to save the skin".
"As per the orders of NGT, the para 14 clause 'C' clearly states that harvesting, transportation and proper utilisation of the crop residue is the primary responsibility of the state government.
"In case, the government is not able to do so then it has to pay the compensation to the farmers as per the landholding," Arora said
He said, "The clause 'H' of the same order says that the state will provide machines, mechanism and equipment to farmers for the purpose of destroying agricultural residue".
Arora said the AAP was concerned about air pollution caused by stubble burning but it should not be an excuse to harass the already indebted farmers of the state.
"Farmers are already committing suicides in the state and the number of suicides is increasing by the day. The government must focus on providing relief to the farmers rather than accusing them of its own failure," he said.
The AAP leader also demanded that VAT on diesel and petrol must be reduced as was done by governments in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
PATNA, INDIA - MARCH 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the Closing Ceremony of the Centenary Year Celebrations of the Patna High Court on March 12, 2016 in Patna, India. Modi said here that the "quality of argument and judgement will improve with technology being used actively" in the courts. He also sought suggestions on making the bar, bench and courts tech-savvy by injecting digital technology in their functioning. (Photo by AP Dube/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today shared the stage with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the first time after the JD(U) returned to the NDA fold.
Modi had gone to Bihar to attended the centenary celebrations of the Patna University (PU) along with Kumar, and is also expected launch developmental projects worth Rs 3,700 crore.
The state BJP president has been hinting that a bonanza was on the cards, terming the prime minister's visit as a "Diwali gift" to the people of Bihar in general and Mokama in particular, where PM Modi will fly in a helicopter today to announce a slew of developmental projects.
PM @narendramodi addressing the gathering at the Centenary Celebrations of Patna University in Patna, Bihar pic.twitter.com/PakgDzC9ql
PIB India (@PIB_India) October 14, 2017
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who also holds the portfolio of water resources, will accompany the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ceremony.
The BJP, that had lost the bitterly-fought polls to the state assembly in 2015 to the Nitish-Lalu combo is now in power in Patna, in a coalition with Nitishs JDU.
"It is a day of great honour that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is present for Patna University's centenary celebrations," Kumar said addressing the gathering.
Earlier, the Prime Minister was welcomed by Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik and the chief minister among others at the Patna airport from where he drove straight to the Patna Science College campus.
"As youngsters, I urge you to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people around you. Through what you learnt and the Start up sector there is a lot you can do for society," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech at Patna University.
As youngsters, I urge you to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people around you. Through what you learnt and the Start up sector there is a lot you can do for society: PM @narendramodi at Patna University PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 14, 2017
Giving details of his governments initiative PM Modi at the centenary celebrations of the University said, Top ten private and government universities would be converted into world-class educational institutions and giving them financial assistance of 10 thousand crores in the next five years.
10 private & 10 public universities will be given a fund of Rs 10,000 Crore over 5 yrs to make them world-class: PM Narendra Modi in Patna pic.twitter.com/SYLG4mGmvc ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
In August, Modi along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
The prime minister had promised a "package" of Rs 1.25 lakh crore in 2015 for the state during the campaign for the assembly elections in which the BJP and the JD(U) were pitted against each other.
The two parties remained partners in Bihar for 17 years but the JD(U) severed ties in mid-2013 over the elevation of Modi as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was among the dignitaries at the PU function today, told reporters, "I am not here as a minister but as a proud alumnus of this glorious university. And I am proud that the Prime Minister of the country is attending a function at my alma mater".
Other Union Ministers present at the ceremony included Ram Vilas Paswan, Ashwini Chaubey and Upendra Kushwaha.
At Mokama, Modi is set to lay the foundation stone of four national highways projects worth Rs 3,031 crores.
Construction of four sewage treatment plants (STPs) and related works worth Rs 738.04 crore will also begin, an official statement said.
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who also holds the portfolio of water resources, will accompany the prime minister for the ceremony.
A man stands outside the scene of an attack on a hotel and an adjacent restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer - RTS175VK
Seven people, six of them children, were killed in northern Kenya on Saturday when unknown assailants attacked a school, officials said.
Cattle rustling and clashes over grazing and farming land are relatively common between communities in the East African country's north, and often escalate into revenge attacks.
The region also borders war-torn South Sudan, and arms smuggling is common, with Kenyan police having little control over weaponry crossing the border.
In a report, Kenya's KTN television channel said four boys, two girls and a guard were killed during the attack on Lokichogio School, which it said was carried out by assailants whose identities were yet to be determined.
"The attack ... is a painful reminder of the state of insecurity along the border," Josphat Nanok, Turkana county's governor, said on Twitter.
The region is awash with guns due to its proximity to unstable neighbours including Somalia, where al Qaeda-linked militants have been fighting to topple the government.
Twitter has handed over to the US Senate investigators the profile names, or "handles," of 201 accounts linked to Russian attempts at influencing the 2016 presidential election.
The company has stepped up its efforts to cooperate with investigators after it was criticised for not taking congressional probes seriously enough.
The handover occurred this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak publicly about it.
What remains unclear is whether posts associated with those accounts have been deleted from Twitter's servers.
Politico reported yesterday that the company had deleted the tweets in line with its privacy policy. Twitter had no comment on that report.
The company's policy calls for removing tweets that a user deletes on their own. But that policy also states that some tweets can survive the process. For instance, retweets of deleted tweets will remain live if the retweeter added a comment. Twitter also can't remove tweets that have been temporarily stored, or "cached," by services such as Google or reposted on other sites.
Twitter might be able to recover some information about any deleted tweets, according to another person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. That person added that the company is working with investigators to find information that's useful.
The account handles previously hadn't been submitted in part due to legal privacy issues, the person said.
Twitter is set to appear November 1 before the Senate intelligence committee at a public hearing. Both Facebook and Google have been invited to testify at the same hearing.
Twitter previously uncovered the accounts linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency, a notorious "troll farm" known for pushing out pro-Russian positions via fake accounts, by using information provided by Facebook, which found 470 Russia linked pages or accounts.
After looking for patterns linking those accounts and pages to accounts on its service, Twitter said it had suspended 22 accounts that pushed divisive social or political issues during the 2016 campaign.
It found another 179 related or linked accounts and took action against those that violated its spam rules.
The company enforces an anti-spam policy against bots and human users that exhibit unusual behavior. Such flags include having multiple accounts repeatedly retweet the same posts or having multiple accounts follow or block other users.
After Twitter's initial closed-door briefing with the Senate committee late last month, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, called the company's findings "frankly inadequate " and "derivative" of Facebook's work.
Pakistan took "tremendous advantage" of the US over the years, but the two countries are now "starting to have a real" relationship, President Donald Trump has said, a day after Pakistani forces rescued an American-Canadian family from the Haqqani terror group.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqanis on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
The couple was kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and South Asia policy in August.
The president thanked Pakistani leaders for cooperating with the US on many fronts.
"Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts," Trump said in a tweet yesterday.
"Yesterday, things happened with Pakistan.
"I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but we're starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and they're to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations," Trump said.
"They are starting to respect the United States of America again," he said and thanked the leaders of Pakistan for "what they've been doing".
He said that "in this administration, we will call evil by its name".
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said: "On this I agree" with Trump.
"Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists," he said in a tweet.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The Haqqani network has carried out a number of kidnappings and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan.
The group is also blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people.
Culvers one of the Madison areas most successful, family-owned restaurant chains is taking on its first significant outside investors.
Culver Franchising System, based in Prairie du Sac, has sold a minority share to Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta private-equity firm.
The transaction took effect Friday. Terms of the deal and the percentage sold to Roark were not disclosed.
But co-founder and board chairman Craig Culver said the Culver family, which owned more than 99 percent of the shares until now, will remain the majority owner.
Our intentions are to remain a family-owned business for a long, long time, he said.
And there wont be any shakeup in the Culvers menu. Our menu will be the same, and the cooked-to-order concept, as well. That ButterBurger doesnt hit the grill until you order it and thats not going to change, Joseph Koss, CEO and president, said.
Founded in 1984 by Craig and Lea Culver, Culvers has 638 restaurants in 24 states and five more will open by the end of this year, Culver said. The company known for its ButterBurgers and frozen custard had $1.3 billion in annual revenue in 2016.
Roark Capital Group specializes in franchises in the food service, retail and consumer services industries. Its holdings in the restaurant industry include investments in Arbys, Corner Bakery, Jimmy Johns, Wingstop and FOCUS Brands, which owns chains such as Cinnabon and Schlotzskys.
Other Roark portfolio companies include Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness, Pet Supermarket and Meineke car care.
We have long admired the Culvers brand and its commitment to culture, quality and service, said Erik Morris, senior managing director at Roark. We are excited to be partnering with the Culver family and management team, and look forward to supporting the brands continued success.
Culver said he first met Roark founder Neal Aronson about 15 years ago. We were a small company at that time but he was interested in us back then. He has stuck by and watched us grow over the years, Culver said. In fact, a lot of other private-equity companies also have had their eye on Culvers for a while, he said.
Culver, 67, said discussions about a succession plan for the company started about 10 years ago and popped up again about two years ago but never moved forward. Then about a year ago, the board decided to take a more serious look.
Five private-equity companies put together proposals, and Roarks stood out, Culver said.
We thought they would be a great partner of ours, he said, citing the firms experience with restaurants and franchises. He also said he thought the two companies had similar attitudes.
Im talking about heart, about being a good person, about being able to say please and thank you and mean it. Being genuine ... treating each other well. Its about passion for what we do and doing it with heart, said Culver.
He declined to name the other companies that submitted proposals.
Private-equity investments can be a good way for a company to let owners diversify their assets, making their exposure to the companys risks more palatable, UW-Madison School of Business associate professor Oliver Levine said.
Speaking in general terms and not specifically referring to Culvers, Levine said, Overall, in a general sense, this type of outside financing is very likely good for the company because it allows the companys investment decisions and the familys liquidity needs to be less interconnected, he said.
The outside private-equity investors may also allow for easier access to capital in the future if it becomes necessary, and could provide financial expertise and monitoring that adds value to the company, Levine said.
He said sometimesbringing in outside, minority investors can create conflicts on a board for example, if certain uses of funds benefit the family owners but not the company as a whole, but that probably would not happen in this situation.
Given that the family is still the majority owner, the management still has strong incentive to maximize the companys value, so this is unlikely to be a significant issue, Levine said.
Culvers is No. 8 on Forbes list of the best fast-food franchises to own, and No. 20 on Entrepreneurs 2017 Franchise 500 Ranking.
Culvers has grown from 100 restaurants in 2000 to more than 600 today. It added 46 locations in 2016 and is on track to have opened 39 restaurants this year.
Craig Culver said, though, the equity infusion is not intended to accelerate the companys growth. Not that we wont open 50, or maybe even 60 restaurants a year, he added.
He said the funding will provide some liquidity to the major shareholders: Craig; Lea; Craigs brother, Curt; and his sister, Georgia Littlepage but beyond that, it will bring in new blood.
Theyre coming in without blinders. When youve been doing something for a long period of time ... its good to bring in an outside perspective, Culver said.
Were looking at what they can bring to the table for us. The world is a changing place. ... They have great knowledge of our industry and great knowledge of franchising, he said.
Roark will provide two members for Culvers board of directors.
In addition to the four family members, there are three other outside directors, who, together, cast a single vote on issues.
Culver said the board considered the possibility of staging a public stock offering but decided it would be a distraction to us.
McDonalds shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Burger King is part of Canada-based Restaurant Brands International, of which 51 percent is owned by 3G Capital of Brazil and the rest is publicly traded. Panera Bread stock had been publicly traded until it was sold this year to German conglomerate JAB, which is privately owned.
Culver said all of those chains and more are Culvers competitors. Were kind of a tweener not pure fast food or casual dining.
Will Culvers eventually be dishing up frozen custard in all 50 states? I dont know if Ill ever see that in my lifetime, but would I like to see that? Heck, yes, Culver said.
About 25,000 people work for Culvers. Within the companys administration and in the eight corporate-owned Culvers restaurants and one Blue Spoon restaurant (in Prairie du Sac), there are about 400 employees.
The founder of the company that makes the medical marijuana vending machine recently purchased by Purple Cross RX sent a cease-and-desist letter to the local dispensary and has threatened to sue it for harming his companys image.
Vincent Mehdizadeh, the founder and chief executive officer of Prescription Vending Machines, Inc., said he and the media have fallen victim to Purple Cross founder Scott McPhail, whom Mehdizadeh says lied about his involvement with the machine that uses touch-screen technology to distribute marijuana to card-holding patients.
Were doing big things on a state level, Mehdizadeh said. We cant be mixed in with a trouble-making dispensary. I had no idea they had trouble with San Benito County. Now its a huge mess.
McPhail got in contact with The Pinnacle and local television stations last week to showcase the MedBox machine that he had purchased and put in the lobby of his dispensary on Bolsa Road. He told the newspaper that he planned to market the machines to pharmacies, medical facilities and other dispensaries throughout the state. A television station reported that McPhail helped create the machine, which is not true.
That prompted Mehdizadeh to contact McPhail and demand that he stop conducting unauthorized interviews and offering misinformation that is causing a lot of frustration within my company.
This, along with the fact that the clinic you house the machine at is the subject of a lawsuit from San Benito County, is extremely troubling, Mehdizadeh wrote to McPhail, adding that Purple Cross may continue to use the machine only for demonstration purposes for prospective interested parties with properly licenses marijuana clinics.
I appreciate your enthusiasm for my companys products, the letter continued. However, you may have really damaged my companys reputation in ways you cant even begin to understand Now people will wonder if Purple Cross Rx is owned by Medbox, Inc. or if there is some sort of affiliation, which as you and I well know, there is not.
In a telephone interview last week, Mehdizadeh said McPhail visited his North Hollywood office three weeks ago and said he wanted help set up different machines in agricultural land in his area because thats allowed in San Benito County. Mehdizadeh said he was not aware, however, that Purple Cross previously had been sued by the City of Hollister and was recently slapped with a lawsuit by the county saying it was operating in defiance of county zoning laws.
Ive worked hard with my company to ensure the machines are used appropriately and not ticking off any city or county officials, he said. After delivery of the machine last week, a couple of days ago I heard that someone saw the machine on the news. Im really in control of all my press. I dont want it to be reported inaccurately. I started doing searches and realized Scott was doing unauthorized interviews without clarifying that he is not the inventor. He said it was the first machine in California at Purple Cross, which is absolutely, categorically false.
Mehdizadeh said that when he spoke with McPhail about his claims in the newspaper and television stories, he doesnt give me a straight answer and says itll all blow over in a week.
After sending the cease-and-desist letter to Purple Cross, Mehdizadeh said McPhail was apologetic.
He sees the error in what he did, I assume, Mehdizadeh said. I think he knew exactly what to say to get publicity. He was very vague. Youre asking the right questions and hes giving the wrong answers.
Mehdizadeh said his company plans to sue Purple Cross within the next couple of weeks in order to show the county that we are absolutely not supporting someone that is giving them so much trouble. He said he has contacted the county counsel to dissuade them from trying to ban my technology in (San Benito) County, which is what one newscast initially reported.
McPhail did not immediately respond to interview requests Monday seeking comment on the cease-and-desist letter. The county counsels office, which sued Purple Cross last week, was closed Monday in observance of Abraham Lincolns birthday.
Hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes: These are the stuff of nightmares, and also of daily headlines in recent weeks.
For those of us who are lucky enough to be watching the damage on TV instead of dealing with the aftermath directly, you may be wondering: How should I be managing the financial risk of a potential natural disaster?
I spoke with Alec Gorynski, vice president, community development and corporate philanthropy, First National Bank of Omaha, to help answer some common questions.
For people who are worried about protecting their assets from the risks of a natural disaster, here are the top six things to pay attention to:
Insurance.
Review your homeowners insurance policy said Gorynski. When you do so, pay very close attention to detail. Few homeowners could say off the top of their heads what their policy covers.
Consider flood coverage. In 2010, 39 percent of the nations population lived in counties directly on the shoreline, a number thats growing. However, the Insurance Information Institute says just 12 percent of American homeowners have a flood insurance policy. Federal law requires it only in areas designated officially as high risk. But that risk map may be overdue for an update with clear sky floods and king tides becoming more common in areas like Charleston, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; and Miami.
You may also be worried about your car, especially if you need it to get to work. Comprehensive coverage tends to include flood damage, as well as that sustained from fire, wind and hail. Do you have it?
Receipts.
Save receipts for major purchases. It will help when filing a claim. If your property is damaged, the more proof of ownership you have, the better, especially for items your homeowners insurance may not cover, Gorynski said.
Savings.
A rainy day fund isnt just to protect you in the event of a job loss; youll need it if the rain puts your house under water. Six months of expenses is the common rule of thumb.
Records.
Besides saving receipts, you should keep important documents in a safe place, with backups at a second location. This includes Social Security cards, passports, deeds and titles to your house and car, and insurance policies. You may want to scan these important documents and keep a virtual copy. Store it either locally, on your computer or a portable USB drive, or in the cloud, on a service with security protections. CertainSafe is one product rated favorably by PC Magazine.
While youre at it: Make a list of all your bank account information and passwords and make sure its saved in a secure place, on paper, in case you lose power.
Cash.
Speaking of paper, think about banknotes. Natural disasters often take out power from entire communities. Due to this, ATMs are often out of service and stores might not be able to provide cash or change after a disaster, Gorynski said. If theres news of big weather bearing down, Visit an ATM in advance of the natural disaster and make sure to have cash in small bills on hand.
Know your rights when the worst happens.
If your home is in a designated disaster area, your bank may waive fees and adjust your payment schedule to help you get back on track, Gorynski said. But you should contact your lender directly because scammers swoop in to try to mislead people about this.
Besides repairs to your home, insurance may also cover temporary housing and rental cars. The Insurance Information Institute recommends that you document the damage immediately with photos. But dont hold off on making repairs while you wait to get a claim paid, especially when those repairs could protect against further damage (such as fixing a roof leak or cleaning to prevent mold).
Finally, if you are in danger of missing debt payments because of a disaster, you can contact your creditors to try to work out a payment plan. Get in touch with them before they come looking for you.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)
Today
Thunderstorms during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 72F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
Tonight
Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 56F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram
The rig count in Texas dropped to its lowest levels since May, according to statistics provided by Baker Hughes.
The states count fell four rigs to 443, which was around 47 percent of rigs active in the United States. According to reporting from the Houston Chronicle, drillers pulled four rigs out of Texas oil fields, including the Barnett Shale in North Texas and the Eagle Ford Shale. The Permian Basin rig report shows an increase of one rig. Reeves County again led the way with 63 rigs (up one) while Midland County showed 41 active rigs (down one).
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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.
MONEY MONEY: This is the salary needed to own a home in these top neighborhoods
"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.
MONEY BACK: Inner-Loop Houston areas where homes are expected to rise in value
"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."
NO BIG DEAL: Dallas mansion with foyer pool headed for auction
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.
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An operation by undercover police ended with 44 people being charged in connection with a street-level prostitution ring in north Harris County.
The two-week operation brings the number of prostitution-related arrests in the county to nearly 300 since mid-August, a number that law enforcement officials have said is due to a new focus to stymie demand for prostitution in the region.
Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman heralded his office's work to deter crimes that he said are often connected to prostitution.
EARLIER RAID: Sex sting leads to 250+ arrests in August
"Street level prostitution is the driving force behind much of the demand for human trafficking," Herman said at a press conference Thursday. "This operation we feel may have rescued potential victims from the streets and prevented other crimes in Precinct 4."
Now Playing: Houston has long been known as a major hub for human and sex trafficking. Video: John-Henry Perera
The operation began after police said they received numerous complaints from residents and business owners in the area of FM 1960 and Interstate 45.
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Four of the 44 people arrested claimed they were victims of human trafficking and five were identified as pimps. One of the alleged pimps had a 2-year-old child and a stolen handgun in his car while he delivered a prostitute, police said.
The arrests follow multiple other crackdowns by police in Houston and Harris County this summer.
In mid-August, more than 250 people were arrested in a massive, weeks-long sting as part of the national, annual "National Johns Suppression Initiative" that this year included 37 law enforcement agencies in 17 states.
Another 138 were arrested in a similar sting last year.
While Herman could not say definitively Thursday if prostitution crimes were up or down in recent years, he noted that the department and other agencies have changed their approach to handling prostitution, opting to try to stymie smaller, street-level rings that can often include women forced into the trade.
Six high-tech business startups in Wisconsin including three in the Madison area are each getting grants of up to $75,000 through the SBIR Advance program to help them bring their products to market.
Here are the companies and their technologies:
GoDx, Madison
, is working with the National Institutes of Health to develop a paper-based test that will detect bugs that cause diarrheal diseases, the No. 2 cause of death of children worldwide, the company said.
Proteovista, Madison
, is developing next-generation microarray technology and applications to use for research and drug discovery. The company also has received a two-year, $643,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a platform to identify biomarkers associated with cardiovascular diseases.
Stem Pharm, Fitchburg
, is developing synthetic biomaterials for cell and tissue manufacturing as a substitute for animal-based biomaterials.
Imagen Energy, Milwaukee
, has advanced technology to reduce the size and cost of energy storage systems.
Microscopy Innovations, Marshfield
, creates new products for microscopy laboratories.
Photonic Cleaning Technologies, Platteville
, has developed products to clean and protect precision optics, telescopes and mirrors.
The state matching grant program is designed to help companies that are completing projects in federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
It comes from a collaboration between the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and the UW-Extensions Center for Technology Commercialization.
Since 2014, 56 awards, totaling $4.15 million, have been issued around the state.
We recognized that a small company is much more than the technology and that they need to validate their key business assumptions, said Todd Strother, program manager.
Startups chosen for the SBIR Advance program also receive assistance from the Center for Technology Commercialization, said Aaron Hagar, vice president of entrepreneurship and innovation at WEDC.
The expertise provided by CTC staff and connections to other resources work in concert with the financing to guide and accelerate these companies through the next stages of their development, Hagar said.
Cellectar working with Penn. company
Cellectar Biosciences, Madison, says it is collaborating with Onconova Therapeutics, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, to develop drug compounds.
Onconova is an established player in developing small-molecule anti-cancer compounds, said Jim Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar. Their unique early-stage assets, development experience and ability to successfully advance compounds into Phase 3 clinical trials makes them an excellent partner for Cellectar.
Under terms of the arrangement, Onconova will provide Cellectar with several compounds and Cellectar will link the molecules to its delivery platform. Their goal is to create new drugs that will target cancerous tumors more precisely, the companies said.
Terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Cellectar says it is extending its collaboration with Pierre Fabre, a French pharmaceutical company, also in search of new drugs to treat cancer.
The two companies said preclinical results of compounds they are developing have been encouraging in tests on several types of solid tumors.
Cellectar and Pierre Fabre first announced a collaboration in December 2015.
Midland County District Attorney
A Midland County jury convicted Mark Odin Chambers, 42, to life in prison after finding the man guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child in count I and aggravated sexual assault of a child count IV.
Midland County District Attorney Laura A. Nodolf reports that victims testified about sexual abuse that began in Midland in 2008 and continued once the victims moved to the Dallas area in 2012. After finding Chambers guilty, the jury then assessed his punishment at life in prison in both counts. The offense of continuous sexual abuse of a child does not allow for the defendant to be considered for parole, according to the press release.
There is nothing new about hurricanes. Benjamin Franklin charted the flow of the Gulf Stream in the 1780s, mapping the fast-moving river of warm water that sweeps up from Florida, travels swiftly across the Atlantic to Europe and regathers speed in warm waters off the west coast of Africa. Then and now, the Gulf Stream contributes to the formation and intensity of hurricanes.
Nor are wildfires a recent phenomenon. The biggest wildfire in California history in terms of square miles scorched took place in the late 1880s, long before it became the nations most populous state.
Whats new is that a combination of inattention to science, human behavior and poor public policy is making things a lot worse before and after such disasters strike.
The sprawling city of Houston is flood-prone. It is situated on a low-lying coastal plain and built on soil that doesnt drain well. Over time, much of the regions wetlands have been lost about 30 percent between 1992 and 2010 alone and replaced with impervious surfaces. It shouldnt be surprising that huge amounts of rain such as what was dumped by Hurricane Harvey would result in massive loss of property and even lives.
The victims of Harvey in Houston and elsewhere arent to be blamed, of course. Blame should be reserved for public policies that have made a naturally flood-prone city more so. The nations fourth-largest city does not have a zoning code. It has a storm water system one expert described as not designed for anything much stronger than a heavy afternoon thunderstorm. Developers routinely build homes in 100-year floodplains.
And yet, aid will pour into Houston that likely wont compel local and state officials there to change anything.
In California, wildfires have killed more than 35 people and spanned at least 265 square miles. Such fires have natural causes, but its more often humans who provide the spark. When fires break out, they tend to spread by consuming fuel along the way underbrush not removed, dry crops and vegetation, and forests not thinned by controlled cuts or burns. In California, the federal Environmental Protection Agency itself is at least partially to blame, refusing to allow more prescribed fires near developed areas.
The EPA is ignoring the fact that prescribed fires emit far less pollutants than wildfires, said Brent Haglund, chief executive officer and chief science officer for the Sand County Foundation in Madison. The pollutants released in a wildfire, especially when it reaches dwellings and other development, will curl your hair.
As with hurricane-stricken areas in the Gulf Coast and Florida, federal aid in California may not come with conditions designed to lessen the severity of wildfires when they occur.
Whats the lesson for Wisconsin? There are low-lying areas that are flood-prone and drought could turn its forests into tinderboxes, but a more recent example involves resource management and the fight over high-capacity wells in central Wisconsin.
A Dane County judge ruled Oct. 11 that the state Department of Natural Resources must consider the cumulative effects of high-capacity wells, most often tapped to water crops, on nearby lakes, streams, rivers and other wells. The judge cited the states Public Trust Doctrine and a 7-0 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in a similar case. Her ruling essentially trumped a legal opinion by Wisconsins attorney general, which said the DNR lacks the authority to place conditions on developers of high-capacity wells.
There is ample precedence to be found, as well, in longstanding Texas law governing groundwater use. In 1904, the Texas Supreme Court ruled people can drill wells on their own property unless they capture someone elses water, at which point it is theft. The creation of Texas groundwater conservation districts a few decades later has compelled competing local interests to talk first and sue later.When there is an earnest desire to get the incentives right and to align them with public policy, people will turn to scientific tools to help solve problems, Haglund said.
Natural disasters will happen, with or without climate change. The trick is understanding how to mitigate the effects of those disasters before and after they happen.
That machete is real. So are the screams.
As thousands head to Dane County haunted attractions this season, horror is a serious undertaking especially at for-profit ventures such as Screamin' Acres near Stoughton and Wisconsin Scaryland in Waunakee. From professional makeup and special effects, a scary amount of work goes into creating the creepiest attraction.
The characters at these attractions are portrayed by actors that specialize in horror.
"Haunt actors" are a creative bunch with a knack for a unique style of acting, said Jef Pertzborn, marketing manager of Wisconsin Scaryland. Pertzborn is also among the 60 or so performers at Scaryland.
"You're one scene in a walk-through horror movie it can be repetitious," he said. "And you have improvisation elements since each group of people that comes through reacts differently. You have to pick up on that. Work it to your advantage."
For many of the actors, the love affair with being fearsome began when they were the children giggling at scaredy cat trick-or-treaters.
"Ever since I was a kid I was more interested in being in the front of my house scaring the trick-or-treaters than going out and actually trick-or-treating," Screamin' Acres actor Jason Rice said. "I loved doing that and seeing the reactions and making the experience really creepy for people."
And the thrill is still there.
"It's such an adrenaline rush, such a personal high," said Rice, now in his fourth year of scaring at Screamin' Acres. "...I say that not in a (bad) way, I know they're having fun too. If I'm able to make them jump or at least remember my character and then all of the 80 other characters in the haunt, I know they'll walk out with a smile."
Planning and props
There's more to the horror than just the performances. With elaborate settings, makeup, effects and more, running a haunt can be a year-round job.
Visitors have been walking out of Screamin' Acres for years just to come back the next year for even more thrills.
The expansive haunted attraction is in its 7th season with 20-year-old Jacob Eugster at the helm. Eugster started the haunt on his family farm when he was a freshman in high school as a way to, he thought, pay for at least half of his college expenses.
Now the attraction has been his full-time job for the last three years.
Makeup artist and scenic painter Dawn Marie Svanoe has been working with Screamin' Acres for six years and knows there will be at least one thing that frightens any attendee.
Everybody has something they're afraid of, she said.
"You have so many types of scares here and you know it's not coming from a traveling Halloween store," she added. "This is real stuff with real people."
Eugster takes the haunt very seriously, investing in high quality masks which run him on average about $650 a piece as well as real props. This year Screamin' Acres is up to 41 masks in their collection.
"We use as little plastic as possible," he said. "Anybody who is not impressed with a haunt would quickly figure out what was fake."
The actors take their roles seriously too. Rice ordered real syringes for his doctor character so he didn't have to use hokey looking fake ones.
"We have real machetes," he said. "We have real circular saws and we use everything as safely as possible."
Scaryland kicks it up a notch with props too, fittingly, as the owner Guy Kitchell owns Halloween FX Props, which supplies all kinds of props and tech for haunted houses and home haunts.
Passion for haunting
Haunted houses have always been a favorite agenda item for Screamin' Acres cast member Jaz Campbell, so it only made sense for her to work in one.
She goes so far as to bring a black light flashlight with her to fabric stores to ensure materials will glow before she buys it for her spot in Screamin' Acres' Side Effects - a black light and glowing 3D attraction.
Svanoe, who was featured on Game Show Network's "Skin Wars" in 2015, said she also carries a black light flashlight in her purse. The haunt poses an interesting challenge for the makeup artist since she isn't into gore.
"It's a challenge to find how realistic I can make the makeup look," she said.
Although some might think that the Side Effects area at Screamin' Acres, the very last attraction, wouldn't be the scariest part, actors have seen complete meltdowns.
Last year Campbell saw a man who made it through nearly to the end of the Side Effects area before the haunt got him.
"I watched the guy get halfway across the bridge and he ended up on the bridge laying on his side curled up like a baby and screaming," she said. "He couldn't handle the vertigo of the tunnel."
The rules
Performers are quick to learn the rules of haunted attractions and guests who want to maintain their cool should too.
Scaring the big tough guys with a girl on their arm is a challenge, but getting him "is like the trophy," Rice said.
But those who specialize in jumping out of dark corners to startle people would like to remind you that they really don't want to hurt you. Rice said with the actors and visitors in such close quarters someone could potentially get hurt but it's more likely the actor than the attendee.
"With a jump scare there are people with a natural reaction to swing," he said. "Fight or flight."
Eugster agreed, "some people forget they are in a haunted house. (But) Issues of that nature are very few and far between."
For those who become so frightened that they literally pee their pants or get sick to their stomach, don't worry about it. These are professionals. They just keep track of the number who they've scared into such shape.
Eugster added that many of those people get weeded out before they even head into the first attraction area. The cue line can be enough to scare folks away.
Dedication to a visitor's experience has paid off. Without disclosing numbers Eugster said the attendance at Screamin' Acres rises every season with each season having at least two sell-out nights. While Pertzborn said Wisconsin Scaryland in 2016 hosted more than 10,000 visitors, which was more than their attendance in 2014 and 2015 combined.
It isn't just the business side of Halloween that's taken seriously, Pertzborn said. Wisconsin, in general, seems to get into the spooky Halloween spirit.
He said it's the most "neighborly holiday," when else do people go to every door in the neighborhood to say "hello?"
A flurry of documents in a San Francisco court case has disclosed a previously unknown Trump administration policy, in effect since March: a ban on abortions for pregnant girls who entered the United States alone and are in immigration custody.
The policy appears to be illegal, U.S. Magistrate Laurel Beeler said Wednesday, because all women in the United States including prisoners and immigrants, documented or undocumented have a constitutional right to abortion.
The government may not want to facilitate abortion, but it cannot block it, Beeler said. It is doing that here.
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But Beeler said the lawsuit in her court, challenging another set of restrictions on abortion and contraceptive care for minors in immigration facilities, could not be expanded to cover the newly revealed Trump administration policy. She said she lacked authority to order the government to allow a 17-year-old girl, now held in a federally supervised immigration shelter in Texas and identified only as Jane Doe, to visit the doctor who has agreed to perform her abortion.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which had sought to intervene on behalf of Jane Doe, filed a new suit Friday in Washington, D.C., challenging the abortion ban for all pregnant girls who are held in the government-funded shelters. The ACLU said there are hundreds of such girls every year in those shelters.
The shelters house young people who entered the U.S. alone and without documentation. Most remain for several months and then are placed with U.S. family members. Others are returned to their homeland.
Under the policy implemented in March and first aired in court in the San Francisco case, shelters cannot release minors for abortion-related services without approval of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Scott Lloyd, director of the office, has said he will allow release only for pregnancy services and life-affirming options counseling. To clear up any doubts, said Susan Hays, legal director of the Texas abortion-rights group Janes Due Process, Lloyd told a staffer at one of the shelters, My priority is unborn children, and there will be no more abortions.
Instead, the girls lawyers said, pregnant minors in the shelters are ordered to visit religiously sponsored crisis pregnancy centers where they are shown fetal sonograms, warned of the supposed dangers of abortions and pressured to give birth. In addition, Lloyds office contacts the girls parents in their homelands to tell them their daughters are pregnant. And Lloyd himself has visited shelters to try to talk individual residents out of having abortions.
The federal office has refused to allow Jane Doe, now 14 weeks pregnant, to leave the Texas shelter for an abortion since Sept, 28, the date of her first appointment. She was taken to a crisis pregnancy center for antiabortion counseling, and Lloyds office told her mother the girl was pregnant an action that Hays described as heartless.
Before the girl fled her home country, Hays said, her parents learned that her older sister was pregnant, and beat her with wooden sticks and a cable until she miscarried.
Jane Doe entered the United States in early September and was apprehended and placed in a shelter, where she learned she was pregnant. Her lawyers are keeping her name, her country of origin and most of her background confidential. But Hays said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons office, which opposes her request for an abortion, disclosed that she is being held in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border, home to only one abortion clinic.
Jane Doe is a brave and persistent young woman who has already been forced by the Trump administration to delay her abortion for weeks, said ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri. The government is holding her hostage so that she will be forced to carry to term against her will.
The ACLU filed its initial lawsuit in June 2016 in San Francisco, challenging the governments practice under then-President Barack Obama of placing young immigrants in shelters run by government-funded religious organizations, which deny access to contraception and abortion.
After learning about Jane Does case and the underlying policy last month, the ACLU sought to bring her into its San Francisco suit and obtain a court order allowing an abortion Oct. 13, when her next appointment was scheduled. But Beeler, while saying the refugee office had no justification for its refusal, concluded she had no jurisdiction over the governments actions in another state on an issue that wasnt closely related to the original suit.
While the San Francisco suit continues, the ACLU filed its new suit in a Washington, D.C., federal court, which would have authority to rule on the administrations actions anywhere in the country. The suit seeks a court order allowing Jane Doe to have an abortion this week.
More broadly, the suit seeks an injunction that would require the federal refugee office to allow pregnant girls to seek abortions and would end the mandatory visits to the antiabortion centers and the contacts with the girls parents.
Federal officials violate girls constitutional right to privacy by wielding a veto power over their abortion decisions, and obstructing, interfering with or blocking access to abortion, ACLU lawyers said.
The Justice Department has not filed arguments yet in defense of the administrations policy, saying only that Jane Does rights were not being violated because she was free to leave the shelter and return to her homeland. But a group of seven states, led by Texas, filed arguments in Beelers court saying undocumented immigrants in U.S. custody have no right to an abortion.
Ordering the government to free Jane Doe to terminate her pregnancy would create a right to abortion for anyone on earth who entered the United States illegally, no matter how briefly, Texas lawyers told the San Francisco magistrate. In that case, the office argued, it is hard to imagine why she should be denied any other constitutional rights such as the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
The ACLU countered, and Beeler agreed, that the right to abortion is covered by the guarantee of due process of law, which is provided, under the Constitution, to any person in the United States, and not just to U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. The issue is likely to be raised again if the case reaches higher courts.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
When the Tubbs Fire reached the hilltop property of Art and Suiko Grant in Santa Rosa, the couple gathered their small pet dog and took refuge in the wine cellar of their home of more than 45 years.
This is where they died together last Monday, according to their daughter Trina Grant. He was 95 and she was 75. Mr. Grant was a retired captain with Pan American World Airways who had met his Japanese-born wife in Honolulu while working for the airline.
The green canvas cots are inches apart, covered with white blankets emblazoned with the American Red Cross logo. Mealtimes are posted on large pieces of paper on the wall. The medical area is in the front corner, opposite a snack bar. Childrens toys and games sit on the other end of Grace Pavilion at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
A week ago, the hall in Santa Rosa was full of wine and art for the Harvest Festival. On Friday, it was home to hundreds of evacuees, one of 43 shelters that have opened across the North Bay since the deadly fires ignited. It is a place of heartbreaking loss and heartening sacrifice, but five days on, the question echoes louder across the cavernous building: How long will I be here?
The question is difficult to answer.
Were here until I can figure out whats going to happen next, whats going to be next, said Rick Lambert, whose rented home in Glen Ellen was destroyed Monday while he was on a camping trip with his wife and three dogs. We dont have a place to go to.
Some of the more fortunate of the 3,900 fire refugees at the fairgrounds and other shelters, whose homes survived the fires, will be back in those residences within days, when their neighborhoods are deemed safe and the power is back on, officials said. But others, including the occupants of more than 2,800 homes that burned to the ground in Santa Rosa alone, may be stuck for weeks.
Of all the centers that have been set up in and around the Wine Country, 14 are schools, 13 are churches, seven state fairgrounds, six community centers and two casinos. In coming days, some will start transitioning back to whatever they do when not providing shelter.
But some of the larger places including the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa will be likely to stay open longer. How long is tough to say: In the aftermath of past California wildfires, evacuees have left shelters as soon as they could. In Lake County, where nearly 2,000 homes were wiped out in a 2015 fire, the shelters were empty within a few weeks.
They scatter to the winds, said Rob Brown, a Lake County supervisor who led the fire recovery efforts there. They bought homes. They rented homes. There is no way of knowing where people go. Youd be surprised how self-reliant people become. People appreciate having a place to go, but after two or three weeks sleeping on a cot they will find another alternative.
Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore said some lesser-used shelters will be phased out, while a few larger ones like the fairgrounds will be beefed up with additional services.
Ill fight to keep these things open as long as people need them, said Gore. But from everything Ive heard, people start to move on once the (insurance and government aid) money starts coming in.
At the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, about half of the temporary residents had either lost their homes or didnt yet know if they had. The other half were waiting to return to Rincon Valley, Oakmont and other neighborhoods in and around Santa Rosa that were under evacuation but at least so far are untouched by flames.
About 450 to 500 people have spent the night at the shelter since Monday. Some have been there every night, while others have come and gone. Almost everyone who lost their home is dealing with paperwork filing insurance claims, applying for government assistance, replacing documents destroyed in the fire.
And they will be scrambling for housing options, everything from new apartments to temporary rentals covered under insurance to trailers to spare bedrooms in relatives homes, all while carrying on with their lives in some fashion, working and getting kids back in school.
Since the first folks arrived Monday morning, fleeing the Tubbs Fire that swept from Calistoga in Napa County west into Santa Rosa, something of a town has emerged at the fairgrounds. Finley Hall is for families with pets. The Veterans Memorial building across the street is for the medically challenged. The main hall is for everyone else.
People chat about lives that seemed long ago, even if the memory was from a barbecue that took place last week. They joke and make friends. But whatever sense of normalcy they create is often broken by a medic or nurse attending to an older evacuee on a nearby cot, or an armed National Guardsman patrolling the pavilion.
As the days wear on, the support grows along with the fatigue. Donated goods clothing, pet food, toiletries have poured in from across Northern California, to the point where some evacuation centers dont have the space to store any more.
Therapists and nurses are offering care. Volunteers are giving free massages and acupuncture. Insurance companies have arrived, parking special claims trucks in the back lot. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri, who got his start in Santa Rosa, showed up to fix some food.
But this is no real life, residents said. At night, its hard to sleep. During the day, the focus is gathering information, listening to radios, poring over newspapers. People know tomorrow will likely look a lot like today. Breakfast, waiting. Lunch, waiting. Dinner, waiting.
Jim Bray of the Red Cross, the assistant manager of the shelter, wouldnt venture to guess how long it will remain open. He would only say he was at a Hurricane Katrina shelter for a month, and that it remained open even after he left. This, he said, is a larger disaster for us.
Cybrena Gunn, 48, sat on her portable hospital bed, a cot that allowed her to sit up some with her Chihuahua-poodle mix, Princess Honeygirl, on her lap. Disabled and mostly in a wheelchair, she left her Rincon Valley home Monday after the power went out and the emergency alert button she wears on a lanyard around her neck stopped working. Later her neighborhood ended up under a voluntary evacuation order.
For Rick and Melissa Lambert, the fairgrounds is home for the foreseeable future. They escaped the fire with only the clothes they were wearing, their car and their three dogs, including a 12-week-old wolf-husky pup, Samantha. They didnt have renters insurance.
On Friday, they were wearing donated clothes they had pulled from a free table in the middle of Grace Pavilion as they played with Samantha on a grassy area outside. Other than the toiletries and other supplies provided by the Red Cross, they had nothing else.
Its not easy to be in the shelter, he said. But for the situation, its about as good as it gets, and its not going to get better for the moment.
Jill Tucker and J.K. Dineen are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JillTucker @sfjkdineen
After 16 months in business, the organic, artisan bakery, Dough Baby, on State Street is closing, the victim of low sales volume.
"With a huge amount of heartache and gratitude, I want to let our beautiful people know, that this Sunday will be our last day open for business," pastry chef/owner Kristine Miller wrote in a Facebook announcement at about 9 a.m. Friday.
News of the closing brought in a lot of customers, including people who said they were sorry they hadn't made it in before, Miller said.
The bakery case was nearly empty two hours later and Miller and her staff had to close for a couple hours to make more doughnuts. When the shop reopened, they sold out again after about 30 minutes. She ended up closing for the day at about 3 p.m.
But the outpouring wasn't enough to make Miller reconsider. "We're like totally out of money, so there's no way to have a second thought," she said.
Miller opened Dough Baby Bakery at 511 State St., in June of last year, selling doughnuts for $2.25 and filled doughnuts for $2.75.
Prices are high because the bakery uses expensive ingredients, including organic sugar from Wholesome in Texas and organic flour from Giusto's in California.
Other ingredients come from Wisconsin, including organic butter from Murphy's Farm, dairy from Sassy Cow Creamery and eggs from Yuppie Hill.
"We use very good ingredients and in the food industry the profit margins are so small to begin with and then when you use really well-sourced food, it gets even smaller. So, if you don't get enough people in the door, it really isn't going to work," Miller said.
"That's kind of what happened to us, but I'm proud of the food that we made."
She's also been proud of her associations with local cafes and food carts, including Porter, Macha Tea Company and El Grito.
"It's been amazing, the industry people that have reached out and that we've been able to collaborate with. That's been one of the most amazing, fulfilling parts of having the bakery, is collaborating with those other people in the Madison food scene," Miller said.
In 2009, Miller worked as a pastry intern at L'Etoile. After working at L'Etoile and its sister restaurant Graze, Miller, who is married to L'Etoile chef-owner Tory Miller, left to raise their son, Miles.
Tory nicknamed the baby "pate a choux," after the puffy French pastry dough, because Miles had giant cheeks when he was born. And that was the inspiration behind the name Dough Baby.
Miller said she's been working 12-hour days, six days a week "for free for the last year," and is going to take a much-needed break. After that, she will figure out her next step.
"I'm definitely going to stay in the culinary industry, and stay in pastry, because that's what I love," she said. "I'll definitely pop up somewhere, sometime."
Miller said she generally works 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. Then she picks her son up from day care and spends time with him. Tory usually works from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., and is able to take Miles to day care.
She gets about five hours of sleep a night, Miller said.
Besides doughnuts, the bakery makes cookie sandwiches, pies, bars, brownies, and cakes. "The full indulgent spectrum of American pastry," its website says.
Miller has a five-year lease and said there's another food business interested in going into her spot.
Dough Baby will open at 8 a.m. Saturday and stay open as long as it can, Miller said. She also needs to bake for a wedding, so she isn't sure how long her supplies will last.
"I didn't really realize today was going to be like today was, either."
Sunday she will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
DALLAS A neighbor was the first to tell Paige Cane that her landlord had posted an eviction notice on the door of her flooded apartment in Port Arthur.
The 26-year-old was more than 300 miles away with no car, sleeping in a Dallas shelter for evacuees escaping Harveys floodwaters. The mother of four had no way to get back in the five days the eviction notice gave her to remove her belongings before they would be heaped on the curb.
Rental housing has been a concern in many cities in Texas and Florida after hurricanes Harvey and Irma flooded tens of thousands of homes. Texas renters have complained of difficulties getting out of leases on damaged properties, short timelines for evictions, and trouble finding affordable rentals because landlords have a glut of tenants to choose from. In Florida, advocates worry rebuilding efforts after Irma are forcing out mobile home park residents who rent coveted land in the Florida Keys.
In Texas, housing advocacy groups in Houston, Port Arthur and other hard-hit cities are fielding complaints. Lone Star Legal Aid, which provides free civil legal services to low-income residents in parts of the state, has received nearly 100 complaints from renters since the storm complaints that can encompass issues dozens of renters have at one complex.
Its unconscionable, but there were landlords who would not extend the rent deadlines, even as Harvey hit on Aug. 25, days before rent was due for many, said John Henneberger, co-director of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service.
Texas statutes, which often favor landlords in disputes, require tenants to take landlords to court for rent reductions or lease termination something that can seem monumental when courthouses are flooded, cars destroyed and incomes lost, Henneberger said.
Florida has no blanket policy governing how late rental payments or evictions should be handled after storms, according to the Florida Apartment Association, which represents owners, developers and property managers for about 600,000 units. An association representative didnt know of any landlords refusing to allow renters to break leases, but that doesnt address renters who want their apartments repaired.
They havent done anything, not even put a tarp on the roof, said Liliana Caminero, a 54-year-old nurse, who lived in a second-floor apartment in Miami that suffered extensive roof damage. An inspector told her the place was uninhabitable and covered in black mildew, so she was forced to find another rental.
In the Florida Keys, which took the brunt of Hurricane Irma, half of the up to 15,000 residential homes damaged or destroyed were mobile homes.
Jose Fons, advocacy director for Monroe County for the Legal Services of Greater Miami, said landowners have started evicting trailer owners or renters from their lots, saying they are having problems with access to utilities.
There is a fear that some of them will change the use of land, so that they are no longer mobile home parks, said Fons, a concern shared by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Not all of the trailers are uninhabitable.
Fons said landowners are giving tenants short timeframes to remove trailers.
Florida officials have not asked park owners or landlords for leniency, unlike Texas. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner urged landlords to waive late fees for September and give more time to vacate uninhabitable apartments.
At the same time, groups that track rental stock say theyve seen a decrease in areas of Houston that stayed dry and an increase in average rents.
Texas renters have also complained about landlords demanding rent for unlivable apartments and threatening to keep security deposits or put a mark on the renters credit reports if they dont pay. Texas law says either the landlord or the tenant can decide that a space is unlivable because of a flood or fire, but the law doesnt clearly outline what happens if they disagree.
As for short timelines for evictions, five-day notices, while allowed, have been applied in ways that dont comply with Texas law, said Rich Tomlinson, litigation director at Lone Star Legal Aid. Landlords cannot move tenants property without going to court, he said.
This is unlike my previous experience with flooding, Tomlinson said. A lot of landlords this time have sent out those five-day eviction notices. I dont remember them doing that in the previous floods, and certainly not like this.
Lone Star Legal Aid has filed a handful of legal actions in the last month, including a request for an order prohibiting an apartment management company from putting Canes belongings on the street before she could get back.
I went back to school, and I graduated with my diploma. I want my diploma and my photos, Cane said, wiping her face as she stood at a park near a Dallas shelter last month with two of her children. Me and my four are going to be fine. Im going to take care of mine. But I feel driven to do this.
A court later gave Cane time to get her belongings. A phone call to the apartment complex seeking comment was not returned.
The Houston Housing Authority, which provides housing for low-income residents, has had its own issues, including initially charging some residents September rent for flood-damaged apartments before returning the money.
At Clayton Homes near downtown Houston, officials said 112 of 296 units would be demolished because of mold and E. coli. Tenants were given vouchers for private housing because the authority has nothing left.
The authority also issued five-day eviction notices to about 150 residents at a senior living apartment building because of floodwater damage. The residents were given more time, but many protested that they didnt want to leave despite damage to electrical and other systems.
This isnt ideal. But it isnt safe, the authoritys president, Tory Gunsolley, said.
On Friday the 13th, the starry-sky ceiling at the Majestic Theatre darkened. Suddenly, Harry Potter materialized, accompanied by the swelling volumes of a live orchestra.
About 1,700 people were there for the revival of Harry Potter. The San Antonio Symphony kicked off its Movies in Concert this season with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The 2002 movie is the second in the series that started in 2001. It performed the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, in June.
A flying car, large spiders, a petrified cat and one huge serpent on the screen above the stage added to the Friday the 13th vibe as the orchestra played John Williams expressive score built around different themes tied to specific characters.
The well-versed audience cheered with the first appearance of each character, good or evil. Some of the audience came in costume, such as Aubrey Sergeant, 18, of Port Aransas, dressed in blue and bronze, the colors of Ravenclaw, one of the houses of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I like to see the actual music. It enhances the whole experience, said Sergeant, declaring she was forever and a day a Harry Potter fan.
Who doesnt like magic? Im a chemistry major, added Sergeant, a Texas A&M University freshman who also attended the symphonys performance of The Sorcerers Stone at the Majestic.
Conducting the San Antonio Symphony for the first time was Justin Freer of California, who used the streamers and punches method of synchronizing the orchestra with the movie, using a monitors visual clues, instead of the click track method, a digital metronome, that is sometimes used.
The orchestra was vivid in the Quidditch scene, but eerie and ominous in many other scenes in a movie that was darker and deeper in themes than the Sorcerers Stone film. Especially poignant was seeing Richard Harris in his Harry Potter farewell as Dumbledore. Harris died soon after filming The Chamber of Secrets.
The movie concert repeats at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Majestic Theatre downtown.
Upcoming San Antonio Symphony movie concerts during the 2017-18 season are Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas on Dec. 22-23; Jaws on Jan. 26-27, La La Land on March 2-3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on May 11-12.
dhendricks@express-news.net
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban-linked captors who held American Caitlan Coleman and her family for five years killed her infant daughter and allowed Coleman to be raped by a guard, her husband said, introducing a dramatic new layer to a saga that was already marked by mystery.
Joshua Boyle's revelations, which authorities have not confirmed, came after the couple and three of their children were rescued Wednesday in Pakistan, where their Haqqani network captors had taken them from Afghanistan. The operation by the Pakistani military, which was tipped off by U.S. intelligence, may buoy relations between the two countries.
Reading from a statement after the family arrived in Toronto on Friday, Boyle, a Canadian citizen, made his allegations calmly and declined to elaborate.
"The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim . . . was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," Boyle said, adding that the killing was in "retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer" that the Haqqanis had made. He did not specify what the offer was.
He also denounced "the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
Pakistani officials would not comment on the allegations, and the State Department declined to comment, citing respect for the family's privacy. A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan did not respond to messages seeking reaction.
The Haqqani network, a family-based guerrilla group with roots in southeastern Afghanistan, is closely affiliated with the Taliban and is considered the most lethal and resilient enemy of U.S. forces there. Headquartered in the Pakistan border area, it also held U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five years, during which he reportedly was kept chained or in a cage and was frequently beaten. Bergdahl was released in a 2014 prisoner swap in exchange for five Taliban figures held by the United States.
"Generally, they don't treat prisoners humanely," said Hamed Daqeeq, a former Afghan government official who is now a political analyst in Kabul. In the past, freed detainees "spoke of being tortured and beaten badly by the group," he said.
The Haqqanis, many of whose leaders have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan over the years, also are allegedly responsible for the 2009 suicide attack on a CIA facility near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, in which seven CIA officers and contractors were killed.
Coleman and Boyle were abducted in October 2012 while traveling in a remote area of Afghanistan outside Kabul.
Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Khadr, once the youngest detainee at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay after he pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. Special Forces medic.
Boyle said he and Coleman were in Afghanistan 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." The couple had previously claimed that they were on a six-month hiking trip through Central Asia.
At the time, Coleman was pregnant, and she gave birth to her children in captivity. Before the new allegations, the couple was believed to have three children, who were rescued with their parents.
In a video released last year, Coleman said her family was in a "Kafkaesque nightmare" and that her children had "seen their mother defiled."
U.S. officials in recent months had suspected that Boyle, Coleman and their children were being held inside Afghanistan, although 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 of their whereabouts and passed the intelligence to Pakistani officials, who carried out the rescue.
According to Pakistani military officials and statements by Boyle, the operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captor's final, terrifying threat to "kill the hostage." Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors' car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
U.S. officials did not confirm those details.
But officials in Islamabad were eager to share the drama behind the action that may help pull their country back into favor with the United States after President Trump chastised Pakistan as offering "safe havens" to terrorists and hinted at possible sanctions. Pakistan denies providing havens for militants.
On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the Pakistani army, said the rescue effort began after a U.S. diplomat informed Pakistani officials that the family was being moved.
The rescuers fired at the vehicle tires and cordoned the one that was carrying the family, he said.
"Our first priority was that the captives are brought out safely. We wanted to isolate the terrorists and captives, and we wanted to come between the terrorists and hostages, which we did, so that the captives remain safe," Ghafoor said.
He did not address Boyle's allegations of rape and murder.
A U.S. military official said that a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan Wednesday prepared to fly the family out. The team conducted a preliminary health assessment and had a transport plane ready, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said. In his statement Friday in Toronto, Boyle denied reports that he refused to board the plane.
The family was flown instead to Toronto, where, according to reports, Boyle described how one child was malnourished and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
He called on the Taliban to bring the Haqqani network to justice.
In a video recorded in Pakistan after the rescue and released Saturday by the Pakistani military, Boyle praised the country's military for its bravery and professionalism, saying that a car of one rescue team was "riddled with bullets" and that the Pakistani agents "got between the criminals and the car to make sure that . . . my family was safe."
The Western world "will look at Pakistan a little bit differently now after this has happened," Boyle said, "and will understand that it is not a third-world disaster area run by incompetent people at all. It is actually on the world stage and on the front lines."
The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority board of directors, at is quarterly meeting in Plainview on Wednesday, adopted a memorial resolution honoring Norman Wright of Plainview.
Wright, a longtime local banker and insurance agent, died Sept. 13 at age 88. He represented the City of Plainview on the board of the regional water authority for almost 30 years.
The memorial resolution noted that with Wrights passing, The citizens of this area lost a citizen concerned with and active in the conservation and development of water resources of Texas . . .
Norman Wright served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority from the City of Plainview from 1985 through 2015. He served as vice president from January 1992 to January 2005 and as president from January 2005 to January 2012. He also served as a member, vice chairman and chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, as a member and vice chairman of the Legislative Committee, as a member of the Personnel Committee, as chairman of the Recreation, Water Quality and Pollution Control Committee, and as a member of the Presidents Cabinet Committee, and in other capacities to assist with the operation of the Authority facilities.
The board, in adopting the resolution, extended its deepest sympathy to the Wright family and acknowledged to them its gratitude and appreciation of his faithful service.
The group also noted that this resolution in memory of Norman Wright be spread upon the official minutes of the Authority to preserve for all time the memory of the services rendered by Norman, and that the secretary be, and is hereby instructed to send a copy of this resolution to the family of Norman Wright with the boards condolences.
The CRMWA provides water for municipal purposes to 11 member cities throughout the Texas Panhandle and South Plains from Lake Meredith near Fritch and through its well field in Roberts County. The board normally meets three times a year in Plainview and once at the authoritys headquarters adjacent to Lake Meredith.
As wind-fanned flames raced across several counties in Northern California, only one activated the government's most potent public notification system - a blast that overrides the volume controls on cellphones, turning them into the equivalent of squawking alarms.
The simultaneous wake-up call for many of Lake County's 64,000 residents came shortly after 2 a.m. Monday, after county emergency officials decided to order a mandatory evacuation because of the inferno known as the Sulphur fire.
"We decided it was the right course," Lt. Corey Paulich, spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff's Office, said of the alert. "We felt that our residents were in imminent danger."
In neighboring Sonoma County, however, officials decided not to send an alert because of concern that it might cause panic and clog roadways, potentially blocking rescue workers or even leaving thousands exposed to shifting, wind-driven fires.
The fires did not treat the nine affected counties equally, and the destruction in population centers was worse in Sonoma than anywhere else. But all 36 confirmed fire-related fatalities were in Sonoma and three other counties that did not send wireless alerts. No deaths have been reported in Lake County.
Five years after it was launched by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the use of the nation's alert system remains uneven. And despite a campaign by FEMA to encourage local governments to participate, most U.S. counties could not order an alert today if they faced an emergency. More than 65 percent of the nation's 3,500 counties do not have agreements in place with FEMA to send alerts through the Wireless Emergency Alert system, as it is known, the agency said.
The alerts are sent to all phones in the targeted area, often accompanied by a vibration and a unique sound that FEMA says is "designed to get your attention." The majority of alerts sent over the system since 2012 - more than 25,000 - have been related to flash floods, tornadoes and other weather events, FEMA records show.
There have been missteps. Authorities were criticized in Southern California in June when an alert was erroneously sent to a wide swath of Riverside County, which has a population of more than 2 million, directing residents to "evacuate now" because of a wildfire. Officials took to social media to stress that the evacuation was only for a small area of the county.
But a trade group for wireless carriers credits the alerts with helping to save lives during extreme weather events and other emergencies, including a tornado in Connecticut and child abductions in many states.
Of the four counties in Northern California where residents were killed in fires this week, two - Sonoma and Mendocino - had agreements in place with FEMA that enabled them to send alerts. Yuba and Napa counties did not, according to federal records.
That left Napa residents like Emily Cocks with no warning before fire appeared in view of her home. Cocks said that her husband woke up around 12:45 a.m. Monday after he heard branches hitting their bedroom window from high winds in the Atlas Peak area. Looking outside, the couple saw fire on the ridge above them. They packed their cats, some clothing and Cocks's grandmother's jewelry, then left for her parents' home 100 miles to the south. Before they arrived, on a news report, Cocks' father spotted the home in Atlas Peak engulfed in flames.
Of the lack of an alert, she said, "In hindsight, it would have been nice."
Molly Rattigan, Napa's deputy county executive officer, said the county has long opted to do evacuations in person. "We're a small community and going out to people in person, and helping them, that's been what's worked well for us," she said.
Napa used its Nixle service Monday night, a system that allows for a kind of reverse 911 calling and emergency text messaging to those who sign up voluntarily. Two people in the county died Monday; two more deaths were confirmed Friday. Before the fire, 20,000 people in the county of about 140,000 had signed up for the service, she said. Since Monday, the number has grown to 135,000.
Officials in Yuba County defended the decision not to rely on the alerts system. Cell service is spotty in the rural area, said Russ Brown, a spokesman for the county's office of emergency services. Instead, Yuba used a reverse 911 system dubbed CodeRED, along with old-fashioned bullhorns and sirens, to wake people, Brown said.
Brown dismissed the idea that a wireless alert would have prevented the four deaths from this week's fires in the county, saying that cellphone towers were among the first structures overwhelmed by flames.
Emergency officials in Sonoma County, where fires incinerated whole neighborhoods in the city of Santa Rosa, said at a news conference Wednesday that the dwindling number of landlines added to the challenge of reaching people through reverse 911 calls.
Sheriff Rob Giordano urged Sonoma County residents to sign up for its voluntary system of emergency alerts - which, like Napa, Sonoma used to spread evacuation orders. As of earlier this summer, only 10,000 of the county's 500,000 residents had signed up.
On Thursday, Sonoma County emergency officials offered a different explanation. They said they had consciously decided not to use the FEMA-backed wireless technology for fear of causing mass panic and "because the warning is not targeted," said Jennifer Larocque, a county spokeswoman. But WEA notifications can and have been targeted to smaller geographic areas, FEMA said Friday.
The agency pointed to the wireless alert issued Monday at the request of Lake County officials. That alert went to a six-mile-wide swath of residents in and around the city of Clear Lake, according to a map provided by FEMA.
Among those who received the warning was Josy Range, who noticed a vague smell of smoke when she woke up unexpectedly around 2 a.m. Almost immediately, Range said, her cellphone erupted with messages, including one that was delivered with a sharp ring unlike an ordinary text message. "It sort of sounded like a siren," she recalled.
The message read: "Mandatory evacuations for Sulpher Fire. Elem Colony & N. Clearlake Shelter @ Twin Pine," according to FEMA.
Range heeded the warning. She got dressed, grabbed her medications and her three dogs, and climbed in her car. She soon hit a roadblock set up by the fire department, where other neighbors had gathered to gaze at the glowing spectacle that had materialized, seemingly within minutes, on the ridge above her home.
"I looked back at my house and I could see a row of flames on the hillside above it," recalled Range, 65, who at that point pulled out her cellphone once more. "I said, I guess I should take a picture of this."
- - -
Lisa Bonos contributed to this report.
NORWALK Three candidates hoping to unseat Democratic Mayor Harry Rilling in November have raised the volume.
Two are banging the non-partisan drum.
In this day and age with all the hatred and negativity thats going on in our country I am simply elated that we can rise above the name calling and divisive partisan politics that is so commonplace today, said state Rep. Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, in a statement Friday. Frankly, at this point in the race it appears that Lisa and I have more in common than the 2 major party candidates???
Although a mayoral candidates forum is scheduled for Oct. 30, Morris has invited his opponents to meet him on the steps of City Hall on Monday, Oct. 16, at noon and share their ideas with voters.
Morris, a South Norwalk Democrat, and Lisa Brinton, an unaffiliated voter from Rowayton, are both running as petitioning candidates in Norwalks 2017 mayoral race.
On Thursday, Brinton lauded Mark Suda, a Norwalk police officer and Republican candidate for council, as well as Republican Councilman Richard Bonenfant.
In a statement, Brinton said Suda possesses a thoughtful and determined approach to problem solving, attributes that will undoubtedly serve him well on the council. Suda said Brinton has shown her willingness to work with other parties and her desire to roll up her sleeves and work hard to make Norwalk a better place to live and raise a family!
Briton described Bonenfant as knowledgeable in all things Norwalk and said he is never afraid to speak his mind whether it be to protect the Citys assets or to ensure the taxpayers are getting the best value for their dollars his outspokenness is refreshing. The Republican councilman said Brinton has never faltered in trying to get real results for all Norwalkers.
On Friday, Suda stood by his comment but added that he supports the entire Republican ticket.
I think its a great team that was put together. I think the candidates are viable candidates, Suda said. I think we have a great chance to win several seats and I look forward to working with my team in the future.
Republican mayoral candidate Andrew Conroy on Friday reiterated his message that the city lacks leadership. He named the citys finances and the states plan to replacement the Walk Bridge as significant threats not being addressed by the Rilling administration.
Mayor Rilling has not only failed to advocate for preservation of state aid for education funding, he actually campaigned in favor of Malloys veto, the very thing that is causing the cuts, said Conroy, a former District E councilman, in a statement. In a similar way, the mayor has shown the opposite of leadership by failing to be a voice for Norwalk in planning for the type of bridge that must replace the Walk Bridge.
Rilling said Friday that he and other city officials have met dozens of times with the DOT regarding the bridge project and worked very diligently to protect Norwalk and mitigate the impact on our community.
I believe Ive only seen Mr. Conroy at one public hearing and that was recently, Rilling said. So its understandable why he is not up to speed on this issue.
On fiscal health, Rilling said the city has protected its rainy day fund and stands well positioned to offset most, if not all, of any reductions in state aid.
We will not have to send out a supplemental tax bill. If we had not been as responsible as we were, things might be different, Rilling said.
Addressing his challengers, Rilling said, Ive got three opponents whove taken a negative approach to campaigning and its unfortunate because voters do not appreciate a negative approach. They would much prefer a positive approach.
Wisconsins burgeoning crop of Democratic candidates for governor are sure to throw out a lot of big plans and a lot of barbs against the man they hope to replace in 2019, Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
For voters looking for an actual democrat among the Democrats, though, there is no more important plan than one to take the once-a-decade redistricting process out of the direct control of politicians.
Jobs, abortion, guns, schools and lots of other issues matter. But they arent addressed according to the will of the people unless the maps under which the people elect their representatives are free from political bias.
Its clear Walker isnt interested in letting a nonpartisan board draw Senate, Assembly and congressional district lines or, better yet, programming computers to do it without regard to where incumbents live, without packing like-minded voters into a small number of districts, and without taking into account other political considerations.
His campaign didnt respond to requests for comment, but in December he backed the fight to preserve the maps created by Republicans in 2011 and struck down in November by a federal court, and are now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thats no surprise. As evenly divided as Wisconsin proves itself to be in statewide elections, Republicans have enjoyed big majorities in the Legislature, even garnering fewer votes for their Assembly candidates in 2012 while winning control of 60 of 99 seats. When your partys got those kinds of numbers, a governor can do pretty much whatever he or she wants.
Democrats havent always been keen on nonpartisan redistricting either because, like Republicans, they relish the chance to rig the system in their favor, too.
But just as failing repeatedly is sometimes enough to spur people to do what is right, rather than simply what is in their self-interest, six years of losing has most or all of the Democratic candidates throwing their support behind redistricting reform.
All eight declared candidates say they support nonpartisan redistricting or would consider it.
Still, its not the sexiest campaign promise in the world, and maybe thats why I havent noticed any of them mentioning it in their campaign announcements, and couldnt find it mentioned on any of their campaign websites.
What does appear on the websites is a lot of the usual Democratic primary boilerplate language about what the candidates would do if elected.
State Superintendent Tony Evers, for example, says We must invest in our schools, grow the economy and rebuild the middle class. Businessman Andy Gronik talks about providing affordable health care for everyone in Wisconsin. State Rep. Dana Wachs speaks of taking on greedy corporations.
Actually, they wouldnt be able to do any of those things as long as Republicans remain in control of the Legislature. And as long as the party that controls the Legislature draws the maps, Republicans will work to keep themselves in power.
Democrats would at least have a chance under nonpartisan maps. As a side benefit, theyre also the democratic thing to do.
[Editor's note: This column has been updated to note that all eight declared Democratic candidates for governor, including Andy Gronik who could not be reached earlier, have said they support nonpartisan redistricting or would consider it.]
NEW YORK - Wealthy conservative donors and influential Republican lawmakers say they increasingly fear a historic backlash at the ballot box next year if the GOP effort to pass a sweeping rewrite of the nation's tax laws falls short in the coming months.
At a two-day midtown Manhattan summit of the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers' powerful donor network, GOP patrons, senators and strategists spoke in cataclysmic terms about the price they expect to pay in the midterm elections if their tax reform effort does not win passage.
They voiced concerns a demoralized Republican base would stay home, financiers would stop writing campaign donation checks to incumbents and the congressional majorities the party has built in the House and Senate could evaporate overnight.
To head that off, the same Republicans said they are waging an intense, multi-front effort in and outside of Congress and the White House to shepherd the endeavor to the finish line.
Koch network officials said they have already invested more than $1o million this year in advocating for the GOP tax plan.
They are sensitive to lingering intraparty divisions and distractions from President Donald Trump that could sink their attempt. Those complications heightened tensions inside the luxe hotel ballrooms where the summit wrapped up on Friday.
"Hugely nervous," said Chris Wright, an oil and gas executive from Colorado, describing the tone of the conversations he and other donors were having about tax reform. Wright, like most attendees, argued passing a tax bill would give the party a much-needed boost.
And if they fail?
"I think the Republicans will pay a heavy price in the midterm elections," he said.
Art Pope, a major conservative donor from North Carolina, put it this way: "When you have lack of success, that may depress voter turnout for Republicans, that may depress donations for Republicans and conservatives."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned Republicans could face a "Watergate-level blowout" in the midterm elections if they don't make major legislative strides on taxes and health care, invoking the political scandal that brought down Richard Nixon's presidency and set back the GOP considerably in subsequent elections.
"If tax reform crashes and burns, if [on] Obamacare, nothing happens, we could face a bloodbath," said Cruz, who spoke in a moderated discussion.
More than 100 top donors gathered for the Koch network meeting. The Washington Post and other news organizations were invited to cover the gathering, on the condition the donors present not be named without their permission.
In a panel discussion focused on tax reform, Sens. David Perdue, R-Ga., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., warned of dire political consequences if the endeavor is not successful.
"Failure is a starting process, in my opinion, to losing the House, which will manifest in 2018 if we don't get this done," Scott said. "And frankly, I think it destabilizes the Senate, we lose the Senate as well."
Trump and Republican congressional leaders are aiming to turn their plan into law in the next three months. An initial proposal crafted by the White House and congressional GOP leaders aims to cut tax rates for the wealthy, the middle class and businesses, as well preserve some popular deductions.
"I mostly came here today to assure you, that before this year is out, with your help in this room, we're going to cut taxes across the board," Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech to the Koch donors Friday afternoon.
Republican leaders are hopeful if they accomplish that, some of the disappointment in the party over the failure to dismantle the Affordable Care Act this year will evaporate. But the GOP discord that decimated that effort is already threatening to undermine the tax push.
"I think we can get there, but I'm very, very concerned about it right now," Perdue said. Asked whether individual senators understand the importance of uniting broadly and avoiding fierce fights for individual demands in the tax talks, he replied: "I think 48 United States senators get that."
The crowd, well aware there are 52 Republican senators, laughed.
The Koch network plans to spend between $300 million to $400 million on policy and political campaigns during the 2018 election cycle. Within that budget, they have already invested eight figures on the tax push.
They are airing television ads, hosting events and rallying donors to write checks, call lawmakers and pen op-eds in an effort to ramp up pressure.
"It's the most significant federal effort we've ever undertaken," said Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, a national Koch-backed organization.
They are hoping Trump complements their efforts. As he has throughout his presidency, Trump has been consumed in recent weeks by other issues and fights. One such feud is with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a retiring lawmaker who is seen as a key figure when it comes to tax and budgetary matters.
"It's frustrating and annoying that he does that," said Wright's wife, Liz Wright, speaking of the president's tendency to stoke conflict on social media. She sought to play down the impact of the president's various fights on the tax effort.
Trump has also reopened a fierce debate over health care with executive actions this week taking aim at the ACA. Those moves could steal away attention from taxes and increase the potential for a government shutdown in December.
There are also brewing tensions between Senate Republican leaders and the rank and file in the wake of the failed repeal push. Those could also add thorns to the tax talks.
In a dig at his own caucus's dearth of achievements, Cruz called the Senate's confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court "damn near the only thing Senate Republicans have done." Cruz also argued the Senate leaders should keep the upper chamber in session for more days each week.
"It's the old bulls who don't want to stay in session that long," Cruz said.
Amid that internal rancor, Republican lawmakers are dealing with external pressure to finish their work on tax reform that is as high as it has been for a legislative priority this year.
Failure, to many of the people who helped elect them, would fundamentally transform their standing in a way the health-care stumble did not.
"They risk their activist base becoming disillusioned. I think a lot of the donor base would also be disillusioned. So there's a great deal at stake for them," Phillips said.
Update: Kathleen Featherstone was located in Illinois Saturday morning and transported back to Deerfield, Lt. Kurt Pierce said.
A Deerfield woman with dementia is missing, the Dane County Sheriff's Office said.
Kathleen "Kathy" Featherstone, 64, was last seen at about midnight Friday at the TA Travel Center in Janesville, Lt. Tony Fleres said.
Featherstone lived in a group home in Deerfield and has a history of asking for money at rides at truck stops and gas stations, Fleres said.
She may be trying to travel to Rockford, Illinois, Fleres said.
Featherstone is a white woman with long gray hair and brown eyes. She is 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 240 lbs. She was wearing a black and white plaid shirt with blue jeans, white socks and black sandals, Fleres said.
Anyone who has information about Featherstone's whereabouts can call the Dane County Communications Center at 608-255-2345 or the county tip line at 608-284-6900.
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Imagine staring at your body in the mirror every morning and feeling like something was missing. Or that it was abnormal deformed, even.
Two women who co-founded an award-winning company called NovoThelium, which would provide nipple regeneration technology for women who have had mastectomies, have heard about that reaction.
What we hear most often from these women is they want to feel complete. That word is universally used, said Lauren Cornell, 30, a doctoral student in a translational science joint program at UT Health, the University of Texas at San Antonio and other institutions.
The women that decide to go through it have almost unanimously told us, when they looked in the mirror, it reminded them of what theyd been through. But they wanted to move on with their life, said Bianca Cerqueira, 31, who recently received her PhD in biomedical engineering.
For years, doctors have used a decellularization process to replace defective heart valves with functional ones and regenerate skin for burn victims. The process has not been used to regenerate nipples and this start-up is hoping to change that.
NovoThelium proposes to take donor nipples and dunk them in a serum that strips them of their DNA and other cells, leaving intact a cellular scaffolding called the extracellular matrix and growth cells that allow for regeneration. When the nipple is attached to a reconstructed breast, the patients own cells are expected to repopulate the cellular gaps in it, returning some sensation and possibly some color.
The nipple, in essence, will become the patients own. NeoThelium plans to begin animal testing on pigs this fall, with clinical trials on humans next summer.
Since last year, NovoThelium, which means new nipple in Latin, has placed in all 11 competitions its entered, and won first place in nine.
The national InnovateHER: Innovating for Women Business Challenge put it in the top 10 out of 150 first place winners in cities across the United States. On Oct. 26, Cerqueira and Cornell will fly to Washington, D.C. to give a two-minute presentation and try to win the $40,000 first place prize.
So far, the two women said, theyre $15,000 deep into their international patent application and expect to wind up paying at least $30,000 for it by the time its approved.
We think about nipples all day, every day, all the time, Cerqueira said.
Breast reconstruction often follows mastectomies but the two found many drawbacks to nipple and aureola reconstruction. Theyre hoping their process will ensure a permanent, minimally invasive solution.
Theres a lot of research showing that nipple reconstruction significantly improves the womans sense of self, being able to liberate herself, and her overall sense of well-being things that are a little more difficult to quantify, Cornell said.
She said her grandmother got breast cancer and didnt want a mastectomy because she didnt want to appear deformed. When she eventually had the procedure it was too late, Cornell said. She died when Cornell was 11 years old.
Some women get tattoos to fill in the blank stretch of skin, adding three-dimensional shading to give the nipple a more realistic look. Others opt for a silicone prosthesis, which can be costly and must be applied to the breast daily, like a sticker.
A third option is a surgical skin flap, in which skin on a reconstructed breast is cut and folded like origami to create a scar mound in the shape of a nipple. Some women then choose to get a tattoo over the mound to add color.
All of these just recreate the look of a nipple, Cerqueira said. And theres not really a very good permanent solution for them. Its very temporary.
The tattoos lack the dimensionality of a nipple. The prosthesis must be applied daily. As for the surgical skin flap, the body works to heal the scar over time, flattening and spreading the pseudo-nipple, and the multiple surgeries it requires is often the last thing women want if theyve already been through radiation treatment, a mastectomy and breast reconstruction.
Cerqueira and Cornell met while working on their masters in biomedical engineering at UTSA, calling it love at first sight. It was 2011 and the scientists would meet outside of class and brainstorm future inventions.
Wed come together and have tea at my house. I have a fancy little tea set, Cerqueira said.
We started off with silly things like banana bread or quilts we were very entrepreneurial and then kind of worked our way up to biotechnology, Cornell said with a smile.
Two years ago, they took their nipple regeneration idea to UTSAs Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship, which kicked their business into gear. That summer, they attended the seven-week MD Anderson I-Corps Regional Program and by October, the company was founded.
Their first competition was one year later, where they won first place in the Womens Start Up Pitch Competition at the Governors Business Forum for Women. A photo of them holding their $5,000 check hangs in their office at the San Antonio Technology Center.
They havent stopped placing in local and regional competitions since. Its not without challenges they acknowledge that being young women talking about nipples in the STEM field has brought its share of gender-based criticism.
Some people are less likely to take them seriously, and one time a male scientist recommended they restructure their business model in case of life changes.
We keep showing up, Cornell said. And people are like, Theyre not going away. And were not.
The two have met with 80 to 90 women with breast cancer for their research. Its know those women, they said, that pushes them every day.
This project has given me purpose, enthusiasm and drive that I lost along the way, Cerqueira said. Im grateful that we have this. And that I get to do it with my best friend. I mean, how lucky are we?
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In 1969, the space capsule Columbia made a nearly 500,000-mile round trip, carrying the first men to land on the moon.
Saturday, it served as a copper-colored backdrop for selfies at Space Center Houston.
"It's impressive," said Alana Oehler, 68, standing beside the golden-visor space helmet and silicone-tipped gloves of Buzz Aldrin, who followed Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface.
The traveling exhibit "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission" made its debut in Houston this weekend, featuring more than 20 historic items from the first lunar landing, including the Omega watch of Michael Collins, who piloted the capsule, and the capsule's hatch door. The exhibit, which runs in Houston through March 18, will make stops in three other U.S. cities before residing permanently in a renovated section of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington in 2021.
"This is a national treasure," said William Harris, president and CEO of the Space Center, pointing to the capsule.
Apollo 11 culminated the program launched by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to put a man on the moon within a decade as a way to catch and surpass the Soviet Union in the space race during the Cold War. More 400,000 NASA employees worked on 20 missions before Apollo 11 achieved that goal.
Five more successful lunar landings followed, the last in 1972 by Apollo 17. The astronauts of Apollo 13 never made it to the moon's surface after an explosion in the service module forced them to scrap the landing and led the pilot, John Swigert, to utter the famous phrase, "Houston, we've had a problem."
The exhibit marks the first time the Apollo 11 capsule, or command module, has been publicly displayed in Houston, even though the astronauts trained here and later received information and instruction from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center. When the capsule toured the nation to celebrate the historic accomplishment, its Texas stop was Austin, not Houston.
"It's a homecoming," said Harris, noting the Apollo 11 exhibit coincides with Space Center Houston's 25th anniversary.
On Saturday, families lined up 30 minutes before the museum opened. Parents read display descriptions aloud to their children. Couples kept returning to gaze at the capsule in the center of the museum's grand hall, including Oehler and her husband, Charlie.
"I remember everyone dropped what they were doing when the moon landing came on TV," she said.
Other items on display included a star chart, a survival kit, complete with a machete, and an F-1 engine injector plate that regulated the flow of hot gases as the capsule re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The plate was found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who in 2013, led an expedition to recover the first-stage engines from the Saturn V rocket that lifted Apollo 11 into space.
Bezos is also the founder and CEO of the commercial space company, Blue Origins, which has a test range in West Texas.
Visitors can also take a virtual tour of the spacecraft's interior by tapping on high resolution photographs taken by Smithsonian historians. On digital screens they can see unique details, including graffiti calendars, math calculations and reminder notes Aldrin, Collins and Armstrong scrawled on the walls of the capsule during their eight days in space.
As phone cameras snapped at the artifacts and families stopped to watch the historic video footage of the moon landing, a giant screen loomed behind them all. It displayed a projection of what many hope to be the next major space mission: traveling to Mars.
A man died after a head-on crash with an alleged drunken driver Friday in the town of Arena in Iowa County, the Wisconsin State Patrol said.
A 53-year-old woman from Muscoda was allegedly intoxicated while driving east on Highway 14 near Coon Rock Road at about 7 p.m. when her vehicle crossed into the westbound lane and struck another vehicle, the state patrol said.
The 38-year-old man, of Hilsboro, who was driving in the westbound lane died on the scene, the state patrol said, and the woman whose vehicle crossed lanes was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries.
Following treatment, the state patrol said the woman was arrested and faces tentative charges for operating while intoxicated.
The Iowa County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation for criminal charges, the state patrol said.
In 2012, Peter Diamandis published a best-seller, Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think. At 56, Diamandis has led an extraordinary life and brilliant career.
Citing strong evidence, he writes persuasively that the world is getting better. He posted a blog recently in which he provides more evidence, maintaining that we are living in the most exciting time to be alive.
Driving Diamandis in his writings on this subject is his observation with which I agree that we are constantly bombarded by negative news. If you turn on CNN (what I call the Crisis News Network), he writes, youll predominantly hear about death, terrorism, airplane crashes, bombings, financial crisis, and political scandal.
The reason for this, he claims, is that we are wired to pay 10 times more attention to negative news than positive news. And, he says, it isnt that the news media are lying. But its just not a balanced view of whats going on in the world.
I share Diamandis view that our world has indeed improved technologically, economically, socially and in many other ways in the past 200 to 500 years. According to him, weve seen marked decline globally of absolute poverty, child labor, infant mortality and crime.
Additionally, literacy rates, as well as the number of years of education attained by the average person, have increased. Finally, in the past 50 years, the percent of our disposable income spent on food has dropped by more than 50 percent.
But Diamandis positive claim in these areas is only half the picture. Theres the other side of the coin, which depicts a much different side of life a bleak one. In these trying times, that, I think, is the world we must focus on.
Thats what I address here the lack of civility, decency, respect, honesty, integrity, compassion need I continue? that seem so prevalent these days. And I speak not only of our leaders and politicians but of the common person. The average citizen our neighbors, our employers, our fellow workers. In other words, all of us.
Were things in the world always so? Have these human conditions existed at the same level throughout history? Or did we evolve by some process a kind of osmosis that has brought us to what I perceive as a decline in morality?
In trying to make sense of it all, Ive wondered if these human traits only appear more prevalent today due to advances in technology.
The internet, for instance, brings us in touch with one another almost instantaneously, via social networks, communication tools and world news coverage. Our means of conveying the news has changed dramatically because of satellite, fiber optics and Ethernet communications. We not only read about terrorism, civil unrest or riots, we view them in high definition and vivid color, often as they are happening.
Diamandis correctly states that the news media dominate the airwaves with negative news at a time when there are many good things happening in the world. But, as he observes, the negative events are true, even if they may be slanted or dramatized.
Anyone who knows me, I think, wouldnt call me a pessimist. Yet I cant help wondering if we are witnessing the beginning of the end.
British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee who believed that civilizations die from suicide, not by murder once said that of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now.
Toynbee said that more than 40 years ago. He died in 1975.
Edward Gibbon, who died much earlier in 1794 and who might as well have been speaking about the United States, pointed out five marks of the Roman cultures decline: concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth; obsession with sex and sex perversions; art becoming freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original; widening disparity between the rich and the poor; and increased demand to live off the state.
In his essay Seven Signs of a Falling Nation, Bruce A. Ritter, maintaining that no government or society lasts forever, discusses seven factors that he claims contributed to the Roman Empires demise, warning signs that he believes exist today within the United States and Britain.
One of Ritters factors is the family unit. He states that a strong family unit or bond existed in ancient Rome but that as the years passed, it weakened.
In the United States, as well as in other countries, the family is under constant assault. Broken marriages and fractured households, he maintains, are the norm.
A few years ago, J. Richard Gott published a book, Time Travel in Einsteins Universe. He wrote of a technique he developed that predicted how long something one is observing is likely to last. Gotts theory is predicated on the premise that everything in the universe has a beginning and an end. He used his technique in 1969 to predict that the Berlin Wall was likely to last another 24 years. Twenty years later, the wall was torn down. He also determined the likely future longevity of humanity.
Based on Gotts theory, the United States as a government and society also had a beginning and it will have an end. That got me to thinking: Will what Ive noted here have an impact on the cause of that end? I hope not, but if there may be such an impact, possibly we can do something about it.
I want to end on a positive note. Maybe its high time we give this possibility serious thought. As a focal point, we should explore ways that we can bring back the family unit that, according to some experts, was so important to the development of society.
Thats easier said than done, though.
The fear I have is that were so wrapped up in our own daily lives that we wont take the time to prevent the inevitable.
Is this the heavy price we must pay for the many freedoms weve come to enjoy in our country? I hope not.
As a buddy of mine used to say with a shrug whenever he managed to get in his two cents worth into whatever we were discussing, just saying.
Rudy Apodaca, a former chief judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals, is an Austin attorney/writer.
Bexar County has made great strides in fostering a college-going culture and is doing a commendable job enrolling students in public institutions of higher education, but too many still arent graduating.
Approximately 86,000 college students are enrolled in local public universities and community colleges, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Many of them are getting sidetracked between their arrival on campus and the scheduled walk across the graduation stage. Many are taking the long route to earning their degree.
In fairness, this is not a problem unique to Bexar County.
Students are taking many more credit hours than their degrees require, accumulating debt in the process. Debt is a problem for students who graduate with a degree and cant find a job in their fields, but it is an even bigger problem for students who quit college and take lower-paying jobs.
In Texas, only 59 percent of public university students earn a degree within six years. The graduation rates for public community college students is even lower, with only 32 percent earning a postsecondary degree or certificate within six years.
Only 1 in 4 students who begins at the University of Texas at San Antonio earns a degree at the local campus or transfers to another four-year school to finish. The rate of students who start at UTSA and graduate from UTSA, commonly referred to as the four-year graduation rate, is just 18 percent.
The average student loan debt among UTSA graduates is $30,000 not an extraordinarily high amount for a college graduate. But it is for those who left school and migrated into a low-paying job.
At the Alamo Colleges, most students are taking four years or more to complete what is typically considered a two-year program, graduating with about 30 more hours than required for an associate degree.
The six-year graduation rate at the five Alamo Colleges ranges from 16 percent to 35 percent. Students are graduating with about $16,000 in debt.
While some will argue that a college degree is not necessary to succeed in life, Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate it impacts earning potential. In 2016, those with less than a high school diploma had a median weekly salary of $504.
Members of the workforce with at least a bachelors degree earned about $1,156 a week. A masters degree increases that median wage to $1,380, up to $1,664 a week for doctoral degree holders and up to $1,745 a week for people with a professional degree.
The bureau also found this strong correlation: lower unemployment rates among those with higher levels of education.
Ambitious efforts are underway to improve student success rates in Bexar County. Student retention and graduation rates are high on the priority list for T. Taylor Eighmy, who became UTSAs sixth president on Sept. 1.
The effort is being bolstered with a $3.125 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Education Department. If the citys largest public university is going to be a serious contender for Tier 1 research university status, its graduation rate is going to have to dramatically improve.
At the Alamo Colleges, district trustees have tied improved student transfer rates and higher graduation rates to a proposed $45,000 bonus for Chancellor Bruce Leslie. The district already has experienced a marked improvement in completion rates after concentrating on better advising to steer students onto more direct routes to their degrees.
Increasing local public college graduation rates has to be viewed as a necessary economic development project for the community. Because a large percentage of students who graduate in San Antonio remains in the community, improving graduation rates will be a boon to the local economy.
Former president Robert Mugabes sons Bellarmine Chatunga and Robert Junior, stepson Russell Goreraza and son-in-law Simba Chikore and leading political figures face imminent arrest after it emerged this week that the countrys anti-corruption commission was investigating an array of offences ranging from illegal gold trade, abuse of office, corruption and murder.
This comes as President Emmerson Mnangagwas government embarked on a major corruption crackdown, which has already claimed the scalps of former home affairs minister Ignatius Chombo on allegations of corruption, former mines minister Walter Chidhakwa, former agriculture, mechanisation and irrigation development minister Joseph Made on various charges, with arrests of former ministers, permanent secretaries and members of Mugabes family looming large.
It has also emerged that Mnangagwa has told ministers implicated in high-level corruption to come clean and voluntarily surrender their ill-gotten wealth.
In the next few weeks, youre going to see some ministers quietly surrendering property, especially buildings, under the guise of donating to communities and empowering the poor. If they (ministers) dont do that voluntarily, they face the real prospect of being humiliated when crunch time comes. Should they refuse to comply, they will be investigated and prosecuted, a well-placed source said.
Sources confirmed that one particularly wealthy minister has been told to comply with the directive or face a formal probe.
This is a serious matter. He was told that he is tarnishing the image of the new government because everyone keeps citing his corrupt dealings and how he acquired a vast business empire under controversial circumstances. Even some former ministers are approaching the new government to open talks on how they can take action towards surrendering some of their property, another source said.
According to sources close to the developments, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is probing with the intention to arrest Chatunga, Robert Jr, Chikore and Goreraza, former energy minister Samuel Undenge, former tourism minister Walter Mzembi, Highfield West legislator Psychology Maziwisa, television personality Oscar Pambuka, and an Ambrose Made.
Chikore, a former Air Zimbabwe chief operating officer, is being investigated for a number of transactions he did during his tenure at the national airline and is also facing allegations of illegal gold trading.
Mugabes sons, Chatunga, Robert Jr and Goreraza are under investigation on illegal gold trading allegations. Zacc has also received requests from two families to investigate Goreraza, whom they implicated in an attempted murder shooting and the killing of a miner in Kadoma.
The murder allegations emanate from a shooting of an employee at Tolrose gold mine in Kadoma when he allegedly invaded it.
In October 2013, Goreraza allegedly stormed the mine at Eiffel Flats in the gold-mining town armed with letters showing that he had taken over the company whose ownership was already at the centre of a dispute between businessmen Jameson Rushwaya and Patterson Timba. He claimed he bought the shares from Timba and as a result Rushwaya was kicked out of the mine at gunpoint.
Robert Jr and Chatunga led a lavish lifestyle when the majority of Zimbabweans struggled to make ends meet.
Mzembi is also facing corruption charges and is under investigation for allegedly abusing state funds and cars bought for the hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation general assembly co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia in 2013. Mzembi is also accused of inflating prices of LED television units meant for the World Cup in 2010, which were valued at US$2 million, according to his ministry. In April 2010, Mzembis ministry made arrangements to purchase 40 LED TV units from a company in China as part of preparations for the World Cup hosted by South Africa, but the sets were only delivered 13 weeks after the event.
In her 2010 audit report, Auditor-General Mildred Chiri said an investigation should be carried out to establish whether tender procedures were followed or not and why the Ministry of Tourism allowed the delivery of the equipment worth US$2 million 13 weeks after the World Cup.
In 2015, without explaining why the TV units were delivered late, Mzembi dismissed Chiris report as a petty issue, saying the televisions could be accounted for, but have since been donated countrywide.
Former Sports minister Makhosini Hlongwane and former Labour minister Patrick Zhuwawo face corruption charges for allegedly abusing the youth fund. Zhuwawo is currently out of the country and has vowed not to return to Zimbabwe because his safety is not guaranteed.
More charges are being preferred against Chidhakwa for allegedly looting diamonds. Chidhakwas then permanent secretary, Francis Gudyanga and an unnamed police commissioner are being accused in a missing diamonds case whose value runs into several millions of dollars. Sources told the Independent that Mbada Diamonds (Pvt) Ltd wrote a letter to government raising the allegations. The diamond box was allegedly stolen when Chidhakwa announced the closure of Chiadzwa mining activities to pave way for the state-run Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) in February 2016
A letter dated February 11 2016 written to government by Mbada Diamonds states that Ministry of Mines officials and hundreds of fully armed police descended on Mbada Diamonds to ostensibly implement a new government policy.
They forcibly drove out employees including security personnel and they disabled all security equipment including CCTV and they broke into the vault area and stole a gem diamond box with stones worth millions of dollars, a government source told the Independent.
Sources say additional charges will also be preferred against Chombo.
What Chombo has been charged with so far is only 10% of what he is going to be charged with, a source said. More charges are also going to be pressed against former Zanu PF youth chairperson Kudzanai Chipanga who is out on bail.
Chipanga faces new charges of stealing 100 litres of fuel from Zimdef. He is being charged together with former deputy Higher Education minister Godfrey Gandawa.
Zacc is also targeting Ambrose Made, who faces abuse of office charges. He was chairperson of Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and Mining Promotion Company, which was formed without approval of the Ministry of Finance.
Former NetOne chief executive officer Reward Kangai also faces arrest on corruption charges emanating from an audit report titled Provision of Comprehensive Forensic Investigation Services to NetOne Cellular Services compiled by PriceWaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Auditor-General.
According to the audit report released in 2016, NetOne, under Kangai, allegedly made shady payments totalling US$32 million to 10 contractors without documentation.
Undenge also faces arrest on corruption charges. He is accused of ordering Zesa Holdings to hire Fruitful Communications, a firm linked to Zanu PF Highfield West MP Psychology Maziwisa and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Services presenter Oscar Pambuka, to carry out a media campaign despite the fact that Zesa has its own public relations department for that specific purpose.
Fruitful Communications charged the ZPC US$36 000 for public relations work done. However, the ZPC refused to pay.
Undenge had previously told the media that Fruitful Communications offered its services to Zesa for free. When contacted for comment, Maziwisa terminated the call after being asked about the investigation and stopped answering the phone. Pambukas number was continuously on voicemail.
Undenges mobile phone also went unanswered, while Mzembi and Hlongwanes were not reachable. When contacted for comment, Zacc spokesperson Phyllis Chikundura requested that questions be e-mailed to her but had however not responded to them by the time of going to print.
Zimbabwe Independent
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A shopping list of repair and maintenance works that need to be carried out at Carrick-on-Suir's children's playground was highlighted to Co. Council officials at the latest monthly meeting of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District.
Cllr Kieran Bourke tabled at a motion at the meeting calling on the Council to carry our "much needed" maintenance jobs on the playground at the Fairgreen and declared he was hugely disappointed with Council management's response to his request.
The Council's response was that the playground was inspected weekly and any necessary small repairs will be undertaken as soon as possible and subject to funds being available for any larger scale works. The Council said it would review the matter as part of its 2018 budgetary process.
Cllr Bourke said a large number of parents concerned about the state of the playground approached him over the summer months and argued that the scope of the repair and maintenance works that need to be carried out were not big.
The Fianna Fail councillor said when he raised the condition of the playground with a Council official about four months ago, it emerged that a report on the playground was conducted last year and identified minor works that require to be done.
They include cleaning obscene graffiti off the play equipment, power washing the filthy rubber playground surface, repairing part of the security fencing and painting the timber fencing to brighten it up.
Carrick Municipal District Administrator Martin Nolan said the Council received a quotation of 14,000 to carry out maintenance and repair works at the playground and this money had to be found within the District's open spaces budget.
Cllr Bourke appealed to the Council to at least power wash the playground surface and remove the graffiti. "That will go some way to satisfy parents," he said.
District Engineer Willie Corby promised to look at Cllr Bourke's proposal.
The first direct flight from San Juan since Hurricane Maria struck arrived in Connecticut Friday afternoon. Resources were on hand from state and other organizations to help them meet their needs.
The sold-out flight arrived at approximately 2:45 p.m. with about 245 people.
Its just one of many flights making its way over the coming weeks. There will be two flights a week until conditions improve and the state said they are preparing for an influx of people making their way to Connecticut from the island.
Volunteers with the American Red Cross, United Way and Salvation Army were at the airport ready to help those arriving.
For those coming from hurricane-ravaged areas, such as Puerto Rico, whether theyre already here or heading this way, Governor Malloy is asking them to call United Ways 211 center.
Whether its housing questions, food and clothing questions, mental health needs, physical health needs the place right now to turn in Connecticut is 211, he said.
Immediately youll hear a message which asks you to hit prompt 5, number 5 in order to go straight to the front of the line, said Rick Porth, United Way of Connecticut CEO.
So far the 211 center has received about 225 calls related to families from Puerto Rico who need help.
For every call received, United Way will report back to the state on the nature of the call to see what they can do to help them. Porth said many of those calls are requests for basic needs like clothing, housing, and food.
For anyone who has collected items for the island and has not found a way to send the items, the state is not assisting in sending them. However, Porth said you can call 211. Theres a possibility those items can be used to assist families seeking refuge in Connecticut.
Groton Utility crews are off to St. Thomas to help put up new power poles. Much of the island remains without power weeks after it was hit by Hurricane Maria.
The first crew headed out Sunday. They took trucks to Fort Lauderdale and placed them on barges to the island. The crew will then travel to Miami and then fly out to St. Thomas.
They are down there all broken, Jeff Lyon said.
For Groton Utilities lineman Jeff Lyon, returning to the U.S. Virgin Islands to repair downed power poles is more than just a job but a civic duty.
I can remember all of the corrugated metal from the roofs of the houses twisted right around the poles, Lyon said.
Lyon was last in the Virgin Islands more than two decades ago and recalls the devastation a hurricane can have on an island and the challenges of working on different terrain.
The roads are small, weve got big equipment here and sometimes we're going to have to break down our trucks to let the traffic through so that's a problem down there, Lyon said.
We figure well put up one pole an hour so it's 14 poles a day that's what we're going to target at, Brian Roche said.
Brian Roche, Manager of Engineering and Lyon are part of a 40 plus member crew including Norwich Public Utilities, heading to St. Thomas. Theyll be working double time seven days a week, to bring the island back to light.
It will be a great feeling when that happens, Roche said.
They're taking the small community of about 13,000 customers that we have here in Connecticut and they're going bring it down there to two or three million right down in the Virgin Islands, said Manager of Operations Randall Surprenant.
For this hardworking crew, the hours are backed by heart and the desire to give power back to the people in St. Thomas.
I love throwing the cut out at the end of the day and watch the neighborhoods come back up with lights and people coming out running to the side of the street and wave to you it's crazy it's great, Lyon said.
The first crew will be working for about three weeks on the island then, Groton Utilities will start to rotate other crews for the next several months.
New data shows that more students are reporting sexual assaults on college campuses across Texas, including the University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Arlington. But administrators say those higher numbers may actually be a good thing.
Support is on display on the UTA campus right now. Turquoise wooden cutouts, known as "silhouettes," are clustered on campus, representing the millions of victims of sexual violence in America.
And a row of T-shirts hangs outside the student center, marked with messages of strength from survivors.
"When other people read about them, they either relate or they become more aware of it," said UTA freshman Hoa Lee. "Some people will speak up because other people are speaking up about it."
That's just what UTA administrators are hoping for, and it's why Heather Snow associate vice president and dean of students believes an increase in reports of sexual assault on campus is a good thing.
"I am reassured, when I see the numbers go up, it lets me know that students know, 'OK where do I go when I find myself being victimized?'" Snow said.
Statistics show that one in four college-aged women will experience sexual violence, so administrators know these cases are still vastly under-reported.
"We want them to know that we're here for them, that we have resources and support," Snow said.
UTA's Relationship Violence and Sexual Assault Program has been educating students and staff on the resources available to victims since 2007.
Just last year, the university added a peer advocacy program in the residence halls, letting victims report incidents to a trained fellow student.
UTA senior Raegan Herbert worked with the program as a resident assistant (RA).
"And that was really great, because it was someone that you knew, someone that you interacted with on a day to day basis," Herbert said.
She believes it's up to students to watch out for each other and take a stand.
"Just coming forward and saying, 'Hey, this isn't OK, and this isn't what we want on our university campus,'" Herbert said.
UTA also started a program called "Bringing in the Bystander" to encourage students to step in and help if they see a potentially dangerous situation.
Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday requiring water districts to test school water for lead in California.
NBC 7 Investigates has covered ongoing issues with lead in San Diego County's school water systems for about a year.
When the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) tested for lead in their school water as part of a voluntary program, they discovered lead in the water at about 40 schools. SDUSD officials are still working to fully resolve the problem.
The bill, written by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, was partially prompted by the discovery of dangerous levels of lead in a San Ysidro elementary school water fountain.
This is basic common sense, Gonzalez Fletcher said. The science is clear not even the tiniest amount of lead is safe to drink. And if your child is drinking lead-contaminated water at school, you as a parent have every right to know about it. This law will help safeguard the health of our children, which is one of our most solemn responsibilities as legislators.
The legislation will require schools built before 1990 to test their drinking water for lead. School officials must test for lead in their portable water system before Jan. 1, 2019.
https://twitter.com/WendyFry_/status/918966830663745536
According to the new law, local school staff must notify parents and guardians if lead levels exceed the recommended level. Staff must also immediately shut down all fountains and faucets where excess lead levels are present.
Local educational agencies will also be required to make sure a source of safe drinking water is available for students.
Under the new legislation, a community water system must prepare a sampling plan for each school site where there are high lead levels. The bill will lead to state-mandated local programs, with additional duties placed on educational agencies.
Shortly after a 25-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital for severe abdominal pain, a newborn infant was found in a garbage can, covered in blood and soiled paper towels.
The infants mother, Rubi Ramirez, is accused of abandoning the newborn child under the guise of abdominal pain. Ramirez is now facing charges of abuse of a child without great bodily harm and desertion of a child.
According to an arrest report, Ramirez was rushed to the Broward Health Medical Center Emergency Room in early October for apparent abdominal pain. After she was admitted into a private room, Ramirez went to the bathroom while waiting to see her doctor.
Ramirezs mother went to check on her and discovered blood all over her daughters clothing and inside the bathroom. Most of the blood was below her waist, according to an arrest report.
The hospital staff was called and soon after, the newborn baby was found concealed inside of the trash can. The baby was immediately transported to the hospitals trauma center and is alive and breathing, according to doctors.
Ramirez initially denied knowing she was pregnant and told police the baby fell into the garbage. She also claimed the blood was from her menstrual cycle.
Later on, Ramirez admitted she knew she was pregnant and said she covered the newborn with paper towels before placing the baby in the trash, according to the arrest report. She agreed with police that placing an infant in a trash can lined with plastic is hazardous and would have ultimately resulted in the childs death.
Ramirez was taken into custody on Oct. 5. According to the Sun Sentinel, a judge granted her a $5,000 bond and ordered Ramirez not contact the child.
The Florida Department for Children and Families is investigating the incident and the child is now in foster care.
Gov. Cuomo now plans to give away all of the campaign contributions he's collected from disgraced Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein.
The Democratic governor on Thursday had earlier said he gave away just $50,000 of the over $110,000 he's received in total from Weinstein because the rest of the money had already been spent. He called it the "right symbol."
But later Thursday evening, Cuomo's campaign reversed course and released a statement saying they were taking "the extraordinary step" of giving away all of Weinstein's contributions from prior campaigns.
The statement said the allegations against the alleged serial harasser were "disturbing" and "horrid," but that it's shameful that some have sought to use the matter to score political points.
Weinstein has denied any nonconsensual sexual activity.
The Florida Legislature finds itself dealing with not only the aftermath of Hurricane Irma but also the impact of Hurricane Maria.
State economist Amy Baker told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday that damage from Irma is forecast to be anywhere from $25.4 to $45.9 billion.
Baker said the state's Office of Economic and Demographic Research arrived at that figure by taking the damage costs from Hurricanes Andrew in 1992 and Wilma in 2005 and forecasting what those would have been had those storms happened this year. At $26.5 billion in damage, Andrew was the fourth costliest hurricane to hit the United States.
The state has already allocated $141.7 million in recovery costs, with the largest expenditure being $36 million for debris removal. Baker hopes to have a revised number along with revenues that could be generated from rebuilding when the Legislature's regular 60-day session begins Jan. 9.
Before Irma, the state was forecast to have a $52 million surplus. Because of the hurricane and additional costs to the state's pension fund, the state has a shortfall of $145.1 million.
The forecast drawn up by Baker and other economists also shows that the state could be facing a $1.6 billion shortfall in three years largely because of increased public school enrollment, rising Medicaid costs and state worker benefits.
"We are already at a position of three negative years, and revenues are insufficient to meet projected needs," Baker said.
Officials are also continuing to assess how the influx of Puerto Rico residents displaced by Hurricane Maria will affect the state. More than 32,000 people have arrived in Florida since Oct. 3, with more on the way.
Nearly a million Florida residents are Puerto Rican, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Orange County has 17.7 percent of the state's Puerto Rican population, followed by Miami-Dade (10.6) and Hillsborough counties (10.5)
Democrats in the Legislature have called on Gov. Rick Scott to open more disaster relief centers and help those arriving in the state to get quicker access to Medicaid and other assistance programs.
Kerri Wyland, a spokeswoman for Scott, said the governor did not meet with President Trump during his trip to Washington on Wednesday and Thursday. But Scott did meet with members of Florida's congressional delegation and Puerto Rico Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon to discuss efforts to support Puerto Rico, Wyland said.
With moderate Santa Ana winds expected to bring critical fire weather conditions to parts of Southern California this weekend, CalFire is pre-deploying six military helicopters and 75 fire engines into the region.
Everyone needs to be thinking right now no matter where youre at in California whats my evacuation plan, what am I going to take with me, how am I going to get out," said Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott Friday.
"Be prepared to do that literally at a moments notice. Not a half hour, not an hour, you need to be thinking about that in minutes," he added.
California has been coping with the deadliest week of wildfires the state has ever seen.
The death toll in the wine country fires stands at an unprecedented 31 and was expected to keep rising.
Much of the state is under a red flag warning or smoke warning with winds coming from the north and the east.
To prepare for that CalFire has pre-deployed three U.S. Navy firefighting helicopters that will be located at NAS North Island and three U.S. Marine firefighting helicopters that will be located on either Camp Pendleton or MCAS Miramar, Pimlott said.
All of these resources will be nimble and they will be prepared to deploy either back to NorCal should they be needed or into SoCal should additional fires break out there, Pimlott said
Mobilization centers have been established in central and Southern California, the Cal Fire official explained. The agency has access to 75 additional fire engines from outside of the state of California.
Our county is going to be getting the air flow but were not going to be dealing with heavy winds, said NBC 7 Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh.
Even though winds are expected to peak at 25 mph Saturday evening, San Diego County will have elevated fire danger.
It really doesnt matter this time of year because we are so critically dry, Kodesh said.
Humidity will be very low and some locations could see sustained winds of over 25 mph in the San Bernardino and Riverside County valleys as well as the Inland Empire, the NWS forecasted.
Winds are expected to diminish Sunday afternoon with low humidity hanging around through Monday.
In Northern California, fire agencies from around the country are sending in reinforcements to help firefighters who have been on the line since wildfires broke out in Sonoma and Napa counties Sunday.
At least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed in 22 wildfires burning across the state.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department is still investigating hundreds of missing person reports.
We had series of statewide fires in 2003, 2007, 2008 that didnt have anything close to this death count, said Daniel Berlant, a deputy director with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Download the free NBC 7 mobile app to stay updated on fire conditions here in San Diego County.
Unable or unwilling to completely erase his predecessor's signature initiatives, President Donald Trump this week turned to another approach: wreaking havoc.
Trump's back-to-back body blows against President Barack Obama's health care law and nuclear agreement with Iran demonstrated the president's embrace of turmoil as strategy. In both cases, he plunged a pair of policies with broad domestic and international implications into a state of confusion and uncertainty, hoping that the disorder will force Congress to take action.
Trump has long thrived on unpredictability, an attribute he views as a virtue. But to the lawmakers, foreign partners, businesses and consumers now sorting through the implications of his announcements this week, the strategy looks far less appealing.
International allies who spent years negotiating the nuclear accord alongside the U.S. are now left waiting to see if Congress will reinstate nuclear sanctions on Tehran, a move certain to jettison the deal. Trump didn't specifically ask for the sanctions to be put back in place. But, in a speech declaring he would no longer certify the deal, he did ask lawmakers to add new, unspecified conditions for U.S. cooperation in the agreement.
On health care, millions of Americans face the prospect of higher insurance premiums as a result of Trump's decision to immediately halt payments to insurance companies that provide lower-cost plans to low-income people. Trump calls the payments a bailout to insurance companies and he cited as justification a legal dispute over whether the payments were legally authorized. Trump yanked the money without any plan in place for offsetting cost increases for customers. Insurance companies, too, are at the mercy of lawmakers, who must now decide whether to restore the payments.
"We are going to have to figure out a way to stabilize the situation," said Rep. Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvania Republican who dubbed the move "ill-advised." Democrats branded it sabotage. The president was "determined to inject chaos and confusion" into the health care system, said Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat.
As a businessman, a candidate and now as president, Trump has gravitated toward chaos. His campaign was rife with bitter internal rivalries, often stoked by the man at the top of the ticket. His West Wing has careened from crisis to crisis and endured more staff upheaval in nine months than some presidents experience in a full term.
Still, Trump has made clear he sees unpredictability as an advantage. Indeed, his vague statements "we'll see," he often says when asked about looming decisions and seemingly improvisational policy positions can leave his political rivals maddeningly frustrated. He's vowed to keep international adversaries off balance with diversionary tactics or a simple lack of transparency about U.S. actions a goal some foreign diplomats say he has indeed fulfilled.
Trump's approach, however, hasn't yet translated into success when it comes to making good on his vows to overhaul some of the cornerstones of Obama's legacy, including the Iran deal and the health care law, that have long loomed as targets for Republicans. As a candidate, he promised to rip up the Iran deal on his first day in office. He boasted that overhauling health care would be "easy."
Health care has proven to be anything but simple. Even with Republicans in charge on Capitol Hill, the GOP has been unable to muster the votes to muscle through an "Obamacare" replacement package. Lawmakers' impotence has deeply frustrated Trump and left him casting about for ways to undermine the law on his own.
Thursday's announcement halting the subsidies for insurance companies marked Trump's most aggressive move yet to chip away at the law. Eliminating the payments would trigger a spike in premiums for some Americans next year, unless Trump reverses course or Congress authorizes the money, a step that would almost certainly require the kind of bipartisanship that has been absent on Capitol Hill this year.
In a sign of the potential difficulties to come, Trump appeared to pre-emptively blame Democrats if no deal is reached, tweeting that they should "call me to fix!" And Democratic leaders made clear they would turn the blame-game back around on the president.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she wanted voters to know "what it means in their lives when he goes off on a spiteful, cruel toot to diminish their access to affordable care."
Trump also has been angered by his struggle to roll back the Iran nuclear accord Obama vigorously championed. Amid warnings from his advisers about the risks of withdrawing from the accord, he ordered national security advisers to help him find a way to avoid having to certify Iran's compliance with the deal every 90 days.
That plan, which Trump announced from the White House on Friday, still falls short of scrapping the agreement. Instead he asked Congress to toughen the law that governs U.S. participation and fix what he sees as deficiencies in the measure.
Trump's half step followed weeks of pleas from allies who argue Trump cannot pull out of a deal that was negotiated alongside Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, declared Friday: "The president of the United States has many powers. Not this one."
For allies looking for reassurances that Trump was done threatening to withdraw from the Iran deal, he offered nothing but more uncertainty.
"We'll see what happens over the next short period of time," Trump said.
Iran's official IRNA news agency is quoting the chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard as saying the U.S. should move its military bases farther from Iran's borders if it imposes new sanctions against Tehran.
The Sunday report quotes Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying: "If new sanctions go into effect, the country should move its regional bases to a 2000-kilometer radius, the range of Iranian missiles."
Currently, U.S. military bases are located in countries neighboring Iran, less than 310 miles from Iran's borders.
Jafari also said that if the United States designates the Guard as a terrorist group, the Guard will also consider the U.S. army a terrorist group.
Revolutionary Guard troops are currently fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
By Online Desk
BENGALURU: As heavy rains continued to wreak havoc on Bengaluru city with water flooding through streets, today, a 16-year-old girl was washed away in an open drain in CV Ramanagar behind Bagmane Tech Park. The death toll in the city due to rains has now gone up to six.
The incident happened on Sunday morning when the girl, Narasamma, went for defecation next to the drain. The locals, who witnessed the incident, rushed to her rescue and located her body about 400 meters away after hours of search.
Yesterday, city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) along with the National Disaster Rapid Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Rapid Force (SDRF) intensified search and rescue operations. The corporation also evacuated people living in low-lying areas where the deaths had happened.
Residents at Kendriya Vihar apartments Kogilu are not able to get out of their apartment complex due to waterlogging. (Express Photo Service | Jithendra M)
The rescue personnel, today, recovered a body of a 22-year-old Pushpa, who along with her mother had been swept away in an open drain nearby their house in JC Nagar Kurubarahalli on Friday, from Kumbalagodu Rajakaluve.
Police have recovered the body of Pushpa who was washed away in the stormwater drain at Laggereat. Her body was found in Kumbalgodu. (Express Photo Service | Nagesh Polali)
A fire official said three teams who were in the search operation recovered Pushpas body at 11:30 am on Sunday, two days after she was washed away when the heavy downpour hit the city.
The efforts to search Pushpas mother are still on.
The priest of a temple near Kurubarahalli Circle, Vasudeva Bhat was swept away in a stormwater drain after water gushed inside the temple on Friday. His body was recovered yesterday, the police said.
Priest Vasudeva Bhat's body was recovered from a drain. (Express Photo Service | Nagaraja Gadekal)
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George who toured around the rain-affected areas faced the ire of the residents, who said there was no one around to save them when water entered their houses.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inspecting the spot where people went missing in the drain. (Express Photo Service | Nagaraja Gadekal)
A drain along the busy Hennur Cross junction is completely open, highlighting the danger pedestrians fduring heavy rain. On Friday, five people were washed away in such drains. Residents say they have complained to the authorities and the area's MLA, KJ George himself, but to no avail.
The open drain along the busy Hennur Cross junction poses threat to pedestrians. (Express photo Service | Nagesh Polali)
The fire department was also busy trying to pump out water to unclog water-logged areas and roads. In many areas, water was seen overflowing into buildings.
Fire department at work in inundated places following heavy rains. (Express Photo Service | Pushkar V)
Deaths caused by Potholes and poor roads were a huge issue in Bengaluru and the heavy rains only added to the worry. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah had earlier ordered for all potholes to be taken care of in 15 days.
Potholes post the rain are posing a huge threat especially to pedestrians and motorcyclists. (Express Photo Service | Nagesh Polali)
The poor condition of roads has also severely affected traffic.
Road caved in Vyalikaval following the heavy rains. (Express Photo Service | Pushkar V)
Opposition parties slammed the lacklustre work of the ruling government. BJP state unit president BS Yeddyurappa, who visited the rain-affected areas blamed Siddaramaiah for the deaths.
Mayor Sampath Raj who has been visiting Kurubarahalli and other places since Friday night said that the Meteorological department has predicted heavy rains for the next two to three days.
(With inputs from PTI and Express News Service)
BENGALURU: As heavy rains continued to wreak havoc on Bengaluru city with water flooding through streets, today, a 16-year-old girl was washed away in an open drain in CV Ramanagar behind Bagmane Tech Park. The death toll in the city due to rains has now gone up to six. The incident happened on Sunday morning when the girl, Narasamma, went for defecation next to the drain. The locals, who witnessed the incident, rushed to her rescue and located her body about 400 meters away after hours of search. Yesterday, city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) along with the National Disaster Rapid Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Rapid Force (SDRF) intensified search and rescue operations. The corporation also evacuated people living in low-lying areas where the deaths had happened. Residents at Kendriya Vihar apartments Kogilu are not able to get out of their apartment complex due to waterlogging. (Express Photo Service | Jithendra M) The rescue personnel, today, recovered a body of a 22-year-old Pushpa, who along with her mother had been swept away in an open drain nearby their house in JC Nagar Kurubarahalli on Friday, from Kumbalagodu Rajakaluve. Police have recovered the body of Pushpa who was washed away in the stormwater drain at Laggereat. Her body was found in Kumbalgodu. (Express Photo Service | Nagesh Polali) A fire official said three teams who were in the search operation recovered Pushpas body at 11:30 am on Sunday, two days after she was washed away when the heavy downpour hit the city. The efforts to search Pushpas mother are still on. The priest of a temple near Kurubarahalli Circle, Vasudeva Bhat was swept away in a stormwater drain after water gushed inside the temple on Friday. His body was recovered yesterday, the police said. Priest Vasudeva Bhat's body was recovered from a drain. (Express Photo Service | Nagaraja Gadekal) Meanwhile, on Saturday, Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George who toured around the rain-affected areas faced the ire of the residents, who said there was no one around to save them when water entered their houses. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inspecting the spot where people went missing in the drain. (Express Photo Service | Nagaraja Gadekal) A drain along the busy Hennur Cross junction is completely open, highlighting the danger pedestrians fduring heavy rain. On Friday, five people were washed away in such drains. Residents say they have complained to the authorities and the area's MLA, KJ George himself, but to no avail. The open drain along the busy Hennur Cross junction poses threat to pedestrians. (Express photo Service | Nagesh Polali) The fire department was also busy trying to pump out water to unclog water-logged areas and roads. In many areas, water was seen overflowing into buildings. Fire department at work in inundated places following heavy rains. (Express Photo Service | Pushkar V) Deaths caused by Potholes and poor roads were a huge issue in Bengaluru and the heavy rains only added to the worry. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah had earlier ordered for all potholes to be taken care of in 15 days. Potholes post the rain are posing a huge threat especially to pedestrians and motorcyclists. (Express Photo Service | Nagesh Polali) The poor condition of roads has also severely affected traffic. Road caved in Vyalikaval following the heavy rains. (Express Photo Service | Pushkar V) Opposition parties slammed the lacklustre work of the ruling government. BJP state unit president BS Yeddyurappa, who visited the rain-affected areas blamed Siddaramaiah for the deaths. Mayor Sampath Raj who has been visiting Kurubarahalli and other places since Friday night said that the Meteorological department has predicted heavy rains for the next two to three days. (With inputs from PTI and Express News Service)
By PTI
LOS ANGELES: Barely a day after actor Rose McGowan's Twitter account was suspended for violating its terms and policies, actors and activists are calling on the users to boycott the microblogging site.
Twitter had revoked the "Screamed" actor's page, which has now been reinstated, for flouting its set of rules for 12 hours after she posted a series of tweets accusing actor Ben Affleck of lying about his knowledge of media mogul Harvey Weinstein's history of sexual misconduct.
According to The Guardian, #WomenBoycottTwitter started trending at midnight in New York and was to go up till today.
Actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted in support of the hashtag, saying, "Tomorrow I follow the Women. #WomenBoycottTwitter."
Fashion model Chrissy Teigen wrote, "My mentions since posting #WomenBoycottTwitter three minutes ago #thisiswhy."
"Tomorrow (Friday the 13th) will be the first day in over 10 years that I won't tweet. Join me. #WomenBoycottTwitter," wrote McGowan's "Charmed" co-star Alyssa Milano.
Tomorrow (Friday the 13th) will be the first day in over 10 years that I wont tweet. Join me. #WomenBoycottTwitter pic.twitter.com/xoEt5Bwj5s Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 13, 2017
While Anna Paquin tweeted, "#IStandWithRose .@rosemcgowan and all the other victims. #WomenBoycottTwitter tomorrow." Twitter Safety, a sister concern of the social media giant, however, clarified saying McGowan's account was "temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates our Terms of Service".
The thread further read, "The Tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future." The microblogging site said it proudly empowers and supports the voices on its platform.
"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," it added.
McGowan is one of the eight women who reached settlements with Weinstein in multiple sexual harassment allegations, according to The New York Times expose, following an incident in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival in 1997.
Since the article came out, the actor has raised her voice against Weinstein.
LOS ANGELES: Barely a day after actor Rose McGowan's Twitter account was suspended for violating its terms and policies, actors and activists are calling on the users to boycott the microblogging site. Twitter had revoked the "Screamed" actor's page, which has now been reinstated, for flouting its set of rules for 12 hours after she posted a series of tweets accusing actor Ben Affleck of lying about his knowledge of media mogul Harvey Weinstein's history of sexual misconduct. According to The Guardian, #WomenBoycottTwitter started trending at midnight in New York and was to go up till today. Actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted in support of the hashtag, saying, "Tomorrow I follow the Women. #WomenBoycottTwitter." Fashion model Chrissy Teigen wrote, "My mentions since posting #WomenBoycottTwitter three minutes ago #thisiswhy." "Tomorrow (Friday the 13th) will be the first day in over 10 years that I won't tweet. Join me. #WomenBoycottTwitter," wrote McGowan's "Charmed" co-star Alyssa Milano. Tomorrow (Friday the 13th) will be the first day in over 10 years that I wont tweet. Join me. #WomenBoycottTwitter pic.twitter.com/xoEt5Bwj5s Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 13, 2017 While Anna Paquin tweeted, "#IStandWithRose .@rosemcgowan and all the other victims. #WomenBoycottTwitter tomorrow." Twitter Safety, a sister concern of the social media giant, however, clarified saying McGowan's account was "temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates our Terms of Service". The thread further read, "The Tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future." The microblogging site said it proudly empowers and supports the voices on its platform. "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," it added. McGowan is one of the eight women who reached settlements with Weinstein in multiple sexual harassment allegations, according to The New York Times expose, following an incident in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival in 1997. Since the article came out, the actor has raised her voice against Weinstein.
By Online Desk
Police have reportedly booked 22 Kanpur traders who put up hoardings and posters comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to draw attention to an excess of coin currency on their hands.
The police have arrested Praveen Kumar for installing the hoardings and said others would be arrested soon.
Small traders in the city say that their businesses are floundering, as they are unable to exchange coins worth lakhs of rupees for notes with Kanpur banks, who say they do not have chests to store them.
The hoardings, which came up on Wednesday morning, have Kim Jong-un on one side saying he will rest only after he has destroyed the world and Modi on the other saying, "I will bring an end to businesses," the Hindustan Times reported late Friday.
Wholesale grocery traders have coins worth Rs 10 to 15 lakh each, while retailers have a stock of coins worth Rs 6-7 lakh each, on an average.
The excess of coins has forced traders to pay salaries to their employees with them, and they are in turn unable to use the money as banks and shopkeepers do not accept them, the newspaper said.
We all are Modi supporters. If the change (coins) is ruining us and our businesses what option did we have, Raju Khanna, a trade association leader who was among those booked, told the newspaper.
Kanpur traders, who have decided not to celebrate Diwali, have been reportedly agitating for about seven months. Their next agitation could involve dumping coins en masse at Gandhi state in Phool Bagh, the newspaper quoted Gopal Sardana, president of Kirana Vyapar Mandal, as saying.
On approaching BJP's Kanpur president Surendra Maithani, he told the newspaper that the traders should have gone to public representatives instead of attacking the PM "in the worst possible way."
Police have reportedly booked 22 Kanpur traders who put up hoardings and posters comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to draw attention to an excess of coin currency on their hands. The police have arrested Praveen Kumar for installing the hoardings and said others would be arrested soon. Small traders in the city say that their businesses are floundering, as they are unable to exchange coins worth lakhs of rupees for notes with Kanpur banks, who say they do not have chests to store them. The hoardings, which came up on Wednesday morning, have Kim Jong-un on one side saying he will rest only after he has destroyed the world and Modi on the other saying, "I will bring an end to businesses," the Hindustan Times reported late Friday. Wholesale grocery traders have coins worth Rs 10 to 15 lakh each, while retailers have a stock of coins worth Rs 6-7 lakh each, on an average. The excess of coins has forced traders to pay salaries to their employees with them, and they are in turn unable to use the money as banks and shopkeepers do not accept them, the newspaper said. We all are Modi supporters. If the change (coins) is ruining us and our businesses what option did we have, Raju Khanna, a trade association leader who was among those booked, told the newspaper. Kanpur traders, who have decided not to celebrate Diwali, have been reportedly agitating for about seven months. Their next agitation could involve dumping coins en masse at Gandhi state in Phool Bagh, the newspaper quoted Gopal Sardana, president of Kirana Vyapar Mandal, as saying. On approaching BJP's Kanpur president Surendra Maithani, he told the newspaper that the traders should have gone to public representatives instead of attacking the PM "in the worst possible way."
By PTI
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said that he has started to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan, a day after Pakistani forces rescued an American-Canadian family from the Haqqani terror network.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqanis on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities.
The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and South Asia policy in August.
The president thanked Pakistani leaders for cooperating with the US on many fronts.
"Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts," Trump said in a tweet yesterday.
Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2017
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said: "On this I agree" with Trump.
"Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists," he said in a tweet.
On this I agree with @realDonaldTrump. Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists. https://t.co/Q1MR0DIkFe Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 14, 2017
Earlier in the day, US Vice President Mike Pence also praised Pakistan in helping the US secure the release its citizens.
Pence's comments on Pakistan came as he listed out some of the key achievements of the Trump administration at the international stage.
"The president is achieving real results on the international stage, as well," he said.
While some critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, thanks to the president's leadership, ISIS is on the run, North Korea is isolated as never before, and our NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defence, Pence said.
"Just this week, Pakistan took an important step to answer the president's call to do more in the fight against terrorism, as they helped secure the release of an American family that had been held hostage for more than five years," the vice president said.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government welcomed the arrival of Joshua Boyle, his wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children in Canada from the captivity of the Haqqani terror network in Pakistan.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Mr Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," a Canadian statement said.
However, some of the well-known counter terrorism experts appeared to be sceptical of Pakistan's move given its past history.
"Pakistan's aid in release of US/Canadian hostages is classic a Pakistan move. Pakistan has history of high profile arrests before big meetings/visits," said Bill Roggio, editor of Lon War Journal.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said that he has started to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan, a day after Pakistani forces rescued an American-Canadian family from the Haqqani terror network. American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqanis on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities. The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity. Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and South Asia policy in August. The president thanked Pakistani leaders for cooperating with the US on many fronts. "Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts," Trump said in a tweet yesterday. Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2017 Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said: "On this I agree" with Trump. "Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists," he said in a tweet. On this I agree with @realDonaldTrump. Pakistan is a critical ally in fighting against terrorists. https://t.co/Q1MR0DIkFe Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 14, 2017 Earlier in the day, US Vice President Mike Pence also praised Pakistan in helping the US secure the release its citizens. Pence's comments on Pakistan came as he listed out some of the key achievements of the Trump administration at the international stage. "The president is achieving real results on the international stage, as well," he said. While some critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, thanks to the president's leadership, ISIS is on the run, North Korea is isolated as never before, and our NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defence, Pence said. "Just this week, Pakistan took an important step to answer the president's call to do more in the fight against terrorism, as they helped secure the release of an American family that had been held hostage for more than five years," the vice president said. Meanwhile, the Canadian government welcomed the arrival of Joshua Boyle, his wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children in Canada from the captivity of the Haqqani terror network in Pakistan. "Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones. "Canada has been actively engaged on Mr Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," a Canadian statement said. However, some of the well-known counter terrorism experts appeared to be sceptical of Pakistan's move given its past history. "Pakistan's aid in release of US/Canadian hostages is classic a Pakistan move. Pakistan has history of high profile arrests before big meetings/visits," said Bill Roggio, editor of Lon War Journal. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
In November of this year, Prince William and Duchess Catherine will make a Scandinavia visit including Sweden and Norway. That travel plan also depends on the medical condition of the Duchess expecting her third child. The Duchess has Hyperemesis Gravidarum disease which some pregrant women encounter and which affects the daily life in early pregnancy with severe nausea. It is expected that the Duchess will shake that disease off until November. All details about the Scandinavia tour will be shared with the press until the first week of November. ( Update: A planned Norway and Sweden state visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, has been shifted from November 2017 to January 2018. The Duke of Cambridge will visit Finland on Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th November at the request of the FCO. ).
Portsmouth, Middletown headed to Super Bowls. How they did it.
Champaign, IL (61820)
Today
Snow this morning will transition to snow showers this afternoon. High 39F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snowfall around one inch..
Tonight
Cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 29F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
Dominant Dutch team "Nuon" 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. 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.
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. 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.
Norway, a world leader of zero-emission vehicles, on Thursday proposed a "Tesla tax" aimed at cutting a tax advantage granted to large electric cars in a heavily criticised move. Electric cars, which have hitherto been exempted from heavy taxes imposed on other vehicles, accounted for 20 percent of new registrations in the Nordic country since the beginning of this year, an unprecedented market share in the world.
In a 2018 finance bill presented to the parliament on Thursday, the right-wing minority government suggested removing a one-off tax exemption for new electric cars weighing more than two tonnes.
The proposal was immediately dubbed the "Tesla tax" because it primarily affects the high-end models made by the American manufacturer. Buying a new Tesla X would cost about 70,000 kroner (7,500 euros, $8,800) more.
Justifying the proposed tax measures, Finance Minister Siv Jensen argued that these heavy sedans exhaust the roads as much as gasoline and diesel cars, and that the owners should therefore contribute.
The proposal has sparked a heated debate. "It's a tax bomb," Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association Secretary General Christina Bu told AFP.
"This was unexpected by both the drivers and by the car industry and it sends a bad signal to the Norwegians and the world" for which the nation is often a model in this matter, Bu added.
She underlined that Norway has set an ambitious target of ending the sales of new cars with combustion engines as early as 2025.
The largest oil producer in western Europe, Norway has introduced many incentives to purchase electric cars.
In addition to generous tax exemptions, which critics say allow the richest to buy Tesla vehicles at a good price, Norway's electric car drivers benefit from free city tolls, free parking and the possibility of travelling in the bus corridors.
The government needs the support of other parties in the parliament to get its budget approved.
Its traditional centre-right allies have already spoken out against the "Tesla tax", noting a 2015 agreement has granted tax advantages for electric cars until 2020.
Faridabad: Five people, including an autorickshaw driver, were allegedly assaulted by self-styled gau rakshaks in Faridabad on Saturday on suspicion of carrying beef.
A video of the incident shows one of the assaulters pinning the auto driver to the ground and abusing him while the mob, chanting Jai Hanuman, eggs him on.
Following the assault, the Haryana Police reportedly booked the victims for allegedly smuggling beef. However, upon investigation, they found out that the meat was buffalo not beef.
Police have identified five of the the vigilantes. An FIR has been filed against them.
Earlier, speaking to CNN-News18, Raman Malik, a member of the ruling BJP in Haryana, said, The police will do due diligence before filing the FIR. If any persons is caught carrying beef, then it is a case for the police.
Hitting out at the Manohar Lal Khattar government in the state, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said the BJP had failed to maintain law and order in Haryana.
The Supreme Court had last month directed all state governments to appoint nodal officers in each district to curb cow vigilantism.
Thiruvananthapuram: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president Prayar Gopalakrishnan stirred a controversy by saying that no self-respecting woman born in a decent family would enter the Sabarimala Temple even if the Supreme Court lifted the ban.
Reacting to the Supreme Courts decision to refer the matter to its Constitution bench, he stuck to his stand that women of menstruating age should not be allowed to enter the temple.
We will not allow Sabarimala to become Thailand, he said on Friday, hinting that if women are allowed to enter, Sabarimala will become a tourist centre. Even if the court allows entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala, no self-respecting woman will go up to the hill shrine, he added.
The hill shrine in Keralas Pathanamthitta district is managed by the TDB, which has restricted the entry of women between 10 to 50 years of age.
Gopalakrishnan said that it that was a matter of security as well as tradition. What will be the situation if women between the ages of 10 to 50 have to climb uphill under challenging weather conditions without any safety? he asked.
If women are allowed to enter the shrine, women police will also have to be deputed for security. This will lead to a lot of issues, including immoral activities, he added.
Kerala Minister for Devaswom and Tourism Kadakampally Surendran flayed the remarks of the TDB chief and said he had insulted the women community and Ayyappa devotees with such a comparison.
He wanted the TDB president to tender an apology for his remark. Surendran also said that the CPI(M)-led LDF government in the state was of the view that there should not be gender- based discrimination for entry in temples. We will abide by the court ruling, he said.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Friday framed five significant" questions to be dealt with by the constitution bench, including whether the practice of banning entry of women in the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the constitution.
The management of the Sabarimala Temple, located on a hilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district, had earlier told the apex court that the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years is because they cannot maintain purity" on account of menstruation.
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Wajidpur Village (Patiala): Its that time of year again. The air in Delhi is more toxic than what human lungs can deal with.
And while the Supreme Court has banned cracker sale this Diwali, offering a partial relief, stubble burning in farms of Punjab and Haryana continues unabated, despite repeated bans by courts and the National Green Tribunal.
In Punjab, rice fields line both sides of the road, ready to be harvested. The only problem is that after harvesting, the farmers will set fire to the fields to clear the stubble.
The smoke from the burning stubble in Punjab and Haryana drifts southwards and exacerbates air pollution in Delhi-NCR. This pollution, timed with Diwali and the onset of winter, takes Delhis air quality to notorious levels of toxicity.
Delhi, already one of the most polluted cities, becomes a gas chamber because of the trifecta of vectors. Last year, the haze in Delhi after Diwali was reputedly worse than the great smog of London in 1952.
The National Green Tribunal and the courts have taken notice and announced a slew of measures to keep Delhis air from getting worse. The NGT passed an order against stubble burning, while the Supreme Court banned the sale of crackers in the National Capital Region.
However, farmers in Punjab and Haryana say there is no affordable alternative to stubble burning.
Farmers say the cost of clearing the field using manual labour is more expensive than the fines for burning crop. (Tushar Dhara/News18.com)
I will set fire to my farm to clear it. If need be, I will pay the fine because there is no other option, Jitendra Singh, a farmer told News18.
Farmers have a 20-day window between kharif harvest and rabi planting. During this time, they have to clear the fields and ready them for the winter wheat crop. And although farmers in Punjab are generally more prosperous than rest of India, the input costs are very high because agriculture here is highly mechanised. There is little margin in terms of time or money to worry about air pollution.
If a farmer is caught burning his farm, a fine of Rs 2,500 per acre can be levied. But this is a small price compared with the cost of alternative equipment.
Labour in Punjab is scarce and expensive, costing a minimum Rs 350-400 per day. A farmer would require at least 10 labourers to clear a one-acre farm. Its cheaper to become an arsonist as dry grass instantly goes up in flames and within a couple of hours, carbon is all that remains.
In Wajidpur, by the time News18 reached, the fire had done its job and a farmer was running his tractor across his field to bury the evidence. Seeing this reporter, he got a scared because he thought the pollution department was coming to fine him!
The government says dont set fire, but have they suggested an alternative? asks Gurmail Singh, a farmer with 20 acres of land.
Smoke billows from a field in Punjabs Wajidpur village. (Tushar Dhara/News18.com)
The combine harvester, which farmers use to harvest the rice crop, leaves 1.5 feet high stalks. It is this that needs to be burned. There is a machine that cuts the stalks and deposits them as rectangular bricks, but the machine costs over Rs 10 lakh. No small farmer can afford to buy or rent the machine.
Satwant Singh, a farmer and member of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, says they petitioned the government to give a subsidy of Rs 200 per acre to stop stubble burning. But the Punjab government, already strapped for cash and scrambling to put together resources for its debt relief package, didnt agree.
The burnings havent started en masse yet. There is temporary relief for Delhi because most fires in Punjab will start after Diwali. However, since more pesticides and fertilizers were used this year, there are fears that the smoke may be even more lethal.
Farmers have a 20-day window between the kharif harvest and rabi planting. (Tushar Dhara/News18.com)
There is no proof that our fires are causing the pollution in faraway Delhi, a farmer says, adding, There are so many cars and factories that cause pollution, why hold us solely responsible?
The response was the same in Haryana. In Kaithal, most of the grain is being harvested and sent to the grain market. Jia Lal, a farmer who lives 30 km from Kaithal town, says 80% of the stubble will be cleared by burning the fields. The government just says dont burn, but it doesnt provide any alternatives. What are we supposed to do?
Bengaluru: Two main suspects have been identified in the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, officers of a Special Investigation Team set up to probe the case said on Saturday and released three sketches.
Two of these sketches are based on different descriptions of the same suspect.
We got some leads from the CCTVs outside Gauri Lankeshs home. We are investigating all angles. We have so far found no link to the Dabholkar murder. There is also no confirmation on whether weapons used were the same as that in Kalburgi murder, BK Singh, who is heading the SIT told reporters.
He was referring to murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and MM Kalburgi, who were allegedly killed by members of Right-wing groups.
He added that one of the suspects sported a tilak on his forehead, but that might have been done to mislead investigators.
We investigated 200-250 people in connection with the case. The suspects we zeroed in on are between 25 and 30 years old, Singh said.
The SIT has also released the footage from CCTV cameras outside Lankeshs house which shows the suspected killers carrying out a recce of the area.
#WATCH CCTV footage of one of the suspects in #GauriLankesh case. Police say, he was conducting recce before the murder. pic.twitter.com/6jfNJjMO5e ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
Gauri Lankesh, the editor of Kannada tabloid Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru on September 5 by unidentified assailants.
Her supporters have since alleged that her killing was the result of a vendetta by Right-wing groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for writing against the group in her tabloid.
The killing bore a resemblance to the murder of noted Kannada scholar-cum-rationalist MM Kalburgi two years ago. Kalburgi, 77, was shot dead on August 30, 2015, in his house at Dharwad in the state's northern region, by unidentified men, who still remain unidentified despite a massive hunt and Rs 5 lakh reward.
Earlier this month, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy had said the Special Investigation Team had got "some clues" on Gauri Lankeshs killers and knows who is behind the crime but is waiting to gather more concrete evidence.
The 150-member SIT is headed by Inspector General of Police BK Singh with Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) MN Anucheth as its main Investigation Officer.
The state government had announced Rs 10 lakh reward to anyone giving information leading to the killers.
New Delhi: A Jammu and Kashmir police officer was on Saturday put behind bars after a woman alleged that he was clicking her pictures without her consent in Central Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
The woman caught officer red-handed and the locals tied him to a chair. The burka-clad angry woman held the cop by his lapel and jolted him.
She had noticed that a cop posted on duty at Ganderbal bypass crossing was taking her pictures, a police official said.
He said the woman complained to the police about it, following which an FIR was registered and the cop was arrested.
Srinagar: Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Waseem Shah and another member of the terrorist outfit were killed in an encounter in south Kashmirs Pulwama district early on Saturday.
Police sources told CNN-News18 that the second terrorist was identified as Nisar Ahmed.
Shah, 23, also known as 'Abu Osama Bhai' was killed at Litter area in Pulwama, a place considered to be a safe haven for militants. This is the first counter-insurgency operation in Litter area in four years.
Jammu and Kashmir police have been tracking the movements of Shah, who is considered as the 'don of Heff', another traditional stronghold of militants in South Kashmir's Shopian district, PTI reported.
He was found at a hideout at Litter and police and its special operation group team cordoned off the area, police said.
Shah along with his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir made an attempt to flee the area, but could not penetrate the cordon which had been strengthened by the presence of CRPF and Army, they said.
Both identified. Waseem Shah@Osama Bhai Lashker commander and associate Naseer Mir. Waseem was active since 2014. https://t.co/DQlnn3zyuK J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) October 14, 2017
Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined militancy in May this year.
A college dropout, Shah, a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian, joined militancy in 2014 and was considered as the 'chief architect' of last year's unrest in various parts of South Kashmir.
Born in a middle class family of Gul Mohammed Shah, who ran his fruit business, Shah was an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group since his school days and had doubled up as a courier boy for the outfit, police said.
Off late, Shah, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was recruiting fresh cadres for the militant outfit. He had been involved in various attacks on security forces in South Kashmir, police said
Waseem Shah is the second high-profile militant to have been eliminated in recent weeks after Khalid, the Jaish-e-Muhammads Kashmir commander-in-chief, who was killed in an encounter in Baramulla on October 9. Khalid was among the top five wanted A++ militants active in Kashmir, responsible for the attack near the Srinagar airport, that killed one BSF jawan.
Militants killed in Kashmir in the last few months include Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders Bashir Ahmad Wani, Abu Dujana, Abu Ismail and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Bhat.
Other most wanted militants in Kashmir now include Al Qaidas Zakir Musa, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo, Hizbul Mujahideens Saddam Padder and Lashkar-e-Taibas Zeenat-ul-Islam.
Security forces have in recent months stepped up the crackdown on terrorist and militant outfits, with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying at least five terrorists are neutralised in Jammu and Kashmir everyday.
On October 11, two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in an encounter in Bandipora district. Two Garud Commandos of the Indian Air Force attained martyrdom in the operation. The militants were identified as Ali alias Abu Maaz, a Pakistani militant, and Nasrullah Mir, a local militant.
Mumbai: Mumbai: A 64-year-old former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committees (MPCC) general secretary and spokesperson Mahadev Shelar committed suicide at his residence on Saturday.
The incident happened at around 2:30pm at his flat in Vilava Kunj Society in Mulund.
According to the police, Shelar was found hanging from the ceiling fan. His wife, who was in another room, found him hanging. Although he was immediately rushed to Fortis hospital in Mulund, he was declared dead on arrival.
Mulund police have registered a case of accidental death. The police have also recovered a suicide note from his residence where he has stated the reason for the extreme step as depression due to prolonged illnesses.
DCP of Zone 7, Akhilesh Singh, said, We have gone through the suicide note. It states illness being the cause for his death. He was a diabetic and was suffering from BP also. He was depressed about it. He has not blamed anybody for his decision. We are taking statements of his family members.
The body has been taken to Rajawadi Hospital for postmortem. Police is awaiting post-mortem report.
Shelar was the general secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and Congress spokesperson, apart from being a qualified lawyer. He is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday made a fervent appeal for giving central university status to Patna University, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead invited it to compete for a spot in the list of 20 universities that would be developed as world-class institutions.
Sharing the stage with Nitish for the first time after forming the coalition government in Bihar, PM Modi addressed students at the centenary celebrations of the university. Nitish Kumar used the occasion and told Modi, There has been a long-standing demand of giving this university the status of central university. This is a great opportunity when our PM is with us. I appeal with folded hands to fulfill this demand.
However, the PM said there was more in store for Patna University than the status of a central university. He announced that the top ten private and government universities in the country would be converted into "world class" educational institutions and hoped Patna would make the cut.
Elaborating on the initiative, he said that the government would give them financial assistance of Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years. Modi said the selection of universities would be based on a challenge and not on anyones recommendations. Once selected, the institutes would continue to maintain their autonomy.
This is more than the status of central university. I hope Patna University would not be left behind and grab this opportunity with both hands, he said.
The opposition parties, however, accused the Prime Minister of diverting the issue and ignoring the demand.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) said that the PM has befooled Nitish. RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary said, Narendra Modi has shown the mirror to Nitish Kumar and he should learn to be happy with that. We were also hoping that Modi ji would announce the demand of granting central university status.
Senior congress leader and former education minister Ashok Choudhary lamented the way, as he said, Prime Minister ignored the issue. Instead of announcing anything he invited the university to participate in a challenge league. Who knows the result? he quipped.
Nitishs party Janata Dal (United) tried to downplay the issue. Partys spokesman Neeraj Kumar said, RJD can only think of Charwaha schools. They have no understanding of education system. The PM is committed to the development of Bihar. But he added that he too hoped that the demand of central university status would be met in the future.
New Delhi: A day after Supreme Court judges said they were pained to hear that some people were trying to give communal colour to the order banning sale of firecrackers in National Capital Region, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has called for a balanced view on the issue.
Not all firecrackers cause pollution tomorrow someone might object to lighting diyas on Diwali, RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi told reporters at the end of three-day meeting of Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini Mandal in Bhopal.
When asked about the issue of Rohingya refugees, where Supreme Court has said that a balance between national security and human rights should be there, Joshi said, India will have to see why Rohingya were being driven out of Myanmar.
Raising questions on Rohingya refugees settling in Jammu and Hyderabad, he said, It sometimes appears a part of conspiracy background of those who have come and those who are supporting them should be checked ultimately the refugees will have to go back.
Referring to international norms, Joshi said that normally asylum seekers are settled near international borders and are returned in time-bound manner.
When asked about allegations of government interference in government functioning, he said that there are people in the BJP who share ideological similarities but this cant be dubbed as meddling in governments affairs.
On caste-based reservation, he reiterated Sanghs old stance, saying that its up to those who avail benefits of reservation to decide how long they require reservation. He said he agrees with Baba Saheb Ambedkars views that every downtrodden section should be extended benefits of reservation, but the benefits should exist only as long as society needs them.
Joshi said a condolence note was mentioned on Gauri Lankesh, a senior journalist who was shot dead near her house in Bengaluru last month. In 2015, when rationalist MM Kalburgi was killed in a similar manner, RSS had condoled the death.
On preparations for Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Joshi said that such big projects require long-term planning. He said that organisations have been working on it from 1991-92, barring some disruption in between. Its up to the government to clear hurdles in the way of construction of Ram temple and organisations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad are also of the same view.
Jammu: Two children and two youth were injured on Saturday night in heavy firing and shelling by Pakistani troops on civilian hamlets and forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, the defence spokesman said.
The injured were playing when a shell landed near a house in Sandote in Balakote area, according to the spokesman. The injured were identified as 5-year-old Saquib Naseeb, 8-year-old Rafia Naseeb, 15-year-old Tariq Naseeb and 17-year-old Tahira Naseeb.
They were shifted to a hospital for treatment. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 1945 hours in Bhimber Gali sector along the Line of Control (LoC), deliberately targeting villages of Basauni and Sandot in Balakote area," the spokesman said.
The Pakistani troops shelled forward hamlets of Basauni, Khanater, Sandote, Stukra in Balakote belt, he said.
He said the unprovoked firing and "condemnable action" by the Pakistani Army was being retaliated strongly and effectively. The firing was still on.
Patna: India is no longer the land of snake charmers, but the IT hub of world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the centenary celebrations of Patna University on Saturday.
Earlier, foreigners used to see our country as the land of snake charmers. But the IT industry has shattered that image. Once a foreigner asked me are you still a land of snake charmers. I replied No. we used to play with snakes. Now we play with mouse. I am proud of this change, Modi said at the event which was also attended by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
This is Modis first full-fledged visit to the state after Nitish Kumars JD(U) dumped Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD in July and joined hands with the BJP.
Setting 2022 as the development deadline for Bihar, PM Modi assured the Nitish Kumar government that the Centre would extend all help in achieving this goal.
We are committed to the development of eastern states. I want to see Bihar counted among Indias developed states by 2022 when the country celebrates 75 years of Independence, Modi said at the centenary celebrations of Patna University.
In this visit, PM Modi is set to announce and inaugurate several developmental projects worth over Rs 3,700 crore for the state. Chief among them is the foundation stone for four Rs 3,031 crore national highway projects and as many sewage treatment plants (STPs) and related works worth Rs 738.04 crore in Mokama.
India is a youthful nation, blessed with youthful aspirations. Our youngsters can do a lot for the nation and the world: PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/JuVbVeV8yU BJP LIVE (@BJPLive) October 14, 2017
Modi, however, stopped short of announcing central university status to Patna University, which had been a key demand of the state government. PM instead said he hoped the institution would make it to the 20 universities being developed on a world-class scale across India.
Speaking at the University on Saturday, Modi said Bihar has a unique legacy where Ganga and gyaan (knowledge) come together. He also lauded the contributions of the University in nation-building over the years.
Patna University has been serving the nation for 100 years now. Every year, this institution dominates the IAS toppers list, he said.
Living in an era of globalisation, we need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness. In that context India has to make its place in the world: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 14, 2017
Speaking at the event earlier, CM Nitish Kumar disclosed that Modi had agreed to be part of the centenary celebrations in January, six months before the big political upheaval in the state. It is a day of great honour that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is present for Patna University's centenary celebrations," Kumar said.
The event was not without political controversy as RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and actor-turned-BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha alumni of the prestigious institutions rejected last-minute invites.
New Delhi: Former president Pranab Mukherjee had called visiting Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi out of a press conference just after the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai and told him to return to his country immediately.
Mukherjee, who was then the external affairs minister, made this revelation in his new book, the third volume of his autobiography, The Coalition Years, 1996-2012, which was launched on Friday evening.
He has written in the book that the day after the four-day siege began, he learnt that the Pakistani minister was holding a press conference. He decided to interrupt the press meet by calling a journalist he knew would be attending the conference. He asked the journalist to inform Qureshi that he wanted to speak to him urgently.
When Mukherjee got his Pakistani counterpart on the phone, he informed him that he should leave immediately in wake of the terror strike in Mumbai.
Mr Minister, no purpose will be served by your continuing to stay in India in these circumstances. My official aircraft is available to take you back home. It would be desirable if a decision is taken as quickly as possible, Mukherjee told the minister.
At least 162 people were killed and more than 300 were injured in the attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. One of the terrorists, Ajmal Kasab, was captured and hanged on November 21, 2012 for his role in the attack. The mastermind behind the attack, Hafiz Saeed, continues to enjoy sanctuary in Pakistan.
Mukherjee also revealed that the Pakistani High Commission had expressed gratitude and informed that a Pakistani air force aircraft would take him back home.
The BJP, then in the opposition, had blamed the UPA governments soft stance towards Pakistan for the attacks. Islamabad has continued to deny any knowledge of the strike and all evidence given by the Indian government has been rejected.
Indias demands for a fresh investigation have also been denied, with Pakistan claiming there is no concrete evidence to link Pakistan-based outfits to the attacks.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh government is planning to make at least 100 hospitals in the state paperless. These hospitals will be known as e-hospitals where all the paperwork - from registration to reports - will be available online, and the work has already begun in 28 medical colleges.
Speaking to media in Allahabad, Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said, The first E-Urban PHC was inaugurated in Dhumanganj area of Allahabad today. All the latest medical facilities will be available for the patients at this E-Urban PHC and they will not have to go to private hospitals anymore.
E-hospital is a system where after the registration of the patient is done online, all the information related to the treatment, medicine, and investigations will also be available online. Under this arrangement, the paper will not be used for registration, medicines, investigations, investigation reports etc.
Depending on the patient's name and registration number, his/her information will be available online from the form counter to pathology and OPD. As soon as the patient approaches the doctor, the doctor will see all the details of the patients online and prescribe medicine accordingly.
The advantage of this system is that once the patient is registered, his details will be secured in the hospital's computer system. On the basis of the recorded details, the patient will be able to get advice from the doctor after getting the information about the treatment received before. This way, the patients will not have to carry all the reports and old prescriptions with him every time he visits the doctor.
In the first phase, work has started for E-Hospitals at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow and Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital in Lucknow. Besides this, two urban primary health centers in the capital's Jiamau and Ujariyaon have been fully digitised. Some services have been made online at the civil hospital and in the coming days, preparations are going on gradually to make all the facilities online.
Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Amazon India Fashion Week Spring Summer'18 Day 3 came to a memorable close with noted designer Rajesh Pratap Singh showcasing his collection inspired by the Nexa palette of black, white and chrome.
Besides the fabulous collection, the other highlights of show were actor Abhay Deol and FDCI President Sunil Sethi, who walked the ramp for the designer.
"I think it is a bit more adventurous than I am," said actor Abhay Deol during the media interaction at the event when asked if the ensemble that he sported on the ramp resonated with his personal style.
Architectural in its shape and form, Rajesh's collection was a play of opposites. Black and white, hard and soft, transparent and opaque, hi-tech with handloom and manmade with natural were all juxtaposed to create harmony. Structured shoulders, athleisure pants, a graphic interplay of stripes and prints, the collection experimented with new and interesting materials and silhouettes. Handmade steel sneakers and Indie eyes completed the look.
Speaking exclusively to News18.com at the event, designer Rajesh Pratap Singh spoke about design process and elaborated about his collection. He said, "Design is a constant process, it's not about how many days goes into the process, you just keep doing it, hitting against the wall, sometimes it works, that is how it is." "For this collection we tried to work on opposites, whether its stainless steel with paper, all kinds of experiments with wool etc," he added.
Talking about the colour story and the inspiration behind it, Rajesh told News18.com, "The collection's colour story is something which is the colour palette of Nexa, it's black and white, so we worked on that. Also, there is chrome and steel which is another part of their colour palette, so we worked on that too."
The 5-day long fashion extravaganza which is being held in capital New Delhi, will conclude on October 15.
Two years ago, when filmmaker Meghna Gulzars Talvar arrived in cinemas, the director would have never thought she would get to talk about the film again so soon. The Konkona SenSharma and Irrfan Khan starrer, based on the 2008 Aarushi Talwar double murder case, had made headlines for being a propaganda film to change the public opinion about the Talwar couple, Nupur and Rajesh, who were in the jail at the time for being the prime suspects in the murder of their daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj.
The Vishal Bhardwaj production has once again got people talking after the Allahabad High Court's Thursday verdict that finally acquitted the Talwar couple. 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.
Relieved, thats how Meghna described the first thought that came to her mind after the verdict. If she is satisfied? Satisfied is a little bit presumptuous. It kind of makes me sound like some kind of an authority on these things and Im not, she adds.
However, Meghna says she is certain that there has never been ample evidence against the doctor couple to put them in jail.
I do very strongly believe that there wasnt enough reason or enough conclusive evidence for the Talwars to be serving life imprisonment for killing Arushi and Hemraj.
Not many directors dare to touch upon subjects that are too sensitive but Meghna, in an exclusive chat with News18.com, says it took her only a fraction of second to jump at this project.
Meghna says they never tried to influence anyones opinion through the film and only showed whatever information was available in the public domain.
It was not a prediction. We did not dig up anything new from new sources. All the information that is in Talvar is out there. Its just that the juicier narrative got shouted at more loudly than the other side."
On asking who she thinks should be held accountable for whatever time Talwars have spent in the jail, Meghna says, "All of us. We as a society are responsible. The Noida police botched up the investigation and whatever discrepancies within the CBI with its two teams investigating the same case coming up with the different theories also had a big part to play."
The Judiciary also could have rectified whatever was wrong. The media spun all kinds of narratives that the police was feeding them at the time, she adds.
Anything that she wants to say to the Talwars? I would want to meet them for sure whenever I do get an opportunity. But what can you say? What can you say to people who have been through what they have? What can you really say that will be right or found right or make you think that it might just make them feel better?
As Big Boss has started a new trend of having a panel discussion, yesterdays episode featured news anchor Saurav Sharma, TV actress Sargun Mehta and ex-big boss contestant Manu Punjabi as they talked about the ongoings of the current season.
In a captaincy task between Vikas Gupta and Puneesh Sharma, Vikas is declared the winner - making him the first captain of Bigg Boss season 11. Getting the privilege to become the first captain of the house, Vikas has managed to turn things around in the house, where tasks are to be assigned as per his wish.
Big Boss has given a special right to the captain of the house to send one person to the Kaalkothri who so ever he wants to send. As Hina was his first name which strikes in Vikas' mind and he nominated Hina to spend a night in the jail. Hina retaliates by calling him a Kaamchor Captain'.
Meanwhile, a surprising and unexpected change happens in the house as Vikas and Shilpa take the first step to start their new friendship. Shilpa pacifies the situation by advising Vikas to keep a calm and composed mind in order to survive in the house.
Leaving all the grudges and hatred aside, the contestants gathered in the lawn area to sing some of their favourite melodies. Sabyasachi shows his dancing moves to the gharwales on the song Maar daala as the rest of the contestants cheer him on. Finally, now it was the turn of both the gharwale and pardosis to nominate one person each to spend a night in the Kaalkothri alongside Hina.
Hate Story franchise is once again back and this time it is going to be even darker, says Urvashi Rautela as she revealed the release date of the fourth installment in the erotic thriller film series on Twitter.
Hate Story 4 featuring Urvashi alongside Karan Wahi and Vivan Bhatena, is currently being shot in London and will arrive in cinemas on March 2 next year.
The film is being directed by Vishal Pandya and produced by T-Series.
Apart from the release date, the makers also unveiled a logo for the film and will release its trailer and the poster soon.
Urvashi, who is quite active on social media, has been constantly giving updates to fans about her Hate Story shoot diaries from the British capital.
Check out a few pictures here:
I hate love story but i love HATE STORY #HateStory4 #Tasha #london #uk #midnight #fun @vishalpandya05 A post shared by URVASHI RAUTELA Actor (@urvashirautelaforever) on Sep 26, 2017 at 2:47pm PDT
Mumbai: Actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar believes women are harassed more than men, but this may not always be the case.
Speaking at a media interaction, Akhtar said: "I don't think that would be true from existing records or information out there on a public domain. I do believe that more often than not, it is the woman, who is harassed, but it doesn't mean all the time."
Farhan, the brand ambassador for Linen Club, was present on Friday at the inauguration of their exclusive brand outlet.
Asked about his personal style mantra, he said: "I think the important thing is to be yourself, to have an individual style quotient. You don't need to necessary follow what other people are doing.
"It is about being comfortable, it is about being yourself. I think that is most important to me as far as personal style mantra is concerned."
"But of course, if you are going somewhere like a red carpet event so you dress accordingly. It's not forced on you but you have to respect where it is that you are going. Within that, you still have the opportunity to still do your own thing. That's where our individuality plays an important role."
Farhan was last seen in Lucknow Central, directed by Ranjit Tiwari, along with Diana Penty and in a special appearance in Daddy with Arjun Rampal.
Hyderabad: BJP MP Varun Gandhi has termed the Election Commission as a "toothless tiger" which, he said, has never derecognised any political party for not submitting poll expenditure details within the stipulated time.
Gandhi also said political parties spend a lot on poll campaign, denying opportunity to people from humble background to contest elections.
His remarks come even as the BJP is under opposition attack for "pressuring" the Election Commission to not declare dates for elections to the Gujarat Assembly. The Congress has accused the BJP of using "shameless pressure tactics" with the EC so it could woo the voters in Gujarat with last-minute sops.
"One of the biggest problems is the problem of the Election Commission which is really a toothless tiger. Article 324 of the Constitution says it (EC) controls and supervises elections. But does it really do that? "It does not have the power to file cases once elections are over. It has to go to the Supreme Court to do so," Varun Gandhi said while delivering a lecture on "Political Reforms in India" at the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad.
He said the poll panel has never derecognised any political party for not filing the poll expenditure report on time.
"Though all political parties file late returns, only one political party belonging to the late PA Sangma (NPP) was derecognised for not filing returns on time, and the commission revoked the same a day after it filed the expenditure report," said Gandhi who represents Sultanpur seat in Uttar Pradesh.
He said the budget allocated for the poll panel for the 2014 Lok Sabha election stood at Rs 594 crore while there are 814 million voters in the country.
In contrast, the budget was double in Sweden which has a voter base of seven million, he said.
Gandhi acknowledged the excessive influence of money power in the electoral system and cited some examples. He said it has become virtually impossible for people from poor and middle class background to contest elections to Parliament and state assemblies.
Noting that political parties spend large amounts of money on poll campaign, the BJP leader said, "Technically, an MLA (candidate) can spend between Rs 20 and Rs 28 lakh and an MP (aspirant) Rs 54-Rs 70 lakh. But you are not told that political parties spend unlimited amounts on elections...It is a skewed form of political expenditure which ensures that no middle class or poor people can fight elections anymore". He expressed confidence that political parties will inevitably move towards transparency.
"....It may take five years...It may take 10 years...I am very optimistic," Gandhi added.
Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha stayed away from the Patna Universitys centenary celebrations on Saturday as the controversy around invitations sent for the programme refused to die down.
Trying to do damage control at the last moment, Patna University vice-chancellor Ras Bihari Singh had extended invitations at the eleventh hour. However, the two had already decided to make a point by not participating in the event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest for the event and addressed the students in his first visit to the state after forming a coalition with Nitish Kumar.
While Lalu has been a vocal critic of the BJP, Shatrughan seem to have been sidelined in the party. In a series of tweets, he said he could not make it to the event as he got the invitation very late. I got an invitation, alas very late and with a very short notice...delayed by the more loyal than the King's people involved, he wrote.
The two leaders had expressed their displeasure in public at not getting invited despite being alumni of the university. The university did publicise the participation of other leaders and ministers, who are former students of the university but by then, a controversy had taken root.
Administration of the institution defended its actions saying ministers are busy so they were informed first and they were still in the process of sending invitations to others.
The university, invited its old students and now Union ministers, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, JP Nadda, Prakash Javadekar and Upendra Kushwaha, who will all share the dais with the PM. Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi will also be there.
Lalu and Sushil had started their political careers as students union leaders together from the university. Lalu was elected president of the student union in 1973 while Sushil was general secretary.
The controversy began after the RJD complained that their leader did not get an invitation. On Friday, BN College Principal Rajkishore Prasad on Friday went personally with a printed invitation to Lalus residence.
But his elder son and former health minister Tej Pratap Yadav told News18 that his father was in Delhi and the invitation was not sent with the right intent. According to the seating arrangement, Lalus name figured in VVIP category, who will be seated on the front row and not on the dais. This decision irked his party RJD.
My father has been humiliated. There is no point to consider the invitation. Anyway he is in Delhi and he wont participate in the program, he said.
BJP leader Giriraj Singh took a jibe at Lalu, saying, He was comfortable on the carpet when Nitish and Modi shared the dais during Prakashotsav ceremony in Patna last year. So, why is he hesitant this time?
An invitation to Shatrughan, who has been critical of his own party, was also sent on Friday afternoon. A hard copy of the invitation was delivered at his Patna residence and a mail has also been sent to him. However, he attacked the university administration, accusing it of playing politics on campus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Bihar to attend the centenary celebrations of the Patna University. He is also expected to launch several development projects worth over Rs 3,700 crore. This is the Prime Ministers first full-fledged official tour to the state since the dramatic move of state chief minister Nitish Kumar last July to dump his political ally Lalu Prasad Yadav and join hands with BJP. The saffron party that had lost the bitterly-fought polls to the state assembly in 2015 to the Nitish-Lalu combo is now in power in Patna, in a coalition with Nitishs JDU. Here we bring you all the action from Patna Live.
Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
New Delhi: Days after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's remark on women's status in the RSS raised eyebrows, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday rebutted him, saying that rivals were calling the BJP an anti-women party, but it had given four women chief ministers and four women governors.
Rahul Gandhi, on his recent visit to Gujarat, in a college, asked the audience if they had ever seen women wearing shorts in Sangh shakhas. "Their organisation is the RSS. How many women are there in the RSS... Have you ever seen any woman in shakhas wearing shorts?"
The external affairs minister said that it doesn't suit politicians to say such things. "Prior to our government, no woman was ever a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Two out of four members are women now," she said adding that she was handed over the external affairs ministry and Nirmala ji was recently made the defence minister.
Congress and BJP are currently locked in a battle of words in the run-up to Gujarat assembly election. Union minister Smriti Irani had, a few days ago, launched a blistering attack against the Gandhi scion, saying he had a perverse mentality. The women of Gujarat and the nation will not forgive the Congress leader with a perverse mentality for insulting women.
Will Gujarat and its women be safe in the hands of Rahul Gandhi, the Union Textiles and I&B minister asked. His (Rahuls) mentality is such. The RSS works for the development of the nation by keeping everyone together. Is this our culture Should we support a person who insults women?
Luxembourg: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said that he doesn't want Catalonia to become independent from Spain because it could trigger a separatist domino effect in the EU.
"If we allow Catalonia though it's not our business to separate itself from Spain, others will do the same. And I wouldn't like to have that," Juncker said in a speech to students in his native Luxembourg.
"I wouldn't like to have a European Union which consists of 98 states in 15 years' time. It's already relatively difficult at 28, no easier at 27 (after Britain leaves), but at 98, that seems impossible."
He said he was "very worried" by the growing trend for separatism across Europe, a threat the EU only narrowly saw off in 2014 when Scotland voted against independence from Britain.
Juncker said he had urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to "for a long time take the initiative so that the situation in Catalonia did not become what it has now."
Brussels has insisted the dispute over Catalonia's independence referendum is an internal matter for key EU member Spain, backing Madrid's position that it was illegal, but calling for dialogue.
Juncker added that the EU "cannot involve itself into mediation" as Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has called for, and Madrid has rejected.
"We receive appeals in the most solemn way from all parts of the world: 'Juncker has to mediate'. He will not," he said, adding that it could lead to "considerable distortions in the European Union" if one party wanted mediation and the other did not.
Madrid has given Puigdemont until next Thursday to abandon his push for secession, failing which it may trigger unprecedented constitutional steps that could see Madrid take direct control of the semi-autonomous region.
Puigdemont's separatist allies pressed him to defy Madrid and declare independence.
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron is considering visiting Iran after speaking by phone with his Iranian counterpart as US President Donald Trump said he was "decertifying" the nuclear deal with Tehran, the Elysee presidential office said on Saturday.
Macron told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that France remained committed to the 2015 nuclear agreement which, besides the United States, was also negotiated with Britain, China, Russia and Germany.
"A trip to Iran by the president, at the invitation of President Rouhani, has been considered," the Elysee said, while the Iranian presidential website said the visit would happen next year.
Macron said the US decision "will not put an end to the Iranian nuclear accord and that together all the parties in France and its European partners will continue to meet their commitments."
Rouhani assured Macron that Iran in turn "will continue to carry out its commitments" in the nuclear accord, the Elysee said.
The French leader added that it was also necessary to have a dialogue with Iran on other strategic issues including Tehran's ballistic missile programme and stability in the region.
Macron also spoke to Rouhani of his "wish to work with Iran for a lasting political solution to the Syrian crisis." Tehran is a supporter of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Macron's visit to Iran would be the first by a French head of state or government since 1971. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is set to travel to the Islamic Republic in the next few weeks.
Yesterday, the leaders of France, Germany and Britain issued a joint statement saying they were "concerned" about Trump's decision while reiterating their commitment to the deal.
Seoul: North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.
The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme.
The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching US territory, the newspaper said.
This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.
Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: "We don't comment on any matters of military intelligence".
"We are keeping a close watch over the North," he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.
These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
On Friday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine -- the USS Tuscon -- left after a five day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was "highly likely" that the North could launch missiles in response to next week's joint navy drill.
US President Donald Trump's continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have "devastating consequences", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
Kuala Lumpur: Thousands of protesters gathered at an unsanctioned rally on Saturday to demand action against Prime Minister Najib Razak over the mismanagement of billions of dollars by a state fund.
Malaysia's opposition are counting on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal to turn as many voters as they can against Najib, who can call for national polls anytime between now and the middle of next year.
The prime minister has so far been able to weather the scandal, consolidating power by clamping down on dissenters and curbing local media and activists even as he faces a fierce challenge from his former mentor, Mahathir Mohamad.
But rising living costs and a broad-based consumption tax are leaving people like Hasmurni Tamby, a 42-year-old single mother of five, fed up with the way things are going under Najib.
"Prices of everything have gone up but not our salaries. We can't save. So we don't want this leader anymore," said Hasmurni, who travelled several hours north from her home state of Malacca to attend the evening rally.
Saturday's rally was touted as the finale of a two month-long anti-kleptocracy roadshow, a platform set up by the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to convince the majority Malay-Muslim voters in rural battleground areas that the country has suffered from Najib's handling of 1MDB.
Najib's popularity took a hit from persistent bad press linked to 1MDB, especially after the U.S. Department of Justice filed civil suits to recover over $1.7 billion alleged to have been misappropriated from the 1MDB fund.
A rebounding economy and strengthening ringgit currency, however, are working in Najib's favour.
The prime minister is expected to announce plenty of people-centric initiatives later this month when he tables his last budget before the polls. Just a few months prior, he announced billions in housing and cash aid for the Malay community.
But Mahathir, who saw through Malaysia's industrialisation as its longest-serving prime minister, warned that nothing good will come out of allowing his former protege to continue to rule.
"Never before have we had a prime minister who is a thief. He steals so he can have a comfortable life," Mahathir told the crowd when delivering the final speech of the night.
"We need to bring down kleptocracy in our country... Najib's fate is in our hands. We can get rid of him, just by voting PH," the former prime minister said.
Washington: President Donald Trump will not kill the Iran nuclear deal on Friday.
But when he declares that it has not been in US interests, he will consign the proudest legacy achievement of President Barack Obama's second term to a deeply uncertain future -- and could even set off a train of consequences that could eventually lead to its collapse.
Should that be the case, Trump, or one of his successors in the Oval Office, may one day face the fateful choice that the deal was supposed to circumvent -- whether to use military force to stop the Islamic Republic racing toward the bomb.
The President has fumed against what he has called a "very bad deal" and an "embarrassment" to the country despite all available evidence that Iran is complying with terms which imposed limits on its nuclear program in return for a lifting of sanctions that had crippled its economy.
"I think it was one of the most incompetently drawn deals I've ever seen," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
Trump's move, which had been previewed to CNN by government sources and foreign diplomats, will give Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions lifted under the terms of the agreement.
While the administration is not expected to push Congress to go that far, since it would likely cause Iran to immediately walk away, proponents of the nuclear deal fear that Trump's decision will strike a severe blow at the deal's legitimacy.
A significant stiffened US policy toward Iran designed to tackle what the White House says are Tehran's destabilizing activities and support for terrorism could return the enemies to the cycle of confrontation and proxy wars of most of the last four decades, that could in itself cause the deal to slowly begin to unravel.
"If the President chooses to not certify, that already will be a negative step -- for one thing it will start a process of isolating us from our allies," Ernest Moniz, Obama's former energy secretary who helped negotiate the agreement, said on CNN's "New Day."
"If we went all the way and reimposed sanctions while Iran is in compliance ... this would be a slippery slope towards a bad outcome, something very much not in our national security interest," Moniz said.
What are Trump's motivations?
The potentially grave consequences of Trump's decision, and the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency, US allies and even the US government have said that Iran is in compliance with the agreement, have focused attention on Trump's motivations.
Critics say Trump is recklessly risking the deal and thereby endangering US national security, simply to satisfy his fierce antipathy toward the agreement and to showcase a rare political win to his supporters.
Trump has twice previously been forced certify Iran's compliance, against his inclination and made clear he doesn't intend to do so again, even though Tehran is still honouring the pact.
The President is not alone in opposing certification of the deal. Some Republicans in Congress, including Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and members of the conservative foreign policy establishment believe that his move on Friday will force America's European allies, China and Russia and eventually Iran back to the table to improve the deal.
The President has also complained that the 2015 deal does not allow UN inspectors access to military sites, an argument one foreign diplomat dismissed while wondering whether Trump understands what is in the pact.
"I'm not sure he's privy to all the details," the diplomat said.
Trump's supporters, however, argue that the deal puts the Iranians on a North Korea-style glide path to a nuclear weapon when it expires in 2025 -- a claim that proponents of the deal dispute. Those who back Obama's approach also slam the idea that there is a "better deal" to be had, as Trump has often said, as a myth or that other partner will agree to renegotiate.
"I don't know there is any guarantee that ever happens, there are just so many stakeholders here," said Brian Fleming, an official in the Obama Justice Department who worked extensively on the Iran deal and is now at the Miller & Chevalier law firm.
Punting to Congress
The decertification by the President is only one aspect of the new Iran policy he will roll out on Friday.
Trump is also expected to unveil a toughened approach to respond to Iran's ballistic missile development, political maneuverings throughout the region and what the administration says is its support for terrorism, including for groups like Hezbollah and Houthi rebels in Yemen, officials have said.
By punting a decision on the ultimate destiny of the Iran deal to Congress, Trump can also try to personally avoid blame for the consequences that would follow if he formally killed the deal.
Once Trump has engineered the new policy direction, the deal's fate will be in limbo. Should Congress go ahead and decide to reimpose sanctions, it is all but certain that Iran would walk away. It could then likely reinstall centrifuges disengaged under deal and could race toward the development of a nuclear device, a process that experts believe could take only a year or so.
Diplomats and sources who have spoken to CNN say they don't believe that even Republican hawks opposed to the deal want to destabilize it and end up paying the political price for a potential march to war by the US.
Alternatively, lawmakers could decide to do nothing, effectively leaving the deal untouched.
In that case, Iran could decide that it is in its interest to remain in the agreement since it will still be reaping the economic benefits it gained via the lifting of sanctions.
Even so, it is uncertain whether this option would preserve the deal in the long term. Should European firms, for instance, reconsider investments in Iran under the shadow of potential future US sanctions, they could decide not to invest in Iran, and thereby lower the dividend that Tehran won by supporting the deal.
That could bolster hardline opponents of the deal inside Iran, as could the administration's desire to sanction individuals and entities in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, which controls vast business interests in the country a state sponsor of terrorism.
"Longer term, this will be very humiliating and embarrassing for the Rouhani government," said Trita Parsi, author of the book "Losing an Enemy," Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy." "They may be committed to the deal and they may not want to start messing with us, but their political strength will weaken and lead to a scenario in which they may lose power."
A boy buys green firecrackers ahead of Diwali festival in New Delhi. India has launched a plan to decrease the environmental impact of its biggest holiday with low-emission firecrackers and light shows, but its uneven rollout has foiled some small businesses and proven difficult to enforce. (Image: AP)
An American pastor, Dwight Eric Haynes, appeared in court on Tuesday on allegations of forging immigration papers to attend the Zimbabwe Conference of Sabbath Keeping Adventists Church two years ago. The court heard that acting on the misrepresentation, the church employed Pastor Haynes and gave him money to process his work permit, which he squandered.
Haynes (61) appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Josephine Sande facing charges of fraud. He was granted $200 bail and ordered to surrender his passport, report twice a week at CID CCD Harare and to reside at his address pending finalisation of the matter. Haynes, an American citizen, is expected back in court on November 10.
The court heard that sometime in 2013, the Zimbabwe Conference of Sabbath Keeping Adventists Church employed Haynes. It is alleged that as a foreigner, the church agreed to apply and pay for his work permit. On October 6 last year, Haynes requested $1 500 from the church for his temporal employment permit. The money was transferred into Haynes Barclays Bank account and instead of paying for the permit, it is alleged that he converted the money to his personal use.
The prosecutor Ms Tatenda Murindagomo alleged that on October 15, 2015, Haynes forged a Zimbabwe immigration receipt number R2211036 with a value of $1 500. It is alleged that he tendered the receipt to the Zimbabwe Conference of Sabbath Keeping Adventists Church as proof of payment. Zimbabwe Conference of Sabbath Keeping Adventists Church believed that the receipt was genuine and they considered it in their reconciliation. The offence came to light after the church received a tip off that the receipt was fake.
They contacted the Immigration Control who confirmed that the receipt was indeed forged. Ms Murindagomo said because of Haynes action, the church suffered prejudice to its good administration. herald
A special taskforce assembled by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, Zimbabwe Land Commission and Local Government, Rural Development and National Housing Ministry has launched an extensive investigation into fraudulent acquisition and parcelling out of State land.
The anti-graft body has also joined hands with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and legal experts to track money laundering and externanlisation.
Zacc Commissioner (education and publicity) Mrs Farai Chinyani said: Days are numbered for unscrupulous land barons who made millions of dollars through sale of State and council land. This high- level corruption is coming to an end.
Details at hand indicate the investigation into land scams covers all housing co-operatives.
We are looking into all land transactions from recent years. The main focus is on housing co-operatives and all the land barons; we are checking how they acquired the land. We are picking out the irregularities and those found wanting will face the music, said Mrs Chinyani.
There are several cases of land barons selling land belonging to the State and councils. This sort of corruption must be stopped and thats what we will do.
Cases of land barons are rampant in Chitungwiza and Manyame Rural District Council where 14 000 stands were deemed illegal in December 2013. An audit revealed that land barons pocketed more than US$20 million from the illegal sale of land.
In Harare, illegal land transactions have been reported in Mufakose, Kuwadzana and Glen Norah.
Zacc and the RBZ are also tracking cash barons who are involved in exertanisaltion and money laundering.
Zacc investigators indicated that preliminary details pointed that bankers from six failed financial institutions Interfin, Royal, Trust, Allied, Tetrad and AfriAsia may have taken money from Zimbabwe to invest in South African companies, in addition to buying luxury beach front properties in Cape Town and Durban, and mansions in the plush Sandton suburb of Johannesburg.
Investigators are also interested in a Harare-based businessman who reportedly accessed
about US$20 million from Kingdom Bank and moved it to South Africa.
Another case involves an opposition politician who was given US$16 million by three banks, which he used to buy a cotton ginning firm across the Limpopo River.
The Zacc and RBZ investigation comes against a spike in illegal street trading of bond notes against foreign currencies.
President Mugabe, through Statutory Instrument 122A of 2017, legislated regulations to deal with illegal cash vending, and scores of people have since appeared in court facing charges of illegally currency trading. Sunday Mail
Nice try rats, but this 6-inch-long Australian stick insect is still here, Science Magazine reports. According to the Conversation, Dryococelus australisalso known as the "land lobster"was happily living on Lord Howe Island between Australia and New Zealand when a British ship ran aground a century ago. Rats fled the ship and promptly started gobbling up the insects. By 1920, the flightless, plant-eating insects were declared extinct. Only they weren't, reveals a study published last week in Current Biology.
Two-dozen insects that appeared to be land lobsters were found on the volcanic Ball's Pyramid, about 12 miles from Lord Howe Island, in 2011, USA Today reports. But they looked slightly different than the Dryococelus australis of Lord Howe Island, and scientists couldn't be certain they weren't a different species. Until now. Comparing DNA from the insects found on Ball's Pyramid and museum specimens of Dryococelus australis collected prior to its rat-aided extinction, researchers found less than 1% difference. That's close enough to say the "land lobster" is alive and well. However, with fewer than 30 believed to be left on Ball's Pyramid, it could be the rarest insect in the world. Scientists are breeding the Dryococelus australis with the hope of reintroducing it to Lord Howe Islandonce the rats are taken care of, of course. (Read more insects stories.)
Auschwitz was liberated in January 1945; a couple of months before that, a Jewish prisoner secretly wrote a letter outlining the horrors he had witnessed, placed it in a thermos then a leather pouch, and buried it. Now, for the first time, Marcel Nadjari's words have been published in full. Historian Pavel Polian tells Deutsche Welle that nine buried documents were found at the concentration camp and he describes them as "the most central documents of the Holocaust." They were written by Nadjari and four fellow members of the "Sonderkommando" unit, which was tasked with moving bodies from the gas chamber to the crematorium. Nadjari's letter, found in 1980, was written in his native Greek and mostly illegible. A year-long project using multispectral image analysis helped reveal all but about 10% of the document.
Gizmodo reports on the Sonderkommando's unthinkable task: remove the teeth from the dead, shave their heads, and ultimately dispose of their ashes into rivers. "We carried the corpses of these innocent women and children to the elevator, which brought them into the room with the ovens, and they put them in there the furnaces, where they were burnt without the use of fuel, because of the fat they have," he wrote. "When you read what work I did, you will say, how could I ... burn his fellow believers," he wrote. "Many times I thought of coming in with them [into the gas chambers] to finish, but I have always kept my revenge: I wanted to live to avenge the death of Papa and Mama, and that of my beloved little sister, Nelli." Nadjari didn't get his revenge, but he did survive; he died in New York in 1971. (In Nazi death camp, a mysterious link to Anne Frank.)
"I've never seen destruction like that," says a firefighter with decades of experience with destruction. On April 17, 2013, a fertilizer plant in West, Texas exploded, killing 15 people and injuring 252 morenearly 10% of the town's population. A rest home "folded like a house of cards" before being hit by an 800-pound block of the plant's foundation. Residents of an apartment complex were blown out of the building and into the parking lot. Debris was thrown more than two miles, and an Iraq War veteran 29 miles away recognized the sound of an explosion. The disaster was "the prologue to an epic investigation, a lingering mystery, a baffling twist and a series of epiphanies ... on what it means to prosper, to doubt, to be safe, to recover, to believe, to be a community," reports the Washington Post in a heartrending look at the explosion and its aftermath.
A federal investigation into the explosion is still ongoingmaking it one of the largest ever conducted by the ATF. Investigators ruled in 2016 that someone had set the fire that caused 300,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate to explode, but that's as far as they've gotten. Meanwhile, West's residents have settled on their own divine explanation for the event that changed their lives. One resident says maybe the explosion happened "because God said we were all drifting too far apart." Others see God's hand in what was left: a resident was spared when she left town for dinner after finding a Panda Express coupon, a cross was the only thing remaining on a home's walls, and more. There had to be something protecting us," another resident says. Read the full piece here for incredible stories from the explosion and how West pieced itself back together again. (Read more Longform stories.)
Seventy percent of donated second-hand clothing ends up in Africa, and a number of African nations are tired of it, the New York Times reports. Last year, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Burundi, and Kenya raised import tariffs on what Kenyans call the "clothes of dead white people" so high as to effectively ban them. The goal among the East African nations was to officially ban the importing of used clothing by 2019. The countries say they want to build up their own textile industries, an aim hampered by bringing in donated clothes from the West$151 million worth in 2015 alone. They also say wearing what Mozambique calls "clothing of calamity" weighs on the dignity of their people.
The reaction in the US was swift. In March, the Office of the United States Trade Representative threatened to remove four of the six countries that increased tariffs on donated clothes from a trade deal meant to aid economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. It was pressured to do so by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association, a group of 40 used clothing exporters that claims 40,000 US jobs would be threatened by the East African ban. The secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development calls the US response wrong "politically and morally." While Kenya has since backed out of the proposed ban, the other countries appear ready to forge ahead. "We have to grow and establish our industries," says President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. "This is the choice we find that we have to make." Read the full Times story here. (Read more Africa stories.)
Police in Ohio say they've arrested a man after receiving random 911 calls for months from his apparently malfunctioning cellphone, the AP reports. According to the Review in Alliance, Sebring police arrested 33-year-old Nathan Hawkins Oct. 5 on a felony charge of disrupting public service.
Dispatchers in the northeast Ohio village say they received at least 20 emergency calls from Hawkins' cellphone from January through August. Police say they told Hawkins that he could have found ways to prevent the calls from continuing. Police say Hawkins told them that he sometimes sleeps with the phone in his pocket and it just calls 911. Police indicate Hawkins was warned previously that he would be arrested if they continued receiving 911 calls for no reason.
(Read more 911 stories.)
Police in Arizona believe they have found the body of Cathryn Gorospe, the kindergarten teacher who was last seen bailing a man out of Flagstaff's Cocinino County jail on Oct. 6. Police say the manner and cause of the Glendale woman's death is unknown, the Arizona Republic reports. Charlie Malzahn, the 27-year-old man she bailed out, was arrested after a police chase in Phoenix on Monday. Police say he was in Gorospe's vehicle, which had bloodstain on the interior. Investigators say he used Gorospe's credit and debit cards in Tucson last Saturday, a day after she bailed him out. He had been in jail on charges including vehicle theft and gun possession.
It's not clear how Malzahn and Gorospe knew each other though a Flagstaff police spokesman says "rumors appear to support that their relationship was romantic." Police say Malzahn, stepson of the police chief in the town of Williams, assaulted a student on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University the day before he was arrested, KSAZ reports. They say Malzahn repeatedly punched the 17-year-old after she asked him to leave her dorm room. Police say that after his arrest, Malzahn told them he had been awake for three days on meth and remembered little of anything that had happened. (Read more Arizona stories.)
In what the Miami Herald calls "a stunning setback," the entire civilian legal defense team in a Guantanamo Bay death-penalty case has quit over claims the government was eavesdropping on confidential meetings with its client. Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri was arraigned six years ago on charges he spearheaded the bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen in 2000 that killed 17 US sailors, the New York Times reports. Nashiri was to be the first Guantanamo prisoner to face the death penalty in court under a hybrid civilian-military trial system set up in the wake of Sept. 11, but his trial has been delayed over ongoing problems, including now the defection of his legal team.
The three civilian lawyers defending Nashiri quit Friday over claimsthe details of which are classifiedthat the government was monitoring its legal meetings, creating an ethical conflict. "We are angry about being placed in an ethically untenable position, disappointed in not being able to see the case through, and devastated to leave Mr. Nashiri, whom we genuinely like and who deserves a real chance for justice, attorney Rick Kammen says. Kammen, as the only attorney with death penalty experience, is the important loss. The trial legally cannot move forward without a defense attorney well-versed in capital punishment. Ive never tried a murder case and I am certainly not qualified as learned counsel, Lt. Alaric Piette, the only person left on Nashiri's legal team, tells the Herald. He says without someone to replace Kammen, the "court doesn't even have the veneer of fairness." Brig. Gen. John Baker says it's unclear how long it could take to find a replacement. Pretrial hearings were scheduled to start Oct. 30. (Read more Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri stories.)
A timeline released by Las Vegas police earlier this week led to concerns they didn't do enough to prevent the Oct. 1 shooting that killed 58 people and forced the owners of Mandalay Bay to release a statement openly disputing the timeline, the AP reports. Metro Police had said Stephen Paddock fired 200 rounds into the hotel hallway, injuring security guard Jesus Campos, at 9:59pmabout six minutes before he opened fire on a music festival 32 floors below. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo says that timeline led to characterizations of the police response as "incompetent," which "absolutely offended" him. And MGM Resorts International released a statement Thursday saying at most 40 seconds passed between when Campos was shot and when Paddock opened fire on festivalgoers, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
On Friday, Lombardo said a new timeline by police is "not in conflict" with the MGM statement, NPR reports. He said Campos was shot just about the same time Paddock opened fire on the festival. The original 9:59pm time was actually when Campos found a barricaded door on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay, Lombardo said. This is not the first time the timeline of the shooting has changedofficials originally said Campos was shot after Paddock started firing on the festivaland Lombardo warned it could still change again. Lombardo also increased the number of injured from 489 to 546, with 45 still hospitalized. The biggest questions remain: What was Paddock's motive and why did he stop shooting? Lombardo said police arrived at Paddock's room 12 minutes after he shot Campos, but the festival was only under fire for 10 minutes. (Read more Las Vegas shooting stories.)
A sheriff says the suspect in the deadly shootings of a 7-year-old boy and three adults was unarmed and ready to give up when officers arrested him as he walked down a road in far southern Ohio. Twenty-three-year-old Arron Lawson had been the subject of a manhunt in Lawrence County since authorities said he fled into the woods Thursday, shortly after midnight. Lawrence County Sheriff Jeffery Lawless says Lawson is an outdoorsman and hunter but seemed "worn out from being out in the elements" and didn't flee when confronted Friday, the AP reports. The sheriff wouldn't disclose what Lawson said to the arresting officers or discuss any potential motive.
After the manhunt ended Friday, the sheriff identified the three adults slain at the trailer home Wednesday as a 28-year-old resident of the home, Stacey Jackson, and two relatives who lived at a property on the same road. They are 50-year-old Donald McGuire and 43-year-old Tammie McGuire. After the bodies were found, police issued a missing-child alert and spent hours searching for 7-year-old Devin Holston, only to find the child dead inside the same house trailer, his body apparently hidden. The boy's father came upon the scene after work, was stabbed, and fled the home to seek help, police say. He is recovering in a hospital in West Virginia.
(Read more Ohio stories.)
Five white peopleincluding two law enforcement officerswere arrested Friday in Georgia in connection with the murder of a black man 34 years ago, NBC News reports. Timothy Coggins was 23 when his body was found in a grassy area 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta in 1983. Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix says Coggins was "brutally murdered." According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dix says suspects at the time threatened and intimidated possible witnesses, and the case was never solved. "It worried everybody to death, but we never could find out what was going on, so life just continued," a friend of Coggins tells WSB. The case was reopened in March after new evidence turned up, and the original witnessesafraid to come forward at the timewere re-interviewed. It's unclear what the new evidence was.
Bill Moore, 58, and Frankie Gebhardt, 59, were charged with murder, aggravated assault, and more. Gregory Huffman, 47, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office. He was fired as a detention officer with the sheriff's office following his arrest. Lamar Bunn, a police officer in a nearby town, was charged with obstruction. His mother, Sandra Bunn, was also charged with obstruction. Dix says investigators believe the murder was "racially motivated" and would be considered a hate crime today. "It was meant to send a message and it was brutal," he says. Officials say more arrests are possible. "We have always wanted justice, held out for justice, and knew that we would have justice," the victim's niece, Heather Coggins, says. (Read more cold cases stories.)
Harvey Weinsteinwhose movies have been nominated for 300 Academy Awards and who has been thanked in more Oscar speeches than anyone not named Steven Spielberghas been booted from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Academy called an emergency meeting of its 54-member board of governors, which includes Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, and others, on Saturday. According to the New York Times, the Academy says the vote to "immediately expel" Weinstein was "well in excess of the required two-thirds majority."
In a statement, the Academy says it ousted Weinstein "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." Meanwhile, Eva Green became the latest actor to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, saying she had to "push him off" during a business meeting in Paris, Variety reports. "The experience left me shocked and disgusted," Green says. Only one person is thought to have been previously expelled from the academy; more on that here
(Read more Harvey Weinstein stories.)
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. To do so, first type the original number into the text box. Then click on the "Scientific Notation" option located at the top of the floating window. Finally, click on the "Standard" button found beneath the text box to display your result. This program is useful for scientists and engineers working with decimal-based numbers. It provides easy access to those who need to convert those numbers into more compact forms without having to do heavy math calculations first.
Scientific notation is a way to express very large or very small numbers. It is used in physics, chemistry and other fields where large numbers are common. Those numbers are written as a power of 10 followed by a number with an exponent. For example, 1,000,000 (one million) is written as 1 103. The exponent shows how many zeros are after the first digit. For example, 1,000,001 is written as 1 102. Scientific notation is a useful tool for making calculations easier. You can use it to write down very big or very small numbers in one step instead of writing out both the large and small numbers separately. You can also use it to express large or small numbers in terms of other units like centimeters or millimeters.
Scientific notation solver is an online tool that can be used to convert any number into scientific notation. Simply enter any number to the left of the decimal point and it will automatically convert it into a scientific notation equivalent. This web tool can be very helpful when you need to convert a large number into scientific notation. However, please note that this online tool can only convert numbers that are in scientific format. For example, it cannot convert a non-scientific number like "1,085" into a scientific notation equivalent. It is also important to keep in mind that this web tool only works when converting numbers from one particular format to another. For example, if you want to change a non-scientific number like "1,085" into standard format, then you will have to use another online tool like NumberFormatting.com.
New Delhi:
After the recent Doklam standoff between India and China, the battle lines seem to be drawn between the two Asian giants once again. And this time the battleground will be Sri Lanka.
According to the reports, India is in advanced talks with Sri Lanka to revive it almost defunct Chinese-built airport which is located right next to the port China has leased.
China had four years ago given $190 million assistance (90 per cent of the total cost) to Sri Lanka to build an airport in Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in Hambantota.
The port China has leased in Sri Lanka was the part of Dragons old 'String of Pearls' policy that aims at ring-fencing India. Chinas access to the Indian Ocean is the direct threat to Indias security.
Also Read | Dhanoa says Indian Air Force can destroy Pak's nuclear weapons, fight on 2 war fronts
China is investing heavily in the in Sri Lanka's infrastructure as part of its One Belt One Road (OBOR) project.
Earlier in the year, Sri Lanka signed a USD 1.1 billion deal with China to sell 70 per cent stake in the strategic Hambantota port to a state-run Chinese firm, a move that raised security concerns in India.
The deal had been delayed by several months over concerns that the deep-sea port could be used by the Chinese Navy.
The accumulated loss from the port was more than USD 300 million and the money realised from the deal will set off the debts owed to China.
The Hambantota airport is also making losses and Sri Lanka is unable to pay off its debt to China due to countrys slow economic growth. Out of its total $64.9 billion national debt, Sri Lanka owes $8 billion to China.
The recent Doklam standoff between India and China highlighted how the Asian rivals are fighting for the supremacy in South Asia. Hambantota could be another battleground as India has sharpened its strategy to counter China on all fronts in the region.
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New Delhi:
In an incident being reported from Faridabad, Haryana, five people have been beaten by self-styled cow vigilantes, or gau rakshaks on suspicion of carrying cow meat.
An FIR under Cow Smuggling Act has been registered. Another FIR will also be registered on victims complaint and investigations are underway. The confiscated meat will also be tested, said the DCP.
The incidents related to cow vigilantism have increased significantly in the year 2017.
The Supreme Court had in September demanded status report from states on implementation of its September 6 judgment related to the menace of cow vigilantism.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had said states must frame schemes to compensate victims of crime, including those of cow vigilantism as envisaged under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The SC had said states were under obligation to compensate victims of violence by cow vigilante groups.
Supreme Court said that all states are under an obligation to compensate victims of Cow vigilantism violence cases. Next hearing is on October 31st.
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Panaji:
The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) has urged the Goa government to ban the sale of Chinese firecrackers, saying they contain a chemical that is banned in India.
The right wing Hindu organisation submitted a memorandum to the North Goa District Collector's office on Friday, seeking to ban the crackers manufactured in China, which will hit the markets before and during Diwali, being celebrated next week.
"A large consignment of Chinese Crackers has been brought into the country. Mixture of the chemicals, namely potassium chloride and potassium per-chloride are used in the production of these crackers; but there is a ban on the use of these chemicals in Bharat (India)," the memorandum signed by HJS leaders, including its state convenor Manoj Solanki, says.
Solanki said that although these Chinese crackers are cheap, they pollute the atmosphere very badly and the Indian government has banned the sale of these crackers during Diwali.
He said that as per the Explosives Act, 2008 possessing and selling the foreign-made explosive material is a cognisable offence.
"Delhi government, too, has put a complete ban on Chinese crackers. Despite this ban, the Chinese crackers are brought into India illegally and sold," he added.
The HJS demanded that the government should ban its sale immediately and take stringent action against those involved in its illegal trade.
The organisation also pointed out that pictures of national heroes and deities are printed on the covers of some crackers. "When these crackers are burnt, these torn pictures also get strewn all over.
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New Delhi:
Pakistan on Saturday violated ceasefire in Balakote sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. Three children got injured in the ceasefire violation by neighbouring country.
Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 1945 hours in Bhimber Gali sector along the Line of Control (LoC) deliberately targeting villages of Basauni and Sandot in Balakote area.
Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. Firing is still on.
Earlier on Friday, Pakistan Armys heavy shelling along the Line of Control in Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir forced authorities to shut schools in forward areas.
The schools along the LoC in Digwar and Khadi Karmara were closed because of the firing and shelling by Pakistan today, said Poonch Deputy Commissioner Tariq Ahmed Zargar.
He, however, said the schools have been shut for a day.
Zargar said the situation was under control as firing from across the border stopped in the afternoon.
Schools in areas unaffected by the firing remained open, he added.
Pakistani security forces violated the ceasefire with India for the second consecutive day. They fired small arms and shelled the forward areas in Poonch district.
An Indian Army jawan and a porter died in their firing on Thursday. Another six were injured.
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New Delhi:
An encounter took place between security forces and terrorists in Pulwama's Litter village in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday morning. The security forces gunned down two terrorists Wasim Shah and Hafiz Nisar.
Updates
#A Authorities order Telecom companies to downgrade Internet speed to 2G in Jammu and Kashmir following Pulwama encounter
Jammu & Kashmir: Authorities order Telecom companies to downgrade Internet speed to 2G in Kashmir following #Pulwama encounter a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Terrorists have misused social media to lure youth in south Kashmir, no doubt about it: IG Munir Khan in Srinagar
#A 1 civilian died & another was injured in cross firing between terrorists and security forces during the operation in Pulwama: IG Munir Khan
# Both the terrorists were first asked to surrender but instead they started firing, troops retaliated & gunned them down: IG Munir Khan
1 civilian died & 1 civilian got injuries in cross fire between terrorist and security forces during the operation in Pulwama: IG Munir Khan a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Of the 2 terrorists Wasim Shah was very notorious and his elimination was a big success as he used to recruit cadre for LeT: IG Munir Khan
# Operation was launched by Police, Army and CRPF after specific info was received about presence of 2 LeT terrorists: IG Munik Khan Pulwama
Of the 2 terrorists Wasim Shah was very notorious and his elimination was a big success as he used to recruit cadre for LeT: IG Munir Khan pic.twitter.com/T7lSZFiUEI a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# One civilian injured in clashes in Pulwama.
Operation was launched by Police, Army and CRPF after specific info was received about presence of 2 LeT terrorists: IG Munir Khan #Pulwama pic.twitter.com/KIV9MfXgBv a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Terrorist Wasim Shah was involved in many cases and recruitment, his elimination is a huge success : J&K DGP SP Vaid on Pulwama encounter
Terrorist Wasim Shah was involved in many cases and recruitment, his elimination is a huge success : J&K DGP SP Vaid on #Pulwama encounter pic.twitter.com/nFZxZ4g5Te a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Locals resort to stone-pelting.
Two terrorists Wasim Shah and Hafiz Nisar gunned down by security forces in an encounter in J&K's Pulwama (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/fHIUfyjW13 a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Two terrorists Wasim Shah,A LeT commander R/O Heff, Shopian and Hafiz Nisar,A LeT R/O Litter, Pulwama gunned down by security forces in J&K's Pulwama. Weapons such as AK-47, 1 AK-56 along with 6 AK magazine recovered by the security forces.
J&K: Two #LashkarETaibaterrorists WasimShah and Hafiz Nisar killed by #securityforces in #Pulwama. Locals resort to stone pelting pic.twitter.com/PdrF7AUYmY a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) October 14, 2017
Pulwama(J&K): Both the terrorists Wasim Shah and Hafiz Nisar were a part of the LeT. a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
J&K: Two #LashkarETaibaterrorists WasimShah and Hafiz Nisar killed by security forces in #Pulwama pic.twitter.com/2y7SZgJw1K a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) October 14, 2017
#UPDATE Two terrorists Wasim Shah and Hafiz Nisar gunned down by security forces in J&K's Pulwama pic.twitter.com/8BiIUjxSiS a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Army has surrounded the terrorists
# The terrorists are reported to be from Lashkar - E - Taiba
#A J&K: Encounter underway between security forces and terrorists in Pulwama's Litter village.
J&K: Encounter underway in Pulwama's Litter village between security forces and terrorists. More details awaited a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
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New Delhi:
Security forces launched cordon & search operations in Pastuna forest area of Pulwama's Tral,A Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. The search operation was launched after gunshots were heard in the vicinity. Earlier in the morning, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation in KG sector of Poonch.
UPDATES:
#A J&K: Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Gulzar Dar apprehended in Pulwama district's Tral in a joint operation of Army, Police and CRPF
#A The search operation was launched after gunshots were heard in the vicinity
Photo of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Gulzar Dar apprehended in Pulwama district's Tral (J&K) in a joint operation of Army, Police and CRPF. pic.twitter.com/0AHBKdkxaQ a ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2017
# Security forces launched cordon & search operations in Pastuna forest area of Pulwama'sA Tral,A Jammu and Kashmir on Friday
Jammu and Kashmir has recently witnessed heightened ceasefire violations and terrorist activities since recent times.A On Wednesday, an encounter took place between security forces and terrorists in Bajin, Handipora of Jammu and Kashmir. Two IAF personnel were martyred whereas two LET terrorists were also killed during the encounter.A
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New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the centenary celebrations of Patna University in Bihar. He also visited Mokama to inaugurate several developmental projects, including sewage treatment plants and national highway projects.
Live Updates
#A Railway Min started 4 special trains so ppl in Bihar&North-eastern UP won't have any difficulty in reaching home for Diwali& Chhath: PM Modi
Railway Min started 4 special trains so ppl in Bihar&North-eastern UP won't have any difficulty in reaching home for Diwali& Chhath: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/7w5jDgW2kg a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
#A PM Modi arrives in Mokama; He will lay foundation 'Stone of Projects' under 'Namami Gange programme' and National Highway projects
#Bihar:PM Modi to lay foundation Stone of projects under Namami Gange programme & National Highway projects at Public Meet in Mokama shortly pic.twitter.com/sNwljkMRxk a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
#Bihar: PM Modi arrives in Mokama; he will lay foundation Stone of Projects under Namami Gange programme, and National Highway projects pic.twitter.com/pCaMp5hiMg a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# All the unversities of the country can compete for this. A third party will examine the competing universities and select the top 20. These universities will be given the required freedom to move ahead and develop. I invite Patna University to be a part of it. This is much greater than granting the status of Central University, said PM Modi
#A 10 private & 10 public universities will be given a fund of Rs 10,000 Crore over 5 yrs to make them world-class: PM Narendra Modi in Patna
# The government wants to free the top universities of the country from bureaucracy and give them freedom to excel.
# Educational reforms have taken place at a very slow pace in the country: PM Modi.
# We have to make Bihar a prosperous state by 2022, says PM Modi
# There was a time when we used to go to schools and colleges to learn something. But that age has ended now. Today, given how fast the world is changing, one of the biggest challenges for the universities now is how to make the students unlearn what they know, says PM
# The process of unlearning and relearning is very important. We must focus on the process of opening the studentsa minds so that they are perceptive to newer things, says PM Modi
# As youngsters, I urge you to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people around you. Through what you learnt and the Start up sector there is a lot you can do for society: PM
# The average Indian is still 35 years of age and his/her dreams are also young. Our youngsters can do a lot for the nation, says PM Modi
#A A nation seen as a land of snake charmers has distinguished itself in the IT sector: PM Modi
# Living in an era of globalisation, we need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness. In that context India has to make its place in the world: PM Modi
# The more we stress on innovative learning, the more our country will be stronger globally: PM Modi
# From conventional teaching, our universities need to move towards innovative learning: PM Modi
The commitment of Nitish Kumar ji towards the progress of Bihar is commendable: PM Modi in Patna University pic.twitter.com/TihuAvSdWY a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# Bihar is blessed with both 'Gyaan' and 'Ganga.' This land has a legacy that is unique: PM Modi
#A The commitment of Shri Nitish Kumar towards the progress of Bihar is commendable. We in the Centre attach topmost importance to the development of eastern India
In every state, the senior level of the civil services has officers who have studied in Patna University: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/2HhlE3mRiE a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
#A In Delhi, I interact with so many officials, many of whom belong to Bihar: PM Modi
# Who can forget the contribution of Nalanda in the nation's development, says PM Modi
#A In every state, the senior level of the civil services has officers who have studied in Patna University: PM Modi
#A I consider it my honour to visit Patna University and be among the students. I bow to this land of Bihar. This university has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation
# CM Nitish Kumar has told me that I am the first Prime Minister to have ever visited Patna University: PM Modi
# I humbly request that Patna University should be granted central university status: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in Patna
I humbly request that Patna University should be granted central university status: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in Patna pic.twitter.com/LZtx1cBh3g a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
I humbly request that Patna University should be granted central university status: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in Patna pic.twitter.com/LZtx1cBh3g a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
# I can see our former education minister Ashok Chaudhary(Congress) here, I hope you will not be expelled from your party: Bihar CM
# We are happy that PM has come to Patna- CM Nitish Kumar
#A It was a matter of honour to study in an engineering college - Nitish Kumar
# I didn't want to go to an engineering college, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
# PM Modi reaches Patna University for centenary celebrations. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, governor Satyapal Malik and many other central ministers also present at the university.
#A PM Narendra Modi arrives in Patna, received by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
# PM Modi will take part in many programs today.
PM Modi is also set to share the stage with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, the first time since the latter returned to NDA's fold.
PM Narendra Modi arrives in Patna, received by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pic.twitter.com/D2HKVGkKD2 a ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
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New Delhi:
PM Modi attended the centenary celebrations of Patna University on Saturday and addressed the students. He also praised Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for his development initiatives in the state.
Ten points of PM Modi's speech
# PM Modi announced the governments plan to make top 10 public and top 10 private universities of India world class.
# PM Modi invited universities from the country including Patna University to compete for a place among the top 20 universities.
# PM Modi said that these universities will be given a fund of Rs 10,000 Crore over 5 yrs to make them world-class.
# The government wants to free the top universities of the country from bureaucracy and give them freedom to excel.
# We have to make Bihar a prosperous state by 2022, said PM Modi
# From conventional teaching, our universities need to move towards innovative learnin, said PM Modi
# The more we stress on innovative learning, the more our country will be stronger globally: PM Modi
# Bihar is blessed with both 'Gyaan' and 'Ganga.' This land has a unique legacy.
# In every state, the senior level of the civil services has officers who have studied in Patna University: PM Modi
# I consider it an honor to visit the Patna university
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New Delhi:
The Police personnel in Rajasthan have boycotted mess food and wore black ribbons on the shoulder to protest against the salary deduction order by the state government.
Rajasthan is one among the states where 7th pay commission has not been implemented and it was reported that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje may soon give salary hike to over 8 lakh government employees in wake of assembly elections next year.
But before that, the BJP led state government has ordered slash in the salary of policemen who joined after 2006. The move angered the state policemen and to protest the government's order, they boycotted mess food. Some of them shaved their head.
They also threated to go on mass leave if the government doesnt listen to their demands.
We work for 24-hours a day with no week offs, there are hardly any perks we got, but despite a hike, the state government has ordered to decrease our pay, said a Rajasthan Police head constable.
Also Read | Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress president after Diwali, says Sachin Pilot
We will work but not have food. If needed, will go on mass leave but wont accept this, said another on the condition of anonymity.
Even if the 7th pay commission is implemented, the new order would further make our salaries lesser than what we were getting now, he added.
The state of Rajasthan will have assembly elections next year and the Vasundhara Raje government is planning to implement the 7th pay commission in the state before that.
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New Delhi:
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday blamed the Congress and country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the worsening situation in Kashmir.
Had Jawahar Lal Nehru asked Sardar Vallabhai Patel to decide the fortune of Kashmir, the Kashmir issue and even PoK would not have been there, Rajnath said.
According to a South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), the terrorism related deaths in the Valley has increased under the three years rule of Modi government.
However, Singh assured the situation of Kashmir will soon be better and "no power can stop India from resolving the Kashmir issue". He also lambasted Paksitan for its "imptious" activities against India.
Pakistan is our neighbouring state. Its name is Pak-istan, but it regularly indulges in napaak (impious) activities, tries to break India and sends terrorists into India.
Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried his best (for peaceful resolution of bilateral issues) considering that Pakistan is our neighbouring state. He even went to Pakistan breaking all protocol, but Pakistan is not refraining from its activities. This cant continue for long, he said.
The home minister said he has asked the Army to reply with bullets to Pakistani firings on the Kashmir border instead of showing the white flag (of peace).
We have given a free hand to the Army. I have said you are free to act against terrorists, Singh said, adding this has resulted in a record number of militants being killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016-17.
Rajanth Singh was addressing a gathering in Surat as part of the BJPs Gaurav Yatra to galvanise support ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat.
After Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's intense campaigning in PM Modi's home state, the ruling BJP has landed senior leaders and Union ministers in the state to fight anti-incumbancy and earn people's vote.
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New Delhi:
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday reacted to Congress party's jibe that Bhartiya Janata Party is anti-women party by saying that BJP gave 4 woman chief ministers, 4 women governors and 6 women cabinet ministers.
Sushma reasoned that previous governments never had women members in Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) but BJP is having 2 women members out of four CCS members.
"Prior to our government, no woman was ever a member of CCS, comprising Home, External Affairs, Defence and Finance ministry. I was made EAM in May 2014 and now Nirmala Ji is the Defence Minister. 2 out of 4 CCS members are women now," said EAM Sushma Swaraj.
"I want to say what you want to say. It does not suit leaders to make such kind of remarks," said Sushma on Rahul's remark.
Earlier, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi suggested that the RSS discriminates against women.
Addressing a gathering of students in Vadodara on the second day of his election campaign in Gujarat, Gandhi said that in contrast, women work at every level in the Congress.
"Their organisation is the RSS. How many women are there in the RSS... Have you ever seen any woman in 'shakhas' wearing shorts?. I have never seen," Gandhi said in a sarcastic tone, adding, "In the Congress you will see women at every level in the organisation."
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New Delhi:
As the Diwali is on a way, all the e-commerce giants, whether it is Flipkart or Amazon or Myntra is on a mission to capture the eyeballs of the customers by giving them fascinating offers on smartphones.
Flipkart also brings some enthralling deals for customers to make their Diwali special, especially on the smartphones. Here are some astonishing offers which will force the customer to steal the deal on Diwali 2017.
Flipkart's Diwali 2017 Big Bonanza for customers: Best time to grab deals on Redmi Note 4, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy
As the Diwali is on a way, all the e-commerce giants, whether it is Flipkart or Amazon or Myntra is on a mission to capture the eyeballs of the customers by giving them fascinating offers on smartphones. Flipkart also brings some enthralling deals for customers to make their Diwali special, especially on the smartphones. Here are some astonishing offers which will force the customer to steal the deal on Diwali 2017.
Apple iPhone 8 64GB
The newly launched Apple iPhone 8 is available at a discounted price of Rs. 59,999 (MRP Rs. 64,000) on Flipkart's Big Diwali Sale. You can get an additional discount of up to Rs. 20,000 by exchanging your old smartphone. Flipkart is also offering a Buyback Guarantee scheme where it promises a minimum of 50% value for buying this phone back from you next year, at an additional Rs. 99.
Redmi Note 4
Flipkart is definitely giving you an amazing opportunity to buy the Redmi Note 4 if you have missed out the previous sales. This time you will get the phone at low price. The real price of the phone with 4GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage for Rs. 12,999 but on Diwali, Flipkart is giving the flat discount of Rs 2,000, brings the price down to Rs. 10,999.
Samsung Galaxy On Max for Rs. 15,900 + additional Rs. 3,000 off on exchange
If you are not an ardent follower of the Xiaomi Redmi series, then still you have better options. Flipkart brings sale on Samsung Galaxy On Max, it will be available in only Rs. 15,900. Not only this you can also avail the additional Rs 3,000 off on exchange. So this definitely gonna be a Diwali treat for customers.
Moto E4 Plus for Rs. 8,499 + extra Rs.1,000 off on exchange
Same as Samsung, customers can get the Moto E4 Plus in just Rs. 8,499 with an additional Rs.1,000 off on exchange.
Honor 6X 3GB RAM variant at Rs. 9,999 and 4GB variant at Rs. 11,999
In India, Honor 6X 3GB RAM variant is the cheapest dual-camera smartphone. The phone on Flipkart you will get at only at Rs. 9,999 and 4GB variant at Rs. 11,999.
Flipkart
This is not all, offers are not ended here, Flipkart apart from best offers on purchasing a new phone but also brings the best exchange offers on Smartphone.
And if you are thinking to exchange your Oppo F3 Plus, then this deal must gonna be a Diwali bonus for you.
Flipkart is offering what it calls "India's Biggest Exchange Offer" on the Oppo F3 Plus during the Big Diwali Sale. The smartphone is listed for Rs. 30,990 but you can get it for an effective price of Rs. 13,940 by exchanging your old smartphone.
Flipkart "Dhamaka Deals" on smartphones
Flipkart will be offering limited-time "Dhamaka Deals" on various smartphones starting midnight of October 14. What's more, new deals open every day. There are plenty of flagship smartphones from last year to choose from, and we've selected a few that might interest you.
New Delhi:
In a bid to join the league of the smartphones company who provide offers to the customer, Nokia 8 smartphone with 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage has also gone on sale in Finland. OnePlus, Xioami and Samsung have also been providing appealing offers to the customers.
The Nokia 8's configuration topped-out at 4GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage. It is not clear whether this Nokia 8 with 4 GB of RAM model will be available outside of Finland market.
For India, ever since Nokia return to the market by HMD global is the most expensive handset of the company. Nokia 8 is available in the 4GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage, which will cost around at EUR 649.9 (roughly Rs. 49,800).
The Nokia 8 with 6GB RAM model was spotted at DNA and Verkkokauppa retailers, according to listings on both the e-commerce websites. To help the customers, both the retailers allow customers to pay in monthly installments for financial ease and retailers will ship the device by October 19.
Last month also Nokia 8 model with 6 GB RAM and 128GB i9nbuilt storage was available at the US FCC website. After that, people started thinking that Nokia 8 will launch in the US market and if that happens, one can hope that this model will be launched at more places.
Even there was a report which indicated that HMD will be launching a new handset in the US, and will not bring the Nokia 8 there at all.
In India, Nokia 8 launched in September. The Nokia 8 is powered by the Snapdragon 835 processor and comes packed with 4GB of RAM, Adreno 540 GPU and a 3,090 mAh battery with QuickCharge 3.0 support. The smartphone features a heat management solution - a graphite protected copper cooling pipe dissipates heat across the full length and breadth of the smartphone. The handset is priced at Rs. 36,999 in India.
Toronto:
US-Canadian couple Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle landed in Canada today, five years after they were kidnapped in Afghanistan. They arrived with their three young children, who were all born in captivity.
Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press on the plane saying his family has "unparalleled resilience and determination." Coleman and Boyle were rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by a Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip.
Coleman was pregnant at the time. Coleman is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and Boyle is Canadian. The final leg of the family's journey was an Air Canada flight yesterday from London to Toronto. Coleman, wearing a tan-colored headscarf, sat in the aisle of the business class cabin.
She nodded wordlessly when she confirmed her identity to a reporter on board the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest child in his lap.
US State Department officials were on theplane with them. Boyle gave The Associated Press a handwritten statement expressing disagreement with US foreign policy.
"God has given me and my family unparalleled resilienceand determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursuepersonal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberateand organized injustice in the world would be a betrayal ofall I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege," he wrote.
He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, "Their interests are not my interests." He added that one of his children is in poor health andhad to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria saidthe Pakistani raid that led to the family's rescue was basedon a tip from US intelligence and shows that Pakistan will actagainst a "common enemy" when Washington shares information.
US officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network, which was holding the family. A US national security official, who was not authorized to discuss operational details of the release and spoke onlyon condition of anonymity, said the US obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani government officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages -- and they did.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump, who previously warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Pakistanfor its willingness to "do more to provide security in theregion."
The operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and endedwith what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and acaptor's final, terrifying threat to "kill the hostage."
Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors' car andthat some of his captors were killed.
He suffered only ashrapnel wound, his family said. US officials did not confirm those details. A US military official said that a military hostage teamhad 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 Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyle's father said his son did not want to board theplane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the familywanted to return directly to North America. Another USofficial said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" givenhis family ties.
He was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister offormer Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter ofa senior al-Qaida financier. Her father, the late Ahmed SaidKhadr, 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 capturedby US troops following a firefight and was taken to the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
Officials had discounted any link between that backgroundand Boyle's capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."
The US Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Colemanis wanted for any federal crime. US 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, inexchange 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. US officials have said that several other Americans arebeing 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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VersesTo Silvanus.Silvanus approached for his neck to be cut off by the sword,Hence Silvanus was seen to cut off error.To the Forty Martyrs of Egypt and Palestine.Two times twenty Martyrs endured the sword,Endured by Egypt and Palestine.The History of the Martyrs in PalestineBy Eusebius of CaesareaThe Confession of Silvanus and of Those With HimIn the Eighth Year of the Persecution of our Days (A.D. 310).This blessed Silvanus came from Gaza, and he was one of the veteran soldiers; and when his freedom from service proved to be contrary to his habits, he enlisted himself as a good soldier of Christ. For he was a perfectly meek man, and of a bright mind, and used his faith with simplicity and purity. He was a presbyter of the church in the city of Gaza, and conducted himself there with great propriety. And because the conflict for life was proclaimed against the soldiers of Christ, he, an old man, of a noble person, went down to the Stadium, and there, in his first confession before the people of Caesarea, he acquitted himself valiantly, being tried with scourgings. And when he had endured these bravely, he fought in a second conflict, in which the old man endured the combs on his sides like a young man. And at the third conflict he was sent to the copper mines; and during a life of much length he exhibited great probation.He was also deemed worthy of the office of the episcopate, and also rendered himself illustrious in this office of his ministry. But on the fourth day of Iyar the great gate of heaven was fully opened to him, and this blessed man went up with a company of martyrs, not being left alone, for a great assembly of brave men followed him. And suddenly a mandate of wickedness was issued, and command was given that all those in the mines who were become enfeebled through old age or sickness, and those who were not able to work, should be put to death by the sword; and God's martyrs, being all together forty in number, were beheaded all in one day. And many of them were Egyptians, but their leader and guide was this same martyr and bishop of martyrs, Silvanus, a man truly blessed and beloved of God.
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Saint Ambrose in a letter to his sister gives an account of the finding of the bodies of Saints Gervasios and Protasios, and of his addresses to the people on that occasion.Relics of Sts. Ambrose, Gervasios and Protasios in MilanPreaching from Psalm 19, he allegorically expounded the "heavens" to represent the martyrs and apostles, and the "day" he takes to be their confession. They were humbled by God, and then raised again. He then gives an account of the state in which their bodies were found, and of their translation to the basilica. In another address he speaks of the joy of the Catholics and the malice of the Arians who denied the miracles that were being wrought, as the Jews used to do, and points out that their faith is quite different from that of the martyrs, and that since the devils acknowledge the Trinity, and they do not, they are worse than the very devils themselves.By St. Ambrose of MilanLetter 22To the lady, his sister, dearer to him than his eyes and life, Ambrose Bishop.1. As I do not wish anything which takes place here in your absence to escape the knowledge of your holiness, you must know that we have found some bodies of holy martyrs. For after I had dedicated the basilica,1 many, as it were, with one mouth began to address me, and said: "Consecrate this as you did the Roman basilica." And I answered: "Certainly I will if I find any relics of martyrs." And at once a kind of prophetic ardour seemed to enter my heart.2. Why should I use many words? God favoured us, for even the clergy were afraid who were bidden to clear away the earth from the spot before the chancel screen of SS. Felix and Nabor. I found the fitting signs, and on bringing in some on whom hands were to be laid,2 the power of the holy martyrs became so manifest, that even whilst I was still silent, one3 was seized and thrown prostrate at the holy burial-place. We found two men of marvellous stature, such as those of ancient days. All the bones were perfect, and there was much blood. During the whole of those two days there was an enormous concourse of people. Briefly we arranged the whole in order, and as evening was now coming on transferred them to the basilica of Fausta,4 where watch was kept during the night, and some received the laying on of hands. On the following day we translated the relics to the basilica called Ambrosian. During the translation a blind man was healed.5 I addressed the people then as follows:3. When I considered the immense and unprecedented numbers of you who are here gathered together, and the gifts of divine grace which have shone forth in the holy. martyrs, I must confess that I felt myself unequal to this task, and that I could not express in words what we can scarcely conceive in our minds or take in with our eyes. But when the course of holy Scripture began to be read, the Holy Spirit Who spake in the prophets granted me to utter something worthy of so great a gathering, of your expectations, and of the merits of the holy martyrs.4. "The heavens," it is said, "declare the glory of God."6 When this Psalm is read, it occurs to one that not so much the material elements as the heavenly merits seem to offer praise worthy of God. And by the chance of this day's lessons it is made clear what "heavens" declare the glory of God. Look at the holy relics at my right hand and at my left, see men of heavenly conversation, behold the trophies of a heavenly mind. These are the heavens which declare the glory of God, these are His handiwork which the firmament proclaims. For not worldly enticements, but the grace of the divine working, raised them to the firmament of the most sacred Passion, and long before by the testimony of their character and virtues bore witness of them, that they continued steadfast against the dangers of this world.5. Paul was a heaven, when he said: "Our conversation is in heaven."7 James and John were heavens, and then were called "sons of thunder";8 and John, being as it were a heaven, saw the Word with God.9 The Lord Jesus Himself was a heaven of perpetual light, when He was declaring the glory of God, that glory which no man had seen before. And therefore He said: "No man hath seen God at any time, except the only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."10 If you seek for the handiwork of God, listen to Job when he says: "The Spirit of God Who hath made me."11 And so strengthened against the temptations of the devil, he kept his footsteps constantly without offence. But let us go on to what follows.6. "Day," it is said, "unto day uttereth speech."12 Behold the true days, where no darkness of night intervenes. Behold the days full of life and eternal brightness, which uttered the word of God, not in speech which passes away, but in their inmost heart, by constancy in confession, and perseverance in their witness.7. Another Psalm which was read says: "Who is like unto the Lord our God, Who dwelleth on high, and regardeth lowly things in heaven and in the earth?"13 The Lord regarded indeed lowly things when He revealed to His Church the relics of the holy martyrs lying hidden under the unnoted turf, whose souls were in heaven, their bodies in the earth: "raising the poor out of the dust, and lifting the needy from the mire,"14 an d you see how He hath "set them with the princes of His people."15 Whom are we to esteem as the princes of the people but the holy martyrs? amongst whose number Protasios and Gervasios long unknown are now enrolled, who have caused the Church of Milan, barren of martyrs hitherto, now as the mother of many children, to rejoice in the distinctions and instances of her own sufferings.8. Nor let this seem at variance with the true faith: "Day unto day uttereth the word;" soul unto soul, life unto life, resurrection unto resurrection; "and night unto night showeth knowledge;"16 that is, flesh unto flesh, they, that is, whose passion has shown to all the true knowledge of the faith. Good are these nights, bright nights, not without stars: "For as star differeth from star in brightness, so too is the resurrection of the dead."179. For not without reason do many call this the resurrection of the martyrs. I do not say whether they have risen for themselves, for us certainly the martyrs have risen. You know-nay, you have yourselves seen-that many are cleansed from evil spirits, that very many also, having touched with their hands the robe of the saints, are freed from those ailments which oppressed them; you see that the miracles of old time are renewed, when through the coming of the Lord Jesus grace was more largely shed forth upon the earth, and that many bodies are healed as it were by the shadow of the holy bodies. How many napkins are passed about! how many garments, laid upon the holy relics and endowed with healing power, are claimed! All are glad to touch even the outside thread, and whosoever touches will be made whole.10. Thanks be to Thee, Lord Jesus, that at this time Thou hast stirred up for us the spirits of the holy martyrs, when Thy Church needs greater protection.18 Let all know what sort of champions I desire, who are able to defend, but desire not to attack. These have I gained for you, O holy people, such as may help all and injure none. Such defenders do I desire, such are the soldiers I have, that is, not soldiers of this world, but soldiers of Christ. I fear no ill-will on account of them, the more powerful their patronage is the greater safety is there in it. And I wish for their protection for those very persons who grudge them to me. Let them come, then, and see my attendants. I do not deny that I am surrounded by such arms: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will boast in the Name of the Lord our God."1911. The course of divine Scripture relates that Elisha, when surrounded by the army of the Syrians, told his servant, who was afraid, not to fear; "for," said he, "they that be for us are more than those against us;"20 and in order to prove this, he prayed that the eyes of Gehazi might be opened, and when they were opened, he saw that numberless hosts of angels were present. And we, though we cannot see them, yet feel their presence. Our eyes were shut, so long as the bodies of the saints lay hidden. The Lord opened our eyes, and we saw the aids wherewith we have been often protected. We used not to see them, but yet we had them. And so, as though the Lord had said to us when trembling, "See what great martyrs I have given you," so we with opened eyes behold the glory of the Lord, which is passed in the passion of the martyrs, and present in their working. We have escaped, brethren, no slight lead of shame; we had patrons and knew it not. We have found this one thing, in which we seem to excel those who have gone before us. That knowledge of the martyrs, which they lost, we have regained.12. The glorious relics are taken out of an ignoble burying-place, the trophies are displayed under heaven. The tomb is wet with blood. The marks of the bloody triumph are present, the relics are found undisturbed in their order, the head separated from the body. Old men now repeat that they once heard the names of these martyrs and read their titles. The city which had carried off the martyrs of other places had lost her own. Though this be the gift of God, yet I cannot deny the favour which the Lord Jesus has granted to the time of my priesthood, and since I myself am not worthy to be a martyr, I have obtained these martyrs for you.13. Let these triumphant victims be brought to the place where Christ is the victim. But He upon the altar, Who suffered for all; they beneath the altar, who were redeemed by His Passion. I had destined this place for myself, for it is fitting that the priest should rest there where he has been wont to offer, but I yield the right hand portion to the sacred victims; that place was due to the martyrs. Let us, then, deposit the sacred relics, and lay them up in a worthy resting-place, and let us celebrate the whole day with faithful devotion.14. The people called out and demanded that the deposition of the martyrs should be postponed until the Lord's day, but at length it was agreed that it should take place the following day. On the following day again I preached to the people on this sort.15. Yesterday I handled the verse, "Day unto day uttereth speech,"21 as my ability enabled me; to-day holy Scripture seems to me not only to have prophesied in former times, but even at the present. For when I behold your holy celebration continued day and night, the oracles of the prophet's song have declared that these days, yesterday and to-day, are the days of which it is most opportunely said: "Day unto day uttereth speech;" and these the nights of which it is most fittingly said that "Night unto night showeth knowledge." For what else but the Word of God have you during these two days uttered with inmost affection, and have proved yourselves to have the knowledge of the faith.16. And they who usually do so have a grudge against this solemnity of yours; and since because of their envious disposition they cannot endure this solemnity, they hate the cause of it, and go so far in their madness as to deny the merits of the martyrs, whose deeds even the evil spirits confess. But this is not to be wondered at since such is the faithlessness of unbelievers that the confession of the devil is often more easy to endure. For the devil said: "Jesus, Son of the living God, why art Thou come to torment us before the time?"22 And the Jews hearing this, even themselves denied Him to be the Son of God. And at this time you have heard the devils crying out, and confessing to the martys that they cannot bear their sufferings, and saying, "Why are ye come to torment us so severely?" And the Arians say: "These are not martys, and they cannot torment the devil, nor deliver any one, while the torments of the devils are proved by their own words, and the benefits of the martyrs are declared by the restoring of the healed, and the proof of those that are loosed.17. They deny that the blind man received sight, but he denies not that he is healed. He says: I who could not see now see. He says: I ceased to be blind, and proves it by the fact. They deny the benefit, who are unable to deny the fact.23 The man is known: so long as he was well he was employed in the public service; his name is Severus, a butcher by trade. He had given up his occupation when this hindrance betel him. He calls for evidence those persons by whose kindness he was supported; he adduces those as able to affirm the truth of his visitation whom he had as witnesses of his blindness. He declares that when he touched the hem of the robe of the martyrs, wherewith the sacred relics were covered, his sight was restored.18. Is not this like that which we read in the Gospel? For we praise the power of the same Author in each case, nor does it be a work or a gift, since He confers a gift in His works, and works in His gift. For that which He gave to others to be done, this His Name effects in the work of others. So we read in the Gospel, that the Jews, when they saw the gift of healing in the blind man, called for the testimony of his parents, and asked: "How doth your son see?" when he said: "Whereas I was blind, now I see."24 And in this case the man says, "I was blind and now I see." Ask others if you do not believe me; ask strangers if you think his parents are in collusion with me. The obstinacy of these men is more hateful than that of the Jews, for the latter, when they doubted, at least asked his parents; the others enquire in secret and deny in public, incredulous not as to the work, but as to its Author.19. But I ask what it is that they do not believe; is it whether any one can be aided by the martyrs? This is the same thing as not to believe Christ, for He Himself said: "Ye shall do greater things than these."25 How? By those martyrs whose merits have been long efficacious, whose bodies were long since found? Here I ask, do they bear a grudge against me, or against the holy martyrs? If against me, are any miracles wrought by me? by my means or in my name? Why, then, grudge me what is not mine? If it be against the martyrs (for if they bear no grudge against me, it can only be against them), they show that the martyrs were of another faith than that which they believe. For otherwise they would not have any feeling against their works, did they not judge that they have not the faith which was in them, that faith established by the tradition of our forefathers, which the devils themselves cannot deny, but the Arians do.21. We have to-day heard those on whom hands were laid say, that no one can be saved unless he believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that he is dead and buried who denies the Holy Spirit, and believes not the almighty power of the Trinity. The devil confesses this, but the Arians refuse to do so. The devil says: Let him who denies the Godhead of the Holy Spirit be so tormented as himself was tormented by the martyrs.22. I do not accept the devil's testimony but his confession. The devil spoke unwillingly, being compelled and tormented. That which wickedness suppresses, torture extracts. The devil yields to blows, and the Arians have not yet learned to yield. How great have been their sufferings, and yet. like Pharaoh, they are hardened by their calamities! The devil said, as we find it written: "I know Thee Who Thou art, Thou art the Son of the living God."26 And the Jews said: "We know not whence He is."27 The evil spirits said to-day, yesterday, and during the night, We know that ye are martyrs. And the Arians say, We know not, we will not understand, we will not believe. The evil spirits say to the martyrs, Ye are come to destroy us. The Arians say, The torments of the devils are not real but fictitious and made-up tales. I have heard of many things being made up, but no one has ever been able to feign that he was an evil spirit. What is the meaning of the torment we see in those on whom hands are laid? What room is there here for fraud? what suspicion of pretense?23. But I will not make use of the voice of evil spirits in support of the martyrs. Their holy sufferings are proved by the benefits they confer. These have persons to judge of them, namely, those who are cleansed, and witnesses, namely, those who are set free. That voice is better than that of devils, which the soundness of those utters who came infirm; better is the voice which blood sends forth, for blood has a loud voice reaching from earth to heaven. You have read how God said: "Thy brother's blood crieth unto Me."28 This blood cries by its colour, the blood cries by the voice of its effects, the blood cries by the triumph of its passion. We have acceded to your request, and have postponed till to-day the deposition of the relics which was to have taken place yesterday.Notes:1 This was probably the church now known as Sant Ambrogio, at Milan, where St. Ambrose and his brother, together with SS. Gervasios and Protasios, now rest. Of course the church has been rebuilt, though in ancient times. The church of SS. Nabor and Felix is that now called San Francisco.2 This laying on of hands was not confirmation, but for the exorcising of those possessed of evil spirits, the energameni. See Dict. Chr. Ant. s.v. "Exorcism."3 [Urna.] But it would seem, though all ms. authority supports this reading, as though una, "a woman," must be the true one. For from the context it would seem plain that one of those brought in was thrown prostrate, and there is no connection in which an "urn" could be brought into the narrative. See Fleury, XVIII. 47.4 Now SS. Vitalis and Agricola.5 This statement is corroborated by St. Augustine, Conf. IX. 7; De Civ. Dei. XXII. 8, 2; and Sermo de Diversis, CCLXXVI. 5.6 Ps. xix. [xviii.] 1.7 Phil. iii. 20.8 S. Mark iii. 17.9 S. John i. 1.10 S. John i. 17, John i. 18.11 Job xxxiii. 4.12 Ps. xix. [xviii.] 2.13 Ps. cxiii. [cxii.] 5, Ps. cxiii. [cxii.] 6.14 Ps. cxiii. [cxiii.] 7.15 Ps. cxiii. [cxii.] 8.16 Ps. xix. [xviii.] 2.17 1 Cor. xv. 41.18 3 This would seem to refer to the persecution stirred up by Justina, in order to gain one of the churches for Arian use. The following sentence: "Tales ego ambio defensores," was inscribed by St. Charles Borromeo on a banner of SS. Gervasius and Protasius, which he caused to be made and carried in procession through Milan at the time of the great plague.19 Ps. xx. [xix.] 8.20 2 [4] Kings vi. 16.21 Ps. xix. [xviii.] 2.22 S. Matt. viii. 29.23 The truth of this miracle, of which, unless it took place, St. Ambrose could not have spoken in a public address, is also supported by St. Augustine, who was at this time in Milan, and if not himself on the spot, as he may well have been, would at least know whether such an event had taken place. See St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei. XXII. 8, and specially, Sermo in natali Martyrum Gervasii et Protasii.24 S. John ix. 25.25 S. John xiv. 12.26 S. Mark i. 24.27 S. John ix. 30.28 Gen. iv. 10.Source
Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd. said Friday that it has confirmed misconduct including data falsification on nine more products including mainstay steels, in its internal investigation following the initial revelations of data fraud cases.
The scandal, which initially involved aluminum and copper products, has spread to key products such as steel wire rods used in engines, suspensions and other automobile components and parts, despite the company chief's denial on Thursday that steel products were involved.
The products in question, including those reported earlier, are believed to have been shipped to around 500 companies, according to the steelmaker.
"We apologize that our inappropriate operations have caused great inconvenience," President Hiroya Kawasaki told his first press conference on the matter, held in Tokyo on Friday.
When he visited the industry ministry the previous day to report on the data falsification, Kawasaki told reporters that more products may have been affected by the fraud while steel products were unlikely to be among them.
More than 40,000 people are still living in temporary housing in Kumamoto Prefecture, due to slow work to put back to normal local residents' lives that were devastated by a series of strong earthquakes some one and a half years ago.
On April 14 last year, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked the southwestern Japan prefecture and surrounding areas, measuring the maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in the Kumamoto town of Mashiki. A similarly violent quake as well as slightly weaker shakes followed.
According to the Kumamoto prefectural government, the number of evacuees, including those living in temporary housing in the prefecture, stood at 44,413 as of the end of September, almost unchanged from the peak of 47,141 four months before.
The death toll from the disaster reached 246 in the prefecture as of Friday, with nearly 200 people dying for indirect causes such as worsened medical conditions stemming from extended periods living as evacuees.
Local municipalities are hurrying to build a total of some 1,000 public housing units for evacuees but struggling to secure land for the project. The national government has decided to allow them to live in temporary housing for up to three years by lifting the two-year limit.
Japan's adult video (AV) industry has faced multiple challenges over the past year.
Reports of women being coerced to perform in films and the targeting of uncensored content have resulted in multiple busts of production companies and talent agencies.
"The aim of law enforcement is to ban the act itself in AV productions," an investigator tells evening tabloid Yukan Fuji (Oct. 3). That "act" is full sex - and the ultimate goal is a makeover for the industry.
The crackdown first targeted claims by women regarding coercion to perform. In June of last year, Tokyo police arrested he former president of talent agency Marks Japan for sending a woman to appear in an AV production against her will.
Following that arrest, 52 individuals, including AV actresses, were referred to prosecutors on charges of indecent exposure in the filming of an AV production at a campsite in Kanagawa Prefecture.
"A feeling of uneasiness"
The clampdown has not been restricted to film production personnel. In November of last year, three presidents of talent agencies based in the capital were arrested for dispatching AV actresses to soapland bathhouses to serve as prostitutes.
"Every day, there is a feeling of uneasiness," an AV insider tells Yukan Fuji.
Police have also been enforcing the requirement under the law that male and female genitals be censored. In March of this year, Michael Sapp, a 34-year-old employee of the management company for site Caribbeancom.com, was sent to prosecutors at the Tokyo District Court for allegedly participating in the upload of content to the site in which genitalia was not obscured.
"The risk of being busted is high"
To avoid being busted, the servers for Caribbeancom.com are hosted overseas. Boasting approximately 300,000 members, the site includes about 4,300 films featuring around 370 Japanese AV actresses.
A representative of a site similar to Caribbeancom.com tells Yukan Fuji that law enforcement is a constant concern. "Some of [the content] was shot and edited overseas, but most of it was produced in studios in Tokyo," the representative says. "Moreover, because we are doing the production and delivery ourselves, the risk of being busted is high."
According to the tabloid, the goal of law enforcement is to make the industry's content less extreme, meaning the elimination of the filming of full sex and a push toward soft-core content. "We want a return to the level of that of Nikkatsu 'roman porno' or early 'pink eiga' productions," the aforementioned investigator is quoted.
Driven underground
Throughout the crackdown, police have had an eye on the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. The initiative, however, has raised concerns that the industry will not disappear but be driven underground - a notion that the investigator does not dispute.
"Some in the AV industry, who have become unable to earn an income, are partnering with dating clubs and adult parlors to employ actresses to perform illegal acts, including the provision of prostitution," the investigator says.
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In a county, state and country marked by growing income inequality, Danbury stands out.
The Hat City is the least unequal of Connecticut cities over 65,000, and ranks just outside the bottom fourth nationwide, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. In contrast to the state and nation, which grew more unequal over the last decade, Danbury has actually grown less so.
The city is not immune to the factors that contribute to growing income inequality, including the erosion of the middle class in recent years.
But that process has been slower in Danbury than elsewhere, and the city remains an island of middle-class strength in a county increasingly identified with the 1 percent.
One reason is the financial services sector, which has boomed along Fairfield Countys Gold Coast and swelled the share of high-income earners, has little presence in Danbury.
We dont have the higher-echelon financial services," said JoAnn Cueva, acting president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. Theyll come here to visit, but they dont stay.
The citys working-class history, its diversity of people and businesses and its relative distance from New York City and the Gold Coast have smoothed out the cycle of boom and bust that was felt more strongly to the south.
One of the things weve done well is diversify our incomes, said Mayor Mark Boughton. Were not dependent on any one industry and have weathered economic storm after economic storm.
Boughton said he has visited other Connecticut cities with economies tied to the financial industry, where middle managers make millions, and he doesnt envy them.
I wouldnt say we dont want them, and its bad that were not making the wages they are, but were a stable economy, he said.
Carina Bandhauer, a professor of sociology at Western Connecticut State University, said Danbury doesnt suffer from the absence of great wealth.
More money is nice, but I'm not sure wed see much of it," she said. And great inequality is incredibly troubling. Resources that everyday people need cannot be shared equally.
Danbury is known as working-class city, even a poor one, which dissuades the elite from making it their home, Bandhauer said. Instead, they clamor for real estate to the north in Litchfield County or along the shore of Long Island Sound.
For some reason we are kind of the black sheep of Fairfield County, even though Danbury has it all going on, Cueva said.
Danburys relative equality spares it some of the ills of unequal societies, experts said, including a lack of social mobility and a decline in social capital a communitys cohesiveness and ability to work together for common purposes.
What happens so often with wealth is that people get segregated, Bandhauer said. They may not realize (it), but thats what youre doing when you have your kids in private schools and live on a multi-acre compound.
Danbury has long enjoyed a lower unemployment rate than other parts of the state, even as the labor force continues to grow partly because of continuing immigration.
But in one sign of potential trouble, the rate of job growth since the Great Recession has been fastest in the lowest-paying sector of the local economy, the leisure and hospitality industry. Workers in that field make just over half the hourly average for all non-government workers, statewide statistics show.
Higher-paying sectors employ more people in Danbury, but these sectors are growing at a much slower rate.
Cueva also expressed concern that many Danbury residents are underemployed because their command of English is poor, creating a drag on the local economy.
Boughton added that the struggling statewide economy creates a further impediment.
We're doing better than most, but thats the Connecticut drag youre feeling," he said.
Although the middle class is strong in Danbury, the mayor said, its still battling back.
blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
Industry veteran to help guide Rising Fire though its next phase of international growth
VANCOUVER, Oct. 13, 2017 /CNW/ - Axion Ventures Inc. ("Axion Ventures" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: AXV) announced today the appointment of Mr. Wil Mozell to the Board of Directors of its subsidiary, Axion Games Limited ("Axion Games").
"We are pleased to welcome Wil to the Board of Directors of Axion Games," said Todd Bonner, CEO of Axion Ventures. "Wil brings extensive experience from a variety of past roles with some of the largest organizations in the gaming industry to the Axion Games board. We look forward to leveraging Wil's deep knowledge of the video game industry, as we work to deliver Rising Fire and our portfolio of gaming titles to a global audience and drive greater shareholder value."
Mozell brings over 20 years of video game expertise with some of the world's leading companies. Most recently Wil served as General Manager of Microsoft Studios Canada and Executive Director of Microsoft Canada Excellence Centre. Prior to joining Microsoft, Wil co-founded BigPark, a game development studio which was acquired by Microsoft in 2009. Prior to that, Wil held progressively senior roles with Electronics Arts.
"Rising fire is a world class, massively multiplayer PC-online game, with incredible potential for cross-platform international success," said Wil Mozell. "Having witnessed first hand the depth of skill possessed by the Axion Games studio, I am confident the team will continue to innovate with its strong pipeline of new game titles. I look forward to working with Todd and the rest of the Board to help build on Axion Game's history of success, execute its long-term growth strategies and drive greater value for my fellow shareholders."
About Axion Ventures
Axion Ventures is an Investment Issuer with majority ownership in Axion Games, an online video game development and publishing company headquartered in Shanghai, China as well as in True Axion Interactive Ltd., a video game development company headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand cofounded with True Corporation. Axion Ventures also maintains complementary, minority holdings in innovative technology companies.
www.axionventures.com
Axion Ventures Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol (TSXV: AXV).
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 Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "proposed" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Axion Venture's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to: (i) the expansion of Rising Fire's intellectual property; (ii) Axia's business intention regarding user interaction; and (iii) the completion and delivery of Rising Fire. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to Axion Ventures. Risk factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking information include, among other things: general economic and business conditions; and changes in international regulatory regimes. Axion Ventures cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and Axion Ventures is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
SOURCE Axion Ventures Inc.
For further information: Axion Ventures Inc., John Todd Bonner, Chief Executive Officer, (604) 687-7767; Investor Relations, Robert Kelly, LodeRock Advisors Inc., (416) 992-4539, [email protected]
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
President Muhammadu Buhari
In the 70s, a strong wind of Pan-Africanism blew across the African continent, borderlines drawn by colonialism began to fade and the continent shrank even further. Proponents of Pan-Africanism held a strong belief that the economic, social and political progress of one Africa would unify and uplift people of African descent.
As a result of the proposed economic and infrastructural integration, there was an agreement to construct railways that would traverse North, East, West and Southern Africa.
President Shehu Shagari, who was then president of Nigeria saw the opportunities in a united Africa and decided to build the Ajaokuta steel company. As the giant of Africa, Nigeria was poised to use Ajaokuta steel company to supply the required steel, needed for the construction of the railway.
The railway was already a huge market for the company. Also, Ajaokuta was projected to employ 500,000 people, with annual revenue running into billions of dollars. It was envisioned that the project would provide materials for infrastructural development, technological acquisition, human capacity building, income distribution, regional development, among many other achievements. Ajaokuta was more than sixty percent completed by the Shagari administration.
Despite the promise of a glorious future, a booming economy and a promising democracy, General Muhammadu Buhari and his military colleagues plotted a coup and overthrew Shagaris government. After the ouster, Ajaokuta was abandoned with no further investment made into it. Even if the sin of overthrowing a democratically elected president is forgivable, how do we forgive the sin of the deliberate impoverishment of our people?
Lets fast forward to his second coming in 2015. The National Bureau of Statistics in August 2016 revealed that 4.58 million Nigerians lost their jobs during Buharis first year in office. The unemployment rate has not dropped, but has rather increased. Many companies have wound up. Fortune 500 organisations and other multinationals have been quite concerned about the state of affairs in Nigeria. Portfolio investors, including Aberdeen Asset Management Plc and Ashmore Group Plc, which together oversee about $450 billion of asset, have retreated from Nigerian markets. Nigeria became even less attractive as the country fell from first to fourth, behind Ivory Coast, Kenya and Tanzania in the ranking of business prospects by the research unit of Nielsen Holdings Plc.
To make matters worse, the government recently revoked the contract of INTELS Services. INTELS Services moved to Onne in 1982, which was an almost empty field, only partially built. But INTELS refurbished Onne Port and transformed it to the largest oil and gas free zone in the world. The government has been struggling hard to convince keen observers that the revocation was not done on the basis of INTELS affiliation with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Atiku has been critical of both the economy and structure of Nigeria and in the same vein, shown that he is interested in running for president in 2019.
For the avoidance of doubts, more than 15,000 families depend on INTELS Services for their daily bread, clothing and shelter. The question is what would happen to these 15,000 people? Should they all suffer because of the ambition of one man?
For a government that detests the voice of dissent and would stop at nothing to clamp down on anyone, Atikus INTELS was an easy target. Before Atiku, the government tried to muzzle the opposition by introducing a social media regulation bill. After the bill failed, it introduced the NGO regulation bill to clampdown on organisations who may oppose government policies. This bill will also fail.
A government should be creating jobs instead of destroying them. INTELS also has a multi-billion dollar investment at the Badagry deep seaport in Lagos, the investment in Lagos would create thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians. If INTELS pulls out of Nigeria, how many jobs can Buharis administration create for the teeming population? Everything should not be about politics.
***
Mbasekei Martin Obono tweets @martobono
Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Alkali Mamu
Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Alkali Mamu, a former Chief of Administration at the Nigerian Air Force headquarters, yesterday told an FCT High Court how foreign mercenary pilots were engaged to combat Boko Haram terrorists, disguised as instructors.
According to SaharaReporters, led in evidence by his counsel, Chief Joseph Daudu (SAN) in a four-count charge bordering on bribery brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mamu said the office of the National Security Adviser decided to assist the Nigerian Air Force by engaging these mercenaries due to the terrible performance of our armed forces at the height of the war against Boko Haram towards the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2014.
I was in Ukraine when this covert and sensitive military assignment was given to one Hima Abubakar of Societe DEquipments Internationaux Nigeria Limited (the company EFCC said he received the bribe from) by the NSA. Abubakar identified three mercenary fighter pilots, soldiers of fortune and veterans of many wars willing to take up this job, he said.
Mamu said he was ordered by the then Chief of Air Staff to liaise with Abubakar to facilitate the medical examination and process entry visas into Nigeria for the three Ukrainian mercenary pilots that were coming to fly the MI35P helicopters. He added that due to the undercover nature of the assignments, transactions and documentation were mainly in pseudo or disguised form, including monies and properties which form part of this charge against me.
My Lord, these are matters that will expose Nigerias contravention of the United Nations Charter of armed conflicts especially Resolution 44/34, he said.
The judge, Justice Salisu Garba, at this point, asked the EFCC counsel, Sylvanus Tahir if he still wanted the trial to continue in open court due to the sensitive nature of the evidence as it regards to national security. But the judge said the evidence could go ahead in open court.
Mamu added that his evidence may also expose diplomats and foreign nationals that came to the assistance of Nigeria and may lead to their criminal prosecution for war crimes-related offences. It may also lead to sanctions against Nigeria, including embargoes on sales of arms. It is for these reasons the court was being pleaded with to continue in the chamber, he said, before adding that the introduction of the mercenaries was a game-changer for the NAF.
Mamu said with the introduction of the mercenaries, the Nigerian Air Force was able to commence night bombardments of Boko Haram with devastating effect. Sadly, nearly three months after, one of the Ukrainian fighter pilots, Captain Chup Vasyl crashed while on night combat and died. I was ordered by the Chief of Air Staff to inform Abubakar and there was the need to make payment to the family of the late pilot as the insurance cover was not fully processed at the time of the accident. I consequently wired the sum of $100,000 to the family of late Cpt Vasyl, he said.
Mamu said he was also ordered by the Chief of Air Staff to get permission from the family of the late Cpt Vasyl for the remains to be cremated, as there was practically nothing left. He added that with the permission of the family gotten, and in view of the sensitive nature of the cause of death, the leadership of the NAF obtained a certificate of death and classified the cause of death as a result of a car crash.
Mamu said he was again ordered by the Chief of Air Staff to contact the Ukrainian embassy in Abuja and he presented the certificate of death at the embassy. We were later invited by the Ukrainian acting ambassador, Mr. Mycolo Salastov to a ceremony to pay last respects to the late Captain Vasyl. The remains were placed in a small box and sealed diplomatically by the acting ambassador, he said.
He added that the Chief of Air Staff thereafter ordered him to move the two surviving pilots traumatised by the death of their colleague from the war zone in the North East to Abuja before their departure to Ukraine.
The trial continues, with further evidence, on November 6th.
GOVERNMENT OF IMO STATE
PRESS RELEASE
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA, MR JACOB ZUMA, ARRIVES IMO FOR A 2-DAY VISIT.
President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma has arrived Owerri, Imo State Capital for a 2-day visit. He arrived Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport at exactly 7.10 pm and was received on arrival by former President, His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The former president had arrived one hour earlier before the arrival of President Zuma.
They had gone straight to the Palace of the Chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri where the august visitor was received in Igbo Traditional way of receiving such visitors to the State.
Welcoming the South African President, Eze Ohiri said Imo people would remain happy for his coming and added that the visit would bring a lot of good things to Imo state and her people.
President Zuma said he was in the State for collaboration between his Foundation and Rochas Foundation College of Africa to cater for the less priviledged children in Africa.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rochas Foundation College of Africa.
While in Imo, the Zuma Foundation would sign MoU with Rochas Foundation and he would also meet with Imo Businessmen and Women. Mr. Zuma would equally visit the Rochas Foundation College of Africa and interact with the students who are from African countries.
Sam Onwuemeodo
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
A federal court on Friday ordered that N1.2 billion allegedly paid a firm fraudulently by the Nigeria Governors Forum be forfeited to ...
Justice O. Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday ordered an interim forfeiture of N1.2 billion (N1, 222, 384, 857.84) recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from the account of Melrose General Services Company Limited.
Justice Oguntoyinbo also ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sum of N220 million recovered from two other companies, namely Wasp Networks Limited and Thebe Wellness Services.
The order came following a motion ex parte filed by E. E. Iheanacho, a prosecutor with the EFCC, pursuant to Section 44 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006.
In granting the EFCC prayers, Justice Oguntoyinbo ordered anyone interested in the money to appear before the court within 14 days to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
The judge also directed the commission to publish in any national newspaper for anyone who is interested in the money to appear before the court to show cause why the order for the final forfeiture should not be granted.
On May 26, 2016, the 36 states governors, through the Nigeria Governor Forum, NGF, had engaged the services of a consortium of consultants made up of GSCL Consulting and Bizplus Consulting Services Limited (Messrs GSCL Biz Plus Consortium) for the purpose of verification, reconciliation and recovery of over deductions on Paris and London Club Loans on the accounts of states and local governments between 1995 and 2002.
The company had carried out the said assignment and declared a total sum of $6.4 billion (US$ 6, 483, 282, 424. 61) as due for refund to the states.
Following this, the federal government had approved an initial payment of the sum of $1, 730, 930.53 for the benefit of the various states.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, paid the sums of $86 million ($86,546, 526.65) and N19 billion (N19, 439, 225, 871.11) representing 5 per cent of the approved initial Paris and London Club refunds.
A federal court on Friday ordered that N1.2 billion allegedly paid a firm fraudulently by the Nigeria Governors Forum be forfeited to the federal government.The court gave the ruling based on an application by the anti-graft agency EFCC.In granting the EFCC prayers, Justice Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered anyone interested in the money to appear before the court within 14 days to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.It can be recalled that the EFCC has been investigating the alleged fraud by the NGF, a body of the governors of Nigerias 36 states.That investigation by the EFCC is believed to be one of the reasons several governors, and senators loyal to them, are opposed to Ibrahim Magu as substantive EFCC chairman.Investigations by the EFCC show that the N1.2 billion is part of the Paris Club refund given to states by the federal government.President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly stated his displeasure with how many states refused to pay workers salaries despite receiving the refund and other bailout funds.Although the NGF has denied any wrongdoing, the EFCC said the N1.2 billion was part of N3.5 billion paid to a firm, Melrose General Services Company Limited, that did no service to the NGF and which then commenced a distribution spree of the money.The account of the firm was in red before it received that largesse from the NGF, the EFCC stated in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren.On December 14, 2016, the NGF had paid the sum of N4.4 billion (N4, 389, 207,099.05) to the Consortium of GSCL BizPlus as part of the agreed consultancy fee.Melrose General Services Limited, who was the first respondent, was never engaged by the NGF to carry out any consultancy services in relation to the said Paris and London Club refund.However, in order to obtain public funds, the first respondent had allegedly re-copied and misrepresented the work of GSCL BizPlus Consortium to the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) for payment.As a result, the first respondent was allegedly paid the sum of N3.5 billion by the NGF on December 14, 2016, even when it did not execute any consultancy job for the Forum.The first respondents Access Bank Plc account No. 0005892453 was said to be in red at the time the sum of N3.5 billion was paid into it.Between December 15, 2016 and January 20, 2017, the first respondent allegedly moved out about N2.3 billion (N2, 277,615,142) in a bid to launder the money, leaving a balance of N1, 222, 384, 857.84 before the intervention of the EFCC.Investigation revealed that hundreds of millions of Naira from the Paris and London Club refund were withdrawn in cash, while the company wired some amounts of money outside the shores of the country and paid some amounts to third parties in Nigeria.The Commission, however, recovered the sum of N200 million, which Melrose General Services Limited transferred to Wasp Networks Limited, the second respondent, on January 11, 2017 purportedly for investment in the company.The EFCC also recovered another sum of N20, 000,000.00 transferred to Thebe Wellness Services, the third respondent, on December 19, 2017 also purportedly for investment.However, both Wasp Network and Thebe were said to have voluntarily returned the money transferred to them by the first respondent.
Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has reacted to the false reports on the social media that the Economic and Financial Crimes C...
Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has reacted to the false reports on the social media that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) visited his residence in Lagos and recovered huge sums of money.
The Governor, in a statement by the States Commissioner for Information, Dayo Adeneye, said the malicious allegations would have been ignored, but for the general interest of the public and the good people of Ogun State.
He said the allegation was nothing but another in a series of political attacks to tarnish the image of Amosun.
He stressed there had been series of false accusations against the person of Governor Amosun all in an attempt to pull him down politically.
Those behind the malicious attacks are doing so to heat up the polity ahead of the 2019 general elections.
They are doing it on behalf of their paymasters for cheap political motives. It has become a routine of one week one accusation.
Neither the EFCC nor any security agency has visited the Governors residence, he said.
Adeneye noted that there had been consistent falsehood against the Governor since 2011.
These false reports should be disregarded and ignored in their entirety as they are only meant to score cheap political points.
However, the Governor would like it to be known, that he will not hesitate to take requisite legal action against any medium that allows itself to be used as the purveyor of any such manifestly false and misleading information.
So barely 2 months after Nigerian self-acclaimed Male Barbie, Bobrisky abandoned his popular public Snapchat account in order to opera...
So barely 2 months after Nigerian self-acclaimed Male Barbie, Bobrisky abandoned his popular public Snapchat account in order to operate a private pay per view account, the bleaching expert, has made a dramatic U-turn and returned to his public Snapchat.
Recall, the cross-dresser said he was deleting his Public Snapchat, to go private, so he can entertain his real fans, and put aside Haters His private snap came with a price tag of N10,000.
It seems like Nigerians were not interested in watching him twerk or do his other silly acts as they refused to pay up. Now, the cross-dresser has reactivated his Public snapchat account in order for him to remain relevant and controversial on Social Media.
The 26-year-old took to his Instagram page to announce, he wrote;
Now bob is back on public snap
This is for you my fans, who cant afford 10,000. But my premium is still on thuo
Nigerians, however, did not believe his reason and told him, he only came public because people refused to pay but reacting to this, the King of Nigeria Snapchat wrote:
Some of u are saying I dont have enough people on my premium that was y I came back on public. Bad mind thinking.
I came back because my dm here is over full with messages people asking me to come back on my old snap. But since I deleted d old one I decided to open new one for them.
A lot of people in USA and other countries dont know d procedure to pay for premium. It hasnt been easy for them. So take ur hate somewhere else. My premium is still f*cking existing.
The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has said that he was not surprised by the comment from the President of the World Bank Grou...
The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has said that he was not surprised by the comment from the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, that President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the bank should focus on the northern region.The President has never hidden the fact that he is a sectional leader and painfully, because of his nepotism, religious bigotry and favouritism, Nigeria is now more divided than ever before, with the unity of the country being threatened.The governor stated this in a statement made available on Friday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.When a President open his mouth and say that constituencies that gave him 97% votes cannot, in all honesty, be treated, the same way with constituencies that gave him 5% votes, lovers of unity in the country should have raised the alarm and alerted the world of the danger of having a nepotistic president. I warned then but other Nigerians that should have raised their voice kept mute.Once again, the fact that President Mohammadu Buhari is an ethnic champion, a religious bigot and the number one promoter of disunity in Nigeria was brought to the fore by the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim.Nigerians should be reminded that on August 15, 2015, less than three months in Buharis government, I raised the alarm that he (Buhari) was operating as a president of the Northern Nigeria only. Then, I described steps taken by the president since May 29, 2015 as tainted in ethnic and tribal colouration and inimical to the unity of Nigeria.I also decried President Buharis Nothernisation of Nigeria and said that the appointments made by the President negated the principle of federal character. Then, we were told that the President made the appointments on merit and I asked whether there were no competent people in the All Progressives Congress in the Southern part of Nigeria.Now, with the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, telling the world that President Buhari gave specific instruction that the bank should shift its developmental efforts to the North, is anyone still in doubt as to the fact that President Buhari does not see himself as the President of the entire country, Nigeria?
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of diverting N680m from the states coff...
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of diverting N680m from the states coffers to a private fixed deposit account, which was yielding N6m interest every month.The N680m was alleged to have been part of the bailouts paid to the state government by the Federal Government for the payment of salary and pension arrears, according to the EFCCs preliminary investigation into the matter.The anti-graft agency also asked the states Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, and the Accountant-General, Yemisi Owolabi, to report back to the commissions head office in Abuja next week.Owolabi and Ojo had spent about 12 days in the custody of the anti-graft agency after allegedly refusing to honour its invitation in the past. They were arrested for their alleged roles in the diversion of the bailout .According to the anti-graft agency, there is a reason to believe that the people of Ekiti State have been short-changed.The report states, A total of N680m was diverted on January 25, 2016. The funds, comprising N200m from the Ekiti State Local Government salary account, N300m from the Ekiti State Pension Account and N180m from the Ekiti State FAAC Account, were first credited into the Consolidated Revenue Account in Zenith Bank on January 25, 2016, and later transferred on the same day into an account called 2015 MDG-CGS state project domiciled in Zenith Bank.Analysis of the bank statement revealed that the money was later placed in a fixed deposit, where it was yielding a monthly interest of about N6m at a time pensioners and workers in Ekiti State were owed months of unpaid entitlements.It was learnt that investigators were going through several documents to uncover the beneficiaries of the monthly interest on the fixed deposit.The report concluded, The detained Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance and its Accountant-General committed to assisting the commission with relevant documents before they were granted administrative bail and ordered to report back in two weeks.It was learnt that in the course of investigating alleged misapplication of the bailouts by the Fayose-led administration, especially the N1.7bn contract awarded to a Lebanese company, which later moved part of the money to allegedly purchase properties for Governor Fayose, investigators stumbled on evidence of diversion of funds meant for payment of state and local government employees and pensioners in Ekiti State.
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called on the Federal Government to clearly define its moves to ban medical doctors in public ser...
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called on the Federal Government to clearly define its moves to ban medical doctors in public service from private practice.
Dr Olubunmi Omojowolo, Chairman of Lagos State chapter of the association, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
Omojowolo said that though the law did not permit doctors in public hospitals to own private hospitals, they could however, offer specialised services to private hospitals when required.
Actually, this is not new; the law does not permit doctors who are working in public hospitals to own private hospitals.
However, the application has to be properly defined; when talking about private practice by doctors in public hospitals, the government has to explain exactly what it is talking about.
Are you saying that specialists working for government cannot be invited by private hospitals when they have emergency or need a specialist in that area to see the patient?
Are you saying that all patients that require specialist care who are admitted in private hospitals will have to be moved to public hospitals?, he said.
The chairman said that it was practice all over the world that specialists could be invited to either a public or private health institution to help sort out medical issues.
For instance, I am a neurologist; how many neurologists do we have in the country.
We do not have many of them and there are cases that need neurologists intervention and other cases like that.
Are they going to be transferring all patients to public hospitals which are short-staffed and cannot even take care of the patients they already have?
Consequent upon this, there is need for government to define what it is saying so that it will be understood by everybody.
This will go a long way to remove ambiguities and misinterpretations that the proposal has so far generated, Omojowolo said.
NAN
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) are billed to travel to T...
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) are billed to travel to Turkey for a bilateral meeting with the authorities of Turkish Customs Service, it was learnt yesterday.According to Deputy Comptroller-General, Aminu Dangaladima, the meetings aim is to put an end to the importation of deadly weapons from Turkey.It will be recalled that the service last month announced the seizure of 2,671 pump action rifles illegally imported from Turkey into Nigeria.Owing to the seizure, Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Halal. Cakil, vowed on September 26 that his country would fish out the brains behind the shipping of illegal arms into Nigeria.Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Dangaladima said: Let me seize this opportunity to impromptu you that we are making progress on investigation into the illegal arms importation.More arrests have been made and the CGC will be on the entourage of Mr. President to Turkey for sideline bilateral meeting with the Turkish customs authorities.This is with the aim of permanently putting an end to such deadly importations from Turkey.He revealed that on October 10, the NCS operatives seized 27 Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicles worth N432 million.His words: On Wednesday 10th October, 2017, based on credible intelligence, operatives of the NCS Compliance Team went to two open car stands along Kubwa Expressway in the Federal Capital Territory and evacuated 27 Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicles suspected to be smuggled into the country. These vehicles have estimated Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N432 million.He urged the owners of the vehicles to come forward with valid Customs clearance documents, otherwise they will be liable to seizure and subsequent forfeiture to the federal government in line with the laws of the land.Dangaladima recalled that last month, Ali, while briefing the media on the interception of exotic vehicles, 18 of which were bullet proof, said that the service under his leadership would enforce the powers given in the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) effectively.He said that being in possession of smuggled items is an offences under Section 3 of Customs and Excise Act Cap 47 Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Almost two months after he returned to the country from his medical trip to London, United Kingdom, President Muhammadu Buhari has yet ...
But the Presidency says the situation has not in any way hindered the President from performing his duties.Buhari, who arrived the country on August 19 to a wild jubilation by Nigerians after spending over 100 days abroad, has been operating from an office located inside his official residence and another one located inside the Presidential Banquet Hall.The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had said the Presidents office needed renovation because of its devastation by rodents during his long period of absence.Following the three-month period of disuse, rodents have caused a lot of damage to the furniture and the air conditioning units, he had said, explaining that it was impossible for the President to operate from the office in that condition.Although he said he could not tell when the renovation would be completed, the presidential spokesperson had stated that the maintenance company had been asked to speed up its pace of work.However, 56 days after the Presidents return to the country, he has yet to resume in his office.His residence and the Presidential Banquet Hall, where he operates from are less than five minutes walk from his office.The President has been hosting meetings and other events in the two venues.This week alone, he held separate meetings with some state governors and the nations security chiefs at the venues.Governors that met Buhari during the week included Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State; Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State and Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State.The President has also been attending weekly meetings of the Federal Executive Council inside the Council Chambers located less than 50 metres to his office.Buhari has also been joining Muslim faithful for Jumaat service inside a mosque located behind the Council Chambers.When contacted on Friday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said where Buhari has been operating from are also offices.Adesina said the most important thing is that the President is working.The presidential spokesman was, however, silent on when Buhari will resume in his main office.Office na office. He (the President) uses one now, and the work goes on, he simply said.Our correspondent had sought to know from him the stage of the renovation in the Presidents office; if there is any truth in the claim that Buhari does not plan to return to his office anytime soon; and when exactly he would return.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday assured stakeholders from the Southeast that the region will benefit more from roads and coastal rail ...
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday assured stakeholders from the Southeast that the region will benefit more from roads and coastal rail projects.
Speaking at an audience with leaders from the region led by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, the President declared that 2nd Niger Bridge, the East-West Road and the Coastal rail project, are receiving utmost attention from his administration.
Buhari said counterpart funding from the Chinese government would substantially fund these projects, which when completed will improve the welfare, well-being and economy of the people in the region.
I know the Chinese are very competent in handling such projects and we will ensure that we get the money for the projects to take off.
I thank you for articulating your demands and I want to assure that we are doing our best for the country.
If we can stop people from stealing, then there will be more resources to put into projects that will create employment for Nigerians, he said.
Earlier, the President of Ohanaeze, while articulating the demands of the zone to the President highlighted the issue of state creation, restructuring, federal projects in the South East namely Enugu-Onitsha road, Enugu-Port Harcourt road and Aba-Ikot-Ekpene road, among others.
Nwodo also demanded urgent presidential interventions on the Enugu Airport, reticulation of the gas-pipelines in the South East and the standard gauge plan for railway construction.
Commending the Presidents remarkable achievements on security and the fight against corruption, Nwodo declared: we are ready to work with you. We are determined to work with you. We know you are a decisive leader and we know God will continue to give you the wisdom to govern Nigeria.
FORT LEE -- Charges against an Elmwood Park man for leaving the scene of an accident were upgraded Friday because the victim succumbed to her injuries overnight.
Carmen Lombardi
Carmen Lombardi, 41, was already facing a third degree charge of leaving the scene of an accident with serious bodily injury. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday that Lombardi now faces a second degree charge of leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle collision.
Police responded to multiple reports of a motor vehicle collision Thursday at about 9:55 a.m. at the intersection of Lemoine Avenue and Bridge Plaza North. A 57-year-old female pedestrian was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center in critical condition.
The collision involved two vehicles, authorities said, one of which fled the scene westbound on Bridge Plaza North. An investigation led to the arrest of Lombardi who was issued a complaint summons Thursday for the third degree crime and released. The charge was upgraded Friday to the second degree crime because the victim died from her injuries.
Lombardi is due in Central Judicial Processing Court Nov. 3 at 8:30 a.m.
Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
ORANGE -- Thursday afternoon's scuffle in which Police Officer Hanifah Davis was caught on video pulling teen girls' hair outside the city high school marks the second time this year the officer has been involved in controversy in the community, police officials said.
About 45 days ago, Davis -- who has been a police officer in Orange for about three-and-a-half months -- was caught on camera while breaking up a large group of people in Orange who were allegedly loitering and gambling, Police Director Todd Warren told reporters Friday.
While trying to break up the crowd, one man allegedly refused to move, Warren said. While Davis was arresting the man, the group began moving toward him, prompting Davis to flash his gun, and wave it at the crowd, "to stop them from approaching him," Warren said.
The incident, which was spread around social media, prompted an investigation, which Warren said is still ongoing.
Davis was suspended Friday, pending a separate investigation into his caught-on-video altercation with twin high school seniors Nyasia and Kyasia Sorrells. City officials said a determination has not yet been made as to whether or not Davis will receive pay while he is suspended.
In an interview Friday, the 17-year-old twins said they had seen the officer around town before, but hadn't had any interaction with him before Wednesday night, when they were driving home in an Uber car with their mother and cousin.
Davis pulled over the Uber driver, and according to the twins and their cousin, insinuated they were prostitutes, by asking them if they were "working tonight."
They girls filmed the traffic stop, too.
City officials said Friday afternoon they were unaware of the prostitution-suggestion allegation, but said the department was investigating the stop as part of its probe into the altercation, which happened after school the next day.
Davis only started working in Orange earlier this year, Warren said.
"I think he's still feeling his way...he hasn't been here very long," Warren said.
Previously, city officials said, he worked for the Union County Sheriff's Department.
He moved to the Orange department, officials said, via an intergovernmental transfer, which the city said was a way to bolster its police ranks without sending new cadets to the academy. The state describes the transfer program as a "voluntary program which offers New Jersey's Civil Service employees the opportunity to transfer from one jurisdiction to another."
The city was not previously privy to Davis's disciplinary record in Union County, officials said. As part of its current investigation, those records will become available, they said.
The Union County Sheriff's Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. State pension records show Hanif Davis as a Union County employee beginning in July 2015.
A call to the Orange Police Benevolent Association was not immediately returned. Calls to numbers listed for Davis were not answered.
Friday morning, hundreds of Orange High School students and community members marched from the school to police headquarters to protest Davis' altercation with the twins, and demand his firing.
Officials urged calm as the investigation, which is being carried out by the Orange police and overseen by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, is complete.
But, Warren told reporters, Davis's actions are concerning.
"We don't condone that type of behavior," he said.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY -- In 2007, a demolition crew knocked down an old warehouse that had stood for over a century and, for roughly two decades, had housed hundreds of artists and creative minds.
The demolition capped a bitter and long fought legal battle between City Hall, developers, the property owner, and the community of artists that worked and often lived in the old industrial building.
Twelve years after their eviction, more than 40 artists who worked and rented space in the warehouse have come together to display their work in the exhibition, "111 1st Street: A Community of Artists."
The exhibition coincides with the 27th annual Jersey City Artists Studio Tour (JCAST), which runs today and tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m.
In fact, Elaine Hansen, a former tenant of the communal warehouse and host of the '111' exhibition who helped round up the former artists, said the JCAST studio tours began alongside the start of 111 1st St. in the late 80's.
"The people who lived here were -- they loved all of the stuff that was happening in that building," Hansen said inside her studio at 395 Halladay Street. "It was a fantastic and inspiring place to live for 15 years."
Nearly 150 years ago, the P. Lorillard Tobacco Co. moved its operations from New York City to the warehouse at 111 First St., and in the late 1980's -- after years of abandonment, neglect and disuse -- artists began to share the massive warehouse with industrial tenants long before gleaming high rises towered over Newport and Exchange Place.
Hansen and Edward Fausty -- a photographer and artist whose book "A Fragile Utopia: Studios and Spaces at 111 First Street" depicts the studio through collected photos of its interior and exterior -- estimate that roughly 400 artists used the warehouse for their work.
(Photo courtesy of Elaine Hansen)
"It never got converted, it just sort of happened," Hansen said. "People were looking for cheap space; I don't think when they bought the building they intended to rent to artists, but the word started to get out and pretty soon many were working there."
"A lot of people just worked there, but began to live there later on... I was one of those; for nine months I worked there and then I moved in," Hansen added, recalling the 1,200 square-foot space she rented to house her work.
The rent was cheap, and the space was artistically liberating; Hansen said the warehouse hosted the likes of musicians, dress designers, furniture makers, painters, photographers, "and some trouble makers."
"People would say 'I'm not going to live here, I wouldn't even think about it.' And you would see all of these people brushing their teeth or something, and you might see how fantastic they'd made their space," Fausty said.
The property remains an empty lot.
The exhibition will be open to the public today and tomorrow, and Oct. 21 and 22, from noon to 6 p.m. at 395 Halladay St., #2.
It will also be available for viewing by appointment from Oct. 16 to Oct. 20. For more information, contact Hansen at elaine.hansen.@me.com or by telephone at 201-610-9737.
JERSEY CITY -- A 19-year-old Jersey City man made his first court appearance this afternoon on charges he murdered a father of three on Central Avenue last week.
Jose Mojica was arrested Wednesday and charged with gunning down Donald McLaughlin III, 37, of Union City, who was shot in the back around 8:30 p.m. near Graham Street on Oct. 5, officials said.
At today's hearing, the state moved to detain Mojica through the course of his prosecution and a detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale.
Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Keith Travers said probable cause for the charges is based on surveillance video and interviews conducted by detectives.
Mojica, who is also facing weapons charges related to a handgun, said nothing at the hearing at which he was represented by defense attorney Frank Gonzalez. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
Authorities said McLaughlin also suffered apparent blunt force trauma injury to his head. Responding officers immediately administered first aid to the victim, who was then taken to Jersey City Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at approximately 8:55 p.m., Suarez said.
A medical examiner determined McLaughlin died from a gunshot wound to his torso, Suarez said.
McLaughlin's father told The Jersey Journal last week the fatal shooting may have been related to an earlier traffic incident on Bowers Street involving another one of his sons.
The HCPO has provided no motive for the shooting, but the complaint says the victim and his alleged killer did not know each other.
McLaughlin was engaged to be married to the mother of his 3-year-old daughter, his father added. McLaughlin has two other children, a 17- and 18-year-old who live in Florida. The 37-year-old worked as a Lyft driver and was enrolled in a mechanics training program, his father said.
Mojica's next hearing, after Wednesday, is scheduled for Dec. 11 before DePascale in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City.
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.
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 at 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 a new use must be found for it.
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 with 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 offsite 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 retaiilers 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 likely 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.
Mother and daughter meet for the first time
Angel Fales-Ramirez longed for a family.
She had one, once. Her parents named her after the beam of light they swore shone over her bassinet at the Childrens Home Society in California. They told her she was special, that they had chosen her. Her dad, a police officer, took her to kindergarten in a cop car.
But after it all fell apart when she was 5, Angel lay awake at night. She wondered about her birth parents. She wanted to be whisked away. In a Gandy living room Wednesday, 3 miles east of Stapleton, Angel finally had the mother she always longed for.
In 1967, Cynthia Gulbrandson was pregnant and turning 20 in Detroit. The babys father threatened to tell his mother in front of Cynthia, shaming her.
So, Cynthia and her sister drove down Route 66 to California, where Cynthia told others that the childs father had died at war in Vietnam. Soon she was working as a Kelly Girl temporary worker.
Everything was going on in California at that time, Cynthia said. And I was a good old, regular hippie. So it worked out well.
As she worked, Cynthia weighed what to do when the baby was born. She didnt want to regret her decision. She also didnt want to confuse a child born to an unwed, single mother.
Cynthia knew her own mother would have coaxed her to raise the child. And when her mother found out about the baby two weeks before its birth, she did.
Still, Cynthia placed her little girl for adoption through the California Childrens Home Society. She named her Cindy Marie, an homage to her own name. And she signed a waiver: Should that girl ever search for her, she could contact her.
I sent in a change of address every time I moved, Cynthia said. And I moved a lot.
About six weeks later, a man approached Cynthia on the beach. He offered her a secretarial job for two partners with the Apollo space missions.
I was wearing a bikini, Cynthia said, laughing about how she was scouted for the job.
She returned to the agency to see whether her baby girl had been adopted. Maybe, with the good job, she could give her daughter a good life after all. The nuns at the Catholic agency assured her that the baby had gone to live with a stay-at-home mother and police officer. They told her to go live her life.
But I constantly thought of her, Cynthia said. She was always in my thoughts and in my prayers.
Angels adoptive mom was older than her dad and unable to conceive. Dads partner on the police force was also married to a woman who was infertile. A police call involving children made both men realize they wanted children of their own. Mom would do anything for Dad, and after adopting Angel, they also adopted a little boy.
When Angel was 5, her parents divorced after her dad had an affair with his secretary. He later married the woman, who gave him biological children.
The affirmation from her mom that Angel was special changed to taunts: She had never wanted children. She had just wanted to please her husband. In the divorce, she demanded to keep the children to spite him.
Mom lost herself to alcohol and sex.
By 9 years old, I could put two people in a cab, pay the fare, get up and take my brother to school the next day, Angel said.
She and her brother spent many summers with Dad in northern California. She always felt like an intruder.
Still, she asked, as a kid and as an adult, why he never took them away. He was a police detective he should have known about her life, she said.
Dad later apologized. But he always begged her not to make him choose between her and his other kids.
Meanwhile, Cynthia built a career. She performed secretarial work, then worked in accounting and later management. She married and divorced once, married again and moved to Colorado. She had a son five years younger than Angel.
After her second divorce, in Colorado, Cynthia met Hollis Gulbrandson at her office job.
By their third or fourth date, Hollis heard all about the baby girl. Every year, Cynthia celebrated her sons birthday. And every year, she and her mother who had since understood Cynthias decision talked about that baby girl.
Cynthia and Hollis married. Fans of small towns, they later retired to Gandy.
At Angels 18th birthday, she was ready to begin searching for her birth parents. She contacted the California Childrens Home Society. All she needed was one adoptive parents signature.
Over my dead body, her adoptive mom said.
At 19, Angel was newly widowed with a little boy. She moved to northern California to be closer to her dad and other family. She broached the subject again and found that Dad was happy to help.
At the agency, the lady told Angel that her birth mother had asked about her. Alas, she said, Angels birth mother hadnt signed a waiver allowing contact.
My instincts were like, grab the file, grab the file, Angel said. If she could just get one glimpse of the womans name, they cant take that away from me. What are they going to do? Arrest me?
But Cynthia had signed the waiver. But she had hesitated to initiate her own search, unsure whether her daughter even knew she was adopted.
I didnt want to cause any confusion, thats for sure, she said.
As the years went on, I thought they would have told her, Cynthia said. I thought she didnt want me.
Angel wondered if her birth mother didnt want her, either. Maybe she was conceived through rape. Maybe the girl in town whom everyone confused her with was a biological relative. (She wasnt.)
Your mind goes crazy, she said.
In 1998, Angel turned to the internet. Her pedigree papers, as she calls them, listed her background as Swedish and Catholic. On website after website, she posted the information.
On such adoption search websites, volunteers who have been reunited with their own birth parents help others in their searches. But nothing came, and Angel realized her biological parents were aging, maybe dead. Besides, she thought, had her biological mother searched online, it wouldnt have taken long to find Angels digital footprint.
In 2010, someone called Angel: If she read the numbers from her birth certificate, she could learn her birth mothers name. Angel learned Cynthias name, as well as her first husbands. But because of her mothers moves and name changes, Angel had no other trace.
Angel eventually sent her junk email to the account she had once set up just for those websites. After moving in 2012, she updated her address on a whim. Then the updates flooded in.
The online volunteers had found her birth uncle. He had called his sister, Cynthia. They wanted to talk to Angel. They wanted to meet her.
Unable to speak, Angel locked herself in her room. She posted to Facebook: If you could have everything answered with one phone call, would you? Loved ones who had heard Angel tell her story all her life peppered the comments with questions.
Finally, Angel called Cynthia. Five years of phone calls ensued.
But life happened. Angel, a mother of four, ages 17-30, was widowed for a third time. Cynthia brought her own mother to Nebraska, where she died in 2014. Angel faced health issues. There was little time or money, on either end, to travel.
Angel and her daughter, Krystal Fales, who lives in Alaska, finally flew to meet Cynthia Wednesday. Hollis met them in Grand Island, then drove them to Gandy.
After TSA snafus and two missed flights on the trip, Angel had spent an unexpected layover in Dallas just wanting Chinese food, but unable to find any. When she and Krystal called Cynthia the next day, she asked, Are you hungry? Do you like Chinese?
The similarities kept coming: favorite colors, their lives of office work, rooster kitchen decor, an affinity for Cheez Whiz on crackers.
Angel plans to stay through her 50th birthday on Oct. 29. Maybe shell start a new life here someday: Ask me in three weeks.
While much of the trip has been tears, Im happy to see her smile again, Krystal said.
Cynthia hopes to travel to California to meet her other three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
As mother and daughter hugged for the first time Wednesday afternoon, I felt relieved, Cynthia said. That completeness Ive always wanted.
Ford's new Police Responder Hybrid Sedan secured a pursuit rating and is now available for sale to law enforcement agencies across the country.
The new hybrid police car is built in Mexico, but modified at the Chicago Assembly Plant in Hegewisch, where Ford invested $1 million and added 30 new jobs to do the work.
Our new Fusion-based Police Responder Hybrid Sedan is quicker than our legendary V8-powered Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, while offering fuel efficiency thats estimated to be double that, said Stephen Tyler, Ford police brand marketing manager.
The vehicle recently completed the Michigan State Police's vehicle testing at Grattan Raceway, which includes a "grueling" 32-lap pursuit simulation that tests durability of the powertrain, suspension, brakes and tires.
Despite its hybrid engine, the new Police Responder Hybrid Sedan went from 0-100 in 23.1 second, beating the once-universal Crown Victoria by more than a second. The vehicle is expected to get 38 miles per gallon, including 40 mpg during driving.
"Fords efforts to meet the needs of its police customers continue with the addition of the Police Responder Hybrid Sedan a remarkably efficient pursuit-rated choice for law enforcement agencies nationwide," Ford said in a news release.
Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant on 12600 S. Torrence Ave. also produces the Police Interceptor Utility and the Police Interceptor Sedan, which have supplanted the Crown Vic as the top-selling police cars in the country. Suppliers in Chicago Heights and Hammond contribute to the cars that are made at the 2.8 million-square-foot factory on the bank of the Calumet River.
"Causing this serious matter has brought overwhelming shame to the company," Kobe Steel said in a news release. "The company deeply regrets this incident and sincerely apologizes for the enormous worry and trouble this incident has caused to its customers and other related parties. The company will report again as further progress of the investigation is made."
U.S. Steel said it still plans to go forward with plans to build a new continuous galvanizing line for advanced high-strength steels for the automotive industry at the PRO-TEC Coating Co. subsidiary in Leipsic, Ohio.
"U.S. Steel remains committed to our new Advanced High Strength Steel CGL and bringing solutions to our customers," U.S. Steel spokeswoman Meghan Cox said Friday.
Cox did not specify whether the line would still be built as a joint venture.
Steel industry analyst Charles Bradford with New York City-based Bradford Research Inc. said the Kobe scandal was serious enough where it could threaten the Japanese company's very existence.
"They could be facing some very serious lawsuits," he said.
The Japanese steelmaker said it fabricated data for hundreds of thousands of tons of metal, including for many safety-sensitive customers such as automakers and passenger jet manufacturers. Kobe Steel President and CEO Hiroya Kawasaki said the company's credibility "has plunged to zero," according to Market Watch.
Kobe Steel said it has hired an outside law firm to conduct an investigation into how so many products were mislabeled.
"In view of the seriousness of the situation, Kobe Steel established the investigation committee on quality issues in response to the situation," the company said in a statement. "Based on the results of the outside law firm, Kobe Steel will conduct a thorough analysis of the causes and take company-wide measures to prevent recurrence. At this time, as a part of the company-wide measures to prevent recurrence."
HAMMOND A federal judge ordered an area man with a history of sexual exploits with animals released from jail Friday.
U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon said 48-year-old Michael Bessigano has been punished enough by already serving five years in a state prison and in federal detention for killing a guinea hen kept at a local county park.
The court's probation officers recommended Bessigano be imprisoned for another year.
Bessigano's court-appointed attorney stated in court papers she was so concerned about his spending more time behind bars that she had Bessigano evaluated by a bestiality expert, and together they recommended Bessigano undergo monthly injections of a drug that could reduce Bessigano's sexual drive enough to let him live a law-abiding life.
However, the judge never addressed this so-called chemical castration issue.
Bessigano declined to speak when the judge asked if he had anything to say. Members of Bessigano's family attended the hearing. The judge said Bessigano's sister and niece both wrote letters supporting his release.
Simon said Bessigano already had admitted violating his federal probation. "It's an interesting case. It's a super-sad case. Its disturbing of course," Simon said.
"I could keep him in prison for one more year. Candidly, five years is a long time to serve, not withstanding his violation. I've received thoughtful letters imploring me for a chance and it's time to give him that. I'm releasing you for time served. I think it's a just sentence."
The judge said Bessigano still must remain on supervised release for one year, and court probation officers will monitor his internet use and can have him participate in sex offender therapy.
Bessigano's bestiality became public in 1993 when he was convicted of breaking into a rural St. John Township barn and killing a dog. He said during his trial he would rather live with animals than people.
He pleaded guilty in 2009 in federal court to downloading bestiality pornography on his home computer. A judge sentenced him to 33 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Simon said Bessigano had, for the most part, behaved well until November 2012, when Lake County police said Bessigano rode a bicycle to the Buckley Homestead county park near Lowell, entered a park building where guinea fowl were being housed and sexually assaulted one of the birds, killing it in the process.
He pleaded guilty to stealing the bird and served four years in a state prison and 10 months in federal detention until Friday.
CHICAGO Chicago authorities say a 64-year-old woman has died as an unintended target of gun violence.
Cynthia Trevillion was hit by a stray bullet around 6:30 p.m. Friday as she was walking to a Chicago Transit Authority station on the city's North Side. She was hit in the head and pronounced dead at a hospital.
Chicago police are calling it a "tragic accident." City officials say the gunfire came from an SUV in the area.
Trevillion has been identified as a Chicago Waldorf School teacher.
Another fatal shooting took place around 8:15 p.m. A 52-year-old was struck in the chest as he sat in a parked car on the city's South Side. He was identified as Victor Carillo of Chicago.
Separately, a 13-year-old boy was wounded in a Friday shooting.
EAST CHICAGO Fire and police personnel will receive 2-percent raises in 2018 if the City Council approves a salary ordinance on final reading at its Oct. 23 meeting.
The ordinance passed through second reading on Monday, but with some debate.
The council is being proactive in seeking to adopt a salary ordinance prior to Nov. 1.
The city's Board of Public Safety can set compensation for police and fire for the following budget year if the council does not do so by Nov. 1.
That is what occurred last year, although the council later amended the salary ordinance.
The City Council has the authority to set compensation for police and firefighters. But if the council does not do so by Nov. 1, it falls on the Board of Public Safety to do so. This year, the council chose to adopt the salary ordinance and not leave it to the Board of Public Safety to do so.
Steve Dalton, the council's financial adviser, estimated the raises would amount to an additional $200,000 to $400,000 that was not accounted for in the civil city budget currently being considered by the council.
"We're in a bit of a quandary," Dalton told the council. "How do you enact your authority to set police and fire salaries and compensation if the mayor is the only one that can bring you a budget and the mayor is the only one that can bring you an additional appropriation?"
City Attorney Carla Morgan read a letter from Mayor Anthony Copeland to the council prior to its vote on the ordinance.
It said that along with the power to set salaries, the council also has a legal duty to ensure there are sufficient funds available in a given department to cover those salaries.
The council voted 7-1 to approve the salary ordinance on second reading. Councilwoman Gilda Orange, D-6th, did not approve; Councilwoman Brenda Walker, D-3rd, was not present.
Orange said after the meeting that there is a reason why councils in other cities don't get involved in salary negotiations.
"It is a danger of police and fire coming back year after year asking for more money, and as you get toward the election year they're going to ask and demand more," she said.
Orange said it is not only because of money that police officers leave the city, but that she has heard of instances in which officers planned to leave after a short period of time once openings occurred within or closer to the towns in which they live.
Councilman Emiliano Perez, D-at large, said 17 police officers have left the city in the last three years and there is an economic cost to losing officers the city has already trained.
"Ms. Orange is right," Perez said. "Some of them were going to leave, anyway. But I can't believe all 17 were going to leave."
Prior to the vote on the ordinance, Orange made a motion to amend it so that police and fire personnel who live within the city will receive residency bonuses of $2,500 instead of the current $1,500.
The council voted 7-1 to approve the amendment, with Orange casting the lone vote against it.
Asked why she voted against her own amendment, Orange said she likely would vote for the ordinance on final reading.
"I just wanted to send a message that I didn't think it was done right," Orange said.
Orange said 52 of the city's police officers and firefighters live in East Chicago and 161 do not.
The council approved on second reading ordinances for appropriations and tax rates for both the civil city and sanitary district for 2018.
"There is very little anticipated change in the tax rate," Dalton said.
HAMMOND Emergency workers and people with realistic-looking injuries will be in the downtown area Saturday to participate in a full-scale emergency drill, and drivers should consider alternate routes, officials said.
The simulated terrorist attack has been planned for more than a year, but there will be no real threat or danger to the community.
The drill is scheduled from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Hohman Avenue from Clinton Street to Douglas Street, and will include Franciscan Health Hammond and the federal courthouse at 5400 Federal Plaza.
The exercise, planned by the Indiana District 1 Hospital Emergency Planning Committee and District 1 Task Force, was designed to test emergency workers' plans and capabilities in case of a real emergency, officials said.
Areas of Hohman Avenue will be closed, and there will be police, fire and emergency medical services workers in the area, police said.
Streets will be reopened after the drill, police said.
VALPARAISO A group of youngsters from the city have made an impact on Katy, Texas, one of the communities devastated by Hurricane Harvey this summer.
A team of volunteers representing Valpo Kids for Katy recently took a whirlwind trip to the Houston suburb to drop off cleaning supplies, construction supplies, diapers and a myriad of other items to help out homeowners and school children still reeling from the hurricane.
Kathleen DeWitt, who organized Valpo Kids for Katy and partnered with Project Neighbors, said shortly after the hurricane struck, she was in contact with Brittney Alyea Hoover, a Valparaiso native and representative of the Klein Volunteer Fire Department outside of Houston.
DeWitt said the conversation led to a need to organize an effort to collect items needed by those rebuilding from the destruction.
"We reached out to people active in the community to establish donation locations. We wanted kids involved, so we reached out to the schools," DeWitt said.
Several people stepped up, including leaders of the Valparaiso High School LEAD mentoring program, she said. Youngsters from the group began collecting donations, including standing outside the Valparaiso YMCA.
"People came from all over the place to help," she said, adding the drive raised more than $1,600 in cash and a garage full of supplies. Construction needs from insulation to drywall mud was purchased and all the items were packed into a trailer and driven to Katy by volunteers Kase DeWitt, Matt Tirk and Meagan Hale.
Some of the items were taken directly to a family rebuilding their home following flooding when the Mayde Creek broke its banks. Leftover building supplies were donated to a local church helping to rebuild a home. Clothing, baby items and other goods were donated to a group helping schoolchildren and their families.
"It is generosity like this that has poured into the entire region of Southeast Texas and reminds us that its not just #HoustonStrong or #KatyStrong ... We are #AmericaStrong with neighbors helping neighbors and towns helping towns across the county," said Simon Vandyke, spokesperson for Harris County Emergency Services District Fire Department #48.
DeWitt said she wasn't surprised about the donations.
"People genuinely want to help other people," she said.
Marc Chase Editor Marc Chase is a veteran investigative reporter, columnist and editor of more than two decades. He currently leads The Times news staff as local news editor. He can be reached at 219-933-3327. Follow Marc Chase 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
In graduate school, I was an avid student of our nations response to domestic extremism and terrorism, writing my master's thesis on the effects of media coverage on such matters.
I never imagined an alleged perpetrator of political terrorism would be someone I knew, in some ways on a personal level.
It happened Thursday when the U.S. attorney and federal law enforcement announced felony criminal charges against Eric Krieg, 45, of Munster, accusing him of things that meet the very definition of domestic terrorism.
Who was Eric Krieg?
Before Thursday, I knew Krieg as a fringe Region political guy who regularly criticized the Northwest Indiana establishment.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and his family frequently found themselves in Krieg's crosshairs, including Krieg's filing of formal complaints against the mayor's campaign that were promptly quashed by the Lake County elections board in 2013.
The Times also covered a defamation lawsuit filed against Krieg by a McDermott family member one Krieg settled out of court for tens of thousands of dollars, according to a source close to the suit.
Many people referred to Krieg as a political gadfly, buzzing and stinging public officials who didn't align with his political philosophies, which swung to the right.
I knew Krieg this way as well.
But in the age of social media, I also knew him as an avid reader of my column who regularly would comment on my weekly opinion pieces on Facebook and sometimes through email.
Frequently, he would agree with my stances.
Other times, not so much.
Extreme position
In 2015, I wrote a column about another McDermott critic, Region tow-truck operator John "Lefty" Nauracy.
Much like Krieg was accustomed to doing, Nauracy filed past complaints questioning McDermott's campaign fundraising filings that also were tossed after review by the elections board.
In my March 2015 column about Nauracy, I pointed out what many folks didn't know: In the mid-1990s, Nauracy was sentenced to about four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in Chicago federal court to mail fraud. The charge stemmed from allegations he was making false insurance claims on supposedly stolen vehicles, according to federal court records.
At one point, federal prosecutors in the case also alleged Nauracy threatened to kill the judge who sentenced him to 51 months in prison.
Krieg contacted me directly about that column, telling me he never would forgive me for questioning the veracity of Lefty.
I thought Id made a valid point in the column. Krieg thought it was "unforgivable." But we agreed to disagree.
Life went on, and Krieg became a regular commenter on my Facebook feed, often even posting friendly notes about projects I was doing around the house or a swing set I recently erected for my children.
Still, I never forgot what I always believed was a pretty extreme stance by Krieg. Who would be such an adamant apologist for a felon convicted of fraud and accused of threatening to kill a federal judge?
If Hammond federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents are correct in their most recent allegations, this wouldn't be the most extreme position taken by Krieg.
New allegations
Fast-forward more than two years, to Sept. 6, when a package carrying a pipe bomb exploded in the East Chicago post office, injuring a pregnant woman who worked there.
Federal authorities say the trail of evidence in the case led them to Krieg.
On Thursday, a caravan of white vans blocked off a 10-house area in Krieg's well-to-do Munster neighborhood, raiding his two-story brick home and seizing evidence over several hours.
Federal agents raided Krieg's place of business in Whiting, where he worked as an engineer, and impounded his car as coworkers looked on.
By day's end, Krieg faced federal felony charges of possessing an explosive device and transporting explosive materials. Additional charges could be coming, federal authorities said Thursday.
Add to all that the terror experienced during the past month by the people federal officials say Krieg targeted.
The bomb that exploded in East Chicago actually had been addressed to the home of a contracted vendor who did municipal work for the city of Hammond.
I spoke with him Friday, and he is neither ready to speak publicly nor to be identified. I'm honoring that in this column.
This man has a family at home including children who would have been in harm's way had the bomb not accidentally exploded in East Chicago.
What if the package had made it to the intended home? What if a child, or any other innocent person, had retrieved it and been injured or killed in a blast? What if the unassuming postal worker had suffered anything worse than injuries for which she was quickly treated and released from a local hospital?
If Krieg committed these crimes and the U.S. attorney said Thursday Krieg has admitted his role in the case I wonder if he thought about this possible scenario before he sent that package.
Krieg, after all, has a wife and children of his own. People who know him said he was active in various activities with his children.
It would take an awfully extreme position in life to overlook or ignore the potential consequences of such a pointed and deadly action.
The federal criminal complaint against Krieg also accuses him of mailing a threatening letter and bullet to another Hammond worker, with a message of, "The next one will be in the back of your head." The complaint notes that the victim was associated with online political blogs and discussion forums Krieg frequented.
Whats our recourse?
The curse of domestic terrorism seems to have enjoyed regular growth since two extremists plotted to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building with a fertilizer bomb in 1995.
On Thursday, the Region learned one of their own has been accused in what appears to be a growing and sickeningly disturbing trend.
It seems there is little we can do to fight such extremism.
Our only recourse is to marginalize hate, turn our backs on uncivil discourse in society and on social media and mindfully look over our shoulders.
If federal authorities are right, at least one person bent on extremism is locked safely way, pending trial.
But there will be others to take his place. How we meet that tragic truth as a society remains to be seen.
Christian Meadows visited Southern Union State Community College on Friday for one reason.
I wanted to check out the welding program, he said. Ive taken it in school for three years, and Im interested in welding as a career.
Meadows, a student at Woodland High School in Randolph County, was one of 130 high school seniors who attended Senior Day with Industry on Friday. Students came from 13 schools in Lee, Randolph and Chambers counties to tour local industries and Southern Unions facilities.
National Manufacturing Day was Oct. 6, said Eric Sewell, a spokesman for Southern Union. Were doing this in celebration of that, just kind of showing how there are so many different manufacturers here locally, and theres a huge need for skilled workers out there.
This is the fifth year Southern Union has hosted a senior day with industry, allowing teens to tour companies such as SteelFab, Cumberland Plastic Systems and Rexnord Couplings.
Ive had the opportunity to come and view everything I can do in different industries, said Michael Love, a senior at Valley High School. Im really interested in machining, because I just like working with my hands.
Skills that can help start a business
Groups of students walked the halls of the Center for Integrated Manufacturing at Southern Unions Opelika campus, speaking with instructors who gave them a taste of what their programs offer.
This is a skill that leads a lot of people into starting a heating and air conditioning business for themselves, David Burdette told each group of students that entered his lab. Burdette has been an HVAC instructor at Southern Union for 17 years. I have a lot of students who go into business for themselves within a year of graduating from the program.
Chantly Williams, who attends Handley High School, said he went to senior day to see the technical programs at Southern Union. He was especially interested to speak with Alvin McCormick, who has taught computer numerical control machining for five years.
Im really interested in numerics and the different things you can do with a machine, Williams said. You can take digital tools and numerics and make something beautiful out of it.
For Danielle Conover from Auburn High School, the highlight of the day was touring Briggs & Stratton in the Auburn Technology Park.
I liked going through the process from receiving parts to how they assemble everything, she said. Ive always been interested in manufacturing and what materials go through to become the final product.
Southern Union uses senior day as a recruiting tool by first taking students on a tour of local industries, then showing the programs at the community college that channel workers to those industries.
All the manufacturers around here are screaming for employees. They need more and more skilled people, Sewell said. What we need is to be able to provide the training for them. So we do this to be able to give that kind of pathway and show them how they can have a successful career in manufacturing through Southern Union.
Ruling party members of parliament will not consult their constituents on the controversial 'age limit' bill that seeks to lift the presidential age limits from the Constitution.
Party chairman President Yoweri Museveni summoned the NRM MPs at the Office of Prime Minister to discuss a strategy on how the MPs are to go on with their consultative meetings aimed at soliciting the voters' views about the now controversial age limit debate.
The caucus resolved that NRM MPs will not hold any public rallies and gatherings during consultations on the age limit bill. The party will only hold consultative meetings with only the duly elected leaders at the local government level. These will include the LC V chairpersons, LC III chairpersons and the councilors.
The resolution follows resistance from different parts of the country where some legislators were almost lynched during the Independence Day celebrations on Monday when they tried to market the bill currently before the parliamentary committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
Government chief whip addressing journalists yesterday. She said NRM MPs will only hold consultative meetings with local government leaders and opinion leaders
The unpopular bill has faced stiff resistance from large sections of the public, clergy, and civil society among others. Government chief whip Ruth Nankabirwa told journalists after their caucus meeting yesterday that she had advised fellow lawmakers to consult from within the NRM party structures.
We have been strategising on how to interface with our constituents and trying to come out with a methodology to consult as many people as possible within the short period of time since we dont want to be called back by Parliament when we have not finished with consultations, Nankabirwa said.
I was able to guide them that we should hold constituency conferences involving both elected and non-elected leaders in the community (local government leaders), opinion leaders, religious leaders, NRM party structures especially at the constituency level, she added.
Nankabirwa explained that the method of holding rallies during consultations like their opposition counterparts would not be applicable at such a moment. She added that opinion leaders in the different areas including religious leaders and elders are to be invited to the consultations which are to be convened at the constituency conferences.
How do you consult in rallies? That would be campaigning; we are going to interface with those stakeholders. How do I stand in a town or municipality and then begin preaching or talking? Nankabirwa said.
According to Nankabirwa, consultative meetings need a formal way of setting to allow taking of minutes and ideas generated that would later be tabled before parliament as well as giving chance to people to express their views.
I swear I cant reach out to everybody. Do you think it is possible to involve the 30, 000 voters in Kiboga district, this is not a campaign, she told journalists.
Party sources indicated that the party is trying to avoid hostility and violent confrontations with the public, who are largely opposed to the bill.
URN has learnt that during the caucus meeting, MPs expressed fear of their constituents being hostile during the consultative meetings hence the decision to engage with local council leaders only.
A number of MPs and ministers have in the past weeks been booed at functions at which they have attempted to raise the age limit amendment issue.
Mbale Woman MP Connie Galiwango Nakayenze reportedly narrated to the caucus her ordeal when her constituents rudely demanded her not to support the removal of age limit.
Facilitation
Reliable sources within the caucus revealed to URN that the MPs also requested that they are provided money to carry out the consultations in their constituencies. The source noted that the president directed that money, whose amount he did not specify, should be availed to the MPs.
However, Nankabirwa noted that the president cautioned MPs that they will not be able to give money to every voter. She noted that the money to be provided should be only to cater for venues, seats, public address, water and transport refund for invited leaders.
Ministry of Finance has reportedly released about Shs 12.6 billion for the consultations.
namuloki16@gmail.com
Bank of Uganda has frozen all the bank accounts belonging to Action Aid Uganda, a Non-Governmental Organisation operating in the country, following a police investigation of alleged money laundering.
All the five accounts including their Ugandan shillings account, US dollar, pounds sterling and two Euro accounts held in Standard Chartered bank.
In a letter dated October 3, to the managing director of Standard Chartered bank, Louis Kasakende, also deputy governor Bank of Uganda explained that the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) of the police is investigating Action Aid International Uganda for alleged conspiracy to commit a felony and money laundering.
Action Aidoffices
Kasakende listed five bank accounts belonging to the NGO held at Standard Chartered which police CID is investigating.
Pursuant, to section 110 of the Financial Institutions Act, 2004, Kasakende directed the bank to freeze all the listed accounts.
"The accounts in question shall remained frozen until otherwise advised by Bank of Uganda," reads part of the letter.
Arthur Larok, the country director Action Aid Uganda, has confirmed that all their accounts have been frozen. He described the act as unfortunate and erroneous.
He asked the public to treat the allegations against ActionAid with the contempt they deserve.
"Anyone with the slightest of understanding and knowledge about ActionAid's work would know that the reality cannot be any farther from the truth." He added: "We shall push back, together with our numerous partners the sad trend in our country that the allegations against ActionAid symptomise."
Last month on September 21, police raided ActionAid Uganda offices in Kampala, where they conducted a cordon and search operation. Police accessed and searched computer accessories, mobile handsets, money transfer related documents and bank related transaction documents where they carried some.
A similar operation was conducted on Great Lakes Initiative for Strategic Studies (GLISS). The police raids came at the height of protests against plans by the ruling NRM party to repeal Article 102(b) of the constitution that put a cap of 75 years on the presidential age.
Police accused the organisations of funding illegal activities with the aim of destabilising government.
Watch Jordan Peele Crash A College Course Inspired By Get Out Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When
Jordan Peele made a surprise guest appearance during a UCLA course based on his directorial film debut Get Out.
READ: Get Out Was The Inspiration Behind A New UCLA College Course On Racism & Horror
Titled, Sunken Place: Racism, Survival, and Black Horror Aesthetic, the courses professor Tananarive Due surprised her students for the first day of class with an appearance from Peele himself. He had posed as a student throughout the class before Due brought him up to speak to the students about the film.
Today we snuck Jordan Peele into a back row while I was screening a scene from Get Out in my black horror class, Due tweeted. Then he raised his hand.
A thread from the appearance can be read below, along with a video a student captured of Peele surprising the class.
Shoutout to @JordanPeele for coming to my Black Horror Aesthetic class and lecturing us on his movie #GetOut pic.twitter.com/P9P7aRGoV3 DJ ODYSSEY (@Dj_Odyssey_) October 12, 2017
"It's the entire system that keeps us down, external and internal." @JordanPeele on The Sunken Place in today's #BlackHorror class. pic.twitter.com/wP4iicQhmz Tananarive Due SUPPORT GEORGIA DEMS 4 SENATE (@TananariveDue) October 12, 2017
But the idea for the course, specifically, came because Jordan Peele dropped Get Out when I was teaching my Afrofuturism course last spring at UCLA. And it was one of those things where the timing wasnt quite right and I thought, Oh, I wish I used that in the course' Due had previously said about the course.
Ive taught the Afrofuturism course, I think, about four times. And I thought, You knowhorror, to me, is a subset of Afrofuturism, in that fantasy is a subset of Afrofuturism,' she added. So, I decided, instead of doing the broader course, why not just break open black horror? Because Get Out is not the first black-made horror film, but its definitely the most successful. And I think it definitely has the ability to be culture-changing, lets say.
The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Thursday recognized two Nebraska manufacturing companies for growth through innovation.
Commercial lawn mower maker Exmark Manufacturing, based in Beatrice, and Lincoln parts maker Garner Industries were named the Nebraska Manufacturers of the Year.
Gov. Pete Ricketts presented the awards at the chambers Manufacturing and Distribution Executive Summit in Omaha. The award has been presented since 2008 to Nebraska manufacturers that innovate through new products, processes, technologies and strategies.
Garner, which employs 130, was founded in 1953 as a tool-and-die company. It expanded in the 1960s when it developed the BinMaster grain bin monitoring system, and again in the 1990s when it entered the plastic injection-molding and mold-building business. Garner now sells products in industries including agriculture, construction, cement, mining, biofuels and food processing.
Exmark Manufacturing, employing more than 500 people, was incorporated in 1982 and says it is the leading manufacturer of commercial mowers for professional landscapers.
They are among Nebraskas some 1,600 manufacturing companies, employing nearly 100,000 workers, who earn on average $14,000 more annually than the average Nebraska worker. The industry is the states second-largest, contributing $14 billion to Nebraskas economic output.
Theres a new executive in the wings at the Omaha Public Power District.
Mary Fisher, the utilitys senior director of decommissioning at the now-closed Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, will assume the new role of vice president of energy production and nuclear decommissioning on Dec. 1.
The OPPD board of directors on Thursday unanimously approved Fishers new role, which consolidates her current duties with some of those held by Jon Hansen. She will be paid a salary of $297,612, up from 2016 gross pay of $192,938.
Hansen, who in 2016 had pay of $378,882, will retire at the end of this year, capping a decades-long OPPD career that began in 1983.
His duties as vice president of energy production and marketing include nuclear oversight, power production operations and energy marketing and trading.
Recently, Hansens production fuels team unwound the last of four outstanding nuclear fuel agreements with URENCO, a global player in the nuclear industry that was asking OPPD for a sizable payday.
Hansen said earlier this week that URENCO argued OPPD owed on the order of $66 million as outlined in a contract between the two parties.
OPPD refuted the assertion, disassembled nuclear fuel that was not used or needed at Fort Calhoun and sold it back to URENCO, netting about $15 million in the process.
Fisher will oversee that team and others after Hansens departure, and new OPPD Chief Financial Officer Javier Fernandez will assume energy marketing responsibilities previously under Hansens purview. Fernandez joined OPPD in June 2017.
Fishers ascension into the vice president ranks at OPPD qualifies as a promotion, so filling Hansens role was not a competitive process. Otherwise, the utility would have opened the vacancy and vetted finalists from a pool of applicants.
The move garnered unanimous board support.
Under her guidance, the decommissioning of Fort Calhoun is going better than expected, its under budget, and shes been a terrific asset to this organization, said director Mick Mines.
In other business, the board gave unanimous approval to award a $4.3 million contract to Timberline Construction of Rapid City, South Dakota, to begin construction of the Elkhorn River Valley Transmission Project. The project will result in 23 miles of mostly 161-kilovolt transmission line to be built between Blair and Fremont.
Total project costs are about $33 million, of which Fremonts municipal utility will pay 60 percent. OPPD will pay for the remaining 40 percent; it will also be reimbursed for a portion of the project costs by the Southwest Power Pool.
Officials expect the line will be in service in October 2018.
After 45 minutes in a classroom on Saturday, the 13- and 14-year-old boys were getting restless. A pizza lunch was just a few minutes away, and theyd already logged nearly three hours of learning about safe driving.
But then Rob Reynolds flashed a photo onto the screen at the front of the classroom. His voice dropped and he started talking about the girl in the picture the 16-year-old whod dreamed of becoming a doctor. That photo was followed by another, this one of a car, the entire drivers side smashed in and mangled.
The teenage Boys Scouts, who just moments before had been flicking at pens or whispering to their friends, grew silent as Reynolds told the story of that wreck.
In 2007, less than a mile from his home, his daughter Cady Reynolds was killed when another teenage driver apparently distracted by texting slammed into her car. Ever since, through the C.A.R. Alliance for Safer Teen Driving, the nonprofit that he and his wife founded, Reynolds has been sharing his daughters story and a message of safe driving to anyone who will listen.
For the 75 or so Boy Scouts who earned their traffic safety merit badges on Saturday, Reynolds had a special message:
Youre Scouts, you are supposed to be prepared, he said, his voice forceful, again repeating that his daughters death was preventable. You dont have to be a hero. Sometimes its the small things. Its the choosing not to be a distracted driver.
Now in its fourth year, the workshop held just before the start of National Teen Driver Safety Week was offered to area Scouts through a partnership of the Boy Scouts of Americas Mid-America Council and AAA, the Cornhusker Motor Club Foundation, the C.A.R. Alliance for Safer Teen Driving and the Nebraska State Patrol.
In addition to Reynolds presentation, the Scouts also heard from a Nebraska State Patrol trooper and got a chance to feel the impact of a 5 mph crash on the Seatbelt Convincer.
They learned about proper car maintenance and got to try on a pair of goggles that simulate how alcohol can impair ones vision and depth perception.
Reynolds said workshops like Saturdays remind teenagers that when they start driving, they carry the responsibility of keeping themselves and others safe.
That message weighed heavily on Christian Vihstadt, a 13-year-old in Troop 429 in Omaha. He hasnt started driving yet but said hes glad hes learning early.
Its important to have this reinforced now, he said.
For Joel Neesen, a scoutmaster and the father of one of the 13-year-olds in the workshop, the morning offered lessons that hell likely repeat when his son Zach starts driving.
I think its good for them to hear it from different voices, not just their parents, Neesen said. These are lifelong lessons theyll carry with them.
Gov. Pete Ricketts is deploying a 58-person National Guard unit to assist the hurricane recovery effort in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Governors Office announced Friday that the Lincoln-based 67th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is expected to deploy to the island of St. Croix this weekend. The mission is expected to last about 30 days.
The unit, which includes two members of the Nebraska Air National Guard, will be responsible for providing oversight and coordination of National Guard units operating on both St. Croix and St. Martin, which were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
It will also be responsible for coordinating National Guard support to civil authorities in such areas as law enforcement and medical care.
Also, a Nebraska Army National Guard communications specialist has been deployed to Puerto Rico to assist with the ongoing Hurricane Maria recovery operations there.
LINCOLN A rusty and discolored mid-20th-century farm tractor will soon have something in common with the U.S. flag that flew over Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War.
And the sewing machine the Wright brothers used to stitch together their first aircrafts wing fabric at Kitty Hawk.
And a piece of George Washingtons tent at Yorktown.
And Teddy Roosevelts big stick.
The 1945 Allis Chalmers Model C tractor joins the collections of Americana preserved by the National Park Service across the nation when it goes on permanent display next month at Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska.
Until then, the machine used in Alaska by the last person to receive free land under the federal Homestead Act of 1862 is undergoing preservation treatment by members of the Tractor Restoration Club at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Ten students started the work last week in a shed at the Larsen Tractor Test and Power Museum under the direction of Al Levitan, a retired National Park Service conservation specialist from West Virginia, and Doug Koozer, leader of the campus tractor club.
Joshua Bauer of Lincoln, a senior biosystems engineering major and club president, said it was exciting and humbling to be part of preserving a piece of American history.
The tractor itself is nothing special, he said. There were thousands built. But it was the last homesteaders, and it will be in a museum here in Nebraska. Well never get to do something like this again.
A Homestead National Monument-led team retrieved the abandoned and deteriorating tractor plus its single-bottom plow and a disk from the road-less Alaska wilderness in June and shipped it to Nebraska. Dr. C.T. Frerichs of Beatrice, a retired physician, is financing the retrieval and preservation project through the Friends of Homestead National Monument.
The tractor was used by Ken Deardorff, a Californian and Vietnam War veteran who staked a homestead in 1974 along the Stony River. He received title to a final claim of nearly 50 acres in 1988 and is recognized as the nations last homesteader. (Congress repealed the 123-year-old Homestead Act in 1976 but extended the provisions another decade for Alaska.)
With cloth rags, shop towels and abrasive pads, the UNL students dabbed and rubbed mineral spirits on the tractors faded orange surface to take off the first layer of grime. They gently scrubbed around the magneto, along the engine block and around the air cleaner, generator and original Allis oil filter.
They poked picks and high-pressure air nozzles into crevices and cracks to clear dirt and debris, including an acorn and a pine cone. They washed the rubber tires.
Chuck Krueger of Pierce, Nebraska, a senior mechanical engineering student, applied fish glue amid the layers of the deteriorating plywood seat and clamped the pieces into place.
During the next few weeks, the cleaning and preservation will continue with denatured alcohol to kill all bacteria and an inhibitor to stabilize rust. Flaking paint will be secured.
The tractor will not be restored to its original factory condition but to its dirty-orange appearance when Deardorff purchased it used to clear tree stumps on his homestead.
Levitan told the students that the National Park Service uses artifacts to tell the story of history.
These are real things in real places, he said.
A chance to see tractor
The public unveiling of the 1945 Allis Chalmers tractor used by Americas last homesteader is scheduled for 2 p.m. Nov. 20 at Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska.
The tractor will be on permanent display at the Heritage Center.
Program details are pending
Small businesses are often forgotten in the political rhetoric about tax cuts.
I own a small business with six stores in the Omaha area. Many people dont know that we arent taxed at the corporate rate.
The profits earned are passed through to the owner and counted as individual income on their tax returns. That means many American small businesses are taxed at rates higher than many in the world, keeping us from expanding or rewarding our employees.
I see firsthand how the current tax code stifles growth and requires enormous time just spent on compliance.
Congress has an incredible opportunity to provide tax relief for individuals and small businesses and reduce cronyism in our overly complicated tax code.
I call on the Nebraska congressional delegation to maintain the following principles on tax reform: lower and simplify the individual tax rates, lower the pass-through and corporate rates, permit tax-free entrepreneurship and end cronyism.
Small business is the heart and soul of America. Perhaps our elected officials should start treating small business and entrepreneurs like they value them.
Mark Adamson, Omaha
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The federal government has dispatched one of the largest teams of disaster experts that California has seen in recent years to assist with the states firefighting efforts and what promises to be a long and expensive recovery in many spots.
Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that representatives from nearly a dozen agencies, from the Department of Defense to Health and Human Services, have joined state officials near Sacramento to assess Californias emergency needs and respond to them. FEMA also has consultants working in at least eight badly burned counties covered by President Trumps declaration of emergency earlier this week, including hard-hit Napa and Sonoma.
In addition to offering emergency funds for fire departments and residents who have lost a home or business, FEMA has sent several truckloads of supplies to people displaced by the fires an estimated 60,000 liters of water, 40,000 prepared meals, 40,000 blankets and 20,000 cots, officials said. The agency is also delivering generators and mobile communications equipment.
Most of the rations have come from warehouses maintained in the Bay Area for such emergencies, but already 20 tractor-trailers are en route from several eastern states in case more supplies are needed.
Now Playing: Federal and out-of-state help have began setting up in Northern California as wildfires continue to burn across the region. FEMA brought in trailers and tons of food to help people that have been displaced. Paramedics from across state lines are ready to help in rescue and recovery efforts. Video: KCRA
Better to have them on hand now then to say later, Gee, theyre three days away, said FEMA spokesman Frank Mansell.
FEMA teams have often assisted with California wildfires. Agency representatives also were on hand last winter when several counties experienced destructive flooding during heavy rainstorms. But the current response is one of the largest.
Since late Sunday, a series of wind-whipped fires has blackened 220,000 acres about 330 square miles throughout the state. At least 36 people have died in the Northern California blazes, which have destroyed thousands of homes. Most of the damage has been in Napa and Sonoma counties, with Santa Rosa among the worst-hit spots.
While FEMAs role so far has been to help assure that those who have lost a home are fed, clothed and sheltered, once the fires are out, the agency expects to assist with cleanup and rebuilding. It also plans to draw on the technical expertise of officials from the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.
FEMA will soon begin providing public assistance grants to communities that need to rebuild, which will pay 75 percent of the cost of constructing new infrastructure.
The agency has already approved grants to offset local firefighting costs at 10 of the recent wildfires, including the ones in Napa and Sonoma counties. FEMA representatives also have begun providing direct aid to residents and businesses in Napa and Sonoma.
The agency is working out of the State Operations Center in Mather (Sacramento County), which was activated to its highest emergency level this week by the Governors Office of Emergency Services.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has responded promptly to assist California in fighting these terrible fires, Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement. I appreciate the fast response from the president.
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
By PTI: Imphal, Oct 13 (PTI) At least 10 persons were injured when unidentified miscreants hurled a hand grenade at Tera Loukram Leirak area here tonight, police said.
Some people were preparing for an exhibition to be opened on Sunday when unidentified miscreants hurled the hand grenade at around 7 pm, they said.
The condition of one of the injured is critical while the rest are out of danger, said a doctor of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital here. PTI COR RG SRY
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Nobody at Kellys Filling Station is telling customers to have a nice day because, in Yountville, the days right now arent so nice.
Instead, barista Megan Fifield is telling one and all to stay safe out there, OK?
The customers these days are just as likely to be paramedics or first responders as ordinary folks, because a lot of the ordinary folks arent in Yountville any more.
Early Friday, the fire came to this Napa Valley town and firefighters in yellow suits fought furiously to hold it back. On their few breaks, they came to Kellys, the only place in town still serving lunch and hot beverages.
Now Playing: Cal Fire released an update map with burn areas and contaminate lines for the Atlas and Nuns Fires. Video: KCRA
Fifield serves coffee at the filling station, which is a high-end filling station because Yountville is a high-end town. The coffee drinks are made with espresso and Fifield puts squiggly patterns in the steamed milk. The coffee is expensive, the gas is expensive, the peanut butter cups (Justins, not Reeses) are expensive.
Early Friday, after nearly five days of being surrounded by fires to the north, east and west, Yountville found itself in the thick of the action. Fifield was trying to stay upbeat. Some of her customers no longer had a home or a job or both.
Im trying as best I can to stay positive for people because we dont know how this is going to end, Fifield said. Its hard. I live here, too. I want to worry, but what good is worrying going to do? So, I just come in here and try to be positive for everyone else.
Several vineyards were harvesting on Friday, despite the chaos surrounding them. Just visible through the smoke were farmworkers picking grapes and loading them into trucks.
Joe Tagliaboschi, the director of Yountvilles Public Works Department, ordered coffee Friday morning on his way to work. He joked about how much cleaning up he would have to do after the fires are out.
If I had a choice between fire and smoke, Ill take the smoke any day, Tagliaboschi said. Were good right now. But that could change.
Highway 29, the main thoroughfare through the Napa Valley, remained open to traffic. Motorists, some with their lights on, drove through the clouds of smoke. The signs of a wildfire firefight trucks, bulldozers, helicopters were all around.
The tourists were there, too. Not as many, because most of the places to visit were closed. Some visitors pulled their cars over at the Welcome to Napa Valley sign and snapped selfies with the sign and the smoke in the background.
There were no evacuation orders for nearby St. Helena on Friday. Vintner Josh Phelps, who lives in the small, upscale town, said most of his neighbors, especially those with families, have already left. In nearby Oakville, a nonmandatory evacuation order was issued overnight. By morning, most residents had fled, too.
The famed Oakville Grocery, founded in 1881, was closed. Its website thanked the community for its outpouring of support and said that its hours were unpredictable due to the constantly shifting conditions.
Plumes of smoke rising from the hills hung low over the valley, blanketing every open space.
Everyones getting a little scared, Phelps said. But Im confident well be OK.
At the north end of the valley, Calistoga remained under threat from the 34,770-acre Tubbs Fire, which was active about 2 miles from the city limits.
The town, under a mandatory evacuation order, was almost entirely empty. The few residents who stayed behind had been warned that they were on their own.
While the recent news on fire containment has been promising, the imminent threat remains the projected winds, according to a statement from Calistoga City Hall. We are hopeful but certainly not out of danger.
Its weird with no people, said city clerk Kathy Flamson.
Near Calistoga, spot fires and heavy smoke lined Highway 29. Fire hoses were strewn about the roadsides. In some spots, visibility was only a few feet.
Further south, crews streamed to the Soda Canyon Road area, where an active firefight was raging around noon. Police officers set up a roadblock at Silverado Trail and allowed only those residents whose homes were out of the fire zone to proceed, but only under escort.
Despite the latest flareup, residents and workers along Route 29 were allowing themselves a bit of hope for the first time in days, largely because of the latest official fire numbers. The Tubbs Fire, a 34,770-acre monster burning near Calistoga, was about 25 percent contained as of Friday morning. The Atlas Fire, which grew overnight to 48,228 acres, was about 27 percent contained. And the Adobe and Norrbom fires, to Napa Countys west near Glen Ellen, had merged into one fire called the Nuns, covering 44,381 acres that stood at about 5 percent containment.
At the 133-year-old Veterans Home of California, residents routines began returning to normal. People walked their dogs all around the sprawling green lawn. Some went into town for breakfast.
Albert Freitas, 96, was among those the Veterans Home attempted to evacuate late Tuesday as the wildfires crept closer to Yountville. But he said he didnt need to go, and the people in charge let him stay. Later, the center said only those residents in need of specialized care would be moved.
By Friday, Freitas was waiting for the bus to town as he did almost every day.
Ive been watching those fires on TV, he said. Im not worried. I dont think theyll come through here.
Marissa Lang, Trisha Thadani and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Marissa_Jae, @SteveRubeSF
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As fire raged all around them and smoke choked their lungs, Carmen and Armando Berriz had no choice but to cling to one another while immersed in a swimming pool behind their rented house on the north edge of Santa Rosa.
They held on through the long hours of the night, until the flames that had destroyed the house on the forested cul-de-sac finally began to recede, until the heat was no longer unbearable. And just before daybreak, just as the worst of the inferno had passed, Carmen Berriz stopped breathing. She died in the arms of her husband of 55 years.
Carmen Berriz, 75, of Apple Valley in San Bernardino County, was one of 31 victims of the fires that have swept through Northern California this week. She died on Monday as the Tubbs Fire raced from Calistoga west into Santa Rosa, surprising residents and firefighters. Her husband, 76, suffered serious burns but survived.
Everything they did was as a team, said daughter Monica Ocon in an interview Thursday, after the Sonoma County coroners office began to release names of some of the dead. They had this bond and this strength that literally lasted a lifetime.
The couple had been vacationing at a home on Crystal Court, at the top of a hill east of Highway 101 and above Santa Rosas Fountaingrove neighborhood, which would be devastated by the fires.
Courtesy Berriz family
Every year the Berrizes took a trip with their daughter and son-in-law, a combined Mothers Day-Fathers Day-birthday gift, to some wonderful place. This year the family chose Wine Country.
For three days, they toured wineries and lounged around the house, swimming in the backyard pool and enjoying the fine early autumn weather.
We had three of the best days ever, said son-in-law Luis Ocon. On Sunday, the Ocons daughter joined them, and they invited the owner of the house over for wine and appetizers. There was a lot of laughter.
How to Help and Get Help The Red Cross is organizing relief efforts in the North Bay. Evacuees trying to connect with family and friends should check the organization's Safe and Well website: www.redcross.org/safeandwell Community volunteers who want to help in relief efforts can sign up with the Red Cross: http://tinyurl.com/RedCrossVolOctober2017 Donations to help those affected by California wildfires and other disasters can be made at www.redcross.org. People can also call (800) 733-2767 or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. People needing information about a missing person in Sonoma County can call the county Fire and Emergency Services Department at (707) 565-3856. See More Collapse
It was around 1 a.m. Monday that Luis Ocon was awakened by something outside, maybe the wind. He looked out the window and saw, among the swaying trees, a glowing red ember falling to the ground.
It blew up, he said. It hit the ground and just blew up.
Instantly, flames licked toward the sky, lighting up trees and encircling the house. Luis Ocon woke his wife, his daughter and his in-laws. Everyone ran from the house in just the clothes theyd been sleeping in. Armando and Carmen Berriz managed to pull on shoes.
Outside, the family made a panicked scramble to their cars. Luis Ocon took the lead, then his wife and daughter in a second car. He saw his in-laws get into the third car and take off behind him.
The drive was horrifying. They were surrounded by fire and smoke so thick that Luis Ocon could hardly see in front of him, so he drove by the feel of the tires on the reflectors that bumped like braille down the middle of the road.
At the bottom of the hill he stopped, then ran to his wife when she pulled up. There they waited for her parents.
When no one arrived, he sent his wife and daughter farther down the hill to safety. Luis Ocon tried to drive back to find them, but he could only make it halfway up. The flames were too high, too hot. He feared the worst.
At the top of the hill, the Berrizes hadnt made it far. One, perhaps two houses down, Armando Berriz got stuck on a fallen tree. He turned to his wife and said they had to get back to the house. The pool, he told her. They had to get in the water.
Courtesy Berriz family
She trusted him. Armando and Carmen Berriz had known each other for more than 60 years, since they were children in Cuba. They fled the island nation separately in the 1950s, and exchanged letters and phone calls before marrying and settling in Southern California, where they raised their three children.
When Armando Berriz said to get in the water, she did. They ran from their car, through flame and smoke that seemed impenetrable, and jumped in.
The flames, Armando Berriz later told his daughter and son-in-law, were climbing 30 feet high. They engulfed the house and all the trees around it. The fire burned so hot it melted the chaise longues around the pool, and the wind whipped so hard that the furniture soared over their heads.
In the water, Armando Berriz kept them afloat by hanging onto the brick sides, which were hot as oven racks and burned the palms of his hands. His wife held onto him. They dipped as deep as they could get into the water, at times keeping only their noses and mouths, and Armando Berrizs hands, exposed.
When his wife stopped breathing, Armando Berriz held her still. He held her for hours, he later told his daughter and son-in-law.
The flames had burned out, and the smoke was clearing, when he let go. He carried her as best he could to the shallow water at the steps to the pool, and he crossed her arms over her chest. Hed lost a shoe at some point, and he quietly asked his wifes permission to borrow one of hers.
He walked 2 miles down the hill, past shells of houses and cars and the blackened stakes of trees, until he was found by firefighters who called his family and took him to safety.
They both made it through the worst of it, Monica Ocon said. That makes me so proud. They made it because they had each others strength.
Her mother always had problems with her lungs, Monica Ocon said, and it was her lungs that failed her. But she did what it took to get through the worst. She didnt give up.
Courtesy Berriz family
Safe at the bottom of the hill, Monica and Luis Ocon had spent a torturous night wondering what had become of the Berrizes. Luis Ocon had met a firefighter, Jason Novak with Cal Fire, while he was fleeing, and though Novak had made him leave, hed promised to look for the Berrizes. Hed taken Luis cell phone number and said he would call.
The Ocons dropped their daughter off at a friends house in Petaluma, then spent all night and all morning searching evacuation sites and hospitals.
A text came from Novak around 9 a.m. Monday telling them to come, right away, to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Monica Ocon ran inside, but her husband spotted the firefighter, who waved him over. The firefighter was just getting out of an emergency vehicle, and behind him, from the back of the truck, came Armando Berriz. hands and arms wrapped in gauze, face pocked with burns, but alive.
I was elated that he was coming out, Luis Ocon said. And I waited and I waited, and no one else came out behind him.
Luis paused, silent. My father-in-law is a hero, he said.
Armando Berriz spent a night in a burn unit in Southern California, and he suffered some smoke inhalation, but hes back at the home in Apple Valley he shared with his wife, and hes going to be OK, his family said.
Hes had a rough time, Luis Ocon said. But hes unbelievably strong.
Courtesy Berriz family
Carmen Berriz was born in Havana, where she lived until her family moved to Miami in 1958. She met her future husband when she was just 12 and he was 13, but they both knew they wanted to marry someday. After dating for years, they married in 1962, in Little Havana in Miami, and left the next day for California.
She worked for United Airlines in different jobs for 26 years before retiring, and then she and Armando Berriz traveled widely. This year alone theyd been to Iceland, Vietnam, Cambodia and all over Europe.
She was the heart of their family, Luis Ocon said.
She was an incredible mother, a phenomenal friend, a mentor to the family, he said. She was the glue that held everybody together. She was my wifes best friend.
In addition to her husband, her daughter Monica and her son-in-law Luis, Carmen is survived by another daughter, Carmen T. Berriz; son Armando J. Berriz and daughter-in-law Catherine Berriz; and seven grandchildren.
Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com
Anheuser-Busch, the AB InBev-owned producer of Budweiser, is donating two truckloads of canned water to the fire relief efforts underway in Northern California.
The brewery, which has a brewhouse in Fairfield, is sending a total of 100,000 cans to the affected areas to be distributed by the Red Cross.
Although it's not at risk of burning, Anheuser-Busch had to temporarily close their brewery in Fairfield this week due to air conditions, as the company told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday. "The heavy smoke in the area is making conditions difficult and the team has shut down operations until air quality improves," a spokesperson said.
RELATED: Budweiser suspends Fairfield brewing operations due to Wine Country fires
However, Anheuser-Busch reportedly tapped into one of their 12 other brewhouses in Georgia to send water west to California. Once it arrives, employees from the Fairfield brewhouse will coordinate distribution with the local Red Cross.
"We have a longstanding tradition of pausing beer production to produce clean, safe drinking water for those affected by natural disasters nationwide," a spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch tells SFGATE. "In these situations, putting our production and logistics strengths to work is the best way we can help, and something we are proud to do given the location of our Fairfield brewery, being in a position to help the communities of our friends and colleagues makes this donation even more meaningful for us."
This is not the first time Anheuser-Busch has sent cans of water to disaster-struck areas. Recently, the company delivered cans of water to the areas hit by Hurricane Harvey, and it's also sending 300,000 cans of water to Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Maria left some communities without safe drinking water.
Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.
First Baptist Church, on the corner of Washington and Sugnet, will present "A Festival of Hymns: The Writer's Tell Their Stories" by Hal Hopson during worship at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22.
The program is a unique festival service that features significant hymn writers through the ages, from the fourth through the 20th century, telling their stories in the first person. The musical presentation seeks to enhance the understanding of some of the world's classic hymns and their writers.
Music Director Jan Sutherland will be joined by the First Baptist Church Chancel Choir, as well as vocal soloists, handbells, percussion, a brass quartet and a guest organist in this special worship experience. The presentation is free and open to the public.
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DowDuPont Executive Chairman Andrew Liveris, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, Midland Mayor Maureen Donker and other community leaders got a first-hand look Friday at the new Central Park Elementary School.
"This school is a game-changer for the Midland community" and also is "part of a wider strategic push for STEM," Liveris said to about 90 local leaders gathered in the school's main lobby for what was billed as a celebration of public and private partnerships in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) elementary education.
The school, on the site where the original Midland High School and Central Middle School once stood, opened to students last month. The school's curriculum -- and its very design -- encourage students to embrace STEM concepts and hands-on learning.
"It's crucial that we bring STEM back into the core of learning and education," Liveris said, adding that "the whole school is a laboratory."
The attendees later toured the school's classrooms and adjacent "maker spaces," its common areas such as the media center, gym and cafeteria and its outdoor areas geared to teach STEM concepts as students play. Midland Public Schools closed Carpenter Street and Eastlawn elementary schools at the end of the 2016-17 school year and shifted their students to Central Park.
Liveris said there is a "bipartisan consensus" at the national level that STEM education is critical to address a "massive shortage" of workers with strong STEM skills.
"It's one of the greatest economic challenges we face as a nation," he said.
Students trained in STEM will be the ones who solve problems such as climate change and global food shortages and who find a cure for cancer, Liveris said.
Also on hand was Mike Whiting, president of the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, who said he was a "little bit wistful" as he recalled the Carpenter Street school. That building, where Whiting completed his elementary studies in 1969, will no longer be an elementary school but is likely to be used for other purposes. The former Eastlawn school is slated for demolition.
Whiting said his time at Carpenter "led to a lifelong interest in STEM," and he described an assignment in those days in which he gathered water samples that he brought back to school and viewed through a microscope.
"It led to a love of even the beauty of science," he said.
Whiting noted that the foundation he leads has donated $9.6 million to MPS through the years, $7 million of which has been STEM-related.
While he was trained as a chemical engineer, he said students who don't end up in an obvious STEM field also benefit from the STEM focus.
"You can pursue just about anything," Whiting said.
MPS Superintendent Michael Sharrow briefly described his "five-year journey" with the district, including the key development of the 2.9-mill bond proposal approved by voters in February 2015. Funds from that bond paid for construction of the school and numerous other improvements across the district.
"It has allowed us to bring all of our schools to 21st century standards," he said. The MPS STEM plan includes eventual implementation of a STEM curriculum in all schools.
He also praised local foundations, the City of Midland, the United Way, MidMichigan Health, the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio and other organizations for their contributions to MPS.
Schuette, like Whiting a graduate of Carpenter school, said it was a "signature day" for the community, which he called "a mosaic of lots of different people coming together with common goals."
"We're planting the seeds for growth," he said, adding that the new school and other STEM efforts would give students the "chance to experience the American dream."
Will he run for the Michigan Senate? Will he run for a third, and final, seat in the House? Friday, Rep. Gary Glenn, R-98th District, finally made official what's long been expected -- a possible run for Sen. Mike Green's seat.
"Among those I asked for counsel, the verdict was unanimous that the chance to serve eight years in the state Senate would allow me to have more impact on that issue and be of more value to mid-Michigan families, employers, and our economy than serving one remaining two-year term in the House," Glenn said in a release.
But, a campaign for the Senate is not a sure thing. There are many variables to consider as Glenn pursues a seat to represent the 31st Senate District, which comprises Bay, Lapeer and Tuscola counties. Green, R-Mayville, is in his second and final term of four years and has long been in line for a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development division for Michigan.
Glenn and his wife, Annette, have recently made a permanent move to western Bay County from their Midland County residence. The move means they now reside in the 31st Senate District, allowing Gary to represent that district. But, the new residence is also still in the 98th House District, which allows him to possibly represent the 98th House District should he fail in an attempt to succeed Green.
Depending on when, and if, Green vacates his seat, Gov. Rick Snyder could call for a special primary election to fill the vacancy. The special primary election would be followed by a special general election. Or, since 2018 is an election year with both the entire House and Senate up for grabs, Snyder might allow the senate seat to remain vacant until the November 2018 general election.
"I will run for the 31st Senate seat regardless of whether a special election is held," Gary Glenn said. "However, if a special election is held prior to the regular candidate filing deadline in April and if I lose that special election, I would then file to run for a third and final term in the House."
Should Glenn win election to the Michigan Senate, it has been rumored that Annette would attempt to succeed her husband as representative for the 98th House seat.
First elected in November 2014, Gary Glenn was chosen as "2014 Freshman Legislator of the Year" by Michigan Information and Research Service (MIRS). At the beginning of his second term, Glenn was appointed as chair of the House Energy Policy Committee.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter John Kennett.
Thursday, Oct. 12
5:27 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Mills Township residence in reference to a possible felonious assault between a 35-year-old man and his 33-year-old wife. The couple is separated and the man advised the woman drove a vehicle in his direction while she was at the residence. There were no injuries and a report is being sent to the prosecutor's office for review.
9:17 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Mount Haley Township residence for a report of a fraud complaint in which the victim had fraudulent checks deposited into her account, obtained cash for the checks, and then sent the suspect(s) the cash. Total cash defrauded is approximately $12,500.
9:43 p.m. -- A patrol vehicle struck a garbage can that was lying near the fog line of the roadway. The Midland Police Department completed a traffic crash report.
10:34 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Geneva Township roadway for a report of a man walking near the road trying to flag down traffic. The deputy checked the area but did not locate anyone.
10:38 p.m. -- A 74-year-old Lee Township woman called to report her car alarm going off. While a deputy was en route, the woman advised she might have bumped the keys when she was picking them up off the ground. The deputy checked the area and was unable to locate anyone outside.
11:11 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Hope Township roadway for a report of a man walking down the roadway causing a traffic hazard. The deputy made contact with a 27-year-old man who said he was looking for his dog that had jumped out of his truck. The deputy assisted the man in a search for the dog.
EDITOR'S NOTE -- OWI means operating while intoxicated. DWLS means driving while license suspended. (MC) is for Judge Michael D. Carpenter. (L) is for Magistrate Gerald Ladwig. (B) is for Circuit Judge Michael J. Beale. (SC) is for Circuit Judge Stephen P. Carras. Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentencings include other fees imposed by the state. Compiled by reporter Kelly Dame.
Beaverton
Jennifer Kay Mayberry, 38, allowing DWLS on Aug. 30, five days in jail with credit for two days, $125 fines and costs (MC).
Essexville
Justin Conrad Hankish, 23, two counts of embezzlement less than $200 from Aug. 1 to Aug. 5, 93 days in jail with all but 15 days suspended and credit for three days, $500 fines and costs, $190.95 restitution, one year probation, 25 hours community service, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars or Target, attend counseling as directed, make efforts to obtain full time employment (MC).
Hope
Shawn Wallace Edmonds, 29, impaired driving on May 13, 93 days in jail with all but five days suspended and credit for one day, $775 fines and costs, nine months probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC).
Midland
Justin Thomas Anlas, 23, Mill Street, impaired driving on March 9, 93 days in jail suspended with credit for one day, $675 fines and costs, nine months probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC).
Angel Bell, 37, South Poseyville Road, drunk and disorderly person on Aug. 2, 93 days in jail suspended with credit for two days, $200 fines and costs, six months probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC).
Sidney Howard Cohoon, 66, Rodd Street, impaired driving on May 23, two days in jail with credit for time served, $500 fines and costs (MC).
Cyrus Ray Estep, 22, East Isabella Road, second-degree retail fraud on Feb. 1, 18 days in jail with credit for time served, $125 fines and costs, $249.98 restitution (MC).
Christopher Thomas Flood, 36, Elgin Street, violation of instruction permit on Aug. 7, $275 fines and costs (L).
Yolanda Guadalupe Hernandez, 42, Wilder Road, disorderly person - disturbing the peace on June 4, two days in jail with credit for time served, $135 fines and costs (MC).
Amber Mari Hickerson, 30, South Eight Mile Road, DWLS on Sept. 7, two days in jail with credit for time served, $125 (MC).
Ulysses Gunnar Johnson, 25, East Shaffer Road, second-offesne OWI and two counts of fail to stop after a collision on Aug. 3, one year in jail with all but three weekends suspended with credit for four days, $1,225 fines and costs, one year probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC).
Wayne Bradford Shere, 42, Sam Street, DWLS on Aug. 6, $300 fines and costs (L).
Timothy James Turner, 25, Walter Court, operating with a high blood alcohol content, OWI and driving without insurance on June 3, 93 days in jail suspended with credit for 72 days, $242 fines and costs (MC).
Jerremy David-Benjamin Valadez, 25, Rosemary Court, DWLS on Aug. 7, $400 fines and costs (L).
Saginaw
Hozay Dawkins, 46, no proof of insurance on April 14, $210 fine (MC).
Sanford
Kenaniah Perris Cormier, 27, DWLS on Aug. 4, $500 fines and costs (L).
Scott Adam Kerns, 32, DWLS on Aug. 4, 22 days in jail with credit for time served, $125 fines and costs (MC).
Timothy Jake Marshall, 36, second-offense DWLS on June 15, 15 days in jail with credit for eight days, $125 fines and costs (MC).
By PTI: Chandigarh, Oct 14 (PTI) A day before the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll result, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dissolved its units in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts.
Punjab AAP state secretary Gulshan Chhabra said the decision was taken after extensive deliberations and feedback from the AAP state president and Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann, and co-state president and Sunam MLA Aman Arora.
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Chhabra said the new structural units of both districts will be announced after discussions with the party office bearers and the MLAs who campaigned in the recently concluded by-election. PTI CHS SNE BSA
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NORMAL A 22-year-old Bloomington man faces a list of traffic charges after he was accused of hitting multiple cars Friday night during a 4-mile trek through Normal.
No injuries were reported.
Zachary T. Willis was jailed in lieu of $150 after he appeared in court on Saturday.
Preliminary charges, all misdemeanors, include driving under the influence of alcohol, four counts of leaving the scene of an accident with vehicle damage; two counts of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident; three counts of leaving the scene of an accident and failing to give aid/information; and four counts of failure to report an accident.
Normal police said Willis first struck a vehicle around 6:51 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of Maxwell Park on Parkside Drive.
From there, police said he headed east on College Avenue, striking vehicles at Kingsley Street, near Grandview Drive, and elsewhere. At least three cars were hit; police said most were side-swiped, none flipped.
Police took Willis into custody after his vehicle stalled at Emerson and Towanda avenues, near Ewing Cultural Center.
By PTI: Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) Environmental activists in the city have launched Chipko movement to protect over 3,000 trees from being hacked in Aarey Colony to make way for the construction of Mumbai Metro carshed.
The activists of Aarey Conservation Group today along with scores of people and school children, held a peaceful protest by embracing the trees and appealed to the government to reconsider its decision to build a carshed in the only large green lung of the city.
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"There are seven other plots in the city where carshed can come up without destroying the ecological balance of the city. But Mumbai Metro Corporation officials are hellbent to cut 3,500 trees and now they have started excavation work and soon they are going to hack the trees.
"So we decided to show our affection with the innocent trees by launching the Chipko (embracing) movement in the Aarey Colony," said Stalin Dayanand, the convener of NGO Vanashakti.
Dayanand added, "It is not Metros construction, but it is Metros (Mumbais) destruction which MMRC is doing without getting permission from the agencies.
"National Green Tribunal has clearly said that Metro Act can not be above the Environment Protection Act, but MMRC is brazenly violating the rules."
He alleged that MMRC has falsely made different affidavits in different agencies to cut the trees.
Dayanand said, "MMRC stated in High Court that it will cut only 250 trees whereas in NGT, it said that only 500 trees will be hacked. But, shockingly here on ground zero in Mumbai, it has come up with the tender to hack 3,500 trees."
Meanwhile, noted lyricist Piyush Mishra, who too is batting for the green cover in the Aarey Colony, has compiled a video song to sensitise people and the government to protect the trees.
Mishra said that it is the high time to do something to save the green tract of the city.
"We can breathe in Mumbai, because of green tract like Aarey in our city, and therefore, it is our responsibility to protect them (trees) from being hacked in the name of development.
"In western countries, people treat trees like God or saviour and see what we are doing. Why dont they build carshed at other convenient places?" Mishra told PTI over phone.
The state government has demarcated a portion of Aarey land for setting up the carshed for the Metro-3 corridor which has been the rootcause of controversy between green activists and the nodal agency MMRC.
Reacting to the developments, MMRC, said there was no restraining order from NGT on undertaking any construction work at Aarey and it has not initiated any tree cutting activity in Aarey as of now.
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A MMRC spokesperson said, "Being a responsible government organisation, we always ensure that permission of MCGMs Tree Authority, which is the competent authority to grant permission for tree cutting, is taken."
"We also reiterate that hacking will not be initiated till we receive approval from the Tree Authority," he said. PTI APM RMT RYS
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NORMAL Johnny Appleseed has taken root in Normal.
A sapling grafted from the last known surviving tree planted by John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed, was planted Friday in the Refuge Food Forest in Normal.
The Illinois State Historical Society acquired enough saplings for each county in the state. The McLean County Museum of History purchased a tree to commemorate the states bicentennial anniversary in 2018.
Johnny Appleseed is sort of an iconic character. We assume oftentimes hes just legend and lore, but he was an actual, historical character and he did come through Illinois, said Bill Kemp, archivist and librarian at the museum.
According to the Starhill Forest Arboretum, Chapman planted apple nurseries in the early 19th century in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, using apple seeds from a cider mill near his hometown in Pennsylvania.
He sold trees to settlers and planted seeds during his travels across the Midwest. The last known surviving tree planted by Johnny Appleseed was in Nova, Ohio, which is where the Normal sapling was grafted.
Grafting occurs when a branch is snipped from a mature tree and connected with another tree's root system to create a small sapling.
Bill Davison, local food systems and small farms educator with the University of Illinois Extension, helped the history museum pick a spot for the tree in Normal.
It will probably start producing apples in three to four years, but were not sure what kind yet. Part of the point of this project is to expose people to more diversity in their food. These apples will probably have a flavor unlike any modern apple you buy in the grocery store, said Davison.
Kemp said the other aspect of the sapling is to get people thinking about the state bicentennial.
The official founding date for the state was Dec. 3, 1818.
The state is in such disarray between finances and politics, so theyre not doing much to celebrate 200 years of Illinois history. That leaves local heritage groups, like the McLean County Museum of History, and other nonprofit groups to pick up the slack, he said.
Kemp said the museum is developing educational programs for the bicentennial, including presentations on Native Americans, flora and fauna and early settlers to McLean County. The county wasn't founded until 1830.
The new programs will start rolling out in January, said Kemp.
I didn't realize apple trees can produce fruit for many decades," said Kemp. "One of the ideas was that perhaps for the state tricentennial, 100 years from now, people could come here and pick fruit from this full-grown, old apple tree. Hopefully people will watch it grow for many years."
Water from three wells at a hazardous-waste site in Dorado, Puerto Rico, is safe for human consumption, according to tests conducted for CNN by a university lab.
The Santa Rosa well on the Superfund site, from which water has been distributed by the Puerto Rican water utility, contained only trace amounts of PCE, an industrial chemical, according to the tests run by the Virginia Tech Water Quality Lab. The other two wells at the Dorado Superfund site, called Maguayo 2 and Maguayo 4, showed no signs of industrial contamination.
The EPA has taken samples from wells at the Superfund site and has said results are forthcoming.
Marc Edwards, the professor at Virginia Tech who conducted the tests for CNN, said the low level of contamination put even the Santa Rosa well safely within clean drinking water standards. All three wells are safe, he said. "I would drink" this water, he told CNN on Thursday.
"This water you sent me is meeting all federal safe drinking water standards," said Edwards. "How that happened? It could be the way the water flows on the ground (that's) not bringing contamination from the Superfund site to the well. Or maybe they are using some sort of treatment technology."
Edwards is an environmental engineer and water quality specialist who also conducted testing on water in Flint, Michigan.
Last week, CNN reported locals had been drinking from at least two wells on the Dorado Groundwater Contamination Site, west of San Juan, the capital. That area was designated as a Superfund site by the US Environmental Protection Agency in September 2016.
"Sampling at the site has found chemical contamination that is impacting wells used to supply drinking water to the local communities," the EPA said at the time. "Drinking water with the solvents, which include tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene, can have serious health impacts including damage to the liver and increasing the risk of cancer."
This island was pummeled by Hurricane Maria on September 20, leaving about 1 million people without running water, even more than one month after the storm. CNN talked to locals who said they were desperate for water and were willing to take what they perceived as risks by drinking water from a location designated as a hazardous-waste site by the government.
The tests by Virginia Tech were not conducted according to the strictest of protocols. CNN producers collected water samples on Sunday in glass Perrier bottles and shipped them, in a cooler with ice, from Puerto Rico to the lab in Virginia. In the absence of specialized equipment in a disaster zone, the crew used alternate methods suggested by Edwards.
An unopened bottle of Perrier was sent for testing to control for any contamination.
These methods may produce slightly cleaner results than normal, Edwards said, but the levels of contamination were so low that they do not concern him.
The Santa Rosa well showed 0.7 parts per billion of PCE, the industrial contaminant, which is also known as tetrachloroethylene, Edwards said. Drinking water standards in the United States say water is safe below 5 parts per billion, he said.
The lab did not test for bacteria, which is another concern after hurricanes. But the samples showed levels of chlorine, a disinfectant, that make Edwards confident they are safe.
Following Hurricane Maria, some Puerto Ricans have resorted to bathing in rivers and mountain streams; collecting rainwater to flush toilets; and drinking from potentially risky sources.
Jason Morris and Lorraine Martinez contributed to this report.
Last week, Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign fund transferred $4.45 million to the Illinois Republican Party to bankroll a new effort to focus voters' attention on House Speaker Michael Madigan.
The state party unveiled its "2018 Madigan Retirement Plan," which it claimed was designed to "specifically target members of the Illinois House and Senate who empower their political boss, Mike Madigan." The party said the governor's money would supply "unprecedented support to local GOP organizations by providing innovative grassroots tools, enhanced digital and data integration, and targeted support for local Republican candidates in an effort to defeat Democrats at every level who empower their party leader, Mike Madigan."
A few things are going on here. First, "Blame Madigan" has been Rauner's main theme song since the 2014 campaign. This is a continuation of that effort. It has worked in the past, so they're betting it'll work again.
Second, talking about Madigan means he can deflect attention from his own problems.
And that brings us to the third reason. The governor is being criticized loudly and harshly by members of his own party for signing HB40 into law, which legalized taxpayer-funded abortions. Shoveling some cash out the door, or at the very least holding the cash out there as a potential carrot, might help calm some tempers. Running it through the state party means there are no direct Rauner fingerprints on the money, so accepting it gives Republican candidates and organizations some deniability. Not much, but some. They can just say the new cash in their accounts is all about defeating that bad ol' Madigan.
But Republicans are now being asked whether they're supporting Gov. Rauner's reelection.
When Christian County Republican Party Chairman Seth McMillan announced he would run against Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, last week, he was asked where he stood on the intra-party schism. According to the Decatur Herald & Review, McMillan said he would support whoever won the primary and stated, "Right now, I support the governor's re-election."
Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, was asked during a local radio talk show last week whether he was endorsing Rauner's reelection.
"Asking me, 'Would I still support the governor?' I'd have to know who's running," Brady said, later clarifying that the governor hadn't yet asked for his endorsement.
As the numerous Republican legislative primaries start heating up between incumbents and others supported by the establishment and those backed by conservative activist Dan Proft and his cohorts, the Rauner questions will naturally become more frequent.
Most Republicans with far-right primary opponents can't embrace the governor, for obvious reasons. And if they embrace Rauner's primary opponent they could risk losing out on the so-called "Retire Madigan" money. Attempting to remain neutral comes with its own likely risks.
Once it became clear to the Democrats that there could be no budget deal with the governor, the plan was to drag him down to a point where he was almost as unpopular as Speaker Madigan.
Republicans will undoubtedly be put on the spot with questions next fall about whether they can remain independent of an unpopular governor with a reputation as a control freak who backs that up with a fat wallet.
What goes around comes around, I suppose.
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Trump's Speech on Iran: Warmed-Over Rejectionism
10/14/17
By Paul Pillar (source: LobeLog)
Donald Trump's speech on Iran is the latest chapter in his struggle to reconcile his overriding impulse to destroy any significant achievements of his predecessor with the fact that the most salient of those achievements in foreign policy-the Iran nuclear agreement or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-is working. The agreement is fulfilling its objective of keeping closed all paths to an Iranian nuclear weapon. As international inspectors have repeatedly determined, Iran is fulfilling its obligations under the agreement.
The struggle for Trump is more difficult on Iran policy than with the Affordable Care Act, where Trump has been using his own executive actions to destroy directly what he has denigrated. However painful his actions on health care are to American citizens who are adversely affected, there is no international multilateral agreement that his direct destruction violates. With health care there are no equivalents to the senior national security officials in his administration who have been telling him what a bad idea abrogation of the JCPOA would be.
With those adults uncomfortably restraining him, Trump is turning to Congress to square the circle between impulse and reality, to do what the adults are advising him not to do, and to come up with an Iran strategy that is markedly different from what previous administrations have done. Neither the brief boilerplate in his speech about countering Iran's "destabilizing activity" and conventional weapons development nor the paper labeled as a "new strategy on Iran" that the White House released shortly before the speech provides such a strategy. Most of the paper could have been written in either of the previous two administrations and probably in any of the previous half dozen.
Iranian Compliance
The issue of Iranian compliance with the JCPOA is where the dissonance Trump is experiencing, in the face of the International Atomic Energy Agency's confirmation of that compliance, is most acute. Trump's speechwriters went to the usual wells tapped by longtime opponents of the JCPOA who have tried to find any possible source for claiming an Iranian violation. There was mention of heavy water, without any mention that in the two instances in which its supply of heavy water bumped up against the agreed-upon limits Iran promptly did exactly what it is supposed to do under the agreement, which is to sell or otherwise dispose of the excess. Nor was there any mention that, given Iran's reconfiguration of its heavy-water reactor at Arak and permanent obligation under the JCPOA not to reprocess spent fuel, the heavy water does not represent a proliferation concern.
Trump also asserted that Iran had "intimidated international inspectors," a line which evidently hinges on some Iranian rhetorical bravado about not giving foreigners the run of their country and which continues a theme pushed by Nikki Haley intended to foster the belief that Iran is denying inspectors access to suspect sites. Neither Trump nor Haley has provided a shred of evidence that there has been any such denial, or that the procedures under JCPOA for inspection of nondeclared as well as declared sites are not working well.
The key to reality as far as Iranian compliance is concerned can be found in Trump's own speech. When he announced that he was withholding certification under the terms of the legislation governing congressional review, he explicitly said that he was doing so on the basis of the clause in the legislation that does not pertain to Iranian compliance but instead refers to whether sanctions relief is still "appropriate and proportionate" to the benefits from the JCPOA. If the administration had genuine grounds for claiming Iranian noncompliance, Trump surely would have invoked the clauses in the law that instead refer to whether Iran is meeting its obligations.
Familiar Opposition Themes
Trump also went to the usual wells in complaining about "flaws" in the JCPOA. Also as usual, the implicit comparison was with a mythical, impossible-to-achieve pact, with no attention given to what the real negotiating possibilities were when the JCPOA was laboriously hammered out or what those possibilities are now. This was true, for example, of what Trump said about the "sunset" provisions. He disregarded the key considerations about these provisions, including how the most important elements of the agreement never expire and how whether such restrictions remain in place will depend more on how all the parties to the JCPOA see their interests years from now (including whether the United States lives up to its commitments) than on the fine print of a past agreement.
Most important about the sunset clauses is that if the JCPOA were killed, the relevant restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities would vanish right away, not 10 or 20 years from now. This fact makes especially ironic Trump's closing threat that if Congress doesn't somehow come up with legislation to his liking, and other parties to the JCPOA do not-contrary to every indication those parties have been giving-bend to whatever it is Trump wants, then "the agreement will be terminated." If he really is worried about those sunset clauses, then this threat is akin to committing suicide because of fear of death.
The entire speech was filled with what is hoary, well rehearsed, and well refuted. This was true of Trump's efforts to encourage other misconceptions about the JCPOA, including the favorite one among opponents that Iran got its benefits "up front" before fulfilling most of its obligations. In fact, the reverse was true, with Iran having to dismantle centrifuge cascades, dilute enriched uranium, gut its reactor, and take most of the steps it was required to take to close pathways to a nuclear weapon before it got an ounce of additional sanctions relief. Besides the outright falsehoods, there was hardly a syllable of recognition in the speech that what is one of the most significant nuclear nonproliferation agreements in recent years had accomplished anything at all.
The first portion of Trump's speech was a play to the emotions that consisted of a recitation of bad things Iran had done through the years, dating back to the hostage crisis of almost 40 years ago and featuring terrorist attacks by Iranian-supported groups in the 1980s. One need not disagree that there were indeed many reprehensible Iranian deeds during those years to note the misrepresentations in the speech. Trump tried to tie Iran to al-Qaeda (evidently relying on the fact of some al-Qaeda members having been in Iran, in a status that probably was most like house arrest) and its attacks, including the attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa. That sort of linkage has as much validity as George W. Bush alleging an "alliance" between the Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda as one of the selling points for launching the Iraq War.
Missing from Trump's bill of historical particulars about Iranian conduct was any sense of the possibility or desirability of regimes changing their conduct-partly through an evolution in their own perception of self-interest and partly through inducements, which is what the JCPOA is all about in keeping Iran from building nuclear weapons. Also missing was any reference to the responsibility of other players for much of the mayhem involved (as with the Saudi-led, U.S.-supported war in Yemen).
Missing as well was any genuine connection between all of the recited reasons to dislike Iran and a rationale for Trump undermining the JCPOA. Trump offered the usual assertions about unfrozen assets that Iran "could use to fund terrorism" while offering no reason to believe that the level of what is unfrozen has anything to do with the level of Iran's activity outside its borders. Trump even used the chestnut about a payment by the Obama administration to Iran in the form of pallets of cash-without mentioning, of course, that this payment was settlement of an old claim involving aircraft that Iran under the shah had ordered but the United States never delivered, and that cash was used because Iran was still frozen out of Western banking systems.
Empty Strategy
Although Trump claimed to be offering an entirely new strategy on Iran and not just making a statement about the JCPOA, something else that was missing was any reason to believe that his administration has new and better ideas to do anything about non-nuclear Iranian actions, whether missiles, terrorism, or anything else. Neither in this speech nor on other occasions has Trump shown any awareness of the need to look at the reasons the other state is doing what it is doing, how this fits in with what other states are doing, and what incentives would be required to elicit any changes.
Trump referred repeatedly in his speech to the "Iranian dictatorship." There was no hint of recognition that the Iranian regime is currently one of the more democratic ones in the Middle East (and much more so than some other regimes in the region that Trump prefers to associate with). There was no acknowledgement that the JCPOA was negotiated with the government of a popularly elected Iranian president who won re-election over hardline opposition partly because of the promise of better relations, including economic relations, with the West under the JCPOA.
The misrepresentations in the speech were too numerous to catalog entirely, but one of the biggest was Trump's assertion that "the previous administration lifted sanctions just before what would have been the complete collapse of the regime." There is no evidence whatsoever that the Iranian regime was on the brink of any such collapse. Piling on more and more sanctions in the absence of engagement and diplomacy had merely seen the spinning of more and more centrifuges enriching uranium. This line in the speech points to the vacuity of what Trump is offering for a policy toward Iran: endless hostility and confrontation, and with it the risk of war, sustained by a baseless hope of regime change-a hope that has brought costs and chaos that the United States knows all too well.
Photo: Donald Trump (by Gage Skidmore via Flickr).
About the author:
Paul R. Pillar is Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Studies of Georgetown University and an Associate Fellow of the Geneva Center for Security Policy. He retired in 2005 from a 28-year career in the U.S. intelligence community. His senior positions included National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia, Deputy Chief of the DCI Counterterrorist Center, and Executive Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence. He is a Vietnam War veteran and a retired officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. Dr. Pillar's degrees are from Dartmouth College, Oxford University, and Princeton University. His books include Negotiating Peace (1983), Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy (2001), Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy (2011), and Why America Misunderstands the World (2016).
U.S. Allies Back Iran Deal Despite Trump's Tough Talk
10/14/17
Source: RFE/RL
U.S. allies and other countries have weighed in on U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to abandon a nuclear deal between global powers and Iran, saying they will continue to back the agreement.
Source: Iran Today daily
Trump, in a long-awaited Iran-policy speech on October 13, vowed to step up pressure on Iran, assailing Tehran as a "rogue regime" and threatening to walk away from the deal if what he called "serious flaws" are not fixed.
The American president slammed Tehran for what he said are violations of the "spirit" of the agreement, in part for its continued testing of ballistic missiles and its support for extremists in the Middle East.
"While the United States adheres to our commitment under the deal," he said, "the Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict, terror, and turmoil throughout the Middle East and beyond."
In the 2015 deal, signed during the U.S. presidency of Barack Obama, Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Other signatories to the accord are Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany.
Trump stopped short of renouncing the accord, but refused to certify Iran's compliance and said he would ask Congress to strengthen a U.S. law to put additional pressure on Tehran and deny it a "path" to develop nuclear weapons.
In reaction to Trump's speech, U.S. allies Britain, France, and Germany reinforced their stance in favor of maintaining the hard-won deal, which they said was "in our shared national security interest."
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the nuclear deal a "robust agreement" that is working and cannot be terminated by any one leader.
"The president of the United States has many powers. Not this one," she added.
"#IranDeal pillar of non-proliferation. It delivers and belongs to international community. No single country can terminate it" @FedericaMog pic.twitter.com/2bCX9YhNbP EU External Action (@eu_eeas) October 13, 2017
"We encourage the U.S. administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the U.S. and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the [accord], such as reimposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement," the leaders of France, Britain, and Germany warned in a joint statement.
The statement was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Iran Deal neutralises their nuclear programme pic.twitter.com/yaYDosFwMB Foreign Office (@foreignoffice) October 13, 2017
In a separate statement, Macron said he reassured Iranian President Hassan Rohani that France remained committed to the nuclear deal.
Macron also said he is considering visiting Iran after speaking by phone with Rohani, the Elysee presidential office said October 13.
"A trip to Iran by the president, at the invitation of President Rohani, has been considered," the Elysee said. The Iranian presidential website said the visit would happen next year.
In response to Trump's speech, Rohani said in a televised address that the United States is "standing against an international treaty" and that it would lead to Washington's isolation.
"Today, the United States is more than ever opposed to the nuclear deal and more than ever against the Iranian people," Rohani said.
The Iranian leader added that as long as Iran's interests are preserved, Tehran will remain with the deal, and he rejected the inclusion of any new clauses to the agreement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led the Iranian negotiations with the world powers which resulted in the 2015 agreement, blasted Trump's use of the phrase "Arabian Gulf" rather than "Persian Gulf" during the speech.
"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too," Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to the U.S. alliance with Iran's regional rival, Saudi Arabia.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said it was "extremely troubling" that Trump was raising questions that had been settled when an international deal on Iran's nuclear program was signed, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Ryabkov also played down the suggestion that changes could be made to the accord, saying, "I have big doubts regarding these proposals," Interfax reported.
"Adding something to this document now, changing something in it, in my view, would be extremely problematic, to put it mildly," he added.
China has not reacted since Trump's speech but previously called on Washington to preserve the agreement.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he "strongly hopes" the deal will remain in place, while the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, said Trump's decision undermines a nuclear agreement that is working and makes nuclear proliferation more likely.
John Kerry, the former U.S. secretary of state who negotiated the deal, accused Trump of "creating an international crisis" and said it is now up to the other parties to the deal as well as the U.S. Congress to be "the adults in the room" and keep the deal from falling apart.
Saudi Arabia, a major Middle East rival of the Iranian government, said it supports Trump's "firm strategy" and "aggressive policy" toward Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also praised the U.S. president's decision, calling it a "courageous" and "bold" move.
Trump also announced "tough sanctions" on Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for what he called its support for war and terror abroad, a move Tehran warned would bring a "proportionate response" from its side. The president did not, however, designate the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization.
During his campaign and into his presidency, Trump has consistently blasted the nuclear deal, calling it the worst-ever accord negotiated by the United States and an "embarrassment."
Although he did not pull out of the accord, the president did threaten to walk away from it later if his administration -- working with Congress and U.S. allies -- cannot eliminate the deal's "many serious flaws."
Among the flaws, Trump cited the so-called sunset clauses in the nuclear accord that set expiration dates for some nuclear restrictions against Tehran and said he would work to remove them from the agreement.
"In just a few years, as key restrictions disappear, Iran can sprint toward a rapid nuclear weapons breakout," Trump said. "We got weak inspections in exchange for no more than a purely short-term and temporary delay in Iran's path to nuclear weapons."
"In the event that we cannot reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated.... Our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time," he asserted.
Under U.S. law, the president is required every 90 days to certify whether Iran is complying with the terms of the nuclear deal.
Trump said that, "based on the factual record, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror, and a very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakout."
To help counter Iran's actions, Trump said he will call on Congress to strengthen a U.S. law -- known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) -- which runs alongside the nuclear deal and was passed by Congress in response to the international nuclear agreement.
U.S. officials said Trump would ask lawmakers to set "firm trigger points" related to Iran's nuclear- and ballistic-missile programs, the crossing of which would immediately and automatically reimpose sanctions against Iran.
The Republican-controlled Congress will have 60 days to consider any amendments to INARA.
Along with amending it. Trump announced further nonspecific goals as part of his "new strategy to address the full range of Iran's destructive actions."
He said the United States will work with allies to counter Iran's "destabilizing activity" and support for "terrorist proxies," place additional sanctions on Tehran to block its financing of terror, and address the "regime's proliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten its neighbors."
U.S. officials said any sanctions reimposed under INARA would not necessarily remove the United States from the multilateral nuclear accord.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is responsible for certifying the multilateral nuclear deal, disputed Trump's claim that inspection processes are weak, saying that "at present, Iran is subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime." IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano insisted that Iran has been implementing its commitments under the agreement.
"The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented": IAEA DG Yukiya Amano#IranDeal @iaeaorg pic.twitter.com/ZcNmJvvtsx Project Ploughshares (@ploughshares_ca) October 14, 2017
Senator Bob Corker (Republican-Tennessee), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump's proposed changes would not remove the United States from the nuclear accord and that he expects to introduce the INARA amendments within two weeks.
He added that he expects one of the amendments to change the certification requirement from every 90 days to every 180 days.
Representative Eliot Engel (Democrat-New York), who voted against the nuclear deal in 2015, said Trump's plan "doesn't make sense."
"Negotiating additional terms to the nuclear deal requires a coalition of international partners, not unilateral congressional action," said the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. To ensure that, we must strictly enforce the nuclear deal, work to lengthen its sunset provisions, and hold Iran's feet to the fire on the regime's other bad behavior," he added.
But House Speaker Paul Ryan (Republican-Wisconsin), said the nuclear deal negotiated during the Obama administration was "fatally flawed" and that he supported Trump's decision to reexamine the accord.
Influential Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona), often a Trump critic, said in a statement that "the goals President Trump presented in his speech today are a welcomed, long overdue change."
"For years, the Iranian regime has literally been getting away with murder. Meanwhile, the United States has lacked a comprehensive strategy to meet the multifaceted threat Iran poses," McCain said.
Mara Karlin, a former senior U.S. Defense Department official involved in policy, strategy, and planning for Middle East affairs under both Democratic and Republican administrations, said Trump's actions represented "a lot of bluster with not a lot of change."
"It seems as though we went through this giant hullabaloo, where the president was threatening to tear up this deal, per his political promises throughout the election and afterward," she told RFE/RL. "And instead, what he's choosing to do is really defer his power to Congress."
"So the Washington story is this is a diminution of executive power. The Europe story is the European allies have been really put through the ringer for not terribly much," she added.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Mark Najarian and Mike Eckel, AP, Reuters, and AFP
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has dismissed suggestions that last Saturday's deadly gas explosion was ignited by the charcoal grill of a khebab seller.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Prince Billy Anaglatey determining the cause of the fire should be left to technical persons such as the GNFS to investigate.
He explained that having a khebab seller around the scene of the gas leakage does not mean that was the cause of the inferno because there were other factors such as the direction and speed of the wind at play.
"I saw people coming out with the cause of the fire and I want to say that to determine the cause of the fire should be left to we the technical people to determine what exactly the cause is.
"It is wrong, I saw on social media they were saying that it was even a khebab seller who has caused that".
Source: Daily Graphic
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
Featured Video
Indonesian President Joko Widodo walked for several kilometers in scorching heat this week after his motorcade got stuck in a major traffic jam.
In an almost unimaginable scenario for most world leaders -- accustomed to traveling on wide open streets secured by police Widodo and his entourage were forced to walk 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in Cilegon on Thursday to attend a military event.
Widodo was scheduled to participate in a parade marking the 72nd anniversary of the country's defense forces in Banten province -- about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Jakarta.
"I asked how far we still had to go. 'Three kilometers, sir,' the driver answered. Well, I then got off the car. I had better walk," Widodo told reporters, according to the state-run Antara News. It said he opted to walk after waiting for 30 minutes in his car.
Following the President's cue, several high-level officials, including the defense minister and the chief of staff, took to the pavement.
Indonesia is notorious for heavily-congested streets, especially in the capital of Jakarta, where short drives can take hours.
Source: CNN
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
Featured Video
The thief who stole the iconic blue WangonR once used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is believed to have taken the car out on a joyride, Delhi Police said.
The WagonR once used by Arvind Kejriwal was recovered in Ghaziabad (PTI photo)
By India Today Web Desk: The iconic blue WagonR, once used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was recovered today in Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad.
While police did not manage to find the thief inside the car, they recovered a far more surprising item - a sword. Police also said that they suspect the thief took the car out on a "joyride".
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Cops are clueless about how and why the sword was inside the car. A Delhi Police spokesperson said that the blue WagonR, which shot to fame along with Arvind Kejriwal during the Delhi Assembly election, will be sent for a forensic examination.
Initial leads, the spokesperson said, indicate that Kejriwal's car was not stolen by professional thieves but was taken by someone for a "joyride".
The car, which was currently being used by an Aam Aadmi Party leader, was stolen earlier this week from outside the Delhi Secretariat. The WagonR, Delhi Police said, was parked in a no-parking zone from where the thief stole the vehicle.
Cops were able to track the stolen WagonR route, the Delhi Police spokesperson said. The car took the Delhi Noida Direct flyway and was last seen in Ghaziabad's Mohan Nagar.
Following this, Delhi Police officials informed their colleagues in Ghaziabad who then traced the car to somewhere in Mohan Nagar.
Blue Wagon R car which was earlier used by Arvind Kejriwal and had been stolen on Oct 12 has been recovered from Ghaziabad pic.twitter.com/MFgvvrUdWe- ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
The thief who stole Kejriwal's WagonR remains unidentified. While Kejriwal was not personally using the car anymore, he did use the theft to take a dig at Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
"My Wagon-R car was stolen outside the Delhi Secretariat. My car getting stolen is a small matter. But the fact that it went missing outside the Delhi Secretariat reflects the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi", Kejriwal said in a letter to Baijal.
He went on to take a jibe at the Delhi Police, saying that upon receiving his letter, the police will try to paint a rosy picture of law and order in the city by sharing favourable statistics.
Ironically enough, while talking about the recovery of Kejriwal's WagonR, the Delhi Police spokesperson said, "The number of cars stolen in Delhi this year has reduced compared to the previous year. More cars have been recovered (this year). 3,253 (car theft-related) arrests have been made."
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The car, along with Kejriwal himself, made headlines when the AAP boss traveled 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.
Kejriwal gave up the car sometime ago and it was currently being used by Vandana Singh, the AAP's media coordinator.
(With inputs from Arvind Ojha in New Delhi)
--- ENDS ---
A rescue ship docked in Sicily with 606 migrants picked up in less than two days off the Libyan coast.
According to Aid group SOS Mediterranee, the migrants are from over 20 different countries in Africa and the Middle East. They include 241 children and 11 pregnant women.
Many of the women from sub-Saharan Africa said they had suffered sexual abuse. Some of the migrants are malnourished, the group reports. Fifty had fled to Libya from war-torn Syria. But violence also plagues Libya. The flow of irregular migrants to southern Europe via the Mediterranean is well below the 2016 level.
At the moment, Italy is struggling to cope, as most migrants now take the perilous central Mediterranean route from Libya. The Syrians taken aboard the Aquarius rescue ship include entire families and two women in the ninth month of pregnancy. The ship is now in Palermo, where the migrants face a long screening process, to determine who among them can legitimately claim asylum.
The migrants' countries of origin include Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia and Yemen. SOS Mediterranee said the proportion of children rescued - about four in every 10 migrants was the highest to date
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Moody's Analytics has ranked Philadelphia and Pittsburgh among the top five potential Amazon HQ2 cities after analyzing data in five broad categories.
The company's analysts said they considered business environment, human capital, cost, quality of life and transportation to develop their rankings.
Philadelphia ranked third, and Pittsburgh fifth. Austin Texas ranked first. However, analysts said that when geography was included in their analysis, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh moved up the list to first- and second-place, due to their access to the northeast corridor and Washington, D.C., as well as the number of Amazon fulfillment centers located in Pennsylvania.
Moody's said it only considered metropolitan areas with a population of one million people or more. Both cities have submitted bids for the company's second headquarters.
Lawmakers and other officials have raised questions about President Donald Trump's nominee as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Trump nominated Penn State University graduate and current AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers to the position of undersecretary of Commerce and head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to a news release.
Myers is a Pennsylvania native who earned undergraduate and master's degrees at Penn State and a law degree from Boston University. He also spent nearly 20 years as an associate professor in Penn State's Smeal College of Business.
The Washington Post reports that Myers' appointment breaks from the recent precedent of scientists leading the agency.
NOAA oversees the National Weather Service, conducts and funds weather and climate research, operates weather satellites and a climate data center, and monitors and protects the nation's coasts, oceans and fisheries.
Myers' supporters told The Washington Post that his background in business makes him a strong candidate for the position. Some supporters expressed hope that his background would be used to help modernize NOAA.
"Barry brings with him an outstanding record as a leader and manager as well as many years of experience in all aspects of meteorology," said Vice Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator under George W. Bush, in the report.
"No NOAA administrator has been willing to make the substantial, but necessary, changes," Cliff Mass, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, told "Science" magazine. "Is it possible that an outsider from the private sector might consider a fresh approach?"
Others, however, raise questions about a potential conflict of interest.
In 2005, AccuWeather and Meyers supported legislation from U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum that would stop the service from making daily forecasts in areas where it was competing head-to-head with private companies, and instead require it to concentrate on gathering data and issuing forecast guidance and severe weather warnings.
Myers argued at the time that the weather service duplicates services provided for free on television, radio and Web sites, and hinders the growth of the private weather industry.
Myers also said at the time the weather service duplicates services provided for free on television, radio and Web sites, and hinders the growth of the private weather industry.
The Center for Responsive Politices reported at the time that AccuWeather employees contributed more than $5,000 to Santorum in five years up to that point. Myers contended at the time that a $5,000 donation does not "magically [get] you a bill in Congress."
"Barry Myers defines 'conflict of interest,'" Claran Clayton, communications director at NOAA under the Obama administration, told the Washington Post. "He actively lobbied to privatize the National Weather Service, which works day in and day out to protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, to benefit his own company's bottom line."
Myers later served as a NOAA advisor, and in 2010 spoke of increasing cooperation between the National Weather Service and private industry.
The Washington Post also reports that Myers' appointment is strongly opposed by the labor union for the National Weather Service, the NWS Employees Organization.
"As NOAA administrator, he would be in a position to fundamentally alter the nature of weather services that NOAA provides the nation, to the benefit of his family-owned business," said Richard Hirn, a spokesperson for the union, to The Washington Post.
PennLive requested an opportunity to interview Myers on Friday, but James Rockas, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Commerce, said he "will not be granting interviews at this time."
Joshua Boyle is photographed from above while he speaks to press after arriving at Lester B. Pearson Airport in Toronto on Friday, October 13, 2017. Boyle, His wife and and three children were held hostage for five years in Afghanistan. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
By PTI: By Anisur Rahman
Dhaka, Oct 14 (PTI) Surendra Kumar Sinha, Bangladeshs first Hindu Chief Justice, is believed to have been forced to go on a leave amid reports that the government was upset with him over his decision to scrap parliaments authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.
Sinha, 66, left for Australia last night, saying he was "embarrassed" over the controversy surrounding his July ruling. He also denied claims by the government that he was sick.
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"I am the guardian of the judiciary, in the interest of the judiciary I am leaving temporarily so that its image does not get hurt. I will return," he said ahead of his departure for Australia.
But Sinha added he "firmly believes" his stance over a recent verdict was misinterpreted to the government, upsetting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but expected her to realise the fact soon.
He also rejected an earlier claim by Law Minister Anisul Huq about his sickness while his leave application to President Abdul Hamid was being processed.
"I am not sick, I am well... I am not fleeing either," the chief justice told newsmen in front of his official residence while on his way to the airport.
He also issued a written statement, in first such media interaction since the government announced his one-month "sick leave" beginning October 3.
Sinha, however, added the way a "political quarter, lawyers, and especially some honourable ministers of the government and the honourable prime minister are criticising me recently over a verdict embarrassed me".
The government row with the higher judiciary sparked in July this year when the apex court delivered a verdict declaring void the 16th constitutional amendment, scrapping parliaments authority in impeaching Supreme Court judges.
The dispute grew in the subsequent weeks as several senior government leaders virtually attacked Sinha over his comments, blasting the government for its reaction and gave Pakistans example where ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was stripped of his premiership under an apex court ruling.
Prime Minister Hasina accused him of defaming parliament and president and "humiliating" Bangladesh by referring to Pakistans instance premiers removal saying "he (chief justice) should have quit (and) the most humiliating thing is the comparison with Pakistan which is intolerable?.
Main Opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party of ex-premier Khaleda Zia has supported Sinha, saying the government was trying to control the higher judiciary by launching a campaign against the apex court judgment.
Hours ahead of his departure, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the government forced Sinha to go abroad to "establish its full control over the judiciary".
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"Its now clear to the entire nation that the government has taken all the steps to send the chief justice abroad by force," he said.
Sinha, Bangladesh?s first Hindu chief justice whose tenure expires in January 2018, in his written statement said he was a "bit worried about the independence of the judiciary".
He complained that the judge who became the acting chief justice to perform the "routine" job in his absence was encouraged by the government to bring changes to the Supreme Court administration soon.
"If any interference is made in the chief justices administration, it can be easily assumed that the government is interfering in the higher court and this will further deteriorate the relationship between the judiciary and the government. It would not bring any good to the state," he concluded. PTI AR UZM AKJ UZM
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Firefighters and police officers view a burning wildfire, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Oakville, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire officials in California say they are finally getting the upper hand against the wildfires that have devastated wine country and other parts of the state over the past week. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
FILE - In this March 2, 2014 file photo, Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Oscars in Los Angeles. Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been revoked by its board. The decision was reached Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in an emergency session. It comes after recent reports by The New York Times and The New Yorker that revealed sexual harassment and rape allegations against Weinstein going back decades. The move by the Academy is virtually unprecedented. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
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)
By Rohini Swamy: It turns out to be that the political war between the Congress and the BJP have begun not just with potholes but also as to reaches the rain affected areas first.
However, this time BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa has superceded Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in it. The two senior politicians reached Kurubarahalli and Laggere - the places where a wall collapsed leaving 5 people, including a couple, dead.
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BJP president Yeddyurappa who reached Kurubarahalli took stock of the situation and said that the Congress government in Karnataka is anti-development. If they had any plans to develop the city then it would not have been drowning like this. There has been loss of lives and it is the government who is responsible for this.
"Five people have lost their lives due to heavy rains, I offer my condolences and prayers to the family. Chief minister Siddaramaiah is responsible for every single death that takes place. if the government had initiated development work on time, people would not have lost their lives. Rs 800 crores was allocated and more than 75 percent amount remains unspent in the development funds.
A few hours later Siddaramaiah reached the same spot and met the families of those who lost their loved ones. Speaking to the media there he said: "I have asked the authorities to complete the post mortem and hand over the remains to the families. We will compensate the family and also take up the fees for the education of his children. Based on the educational qualification of the wife, we will try to give her a job."
When asked about Yeddyurappa's visit, Siddamraiah said that one should not politicise such things. Were there no rains during their government? Have you seen such heavy rains ever? I have not seen in my life and so he should not "politicise such issues when it comes to casualties."
The Bangalore Urban minister KJ George said, "This unprecedented rain has posed a lot of challenges for us and we are taking all the required measures to keep the city safe."
The NDRF team found the body of the priest of a temple in Basaveshwaranagar who was washed away by an overflowing drain in the evening around 7 pm. Later identified as Vasudev was the chief priest who was sitting on the footsteps of the temple which was built on a storm water drain or Rajakaluve.
The incident took place at SVK Layout and the priest was washed away as the drain suddenly started overflowing with a rush of sewage-mixed rain water.
In another incident related to the a floods, a woman was filmed being dramatically rescued from a car washed away by rishing water. A video showing the lady being rescued near Nayandanhalli on Mysore road in the city has gone viral.
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The video footage shows how the car she was travelling in was about to be submerged, and how the locals on spotting her and hearing her screams rescued her.
Watch: Bengaluru: Woman saved from drowning in flood water, exposes ill-preparedness of authorities in IT city
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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
Created in Philadelphia, the website Whose Your Landlord offers reviews of properties and landlords in 180 cities. Read more
In this age of information, where it's easy to find facts and statistics about nearly anything, Temple University graduate Ofo Ezeugwu found a gap: Renters struggle to find information about landlords and their properties.
"We are constantly looking for affirmation through information," Ezeugwu said. "On Amazon, you read reviews before you make a purchase. You look at Yelp before you go to a cafe or restaurant."
"You always want to make sure that you are going to spend your time the right way and not waste it," he said. " That's never been thought about in the housing space."
Ezeugwu, 25, said his classmates thought he had a point. Between security deposits, application fees, and first and last months' rent sometimes all due at once when moving "people are giving a landlord sometimes $4,000 or $5,000 upfront, and you don't have any info about them."
So in 2013, Ezeugwu and his co-founders launched "Whose Your Landlord," a service designed to offer reviews about Philadelphia's landlords and properties.
Four years later, Ezeugwu's start-up is growing. In early October, Whose Your Landlord yes, it's spelled incorrectly intentionally launched a fund-raising campaign on SeedInvest, a crowdfunding platform that connects startups and investors.
We caught up with Ezeugwu, the company's CEO, to learn more about the platform and its progress. His answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Q: How did you come up with the idea?
A: I was vice president of Temple's student body in 2013, and one of the biggest issues for students was housing. There was a ton of gentrification happening and a lot of new private student housing. We saw that some landlords were not necessarily providing services the way they were supposed to: They were charging exorbitant fees, or there were bad property conditions. We thought, what if there was a way you could review landlords? The entire premise is about giving power to renters and informing the rental community.
Q: What demographic did you initially target?
A: We mostly focused on Temple. Then people started saying, 'I could use that downtown' or 'I live in Northern Liberties and want that.' We discovered we were onto something bigger than we initially thought. Now, we mostly focus our time in Philly, New York City, and Washington, D.C. But we have reviews in over 180 cities.
Q: How have you expanded?
A: We do four things. On our website, you can search for housing. We now have half a million listings across the U.S. Second, you can fill out a "renter snapshot," with your name, your income, and move date. We partner with TransUnion, and through that, you can add your credit and background information, and when interested in a property, you can immediately send that information to a landlord. We're cutting down the time you spend on paperwork.
Our third big component is a review. Compared to other sites where you are supposed to give someone a designated star ranking, we ask a question, with answer options. Every response has a numeric value tied to it on the back-end that renters don't see. Renters can then read through the reviews.
We also offer other content, such as videos on topics like public housing. Today, we have about 325,000 users on our site.
Q: What is your business model, and why have you survived when many startups fail?
If I create an app that ties my shoes for me, but I don't need that, it doesn't matter. For us, people are legitimately having this problem that is not being addressed and we knew we had to do something about it.
We generate revenue through corporate partnerships and our TransUnion partnership. Whenever renters opt to submit their credit information, it's a $30 fee, and we split the revenue. Also, it's currently free for landlords to post listings. As we grow, we will charge for that.
Q: How much fund-raising have you done, and what do you hope to accomplish with the money?
A lot of times, in communities of color, the whole concept of a "friends and family round" of funding is completely different. We don't have the same access. If you're a black entrepreneur, it might be a situation where your uncle gave you $500 and your parents gave you $2,000. We started off with about $80,000 of bootstrapped capital.
We recently closed a $200,000 seed round led by Maryland-based CorLyst Group, including $50,000 from Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners. The remaining fund-raising will come from our $250,000 SeedInvest campaign. We'll use that money for four things: creating a more engaging platform that allows renters to message each other, producing more content, beginning the production of a mobile app, and hosting more events.
Carmen Pagan ran down the stairs of her North Palethorp Street home and out the door when she got the text.
She jumped in her car, sped over to Kip and Cambria, and grabbed a bat from her trunk.
She raced to the corner to get her kid back, and if any of the dealers her son was hell-bent on emulating was inclined to interfere, they'd have to go through her, and her metal bat.
"I'll be damned if you guys are going to be having my kid selling drugs out here," she shouted.
Her son ran before she could drag him back home. So she turned to social media. No shame. No apologies. No wasting time like she did the last time he ran to the corners and she posted missing posters, searching the neighborhood on foot and by car, before the cops caught up to him for selling drugs.
"When I tell you that I went block by block, door by door, because I was afraid my son is going to get killed out here, I'm not exaggerating," she said.
On Oct. 4, she posted this and a photo of her son on Facebook:
"Philadelphia Police Department this is my son Elijah sharpe D.O.B 7/14/2000 who cut his Gps off and now has an active bench warrant and went awol . If you happen to be driving by kip and cambria or that area where he is aspiring to be a drug dealer please pick his ass up ! Sincerely a concerned mother who doesn't want her son shot and killed !"
When something bad happens to young people in Philadelphia, the first question asked is a loaded: "Where are the parents?"
It's not a question you hear as quickly or as often when the kids are from the `burbs or when they aren't black or brown.
Pagan, 39, knows better than most about the challenges of the streets of North Philadelphia's Fairhill section where she's rearing her five children. She grew up here. She took and sold drugs here. In 2006, she went to prison for five years and left her kids here to be raised by family.
Last year, her older brother, Richard Davila, was killed less than a mile away, an innocent bystander who police said was struck by stray bullets from a drug-related shootout on the 100 block of West Wishart Street.
"I know how cold these streets are and I keep trying to tell him, 'I was out there selling drugs, getting high, going nowhere.' You would think that he'd see that and say, 'that's not the life I want to lead.'"
She acknowledges that behind her son's behavior is part adolescent rebellion, part sins she visited upon a boy who was 6 when she went away. The absence of a mother and father left a void her oldest son has filled with anger.
But she's tried to set a better example for her children since her release in 2011, earning a college degree from Eastern University, even though, she thinks, the felonies on her record are keeping her from finding a permanent, full-time job.
"I'm not perfect. I know I'm not perfect, but I won't apologize for my past," she said. "I don't live there no more."
She walks to the living room to point at a picture of her son, at 14, on a horse, before he quit a community equestrian program.
"He's not a drug dealer," she says.
Soon after he ran from her, police caught up to him in a stolen car and arrested him. That brought her relief.
This month, she is to be back again in front of a judge and she knows she'll be asked what they should do with the teenager. He's in the juvenile system now, but she knows if something doesn't change, it won't be long before he gets treated by the courts as an adult.
"Obviously he hasn't learned anything because he's still doing the same thing," she said. "And what's going to end up happening is they're going to end up killing him out on the streets. As a mother all you want to do is protect your kids, but he's gotten to that age, I can't physically hold him, so what am I supposed to do? Let my kid sell drugs? Let him get killed out there? I can't let that happen."
She knows her son will hate her when she tells the judge to keep him behind bars.
But at least he'll be alive.
Read our review of the Orchestra of the Pennsylvania Ballet's music from opening night
Angel Corella's new reworking of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov classic story ballet The Sleeping Beauty is a glittering gem of crisp dancing, familiar music, and stunning tutus, tiaras, and singlets.
Though it's a beloved fairy tale, it might be a difficult outing for a small child.
The Pennsylvania Ballet premiere Thursday night at the Academy of Music ran nearly three hours, with a prologue, three acts, two intermissions, and a long pause between the second and third acts. Aurora, charmingly danced by Oksana Maslova, does not even show up until an hour into the ballet.
Nearly the entire first hour is prologue, introducing the royal baby to the court and the invited fairies, each of whom dances a variation and presents a gift. Particularly notable were the Lilac Fairy, a take-charge fairy godmother of sorts danced by Dayesi Torriente; Yuka Iseda's Fairy of Generosity, with soft, precise footwork; and Ana Calderon's fluttering and good humored Fairy of Eloquence.
But the vengeful Carabosse, of course, is not invited to the celebration. As danced Thursday by ballet master Samantha Dunster, she blew onto the scene with fire and fury like the world has never seen. And then she cast her spell for Aurora to one day be pricked by a spindle, fall into a deep sleep, and so forth.
When Maslova appears as Aurora at her 16th birthday party, all seems swell. Her friends dance the famous Garland Dance, and Aurora pirouettes with many princes.
Maslova is a delightful Aurora, petite and girlish. Small errors, such as balance checks when she moves from partner to partner, only add to her believability as a young girl. Her legs can stretch past her ears, but never in a forced way, and her acting is spot-on.
The men's dancing has improved in recent years, and the rows of princes and cavaliers were more synchronized than in the past, cleanly completing three or four pirouettes. That said, the sheer number of fairies, court, and friends often made the stage seem too small for the lushness of the dancing, with little room for the dancers to promenade.
Carabosse soon stops by with a gift the fated spindle and Aurora falls into her big sleep. Corella's Sleeping Beauty, based on the classic Petipa/Ivanov choreography, keeps the snoozing Aurora dancing, in a vision that comes to Prince Desire. He was danced opening night by the regal Sterling Baca, appearing at about the halfway mark through the ballet.
Baca's partnering was nimble, and his dancing generally strong, although some of the artistry was compromised for tricks. His double air turns were mostly cheated, partially rotated before he left the ground. In some other noteworthy men's performances, Jermel Johnson an explosive jumper and turner gave a refined performance as Gold, and Aleksey Babayev did double duty as a prince and the Bluebird.
In the vision sequence, Aurora flits and floats throughout an assembly of nymphs a stunningly lush corps de ballet scene and the prince is hooked. He finds the real Aurora in her bed, delivers a kiss, and breaks the spell.
Sleeping Beauty wraps up with the classic wedding scene, and what a wedding it is, with guests that include Puss 'n Boots and the White Cat, Red Riding Hood and her big, bad plus-one, and friends from other fairy tales.
Sleeping Beauty is one of the most beautiful the Pennsylvania Ballet has recently performed. But, although it offers a huge night of great dancing, it takes a long time to get into the story for young audiences weaned on Disney.
The Sleeping Beauty
Pennsylvania Ballet performs Angel Corella's new vision of the classic story ballet through Oct. 22 at the Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.
Tickets: $35-$149
Information: 215-893-1999 or paballet.org
Dancing is like bank robbery, Twyla Tharp famously said they both take split-second timing. And yet, for dancers, timing is inextricably tied to something completely outside of their control: the orchestra.
It's a big year for the Orchestra of Pennsylvania Ballet. The company is dancing all three Tchaikovsky ballets this season formidable scores that require not only virtuosic interplay with the dancers, but that also lay down the atmosphere more powerfully from the pit than anything on stage.
The Sleeping Beauty, which opened Thursday night at the Academy of Music, might be the trickiest of the three. Swan Lake is almost painfully gorgeous, and The Nutcracker remains an astonishingly concentrated and inexhaustible gift.
The Sleeping Beauty is not as concentrated, but what it does have is splashes of daring experimentation. Excerpts are a mainstay of the concert hall. But the larger quilt stitched together and led by Pennsylvania Ballet music director Beatrice Jona Affron is, though not concise, an odd and fascinating assemblage of ideas.
Beyond the tunes and waltzes that everyone knows are long stretches that are merely competent and functional; you can hear Tchaikovsky vamping to stretch time until the dancer has finally danced her last dance. This material is monotony itself harmonically and melodically, and seems particularly so coming from a composer celebrated for both.
One layer deeper, Tchaikovsky deploys material that might sound strikingly familiar: the cello solo, played with a loving, masterly touch by Jennie Lorenzo, follows contours similar to a theme in the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, and when the fluttering limbs of one ballerina require something gossamer, Tchaikovsky comes up with a near-paraphrase of the "Vivace con spirito" movement of his Manfred Symphony.
It is in the third act, though, the wedding scene, where Tchaikovsky's big imagination really runs loose portraying cats, jewels, a bluebird, and Red Riding Hood and the Wolf with musical characterizations both sly and sharp.
Ballet conducting is always a compromise of tempos and pacing, and Affron is a deft specialist. Could a waltz have been faster, or an arrival point reached with a more protracted sense of drama? Of course. I have a hunch, though, that were Affron released from dancerly bonds on stage, she might have made some different choices.
The ballet orchestra overall is a good deal sturdier and more polished than it sounded several seasons ago to me in The Nutcracker. A fuller sound should be on any wish list being passed before a donor willing to spring for a larger pit and more players. An orchestral sound that could wrap around the audience would be more than just incidental to the experience; it is critical to how much emotion comes into the house.
The score itself is something of a negotiation between what the dance needs and what makes musical sense. Concertmaster Luigi Mazzocchi had a lovely shape and deep glow in his extended solo, but this was not the Sleeping Beauty solo many violinists like to play.
That concerto-like entr'acte patch of music, through the mysteries of ballet tradition, has dropped from performances of the ballet. Don't worry, it hasn't gone far. Listeners can find it in the middle of The Nutcracker, which is just around the corner once again.
Read our review of the ballet dancers' performance here
Some of the schools in Philadelphia and South Jersey that were closed this month because of mold infestations will reopen next week, while others will remain closed for an undetermined period.
In Philadelphia, environmental crews on Friday continued to clean up widespread mold inside John B. Kelly Elementary School at 5116 Pulaski Ave. in Germantown. It remained unclear whether Kelly, which has roughly 650 students, will be ready to reopen on Monday.
"It's too early to tell," said Lee Whack, spokesman for the School District of Philadelphia. "We will communicate with parents by Sunday with regards to whether school will be opened or closed."
In Gloucester County, four of the six schools shut down by the Monroe Township School District will reopen to students on Tuesday, according to a task force that is a liaison between the district and its Gloucester County community.
Teachers at Williamstown High School, Williamstown Middle School, and Radix and Oak Knoll Elementary Schools were asked to return to school Monday for an in-service day, and students will return to their classes Tuesday morning. Most of the high school was cleared for use, while only the music room, a library, and an auditorium will be closed to students at the middle school.
TTI Environmental told Superintendent Charles Earling in a memo that the four schools "are acceptable to be opened" after "a detailed visual inspection and testing," the task force reported. Two other schools will remain closed for cleanup.
Students who attend Whitehall Elementary and the Just Kids before-and-after-school program there will temporarily report to the Open Bible Baptist School next week, while contingency plans are being drawn up in case they cannot return to their school by the following week.
Holly Glen Elementary which was closed Oct. 5 after mold was found throughout the building, including on ceiling tiles, flooring, walls, and furniture is expected to be closed for at least three months while the HVAC system is replaced and a full remediation is performed. Students who attend that school are being assigned to Radix, Oak Knoll, and a wing of the high school.
Following the discovery of mold at Holly Glen, the school district, which has about 6,000 students, closed the remainder of its schools Monday to conduct air quality tests.
Rita Roberts, 46, a college administrator, said she was relieved that her son, David, 14, a freshman, and daughter, Sydney, 11, a sixth grader, would be returning to school.
"This has been a difficult week. It has been stressful," said Roberts. "It's given us a lot to think about."
Roberts said she was confident the schools that are reopening would be safe, but she said parents must continue to hold school officials accountable: "This can't be something that we wait for a report."
In Philadelphia, Arthur Steinberg, head of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund, said a walk-through of Kelly is scheduled for Sunday. One concern, he said, is that some of the mold growth is on ceiling tiles and walls that contain asbestos. In removing the mold, environmental workers must be careful not to disturb any asbestos and take steps to remediate the hazard, he said.
The School District announced the school's closure on Wednesday night after investigating a report of "possible mold" and finding "traces of mold" in 10 classrooms, spread over 600 square feet.
The school remained closed Thursday and Friday. Teachers reported to work at another building, while students stayed home.
The district's decision to close the school prompted teachers and union officials to speak out, saying that there had been complaints of mold and leaks since 2015, and that the School District allowed the conditions to fester.
On Friday night, Whack said the School District first became aware of mold and condensation in early 2016 and again earlier this year. Whack said those issues were "addressed at that time."
"However, clearly there are additional issues at J.B. Kelly," Whack said. "We are committed to resolving these issues and will not reopen the school until it is mold-free."
School District officials had said Thursday that they first became aware of mold issues at the school this week. Whack clarified that those mold issues were new.
Luv Tyagi and Sabyasachi Sathpathy will reportedly be seen spending quality time together in the smoking area of the house in upcoming episodes.
By India Today Web Desk: Bigg Boss 11 padosis have been stirring up controversies ever since they first made their entry into the main house. Their 'family act' made news, and while most gharwale have bought their story, some like Vikas Gupta, are having some trouble believing in their tale. And as viewers know, according to the task, padosis have to pretend they know each other and have a strong connection with each other.
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However, things will apparently take a dramatic turn in Bigg Boss, thanks to some rumours about the padosis in an upcoming episode. According to a report by Business of Cinema, both Luv Tyagi and Sabyasachi Sathpathy, who are supposed to 'play' the role of estranged lovers in front of everyone, will have a big fight with other participants of the house.
According to the same report, both Luv and Sabyasachi, who will be seen spending a considerable time in the smoking zone together, will become the center of a new rumour. Some housemates will misconstrue their friendship and report it to the other participants that the two often go to the smoking area to kiss.
When Luv and Sabyasachi will hear about it, they will blast the gharwale for spreading false rumours about them.
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It was a bad move when Kabaka Atiba moved out of the house he shared with his girlfriend. His next roommates were drug traffickers, authorities said Friday, as the Absecon, N.J., man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Camden to a 10-year prison term for selling crack cocaine.
Atiba, 47, was part of an Atlantic City trafficking ring that involved at least a dozen people and trafficked more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, authorities said. He sold at least 840 grams of crack cocaine over four years and was arrested Dec. 10, 2014. He was charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and pleaded guilty.
The alleged ringleader, Toye Tutis, sourced cocaine and heroin from the Mexican Sinaloa cartel through contacts in Los Angeles, officials said.
"This was a long-running drug conspiracy that Mr. Atiba was a part of," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Carrig told Judge Jerome B. Simandle as members of Atiba's family, including his mother, sat in the courtroom.
Federal authorities said they wiretapped Atiba's phone, looking through text messages and phone transcripts, before executing a search warrant in December 2014 at the Atlantic City home where he and other members of the ring were living, as well as other South Jersey properties tied to the alleged drug operation. Among the items agents said they found were more than eight firearms and $100,000 in cash in the Atlantic City house, as well as one kilogram of crack cocaine.
Jewell Tutis, brother of lead defendant Toye Tutis, and Atiba's half-brother, Tozine Tiller of Absecon, supplied Atiba with the cocaine. He then cooked it into crack cocaine, Carrig said.
The trio created a system of code words to use, Carrig said. After an Oct. 6, 2014, transaction for 14 ounces of cocaine, phone transcripts show Atiba telling Jewell Tutis that he needed "one more onion," meaning an ounce of cocaine, Carrig said.
Before joining the trafficking operation, Atiba held a job with the City of Atlantic City and made more than $28,000 a year, his attorney, David Rudenstein, said. Carrig said Atiba moved in with the other conspirators after having difficulties in his relationship with his girlfriend, who also was in the courtroom audience.
"He moves out of the home he shares with his girlfriend or significant other and into basically a frat house of drug trafficking," Carrig said. "He's hanging out with all these guys engaging in drug trafficking there."
Federal prosecutors say the ring laundered up to $3 million in drug proceeds. Toye Tutis and his partner, Jazmin Vega, 41, laundered the profits through several businesses they owned together, including Ta'Ja Construction LLC; Ta'Ja Real Estate Investors LLC; and Integrity Heating & Cooling LLC. The couple bought more than 30 properties with the drug money.
Two other men involved in the operation were sentenced in September. Talib Tiller, 45, of Pleasantville, N.J., was sentenced to 57 months in prison, and Tejohn Cooper, 44, of Galloway Township, N.J., was sentenced to eight years.
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran deal from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Read more
Here's what you need to know about President Trump's new, hard-line strategy on Iran:
It doesnt end the Iran nuclear deal immediately but could eventually kill it.
According to U.S. law, the president has to certify every 90 days that Iran is living up to the terms of the nuclear pact and that the deal is in the national security interest of the United States.
Trump "decertified." In short, that means that he said Iran was violating the terms, and claimed that the deal served no purpose because it only delayed Iran's nuclear capability for the short-term. In reality, both international inspectors and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson say Iran is basically adhering to the terms of the deal, which include dismantling the bulk of its centrifuges and sending its large stocks of fissile material out of the country. The other parties to the pact, our European allies, Russia, and China, also say Iran is complying.
But Trump's decertification doesn't mean the U.S. will withdraw in the short term. He has kicked the can to Congress which, according to U.S. law, has 60 days to decide whether it will reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the pact. And he has asked Congress to "fix" the deal by demanding that Iran accept new terms.
If Tehran refuses, the nuclear-related sanctions would be reinstated. That would kill the deal.
Many of the changes Trump and his security team seek make sense, but not the way he is going about it.
Trump put forward two sets of demands: nuclear and non-nuclear. The first set seeks to force Iran to revamp the nuclear treaty without further negotiations. This would include extending its timeline indefinitely rather than allowing certain provisions to "sunset" in 10 or 15 years.
The non-nuclear demands include curbing Iran's missile program and its destabilizing activities in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere in the Mideast.
The problem with Trump's nuclear demands is that, while they address weaknesses in the pact, they cannot be imposed by U.S. fiat. Washington endorsed this deal along with the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council France, Britain, Russia, and China plus Germany. They want the nuclear deal to remain in place, and wouldn't go along with restoration of international sanctions.
As for the non-nuclear demands, our allies are eager to work together with Washington to curb Iran's missile activity and Mideast adventurism. Moscow and Beijing might be brought aboard. But to get international cooperation, any new sanctions would have to be devised outside of the nuclear program. In other words, the nuclear deal must stay in place.
If the nuclear deal is killed, it would be harder, not easier, to curb Irans bad behavior.
When the deal was sealed, the Iranians were within two months of being capable of producing nuclear weapons. Even if Iran broke out of the deal, that time has been extended to a year because of the dismantling of the Iranian program. And under the deal, the ayatollahs have no viable path to a bomb for well over a decade.
To unilaterally destroy the deal would leave Iran free to pursue a bomb, while putting the onus for the crisis on Washington. It would shred hopes of global cooperation in curbing Iran's missile program or its proxy wars in the Mideast. If Trump considers Iran's activities to be so dangerous, imagine the danger if Iran were freed of nuclear restraints.
This is why Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have affirmed publicly that it is in the U.S. national security interest to remain in the deal. It is why leading Israeli national security experts have said the same.
What happens now is largely in the hands of Congress.
Sens. Tom Cotton (R., Ark) and Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) are working on legislation to "fix" the Iran deal. If that legislation proposes new sanctions outside the Iran deal on Iran's missile program or Revolutionary Guards, that won't kill the deal.
Indeed, French President Emmanuel Macron has declared himself ready to lead a joint European push to supplement the deal with new curbs on Iran.
But if Congress passes legislation demanding Iran meet new terms or else face the restoration of sanctions already dropped, that would spell the end of the nuclear deal. And in his speech Trump implied he would terminate the deal himself (U.S. law gives him the right) if Congress didn't impose such harsh terms.
So the United States is headed down a path where we could wind up with the worst of all possible outcomes: an Iran freed of nuclear restraints at a time when it is expanding its geographical reach. And if Congress does nothing, Trump could still end the deal on his own.
The CPI(M) and the RSS have been at loggerheads in Kannur in north Kerala for over four decades now, both giving as good as they got as the Sangh parivar outfit made inroads into the communist bastion. And that is where matters stood till last year's state elections when, after years of being no-hopers in the state, the BJP finally managed a seat in the assembly. The path to making electoral inroads had opened, and the RSS-BJP was eager to pull out all the stops.
Of late, political violence in Kerala has been a matter of some debate, and the party was quick to latch on to it. A concerted, polarising campaign with the theme, 'Against jehadi-red terror', was set in motion, the twin targets being Islamist terrorists and the ruling Marxists. BJP president Amit Shah flagged off the the 'janaraksha yatra' on October 3 and joined the march on the opening day. Even Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was roped in for a day during which he reasoned that the state should "act against love jihad, which is a growing concern in Kerala and contiguous Karnataka".
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Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath during the yatra in Kannur
These are just some elements in a virulent campaign in which the BJP and other entities of the Sangh Parivar accuse the Left Front government and CPI(M) chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of "annihilating its political rivals". The RSS-BJP claims that it has lost 125 workers to the violence since 2001 (Kannur police records between 2007 and 2017 put the figure at 37; 17 from the RSS-BJP, for the CPI(M), 16) .
Worse still, the campaigners allege, is the fact that the highest incidence of violence is in the chief minister's hometown, Pinarayi, where 14 of them were killed. Significantly, Shah missed the march through the town, as he returned to Delhi for other consultations, but promised to return before the conclusion of the 14-day yatra, on October 17 at the southern end of the state.
This is only part of the BJP's ambitious expansion plan for the state. The party is hoping a sustained campaign against the LDF will propel the party into emerging as the leading opposition in the state, eclipsing the Congress-led UDF. But for this, both the party and the militant RSS must enlist the rank and file like never before. "The ongoing effort has already shaken the CPI(M) bases in north Kerala. It's only by strengthening the party and associate organisations that we will make a dent," says a senior BJP leader, adding that "the response so far is encouraging".
Clearly, it is not just wishful thinking. "We have 200,000 active cadre and another 193,000 followers. There are 5,200 daily and 800 weekly shakhas now. All this we achieved in just five years," claims RSS state secretary P. Gopalan Kutty Master. The spurt is significant, with the RSS becoming a draw among students and other youth. Kannur tops in this followed by Alappuzha and Thrissur districts in central Kerala. Meanwhile, the growth of Sangh affiliates such as the trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which in some places has dislodged the Congress-affiliated INTUC, has also helped the BJP's growth.
Yet, it is far from enjoying widespread appeal, despite the fact that 54.7 per cent of the population is Hindu. The irony is that in the country's most literate state, the Hindus are still caste-driven, making it a greater challenge for the BJP. Which is another reason why veteran party leader O. Rajagopal, elected to the legislative assembly last year, took so long to get there. Like his Nemom constituency, the neighbouring Kazhakoottam and Vattiyurkavu assembly constituencies (also part of the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency) have long been RSS strongholds, but the numbers never translated into seats.
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"It is the RSS's success in attracting a section of the Hindus that is enabling the BJP here," says political commentator J. Ajith Kumar. "They may use a similar strategy, projecting the RSS as the sole protectors of the Hindu majority to garner support. The constant harping on love jihad and red terror could spark a sectarian divide." Other analysts are sceptical, though. "The RSS and the rest of the Sangh parivar have no future in the state as it practises 'annihilation politics'. Its anti-minority tag will also not help in Kerala," says former MP Dr Sebastian Paul. He points to the "demographic reality of Kerala" as the major challenge. "How do you saffronise a state with 26.7 per cent Muslims and 18.4 per cent Christians in a population of 33.34 million?"
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Echoing similar sentiments, Malayalam short story writer and ex-bureaucrat N.S. Madhavan says, "The future of the RSS is bleak because it has already hit saturation point, crossed the cusp of optimal growth in recent years. Its halo has little appeal as it intimidates the very soul of the state." In his view, this strategy of spreading disinformation will boomerang on the party.
However, party president Shah has definite plans - he's eying the Ezhava vote bank, which accounts for about 39 per cent of the population. The Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), floated by Vellapally Nateshan of the Sree Narayana Dharama Paripalana Yogam, an Ezhava outfit, was purportedly the enabler in the BJP increasing the NDA vote share in Kerala to 15.3 per cent in the 2016 assembly polls. "Traditionally, the Ezhavas have been CPI(M) backers. So only by winning them over can the BJP diffuse the clout of the Marxists. They have gained marginal acceptance in some pockets of central Kerala by aligning with the BDJS," explains former legislator and Kerala Congress (Mani) faction leader Joseph M. Puthussery. That said, the BJP's ties with the BDJS have been rocky. Just months back, a vacillating Vellapally was heard badmouthing the BJP central leadership on TV, though he soon changed tack again.
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With all that is happening in the state, the CPI(M) still seems unperturbed. "Kerala's secular society has never capitulated to their attempt to paint the state in a communal colour," says state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishan. "We are confident that we can fight them politically. The people of Kerala back our progressive agenda as the party stands for development of the state."
But on the ground, they are not taking any chances. In a deft counter strategy, the Marxists are also organising similar events like their own 'shobha yatra' on the occasion of Sri Krishna Jayanti on September 12, and now a series of rallies to counter what BJP leaders have said during the janaraksha yatra. The BJP too realises that it is in for a long war in the state. As former state president and lawyer P.S. Sreedharan Pillai puts it, "Our plan is not merely to increase vote share but build up quality cadre in the state."
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Reposing faith in Indian economy, British Finance Minister Philip Hammond today said that the twin exercises of demonetisation and GST implementation after temporary negative impact on the GDP would be strong supporters or drivers of higher growth.
By Rahul Shrivastava: Reposing faith in Indian economy, British Finance Minister Philip Hammond today said that the twin exercises of demonetisation and GST implementation after temporary negative impact on the GDP would be strong supporters or drivers of higher growth .
Hammond, after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley on the sidelines of the ongoing World Bank and IMF annual meetings, said that the India story remains engaging for UK as the country leaves the European Union for bigger trade relations.
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Backing the reform measures initiated by PM Modi, he said, "The reform measures including demonetisation and GST -- both are welcome moves and their impact will start showing. We fully back these measures initiated by PM Modi and his Finance Minister Arun Jaitley."
But, Hammond sounded a note of caution by saying that, "Reforms in India have started to make a difference, but a lot more needs to be done. For example GST a single market system is a positive step. But perceptions take time to change. It's not enough to fix a problem, but also show that it's fixed."
He was replying to a query regarding the global perception that red tape and corruption are a stumbling block for big ticket foreign investors. He, however, added that the current government in India has taken considerable steps on improving the ease of doing business.
Yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, addressing a group of investors, had said,"We can't expect investment and have too many conditions lined up at the same time. India consistently is figuring among improved nations with ease of doing business."
When asked about social conflicts which have witnessed an increase after the Modi govt came to power, including cow vigilantism and the sense of unrest among minorities, Hammond said, "There is social unrest in lot of places. In any economy, many things happen beyond economic activity. International investor prefers stability. But, India has shown tremendous resilience. There is unrest everywhere including terror and the business community has to deal with those situations. They key is that political class remains committed to reforms."
He refused to take questions on dialogue between Indian and UK govts over the return of liquor baron Vinay Mallya, who has taken refuge in the UK, after a consortium of banks approached the Supreme Court to get their money back from Mallya.
On relations with India, Hammond, whose country faces a tough economic battle post Brexit, said, "The India story remains engaging for UK. UK remains committed to partnership with India as we leave the European Union for bigger trader relations."
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Despite Donald Trumps failing presidency and his plummeting approval rating, former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon said on Saturday that the president will win 400 electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election.
The reason, according to Bannon, is because of a white national revolt that is happening all across the country.
Video:
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon: Pres. Trumps not only going to finish this term, hes going to win with 400 electoral votes in 2020. pic.twitter.com/uzX4epfStq ABC News (@ABC) October 14, 2017
In the remarks, which Bannon delivered at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, he said:
The populist, nationalist, conservative revolt thats going on, that drove Donald Trump to victory, that drove Judge Moore to victory, that will drive 15 candidates to victory in 2018, and I hate to break the news to Graydon Carter and the good folks at Vanity Fair, but yes, President Trump is not only going to finish this term, hes going to win with 400 electoral votes in 2020.
Bannon is correct that there is a white nationalist revolt going on across America as the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse. Its certainly a big reason why Trump was able to eke an Electoral College victory last November, despite losing the popular vote by 3 million to Hillary Clinton.
We saw this revolt play out most recently in Charlottesville, Virginia when a crowd of alt-right Nazis a group with which Bannon would fit quite nicely held rallies that led to the death of an anti-racism protester.
Bannon is wrong, however, to believe that these deplorable human beings yes, deplorable make up a majority of the country. They didnt constitute a majority in the 2016 election when most voters chose Clinton as their president, and they certainly wont in 2020, after Trump has shown himself to be a dangerous, incompetent and mentally unstable commander-in-chief.
Catering to vile, white supremacist hate groups may have been a (barely) winning strategy in 2016, but as more Americans wake up to the damage this president does each day, it isnt likely to work again in the next presidential election.
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Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean epically obliterated Donald Trump on Saturday, calling the presidents latest moves on health care stupid and petulant.
Dean said Trumps executive order on healthcare, as well as his decision to cut off subsidy funding, proves that he knows absolutely nothing about the insurance industry and doesnt at all care about helping people.
Video:
All this kind of stuff usually blows up in the presidents face because he has no idea what hes doing. What hes gonna do is take health insurance away from a million Americans. Those million Americans are going to be spread in a lot of states that hes going to be awfully sorry about in 2018. This is just stupidity. Its based on petulance. Donald Trump no more knows anything about the insurance company than the man on the moon. So, you know, this is silly. This is typical Trump. He gets upset about something, he reacts. This is not going to fix the problems that Obamacare has.
As the former governor noted, Trumps troubling moves this week, specifically on health care, will have damaging impacts on millions of Americans.
His executive order alone would wreak havoc on the insurance market by driving younger and healthier Americans out of the Obamacare exchanges, leaving behind exorbitant costs for older and sicker people.
Trumps additional move to dismantle the Affordable Care Act the decision to cut off critical CSR payments have even worse repercussions. As Jason Easley wrote on Friday, ending this funding would throw a million Americans off their insurance, spike premiums by 20 percent and increase the deficit by nearly $200 billion.
Trumps recent push to dismantle has nothing to do with making life better for the American people. Its all an angry and petulant attempt to take a stab at former President Barack Obamas legacy.
Charleston, SC (29403)
Today
Thunderstorms during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 72F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..
Tonight
Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
CBI filed a chargesheet against a Delhi policeman, an Intelligence Bureau official, a property dealer based out of Vasant Kunj and a middleman in a transfers and posting scam.
By Sneha Agrawal: In a transfers and postings scam involving an Intelligence Bureau official, property dealer, Delhi police inspector and a middleman, the CBI has told a court that the conspiracy was hatched to ensure undue favours related to transfers and postings. The CBI said that the accused had made claims of knowing high-level public officials in various departments.
At the time of racket crackdown, the main accused - Rajan Kumar (middleman), Kameshwar (assistant director, IB) and Arun Tiwari (property dealer) - were trying to get inspector Banay Singh his desired post - the SHO of Vasant Kunj police station.
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The CBI in its charge sheet said that Tiwari, a Vasant Kunj-based property dealer, wanted to get rid of an encroacher on his property and was keen on getting Singh, his long-time friend, transferred to Vasant Kunj police station as the station house officer. Singh was serving in the security wing of the vice-president's house at the time. Having served in an out-of-field posting, he, too, wanted to get posted as an SHO.
To implement the plan, Tiwari took help from Kumar, the main accused who had allegedly been duping and extorting people on the pretext of getting them or their relatives desired jobs in government departments. Kumar also roped in Kameshwar, the IB official who also knew Tiwari as he had purchased a property from him.
Singh was made to pay Rs 10 lakh for his selection during the screening process that had begun for the vacant post. The money was to be delivered to Kumar in coordination with Kameshwar. Following the alleged deal, Kameshwar sought information about Singh's posting or interview, said the CBI.
As per the investigation, Kumar was living in the government accommodation allotted to Kameshwar. To give the impression of an officer, he would drive Mahindra XUV fitted with siren, beacon light and jammers like antennas.
The CBI FIR said Kumar used to claim that he was a senior government servant. But in reality, he was in 'corrupt nexus' with Tiwari for 'ensuring undue favours related to transfers and postings of public servants'. Several rubber stamps, Rs 1.6 crore in cash and fake letterheads were also seized during a search at Kumar's residence.
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NEW YORK Designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig are two fashion swans worthy of the red carpet gowns they create for A-list stars. So exactly how will their dramatic luxury brand Marchesa fare in the onslaught of sexual abuse claims against Chapman's disgraced husband, Harvey Weinstein?
Chapman took what some believed was her only brand-saving leap Tuesday as allegations against Weinstein mounted, breaking her silence when she told People she was leaving the film mogul she married in 2007. The divorce revelation, following Weinstein's remarks last week that she was standing by her man, came as some on social media called for a Marchesa boycott.
"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 her statement.
Marchesa did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
As fashion fairytales go, this one is a classic for Chapman and Weinstein, to be sure, but also for Chapman and Craig. The pair has been best friends since they met as teens in a life drawing class nearly a quarter century ago at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London, Elle magazine wrote in 2011.
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The Marchesa origin story reads like this: The 41-year-old Chapman was an actress working as a costume designer in 2003 when she was spotted at a party in one of her own designs by the late fashion magazine editor and muse Isabella Blow, who urged her to focus on the art of evening dressing. Chapman and Craig were already considering a company of their own at the time, founding the brand in 2004, the year Chapman met Weinstein at a party in New York City.
Though they didn't date at first, the blog Jezebel noted Chapman's coming out on the arm of Weinstein at the 2005 Golden Globe Awards. Marchesa had already dressed Renee Zellweger for the UK premiere of "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" in 2004 and Cate Blanchett at the premiere of "The Aviator," executive produced by Weinstein, that same year.
At the 2005 Globes, Diane Kruger wore Marchesa. She was starring in "National Treasure," produced by Disney, Miramax's parent company at the time, Jezebel reported.
Weinstein and Chapman have two small children, ages 7 and 4. After their marriage, they presided as a Hollywood power couple as Marchesa continued to feast on the fruits of Weinstein's celebrity connections. The axis on red carpets has continued through the years.
Marketing researcher Robert Passikoff, president of the New York-based consultancy Brand Keys, said only time will tell exactly how Marchesa does in the Weinstein fallout, especially among non-famous consumers as opposed to red carpet stars.
"When the house is still burning people comment about the flames and the smoke," he said. "A month later, when people are just looking at the ashes, they tend to forget about these things."
On the backs of celebrities, will craftsmanship win out over Weinstein influence-peddling that helped put Marchesa in the limelight? Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow have lined up with numerous other women to allege mistreatment, first reported Thursday by The New York Times.
"He may have been the doorway in but the fact is the clothes make the women," Passikoff said. "It's ultimately how the designers behave in this situation that will have a greater effect than all of the stuff that he did."
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Chapman's move toward divorce will speak volumes in that regard.
Does Dudley Riggs have a fashion sense? His answer to the question was, not surprisingly, impromptu.
Riggs, considered the father of improvisational theater extraordinaire, said, "I don't know if I've ever been asked about my style. I don't know if I have one, really."
Yet, as the conversation continues, it becomes clear that neither Riggs' wardrobe nor what he says are without careful thought, much less a good deal of humor and a bit of the extemporaneous thrown in.
Founder and now artistic director emeritus of Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, Riggs will bring his style and humor to Mayo Civic Center on Tuesday as guest speaker for Fete 2017, Rochester's excellence in the arts awards. The program is presented by the Greater Rochester Arts & Cultural Trust.
Riggs' highly praised memoir, "Flying Funny: My Life Without a Net," takes readers through his travels and travails as a young circus and vaudeville performer to New York City, to his introduction of Word Jazz creating a script on stage to the Twin Cities, where Brave New Workshop became the place to learn and perform improv.
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But what about the clothes?
Since retiring, Riggs said, "I have become a little more conservative" in his fashion choices. "I have been moving toward tweed jackets and that sort of thing," he said.
But always, there has been and is a bow tie. Mention Riggs' name in the Cities, and often there is talk of him being a bow-tie aficionado.
"When I was working in television, I got locked into a regular way of dressing for convenience," he said. "I had a lot of costume changes and wearing bow ties made it easier."
What about a regular tie?
"I have one," Riggs said. "For funerals. It is dark and conservative."
As for his bow ties, he explained, "At least in recent times, I like multiple colors, but I am not particularly into bright patterns. I suspect I have between 40 and 50. A few too many, I suppose. I try to replace them before they become too ragged. I donate those to the Brave New Workshop wardrobe. Donating them is one way to recycle them."
On tying, he said, "It's much the same as tying your shoes. I tend to do it without particularly looking. It's second nature. I simply get it tied comfortably."
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During his years of performing, as well as teaching at Brave New Workshop, Riggs often relied on basic black aside from the bow tie, of course. "And it was important that my work shirts had pockets, for the notes I was making," he said.
Basic black, he notes, was quite a departure from the colorful outfits he wore as a circus and vaudeville performer.
Riggs is a firm believer in dressing appropriately for the occasion. Attending an opening at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre, he said, requires a certain kind of dress, to honor the people on stage.
That said, he added, "I am encouraging of the idea of trying to express oneself with whatever style yours might be."
"I suppose the idea of getting older may mean being not as stylish as you once were, whatever that is," he said. "But I hope I can maintain. It is part of one's necessary pride."
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If you go
What: The fifth-annual Fete, celebrating excellence in the arts
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When: 5 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Mayo Civic Center, Ballroom 2
Tickets/information: $40; call 507-424-0811 or visit rochartstrust.org .
Only days after monster storm Irma made landfall in Florida, canceling and delaying thousands of flights, the head of the world's largest airline appeared unfazed, voicing glowing optimism about the future of air carriers.
Speaking at an industry conference in Washington, D.C., Doug Parker, chief executive of American Airlines, said the effect of Irma and the earlier hurricane that tore through Houston will be short-lived.
"I don't anticipate a financial impact to us other than the near-term financial impact," he said. "I feel as good about this business as I ever have."
How could that be in a time when monster storms are more common and some fear that travel disruptions could become a regular occurrence amid quickening climate change?
Chalk it up to science, technology and profits.
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The nation's $1.5 trillion airline industry is in the midst of one of its most financially stable eras in decades, which will help the biggest carriers absorb the short-term effects of the unusually destructive hurricane season. Increasing passenger demand and cheap fuel costs have been key in helping build the carrier's profit margins and cash reserves.
Better eye on the sky
But advances in science and technology are also playing a role. Modern weather forecasting has improved to the point that airlines can now tell with high reliability the moment a storm is expected to reach a major airline hub, making it easier to cancel and reschedule flights.
"It has helped them to be prepared, move equipment out of harm's way and recover faster than in past decades," said Helane Becker, an airline analyst for Cowen & Co.
Although it is too early to estimate the final dollar cost of the two hurricanes, the nation's bigger airlines seem prepared to overcome the financial blow despite the storms' enormous effect.
From the end of August to the first week of September, Hurricane Harvey pounded south Texas, prompting the cancellation of 11,300 flights to and from airports in Houston, according to the flight-tracking website Flightaware.com.
United Airlines, the biggest carrier at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Southwest Airlines, the most dominant carrier at nearby William P. Hobby Airport, took the biggest hit from Hurricane Harvey.
About a week later, Hurricane Irma began to tear through Florida and the Caribbean, forcing the closure of 40 airports and the cancellation of 14,500 flights in and out of the state and the nearby islands.
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As the biggest airline at Miami International Airport, American Airlines had to cancel more than 5,000 flights.
As the storm moved inland, an additional 1,100 flights were canceled from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport.
'We are going to absorb it'
The canceled flights represented a fraction less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the more than 16 million flights that take off each year in the U.S.
Still, the financial effect of the storms would, in previous times, have put a severe dent in the profit margins of most airlines, said Seth Kaplan, managing partner at Airline Weekly, a trade publication.
"At a different moment in history, this kind of impact could have made the difference between profits and losses," he said.
Instead, airline executives have been downplaying the effect on themselves and passengers.
The airlines are expected to lose money on some canceled flights but not all of them. On all canceled flights, passengers received full refunds and most of the airlines agreed to waive change fees for those passengers whose flights were not canceled but decided to stay clear of the storm.
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"There's a blow, and we are going to absorb it," Gary Kelly, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, said at the Sept. 13 aviation conference. "We'll still be healthy. We'll take care of our people, and we'll take care of our customers."
American Airlines issued a report, two days after Hurricane Irma made land in Florida, saying that instead of a pretax profit margin of 10 percent to 12 percent, the carrier was now expecting a slightly smaller margin of 8.5 percent to 10.5 percent for the July-to-September quarter.
During the storms, weather forecasters were able to monitor the speed and direction of the hurricanes to give airlines a good idea when to begin canceling flights and where to dispatch the planes and crews to ride out the storm.
If Mao Zedong understood that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun", some of his successors have found that enforcing the maxim hasn't always been straightforward. In China's recent history, or at least for the past two decades under Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) - unique among the world's militaries in serving a political party, not a state - resisted tight civilian oversight, functioning largely as a state-within-a-state. The PLA outwardly paid obeisance to the party. In return, its generals were left to run their fiefdoms.
Not any more. Since taking over in November 2012, Xi Jinping has waged a relentless war to tame the PLA. Over the past five years, he has pushed through sweeping reforms the army long resisted. First, the Chinese president disbanded the four vast autonomous departments that oversaw the army's personnel, logistics, armaments and political affairs, cutting them down to size and bringing them under the direct control of the party's Central Military Commission (CMC), which Xi heads. He then went after corrupt officers and their cliques, purging 42 senior officers, including two of the PLA's highest-ranking generals. In their stead, he promoted younger officers, many of whom owe their allegiance to, and have long-standing ties with, Xi, who also anointed himself the party's first civilian commander-in-chief.
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Xi's Party
If there were any doubts about either the scale or success of his five-year battle, Xi will use a key upcoming party congress to stamp his unquestioned authority. On October 18, the Communist Party of China (CPC) will convene its twice-a-decade national congress in Beijing. Some 2,300 delegates from across the country will meet to choose the next leaders for Xi's second five-year term. Besides choosing the next central committee and politburo, the week-long congress will also appoint the PLA's new leadership. A month ahead, Xi already fired a warning shot: the list of 303 PLA delegates who will attend the congress sent shock waves through Beijing, as it left out two of the army's highest-ranking generals, Fang Fenghui and Zhang Yang, both CMC members, and both now thought to be in the dock for corruption.
What is most striking about Xi's list is the scale of the turnover. Ninety per cent are first-time delegates, and of the current central committee, only seven out of 41 PLA officers will retain their seats. "This would constitute the largest-ever turnover of the military elite in the history of the People's Republic of China," notes Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings Institution, adding that "Xi appears to be firmly in control of the PLA, reflecting the successful reassertion of civilian command over the military under his leadership".
"This concentration of cronies of the CMC chairman [Xi] in the upper echelons of the PLA is unprecedented," says Willy Lam, adjunct professor at the Centre for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a leading observer of elite party politics. The upcoming congress, Lam notes, has been seen by some as "the coronation of Xi as emperor for life". "There has been a spate of personnel movements, and the widely held view is that Xi will further streamline the CMC [from seven members] so that it will have only four senior generals apart from Xi. This congress is a good indication of the predominance Xi has achieved within five years."
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Xi's Gutian moment
Besides the corruption crackdown and reshuffle, Xi has also, more than his predecessors, understood the importance of Mao's famous dictum about political power and the gun. Mao established the CPC's control over the PLA barely two years after the Red Army was founded, when he convened a conference in Gutian in 1929. Mao then outlined that the army first and foremost served the party, not the country, and that it was wrong to separate the army from party politics. Political work still inheres in the PLA's DNA, distinguishing it from other professional militaries.
Xi used the 85th anniversary of Mao's speech to convene a second Gutian conference in November 2014, bringing together 400 top generals and senior officers. Five months earlier, Xi had purged the highest-ranking PLA general, Xu Caihou, who was accused of massive corruption and selling posts for cash. It was being reported in Beijing that the post of commander for one of the seven military districts was being sold by Xu for 20 million yuan (Rs 200 million), although other military sources suggested the fee was far higher. Xi spoke of Xu's case, and said the PLA needed to "deeply reflect" on the lessons from it and reminded them of the importance of party loyalty. He lambasted the military's "problems in ideals and beliefs", and said that political work would be strengthened. The anti-corruption campaign, he warned, would continue.
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With the purging of Xu-who would later die in prison of cancer-and Guo Boxiong, another towering general who served as the highest-ranking officer under Hu Jintao, Xi has set the stage for a sweeping change in army leadership. The October 18 party congress will confirm the induction of a new breed of officers into the PLA as it sees its highest ever turnover. Key among the appointees will be the new members of the next CMC, the PLA's highest body. Besides retaining his long-term associate, General Xu Qiliang, as vice-chairman, Xi is likely to induct new generals, including General Li Zuocheng, who is close to Xi and was promoted in September to replace the latest general to be purged, Fang Fenghui, who was left out of the list of congress delegates.
General Li is representative of the new breed of officer that Xi is keen to project as the face of a revamped PLA. Li has seen action-in 1979, he fought in the war against Vietnam (see Xi's Generals).
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Implications for India
For long, Indian analysts have wrestled with the question of whether or not the PLA has been on the same page as the political leadership when it comes to relations with India, or if it has acted on its own motivations and been an impediment to relations. China has been flexing muscle in all territorial disputes. What has long been a puzzle is that some of the PLA's muscle-flexing moves on the Line of Actual Control have, in the past, coincided with visits of top Chinese leaders to India, raising the possibility of the army derailing political visits. For instance, in 2013, in the lead-up to the May visit of premier Li Keqiang-his first ever overseas visit-the PLA pitched a tent in disputed territory that had been patrolled by both sides in Depsang in the western sector. The PLA withdrew only when the visit was cast in doubt. Similarly, the following year, Xi's first visit to India was overshadowed by another standoff in Chumar.
Under Xi, the muscle-flexing hasn't stopped. In fact, on the day that Xi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Astana mid-June at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the PLA was destroying bunkers on the Doklam plateau, in land that India and Bhutan see as Bhutanese territory, and preparing to extend a road right up to the Indian border at Doka La, south of the India-China-Bhutan trijunction. Now Indian officials are increasingly of the view that the PLA is acting very much on Xi's orders, and in concert with the party leadership.
The Doklam crisis has only reinforced this perception. The purging of General Fang Fenghui soon after was seen by some analysts as a suggestion that he was being punished for not following the party line on Doklam. Indian sources say this is unlikely considering that he wasn't involved in handling the crisis and it's increasingly apparent he is being purged for economic corruption.
Up until early July, the PLA was leading the shrill rhetoric over the Doklam standoff. On June 29, a PLA spokesperson even invoked 1962, asking India to "learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war". On July 7, PM Modi initiated a conversation with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg. The PM made the case that both sides needed to resolve the dispute peacefully. Xi agreed that both needed to sit down and resolve the standoff. Now, Indian officials see the July 7 meeting as the turning point that paved the way for the August 28 disengagement. Up until then, China had maintained that there was no scope for talks until India unilaterally withdrew. But Xi's signalling in Hamburg gave the green light for talks, and over the following weeks, the entire system, sources said, slowly fell in line, essentially doing a 180-degree turn.
Xi's man in command during Doklam was General Zhao Zongqi, who heads the PLA's western theatre command. Sources say he may be in line for a promotion at the congress. Like General Li, Zhao is another officer who joined the PLA in his teens, at the age of 16. He made his mark during the 1979 Vietnam war, despite the bloody nose China received, and was praised for his "strategy and agility". Zhao has served in Tibet, and is also an Indian Ocean expert having been posted as defence attache in Tanzania. He speaks Arabic too. Zhao is also thought to have been personally taught by Xi at a time when both were on short-term deputation to the elite Party School in Beijing.
In an interview with the state media last year, Zhao pointed out that Xi recognised the strategic importance of the Western theatre command, which is responsible for the India border. Zhao showered praise on Xi's reforms and focus on jointness, saying that the new command system had enhanced the army's capabilities. "Our current abilities in border patrolling, anti-terrorism, disaster relief, unified commands, joint action and logistics support were not achievable in the past," he said, adding that Xi had urged him to be prepared for combat. "Chairman Xi said that a man is not qualified to be a soldier," Zhao noted, "if he thinks there will be no war in peace time."
In Beijing, the current emphasis, in the lead-up to the party congress, is stability. China's biggest concern, at present, is neither India nor the South China Sea but the likelihood of any disruption from North Korea, which has displayed a recent habit of carrying out provocative nuclear or missile tests to embarrass Beijing at a time when it was hosting major events. The calm, however, may only be a brief respite. As Xi stamps his authority over the party and army and readies for his second five-year term, India will have to be prepared to deal with the challenge from Xi's new army.
--- ENDS ---
One of the seven people allegedly involved in thousands of dollars of vandalism at Byron High School in April has been sentenced in the case.
Brandon Michael Stackhouse, Flabio Olmos and Katherine Regan Carpenter, all 18 and of Byron, are the only suspects who were considered adults at the time of the incident.
They were charged in June with one count each of aid and abet first-degree criminal damage to property, a felony; aid and abet third-degree criminal damage to property, a gross misdemeanor; aid and abet fourth-degree criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.
Carpenter pleaded guilty Thursday in Olmsted County District Court to the felony; in exchange for the plea, the other three charges were dismissed.
She was immediately sentenced to five years of probation, 100 hours of community work service, and ordered to pay one-seventh of the $7,305.05 restitution.
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Four juveniles a 15-year-old, two 17-year-olds, and an 18-year-old who was 17 at the time of the incident have also been identified and charged.
The investigation began at 7:44 a.m. April 28, when deputies responded to Byron High School for a report of property damage.
The damage was listed specifically:
Lights on the school sign were filled in with red spray paint.
A leg of the bear statue was painted.
A spotlight in front of the bear statue was covered in red paint.
A stop sign in the parking lot was painted with the word "go."
A light pole was painted with "420," various expletives, "2017," and "seniors."
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Multiple windows of the school spray-painted with vulgar language, "2017," and "seniors," and more.
"Grow house" was painted on the front door of the school greenhouse.
A white shed was spray painted with drawings of male genitalia.
Multiple eggs were broken on the outer walls and windows of the school.
A portable toilet was tipped over.
School administration estimated that the vandalism occurred between 12:08 a.m. and 12:28 a.m. that day; a staff member found a can of red spray paint and a Home Depot bag near the doors to the school.
Security footage from the school showed Stackhouse spray painting a side window, the criminal complaint says.
Two witnesses said they'd seen Stackhouse and one of the juveniles near the spray paint aisle at Home Depot the night before; the store provided a copy of the receipt and a photo of the two individuals who purchased the spray paint.
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The witnesses allegedly identified the people in the photo as Stackhouse and the juvenile.
Stackhouse admitted going to the school with three cans of spray paint; he met the others near the bus shed, the complaint says.
Olmos told detectives he brought eggs to the high school and threw some; Carpenter also admitted to throwing eggs at the high school, court documents say.
Stackhouse and Olmos were both released on their own recognizance after their initial appearances in court. Olmos is due back Oct. 24; Stackhouse is scheduled to appear Nov. 30. Neither has entered a plea.
All five of the juveniles acknowledged their participation in the vandalism, the reports say, learning about the "prank" via Snapchat and personal conversations.
Back in 2015 when Wikileaks revealed the contents of the Sony email hack (apparently performed by the North Koreans?), there was a minor scandal about that fact that the producers of the PBS series Finding Your Roots had edited out the fact that Ben Affleck had lobbied to have removed from the documentary that he is descended from slaveowners. Ironic now that Affleck is being swept up in the back eddies of the Weinstein scandal.
Because it turns out that in the crucial email thread between PBS series honcho Henry Louis Gates and Sony executive Michael Lynton, the subject of Weinstein came up in a revealing way. Heres the whole thread, rearranged and cleaned up a bit from the original and with the best parts highlighted, with the Affleck stuff transitioning in the middle:
On Jul 22, 2014, at 7:19 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
Would you consider coming to cambridge to present Harvey Weinstein with the Du Bois Medal on September 30th? Meryl is receiving one, Steve Mc Queen, Shonda Rhimes, Maya Angelou, and Valerie Jarrett. Maybe Poitier.
From: Lynton, Michael
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 10:24 AM
To: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Subject: Re:
I would do many things for you, almost anything, but not that.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 7:38 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
Sorry, bro! After he received this huge award from the black film makers, he was unanimously selectedthough after considerable discussion about his personality.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:04 AM, Lynton, Michael wrote:
no worries, just not on my watch.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 8:47 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
I know. Ive had my moments with Harvey, too, believe me.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:50 AM, Lynton, Michael wrote:
not like mine, maybe i should step down from the board.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 8:50 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
OH, NO! Please dont do that, Michael. I would be devastated.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:55 AM, Lynton, Michael wrote:
ok, will stay quiet on the subject.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 9:01 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
As long as you stay on the board, you are free to say this is crazy! I hardly know Harvey; you are my friend. I really would be devastated if you left. By the way, I need your advice: Im on a flight to L.A. for the TCA Press Tour. We launch season two of Finding Your Roots tomorrow at noon, and four celebrities, including Nas, are showing up. Heres my dilemma: confidentially, for the first time, one of our guests has asked us to edit out something about one of his ancestorsthe fact that he owned slaves. Now, four or five of our guests this season descend from slave owners, including Ken Burns. Weve never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. Hes a megastar. What do we do?
On Jul 22, 2014, at 12:09 PM, Lynton, Michael wrote:
Of course I will stay on the board if you want me to. On the doc the big question is who knows that the material is in the doc and is being taken out. I would take it out if no one knows, but if it gets out that you are editing the material based on this kind of sensitivity then it gets tricky. Again, all things being equal I would definitely take it out.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 9:11 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
Good; relieved. As for the doc: all my producers would know; his PR agency the same as mine, and everyone there has been involved trying to resolve this; my agent at CAA knows. And PBS would know. To do this would be a violation of PBS rules, actually, even for Batman.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 11:28 AM, Lynton, Michael wrote:
then it is tricky because it may get out that you made the change and it comes down to editorial integrity. We can talk when you land.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 9:30 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
Will call. It would embarrass him and compromise our integrity. I think he is getting very bad advice. Ive offered to fly to Detroit, where he is filming, to talk it through.
On Jul 22, 2014, at 12:28 PM, Lynton, Michael wrote:
yeah,, the past is the past..
On Jul 22, 2014, at 10:30 AM, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote:
And he wasnt even a bad guy. We dont demonize him at all. Now Anderson Coopers ancestor was a real s.o.b.; one of his slaves actually murdered him. Of course, the slave was promptly hanged. And Anderson didnt miss a beat about that. Once we open the door to censorship, we lose control of the brand.
Ive been highly suspicious of Emmanuel Macron, Frances youngish, posterboy president. First of all, hes French. Second, his beyondist positioning between or above the existing French partiesrotten as they areseems dubious.
And while not abandoning these or other suspicions, his interview published today in the German magazine Der Spiegel makes for some very interesting reading. One comment in particular jumps out:
I am a strong believer that modern political life must rediscover a sense for symbolism. We need to develop a kind of political heroism. I dont mean that I want to play the hero. But we need to be amenable once again to creating grand narratives. If you like, post-modernism was the worst thing that could have happened to our democracy. The idea that you have to deconstruct and destroy all grand narratives is not a good one. Since then, trust has evaporated in everything and everyone. I am sometimes surprised that it is the media that are the first ones to exhibit a lack of trust in grand narratives. They believe that destroying something is part of their journalistic purpose because something grand must inevitably contain an element of evil. Critique is necessary, but where does this hate for the so-called grand narrative come from? . . . Why cant there be such a thing as democratic heroism? Perhaps exactly that is our task: rediscovering something like that together for the 21st century.
There may be more to this guy than I thought. Reading through the whole thing, which reveals especially his dislike of the media (always a good sign), makes me think hes much preferable to Merkel for the leadership of the continent. And this little piece of the interview is curious on just this point:
DER SPIEGEL: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told us in an interview that he has learned a lot from Angela Merkel. Is the same true for you? Macron: I speak often with Madame Merkel. We talk at least once or twice a week. We send messages to each other regularly and have a lot of joint meetings. I have great respect for her, even if we have a lot of differences.
Viva la difference!
Finally, perhaps we can add Elizabeth Warren to the list of people Macron doesnt admire, at least by implication from the back and forth in this section:
The Obama administration carried out the most sustained attack on the rule of law in our nations history. One important aspect of that assault was Obamacare, an unworkable statute that the Democrats passed without reading, relying on administrative agencies and the courts to rewrite the law, unconstitutionally. The Supreme Court lent a hand to this project in King v. Burwell by holding that established by the state can be interpreted to mean not established by the state.
Last night, President Trump issued an order ending subsidy payments to insurance companies under Obamacare, for which Congress has not appropriated money. The Obama administration had made those payments to insurance companies, notwithstanding the lack of any legal basis for doing so. Last May, in U.S. House of Representatives v. Burwell, Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that it was unconstitutional for the executive branch to make these insurer subsidy payments without Congressional authorization. She wrote:
The question is whether Congress appropriated the billions of dollars that the Secretaries have spent since January 2014 on Section 1402 reimbursements. The Secretaries rely on 31 U.S.C. 1324, which expressly appropriates money for Section 1401 premium tax credits. In order to explain their paying Section 1402 reimbursements out of a permanent appropriation for IRS refunds, the Secretaries posit that Sections 1401 and 1402 are economically and programmatically integrated. A contrary reading of the amended appropriations statute, they contend, would yield absurd economic, fiscal, and healthcare-policy results. The only result of the ACA, however, is that the Section 1402 reimbursements must be funded annually. Far from absurd, that is a perfectly valid means of appropriation. The results predicted by the Secretaries flow not from the ACA, but from Congress subsequent refusal to appropriate money. Such an appropriation cannot be inferred, no matter how programmatically aligned the Secretaries may view Sections 1401 and 1402. See 31 U.S.C.
1301(d) (A law may be construed to make an appropriation out of the Treasury . . . only if the law specifically states that an appropriation is made). This principle is even more important in the case of a permanent appropriation. Remission to Guam & Virgin Islands of Estimates of Moneys to be Collected, B-114808, 1979 WL 12213, at *3 (Comp. Gen. Aug. 7, 1979). Paying out Section 1402 reimbursements without an appropriation thus violates the Constitution. Congress authorized reduced cost sharing but did not appropriate monies for it, in the FY 2014 budget or since. Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one. See U.S. Constitution, Art. I, 9, cl. 7 (No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law . . . .).
Judge Collyer ordered an end to the illegal federal payments, but stayed her order pending appeal. The current Department of Justice, having reviewed the legal issues, now has concluded that Judge Collyer was correct, and that the subsidies that the Obama administration paid were unconstitutional. Therefore, the president has now elected to follow the law, and has ended the improper payments.
Liberal news outlets are offering a parade of horribles that will ensue if the federal government doesnt continue to pay off insurance companies. In most cases, they pay little or no attention to the constitutional issue at stake. Whether such consequences will result is not so clear. Chris Jacobs points out:
For the time being, individuals likely will not see any direct effects from the payments ceasing. Carriers cannot exit Exchanges mid-year, and contracts for the 2018 plan year are already signed. (A provision in carriers 2017 and 2018 contracts lets them exit Exchanges if enrollees do not receive cost-sharing reductionsnot if the insurers themselves do not receive reimbursement for those cost-sharing reductions. This clause, awkwardly drafted by insurers counsel, may provide them with little legal recourseand further highlights their questionable assumptions and behavior surrounding the subsidies.) So maybejust maybeWashington can spend some time focusing on the real issue behind the Administrations action: Upholding the Constitution.
If Congress wants to continue the subsidies, it can do so. Its appropriation, obviously, will make them constitutional. But regardless of what happens from now on, the Trump administration has acted admirably by refusing to go along with the unconstitutional regime that Barack Obama instituted.
During his two terms in office President Obama conducted an assault on the Constitution and on limited government in the name of the higher good as he saw it. Obamas lawlessness was little noted in the mainstream media other than in disparaging accounts of the Republican and conservative reaction to Obama.
President Trump appears to be a bull in the White House china shop. He is portrayed as a kind of Strangelovian madman. Yet in many respects he seeks to restore the rule of law where it was abrogated by Obama. As a reaction to Obamas lawlessness, Trump stands in relation to the Obama era as Jimmy Carter did to the Nixon era.
Trumps cessation of subsidy payments to Obamacare insurers represents a perfect example. David Harsanyi notes the (overdue) restoration of legality effected by Trumps action in this Federalist column as does Andrew McCarthy in this NRO column. John Hinderaker did the honors for us last night here.
When it comes to President Trump, hysteria is the only note the Democrats can strike. According to Nancy Pelosi, in terminating the subsidy payments Trump is guilty of sabotage. What else is new?
Robert Pear covers the story along with several other reporters in the New York Times account Trump to scrap critical health care subsidies, hitting Obamacare again. The headline is almost funny. It sounds like a variation of the old joke. President Trump, when did you stop hitting Obamacare?
In the fourth paragraph of their story, Pear et al. get around to quoting the White House statement on Trumps action: The government cannot lawfully make the cost-sharing reduction payments. Say what?
Sometimes you have to read the Times like the citizens of the Soviet Union read Pravda, to infer the real news buried in the propaganda. Pear is a good reporter and his story isnt that bad, but the reader still has to struggle to understand whats happening. Congress can and must authorize the payments that are in issue if they are to be made at all.
Dont tell Mrs. Pelosi, but thats the way its supposed to work. In her case, I guess, we really did have to pass the bill in order to find out.
The issue of legality, it should be noted, goes back to the lawsuit brought by the House of Representatives under Speaker John Boehner. There seems to be no love lost by anyone for Boehner, but we owe him a debt of gratitude for raising the issue.
Carl Hulse is the New York Times reporter who covered the House lawsuit brought against the HHS Secretary. Lets take a look back. Hulses stories on the lawsuit are all worth reading in one way or another.
Earlier this year, for example, Hulse observed: Obama unwittingly handed Trump a weapon to cripple the health law. Hulse held out hope that Obamas lawlessness would find shelter in the doctrine of standing, but consider this:
The administration should not have found an appropriation where none existed, said Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor who has studied and written about the issue. The Obama administration argument that the Affordable Care Act included an appropriation for the cost-sharing payments never held water. Judge Rosemary M. Collyer agreed with that assertion last year. She ruled that the Obama administration had no explicit authority to pay as much as $130 billion over 10 years to insurance companies to cover out-of-pocket health costs for millions of lower-income Americans obtaining insurance on the new health exchanges. At the same time, she found that the Republican-led House had the standing to sue the administration a potentially far-reaching decision that many constitutional law experts predicted would be overturned on appeal, causing the suit to be dismissed.
I love this Hulse story too: In a secret meeting, revelations on the battle over health care. Forgive the length of the excerpt. In a rightly ordered world, this would have been big news:
On Jan. 13, 2014, a team of Internal Revenue Service financial managers piled into government vans and headed to the Old Executive Office Building for what would turn out to be a very unusual meeting. Upon arrival, the I.R.S. officials, some of whom had expressed doubts that the Obama administration had the proper authority to spend billions of dollars on a crucial element of its health care law, were ushered into a conference room. There, they were presented with an Office of Management and Budget memo laying out the administrations justification for spending $3.9 billion on consumer health insurance subsidies. They were told they could read it but could not take notes or make copies. The O.M.B. officials left the room to allow their visitors a moment to absorb the document, and then returned to answer a few questions and note that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. had been briefed and signed off on the legal rationale. It was not a common practice in my 10 years in government at the three agencies where I worked, said David Fisher, a former I.R.S. financial risk officer, recounting the odd meeting during a deposition on May 11 conducted by investigators for the House Ways and Means Committee. The clandestine nature of the session underscores the intense conflict over the spending, which is the subject of a federal lawsuit in which House Republicans have so far prevailed, as well as a continuing investigation by the Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce Committees. It also shows that more than six years after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, Republican opposition has not waned. After failing to win congressional approval for the funds, the Obama administration spent the money anyway and has now distributed about $7 billion to insurance companies to offset out-of-pocket costs for eligible consumers. The administration asserts that the health care legislation provided permanent, continuing authority to do so, and that no further appropriation was necessary. Mr. Fisher, for one, did not agree, and his testimony is the first to reveal that some within the administration challenged the spending. Beginning in late 2013, he and his supervisor began having qualms about how the White House was planning to proceed. In combing through documents to make sure his agency could defend the spending in future audits, Mr. Fisher said he came up empty. Cost-sharing reduction payments are not linked to the Internal Revenue Code, as far as I could tell, directly anywhere, Mr. Fisher, now in the private sector, said in his deposition, made public last week by House Democrats who feared Republicans would release selected excerpts. There is no linkage to the permanent appropriation, nor is there any link to any other appropriation that was indicating what account these funds should be paid from.
On May 12, 2016, Hulse reported Judge Collyers decision finding the subsidy payments illegal in Judge backs House challenge to key part of health law. Hulse quoted the aptly named Obama White House spokesman Josh Earnest doing his Baghdad Bob routine:
Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, dismissed the judges ruling as another instance when Republicans have sought to overturn the Affordable Care Act through the courts. He said the dispute should be settled by voters, not judges. This suit represents the first time in our nations history that Congress has been allowed to sue the executive branch over the interpretation of a statute, Mr. Earnest said. These are the kinds of political disputes that characterize our democracy. He added that the administration was confident in its legal arguments. Theyve been losing this fight for six years, Mr. Earnest said of congressional Republicans. And theyll lose it again.
Hulse reported Judge Collyers initial decision recognizing the Houses standing to bring the lawsuit in Judge denies Obama administration quick appeal in House suit against health care law and subsequently noted Judge Collyers refusal to allow an interlocutory appeal of the standing issue here. Judge Collyers standing decision elicited a Times editorial in which it assured readers that it was a baseless lawsuit[.]
President Trump is to be commended for pulling the plug on the defense of the House lawsuit and restoring the constitutional order to the extent it is in his power to do so.
By PTI: Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) Former general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee Mahadev Shelar allegedly committed suicide at his residence in suburban Mulund this afternoon.
Shelar (64), ended his life by hanging from a ceiling fan at his residence at around 2.30 pm, a senior police official said.
Shelars wife had gone to the market when the incident took place, the official said.
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On arriving home she found him hanging, the official said.
He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, he said.
Police have found suicide note from the spot and as per the preliminary investigation illness seems to be the reason that drove him to take the extreme step, another official said.
Police have registered a case of accidental death and further probe into the matter is underway.
Shelar was a lawyer by profession and known for his his calm nature among the party workers. PTI AVI RMT
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I put everything I had to offer on the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick/Geoffrey Ward documentary The Vietnam War into Notes on the Ken Burns version. I think the documentary seeks to fix the record in falsity. To take only one example, as I say in my Notes, Burns and his colleagues were apparently unable to find a soldier to recall his service in anything other than shades of disillusion, disgust and shame. Much more remains to be done on this deeply dishonest work to prevent it from becoming the received history of the war.
Wanting to check my own heated reaction to the documentary against the observations of more knowledgeable observers, I wrote Yales Charles Hill. Professor Hill is diplomat in residence and lecturer in International Studies at Yale as well as a research fellow of the Hoover Institution.
Before he alighted at Yale, Professor Hill had an incredibly distinguished career in the State Department. In the course of his career in the government he served in Saigon during the climactic period of the Vietnam War (1971-1973). Among the roles he served was that of mission coordinator in the United States Embassy. Molly Worthen covers Professor Hills work in Vietnam in chapter 6 of her precocious 2005 biography, The Man on Whom Nothing Was Lost: The Grand Strategy of Charles Hill.
Professor Hill watched the documentary with intense attention. I asked Professor Hill if he would comment on the documentary, however briefly. He responded:
The most repulsive sub-theme starts at the very outset when a veteran says: I was scared. I hated them. I was SO scared! This quaking fear of American troops is repeated throughout the 18 hours, often silently with just quick photos of US soldiers with expressions of fear.
In a separate message he commented on the documentarys depiction of the war after 1968:
When the US and South Vietnamese cause turned the war on the ground in a sharply different direction and began actually to win it (I was there), the cultural elite of Haight-Ashbury and Woodstock, promoted by the media, simply stopped reporting on the war so that the astonishing South Vietnamese victories over the invading North Vietnamese Army on three international fronts in 1972 was barely mentioned. Burnss aim is to make sure the annoyingly christened (sic) Millennials will be locked into the leftist narrative of his own formative years - to him, the real Greatest Generation.
I think we are beginning to get somewhere.
Earlier this week came Philip Jenningss New York Sun column Justifying betrayal of Vietnam emerges as the raison detre of Ken Burns Film on the War. As I did in my Notes, Jennings observes: Burns fails to find even one American or South Vietnamese veteran who wholly supported the war, was proud to have appeared in arms, and sickened by the United States abandonment its freedom-seeking ally. He adds: There are literally hundreds of thousands of us.
Yesterday the Weekly Standard published Stephen Morriss important essay on the documentary, The bad war. Morris knows what he is talking about. Written with attention to detail in a carefully modulated tone, the essay makes an important I would say invaluable contribution to the record on the documentary. If you have been following the commentary on the documentary so far, you will not want to miss it. As I say, we are beginning to get somewhere.
Based on a report from FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), Stanley Kurtz provides what he calls a man bites dog story: the shout-down of California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra and California State Assembly Leader Ian Calderon both liberals by Pro-Trump, MAGA hat-wearing protesters. This occurred at Whittier College, alma mater of Richard Nixon, where Becerra was trying to explain his decision to sue the Trump administration for phasing out the DACA program.
The disruptors, who apparently were not students, shouted slogans like: Build that wall, lock him up, respect our president, and American first. Becerras question and answer session with Calderon was severely disturbed and cut short as a result.
Shout-downs of liberals and leftists by those on the right are just as intolerable as the more standard case in which lefty students shout down conservative speakers. They show that in a deeply divided country, curbing free speech for some could easily mean curbing free speech for all.
As Stanley concludes: If we dont stop the epidemic of shout-downs now, chaos and civil conflict may follow someday soon.
Military Aviation A forum for the professionals who fly military hardware. Also for the backroom boys and girls who support the flying and maintain the equipment, and without whom nothing would ever leave the ground. All armies, navies and air forces of the world equally welcome here.
Ecological waste processing was among the topics as the heads of state of the Visegrad Group (V4), including Poland's Andrzej Duda, on Friday began their two-day summit in the Hungarian city of Szekszard.
Closed-circuit economy (whereby waste is used as a raw material instead of being discarded) dominated the second session of the meeting between Andrzej Duda and his Hungarian, Czech and Slovakian counterparts, Janos Ader, Milos Zeman and Andrej Kiska.
The presidents discussed ways to encourage businesses to be more eco-friendly in their manufacturing processes, while retaining competitive edge.
The closed-circuit economy is being promoted by the European Commission which is to announce new steps on the matter in the autumn, such as streamlining the production of renewable biological resources and their transformation into bioproducts and bioenergy.
Earlier, the V4 leaders talked about the prospects for the integration of West Balkan countries with NATO and the European Union.
On Saturday, attention will switch to technological innovation, including plans to build a single EU digital market, with Poland suggesting the start of legislative work on the issue. Data flow can become the fifth plank of the EU's common market, besides free movement of people, services, goods and capital. (PAP)
"We cannot look upon the European Union as an 'elite club'; the doors to the EU are open and it's worth striving and building a country with future EU membership in mind", Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Saturday in Hungary.
Andrzej Duda was speaking in the Hungarian city of Szekszard at a press conference following a two-day summit of Visegrad Group presidents. The Visegrad Group is comprised of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. May be of interest to you V4 presidents meet in Hungary
President Duda underscored that the EU must clearly state that it is open to new members, adding that countries that aspire to join must fulfil certain conditions, which should be clearly defined.
"It is necessary for both those countries and societies to have that ambition to achieve an ever higher level by getting closer to the EU, at the same time, building their economy and entire state system more effectively (...) to fight corruption and establish modern, democratic institutions", the president said.
"It is also necessary for the EU. We cannot regard EU as an 'elite club' closed to others. Quite the opposite. I see the EU as something that will last for another decade and, God willing, another century, something that should have an open character, a dynamic character".
"If the society of Great Britain decides to leave the EU, then so be it. It is their right within the EU framework. But we should keep the doors open and say: the EU is also accessible, because we want it to be bigger (...) so that its economy grows. We want to build an area of prosperity in Europe but also an area of peace and security", Andrzej Duda stressed.
In the president's opinion, democracy in the EU means the union's evolution should be driven by European societies not by European bureaucracy which, in his view, is detached from real social needs. "The most important thing is that element of the message to the Balkan countries, which have so many problems of their own (...) that the EU's doors are open and it's worth striving to get in, worth building their countries with a view to future membership", Andrzej Duda concluded.
On Friday, the Visegrad Group's heads of state began a two-day summit in the Hungarian city of Szekszard. Besides President Duda, the summit is attended by presidents of Hungary (Janos Ader - PAP), Czech Republic (Milos Zeman ) Slovakia (Andrej Kiska ). The four presidents have been discussing Euro-Atlantic integration of the Balkan countries, EU single market and ecological problems.
During a Saturday press conference, the Polish President congratulated his Hungarian counterpart on "a certain courage in preparing the summit topics in the light of the EU's present condition".
"Considering the issues discussed recently by the European Union leaders, none of the topics we brought up here can be regarded as a run-of-the-mill one. The EU debate has recently been revolving around the Union's crisis, Brexit, but we, here, have practically not touched upon these subjects", the president stressed. "We have, indeed, debated the EU's future in the most positive sense of the word", Andrzej Duda added.
As the Polish president pointed out, one of the summit's topics was the issue of the Western Balkan states, including ways to assure permanent peace in these countries so that their populations can prosper. "We believe the path to this is the EU integration and our common stance is absolutely clear here", President Duda emphasised.
Presidents of the Visegrad Group agreed at the Szekszard meeting that the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU should be accelerated.
"I would like to sincerely thank all teachers for educating our youth", Polish President Andrzej Duda said in Hungary on Saturday, addressing his comments to all teachers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries.
On the occasion of National Education Day, Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda thanked teachers for the their professionalism and engagement.
Andrzej Duda and his wife underlined that it was thanks to teachers' skills and their personal attitude that young people in Poland gained "valuable knowledge, respect for authority and education".
"Dear Teachers, Educators and Instructors in the country and abroad! Ladies and Gentlemen! On the occasion of National Education Day we invite you to accept our expressions of recognition and deep respect", the presidential couple's letter read.
"We sincerely congratulate you for the successes you have achieved. We wish you satisfaction in your professional development and in the achievements of your students and pupils. May you be accompanied, both within the school walls and outside, by the grateful memories, kindness and respect of young Polish people, their families and loved ones".
The presidential couple noted that the National Education Day was an occasion to remind all about the scale of the challenges to which teachers rise every day and to thank them for their professionalism and engagement. They underlined that thanks to the work of teachers, young Polish people, "discover creativity, sensitivity and curiosity about the world within themselves". The President and First Lady pointed out that educating someone to be "mature in character and intellect, aware of their civil and patriotic responsibilities" was to a great extent the result of many years of patient work on the part of teachers.
President Duda and his wife wrote that Polish history was testament to the fact that hard work and patience in awaiting its results was worthwhile, "especially the last two centuries, during which the ethos of Polish teaching shaped itself in the service of Polish culture, language and values" as an important part of the work towards a free, sovereign state. "Poland's regaining independence in 1918 was also the work of Polish teachers", the couple declared.
The presidential couple underlined that next year's centenary celebrations of regaining independence by Poland would be "an occasion to honour your predecessors with pride and gratitude" as those earlier generations of teachers had "drawn great strength and a sense of pride from their roots and the heritage of ten centuries of our history". (PAP)
Gamle Appliances opens its first exclusive store
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Faridabad: Gamle Appliances, one of the most modern kitchen appliance brands in India, would strengthen its share in Built in Kitchen Appliance Segment through entering into the franchisee model, exclusive stores called as Gamle World. Gamle Appliances opens its first Exclusive Gamle World at Faridabad.
The store is spread over 700-800 square feet situated at Sohna Road, Faridabad. This retail space would offer the consumers to meet with the latest innovations in Kitchen industry. Through this Gamle World people will be able to feel the unique buying experience with combination of technical know-how through the experts sitting in the showrooms to educate the people on the products and their functionalities. This Exclusive Faridabad Store would enable Gamle to present full product range of Kitchen Chimneys, Cooktops and Hobs.
Announcing the launch, Mr. Sanjeev Dayal, Managing Director & CEO, Gamle Appliances said, "Opening our first store in Faridabad during the festival time is a moment of great joy for us. The overwhelming response we got from our customers inspired us to take next step and give a personalized experience of shopping. As Customer Experience is the most important element for us, we constantly aim at improving upon the experience of our customers by giving them a first-hand opportunity to view and have a look and feel of the product before making a purchasing decision. This festive season, Gamle is offering an assortment of high quality products to delight the customers with both price and product."
Customers can choose from the portfolio of Designer Kitchen Chimneys, Cooktops & Hobs, etc. At this exclusive store customers will be able to get proper guidance on the products, Size, suitability, and meet their requirements by the experts sitting in the showrooms. This educative drive will help them choose the right product.
Sharing the further expansion plans, Mr. Dayal, said, The company aims to further strengthen its customer connect and we are planning to increase our footprints across India in coming years. We plan to run 20 fully operational stores in various states by 2018. These stores will go pan India, in metropolitan cities including Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. This will add to our present network of multi-brand dealers.
The company is looking at a capital expenditure of Rs. 1 crore to achieve this goal.
Giving some insight about the vast industry, Mr. Dayal added, "We estimate the market size of kitchen appliance segment to be almost 650 -700 Crores consisting of Chimneys, hobs, built-in ovens/micros/dishwashers etc. However, in Gas Cook tops the total industry size in organized sector is assumed to be about 1000 Crores plus. The market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 25-30% during 2017-22.
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As the number of disasters natural and manmade accumulate across the nation, donations are being sought from businesses and residents day in and day out to help the hundreds of thousands of victims.
Some might think this has led to donor fatigue, but locals have jumped in to help. However, organizations admit the amount of donations and volunteers have not been as abundant as when Harvey first struck Texas in late August. Volunteer coordinators say it could be the numerous organizations that have put out the call for help are diluting the response.
People are always gung-ho at the start, but now its been how long since Harvey hit? How long since Puerto Rico? said volunteer coordinator Nicole Troast at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Northfield. Its also less because more people are having fundraisers.
Three hurricanes in one month Harvey in Texas, Irma in Florida and the Caribbean, and Maria in Puerto Rico and elsewhere were followed by a mass shooting during a Las Vegas country music festival on Oct. 8. And now, more than 15 wildfires are raging through California.
After Hurricane Harvey, volunteers from Good Shepherd began receiving supplies for recovery efforts as a donation hub for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, or UMCOR, which provides disaster relief efforts worldwide and year-round.
Troast said the giving hasnt stopped, its just not as intense as at first. She said that storm response is particularly important in the Jersey Shore region, which knows all-too-well from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 the impact from a devastating storm.
Diane Concannon, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross New Jersey Region, said four vehicles and 140 volunteers from New Jersey have been deployed to almost every disaster area in the last seven weeks, except Las Vegas.
We saw an outpouring of support for Hurricane Harvey, Concannon said. As of Oct. 9, the (national) American Red Cross has authorized payment to more than 477,000 households severely affected by Hurricane Harvey. Thats more than a $190 million in direct financial assistance.
Concannon said that after Irma, the giving continued but not at the same level as after Harvey. For Maria, she said, it is too early to judge the response.
We have seen a lot of separate fundraisers step up, and the numbers arent in, she said.
Concannon said people always step forward to help when devastation hits, but the number of disasters and efforts can distort the response. She said that because the Red Cross honors specific designations on donations for example, Hurricane Harvey relief she encouraged donors to designate a more general disaster relief.
That helps with all disasters big and small across the country, Concannon said.
This weekend, Ventnor Coffee owner Michael Einwechter will host a benefit concert at his coffee shop, with proceeds benefiting United For Puerto Rico.
One of my best friends, her family lost their house in Puerto Rico, so I spent many hours on the phone with her the night after she had heard from them, said Einwechter, president of the community group Amazing Ventnor.
Einwechter said he sees the support from his community as friends are traveling to Florida and Texas to help. He said numerous businesses have stepped up to help and is expecting 3,000 attendees for his Puerto Rico fundraiser.
We have a huge Hispanic community down here in South Jersey, so through social media, through press and through TV, weve been fortunate that were reaching these people. Were getting phone calls and emails, local businesses reaching out and trying to help. Its been very overwhelming and very humbling, Einwechter said.
He said only three businesses he approached were not able to give donations.
Everythings been donated. Its just amazing, down to the toilets, Einwechter said.
In September, volunteer Debra LoFranco, 33, of Brigantine, went to Houston for the American Red Cross on her first out-of-state deployment, she said.
I saw that there was a need and had the opportunity. It was great that I met people from all over (the country and abroad), she said. It was amazing to see all the people that responded.
LoFranco said she wishes she could take more time to go to California or Puerto Rico, but her work schedule doesnt allow it.
Mark and Sue Newcomb, of Galloway Township, were leaving supplies Thursday at The Press of Atlantic Citys donation drop-off point for Puerto Rico a joint effort with the Puerto Rican Civic Association of Hammonton and said all the devastation has made them more inclined to give.
Its horrible. I feel for them, said Sue Newcomb. I dont think weve seen something like this in a long time.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Delhi BJP is all set for a major reshuffle post Diwali and sources say that at least a dozen office bearers will be shown the door.
By Rakesh Ranjan: Come January, the Delhi BJP will get into election mode with a sustained campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and to avert any mismanagement the party will clean house, getting rid of dead wood.
The city unit of the party is set to undergo a major reshuffle post Diwali with nearly a dozen office bearers likely to be ejected. Strengthening the organisation and a strong media cell is the key focus of the reshuffle, said a senior BJP leader.
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In a recent review meeting, it was decided that the party would launch a campaign in Delhi from January 2018 to publicise the achievements of the Narendra Modi government. Sources said the saturated media cell of Delhi BJP will be revamped as this unit will be primarily responsible for countering adverse publicity or the propaganda machinery of opposition parties. The current media cell convener, Mahesh Verma, is likely to be replaced by a new face.
A well-placed source told Mail Today that one general secretary, three secretaries, two vice presidents and at least three party spokespersons of the current team will be shown the door. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, who is tasked with removing the jinx of infighting in the state unit, had also hinted at a reshuffle after party's loss in the Bawana assembly by-elections.
The office-bearers and media cell have been told to come up with innovative ideas to publicise the government initiatives and major achievements. "Starting January 2018, the party will have just over one year to prepare for the Lok Sabha elections and a strong unit has to in place. Media strategy will be of key significance during the election campaign in the Capital," a senior leader said adding the reshuffle is expected anytime after Diwali.
Sources said Tiwari is unhappy with the current media team which has failed to mark its presence effectively. The national BJP media team has also advised the Delhi team to improve its functioning and revise its strategy for dealing with important issues. Countering the AAP during the elections will be another challenge for the BJP. "Taking on the Aam Aadmi Party over allegations of corruption and poor performance will be as important as publicising the Centre's achievements," a party leader said.
The Delhi BJP has nine spokespersons at present, out of which three may be replaced with new faces. However, sources said they may be given new responsibilities in the state unit. Their main role during elections will be to effectively put forward party's stand during TV debates and also counter the propaganda machinery. A dedicated social media team may also be formed to keep close watch over the developments and opposition moves.
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Sources told Mail Today that the economic reforms such as Goods and Services Tax (GST), Mudra Scheme and Start-up India initiated by the Modi government need to be communicated effectively to people so that they understand the benefits of it. Similarly, skill development, Digital India and many reforms in the social sector have also been identified as the key initiatives that need proper publicity. In the meeting it was also decided that Delhi BJP media department would coordinate with party leadership in the three municipal corporations on dayto-day basis.
"The state leadership has frequently noticed that there is no coordination among media departments and the leadership in three MCDs. The media cell has been directed to improve the functioning and strike better coordination with civic bodies," said a party leader who was part of the meeting.
--- ENDS ---
ATLANTIC CITY Entering or exiting the city from Ventnor now just got a little more attractive, thanks to two locals.
Friends Cindy Owen and Anne Marie Wilkins were reminiscing about growing up in the city one day and thought about ways they could give back.
They came up with trying to change the welcome and thank you for visiting signs at the border, which had been small, plain, white rectangles at the time.
Now, two new welcome signs sit at the Atlantic City-Ventnor border that are decorated with an image of the Absecon Lighthouse, rimmed by a rope with dolphins along the sides.
Questions still remain over public employees' roles in fraud case The investigation into state health benefits fraud does not fit typical criminal schemes.
We all love it here. I was born and raised here, Owen said. Its just a wonderful thing that the community spirit can come together.
Owen, 51, who lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and has a second home in Lower Chelsea, and Wilkins, 50, of Chelsea, came up with the idea while sitting on Owens front porch one night last year. They had taken a walk and looked around at parts of the city they wanted to help spruce up.
They approached 6th Ward Councilman Jesse Kurtz with the sign idea, and he in turn brought it up to the city.
The two found sponsors, and a year later, two signs were installed, one at the Atlantic Avenue entrance at Newton Avenue and the other at Jackson and Ventnor avenues.
Owens husband, Lawrence, and his brother Tom worked on the design and graphics for the signs.
Atlantic City man gets 10 years for cocaine trafficking An Atlantic City man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy
Cindy Owen called the effort all heart and soul.
This should inspire others to get more engaged with your little corner of the city, Kurtz said. We now have the best welcome signs on the island.
Officials said they hope to have more signs installed at other entrances to the city as more funds become available through sponsors.
The sponsors for the signs include Mexico Restaurant and Bar, Wonder Bar, the Atlantic City Arts Foundation, Stockton University and FantaSea Resorts.
Mayor Don Guardian said when he took office, he was embarrassed by the signage entering Atlantic City.
Of course we had no money to do the type of signs that we wanted to do, he said. I cant tell you how many people have noticed these signs.
The war on cops is moving from the streets to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, the justices heard a case that threatens police officers with financial ruin if they make arrests and the charges later get dropped.
It started with a late night bash. District of Columbia police officers were called by neighbors at 1 a.m. to investigate a rowdy party at an unoccupied row house. The police found 21 partygoers, liquor, trash and used condoms strewn about, along with the smell of marijuana and women with cash coming out of their pants. The partygoers scattered, hiding in closets.
When questioned, some told police Peaches had invited them. Some gave other stories. The police phoned Peaches, who admitted to not having the owners permission to use the house. The police then called the owner, who confirmed no one had permission. Two hours after being summoned, the police made the decision to arrest the partygoers for trespassing the judgment call that is the issue in this case.
The charges were later dropped, because it wasnt clear beyond a reasonable doubt the partygoers knew they were trespassing. But 16 turned around and sued the police for false arrest and violating their constitutional rights.
They never claimed the police verbally or physically abused them. They sued simply for having been arrested, cuffed and hauled to the police station. Amazingly, the lower courts slapped the police with nearly $1 million in damages and legal fees one of numerous recent lower court decisions making cops personally liable for decisions they made on duty.
The justices should put a stop to it. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has a long record of protecting the police from legal liability, provided theres no evidence of malice or a deliberate violation of the Constitution.
If merely making an arrest puts cops at risk of getting sued and clobbered with legal fees and damage awards, what police officer would ever make an arrest? One mistake could mean losing their home and everything else. Faced with that risk, who would ever want to be a cop?
Twenty-six states and the federal Justice Department are weighing in with a strong warning that allowing the lower court ruling to stand would have vast consequences for law enforcement everywhere. On the other side, the American Civil Liberties Union is pushing to shrink or even eliminate the polices legal immunity. The ACLU wants police to have no room for error.
Last weeks oral argument signals how the justices are likely to vote. Justice Stephen Breyer sympathized with the partygoers, suggesting its out of the Middle Ages to expect them to know whos hosting. Justice Elena Kagan bragged she herself had gone to parties without knowing who the host was and where marijuana was maybe present.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor was determined to play the race card, though race wasnt raised by either side. She asked if police officers arrived at a wealthy home and it was white teenagers having a party ... I doubt very much those kids would be arrested. Shame on Sotomayor.
Neighbors called the cops because they were concerned about the debauchery going on next door to them. Of course, people in an upscale neighborhood would do the same. Rich people and poor people, black and white alike, want police protection and quiet enjoyment of their homes.
That protection is being eroded. You can thank Black Lives Matter street protests and pandering politicians. Manhattan Institute scholar Heather MacDonald reports a nationwide slowdown in policing, because cops are feeling vulnerable and hesitating to make arrests. That means the war on cops is hurting all of us.
A majority of the justices seem to get that. The courts newest member, Justice Neil Gorsuch, has frequently cautioned against courts second-guessing police for the actions they take in tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving circumstances. Thats why the court should rule in favor of legal immunity for the police. Our public safety depends on it.
Email Betsy McCaughey, a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and a former lieutenant governor of New York State, at betsy@betsymccaughey.com.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Democrat Phil Murphy leads Republican Kim Guadagno by nearly 18 points in the race for the Governors Office, according to a Stockton University poll released Friday.
The poll of 585 likely New Jersey voters had Murphy receiving 51 percent to 33 percent for Guadagno. An additional 8 percent were undecided or would not identify a choice. And 7 percent preferred an independent or third-party candidate.
Property taxes were the top issue for voters surveyed.
Property taxes are always a major issue in New Jersey, and Kim Guadagno is hammering that point, said Sharon Schulman, executive director of the Hughes Center. But its difficult to overcome voters strong negative feelings about the Republican governor and president.
Those surveyed said Murphy would be the better choice for creating jobs, managing the state budget and helping Atlantic City succeed, according to the poll. Guadagno would do a better job controlling property taxes, according to the poll.
The survey was conducted Oct. 4-12.
OAKLAND, California, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Cal/OSHA is advising employers that special precautions must be taken to protect workers from hazards from wildfire smoke.
Smoke from wildfires contains chemicals, gases and fine particles that can harm health. The greatest hazard comes from breathing fine particles, which can reduce lung function, worsen asthma and other existing heart and lung conditions, and cause coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
Cal/OSHA has posted materials that provide guidance for employers and workers on working safely in conditions with heavy smoke caused by the wildfires. Employers with operations exposed to wildfire smoke must consider taking appropriate measures as part of their Injury and Illness Prevention Program under Title 8 section 3203 of the California Code of Regulations and as required under section 5141 (Control of Harmful Exposure to Employees). Those measures include:
Engineering controls whenever feasible (for example, using a filtered ventilation system in indoor work areas)
Administrative controls if practicable (for example, limiting the time that employees work outdoors)
Providing workers with respiratory protective equipment, such as disposable filtering facepieces (dust masks).
To filter out fine particles, respirators must be labeled N-95, N-99, N-100, R-95, P-95, P-99, or P-100, and must be labeled approved by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Approved respiratory protective equipment is necessary for employees working in outdoor locations designated by local air quality management districts as "Very Unhealthy," "Unhealthy" or "Hazardous."
It takes more effort to breathe through a respirator, and it can increase the risk of heat stress. Frequent breaks are advised. Workers feeling dizzy, faint or nauseous are advised to go to a clean area, remove the respirator and seek medical attention.
Respirators should be discarded if they become difficult to breathe through or if the inside becomes dirty.
Cal/OSHA helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California. Cal/OSHA's Consultation Services Branch provides free and voluntary assistance to employers to improve their health and safety programs. Employers should call (800) 963-9424 for assistance from Cal/OSHA Consultation Services.
Employees with work-related questions or complaints may contact DIR's Call Center in English or Spanish at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734). The California Workers' Information line at 866-924-9757 provides recorded information in English and Spanish on a variety of work-related topics. Complaints can also be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA district offices.
Members of the press may contact Erika Monterroza or Peter Melton at (510) 286-1161, and are encouraged to subscribe to get email alerts on DIR's press releases or other departmental updates.
The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. For general inquiries, contact DIR's Communications Call Center at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734) for help in locating the appropriate division or program in our department.
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News Release No.: 2017-93
SOURCE Cal/OSHA
Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Trump's controversial former chief strategist Steve Bannon said he plans to go to "war" against the GOP senators who didn't rush to Trump's defense during his public feud with Sen. Bob Corker.
"Nobody can run and hide on this one. These folks are coming for you," Bannon said Saturday to the crowd at the Value Voters Summit of social conservatives.
Bannon, who called for Corker to resign last week after the Tennessee senator said Trump's rhetoric put the United States at risk of "World War III," told the conservative gathering that such comments undermine U.S. soldiers stationed overseas.
"Bob Corker has trashed the commander in chief of our armed forces while we have young men and women in harm's way," Bannon said.
Bannon departed the White House in mid-August and immediately rejoined conservative media outlet Breitbart News as executive chairman, promising to be an outside bomb-thrower against those in opposition to Trump and targeting, in particular, GOP lawmakers who have opposed the president or spoken out against him.
The former Trump strategist also responded to a write-up in Vanity Fair earlier this week that said Bannon has told associates he believes the president has a 30 percent chance of making it through his first term.
In contrast, Bannon told the crowd that he believes Trump is going to win with 400 electoral votes in 2020. Winning the presidency requires getting 270 of the total 538 electoral votes.
Bannon also pointed with pride to the victory of a GOP firebrand -- former judge Roy Moore -- in the primary for Alabama senator over the establishment candidate endorsed by Trump.
He said he believes Trumps recent actions, such as decertifying the Iran nuclear deal and other moves that Bannon said blow up the Obamacare insurance exchanges, are a direct result of Moores victory putting pressure on the president to follow through on campaign promises.
Those are not random events, folks. That is 'victory begets victory.' We owe that to Judge Moore, Bannon said. Every day is like Christmas Day now.
Bannon predicted Trump will soon name the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's blue WagonR which was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday was recovered from Ghaziabad. A sword has also been recovered from the car.
By India Today Web Desk: The search for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's blue WagonR comes to a halt after the car which was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday was recovered from Ghaziabad.
According to a media report, the blue car which is used by the AAP's media coordinator Vandana Singh these days, went missing around 1 am.
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The blue WagonR was reported stolen from outside Delhi Secretariat's Gate No 3.
Kejriwal's car was found from Mohan Nagar near Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Photos: ANI - Twitter
A senior police officer told IANS that the Uttar Pradesh Police found the car and informed their Delhi counterparts.
The Delhi Police was yet to take the vehicle into their possession.
"A car of the same make color and model has been traced in Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad. We are verifying the engine and chassis number," Delhi Police said.
No one has been caught for the theft. The police expect to identify the accused from the CCTV footage.
The car had been gifted to Kejriwal by a party supporter.
After the Thursday's theft, the Chief Minister had called it "my car" and slammed Lt Governor Anil Baijal for the "poor" law and order situation in the city.
"My Wagon-R car was stolen outside the Delhi Secretariat. My car getting stolen is a small matter. But the fact that it went missing outside the Delhi Secretariat reflects the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi," Mr Kejriwal said in his letter to Lt Governor Anil Baijal.
"What can the common man expect in a state where the chief minister's car goes missing?" Arvind Kejriwal added.
Haryana leader of AAP Naveen Jaihind also offered a reward after the car went missing.
"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," Naveen Jaihind said.
A sword was also recovered from the trunk of the car which was found abandoned in Ghaziabad.
Photo: IndiaToday
The blue WagonR also played an important role for the Aam Aadmi Party to reflect its commitment to fighting VIP culture. Kejriwal drove around the humble hatchback in his early political career and it helped cement his position as the "aam aadmi".
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.
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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.
--- ENDS ---
PROVO, Utah, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ION Solar, the nation's 4th largest residential solar installer, today announced the launch of its ION Earth Program and also the completion of its first project- converting a Habitat of Humanity home to solar with the donation of a custom, premium solar system. A single mother of three now saves money every month by powering her home with clean, renewable solar energy.
For every two megawatts of solar installed by ION Solar another home will go solar through the ION Earth program. The donation includes a premium, custom solar system in it's entirety, including permitting, a custom-designed system, and all premium solar equipment including top-tier solar panels and microinverters. ION Solar employees donate their time and expertise to install the system.
ION Earth works with partners like Habitat of Humanity to identify homes in need that will benefit from a free custom solar system. Habitat has helped over 6.8 million families in 70 different countries and 1400 communities since being founded 40 years ago making it the perfect partner for ION Earth.
"ION Earth is the incredible result of the many great things that are happening at ION Solar, including our success in spreading solar across multiple states, our charge to make the earth a greener, healthier place, and the generosity of our ION team and our desire to give back," said Jimmy Slemboski, President of ION Solar. "We feel a great sense of appreciation for the opportunity to help someone in need and the next project can't come soon enough," Jimmy continued.
Visit www.ionsolar.com/ion-earth to learn more about ION Earth.
About ION Solar
ION Solar is a premium, full-service solar provider. ION offers affordable solar solutions that give customers the benefits of solar with little or no up-front costs. Full-service includes a custom-designed system, all permitting, installation, inspection, and system maintenance. Using all premium equipment. ION's large install area covers Utah, California, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico. Learn more at ionsolar.com.
SOURCE ION Solar
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PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE: WMC) today announced that it will release financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017 after the market closes on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. The Company will host a corresponding conference call with a live webcast on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, to discuss those results and answer questions.
Individuals interested in participating in the conference call may do so by dialing (866) 235-9914 from the United States, or (412) 902-4115 from outside the United States and referencing "Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation." Those interested in listening to the conference call live via the Internet may do so by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.westernassetmcc.com.
The Company is enabling investors to pre-register for the earnings conference call so that they can expedite their entry into the call and avoid the need to wait for a live operator. In order to pre-register for the call, investors can visit http://dpregister.com/10113416 and enter in their contact information. Investors will then be issued a personalized phone number and pin to dial into the live conference call. Individuals can pre-register any time prior to the start of the conference call on November 8, 2017.
A telephone replay will be available through November 22, 2017 by dialing (877) 344-7529 from the United States, or (412) 317-0088 from outside the United States, and entering conference ID 10113416. A webcast replay will be available for 90 days.
ABOUT WESTERN ASSET MORTGAGE CAPITAL CORPORATION
Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation is a real estate investment trust that invests in, acquires and manages a diverse portfolio of assets consisting of Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, Non-Agency CMBS, ABS, Residential and Commercial Whole-Loans and Bridge Loans and other financial assets. The Company's investment strategy may change, subject to the Company's stated investment guidelines, and is based on its manager Western Asset Management Company's perspective of which mix of portfolio assets it believes provide the Company with the best risk-reward opportunities at any given time. The Company is externally managed and advised by Western Asset Management Company, an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc. Please visit the Company's website at www.westernassetmcc.com
SOURCE Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation
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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
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Haryana Police to find out whether the Dera Sacha Sauda sacrifice gang called Qurbani Dal, allegedly founded by Gurmeet Ram Rahim, exists.
By Manjeet Sehgal: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Haryana Police to find out whether the Dera Sacha Sauda sacrifice gang called Qurbani Dal, allegedly founded by Gurmeet Ram Rahim, exists.
Dismissing a plea moved by Honeypreet's former husband Vishwas Gupta and his father Mahendra Pal Gupta, the court directed the SIT formed under the leadership of an ADGP rank police officer to verify the existence of the gang.
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Citing a death threat letter, the Guptas had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking security cover. While the court rejected their application, it has directed the applicants to approach competent authorities to pursue the case. The court has also given them an opportunity to move a separate application on the security cover issue.
The court maintained that the issue of personal security was a personal matter and that it could not be clubbed with public interest.
Vishwas Gupta had sought a security cover for himself and his father after the alleged Qurbani Dal issued death threats to them.
The threats were also sent to reporters of some news channels and newspapers. The letter writer had termed the alleged gang as a third court.
HARYANA POLICE ARRESTED QURBANI DAL MEMBERS
During a crackdown on Dera supporters, Haryana Police had arrested some Qurbani Dal members from various parts of Haryana. The members had confessed that the Qurbani Dal was formed by the Dera's security wing.
The Dera supporters joining the sacrifice gang were promised cash rewards besides a house. The police had made nearly a dozen arrests of such supporters from various parts of Haryana and had also recovered cash worth more than Rs 50 lakh from their possession.
Qurbani Dal gang members had told the police that the allegations against Gurmeet Ram Rahim were false and that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for him.
The gang members had also targeted former Dera followers like Gurdas Singh Toor and Khatta Singh among others for speaking against Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
WATCH VIDEO | Gurmeet Rahim's Qurbani gang used petrol cans, AK-47s, fire trucks to set Haryana on fire
--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, Oct 11 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is likely to be elected as the party chief after Diwali, with the nearly six-month-long electoral process nearing completion and the schedule of the party President's election to be announced soon.
According to Congress sources, members of the party's Central Election Authority (CEA), which is overseeing the election, are expected to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi in a day or so to apprise her of the completion of various phases of the poll.
The sources said the Congress President would then call a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to approve a tentative schedule of the polls and then it would be notified by the CEA.
The sources said that the meeting of the CWC, the party's highest decision making body, could take place on October 15.
Most states where the organisational elections were held have completed the process of electing members of Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs), which form the electoral college for the election. They have also passed unanimous resolutions that Rahul Gandhi should take over as the President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Party sources said the states which have elected members to the PCC and passed the resolution for appointment of Rahul Gandhi as party chief include Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
The PCC in Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest number of PCC members, is expected to adopt the resolution on Thursday.
The PCCs are also passing resolutions to authorise the Congress President to appoint the chiefs of party units.
The organisational elections are running slightly behind schedule as the party had planned to complete the entire process, including election of the Congress President, by October 15.
The elevation of Rahul Gandhi, 47, has been in the works for a long time, with party leaders stating from time to time that he should take over as the party chief. Gandhi was appointed Congress Vice President in 2013.
Interestingly, the elevation will come ahead of crucial assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is facing a stiff challenge from the BJP. While the party would face anti-incumbency in Himachal Pradesh, it has been out of power in Gujarat for almost 20 years.
A party leader said the timing of Gandhi's elevation was appropriate as pushing it further would be taking it too close to the next Lok Sabha polls.
"Our assessment is that the party's campaign is fast picking up in Gujarat. And the party has bright prospects to get re-elected in Himachal Pradesh," he said.
The sources said organisational elections were not conducted in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura because these states would face assembly elections by next year.
The last presidential elections of the party were held in 2010 and Sonia Gandhi was elected party chief for five years. The party later sought extension of time from the Election Commission for holding the polls.
Sonia Gandhi has been the longest serving president of the party, having taken over its reigns in 1998. She had faced a contest in the 2001 presidential elections from Jitendra Prasada.
After Rahul Gandhi's election as the Congress President, an AICC plenary is expected to be held by December this year for his ceremonial take over and ratification of his election. The election of the CWC members will also take place at the plenary.
Jerusalem, Oct 14 : Israel has welcomed US President Donald Trump's decision not to certify the landmark nuclear deal with Iran and also hailed his remarks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump's remarks on Friday as a "courageous decision", Xinhua news agency reported.
In a video statement released by the Prime Minister's office, Netanyahu said the move has created an opportunity to "fix this bad deal" and to struggle against Iran's aggression.
He added that he wishes other world powers would follow the US.
Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the 2015 deal, which cancelled sanctions on Iran in return for concessions regarding its nuclear program.
The Prime Minister has charged that the agreement fails to halt Iran's support for Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite militia, and Israel's arch foe.
Israel's Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz praised Trump's move as an important step towards "fixing some of the flaws in the dangerous nuclear agreement".
"The deal in its current form will allow Iran to develop a nuclear capability in the not so distant future," Katz said in a statement, adding that the deal provides Iran with "a kind of an insurance policy until then."
In a statement earlier on Friday, Trump said that he had decided to decertify Iran's compliance with the landmark deal reached in 2015.
"Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification," Trump said at the White House.
Trump also threatened that he may terminate the Iran nuclear deal at any time, which was reached in 2015 between Iran and Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.
According to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act passed by US Congress in 2015, the US government is required to recertify to Congress Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal every 90 days.
London, Oct 14 : Britain, France and Germany remain committed to the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, the leaders of the three countries have said after US President Donald Trump threatened to abandon the deal.
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany agreed to lift economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for Tehran's accepting curbs on its nuclear-power program.
"We stand committed to the JCPOA and its full implementation by all sides," British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint statement on Friday, hours after Trump said he would withdraw from the pact if Iran and the other signatories did not agree to correct its "many serious flaws", Efe news reported.
"Preserving the JCPOA is in our shared national security interest," the three heads of the government said.
"Therefore, 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 JCPOA, such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement," they said.
In Brussels, the European Union's foreign policy chief conveyed a similar message, but in much stronger terms.
"More than two years ago, exactly in July 2015, the entire international community welcomed the results of 12 years of intense negotiations on the Iran nuclear program," Federica Mogherini told a press conference.
"It is not a bilateral agreement. It does not belong to any single country. And it is not up to any single country to terminate it. It is a multilateral agreement, which was unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council," she said.
The Italian politician emphasized that Tehran's compliance with the accord has been confirmed on eight separate occasions by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose Director, Yukiya Amano, said on Friday that Iran was "subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime."
Mogherini said that Washington could not be the arbiter of the validity or soundness of the nuclear agreement.
"The US domestic process, and I underline domestic, following today's announcement of President Trump is now in the hands of the United States Congress," she said.
"The JCPOA is not a domestic issue, but a UN Security Council resolution. The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will continue to be, in place."
United Nations, Oct 14 : Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked the deadlocked Security Council to push the Myanmar government to allow the Rohingya refugees sheltered in Bangladesh to return home in safety and with dignity.
Speaking to reporters after he had briefed the Security Council on Friday, Annan said that the returning refugees should not be sent to camps in Myanmar, but to their homes.
Annan had headed a Commission on Rakhine State, the home to Rohingyas, to help Yangon find a solution.
He said that he wanted a Council resolution that "urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that would allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security".
France and Britain are for strong action against the Myanmar government, but have not been able to come up with even a resolution because of the opposition from China and Russia, which have veto powers.
The current crisis erupted late August when Annan submitted his report to the Myanmar government and almost simultaneously a terrorist organisation, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), attacked several security posts.
The counter attacks by the military on the Rohingyas sent waves of them fleeing to Bangladesh.
Annan said that the attacks have stopped but there was still fear among the refugees making them hesitant to return home.
His Commission had recommended that Rohingyas, who are Muslims and had been denied citizenship, should be made citizens, have their civic rights protected, and given freedom of movement, and economic and educational opportunities.
"We have to tackle the root causes and the report deals with that," Annan said.
His plan was the only one for solving the long-festering problem of Rohingya rights and there was no "Plan B," he added.
Annan also noted that Myanmar was undergoing a transformation after more than 50 decades of military rule adding to the complexity of the situation there.
"The international community is now beginning to put pressure on the military," he said.
France's Permanent Representative Francois Delattre, who now holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, earlier told reporters that what was happening in Myanmar was "ethnic cleansing" that has created more than 520,000 refugees and has to be denounced.
Britain has responsibility in the Security Council for matters relating to Myanmar, and its Permanent Representative Matthew Rycroft said that its members agreed that military action against the Rohingya must end immediately and conditions created for their return.
While the present crisis began with the ARSA attacks, he said that the military's response was disproportionate.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
Washington, Oct 14 : US President Donald Trump has said he is open to the possibility of negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme.
"We're going to see what happens with North Korea. That's all I can say. We're going to see what happens. We're totally prepared for numerous things," Donald Trump told reporters on Friday at the White House, Efe news reported.
"If something can happen where we negotiate, I'm always open to that. But if it's going to be something other than negotiation, believe me, we are ready, more so than we have ever been," he added.
Two weeks ago, Trump was dismissive of remarks by his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, indicating the US had established direct lines of communication with North Korea and was interested in dialogue.
"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump tweeted on October 1, using his nickname for North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
"Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump added.
A day after that tweet, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the "only conversations that have taken place" with Pyongyang "would be on bringing back Americans who have been detained."
"Beyond that, there will be no conversations with North Korea at this time," she added.
Trump ominously warned Pyongyang in his debut speech before the United Nations General Assembly on September 19 that the US would obliterate the secretive Asian country if necessary.
"The US has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," Trump said in his UN speech.
Shortly afterward, Kim accused Trump of being mentally deranged and said he would "pay dearly" for making threats against North Korea.
The Asian nation's foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told reporters in New York on September 22 that North Korea may retaliate for Trump's threats by testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
Canberra, Oct 14 : An Etihad Airways flight bound for Sydney from Abu Dhabi made an emergency landing in the Australian city of Adelaide on Saturday, after pilots noticed a smoke alarm on board.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying 349 people when pilots made the decision to divert to Adelaide at about 5 a.m., Xinhua news agency reported.
In a statement detailing the diversion, a spokesperson from Etihad Airways said the decision was made with the safety of all passengers and crew in mind after a smoke alarm warning light was illuminated.
The spokesperson added that Etihad Airways flight EY450 would undergo a safety check before it takes to the skies once again.
The fire brigade was kept on alert. Passengers were told they would be making their way to Sydney on domestic flights.
United Nations, Oct 14 : A day after the US and Israel announced they were withdrawing from the Unesco alleging anti-Israel bias in the organisation, it elected Audrey Azoulay, a French-Jewish woman of Moroccan descent, as its next Director-General.
In the final round of voting by Unesco's Executive Board on Friday at its headquarters in Paris, Azoulay defeated Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari of Qatar, winning 30 votes to his 28.
She will succeed Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian who ran unsuccessfully for Secretary-General of the UN last year.
In her vision statement or manifesto while campaigning for the post, Azoulay wrote, "Unesco must assert itself with ambition as the conscience of the United Nations."
Through "the defence of humanist values" the Unesco can bring new life to the UN's "universalist project of peace and democracy," she said.
Unesco is the science, education and culture arm of the UN family.
Azoulay has had a long career in arts and culture administration before becoming Culture Minister last year and leaving the job after the national elections last May.
She has been the deputy Director-General of the French National Centre of Cinematography and a legal expert on culture and communication for the European Commission.
When she takes over the helm of Unesco she must grapple with the fallout of the US leaving the organisation.
US membership in the Unesco will formally end in 2018 but already in 2013 Washington had lost its voting rights 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 per cent of Unesco's budget and the organisation had to cut its programmes with US arrears in excess of 600 million.
The breaking point for the US came in July, when Unesco called the Old City of Hebron and a sanctuary considered holy by both Jews and Muslims in the West Bank a part of Palestinian territory while designating them World Heritage Site.
The area is under Israeli control and Israel claims the area. Palestinians call Hebron Al-Khalil and the sanctuary is called the Tomb of the Patriarchs by Jews and Ibrahim Mosque by Muslims.
The campaign for Unesco's top job started with 10 candidates and the list was whittled down to three this week.
Egyptian Moushira Khattab was the third candidate in Thursday's fourth round ballot where Azoulay and Al-Kawari led and moved on to the final round.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
Srinagar, Oct 14 : Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed on Saturday in a gunfight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, leading to protests in which a civilian died.
LeT district commander Wasim Shah alias Usman, hailing from Shopian, was killed along with Naseer Mir of Litter village, where the gun battle took place.
As news about the killings spread in the area, announcements were made through mosque public address systems asking people to come out and stage protests.
Protesters from the village and adjacent areas gathered in large numbers pelting stones at the security forces and shouting pro-Islam slogans. Several protesters were injured.
The slain protester, identified as Gulzar Ahmad Mir, sustained a gunshot injury and was immediately shifted to a nearby hospital. However, the doctors there referred him to Srinagar for treatment.
"He was rushed to SMHS hospital in Srinagar, where he succumbed to critical injuries," the police sources said.
Over a dozen other protesters were injured in the clashes. One more person with a firearm injury was referred to Srinagar while reports from the area said at least three have sustained pellet wounds.
Earlier the gun battle between the militants and the security forces broke out after the latter received specific intelligence inputs on the former's presence in the Litter village.
As the security personnel closed in on their hide-out, the militants opened fire triggering the gunfight.
One AK-47 and one AK-56 rifle and six magazines were recovered from the encounter site.
Washington, Oct 14 : US President Donald Trump has said that his country "is beginning to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders", after Islamabad helped rescue an American-Canadian couple and their three children from the clutches of the Haqqani network.
"Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts," Trump tweeted.
On Friday Trump said that Pakistan took "tremendous advantage" of the US over the years, but is now "starting to have a real" relationship.
"Yesterday, things happened with Pakistan... "They are starting to respect the United States of America again," he said and thanked the leaders of Pakistan for "what they've been doing".
"In this administration, we will call evil by its name," Trump said.
On October 12, Canadian citizen Joshua Boyle, his wife Caitlan Coleman, a US national, and their three children were recovered from the custody of terrorists by the Pakistan army. The couple were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Earlier, Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so.
Trump said the release of the couple was a "positive moment" for US-Pakistan ties.
US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said: "I want to be clear on saying how grateful we are to the government of Pakistan. Without their assistance, this would not have been made possible. It was critical, and we will certainly not forget that."
"Our overall relationship with Pakistan AWe've certainly had points where that relationship has had some challenges. That relationship isn't going to just turn around overnight, but this is a terrific step in the right direction," said Nauert while explaining the current status of Washington's relations with Islamabad.
Responding to a question about Pakistan's role in the rescue operation, she said: "The Pakistani military, acting on information that we provided, were able to secure the release of this family. We are tremendously happy to have these folks returning, coming home."
ISPR chief Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, while talking to reporters in Islamabad, said that "no prisoner exchange or ransom money" was involved in freeing the hostages, according to Dawn.
New Delhi : The reason why the UP election results in May were a showpiece for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was that they represented, in the party's opinion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's continuing forward march.
Yet, the overblown nature of this self-congratulatory assessment will be evident if the outcome of the five elections which took place at the time are taken into consideration.
A more realistic picture will be available if all the results are taken together, for it will show that the original verdict was 3-2 in the Congress's favour with an outright win in Punjab and emerging as the largest party in Goa and Manipur.
It is another matter that what the Congress won in the swings, it lost in the roundabouts because a nimble-footed BJP managed to lure away a sufficient number of MLAs to its side to rob the Congress of its No.1 position in the Goa and Manipur assemblies.
But if the BJP had been humble enough to look at the results in their entirety, then it might not have gloated over its success in UP. That election was one which the BJP could not but win because its principal opponent, the Samajwadi Party (SP), had shot itself in the foot via its internal factional battles.
It was the belief, however, that the BJP had decimated the opposition in the country's largest state which apparently made the party commit what may turn out to be a fateful mistake by choosing one of the most hawkish of the hardliners to be the Chief Minister.
True, Yogi Adityanath has toned down some of his utterances in deference to Modi's "development for all" rhetoric.
But it is as an administrator that his inadequacies have come to the fore, thereby showing that devotion to the saffron cause may give a leg-up while climbing the official ladder, but it doesn't help in running the government.
Since law and order in UP has always been dismal, it will be unfair to blame the present government for its failures on this count. But what has attracted countrywide attention are the deaths of scores of children in the state's hospitals.
Considering that UP once witnessed a Rs 9,000 crore (over $1 billion) scam in connection with a rural health programme when two Chief Medical Officers were killed and their deputy died in custody, the latest tragedy may appear to be a part of a dreadful pattern.
But its hurtful impact on the Chief Minister and his party cannot be denied.
To make matters worse, the upsurge of student demonstrations in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) over what the Vice Chancellor initially dismissed as an incident of eve-teasing has been seen as yet another evidence of dissatisfaction with the ruling dispensation.
The unrest in BHU has followed the defeat of the BJP's affiliate, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in student union elections in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Hyderabad University, Gauhati University and elsewhere.
The Vice Chancellor's ouster has been sought by, among others, the National Commission for Women, but a BJP government can hardly be expected to remove someone with a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background.
There is little doubt, however, that episodes such as these have deprived the BJP of much of the sheen of its victory in less than six months.
The party will be wary, therefore, of the reports that the rift in the SP between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav has healed. It is the rupture between father and son which had contributed largely to the BJP's success by undermining its biggest challenger.
But it isn't only the reconciliation which will be of concern to Yogi Adityanath and Co. Of even greater worry will be the possibility of the SP under Akhilesh teaming up with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to take on the BJP.
Akhilesh has been talking of such an alliance for quite some time although his father is against it. But now that the son is fully in control of the party, a tie-up between the SP and the BSP is a distinct possibility, not least because the two know that the BJP cannot be unseated otherwise.
The SP-BSP combination's advantage is that their combined vote share of 44 per cent in the last assembly election -- the SP 21.8 and the BSP 22.2 -- is higher than the BJP's 39.7 per cent.
If the Congress's 6.3 per cent is added to the SP-BSP's 44, then the trio becomes a formidable force.
It was only to be expected, therefore, for Yogi Adityanath to turn to building a 100-metre tall statue of Lord Ram on the banks of the Saryu river to boost the BJP's fortunes.
Since he appears incapable of providing efficient governance, recourse to religion to consolidate the Hindu vote is the only way out for the Chief Minister and his party.
There are also reports that he will be fielded by the BJP as a campaigner in the upcoming elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to rev up the party's position with a strong dose of Hindutva at a time when the economic slowdown has robbed Modi's 'vikas' (development) slogan of much of its appeal.
The BJP has probably never felt the need for a saffron hawk more than at present.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
Learning from Doklam experience, the defence ministry and the Army have prepared elaborate plans to deal with the dangers posed to security of India-China border.
By India Today Web Desk: A week after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman conducted an aerial survey of the Doklam-Nathula area on the India-China border and following high level meeting of the armed forces officials, the Centre has laid down a plan to boost its security preparations along the nearly 4,000-km boundary.
The government has planned to make some organisational changes in some of the key army formations along the northern border and also to boost infrastructure to facilitate fast supply of armed forces and equipment of all kinds.
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The focus area of the government is India-China border including the pockets of disputes between the two countries. The decision is seemed to have been taken in the wake of Doklam stand-off between Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army of China.
The decision to strengthen defence assets was taken at the conference of Army commanders in New Delhi. The conference held extensive deliberations on various aspects of the Doklam stand-off, which continued for over 70 days.
The Army commanders analysed the challenges posed by the Doklam stand-off and related possible threats to the security of the borders from Chinese side. Doklam stand-off raised suspicion that China might have some hidden goals in the region.
WHAT TO EXPECT NOW?
The commanders' conference decided that the administrative command of the Army should be reoriented to suit the present-day realities and to meet the challenges posed to the security concerns of the country.
The changes will focus on improving the administrative structure that looks after security in key regions of the India-China border. The detailed planned of the changes have not been made public for obvious reasons. But, the changes are expected to keep the armed forces better prepared to deal with another Doklam like situations, about which Army chief General Bipin Rawat had warned last month.
Giving details about the defence ministry's plans, Director General Staff Duties Lt General Vijay Singh said that there would be considerable "heft" towards road construction activities in the northern sector. He confirmed that the issue of organisational changes of some of the formations for capability enhancement was examined.
It was decided at the conference that additional funds would be granted to Border Roads Organisation for development of roads and other infrastructure. Capacity enhancement along the Sino-India border was a major focus area and the conclave decided to boost infrastructure along the entire stretch with China including around areas of dispute.
To boost infrastructure along the borders, "four passes to Niti, Lipulekh, Thangla 1 and Tsangchokla have been decided to be connected by 2020 on priority." All these passes are along the India-China border in central sector.
A roadmap for intra sector connectivity within central sector and inter-sector connectivity with neigbhouring areas was also discussed. The commanders also deliberated on the cadre review of Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks (OR), which now stands approved, and implementation of the Shekatkar committee recommendation on carrying out reforms in the force.
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WHAT ELSE WAS DECIDED?
The issue of employment of women officers in areas of specialisation that require continuity also figured. Implementation of cadre review of JCOs and 0R resulting in 1.45.5137 additional promotional vacancies will be the top priority of the Army.
The Army has decided to modernise all military stations on par with the government's smart city project and initially, 58 stations have been identified for the project. The army has over 2,000 military stations across the country.
During interactions with top officials of the defence ministry, the commanders discussed a host of issues like expediting acquisition projects, providing liberalised family pension to those other than battle causalities and matters relating to defence land.
The conference decided to seek necessary sanction from the government to allow the Army to carry out procurement under the existing system till Mar 31, 2018 when the Government eMarket system is likely to stabilise.
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BIPIN RAWAT AND NIRMALA SITHARAMAN
At the week-long conference that began in New Delhi, Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat told the commanders to be prepared for all eventualities at "all times".
Speaking at the conference, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too, emphasised the need to guard against "inimical forces". Sitharaman lauded the Army for its swift and effective response in dealing with "external and internal threats". This remark was seen as a reference to the Army stopping the construction of a road in Dokalam by China and its anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the front of security challenges, the Army Chief Rawat seemed unhappy over delay in buying critical weapons for the force. He highlighted the need for according priority to procurement of arms and ammunitions. "Our approach to procurement process needs to be balanced with focus at the right places," General Rawat was quoted as saying by Singh.
On her part, Sitharaman said focus will be on ensuring capability enhancement and capacity building of the Army in a time-bound manner. She also emphasised the need for jointness and integration of all the services in effectively dealing with emerging challenges.
While General Rawat asserted that there would be no compromise with respect to issues relating to welfare of the armymen, Sitharaman said keeping up the morale of the armed forces personnel will remain a priority.
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(With PTI inputs)
--- ENDS ---
Karachi, Oct 14 : Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIA), the national flag carrier of Pakistan, posted a net loss of $433 million for 2016, a jump of 36 per cent over the loss of $310 million incurred in the previous year, a media report said.
The state-run carrier's accumulated losses continued to soar mainly due to non-stop flights on several loss-making routes, according to a bourse filing.
PIA continued to fly on several loss-making routes to Europe and the US.
According to a stock filing on Friday, the company's revenue was down 2 per cent to Rs 89 billion from Rs 91 billion a year ago.
The airline also released financial figures for January-March. It posted a net loss of Rs 11 billion in the three-month period, up 91 per cent from Rs 6 billion in the similar quarter of the earlier year, Dawn reported.
Revenues for the two comparable quarters remained almost flat. The loss from operations in the latest quarter jumped to Rs 7.71 billion from Rs 2.65 billion a year ago due to increase in aircraft fuel costs that amounted to Rs 8 billion in January-March.
But the bottom line was hit mainly by an unexplained item marked as "other costs". It amounted to Rs 20 billion for the quarter, up from Rs 18 billion a year ago.
According to the Tribune, PIA has decided in principle to temporarily suspend flights to and from New York, which alone was causing a loss of Rs 2.25 billion per year, said Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan recently.
PIA was not booking seats for the New York flights for November onwards, it was learnt.
The national carrier has also lost much business on domestic routes to international airlines under the open skies policy of the government.
The government has allowed Gulf airlines, particularly UAE carriers, to operate to and from multiple airports in Pakistan, which is driving up PIA losses.
The airline has developed a new business plan under new Chief Executive Officer Musharraf Rasool Cyan. The plan, besides giving a new business strategy, would also demand a bailout package next week.
PIA Secretary Muhammad Shuaib was not available for comment.
The airline did not announce any dividend. The stock lost 36 paisa to close at Rs 4.63 a share on the stock market.
Total assets of the airline at the end of 2016 stood at Rs 110 billion. The notes appended to the accounts for the quarter ending on March 31 said that the airline had a fleet size of 36 aircraft with 11 777s, 15 A320s, including four on wet lease, five ATR72s and five ATR42s.
"The company is in the process of acquiring more aircraft on dry lease for which tenders have been floated," stated a note attached to the quarterly accounts.
In the last report, PIA mentioned that as the majority shareholder in the company, the government had communicated that it would extend "maximum" support to maintain the company's "going concern" status.
It was possibly to explain the auditors' note on the company's "going concern concept" as its liabilities exceeded assets.
The company asserted that "PIA continues and would sustain in the long term as a viable business entity" on the basis of numerous financial measures taken since 2012 to lift the airline off the ground.
New Delhi : Title: The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump; Author (compiler): Rob Sears; Publisher: Canongate Books; Pages: 144; Price: Rs 699 What can we make of Donald Trump? While history will be the ultimate judge of his presidency, despite all the ominous signs, attempts to be articulate, and gaffes so far, he may claim (with some unsolicited help) to challenge illustrious predecessors -- eloquent Abraham Lincoln, highly articulate John F. Kennedy and restless polymath Theodore Roosevelt -- on the literary level.
Forget Trump's ceaseless exhibitions of misogyny and xenophobia or complaints of victimisation and targeting by most media, his crude, personal attacks on opponents or critics, the inexplicable coinages ("covfefe"), for there is a "sensitive, poetic side" to this President of the United States as expressed in his words over the years. Especially in his bid to win the White House, his victory and his tenure.
Trump himself may never have realised this ability nor would have we -- but now we know.
"It is a little known alternative fact that the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, is a remarkable poet. This book aims to redress this oversight on the part of the literary world, and showcase his finest and most revealing words in a previously unknown form.
"While discoursing on politics, walls, gender issues or his own excellent genes, Trump's poems are nothing if not beautiful. Terrific, in fact. Amazing..." says Rob Sears, who has compiled five dozen-odd of his "poems".
Wonder why this Trump skill was not known so far? Well, for one, these are not conscious poems by Trump, but a deft repackaging of his tweets, public statements, his reality show dialogues, and sentences from his correspondence to make poetry.
Take "All I Ask is Fairness": "People are constantly attacking my hair/I think it's very unfair/Obama said he never met his uncle, Oscar/Imagine if I made that statement/It would be the electric chair".
Or "I am the best", which goes: "I predicted Apple's stock would fall/I will build a great, great wall/I build buildings that are 94 stories tall/My hands - are they small?" and then "Slowly the hair dries" - which has just one line: "It's a process that can take 18 months to two years".
Behind this uproarious but revealing venture is Sears, a writer of fiction and comedy for American not-for-profit publishing concern McSweeney and Amazon's Audible, who very tongue-in-cheek contends that they "reveal a sensitive and shyly artistic side to Trump that may prompt a reappraisal of the man even among his critics".
Relying on the Trump Twitter Archive, the Trump Archive and American Presidency Project to collect tweets, including those long-deleted, and quotes, also from the pre-internet era, Sears has fashioned a remarkable range of verse detailing Trump's views on various issues -- more trenchantly, on his opponents in the race for the presidency.
And he uses a variety of styles, be it the sonnet, the quatrain (as shown above), the couplet (as in "I am open-minded" which goes "I use both iPhone and Samsung/A great leader has to be flexible") and even the haiku for the purpose.
The haiku is best used for attacking opponents, be it Republican rival Jeb Bush ("Low energy 'stiff'/Said he would take his pants off/He wants to look cool") or anchor Megyn Kelly, Senators John McCain and Elizabeth Warren but also -- rarely -- to praise, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But the slightly longer ones, dealing with his pet peeves ("Very dishonest media"), stand out on their own, and show both Trump's mindset and Sears' creativity and expansive efforts. Take "I make this promise" -- which starts with his presidential oath, then a 2015 tweet mocking John Kerry, a 1999 remark on Larry King Live, a 2012 attack on Cher, and ends with his closing words at a 2015 rally in South Carolina.
Sears, who identifies the origins of the remarks -- tweets, speeches, etc on a facing page, also contributes a foreword that is not only a masterly exposition of Trump's "poetic skills" but of his psyche -- and the epitome of satire.
This is not the first work to use poetry to lampoon Trump, but among the best to use his own words for the purpose. And where reason crumbles before resentment, ridicule may be the only hope.
(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
Patna, Oct 14 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it was a "blot" that Indian universities do not figure among the top 500 of the world and added that the government has decided to give autonomy and Rs 10,000 crore to top 10 public and 10 private universities over the next five years to make them world-class.
Addressing the centenary celebrations of Patna University here in presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Modi said Indian universities such as Nalanda and Takshashila attracted students from all over the world.
"We are not among the top 500. We should remove this blot or not. The situation should change through our determination and hard work," Modi said.
He said the government has come out with a scheme to make 10 private and 10 public universities world-class by providing them autonomy from the constraints of government rules and freedom to grow.
"They will be given Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years," Modi said.
He said the selection will not be on any recommendation. "The universities will be a selected on the basis of a challenge in which they will be required to prove their mettle. The selection will be based on factors such as history, performance and its roadmap reach global benchmarks. A third party professional agency will be involved in the selection process," Modi said.
Referring to demands for making Patna University a central university, Modi said it should strive to be among the globally-ranked varsity based on the competition and "this was many times ahead of being a central university".
"Patna University should not stay behind (in the challenge)," he said.
Modi said reforms in the country's education sector have progressed at a slow speed and there have been differences among educationists which had hampered innovation with the governments too not measuring up to the task.
The Prime Minister said that for two years he heard arguments for and against granting more autonomy to Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and then a big decision was taken.
"It is for the first time that the IIMs are out of government control and have been professionally opened up. This is a big opportunity for them and they would make the best use," he said.
Modi said that Patna University was known to produce IAS and IPS officers and in the same manner IIMs are known to produce Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of global companies.
He also urged universities to move from conventional teaching to innovative learning and involve alumni associations more actively.
Modi said both students and universities face challenge due to technological intervention and there was need to "un-learn, de-learn and re-learn".
He said 65 per cent of the population of the country was below 35 years in age and the dreams of development can be fulfilled.
"We need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness. In that context India has to make its place in the world," Modi said.
He appreciated the efforts of Nitish Kumar towards development of the state and said the progress of eastern India is the Centre's topmost priority.
"The commitment of Nitish Kumar towards the progress of Bihar is commendable. The Centre attaches topmost importance to the development of eastern India," Modi said.
He said when the country celebrates the 75th anniversary of Independence day in 2022, he wants to see Bihar standing among the list of prosperous states.
Modi also said that many top level officials of civil services are students of Patna University.
"In every state, the top level of the civil services has people who have studied in Patna University. In Delhi, I interact with so many officials, many of whom belong to Bihar... I consider it my honour to visit Patna University and be among the students. I bow to this land of Bihar. This university has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation."
Ranchi, Oct 14 : Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi on Saturday alleged a conspiracy is being hatched to get him killed by reducing his security cover.
Talking to reporters here, he said "My security cover was reduced from Z category to Y category and I was not informed about it. The state government has deliberately reduced my security cover."
Marandi's statement comes after jailed Maoist commander Kundan Pahan's confession revealed that he (Marandi) was on top of the hit list of banned Maoist organization, Communist Party of India-Maoist.
Marandi's son was killed along with 20 people in October 2008 by Maoist guerrillas.
"My security cover has been reduced despite the fact that my name figures in the hit list of Maoists. I am also on the target of the state government. I will continue to raise my voice against the Maoists and the wrong polices of the BJP state government," said Marandi.
He said "BJP president Amit Shah should explain how his son's business expanded from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore."
Washington, Oct 14 : Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has been reportedly questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller's team in charge of the Russia-related investigation into Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential elections that swept Donald Trump to power.
Priebus was "voluntarily interviewed" by Mueller's team, his lawyer William Burck, Xinhua quoted US news outlet Politico as saying.
"He was happy to answer all of their questions," Burck said.
The interview was part of Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential election 2016, as well as any ties between Moscow and Trump campaign associates.
Trump has, however, not been accused of any wrongdoing so far.
According to Politico, Priebus had been preparing for several weeks for the interview. It also revealed on Thursday that Trump's attorneys were mulling an interview between Mueller and the President.
Previously working as chairman of the Republican National Committee, Priebus served as Trump's first Chief of Staff before being pushed out late July for failure to rein in a freewheeling White House and advance the administration's legislative agenda.
He is viewed as a key figure in understanding some of the most controversial Russia-related incidents, including Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey who at that time led the Russian probe and White House's meetings with Russian officials.
Reports said investigators are expected to interview a spate of other former and current White House aides, including former Press Secretary Sean Spicer, current chief counsel Don McGahn and Communications Director Hope Hicks.
Mueller has convened a grand jury to assist his probe and his team consists of seasoned lawyers.
Patna, Oct 14 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's hope to get central university status conferred on Patna University was dashed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday bypassing his request.
During the centenary celebration function of Patna University here, the Chief Minister, whose JD-U has become part of the NDA and is ruling Bihar in alliance with the BJP, said that he requests with folded hands that Prime Minister Modi announce the much-awaited central university status to Patna University.
"People of Bihar are looking forward to PM Modi with hope that you will announce central university status to Patna University," he said.
However, Modi downplayed Nitish Kumar's demand and instead suggested that the state government involve the alumni of Patna University to develop it and urged the faculty and authorities of Patna University to come forward with their excellent performance to become part of education reform in the country.
"Nitish Kumar has demanded for central university status to Patna University during his address, which was applauded by the gathering present here, but I would suggest for a step ahead of the central university status," said Modi.
"I am here to invite Patna University to become part of education reform by its good performance. Patna University should involve its alumni to develop it and ensure that it becomes one of the 10 government-owned universities that would be selected under an ambitious programme to make them world-class universities," the Prime Minister said.
The demand for central university status has been raised time and again by Vice Chancellors of Patna University, politicians, faculty members and students in the past.
Modi said that time has changed and there is urgent need for education reform in India. "Till date reform in education is very slow. It should be speeded up," said Modi who is the first Prime Minister to visit Patna University.
Nitish Kumar in his speech praised and lauded the Modi-led central government's functioning and different schemes.
It had been expected that Modi may announce central university status to Patna University after Nitish Kumar joined hands with the BJP and formed the government in July.
Earlier, Modi was received by Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on his arrival in Patna.
Unprecedented security arrangements were in place for Modi's visit. Patna has been turned into a fortress with thousands of security personnel deployed and traffic diversions made.
Modi is to also lay the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange Programme and four national highway projects in Mokama area of Patna district.
The total outlay of these projects is over Rs 3,700 crore.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14 : A village in the backwaters of Kerala is vying for top honours at the London World Travel Mart. After almost a decade of practising 'responsible tourism' (RT), the picturesque Kumarakom tourist destination is aiming to seek global recognition.
The Kumarakom initiative had been selected as one of the 12 RT projects from across the globe and the award declaration is scheduled to be made on November 8.
A detailed two year study on the Kumarakom initiative has been submitted along with the application at the WTM, according to K.Rupesh Kumar, coordinator at the Kerala State Responsible Tourism Mission.
Kumar along with two others -- Jenefer Bobbin and Harold Goodwin of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, London -- carried out the study with extensive field visits.
The nearly two year long study found that "the positive impacts of tourism" resulted in better roads, better prices for local produce and increased job opportunities. On the negative aspects, it found that water was getting polluted and that land prices had shot up.
The initiative also created a range of self-help groups which sold agricultural and handicraft products to the hotels and resorts. The study found that 2,793 men and 1,062 women were involved in some way with the tourism industry.
Kumar said that all these achievements did not take place overnight as he and many others came into the RT movement after seeing that Kumarakom destination was developing in an "unscientific manner".
The mainstay of Kumarakom, located 13 kms from Kottayam next to Vembanad lake, is houseboat tourism and home stays. There are nineteen resorts in the area. Almost 70 per cent of the households are engaged in tourism activities, the study said.
"It was through a protest in 2007 that we highlighted that there had to be a system in place to take forward the local community in tourism. We also highlighted that there could be no unscientific development in Kumarakom and it proved to be a success," Kumar said.
Patna, Oct 14 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday sought more road projects and bridges and direct road connectivity from the state to Varanasi.
"I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build road connecting Buxar (Bihar) and Banaras (Uttar Pradesh) as the number of pilgrims travelling to Banaras is more," Nitish Kumar said while extending support of the state on acquisition of land for the projects.
The Chief Minister also praised the Modi-led central government's functioning and different schemes.
Kumar said people of Bihar have huge expectation of development from the alliance of JD-U and NDA.
Kumar was addressing a gathering after Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange Programme and four national highway projects in Mokama area of Patna district.
The total outlay of these projects is over Rs 3,700 crore.
Gurugram, Oct 14 : The Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) on Saturday handed over a total of Rs 71.5 lakh to the families of 13 former company workers who were jailed for the 2012 violence at the company's Manesar plant.
Leaders and members of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union at Manesar and the company's Gurugram plant's Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union on Saturday gathered at a park at the Mini-Secretariat here on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and handed over Rs 5.5 lakh to each family.
Workers of the Manesar plant contributed Rs 5,000 each for extending financial support to the families of their former colleagues whose financial condition was very poor, union leaders said.
On April 16, 2016, Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union had handed over Rs 50,000 each to 36 affected families.
On July 18, the workers union of Sunbeam Auto Company had handed over Rs 75,000 to each of 13 families.
On March 10, Additional District and Sessions Judge R.P. Goel had held 31 former workers guilty of murder and attempt to murder, among other offences, at the Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) Manesar plant on the evening of July 18, 2012.
On March 18, the court awarded life imprisonment to 13 former workers for violence and rioting.
The court also sentenced four accused to five-year imprisonment and said the sentence already served by the remaining 14 accused was sufficient.
Maruti Suzuki Human Resource Department General Manager Ashwin Kumar Dev was burnt alive and over 50 persons injured in the violence. Several policemen also received injuries in the violence.
New Delhi, Oct 14 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's stolen blue Maruti Wagon R car was found abandoned early Saturday in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
A senior police officer told IANS that the Uttar Pradesh Police found the car and informed their Delhi counterparts.
Delhi Police Spokesperson Madhur Verma said the car was not parked in an authorised parking and there was no anti-theft device in the car which made it easy for the thief to steal it.
Preliminary police investigation revealed that only one person was involved, and all available leads were being pursued to arrest him, the officer said.
The car, registered in the name of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was being used by the party's Media Coordinator Vandana Singh.
It was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday.
The officer said the stolen car was caught on CCTVs installed at the Delhi-Noida Direct flyover and police suspected it must have been driven to Noida or Ghaziabad.
Special Delhi police teams were sent to Noida, Ghaziabad, Mathura and Meerut, he said.
Verma urged Delhi resident car owners to install safety devices in their vehicles.
After US President Donald Trump's recent address where he decided 'unilaterally' to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has hit out and said the deal is not a bilateral agreement where Trump could have his way.
By Indo-Asian News Service: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has downplayed US President Donald Trump's aggressive remarks over Iran's commitments to 2015 international nuclear deal as well as Tehran's ballistic missile programme.
In a live speech that followed Trump's remarks pertaining to new US strategy towards Iran, Rouhani on Friday said President Trump cannot decertify Iran's international nuclear deal "unilaterally", Xinhua news agency reported.
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"Apparently Trump does not know that this is not a bilateral document between Iran and the United States to treat in any way he wishes," Rouhani said.
"Trump's remarks showed that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is stronger than what he treated during his presidential campaign," Rouhani said, adding that the US President failed to ally other parties involved in the clinch of deal with his policy over the nuclear deal.
The Iranian President stressed that Iran would respect the nuclear deal as long as its "national interests and rights are met".
"We have cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and will keep working with the UN body within our commitments," he said, warning that "however, if one day, our interests from the JCPOA are not respected, we will not hesitate to respond."
On Friday, Trump announced that he had decided not to certify Iran's compliance with the landmark deal reached in 2015.
The US President also said he would ask Congress to establish "trigger points," which could prompt the US to reimpose sanctions on Iran over a series of issues, including Iran's continued ballistic missile launches.
TRUMP THREATENS TO TERMINATE NUCLEAR DEAL
In response, Rouhani said that his country is "more determined" to continue its ballistic missile programme.
"Our missile is for defense. We have always been serious over defensive issues, and from now on, we will double our efforts for that end," he stressed.
Also, Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the remarks of the US President that the Islamic republic's ballistic missile programme is a threat to the world.
"Iran will earnestly follow and boost its defensive and security capabilities," Qasemi said.
The national security and interest will be the only consideration of the Iranian government in pursuing the country's defense capabilities, he added.
"Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification," Trump said at the White House about the Iran nuclear deal.
He also threatened that he might terminate the nuclear deal at any time.
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WHAT IS JCPOA?
The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.
According to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act passed by US Congress in 2015, the US government is required to recertify to Congress Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal every 90 days.
Besides, Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday rejected the remarks by the US President over Iran's nuclear programme under 2015 deal.
The IAEA preserves the authority to confirm Iran's commitments subject to the 2015 international nuclear deal, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
In its eight reports, the UN nuclear watchdog has verified Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal, internationally known as JCPOA, Qasemi said.
He accused the US of repeated violations of the deal in "spirit and letter".
Iran's principle is to oppose weapons of mass destruction across the world, including the nuclear arms, Qasemi stressed.
--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, Oct 14 : Union Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said that his ministry would soon take a "positive decision" about the recommendations made by the Haj review committee for formulating the new Haj policy.
"We have got the recommendations as also some objections to a few recommendations. Some of these are very valid points. We will soon take a positive decision regarding this," Naqvi said after a delegation of the Haj Committee of India members met him and handed over a resolution.
The Ministry had formed a committee headed by retired IAS officer Afzal Amanullah in February this year to review the Haj policy with a view to make it more streamlined. The committee submitted its report recently.
Some of the main recommendations of the committee include reducing the number of embarkation points from 21 to nine, allowing women above 45 years of age to perform Haj without a 'mehram' and abolish the reserved quota for applicants above 70 years of age and the fourth timers.
The Ministry is currently considering the recommendations and has not taken a final decision.
The Haj Committee had held a meeting on Friday in Mumbai and discussed the recommendations by the review committee.
Haj Committee Chairman Mehboob Ali Qaiser, who led the delegation, said that they have given a resolution to the Minister against some of the recommendations made by the review committee.
"Our main contention is that the number of embarkation points -- from where pilgrims board the planes to Jeddah -- should not be reduced to nine, at least for Haj 2018," he said.
Tehran, Oct 14 : Iran's Foreign Minister said on Saturday that threats made by the President of the US would never intimidate Iranians.
Donald Trump threatened on Friday to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement and blasted Tehran for misdeeds ranging from the 1979 hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran to recent ballistic missile tests.
"Allegations, threats & profanity will never intimidate Iranians. Trump will eventually discover this; as every predecessor did," Javad Zarif said in a post on Twitter.
"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too," he added.
On Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in response to Trump's speech that the nuclear deal was endorsed by the international community and "cannot be renegotiated or altered".
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the P5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) agreed to lift economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for Tehran's accepting curbs on its nuclear programme.
Mogadishu, Oct 14 : At least 40 persons were killed and several injured in a deadly bomb explosion near a popular hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday, the police said.
Adan Mohamed, a witness, told Xinhua that a vehicle loaded with explosives exploded at the junction of KM5 just opposite Safari hotel.
Most of the dead were civilians. Security forces have sealed off the blast site for investigation, Mohamed said.
Another witness Hamdi Elmi, who was near the scene, said the explosion was deafening and shook the entire surrounding area.
"I was in a public service vehicle when the explosion went off. I could see smoke from my back and the whole place was shaking," said Hamdi, adding that "We learn the police had been trailing the vehicle with explosives".
Windowpanes and doors in buildings far from the scene were destroyed.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14 : The Congress in Kerala on Saturday alleged a secret pact between the ruling CPI-M and BJP due to which the CBI was yet to file an appeal in the Supreme Court in the SNC Lavalin case, in which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was acquitted in August by the state High Court.
In a statement, state Congress president M.M. Hassan said that there was no other reason but to suspect that a secret pact existed to explain why the CBI had not filed an appeal in the apex court against the Kerala High Court verdict that exonerated Vijayan, while it did not exonerate the officials accused in the SNC Lavalin case.
"The High Court verdict came on August 23 and then itself the CBI said it would file an appeal, but till today it has done nothing while an official who was not exonerated by the High Court when it gave a clean chit to Vijayan, has now filed an appeal against it in the Supreme Court," said Hassan.
On August 23, Justice P. Ubaid in the Kerala High Court said it was not fair that while a few state ministers handled the power portfolio, only Vijayan was being taken to task and remarked that Vijayan was being "hounded" by the CBI.
The case pertains to an agreement with Canadian company SNC-Lavalin in 1997, when Vijayan was the state Power Minister, to repair three generators, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the exchequer.
Vijayan was arraigned by the CBI as the seventh accused in the case, leading to a political furore.
But on November 5, 2013, the CBI court in the state capital exonerated all the accused, without taking the case for trial and the CBI approached the High Court.
Hassan pointed out that one of the accused in the Lavalin case, an engineer Kasturirangan Iyer, has already filed an appeal in the apex court.
He alleged that the CBI's not filing an appeal in the apex court was "influenced by the BJP" and was an exchange favour for Vijayan after the state Vigilance Department exonerated a section of the state BJP leadership who were caught in a corruption case.
Iyer, who is the fourth accused in the case, filed a petition seeking discharge in the case stating that the High Court verdict was not fair, and while Vijayan was exonerated he was not.
Ahmedabad, Oct 14 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday slammed the opposition for terming the BJP an "anti-women party" and also criticized Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his comment that women played second fiddle in the RSS.
At a 'Mahila Town Hall' here, Sushma Swaraj said there are six women Cabinet Ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, while citing as many as 142 welfare schemes for them initiated by the Gujarat government.
On Rahul Gandhi's remarks where he said that the RSS discriminates against women and they can not be found at the forefront of the RSS shakhas wearing shorts like the men, she said the comments did not befit a leader slated to take over as president of a leading political party.
"If he had asked why are women not allowed in the RSS, then I would have given him a logical answer, but his question is vulgar and it does not deserve answer," Sushma Swaraj asserted.
On October 10, Gandhi, while addressing a gathering in Vadodara had said: "How many women are there in the RSS?... Have you ever seen any woman in 'shakhas' wearing shorts? I have never seen."
Elaborating on the number of women in the central government, Sushma Swaraj pointed out that Modi's cabinet has six women ministers, including two in the powerful Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
She added that earlier "No woman was ever a member of the CCS", while now two of the four members of the committee were women. Apart from Sushma Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman, Uma Bharti, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Smriti Irani are Ministers of Cabinet rank.
"Rivals call the Bharatiya Janata Party an anti-women party but it gave four women Chief Ministers and four women Governors as well," the External Affairs Minister said.
She said the BJP is far ahead in political empowerment of women. "The party is making every effort to resolve issues related to women's safety, empowerment and self-reliance," she said.
About women schemes run by the state government, she said, "There are 142 women-specific schemes in Gujarat. They are all for the welfare and empowerment of women. I would appeal to you to understand these schemes and take advantage of government efforts." The state had allocated Rs 3,600 crore for women welfare schemes, she added.
The BJP claimed that other than social media platforms, over 1,00,000 women from 32 different locations, including far-off places as Navsari in South Gujarat, Banaskantha in North Gujarat, Rajkot and Surendranagar in Saurashtra, connected at the town hall through video conferencing.
About her role as External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj said she had helped rescue 88,302 Indians stranded in troubled regions outside of India and the personal relations Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been able to forge with several world leaders during his foreign visits had helped make it easy to rescue Indians from some of the worst troubled regions, as Yemen.
"As many as 48 nations sought our help to rescue their citizens. Apart from 3,500 Indians, we also helped rescue over 1,900 other nationals. This was possible as Modiji had developed friendly relations with the Saudi Crown Prince who agreed to a ceasefire in war-torn Yemen for two hours every day," she said.
New Delhi, Oct 14 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday warned people against the forces trying to destroy the country's diversity and exhorted them to fight them.
They were speaking after inaugurating a three-day 'Kerala Delhi Cultural Heritage Festival', to be held at three main venues in central Delhi -- Central Park, Kerala House and NDMC Hall.
The festival, organised by the Kerala government with the support of the Delhi government, includes cultural programmes, exhibitions, film festival and competitions on the history and culture of Kerala.
The Kerala Chief Minister said some people were trying to "misinterpret Indian culture to say that it emerged from one particular religion and trying to reject contributions made by other religions".
"Our right to decide what to see, hear, and enjoy is now being chained," Vijayan said.
Kejriwal said some forces were trying to destroy the nation and congratulated Vijayan for "opposing these forces" in Kerala.
"This is Mahatma Gandhi's and Lord Buddha's nation... and we have to come together to fight these forces," he said.
Kerala Culture Minister A.K. Balan said they welcomed a proposal to set up a Malayalam Academy in Delhi to promote the language.
Exhibitions by the Kerala Archaeology and Museums Departments apart from literary programmes will be part of the festival.
Four months ago, a similar festival was organised by the Kerala government in Telangana.
Jammu, Oct 14 : Three children were injured on Saturday as Pakistan shelled Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said. Indian troops were retaliating.
Police said Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked, indiscriminate shelling and firing in Balakote sector of Poonch district on Saturday evening, in which the children were injured.
The injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment, a police officer said.
Defence ministry sources said Indian positions are retaliating effectively and strongly and firing exchanges between the two sides are still going on.
Schools in areas close to the LoC in Poonch have already been closed due to Pakistan targeting of civilian facilities.
Damascus, Oct 15 : Foreign fighters of the Islamic State (IS) group are still inside Syria's northern city of Raqqa, a monitor group reported.
What hindered the transfer or surrender of the foreign militants is the opposition of the Western countries, mainly the US and France, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday, Xinhua reports.
It was believed that one of the foreign IS fighters inside the city was the mastermind behind the terror attacks in Paris, according to the Observatory.
Meanwhile, the US-led anti-terror coalition reportedly said that a convoy of the IS militants would leave Raqqa on Saturday as part of a deal reached by "local officials".
The coalition said earlier that 100 IS militants had left Raqqa to an undisclosed destination.
Al-Arabyia TV said a day earlier that Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS, was empty of the IS militants following a deal for their surrender with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and supported by the US-led coalition.
Meanwhile, the SDF said in a short statement on Saturday that its fighters had controlled over 95 per cent of the city.
The SDF said that "a few days are remaining until Raqqa completely get rid of the cancer of IS".
The SDF also posted a video showing civilians fleeing the IS-controlled areas in Raqqa towards the areas recently captured by the SDF.
The coalition estimated that around 4,000 civilians were still being held by the IS as human shields in Raqqa.
The IS militants declared Raqqa as their capital in 2014, after announcing their self-styled caliphate.
Moscow, Oct 15 : Four supporters of the Islamic State (IS) have been detained on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in the country's Republic of Dagestan, Russia's NAC said.
The detained, all natives of Dagestan, were held in Moscow and the republic's capital of Makhachkala on Friday and Saturday, local media reported citing a statement issued by the National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAC) on Saturday, Xinhua reports.
The four suspects confessed that they had contacts with the IS emissaries and plotted terrorist attacks with home-made bombs and cold weapons in crowded places, according to the statement.
Dagestan is a hotbed of insurgency in North Caucasus close to the conflict-ridden Middle East. Repeated violent attacks have plagued the region for years.
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CalSun Electric & Solar Systems helps property owners finance solar in Paso Robles through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. CalSun Electric & Solar Systems helps property owners finance solar in Paso Robles through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. We help our customers through the financing process, said owner Chad Stern. There are no credit checks and no down payment needed. The financing is repaid through a property tax assessment.
The PACE program, available for solar in Paso Robles and the Central Coast, helps property owners pay for the upfront costs of green initiatives, such as solar panels, which the property owner then pays back by an increase on property taxes. The term of the financing can range from five25 years. The PACE program makes it possible for property owners to save on energy costs immediately, while they are paying for their solar panels. Reduced energy costs usually means that property owners start putting extra cash in their pockets right away, even with increased property tax. The program is available to help residential, commercial, agricultural and vineyard and wineries install solar in Paso Robles or anywhere.
The PACE program doesnt rely on a credit score and does not require any money down, making the program open to a wide range of Californians. California first enabled PACE with the passage of AB811 in 2007. Since then, PACE has financed more than $2 billion clean energy improvements in California.
Stern, who has been installing solar systems since 2010, said that the benefits of installing solar include:
Income generation, by creating savings on energy costs
Increasing the value of the property
Saving the environment by green house gas emissions that play a role in global warming, climate change and severe weather disturbances
CalSun Electric & Solar Systems Inc. specializes in sales and installation of solar in Paso Robles and the Central Coast, as well as electric systems for new construction and remodels. Stern, owner and operator, has been installing solar for residential, commercial, agriculture, and wineries since 2010. Stern and the skilled CalSun team focuses on the needs of each customer, making the entire process from financing to installation as stress-free as possible.
CalSun Electric & Solar
574 Spring Street
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(805) 239-0111
Press release by San Luis Obispo SEO company Access Publishing, 806 9th Street, #2D, Paso Robles, CA 93446. (805) 226-9890.
By PTI: Kochi, Oct 13 (PTI) Voicing its disapproval to political activities like dharna and strikes in educational institutions, the Kerala High Court has said if any student is found to be indulging in such activities, he would make himself liable to be "expelled and/or rusticated".
"Educational institutions are meant for imparting education and not politics," a division bench headed by Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh said in an interim order on October 10.
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The court observed that political activities like dharna, hunger strikes and other practices like "satyagraha" had no place in a constitutional democracy, much less in academic institutions.
"Anyone indulging in the said activities in an educational institution would make himself liable to be expelled and/or rusticated.
"Educational institutions are meant for imparting education and not politics. By their political ambition, the political parties cannot hold to ransom the educational institutions or right of the civilised students to receive education," the bench said.
It passed the interim order while considering a petition filed by the management of a college in Malappuram district against an ongoing students agitation at the institute.
The bench said if called upon by the college authorities, the police would be under an obligation to assist them in maintaining peace and quiet and an orderly conduct of academics on the college premises.
The very fact that people resorted to dharnas or hunger strikes showed that they themselves were aware that their demands were not legal or legitimate, it added.
"...they use these coercive methods to achieve what they could not have achieved legally, for if it was otherwise, they ought to have peacefully come to court or move the statutory forums for redressal of their grievances," it said.
If any student was found to be resorting to or enforcing a dharna, strike or disruption of the academic atmosphere of a college, the principal or the authorities concerned would have a right to rusticate him, for these were no means to ventilate their grievances, the court added.
It also warned a student leader of the college, cautioning him to concentrate on his studies rather than indulging in politics on the college premises.
"If he is so inclined, he may withdraw from the college to continue with his political career, if he so chooses. But, the two cannot go together. The choice is his," it said.
The court also said all pickets, tents, stalls set up in and around the college campus or in its immediate vicinity for "facilitating a dharna, hunger strike etc. be forthwith removed by the police and the area be maintained free of such dharna, hunger strike or any such obstructions".
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The court then listed the matter for October 16 for further hearing. PTI CORR TGB BN RC
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SeaQuest is very excited to open our biggest, Texas sized location here at Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth!
With final preparations underway, the new SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium in Fort Worth will be celebrating their biggest location yet with an Exclusive Member Only Opening on October 30th, 2017, following by opening to the general public on Nov 4th. Grand Opening ceremonies and ribbon cutting will be held on November 11, 2017.
SeaQuest is very excited to open our biggest, Texas sized location here at Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth, said Vince Covino, SeaQuest CEO, weve added three new very exciting world destinations to the Quest that every guest takes around the world, so we cant wait for the community to see the designs and species that await!
This newest SeaQuest location will feature over 27,000-square-feet of interactive adventures such as exotic sea life in Caribbean Cove, tropical birds in our Mayan Exhibit, rainforest reptiles in the Egyptian Desert and Australian Outback, Sharks and Eels waiting to be hand fed near the Great Wall of China, and more. Designed as a Quest of Edutainment, visitors to SeaQuest will journey through realistically themed exhibits where they will connect with the animals through various hands on encounters such as feeding sharks, stingrays, capybara, giant sulcata tortoises, large exotic birds species, and thousands of other creatures along the way.
SeaQuest Fort Worth General Manager, Cody Wood stated, The Fort Worth community has been incredibly supportive and excited, so we cant wait for families to come enjoy the educational and interactive experience offered at SeaQuest. He added, the involvement from schools and local businesses and non profits has been very encouraging, so were excited to give back to this community as we become a top destination in the area.
Members are encouraged to come before opening to the public to enjoy less crowds and be the first to interact with 1000s of species! The public Grand Opening Celebration begins promptly at 9:45am on Nov 11th,and will be fun for all ages, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony highlighted by local dignitaries,, special activities with mermaids, face painting, live bird and reptile shows, prize drawings and entertainers.. Annual memberships are 50% for the rest of the week to celebrate the coming attraction. 50% Off memberships can be purchased at the SeaQuest website at http://www.seaquestaquariums.com/fortworth/.
About SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium:
SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium brings the majestic wonders of our planet, ranging from rainforests and deserts to exotic marine life. Themed exhibits create an exciting quest for visitors as they make their way through an Icelandic Fishing Village, the Australian Outback, the Great Wall of China, to the Amazon River and beyond. Guests are encouraged to connect with animals and learn about their eco-systems through various hands-on activities which include hand feeding sharks, stingrays, birds and tropical animals. Anyone in search of a more daring experience can enjoy walk-in aviaries, feeding caiman alligators or snorkeling in the premier 36,000-gallon exhibit filled with reef sharks, stingrays and hundreds of tropical fish. Sea Quest Interactive Aquarium offers a private event venue ideal for school field trips, birthday parties, and private events.
. Hunters truly believe in persevering these species for future generations, Joan Howe
Go West was familiar advice in the 1800s and its still a sound recommendation, especially when seeking abundant places to hunt in the Western Tennessee River Valley. While many hunters prefer private land, it is often unavailable, prohibitively expensive or simply too far from home. Fortunately, hundreds of thousands of public hunting acres are available in the Valleys Western Region of Northwest Tennessee and Southwest Kentucky.
Several wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas and a national recreational area are nestled into the riverbanks and woods of the Western Region, and most of them offer public land for hunting. However, this privilege comes with a few caveats.
Aside from the obvious, such as knowing specific regulations and property boundaries, the time-tested tips below will make hunting time on public land safer, more relaxing and rewarding. Folks from Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge and Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area chimed in on this list. The three prolific public hunting areas offer tremendous acreage, abundant game and friendly, helpful staffs.
9 Tips for Successful Hunts on Public Lands
Do the homework This includes scouting early and often, finding not one, but several spots to hunt, and using game cameras when allowed. Also, take time to ask questions of the folks at the refuge, they know the territory and hunting is often a top priority.
The Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) is consistently in West Tennessees top areas for hunting, according to TNWR Ranger Joan Howe. But if hunters will call or come visit before theyre ready to hunt, rangers can do them one better by steering them to the areas with the most abundant wildlife, said Howe, who mentioned an additional perk. Sometimes hunting on public lands can be a bit confusing. Touching base with us before they come can help hunters clarify regulations. On this and most refuges, much of the staff hunts, and they want their fellow hunters to have a quality experience on the refuge.
The Clarks River Refuge in Southwest Kentucky is similar. Our refuge is in a very rural area. Its a wooded area and hunting is one of our primary uses, said Refuge Manager Michael Johnson. Hunting is one of the top two out of six priority public uses that the refuge fosters along with environmental education.
Go deep or go home Many hunters on public land fail to travel far enough into the woods to find the places where the game feels safe. Keep walking until all traces of civilization are left behind. This is what hunting is all about.
Brock Turner resides in Northwest Tennessee and has hunted Land Between the Lakes for a half century. Theres a whole lot more to deer hunting besides shooting, said Turner, who appreciates the art of the hunt. Youve got to scout them way back in the woods, learn their habits and find their trails, he said. Youve got to be able to kill one on the first shot. If you dont, then youve got to be able to track him. When you find him, youve got to know how to field dress him. And if you get turned around out there, well, youve got to find your way back, sometimes in the dark. Thats deer hunting, he said, not just shooting.
Be prepared The truck may be several miles away, so pack in everything needed to get in and out safely with bounty in tow.
And the winner is You may delay, but time will not, said Benjamin Franklin. Ol Ben wasnt talking about signing up for quota hunts, but his wisdom still applies.
John Westbrook agrees with Franklin. As the Environmental Stewardship Staff Officer at Land Between the Lakes, Westbrook noted that there are plenty of occasions to hunt, but being drawn for a quota hunt certainly increases the odds. Stay on top of deadlines for quota hunt registrations, he advised, and remember that LBL spans two states.
Stewardship is a team sport The joys of nature can be offset by garbage, a gut pile or a broken camp chair. Pack an extra trash bag and leave the land even better than you found it.
We get the occasional hunter whos going to gut a deer and leave it, but for the most part, hunters are great conservationists, said Howe. Its worth noting that hunting fees on most wildlife refuges are directed toward habitat preservation and restoration. Hunters truly believe in persevering these species for future generations, said Howe. When people visit the refuge and express concern that hunting is allowed, we explain to them that they get to see a wide variety of animals, thanks in part to our hunters.
Be the U in PUBLIC Be aware of the needs of other sportsmen and other outdoor recreationalists. Avoid hunting on top of others, dragging game through the woods at the crack of dawn and talking on the phone. Its OK to give a little for the opportunity to hunt on thousands of acres.
Your name here Just like labeling underwear for camp, it never hurts to write your name on items such as stands and blinds. In addition, taking photos of items and serial numbers is always a good idea.
Sticks, string and powder - Consider learning to use the weapons of Native Americans and frontiersman. This greatly expands hunting opportunities, and more chances generally translate into more game.
Ive always been a big fan of hunting with a bow, said Turner. I hunt with a gun, sometimes, but I like a bow because it makes me a better hunter. I also like it because archery season opens first, ahead of muzzle loader and gun seasons.
Consider the calendar - Hunt on weekdays and avoid holidays and opening day when possible.
Happy Hunting!
We're proud to offer a platform for these REI industry shapers that honors their contributions and achievements.
Think Realty, the industry leader in residential real estate investor resources, education and ethics, announced its 2017 Think Realty Honors winners at the Think Realty National Conference and Expo, October 14 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. The winners are peer nominated investors who excel within their industry niche.
Master Investor of the Year: Marco Santarelli, Norada Real Estate Investments.
Multi-Family Investor of the Year: Dan Butler, CrestCore Realty.
Single-Family Investor of the Year: Marcus Painter, MC Properties LLC.
Educator of the Year: Jan Britt, Jan Britt Interiors.
Property Manager of the Year: Linda Liberatore, Secure Pay One Inc.
Service Provider of the Year: Kevin Ortner, Renters Warehouse.
Rising Star: CityLink Real Estate Group - Keith Murray, Tyler Weitz.
Private Lender of the Year: Bill Green, LendingOne.
Commercial Investor of the Year: Tammy Phelps-Keglovich, Capital City REIA.
R. Michael Wrenn Humanitarian of the Year: Steve Down Financially Fit, Even Stevens, The Falls Event Centers.
Were proud to offer a platform for these REI industry shapers that honors their contributions and achievements, said Eddie Wilson, president of Think Realty. They inspire others to strive for excellence, stand out among their peers and make a difference in their communities.
Think Realty is a central education and information resource for new investors and seasoned professionals, providing members with valuable tools that help them to optimize their competitive advantage, succeed in the industry, achieve wealth-building goals and live a life of purpose. Think Realty is part of Affinity Worldwide. More information about Think Realty can be found at http://www.thinkrealty.com; more information about Affinity Worldwide can be found at http://www.affinityworldwide.com.
For additional comments or questions please call or email
Laura Chalk, PR Manager, Affinity Worldwide, 816-398-4111 x 86172, lboasberg(at)affinityworldwide(dot)com
Since they got their start as a company in 2015, Container Stop has become one of the premiere locally owned and operated companies in their industry.
Container Stop is excited to announce that they have expanded their company and are now providing Salinas storage containers. This means even more people can enjoy the great service and products that Container Stop has to offer.
Since they got their start as a company in 2015, Container Stop has become one of the premiere locally owned and operated companies in their industry. Container Stop specializes in delivering customizable and durable storage and shipping containers. They do rentals, purchases and so much more. Whether customers need a small 10 container for their backyard, or a giant 40 container for their lot, the company can help make sure customers find the right option for what they need. Also, with so many choices out there, Container Shop makes sure their customers know their options.
They also have many other customization options such as adding insulation, adding windows, adding doors and much more. They even offer used shipping and storage containers for those individuals out there who want some extra storage, but also want to save a little bit of money at the same time.
Best of all, the company will even deliver the container to the exact location the customer wants it on their property. However, their world class service doesnt stop there. They can help out new customers find the perfect container, and also be there along the way to answer any questions they might have.
In the market for some Salinas storage containers for personal or commercial storage? If so, the first place to look should be Container Stop. Not only can they provide customers with amazing containers (and deliver and set them up), but they can also provide amazing service and support, whether in person or on the phone.
About Salinas
Salinas has a population of about 150,000 people and is located less than 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The marine climate of the area is amazing for veggie growers, vineyards and the floral industry. It is the main business and governmental center in the Monterey County region of California.
Container Stop
5873 Stockdale Rd
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 441-0883
Press release by San Luis Obispo SEO company Access Publishing, 806 9th Street, #2D, Paso Robles, CA 93446. (805) 226-9890.
Since their start as a company in 2015, Container Stop has grown into one of the best locally owned companies in their industry.
Container Stop is pleased to announce that they have expanded their company and are now serving Fresno storage containers. For years, Container Stop has been one of the premiere storage container companies in all of California.
Since their start as a company in 2015, Container Stop has grown into one of the best locally owned companies in their industry. They have provided shipping and storage containers to various different locations across the state of California and continue to grow as a company.
Whether customers need a large 40 storage container for their property, or a smaller 10 container, Container Stop can help. There are also many customization options such as insulating the container, adding windows or doors, and much more. The company will also deliver them to wherever the customers are, and their customer service and support is top notch throughout the entire process. They can answer any questions a customer might have and can guide them along the process of purchasing, renting, using and maintaining a storage container.
Container Stop is also great for those looking to save a bit of money too. In addition to selling brand new and customized storage containers, they also provide used containers that will offer customers the same great storage and service, with a slightly lower price!
Need some Fresno storage containers for storage or shipping? If so, be sure to reach out to Container Stop as they can help customers find the perfect container, while also providing them with world-class support along the way. They accept a wide range of payment options and their storage containers are great for either personal or commercial use.
About Fresno
With a population of well over 500,000 people, Fresno is the 5th most populous city in the state of California. It is an economic hub for the area (with agriculture being very important) and is nearly in the geographic center in the state. Because of this, getting to anywhere from Los Angeles, to San Francisco, to Sacramento isnt a problem.
Container Stop
5873 Stockdale Rd
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 441-0883
Press release by San Luis Obispo SEO company Access Publishing, 806 9th Street, #2D, Paso Robles, CA 93446. (805) 226-9890.
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By PTI: Bhopal, Oct 14 (PTI) Terming the Rohingya issue as serious, a senior RSS leader said today that "outsiders" should not be allowed to stay in India beyond a specific period, and suggested that a policy be formed to deal with the refugees.
More than a million Rohingya people have left Myanmar to escape the violence following military backlash against the Muslim minority after militants raided police posts on August 25. Many of the Rohingya refugees have come to India.
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"No outsider should have the right to stay in the country after a definite period. This is a serious issue and the country should think deeply before allowing them in," RSS general secretary (Sarkaryawah) Suresh Bhaiyaji Joshi said.
He was talking to reporters here on the last day of the three-day meeting of the Akhil Bhartiya Karyakari Mandal, a top decision-making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
"It should be pondered why they were expelled from Myanmar. When (the Myanmar government) realised that because of them there is a problem in the country, they expelled them," said Joshi, who is the No. 2 in the RSS hierarchy.
"Earlier too, such people came to our nation and settled in places like Hyderabad and Jammu," he said.
Joshi suggested running a background check on people coming to India in large numbers. "If we dont check the background of people coming to the country, then that will pose a threat to the nations security."
"Those who arrived here secured Aadhaar and PAN cards and got their names included in the voters list. They did not come to take refuge... They have come under a conspiracy," he said.
Joshi also wondered why the Rohingya did not go to their neighbouring nations like China and Indonesia. "Taking this into consideration, our country should make a policy for them."
When pointed that some people in India were backing the Rohingya refugees, he said there was a need to find out who these people were and what was their background.
On a question on banning of the sale of firecrackers in the national capital region (NCR), Joshi said there was a need to strike a balance on the issue.
Not all firecrackers should be banned, only those that cause pollution should be banned, the RSS leader said.
"Tomorrow someone may say burning of oil lamps on Diwali too is causing pollution. Therefore, there is a need to think seriously and strike a balance."
Answering a question on the issue of reservation, he said the RSS believes that those availing this facility should decide till what time they want it.
If there were any discrepancies in the quota system, they should be removed, he said. "As such, we are in favour of giving reservation to those for whom it was meant."
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Asked about contentious issues like the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Article 370 - which grants special status to Jammu & Kashmir - and the Common Civil Code, he said these questions should be asked to the Union government.
The meet, attended by top RSS leaders and delegates, including its head Mohan Bhagwat, reviewed programmes undertaken by the organisation in the past six months. PTI MAS LAL RSY ABH
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Still, despite its meteoric rise, bitcoin by many measures is still in its very early days. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are used, for instance, by a very small percentage of people and institutions are just starting to look at building out a sophisticated market around the space.
"We are in the third inning of a burgeoning new asset class," said BlockTower Capital cofounder Matthew Goetz in a recent interview with Business Insider.
Credit Suisse agrees with Goetz's thesis. In a note out to clients Tuesday, analysts Paul Condra and Mrinalini Bhutoria wrote "the investment infrastructure is emerging."
Cryptocurrency funds like BlockTower Capital have been opening at an eye-popping clip. At least 79 funds, a emerged with an estimated $2 billion in managed assets.
At the same time, "private investment firms are increasingly putting resources toward finding ways to provide exposure to the industry," according to Credit Suisse.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs was looking into establishing a bitcoin trading operation. As for Credit Suisse, the bank
But there are huge barriers to making cryptocurrencies more palpable to Wall Street, especially in the market for initial coin offerings, a cryptocurrency-based fundraising method.
This year companies have raised more than $2 billion via ICOs, but many have operated outside the realm of financial regulations. Some countries, including China and South Korea, have deemed them illegal. Such countries are worried about a mounting bubble in the space and the impact it could have on retail investors. Wall Street has similar concerns.
But a mature market could be around the corner. Overstock, the online retailer, launched a trading system that provides a platform on which startups can run ICOs in a manner compliant with the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Credit Suisse said such initiatives could "catalyze more broad-based investment in the space."
"Regulation remains a key obstacle as without a clear legal framework existing service providers are generally unwilling to offer the liquidity, leverage and custody services needed to attract larger investment," the bank wrote.
This, however, will change over the course of the next five years, according to the bank. It expects SEC-compliant ICOs, which make up less than 1% of the total market, will soon become the norm.
What's less certain is which ICOs and cryptocurrencies will come out on top. Goetz told Business Insider that investing in ICOs and other crypto-assets is akin to betting on the internet during the nineties.
"You could be right on the thesis that cryptocurrencies are transformative and you could make what you think is the right bet at the time, but remember one time you had Yahoo and then this thing called Google came along," he concluded.
UBS in a note to clients Friday said the same thing: "Investing in the blockchain wave is akin to investing in the internet in the mid-nineties."
Many financial institutions, however, have shied away from the space.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock, the world's largest investor with $5.7 trillion under management, said he thinks the explosive growth of bitcoin points to nefarious behavior.
"It just identifies how much money laundering there is being done in the world," Fink said. "How much people are trying to move currencies from one place to another."
Jason Momoa posted his apology on Instagram, stating that he had made a tasteless joke years ago, and that he still feels terrible about speaking those hurtful words.
By Indo-Asian News Service: Actor Jason Momoa has apologised for a 2011 Comic-Con video in which he made jokes about raping "beautiful women" on popular fantasy drama TV series Game of Thrones.
Momoa, who played the role of Khal Drogo in the show, said he made a "tasteless comment" and still feels sorry for saying that in front of a live audience, reports aceshowbiz.com.
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"I awoke in Australia to the justified reactions by many people to a distasteful joke I made years ago in Hall H for which I am sorry. I am still severely disappointed in myself at the insensitivity of my remarks that day," Momoa posted on Instagram.
"I know my sincerest apology won't take away those hurtful words. Rape and sexual harassment can reach anyone and I have seen first hand its painful torment among members of my own family and friends. I made a truly tasteless comment. It is unacceptable and I sincerely apologize with a heavy heart for the words I said," he added.
Momoa's apology came after the video became viral on social media again and Twitter users began slamming the actor.
"But as far as sci-fi and fantasy, I love that genre because there are so many things you can do, like rip someone's tongue out of their throat and get away with it and rape beautiful women," Jason said at 2011 Comic-Con.
His remarks made the crowd laugh at that time, while fellow cast members, including Lena Headey and Kit Harington, covered their faces in assumed embarrassment.
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It adds a perverse twist to an already terrible situation, as firearm enthusiasts race to stockpile weapons out of fear that gun control legislation will hamper future purchases.
It also exposes the dirty truth of gun stocks: rather than moving on more traditional fundamental factors, their direction is often largely dictated by developments in the ongoing gun control debate.
That dynamic is playing out right now across the space. After spiking following the recent Las Vegas massacre which left 58 people dead stocks of gun producers like Sturm Ruger and American Outdoor Brands (which owns Smith & Wesson) have erased those gains amid speculation that no legislative efforts are imminent.
In fact, the possibility of heightened gun control is viewed as so unlikely in the immediate term that traders are piling into bets that these stocks will continue to fall.
Average shorting activity in the space has jumped by 10% since early July, according to data provider IHS Markit. On a single-stock basis, the firm finds that Sturm Ruger has over 25% of its shares shorted at present time, while Outdoor brands has also seen a "sharp rise" in shorting activity.
READ MORE: Counsellor says Ebony is a disgrace to womanhood
In a latest twist to the saga, the Counselor took to his Facebook page to troll Ebony using her childhood photo and quoting her latest song "date your father."
READ MORE: Ebony falls on stage
"No one is Ugly! Look at Ebony now..Today she wants to date people's fathers..smh," Counselor Lutterodt captioned the photo.
Last month, the controversial counselor chastised Ebony, deeming her as a disgrace to femininity.
He said Ebony's hunger for fame has clouded her sense of decency and prays that God strips her of her talent so as to restore her back to decency.
Solomon Nkansah, who speaks for the NDC, said the restored allowance is "cosmetic" and that it will not help the beneficiaries and Ghanaians in General.
Speaking to Kumasi-based Nhyira FM after the president launched the restoration of the nursing training allowance, the NDC Communications Director said: This is needless and cosmetic.
It will not help the beneficiaries and Ghanaians in general because this is not what they promised in opposition.
The nursing training allowance was cancelled under the John Mahama administration in a bid to enrol more nursing students.
The cancellation of the allowance led to several agitations from the nursing students in the build-up to the 2016 election since more of them depended on it to either finance their school fees or meet basic academic needs.
READ MORE: Nurses line up to thank Nana Addo for restoring trainee allowances
Then candidate Akufo-Addo promised to restore the allowance if he is given the mandate.
However, in a strongly worded statement signed by the Director of Public Relations, Co. E. Aggrey-Quarshie, GAF said the information is and urged the general public to disregard it.
It said: The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has noted with concern a false publication in the Daily Post Newspaper on 12 October 2017 claiming that troops on UN peacekeeping operations are being paid $31.00 instead of the $35.00 promised by Government.
GAF wishes to state categorically that this information is totally false and without any iota of truth. It is hereby reiterated that the approved rate of payment remains $35.00 per soldier per day without any intention of reducing it.
READ MORE: Government increases peacekeeping allowance for army
Speaking on Starr Chat Thursday with media personality Bola Ray on Starr FM, Mr Aning said the fight against galamsey will expose those involved in corruption.
No government in this country can fight corruption well. Ive advised President Akufo Addo not to add the corruption fight right now to the galamsey fight. Because the people who are involved in galamsey are also involved in corruption and it will just be too much of a big bite for the President, he said.
He added: So lets fight the galamsey fight which is going fairly well [around 52%] and say how do we identify those who are behind the galamsey. Because the galamsey fight will expose some of the most corrupt people.
In all the galamsey fight, no important Ghanaian has been arrested. But there are Ghanaians involved important ones.
READ MORE:
How do you import equipment from China or Ukraine or Russia and you pass them through the ports if some important person is not part of it.? So, there are a few important tough questions we need to ask which were not asking yet.
Larry Saint, who works with River FM in Wassa Akropong, was instructed to kneel in the sun for three hours after he criticized the paramount chief of the area, Omanhene Tetre Akuamoah Sekyim, for not doing enough to secure the interest of youth in the area.
READ MORE: Journalist kneels down in the sun for 3 hours after criticising chiefs
He is said to have posted a voice note on a Whatsapp platform for journalists that the chiefs were not doing enough to ensure the safety of the youth of the area against abuse by the Chinese.
The humiliated journalist was subsequently handed over to the police apparently for prosecution. However, Larry Saint has been released pending polices next line of action.
The weird event happened following a demonstration by the youth of Wassa Akropong demanding that a Chinese national, Jiang Gen Hai, be handed to them for instant justice after he allegedly shot and killed an indigene last Friday.
Speaking on the matter Friday, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, condemned the action of the chief. He also took the police to task for arresting the victim at the request of the chief.
It is a regrettable development, and to know that the police acted the way they did is unfortunate. Mr Braimah said.
He continued: The journalist, and indeed any citizen for that matter, has a right under Ghanas 1992 constitution and even under our traditional governance system, to express a critical opinion about public office holders including chiefs.
READ MORE: Riot in galamsey community after Chinese man kills Ghanaian
Moreover, it is part of the traditional ethics of our elders and chiefs to turn a deaf ear to invectives aimed at them but not directly expressed in their presence. Omanhene Tetre Akuamoah Sekyim IIs action is therefore, not only at variance with this traditional code but also betrays his inability to tolerate criticism, which is a vital leadership quality.
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I do not intend to have that as a feature of my government. The people of Ghana are looking up to us to protect them. I want to emphasise that, beyond the statement that was issued yesterday, there is a strong political will that something will be done about it. I have a clear mandate to change things in this country, President Akufo-Addo said.
To the members of the Committee, President Akufo-Addo noted that the measures rolled out by his government cannot work and will not work if those of you implementing it are not on board, dragging your feet or not adhering to its implementation.
He, thus, urged them to co-operate and co-ordinate fully, and get out of the practice I found, since coming into office, that the right hand and left hand dont know what is going on in the same issue.
The Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee is chaired by the Minister for Energy, Boakye Agyarko, and has the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development; the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations; and two deputy Ministers for Energy as members.
The committee is also supported by a Technical Implementation Committee, chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli.
And so far the government is doing well except that if you go to the right quarters tell them that the next time I see Bawumia or any of them travelling with 16 four-wheel drives and then occupying the two lanes, so that coming and going should stop, I am going to do a one-man crusade, he said.
He added: "That must be stopped at once because I followed them to Cape Coast last week and I was trying to overtake them to tell him to stop, and then the police stopped me and said oh Prof can you give a distance?
However, in a statement issued on Saturday, the Office of the Vice President said Dr Bawumia and his team used a maximum of 7 cars on his trip to Cape Coast.
The statement, signed by Frank Agyei-Twum, Director of Communications at the Office of the Vice President, explained that the 7 vehicles include a leading police vehicle, security detail, Protocol, the media team and an ambulance.
"On this particular trip to Cape Coast, the Vice President used a total of 7 cars," the statement noted.
It should however be noted that on many occasions (including funerals) while on a trip, several other people, including the Police Commander of the area, Ministers, MPs, MMDCEs, CEOs and party officials may decide to meet and accompany the Vice President on arrival, the statement further added.
READ MORE: Bawumia denies knowledge of posters announcing 2020 election bid
Below is the full statement
THE VICE PRESIDENT USES A MAXIMUM OF 7 CARS, NOT 16 FOR TRAVELS OUTSIDE ACCRA.
The attention of the Office of the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has been drawn to a recent media publication following comments by Professor Stephen Adei, former Rector of GIMPA, that the convoy of the Vice President on a recent trip to Cape Coast consisted of 16 SUVs.
The Office would like to make it clear that the Vice President and his team use a maximum of 7 vehicles on trips outside Accra and not 16. The 7 vehicles include a leading police vehicle, security detail, Protocol, the media team and an ambulance. On this particular trip to Cape Coast, the Vice President used a total of 7 cars.
It should however be noted that on many occasions (including funerals) while on a trip, several other people, including the Police Commander of the area, Ministers, MPs, MMDCEs, CEOs and party officials may decide to meet and accompany the Vice President on arrival.
All three of their children were born in captivity.
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Canada has been actively engaged on Mr. Boyle's case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned," it said, asking that the family's privacy be respected.
The family was freed by Pakistani forces acting on information received from the US intelligence services.
Boyle on Thursday refused a return trip aboard a US military aircraft, over concerns he could face American scrutiny over his previous marriage to the sister of a Guantanamo detainee.
He chose to fly back from Islamabad to Canada on commercial airlines via London.
In 2009, Boyle was married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in battle in 2002 in Afghanistan and held at the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay before being turned over to Canada and released in 2015.
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and transfer to Canada.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Boyle was not a target of investigation in Canada.
The special investigative team (SIT) which is probing the Gauri Lankesh's murder feels that it is not her writings as a journalist that lead to her murder, but it may have been her activism that could have instigated her killers.
By Rohini Swamy: The special investigative team (SIT) which is probing the Gauri Lankesh's murder feels that it is not her writings as a journalist that lead to her murder, but it may have been her activism that could have instigated her killers.
While the investigators have ruled out the angle that it is Gauri's writings as a journalist that led to her killing, they are now pursuing the social activism angle vigorously that could have instigated the killers.
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The chief of the special investigative team BK Singh said that they are hoping for another breakthrough which will bring the case to a close.
The police have made subsequent progress in the investigation but, have been very guarded as they do not want it to hamper further investigations.
After nearly a month of investigation and several hours of observing the CCTV footage, the SIT was able to bring out concrete details as to how the killers of Gauri looked.
The special investigative team today shared their first headway as they released the sketches of the suspects .
Police too had a big headway in terms of being able to track and put all those who they suspect had a hand in the killing under 24-hour surveillance.
The sketches that were released have very minute details and have been made with the help of two professional visual artists, who based on the CCTV footage and the eyewitness description, have worked on the facial features.
The team took close to two days to fine tune the pictures as they wanted the sketch to be such that if any person sees it, they should be able to identify the suspect and report it to the police immediately.
There have been several clues which have given the special investigative team a headway and one of them has also been the confirmation that both the suspected killers stayed in a house very close to Gauri's residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar for more than a week. It was based on this information that the police circulated pamphlets to the public asking them to reveal information of suspicious persons or behaviour in that area.
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KCL Capital, founded by Chris LaSusa and Kevin Cottrell, plans to open November 1 with 11 people on staff, people familiar with the situation said.
The New York-based firm's name is a combination of the founders' initials, the people said. The firm, which has been making the rounds at hedge fund investor events, is expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars over the coming months, though an exact target is unclear.
The people asked to go unnamed because the information is private.
KCL plans to invest in global tech, media and telecommunications stocks, which the founders specialized in at
LaSusa, who is acting as the portfolio manager of KCL, and Cottrell, who is director of research, have brought on several staffers who previously worked at Point72. They include:
Other hires include chief operating officer Jon Schlafman, previously managing director at Alcentra, and chief financial officer Charlie Murphy, who was previously the CFO at Jamie Zimmerman's LiteSpeed Partners. The firm has also hired a junior analyst who is starting Monday and a trading operations clerk.
The firm has appointed Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan as prime brokers.
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Emerging reports indicate that the attackers could be from South Sudan.
Two girls were reportedly raped during the 4 am ambush.
Those with serious injuries have been rushed Lodwar Referral hospital while others are receiving treatment from hospitals in the area.
Speaking to journalists, Turkana County Commissioner Seif Matata disclosed that one of the attackers was a student.
"The preliminary information we have is that this attack was carried out by a student of the school in the company of other unknown people. There was a student who comes from South Sudan and he was suspended from school because of indiscipline," Matata said.
The County Commissioner highlighted that the said student threatened to burn the school.
"He was heard telling fellow students that he is going to burn the school or he will come back and avenge because of the suspension.
Now what we are told is that early this morning he came with about three other people and killed the watchman. (They) proceeded to the boys' dormitory where they targeted particular students whom they thought were behind his suspension," Matata was quoted by the Nation.
"It's what he does," Ryan told MSNBC's Kasie Hunt in a preview clip of an interview set to air on Sunday. "We've kind of learned to live with it," Ryan said.
Trump lately has targeted Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican lawmaker who has criticized Trump for publicly undermining his own secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. The president did not appreciate Corker's critique, later tweeting that Corker, who had already announced he would not seek reelection in 2018, had "begged" for his endorsement.
Corker responded, tweeting that it was a "shame the White House has become an adult day care center," and suggesting that someone had "missed their shift" that morning. In an interview with The New York Times, Corker said Trump's antics were putting the US "on the path to World War III."
Corker continued to admonish Trump on Friday, telling The Washington Post's Jack Diehl, "You cannot publicly castrate your own secretary of state without giving yourself that binary choice. Corker said that "binary choice" could force the US to choose between war or living with a nuclear North Korea or Iran in the absence of an effective secretary of state who can make inroads on those fronts.
Tillerson last week attempted to allay growing suspicions that a rift was developing between himself and the president after revelations had surfaced that he called Trump a "moron" during a meeting with national-security personnel.
Trump has previously attacked Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and many other members of his own party.
Watch a clip from Ryans MSNBC interview below:
President Donald Trump continued a battle to undermine Obamacare on Thursday, when his administration announced it would cease paying the cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments under the Affordable Care Act. And in doing so, he created another battle that is set to play out among congressional Republicans in coming weeks.
The administration's decision will halt payments to insurers that offset the cost of offering low-income Americans plans with cheaper out-of-pocket costs. Analyses say it could lead to higher premiums for some, an increased number of people without coverage, insurer uncertainty, and destabilization of the Obamacare individual insurance markets in the short-term.
But the move also shifts the onus onto Congress, where Republicans are set to battle over whether to appropriate the payments and help stabilize a law they have tried for the better part of a decade to repeal. Alternatively, they could let the law crumble and try to replace it again.
"While some lawmakers will use this as an excuse to pursue 'bipartisan market stabilization' measures, Obamacare is a fundamentally flawed law that cannot be saved, repaired or bailed out," said Michael Needham, the CEO of the conservative group Heritage Action.
To mitigate any short-term fallout, Congress could pass a bill to appropriate the funds. But that would require a push from influential congressional Republicans.
Some moderate members are calling on Congress to take up a bill to appropriate funding for the payments, while conservatives have come out against the idea.
Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House, said Trump does not support any bill to appropriate CSRs unless it includes something to further the president's agenda, such as funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border.
House Speaker Paul Ryan applauded the choice by Trump, arguing the payments were on shaky legal ground when they were paid by the executive branch, something the administration said in justifying its decision.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also agreed with the decision.
"
But other Republicans are grappling with the potential consequences: namely, that the move could hurt some of the poorest of the more than 10 million people on the Obamacare exchanges. Rep. Charlie Dent, chair of the moderate Tuesday Group caucus, told CNN that he was concerned by the administration's decision.
"
Democrats are all but guaranteed to support a standalone measure that would appropriate funding for CSRs, but complications could arise if the appropriation is part of a larger package.
Mueller is currently investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, as well as whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow in an effort to tilt the race in his favor.
The special counsel is investigating Trump in particular for obstruction of justice related to the firing of FBI director James Comey, as well as examining his role in crafting a misleading statement his son, Donald Trump Jr., released in response to reports that he met with a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Hillary Clinton last June.
Though the prospect of an interview with Mueller could pose a risk for Trump, who's been known to act impulsively in the past, a White House official signaled to Politico that they had no reason to resist a face-to-face meeting between the president and the special counsel.
Kenyatta asked the residents of Muranga to turn up in large numbers while condemning the Opposition leaders request of Western leaders to mediate the escalating standoff between the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and his party.
Odinga was speaking at Chatham, United Kingdom on Friday where he made clear that he has withdrawn from the presidential elections by formally sending a letter.
IEBC then said that he has not officially withdrawn as he has not submitted the necessary Form 24A which Odinga said was just a formality.
Kenyatta went on to question the necessity of mediation saying that the only people who are protesting the situation are his supporters.
Kofi Annan, this time you are not welcome here, the president declared, recalling the arbitration the former UN Secretary General carried out in 2008 after the 2007 Post Election Violence.
The Jubilee leader asked his NASA counterpart to return and ask Kenyans to vote as they are the ones who will determine the fate of leadership in the country.
He further insisted that there is no need for mediation as Kenyans will decide who they want to lead on October 26th.
The president went on to thank the voters who turned up in large numbers on the August 8 polls and asked them to mobilize as much as they could come October 26th.
He said: "The reason why I have not signed the divorce papers is because of the blackmail involved and my name that has been tarnished. She is spoiling my name; I would fight to clear myself of being called a wife beater with everything I have.
"My children do not want to see their mother. When my daughter heard she would be taken to Lagos to be with her mother, she was crying profusely. The children are scared of her.
"If you threaten our daughter that she would go to Lagos to meet her mother, she would cry and do everything you want her to do in the house just because she doesnt want to see her.
"The children are really irritated by their mother. I have a lot of evidence of child abuse against her but I am waiting for the right time to arrest her. Even in court, her son testified against her."
He went on to add that she lied about the domestic violence accusations which she levelled against him, and tendered as the main reason she wanted out of their marriage.
"She has tried to use the press against me by saying that I am a wife beater but I have never touched her in my life. Her best TV station is the criminal investigation channel; she stays up till 4 am to watch the channel for over five years.
"She watched the programmes about women who killed their husbands, children, relatives. How would you wake up at 4 am and not see your wife on the bed only to go downstairs and see her watching that station as if she is taking notes.
"I had to ask her if she wanted to kill somebody. This is a woman whom I brought out of a one-room apartment she was living with her mother, but I built a two-bedroomed apartment for them.
"I went to her village and built a three-bedroomed apartment for her. I trained her from secondary school to Masters degree level. Is this how she is supposed to pay me back?
"No one is looking at all this but they would go online to say that I am bitter. Some men suffer like me but they died for nothing. That is why I dedicated my award to all the men that lost their lives to the women they loved."
You would recall that Ike has continued to deny the domestic violence allegations against him while accusing Suzanne of various atrocities.
By PTI: Bengaluru, Oct 14 (PTI) The Special Investigation Team probing the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh today released the sketches of two suspects and video footage from CCTV cameras.
It has sought public help to nab the culprits.
Based on information collected from witnesses, three sketches of two suspects were prepared. They could have been staying near Lankeshs residence to track her movements, the SIT said.
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"There are only two suspects, but we have released three photographs altogether based on accounts of two witnesses ... We have released two photographs of one of the suspects because two professional painters drew them," SIT Chief B K Singh told reporters here.
The video footage showed a man riding a motorcycle without a registration number apparently to conceal his identity.
Singh said the sketches of the suspects have been released to trace them and requested people to provide information on them if they have any. The officer asked the public to reach him on the mobile number: 9480800202, share details on WhatsApp numbers 9480800304, 9480801701 or e-mail to "sit.glankesh@ksp.gov.in".
The SIT chief said the identity of any person giving information leading to the arrest of the accused would be kept confidential.
The person would be "suitably rewarded" as has already been declared by the state government.
The 21-member SIT headed by Inspector General ofPolice Singh was formed a day after Lankesh was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside her house on September 5.
The SIT scrambled through footage from various privateand public CCTV cameras, quizzed many people and collected details from a number of people.
The killing of Lankesh, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, had led to outrage and protests by several groups over alleged "risingtolerance" and attempts to muzzle dissent with the criticism directed at the Central government and right wing groups.
The state government has announced Rs 10 lakh rewardto anyone providing information on the killing.
As a political slugfest broke out on the killing of Lankesh, her family had made a plea against giving political colour to it.
The family had said investigators should look intoall angles behind her killing, whether it is right wing extremists orNaxalites, as reports had emerged about a possible Naxal link. PTI GMS BDN RA TVS ROH GVS
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The annual fashion show comes up from October 25 to October 28, 2017. This years theme is Africa: Shaping Fashions Future.
LFDW kicked off its pre-show events with a press cocktail on Friday October 13, 2017 at the Heineken House in Ikoyi, Lagos. The event was attended by members of the press, stylists, fashion desginers as well as fashion enthusiasts.
LFDW project coordinator Ijeoma Balogun explains the concept behind this years theme.
This year we explore the theme Africa: Shaping Fashions Future and the role elements such as creativity, entrepreneurship, retail and craftsmanship play in seeing this to fruition," Balogun told journalists at the event.
"For our campaign we chose to focus on craftsmanship as we believe it is at the centre of the African fashion narrative unmasking unsung heroes across six countries who work behind the scenes weaving into the African fashion narrative our indigenous fabrics.
This years lineup of activities includes runway shows as well as a Fashion Business Series which holds on October 26, 2017. The theme for this years business session is Technology and the African fashion: what lies ahead.
We delve into topics such as sustainability, technology, manufacturing and sourcing amongst others and feature a dynamic selection of speaker, Balogun said.
She also revealed some of the new structural additions to the event.
In welcome addition to this years HLFDW event will be the experience tent which will play host to fashion focus talks with influencers and tastemakers and the curators lounge created by the assembly in collaboration with Newton and David.
For the fashion event platform, its much more than putting together exhibitions.
The troops also rescued a 6 year-old boy from the deaded sect's captivity around Bama Local Government Area.
Brig. Gen. Sani Kukasheka Usman, the Director, Army Public Relations, made the disclosure in a statement issued in Maiduguri.
Usman said that troops operating under operation DEEP PUNCH encountered the insurgents at various locations, which included Abaram, Churuchuru and Aulajiri villages of Bama council Bornu State.
He explained that the operation was conducted by combined troops of the 202 Battalion, 21 Brigade of Operations LAFIYA DOLE.
On sighting troops, the insurgents withdrew in disarray as the troops overpowered them with a heavy fire.
Troops neutralised three terrorists and rescued a 6 year-old boy and recovered two Dane Guns.
ALSO READ:Boko Haram releases video of kidnapped women
Similarly, troops of 151 Battalion, 21 Brigade on patrol encountered some Boko Haram terrorists along Bama-BOCOBS road. The troops engaged the terrorists in a heavy fire fight and neutralised quite a number of them, while some of the insurgents escaped with gunshot wounds.
The commissioners, who had been screened by the State House of Assembly, took their oath of office before thousands of supporters at the Coronation Hall, Government House.
Ganduje congratulated all the new commissioners on their appointment and tasked them not to betray the trust of the people.
He advised them to always reflect on their oath of office and treat all citizens of the state equally.
Ganduje advised them to come up with innovative ideas that would help develop the state.
The appointment of the newly sworn-in members of the state executive followed the cabinet re-shuffle of which five out of the 14 commissioners were dropped.
The newly sworn-in commissioners are: Malam Ahmad Rabiu, (Commerce and Tourism), Aisha Jafar, (Budget and planning), Musa Kwankwaso, (Special duties), Mr Aminu Aliyu, (Works and Housing), and Mr Muktar Ibrahim, (Justice).
According to reports, President Buhari asked the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim to focus on developing the northern region of Nigeria.
The spokesman of the group, Yinka Odumakin also called on the President to explain better to Nigerians why he made the comment.
Odumakin said Its not acceptable and I think Nigerians deserve a better explanation from the Presidency on what happened, rather than insulting and abusing them the way it has done. Its not helpful and its not very thoughtful.
However, that statement goes to the foundation of the country; it throws a dagger to the heart of Nigerian unity and I think that at the slightest opportunity, the President should address the nation on this matter; not spokespersons or aides talking to us.
Mrs. Buhari had earlier condemned the management of Aso Rock clinic, saying that it does not have the facilities to treat patients.
The First Lady, who said that the clinic could not treat her when she recently fell ill, revealed that she had to visit a private clinic after she found out the Aso Rock clinic's X-Ray machine was not working.
This is coming on the heels of statement by the State House Permanent Secretary, Jalal Arabi, who said that State House medical facility will start charging patients for its services to arrest its financial decline.
Speaking on the issue, Adewole said that the clinic is not under him, but the Presidency.
The minister also said But certainly, the revelation by the wife of Mr. President is quite unsettling and I have called the Managing Director of the hospital.
The hospital is not under me but under the Presidency, but as the minister of health, I intervened and I will be visiting the facility to have firsthand knowledge of his challenges.
I dont want to make any pronouncements until I have been there and till I hear his side of the story.
A statement signed by Isa Gusau, the governors Special Adviser, Communication and Media Strategy on Friday in Maiduguri, said the presidential appeal was aimed at addressing the destruction by the insurgency in the region.
The request was made by the President in the open and everyone thought it was the right thing. States in the northeast like Borno have been working with the World Bank, putting all the collaborative machinery in place.
We have series of follow ups and the media has been covering all the steps including my visit to the World Bank in Abuja few months ago.
The whole thing is in the open and we believe the objectives of the President will be actualised so as to go forward, the statement quoted Shettima as saying.
Shettima said that he and four other governors attended a meeting at Washington DC in July 2015, when the president called on the bank to support the rebuilding of the northeast region.
The governor noted that the president categorically requested the bank to accord priority to North-East and not the entire northern region.
Sequel to the request, the World Bank in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and office of the Vice President, had in 2016 organized a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) report on the six states affected by the Boko Haram attack in North-East.
It was verifiably discovered that the Boko Haram insurgency destroyed public and private infrastructure worth 9 billion U.S. dollars in the region. In Borno State the destruction alone accounted for 6 billion U.S. dollars.
I do not speak for the President or the Federal Government, however, the controversy affects my state because the discussions with the World Bank focused on rebuilding the northeast and everyone knows that when the issue of rebuilding the northeast is the subject, Borno naturally comes into perspective.
The destruction inflicted by Boko Haram in the northeast, Borno alone suffered destruction worth 6 billion dollars and this figure was the product of President Muhammadu Buharis request from the World Bank.
The World Bank championed the RPBA report on the six states of the northeast with the participation of the European Union and the office of the Vice President.
The bank became involved after President Buhari made the request to support the rebuilding of the northeast.
ALSO READ: Buhari asked World Bank to focus on northern Nigeria
The meeting between President Buhari and the bank in Washington DC which took place in July, 2015, few weeks after the Presidents swearing-in, was attended by their Excellencies, Governors Adams Oshiomhole (former governor of Edo) from the South-South and Rochas Okorocha from the South-East.
Dr Olubunmi Omojowolo, Chairman of Lagos State chapter of the association, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
NAN reports that the federal government on Wednesday announced plans to stop medical doctors working in public hospitals from engaging in private practice.
The decision was taken at Wednesdays Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, told newsmen after the meeting that the laws of the land did not allow any public officer to do anything apart from farming.
Adewole also announced that a committee would make appropriate recommendations to the government on the matter.
Omojowolo said that though the law did not permit doctors in public hospitals to own private hospitals, they could however, offer specialised services to private hospitals when required.
Actually, this is not new; the law does not permit doctors who are working in public hospitals to own private hospitals.
However, the application has to be properly defined; when talking about private practice by doctors in public hospitals, the government has to explain exactly what it is talking about.
Are you saying that specialists working for government cannot be invited by private hospitals when they have emergency or need a specialist in that area to see the patient?
Are you saying that all patients that require specialist care who are admitted in private hospitals will have to be moved to public hospitals?, he said.
The chairman said that it was practice all over the world that specialists could be invited to either a public or private health institution to help sort out medical issues.
For instance, I am a neurologist; how many neurologists do we have in the country.
We do not have many of them and there are cases that need neurologists intervention and other cases like that.
Are they going to be transferring all patients to public hospitals which are short-staffed and cannot even take care of the patients they already have?
Consequent upon this, there is need for government to define what it is saying so that it will be understood by everybody.
He made the remark at the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards and Celebration of UNILAG at 55 organized by the Alumni Association of the University of Lagos and harped on public-private collaboration on university funding.
Osinbajo collaborated the views of Dr Wale Babalakin, the Chairman of Council and Pro-Chancellor of the University.
We must ensure that we continue in the great traditions of the University of Lagos.
This is why I am so excited to see a lot of very committed alumni who want to see to it that our university grows from glory to glory.
And it is important that we do so because just as the pro chancellor pointed out, government cannot support the universities to the extent that is required, or to keep them even at the current levels.
A lot will have to come from the alumni and the private sector.
That is how great universities all over the world are run.
And I am excited to see that our project today, the fund raising project, is one that has clearly shown the way to go with respect to developing our universities, Osinbajo added.
The Vice President acknowledged that the event was a special occasion for him and I was determined to stay till the very end.
Because it is not often that one gets a chance to enjoy the company of many who have either been colleagues or seniors in the same university.
And in any event it is not often that one gets to celebrate the 55th anniversary of a great institution.
I want to say that UNILAG has proved time and time again to be not just a university of first choice but also the university of `firsts; so many firsts in so many different areas.
He said it was great to find that one of the awardees, Dr Daniel Olukoya, the Pastor and Founder of the Mountain of Fire Miracles Ministry, was the first to clone genes.
That was absolutely an outstanding thing.
The Pastor and Founder of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (Pastor Enoch Adeboye) was also the first Nigerian to get a PHD in a Nigerian University in Applied Maths and Engineering.
And I think that there are so many other firsts but I know that the most important thing for us today is to ensure that those firsts do not become the last.
Osinbajo congratulated the awardees because their achievements were worthy of celebration and such had indeed emanated from a great institution.
I would like to thank everyone, for those of us who have managed to stay to the very end and to hope that when we celebrate our 60th you will all be here.
And we will all be here to celebrate the 70th and 80th and 100th as well for the young ones amongst us, he stated.
The Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Rahmon Bello, who bagged an honorary award, noted that the Universitys landmark called for celebration as many graduates had passed through UNILAG in 55 years.
According to him in the past five years he has been VC more than 285,000 graduated with half of that number having Post Graduate (PG) degrees.
The retiring VC said UNILAG had a student population of 58,000 but faced the highest challenge of accommodation as only 8,000 bed spaces existed.
Efforts need to be increased for accommodation of graduates and PG students, he said and thanked the Alumni Association for embarking on a new 500-bed hostel.
Bello noted that the university was a leading one in the country but needed to catch up with other institutions in the continent and the globe.
Accordingly, he said the expectation was for the government to allow alternative sources of funding for higher institutions.
Babalakin had earlier observed that the university system in the country was on a cross road as no Nigerian university was rated among the 80th best in the world.
We have to change the structure of our universities to give them the impetus to do more, he said, adding that even the cost of training per student was very high.
The estimated cost of training an undergraduate is about N1.2 million per annum. UNILAG will require about N64 billion yearly to run while about N1.3 trillion is required by the FG to run universities per annum.
The fund cannot be provided by the FG alone and we have to devise creative ways to fund the universities, he added.
The Alumni President, Dr Sunny Kuku, in a welcome address said the awards took cognizance of those who contributed to the growth of the university in the past.
Kuku added that the fund raising targeting N3 billion was to build a new hostel for N2 billion, assist faculty development and provide infrastructure in the Alumni secretariat.
ALSO READ: Osinbajo says the return of abducted girls is important to FG
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the award recipients included Dr John Abebe of Inducon Group; Mr Mustafa Chike-Obi, former MD of AMCON; Sen. Ndoma Egba, Chairman of NDDC; and Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila.
The award, which is sponsored by Forbes Magazine, was given to the CBN boss during the World Bank/International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington DC, in the United States of America.
Furlong also said that the ward was given to the CBN boss because of his determination to come up with policies that will revive Nigerias economy.
Emefiele also dedicated the award to the management and staff of CBN.
The CBN boss also thanked Forbes Magazine for honouring him with the award.
He said But, I think, what is most important here is to thank Nigerians for standing with us, particularly during the very difficult times. I say difficult times then, although I make bold now to say we are out now.
Like you all know, the last three years has been tumultuous, not just for Nigeria, but the global economy; arising largely from the external shocks that hit particularly the commodity exporting countries.
According to DK Singh, IG Police, three suspects have been identified however, they have no connection with the Dabholkar murder.
By India Today Web Desk: Bengaluru Police has released sketches of three men suspected to have been behind the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Lankesh, well known critic of the right wing forces, was shot dead outside her Bengaluru residence on September 5. Gauri Lankesh was the editor of weekly Kannada tabloid magazine Lankesh Patrike, columnist in newspapers, a panelist on TV channels besides being an activist.
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According to DK Singh, IG Police, two main suspects have been identified. "The sketches have been developed with inputs from some witnesses and our technical inputs. The accused were staying in Bengaluru for 7 days."
However, the IG claimed that these suspects have no connection with the Narendra Dabholkar murder. "The suspects, aged 25 and 35 years, had carried out a recee outside Lankesh's house multiple times. We have interrogated over 200 people so far and analysed 73 TB of CCTV footage," said Singh.
The police have ruled out any professional angle, allegedly based on the way the gun was handled.
"There is no confirmation that the weapons used in the Gauri Lankesh murder case and the MM Kalburgi murder are the same. We also have a video of the recee done by the suspects, which we will release shortly," SIT chief DK Singh said.
"There are two suspects, sketches similar because they are made by two artists based on different eyewitness accounts. We want cooperation from people hence, we are releasing the sketches of the suspects," he added.
Singh said that the police can't ascertain the religion of the suspects by external appearances like tilak or earrings "as it could be done to mislead".
(With inputs from Rohini Swamy)
ALSO WATCH | Gauri Lankesh murder: Bengaluru Police release sketches of 2 suspects
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The made the call in a statement signed by the branch President and General Secretary of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Drs Sebastine Oiwoh and Ayobami Alabi, and made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Saturday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the doctors had 75 days ago embarked on industrial action over their unpaid salaries and poor working condition.
The ARD said that their members had indefinite withdrawal of services, saying the management, board and the state government were fully aware of the industrial crisis.
It said that their members were being paid twenty-eight per cent salary since January 2016 with twelve months salary being owed.
Our action is as a result of poor working conditions, persistent payment of percentage salary and poor funding of residency training.
Also among the problem is dearth of manpower, incomplete infrastructural development and neglect of the hospital to mention a few, the statement read in part.
The ARD said that government had embraced repeated obviation to the solution of the problem through relentless media propaganda of leakages, intended audit and restructuring in the last 14 months.
According to the ARD, In the last 14 months government has embarked on propaganda of intended audit and restructuring with no visible result but reckless abandon of the lives of our members to unlimited hardships.
It said that their members have never and would never support any act to pilfer, launder or to decimate the finances and resources of the hospital through illegal acts of corruption.
The ARD said the hospital was replete with evidence of their relentless resolve to transparency, equity and due diligence.
We feel that for personal reasons the State Commissioner for Health, who is the acting board chairman, is playing politics with the welfare of our members.
And the lives of the citizens of Oyo state by his repeated excuses with no result after a year.
What needs to be done can be done immediately without the litany of excuses aimed at scoring personal points, it said.
It said that the same excuse given in March 2016 which saw them suspended their initial action and same on Aug. 29 during a visit of their national president with no visible solution.
The ARD said the board chairman is meant to oversee and approve expenditure in the hospital, likewise ensure smooth running of the hospital by the Chief Medical Director.
It said that the board and management should be held responsible for the claims of leakages.
We encourage the Oyo state government and Commissioner for Health to make haste at finding solutions to the problems.
We will also advise that the litany of excuses without solution for over a year should stop in the interest of the people whose lives are jeopardised through these dilly-dallying, it said.
ALSO READ:Resident doctors strike continues despite meeting with FG
The doctors said they would continue to call on all stakeholders, including traditional rulers, politicians and religious leaders, to prevail on the government to find solutions to the problems.
As the Acting President, Osinbajo met with stakeholders in various oil producing states and assured them of the Federal Governments desire to meet their demands.
According to Daily Post, the militants made the declaration following reports that President Buhari asked the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim to focus on developing the northern region of Nigeria.
The militants also condemned the Army exercise code named: Operation Crocodile Smile in the Niger Delta.
A statement issued by the group reads: The current revelation of the World Bank and the present NNPC scandal has given us no choice but to activate our digital strike team to swing into action to stop further exploration and exportation of oil from the Niger Delta.
For it is very obvious that this present administration is for the North only, without putting into cognizance that 90 per cent of the resources that sustain this nation is from the Niger Delta.
We want to warn that this deliberate provocation and intimidation by the northern oppressors to provoke the Niger Delta people would be counterproductive because we are going to resist them with the last drop of our blood and a devastating response.
We would not allow our resources to be used to fund only the north and intimidate us, rather than developing the Niger Delta deprived of its God-given resources since 1958.
The antics of their divide and rule tactics would never work again in the Niger Delta in this 21st century because the world and all honest Nigerians have seen the antics and tactics of the federal governments insensitivity and insincerity after the adoption of the 16-point agenda of PANDEF on the 3rd of August 2017.
It is still very fresh in our minds the betrayal of Isaac Boro to keep Nigerian one, the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 9 and the dehumanization of their bodies with acid, the genocide in Odi, the genocide in Gbaramatu Kingdom.
We the NDRC and the 21st Century Youths and all affiliate organizations are determined to prove to the world that we are not cowards. The present military operation called Operation Crocodile Smile II that is currently going on in the Niger Delta would not deter us neither would we be intimidated because the current agitators have succeeded in taking the struggle from analogue to digital.
We have successfully proven to our oppressors before the ceasefire that we have the capacity to stop the flow of our God-given resources as our clamour and fight is for equity and justice," they added.
The militants also said that their agitations and grievances are genuine, adding that no amount of intimidation will stop them.
They said We, therefore, want to warn the federal government that the deliberate provocation of the Operation Crocodile smile 2 in the Niger Delta is a waste of time.
We know our targets and no Niger Delta youth of this 21st century would be seen in the old fashion. We want to use this medium to advise our elders and leaders of the Niger Delta that our generation called the 21st century would not make the mistake our fathers made that have portrayed them as cowards as if the Fulani and Islamic jihadists have conquered the Niger Delta.
We want to warn that the planned islamization and conqueror approach by this present government would be resisted with the last drop of our blood in this 21st century. We advise our brothers to be calm and steadfast and avoid any confrontation with the army because we the 21st century youths and other agitators have the ability to stop the flow of our oil in our backyards.
ALSO READ: President Buhari says Northeast remains a priority for him
Our grievances and agitations are genuine and nobody can or would be able to intimidate us with whatever military operations because we already know their aims and objectives. We want to warn that we are closely watching their actions and inactions and would respond at the appropriate time as we still believe in the eminent members of the PANDEF that persuaded us to ceasefire for sincere dialogue, for lasting peace for the rich, but impoverished people of the Niger Delta.
If our understanding and sincerity is taken for granted, it means we would have no choice but to prove that we are not cowards and we would start implementing our next line of action for operation zero barrel of oil in the Niger Delta because enough is enough.
Ashikeni told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that there was a reported case of polio compatible in Abuja not polio virus.
He explained that the reported case was recorded at Rugan Baraje village in Kwali Area Council of the FCT.
According to him, the polio compatible has same symptoms of polio virus but the one reported was not.
He disclosed that a team of experts were deployed to the area and there were series of tests that confirmed no result indicated polio virus.
The acting scribe said that in spite that his board had carried out a mop up immunisation to vaccinate all the children in the area.
The Secretary, FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, Ms Amanda Bam, had earlier told NAN that the polio compatible affected a 10-year-old girl in Kwali.
Bam explained that the record showed that the girl had received immunisation in the past in the area.
She said that the incident occurred in the last two weeks and the department of public health had taken the affected child to Gwagwalada teaching hospital to undergo physiotherapy.
According to her, what seems like polio affected only one leg of the victim.
Mr Alkasim Abdulkadir, Head of Media and Communication, PCNI made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
According to Alkasim, a visiting delegation of the AU Commission donated the money to the PCNI during a visit to Dr Habibat Lawal, Acting Secretary General of the Federation (SGF).
He said that the delegation was led by Amb Chimango Chirtau, Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Malawi to the AU and was accompanied by Amb. Olabisi Dare, Head of Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Commission.
He said that Chirtau commended the intervention and coordinating strategies of the PCNI after an assessment tour of the North-East, a follow up to the similar tour it undertook last year.
We hereby donate 100,000 USD to the PCNI to enable them proceed with the good work they are doing in the North East.
We noted a lot of presence from international agencies and local agencies, especially the visibility of the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative.
We are very keen on the stability of this country so that we can report back to the heads of government when they meet in January 2018, Chirtau said.
He said that Lawal thanked the delegation for the visit adding that it was a testament of the brotherhood of the African Union in their continued interest and support in resolving the humanitarian crisis in the North East.
The Vice Chairman of the PCNI, Alhaji Tijjani Tumsah also appreciated the delegation for the continuous support.
She expressed worry on the determination and ability of the South African authorities to put a stop to further and deliberate killings of Nigerians in South Africa.
According to her the Nigeria Consulate in South Africa said the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) in South Africa has begun investigation into the killing .
This is the first time an independent unit will be conducting such an investigation, she said
The Presidential aide called on the South African authorities to ensure that the investigation is thorough and justice is done in the interest of the cordial relationship between the two countries.
Dabiri-Erewa commended the efforts of the Consulate General, Godwin Adama, who immediately led a team to visit the scene of the incident and interfaced with angry Nigerians to douse tension.
She said that Adama also had a useful meeting with the South African Police authorities, with an assurance that the IPID which has started collating materials on the incident, the investigation will be thorough and conclusive.
The killing of Badmus, 25, is coming barely three weeks that another Nigerian, Kingsley Ikeri, 27, was killed through extra judicial means by the South Africa Police, she said.
ALSO READ: Nigerians ordered out of South African communities
On the five injured Nigerians in the hospital, Dabiri-Erewa said that the report from the Consulate revealed that it was as a result of the altercation with the South African police following a video clip that went viral on the killing of Badmus.
A statement by Mr Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press Affairs, said that the decision became necessary in view of recurring incidences of attack in the area.
The curfew will run from 6 am to 6 pm daily, it said.
There are recurring incidences of attacks on Irigwe chiefdom and neighbouring areas around Bassa; there are also attacks on communities on the borders of the local government, especially around Vom in Jos South and Manchok in Kaduna State.
To guarantee effective security operation toward protecting life and property, the governor has approved the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew, which takes effect immediately, the statement said.
A security source told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Jos that the governors decision followed reports of the burning of houses by unknown men that invaded some villages in Irigwe chiefdom on Friday.
ALSO READ: Governor Simon Lalong loses younger brother
Mr Terna Tyopev, spokesman of the Plateau Police Command, who confirmed the burning of the houses, however, declined further details.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dokpesi, on Friday night, visited Chief Edwin Clark, the Ijaw leader, former Niger Governor, Babangida Aliyu, and former FCT minister Ibrahim Bunu, at their residences in Abuja.
Dokpesi also visited Prof. Tunde Adeniran, former education minister and a rival in the PDP chairmanship race.
Clark, while receiving Dokpesi, described him as courageous, transparent, fearless and the right man the PDP needs to move forward.
Clark, who endorsed Dokpesi, said that he had been a dedicated PDP member, who did a lot for the party in 2015.
The party stalwart stressed the need for PDP to ensure internal democracy, pointing out that it was key to its success in the 2019 general elections.
For every election, PDP must ensure that there is internal democracy.
If 10 people want to be chairman in a local government, they should all be allowed to go for the election. That is how to do it, Clark said.
He said that impunity of the governors must be stopped, noting that the recent leadership crisis of the party was caused by such impunity.
Clark advised PDP members and leaders to see the December convention as an important project of the party that would open doors for a brighter future.
Aliyu, who also endorsed Dokpesi, said that the PDP needed a leader like him rather than those that will create negative image for the party.
After 14 months of leadership crisis, there is the need to rebuild, re-brand and rejuvenate the party, he said.
On his part, Bunu said that PDP was responsible for its current woes.
Borno PDP was made to remain in opposition for 18 years by PDP. The partys members kept undermining its chances over the years, he fumed.
He expressed confidence in Dokpesis capacity to lead the party, saying that he had demonstrated his commitment to fighting peoples causes.
Supporting your ambition is not for our individual selves, but for the party. We want PDP to succeed. We want the values of the partys founders sustained.
If these values were sustained, we would not have been where we are today, Bunu said.
Dokpesi, in his separate responses, said that unity and sanity must return to PDP.
He said that PDP was in need of a visionary leader, who was committed to its ideals and values.
Dokpesi said that he had remained an unrepentant member of PDP and was a strong supporter of the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, even at the peak of the party crisis.
He promised to build a fearless team that would prepare PDP for the 2019 elections.
The Senate decision was sequel to a bill sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Ekweremadu noted that the bill was part of the restructuring efforts of the 8th Senate to have a Nigeria fully rooted in democratic practice and norms.
The Deputy Senate President maintained that the practice of conducting Presidential Inaugurations at the Eagle Square was an introduction of the military.
In Nigerias case, presidential inaugurations thus far have taken place at the which is a parade ground," said the statement issued by an aide to the Senate President, Bamikole Omisore.
This is a practice that was instituted by the Military. A parade ground has military symbolism but no meaningful democratic symbolism hence the need to return the Presidential Inauguration Ceremonies to the rightful place, the National Assembly where every Nigerian has a representative.
If you have been to the NASS complex, you must have noticed a large square in front of the main chambers building or the building commonly referred to as the White House within the Assembly.
It is similar to the West front of the United States Capitol, the home of the United States Congress where Presidents take their oath of office. That Square is the peoples square. At the top of the Square is a podium.
One of the functions of that podium is for presidential inauguration ceremonies such as the swearing-in of the President of Nigeria but that square has never been used for that purpose, despite its important symbolism.
Consequently, the Senate, in order to address this anomaly, passed the Presidential Inauguration Bill that returns the activities of Presidential Inauguration to the National Assembly, the statement added.
"None of us hunkering down in the basement in Necker Island were prepared for its force and its intensity," he said in a discussion of natural disasters at the World Bank's annual meetings in Washington.
But after the two storms wrecked the tourism-dependent economies of the region, destroying homes and taking out power supplies for weeks, Branson said the region's leaders need to take the long view and invest more to better survive meteorological disasters.
With global warming, he said, the annual hurricane season could just worsen.
"Another storm could strike within the coming weeks," he said.
"The Caribbean must seize the opportunity and take the leap from 20th century technology to 21st century innovation."
"These island states have a great opportunity to build greener and more resilient communities than ever before, setting shining examples of what climate-smart recovery around the world can and should look like."
Branson, a billionaire who created Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic airline, said that for one, the region was too dependent on imported fuels and centralized power systems.
In some countries imported fuel consumes up to a quarter of GDP, he noted. Compared to that, solar power comes cheap. "You don't have to ship in sunshine on expensive boats."
Power grids need to be distributed rather than centralized so that one failure doesn't bring down the entire system.
He pointed to the story of Puerto Rico flower grower Hector Santiago. While much of the US territory remains without power three weeks after Maria tore through, Santiago's solar system, used for his greenhouses and pumping water, was back up within hours after the storm.
"That's the type of resilience I would like to see go to scale" in the region, Branson said.
The Budapest-based Central European University (CEU), chartered in the State of New York, says the law discriminates against it as it has no home campus, and that only the State of New York is able to sign a deal with Hungary.
The government denies targeting the CEU, an English-language institution founded by Soros in 1991 that now attracts students from 117 countries, and says it merely wants to remove advantages enjoyed by some foreign-based institutions.
"The deadline for compliance with the law will be extended from the current January 2018 to January 2019," if a proposal submitted to parliament today is passed, Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi told reporters Friday.
An amendment to existing higher education legislation, the bill triggered large street protests in Budapest and international condemnation from Brussels to Washington, as well as from academics worldwide.
"Despite increasing -- but legally unfounded -- pressure from abroad, the government maintains its firm belief that Hungarian laws are binding on everyone, even the American CEU too," Trocsanyi said.
While Budapest has entered talks with New York, the CEU said earlier this month that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State-based Bard College "to provide educational activities" there.
The CEU said in a statement Friday that an agreement between the State of New York and Hungary "that guarantees CEUs existence is ready for signature."
Friday's proposal was "a step backward" that "prolongs the uncertainty while walking away from a solution that lies at hand," said the statement.
Set up to foster democratic values after the end of communism, the CEU has long been seen as a hostile and independent bastion of liberalism by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing government.
A 31-year-old man in Germany kept the taps in his sink, bathtub and toilet running for a year, wasting 70 lakh litres of water, and generating a water bill of Rs 8.2 lakh.
By India Today Web Desk: In Germany, police had to make use of tear gas to take down a serial water-waster.
Police were called to an apartment in a northern Germany town after the serial water-waster had left the taps in his sink, bathtub and toilet running for an entire year.
The act of utmost stupidity resulted in the wastage of 70 lakh litres of water.
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The revelation occurred when the 31-year-old's landlord in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony received a huge water bill amounting to $12,700 (Rs 8.2 lakh approximately).
The average consumption of a resident of Salzgitter in a year comes down to around 44,000 litres and surely, 70 lakh litres is a figure hard to gulp down, even with am extremely dry throat.
On Friday, police arrived at the man's apartment.
The police heard loud noises coming from inside and they used a service key to unlock the door where they were confronted by the occupier, who started throwing punches, slightly injuring three of cops.
Eventually, with "great effort," the four officers managed to put down the suspect after spraying him with tear gas, according to RT.
The serial water waster was then placed in a psychiatric ward.
Earlier in the week, the man had plugged the drains to the building, which, if left unattended, may have had catastrophic consequences, investigators said.
Other tenants also complained of water dripping from the ceiling because the man was wasting water.
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"Foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqa," it said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all Syrian IS jihadists -- numbering around 200 fighters -- had left their former stronghold with their families.
"All Syrian fighters from the Islamic State group left Raqa over the past five days," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they headed to unknown destinations.
A Raqa official told AFP that Syrian IS members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.
"They sent a message to the Raqa Civil Council and to the tribal mediators," the official said.
"Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners -- the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," he said.
Members of the council -- a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF -- had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group.
According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign jihadists remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.
"The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under IS control in Deir Ezzor province," in eastern Syria, he said.
But a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.
"We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh," Nuri Mahmoud told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
It was a breakthrough that ended a 12-year standoff with the West over Iran's disputed nuclear programme, and led to a partial lifting of international sanctions on Tehran.
Here is some background about the deal:
21 months of talks
Talks on Iran's nuclear programme start in 2013 after newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gives the go-head, with the agreement of the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
By November, an interim deal is agreed, freezing some of Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for minor sanctions relief.
It is finalised in April 2015 and signed in Vienna on July 14 that year, ending 12 years of crisis and 21 months of negotiations.
The deal is adopted by the UN Security Council on July 20, 2015 and comes into force on January 16, 2016.
Main points
The accord brings to a minimum of one year, for at least 10 years, the "breakout time" that Iran needs to produce enough fissile material to make an atom bomb.
Tehran agrees to slash the number of uranium centrifuges, which can enrich uranium for nuclear fuel as well as for nuclear weapons, from more than 19,000 to 5,060, maintaining this level for 10 years.
All enrichment is to take place at the Natanz facility only and Iran's pre-deal stockpile of 12 tonnes of low-enriched uranium -- enough for several nuclear weapons if further enriched -- is to be reduced to 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds) for 15 years.
Only enrichment to low purities is allowed, also for 15 years.
Iran's Arak reactor is to be redesigned so that it does not produce weapons-grade plutonium, the alternative to highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon.
Controls
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is charged with regular inspections of facilities such as uranium mines and centrifuge workshops for up to 25 years.
The agency says in September that Tehran is sticking to the terms of the deal. Its staff had conducted at least 400 inspections of sites in Iran and 25 snap inspections, it says.
Sanctions eased
The deal paves the way for a partial lifting of international sanctions on Iran, opening the door for foreign investors, with French energy giant Total and carmakers PSA and Renault quick to strike deals.
UN embargoes on conventional arms and on ballistic missiles have been maintained up to 2020 and 2023 respectively.
'The worst deal'?
Trump has railed against the deal struck by his predecessor and vowed to tear it up, deriding it as one agreed to out of "weakness".
At a much-anticipated White House speech on Friday, the US president said he was refusing to certify the deal and warned Washington may yet walk away from "one of the worst" agreements in history, leaving its fate in the hands of Congress.
ROCK ISLAND -- One of three people accused in the slaying of a Rock Island teen has pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Jescie J. Armstrong, 15, was fatally shot on April 27, 2016, during an armed robbery in the 500 block of 20th Avenue, Rock Island, authorities said. Accused in his death are Trey B. Gustafson, 20, of Rock Island; Kire G. Carr, 19, of Rock Island; and Chelsea M. Raker, 22, of Columbus, Ohio. All three have been charged with first-degree murder.
On Friday, Ms. Raker entered a plea of guilty to a count of armed robbery, Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee said. In exchange, the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office agreed to drop the first-degree murder charge and a charge of concealing or aiding a fugitive.
The armed robbery charge is a Class X felony, and it was enhanced because a firearm was involved, Mr. McGehee said. The potential sentence is between 26 and 50 years, but the state has agreed as part of the deal to limit the upper range for which it will argue at 45 years.
Ms. Raker's sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 17, according to Rock Island County Court records.
Mr. McGehee read aloud an account of the events authorities believe happened in the moments before Mr. Armstrong was killed. That statement was read into the record during Ms. Raker's hearing, Mr. McGehee said.
The shooting occurred during a marijuana purchase, he said. Mr. Carr allegedly pulled a gun from his clothing and threatened force if the marijuana was not given up. A physical fight began between Mr. Carr and Mr. Armstrong.
Ms. Raker also allegedly was armed with a handgun, Mr. McGehee said.
Authorities contend several shots were fired during the altercation, Mr. McGehee said. Ms. Raker, Mr. Carr and Mr. Gustafson then allegedly fled with the marijuana.
There was a witness to the incident, Mr. McGehee said. This person was present and close to the fight but could not provide an eyewitness account about where the bullet that struck Mr. Armstrong came from.
Arriving authorities found the wounded Mr. Armstrong and he was sent to the hospital, where he died, Mr. McGehee said.
The suspect pistols were recovered as part of the investigation, but who carried which gun and which gun fired where is disputed, he said.
Ms. Raker's trial was scheduled for Monday before the plea was made, he said.
The cases against Mr. Gustafson and Mr. Carr were still pending as of Friday, Mr. McGehee and court records said.
Mr. Gustafson is scheduled for a status hearing Oct. 27, court records state. Mr. Carr's next court date is Nov. 9 for a status hearing
All three remained in custody on Friday, according to court records or the Rock Island County Jail. They were being held for these bail amounts: Ms. Raker: $1 million, cash only; Mr. Carr: $1 million, cash only; Mr. Gustafson: $1 million.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) A New Orleans police officer was fatally shot on Friday, ambushed as he and his patrol team left their cars to investigate something suspicious shortly after midnight. Other officers returned fire, wounding a suspect who eventually surrendered to a SWAT team, police said.
"Our officer collapsed right there on the scene" and died at a hospital, Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said.
"They were on routine patrol," he said. "They saw something that aroused their suspicion. They were exiting the vehicle, and ... this perpetrator fired at our officer."
He said one or more officers fired back, and Darren Bridges, a 30-year-old felon, was hit several times. He fled into an apartment, which was surrounded by a SWAT team, and police negotiators eventually persuaded him to give up without another shot.
"Our officers showed great restraint, great courage, great professionalism, even during a time of great mourning and grief. I am very proud of them," Harrison said at an afternoon news conference.
Bridges will face charges including first-degree murder in the death of Marcus McNeil, 29, a three-year veteran survived by a wife and two children, ages 5 and 2, Harrison said.
McNeil was a 2010 graduate of Dillard University, where he had majored in accounting. He graduated in 2006 from St. Augustine High School, a Catholic school in the city, officials from the schools said.
"He was well-liked, well-loved by his colleagues. They are grieving and mourning," Harrison said. "From all indications, he loved doing his job, loved the New Orleans Police Department and loved working in east New Orleans."
McNeil was the fifth New Orleans Police Department officer to die in the line of duty over the past four years. Two were shot and three hit by cars.
A police officer for the city's public housing agency also was shot to death during that period.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, "We talk to these officers at their graduation and of course we say this all the time about how dangerous this job really is, and unfortunately tonight our worst nightmares have come to be."
The suddenly social media-savvy Congress has launched a sequel to its 'vikas gando thayo che' social media campaign in Gujarat, where elections to the state assembly are just around the corner.
The Congress is seemingly giving the BJP a tough fight in Gujarat (Photo for representation)
By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Buoyed by the success of its vikas gando thayo che (development or vikas has gone crazy) social media campaign, the Congress is looking to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party with another Twitter hashtag.
This one aims to celebrate the demise of "crazy vikas", or, as the Congress seems to have put it, #Ganda_Vikas_Ni_Chelli_Diwali (mad vikas' last Diwali).
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The Congress, it seems, has already launched the 'Ganda_Vikas_Ni_Chelli_Diwali' campaign, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, once again, pays a visit to his poll-bound home state.
The day after Diwali marks the beginning of the Gujarati new year and the Congress seems to be saying that with the end of the year will also mark the end of the 'crazy vikas'.
People of Gujarat who r no more intrested in jumlas n lies r giving a final send off to jumla king feku #?????_???????_??????_?????? pic.twitter.com/cqGzsSt0qC- ZeBa SaLiM ? (@neena_zeba) October 14, 2017
IndiaToday.in was able to see a few posts on Twitter carrying the hashgtag #Ganda_Vikas_Ni_Chelli_Diwali, but wasn't able to verify whether these tweets were part of Congress's new campaign.
"(The) Motive behind this new campaign is to tell people that this would be the last Diwali of all jugaads (hacks) and jumlas (empty promises)," Congress's Gujarat I-T cell head Rohan Gupta said.
Congress and other opposition parties have often accused Modi government of misleading the public with its announcements and have claimed that PM Modi's speeches are usually full of empty promises, or jumlas.
The Congress has been upping its game in Gujarat, where the ruling BJP is seen its toughest fight in years. The state goes to the polls in December and this will be the first time Gujarat will elect a new assembly since Narendra Modi left Gandhinagar for New Delhi in 2014.
The party has gone on all out on social media and the 'vikas gando thayo che' jibe was even repeated by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, this time in the real instead of the virtual world.
Such was the success of the 'vikas has gone mad' campaign, that both Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP chief Amit Shah were forced to react to it.
#?????_???????_??????_?????? when you cannot build metro, how are you fooling peeps with bullet train. pic.twitter.com/SCpuBKIOde- ????Shashi???? (@shashikumar906) October 14, 2017
'NO PERSONAL ATTACKS'
Talking about the 'last Diwali of vikas' campaign, Rohan Gupta said that the Congress is not looking to personally target BJP leaders. "We are not making any personal attack on BJP leaders, we are just (showing) the ground reality with our social media campaigns. Our campaigns are based on facts and figures," the I-T cell head of Gujarat Congress said.
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The Congress, which has for long been overshadowed by the BJP on social media, seems to be learning from past mistakes.
In every district of Gujarat, the Congress has formed a team of around 60 to 70 volunteers. The teams have been given special training on handling and generating social media content.
This includes training in writing creative posts, shooting short videos and clicking social media-friendly photographs.
These teams do not directly launch a campaign on their own. They forward their work to the I-T cell control room where the final decision on the use of the volunteer-generated content gets made.
The Congress claims that their social media effort is volunteer driven and that the party has hired any professionals.
#?????_???????_??????_?????? No more Jumlas, no more fake promises... Gujarat is in diamond now pic.twitter.com/mnqMePdLlh- Enough now (@Indus_valley12) October 14, 2017
Gupta attempted to buttress the claim by saying that the 'vikas gando thayo che' campaign was the result of a volunteer's idea.
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"#VikasHasGoneCrazy is an original concept of our one of the volunteer from Saurashtra. He sent us photograph of the... development in Saurashtra along with this line in Gujarati: 'vikas gando thayo che'," Gupta said. "It was this sentence that we converted into a hashtag."
Will the virtual likes and shares that the Congress has been garnering on social media transform into actual votes? Time will tell.
(This report has been updated with the information that the social media campaign seems to have been launched)
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Id like to address the elephant in the room. That elephant being the Republican Party and their refusal to represent the majority of their constituents. Lets begin with stricter gun control (something that would help lessen the fears parents have when sending their children off to school), 53% of Americans favor this (Pew Research) yet the elephant in the room refuses to consider any such thing. Over 70% of Americans want stricter background checks yet again; the elephant in the room refuses to represent them. 61% of Americans say abortion should be legal. Again, the elephant in the room pushes laws that do the opposite. 74% of Americans do not want social security reduced in any way. But the elephant in the room pushes to do just the opposite, cut social security. 63% of Americans now prefer Medicare for all, but the elephant in the room fights it with all its might. 67% of Americans feel more needs to be done to reduce climate change, but not the elephant in the room. The elephant sides with the fossil fuel industry claiming its not a big concern. Given these few statistics (there are more like them) its obvious that the Republican Party is the party of minority rule, quite the opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned. The Republican Party has become a power cult, not a party that represents the majority of Americans. Remember this while you mark your ballot in this midterm election. Save Democracy! Vote Democratic!
"You talk and talk and talk and everyone nods and everyone says that sounds terrible but nothing actually changes and that's what's most depressing about it all."
1 hour ago
Switzerland-based rail transit vehicle supplier Stadler Rail has chosen Salt Lake City to establish a manufacturing base for its U.S. subsidiary, Stadler US Inc., beginning next year with construction of a carbuilding plant and test track. Currently, Stadler is leasing space from the Utah Transit Authority at its Warm Springs facility, employing 115.
Stadlers new facility will be located at 150 South 5600 West and will take approximately ten years or less for a full buildout, depending on future orders. Phase 1 will begin in early 2018 with construction of a $50 million manufacturing plant with office building, new roads, utilities, and a test track. Growth, the company said, will be modular and scaled to match the needs of future client orders.
Based on a growth forecast, Stadler expects to employ up to 1,000 direct employees within the next 10 years and more indirect employees as its local supplier basis. Expansions have not been priced out.
The location is minutes away from the International Airport and has land ready for Stadler to construct an 0.6-mile North American test track to be used for testing and commissioning of our trains before they ship to clients across the U.S. and North America, said CEO Martin Ritter. The skilled, educated, and dedicated workforce along the Wasatch Front combined with high quality-of-life convinced us to stay and establish our permanent headquarters in Utah. We commend Utah and all the cities and organizations that worked so hard over the past two years to assist Stadler in completing this transition. We are excited to be a part of the community along the Wasatch-Front and look forward to a great partnership.
There were several locations in Utah that Stadler executives considered when determining where to grow their U.S. operations, said Salt Lake City Economic Development Director Lara Fritts. Ultimately, Salt Lake Citys proximity to two major highway interstates, international airport, and connection with a Union Pacific intermodal hub made expanding in the capital city a sound business decision. For the past year, the Department of Economic Development has been engaged with Stadler to ensure its needs for this project are met. Our team, alongside partners at EDCUtah, GOED and the Downtown Alliance, provided tours to Stadler executives, solved storm drain issues to help Stadler activate its current site, provided permitting assistance, and coordinated with other city departments to ensure development timelines are met. We believe excellent customer service is major benefit to companies like Stadler, in addition to the clear economic advantage Salt Lake City offers compared to other cities and states.
We are more than thrilled to welcome, permanently, Stadler to Salt Lake City, said Mayor Jackie Biskupski. To have a company with a global footprint call the Northwest Quadrant home solidifies our city as a premier, strategic location for any company focused in logistics, manufacturing and distribution.
When U.S. President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia last May, making it the first stop in his first foreign trip as president, he unleashed a wave of euphoria in the kingdom. The Saudis viewed Trump as a like-minded leader, whose ascent augured a future of closely coordinated foreign policy and firm advances for a U.S.-backed Saudi Arabian agenda in the Middle East. But five months later, in a twist few could have anticipated, Saudi King Salman landed in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling that Trump's embrace of the kingdom has proved less fruitful than the Saudis had expected.
By reopening the debate about the JCPOA with the threat of withdrawal, Trump hopes to either rein in Iran's regional meddling or persuade Tehran to broaden the deal to include restrictions on its ballistic missile program and on its support for militant groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The president's strategy, however, is not without risk. Any cracks that open within the JCPOA's framework could spread quickly, perhaps even leading to the deal's collapse. Trump's approach also relies on the assumption that Iran a country with a precarious political balance to maintain within its borders won't respond aggressively to provocation.
Still, the president's gamble may not be as risky as it seems. We need only look at the forces that shaped the JCPOA's signing in the first place to see why. Over the past decade, the United States has searched for a way to reduce its presence in the Middle East and shift its attention to other parts of the world, including a resurgent Russia and a rising China. The solution it has settled on is to balance Middle Eastern powers including Iran against one another, forming a built-in check to prevent any one country from becoming too influential. But Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons program was something that neither the United States nor its European allies could allow. The JCPOA thus offered a means of halting the program's progress without risking the outbreak of war.
The United States' pressing need to look beyond the Middle East persists to this day. In fact, if anything, it has become even more imperative: China's economy and military prowess are growing, the standoff between Russia and the West endures, and the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula has deepened. Reviving the nuclear ambitions of and the threat of conflict with Iran by abandoning the JCPOA would doubtless detract from the United States' ability to address these urgent needs in Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific. It would also harden North Korea's belief (not to mention Iran's) that negotiation with the United States on nuclear issues is futile.
To make matters more complicated, Washington is alone in its newest strategy to contain Iran's influence. Unlike the United States, Europe considers Iran's regional ambitions to be separate from its nuclear activities, and the JCPOA to be pertinent only to the latter. The White House has blurred that distinction in a way the deal wasn't designed to handle. This discrepancy is the reason that the rationale behind Washington's decertification of the accord is key: The United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agree that there is no evidence to suggest that Iran is not complying with the deal. And as long as Iran upholds its end of the bargain, the European Union will likely push back against any U.S. attempt to reinstate broad sanctions, which would damage several European companies. (The Continental bloc has already vowed to challenge the United States in the World Trade Organization if it tries to do so.)
All of these factors will make it difficult for Congress to put sanctions back in place against Iran. But perhaps that's exactly what the Trump administration is counting on. After all, the president derided the nuclear deal during his campaign for office. By punting the issue to Congress, where lawmakers will have a hard time resuming sanctions, Trump can wash his hands of the decision and gain the political cover needed to keep the agreement in place while adopting a tougher stance toward Iran.
Weighing the Cost of a Nuclear Weapon
Of course, the United States is only half of the JCPOA equation. And though Iran is often portrayed throughout the West as an erratic and unreliable partner, the country like all nation-states in the global system is a rational actor whose moves reflect its constraints and imperatives.
Chief among them, for the Islamic republic, is the simple need to survive. Throughout history, Iran has faced the threat of invasion from the west, first from powerful forces in Mesopotamia and then from the state of Iraq, particularly under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Seizing the chance that revolution afforded, Saddam invaded the Islamic republic not long after its establishment in 1979, prompting former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini to restart the deposed shah's nuclear weapons program in search of a credible deterrent against Iraq. Vital oil reserves along Iran's border with Iraq has only heightened its vulnerability in modern times.
With Saddam's removal from power, Iraq presented more opportunity than risk to Iran, and Tehran began to exert influence over its neighbor's Shiite leaders. But Iraq's fate also served as a stark warning: The weapons of mass destruction that were once an asset for Saddam became the liability that led to his downfall. The message was not lost on Iran, which halted most of its nuclear weapons development in 2003, even as it used the facade of the program's progress to drive a grand bargain with the United States.
This strategy, though quite rational, backfired by encouraging the creation of a powerful sanctions regime that crippled the Iranian economy. Prior to 1979, Iran's economy was roughly the size of Saudi Arabia's; today it is only three-fifths as large. As a result, the Islamic republic has struggled to make good on many of the promises that brought it to power. And in a country with a lengthy history of revolution and political upheaval, the popular backlash that sustained hardship tends to generate doesn't bode well for the governments self-preservation.
Iran's leaders, who lack the immunity to widespread discontent that North Korea's dictatorship enjoys, believe that the greatest threat to the nation's stability today comes from within. Countering it requires a stronger economy and the careful management of social and political discord both goals that have reinforced the growing sentiment among Iranians that the pursuit of a nuclear weapons program isn't worth the steep cost of sanctions. Consequently, Iran is keen to avoid making any rash decisions about its nuclear weapons development. Rather than uniting the United States and its allies by restarting its shuttered program, Tehran will likely keep using the issue to drive the wedge between them even deeper.
A Piece of a Bigger Puzzle
Iran will enter into any new negotiations over its nuclear program with an eye toward the rest of the international community as well. Iran has little incentive to remain a pariah state, given the extent to which that status has already devastated its economy, and a movement toward diplomatic moderation has blossomed among the country's leaders since the late 1980s. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is now the standard-bearer for that movement, though the volatile nature of the nation's politics has hampered his attempts to act on that ideology so far.
Nevertheless, he and his contemporaries have the heft of geopolitics on their side. Though Iran's rhetoric has traditionally targeted the United States, it is Turkey and Russia that may be more likely to threaten Tehran's security interests, especially as Washington withdraws from the region. Iran is deeply concerned about Turkey's resurgence in the lands it previously controlled during the Ottoman Empire, including Iraq and the Levant. And Russia a country with which Iran has fought numerous wars has similarly increased its involvement in Tehran's backyard over the past decade. Detente with an external powerhouse like the United States would certainly improve Iran's position against both threats.
Saudi Arabia is another regional rival that Iran is sure to watch, particularly given the Sunni kingdom's close relationship with the United States. Despite that partnership, however, Washington's strategy of balancing power in the Middle East requires just that: balance. Saudi Arabia's influence could therefore wane in the coming decades, especially since its prominence is based in oil reserves and the wealth that comes with them. As the Saudi oil industry becomes less lucrative over time, it will call into question the kingdom's economic vitality and by extension, its utility as the United States' most powerful Middle Eastern ally.
Of course, Iran's economy relies on oil, too. But it is far more diversified, which suggests that it will fare better in a world where oil no longer reigns supreme. Moreover, Iran has the advantage of strategic location. As China works to build land routes through Asia to Europe, it will have to choose whether to pass through Iran or Russia a decision that Beijing's natural rivalry with Moscow will make easy. With a quick glance at the map, it is clear how Iran's position on China's newest Silk Road would give Washington plenty of opportunities to counter both China and Russia if Tehran were its partner.
A Partnership Checked by Politics
The slow-moving undercurrents of geopolitics can take years to shape domestic policy. In the meantime, Iran and the United States will continue to display their mutual animosity at home. Iran's powerful hard-line groups, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have staunchly opposed negotiation with the United States. Trump's recent actions have only reinforced their belief that Washington cannot be trusted, and if Rouhani's administration offers to discuss scaling back its conventional weapons program, as some have suggested it might, their objections will only grow louder. Until Iran takes true strides toward a more moderate foreign policy, its conservative groups will continue to disrupt any agreement with the United States that stretches beyond its nuclear program.
Back in the United States, Iran's support for Middle Eastern militant groups and threats to the Persian Gulf have slowed Washington's attempts to pull back from the region. The reputation Iran has gained among the American public hasn't made things any easier: Many of Iran's current leaders were visible figures during the Islamic Revolution, the subsequent hostage incident at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the talks regarding Iran's nuclear program, all events that painted a picture of an untrustworthy nation. That paint will only start to chip away when the next generation of political leaders rises to power in both countries.
For now, Iran and the United States have reached a crossroads in their relationship. Many of their long-term imperatives have begun to align. But it remains to be seen how quickly they will override the more immediate national and regional problems that each state now faces. And should the nuclear deal collapse, it could push back the lasting relationship that Iran and the United States have begun to build by another decade.
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Five people were beaten on suspicion of carrying cow meat in Faridabad and an FIR has been registered under the Cow Smuggling Act.
By India Today Web Desk: In yet another case of cow vigilantism, five people were brutally beaten today by an unruly mob on suspicion of carrying cow meat in Haryana's Faridabad city.
An FIR has been registered in the case under the Cow Smuggling Act and the police is likely to file another complaint on the victims' testimony.
Meanwhile, lab reports confirm that the meat seized from the victims is that of a buffalo's.
Photo: Twitter/ANI
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In 2016, Haryana government had entrusted IPS officer Bharti Arora to check cow smuggling and slaughter in the state and launched a 24-hour helpline number -- 8284030455 -- to report such incidents.
Last year, the state government enacted the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act- which carries imprisonment of up to 10 years for cow slaughter.
In 2016, as many as 85 cases were registered under the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act 1955.
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With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering down in readiness for Mr Modis next radical Big Idea, says Kanika Datta.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com.
There is nothing like a sustained economic slowdown to embolden the critics of this regime and its Parivar adjuncts.
For this, due acknowledgement must go to respected party elder and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.
His article on the state of the economy in The Indian Express in late September explained, in the bluntest possible terms, the truth about the emperors clothes or lack thereof.
Mr Sinhas plain-speak echoed what apolitical economic commentators had been suggesting for months.
Indeed, the fortnight before, even the maverick saffron knight Subramanian Swamy had been no less candid about the governments economic management.
The economy is in a tailspin. Yes, it can crash, he said in a CNN-News18 interview.
Mr Sinhas unexpected radicalism concentrated minds because he claimed to speak for the party rank and file who dared not voice their misgivings, and its placement in a mainstream daily with a reputation for non-conformism clearly irked Raisina Hill enough to provoke a defensive and curmudgeonly response.
Ever so slightly, the dam of restraint is being breached under the flood of inconvenient facts: Five consecutive quarters of slowing growth, lay-offs, shrinking demand.
The mainstream media, cowed by the fell hand of an irate PMO, began to offer cautiously critical assessments.
The chatterati in urban drawing rooms and the febrile universe of social media do not speak for all India, it is true, but the noticeably changing tenor of the conversation in these spheres can be considered leading indicators of deflated optimism.
Till last year, India was the worlds fastest growing economy, as the hopefuls unfailingly reminded the doubters.
The business press anxiously waited for signs of a turnaround. Prominent business supporters stridently ascribed the expected bonanza to dynamic prime ministerial action.
Now, that same community is talking gloomily -- and, more to the point, openly -- of opaque horizons and the absence of demand.
Till late last year, the Modi government was invincible and sagacious, if you believed the popular narrative.
Now the worried questions are all about what the government can do to stoke growth and create jobs (short answer: Very little).
All the doubts that lurked below the surface are on the table-top now.
Till January, no one doubted that the Bharatiya Janata Partys chances of a massive comeback in the 2019 elections.
Now, that forgone conclusion is an open question -- though the parlous state of the Opposition suggests that it shouldnt be.
Can Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party rise to the opportunity (Berkeley eloquence notwithstanding, probably not)?
The demons of demonetisation, hailed as an act of supreme courage by a prime minister determined to fight the scourge of black money -- or so the official narrative went before the story changed to promoting digital inclusion -- have come to roost.
An impressive electoral victory in Uttar Pradesh seemed to vindicate the prime minister. That the impact of the worlds largest demonetisation exercise did not show up in the immediately following quarter, suggesting that the gamble had paid off.
Now we know otherwise but the economy did not get a chance to recover from that shock therapy before the government decided to administer another.
The Goods and Services Tax, with all its complexities and glitches, was introduced at warp speed without the benefit of extended testing that such a system would warrant.
The compelling election-style slogan, One Nation, One Tax, and a dramatic midnight launch proved to be Indias tryst with slowdown.
Unlike earlier criticisms, the aggressive defenders of the saffron faith will find it hard to defend this manufactured slowdown -- that too, just as comparable economies are growing.
And few governments have attracted such widespread serial protest movements almost from the get-go.
Each time, though, the armies of bhakts in saffron armour had an intimidating riposte.
Those who returned state awards in protest against a perceived climate of intolerance could be excoriated for being anti-national.
Those who rejected the burning of churches, the lynching of Muslims and outright communal overtones of banning cow slaughter could be dismissed as pseudo secularists and invited (for some mysterious reason) to go to Pakistan. Assassination was an option, too.
As the quality of the public discourse sinks lower and lower, the convergence between the ruling dispensations religio-social agenda and economic performance is also becoming clear.
Banning cow slaughter, restricting cattle trading and indiscriminately closing slaughter houses may fulfil a saffron agenda but they have impacted Indias most successful businesses -- dairy-farming, leather processing and beef exports -- with all the concomitant consequences of income and job losses, compounding the hardships imposed by demonetisation and the hurried GST deadline.
With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering down in readiness for Mr Modis next radical Big Idea.
No one of any political hue wishes India this fate. Time for a little secular pragmatism, perhaps?
Export growth picked up mainly owing to rising global crude prices, which pushed up processed petroleum exports by nearly 40 per cent, apart from a broad-based improvement in exports of major foreign exchange earners such as engineering goods and gems and jewellery.
Exports grew at a six-month-high rate of 25.7 per cent in September year-on-year, maintaining the momentum of 13 months of interrupted rise and despite the problems of getting refunds under the goods and services tax (GST) regime.
This was the second month of exports expanding in double digits after outbound shipments were up 10.29 per cent in August.
The pace of export growth comes after they contracted for more than a year. The country exported goods worth $28.61 billion in September against $22.76 billion in the same month last year.
In the third month into the GST, export growth picked up mainly owing to rising global crude prices, which pushed up processed petroleum exports by nearly 40 per cent, apart from a broad-based improvement in exports of major foreign exchange earners such as engineering goods and gems and jewellery.
This may give credence to the observations of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) that green shoots of economic revival were visible.
On Thursday the official data showed that industrial output expanded by a nine-month high of more than 4 per cent in August.
Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted, "India's growth story is back! Exports grow by 25.7 per cent in September."
Import growth fell marginally in September to 18 per cent, down from 21 per cent in August. Imports were worth $37.59 billion in September against $31.83 billion in the same month last year.
This has pulled down the trade deficit to a seven-month low of $8.98 billion in September from $11.64 billion in the previous month. The deficit was $9.07 billion in September last year.
This may ease the current account deficit (CAD) in the second quarter. Aditi Nayar, principal economist, ICRA, expected the CAD to come down to $7.5-8.5 billion in the second quarter from $14 billion in Q1. For imports, the figure was $219.31 billion, up 25.08 per cent over the same period of the previous year. Consequently, the cumulative trade deficit for FY18 till September stood at $72.1 billion, higher by 66.5 per cent in April-September FY17.
After surging by about 69 per cent in August, the import of gold fell by 5 per cent in September to $1.7 billion. However, the import of silver continued to rise at a high rate of more than 128 per cent.
Non-oil, non-gold imports rose by 19.76 per cent, marginally down from over 20 per cent in August, signalling that the industrial sector may continue to show high growth for the second consecutive month in September.
The index of industrial production (IIP) rose 4.2 per cent in August after more or less flat growth in July. Though non-oil non-gold imports are at current prices, and the IIP at constant prices, the former gives a rough idea about the demand for industrial goods.
Non-oil exports rose 23.88 per cent in September, up from 6.86 per cent in August.
In August, overall exports had risen by 10.29 per cent. In the preceding three months, growth had been limited to single digits, falling to a low of 3.94 per cent in July.
Growth came even as exporters complained about the refund mechanism under the GST, saying it was affecting outbound shipments.
Exporters have to pay the integrated GST on import of goods and then claim refunds based on their scrips under the new indirect tax system. After three months of continuous friction between the government and exporters, GST norms on exports were eased in early October.
"The continued improvement in the pace of growth of merchandise exports, as well as its fairly broad-based nature, suggests that concerns that arose after the transition to the GST may be receding in some sectors. Nevertheless, the high growth recorded by some of the major export groups may be related to rising commodity prices," Nayar said.
Early assessments show that exports may breach the high levels of growth seen in March 2017, when outbound shipments had risen by 27 per cent, according to a senior commerce ministry official.
In September, only four sectors -- meat; dairy products; fruit and vegetables; and iron ore and handicrafts -- contracted among the 30 most important export sectors. This was the same as August.
Among major foreign-exchange earners, petroleum products fetched $3.59 billion in September while engineering goods exports rose by 44 per cent from 19 per cent in August to bring in $7.3 billion.
Engineering goods accounted for nearly half the uptick in non-oil exports in September, which may partly reflect higher metal prices.
After declining by over 25 per cent in August, gems and jewellery exports rose by 7 per cent in September.
Similarly, apparel exports grew by more than 29 per cent after the 0.5 per cent growth in August.
Pharmaceutical exports also rose by 14.67 per cent from the 4.21 per cent rise in August.
Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters.
So far, the Central Sector has never seen active hostilities, remaining peaceful even through the 1962 war.
A reason for the Central Sector having remained peaceful is the towering Himalayan watershed that defines the border.
Ajai Shukla reports.
In August, knife-edge diplomacy between New Delhi and Beijing managed to defuse a tense 71-day confrontation between border troops at Doklam, near the border tri-junction between India, China and Bhutan.
But now, India is readying for possible Chinese retaliation in Uttarakhand, on the border tri-junction of India, China and Nepal.
This week, an on-going biannual conference of top army commanders in New Delhi discussed reinforcing the army in what is called the Central Sector -- a 545-kilometre stretch of border that separates Tibet from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, ending at the Nepal tri-junction.
The generals also ordered road building to be stepped up for better access to four critical border passes.
"It has been decided that there would be a concerted heft towards road construction activities in this sector. To that end, four passes to Niti, Lipulekh, Thangla-1 and Tsangchokla have been decided to be connected by (road by) 2020 on priority," said an army statement, read out by a three-star general in New Delhi on Friday.
As elsewhere on the border, China has already built all-weather roads to these passes, emanating from the western highway that links Lhasa with Xinjiang.
This allows China to move troops to these flashpoints more quickly than India can.
In India, three existing main roads from the Indo-Gangetic plain must wind 300 to 400 kilometres to the border through landslide prone moutainside.
These roads are: From Kalka to Shipki La; from Rishikesh to Mana Pass; and one to Dharchu La.
The generals also discussed interlinking these border passes with lateral branch roads and additional roads linking the Central Sector better with the plains.
"Road maps for intra sector connectivity within (the) Central Sector and inter-sector connectivity with neighbouring areas have been deliberated (upon," said the army statement today.
Besides improving road access, the army commanders discussed a plan to pump more soldiers into the Central Sector.
This would be done under the army's ongoing Accretion of Forces initiative, under which a new corps headquarters has been raised in Panagarh, two mountain divisions (40,000 soldiers) in Pathankot and West Bengal, and an armoured brigade each for Ladakh and the Sikkim-West Bengal areas.
"Organisation changes of some of the (army) formations have also been examined for capability enhancement," stated the spokesperson blandly.
So far, the Central Sector has never seen active hostilities, remaining peaceful even through the 1962 war that saw pitched battles in the Western Sector (Ladakh), and the Eastern Sector (Arunachal Pradesh).
After Sikkim became a part of India in 1975, the Sikkim-Tibet border was included in the Eastern Sector.
A reason for the Central Sector having remained peaceful is the towering Himalayan watershed that defines the border.
Occupying territory across the high border ridgeline would leave defenders cut off by snow in winter.
That has not stopped China from contesting it in some places.
Barahoti sees patrol confrontations regularly. China also lays claim to grazing grounds at Harsil (near Uttarkashi) and Rimkhim (near Joshimath) which are well on the Indian side of the border.
Highlighting the more benign nature of the dispute in the Central Sector, the two sides have agreed in ongoing Sino-Indian border talks to exchange maps of this area, marked with their perceptions of the border.
In contrast, Beijing is unwilling to exchange similarly marked maps in the Eastern and Western Sectors.
Even going by China's territorial claims, the Central Sector is a small part of the overall dispute.
In the Western Sector, China claims about 35,000 square kilometres of territory that India regards as its own, including the vast Aksai Chin plateau.
In the Eastern Sector, China claims 90,000 square kilometres of Indian-held territory, including much of Arunachal Pradesh.
In the Central Sector, however, the dispute is over 2,000 square kilometres, in eight separate areas.
Even so, with tensions rising on the border, the performance of the Border Roads Organisation is coming under the scanner.
According to figures tabled in Parliament on August 8, the BRO has managed to construct only 33, 49 and 34 kilometres of roads in Uttarakhand in 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 respectively.
In the same period, the BRO built 154, 130 and 154 kilometres of roads in Jammu & Kashmir; and 99, 103 and 100 kilometres of roads in Arunachal Pradesh.
The BRO's 'roll-on' plan for the period 2015 to 2020 envisages building/improving 519 roads, measuring 22,225 kilometres.
Of these, 61 roads, measuring 3,417 kilometres, are designated strategic Indo-China Border Roads.
IMAGE: An Indian soldier with the 12 Madras regiment zip lines off a cliff at the Chaubattia Military Station in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand during Yudh Abhyas 2016. Photograph: Staff Sergeant Samuel Northrup/US Army photo
The special investigation team probing the killing of Gauri Lankesh on Saturday released the sketches of two suspects, along with the footage obtained from CCTV cameras installed near the slain journalist's house.
Lankesh was gunned down by unidentified assailants in front of her residence in Bengaluru on September 5.
The 21-member SIT released the sketches, prepared on the basis of information collected from witnesses, and the CCTV footage more than five weeks after she was killed.
"There are only two suspects, but we have released three sketches, based on the accounts of two witnesses...We have released two sketches of one of the suspects because they were drawn by two professional painters," SIT chief B K Singh told reporters.
Stating that his team had questioned around 200-250 people in connection with its probe, Singh said the assailants had used a 7.65 mm country-made pistol to gun down the veteran journalist.
"We have also ruled out any professional rivalry behind Lankesh's killing. In other words, no journalist was involved in it. But, all other angles (including Naxal and personal) are being probed," he added.
Singh said the SIT was probing the case with "a free mind".
He added that the suspects, aged between 25 and 35 years, had stayed in Bengaluru for a minimum of seven days before committing the crime and carried out a reconnaissance of the journalist's house.
"We are trying to find out from the public where had they stayed. Once we find out who they were, whether they were known to the locals, everything will come out," he added.
Replying to a query, the SIT chief said the investigators had collected certain clues from the video footage obtained from the house of Lankesh.
"In fact, we began our investigation by collecting evidence from her house on the day of the crime," he added.
Singh said the SIT could not say with a "100-per cent surety" whether the pattern behind the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare in Maharashtra, progressive Kannada writer M M Kalburgi in Dharwad, Karnataka and Lankesh was similar.
"There are some dissimilarities between the Gauri (Lankesh), Pansare, Dabholkar and Kalburgi cases, but there is an equal number of similarities also. So, we cannot say with a 100-per cent surety (whether there is a pattern behind these killings)," he said.
The SIT chief also refuted reports that they had sought assistance from Scotland Yard in solving the case.
"We will definitely seek assistance from international agencies if we require. In this case, we have not sought any such help," he said.
The footage released by the SIT shows a man riding a motorcycle without a registration number, apparently to conceal his identity.
Singh said while in certain portions of the footage, the suspects were seen wearing helmets, there were other portions where they were seen not wearing it and this provided a scope to the investigators to see their faces.
He added that the sketches were released so that the suspects could be traced and requested the people to share information with the SIT, if they had any.
The officer said members of the public could share information regarding the suspects with the SIT on mobile number 9480800202, WhatsApp numbers 9480800304, 9480801701 or by sending e-mails to 'sit.glankesh@ksp.gov.in'.
Singh added that if the information provided by anyone led to the arrest of the accused, the identity of the informant would not be revealed and he would be "suitably rewarded" as had already been declared by the Karnataka government.
The SIT, headed by Inspector General of Police Singh, was formed a day after Lankesh, 55, was killed.
The killing of the journalist, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, had led to national outrage and protests over alleged "rising intolerance" in the country and attempts to muzzle dissent, with the criticism targeted at the central government and right-wing groups.
The Karnataka government has announced a Rs-10 lakh reward for anyone who would provide clues on the killing of Lankesh.
As a political slugfest broke out over the killing of the journalist, her family had made a plea against giving a political colour to it.
The family had also urged the investigators to look into all possibilities behind Lankesh's killing, whether a right wing or a Naxal angle, as reports had emerged about a possible Naxal hand, beside the suspected involvement of right-wing extremists, the ideology she was opposed to.
Photograph: ANI
Anil Sharma, a minister in the Virbhadra Singh governemnt in Himachal Pradesh, is reportedly set to join the BJP just weeks before the state goes to the polls.
By India Today Web Desk: The Himachal Pradesh Congress was in for a rude shock today, with reports emerging that Anil Sharma, a minister in the Virbhadra Singh government, is switching loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
News agency ANI reported that an official announcement regarding Sharma joining the BJP is expected Sunday. The agency also tweeted out a photo of Anil Sharma sporting a BJP-branded scarf and flashing a victory sign.
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The news comes just days after the Election Commission (EC) announcing dates for polling in Himachal Pradesh and on the day the BJP's Central Election Committee met in New Delhi to finalise names of who would contest in the state election.
Voting in the state will be held in a single-phase on November 9 and counting will take place a full month later on December 18.
Along with Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat will too elects a new assembly. However, polling dates for Gujarat are yet to be announced.
Elections in both the states will be closely watched across India. The Congress hopes to Gujarat from the BJP, which has ruled the state for over two decades now.
The BJP, on the other hand, will look to once again win power in Himachal and prove its claim Congress's influence is waning across the country.
Anil Sharma, who reportedly has joined the BJP, is the son Sukh Ram, who was a union minister in PV Narasimha Rao's government. Sukh Ram was convicted for accepting a bribe while he was the union telecom minister.
Anil Sharma fought and won the last Himachal Pradesh Assembly election from Mandi, his father's traditional seat.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that his government ensures the schemes launched by it are implemented within a time limit, unlike in the past when projects were announced "during election time" and forgotten later.
Modi deplored "the thinking of many political leaders" that projects like roads were not meant for the poor. "We can not imagine the extent to which this mindset has damaged the country."
The prime minister was addressing a gathering after launching development projects relating to highways and sewage treatment in Mokama, about 100 km from Bihar capital Patna.
Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Ram Vilas Paswan were among those present at the programme.
Modi began his nearly 30-minute speech in Magahi dialect and praised the people of Mokama. He recalled the city's connection with the mythological warrior sage Parashuram.
He also recalled the contributions of poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Bihar's first Chief Minister Shri Krishna Singh, pointing that both of them hailed from Begusarai "just across the Ganges".
Underscoring his government's commitment to boost inland water transport, Modi said during the British era, "when we had excellent waterways, Mokama was known as 'mini Kolkata'. We must revive the lost glory".
"My government is working tirelessly to provide better road, rail and internet connectivity and power connections and potable water to all. We have launched many schemes with these specific targets in mind," he said.
The prime minister said his government "launches schemes keeping a roadmap ready" and "ensures implementation within time limit", unlike past regimes, "which were in the habit of announcing projects during election time, only to forget about these later".
Extending his greetings for Diwali on October 19, and Chhath -- Bihar's most celebrated festival which falls six days later -- Modi said "once the Ganges is cleansed of pollutants, for which we have launched a special project called 'Namami Gange', it would be a real delight to observe the austerities of Chhath".
Modi lauded Gadkari, who holds the surface and transport ministry, for expanding India's road network. He also had a word of praise for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar "for his cooperation and his concern for the initiatives taken by the Centre".
Kumar urged Modi to undertake key projects like a bridge parallel to the 'Vikramshila Setu' over the Ganges in Bhagalpur and a direct road connecting Buxar with Varanasi, which is the prime minister's parliamentary constituency.
He also recalled his connection with Mokama, which forms a part of the Barh Lok Sabha seat, which he has represented a number of times in the parliament.
This was Modi's first Bihar visit since the BJP return to the coalition with the JD-U in Bihar in July this year.
Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, a BJP leader, said this was the "first time in 27 years when the same dispensation rules both at the Centre and in Bihar."
"To use an expression of the prime minister, Bihar now has two engines to propel it on the path towards progress," Sushil Modi said.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister attended a function held to celebrate 100 years of establishment of Patna University followed by a brief, unscheduled visit to the newly-opened Bihar Museum.
Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing at the ceremony to lay foundation stone of Projects under Namami Gange and National Highway projects, in Mokama, Bihar. Photograph: PIB
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the centenary celebrations of Patna University in Bihar on Saturday. Photograph: PTI Photo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his "commitment" to state's development, as the two leaders shared the stage for the first time after the Janata Dal-United returned to the National Democratic Alliance fold.
Modi, who attended the centenary celebrations of the Patna University along with Kumar, said the Centre and the state government led by Kumar will work together with a pledge to bring Bihar on par with the other prosperous states by 2022.
"Nitishji is committed to development of Bihar... and the central government has pledged to develop the country. Together the two will work together to ensure that Bihar is counted among the prosperous states by 2022 when the country celebrates 75 years of independence," the prime minister said.
Modi said that Bihar has been blessed by Saraswati, the Goddess of learning.
"But the time has come to propitiate Laxmi (Goddess of wealth and prosperity) as well and take the state to new heights of development," he said.
Addressing the gathering, Kumar said that "it is a day of great honour" that the prime minister is present for Patna University's centenary celebrations.
He also made a fervent plea to Modi "with folded hands that central status be granted to Patna University".
IMAGE: Modi with Nitish Kumar, Union ministers, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Upendra Kushwaha at the function. Photograph: PTI Photo
However, Modi, during his address, said that measures like grant of central status were "a thing of the past" and his government has taken "a step forward" towards making 10 private universities and 10 government ones world class.
"I would like to say something about a demand that was raised here and met with loud cheers by the young crowd attending this ceremony. Issues like grant of central status have become a thing of the past. We are taking a step forward.
"We will provide an assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to 10 private universities and an equal number of government ones for a period of five years. All these universities have to do is to demonstrate their potential to become world class," he said, addding, "I exhort Patna University to seize this opportunity."
Modi began his speech on a humorous note, saying "the chief minister said in his speech that I was the first prime minister to visit this university. It seems my predecessors have left quite a few tasks for me".
Earlier, the prime minister was welcomed by Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik and the chief minister among others at the Patna airport from where he drove straight to the Patna Science College campus.
This is the prime minister's first full-fledged official tour to the state since the Bharatiya Janata Party became a part of the ruling coalition in Bihar in July this year after Kumar-led JD-U snapped its alliance with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.
In August, Modi along with Kumar had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
The prime minister had promised a "package" of Rs 1.25 lakh crore in 2015 for the state during the campaign for the assembly elections in which the BJP and the JD-U were pitted against each other.
The two parties remained partners in Bihar for 17 years but the JD-U severed ties in mid-2013 over elevation of Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
Waseem Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined the insurgency in May this year.
Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist, Waseem Shah, believed to be the main architect of the unrest last year in south Kashmir, was killed along with his accomplice by security forces in an encounter early Saturday morning in Pulwama district, police said.
Shah, 23, also known as 'Abu Osama Bhai' was killed at Litter area in Pulwama, a place considered to be a safe haven for insurgents. This is the first counter-insurgency operation in Litter area in four years.
The Jammu and Kashmir police had been tracking the movements of Shah, who is considered as the 'don of Heff', another stronghold of militants in South Kashmir's Shopian district.
After information that he was at his hideout at Litter, police and its special operation group team cordoned off the area, police said.
Shah along with his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir made an attempt to flee but could not penetrate the cordon which had been strengthened by the presence of the CRPF and Army, they said.
Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Nisar, another local who had joined the insurgency in May this year.
A college dropout, Shah, a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian, took up arms in 2014 and was considered as the 'chief architect' of last year's unrest in various parts of South Kashmir.
Born into a middle class family of Gul Mohammed Shah, who ran a fruit business, Shah was a college dropout and an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Tayiba since his school days when he had doubled up as a courier boy for the outfit, police said.
Of late, Shah, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was recruiting fresh cadres for the terror outfit.
He had been involved in various attacks on security forces in south Kashmir, police said.
Meanwhile, a civilian was killed as stone-pelting protestors clashed with security personnel near the encounter site.
Police claimed that the victim, Gulzar Ahmad Mir, was caught in the cross-fire between the terrorists and security forces, but some locals alleged that he was killed in the action by security personnel against the protestors.
Soon after the encounter, a group of people started throwing stones at the security forces, eyewitnesses said.
They claimed that six persons, including Mir, were injured in the security forces' action.
Mir succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Srinagar.
Four injured persons were taken to a local hospital for treatment and another injured is admitted to a Srinagar hospital, the eyewitnesses claimed.
Photograph: Umar Ganie.
A cyber lab examination of Honeypreet's iPhone has found that efforts were also made to tamper with it. Police are trying hard to recover the data.
By Manjeet Sehgal: The mobile phone handed over by Vipassana Insan to Panchkula police on Friday is an iPhone which has a finger security guard and can only open with Honeypreet's fingerprint.
According to police sources, Honeypreet was asked to unlock the phone four times during her cross-questioning with Vipassana Insan on Friday.
A cyber lab examination of this phone has found that efforts were also made to tamper with the phone. Data is missing both from the phone and its iCloud account.
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Police believe that most of the files were deleted from the phone by Honeypreet herself before she finally handed it over to Vipassana Insan on August 26.
When Honeypreet was quizzed about the phone and whether it was tampered with, she said she didn't know about that. As was expected, she feigned ignorance about the missing data from her phone.
Honeypreet's iPhone is currently being examined by cyber lab experts, who are trying hard to recover the data.
Honeypreet has been accused of sharing provocative video clips on social media through her iPhone.
HONEYPREET USED 17 SIM CARDS WHILE SHE WAS ABSCONDING
The police also tried to unravel the mystery of 17 SIM cards, which Honeypreet Insan used during her 38 days of disappearance before being finally arrested on October 3.
Cops are investigating whose phone Honeypreet was using while she was absconding if she had handed over her mobile to Vipassana Insan on August 26.
Honeypreet had told the cops that she used WhatsApp to communicate with other Dera functionaries. Her accomplice Sukhdeep Kaur told the police that she used to speak to strangers while she was on the run, and ask them to leave them cars behind for her to flee in.
Honeypreet Insan and her accomplice Sukhdeep Kaur were sent to 14-day judicial custody on Friday after their police remand came to an end.
WATCH VIDEO | Congress leader facilitated Honeypreet's escape from Dera headquarters, sources to India Today
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India's trade deficit with China has risen to more than $38 billion after three quarters of the year, on track to exceed last year's record $46 billion figure.
By Ananth Krishnan: India's trade deficit with China has risen to more than $38 billion after three quarters of the year, on track to exceed last year's record $46 billion figure.
New data released by China's General Administration of Customs on Friday showed that bilateral trade had reached $62.48 billion after nine months of the year, up 20 per cent year-on-year.
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India's exports to China were up by 41 per cent, but accounted for only $11.92 billion of the two-way trade.
Chinese exports to India have crossed $50 billion for the year, up by 16.5 per cent, driven by Indian demand for machinery and electrical equipment. India, by contrast, mainly exports raw materials to China. Iron ore has in recent years been the biggest export, while cotton is another fast-growing export commodity.
This year, bilateral trade has recovered after two years of slowing growth, in part driven by the rebound in the Chinese economy after recent slowing appetite for resources, and is on track to cross last year's $71.63 billion figure. Both countries had previously set an ambitious target of $100 billion by 2015.
Chinese officials said on Friday that trade overall was "sound and steady" due to "a strong Chinese economy", with China's exports overall up 12.4 per cent and imports up 22.3 per cent.
Among China's biggest trading partners, trade was up 18.7 per cent with the U.S., 16.4 per cent with the EU and 14.9 per cent with Japan.
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FALLS VILLAGE In October, David M. Hunt Library will host Connecticut Academy for The Arts Art Bomb! Toymakers Cafe, an exhibit of young CAFTA art students' work inspired by the popular eatery run by Ann and Greg Bidou in Falls Village.
A reception with refreshments for the artists will be held on Thursday, Oct. 19, 4-6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. For more information call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org.
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TORRINGTON - The former home of Energy Fitness and Skytop Lanes is set to be redeveloped, after the Planning and Zoning Commission gave the go-ahead to a project that would see a new gym and retail space established in the East Main Street building.
Under the proposal, titled "The Shops at Sky Top" in documentation submitted to the city, Club 24 Concept Gyms would move into 992 East Main St., according to City Planner Martin Connor.
Space for a potential restaurant and retail outlets would be created as part of a facelift for the property, according to Dennis McMorrow of Berkshire Engineering, who presented the plans to the commission during its Oct. 12 meeting. A patio would provide outdoor seating for the proposed restaurant.
A retaining wall will be built along Whitewoods Road and the grade of the land in the area will be raised by eight to 10 feet, McMorrow said.
According to a memo from City Planner Martin Connor, the property's borders would be landscaped along East Main Street, Whitewoods Road and Pineridge Road, and new sidewalks will be created along East Main Street.
Club 24 Concept Gyms, a Connecticut-based chain of fitness centers with locations in Middletown, New Milford, Wallingford, Brookfield, Ridgefield and Newtown, has created a website touting the new addition - www.club24torrington.com. On that site, it notes that the new gym is coming in December.
The plan was approved unanimously by the zoning commission Thursday.
According to city property records, 992 East Main St Torrington LLC purchased the 2.5 acre property in May 2016 for $2 million. It was last assessed at a value of $860,940 and appraised at $1,229,913.
Paul Prenoveau of PAC Group LLC., a Torrington-based construction company, is listed as the agent for 992 East Main St Torrington LLC in state records.
Plans associated with the project also bear the name of PAC Group, according to minutes for the Oct. 5 meeting of the Architectural Review Committee.
Skytop Lanes closed in May 2016 after 49 years in business.
Energy Fitness recently moved from the East Main Street building to Field Street and is now open in the same building as The Register Citizen, across from the Litchfield Judicial District Courthouse at Torrington.
william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
The Torrington Police Department reported the following arrests:
SALE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS: Anthony L. Monk, 30, of 68 Woodbine St., Torrington, was arrested on warrants stemming from May 17 and Sept. 27 and charged with two counts of sale of certain illegal drugs. He was given $50,000 bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Nov. 12.
DISORDERLY CONDUCT: Luis E. Hernandez, 34, of 128 Washington Ave., Torrington, was arrested Oct. 8 and charged with disorderly conduct. He was released on a promise to appear and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 16.
LARCENY: Anthony J. Roig, 30, of 57 Iowa St., Torrington, was arrested Oct. 5 and charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was issued a misdemeanor summons.
DISORDERLY CONDUCT: Rocco A. Vail, 19, of 33 Deer Lane, Morris, was arrested Oct. 12 and charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with an emergency call. He was released on a $1,000 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in court Oct. 13.
ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF NARCOTIC: Michael J. Tracy, 35, of 14 Church St., New Hartford, was arrested Oct. 10 and charged with illegal possession of narcotic - cocaine. He was released on a $1,500 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 23.
ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF NARCOTIC: Eric S. Leifert, 37, of 220 Gilbert Ave., Apartment 2, Winchester, was arrested Oct. 10 and charged with illegal possession of narcotic - cocaine. He was released on a $1,500 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 23.
SALE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS: Anthony E. Soto, 32, of 390 Bunker Hill Ave, Waterbury, was arrested Oct. 10 and charged with failure to drive in proper lane, possession of narcotics - cocaine/heroin, sale of certain illegal drugs, and use of drug paraphernalia. He was released on a $1,500 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 23.
DUI: Robert C. Stearns, 29, of 54 Calhoun St., Torrington, was arrested Oct. 7 and charged with illegally operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, use of drug paraphernalia, and following too closely - non-commercial motor vehicle. He was given $500 bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 16.
LARCENY: Jeffery D. Ritchie, 27, of 417 Winthrop St., Apartment 13, Torrington, was arrested on a warrant stemming from Sept. 17 and charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was released on a $1,000 court-set non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in court Oct. 18.
ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF NARCOTICS: Thomas Novak, of 73 Center St., Torrington, was arrested Oct. 6 and charged with illegal possession of narcotics. He was released and scheduled to appear in court Oct. 16.
ASSAULT: Kyle J. Hood, 36, of 46 Pulaski St., Torrington, was arrested Oct. 10 and charged with third-degree assault. He was released on a $2,500 police-set non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 23.
LARCENY: Robert E. J. Penney, 35, of 456 Highland Ave., Torrington, was arrested on a warrant stemming from Sept. 24 and charged with third-degree larceny. He was held in lieu of a $1,000 surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington Oct. 11.
By PTI: By Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 14 (PTI) India has the potential to grow at a reasonably high level in the next decade or two, owing to some structural changes by the government and a turnaround in the global economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
The whole environment of doing business has changed in a matter of months, Jaitley told a Washington audience at an event organised by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum.
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"India has the potential to grow at a reasonably high level in the next one-two decades. This is mainly because of the series of structural reforms being carried out by the government, turnaround in the global economy, and the massive investment opportunity that the infrastructure sector offers," said Jaitley.
"I am certain that now that the growth is returning back to the world, the future holds an important direction as far as India is concerned. The sheer size of the country and economy would offer huge opportunity for investment in India in the next few years," he said.
Jaitley said that when the BJP government came to power in 2014, it had the choice to look the other way and allow the shadow economy to continue.
"But it did not do so, as it took a series of courageous steps which ultimately culminated in demonetisation of high- value currency," the finance minister said.
The government knew that there would be short-term impact on the economy, Jaitley said, "but, in the long term, it would benefit the country," he told a gathering of investors and corporate leaders.
In an effort to pitch India as an investor-friendly destination, the finance minister said that his government had taken a series of steps to improve the ease of doing business.
"India today is one of the most open, globally integrated economy. In the last few years, we are moving up the ease of doing business ranking," he said, as he listed out some of the key initiatives by his government.
Among these are the "massive steps" that the Indian government has taken in using new digital technologies for governance and making them beneficial to the people, Jaitley said.
"Today, almost everyone is connected to the banking system. Almost every adult in India has biometric. The integrated data has helped the government to reach every citizen on digital platform," he said.
"This has helped us save billions of dollars," he said, adding that India is now using technology "in a big way" in order to ensure that the resources reaches the intended population.
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Speaking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley said it was "a more efficient system which has brought the country together, even economically, allowed free flow of goods and services across the country."
However, he conceded, that it could cause disruption for a quarter or two.
The event closed a week of meetings that the minister attended in the US, including the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Members of the USISPF audience included senior representatives from companies such as Apple, Boeing, Google, etc. while senior officials from different departments of the US government also participated in the programme.
Mukesh Aghi, president of USISPF, noted the importance of the minister?s visit, saying India had witnessed vast reforms and gained an ability for significant economic growth in the last few years thereby opening it to huge investment potential.
"US companies and investors are very much aware of the reforms the Indian government is making in order to expand the economy," he said.
"With future reforms and increased partnership between US and Indian businesses, there is promising potential for this already important relationship," he said. PTI LKJ CHT CHT
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CHARLOTTESVILLE The man Charlottesville police shot and killed Friday afternoon had recently been released from prison after serving time for larceny and gun charges he pleaded guilty to in 2014, court records show.
J.C. Hawkins Jr, 42, was killed in a police shooting during a manhunt that followed the reported sexual assault and armed robbery of a 72-year-old woman on Riverside Avenue.
The woman was taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center and treated for non-life threatening injuries. Virginia State Police are investigating both incidents at the request of the city police department.
State police said Friday evening that Hawkins was shot and killed shortly after authorities found him on the Rivanna Trail. The VSP news release said the officers fired and hit the suspect after he pointed a handgun at them. No officers were injured, and the suspects gun was recovered by police. The Albemarle County Police Departments Underwater Recovery Team assisted with the case.
According to online court records, Hawkins was arrested in February 2014 and initially charged with grand larceny and felony weapons charges.
Some charges against him were dismissed, but he pleaded guilty to larceny and possession of a gun by a nonviolent felon in August of that year. He was sentenced to five years in jail, with three years suspended. Records show he was to be under supervised probation for three years upon his release.
Charlottesville police spokesman Lt. Steve Upman said all of the officers involved in the shooting Friday were placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the investigation by the state police and a review by the commonwealths attorney.
VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller declined to answer questions about the investigation. Once State Police has concluded its investigation into the officer-involved shooting, the findings will be turned over to the Commonwealths Attorney for final review and adjudication, she said.
While LeT commander Waseem Shah was a category A++ terrorist, Nisar Ahmad Mir was a category C terrorist.
Two LeT terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama. (Photo: ANI)
By India Today Web Desk: Top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Waseem Ahmad Shah and another terrorist from the same outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir's Pulwama district earlier today.
The other terrorist has been identified as Nisar Ahmad Mir.
A joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and Army personnel had launched an operation in Pulwama's Litter village based on specific inputs about the presence of militants.
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"J-K Police, in the wee hours, received information about presence of 2 LeT terrorists in a house in Litter village. A joint operation of RR, CRPF and SOG of J-K Police was launched. Both the terrorists have been killed without any damage on our side. The operation lasted around an hour," Jammu and Kashmir Police chief SP Vaid told India Today
According to sources, Shah, native of Heff-Shirmal area of Shopian, was a category A++ terrorist. While Mir, native of Pulwama's Litter village, was a category C terrorist.
Security forces have recovered an AK-47 and an AK-56 along with 6 AK magazines.
Meanwhile, in clashes that broke out in Pulwama following the encounter, a civilian was killed and three others injured.
The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. Authorities have decided to shutdown mobile internet services in Pulwama.
WHO WAS WASEEM SHAH?
Reacting on the Pulwama encounter, IG Munir Khan said, "Of the 2 terrorists, Waseem Shah was very notorious and his elimination is a big success as he used to recruit cadres for LeT."
Shah (23), believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir, was considered the 'don of Heff', another traditional stronghold of militants in South Kashmir's Shopian district.
He was wanted in various terror-related cases and carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. He was recruiting fresh cadres for the militant outfit.
Shah had joined militancy in 2014 while Mir had joined in May this year.
A college dropout, Shah, was an active supporter of LeT since his school days and had doubled up as a courier boy for the outfit, police said.
-With inputs from Shuja-ul-Haq and PTI
ALSO WATCH | J-K: LeT commander Waseem Shah, another terrorist killed in encounter with security forces in Pulwama
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LYNCHBURG Two more men have been arrested in connection with the killing of Lynchburg teenager Raymond Wood, the Bedford County Sheriffs Office announced Friday.
Kevin Soto-Bonilla, 20, and Cristian Jose Sanchez-Gomez, 22, were arrested Sept. 19 and Oct. 5, respectively, according to a written statement from the sheriffs office.
Soto-Bonilla was arrested in New York and is expected to be extradited back to Bedford.
Sanchez-Gomez was arrested in Albemarle and is held in a Blue Ridge Regional Jail facility without bond.
Investigators are working on the Wood case, but the sheriffs office said these arrests conclude the search for suspects directly involved in the death of the juvenile victim.
The sheriffs office had not released information on the two suspects as part of a tactical decision to prevent driving them further underground because they had left the area since the crime, according to the statement.
In addition, our investigators efforts were instrumental in the arrest of other individuals not associated with our case but major players in another criminal enterprise, the statement said.
Jose Coreas-Ventura, 20; Lisandro Posada-Vasquez, 24; and Victor Arnoldo Rodas, 19, also stand accused in the killing of Wood, whose body was found March 27 on Roaring Run Road in Goode.
Coreas-Ventura and Posada-Vasquez have been indicted on charges of capital murder, robbery, abduction for pecuniary benefit and participation in a criminal act in association with a criminal street gang.
Rodas has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, abduction for pecuniary benefit and participation in a criminal act in association with a criminal street gang.
Its unclear what Soto-Bonilla and Sanchez-Gomezs exact charges are. Bedford County law enforcement would provide no further comment on the case Friday.
Earlier this week, one alleged MS-13 gang member was named in a federal indictment that connected him with a killing in Bedford County on March 27. The indictment identifies the victim as Victim-5.
Michael Eduardo Contreras, 22, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged with conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise and conspiring to distribute cocaine between January and August 2017. Hes one of eight defendants with various gang-related charges enumerated in that indictment.
CLEVELAND The University of Cincinnati says it will allow white nationalist leader Richard Spencer to speak on campus, while Ohio State University says it cant accommodate a rental request for a Nov. 15 speech but is considering alternatives.
The Ohio universities are the latest targeted for appearances by Spencer since he participated in the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that led to deadly violence.
UC president Neville Pinto said in an email that the university is finalizing details of Spencers visit and promises to make safety a priority. Pinto said in the university-wide email on Friday that Spencers ideology of hate and exclusion is antithetical to the universitys core values but that as a public institution it had to allow Spencer to speak because of his constitutional right to free speech.
It is the power and promise of (our) diversity to change the world for the better that has the hate-filled so unsettled, Pinto said. We ask for your patience, support, and understanding as we prepare for a trying time for our community.
The director of Ohio States legal office, Christopher Culley, said in a letter that it couldnt accommodate a request for Spencer to speak on Nov. 15 without substantial risk to public safety but expects to decide if there are viable alternatives by the end of next week.
An attorney for Spencers associates, Kyle Bristow, said in a news release that he would hold off on suing the schools after earlier writing emails saying they had until Friday to agree to make campus space available for Spencer or face a lawsuit. Both universities were contacted last month about allowing Spencer to visit but had delayed making final decisions.
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, Bristow wrote to the universities at the time.
Bristow is the founder of a law firm dedicated to legal advocacy on behalf of a loose collection of white nationalists, white supremacists and anti-immigration populists called the alt-right. He did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment Friday.
The Charlottesville rally left universities across the U.S. bracing for more clashes between right-wing extremists and those who oppose them. It also left schools struggling to ensure campus safety in the face of recruiting efforts by white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups while balancing concerns over freedom of speech.
Spencer is scheduled to speak Oct. 19 at the University of Florida. That universitys president is urging students to stay away from Spencers 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 Spencers National Policy Institute.
In other developments:
A Baltimore Ku Klux Klan leader charged with firing a pistol during at the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville has been denied bail despite his claim that he acted in self-defense.
Richard Wilson Preston is accused of firing a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school during the August rally.
The judges ruling means Preston will remain in the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail pending a December hearing.
DeAndre Harris was expected to appear in Charlottesville General District Court on Friday morning on a charge of felony unlawful wounding related to violence on Aug. 12, but his hearing was delayed until Dec. 14.
The 20-year-old who was beaten by several people inside a Charlottesville parking garage on Aug. 12 has been accused of first assaulting a member of the League of the South, a pro-Confederate hate group.
Harold Ray Crews, the complainant, obtained a warrant from a city magistrate Monday.
Harris turned himself in, and he was released on an unsecured personal recognizance bond.
Catalonia? More like Go-it-alone-ia! (Bada-boom!)
A stuffed Minnie Mouse showed up outside a downtown office building on Monday followed closely by a bomb squad, which confirmed that the toy was nothing more than a toy. They say you cant be too careful, but whoever called that in probably cant help feeling a trifle Goofy.
Over the past five years, the most interesting arts attraction in Richmond has become the city itself, write the editors of Departures magazine, commenting about the murals that have decorated so many city buildings. The observation comes in a long piece about The Most Inspiring Art Cities in America and it feels right. The public art on the sides of Richmond buildings is often brilliant, thought-provoking, and compelling. Take a stroll sometime and see for yourself.
For those of you following along at home, a summary: The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission is launching an investigation into the Attorney Generals office a month before the election. A spokesman for Democratic AG Mark Herring says a review of the office by the State Auditor of Public Accounts found no problems. But Virginia lawmakers say they want a review of the efficiency, effectiveness, and independence of that agency, too.
Environmentalists angry over the Trump administrations cancellation of the Clean Power Plan can console themselves with this staggering stat: According to a former Obama administration assistant secretary of energy, the CPP would have reduced global warming by an underwhelming one one-hundredth of one degree Celsius a figure in line with estimates by others. That doesnt seem worth getting hot under the collar for.
Its been a rough week for progressive causes all around. Cook County (which includes Chicago) has repealed its soda tax, despite the strenuous efforts of New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Indeed, the campaign for soda taxes has been losing ground from Oregon to West Virginia. Gosh, its almost as if Americans dont want nannyist busybodies telling them what to eat and drink.
You shouldnt say that here, this is a university: The Seattle University School of Laws Access to Justice Institute has withdrawn its sponsorship of a debate over illegal immigration hosted by the Federalist Society. According to law school dean Annette Clark, recent action by the Trump administration has generated great fear within vulnerable immigrant communities and has caused real harm, making discussions of immigration policy that include a conservative viewpoint even more painful and anxiety- and anger-producing.
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. Its not a prize for literature, its a prize for nihilism. The Swedes said hes like Jane Austen combined with Kafka with some of Proust, three other writers youd never invite to a party. Well, at least they didnt give it to Joni Mitchell.
That Swedes give out the Nobel is like the Swiss deciding the Cy Young Award. Were 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, theyd 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. Its 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 couldnt 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 Im sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a hearty licorice tea and looking at my lovely wife. I dont recall anyone doing anything like that in Mr. Ishiguros 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 shouldve 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 hes 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.
Since his historic and troubling election as president, Donald Trump has presided over an historic and troubling administration. He seems dedicated to governing through tweets, executive orders, personal attacks on any who might disagree with him, political pep rallies, harangues about the media, threats to those who threaten him, self-aggrandizing statements and actions and making stuff up, off the cuff and more than just frequently.
His presidency is the stuff of reality television, where he became a household name. But of course, this isnt television and theres a lot more at stake than ratings.
Despite his political party controlling both houses of Congress as well as the White House, Trump hasnt been able to accomplish much of anything.
The repeal of the Affordable Care Act Obamacare remains an empty promise that in all likelihood will haunt Republicans running for office next year. Tax reform and tax cuts are all talk and no action. There is no wall being built along the southern border and Mexico has not sent him one dime to build it.
The polls suggest the majority of Americans have serious doubts about the man and his presidency. Some in his own party have begun distancing themselves from him and questioning his judgment, temperament, competence, and stability. His base remains supportive, but that is really only a matter of time. Meanwhile, our allies and enemies around the world are watching, wondering and perhaps waiting for the right time to do whatever.
***
There has been some talk about impeaching the president since he assumed office. A special counsel might find just cause to support that process, and might not.
In any event, impeachments take time and cause lasting disruptions in governing that have lasting effects.
Moreover, since the Republicans control Congress, the odds are against any congressional attempt to remove him from office.
Still, things cant be allowed to go on as they have much longer. Governing needs to take the place of theater of the absurd.
Important decisions need to be made regarding the national debt, the budget, defense and national security, health care, and a host of other things.
It cannot be assumed that our president will take the lead on any of these things, or that if he tries to, that he will be effective. Contrary to conventional political wisdom and past practice, Congress needs to assert itself and take charge.
***
For many, many years, Congress has deferred to the executive branch on almost every issue of national importance. The presidency has acquired far more governing authority than those who created the office ever imagined.
In part, this is due to the fact that the national government has acquired far more power than the framers of the Constitution ever imagined. It is due, in part, to the fact that the American people have, over time, come to look for and rely upon the president to lead the country. But it is also because Congress, as an institution, and whether controlled by Democrats, Republicans or divided, has allowed itself to assume an inferior position to the executive branch.
This is contrary not only to to the structure of government created by the Constitution but also to the national interest. Congress needs to step up and put the president and the presidency in its rightful place.
The Constitution gives the primary policymaking and governing responsibility to Congress. Therein resides the power of the purse, the authority to regulate commerce, and all the enumerated powers listed in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution.
The executive branch possesses extensive authority in national defense and foreign affairs. But even there, that authority is tempered by the need for the Senate to confirm ambassadors and ratify treaties. And presidents, under the Constitution, need to seek congressional authority before committing the nation to armed conflict.
While history is replete with examples of presidents initiating military action without congressional authorization presidents of all political persuasions the Constitution allocates that authority to Congress, absent an immediate threat to the national security.
***
Congress needs to assert its Article I authority. It doesnt need to wait for the president, any president, to provide policy recommendations on anything.
Congress adopts the budget and, while it might be helpful for an administration to submit its recommendations, when a president doesnt or cant, Congress can and must act.
Congress writes the tax laws. There is no need to wait for the president, any president, to weigh in with his/her recommendations.
It has been argued that the Constitution creates three separate and balanced institutions of government, each possessing some authority to check the power of the others. This is accurate. But it is also accurate to say, as James Madison writes in The Federalist, (I)n republican government the legislative authority, necessarily, predominates.
Madison was making the case for checks on the legislative power because of that. But surely he didnt envision a national legislature so reticent that it would allow a president, especially this president, to undermine the very foundations of American government.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The AAP government today accused Delhi Chief Secretary M M Kutty of refusing to comply with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals order to examine issues related to the recent metro fare hike and alleged that he was doing so at the BJPs behest.
In a statement, the Kejriwal government said that Kuttys "denial" was the first of its kind in the democratic history of the country and warned that it could exercise "options" to deal with "dereliction and sabotage".
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"This makes it clear that the Chief Secretary has the backing of the BJP-led Centre and is sabotaging the Delhi governments efforts to send relief to the people of Delhi by getting the fare hike inquired," the government statement alleged.
Earlier in the day, Kutty was summoned by Kejriwal after he allegedly refused to comply with his order to examine issues related to the metro fare hike.
The government statement claimed that the behaviour of Kutty makes it obvious that he was taking "orders from the BJP" and is acting against the elected government of Delhi which is "unconstitutional and undemocratic".
The statement said that the elected government will look into the "options" to deal with such "dereliction and sabotage" of the bureaucrats towards the "pro-people move of the government".
According to the AAP government, it is now of the view that such bureaucrats must have "sabotaged" the elected governments stand on the metro fare hike in the board meeting which decided on the hike.
The metro fare hike was a financial blow to the people of Delhi and has also brought down the ridership of Delhi Metro, it said.
In the past, the AAP government and bureaucrats have been at loggerheads on a range of issues.
In May 2015, Kejriwal had accused the then acting Chief Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin of "favouring" power companies and claimed that she wanted to "trick the government into signing documents which would give Rs 11,000 crore to these firms".
In this month too, the government had issued an order to lock the office of a senior IAS officer after he had issued directives notifying the appointment of the then power secretary Gamlin as the acting chief secretary.
In December 2015, Delhi government bureaucrats had gone on mass leave to protest against the suspension of two Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) cadre officers. PTI SBR/BUN ASK AKK ASK
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The Mountain Valley Pipeline won a core approval Friday for the deeply controversial project by securing from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
Securing FERCs blessing moved the venture a giant step forward toward launching construction of the 42-inch diameter, 303-mile buried pipeline. The project would transport about 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas that has been extracted by fracking in the Appalachian Basin.
The commission granted the certificate for the interstate pipeline through a notational order, which is a decision made outside a public meeting.
FERC also granted a certificate Friday for the separate-but-similar Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Commissioners Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson, nominated by President Trump, voted to approve the certificates. The commission order noted: We find the benefits that the MVP project will provide to the market outweigh any adverse effects on existing shippers, other pipelines and their captive customers, and landowners or surrounding communities.
Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, the lone Democrat on the commission, dissented on both decisions, noting, I cannot conclude that either of these projects as proposed is in the public interest.
FERCs certificates also effectively grant both pipelines the authority to invoke eminent domain to acquire easements across private properties, a reality that has helped stiffen resistance to the projects.
Given FERCs record of approving interstate natural gas transmission pipelines, the decision by the commission surprised no one familiar with the agencys history. An analysis published in July by the Center for Public Integrity and StateImpact Pennsylvania found that FERC had rejected only two proposed pipelines in 30 years.
As proposed, the Mountain Valley Pipeline would begin in Wetzel County, West Virginia, and end near Chatham at the Transco pipeline. It would pass through 11 counties in West Virginia and six in Virginia, including Giles, Craig, Montgomery, Roanoke, Franklin and Pittsylvania. Three compressor stations in West Virginia would keep the non-odorized gas moving through the pipeline.
Maury Johnson owns and operates a farm in Monroe County, West Virginia, that is on the proposed pipeline route. He reacted to FERCs order granting the certificate.
As expected, FERC rubber stamped this unnecessary, destructive project that will benefit only those involved in the project, Johnson said. If built, it will destroy our water, our farms, our homes and our local communities.
The pipeline route would come within a few hundred feet of Jean Porterfields property in Giles County. She described her reaction to FERCs decision as overwhelming sadness, secondary only to overwhelming anger.
Porterfield added, Our lives mean nothing to the people making these life-changing decisions. We are just in the way, an inconvenience, our little lives are inconsequential. They know nothing and care nothing about the connection we feel to place. They think everything can be fixed if enough money is thrown at it.
Johnson, Porterfield and every other landowner interviewed for this story expressed determination to continue striving to stop the Mountain Valley project.
Jerry and Jerolyn Deplazes of Giles County referenced the late Clarence Givens in an email. Givens died August 22; his obituary mentioned his concerted efforts to halt the pipeline.
The Deplazeses wrote, Weve fought long and hard, spent time, energy and money to protect what we always thought was ours. Theres a hard core of landowners and community members in Newport who dont plan to give up. We are not resigned. Weve lost our leader, Clarence Givens, and his motto was Fight MVP to the end. Thats our stance.
Yet others celebrated FERCs decision.
FERC approval of the pipeline is good news, said Joyce Waugh, president and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
From the beginning of the process, the Roanoke Regional Chamber has been clear that Mountain Valley Pipeline is an important part of the infrastructure needed for our regions continued economic growth and vitality, Waugh said.
The regional drama began in June 2014. Thats when EQT Corp., based in Pittsburgh, and NextEra Energy, based in Florida, announced plans to build the Mountain Valley Pipeline. In October 2015, the joint venture applied to FERC for the certificate granted Friday.
Over time, Mountain Valley, a joint venture incorporated in Delaware, added partners, including Consolidated Edison and RGC Midstream, with the latter being a subsidiary of Roanoke-based RGC Resources, parent of Roanoke Gas. Another partner, WGL Midstream, acknowledged in June 2015 that natural gas from the Mountain Valley project could be part of its supply portfolio for exports to India of liquefied natural gas.
Mountain Valley, which now estimates the pipeline project will cost about $3.7 billion, has reported that the pipelines natural gas will serve markets in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
More hoops
The Mountain Valley project isnt a done deal yet. It must first obtain other key permits and approvals.
Mark Haviland, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said earlier this month that the agency is reviewing applications from Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast and evaluating whether the corps review will be guided by its Nationwide 12 permitting program. He said nothing to date suggests the corps would adopt another approach.
Environmental watchdogs protest that a Nationwide 12 permit review would not require an adequate analysis of the pipelines impacts, both short-term and long-term, on streams and wetlands.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality came under fire in May after clarifying it planned to rely on the Corps of Engineers to review the crossings of streams and wetlands by both the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipeline projects. DEQ countered that its review of the pipelines other potential impacts on water quality will be thorough and unprecedented.
The department is currently weighing whether to recommend to the State Water Control Board whether to grant Clean Water Act 401 water quality certification for the pipelines. DEQ said it will make those recommendations to the board in December.
Meanwhile, on September 7, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced it was withdrawing the 401 water quality certification issued in March to Mountain Valley. The DEPs action followed litigation alleging its analysis of the pipelines water quality impacts had been inadequate. A statement from the department reported that it was determined that the information used to issue that certification needs to be further evaluated and possibly enhanced.
Cliff Shaffer is a landowner in Giles County whose property would be crossed by the pipeline. He said West Virginias withdrawal of the water quality permit is more noteworthy than FERCs decision to grant what he described as a gimme certificate to Mountain Valley because now Virginia DEQ is going to think twice before recommending similar water quality permitting.
Many landowners who rely on wells and springs have expressed concerns that construction of the pipeline, including trenching work and blasting, will divert or pollute their water sources. The pipeline route also would burrow through karst landscapes rife with sinkholes, caves and underground aquifers vulnerable to contamination, travel steep slopes and pass through soils prone to erosion.
Mountain Valley also will need a right-of-way grant from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management before it can route the pipeline through a total of about 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest.
Before issuing a grant to Mountain Valley, the BLM must have concurrence from the U.S. Forest Service and the Corps of Engineers, according to Brad Purdy, a bureau spokesman.
Joby Timm is the Roanoke County-based forest supervisor for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Timm reported September 19 that the Forest Service has extended until October 21 the period during which the service will work to resolve objections to proposed changes to the Jefferson National Forests management plan that would allow pipeline construction.
Other factors, including court rulings or litigation, could delay the project.
Shaffer said Mountain Valley faces the prospect of prolonged and varied challenges.
I think we are going to spend literally years with MVP playing whack-a-mole, he said.
By PTI: Kolkata, Oct 14 (PTI) The last rites of sub-inspector Amitabha Malik, who was killed when alleged supporters of GJM chief Bimal Gurung fired at a police team yesterday, was performed today with full state honours after his body arrived at his ancestral home in North 24 Parganas district.
The body was brought to the city airport in the afternoon from Bagdogra. Maliks wife accompanied the coffin.
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It was later taken to his ancestral home at Madhyamgram in a hearse by road and subsequently to Nimtola crematorium at around 5 pm.
Malik was killed and four other policemen were seriously injured after allegedly Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters, owing allegiance to its chief Bimal Gurung, fired at a police team at a forest area near Darjeeling yesterday.
The police was on the trail to nab Gurung, who was suspected to be hiding there.
West Bengal Higher Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and Food Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick received the body at the airport and offered floral tributes to the slain policeman.
Both the ministers, along with other leaders and senior police officials, accompanied the coffin to his ancestral home where gun salute was given by the state police in the presence of the DGP Surojit Kar Purokayastha and other top officials.
As Maliks wife broke into tears, his family members, neighbours and a large number of people assembled at a club ground at Madhyamgram, where the coffin was kept for people to pay their last respect.
Chatterjee handed over a cheque of Rs five Lakh to the family of the deceased on behalf of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and assured the family that appropriate action will be taken against those behind his killing.
"Our sons soul will rest in peace only if Bengal remains undivided and Darjeeling continues to remain a part of it," Maliks parents said.
Gurung has been on the run since August after cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were slapped against him for his alleged involvement in several bomb blasts in Darjeeling and its adjoining areas.
This is the first incident of violence after the 104-day long indefinite shutdown in the hills was called off on September 26 by Gurung, following an appeal by Union home minister Rajnath Singh. PTI AKB JM ABH
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Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has alleged that there is a conspiracy behind the increase in Delhi Metro fares and questioned the functioning of the government's own officers working at the Secretariat.
By Pooja Shali: The Delhi metro fare hike controversy has escalated into a massive war between politicians and bureaucrats. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has alleged that there is a conspiracy behind the increase in Delhi Metro fares and questioned the functioning of the government's own officers working at the Secretariat.
"Delhi government is a partner in operations so we all raised a view against the hike. The Metro did not start running to benefit the government, but the people. The chief secretary refused to initiate an inquiry. The Delhi Assembly has now constituted a team to probe the increase in fare."
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In an unprecedented event, sources within the Delhi government claimed that the Delhi chief secretary had refused to abide by the chief minister's directions to order an inquiry into the metro fare hike.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Wednesday asked the chief secretary to order an inquiry into the matter.
The Delhi government had levelled serious allegations that the chief secretary was functioning at the behest of the BJP-led central government.
The Delhi government had taken a strong stand against the fare hike, proposed by the Fare Fixation Committee and eventually implemented this week. Kejriwal had reacted on social media, calling the fare hike "anti-people".
The FF committee constitutes a three-member panel - a high court-level judge, a state (Delhi) government representative and a union government representative.
The Delhi government has accused its own bureaucrats of "having sabotaged the elected government's stand on the metro fare hike in the board meeting which decided on the hike". Top sources in the government confirmed to India Today that the elected government will look into the options to deal with alleged dereliction and sabotage of bureaucrats towards the pro-people move of the government".
Meanwhile, officials with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) feel the hike was necessary to recover previous losses and before initiating the new phase of the metro. Also, the hike comes after a long gap of eight years. The average hike has been of Rs 10 beyond 5 kilometers. Smart card holders will be given 20 per cent discount on non-peak hours.
ALSO WATCH VIDEO | AAP govt's role in Metro fare hike exposed
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By PTI: Rajnath
Lucknow, Oct 14 (PTI) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dreamt of creating a new India which is free of illiteracy, casteism, terrorism, communalism and poverty.
Participating in a programme in his parliamentary constituency here this evening, Singh said "we dream of India which is free of poverty, illiteracy, casteism, communalism , terrorism...the prime minister has dreamt of creating such a new India."
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On the first day of his two day visit, the Union minister said Prime Minister has made several structural and procedural changes in the existing system.
On the second and last day of his visit, Singh will be taking part in several programmes and meeting representatives from a cross section of society in his parliamentary constituency tomorrow. PTI SAB ADS
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(Agencia CMA Latam) - Peru's Congress voted Thursday night in favor of the current government cabinet, headed by Mercedes Araoz Fernandez. She obtained support from 83 of the 100 lawmakers in a confidence vote.
Last month, the President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski swore in his new cabinet after the country's Congress rejected the confidence vote requested by the then prime minister Fernando Zavala.
The decision forced five ministers to step down and led Kuczynski to form a new government team while ratifying the remaining 13 ministers.
During its presentation yesterday, Fernandez said that the government's goal is to promote a social revolution and focus on the needs of the Peruvian people. She added that fighting corruption will also be one of the cabinet's priorities.
According to the Peruvian Constitution, if Congress twice refuses to support an entire cabinet of ministers, the president is empowered to dissolve the parliament and to convene a legislative election.
by Agencia CMA Latam
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
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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
After addressing the centenary celebrations of Patna University today and praising Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the progress of the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Namami Gange programme in Mokama
PM Modi speaking on the occasion of Patna University's centenary celebrations. ANI Photo.
By India Today Web Desk: After addressing the centenary celebrations of Patna University today and praising Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the progress of the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Namami Gange programme in Mokama.
"Nitish Kumar's commitment towards the progress of Bihar is commendable", Modi said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and several top politicians including Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ashwini Choubey are also attending the function.
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In Bihar, PM Modi will launch development projects worth Rs 3,700.
PM NARENDRA MODI IN BIHAR LIVE UPDATES:
PM Modi addresses a public meeting in Mokama after laying foundation Stone of projects under Namami Gange programme.
I request Mr. Gadkari to build a four-lane road from Buxur to Varanasi. I assure you that I will with folded hands also seek farmers' support for the project: Nitish.
Silt deposited on the Ganga is a big problem due to the Farakka barrage, Nitish said.
Pace of development will increase in Bihar now that a BJP-JDU alliance has come to power again: Nitish.
I have informed PM Modi that where the PM is right now has been my parliamentary constituency 5 times, says Nitish Kumar in Mokama.
Due to technical problems, PM could not see a film on Namami Gange which was to be played. The film was not playing and had no audio.
Jan Adhikar party chief and MP Pappu Yadav also sharing stage with PM in Mokama.
PM Modi to lay foundation Stone of projects under Namami Gange programme and National Highway projects at a public meeting in Mokama shortly.
PM Modi visits Bihar Museum in Patna; #Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also present along with Deputy CM Sushil Modi, Ram Vilas Paswan pic.twitter.com/MpMz9wuF6l- ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
PM Modi arrives in Mokama.
Shatrughan Sinha and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav stayed away from the Patna University's centenary celebrations.
PM Narendra Modi has left Patna for Mokama, where he will lay foundation stones of various development projects.
"In 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of Independence, I want my Bihar to be among the prosperous states of the country," PM Modi said while praising Nitish Kumar for his commitment towards progress of the state.
Ten private and 10 public universities will be given a fund of Rs 10,000 crore over 5 years to make them world-class: Modi in Patna. 10 private & 10 public universities will be given a fund of Rs 10,000 Crore over 5 yrs to make them world-class: PM Narendra Modi in Patna pic.twitter.com/SYLG4mGmvc- ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
From conventional teaching, our universities need to move towards innovative learning: PM Modi.
A nation seen as a land of snake charmers has distinguished itself in the IT sector, says Modi.
#WATCH Live from Patna: PM Narendra Modi at Centenary Celebrations of Patna University https://t.co/AstzZFDhMo
The more we stress on innovative learning, the more our country will be stronger globally: PM Modi.
Bihar is a state which is blessed with both 'Gyan' and 'Ganga.' This land has a unique legacy: PM Modi.
The commitment of Nitish Kumar ji towards the progress of Bihar is commendable: Modi.
In every state, the senior level of the civil services has officers who have studied at Patna University, says PM Modi.
Nitish Kumar raises pitch for central university status for Patna University. "Patna University was founded in the year when the Champaran Satyagraha took place. I hope the central government will grant the Central University status to Patna University," Nitish said.
LIVE: PM Shri @narendramodi at centenary celebrations of Patna University in Patna, Bihar. https://t.co/svUNXJrdY4- BJP (@BJP4India) October 14, 2017
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WATCH VIDEO | Land of unique legacy, Bihar is blessed with Gyaan and Ganga: PM Modi at Patna University
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By PTI: Agartala, Oct 13 (PTI) Power ministers of the North East will urge the Centre to work on an alternative link through neighbouring Bangladesh for an uninterrupted power supply to their region, a Tripura minister said today.
A decision on this was taken at a meeting of the North East Power Committee (NEPC), attended by the power ministers of the region, in Shillong. The meeting ended yesterday.
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"The alternative line will run through the plains of Bangladesh and there will be fewer chances of interruptions," Tripura Power minister Manik Dey told PTI.
He said a resolution on this will shortly be sent to the Centre and then be examined by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. If found feasible, the Centre may take the matter up with the Bangladesh Government.
?The present line runs through tough terrains and faces the impact of adverse weather, as a result of which power supply is sometimes disturbed," he said.
If the line within the country failed for some reason, the alternative line could work and a steady power supply maintained, he said.
Dey said at present there is a 400KV line from the Palatana power project in Tripuras Gomati district to Bongaigaon in West Bengal and another link from here to South Comilla in Bangladesh.
If a link could connect the existing lines between Bongaigaon and South Comilla, there could be an alternative supply, he said.
Dey, who is also the transport minister, said he had been informed by Railway officials that the infrastructure for launching a Rajdhani Express from Agartala was ready in Tripura.
He said the state government had on several occasions requested the Centre to launch the Rajdhani Express from Tripura and would raise the matter again. PTI JOY BDS
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PR - The Samoa Faafafine Association Inc. held its Annual General Meeting recently at the S.T.A Fale in Apia to once again reminisce on achievements of the past year and plan future activities to progress the positive impacts of the association on the communities of Samoa.
Around 70 faafafine both young and old were present including members of the Faafafine Advisory Council, Moefaauo Tanya Toomalatai and Leu Carol Banse, who offered words of advice on the changing times and the need for faafafine to get an education/training, and contribute positively to the development of their families, communities and churches.
Health was also another big focus for this years A.G.M, with members urged to take care of their health and get tested regularly for Non Communicable Diseases, HIV Aids and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). Results have shown that there has not been any confirmed case of a faafafine in Samoa having contracted HIV Aids, and the SFA aims to keep it that way. The National Health Services provided free health checks for all the faafafine participants and members of the public, under total confidentiality.
The SFA is proud to present its Executive Committee for the years 2017-2019:
President, Sooalo Tootooalii Roger Stanley;
Vice President, Liuanna Ah Fook;
Treasurer, Faamanatu Nancy Tikeri;
Secretary, Keyonce Lee Hang;
Youth Representative, Mr. Keli Tuatagaloa,
Events Co-ordinators, Ms. Alosina Ropati and Ms. Mandy Autagavaia;
Public Relations Communications & Marketing, Mr. Kevin Schuster;
Savaii Representative, Barbara Wills
Transmen Representative, Vanilla Ice Heather and,
Reigning Miss. SFA 2017, Ms. Charlize Leo.
The appointed honorary officers;
Technical Assistants, Ms. Tuisina Ymania Brown (International) Ms. Vaialia Iosua, Mr. Malaki Iakopo (Regional and National TAs).
Legal Advisor, Mr. Alex Kerisiano Sua;
Human Rights Council Representative, Vaitoa Toelupe.
The SFA President Sooalo Roger Stanley stated, This is a very diverse executive council, and I am proud to introduce Vanilla Ice Heather as our first faatamaloa member to join SFA. It is our hope for this coming year to embrace all the other culturally diverse members of our society.
Apart from the annual Miss Samoa Faafafine Pageant and the charities that included Home of the Elderly at Mapuifagalele, Oloamanu Correctional Center, Motootua Hospital Paediatric Ward and others, Sooalo promises that the association is planning much more for the coming year. There are already affiliated faafafine groups being formed around the country and providing the much needed outreach into the communities, such as unity, awareness and training on faafafine issues. We have an ongoing UNDP Global Fund Western Pacific Multi Country Integrated HIV/TB Program, and an upcoming International Trans Fund Project for the World Aids Day and 2nd Annual Faafafine Week in December 2017. Also keep an eye out for the our Faafafines Got Talent sponsored by the Taumeasina Island Resort in November 2017 and our many other activities.
The Samoa Faafafine Association wishes its Patron Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, a speedy recovery and the best of health.
Beach Road and Apia in general was a town of pink on Thursday morning.
It was where hundreds of people gathered for the Pinktober march, dedicated to raise awareness about the importance of early detection to prevent cancer, in particular breast cancer.
The march was the latest activity of Pinktober Month being organised by the Samoa Cancer Society. The campaign is expected to head to Savaii next week.
The parade included Blue Sky Samoa, the Samoa Old Pupils Association, the Miss Samoa Alumni, the Samoa Housing Corporation, Samoa Cancer Society and her advocates families, friends and relatives of surviving cancer patients.
Acting Prime Minister Papaliitele Niko Lee Hang spoke about the importance of the campaign.
I will fail in my duties if I do not commend the Samoa Cancer Society, her stakeholders and supporters for this patriotic initiative, he said.
And rest assured government is not sitting on its laurels and we hear and appreciate your cries, and concerns.
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, said Papaliitele.
But 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 has been a great couple of weeks for families whose cries for help have been featured in the Village Voice Section of this newspaper.
While some of us might take having food, water, money and other items deemed as luxury goods for granted, others are not so lucky.
In Samoa today, we see a growing gap between the have and the have nots.
The fact is more and more people in this community are suffering silently from hardship, poverty and lack so that today more than ever, we need to do everything possible to lend a helping hand wherever and whenever we can.
Which is where the idea of the Village Voice section comes in.
It is the Samoa Observers desire to use the power of the media to make a difference. And when it comes to helping the people who need it the most, we believe the naked truth, whether we like it or not, is one way to go about it.
So everyday on the pages of your newspaper, there are stories after stories of people with different needs. For example, there are people struggling to make ends meet.
Then there are people who are desperate for employment. There are mothers and fathers who harbour great dreams for their children but are hamstrung by the lack of money. There are families without water, houses and electricity. And yes believe it or not, there are people without food who are desperate. We can go on but we will stop here.
The good news is that many of the families and individuals who have featured in the Village Voice have gotten the help they so desperately need from hundreds of Good Samaritans in Samoa and abroad.
Here at the Samoa Observer, it is a gratifying feeling and we are extremely grateful. It is good to know that in an age where money talks and that some people have become a lot more self-centred, there are still many others who have a willing, caring and loving heart to help.
Last week for instance, the great people at Betham Brothers Enterprises, Trans Pacific Travel and Budget Rentals visited many families to present food supplies and money to help with their needs. Among the families who received help were Fiu Mosiula from Falelauniu, Lisi Toma from Malie, Eunike Vaafai Finau from Afega, Alaese Fereti from Lotosoa Saleimoa, Sue Epati from Faleasiu, Taatia Reupena from Faleasiu, Anovale Aiono from Fasitoo uta, Tifitifi Ioelu from Fasitoo uta, Akenese Ah Sam from Fasitoo uta and Pepe Uati from Falelauniu.
Office Supervisor of B.B.E. Ltd, Ruta Williams, explained: These funds were initially allocated for office purposes.
However, after further elaborations and discussions, weve opted to donate this money for families who need the financial assistance.
The decision is the answer to Fiu Mosiula of Falelaunius prayer, who said they were desperate for food and money.
Another recipient, Lisi Toma, couldnt hold back the tears.
I didnt really expect this to happen, Lisi said. And I just want to thank your companies for doing all these for my grandchildren. I have nothing to offer but all I can say is; may the Lord bless you with all that you have given for my family.
Keep in mind this is not the first time for the B.B.E. family of companies to provide assistance for families in the Village Voice. What a great example for all.
Yesterday, another beautiful example of Good Samaritans at work was featured on the front page of the Weekend Observer. This time, the Youth With A Mission (Y.W.A.M.) and the Honorary Consul of Switzerland in Samoa, Sylvie Salanoa, had joined forces to help families who desperately need water.
So from Ululoloa to Faleasiu-uta, some 22 families, received water tanks.
Y.W.A.M leader, Usufono Fepuleai, said they just wanted to provide a means for families to collect water.
We have been hearing stories of families in this area with no water, and we also read the Samoa Observers Village Voice articles about this issue and thats where the idea came from, he said.
So we started to conduct our own survey and found out that it was real, that there are people who dont even have access to water at all.
Among them were Fesolai Feleai and Mary Luki.
We are so grateful, said Fesolai of Faleaiu-uta. We are out of words today. We appreciate this hard work and we feel so blessed.
Growing up without water has not been easy and to finally have someone and some people step up and give us hope is a great feeling. Thank you for caring.
Mary Luki, of Falelauniu, echoed similar sentiments.
I thank the work by Y.W.A.M and also the acknowledge the assistance from Switzerland that has brought light and life to me and our family. Thank you so much for your help. It means a lot to us.
These stories are not only beautiful to read but they are heartwarming. We know we are a country of the we rather than the me. We are a nation of givers and helpers. Which means there is hope for many who are not as fortunate as others.
The cases weve highlighted here are only a few of many, many instances where people have provided help to members of the public whose plight have been featured on the pages of this newspaper. In a number of cases, some Good Samaritans do not want to be identified, they want to remain anonymous.
And its not just through the Village Voice; we have featured many stories where people have freely given to help those in need. Take a look at the story on page 3 of the newspaper you are reading about that kid from Savaii who now has a chance to live thanks to the Save the Childs Fund.
Today, we just want to say thank you to everyone. Thank you from the bottom or our hearts for giving and thank you for caring.
You know, five tala might not mean a lot to some of us but to a desperate mother, father, family, that is the difference between a meal and nothing at all. Keep that in mind.
Be kind to someone.
Have a peaceful Sunday Samoa, God bless you for giving!
Member of Parliament, Faumuina Wayne Fong, has expressed sadness at what he has described as dirty politics within the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P).
He has revealed there is underground jostling for the Prime Ministership position among certain members. He did not say who the members were.
But with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi remaining in hospital in New Zealand since he was evacuated two weeks ago, Faumuina told the Sunday Samoan these certain members of the Party have been campaigning for votes should something happen to the Prime Minister.
I find it absolutely disgusting, he said yesterday.
This is all happening while our Prime Minister is in New Zealand undergoing a medical check up. How can they think like that? These people are driven by the hunger for power they will stop at nothing to get what they want.
Faumuina confirmed that he had been approached by a certain party member who is rallying for support. A devoted member of H.R.P.P., Faumuina said he was asked to join the group.
Faumuina declined to divulge who is behind the push and the members of the group.
But he rejected the offer.
I declined the offer based on so many factors, he said.
But the most critical for me is the fact that these people are power hungry people who are self-centered. They will do anything to get to the helm.
I call it the small party made up of small-minded people.
Here they are rallying up other people to select a leader when our leader is overseas getting his medical check up.
We should be up in arms praying for our leader and not do this while hes on his bed being sick.
The Member of Parliament made it clear that he does not agree with all that going with H.R.P.P. and its members, but the timing of creating this fraction is unacceptable.
For example the fact that while there are 47 H.R.P.P. members there are 22 of us who are just Members of Parliament, and only 25 are involved in the decision making of the Government.
That is why I am calling on my other H.R.P.P. members to stand up and make your voice be heard, dont be limited to just what the Executive Members are telling us."
No, our voices should be heard within our party and we should also be part of making those decisions."
We are here to serve the people that put us in this seat, our constituents, not serve the other members of H.R.P.P.
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi was flown to New Zealand for emergency medical treatment.
The Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinets Press Secretary issued a statement earlier this week, in Samoan, indicating that Tuilaepa is still being monitored.
The statement said the Prime Minister is still undergoing medical tests and checks are progressing well.
He said the doctors expected to find a clearer and broader picture about his condition at the end of the week.
I want to say thank you to the country for your prayers and well wishes, Tuilaepa said.
A run-in with the security officials at the Faleolo International Airport has ruined the vacation for the Roberts family, who had otherwise fallen in love with Samoa during their two weeks stay.
This is according to, Emma Roberts, who described the experience during an interview with the Sunday Samoan as horrific.
Mrs. Roberts and her family were scheduled to depart on the Virgin Australia Friday night.
We were supposed to leave Samoa 14 hours ago but the flights were delayed due to bad weather, she said.
I was one of over a hundred passengers who were kicked out of Faleolo Airport terminal in the early hours of this morning (Saturday) after cancelled flights led to confusion between airport security and Virgin Australia Samoa staff."
The passengers were woken and ejected from the Customs area by security around 5am."
This came following concerns when some passengers were allowed to take their cases through into the security area in the early hours of the morning without getting cleared.
Mrs. Roberts pointed out the communication breakdown between the airline and security saw both sides blaming each other while the passengers - including dozens of small children - were left outside in the arrival hall.
In one instance, a frantic mother was left arguing with security staff who would not let her go through to her children in the Customs area."
By contrast, passengers on a cancelled Fiji Airways flight were taken by shuttle to accommodation arranged by their airline."
By 7.30am many passengers had been waiting at the airport for over 12 hours, when they were finally being let back through, said Mrs. Roberts.
She said their luggage were left in the rain overnight and she was separated from her children and was not allowed in the area by the security officials.
Its been quite a horrific situation, she said.
Its such a shame that for two weeks we spent here we have fallen in love with the country and we absolutely adore Samoa, but to leave on such a sour note is just difficult to cope with.
Efforts to get comments from the Airline and the Samoa Airports Authority were unsuccessful yesterday.
Ford Hyundai Samoa and the Accident Compensation Corporation (A.C.C.) have launched a vehicle for rehabilitate victims of accidents.
The car was handed over by Victoria Petelo, Manager Sales at Ford Samoa, to Associate Minister of A.C.C, Tuifaasisina Misa Palemene, on Friday. The ribbon was cut by Leoo Tautalatasi Dr. Adams.
Vaulu Mulifusi Togafau of the Accident Compensation Corporation welcomed the guests while Pastor Kitiona Tolovale of the Pentecostal Church in Vaitele blessed the vehicle.
Ms. Petelo said the car was bought from Turkey.
We (Ford Samoa) are delighted that the Accident Compensation Corporation trusted us with getting this car here for them.
Few rehab victims were also present to witness the handover ceremony.
Vaaulu said the vehicle is an important development for the Corporation.
We are extremely satisfied with the vehicle, we have been using other cars but it wasnt comfortable unlike this new model we have witnessed today, he said.
We are hoping that this car will able to serve all the rehabilitation of accident victims throughout the whole country and we are also looking to expand the service where possible.
Pule Ioane was all smiles after his son, Iloa Ioane, was given his ticket to be able to travel to New Zealand to undergo a life saving heart operation.
Thanks to the Samoa Observers Save the Childs Fund which covered his airfare, Iloa, 16, who had been bedridden since birth because of his heart condition, is now recovering in New Zealand.
Iloa had been admitted to the hospital many times because of a heart disease, Pule told the Samoa Observer from Savaii.
The doctor told us that the best thing for him is to take him to New Zealand for treatment. To be honest, my family relies heavily on plantation for food and money and we were worried when we received the notice from the doctor because we knew it will cost a lot of money."
We just dont know where to get the money from. We were told that all we need to do is to look for money for airfares and visas, and you know how hard it is these days."
We sought God first and we ended up approaching Dr. Satupaitea Viali for help.
Dr. Viali contacted the Samoa Observer for help.
Satu told us that he would try his best to find help and it wasnt until last Friday (week before White Sunday) that we received a call from Dr. Viali saying that someone was willing to help them."
I thank the Lord for answering our prayers, said Pule, adding the call gave them hope.
The Save the Childs Fund was started by the Samoa Observer with generous donations from members of the community to help needy families send their children overseas for medical treatment.
One of the biggest donors is the family of the late Augustine Fuiavailili Fe'esago, who donate on a monthly basis.
Iloa left the country last Sunday for New Zealand. He is being accompanied by his mother Mrs. Ioane. He will be in New Zealand for three months.
Pule also wanted to extend her gratitude to the Editor-in-Chief of the Samoa Observer, Gatoaitele Savea Sano and Publisher, Muliagatele Jean Malifa for their generosity.
Thanks to the Samoa Observers Save the Childs Fund and Good Samaritans from the community for helping my son to travel to New Zealand to receive medical treatment, which could possibly save his life, he said.
I know words are not enough to repay your generosity but only God can restore all that have been used to help those in need. Thank you for giving us hope.
Iloa is the second child of four siblings. He attends Alofiotaoa College.
Q:I live in California where it is legal to grow 6 cannabis plants. What can our homeowners association do about this? P.F., Newport Beach
A:As you know, Californians last year passed Proposition 64, which for adults of at least 21 years of age legalizes marijuana for personal use as well as the cultivation of up to 6 plants in ones residence. The law took effect at the beginning of this year. However, there is a difference between removing criminal penalties and establishing a right to smoke or grow marijuana. The passage of Proposition 64 removed the state criminal sanctions against marijuana in the personal residence, but did not establish the use or growth of marijuana as a right.
So, the use of marijuana now joins a long list of activities which are not illegal but which may bother neighbors in an attached housing community. Given the recent change in the law, it is only a matter of time before residents argue that Proposition 64 gives them the right to smoke marijuana in the association. This is incorrect, and associations can pass rules or use restrictions banning marijuana smoking or marijuana plants in the association.
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Regarding cultivating marijuana, some may argue that under the personal agriculture protection statute, Civil Code 4750, HOAs cannot prohibit the growing of marijuana in ones backyard. However, the statute specifically exempts marijuana from the definition of agriculture by referencing Civil Code 1940.10, which excludes marijuana from the definition of personal agriculture. So, HOAs are not required to allow mini pot farms in their communities.
An increasing number of cities are banning smoking inside attached residential housing (and in other areas), and complaints and disputes are increasing within associations regarding smoking. The issue is the secondhand smoke or smell which invades the adjacent homes, yards or balconies from a smokers unit.
With the advent of legal marijuana use in California homes, associations may wish to discuss whether they wish to adopt use restrictions (by member vote) or rules (by board vote) to restrict or even ban the smoking and/or growing of marijuana in the community.
If someone suffers from a disability that requires marijuana use, an association will be required by the Fair Housing laws to provide a reasonable accommodation to a person with a documented need for the drug. However, an association might not be required to allow smoking, given the existence of a number of other options to deliver the medical effects of marijuana. If a resident documents a disability requiring the intake of marijuana, the association should pursue an interactive process (translation: talk to them) to explore if alternatives other than smoking are available to the resident. An accommodation creating a nuisance to neighbors is not reasonable. The smell of any smoke is most likely a nuisance if it invades hallways or individual residences.
With changing laws and social conditions, associations need to periodically examine whether the policies in their governing documents meet the current needs of their communities.
[Note to readers: CAIs annual California Legal Forum, a full day of HOA law seminars, will be held on October 20, 2017 in Universal City. See www.caionline.org or contact a local Community Associations Institute Chapter for details]
Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Managing Partner of Richardson Harman Ober PC, a California law firm known for community association expertise. Submit questions to KRichardson@RHOpc.com. Past columns at www.HOAHomefront.com.
A free health event with screenings for kids is set for 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds.
The annual Kids Care Fest, put on by the Grossmont Healthcare District, will offer vision, dental, and wellness checkups for kids.
The event also will feature information about health insurance and social services from organizations countywide as well as kids fingerprinting.
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Kids books, coloring books and flu shots will also be available, while supplies last.
Other activities at the event will include a rock climbing area, an inflatable obstacle course and demonstrations and displays from police and fire officials.
The Lakeside Rodeo Grounds is at 12584 Mapleview St.
For more information, call (619) 8255050 or visit KidsCareFest.org
Campaign discourages giving to panhandlers
El Cajon is installing signs around town that encourages the public to help the homeless by donating to service providers rather than giving them money on the street.
The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce will be distributing posters with that same message for businesses to display in an attempt to discourage customers from enabling panhandlers.
A news release from the city said that contributing to panhandlers only fuels their addiction or impedes them from seeking help and notes that the East County Homeless Task Force (ECHTF.org), the East County Chamber, the city of El Cajon and other homeless advocacy groups believe the same.
El Cajon annually allots more than $200,000 to shelters and living centers in the city.
It has also stepped up with more financial support to help the homeless this year.
The city has earmarked $10,000 toward The Salvation Armys reunification program that works to join up to 20 homeless individuals with their families.
El Cajon also has invested $3,500 to develop a mobile phone app that connects homeless individuals with services; $70,000 to fund a housing navigator position with Crisis House that will help homeless individuals find housing; and $80,000 for rental assistance vouchers for those in search of temporary or permanent housing.
karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The following are the highlights
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The following are the highlights of the northern region at 1900 hrs:
DES14 PB-AAP-UNITS DISSOLVED
Chandigarh: A day before the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll result, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dissolves its units in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts.
DES13 POL-CPIM MEET
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New Delhi: The contentious issue of a political understanding with the Congress is the focal point of discussion in the three-day meeting of the CPI(M) central committee which began here.
DES11 UP-CLASH-LAND
Deoria (UP): Two people killed and five injured after a clash over alleged encroachment of land belonging to a temple in Saraura village in the district, the police say.
NRG10 RJ-ASSEMBLY
Jaipur: The Rajasthan Assembly introduces an online system for receiving calling attention notices and motions for adjournment from MLAs and forward them to the state government for desired information.
NRG9 JK-COP
Srinagar: A Jammu and Kashmir policeman arrested for allegedly taking pictures of a woman with his cellphone in Ganderbal district of the state.
NRG8 PB-AAP
Chandigarh: Punjabs main opposition party AAP accuses the Congress government of "harassing" farmers in the name of stubble burning.
DES1 DL-KEJRIWAL CAR
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals creaky blue Wagon R, which was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat two days ago, found abandoned in Ghaziabad, say the police.
DES2 DL-JAIN-SWINEFLU
New Delhi: Swine flu has claimed 12 lives, including eight of Delhi residents, in the national capital this year, Health Minister Satyendar Jain has said.
DES4 JK-CLASHES
Srinagar: A civilian killed as stone-pelting protestors clash with security personnel near an encounter site in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district where two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were gunned down.
DES5 UP-DROUGHT
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh is staring at a drought and officials have been asked to publicise ways to preserve moisture in the soil and fill all ponds with water, says state chief secretary Rajive Kumar.
DES8 HR-STUDENT ATTACKS TEACHER
Jhajjar (Har): Upset over being reprimanded by his teacher for scoring low marks in maths, a class 12 student of a private school here allegedly attacked him with a sickle on campus, says an official.
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DES9 JK-JITENDRA-MILITANCY
Jammu: Union minister Jitendra Singh says militancy in Jammu and Kashmir is in its "last phase" and that "militants are on the run". PTI KIS
--- ENDS ---
In 1967, Robert Pelcyger was a newly minted lawyer who knew little about the rights of Native Americans and even less about water rights.
Then he met Patty Durro, an earnest, young woman from the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians in northern San Diego County who was determined to reclaim her tribes share of the San Luis Rey River.
She changed his life and the fortunes of five North County tribes that had been robbed of the water they had been promised by the government.
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But it took Pelcyger 50 years to right the wrong.
The journey began with a stack of government contracts from the 1900s.
Pelcyger had been hired to learn tribal law for a government nonprofit that was providing legal services to rural California residents and was hosting a workshop at the University of California, Riverside when he was approached by Durro.
She was there to complain because their wells were going dry, Pelcyger remembers. Patty Durro came up to me during the meeting and gave me some (1914) contracts and said, youre a lawyer, tell me what these mean.
I looked at them and saw all kinds of words Id never seen before and didnt understand, so I told her Id take a look at it. That was the beginning of the San Luis Rey litigation.
Soon, Pelcyger and a colleague formed California Indian Legal Services, a law firm specializing in Native American issues.
During the next couple of years, I tried to find other lawyers who would take the case but wasnt able to do that, he said. It got to the point I had to file something so I did it in 1969.
The goal of the lawsuit, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1984 and was followed by decades of settlement talks, was to correct this historical injustice the government had created shortly after the reservations were established, Pelcyger said.
The reservations were purposely located in areas with access to water so the tribes could irrigate crops in an otherwise arid environment.
No sooner had the reservations been created when, through a series of measures, the government gave away the same water they had given to the Indians to Escondido and Vista, Pelcyger said. The bands were dedicated to correcting the historical injustice.
Canals were built in the 1890s diverting the San Luis Rey River to farmers in those two cities, making it possible for those communities to thrive. In the 1920s, Lake Henshaw near Warner Springs was built and a diversion dam took even more of the river water to the cities via Lake Wohlford in the hills just east of Escondido.
The result was that during dry years the river barely flowed through the reservations, the underground aquifer fed by the river suffered and the Indians wells would dry up. Even today, the two cities rely on the San Luis Rey water for between 20 percent and 30 percent each year.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the aggrieved tribes against Escondido and the Vista Irrigation District.
What is ironic is that our adversaries were Escondido and Vista, but it wasnt their fault to begin with, said Bo Mazzetti, chairman of the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians.
The federal government gave away the water twice. It gave it to the tribes and then authorized the dam and the diversion.
Fifteen years after the lawsuit was filed, Pelcyger found himself arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling of the court, which essentially said all the parties needed to start over, pleased no one.
It was frustrating because it meant we had to keep litigating but in retrospect it turned out, many years later, ultimately the best outcome for all the clients.
Instead of resuming litigation, a decision was made to go to the U.S. Congress, which in 1988 passed the San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, which recognized the need to provide the tribes with a supplemental water supply to make up for the approximately 16,000 acre-feet of water they lost each year from the river. One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons.
But there were still two more hurdles to overcome.
The first, which would take 15 years to resolve, was figuring out where the extra water would come from. In the mid-2000s, the All-American Canal, an 80-mile-long aqueduct near the U.S.-Mexican border that takes Colorado River water to the Imperial Valley and beyond, was lined to stop seepage.
The lining project saved 100,000 acre-feet of water each year. The first 16,000 acre-feet of that savings was earmarked for the tribes per the settlement act.
But just after the water source was identified, the second hurdle emerged.
Lawyers for the federal government decided to revisit the settlement and took the position that the word supplemental meant replace or substitute.
The government interjected a new issue for the first time, Pelcyger said.
They argued that the 16,000 acre-feet from the canal should replace the water that is taken from the river. The tribes said, no, the 16,000 acre-feet of canal water should be in addition to the water that had been diverted and that they should retain rights to the San Luis Rey.
Fourteen more years of argument and settlement talks followed. The feds never agreed to the tribes position, but did say they would accept the fact should Congress enact a law saying the tribes were entitled to the extra water. That happened in 2014.
A couple years more went by due to bureaucracy, but finally the 1988 settlement terms became law.
In May of this year, 50 years after first hearing about the river, the case came to an end.
The settlement guarantees five North County Indian tribes Rincon, La Jolla, Pauma, Pala and San Pasqual equal access to more than 5 billion gallons annually of Colorado River water to compensate them for the lost San Luis Rey River water.
The end result is that the water brought in from the Colorado River can be used by the five tribes equally. But should they not need the extra water, they must sell the excess water to the two cities at market rates.
For Escondido, it means that this supply of water wed originally been given in the late 1800s is now secure, said Chris McKinney, Escondidos utilities director.
For us, its an enormous deal to finally have this settled and to also have the supply secured.
It was a long path to go down to get to this point, said Marty Miller, president of the Vista Irrigation Districts board of directors. But we finally worked our way through it. And on the backside we came out friends. We came out partners.
The tribes rely now and will continue to rely on groundwater, which is made possible by the recharging of the San Luis Rey aquifer accomplished via water seeping into the ground from the river.
That means most of the extra water from the Colorado River will be sold by the tribe to the cities which use far more than that amount annually. There will always be a demand.
For the Indians, its a source of income, Pelcyger said.
Mazzetti said its a shame that almost all of the elders of the tribes who were there at the beginning of the litigation, not to mention generations of Indians before them, have passed on and could not see the final resolution.
The impossible became possible, the Rincon chairman said. Where do you find new sources of water today? You dont. Sixteen thousand acre-feet of water will be coming into the county -- a whole new source of water. That benefits the whole region.
For Pelcyger, the end of the case feels wonderful.
I feel blessed to have had clients that are so dedicated and loyal, he said. Where else do you find clients that stick with the same attorney for 50 years?
He said long before casino money came to the reservations, the bands were committed to correcting an historical injustice and werent going to compromise.
For him, that began with the 1967 Patty Durro meeting and continued with other tribal members for decades.
She was a fierce advocate of getting back what the bands viewed as being rightfully theirs, he said. Durro has become very private in recent years and did not respond to requests for interviews.
It took a lot of courage for them to even enter the fray against pretty long odds, Pelcyger said. Their sense of history is so strong as is their sense of continuity, They wanted to rectify the injustices their parents and grandparents had to bare and also were looking forward toward future generations. It was never about immediate gratification.
jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
House lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill Friday thats designed to block the Trump administration from booting transgender troops from the military.
If enacted, H.R. 4041 would bar the Pentagon from involuntarily separating or denying reenlistment opportunities to members of the armed forces solely on the basis of their gender identities. The legislation also would force Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to study Pentagon policies for recruiting transgender individuals and report back to Congress before the year ends on his recommendations.
The bill is spearheaded by Democrats Susan Davis of San Diego, San Franciscos Jackie Speier, Seattles Adam Smith and Tuscons Kyrsten Sinema, plus Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami and Charlie Dent of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
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I stood proudly with the previous administration when we lifted the ban on Dont Ask, Dont Tell, Davis said in a written statement. Many of the arguments against transgender service members are the same we have heard for gay service members, and the same we heard for women before that. Transgender service members have and are serving with honor, distinction, and courage. No evidence has been presented to warrant a ban, which is based solely on discrimination. Our service members should be focused on the singular objective of protecting Americans. This ban will only serve as a disruptive distraction of that effort.
Introduced last month, a companion bill S. 1820 is percolating through the Senate. It was sponsored by Democrats Kristen Gillibrand of New York and Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine. Reed is a former Army paratrooper and McCain a Navy aviator who spent 5 years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.
McCain chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. Davis is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
On June 30, 2016, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the end of the longstanding Pentagon policy that barred troops from serving openly as transgender service members.
Carter said that the Department of Defense would pay the medical costs of service members seeking gender transition. His orders were buttressed by a RAND Corporation study that concluded few troops would be affected by the changes, which would have minimal impact on readiness and health care costs. The think tank estimated that were 1,320 to 6,630 transgender troops out of 1.3 million active duty service members.
In an Aug. 25 memorandum to both the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the U.S. Coast Guard, President Donald Trump expressed concern that Carter failed to prove that the changes would not hinder military effectiveness and lethality, disrupt unit cohesion or tax military resources, and there remain meaningful concerns that further study is needed to ensure that continued implementation of last years policy change would not have those negative effects.
The new Republican president ordered the Pentagon to bar transgender recruits from boot camp and asked Mattis to present a compelling case for using taxpayer resources to fund most gender reassignment surgeries.
Trump stopped short of ordering transgender troops to be involuntarily separated from the armed forces, leaving that up to Mattis, too.
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cprine@sduniontribune.com
The work building eight prototypes for President Donald Trumps proposed border wall ended its third full week Friday, with five of the walls in place on a hardscrabble patch of land on Otay Mesa.
A crew of five workers milled about one of the areas where contractors are erecting their designs for their version of the wall. There was a low rumble of heavy machinery as the crew worked, and once in a while a hollered command.
Other than that it was quiet.
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That silence might be the most surprising thing about the prototype construction work, perhaps the most controversial building project now underway in the U.S.
Since construction began Sept. 26, there has not been a single protest or demonstration against the wall. A much-discussed designated area for demonstrators never materialized.
Despite the controversy in both the U.S. and Mexico over Trumps desire to construct the wall, workers have been able to go about their business undisturbed.
Concern over protests was clearly on the mind of officials, almost from the start. In the original 76-page scope of work for the project issued in March the government required bidders to submit a detailed security plan, including provisions for fall-back positions, evacuation routines and methods, muster area in the event of a hostile attack.
Then on Sept. 6 the Department of Homeland Security issued a three-page intelligence alert to local law enforcement that warned large-scale protests and violence could accompany the building of the walls.
The memo said protests could arise with little or no warning and protesters could try to block roads or otherwise obstruct the construction.
The Sheriffs Department also erected what appears to be miles of fencing around large swatches of the wide, undeveloped mesa where the project is under construction. The reason was not simply security, spokesman Ryan Keim said last month.
The department conferred with the private landowners that own large tracts of the mesa, and also consulted with federal agencies. The area is home to several endangered species which needed protection, and the landowners did not want people trespassing on their property.
The county ended up spending $111,000 to rent, install and remove the fencing, he said in an email.
The fence will ensure that the rights of the local property owners are protected while ensuring a safe and peaceful environment for free speech, Keim said three days after the project began.
Finally, the county Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance the day work began that allowed banning of knives, sticks, poles and other implements of riot in the area.
So far, all the precautions have not been needed. Thats because local organizations that are opposed to the wall and the broader Trump administrations crackdown on illegal immigration were not interested in drawing attention to the project.
Enrique Morones, founder of the group Border Angels, said he met with a DHS official he identified as Tim Quinn, the executive director for CBPs Office of Intergovernmental Liaison, for two hours before the project began.
He told him what he said he later told both Sheriff Bill Gore and San Diego Chief Shelley Zimmerman: his group and others werent planning to protest.
By doing that, it brings more attention to it, he said. It does more harm than good.
Like other activists Morones said the likelihood that Congress would approve the billions of dollars needed to construct the wall is remote.
People dont want to contribute to Trumps free press, for a wall that wont be funded, said Wendy Batterson, an activist and one of the leaders of the anti-Trump group Indivisible San Diego.
When work began, both the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego Sheriffs Department were out in force.
Dozens of patrol vehicles circled the streets near the access point to the building site, an industrial park off Enrico Fermi Drive. In addition Customs and Border Protection and Border Parol Agents zipped around the area in SUVs. Streets had been blocked off and designated no parking zones for a month.
Now, the heavy law enforcement presence in the first few days of the project has diminished. While the no parking restriction remains, on Friday only two San Diego police cars were in the area, and the sheriffs presence was also far less than before.
Spokesman for both law enforcement departments declined to comment about their security plans either heading into the construction project, or now.
For security reasons we are not going to discuss our plans and/or our staffing as it would undermine public safety, San Diego police LT. Scott Wahl said in a text message. I can say we have been working collaboratively with regional law enforcement partners including CBP.
Revealing security plans, even those made in preparation for the project, would be counterproductive.
Morones said he told officials that if any protests were to occur they would likely come from groups outside San Diego. So far that also has not occurred.
The project is still several weeks away from completion, and officials are still wary. Keim said that the department is constantly evaluating and adjusting our response to ensure we have the most appropriate and effective resources available.
Twitter: @gregmoran
greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
Firefighters were asleep in Healdsburg early Saturday morning when they got the call get over to the Oakmont neighborhood of Santa Rosa.
High winds overnight had sent the Nuns fire branching toward the city, which was already devastated by the Tubbs fire earlier in the week. Another branch was heading toward the city of Sonoma.
It was cranking, said Jeff Allen, a Cal Fire spokesman.
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When firefighters arrived, police we helping to evacuate the area.
I dont think Ive ever seen that many cop cars Code 3, Allen said, meaning they were flashing their lights and blaring their sirens.
The firefighters headed up the ridge in the darkness, trying to hold the flames at bay with hoses and shovels. When the sun came up, air tankers and helicopters started dropping fire retardant and water. Bulldozers cut through the earth to make fire breaks and firefighters set backfires to slow the blazes advance.
They were helped by the weather as winds started to slow.
It was a good knockdown, Allen said.
The fire is right behind the Ledson winery pic.twitter.com/TkgbygyPG9 Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) October 14, 2017
The ridge remained blanketed with smoke late Saturday morning as helicopters circled. Occasionally a tall tree would become engulfed, and flickers of flames would be briefly visible from the road.
More than 10,000 firefighters from California and other states are fighting the blazes in Northern California, and officials are readying more crews in Southern California, where a red flag warning is in place through Sunday.
The winds aloft did surface at about 2:30 this morning in the central Napa Valley region, Cal Fire fire protection deputy director Dave Teter said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. As expected, those increased winds causes some fires to spread overnight and triggered evacuations in Sonoma County and elsewhere.
It was that kind of day on the fire lines of wine country as the return of strong winds prompted new evacuations and concerns that several days of progress could be undone.
The winds are expected to continue through the afternoon, keeping the region on edge as searchers continue to look for the bodies of victims. So far, at least 38 people have died.
Cal Fire estimates that around 5,700 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Friday night into Saturday morning the Nuns fire "did make a strong run into the city of Sonoma, causing damage to some more buildings, Teter said.
Firefighting resources include 880 fire engines, 134 bulldozers, 224 hand crews and 138 water tenders, Teter said. At first light Saturday, 14 helicopters were in the air performing water drops.
The wind along Highway 12 in Sonoma right now. Let's hope it doesn't pick up. pic.twitter.com/b6ePz3jULw Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) October 14, 2017
Californias multi-county hepatitis A outbreak has so strained the federal governments supply of vaccine that the state will take its own steps to secure more doses directly from manufacturers under an emergency declaration declared by Gov. Jerry Brown Friday.
Dr. Gil Chavez, state epidemiologist and deputy director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health, said that the state has already received more than 80,000 free doses from a federal 317 emergency vaccine program run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In our communications with them, as of late, its been very clear that our continuous requests for additional vaccine is running into their limit of what they can share with California, Chavez said.
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He did not elaborate on how low the states supply of hepatitis A vaccine has dropped and noted that local public health departments and health providers also have the ability to order vaccine outside of the federal program. But, he said, it is time for his department to start buying what is needed to keep existing vaccination campaigns in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties supplied with as many vials as they require.
We have received 81,000 doses (from the CDC), and that is a big chunk of their total supply for the entire country for the year. CDC has been trying to manage their inventory to meet the needs of California, Chavez said.
The governors emergency declaration, signed Friday, gives the state health department authority to take all measures necessary to obtain hepatitis A vaccines and prioritize the vaccination of at-risk individuals. Chavez said he did not have an immediate estimate of exactly how many more doses the state will need to buy or how much doing so might cost.
Also on Friday, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC requesting federal assistance, including any available emergency grant funding, to help fight the outbreak.
In addition to allowing San Diego and other California counties dip into its emergency vaccine supply, the CDC has already provided some personnel, flying several of its epidemiologists out to advise local public health teams on the best ways to contain the spread of hepatitis A infections. So far, however, those efforts have not been able to turn the corner. Case totals increased to 490 this week and the death total hit 18.
Other totals around in California:
71 cases in Santa Cruz County
13 cases in Los Angeles County
7 cases elsewhere in the state
The CDC has been unclear about exactly how much current outbreaks in California, Michigan, Utah and Arizona are drawing down the national vaccine supply which was already challenged by a global increase in demand due to a series of overseas outbreaks.
In late September Merck & Co. Inc., manufacturer of VAQTA, one of two FDA-approved hepatitis A vaccines, told the Union-Tribune that it anticipates working through some manufacturing constraints in 2017, adding that constraints will impact availability of pediatric and adult doses of VAQTA this year.
At a news conference in San Diego last week, a CDC spokesperson promised to clarify the vaccine supply picture, but has not subsequently provided any additional information.
The vaccine supply question persists as San Diego organizations ready for a fresh wave of inoculation activity.
On Friday morning, Mayor Kevin Faulconer stood beside paramedics to announce that a temporary modification of state law has allowed the city to create two mobile vaccination teams which will include a paramedic, a fire captain/paramedic and a supervising nurse. Under temporary permission from the state Emergency Medical Services Authority, paramedics in San Diego County are allowed to give hepatitis A shots to at-risk residents as long as they are working under the direct supervision of a registered nurse.
City fire officials and Mike Murphy, general manager of American Medical Response-San Diego, said paramedics who will be involved in vaccination efforts have received four additional hours of training on the proper technique for giving hepatitis A shots. The activity is similar to other injections they often administer answering emergency calls throughout the city.
San Diego Fire Department Battalion Chief Rick Ballard said after Fridays news conference that he expects the city to learn where and when the two paramedic teams will work from the county Health and Human Services Agency on Monday. He said the county is working with many medical organizations, including local hospitals, to fan out to single-occupancy hotels, beaches, parks and other locations.
Theyve identified over 100 locations that they have not been able to reach yet, Ballard said.
The county did not respond Tuesday to a request for more information on its impending second-wave vaccination effort, and a county spokesman said Friday afternoon that he still could not make anyone available to discuss the operations details.
In recent weeks some in the community have questioned whether the San Diego River may be a source of hepatitis A infection among the citys homeless. While county public health officials have insisted that river water is not a source of contamination, they told the Union-Tribune Thursday that river water has not yet been tested for contamination by one or more of the 15 unique strains of the virus that testing has found in samples gathered from infected residents.
A recent genetic test of river water, while it did not specifically check for hepatitis, did find that the total amount of human feces in the river and its tributaries quadrupled in 2017.
On Thursday San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez sent a memo to Mayor Faulconer requesting that the city test local waterways for hepatitis A. The city has no current plans to start testing, Greg Block, Faulconers senior press secretary, said in an email.
The county has consulted with the Center for Disease Control and environmental sampling has not been recommended for the current hepatitis A outbreak. The county is the public health agency for the region, and we rely on their expertise in these matters, Block said.
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No one is monitoring San Diegos surface water for hepatitis A, even amid a deadly, human waste-fueled outbreak of the disease that can spread through area waterways.
Thats according to a letter from federal officials to U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, who last month asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take the immediate steps necessary to address potential waterborne transmission of the viral liver infection that has killed 18 people and sickened nearly 500 others since November.
The infection is spread when someone ingests even a tiny particle of feces, raising the possibility that it could spread from homeless encampments along city waterways toward the bays and inlets.
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The EPA responded last week, writing in a letter obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune that the agency had reached out to area water researchers and determined no one was testing for the disease in San Diegos surface water.
The letter, signed by acting EPA Regional Administrator Alexis Strauss, called for expanded efforts to stanch the flow of potentially disease-carrying human waste into city rivers, creeks and other waterways.
It is clear municipal efforts must be broadened to reduce the many different sources of human fecal matter from homeless individual and group encampments in roadside rights-of-way, storm drains, beach parking lots and river bottoms, Strauss wrote in her Oct. 6 letter to Peters. People living in recreational vehicles can also be a source of illegal human waste dumping, lacking access to low-cost pump-out options. These sources of human fecal matter are confirmed in water-quality data submitted to the Regional Water Quality Control Boards along the Southern California coast.
Strauss isnt the first to call for more action.
The U-T on Sunday reported San Diego officials were made aware of human waste pollutants in waterways as far back as 2007, when a city stormwater specialist contributed to a water quality report that cited runoff from homeless camps among the potential sources of germs discharged into the San Diego River.
A 2015 report determined the encampments have an uncontrollable effect on water quality because they would have to be addressed through interventions by police and social service agencies..
More recently, a July report delivered to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control board which is charged with local enforcement of permits issued under federal clean water regulations issued another, somewhat more urgent warning about the link between human waste and waterborne illness. It found undiluted human waste in San Diego waterways was likely to generate high rates of illness among exposed homeless populations.
The most cost-effective way to reduce risks, the report said, was to prioritize human sources first. Cities have said it could cost billions of dollars to restore riverbeds and upgrade stormwater systems.
Neither the county nor Peters returned requests for comment on the EPA letter echoing past pleas to step-up pollution prevention efforts.
City spokesman Anthony Santacroce said the city does not currently test for hepatitis A. He said it was county health officials responsibility to determine if enhanced monitoring efforts were called for. Santacroce did not answer a question about whether or how the city might expand efforts to get human waste out of San Diegos waterways.
The EPA memo to Peters said the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, the same group that confirmed the lack of surface water hepatitis testing, had offered to develop a hepatitis test for surface water based on a similar test researchers already use to test for the virus in food.
Ken Schiff, the groups executive director, confirmed no one had yet taken him up on the offer.
David Gibson, who heads the regional water quality control board, said such measures should be taken, if only to determine whether ongoing homeless camp cleanups are having the desired effect on water quality.
Gibson said he might be able to put together a grant-funded virus testing regimen if officials dont step forward.
The percentage of human waste in the San Diego River and its tributaries quadrupled between 2016 and 2017, according to genetic testing of water samples done by the city and county of San Diego.
The Union-Tribune on Friday reported the spike in waste which coincided with the rise of San Diegos hepatitis outbreak may have been hastened by a wet winter that flushed sewage and other pollutants out of leaky pipes and into the regions rivers and creeks.
Gibson said local leaders could face consequences if they dont refine their approach to address that runoff.
We will expect the municipalities to adapt their stormwater system, he said. If not, they would be facing penalties or other enforcement tools.
The county has estimated around 10 percent of San Diegos hepatitis cases are linked to the San Diego River, home to sprawling homeless camps populated by as many as 300 year-round residents. Health officials in July tied four cases of hepatitis A, including one death, to the river valley.
County spokesman Mike Workman on Thursday said that link did not necessarily imply that people had contracted the virus from the river. Workman said none of the 490 known cases of the disease were contracted through area waterways.
After one woman spoke out about her fears that she would miscarry while in detention, others have stepped forward to say medical care given to pregnant immigrants in custody is inadequate.
While Maria Solis, 29, of Oceanside, was held at Otay Mesa Detention Center, she shared how difficult it was to go through a high-risk pregnancy while in detention. Since then, several advocacy organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and American Immigration Lawyers Association, collected testimony from other pregnant immigrants in custody and sent a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security civil rights office.
We are gravely concerned with the agencys failure to abide by its own policy against detaining pregnant women, the detention conditions that have been reported by pregnant women [...] across the country, and the lack of quality medical care provided to women who are pregnant or have suffered miscarriages while in custody, the complaint says.
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According to a 2016 memo, Immigration and Customs Enforcements policy is to release pregnant women unless there are extraordinary circumstances or their cases require mandatory detention under immigration law.
Now back at her apartment in the north county, Maria Solis spoke about her experience while detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Solis is pregnant with her fourth child and feared a miscarriage while being detained. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for ICE, said that the agency makes those decisions based upon the individual facts and totality of circumstances on a case by case basis.
Between October 1, 2016 and September 18, 2017, the agency detained 525 women who it confirmed were pregnant. Thats less than one percent of the women who ICE detained in that time frame.
ICE is committed to ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of all those in our care, Mack said. In addition to pregnancy screenings at intake, ICE detention facilities provide onsite prenatal care and education, as well as remote access to specialists for pregnant women who remain in custody.
At least two women have recently miscarried while in immigration detention, according to the complaint from advocates. One was detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center, the same facility as Solis.
Jennye Pagoada-Lopez, 32, came to the San Ysidro Port of Entry in July to seek political asylum from Honduras and El Salvador. In a sworn declaration provided by her legal representative, she said that in both countries, she and her family had been targeted by a gang called La 18. The gang is also known as M-18, Barrio 18, or the 18th Street Gang, and is a rival to MS-13.
Her legal representative, Luis Guerra, accompanied her to the border to make sure officials were aware that she was four months pregnant and at high risk for a miscarriage because of her history of both premature and unsuccessful pregnancies. He hoped that she would not be detained because of her health condition, he said.
Happy to be back at home in the north county, Maria Solis tends to the needs of one of her children. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Border officials held her in a temporary detention cell on July 23 and then transferred her to Otay Mesa the next day. While in temporary detention, she tried to alert officials that she was bleeding and needed medical attention, according to her sworn declaration. She didnt receive any.
The first time she saw a medical provider was her second day at Otay Mesa, she said. She was given a pregnancy test.
About four days later, medical staff told her that shed had a miscarriage, she said in the declaration.
Mack said ICE does not have record of Pagoada-Lopez ever being pregnant.
In accordance with ICEs performance-based national detention standards, all woman up to age 56 are screened for pregnancy shortly after being processed into the agencys detention facilities, Mack said. In cases where the intake screening results are in question, further lab tests will be ordered to confirm a negative or positive pregnancy result. In this instance, all of the appropriate protocols were followed, and the medical tests did not support Ms. Pagoadas claim she was pregnant.
Guerra has medical records from a Tijuana doctor that diagnose Pagoada-Lopez as pregnant three days before she came to San Ysidro.
The San Diego Union-Tribune was not able to interview Pagoada-Lopez in detention in time for publication.
Solis, who was picked up by ICE near her Oceanside apartment at the beginning of August, recalled meeting Pagoada-Lopez while both were in detention. Solis heard about her miscarriage, and other women told her to be careful about her stress levels so that she wouldnt end up like Flaca, the detainees nickname for Pagoada Lopez.
That was extremely scary, Solis said.
Solis spoke about her experience while detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Worrying about her pregnancy while in detention was stressful, Solis said, and that made her more at risk, which made her worry more.
The system to be seen by a doctor was slow and didnt account for urgent needs, Solis said. With help from her siblings, she began alerting media to what she saw as inadequate medical care that could affect the life of her unborn child.
Being detained, it was scary, Solis said. I had that fear, What if they treat me different? What if it affects my case? It was a big step for me.
Now that shes seen the effects of sharing her story, shes glad that she did.
While she was still in custody, Pagoada-Lopez came up to Solis to hug her.
She said, Thank you for speaking out, Solis recalled.
After Solis agreed to be deported so that she could protect the health of her baby, officials decided, in a rare move, that she could stay in the U.S. while she waits for the outcome of a visa application that would lead to permanent residency in the U.S.
Im still shocked about it, Solis said. I couldnt believe it.
She expected officials at any moment to say they had made a mistake and tell her that she was actually going to Tijuana.
That evening, when Solis reunited with her husband and siblings where ICE released her in San Ysidro, she knew it was real. She called it a miracle.
She went home and surprised her three daughters, who were staying a few doors down with their aunt and didnt know their mother was coming home.
When the girls realized that their mother was back, they ran to her, and she got down on her knees to hug them, she said.
One day, she said, she will tell the story to her fourth child about what she went through and how he or she saved her.
Its going to be my little miracle baby, she said.
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By PTI: failure
Panaji, Oct 14 (PTI) An Oman Air plane with 63 people on board made an emergency landing at the Goa airport after one of its engines failed, an airport official said.
The flight had left the Muscat airport at 2.55 pm for Goa, the official said.
The pilot informed the Goa airport about the emergency landing and the flight touched down without incident at 7.40 pm, he said.
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"There was an emergency landing of Oman Air flight today. It is a daily flight and one engine had failed. The pilot had informed the ground staff and all measures were in place," said Goa airport director B C H Negi said. PTI RPS RMT BSA
--- ENDS ---
San Diegos next police chief should prioritize higher pay for officers, curbing racial profiling and coping with the mentally ill, city residents said during a series of community forums that concluded last week.
Residents said the new chief should also strive for a racially diverse police force, officer training for dealing with homeless people and transparency with the public, especially regarding footage from body-worn cameras.
The qualities residents want in their new chief include being an inspirational visionary who is approachable, has a commanding presence and a good sense of humor.
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Regarding background, residents want a proven reformer with big city experience, no past controversies and who is respected by both police officers and residents in the community where they work now.
About the ongoing search for a new chief, many residents stressed the importance of considering viable candidates from across the nation. San Diego has hired a chief from outside the department only once in the last 50 years.
Residents also frequently made two requests city officials have resisted: a public forum to evaluate finalists for the job, and prior public disclosure of who will be on a committee that will recommend a new chief to Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
City officials say a public forum for finalists is infeasible because people potentially switching high-profile jobs typically request anonymity until they take the new position.
On the selection committee, which critics call a secret panel, city officials say seven California cities choosing new chiefs since 2015 used the same approach: Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Cruz, La Mesa, West Covina, San Pablo and Capitola.
The motive for keeping the members confidential is ensuring they arent lobbied by prospective candidates or special interest groups during the process, said Scott Chadwick, the citys chief operating officer.
San Diego needs a new chief to replace Shelley Zimmerman, who must retire in March because shes reached the five-year limit on working after joining the citys deferred retirement option program.
RELATED: San Diego launching national search for next police chief
Public feedback from the six forums held between Sept. 23 and Oct. 10 will be given to a Northern California executive recruiting firm the city hired earlier this month to conduct the search.
Bob Murray & Associates focuses primarily on filling executive vacancies in California and Nevada, but the Roseville companys website says it has helped fill vacancies in 25 states since it was founded in 2000.
The recruiting firm will identify viable candidates and help select the panel that will conduct multiple rounds of interviews scheduled to begin in December.
Chadwick said during the Oct. 5 forum in University City that Murray & Associates was a great choice because they have helped 140 cities hire police chiefs in recent years.
We want to use their experience and wealth of knowledge to assist us, he said. This is a big hire for the city.
The public forums held this fall, which were led by a professional facilitator, produced a wide variety of feedback on what a new chief should prioritize and what character traits would make an ideal candidate.
The priorities most frequently mentioned were higher pay for officers to help the city solve a recruiting and retention crisis, and a commitment to addressing differential treatment of minorities by police identified in a San Diego State survey.
Officers are expected to get significant raises this fall when ongoing labor negotiation conclude.
Brian Marvel, president of the police officers labor union, said the goal is compensation above the middle of the pack for county law enforcement in a column he wrote in this months issue of the unions newsletter, The Informant.
But Marvel said the union views boosting officer compensation as a two-step process, with the goal of subsequent negotiations in two years being a jump into the top third of law enforcement agencies in the county.
On racial profiling, residents at the forums said the new chief should prioritize addressing any problems by more aggressive data collection on traffic stops and more officer training on cultural diversity and related topics.
Many residents also focused on police needing more resources to deal with an increase in mentally ill people on the streets, suggesting there should be an expansion of the psychiatric emergency response team.
On body-worn camera footage, residents said the new chief should have policies that include making it public whenever possible, particularly for people involved in the incident captured on a particular video.
On the ideal character traits of a new chief, many residents said a track record of reform and community policing was crucial. Others prioritized someone with a history of staying out of politics and who has the backbone to stand up to city leaders.
Many also focused on the need for a national search, but some said talented police already working for the department should also be considered.
Some residents said they dont want someone who will be a first-time chief, and others said a chief from a small town wouldnt make sense.
We dont want somebody from Podunk, Oklahoma coming here thinking they know how to run our city, one resident said.
The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said they hope Mayor Faulconer takes feedback from the forums seriously.
The forums were a good start to get community input but they should not be the end of the publics involvement in selecting our next chief, the organization said in a prepared statement. We also believe that the communitys involvement should continue through a transparent search panel, whose identities are disclosed to the public, not a secret panel.
Faulconer is scheduled to announce his choice for chief in January, with the City Council either confirming or rejecting his selection in February during a meeting where residents and community leaders will get a chance to speak.
City updates on the search are posted here
david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
A body found Thursday along a road near the Riverside County line has been identified as a 30-year-old San Diego woman reported missing last week.
The San Diego County Medical Examiners Office identified Friday the partially-decomposed body as Alexandria Nicole Smith and ruled her death a homicide. She died of asphyxiation, National City police said.
Detectives have identified people of interest but have not interviewed them, police Lt. Graham Young said. No arrests have been made.
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Police were searching for Smith around Pechenga Resort and Casino in Riverside County and Pala Casino Resort and Spa in northern San Diego County when a detective found the body.
We had leads that she frequented casinos, Young said Friday.
He said detectives visited every casino in San Diego County, looking at security video for her or her car. Were tracking down every lead possible, he said.
A detective driving down a dirt road in a wooded area near Pala and Pala Temecula roads saw the body the torso covered with a blanket about 5 feet from the side of the road, Young said. The body was clothed and partially decomposed.
Smith was last seen driving away from her home in the College Area about 11 p.m. on Oct. 2. Her mother believed she was headed for a party in National City, police said. Smith was living with her mother and 10-year-old daughter.
When Smith didnt return home, her mother called National City police to report her missing.
Smiths cellphone was found in a Vista 7-Eleven trash bin on Oct. 4 by someone rummaging for recyclables. That person charged up the phone, then called Smiths mother and the Sheriffs Department, Young said.
Smiths car, a Toyota Corolla, was found parked along a curb in a residential-commercial street off Rancho California Road in Temecula on Monday, Young said.
Police said Smiths family told them she had suffered from depression and drug use.
UPDATES:
6:15 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 3:35 p.m
As the director of programs for GenerateHope, an emergency shelter for victims of sex trafficking, part of Susan Munseys mission is telling people just how bad the problem is in San Diego.
When she gets to the number of likely victims in the county an average of 5,000 children and adults there is almost always an audible gasp, she said.
The number stunned even people like her, the most seasoned prosecutors and service providers, when they first heard it. The statistics that were revealed in October 2015 as part of a study to quantify the human-trafficking problem in San Diego served as a major wake-up call. A lot of victims were clearly slipping through a lot of cracks.
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Two years later, has anything changed?
Yes and no.
A full-time task force was created to investigate, prosecute and provide services to victims. Several laws have been passed that take a more victim-centered approach to prostitution and focus on early intervention including a law signed Friday that extends foster care benefits to young victims. And public awareness campaigns can be found in nearly every sector of the community, from schools and workplaces to tourism and medicine.
The statistics from the study have been quoted to pass legislation, apply for grants, educate the public, allocate government resources and introduce school curriculum.
We said we really cant combat it if we cant measure it, said District Attorney Summer Stephan, who has become one of the countys leading experts on human trafficking. It really helped us to step up our efforts. This groundbreaking study gave us some concrete direction.
And still, so much more needs to be done.
Middle-school aged girls are still being wooed into prostitution by older Romeos who prey on their low self-esteem and naivete. These teens are turning into young women who feel trapped and ashamed. And there appears to be no shortage of clients demanding their sexual services.
The root causes go deep, experts have learned, and there is no easy fix.
We are making it very uncomfortable and socially unacceptable, Stephan said. Were changing, I think, peoples ideas about how acceptable it is to buy a human being for sex. But we still have a long ways to go.
Real change happens when a society says this is not happening far away, this is affecting me. This could be my kids, this could be my sister, this could be my brother, she added. When it starts seeping into the groundwater, thats when the potential for evolution could happen.
The findings
The first official recognition that San Diego was a hotbed for child sex trafficking was in 2003 when the FBI placed the region among the top 13 nationwide. But tangible data was lacking.
The local study, led by Ami Carpenter at University of San Diego and Jamie Gates at Point Loma Nazarene University, was commissioned by the countys human-trafficking council in 2011. The results laid bare some truths that have reframed thinking on the subject.
The average age of entry into sex trafficking is 16 years old. Of 20 unnamed high schools surveyed, every one reported recruitment happening on their campuses, with 90 percent having documented cases.
Street gangs are a huge part of that, as theyve realized how lucrative selling the same girl over and over again is.
The study also found strong correlations between victimization and lower socio-economic neighborhoods, foster care and homelessness. But authorities also warn that victims come from all walks; the crime touches every single zip code.
Nearly 80 percent of victims are U.S. citizens and 11 percent are born in Mexico.
For adults, the study crystalized just how much the criminal justice system needed to change. Of the adults arrested for prostitution for the first time, half probably should have been considered victims of human trafficking but were instead treated as criminals.
The initial range of victims reported was even higher 8,830 to 11,773 but was scaled back to a more conservative range of 3,417 to 8,108 as part of the studys vetting by the National Institute of Justice.
I think its made people take a more serious look about whats going on in San Diego, said Munsey of GenerateHope.
Prosecutions
The high numbers made it clear that only a small portion of victims were being touched by the system, and even fewer seeing justice against their traffickers.
But therein lies the problem: So few victims see themselves as victims, and those who are contacted often are too traumatized or distrustful of the system to cooperate, authorities said. (There are also some adult women who say they willingly work as prostitutes and go into the industry with eyes wide open.)
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Todd Hemmen, who leads a human-trafficking squad, said it often takes 10 to 15 contacts with a witness before he or she will cooperate with an investigation or prosecution.
The District Attorneys Office prosecuted 19 human-trafficking cases in fiscal 2017, down from 32 cases four years earlier. Stephan, the D.A., said prosecutors have been focusing on larger organizations rather than low-hanging fruit; the investigations take time and resources but make a larger impact. Helping with those cases is the new full-time Human Trafficking Task Force overseen by the state Department of Justice.
She pointed to two recent cases as prime examples.
One involved an unapologetic pimp, Christian Koalani, 68, who wrote about his exploits in a novel, Story of an American Escort, told from the perspective of a fictional young woman.
My name is Breana James. I am twenty-four years old. As of last week, I have a quarter of a million dollars worth of gold coins, bearer bonds, jewelry and cash in my safe-deposit box. This is my story, reads the promo on Amazon, where a paperback copy sells for $14.59. The book jacket shows a scantily clad woman in an office chair, on the backdrop of an American flag.
The summer of 2015, a 17-year-old girl told San Diego police that Koalani and a young woman befriended her and one night gave her marijuana edibles and a mysterious drink. She said she woke up with little to no recollection of the nights activities and wearing another womans clothing, according to the arrest warrant. She accused Koalani of raping her. Police found other similar accusations against Koalani, as well as a woman who prostituted for him.
That led investigators to San Diego Adult Service Provider, a website that served as a members-only prostitution marketplace, where women advertised their services and johns bought them and later could review them. The website was run by Dale Vinzant, 69, known as Frog, who also tested many of the women out for himself.
The dual investigations took about a year. Koalani pleaded guilty to conspiracy, pandering and furnishing drugs to a minor and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Vinzant pleaded to pimping-related charges and money laundering and got a year in jail.
Many cases are prosecuted federally, including a tactic of charging street gangs with racketeering in an effort to take down a whole organization. One large gang case identified 60 minors and adults being trafficked across the country, prosecutors said. The U.S. Attorneys Office declined to release prosecution statistics, saying the numbers arent representative of the issue.
But what has been traditionally seen as a law enforcement problem is now being tackled from all corners.
We know we cant prosecute ourselves out of it, said Stephan. We have to actually change society It has to be a war that everyone engages in.
Laws catching up
State lawmakers have been paying especially close attention to human trafficking recently. A host of new laws have followed.
Just like child abuse in the home, suspicion of commercial sexual exploitation of a child now falls under mandatory reporting laws for people such as teachers, nurses and social workers.
Very clearly, in all of our minds, if youre molested by a stepfather or uncle, thats mandatory reportable. But I think there was not as much clarity, it was hit or miss, whether people reported or not if the same minor was suspected of being subjected to 10 different men abusing her each night. It kind of doesnt make sense but thats what was happening, Stephan said.
The reports are funneled to county Child Welfare Services, which makes sense, authorities say, because so many underage victims have already intersected the system, from past family abuse or being in foster care. And beginning last month, a child welfare worker and victim advocate are now part of the rapid-response team whenever a young victim is recovered in the field.
A new law also requires children contacted by Child Welfare Services and the county Probation Department to be screened for risk indicators of involvement in sex-trafficking.
Another law prohibits minors from being charged with prostitution. The county is going even further and launching next month an alternative court, called RISE, that will help victims of sex trafficking erase other offenses they may have racked up while in the lifestyle drug possession or sales, burglary so they can start fresh. The program will include mentors, treatment and incentives for education.
On Saturday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that will allow past victims of an accused trafficker to testify during trial to support the claims of the current victim. That right had been limited to victims of sex crimes and domestic violence.
The idea is the current victim sometimes still has an attachment bond with the perpetrator, explained Stephan, who took a recent call from the governor to help him make up his mind. She may recant and not tell the story, she may not be ready. Her trauma takes two to three years to resolve.
The ugly truth
Visitors to the 2016 MLB All-Star game at Petco Park and to Comic-Con were greeted with handout cards exposing the dark side of hiring a prostitute.
The Ugly Truth, a public awareness campaign headed by the district attorney, also included billboards and other messaging that tried to knock down myths about prostitution. We wanted men, who are the usual buyers, to understand what they are really doing by buying people is lining the pockets of traffickers and continuing the enslavement and abuse of victims, Stephan said.
Getting the message down to the peer level is equally important, and a new law requires those conversations to be had in classrooms across the state. In San Diego, new curriculum is being vetted for schools, including an interactive theater piece by Point Loma Nazerene students and age-appropriate programs targeted at grades 5, 7, 9 and 11.
Its giving them the skills and knowledge to look after themselves and their friends, said Mara Madrigal-Weiss of the County Office of Education.
Youre the ones out there, youre the ones who see whats going on at the parties, the ones who can step up for each other, she said of students. Its critically important. Thats how we start changing whats happening.
What are some red flags to look for? Dressing sexier; flashing expensive new jewelry, cellphones or clothing; using drugs; ditching school; showing lack of interest in things previously cared about; bruises and scars; tattoos; dating someone who is older and controlling; shift in behavior such as depression, anger, shame; possessing hotel key cards.
Safe haven
Finding a place for victims to seek safe haven has been harder to come by. Its not much better, unfortunately, said Munsey of GenerateHope.
In 2015 there were 25 emergency shelter beds for sex-trafficking victims. That number has only increased by five over the past few years. GenerateHope has six of those beds.
Its a slow process, said Munsey. Its just convincing people this is a need.
More bed space is in the works, however. GenerateHope is opening in the next few months a transitional house in Coronado for six women who are ready to be fully on their own. A donor bought the mansion for the nonprofit and will charge a $1 a year in rent. The idea rankled some in the community but after a few town hall meetings the project is still on.
Children of the Immaculate Heart is also working on a group home for child victims.
To fill the gap, last month Child Welfare Services and county Behavioral Health Services partnered to provide outpatient services for victims, offered by San Diego Youth Services, said Charisma De Los Reyes, a policy analyst who coordinates the sex-trafficking victim services for Child Welfare.
Despite all the ground being covered, investigators are not seeing their caseloads slow.
On Aug. 7, San Diego police received a desperate call from the mother of a 14-year-old girl. Her daughter hadnt come home the previous night, and Facebook messages on her iPad Mini revealed the girl had been communicating with a person with the handle PGo Bitcxh. Then she found her daughter had sent photographs of herself in her underwear.
A Backpage.com ad revealed the purpose: Soft and Smooth Skin Super Cute Face To Match My Sexy Body. Independent, 1000% Real Pictures. Sweet & Sexy, Youll Love Me, VERY Friendly & VERY Clean, HONEST & DISCREET. She was listed as being 19 years old.
The mother reached out to PGo Bitcxh with a plea: Her girl was only 14. The person responded with excuses at first, then went quiet.
Police focused on a suspect, Denziel Burke, and used the ad to arrange a date with the girl. They negotiated $120 for a sex act, and the girl met the officer in a Mission Valley motel room with a condom.
Police spotted Burke in a Camaro nearby but he sped off, according to a complaint filed in San Diego federal court. The Facebook account was deleted soon after.
The girl told police she had met Burke through Facebook about a year ago.
Burke was arrested two days later, in an El Cajon parking lot. He has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.
Get help
To get help for yourself or someone else, or to report activity related to human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center free hotline, open 24/7:
(888) 373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to 233733.
kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @kristinadavis
A homeless person found what looked like a pipe bomb in a trash can near a trolley station in East Village Friday, but a bomb squad determined it was not an explosive device.
It looks to be just a piece of PVC pipe, with screw-on end caps, that was discarded, San Diego police Sgt. Rick Pechin said.
The transient, who had been rummaging for cans and bottles in the trash can, placed the pipe on the ground near the trolley tracks at the 12th and Imperial Transit Center, then notified a trolley security guard, Pechin said.
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Trolley service on the Green Line was disrupted briefly, with service ending in the Gaslamp Quarter instead of the 12th and Imperial station, Metro Transit System officials said on Twitter.
A bomb squad rendered the device safe and determined there was no explosive material in the pipe. Pechin said there were no signs of an attempt to make a bomb.
Police gave the all-clear about 5:30 p.m. Trolley service resumed soon after.
#MTSAlert Due to police activity at 12th & Imperial, Green Line terminating at Gaslamp Quarter. Transfer to O/B Lines from Santa Fe Depot. San Diego MTS (@sdmts) October 13, 2017
Breaking News
Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com
Phone: (619) 293-1876
Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
UPDATES:
7:55 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 5:40 p.m.
Poorest pay for Trumps revenge on Obama
Re Gutting ACA is no way for Trump to lead (Oct. 13): The Presidents single-minded, almost monomaniacal determination to gut the Affordable Care Act, whatever the cost in human suffering, demonstrates once again:
In a world filled with hatreds, there is no hatred more malicious than the hatred Donald J. Trump cherishes toward Barack Obama.
Ron Bonn
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This week, President Trump double-downed on his ego-driven vendetta to undo Obamas legacy. By withdrawing funding for insurance exchanges that provide health coverage to millions of Americans, hes attempting to repeal the ACA without congressional approval.
And by refusing to certify Irans compliance with the nuclear arms treaty, he rejected the findings of compliance by the international inspectors, his own advisers counsel, and the wishes of all other treaty signatories.
Whatever slim hope existed for a diplomatic solution to North Koreas expansion of its nuclear arms arsenals has been effectively eliminated. Moving forward, the President wants to increase our current arsenal, thereby eliminating years of progress in nuclear arms reduction. He simply doesnt get it: the nuclear weapons we have together with the arsenals of Russia, China and others would be more than enough to destroy all life on the planet.
Richard Hicks
Cardiff
Trump takes a stand for freedom and choice
President Obama vastly expanded the scope of Obamacare using his pen and phone for six years after he lost a majority in Congress all based on the solid foundation of personal whim.
Considerable effort was spent by Trump on legislative reform without success largely due to a very narrow majority in the Senate. It is unfortunate, but executive orders are an acceptable and proper means to reverse executive orders. More acceptable when used to expand freedoms and choices than when eliminating them.
Richard E. Ralston
Executive Director
Americans for Free Choice in Medicine
Letters and commentary policy
The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.
Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
Trumps order leaves the poor without any choices
Trumps executive order cutting off subsidies to insurance companies that help defray medical insurance costs for millions of his low-income and middle-income supporters will mean that they wont be able to afford or get any decent insurance.
This is Trumps version of replacing Obamacare with better and cheaper plan. Just another example of how he conned and duped his supporters with more to come, including his tax overhaul plan favoring the super rich like himself, at their expense
David Miller
Carlsbad
The San Diego Union marked its 149 birthday on Tuesday. It made its debut on Saturday Oct. 10, 1868.
Reader Ronnie Bautista noted the date by sending to the Union-Tribune via Facebook a picture of that historic front page. He said he feels confident he has an original, not a reprint produced in 1968 to celebrate the papers centennial.
I wondered what that first edition presented to readers 149 years ago. U-T archivist and researcher Merrie Monteagudo lent me one of those reprints to read over. (Monteagudo said the U-T has a paper from Oct. 10, 1868, under glass, but she has never verified if it is indeed an original.)
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The content on the front page that day wasnt news as we expect today. It contained a short story, which appears to be fictional, called the Fishermans Treasure by a Barbara Broome.
A poem, Make Home Beautiful also was published. Make your home beautiful bring to it flowers; Plant them around you to bud and to bloom; Let them give life to your loneliest hours Let them bring life to enliven your gloom ... .
That was actually on the front page.
The four-page paper was printed on one large sheet of newsprint. It had no pictures or art, and really no headlines. They look more like titles.
The editor and proprietor was attorney W. Jeff. Gatewood. A small ad on the front page also advertised Gatewoods legal services.
But on page 2 Gatewood writes words that still hold true today as a pledge to readers. He says it is not the mission of the Union to cover news in some unrealistic dreamy fashion. The Union will be a faithful mirror, reflecting from its pages times of distress as well as of prosperity hopes and fears, gloom and gayety and smiles and tears. A faithful chronicler of to-day, and a future reliable historian of the past.
He continued: To the tax-payers and citizens of San Diego County, the Editor promises a watchful care over county affairs; full and immediate exposure of all wrongs that may be perpetrated by officials, without fear, favor or affection.
Well put.
Monteagudo said she has plans to mark the 150th anniversary next year with reader involvement. There will be more on that as the date approaches.
U-T forum scheduled on homelessness
The Union-Tribunes Community Advisory will host its second community dialogue later this month. The subject will be the homeless crisis.
The event will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown San Diego.
The first dialogue, on immigration and border issues, was held Aug. 2.
Scheduled panelists for the homeless talk include Ruth Bruland, chief program officer of Father Joes Villages; Amy Gonyeau, chief operating officer of the Alpha Project; Veronica Hughes, a former homeless mother; and Rick Schnell, a retired San Diego police officer who started the departments Homeless Outreach Team.
Space is limited, so readers are encouraged to reserve a seat at sandiegouniontribune.com/helpthehomeless
adrian.vore@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-1729
Nearly 130 colleges, universities and technical schools will have representatives meeting with high schoolers during Poway Unified School Districts annual College Fair next week.
The admission-free event will be 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Rancho Bernardo High School, 13010 Paseo Lucido.
College Fair coordinator Valerie Brown said the event is for all local high schoolers and their parents. It will have special workshops geared to freshmen and sophomores and others for juniors and seniors since the teens are at different stages of their post-secondary educational planning.
This is something new, doing a tiered approach, Brown said. Freshmen and sophomores are geared toward college and career exploration, while juniors and seniors are interested in the nuts and bolts of applying for colleges and careers.
She said there will also be workshops certain to peak parents interests, such as those on how to pay for college and how students can transfer from a community college to the University of California and California State University systems.
There will also be a panel on apprenticeships.
Two workshop sessions will be offered, one from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. and the other from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. Brown said her recommendation is for families to take the divide and conquer approach, with parents attending some sessions and students others. Some topics tend to repeat each year. The more they learn, the more they know (about the process), she said.
While a college fair is utmost on the minds of families with high school juniors and seniors, Brown said those with younger high schoolers should attend as well because the information they gain can be helpful in the years ahead. Plus if their students have an interest in certain campuses, they can plan to include a campus visit during a family vacation, for example.
She also said in some cases students cannot wait until their senior year to begin the college application process. For example, those interested in attending one of the service academies, such as West Point or Annapolis, must line up their congressional recommendations by their junior year.
Though some PUSD families of middle schoolers might be interested in attending, Brown said this is not geared for younger students and the district occasionally holds a middle school version of a college fair that they should attend.
For a list of participating colleges, universities and trade schools, plus links to their websites, go to tinyurl.com/PUSD-CollegeFair17.
Email: rbnews@pomeradonews.com
By PTI: (Eds: Recasting overnight story)
Karachi, Oct 12 (PTI) Pakistan genuinely wants to have peaceful ties with its neighbours, including a "belligerent" India, the countrys 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".
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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 countrys "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, Pakistans 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. PTI CORR MRJ ZH UZM AKJ UZM
--- ENDS ---
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Defence spokesman Col NN Joshi said Pakistan is deliberately targeting civilians areas in Balakote sector. One of the three children is said to be in critical condition.
ne of the children who was injured (Photo: ANI)
By Ashwini Kumar: Three siblings were injured on the Line of Control in shelling by Pakistan, in Jammu's Poonch district. One of them, a sixteen-year-old girl, is said to be in critical condition.
Defence spokesman Col NN Joshi said Pakistan is deliberately targeting civilians areas in Balakote sector, and that the shelling began late on Saturday evening near Sandote, a border village.
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Tahira Naseeb, the girl who was critically injured, was taken to Jammu's Government Medical College for specialised treatment.
The others, eight-year-old Rafia and 14-year-old Tariq, were taken to Mendhar hospital.
Their father, Mohd Naseeb, said they were hurt when a mortar shell landed near their house.
WATCH | Tunnel of terror detected in J-K's Arnia sector: Is this possible without the support of Pakistan's Rangers?
--- ENDS ---
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/13/2017 -- The West Africa offshore mooring market is highly competitive, thanks to the presence of a large pool of players, finds a new research report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). Innovation and technological advancements in mooring systems is the key strategy adopted by the leading companies looking to strengthen their position in this market. A shift in their focus towards mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships can also be observed over the next few years.
View Full Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/west-africa-offshore-mooring-systems-market.html
Grup Servicii Petroliere S.A., Mampaey Offshore Industries B.V., FMC Technologies Inc., BW Offshore Ltd., and Trelleborg Marine Systems are some of the prominent vendors of offshore mooring systems in West Africa, states the research report.
According to the market study, the overall opportunity in the West Africa offshore mooring system market was worth US$169.70 mn in 2015. Analysts expect it to rise at a CAGR of 4.90% during the period from 2015 to 2024 and reach a value of US$470.2 mn by the end of the period of the forecast. The demand for spread mooring systems is much higher than other products available in this market. The scenario is anticipated to remain same throughout the forecast period.
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West Africa Offshore Mooring Systems Market to be Led by Angola
The report further present an exhaustive analysis of the West Africa market for offshore mooring systems on the basis of its geographical presence. As per the study, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, D.R. Congo, Angola, and Congo Brazzaville are the main geographical segments of the West Africa offshore mooring system market. Among these, Angola dominated the overall market in 2015 with a revenue contribution of US$45.1 mn. Researchers anticipate this domestic market to maintain its leadership over the period of forecast.
The markets for offshore mooring systems in Ghana, Gabon, and Ivory Coast are also projected to witness significant growth over the forthcoming years, thanks to the surging emphasis on energy conservation, increasing investments in their respective oil and gas industry, and the continued rise in exploration and production activities, notes the study.
Drag embedment, suction, and vertical load anchors are considered as the key type of anchors used in offshore mooring in this research report. With 30.7%, the drag embedment anchors segment led the West Africa offshore mooring systems market in 2015 and is expected to remain doing so over the next few years, states the report.
Request to download and view full ToC - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/22532
Need for Efficient Management of Marine Fuel to Boost Demand
"The increase in the demand for energy in West Africa despite fluctuating prices of oil has been the most prominent factor behind the growth of the offshore mooring systems market in this region," says an analyst in TMR. As marine fuel cost accounts for a heavy portion of the vessel operating cost, the need for an efficient management of marine fuel has increased considerably. With offshore mooring systems being highly effective in monitoring, controlling, and reporting of marine fuel consumption, their demand is likely to augment remarkably in the oil and gas industry of West Africa in the near future, reflecting positively on this market.
The technological advancement in mooring products is also projected to boost this market over the forecast period. However, the high cost of investments needed for exploration and production activities may hamper the market's growth in the coming years, states the report.
Global Offshore Mooring Systems Market Report is available at US$ 5795 - http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=22532
San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/13/2017 -- Global Pharmacovigilance Market: Snapshot
Pharmacovigilance (PV) is a process refereeing to the detection, collection, prevention, and monitoring of negative effects that may occur because of the use of pharmaceutical products and other drugs. PV services cater to a wide range of drug related activities such as discovery of a drug to its commercialization. It also helps with the utilization of tools and software that reviews, classifies data on drugs and pharmaceutical products. There has been a soaring demand for pharmacovigilance services due factors such as rising drug consumption, growing prevalence of chronic diseases, respiratory disorders, and cancer symptoms, among others. In addition to this, a large number of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) has added a substantial burden on healthcare sector leading to the increased demand for pharmacovigilance.
The global pharmacovigilance market is expanding at a swiftly. Many leading pharmaceutical and IT companies are strategically collaborating and actively promoting pharmacovigilance software to bolster their market contribution. There are extensive post-market controlling mechanisms set up by multiple government supervisory agencies that concentrates on safety and efficiency of the various pharmaceutical products after they are pitched in the market. The governments have also established centers to enhance the pharmacovigilance services. For instance, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has aimed to assign around 40 pharmacovigilance officials across the country to coordinate with various ADR centers and strengthen reporting and monitoring of ADR activities. Increased mortality rate because of ADRs and rising awareness among patients about the safety and efficiency of the drugs are expected to be the significant driving factors for the growth of the global pharmacovigilance market.
Request Sample Copy of the Report@ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1328
Global Pharmacovigilance Market: Overview
Pharmacovigilance (PV) is a scientific process pertaining to the collection, detection, monitoring, and prevention of adverse effects that may arise due to use of drugs and pharmaceutical products.
Pharmacovigilance services cater to drug development activities ranging from its discovery to commercialization and consist of tools and software that helps in reviewing, classifying, creating, and other data. PV occupies a critical role in drug regulation system that helps in comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Increasing instances of ADR cause an extension of patient morbidity, increase hospitalization fees, and thus pose a significant burden on any responsive healthcare system. These factors stimulate the demand for pharmacovigilance services worldwide and contribute to the expansion of the market. Several pharmaceutical companies prefer collaborating with BPOs and contract research organizations (CROs) for pharmacovigilance services to bring down the cost and augment the operational efficiency.
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Global Pharmacovigilance Market: Trends
The global pharmacovigilance market is primarily driven by the rising incidence of ADR, soaring patient awareness regarding safety of drugs, and stringent regulations by various agencies related to drug approvals. Strict guidelines related to clinical trials of new drug therapies and mandatory requirements to keep electronic medical records (EMR) have propelled the growth of the PV market. Initiatives taken by renowned regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA), and global organizations such as the WHO have mounted pressures on several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to manufacture safe drugs. This is expected to stimulate the demand for pharmacovigilance.
Furthermore, the rising trend of outsourcing of PV services to BPOs and CROs has resulted in effective drug regulation system. These outsourcing entities offer pharmacovigilance services that have high regulatory compliance, enhanced productivity, and better strategic outcomes, thus boosting the global PV market. However, concerns of patient data safety, rise in web-based sale of drugs, and lack of expertise are the key factors that may impede the growth of the market to some extent. Nevertheless, the rising number of clinical trials, particularly phase 3 and phase 4 clinical trial will unlock abundant opportunities for the market players.
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Global Pharmacovigilance Market: Market Potential
The global pharmacovigilance is growing at a rapid pace. Intense post-market monitoring mechanisms set up by various government regulatory agencies increasingly focus on safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products after they are launched in the market. This has led to a flurry of PV activities and procedures. Various coordination initiatives between national agencies, healthcare providers, and regional pharmacovigilance centers in several countries such as France, China, India, Romania, and Turkey have put the onus on pharmaceutical companies to collect and assess information relating to adverse drug effects. Subsequently, effective measures can be taken to prevent and mitigate the risks.
Furthermore, governments in various countries have created centers to expand PV services. For instance, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has intended to appoint as many as 40 district product safety pharmacovigilance officials in the country; these officials will coordinate with different ADR centers to strengthen the monitoring and reporting of ADR activities. These initiatives are expected to provide a robust boost to the market across the region.
Global Pharmacovigilance Market: Regional Outlook
The pharmacovigilance market in the U.S. held a prominent share in 2016 and the regional market is expected to rise at healthy CAGR during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to the rising mortality rates due to ADR and soaring awareness of patients on safety and efficacy of drugs. Asia Pacific is expected to expand at positive CAGR in the next five years. Growth witnessed in the region will be driven by stringent health care regulations, vast geriatric base, intense government initiatives to set up PV centers, and rising number of clinical trials conducted.
Global Pharmacovigilance Market: Competitive Landscape
Major technology and IT companies are actively launching pharmacovigilance software to strengthen their market shares. Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies are forming strategic collaborations with key contract research organizations (CRO) to expand their market presence in various regions. This has also enabled them to gain a better foothold in major regions by effectively positioning their services to new clients. Major players operating in this market include Accenture, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ICON, Covance, PAREXEL, Quintiles, Synowlwedge, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, and United BioSource.
About TMR Research
TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in today's supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients' conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.
Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a jibe at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav calling him a leader with distorted mind.
By Rohit Kumar Singh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a jibe at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav calling him a leader with distorted mind.
In a veiled attack on Lalu, PM Modi said that the RJD chief was against development and a leader who did not believe in building roads and highways in the state.
"There have been some leaders in Bihar who have always questioned the need to build roads here. People who talk like this have a distorted mind," said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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PM Modi today laid the foundation stone of several development projects worth Rs 3750 crore at a function in Mokama, which includes building national highways, roads and sewage treatment plants.
Stressing on Centre's commitment to develop Bihar, PM said the work that has been undertaken by them will soon ensure changing the fortune of the people of the state. He also laid stress on his ambitious project "Namami Gange" maintaining that construction of four sewage treatment plants in the state will ensure that Ganga becomes clean and people can enjoy celebrating Chatth Puja on the bank of the Ganga.
"Saving the Ganga will only save our next generation. If Ganga becomes clean, its continuity will happen on its own. The sewage treatment project the Centre is starting today will ensure in cleaning the Ganga and soon the people of the state will enjoy celebrating Chhath Puja on banks of Ganga," said Prime Minister Modi.
Prime Minister also laid emphasis on his ambitious Swachh Bharat Abhiyan appealing the states to build toilets. He also on called upon the huge gathering present at the public meeting in Mokama to make their villages open defecation free.
He further reiterated his commitment for the development of Eastern India which includes states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Northeast.
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FLORENCE, S.C. Glenn Odom, a former Florence School District One board member, apologized for sending to a district office employee emails in which he called African-American board members darkies.
Odom made the apology on Friday afternoon at the Helping Florence Flourish citywide prayer gathering at First Presbyterian Church.
Odom said he is remorseful, sad and apologetic.
I was brought up to respect people, to respect all people, Odom said.
Odom sent the emails in August, but he said he wishes he had an unsend button. He said what he did was out of character.
Alexis Pipkins Sr., an African-American school board member, held a news conference Friday morning at the district office. He said that his name was in one of Odoms emails, and he was referred to as HD. Pipkins said he thinks this stands for head darkie.
However, Pipkins said that his issue with Odom is separate from how the matter was handled. Pipkins said the emails were sent on Aug. 29, and he was notified on Sept. 20.
In the meantime, he said, nontransparent, backroom politics happened in the district.
Pipkins said the superintendent should have relayed the information to the full board, not just the chairman. Pipkins also said that the boards chairman and vice chairwoman received legal advice without the full board being present. He said he disapproves of this action.
They never walked in my shoes to know what my perspective or my reaction would be as it relates to board member Odom, Pipkins said.
Dr. Randy Bridges, superintendent, said he always knew the matter would be fully discussed in public.
It is unreasonable for the action of a former board member, which seems to be lost in the discussion, to call into question my integrity, reputation and commitment to the children and employees of our school district, Bridges said.
Pipkins said he will make a request to SLED and the Justice Department to ask for an investigation or audit of the districts email system to determine if other acts are being communicated.
Barry Townsend, board chairman, said the email situation was handled appropriately and supported by others.
All of the board members, including board member Alexis Pipkins, expressed their support and gratitude for how I had handled the situation when they were made aware of the incident and the steps I had taken up to that point, Townsend said.
Odoms emails were sent on Aug. 29, and Bridges shared the information with Townsend that day. Townsend shared the emails with Trisha Caulder, vice chairwoman, the next day. Townsend and Caulder met with Odom and sought legal advice before Townsend began contacting other board members, beginning Sept. 19.
Odom resigned on Oct. 2, and the email issue was discussed Thursday at the boards October meeting.
Pipkins said it should have been discussed at the September meeting.
Moving forward, Pipkins said, the board and superintendent should develop race, equity and diversity training sessions.
The board needs training immediately, Pipkins said. It is on a course of collision with this leadership. Abuse of authority and leadership and bullying and coercive, subtle strategies have no place in leadership of public institution or governing bodies.
Attendees at the Helping Florence Flourish event prayed for the school board, church congregations and unity.
Allie Brooks, a retired District One school administrator, said a wrong was done, but forgiveness has been offered.
Teresa Ervin, A Florence city councilwoman, prayed that Florence would address racial tensions, heal and move forward.
At the event, leaders also shared successes in racial unity in Florence.
Last in a series
NICHOLS, S.C. The town of Nichols: proving resilient and strong as we rebuild and recover from the flooding of Hurricane Matthew.
That simple, yet endearing, phrase has become the tight-knit communitys motto a year after the small Marion County community, situated between the Little Pee Dee and Lumber rivers, was nearly destroyed during Hurricane Matthew.
As Matthew skirted the South Carolina coast, Nichols received more than a foot of rain in less than 48 hours. This phenomenon engorged nearby rivers and creeks, causing widespread flooding that shut down the town for weeks.
Of the towns 261 homes, 252 were destroyed or severely damaged in addition to nearly 300 vehicles and more than 20 businesses. At the height of the flood, Nichols had no water service, no sewer and no police or fire capabilities.
The town was on the brink of total loss.
Now, however, the town is fighting to recover and is making progress albeit slow.
It feels slow, but communities that have dealt with something this bad before say were ahead of the curve, Mayor Lawson Battle said. Obviously wed like to see recovery move faster, and we certainly have a long way to go, but we are making progress every day.
Since the flood, about 75 of the 252 damaged homes have been refurbished and 11 businesses have reopened. The Nichols Recovery Fund has rebuilt 18 homes within the last year, and five homes are under construction.
The town has a new $1,500 incentive plan to help get businesses back, and federal and state recovery dollars are finally beginning to roll in.
With flooding becoming a more common problem in low-lying areas of South Carolina, Battle said, measures are being taken to prevent another catastrophic event in Nichols.
Were doing elevation studies, and were trying to get grants to do studies with hydrologists who can tell us what we need to do so flooding wont hit us this hard again, he said. We're working to get mitigation grants, so that could mean canal work and drainage systems to work properly to flow through Nichols and not flood it.
Were leaving no stone unturned. Were going to make sure Nichols survives.
Community leadership is encouraging residents to apply for a Palmetto Disaster Recovery case manager to receive help. The last day to sign up is Nov. 10. Any volunteer help for the Nichols community is still greatly appreciated.
Challissah L'Ecole JMillsChallissah L'Ecole J Mills, 26, of Florence, South Carolina, was at the beginning of her life when it was tragically cut short by a drunk driver. Born in Warren, PA to Lisa M. Hagberg and Rodney Mills, Challissah was a loving daughter, devoted sister and a loyal friend. Her family was always her number one priority. Challissah, along with her three sisters, also known as The Mills Girls, were inseparable, protective, and fiercely close from childhood. Challissah was a role model to her little brother, who shared her love of video games, scary movies, and Pokemon. Challissah was fearless in everything she did. Whether it was fighting fires, making peanut butter blossoms for her friends, or rocking out in her bedroom with her little sister, everything she did was done to the fullest extent. From the time she was a child, she loved to cook and bake with her Grandmother, who inspired her love of sharing sweets with friends and family. Challissah had a dark and daring sense of humor. She was sarcastic, witty and naturally charming. No matter what she did, she wanted everyone to be comfortable around her. Oftentimes, she would give her last or take the least desirable option to ensure everyone's comfort. Challissah cared for all things living, from animals to the elderly, even going as far as earning her CNA license and graduating first in her class. She served as a CNA and spent the past few months of her life, tirelessly caring for her sick mother. She was the proud parent of four cats, who she loved as if they were her children, even taking on a second job just to feed and care for them. She took the time to enjoy the mundane and little things in life. She noticed the things and people that most would have overlooked. She had countless chosen family, whom she loved unconditionally and was a willing support system to anyone who asked. She was known as "Dr. Phil" amongst her friends, as she was the person that people chose to turn to for advice. She graduated from South Florence High School in 2010. She continued her education at Florence-Darlington Technical College, where she served as an education ambassador and was an active member of the Drama club. It was in drama club where she met her partner, Sam Black. They had plans to buy a house, have children and attend culinary school, after which Challissah dreamed of opening her own bakery. She aspired to be a writer deep down, and her brilliance was a constant inspiration.At the time of her death, she was a Shift Leader at Food Lion, and while only employed for a short amount of time, she was recognized and loved by customers, co-workers, and members of the community. Challissah loved Halloween, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter. She loved painting, writing, reading, music, and her friends. She had the kind of creativity that is not seen very often, and a spirit of individuality that could be felt just from being in the same room with her. She is preceded in death by her great-grandparents, Leonard and Marjorie Kibbey, Arnold and Dorothy Ann Hagberg and Eugene "Ben" Hawkins; grandfather, Sonny Mills and godbrother, Jonathan Sveda. She is survived by her mother, Lisa M. Hagberg, Florence, SC; father, Rodney Mills, Harrisburg PA; sisters, Brittanie Mills (Simone) Tyson and Tianna Mills, both of Durham, NC and Shannelle Mills, New Orleans, LA; little brother, Joshua Daniels, Florence, SC; niece, Noah Tyson, Durham; grandmothers, Marjean Hawkins, Youngsville, PA, and Cora Mills, Harrisburg, PA; grandfather, John Hagburg, Sugar Grove, PA; her partner, Sam Black, Dillon, SC, with whom she resided at the time of her death, as well as countless other friends, family, and chosen family. She will be missed incredibly by this world. The family received friends from 5-8 on Friday, October 13th at Stoudenmire-Dowling Funeral Home. A celebration of life memorial service and picnic will be held at Timrod Park on Saturday, October 14, 2017 near the gazebo from 3 7 PM.In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Lisa Hagberg, 1304 Arrowood Drive, Florence, SC 29501 to assist with funeral expenses.
WASHINGTON
More than 80 percent of Puerto Rico is still in the dark, more than a third of its residents still have no clean drinking water, much of the island's infrastructure still lies in ruins and President Trump cruelly threatens to cut off federal aid. Doing so would be government by spite and should be considered an impeachable offense.
Puerto Rico, as any fifth-grader knows, is part of the America that Trump promises to make great again. But the mayor of San Juan has had the temerity to criticize the Trump administration's response to the calamity of Hurricane Maria as slow and inadequate. For Trump, everything is always all about Trump. He desperately craves adulation.
The president complained Sunday on Twitter, "Nobody could have done what I've done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work!" Note the use of "I" instead of "we" or even "my administration." For the record, what Trump has done personally for the people of Puerto Rico was to playfully toss rolls of paper towels into a crowd.
The administration has done much more, of course. But desperate people still facing critical shortages of food and water three weeks after the storm are demanding more action. This makes them "ingrates" in Trump's eyes.
Sadly, those are the kinds of words we've come to expect from this president. But on Thursday he went beyond his usual self-pitying, self-justifying blather to make an outrageous threat: "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!"
That culminated a series of blame-the-victim tweets about how Puerto Rico faces "a financial crisis ... largely of their own making" and how "electric and all infrastructure was [a] disaster before hurricanes." The need to solve the island's debt problem and update its infrastructure is worthy of serious discussion, but not while people are having to collect unpurified water in buckets from mountain springs and not as some kind of justification for cutting off relief aid.
This might be the most un-American thing Donald Trump has ever said or done. I am serious that if he were to actually withdraw emergency assistance while Puerto Rico is still in such condition, Congress should begin impeachment proceedings.
Presidents do not get to pick and choose which Americans to help at times of disaster. We are one country, and we do what we must to help fellow citizens in need. We saw it during this long, terrible hurricane season, in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Texas, Florida strangers helping strangers, regardless of race, income, political views. We are seeing it now as firefighters from around the country converge on Northern California to attack the deadly blazes that are still burning out of control.
It is wrong to describe Trump as any kind of nationalist if he fails to grasp the most fundamental of nationalistic precepts: We leave none of our own on the battlefield.
The responsibility of the federal government is to keep FEMA workers, military personnel and other first responders in Puerto Rico as long as necessary. It is important to do so because their presence will save lives. It is also important because doing anything else would violate the American compact. If Trump really were to turn his back on Puerto Rico, he would be guilty of a "high crime" and disqualified to continue in office.
I know that President Trump delights in violating political norms and causing the commentariat to run around with its hair on fire. I know that he sometimes says provocative things on Twitter to distract from his administration's failures, to rally his base, to provoke his enemies or even just to blow off steam. I know that it's impossible to take any one tweet too seriously, since it might be directly contradicted by the next tweet.
But Trump actually went to Puerto Rico, and while he did not see the worst of the devastation, he saw more than enough. He knows that recovery is going to be a long, extensive and largely thankless job. But that is the job he signed up for when he took the oath of office. Congress must not allow him to shirk his duty.
To divide the country with rhetoric, as Trump so often does, is one thing. But to actually abandon 3.4 million Americans in their hour of need would not only be an unprecedented and shameful act. It would be grounds for removing an unfit man from the high office he dishonors.
By India Today Web Desk: After his devotional drama Om Namo Venkatesaya, superstar Nagarjuna is back to the silver screen with Raju Gari Gadhi 2. The horror-thriller film, that released on Friday, has opened to decent response from the audience. The critics particularly appreciated the performances of Nagarjuna, Seerat Kapoor and Samantha.
As trade reports, Raju Gari Gadhi 2 is said to have earned Rs 8.4 crore on its opening day. Raju Gari Gadhi 2 has raked in Rs 53 lakh from its premiere shows in the US. considering the positive word-of-mouth, the Nagarjuna-starrer is expected to fetch enough money for the producers.
Telugu film #RajuGariGadhi2 starts well in USA... Thu previews $ 80,916 [? 52.36 lakhs] from 87 locations... @Rentrak- taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) October 13, 2017
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Directed by Ohmkar, Raju Gari Gadhi 2 has reportedly collected Rs 24 crore through its satellite and other rights. Tipped to be a horror-thriller, the film marks Samantha Akkineni's first release after marriage.
Raju Gari Gadhi 2 is said to be based on the Malayalam film Pretham that released last year. The film also stars Vennela Kishore, Seerat Kapoor and Ashwin Babu in important roles. Kajal Aggarwal is rumoured to be playing a cameo.
WATCH HERE: Raju Gari Gadhi 2 Trailer
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Last Tuesday, Baig was caught on camera using derogatory language to describe Modi at a party meeting in his constituency, Shivajinagar. The BJP isn't interested in an apology.
By Nolan Pinto: The BJP's Bengaluru unit has filed a criminal defamation complaint against Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig, who was filmed using a Tamil expletive to insult Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP said that if police don't file an FIR against Baig, it will take the matter to court. The party isn't interested in an apology, and wants him out of Chief Minister Siddaramiah's cabinet.
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Baig is the Minister for Infrastructure, Urban Development, Information and Haj.
"Roshan Baig has scolded the PM of the nation and also used filthy language to abuse the PM, and that is why a complaint has been filed," Karnataka BJP spokesperson Ashwathnarayan told India Today.
BJP MP Pratap Simha tweeted pictures of a protest against Baig.
Protest against Roshan Baig at Somwarpet pic.twitter.com/dGhZBplipk- Pratap Simha (@mepratap) October 14, 2017
Last Tuesday, Roshan Baig was caught on camera using derogatory language to describe Modi at a party meeting in his constituency, Shivajinagar.
He later said he only knew "tooti-phooti" Tamil, and that he had the "highest respect and regards" for Modi.
"He is not a BJP PM, he is the PM of the nation. I don't know Tamil properly and I just quoted what people, traders, supporters and marwadis said after the GST and demonetisation. I never use such language and I never used it against our PM," he said.
"I don't use such words even against servants."
The BJP, he said, "doesn't have anything to highlight. They are just raising questions against Congress leaders."
"Today, they are targeting me."
WATCH | Congress VP Rahul Gandhi mocks Modi govt over Global Hunger Index report
--- ENDS ---
Devasom Board President Prayar Gopalakrishnan stirred a controversy asking if Sabarimala should be made a Thailand by letting women enter and this, of course, did not go down well with many people.
By P S Gopikrishnan Unnithan, Nolan Pinto: Travancore Devasom Board President Prayar Gopalakrishnan sparked controversy with his new statement regarding women entering the Sabarimala temple. Gopalakrishan who spoke to media in Kottayam said, "Don't try to make Sabarimala Thailand", hinting that if women are allowed to enter, Sabarimala will become a tourist centre.
What will be the situation if women between the age of 10 to 50 climb uphill under challenging weather conditions without any safety? Should we make Sabarimala a Thailand", he asked.
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"It's for this reason that we are restricting women in this age group. It's nothing personal. Both safety and rituals are equally important, we need to see both of these together. Even if the court says that women in this age group can enter Sabarimala we are sure that no members from a dignified "believer's" family will not step in", he said.
Many slammed Gopalakrishan for making the comment saying his statement reeked of gender bias. Kerala Minister for Devasom Kadakampally Surendran came down hard against Gopikrishnan, stating that his remarks had both women and followers of Lord Ayyappa. In his Facebook post, Surendran noted that Gopalakrishan's remarks are humiliating to the women below the age of 10 and above 50 who donot face any restrictions as of now.
Gopalakrishan thinks women who go to Sabarimala are shameless, wrote the Surendran. The state government does not have any presuppositions about the final verdict. The state government and Devasom Board are bound to accept the court order, said the minister. Surendran ended his post saying Gopalakrishnan should retract his 'Thailand' comment and issue a public apology.
With the Supreme court referring the case to constitutional bench, the battle of ideologies will intensify in the days to come.
WHAT DO DEVOTEES SAY?
It was pouring continuously as we reached Sabrimala on a day when the Supreme Court was to deliver a verdict on the question of whether women between the age group of 10-50 can be allowed to enter the holy shrine.
The whole place was deserted but some preparations were going on to welcome devotees in another few days. We happened to move to a spot where an elderly gentleman who was about to take the arduous journey to the hill shrine. He happened to enquire with us the Supreme Court verdict on the case relating the ban on women's entry into Sabrimala temple.
We informed him that the case was still being heard and what he had to say about this all. He stared for a minute or so and replied, "Let us leave this decision to god."
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Yesterday, the SC referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench a bunch of petitions challenging the age-old practice. It will now decide whether the rights of women, especially their fundamental right to religious freedom and to pray at the place of their choice, can be discriminated against by a temple managed by a statutory board.
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Wind-whipped flames blew up early Saturday, prompting epic firefights to save two of Californias signature tourist towns, but one triumphant win was soon overshadowed by defeat 30 miles away.
The frustrating scenario involved two fires the Tubbs Fire in Napa County and the Nuns Fire in Sonoma County and two towns Calistoga and Sonoma and perfectly illustrates the capricious nature of fire, and the infernal struggle against the forces of nature.
The wrenching drama played out as firefighters battled the deadliest cluster of wildfires to hit Northern California in state history the death toll increased to 40 Saturday. Bolstered by tanker planes and bulldozers, they saved the spa town of Calistoga from the 35,000-acre Tubbs Fire only to watch helplessly hours later as the 46,000-acre Nuns Fire swooped down from the mountains east of Sonoma and torched homes in the famous Mission town.
Were making progress in certain areas, said Steve Crawford, the operations section chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, and were losing acreage in other areas.
Now Playing: Saturday morning Video: SFChronicle
The battle to save Calistoga from rampaging flames began at about 2 a.m. when winds which had been promised for days arrived with a fury. A small army of firefighters and police was all that stood between the Tubbs Fires uncertain path and the storied town.
It was the moment they had been waiting for.
But firefighters werent relying on strength alone. They were prepared to outsmart the blaze.
Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle
In the long hours leading up to the confrontation, they had used fire tankers flanked by large trucks carrying thousands of gallons of water to wet everything they could reach, running hoses into valleys and up peaks. The hope was that the damp ground would prevent anything that caught fire from spreading. That it would stop the fire from jumping too close to town.
Although Calistoga remained under a mandatory evacuation order issued Tuesday, a handful of residents remained, too stubborn to heed orders.
As the fire approached, sending embers that started spot fires, one of the army of engines on the front lines whichever was closest to the blaze would race over and put it out. It went this way for hours. And Calistoga was saved.
It was a different story in Sonoma.
Erratic winds drove the Nuns Fire into the town for the first time since the blazes broke out a week ago.
On West Spain Street, a block from historic Sonoma Plaza, 62-year old Jim Caroompas was jerked awake by a phone call well before dawn.
A buddy down the street called and said, Hey, we gotta move now, he said. The smoke was the thickest it has been since the fires started. It was stinging my eyes, and I had trouble breathing.
The fire devoured houses around Wood Valley and Lovall roads an area dotted with upscale homes, towering oaks and eucalyptus trees. Three homes on Castle Road burned to the ground just a half mile east of the Sonoma town square.
Just a few blocks away, on Half Moon Street, several more houses went up in smoke.
The winds were bad. It was weird. Theyd come in one direction and then another, just whipping everything everywhere, said Tony Anderson, a firefighter with the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District who worked overnight in the neighborhood.
The fires burned homes about a mile east of Sonoma Plaza and the famous Spanish Mission. By daylight, 250 people had been evacuated.
We fought it all night, said Abel Solis, a firefighter with the North Sonoma Coast Fire Department, as he put out hot spots. The winds were pretty bad and it lit up pretty good, but we beat it.
As if that wasnt enough, the rampaging Nuns Fire also spread into the beleaguered city of Santa Rosa.
The Nuns Fire made a run toward the Oakmont neighborhood of Santa Rosa, catapulting a fiery new 450-acre spot fire ahead into Adobe Canyon, off Pythian Road, near the closed St. Francis Winery and Vineyard. Helicopters dumped tons of retardant on the slopes above Ledson Winery and Highway 12, where thick, dirty brown smoke hung behind a line of trees Saturday afternoon.
The spot fire forced a hurried evacuation of homes around Highway 12 in Kenwood.
An estimated 3,000 residents of Santa Rosa were ordered out.
The renewed threat surprised Joe Titone and his wife, who returned to their home in eastern Santa Rosas Skyhawk community Friday after evacuating days earlier only to be awakened at 4:30 a.m. by sirens and an evacuation alert.
Last night we thought we were in the clear, Titone said as he watched smoke billow. That was our mistake.
The fire, which has gathered steam since it broke out last Sunday, was pushed by 20 mph winds out of the northeast that meteorologists warn could last through the weekend.
Bret Gouvea, a Cal Fire incident commander, said it isnt clear whether any more homes in Santa Rosa burned on Saturday.
The defense of Calistoga highlighted the progress fire officials have made on the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County, which was 50 percent contained, and the equally dangerous Atlas Fire, which is holding steady at 50,000 acres and was 48 percent contained.
But the blistering Nuns Fire was emerging as another big threat. Its only 10 percent contained, and it grew to 46,000 acres after several adjacent fires combined into one.
Driving the flames is the same enemy firefighters have contended with all week wind. Although not of the same intensity as the gales that pushed the initial fires through Napa and Sonoma counties a week ago, the gusts Saturday were enough to spread the disaster.
We do expect winds to sustain and maybe even increase, said Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
The firefight is one of the most intensive mobilizations in California history, with more than 10,000 firefighters on the lines, including 4,000 U.S. Forest Service crew members and 12 elite hot shot crews. They are working around the clock on 17 out-of-control fires statewide, including 15 in Northern California, that have blackened 222,000 acres, or about 330 square miles.
Dave Teter, the deputy director of Cal Fire, called the multitudes an army on the fire line in the midst of this devastating natural disaster.
At least 22 people have died in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, six in Napa County and four in Yuba County.
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.
Thousands of missing-persons reports have been filed in the chaotic aftermath of the fires, but many of those people have been found unharmed. Napa County officials said Saturday that 74 people were still unaccounted for, and in Sonoma County the total was 223.
We anticipate the numbers of both damaged and destroyed structures as well as lives lost to continue to increase in the days to come, Teter said. Its a very dynamic situation. ... We ask all the public to be diligent, to be prepared and ready to evacuate in the event things suddenly change.
On Saturday, Gov. Jerry Brown toured neighborhoods that had been destroyed by fire and said he was awed by the devastation.
This is truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest tragedy that California has ever faced, he told reporters at a briefing at Santa Rosa High School. The devastation is just unbelievable. Its a horror that no one could have imagined.
Although Brown said the region was not out of the woods, he said progress had been made and praised the efforts of firefighters and the resiliency of the community.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, joined by Californias junior senator Kamala Harris and Brown in Santa Rosa on Saturday, pledged that federal resources would be there to help fire victims.
This is about the worst fire weve had in my lifetime, the 84-year-old lawmaker said. As such it ought to be treated as such, and the dollars have to come.
With more than 2,800 homes destroyed in Santa Rosa, county health officials are concerned about toxic chemicals and substances in the wreckage.
Karen Relucio, the Napa County health officer, declared a local health emergency, a move she said would help secure state and federal help removing hazardous materials and toxic substances.
The public should not attempt to clean up fire-related debris, she said. The materials are toxic.
Chronicle staff writer Joaquin Palomino, Kurtis Alexander, Dominic Fracassa and Hamed Aleaziz contributed to this report.
Hamed Aleaziz, Kevin Fagan and Catherine Ho are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com, cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz, @kevinchron, @Cat_Ho
Helping and getting help
FEMA is offering assistance to fire victims in Sonoma and Napa counties. For more information go to www.disasterassistance.gov/ or call (800) 621-3362.
The Red Cross is organizing relief efforts in the North Bay. Evacuees trying to connect with family and friends should post on the organizations Safe and Well website: www.redcross.org/safeandwell.
Community volunteers who want to help in relief efforts can sign up with the Red Cross at http://tinyurl.com/RedCrossVolOctober2017.
Donations to help those affected by California wildfires and other disasters can be made at www.redcross.org. People can also call (800) 733-2767 or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
People needing to report or ask about a missing person in Sonoma County can call the county Fire and Emergency Services Department at (707) 565-3856.
For tips on how to prepare for a wildfire, go to www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/wildfire.
For fire information in Sonoma County, call (707) 565-3856.
Donations to help fire victims can be made here: https://www.redwoodcu.org/.
To help Tubbs Fire victims, donate here: http://biturl.in/64.
Food donations can be made at the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa: http://refb.org/.
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Theres a rule in evacuated parts of Wine Country: Once you leave, you cant come back.
Police cruisers, cones and orange-and-white barricades stand between residents and their homes. Officers hold the line and answer questions from anxious homeowners.
No, you cant go down that road, they tell them.
Theres a downed tree. A power line in the road. A fire burning just over the hill.
Most conversations end there.
Not for California Highway Patrol Officer Tracy Ross.
Give me your phone number, she urges them. Tell me where you live.
Ross, who lives in Napa, has been stationed at a cutoff road near the Silverado Country Club, which was ravaged by fire Sunday night.
Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle
The area was under a mandatory evacuation order for five days. Holdouts who refused to leave their homes were cut off from everything. They couldnt leave to get food or to fill up their cars. Some had animals or sick relatives to care for.
In a thick notebook typically reserved for accident diagrams and crash reports, Ross jots down names and numbers. She knows who has pets and who raises cattle. She knows if someones relatives have been hospitalized or evacuated. And she knows where everyone who stayed lives.
All week, residents and visitors have been dropping off food and water for first responders.
On Tuesday, the second day the neighborhood was in lockdown, Ross made some food drops of her own.
She bought bags of groceries with her own money and sent her husband to fetch specialty items. She brought food to two families, cat food to another. In the afternoon, she dropped off doughnuts at the home of Matt Bishop, an attorney who owns a ranch on Monticello Road.
Bishop couldnt ignore the irony.
Oh wow, he said, laughing. Im getting doughnuts from a cop.
Ross, who patrols Napa regularly, said shes gotten to know the neighborhood where shes been posted. She knows who lives where, and shes written notes of passage that allowed certain residents to go through the barricades.
When cell phones werent working and no one could find reliable information, Ross said, they would come to her and ask.
It calms them down if you just talk to them and tell them whats going on, she said. In times like this, I just treat people how I would want to be treated if it were me on the other side.
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.
Like many first responders here this week, Ross has all but forgotten what day it is. She got called out of bed Monday about 2:30 a.m., when the fires began engulfing the Napa and Sonoma hills. Since then, shes been working long hours, up to 18 in a shift, blocking off roads as roaring wildfires continue to burn on three sides of Napa County.
Still, she takes time to take care of the community.
On Wednesday, when a crying mother called her cell phone saying she hadnt seen her hospitalized daughter in three days, Ross got in her patrol car and took the woman to Queen of the Valley hospital. She waited, then brought her home.
On Friday evening, after a couple dropped off a box filled with hot, home-cooked food, Ross notified the neighborhood.
Within minutes, pickup trucks and SUVs were pulling up to her checkpoint. The residents each walked away with a foil-wrapped plate, grateful grins on their faces.
This lady right here is the real hero, said Kyle Bishop, Matt Bishops son.
Ross smiled beneath her face mask, shaking her head.
We all have to work together and help each other out if were going to get through this, Ross said. Im not doing anything special. Just helping Napa residents who need help.
Marissa Lang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com
John Racanelli, a former state appeals court justice in San Francisco and author of a key ruling on water quality in California, died Thursday at his home in New York after a long illness. He was 91.
Justice Racanelli was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1977 to the First District Court of Appeal, where he served as a presiding justice. He described himself jokingly as a double brownie, as he had spent the previous 13 years on the Santa Clara County Superior Court, appointed by Browns father, Gov. Pat Brown. He retired from the bench in 1991.
His ruling for a three-justice panel in 1986 helped to establish the authority of Californias water board to protect water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and in other state waterways.
The Water Resources Control Board has the power and the duty to provide water quality protection to the fish and wildlife that make up the delicate ecosystem within the Delta, Justice Racanelli wrote.
He said the board must protect waterways even if that meant reducing water allocations to farmers and municipalities, and must use a global perspective that takes into account the impact on rivers elsewhere in the state, the effect of water diversion and pollution, and future water uses. The precedent-setting ruling became known, in water law, as the Racanelli Decision.
He also wrote a 1983 ruling protecting the rights of children with disabilities. It involved a child who was born with Down syndrome and placed in an institution by his parents, who objected to potentially lifesaving heart surgery when he was a teen. Justice Racanellis decision allowed appointment of a guardian to consent to the surgery, which was performed when he was 16.
Jay Spears, a lawyer for the child in the case, said the ruling helped to establish that mentally impaired children in institutions are entitled to have their basic human needs met.
Brown paid tribute Friday, saying, John was a thoughtful judge who cared about people and did his part to right wrongs and ensure that justice was administered fairly and with a sense of compassion.
John T. Racanelli was born in Landsdowne, Pa., in 1925, the child of Italian immigrants who moved to San Francisco when the future jurist was in high school. After graduating, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was an aerial navigator in both World War II and the Korean War.
He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1949 and from the UC Hastings College of Law in 1952, then practiced law in San Francisco and Sunnyvale. He became active in Democratic politics and was a delegate to the partys 1964 convention in Atlantic City before his first judicial appointment.
As a judge, he served as president of the California Judges Association and the American Judicature Society. He also was a member of the Commission on Judicial Performance, the states judicial disciplinary agency, for 11 years, including eight years as chairman.
After retirement, Justice Racanelli served on the boards of the Bay Institute, which promotes conservation; the Koshland Committee, which supports organizations in low-income communities; and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He also worked as a private arbitrator.
In 2014, he was one of nine former high-ranking state judges who sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to release three Cubans who had been convicted of spying by a jury in Florida, in an area of intense hostility to the Communist government. Obamas release of the prisoners, while Cuba freed an imprisoned U.S. government contractor, played a role in an agreement to restore relations between the two nations.
Justice Racanellis death was reported by his wife of 35 years, journalist Betty Medsger. In a Facebook post, she said he passed away peacefully Thursday morning while she and his son, Chris Racanelli, were sitting at his bedside, giving him medication, sharing breakfast and chatting among the three of them.
What Chris and I thought might have been his falling asleep was instead his last breath, she wrote. This seemingly easy transition came after much suffering from 18 months of congestive heart failure and pneumonia.
Justice Racanelli is also survived by daughters Karen and Laurie; sons John and Tom; their mother; brothers Anthony and Joseph Racanelli; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Memorial services are planned in New York and San Francisco.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko
As the sun set on Geyserville Friday evening, a glow of fire could be seen in the distance while plumes of smoke barreled into the air.
Officials ordered more mandatory evacuations in the grape-growing town of Geyserville this time in Alexander Valley as the Pocket Fire threatened to gain momentum with heavy winds in the forecast.
But even with an ominous glow of fire in the distance, repeated calls from family members and a knock on the door from a sheriff residents like 73-year-old Robert Tankersley still refused to leave.
They have their merits, Tankersley said, while standing in his driveway, pointing at the ridges covered with smoke. But he wasnt budging because, he said, he felt that after the devastation in Santa Rosa, authorities were being overly cautious.
Authorities have been adamant that the danger is severe and unpredictable and they have urged people to get out of evacuated areas.
In Geyserville, officials ordered a series of evacuations for parts of the town throughout the week. While many residents initially defied the evacuation orders, some were seen packing their cars Friday evening in Alexander Valley.
In downtown Geyserville where there has only been an evacuation advisory, not a mandatory order life seemed to go about as normal, with many businesses and restaurants still open.
Some even reveled in the spectacle of it all. On Friday, Dennis Betts and his friends sat with binoculars on the side of road near downtown, and watched as helicopters dumped buckets of water onto the smoke that blanked the ridges beyond the Russian River.
Were just watching to see where it goes next, Betts, who has come to the same spot throughout the week.
The Pocket Fire has already burned more than 10,000 acres of land since Monday, and was only about 5 percent contained Friday.
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But back in Alexander Valley, about a 15 minute drive from downtown, Tankersely said he has it all under control.
Since the fires began Monday, hes been waking up every few hours at night to water down his roof and around his house. He is also constantly checking the direction of the wind.
The sheriff came by after the evacuation was ordered Friday and flagged his house, which means, if the fire comes when hes still in there hes on his own.
Hes sure hell be fine, he said. But just in case, his truck is packed with medication, his passport, a checkbook and family pictures.
Ive been watching it since day one, Tankersley said, pointing at his back porch. When I see embers, then Ill take a hike OK?
Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com
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Wind-whipped flames blew up early Saturday, prompting epic firefights to save two of Californias signature tourist towns, but one triumphant win was soon overshadowed by defeat 30 miles away.
The frustrating scenario involved two fires the Tubbs Fire in Napa County and the Nuns Fire in Sonoma County and two towns Calistoga and Sonoma and perfectly illustrates the capricious nature of fire, and the infernal struggle against the forces of nature.
The wrenching drama played out as firefighters battled the deadliest cluster of wildfires to hit Northern California in state history the death toll increased to 40 Saturday. Bolstered by tanker planes and bulldozers, they saved the spa town of Calistoga from the 35,000-acre Tubbs Fire only to watch helplessly hours later as the 46,000-acre Nuns Fire swooped down from the mountains east of Sonoma and torched homes in the famous Mission town.
Were making progress in certain areas, said Steve Crawford, the operations section chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, and were losing acreage in other areas.
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The battle to save Calistoga from rampaging flames began at about 2 a.m. when winds which had been promised for days arrived with a fury. A small army of firefighters and police was all that stood between the Tubbs Fires uncertain path and the storied town.
It was the moment they had been waiting for.
But firefighters werent relying on strength alone. They were prepared to outsmart the blaze.
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In the long hours leading up to the confrontation, they had used fire tankers flanked by large trucks carrying thousands of gallons of water to wet everything they could reach, running hoses into valleys and up peaks. The hope was that the damp ground would prevent anything that caught fire from spreading. That it would stop the fire from jumping too close to town.
Although Calistoga remained under a mandatory evacuation order issued Tuesday, a handful of residents remained, too stubborn to heed orders.
As the fire approached, sending embers that started spot fires, one of the army of engines on the front lines whichever was closest to the blaze would race over and put it out. It went this way for hours. And Calistoga was saved.
It was a different story in Sonoma.
Erratic winds drove the Nuns Fire into the town for the first time since the blazes broke out a week ago.
On West Spain Street, a block from historic Sonoma Plaza, 62-year old Jim Caroompas was jerked awake by a phone call well before dawn.
A buddy down the street called and said, Hey, we gotta move now, he said. The smoke was the thickest it has been since the fires started. It was stinging my eyes, and I had trouble breathing.
The fire devoured houses around Wood Valley and Lovall roads an area dotted with upscale homes, towering oaks and eucalyptus trees. Three homes on Castle Road burned to the ground just a half mile east of the Sonoma town square.
Just a few blocks away, on Half Moon Street, several more houses went up in smoke.
The winds were bad. It was weird. Theyd come in one direction and then another, just whipping everything everywhere, said Tony Anderson, a firefighter with the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District who worked overnight in the neighborhood.
The fires burned homes about a mile east of Sonoma Plaza and the famous Spanish Mission. By daylight, 250 people had been evacuated.
We fought it all night, said Abel Solis, a firefighter with the North Sonoma Coast Fire Department, as he put out hot spots. The winds were pretty bad and it lit up pretty good, but we beat it.
As if that wasnt enough, the rampaging Nuns Fire also spread into the beleaguered city of Santa Rosa.
The Nuns Fire made a run toward the Oakmont neighborhood of Santa Rosa, catapulting a fiery new 450-acre spot fire ahead into Adobe Canyon, off Pythian Road, near the closed St. Francis Winery and Vineyard. Helicopters dumped tons of retardant on the slopes above Ledson Winery and Highway 12, where thick, dirty brown smoke hung behind a line of trees Saturday afternoon.
The spot fire forced a hurried evacuation of homes around Highway 12 in Kenwood.
An estimated 3,000 residents of Santa Rosa were ordered out.
The renewed threat surprised Joe Titone and his wife, who returned to their home in eastern Santa Rosas Skyhawk community Friday after evacuating days earlier only to be awakened at 4:30 a.m. by sirens and an evacuation alert.
Last night we thought we were in the clear, Titone said as he watched smoke billow. That was our mistake.
The fire, which has gathered steam since it broke out last Sunday, was pushed by 20 mph winds out of the northeast that meteorologists warn could last through the weekend.
Bret Gouvea, a Cal Fire incident commander, said it isnt clear whether any more homes in Santa Rosa burned on Saturday.
The defense of Calistoga highlighted the progress fire officials have made on the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County, which was 50 percent contained, and the equally dangerous Atlas Fire, which is holding steady at 50,000 acres and was 48 percent contained.
But the blistering Nuns Fire was emerging as another big threat. Its only 10 percent contained, and it grew to 46,000 acres after several adjacent fires combined into one.
Driving the flames is the same enemy firefighters have contended with all week wind. Although not of the same intensity as the gales that pushed the initial fires through Napa and Sonoma counties a week ago, the gusts Saturday were enough to spread the disaster.
We do expect winds to sustain and maybe even increase, said Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
The firefight is one of the most intensive mobilizations in California history, with more than 10,000 firefighters on the lines, including 4,000 U.S. Forest Service crew members and 12 elite hot shot crews. They are working around the clock on 17 out-of-control fires statewide, including 15 in Northern California, that have blackened 222,000 acres, or about 330 square miles.
Dave Teter, the deputy director of Cal Fire, called the multitudes an army on the fire line in the midst of this devastating natural disaster.
At least 22 people have died in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, six in Napa County and four in Yuba County.
Thousands of missing-persons reports have been filed in the chaotic aftermath of the fires, but many of those people have been found unharmed. Napa County officials said Saturday that 74 people were still unaccounted for, and in Sonoma County the total was 223.
We anticipate the numbers of both damaged and destroyed structures as well as lives lost to continue to increase in the days to come, Teter said. Its a very dynamic situation. ... We ask all the public to be diligent, to be prepared and ready to evacuate in the event things suddenly change.
On Saturday, Gov. Jerry Brown toured neighborhoods that had been destroyed by fire and said he was awed by the devastation.
This is truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest tragedy that California has ever faced, he told reporters at a briefing at Santa Rosa High School. The devastation is just unbelievable. Its a horror that no one could have imagined.
Although Brown said the region was not out of the woods, he said progress had been made and praised the efforts of firefighters and the resiliency of the community.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, joined by Californias junior senator Kamala Harris and Brown in Santa Rosa on Saturday, pledged that federal resources would be there to help fire victims.
This is about the worst fire weve had in my lifetime, the 84-year-old lawmaker said. As such it ought to be treated as such, and the dollars have to come.
With more than 2,800 homes destroyed in Santa Rosa, county health officials are concerned about toxic chemicals and substances in the wreckage.
Karen Relucio, the Napa County health officer, declared a local health emergency, a move she said would help secure state and federal help removing hazardous materials and toxic substances.
The public should not attempt to clean up fire-related debris, she said. The materials are toxic.
Chronicle staff writer Joaquin Palomino, Kurtis Alexander, Dominic Fracassa and Hamed Aleaziz contributed to this report.
Hamed Aleaziz, Kevin Fagan and Catherine Ho are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com, cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz, @kevinchron, @Cat_Ho
Helping and getting help
FEMA is offering assistance to fire victims in Sonoma and Napa counties. For more information go to www.disasterassistance.gov/ or call (800) 621-3362.
The Red Cross is organizing relief efforts in the North Bay. Evacuees trying to connect with family and friends should post on the organizations Safe and Well website: www.redcross.org/safeandwell.
Community volunteers who want to help in relief efforts can sign up with the Red Cross at http://tinyurl.com/RedCrossVolOctober2017.
Donations to help those affected by California wildfires and other disasters can be made at www.redcross.org. People can also call (800) 733-2767 or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
People needing to report or ask about a missing person in Sonoma County can call the county Fire and Emergency Services Department at (707) 565-3856.
For tips on how to prepare for a wildfire, go to www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/wildfire.
For fire information in Sonoma County, call (707) 565-3856.
Donations to help fire victims can be made here: https://www.redwoodcu.org/.
To help Tubbs Fire victims, donate here: http://biturl.in/64.
Food donations can be made at the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa: http://refb.org/.
Many strange objects have appeared in San Francisco, but none odder than the head of Joaquin Murieta.
For more than 50 years, the notorious outlaws head was displayed in various places in the city, until it disappeared after the 1906 earthquake and fire. To this day, no one knows exactly where it is.
Its fitting that the whereabouts of Murietas head are shrouded in ambiguity, for his entire life is. As Bruce Thornton writes in Searching for Joaquin: Myth, Murieta and History in California, All the details of (Murietas) story from the crimes Murieta presumably committed to the true identity of the head, can be doubted or disbelieved because of conflicting, contradictory, fraudulent or uncertain evidence.
As a result of this murkiness, Murieta has become a mythical figure, a righteous avenger of the wrongs done to his fellow Latinos. The fountainhead of this myth was a dime novel that depicted Murieta as an innocent miner who was driven from his claim by brutal Americans who raped his beloved in front of him, lynched his brother and whipped him the last act driving him to vow bloody vengeance.
Both Mexicans and Californios were indeed often the victims of American brutality, but as Thornton points out, No evidence has been found that such injustices were ever actually experienced by the historical Joaquin.
The exact facts about Murieta will never be known. But according to the confession of a man named Teodor Vasquez, who got his information from a cellmate thought to be Murietas brother-in-law, Murieta was the leader of a gang made up of Mexicans, Californios and Americans that killed and robbed people of all ethnic groups.
The gangs crime spree began at the Marsh Ranch near Mount Diablo, where they killed a visitor. Then they attacked a nearby ranch, decapitating one man and splitting anothers head open with an ax.
On the Feather River, they cut the throats of a traveler named Gallagher and his servant for $34 in gold, then murdered a teamster and two passersby who came to help.
After a string of additional bloody crimes, the Murieta gang ended up in Calaveras County in 1853. There, they killed dozens of people, many of them Chinese.
Public outrage soon led state officials to create the California Rangers, a force inspired by the Texas Rangers. Led by Harry Love, the Rangers caught up with Murietas gang in the southern San Joaquin Valley on July 25, 1853. In the ensuing gunfight, Murieta and a confederate named Three-Fingered Jack were shot dead.
To ensure that the Rangers collected the $1,000 reward, the story goes, Love ordered the head of Murieta and the head and hand of Three-Fingered Jack cut off and sent to the nearest fort. Jacks head didnt survive the journey, but what was advertised as his hand and Murietas head pickled in whiskey and placed in a glass jar made their way to San Francisco, where they were displayed at John Kings Saloon on Sansome Street, admission $1.
Some newspapers reported that the head wasnt Murietas; others even denied that an outlaw by that name had ever existed. One correspondent mocked the whole story, writing that the outlaw, far from being dead, had been seen swimming the Tuolumne River, carrying his head in his mouth.
Other newspapers decried the display as ghoulish. The Alta California criticized the brutalized wretch who has been exhibiting in this city when he could get a spectator the horrible spectacle of a human head severed from the body.
After its stint at John Kings Saloon, the head was displayed elsewhere in San Francisco by Ranger John Chiles, who said it was the only way he and his colleagues could recoup the money they had spent tracking the gang. The head and hand then dropped out of sight: According to one story, both were stolen.
By 1855, however, the head had reappeared: The sheriff seized it from someone named Wothring for nonpayment of debt, and it was sold at auction for $36. Eventually it ended up in the possession of a gun dealer named Natchez, who later fatally shot himself by accident a contribution to the heads increasingly spooky lore. Various ghost stories surrounded the head, including one in which Murieta appeared nightly to the Ranger who had killed him and said, I am Joaquin and I want my head back.
The heads next owner was a Mr. Craigmiles, who dreamed of making $50,000 by taking it on a national tour. The tour never happened, and Craigmiles apparently unloaded the head for $11.
In 1865, the head arrived at its final known destination a strange place called Dr. Jordans Pacific Museum of Anatomy and Science. Dr. Jordans museum, on Market Street, was an anatomical museum, a genre that no longer exists but which in the 19th century served a quasi-pornographic, quasi-scientific, quasi-freak show function. Such establishments allowed men to leer at naked figures of women, observe examples of venereal disease, and marvel at four-headed chickens, Egyptian mummies, body parts of famous criminals and the like.
Dr. Jordans museum also supported his dubious medical practice. According to a 1916 article in the California State Journal of Medicine, Jordan was a quack whose male visitors, alarmed by the hideous examples of tertiary syphilis they had just seen, would visit his medical office on Union Square. After charging $5 for a urine test, Jordan would gravely inform his patients that their sample was filled with semen and brain particles, and that if they did not begin treatment with him immediately, they would end up looking like the displays they had just seen. The terrified men would pay up to $600 for Jordans bogus cure.
By the time of the 1906 earthquake, Dr. Jordans museum, and Murietas head, had moved to 1209 McAllister St. in the Western Addition. According to one supposed eyewitness account, the quake smashed a glass bowl and lying on its ear among the fragments was the gruesome head of Murrieta (sic). But this eyewitness also claimed that the fire soon destroyed the museum, which didnt happen the Western Addition didnt burn. More plausible is the account of a museum janitor, who said all the specimen jars were smashed and that the specimens that could not be saved were buried in the alley.
If this is true, the head of Joaquin Murieta is entombed beneath tons of concrete, next to other now-decomposed specimens from Dr. Jordans bizarre collection.
But that is not the last word. As Thornton writes, in the 1970s, a Santa Rosa man named Walter Johnson claimed to have the head, which for a time he stored in a vault. According to his granddaughter, Johnson eventually grew tired of being bothered by the health department and buried it in a secret location.
Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco, awarded the Northern California Book Award in creative nonfiction. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: metro@sfchronicle.com
Trivia time
Previous trivia question: Where is Little Hollywood?
Answer: Between Bayshore Boulevard and Highway 101, southeast of Visitacion Valley.
This weeks trivia question: What was a crimp?
Editors note
Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Gary Kamiyas Portals of the Past tells those lost stories, using a specific location to illuminate San Franciscos extraordinary history from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond. His column appears every other Saturday, alternating with Peter Hartlaubs OurSF.
Sanitation staff of north and south civic bodies will go off work from Monday over wages and perks.
By Mail Today: The national Capital's Diwali-eve sanitation crisis, sparked by over 11,000 east Delhi civic workers being on strike from October 11, is all set to get messier.
Encouraged by their doggedness in obtaining pending salaries, bonuses and arrears worth over Rs 800 crore, their colleagues from the north and south municipal corporations will join the protest from Monday.
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The development emerged a day after a Delhi High Court bench led by acting chief justice Gita Mittal directed the city government to clear the arrears and backdated overdue pay hikes of east MCD's sanitation workers from the year 2003 by Monday.
The standing counsel agreed in the court, but it is unclear how the AAP government will fulfill this commitment and arrange Rs 800 crore over the weekend.
EDMC deputy commissioner Atik Ahmad said, "The ball is in the Delhi government's court now. They will have to see what can be done. We are going to receive an advance tax share payment of Rs 108 crore from them by Monday, hopefully. With this, we will clear their Diwali bonus demands. Salaries have already been paid. But arrears are huge and it's not possible for the EDMC to clear it on its own."
A senior officer of the municipal corporation blamed the agency's past political and bureaucratic leadership.
"The regularisation of many thousand safai karmacharis was done before trifurcation. They had asked to be made permanent from that date," he said. "But the leaders, on an appeasement spree, decided to regularise them from a back date, without thinking how much of a financial burden it would create on the corporation," he added.
The unified MCD was trifurcated in 2012, following which the east civic body has been in a dire financial condition with very little house tax and other revenue coming from poor areas such as Seemapuri, Nand Nagri, Bhajanpura, etc. The north MCD is in a somewhat better shape while south MCD is doing well with posh areas like Vasant Kunj and Greater Kailash, which pay much higher property tax.
The arrears of the sanitation staff in north MCD amount to Rs 600 crore, lesser than EDMC though it has more such workers, as fewer people were regularised here. The south MCD, on the other hand, has cleared all of its salaries, pension and Diwali bonus. Sanitation workers here are demanding cashless medical cards.
On the crisis in her corporation, north MCD mayor Preeti Aggarwal said, "I am yet to figure out what can be done. I have called for a meeting on the subject tomorrow, i.e, Sunday, as well. We are trying to find a middle ground so that the justifiable demands of safai workers can be met, and at the same time we don't have to give away Rs 600 crore at one time."
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She also claimed that the AAPled Delhi government owes the corporation Rs 1,616 crore of tax shares based on the fourth finance commission's recommendations. "I have already met chief minister Arvind Kejriwal once, two months back, over the issue, and am constantly writing emails to him. If we don't get this amount, I am ready to sit on dharna outside his residence," she said.
The total 80,000 sanitation staff of the three MCDs forms the backbone of the corporations as its main job is to lift garbage, clear colony drains, sweep roads and maintain hygiene in the city.
The workers have already gone on strike eight times in the past two years, the biggest of which was in January 2017 when streets from Laxmi Nagar to Mayur Vihar to Seemapuri remained littered with filth for days.
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Sanjeev Java, president of the Swatantra Mazdoor Sanyukt Morcha, said, "We are poor people. How long do we carry the burden of our organisation's poor financial health? We have been hearing that the north and east are cash-strapped for years. Why don't they at least merge east and south zone, if not completely unify the three, to overcome this crisis?"
In total, at least 30 safai workers' unions have threatened to come together to protest and strike from October 16.
--- ENDS ---
First Corinthians tells us that love is not envious, boastful or proud. The FDA tells us that it is not a yogurt topping.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently warned a Massachusetts company that love, which was listed among the contents of its granola, is not a common or usual name of an ingredient. That provoked a round of sneers and snickers at the expense of humorless bureaucrats not least from Nashoba Brook Bakerys CEO, who trotted out the obligatory references to George Orwell and the nanny state.
Its worth noting, however, that the granolas emotional heft was disputed among a number of less abstract criticisms of the companys labeling and sanitation practices. Moreover, in its deadpan way, the FDA drew attention to a tasteless trivialization of a transcendent human experience that simply does not belong in the same category as rolled oats. The granola purveyor may not appreciate being told so. But the truth, like love, hurts.
Josh Gohlke, editorial writer
Reginald Hudlins regard for Thurgood Marshall is such that he believes the late civil rights pioneer and U.S. Supreme Court justice should have his countenance etched in granite on Mount Rushmore. But the director of the new film Marshall was not interested in making a great man biopic.
Hudlin wanted to make and delivered, magnificently a legal thriller.
When you make these great man movies, youre on the path to what I call medicine movies: You should watch this movie. Its good for you. Youll learn something, Hudlin said in a meeting with our editorial board last week. That is the worst sales pitch in the world. Its Saturday night! I dont want to learn anything. I worked all week. I want to have a good time.
Put this one on your must-see list.
The movie certainly meets Hudlins goal of a legal thriller that would work even if the central figures name was Joe Schmoe. It is set more than a decade before Marshalls most significant legal triumph, his argument before the U.S. Supreme Court that led to its landmark Brown vs. Board of Education 1954 ruling that banned school segregation.
Marshall is portrayed by Chadwick Boseman, who captured the conviction and swagger of a young lawyer who hopscotched from town to town, often but not exclusively in the South, to defend black men about to be railroaded to a miscarriage of justice. In this case, the town is tony Greenwich, Conn., and the defendant is Joseph Spell (played by Sterling K. Brown), a butler and chauffeur accused of raping and kidnapping his boss wife, socialite Eleanor Strubing (played by Kate Hudson).
Its a thriller, but its also a buddy movie. The supremely confident and dashing Marshall strikes up an unlikely alliance with local lawyer Sam Friedman (played by Josh Gad), who had never before tried a criminal case.
The trial, and the Marshall-Friedman relationship, took a pivotal early turn when the judge refused to let the out-of-state counsel speak during the proceedings. It induced an element of suspense to the outcome. Spoiler alert: It was not the only one.
Thats where this case works for us, Hudlin said. The audience does not know the story or verdict.
But it also gave Boseman pause when he began reading the script.
What I dont speak in the courtroom? asked a skeptical Boseman.
This is an amazing acting challenge because he had to dominate without speaking, Hudlin said. Hes such a wonderfully ambitious actor. Hes driven to the challenge, he doesnt run from it.
That was not the only point of apprehension with Boseman, who had played Jackie Robinson and James Brown in other films.
First of all, he did not want to play another historical figure. Period, said Hudlin.
And there was that other issue that would become apparent to anyone who has seen photos of Marshall and Bosemans films. They did not look anything like each other.
Hudlin was convinced that Boseman had the artistic chops and intellectual rigor to embody the role. He also believed that skin tone and hair color were irrelevant to the story.
Still, he went to Marshalls children to get their input.
If our father was told the best person for the job wouldnt do this because his skin was too dark, he would be furious, the family replied. They wrote a letter to Boseman asking him to play the role.
Presto: A star is on board.
The story resonates with contemporary issues of the criminal justice system precisely because it does not seem like another time, another place. As Hudlin put it, this wasnt yet another movie about tobacco chewing sheriffs in the South. The bias against an African American defendant is cloaked in what Hudlin called a veneer of civility. Spells imperfect past included a dishonorable discharge from the military, irrelevant to the charges at hand but nonetheless factored in public perception of guilt. Subtle bias pervaded the proceedings.
Even if its (set in) 1941, it feels a lot like 2017, Hudlin said.
The movie itself had to overcome perceptions. Every major Hollywood studio passed on the film. Why?
It lacked a giant robot, Hudlin said with a robust laugh, alluding to the risk aversion of studios that now make just a dozen movies a year.
Hudlin had encountered similar apprehension about his 1990 comedy House Party. The studios said there was no way the film could make $10 million. He was insistent it would make $12 million.
We were both wrong, because it made $27 million, Hudlin said.
We ended up getting the money (for Marshall) in China, which flies against everything I had been hearing in my career: that black films have no international appeal, particularly in the Pacific Rim, Hudlin said.
Count that as another barrier eclipsed.
But perhaps the most enduring legacy of Marshall is that it might inspire future Thurgood Marshalls into the law.
Ive had young people see the film and say: I want to go to law school. They grew up in a cynical era, theyve never seen the law solve a problem, Hudlin said. Theyre like, Oh, can you do that?
Thurgood Marshall did, repeatedly, against tall odds. Marshall helps explain how and why.
John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@JohnDiazChron
About Thurgood Marshall
The man
(1908-93)
Education: As a graduate of Lincoln University, he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was rejected because of his race. He want on to graduate as first of his class from the Howard University Law School. One of his first cases as a lawyer was a lawsuit to desegregate the Maryland law school. He won.
Landmark case: Marshall successfully argued in the Supreme Court case challenging public school segregation, leading to the 1954 ruling, Brown vs. Board of Education.
Supreme Court: As the high courts first African American justice (appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967), Marshall distinguished himself over 24 years as a champion of civil rights, free speech and civil liberties.
The movie
Starring: Chadwick Boseman (pictured, right) as young attorney Thurgood Marshall, plus Josh Gad and Kate Hudson.
Director: Reginald Hudlin
Plot: (based on true story) Joseph Spell, a black butler and chauffeur, is accused of raping and kidnapping his employer, a white socialite from Greenwich, Conn. Spell had confessed, but there were suspicions that it had been coerced. Marshall is sent from New York by the NAACP to represent him in 1941.
For me, Thurgood Marshall was always just a giant hero. I always felt like if you were going to add a fifth head to Mount Rushmore, it would be Thurgood.
Most of Congress remarkable streak of failed attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare at least pretended to follow through on the replace half of the promise. President Trumps administrative ambush of the law this week dispensed with that pretense and laid bare his ill will: to dismantle President Barack Obamas health care reform without regard for what follows.
Cheered on by such unlikely health care advocates as the owners of Taco Bell, KFC and IHOP, Trump signed an executive order Thursday to encourage the proliferation of short-term and pooled health insurance plans that circumvent Affordable Care Act requirements. The administration followed up late that night by announcing that it would end cost-sharing payments that help stabilize the laws subsidized insurance marketplaces.
Trump, who vehemently criticized Obamas use of executive orders before rapidly outpacing it, betrayed his familiar lack of concern for the details of what he was doing other than undoing his predecessors legacy. In his haste, in fact, he nearly left the signing ceremony without putting his name on the order and had to be hustled back to a desk. As for its impact, he offered the perfunctory prediction that it would usher in great, great health care for millions and millions.
Which is approximately the opposite of the truth. Trumps order actually directs officials to rewrite regulations to enable more low-cost, limited-coverage policies that probably will attract relatively young and healthy consumers betting they can avoid care. If enough of them abandon the full-coverage plans offered on ACA exchanges, leaving behind disproportionate numbers of older and sicker enrollees, their policies could become prohibitively costly. Ending cost-sharing payments likewise is expected to drive up exchange premiums which, because the policies are subsidized, also will increase federal spending.
Both measures stand to return more Americans to the ranks of the actually or effectively uninsured, which is the problem that precipitated health care reform. It was to reconcile the inconvenient fact that the law gave millions medical coverage with the irrational impulse to erase Obamas achievement that detractors had to invent the phrase repeal and replace, knowing actual repeal would be disastrous.
Trump has belied his rhetoric about Obamacares inexorable imploding by devoting considerable energy to exploding it, these measures being only the latest examples. He has also suppressed participation in the insurance exchanges by limiting enrollment advertising and assistance as well as curtailing signup opportunities.
The ACA was an imperfect overhaul of a deeply flawed system, as evidenced by its vulnerability to sabotage, and Congress could have improved it if it werent trying to destroy it. Perhaps the presidents maneuvers will encourage lawmakers to revive a derailed bipartisan effort to shore up the law.
If Trump continues his reckless quest to unravel it, he may find that it has such unintended consequences as accelerating already growing support for universal government coverage. In the meantime, those who lose access to care will be less likely to share Trumps fixation on a former president than to blame the one in office.
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.
SACRAMENTO California will cover the cost of tuition for first-year community college students under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed Friday.
AB19 by Assemblymen Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles; David Chiu, D-San Francisco; and Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, will save first-year, full-time students $1,104 a year by waiving the $46-per-unit fee. Beginning Jan. 1, the state will cover tuition for an additional 19,000 students who dont already receive fee waivers for low-income students.
This is a win for students, Californians and the economy, McCarty said before the bill was signed. We want to make sure students graduate from college with reduced debt.
Students will still be responsible for other educational and living expenses if not covered by financial aid or scholarships. Lawmakers said they hope the bill will increase enrollment and college completion rates.
Enrollment spiked at City College of San Francisco this fall after the college made attendance virtually free for San Francisco residents who have lived in the state for at least a year. Enrollment jumped 16 percent over last year for an increase of nearly 4,900 students.
Lawmakers said more needs to be done to increase enrollment to ensure the state has the workforce needed in the coming years. California is expected to have a shortage of 1 million college-educated workers by 2025, with lawmakers saying AB19 will help bridge that gap.
Its an important step toward restoring the promise of public higher education in California, and were grateful to Gov. Brown for signing it into law, said Max Lubin, a UC Berkeley student and founder of the student group Rise California, which advocates for free college tuition.
On Thursday, Brown also signed:
AB485 by Assemblyman Patrick ODonnell, D-Long Beach, which requires pet stores in California to sell only rescue and shelter dogs, cats and rabbits. ODonnell said the bill will drastically decrease the number of mass-bred animals that fill up shelters and rescues in the state. The bill goes into effect Jan. 1, 2019.
This is a big win for our four-legged friends, of course, ODonnell said. But also for California taxpayers who spend more than $250 million annually to house and euthanize animals in our shelters.
AB1127 by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), which requires restaurants, movie theaters, grocery stores, and other private and public buildings to have at least one diaper-changing station in both womens and mens bathrooms. The requirement affects new construction and bathroom renovations.
AB1491 by Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, which bans rent-to-own pet leases that have become popular financing methods for expensive dogs and cats. Consumers have complained that they did not understand that they were renting the pet and that their pet was subject to repossession if the loan was not paid back.
Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
The Bay Area has begun to rally for victims of the Wine Country fires. The Style section is tracking in-store benefits and programs to assist. This article will continue to be updated as more events are scheduled.
Fashion Fights Arthritis will raise money for the Arthritis Foundation and another beneficiary added this week, the American Red Cross. The event, chaired by Judy Jorgensen, will be held Friday, Oct. 20, at the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St., and begins at 10:30 a.m. with cocktails, followed by lunch and a fashion show. On the runway: the latest collection from Tokyo Gamine designer Yuka Uehara, of San Francisco, with a pop up store for shopping her fashions after the show. Uehara will donate 10 percent of sales proceeds to the Arthritis Foundation and an additional 10 percent to the American Red Cross. The deadline for purchasing tickets has been extended through Sunday, Oct. 15. Tickets $250 and up; to purchase and find more information, go to http://bit.ly/2yKF6yR
Not only do firecrackers cause pollution but also trouble animals on the streets, says the actress.
By Indo-Asian News Service: Actress Shraddha Kapoor has taken a stand favouring the animals in the festive season of Diwali.
Shraddha has a pet dog Shylo, and the actress has always expressed her concern for animals on various occasions.
With Diwali inching closer, Shraddha took to Twitter to appeal to her fans to not burst firecrackers, for the sake of animals.
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She shared a video saying: "Diwali is coming - the festival of lights... not of noise and air pollution. Help keep the air clean and be sensitive to the animals on the streets."
The actress added: "This is that time of the year when Diwali is just around the corner and I just wanted to say that please don't buy fire crackers and don't burst fire crackers.
Also Read: Designer Masaba Gupta supports cracker ban, gets trolled, gets support from Chetan Bhagat
"Not only does it cause a lot of pollution but it also troubles all the animals on the streets."
Shraddha further urged her fans to have a safe Diwali by spending time with family as she wished her fans.
"Instead, spend Diwai with your family, with your loved ones eat amazing food, eat sweets and don't burst crackers. Happy Diwali."
On the work front, the actress is currently working on the trilingual "Saaho" with Prabhas. Shraddha has recently returned to Mumbai after wrapping the first schedule of the film in Hyderabad.
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SAN DIEGO Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Friday to combat a hepatitis A outbreak that has claimed 18 lives in San Diego.
Brown said the federally funded supply of vaccines is inadequate. His proclamation allows the state to buy vaccines directly from manufacturers and distribute them.
The declaration allows us to move very swiftly, Dr. Gil Chavez, epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health, told reporters. He said that the state would place an order Monday or Tuesday and that supplies would reach the state soon after.
California has distributed 81,000 federally funded vaccine doses since the outbreak began and local jurisdictions have acquired more, but the supply is insufficient, Chavez said.
California is experiencing the largest hepatitis A outbreak in the United States transmitted from person to person instead of by contaminated food since the vaccine became available in 1996. The state says the majority affected are homeless, using drugs or both.
There have been 576 cases throughout California, including 490 in San Diego County, 71 in Santa Cruz County and eight in Los Angeles County. Out of those, 386 people have been hospitalized 342 in San Diego, 33 in Santa Cruz and six in Los Angeles. No deaths have been reported outside San Diego County.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), called Friday for the federal government to provide emergency funding to halt the spread of hepatitis A. He said the outbreak has brought statewide totals to three times the number of cases reported in 2015.
We cannot wait until more communities are infected and impacted before taking action, Issa wrote to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A message seeking comment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wasnt immediately returned.
San Diego County reported an outbreak in March as it grapples with a growing homeless population. Santa Cruz County reported its first cases the following month, and San Diego and Los Angeles counties declared local health emergencies in September.
The outbreak was caused by strains of the 1B genetic subtype, which is rare in the United States and more commonly found in the Mediterranean and South Africa. It is spread through contact with feces, putting people with inadequate access to sanitation at highest risk.
In addition to vaccination, frequent hand-washing is recommended.
Elliot Spagat is an Associated Press writer.
Carmen Caldentey Berriz met the man she would marry when she was just 12 years old, attending Catholic school in pre-Communist Cuba.
More than 60 years later, after 55 years of marriage, she died in his arms, victim to the devastating Tubbs Fire that destroyed so much of northern Santa Rosa last Monday. Mrs. Berriz was 75. Her husband, Armando Berriz, survived.
Mrs. Berrizs love for her husband in many ways defined her, their children said. Theirs was a passionate partnership, built on a hard-rock foundation of trust and joy.
To the very end they held tight to one another, in a swimming pool behind the Santa Rosa house where theyd been vacationing with family when the fire exploded around them. When they couldnt escape the flames by car, the Berrizes held hands and jumped into the water, where they hoped to outlast the inferno.
They were inseparable. They were just amazing, said son-in-law Luis Ocon. They were the type of couple that you want to emulate, that you strive to be.
Mrs. Berriz was born June 24, 1942, in Havana, Cuba, where she lived until fleeing with her family to Miami in the 1950s. Shed started dating Armando by then, and the couple stayed in touch with letters, sometimes writing daily.
Finally, on June 1, 1962, they married at a church in Little Havana in Miami. The next day they drove across the country to settle in Glendale (Los Angeles County). Soon after, they started a family.
In Miami, Mrs. Berriz had worked a few years as a translator for an import-export company and then as an editor at Junior Chamber International, a nonprofit that publishes a quarterly magazine.
The bulk of her career was at United Airlines, where she worked for 26 years in various departments. When she retired, she and her husband traveled widely and enthusiastically.
They moved to a home in Apple Valley in San Bernardino County, but even living away from their children and grandchildren, Mrs. Berriz was always the heart of the family.
I talked to her every day, said daughter Monica Ocon. Its an amazing bond that I had with her. I will forever try to be like her.
In addition to her husband, her daughter Monica and her son-in-law Luis, Mrs. Berriz is survived by daughter, Carmen T. Berriz; son Armando J. Berriz and daughter-in-law Catherine Berriz; and seven grandchildren.
With the humidity dropping and the winds blowing, there could be trouble ahead for firefighters working to tame the Wine Country fires.
The North Bay fires have been fueled partly by dry air, and forecasters at the National Weather Service said that could get worse Saturday night and Sunday morning. Relative humidity levels are projected to plunge into the single digits in higher elevations of Sonoma and Napa counties.
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For the past 17 years, Roberta Vogel and seven of her closest friends have gathered once a month to update one another on their lives and discuss the issues of the day.
They call themselves the Dharma Sisters. Their friendships were forged through their work at local hospices and hospitals, and Saturday they had plenty to talk about.
FIRE CONTAINMENT: Here are the latest numbers on Northern California fire containment
We need each other now, more than ever, Vogel said as she stood outside the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa waiting to be picked up by another Dharma Sister, Gina Osbeck. When Osbeck showed up there was a long, emotional embrace, and then the two set off to the home of another sister whose home was well outside the fires path.
The community center is a shelter for fire evacuees, and Vogel has been there since fleeing her Rincon Valley home late Sunday. She was the second person to register there.
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After being cooped up in the shelter for five days, Vogel admitted to a light case of cabin fever. But she had high praise for the Red Cross, Salvation Army and their small army of volunteers who have worked to accommodate the needs of those uprooted by the flames.
Everyone has been so generous and so kind, Vogel said. In a time of such mean-spiritedness in the world, its been restorative. The place is filled with love and caring.
CLEAN AIR: Here's where to go to breathe clean air in SF this weekend
About 185 people are sheltered at the Finley Community Center, said Roy Pitts, one of the Red Cross managers overseeing operations there. There is room to accommodate more evacuees if necessary, he said, and the center continues to accept donations of new clothing and bedding material.
Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com
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Everythings gone, Deb, Kevin Trainor told his wife over the phone as he stood in the middle of the 19-acre property that had been in his family for half a century.
Gone was the house that Trainors 84-year-old cousin, Janet Parker, lived in from the 1960s until she moved to a residential care home in 2010. Trainor had been taking care of the place on Wood Valley Road, just east of Sonoma, ever since, letting his dogs and cats roam the wooded grounds.
Gone were the 20 vintage motorcycles that Trainor had been restoring there: a Harley-Davidson and a few Yamahas and Kawasakis. The sliding glass doors of the garage that once housed them were a hardened puddle of melted green glass on the charred ground.
The shell of Parkers 1969 International Scout, which Trainor had been restoring, still stood but was badly burned. What was once a bright yellow exterior was now a muted blue. The paint mustve melted off to reveal the blue primer, Trainor surmised.
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The only thing left is a bag of tie-downs, Trainor, 61, told his wife.
Indeed, a small brown paper bag of tie-downs, used to tie tarps to cover motorcycles, was one of the only things in sight untouched by the flames. It sat on a green patio table, just where Trainor had left it.
It doesnt really matter, Trainor said of the losses. We got the animals out.
On Saturday morning, as the Nuns Fire raged on to the east of the town of Sonoma, Trainor returned to the property for the first time since he got his dogs and cats out on Tuesday morning. His dogs Dundee and Kip, and cats Ruby, Lucy and Sophie, were safe at Trainors home near downtown Sonoma, a few blocks outside of the evacuation zone. Lucy had been the hardest to catch.
Chunks of wood on the ground were still smoldering Saturday morning. Trainor remarked twice that his wood splitter was still there, though one tire had melted off. The pile of wood next to it that hed been preparing to split was now white ash.
Im numb, he said, trying to process the damage. You hope it bypassed you, but...
Trainor said at least now he knows. Hed been in limbo the last few days, not knowing what had happened, as information about which homes had burned was hard to get.
Trainor gestured to a spot just up the hill that overlooks the valley. The view there is beautiful, he said. When things settle down, he may build a house there.
Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
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Last year, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. inspected 171,057 utility poles and chopped down 236,000 trees near its power lines, essential steps for preventing wildfires.
PG&E inspectors flew over all 114,000 miles of the utilitys electricity distribution wires criss-crossing Northern and Central California, as well as 18,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.
They used lidar, the laser version of radar, to check for tree branches growing too close to the wires, branches that could brush up against the lines and cause a spark. Other sensors deployed from the air checked for trees that might be dying, or that already had been killed by drought.
In all, the company spent $198 million in 2016 on vegetation management.
But those efforts and that money all of it coming from PG&Es customers may not have been enough.
California fire officials are looking into whether PG&E electric lines and power poles, toppled by Sunday nights windstorm, played a role in triggering the lethal wildfires tearing through the North Bay.
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While the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says PG&Es equipment is just one potential cause, the state agency that regulates utilities has told PG&E to save every piece of damaged equipment from the area as evidence for the investigations to come. (On Friday, the same agency, the California Public Utilities Commission, also sent similar letters to six telecommunications companies, telling them to preserve their damaged gear from the fire zones.)
PG&E, the states largest utility, says that blaming the Wine Country fires on its power lines and poles at this point is premature.
State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, wonders whether the programs that PG&E and Californias other big utility companies use to guard against fires are truly effective, for all the money spent on them. And he wants the California Public Utilities Commission to more closely scrutinize how the companies spend that money, to ensure the utilities are doing everything they should.
Generally, the commission takes their word for it, and then what we get is a disaster or a tragedy, Hill said.
Hill made a personal mission out of reforming PG&E and the utilities commission after a natural gas pipeline beneath San Bruno exploded in 2010, killing eight people. He also authored a bill, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year, that will require utilities to file annual wildfire prevention and mitigation plans to the commission and require the commission to review them. The commission is still hiring people to implement the legislation, and the utilities have not yet started filing the reports.
Its just a slow bureaucracy to move thats the problem, Hill said.
Elizaveta Malashenko, head of the commissions safety division, said the agency has been adding staff to deal with fire-related issues. The push came, in part, in response to the 2015 Butte Fire in Amador and Calaveras counties, sparked by a pine tree leaning into a PG&E power line. The fire killed two people.
Weve learned from the Butte Fire, Malashenko said. The challenge for the PUC is we dont have experts in fire management, fire issues. This is something weve recognized is a need, an area where we need to grow.
While the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, has primary responsibility to determine the cause of wildfires, Malashenkos division will look into PG&Es maintenance of its North Bay equipment, as well as its vegetation management program there. According to PG&E, the company inspected 17,542 miles of power lines in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino and Humboldt counties last year. The utility also inspected more than 80,000 power poles so far this year in the areas hit by this weeks fires.
Power lines and poles have triggered some of the most destructive fires in modern California history. Ten years ago, Santa Ana winds blasting through Southern California touched off dozens of fires, five of them sparked by power lines. Together, those five fires charred 334 square miles.
In response, the state started considering extra measures to prevent lines from starting fires. One of the ideas: create a comprehensive, statewide map of areas at high risk for wildfires and require more stringent power-line maintenance in those areas.
The map still isnt done, nine years after the commission and the utilities began work on it. And Hill noted that an early draft of the map, from 2016, didnt even include the area already burned by the Butte Fire, months earlier.
Thats ridiculous, Hill said. Seven years they spent, and then we had the Butte Fire the seventh largest in the state and it was outside what they considered a high-risk area.
Malashenko said the map may be finished this year and ready for use in 2018.
PG&E says it increased its own fire-prevention measures in 2014, in response to the deepening drought, which lasted from 2011 to 2016.
Rather than inspecting every line from the air once a year, the company started flying over power lines in areas it considered high-risk as many as four times annually. PG&E funded daily aerial fire patrols during wildfire season, from mid-June to the end of October. And the company stepped up the pace of cutting down trees, as millions of them succumbed to the drought. The number removed last year, for example, is seven times more than the company averaged in the years before the drought, according to PG&E.
And yet, those steps did not prevent the Butte Fire, which burned more than 70,000 acres. Cal Fire pinned the blame on a tall, thin pine that leaned into a power line. A contractor working for PG&E had recently removed two tightly clustered trees nearby, while leaving in place the one that eventually toppled.
The commission fined PG&E $8.3 million for the incident, and legal actions by area residents and government agencies could eventually cost the company $750 million, by PG&Es own estimates.
Attorney Amanda Riddle, who represents plaintiffs suing PG&E over the Butte Fire, said she was disappointed the commission didnt do a more thorough investigation into PG&Es vegetation management program, examining its effectiveness.
Its not properly designed to prevent wildfires and protect the public, and preliminary reports suggest were seeing that again with these North Bay wildfires, said Riddle, who is with the firm Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi, Nastari & Riddle.
David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
As the BJP Janaraksha Yatra headed by state chief Kummanam Rajashekharan is nearing its final leg, the Red Vs Saffron war has come out in the open.
By P S Gopikrishnan Unnithan: As the BJP's Janaraksha Yatra headed by Kerala chief Kummanam Rajashekharan is nearing its final leg, the Red Vs Saffron war has come out in the open.
Union Minister Smriti Irani, who addressed the public meeting in Chengannur, said,"CPM think that by violence they can scare us, but BJP workers are ready to get their heads cut but will not bow down."
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Lashing out against CPM-led Left government in the state, she said, "It's the jihadist's who have turned God's own country, Kerala into an anti-national playground so that they can unleash their terror. Why is the CPM busy trying to brutally crush the voice of the Swayam Sevak Sangh? I remember the Kerala CM visiting and calling upon me in Delhi. When I asked him about the killings of RSS-BJP workers in Kerala, he said his best endeavour is to bring peace. I want to ask the CM if that is his endeavour, then, why is there a minister in his Cabinet who spoke publicly about killing opponents (she was hinting about the current Electricity Minister M M Mani, who made the controversial speech about killing opponents).
Responding to the allegation, Kerala minister said that the allegations made by Smriti Irani were totally baseless.
"The division bench of Kerala High Court have acquitted me in this case. Court found that I'm by no means related to those deaths. I don't understand why these people who have hardly any information about the state are coming here and spreading lies about the state," said the minister.
BJP's Janaraksha Yatra will culminate on the 17th of this month in Trivandrum with BJP chief Amit Shah taking part in the 8-km padayatra.
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California utility regulators on Friday told six telecommunications companies to preserve any of their equipment damaged by the North Bay wildfires, for use in investigations.
The safety division of the California Public Utilities Commission sent a letter to AT&T, Comcast, Frontier Communications, Sprint, T-Mobil and Verizon, telling them to preserve and catalog any damaged utility poles and pole attachments. The commission also wants any documents, including emails, that could be related to potential causes of the fire.
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Valerie Lynn Evans was known for her fierce love of animals. She kept horses, goats, dogs, a mule and a steer at her house on Coffey Lane in Santa Rosa.
We knew her as the horse lady, said Tracy Long, who was Mrs. Evans neighbor for two decades. Mrs. Evans, 75, would occasionally lead a mule down the street and allow passersby to feed it, she said.
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On yet another day of awful air quality, a line of people snaked out the door of a downtown San Francisco hardware store and down the street. Word of a fresh shipment of respirator masks that filter tiny particles floating in the smoke brought the flock of customers.
They were there for N99 masks devices so named because they are capable of filtering out 99 percent of the particulates in a smoke cloud, like the one that has spread throughout the Bay Area from the fires in the Wine Country and elsewhere.
My lungs hurt, Keith Navarns said while waiting outside Cole Hardware.
Navarns said he had tried to order a mask off of Amazon, but the earliest delivery date was Monday. He started to check stores in the city, first Walgreens, which had already run out. When he found out that some were at Cole on Fourth Street, he headed straight to the store.
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Barbara Swan had called the store and heard they were in stock. I came down as fast as I could, she said.
Air quality officials said the devices, which cost between $15 and $50 depending on the model, can do the job as long as theyre fitted with a perfect seal and as long as theyre used by adults. The respirator masks are too big for children.
But Ralph Borrmann, a spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said using the N99 isnt the only way of protecting ones lungs. The agency says an N95 mask it filters 95 percent of particulates will also work.
And basic steps to avoid bad air, such as staying indoors, keeping the windows closed and setting air conditioners to recirculate, are just as important, Borrman said. For those who want the N95 masks, he said, the air quality agency has delivered 40,000 to counties affected by the fires to give out.
More respirator masks landed Friday at Papenhausen Hardware in San Franciscos West Portal neighborhood, 300 of them. They sold out in 15 minutes, said store owner Matt Rogers.
In a normal week, he sells maybe 20 of the devices. Rogers said sales this week are in the thousands, and hes got more coming in this weekend. He hasnt had to advertise or even post on social media news of the shipments apparently is spreading by word of mouth.
Its just been so crazy, Rogers said. We told people (who called) wed be getting them at 9 this morning, and there was a line out the door because the truck was a little delayed.
Rogers said he hasnt started wearing a mask yet, but hes starting to feel the effects of the smoke when hes outside, especially when walking his dog.
Papenhausen Hardware has been sending customers to other stores when it runs out of masks. Rogers said he saw a full shipping pallet of masks bound for Nob Hill Hardware as he was unloading Friday mornings delivery.
Thats always been our philosophy, to give advice or help, Rogers said. Weve been trying to send people to all different places.
Annie Ma is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ama@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anniema15
If you missed it ...
In a week when every single day felt like Friday the 13th, this also happened:
Lyft passed the 500 million-ride mark. No, not all of them were this week, though that would explain San Francisco traffic. The 5-year-old company said in a blog post that it has had 100 million rides in just the past three months.
Spark Therapeutics Luxturna gene therapy to treat blindness, profiled in Thursdays Chronicle, won the unanimous backing from a group of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA now has until Jan. 12 to decide on Luxturna; its approval would be a landmark moment for the medical industry, which has been trying to get a gene therapy approved for decades.
McDonalds got skewered on social media by frustrated customers who had hoped to score some of its limited-edition Szechuan sauce in a one-day promotion, but were turned away. The sauce, which debuted when Disneys Mulan was released in 1998, got a new generation of fans thanks to the animated television show Rick and Morty, which featured the sauce this year in Season 3.
A man acquitted of a felony for creating a fake Facebook page that parodied a suburban Cleveland police department is suing, saying the city violated his right to free speech. Anthony Novaks Facebook page was similar to the page of Parmas Police Department and had items suggesting police were performing free abortions for teenagers.
An Austrian law that forbids full-face covering, including Islamic veils, claimed an unusual victim: a man wearing a shark suit. Police issued a citation after the man part of a street advertising campaign for the McShark computer chain stores refused several requests to take off his shark head.
Google pledged $1 billion over the next five years to help nonprofits in education and job training. The companys goal, executives said, is to allow anyone with an Internet connection to become proficient with technology and prepare for a job in the industry.
From from Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle
Tesla fired several hundred employees this week, even as it tries to increase production, according to a report published Friday.
The Palo Alto maker of luxury electric cars fired an estimated 400 to 700 employees, according to the Mercury News. The newspaper based that figure on estimates given by current and former Tesla workers, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. The employees cut included managers, engineers and factory workers, according to the paper.
Twitter, facing pressure and an online boycott over its permissive attitude toward abusive and harassing speech, has decided to take a tougher stance, CEO Jack Dorsey said late Friday.
In a series of tweets, Dorsey said the social media giant would announce new rules in the next few weeks restricting unwanted sexual advances, nonconsensual nudity, hate symbols, violent groups and any post that glorifies violence.
He gave no details, saying only that Twitter executives decided to take a more aggressive stance in our rules and how we enforce them.
Earlier Friday, the company, which has 310 million users each month, was hit with a campaign under the hashtag #WomenBoycottTwitter.
It followed a protest over Twitters suspension of the account of actress Rose McGowan for violating the sites rules by posting another persons phone number. McGowan, one of four women who have accused movie producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, claimed Twitters explanation was a pretext and contrasted her treatment with the companys tolerance of bigoted and violent tweets.
Critics have also accused Twitter of setting a double standard that has allowed President Trump whose communications with the outside world often consist largely of early-morning tweets to use violent language that would not be permitted for others, such as his threat to destroy North Korea.
Twitter said last month that it set a different, more permissive standard for tweets that were newsworthy, like Trumps, than for postings by everyday users.
Social networks, as private companies, are not covered by the First Amendment and are free to censor their users speech. They are, however, protected by a federal law that shields them from most types of suits for the content of postings on their sites.
Twitter has rules against abusive speech and threats of violence. The company recently unveiled new tools to allow users to more effectively block others who are harassing them.
But both Twitter and Reddit, which has also recently tightened its rules, have long been accused of being too freewheeling and not effective at squelching abuse and harassment.
Facebook, on the other hand, has attracted protests for its no-nudity policy, which has resulted in the banning of photos of breast-feeding mothers and a historic image of wartime Vietnam.
Dorsey, now in his second stint as chief executive he was fired in a management dispute nine years ago, then returned to power in 2015 insisted Friday that Twitter was striving for the proper balance between free expression and license to abuse.
We see voices being silenced on Twitter every day, he tweeted. Weve been working to counteract this for the past 2 years.
Apparently referring to the boycott, he said, Today we saw voices silencing themselves and voices speaking out because were *still* not doing enough.
In 2017, he declared without specifics that we made it our top priority and made a lot of progress.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
One day last week, the exterior of Twitters San Francisco headquarters bore an eerie message: Ban Russian Bots. Someone the company doesnt know who projected the demand onto the side of its building.
Bots, or automated software programs, can be programmed to periodically send out messages on the Internet. Now Twitter is scrambling to explain how bots controlled by Russian meddlers may have been used to impact the 2016 president election.
Twitter was designed to be friendly to bots. They can help advertisers quickly spread their messages and respond to customer service complaints. Research from the University of Southern California and Indiana University shows that 9 to 15 percent of active Twitter accounts are bots. Many innocuously tweet headlines, the weather or Netflix releases.
Teaching Twitters algorithms to find malicious tweeters is challenging. Russian meddlers in particular are complementing their networks of bots with human laborers who are paid to tweet coordinated messages at the same time. It can be difficult for Twitters algorithms to detect the difference, according to a person familiar with the matter.
And cracking down on bots puts Twitter in a vulnerable position with Wall Street. Investors have penalized the company for failing to get more users. The more that Twitter cracks down on fake accounts and bots, the lower the monthly active user base, the metric most closely watched by Wall Street.
I think theres a business reason why Twitter doesnt want to be good at it. If you have fake accounts and youre valued around active users, the valuation will be adjusted, said Scott Tranter, partner at Optimus, a data and technology consultancy.
After the election, there was little discussion inside the company about whether the platform may have been misused, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it is private. But the ubiquity and usefulness of bots did come up. At one point, there were talks about whether Twitter should put a marking on bot accounts, so that users would know they were automated, one of the people said. Yet most of the conversation after the election focused on whether President Trumps tweets violated Twitter policies, the person said.
The company said it has made many changes, including creating automated processes to detect suspicious log-ins and stop bad content at its source. Yet experts say that Twitter still lags far behind Facebook and Google.
Twitter executives have been in frequent contact with congressional committees and investigators to try to answer their questions before hearings on Nov. 1, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company is addressing the issue from multiple angles, the person said, including asking engineers to examine spam use and asking its business teams to delve into advertising purchases by RT, the Russian TV network.
As Twitter has grown and evolved in recent years, so has our ability to confront challenges like abuse and harassment. That is why we have invested significantly more resources to improving user trust and safety, a spokeswoman said in an email. In addition to establishing a Trust and Safety Council in 2016, we have substantially increased our global staff working on these issues and continue to update our products to foster a safer Twitter.
Independent researchers are starting to peel back the layers of political interference. There were about 400,000 bots posting political messages during the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Twitter, according to a research paper by Emilio Ferrara, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California. He told Bloomberg that he has discovered that the same group of 1,600 bots tweeting extremist right-wing posts in the U.S. elections also posted anti-Macron sentiment during the French elections and extremist right-wing content during the German elections this year.
Cybersecurity firm FireEye has previously said that it uncovered thousands of fake accounts linked to Russia that posted anti-Hillary Clinton messages. Its examination revealed that on Election Day, one group of Twitter bots sent out the hashtag #WarAgainstDemocrats more than 1,700 times. What FireEye called suspected Russian bots caused the hashtag #HillaryDown to start trending, the company said.
Many campaigns use bots that automatically retweet any content that comes from certain accounts or has certain keywords. Other bots are set to reply with pre-written information to tweets that contain specific content.
Kris Shaffer, a data scientist doing research for the University of Mary Washington and the Data for Democracy, found that those strategies were widely used in the lead up to the French election. Many tweets with mentions of LePen or Macron received automatic replies with disparaging information about the candidates.
The fact (Twitter) isnt dealing adequately with the propaganda and abuse problems either means they cant do what they say they can do or they can but they arent telling the truth about the abuse problem, says Shaffer.
Sometimes, activists who are drawing attention to the plague of bots on Twitter become the victim of their attacks. Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), has found multiple large networks of bots with tens of thousands of automated accounts in each on Twitter with potential Russian ties. In August, Nimmo worked on Atlantic Council research that was published to show how far-right commentators in the U.S. were using similar narratives to what the Kremlin had been pushing about the Charlottesville attacks.
Shortly after, a long-dormant Twitter account was repurposed with a profile picture of Nimmos face and a biography saying that he was associated with @KremlinRussia. A second impersonator account was made of the DFRLabs director, which tweeted that our beloved friend and colleague Ben Nimmo passed away this morning. That was retweeted over 21,000 times, mostly by bots, according to Nimmo. After Nimmo reported these campaigns, Twitter took down most of the tweets.
Researchers have also found that the Islamic State used bots to inflate the appearance of support. The Brookings Institution found thousands of its supporter accounts using those tactics in 2014.
The glaring question is: Has the damage already been done? said Samuel Woolley, research director of the Digital Intelligence Lab at Institute for the Future, a nonprofit research organization. Can Twitter actually even respond to this problem? Its built in a way where its almost impossible to respond.
Despite all the recent attention, the exact dimensions of Twitters bot community remains opaque. Academics have asked Twitter to collaborate on research, to no avail, Ferrara, the USC professor, said. He said without internal Twitter data, he cannot figure out the origin and controller of the bots he has uncovered that posted politically motivated tweets. The last time he was in contact with Twitter was after the French elections to follow up on his research and ask the company about how bots were used during the election.
We interacted many times with Twitter, and they always slander our research and say its methodologically flawed even though weve been consistently right, Ferrara said. They dont like to collaborate with researchers because then they would receive a lot of bad PR from the type of work that we do. Twitter declined to comment on interactions with researchers.
Selina Wang is a Bloomberg writer. Email: swang533@bloomberg.net
San Francisco is accustomed to fog-darkened skies, but the haze cast over the city by smoke blown south from the deadly Wine Country fires trapped the city in an unsettling glow.
It wasn't just the soft pink sky and its blood-orange sunsets that made the city look otherworldly. During the day, open businesses kept their doors shut, children at schools not closed due to air quality spent recess indoors and many people who ventured outside did so with their faces covered, hoping to fend off the sting of ash-filled air.
If Rahul Gandhi is elevated as Congress president soon after Diwali, he will be leading his party in 11 elections including the Lok Sabha polls in the next 18 months.
By Prabhash K Dutta: Six state units of the Congress party have passed separate resolutions in favour of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi urging him to take over as the president. These state units include UP, Uttarakhand and Delhi. It began after a meeting of all the state Congress chiefs in New Delhi recently.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, too, yesterday confirmed that Rahul Gandhi would soon be made the party chief. The ball has already been set rolling for organisational polls including to the post of the president of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
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Earlier, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot told news agency PTI that Rahul Gandhi would be elected as party president after Diwali. No one has yet challenged Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the president's post. Even senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has said, "Only two people can be Congress president, mother or son" making it amply clear that Rahul Gandhi is the only choice as the party chief.
DIFFICULT YET ADVANTAGEOUS TIME FOR RAHUL
When he is elevated as the Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will become the fourth-generation fifth person from the Nehru-Gandhi family to officially lead the 132-year-old party. Sonia Gandhi would be passing the leadership baton to Rahul Gandhi after 19 years, for 10 of which she was the chairperson of the ruling UPA.
Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the post of Congress president is happening at a difficult yet advantageous time for him. The Congress has been reduced to its lowest ever tally in the Lok Sabha. It has lost its superiority in the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
Yet, the timing of his formal election as the Congress president may work in Rahul Gandhi's favour. The ruling NDA is facing flak over declining GDP growth rate for consecutive six quarters, with the April-September period recording the lowest figures in three years.
The Narendra Modi government and the BJP are being held accountable for growth decline, rising prices, lack of promised jobs and shattered confidence of business community. Questions are being asked over "hasty" and "half-baked" implementation of the GST and demonetisation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has looked on defensive for the first time in over three years on the question of economy. Rahul Gandhi could not have thought of a better time to turn his party's fortunes.
CHALLENGES WITHIN PARTY
Rahul Gandhi's elevation will end the confusion about dual command in the central leadership of the Congress party. However, it will be interesting to see what role Sonia Gandhi assumes or given in the rejigged party structure apart from that of a ceremonial mentor.
Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have cultivated their own coteries over the years in the Congress party. The old guard has been more comfortable with Sonia Gandhi and is likely to keep poking its nose in the affairs of the party in future as well. Rahul backers, on the other hand, want to look beyond.
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As Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will now be held accountable directly for all the failures - which are bound to come given the state of the Congress - in electoral politics. Rahul Gandhi will have to rebuild his team of advisors to deal with the challenges. The good thing is that Rahul Gandhi has already put people enjoying his confidence in several state units as PCC chiefs and also as the general secretaries of the AICC.
11 POLLS IN 18 MONTHS
If all goes according to the script, Rahul Gandhi will be the Congress president soon after Diwali. This means, the Congress will go to the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections under Rahul Gandhi's leadership. For the first time in almost two decades, Congress will fight elections without Sonia Gandhi at the helm of affairs.
In Himachal Pradesh, much against the speculations and also the practice of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi declared Virbhadra Singh as the chief ministerial candidate for the November 9 polls. Virbhadra Singh has been battling with corruption charges and facing huge anti-incumbency.
In Gujarat, the Amit Shah-Narendra Modi pair is likely to put all its might in election canvassing. It is a battle of prestige for both BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gujarat is their home state. The Congress, on the other hand, is facing dissension in its ranks with senior leaders like Shankersinh Vaghela quitting the party accusing Rahul Gandhi of "inaction".
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Rahul Gandhi's organisational skills will again be tested next year, when elections will be held to eight state assemblies including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. In all these states, the Congress and the BJP have been in direct fight for about two decades.
Then, there will be the Lok Sabha elections in the first half of 2019, when Rahul Gandhi would be the automatic prime ministerial candidate for the Congress. The election schedule means Rahul Gandhi will have to lead the Congress in 10 assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls in the next 18 months.
ANTI-MODI COALITION
PM Narendra Modi has been a unifying force for the Opposition parties. His rise at the national level has seen many attempts by the Opposition parties to unite under one umbrella. The Opposition's unity was achieved in some measure during Bihar Assembly election in 2015, when the BJP was defeated by the Congress-RJD-JD-U alliance.
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But, the equation has changed now. The most potent force in the anti-Modi camp, JD-U president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has made peace with the BJP and become part of the NDA.
Secondly, the Opposition's unity seemed possible under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, who had already led the UPA for 10 years soliciting cooperation from the Left Front as well as regional parties like the SP, the BSP, the NCP and the DMK.
After 2014, the Opposition parties rallied around Sonia Gandhi to form an anti-Modi coalition. Sonia Gandhi was acceptable to NCP president Sharad Pawar, DMK chief Karunanidhi, TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP president Mayawati and also RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav. Rahul Gandhi may face difficulties in dealing with these veterans.
BUILDING COUNTER-NARRATIVE
Without the support of non-NDA parties, Rahul Gandhi is bound to lead the Congress to another defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But, only forming a rainbow coalition of Opposition parties may also not guarantee a victory against the election winning machine of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah - two of the master strategists.
The Congress has for long targeted Naredra Modi, Amit Shah and the BJP over communal versus secular politics. But, this narrative has failed to pay good dividends to the Congress. Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo has, in fact, gained more from the attacks by the Congress leadership on this narrative.
In Gujarat, Modi-Shah turned the "maut ka saudagar" jibe into a fight for Gujarati pride and successfully won election after election from 2002 to 2014. At the national level, the Congress party's allegation of communal politics was turned into a debate over development versus appeasement.
Rahul Gandhi might do well to desist from attacking Narendra Modi and the BJP along the same line. Though caste equation continues to dominate electoral politics, Rahul Gandhi may have to change the narrative to gain the lost ground for Congress and win election against Modi-Shah combination.
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Lawrence Argent, a sculptor known for whimsical, monumental works in public spaces, including the 92-foot Venus statue at San Franciscos Trinity Place development, died Oct. 4 in Denver. He was 60.
His former wife, Anne Argent, said the cause was cardiac arrest.
Mr. Argents creations a giant panda and a jumbo rabbit among them have popped up in cities around the globe, but perhaps none more famously than in Denver, where a colossal bear, titled I See What You Mean, stands on its hind legs, its paws and nose pressed against a steel-framed glass wall of the Colorado Convention Center.
Did the bear lumber down from the Rockies? What does it make of the human beings inside the building? Is it blue to reflect its mood, having been uprooted from his natural habitat?
Mr. Argent rarely provided answers. But as long as people stopped and wondered, he said, he felt his work was a success.
Public art gives you a chance to embrace peace and inquisitiveness, he told Colorado Homes and Lifestyles magazine in 2013. You become a part of it, and youre changed.
Creating the sculpture was a prodigious process in itself. Mr. Argent used 3-D printing to create a model out of a digital image. He then segmented the bear into thousands of triangular pieces and used them as molds for its exterior, which is composed of fiberglass and coated in a lapis lazuli blue polymer concrete. The segments, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, were then set into place over a steel skeleton.
The sculpture, installed in 2005, has become a trademark image of Denver, a nod to its ursine neighbors roaming its outlying parks suburbs. It is listed among the citys top 10 tourist attractions, and mini-figurines of the bear are sold in gift shops; one figurine has traversed the globe in its own Instagram account.
Mr. Argent said he had been approached by other cities to sculpt even bigger bears. I said: Its not going to work, because that bear was designed for Denver. It belongs in that particular place. The sculpture addresses this city, this life.
Playful flirts with serious in many of Mr. Argents public art pieces, and there are dozens around the world. Leap, at the Sacramento International Airport, is another thats tough to miss: Its red, its gigantic, and its a bunny.
In fantastical Alice-in-Wonderland fashion, a 56-foot-long rabbit, made of aluminum and glass, hangs suspended by cables from the ceiling in mid-hop as it dives through a terraced opening in an upper floor toward a suitcase on the ground below with a rabbit hole in it.
The piece, Mr. Argent said on his website, is meant to convey the anxiety, frustration, nervousness and personal baggage travelers feel at the airport.
In the central China city of Chengdu, known for its 247-acre panda breeding center, Mr. Argent created a 50-foot panda weighing 13 tons that scales a shopping mall.
It is impossible to see the entire bear, titled I Am Here, from any single vantage point. From the ground, passersby catch just a tuft of tail and the bottom of a paw; from inside the building, shoppers see a giant nose. The most satisfying view is from the roof, where the panda appears to have hoisted itself just enough to peek over the top of the building, perhaps in search of bamboo.
Lawrence Nigel Argent was born on Jan. 24, 1957, in Essex, England, and raised in Melbourne, Australia. His mother, the former Joyce Fawcett, was an accountant; his father, Kenneth, was an architect.
Mr. Argent studied art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and moved to the United States shortly after graduating in 1983. In 1986, he earned a masters in fine arts from the Rinehart School of Sculpture in Baltimore.
He taught in Texas and California before accepting a teaching job at the University of Denver in 1993. This year, the school named him a professor emeritus.
Mr. Argent and Anne Cashman were married in 1991; they divorced in 2014. Their two children, Quinn and Camron, and a brother, Kevin, survive him.
Argents original plan was to become a doctor. But after working at a hospital for three years preparing operating rooms, he realized the setting was too restricting for his personality.
Its the rebellious nature of myself, he told the Rocky Mountain News in 2005. I said, Ive got to get out of here.
Not all of his sculptures are whimsical, and not all are of animals, but each was created to help people feel connected to the works immediate environment.
Venus, a swirling 92-foot-tall abstract figure adapted from the ancient Greek sculpture the Venus de Milo, is the centerpiece of an art installation in San Francisco called Cera Una Volta (Once Upon a Time).
Sheathed in stainless steel, it rises from a recently built plaza tucked inside the Trinity Place apartment and retail complex near the Civic Center. At its feet are scattered 17 smaller marble sculptures to accentuate its classical elements.
The works commemorate the propertys former landlord, Angelo Sangiacomo, who contributed millions of dollars to the site and who died in 2015.
Im not interested in creating an object of decoration; thats not what I do, Argent told China Daily in 2014. My task is to create something that fits the surrounding or the area. If it were to be removed, you would miss it.
Amisha Padnani is a New York Times writer.
Hollywoods de facto governing body, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, voted overwhelmingly Saturday to immediately expel Harvey Weinstein, breaking with 90 years of precedent and turning one of the biggest Oscar players in history into a hall-of-fame pariah.
The academys 54-member board of governors made the decision at an emergency session after investigations by the New York Times and the New Yorker that revealed sexual harassment and rape allegations against him going back decades.
In a statement, the academy said the vote was well in excess of the required two-thirds majority.
It added, 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. Whats at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society.
Weinstein, who was fired by the movie and television studio he co-founded, the Weinstein Co., has denied rape allegations while acknowledging that his behavior caused a lot of pain.
Although largely symbolic, the ouster of Weinstein from the roughly 8,400-member academy is stunning because the organization is not known to have taken such action before not when Roman Polanski, a member, pleaded guilty in a sex crime case involving a 13-year-old girl; not when women came forward to accuse Bill Cosby, a member, of sexual assault; and not when Mel Gibson went on anti-Semitic tirade during a drunken driving arrest in 2006 or pleaded no contest to a charge of battery against an old girlfriend in 2011.
Before Weinstein who built two studios on the back of the Academy Awards, securing more than 300 nominations for his movies only one person was known to have been permanently expelled from the academy. Carmine Caridi, a character actor, had his membership revoked in 2004 for violating an academy rule involving Oscar voting. He got caught lending DVD screeners of contending films; copies ended up online.
The academys board, roughly 40 percent female, includes Hollywood titans like Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy, Tom Hanks, documentarian Rory Kennedy and Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Paramount Pictures.
In an example of Weinsteins reach, at least 10 governors have worked on films that he produced or that his studios have released.
No person has been more closely associated with the Academy Awards in recent decades than Weinstein, who won a best picture Oscar in 1999 for Shakespeare in Love and who orchestrated campaigns that resulted in more than 80 statuettes for films released by the studios he ran, including five best picture Oscars for Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, Chicago, The Kings Speech and The Artist.
Brooks Barnes is a New York Times writer.
NEW ORLEANS A New Orleans police officer was fatally shot Friday, ambushed as he and his patrol team stepped out of their car to investigate something suspicious. Other officers returned fire, wounding a suspect who eventually surrendered to a SWAT team, police said.
Our officer collapsed right there on the scene and died at a hospital, Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said at a news conference.
They were on routine patrol, he said. They saw something that aroused their suspicion. They were exiting the vehicle and upon exiting the vehicle, what we have learned is that this perpetrator fired at our officer, striking our officer.
The wounded suspect, Darren Bridges, 30, fled into an apartment, which was surrounded by a SWAT team, police said. Negotiators eventually persuaded him to give up.
There was a peaceful surrender after long negotiations, Harrison said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital with several gunshot wounds, he said.
The slain officer was identified as Marcus McNeil, 29, a three-year veteran survived by a wife and two children, ages 5 and 2, police said.
We are all grieving, Harrison said. Our department is grieving, our city is grieving and this family is grieving so we ask the city to pray for us.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters that many officers knew this officer really, really well, and the entire department when this happens is in trauma and, of course, it strikes at the heart of the city.
We talk to these officers at their graduation and, of course, we say this all the time about how dangerous this job really is and, unfortunately, tonight our worst nightmares have come to be, Landrieu said.
At this stage in the investigation, police believe there was only one gunman involved, Harrison said. He said investigators are examining video from body cameras and neighborhood security cameras.
1 Oil spill: Federal authorities on Saturday responded to an oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Friday that oil spewed out of an underwater pipe in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles southeast of the town of Venice. The offshore oil and gas operator, LLOG Exploration Offshore, said as much as 9,350 barrels of oil were released before the spill was halted. There were no immediate reports of injuries or of impact to the shoreline. BSEE officials say they were working with the U.S. Coast Guard to respond to the spill.
2 Police protests: Police arrested five people in Ferguson, Mo., following the latest round of protests over a white former St. Louis police officers acquittal last month in a black suspects shooting death. Officers told about 50 protesters gathered Friday outside the Ferguson police station to leave several times before making the arrests. Protests have taken place in the St. Louis area since a judge acquitted Jason Stockley. He was charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. Ferguson also was home to protests after an officer fatally shot Michael Brown in the St. Louis suburb in 2014.
Striking drone footage captured by Thomas Rennie reveals the immeasurable damage to the Santa Rosa neighborhood of Coffey Park.
The footage was shot on October 9, and some of the streets seen in the video are labeled.
According to The Chronicle earlier this week, most of Coffey Park has been completely destroyed, and residents returned to what was left of their homes a mere 10 hours after evacuating.
Wayne Sims, owner of one of the homes still standing, ignored evacuation orders to stay and "hose down his home while houses on their side were igniting and exploding."
"I was just drowning this place," Sims told The Chronicle.
MORE: Family who lost dog during fire evacuation returns to leveled home, perfectly safe dog
Thousands of new evacuations were ordered in Santa Rosa Saturday morning after strong winds blew flames towards neighborhoods that were previously untouched by the fires. An estimated 3,000 people in Santa Rosa and at least 250 people in Sonoma evacuated their homes before dawn.
MORE: Editorial: California burns: Where's the president?
Watch the video above.
Media reports from yesterday said that the Supreme Court of India deferred the deportation of Rohingya Muslim refugees from India till its next hearing on November 21 but it seems that's not exactly what happened.
Kashmiri students shouting slogans during protest against what they say are the killings of Rohingya people in Myanmar. Photo: Reuters
By India Today Web Desk: Did the Supreme Court of India temporarily stay the deportation of Rohingya refugees from the country?
Media reports, including the one published by IndiaToday.in said yes, but it seems there is more to the news. What really happened yesterday during the hearing?
The IndiaToday.in report said, "In a strongly-worded observation, the Supreme Court reminded the government that it has multiple responsibilities, and must balance national and humanitarian values. It said the Rohingya Muslims issue is of great magnitude and the state has a big role to play.
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"The Constitution is based on humanitarian values. The state has a multi-pronged role. While national security and economic interests need to be secured, innocent women and children cannot be ignored," Supreme Court bench said."
That part of the report is right. What was deferred was the hearing of the case and not the deportation of Rohingya refugees. The Supreme Court had deferred the matter to November 21.
Talking to ANI, Supreme Court lawyer Aishwarya Bhati said, "CJI observed - On one hand, there is humanitarian ground and at the same time national security interest. The bench observed that the court will also have to consider how far courts can interfere in issues like this. The bench was clearly of view that this matter requires a detailed hearing because the magnitude of the issue is much wider."She then said, "Initially court felt they would like to pass an interim relief order but ASG stood up and contested."
Initially court felt they would like to pass an interim relief order but ASG stood up and contested: Aishwarya Bhati,Advocate SC #Rohingyas pic.twitter.com/tJq0C7F7YF- ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2017
Now, here is possibly where those who were listening got confused.
A report on Bar and Bench, where the order is made available, said, "the Court had initially started to dictate an order staying the deportation of Rohingyas. However, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Central government, strongly opposed the same."
The three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud only adjourned the case but did record the submission of senior advocate Fali Nariman who appeared for the Rohingya petitioners.
Nariman, in his submission, said that he will approach SC in case of any contingency. This was, the Bar and Bench report said, strongly opposed by ASG saying that the petitioners had the liberty to approach the Court during earlier hearings as well, but a case of contingency did not arise. ACJ succeeded in detering the Bench from stating this in its order.
ROHINGYA MUSLIMS LEFT MYANMAR TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION
The affidavit was submitted in response to a plea filed by the Rohingya immigrants, claiming they had taken refuge in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there.
Earlier this week, a group of eminent personalities had 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 basedon "false assumption".
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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".
WATCH: RSS chief Bhagwat on Rohingya: Humanitarian view at cost of one's security is not good
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The exhibition Klimt and Rodin: An Artistic Encounter opens Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Legion of Honor. Although it is not a definitive survey of the work of either artist, it is nevertheless an experience not to be missed.
There are still-startlingly original Gustav Klimt paintings (he hardly made any other kind), but many of the most famous pictures are also so famously fragile they could not travel. The Auguste Rodin sculptures are among the Bay Areas most significant art treasures, but their display here is appropriately limited to a number (25) that does not overshadow the 30 works by Klimt.
Nor is the show the occasion for new biographical scholarship on a relationship between the two. Klimt and Rodin met only once, we are told in the very first sentence of the catalog. Rodin did send works to be shown at exhibitions of the Viennese Secession, which Klimt helped to found, but the catalog essays work over-hard to draw meaning from slim evidence that the Austrian and the Frenchman, 22 years apart in age, had much more than professional respect for one another.
Any shakiness of concept, though, will be immediately forgiven by viewers because the show is such a sensual treat. The exhibition itself is the encounter not of artists, but of art.
Those who have been tracking the Legions series of Rodin Centenary exhibitions, of which this is the last, can now discern the programs full arc. The year started with a solid new installation and book on the museums Rodin collection, considered among the best in the world.
That was followed in April by a witty and, to many, irreverent juxtaposition of the Legion Rodins with works by the Swiss artist Urs Fischer. In July, Sarah Lucas: Good Muse scandalized a large part of the museum membership, if my email inbox is any indication, with a sculptural intervention in the Rodin galleries laden with sexual and scatological references.
Artistic Encounter now closes the cycle with a pairing that underlines in bold strokes, for anyone who will really look at the objects, Rodins obsessive interest, not only in the anatomical and the formal, but the sexual aspects of art. In the context of Klimt and Rodins prints and drawings of languid naked women with splayed legs or absorbed in self-pleasure, a Lucas plaster of a womans bottom sporting a cigarette is downright anodyne.
The exhibition teases out of works by Rodin some of the frisson that may have been lost as they became numbingly familiar to museum regulars. At the same time, as with the previous juxtapositions, the current show highlights objects that we dont see all the time.
Even more important than Klimts extraordinary drawings, shown side-by-side with rarely seen Rodin drawings from Legion holdings, the 15 paintings amount to the West Coasts most extensive presentation of such works.
Among them are strong portraits with white-on-white techniques borrowed from the American James McNeill Whistler. The brooding, sloe-eyed woman in The Black-Feathered Hat (1910), all in whites but weighed down by a massive dark form, commands our attention from across the room. Only in the original painting can we discern the brushwork that seems to separate hat from encroaching inky form, that seizes the woman by her spectacular red bouffant.
Landscapes built up like mosaics of solid color barely hold together, seemingly at the brink of dissolution into abstract jeweled panels. Depending on the path one takes through the show, they anticipate or recapitulate the two great paintings around which the whole affair revolves.
Klimts The Baby was painted in 1917, a short time before his death. The child is swaddled nearly smothered in a mountain of rich color and frantic pattern.
It is the 1913 canvas The Virgin, however, that best represents the artists notorious late-career conflation of salacious decoration, pent-up pictorial energy and delicious sexuality. A globe of desire and abandon, it has been hurtling through dreams for more than 100 years, and has yet to be arrested.
Charles Desmarais is The San Francisco Chronicles art critic. Email: cdesmarais@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Artguy1
Klimt and Rodin: An Artistic Encounter: 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Through Jan. 25. $20-$35. Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave., S.F. (415) 750-3600. http://legionofhonor.famsf.org
While the causes of the huge Northern California wildfires remain unknown, police in Suisun City said they arrested a man Friday on suspicion of starting a small fire in a field.
Officers in the Solano County community said they were sent to the field around 7:45 a.m. and got a report that witnesses had seen two people running away from the fire. Seeing a pair who matched the descriptions, they detained Londray Robinson, 54, and Aquana Doucet, 47, both of Fairfield.
A man who went to take rounds around an age-old temple seeking good luck in Tamil Nadu slipped and fell down the 3,500-ft-high cliff where the place of worship is located.
By Pramod Madhav: A man slipped from a cliff at height in his endeavour to go around a temple hoping seeking good luck.
Sanjeevi Perumal temple is an age-old place of worship located on a 3500-ft-high cliff.
The temple is in Musiri, Trichy where the incident happened.
People visit Sanjeevi Perumal and attempt to go around the temple. The procedure is called 'girivalam' which means you walk around the temple to seek good luck.
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The man who attempted to take the rounds fell down the cliff, clearly with no good luck by his side.
The temple has no space around it for worshippers to go around it and the man was warned before he ventured further towards danger.
The incentive for the man who dared to tread in practically no space, was the good luck as it is believed that one dons good fortune if they go around the temple.
The man was already done with two rounds and in the third one, he lost his balance and slipped.
When the matter was checked with the cops, they stated that they are yet to get information about the incident.
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When an earthquake devastated her native Ecuador in 2016, Karla Gallardo rallied friends to donate to UNICEF, the arm of the United Nations dedicated to women and children worldwide.
It was a chance for the co-founder and CEO of accessories brand Cuyana to give back after being on the receiving end before she came to the U.S. in 2001. And Gallardo had another chance when she was asked to join the committee of UNICEFs first San Francisco gala, held on Oct. 7 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Northwest Regional Board co-chair Susanne Caballero said that a local gala was just a twinkle in her eye for many years. It wasnt until the Northern California office opened a couple of years ago that UNICEF was able to join other cities (including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta) with what she hopes will become an annual occasion.
Stories like Gallardos punctuated the evening, which was focused more on facilitating empathy than on flashy names and celebrities. Perhaps this is fitting for an activist-friendly sanctuary city flush with money and minds looking for an outlet to give back in a meaningful way.
The true celebrity was author, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and former Sierra Leone child soldier Ishmael Beah, who received a Spirit of Compassion award from UNICEF USA President and CEO Caryl Stern, herself a child of a child refugee.
Beah met UNICEF representatives on a battlefield after three years of fighting, where people wearing blue T-shirts rather than ball gowns, negotiated for his release from his commander. Eventually, Beah was adopted into the United States and became a citizen something, he noted, that likely would not be possible today.
The thing that changed my life was that somebody stopped, at some point, and decided to do something, not for themselves, but for someone else, Beah said. When you take on supporting UNICEF, youre actually preserving humanity.
He sees the current climate in which the fates of refugees and immigrants are in peril as an opportunity for people to become more active citizens. I think what is going on now is actually waking everyone up, Beah said. You cant just be a good person. Its not enough. You have to do something about it. I think, in a way, thats an awakening.
To that end, cocktail bars shared space with a virtual reality bar stocked with Oculus Rift headsets that facilitated immersion in UNICEFs world: a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, a Liberian village that is home to Ebola orphans, and the remains of shelled buildings in Gaza. Nearby, a UNICEF-blue water walk invited black-tie clad guests to lug two large jugs of water to illustrate the daily efforts of women and girls to access safe drinking water.
The event attracted about 300 patrons, including Blue Bottle CEO Bryan Meehan, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner and DJ Eric Prydz, who donated his time to perform after dinner. Some attendees, such as UNICEF Northwest Regional Board Chair Elena Marimo Berk, wore Valentino, which sponsored the event.
Although empathy and education were primary motivating factors, the event ultimately was a fundraiser that raised almost $500,000.
San Francisco is always a city of action, and the idea that we can collect some of that action for the worlds children is pretty exciting, Stern said. She added that the work of UNICEF Internationals innovation unit, which has a lab in San Francisco, is responsible for recent projects such as using drones for HIV testing in remote parts of Malawi and building the SMS network U-Report (a tool for community participation) in Uganda.
Theres an amazing technical revolution happening, and that in itself is an opportunity to look at philanthropy in a different way, so Im happy to engage that part of the community, Stern said. But Im also excited to engage the traditional San Francisco community. The city has always represented youth and isnt afraid to use its voice, and sometimes you have to collect that voice for the vulnerable.
She added that its status as a sanctuary city was particularly resonant: I believe that children shouldnt be defined by their borders, but defined by their age.
Maghan McDowell is a San Francisco freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com
By PTI: Chennai, Oct 14 (PTI) Objecting to the remark of a central team member who termed the 40 dengue deaths in Tamil Nadu "minimal", the DMK said today that the comment was insulting and "trivialising" the lives of the people of the state.
Ashutosh Biswas, a professor of medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and member of the central team deputed to examine the dengue situation in Tamil Nadu, said yesterday that the 40 deaths since January were "minimal".
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"It is nothing...no need to create panic," he said.
Referring to the remark, DMK working president M K Stalin asked, "how he expressed such an opinion? Who gave him courage to say so?"
"The remark is trivialising the lives of the Tamil people and it is insulting," the leader of opposition in the assembly said.
Stalin asked if Chief Minister K Palaniswami too "accepted that view". He said how the chief minister was not objecting to the view, which denigrated those who died.
Stating that the Tamil Nadu government while seeking Rs 256 crore from the Centre to tackle the dengue situation had mentioned in its report that "18 people" died of dengue, Stalin said it was a "lie".
He demanded the ouster of Biswas from the central team, and suggested that the central team avoid making such remarks.
The central team should give recommendations to the Union government in a way the state government gets the funding sought to check the spread of dengue, he said.
"I urge Union minister J P Nadda to advise the central panel to undertake inspection in such a way to help eradicate dengue." PTI VGN SS ABH
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By PTI: By Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 14 (PTI) An influential US lawmaker has expressed concern over human rights violations and forced conversions in Pakistans Sindh province, saying elements of the government or military "see an opportunity" in making their opponents disappear.
In the past year, the UN Human Rights Committee, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the State Departments own Report on Human Rights have all noted serious concerns about extra-judicial and targeted killings and disappearances in Pakistan and, particularly in Sindh, Congressman Brad Sherman said.
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"Human rights abuses of this type cannot go unanswered. Activists disappear under suspicious circumstances. It is our obligation to speak out and demand accountability," Sherman, the Ranking Member on the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee and the founder and chair of the Sindh Caucus, said on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
These disappearances and other violations of human rights should be a major topic of conversation in all bilateral discussions between the US and Pakistan, he said, ahead of the visit of US Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Islamabad in the weeks to come.
"Elements of the Pakistani government or military see an opportunity to simply make their opponents disappear," Sherman alleged, citing a few high-profile cases of disappearances.
The people of Sindh face religious extremist attacks. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, for example, claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sufi shrine in Sindh province in which nearly 80 people were killed.
"Yet the government has not acted to protect religious minorities and, in general, has not acted to protect the people of Sindh from Islamic extremism," he said.
In Sindh, there are forced conversions of Sindhi girls belonging to the minority communities, Sherman said.
While the numbers are unclear, reports suggest that every year perhaps 1,000 girls and young women in Pakistan, including many in Sindh, are forcibly converted upon a marriage, not of their choice, to Muslim men, he alleged.
"The Pakistani government has not done enough to stop this practice, and reform measures have been circumvented and not enforced," Sherman added. PTI LKJ CPS
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According to the survey, Indians are globally the most anxious on not being able to access WiFi or internet.
By Indo-Asian News Service: Indians top ahead of Thailand and Mexico when it comes to using social media while holidaying, says a survey conducted by Expedia.
Indians love to be connected all the time, however, it also means that they do not disconnect from work much.
Indians are globally most anxious on not being able to access WiFi or internet to check work e-mail (59 per cent). In fact they lead in showing a preference for an airline that offers in-flight WiFi (33 per cent).
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Hence, 14 per cent Indians are always working on a vacation, #1 globally, followed by the US (seven per cent) and Brazil (six per cent).
Also Read:Are we really craving experiences or have our vacations become just about pictures?
Social media is emerging as strong driving force in creating vacation happiness with Indians being number one in always taking selfies (22 per cent), posting photos on social media (22 per cent), "checking in" on social media (21 per cent) and connecting with others through social media (19 per cent), said the Expedia survey.
The survey included 15,363 respondents, across 17 countries (US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India and Thailand)
The survey also highlighted that even though Indians are social media obsessed beach-goers who spend the majority of their time uploading pictures and video, 24 per cent of their compatriots find it very annoying, said the statement.
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By PTI: Rajkot, Oct 14 (PTI) Former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela today demanded an investigation into the claims made in a media report that the turnover of a firm of BJP president Amit Shahs son Jay grew manifold after the saffron party came to power at the Centre in 2014.
The charge has been rejected by the BJP and Jay Shah, who has termed the report as "false, derogatory and defamatory".
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"I do not believe in personal allegations, but when a report talks about his (Jay Shahs) role (corruption in business dealings), then a probe should be conducted against him," Vaghela said.
The former Congress leader, who has joined a new outfit, the Jan Vikalp Party, was responding to reporters queries on the controversy surrounding Jay Shahs company.
Jay Shah recently moved a court in Ahmedabad against The Wire, the news portal which published the report.
Asked about his stand on upcoming Bollywood film Padmavati, the Kshatriya strongman said its director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, should not "tamper" with history.
"Some members of the Kshatriya community met me today and said that Bhansali had tampered with history in his upcoming film. I have not seen the film, but Bhansali should refrain from tampering with history as that would amount to a cheap publicity stunt," Vaghela said.
The septuagenarian leader reiterated that he was not going to contest the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls. PTI VJA KA RSY RC
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California could use a concert hall like Hamburgs Elbphilharmonie. The signature structure of 21st century Germany features performance space for the philharmonic, a dramatically curved escalator, and a dozen public spaces for people to gather and enjoy city views.
But what California needs more than this stunning new piece of architecture is the scandal that built it. Originally planned in 2007 as a 186 million-euro ($220 million) project, with 77 million euros ($91 million) from taxpayers, the Elbphilharmonie was so dogged by delays and overspending that its price tag approached 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion), with taxpayers paying 789 million euros ($933 million).
The good news: The scandal produced one of the worlds most advanced government transparency laws. And that law, unlike the hall, could be transported to California, where transparency laws often produce frustration.
In our state, open-records laws often require citizens to bear the burden and expense of requesting documents, fighting for access and paying for copies. And open-meetings laws restrict our government representatives we dictate when they can meet and talk to each other. These restrictions on citizens and their representatives often produce conflict between the two.
Hamburgs transparency law works differently. The law sets a default of openness by requiring government officials to make their work contracts, memos, deliberations viewable on the Internet, almost as soon as they produce it. Knowledge is thus open to all, inside and outside government.
I recently visited Hamburg as the guest of journalist Angelika Gardiner and farmer Manfred Brandt, who let me sleep in his barn. Twenty years ago, Gardiner, Brandt and other citizens began using direct democracy to bring transparency to Hamburg government. In 2011, spurred by the troubled Elbphilharmonie construction, citizens groups organized a ballot initiative campaign to create an information register online where the government would publish documents and citizens could search them, anonymously and free of charge.
The initiative attracted support so quickly that the Hamburg parliament adopted their proposal before a public vote could be held. Today, Hamburgs online portal offers contracts, reports, plans, grant awards, proposed resolutions, spatial data, permits, even payments and benefits for senior officials.
The law guarantees immediate access, which usually means documents are published within a week of their creation. The transparency has not been total. Smaller contracts (those less than 100,000 euros, or $118,000) are sometimes excluded. An expansive exemption for personal privacy requires redaction of information that might seem relevant for holding local officials accountable.
But an evaluation of the law, required after five years, just concluded that both law and portal are working as intended. Among the most intriguing findings: Hamburgs government officials, who once worried about the costs of transparency, are now some of its biggest fans, using it to monitor what other Hamburg departments are doing. In this way, the transparency law has been most effective as a force for efficiency within the government, breaking down bureaucratic silos. The linke hand now knows what the rechte hand is doing.
Thats the lesson of Hamburg: With ordinary people consumed with their own busy lives, the best checks on government abuses and corruption are city officials themselves.
On a visit to the Rathaus, I asked Andreas Dressel, who leads the governing Social Democrats in the Hamburg parliament, how the transparency law might be adapted for a California city.
The best thing to do is to translate it into English and put it right directly into your law, he said, before noting Trumpian chaos and adding, You need it not just in California but for the entire United States.
Certainly, a law that makes disclosure an online default should be more effective and produce less fighting than our current records and meetings laws, which create conflict between public demands for access and government desire for secrecy.
Its not hard to see how a transparency law might make government responses to crises faster and more effective. In San Diego, officials in different city and county departments failed to communicate effectively for months earlier this year as a deadly hepatitis epidemic spread, according to the nonprofit Voice of San Diego. If officials could have seen their separate work online, its possible that an emergency declaration might have come earlier and saved lives.
Of course, such transparency would be opposed by government contractors, public employee unions and the local governments over which they exert too much control. But it is for situations like this that we have direct democracy in California. And in Hamburg.
Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.
When Gretchen Whitmer became the Democratic leader of the Michigan state senate in 2010, she found that there were more men named John (five) in the 38-member body than women (four).
Whitmer, 46, recalled that fact at a two-day San Francisco conference and candidate training session hosted this weekend by Emilys List the 32-year-old organization that supports Democratic, abortion-rights female candidates across the country. But Whitmer and the other 100 female candidates in town for the training see signs that those gender disparities could slowly be changing.
In the entire 2015-16 election cycle, 920 women contacted Emilys List to express interest in running for office. Since President Trump was inaugurated in January, nearly 19,000 have reached out to the organization, which distributed $90 million to candidates in the last election cycle.
Emilys List has expanded its staff by 20 percent and will be supporting congressional candidates in more midterm races than ever, including several nationally watched battles in California. Not all of those women will be running for office next year, said Stephanie Schriock, the organizations president. But she hopes to help build a farm team of future female office holders for a Democratic Party that has lost more than 1,000 state and local seats over the past decade.
For literally 32 years, weve mostly had to go out and recruit candidates, Schriock said. Literally sit at their kitchen table and encourage some might say beg women to run for office. So when we saw saw all these women signing up, we felt that we had to respond. So we started with candidate training.
And some are learning how to weave their personal stories into their campaigns.
One of the women stepping up is Whitmer, who is running for Michigan governor next year. As she campaigns, she can explain first hand how the paucity of female officeholders can affect legislation by speaking authentically.
In 2013, the GOP-dominated Michigan legislature considered a bill that would have required women to buy additional insurance coverage if they chose to have an abortion before they would need one including in cases where a woman was a victim of rape or incest. There was little public input.
Whitmer stood before the Senate and told her colleagues about how she had been raped 20 years earlier. It was a story she hadnt even told her father. But she couldnt hold back, as it was germane to legislation that could reshape womens lives in her state.
Thank God it didnt result in a pregnancy, Whitmer said on the Senate floor. Because I cant imagine going through what I went through and then having to consider what to do about an unwanted pregnancy from an attacker.
As a legislator, a lawyer, a woman and the mother of two girls, I think the fact that rape insurance is even being discussed by this body is repulsive, let alone the way it has been orchestrated and now shoved through the Legislature, she said. Despite her impassioned plea, the measure passed.
She hopes that with more women running for office, that type of legislation will be more rare.
Theyre doing this because theyre kind of like me fed up with the environment where our voices arent heard, theyre not respected and where barriers to our ability to seek medical care are being discussed and erected every single day, Whitmer said.
Whitmers legacy of frankly sharing experiences that are rarely told publicly is living on in women like Katie Hill, a Democrat. The 30-year-old nonprofit leader is a first-time candidate who is challenging incumbent Rep. Steve Knight, R-Lancaster, for a Los Angeles County congressional seat Democrats think they have a chance at flipping.
This month, Hill released a three-minute-long online video in which she spoke frankly about how she had an unplanned pregnancy when she was 19 years old. She posted the video to her Facebook page on Oct. 6, three days after the GOP-controlled House passed a measure that would make it a criminal act to abort a fetus 20 weeks or older, unless it involved rape, incest or the mothers life was at risk. Knight voted for the measure.
In the video, Hill looks directly into the camera and frankly recalled the choices she faced.
Its not something I ever thought would happen to me, she said in the video. And if it did happen I thought I knew what I would do in that situation. Id always considered myself pro-choice . . . but what I didnt know was what it would actually feel like to be faced with that kind of choice.
As she was trying to make her decision, she had a miscarriage. Afterward, the choice reinforced to her that its a decision that only a woman in that situation can make, she says in the video. Her family cant make it for her. Her partner cant make it for her. And the government most certainly cant make it for her.
Hill strongly believed that she wanted to directly share her story with voters, because we have to connect it to the human element.
Still, Hill said she has heard questions on the trail along the lines of, You seem sweet, but will you be able to stand up to Steve Knight? that she doubts male candidates ever hear. Back in Michigan, Whitmer heard a stranger one: One voter asked, Are you going to run as a woman?
As you can imagine, I had to pause for a moment, Whitmer said. She responded that she is not only running as a mom, but a former prosecutor and the former Democratic leader of the state Senate.
Ive learned to see the question behind the question: Are you only going to talk about womens health issues?
Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
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Many of the most powerful images coming out of the Wine Country fires last week depicted the wine industry as charred, its future threatened.
A generations-old winery engulfed in flames and reduced to rubble. Symmetrical rows of grapevines, backlit by a bright line of approaching fire.
Uncertainty and anxiety grip the wine community. And as the magnitude of the damage becomes clearer and missing loved ones are located, attention will turn to the scale of the devastation to the pastoral regions multibillion-dollar wine industry.
No one would compare the loss of wine with the loss of life. But wine is these communities lifeblood economic, cultural and otherwise. As Sam Coturri, owner of Sonomas Winery Sixteen 600, put it: Saving our lives up here also means protecting our livelihood.
Now Playing: Wineries, schools, hotels and neighborhoods have been destroyed in the recent Bay Area fires. Video: Ted Andersen, SFGATE
Less than a week after the first fires hit, nothing is certain. Though the devastation to Napa and Sonoma communities is enormous the lives lost, the homes destroyed the potential effects on the wine industry itself are nuanced. Were not facing a decimated wine supply or a widespread destruction of vineyards. Of the hundreds of wineries in Napa and Sonoma, fewer than 20 had reported severe damage by Saturday afternoon , though others had superficial damage.
Right now, even though impacts may not be truly seen on wine shelves for years, vintners are reckoning with the future of their businesses and their overwhelming sentiment is one of hope.
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 45,341 acres of grapevines are planted in Napa and 59,509 acres in Sonoma. Together, the counties employ more than 100,000 workers, and the business of wine is worth more than $27 billion to the local economies.
From a cultural perspective, from a heritage perspective, from an emotional perspective, Wine Countrys mark on Californias identity is indelible.
It is a place where business is fueled by parents handing down farming traditions to children, by neighbors lending each other equipment, by friends sharing bottles with friends. Napa and Sonoma may have worldwide renown, yet in many ways, they still feel like small farming towns.
That sense of community helped vintners remain optimistic this week, even as they watched with horror as the fires grew, and as many lost their own homes.
The first piece of good news is that the grapevines themselves are probably fine or will be within a couple of years.
Fire doesnt kill vines, said viticulturist Daniel Roberts of Sonoma Countys Integrated Wine Growing. Fire can burn them back, and they wont have crop next year. But Ive brought vineyards back after fire.
In fact, vineyards served as highly effective fire breaks, guarding nearby buildings from blazes. Thats because a standing vine will have a moisture content of as much as 50 percent, even in a dry year, explained Joe Zicherman, a fire safety expert and owner of Zicherman Roemer Vineyard in Anderson Valley. For a vine to reach its fiber saturation point where it could burn through requires a prolonged heating period. And wildfires move fast, he said.
Looking at some of the affected areas, youll see fire around the vineyards, Zicherman continued, but I dont foresee a lot of damage to the vineyards themselves.
According to Roberts, you can tell whether a vine has been burned by cutting into its cane and seeing whether theres still green tissue. If the cane has died, the bud, which would eventually become next years grapes, has died, too. In that case, a vine would not bear fruit in 2018, he said, but he would expect it to come back the following year.
Roberts farms vineyards all over Napa and Sonoma counties, and many of them remained inaccessible at weeks end, so he still had not been able to assess the damage. Either way, he feels positive: Hes dealt with fire-damaged vineyards before. Even if we have to take a vineyard back to rootstock and graft the vines, he said, it would not have crop for two years but would rebound after that.
Still, visit some vineyards and the word salvageable does not come to mind. At Old Hill Ranch in Sonoma Valley, most of owner Will Bucklins 140-year-old vines were spared. Others were reduced to piles of white ash.
Coturri of Winery Sixteen 600 recalled the 1996 Cavedale fire, when Robert Kamens Moon Mountain vineyard, which his father Phil Coturri manages, sustained irrevocable damage.
The plastic irrigation hoses acted like wicks, Coturri said. So even if the vines themselves didnt burn, it burned a ring around the base of the trunks. That vineyard was replanted entirely.
The long-term effects on soil are unclear. Jake Neustadt, vineyard manager for Sonomas Bedrock Wine Co., expressed concerns about the possible effects of ash on soil pH. But Sam Coturri saw it differently.
Everyone just got a giant free load of biochar, Coturri said. Theres a whole bunch of charcoal out there. Its carbon matter; its good for the soil.
Then theres the question of last years wine, the 2016 vintage. Wineries whose buildings were destroyed face considerable inventory losses. Red wines usually age in barrels for one to three years before bottling, and many winemakers then hold on to bottles for a year or more before releasing them to the public. That means that wineries affected by the fire may not just be facing reconstruction of their buildings. They could also lose three or more years worth of product.
This was the case at Signorello and to a lesser extent at White Rock, which lost at least 15 percent of its bottled wines. The amount of inventory stored at other destroyed wineries, such as Paradise Ridge, Frey, Oster, Roy and Segassia, is not known. Contrary to early predictions, the number of winery buildings destroyed by fire has remained relatively low.
A concern for the 2017 vintage is smoke taint, whereby grapes absorb lingering smoke in the air, resulting in an unpleasantly smoky wine.
Fortunately, not many grapes are still hanging and susceptible to smoke taint. The 2017 harvest was early thanks especially to that Labor Day weekend heat wave, which sped up ripening considerably and the bulk of this years crop was already picked. White varieties and early-ripening reds, like Pinot Noir, were virtually all harvested; mostly only later-ripeners like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah waited.
Ninety percent of the crop is in for the county, which is a very lucky thing, said Steve Dutton, co-owner of Dutton Ranch and one of the largest grape growers in Sonoma County. In Napa, White Rock Vineyards General Manager Heather Conlin said they were about 80 percent finished; Ray Signorello, whose namesake Silverado Trail winery burned to the ground on Monday, said only about 3 tons hung on the vines.
Its probably fair to say that the fruit thats still hanging will have some smoke taint, Conlin said, in which case they would not make the wine. From an optimal ripeness perspective, she added, At this point, the fruit has probably been hanging a little too long.
Though the fires largely halted harvest activity in Napa and Sonoma, especially since road closures kept employees away, some crews returned to the fields to pick what was left of the 2017 crop. Andy Beckstoffer of Beckstoffer Vineyards confirmed that his company had harvested fruit on Monday, and Pete Richmond of Silverado Farming Company said on Wednesday that his crews would be picking grapes.
Others, like Eppie Ordaz of Palo Alto Vineyard Management, said they would not send workers to pick when air quality was so poor.
Vineyards are one thing. Smoke taint inside wineries is another matter entirely one that Napa and Sonoma winemakers had never confronted before this week.
Fermenting wines this week were left open to the smoke-tainted air within winery structures. Fermentations cannot be done in an airtight environment because they are producing carbon dioxide. Tanks full of fermenting wine have to be vented; many winemakers, in fact, opt for fermentation vessels with fully open tops.
I dont even know what happens to the vintage now, said Joe Nielsen, winemaker for Donelan Family Wines. On Coffey Lane in Santa Rosa, the Donelan winery is near the devastated Coffey Park residential neighborhood. The winery remains intact. But the smoke in the air is thick.
Nielsen had no idea whether the smoky air in the winery could infect the nascent wines.
This is a completely unprecedented situation, he said.
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
1 Kenya unrest: Police in Kenya shot and killed two opposition protesters who allegedly stormed a police station with farm tools and rocks in the western part of the country, while police used tear gas on rallies in the capital, Nairobi, and elsewhere demanding reforms ahead of the new presidential election. At the same time, opposition leader Raila Odinga said hes willing to return to the race if the government is ready to do business and deal on reforms. The demonstrations defied a new government ban on opposition protests in the central business districts of Kenyas three largest cities, while concerns rose again about election-related violence in East Africas largest economy. Opposition leaders have called for daily demonstrations. Odinga, whose legal challenge led the court to nullify President Uhuru Kenyattas re-election, this week said he has left the race because no reforms to electoral commission have been made.
2 Family arrives in Canada: Five years after they were seized by an Taliban-linked network in the mountains of Afghanistan, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their children all three born in captivity arrived in Toronto on a flight from London. God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, Boyle said in a written statement. Coleman and Boyle were rescued Wednesday after they had been abducted in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had three children in captivity. Pakistani forces executed the rescue mission based on U.S. intelligence.
MANILA The Philippine president said he has asked his finance secretary to reject an unspecified British financial aid package and that hes ready to cut diplomatic ties with all European countries critical of his deadly antidrug crackdown.
President Rodrigo Duterte also threatened in a state TV interview late Friday to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term to allow him to arrest opponents and launch an all-out war against communist guerrillas if they attempt to destabilize his government.
BEIRUT The U.S.-led coalition and local officials said Saturday Syrian Islamic State fighters and civilians will be allowed to evacuate the city of Raqqa, in a deal that signals the imminent capture of the militant stronghold but flouts earlier U.S. protests of negotiating safe exits for the extremist group.
Foreign fighters will be excluded from the evacuation deal, the coalition said.
The U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the final battle for Raqqa was under way, apparently propelled by negotiation efforts that secured the surrender and evacuation of scores of Syrian militants still holed up in the city.
In a statement, the U.S.-led coalition said a convoy of vehicles is set to leave Raqqa following the deal brokered by a local council formed by their Kurdish allies and Arab tribal leaders.
The tribal leaders said they appealed to the coalition and the SDF to allow the evacuation of local Islamic State fighters to stem further violence.
Because our aim is liberation not killing, we appealed to the SDF to arrange for the local fighters and secure their exit to outside of the city, with our guarantees, the tribal leaders said in a statement.
It is not clear how many evacuees there are or where they will go, but the tribesmen said their evacuation would also save the lives of civilians the extremist fighters used as human shields. Last week, there was an estimated 4,000 civilians still in the city.
With the push to liberate the Arab-majority Raqqa led by Kurdish-dominated forces, local officials fear a backlash once the city falls. The initiative appeared to be an attempt by local leaders to stem such tension.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the talks were bogged down over the fate of the foreign fighters there, which according to a local Kurdish commander include French, Russian, Azeri, Indonesian and Turkish combatants.
The Coalition said it was not involved in the discussions that led to the arrangement, but believes it will save innocent lives and allow Syrian Democratic Forces and the Coalition to focus on defeating Daesh terrorists in Raqqah with less risk of civilian casualties. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
The evacuation deal places the U.S. in a bind as it had earlier said that only surrender, not a negotiated withdrawal for Islamic State fighters in Raqqa, would be accepted.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday that the U.S. will accept the surrender of Islamic State militants who will be interrogated for intelligence purposes.
Right now, as the bottom drops out from underneath (Islamic State), more and more of them are either surrendering some are trying to surrender, and some amongst them more fanatical ones arent allowing them to, he said.
Sarah El Deeb is an Associated Press writer.
By PTI: Washington, Oct 14 (PTI) Scientists have found possible evidence of a source of energy that could be responsible for heating the Suns atmosphere or corona.
In the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the researchers used data from the FOXSI-2 sounding rocket - a rocket payload carrying seven telescopes designed to study the Sun.
Space researchers have always wondered why the Suns atmosphere or corona is so much hotter than its surface.
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The main obstacle in answering the question is the lack of suitable instruments for measuring what occurs on the Suns surface and its atmosphere, Phys.org reported.
The researchers, including those from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, tested a theory that suggests heat is injected into the atmosphere by multiple tiny explosions on the surface of the Sun.
Such flares are too small to see with most observational equipment, so the idea has remained just a theory.
However, the new data offers some evidence suggesting the theory is correct.
To test the theory, the researchers looked at X-ray emissions from the corona and found some that were very energetic.
This is significant, because solar flares emit X-rays. However, the team was studying a part of the Sun that had no visible solar flares occurring at the time.
The researchers suggest the only likely source is superheated plasma that could only have occurred due to nanoflares. PTI SAR SAR
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USOC Chairman Larry Probst said there was the possibility the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might award 2026 and 2030 Winter Games simultaneously.
By Reuters: U.S. Olympic officials are eager to see the Winter Games return to the country in 2026 or 2030 even though doing so would create challenges for Los Angeles as it prepares to host the Summer Games in 2028.
Leaders of L.A.'s bid committee have said hosting a Winter Games in the years surrounding 2028 could hurt their ability to sell corporate partnerships and infringe on its exclusive rights to use the Olympic rings in its marketing.
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"During my comments at the Assembly I put a stake in the ground and said we are interested in hosting the Winter Games," USOC Chairman Larry Probst told reporters following a meeting of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly in Colorado.
"Ideally that's probably 2030 so there is no confusion with the preparations for 2028."
Probst said there was the possibility the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might award 2026 and 2030 Winter Games simultaneously, as it did this year where Paris won the 2024 Summer Games while L.A. landed the 2028 event.
"If the IOC considers the possibility of a dual award of 2026 and 2030, we certainly want to be in that conversation. We want to be at the table for that discussion," he said.
USOC would need to identify a city by next March if it decided to bid for the 2026 Games, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said.
Salt Lake City was the last U.S. city to host the Winter Games in 2002 and is expected to be in the running for any future events.
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Like any such project, however, the series cannot present a comprehensive picture. And this one is revealing in what it chose to omit and underplay.
Conventional British histories state that the Second World War started in September 1939. Germany invaded Poland, and in consequence Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3. But by 1939, over a million Chinese had already died in a sequence of Japanese atrocities. The Soviet Union and Germany had fought a proxy war in Spain. By the time WW-II ended, six years later, over 100 million people had died.
Newly released on Netflix, World War II in Colour is a British documentary series, narrated in 13 parts by Richard Powell, and the viewpoint shows. China, which lost over 10 million citizens and drained Japan's resources, is hardly mentioned. What of India, which volunteered a larger force than the rest of the Commonwealth combined? Indian troops were the backbone of key campaigns against the three Axis nations in theatres across Asia, Africa and Europe. India also suffered 1.5 million starvation deaths in the Bengal Famine, triggered by British callousness. Yet the Famine doesn't get a look-in. The Indian military contribution is mentioned once, in a hyphenated reference to the "British-Indian army". In extenuation, perhaps, the credits feature a shot of Sikh soldiers marching.
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Those omissions aside, the series carries superb archival footage, cleverly colourised and woven into the narrative. Each segment is about 51 minutes long. WW-II was well-documented in contemporary newsreels. The participating nations all understood the value of propaganda.
This series covers the successive German blitzkriegs, the aerial Battle of Britain, Barbarossa, Pearl Harbour, Japan's expansions into Asia, America's Pacific campaigns, the North African battles, the Atlantic war, the code-breaking, the revolutionary new weapons, Stalingrad and the Soviet Union's subsequent advance across Eastern Europe, the D-Day landings, the Battle of the Bulge, the thrust into Germany etc.
Like any such project, however, the series cannot present a comprehensive picture. And this one is revealing in what it chose to omit and underplay.
Apart from the airbrushing of India and China, there's little about the Anglo-American assaults on Vichy assets. It covers the Nuremberg War Crimes trials, but not the Tokyo trials (where an Indian judge wrote a dissenting opinion). Roosevelt's death features, but the ouster of Winston Churchill does not. Mao Zedong, too, is missing.
For military history buffs, it's well worth watching, even if it presents an incomplete and Anglo-centric picture.
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This is the tenth year, roughly, of the Slowtwitch Kona Party. I started it as a way for Slowtwitchers to meet each other, and a couple of dozen showed up at a house on the beach on Alii Drive.
It's morphed a bit since then. I believe we tipped the scales at something north of 300 at this year's party, which is about what we had when we closed the spigot on our RSVP thread on our forum.
Here are photos: Courtesy Tim Carlson
Emilio De Soto, of the eponymous clothing brand, is at right with his lovely wife Tracy on the left, creating a customer sandwich, with two slices of De Soto fans in the middle.
There were a lot of German Slowtwitchers who showed to the party. Scads of them. We love our German Slowtwitchers!
Slowtwitchers of all ages come to this party. 7 to 70.
And sometimes even younger than 7 and older than 70!
Superdave Koesel is listing of the virtues of the 3T Exploro to this lovely lady, who does not currently have a GravelPlus bike (as far as I know).
This is a picture of great people, surrounded by wheels. The wheels are from Visiontech. Vision is the triathlon-specific brand owned by FSA. That's an acronym for Full Speed Ahead, which is a perfect explanation for this company's ethos. Not just speed as in how fast you go with their products, but the pace at which this company pushes ideas and concepts to reality.
The Slowtwitch Party is for lovers.
Here's a couple from Madison, Wisconsin. He's racing. She missed a KQ spot by 1 place. Next year she'll make it.
Our ad salesman is Lars Finanger, on the left, who is also the man behind the Casco Bay Swim-Run. He's with Michael O'Neil (Boston Triathlon), and Julia and Claire from a Unit Nutrition, a company you'll be hearing about.
Here are a couple of gents sitting on the seawall next to the Diamondback IO, a new aero road race bike covered on Slowtwitch last week.
And then there's, er, me. It's 36 years since I first came to this island to race the Hawaiian Ironman, and it's my 30th anniversary of being in the business of triathlon. They made me a cake for the party. Which I did not expect. Very touching.
Paulina Allan, Steve Fleck's wife, with Michael Latifi.
Thanks to Celia and the GU crew (for letting us use their house!); Wes Hollero, deejay from Las Vegas; emcees Shawn English and Steve Fleck; Steve Westover and Matt Hill (Fredly on the forum) from Diamondback; Mike and Mark from Vision; John Duquette from blueseventy; Emilio and Tracy De Soto; Eric from Rapid Reboot; Ian Jackson and Tim Coppock from Profile Design. Katie, owner of Mermaid Manor (the house). Karen Sing (STConcierge) who put it all together! And those who gave us excellent raffle prizes. And, of course, you who attended.
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Greste is in Canberra Monday to deliver the key note address at the Australian National University's Bell School's Information Wars conference on the back of the launch of his new book, The First Casualty.
"It feels as though as if we've become incredibly bound up by rules and regulations. We've succumbed to the rhetoric around terrorism."
"Australia likes to think of itself as the larrikin country, the country that calls a spade a f---ing shovel; straight talking, no bullshit kind of country that had maintained that sort of frontier spirit," Greste said.
Nationalism and xenophobia are bigger risks to Australia than terrorism, says journalist Peter Greste.
In Egypt in 2013, Greste and his Al Jazeera English colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested and charged with threatening national security.
A shambolic, Kafkaesque trial saw Greste spend 400 days in Egyptian prison before being released and deported back to Australia. The unknown foreign correspondent became a household name synonymous with press freedom in Australia.
"[The address] is about saying what happened to us in Egypt was a pretty extreme example of something happening the world over," Greste said.
"Governments are using national security as an excuse to clamp down on civil liberties and freedom of speech in particular."
"I absolutely recognise the need and desire for governments and people to be protected from terrorism and extremism, but the problem is one of the reasons we [Australia] are one of the most stable, peaceful, prosperous places on the planet is because we have an open liberal system with all the government checks and balances."
Chipmaker and Apple supplier Qualcomm has filed lawsuits in China seeking to ban the sale and manufacture of iPhones in the country, its biggest shot at Apple so far in a sprawling and bitter legal fight.
The San Diego-based company aims to inflict pain on Apple in the world's largest market for smartphones and cut off production in a country where most iPhones are made.
The product provides almost two-thirds of Apple's revenue. Qualcomm filed the suits in a Beijing intellectual property court claiming patent infringement and seeking injunctive relief, according to Christine Trimble, a company spokeswoman.
"Apple employs technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying for them," Trimble said. Apple shares initially gave up some gains from earlier on Friday before recovering, while Qualcomm stock maintained small losses.
At the moment the government is using taxpayers' money to subsidise the coal industry and other polluters, not to pollute. But they cannot produce energy without burning coal and polluting, thus producing climate change resulting in record high and low temperatures, hurricanes, rising sea levels, storms, bushfires, floods and droughts, endangering lives and livelihoods. At what price? Can a price be put on such fundamental things? Forget about the grandchildren, it is happening NOW! Glenys Hammer, Narrabundah
I'm predicting John McKerral (Letters, October 8) will be the one caterwauling while clinging to his balcony, when a CO2-induced tsunami hits the Bay. Matt Ford, Crookwell Infinite deferral Murray Upton's (Letters, October8) call for a "master plan" for the whole of Canberra feels like yet another attempt at thwarting a specific plan he and like-minded individuals oppose. By calling for yet another review and even more consultation, these groups seek infinite deferral of theplan, until it is either withdrawn oramended down to nothingness.
Even if the master plan approved the West Basin development, would these groups cease their relentless opposition? I imagine not. It's certainly worth noting that the last time a "single, professionally produced, overarching master plan" for Canberra was developed in 1967, it tore the Griffin concept to pieces and replaced it with a car-dominated model of sprawling suburbs divided by freeways and empty town centres. Be careful what you wish for. Ryan Hemsley, Wright
News dilemma ABC journalist Sophie McNeill has been accused of "advocacy journalism" for her coverage of the Middle East conflict ("Danby backed by Jewish groups over ads", Sunday Times, October 8, p8), apparently for mentioning some facts inconvenient to the state of Israel. All journalism is advocacy to some extent; none more so than in reporting on the plight of the Palestinians. The question is, does the journalist advocate for the powerful and the status quo, which can be unjust and illegal, as in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, or does she advocate for the oppressed and downtrodden, as in the right of Palestinians to live on their own land. To put things in perspective, McNeill's contribution to rebalancing the forces of advocacy is rather modest. If only she was as fearless as her role model John Pilger. David Bastin, Nicholls
Fault with volt Explaining his work on developing a body-heat generator to power personal electronic devices, Professor Jun Chen said, "As adults we are losing 50 to 100 volts per day" ("Future of fitness to charge up tech", October 8, p11). The professor was speaking of volume or quantity. Voltage, in contrast, is the potential difference, the electromotive force, or basically the pressure under which the electric current is transmitted. In the context, volt was definitely the wrong unit to use. The inaccuracy of the report is aggravating and paints the professor as patronising, possibly unjustly. Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor Hard to believe
As I skimmed through The Sunday Times I locked in on the item regarding George Brandis' suggestion ("Believe MPs: Brandis", October 8, p8). We can be forgiven for believing initially that the idea was generated by The Chaser crowd. But on more careful reading I realised that the man is serious. Short answer, George: No! The credibility of this government and its members has been destroyed by such things as abuse of entitlements, arguments about gas shortages, support for Adani's coal mine against all rational advice, and myriad other reasons. The courts should definitely NOT believe the politicians appearing before them, ever. W.Book, Hackett Arms furphy
It seems that even (presumably) educated naval officers may be beguiled by suave salesmanship of giant arms manufacturers, like Lockheed Martin, into believing their propaganda as to the claimed prowess of their latest weapons of mass destruction, or, in this instance, interception ("Australia fixes on missile strategy", Sunday Times, October 8, p10). While "Spy-ID" radar panels may claim to see into tomorrow, they are susceptible to cyber challenge, conceivably disarming their capabilities. It might be reasonable to ask why, if the Aegis is so powerful, was it sold to Australia? Test "success" of the Aegis is a furphy, after all if it were unable to connect a programmed decoy, military brass would be suitably red-faced. However with most of Australia owned by foreign interests and multiple visa categories, why border security? Albert M. White, Queanbeyan
One of the world's rarest parrots may have teetered closer towards the brink of extinction in the wild with no females among the first wave to return to their Tasmanian breeding grounds.
Australia's orange-bellied parrot spends winter fossicking in the coastal salt marshes of Victoria and South Australia before returning from late September to Melaleuca in the Southwest National Park.
The first 10 orange-bellied parrots to arrive at their Tasmanian breeding grounds this season have been males. Credit:Paul Randall
Wildlife biologist Mark Holdsworth said 35 parrots made the journey north earlier this year as of Friday night, 10 had returned. All were males.
Mr Holdsworth who coordinated orange-bellied parrot recovery efforts for 25 years said the first wave of arrivals were older, more experienced birds. Disappointed that none of the older females appeared to
A rare hole the size of Tasmania has opened up in the sea ice off Antarctica, enthralling scientists keen to understand its cause and the possible role of climate change in its formation.
Known as the Weddell Sea or Maud Rise Polynya, the ice-free zone appeared in September and has grown to as large as 80,000 square kilometres, according to the University of Toronto.
Polynyas, defined as a stretch of open water surrounded by ice, are frequently found in the Arctic and Antarctica, usually near the coast. They rarely reach the extent now seen in middle of the pack ice.
"Something has changed" to bring the polynya back, Kent Moore, a professor of physics at the University of Toronto, said. "But we not quite sure what that trigger was," he said.
There is often much hand-wringing and tut-tutting after a particularly rowdy question time.
Think of the people watching at home, one MP will exclaim.
Another might accuse the showier ponies who enter the arena of being more concerned with scoring an appearance on the nightly news than making a thoughtful contribution to debate.
Inevitably someone gestures towards the public galleries filled with school students and asks people to think of the children.
The night Facebook started I was writing a very bad essay on Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott in my dorm room and eating pretzels. My roommate piped up that there was a new thing from that guy who had built FaceMash. It was a Wednesday in February 2004 at Harvard University, and the previous semester a student called Mark Zuckerberg had launched a website that juxtaposed people's ID card pictures, and encouraged users to vote on who was hotter.
Zuckerberg had been threatened with disciplinary action for FaceMash, which was quickly shut down, but The Facebook, as it was known, seemed more polished, less cheeky. We my roommate and I signed up. She was the 59th user; I was the 60th. By the following Monday, there were 650 of us, all Harvard undergrads, on the site. "I'm pretty happy with the amount of people that have been to it so far," Zuckerberg told the campus newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
Illustration by Simon Letch.
That eventful evening I procrastinated on my British Romantic poetry homework by filling in a profile. There was space for a favourite quote, though instead of inspirational sayings, 20-year-olds were more likely to respond with something nonsensical, like the lyrics to R. Kelly's Ignition, a song which was everywhere at the time. The cool kids' favourite movie was always Annie Hall. (This was before they realised Woody Allen was gross.) You could put that you were "married" to someone girls put their best friend, of course or that your relationship status was "complicated". And there was a thing called a Wall, where your peers would post testimonials to your character. (In-jokes came later on.)
Looking back, it was all surprisingly earnest.
Except there is an inconvenient truth not getting quite as much of an airing. While the vast majority despise the casting couch, there are some budding stars who are happy to use their sexuality in pursuit of fame and fortune.
Everyone from Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie to Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman have expressed their revulsion of powerful men using their position to seek sexual favours in return for a step up in Hollywood.
For decades Weinstein enjoyed absolute power in Hollywood. He aggressively pursued Oscar glory for many of his leading ladies, paying for expensive marketing campaigns to win over votes.
The universal condemnation of Hollywood heavy hitter Harvey Weinstein after accusations that he sexually harassed some of Tinseltown's leading ladies is well deserved.
"Everyone knows it still goes on ... sometimes it's not quite as overt, you might walk into a closed audition with a director and they casually suggest you strip down to view your physicality ... some say it's in order to flesh out the character, to make sure you look right for the part ... but sometimes I have wondered about the real motives," a much-loved Australian television actress, now aged in her 60s and who frequently appears on television screens, told PS this week, on the grounds of anonymity.
"When I was younger and more naive I went along with it, thinking it would be better for my career to do it, but it never felt right ... but I know of a couple of other actors who were more than happy to do it, and more, to get a part. But interestingly they didn't tend to have long careers."
Showbiz has long been a business that has traded on flesh, whether it be selling it on screen or trading in it behind the lens.
In his 2013 book on what life was like backstage on two of Australia's biggest television shows, Number 96 and The Mavis Brampton Show, creator David Sale shared an extraordinary account about an ambitious young starlet willing to fall pregnant to a powerful television executive to remain on one particular television show.
Following a boozy Logies in the 1970s, Sale writes that he was cornered by the attractive young actress who told him she was prepared to have a baby with the right man to remain on camera.
It's the richest turf race Sydney has ever seen with a total prize pool of $10 million, so it was only fitting that racing royalty Kate Waterhouse led the fashion pack at The Everest in Randwick on Saturday afternoon.
The daughter of top trainer Gai Waterhouse paid tribute to the white and baby blue dress code in a strappy Dion Lee number with a pleated skirt.
Kate Waterhouse (R) and Samantha Jade at The Everest at Randwick on Saturday. Credit:Brook Mitchell
She paired it with a floral crown by milliner Nerida Winter.
The lifestyle influencer and Home And Away's Emily Symons in white, seemed to be the only ones to stick to the colour theme, although Seven's Rachael Finch and The Real Housewives of Sydney's Krissy Marsh put in some effort in pastel shades of pink.
Money reader Scott Andrews retains first spot in week three of the Shares Race with his original $100,000 portfolio worth $140,995.
EHR Resources, which explores and develops base metals and gold, is one of Andrews' strongest performers.
Another is Yojee, the digital logistics and transportation management company, which is the third-best performer from among all of the tipsters' picks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index finished the week which, for the shares race, is the Thursday close, at more than 2 per cent higher at about 5800 points.
So how did Australia's biggest funds fall foul of HMRC? The problem relates to different rules over early access and preservation age, says Fiona Galbraith, policy director at the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA). In an effort to tighten up the multi-jurisdictional regime, HMRC introduced the pension age test, Galbraith says. "This effectively requires the preservation of QROPS money until age 55, with limited exceptions, such as ill health," she says. But here's the conflict. In addition to ill health, the Australian system can also allow early access for financial hardship and on compassionate grounds. This means Australian funds can't guarantee that members younger than 55 whose accounts include pension money transferred from Britain will only be given early access for ill health reasons. Despite the ban, Britain's position doesn't suggest that Australia's system is inferior, says David Haynes, senior policy manager at the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees. Rather, Australia is "collateral damage" of Britain's "broad brush" approach to address its concerns about more lax regulation around early access in other countries, such as Malta and Gibraltar, which also receive transfers. We live in an age where we have a global workforce and increasingly people will work overseas. Louise du Pre-Alba, AustralianSuper
Indeed, less than 1 per cent of Australians with super accounts are granted early access, according to ASFA. What does this mean for the hordes of Aussies who live and work in Britain or the many British expats who emigrate permanently to Australia? The number of Australians employed in Britain hit a decade high this year, topping 103,000 between January and March, according to the British Office of National Statistics. The average number of Australians employed for the same period in the past 11 years sits at 88,000. I'm one of the thousands affected and in my case it means keeping track of more than 30,000 (about $50,000) in a pension on the other side of the world for the next 17 years, until I turn 55. That's what I built up in both employer and personal contributions (and subsequent growth) from time spent working in London between 2007 and 2010. My husband is in a similar boat. We planned to transfer when we got home and take heed of the industry's call to get our super in one place, pay one set of fees and benefit from compounding interest on the higher combined amount. But we didn't transfer immediately; the Aussie dollar was too strong and Britain was still reeling from the global financial crisis. Turns out, we waited too long. According to ASFA, in the lead-up to 2015 there were more than 12,000 QROPS accounts in Australia, totalling $1 billion. For individuals, this money means a lot. But it's a small slice of Australia's $2 trillion-plus super industry, says Nick Bond, managing director of British transfer specialists bdhSterling. And he believes political will to revert the situation is waning. "I don't think it's high on the priority list," he says.
While Australian officials ensured that transfers already under way following the rule change were completed, proposals to re-allow transfers for Australians younger than 55 have failed, says a spokesperson for financial services minister Kelly O'Dwyer. "The UK government remains unwilling to accept proposals that would allow Australian funds to regain QROPS status without making fundamental changes to Australia's own legislative regime," the spokesperson said. In a submission to the HMRC earlier this year, ASFA put forward options for "quarantining" or "ring-fencing" transferred UK money from being paid to an Australian member who has been granted early access for reasons other than ill health. Galbraith says UK draft legislation and policy papers appear to create a concept that could possibly allow this. One of the nation's biggest super funds, AustralianSuper, also supports this proposal, says its strategic policy advocate Louise du Pre-Alba. "We live in an age where we have a global workforce and increasingly people will work overseas," she says. "It's time to look at ways to make it easier for people to deal with their superannuation or pension money when they work in different countries." The British Pension Service didn't respond to requests for the number of Australians in a pension scheme. And although many employers do offer them, they won't become mandatory in Britain until 2018. Given this, Australians working there should think about how they manage and contribute to any scheme they enter. Retirement savings may not be top of mind for younger Australians living abroad. But they do add up. That's the point. On the positive side, my British pension might outperform my Australian fund at times. And Britain's existing preservation age of 55 means I can access it earlier than my Australian super, which could be beneficial. Still, I'd rather the option to get all of my retirement savings together now, in one account and in one country.
How the systems differ Your "preservation age" is the minimum age for accessing your super. Australia Superannuation Preservation age is 55 for anyone born before July 1960. Those born after July 1,1960, and before July 1964 have preservation ages of 56, 57, 58 or 59. For anyone born after July 1, 1964, it's 60. You also have to meet a "condition of release", most typically retirement.
Age pension The qualifying age is 65 years and six months. It will increase by six months every two years, to 67 by 2023. Britain Personal and workplace pensions Preservation age is 55 but there are government proposals to raise it to 57 by 2028. You can generally access the money without retiring.
At the same time as more than 70,000 year-12 students are completing their first English papers in exam rooms around NSW, about 60 students will be doing the same paper in Singapore.
The students, who are doing their HSC at Singapore's Australian International School, will start their exam at about 8am on Monday to make up for the time difference and ensure that no students have left their exam room before all students have begun the exams.
Daniel Phelan and 60 other students will be sitting their HSC in Singapore, at the same time as more than 70,000 students in NSW. Credit:Australian International School Singapore
Daniel Phelan, 18, who started at the school half-way through year 7 after his family moved to Singapore from Melbourne, said he has sat exams, including NAPLAN tests, early in the morning throughout high school.
"We've always kind of sat them at the same time as kids in Australia, so we're used to that process," Daniel said.
Danny Avidan and Rafi Assouline's RDA Property Group initially wanted to build 21 apartments and a commercial space under plans submitted by the site's previous owner. An artist's impression of the previous version of Bronte Place. Developers are seeking to add a storey and seven extra apartments on top of what is shown. A former fashion mogul, Mr Avidan sought to reassure residents that their wishes would be respected after his company purchased the site from another developer in 2016. He acknowledged the site had been plagued by controversy, with residents objecting to a proposed supermarket. Property developer and former fashion mogul Danny Avidan with his wife designer Charlie Brown. Credit:Lee Besford
"We hope we are welcomed to Bronte and everyone can relax now and know we are building apartments which are approved," he told Fairfax Media. "At no time did I ever discuss extending or not extending the residential component." RDA Property Group submitted new plans last December to Waverley Council for an extra floor with seven additional apartments a variation Mr Avidan said was permissible under planning rules. Opponents argue the new plans for Bronte Place exceed the height limit by more than eight metres and permissible floor area by 48 per cent, and set a precedent for other large-scale developments or "mini-Bondi Junctions". The developers bypassed council and took their plans to the Land and Environment Court, which held a hearing at the site on October 4 following failed mediation.
The hearing was attended by an estimated 100 people, as well as Waverley councillors and the mayor. Serious pedestrian risk Lisa Matthews, a member of the Clovelly Public School Parents & Citizens' Association, said plans for commercial space on the site will increase traffic in residential streets and a school zone. "It poses a very real and serious risk to the school community with commercial traffic in a school zone where 500 children and their families come and go each day," she said. "If approved, it is only a matter of time before a child fatality will happen." But Mr Avidan said the site had more activity as an RSL club than it will as an apartment complex.
"Surely seven more apartments will hardly increase traffic or be a concern," he said. "The lane in question has no footpath and is servicing much larger residential and commercial buildings at present. There are no kids around who could be affected in any way by this." A Waverley Council spokeswoman said the council did not support the new plans: "It would result in substantial breaches of the site specific development controls and cause adverse impacts on surrounding residents." The council agreed with many of the concerns raised by residents. "Of particular concern is the applicant's attempt to override the site specific development controls that were put in place following extensive public consultation as this erodes public confidence in the planning system," she said. She also confirmed that the developer has been fined numerous times for breaching its DA, including the use of the rear lane for heavy construction vehicles.
"Should breaches continue, further legal action will be taken against the developer," she said. Mr Avidan said the breaches were the fault of "third party contractors who have misunderstood or ignored the site rules often outside working hours". He also said he was overseas when the alleged assault of Mr Lightfoot occurred but "this contractor has been dismissed partly as a result of this". Distrust of planning laws The battle for Bronte is one of many stoushes between residents and developers across Sydney.
The NSW government's revised plan to build high-density apartments along the Sydenham to Bankstown railway corridor continues to attract opposition from residents. The Inner West Council is preparing to fight a $1.3 billion apartment project from Mirvac, which proposes building 20 towers up to 28-stories high in Marrickville. In Sydney's eastern suburbs, groups such as Save Waverley Bowling Club, Save West Bondi Junction and Save Charing Cross have been formed. Dr Laurence Troy, a lecturer at the University of NSW's City Futures Research Centre, said it "is too common" for property developers to ignore controls by councils. There were too many examples of poor developments that had failed to deliver any benefits to the community, he added.
The Nationals are being accused by Labor of "dirty tricks" in two crucial byelections in Murray and Cootamundra over messaging the ALP alleges is attempting to masquerade as official NSW Electoral Commission material.
Nationals volunteers, including a staff member in deputy premier John Barilaro's office, have been wearing fluorescent orange vests and handing voters a leaflet informing them: "You don't need to number every box".
A Nationals staffer at a polling booth in Young.
Labor alleges the tactic is aimed at tricking voters into believing they are distributing official NSW Electoral Commission material.
The Nationals' are running a "Just Vote 1" strategy in the byelections in a bid to reduce the number of preferences that might flow to the Shooters candidates who are their main threats in the seats.
A sponsor of the National Party and prominent lobbyist has taken aim at the party's president Larry Anthony, saying he should not remain on the executive while running and owning a lobbying firm.
Mr Anthony, a director and part-owner of SAS Consulting Group, which represents large energy companies, has maintained he has no conflict of interest in occupying his commercial and political roles.
Nationals party president and lobbyist Larry Anthony. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Lobbying rules prohibit registered lobbyists from sitting on party executives but Mr Anthony said he was "not directly a lobbyist" and did not need to be registered.
Michael Kauter, who runs his own lobbying company Strategic Political Counsel, said "if you're a lobbyist or own a lobbying firm, I don't think you should be involved in running a political party, pure and simple it muddies the water".
A man who was attending a wedding reception at the Queen Victoria Building is in hospital in a critical condition after falling down a flight of stairs.
Police and emergency services were called to the historic building in Sydney's CBD about 9.45pm on Saturday after the man tumbled down the stairs, suffering critical head injuries.
Fairfax Media understands that the 45-year-old man fell about one storey down a flight of concrete stairs near the Tea Room, on the QVB's top storey.
He was unconscious and bleeding heavily when emergency services arrived.
A last-minute visit from the Premier and a concerted campaign on gun control did not stop the National Party from facing a major voter backlash in its heartland as it appeared set to scrape home in two byelections on Saturday.
Voters in three NSW seats went to the polls in byelections caused by the retirement of local MPs, including in the Nationals electorates of Cootamundra and Murray in the state's south-west.
Both seats were resting on two-party preferred margins of 20 per cent or more.
But with nearly two-thirds of the vote counted on Saturday night, the Nationals had a near 20-point point drop on first-preference votes in Cootamundra.
NSW motorists will pocket a refund of as much as $125 on their green slips as part of the state government's overhaul of the compulsory car insurance scheme.
The partial refunds for Sydney motorists, who pay the highest prices for green slips, will average $70 while country drivers will pocket about $30.
Sydney motorists stand to receive refunds of up to $125. Credit:Peter Rae
In all, about $300 million will be returned to motorists in NSW from December in partial refunds on what they have paid this year.
Finance Minister Victor Dominello said the overwhelming majority of the state's motorists would receive some refund and a cheaper insurance premium next year.
A man was allegedly hit by a car and robbed while walking in Sydney's inner west early on Saturday morning, with the alleged offenders still at large.
NSW Police said the 27-year-old man was walking along Beauchamp St in Marrickville at about 1.20am when he noticed he was being followed by a car.
The man crossed the road and was allegedly struck down by the vehicle, police said.
Several men got out of the car, one of who was alleged to be carrying a gun.
They allegedly threatened the man, who handed over his wallet and phone.
The building that housed Queenslands first motorised taxi company, along with several other buildings, will be demolished to make way for a $330 million two-tower development with almost 500 apartments in Brisbanes inner city.
Brisbane City Council received a development application on June 16 proposing 492 units across two towers for the site at 44-100 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley.
Ascot Taxi building on Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, 1937 Credit:John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
In August, the state Department of Environment and Heritage Protection received an application for 62 Barry Parade, which is within the development site, to be recognised on the states heritage register.
Fairfax Media reported in September the two-storey building was built in 1937 and home to Queenslands first motorised taxi company, Ascot Taxis, a company which has been in the news recently regarding the Sharron Phillips murder mystery.
Police have launched a public appeal to find three missing children who have not been seen for three weeks after last being sighted in Redland City.
The siblings were reported missing on Saturday after being last seen by family on September 24 in the Cleveland area and police said concerns were held for their welfare.
The missing children include a boy, 6, and his twin sisters, 5, with authorities believing they are in the company of a 39-year-old man, who is known to them.
He is believed to be travelling in a grey 2004 Honda Odyssey with Queensland Registration plates 808 WEL and has been described as 175 centimetres tall with blonde hair and green eyes.
The missing 6-year-old boy has been described as 120 centimetres tall, thin build with black hair and brown eyes. The 5-year-old girls have been described as 100 centimetres tall, slim build with black hair and brown eyes.
There is a tremendous upside to technological change. It has the potential to improve lives and wellbeing, save time and effort and help combat, if not overcome, so many of the obstacles to a good life in a thriving society.
But agreeing that technological change can improve living standards does not mean dismissing the real fears that people have about where, or whether, they fit into a workforce increasingly dominated by machines.
In our book, Changing Jobs: The Fair Go in the New Machine Age, former NBN boss Mike Quigley and I look at the impact of artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and machine learning on the workforce and on inequality in society more broadly. We pitch up 33 ideas for how our schools, policies and mindsets need to change if Australia is to best prepare for the changes to come. Here is a brief selection of 20 we think are worth considering:
1. Training and mentoring more STEM teachers: Competence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics will be more important than ever in the new machine age and having teachers with the skills and confidence to teach those subjects will be essential.
It's a deeply frustrating set of circumstances for Tim O'Brien, the managing director of Lakes Oil, which holds permits for onshore gasfields in the Otways and in Gippsland, but can't use them. Mr O'Brien says politicians have fouled the well: even though conventional drilling for onshore gas poses no environmental risk the government banned it to appease unscientific fears about fracking. "It just shows the lack of actual knowledge of what is going on down there, that the government went and did that it's just political, not based on any scientific or technical information," he says of the moratorium. This week the Otways' fertile farmland became ground zero in Victoria's gas wars, as the Coalition said it was time to get busy drilling there, fracturing the state's previously bipartisan opposition to onshore exploration.
Turning off the gas The former Baillieu Coalition government imposed the moratorium in 2012, in response to regional fracking fears, but this week the opposition said it would rescind it within 100 days of being re-elected. Those untapped onshore reserves are critical to making sure Australia has enough gas in the next few years and does not pay extortionate prices for it, it argued. "Victorians want to turn their heaters and stoves on, but all they are getting from Daniel Andrews is a Premier who hides behind lies and scaremongering," the Liberals' shadow energy minister, David Southwick, said. Federal pressure has been applied too; the Turnbull government is considering a proposal to penalise states that refuse to exploit onshore gas reserves by denying them some GST revenue.
The Coalition's argument is straight-forward; gas prices are too high because there is a gas shortage, but will fall once more gas is made available. One part of that argument is not up for debate: Australia's gas prices are at historic highs, after having more than doubled in the past 18 months. Nine years of quarterly price data published by the Australian Energy Regulator reveals the painfully sharp spike; prices bobbed between $2 and $5 per gigajoule between 2008 and early 2016, but have since shot to $9 to $10. Crisis? What crisis?
But Victoria is not short of gas, the depleted offshore wells of the Otways notwithstanding. It is awash with gas. Last year the state produced a record 402 petajoules. It consumed 204 petajoules, about half its output. The other half was exported interstate or overseas, and this, analysts argue, explains the sharp increase in price. Bruce Robertson is an analyst with the Institute for Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis.
He argues the "globally uncompetitive prices" Victorian households and businesses are paying for gas are the fault of the profit-driven behaviour of the major gas exporters. A liquefied natural gas glut has depressed global prices, so exporters are inflating them here by starving the domestic market to make up for their losses overseas. EnergyQuest says the Gladstone LNG plants aren't the reason the domestic gas market is in a bind. Credit:Ashley Roach "Producing more gas is not a way to solve that in terms of policy," Mr Robertson said. "Because all they will do is export more gas and still starve the consumer, because that's how they make money."
For David Blowers, Energy Fellow at the Grattan Institute, the problem is not a lack of gas beneath the ground. Rather, the ability to get it into the domestic market is hamstrung by the fact that so much of it is locked up in export contracts. "Until a few years ago we weren't exporting gas at all, we had a closed market, there was plenty of gas to go around for everyone," Mr Blowers said. "Now all of a sudden these new LNG plants need to fulfil their quotas." Australia exported a record 51.4 million tonnes of natural gas last financial year, more than double what it exported in 2014-15.
Keep the home fire burning The Andrews government argues the flow overseas is so excessive it is putting pressure on domestic supply. "The problem is that too much Australian gas is being exported overseas because of a failure of national energy policy," Lily D'Ambrosio, the Andrews government's Minister for Energy, said. "Australian gas should be reserved for Australian families and businesses first something that Malcolm Turnbull can control, but refuses to." According to AEMO, in 2021 Victoria faces the prospect of becoming "a net importer of gas from outside the state".
It's also one year after the Andrews government's moratorium on onshore gas exploration is due to expire, although Labor is yet to give any indication it will not extend it. Gas flows from an onshore well. But despite its claim last week that the Coalition's promise to allow onshore drilling is "a slippery slope to fracking", it too has taken a strong interest in the Otways onshore reserves. The government has appointed the state's lead scientist, Amanda Caples, to head a $42.5 million study of how much onshore gas is beneath the ground in Victoria, and whether it's a commercially viable energy source. If Liberal leader Matthew Guy becomes premier in 2018, Victoria could expect to see gas piped from beneath the earth by the end of 2019.
Before dawn on the morning of June 4 1629, the Batavia, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, struck a reef at the Abrolhos Islands, some 70 kilometres off the Western Australian coast. More than seven months earlier the ship had left the Netherlands to make its way to the city of Batavia (present-day Jakarta), carrying silver, gold and jewels and 341 passengers and crew. During the shipwreck, 40 of them drowned. The others found safety on a nearby island.
Since there was no fresh water on the island they would name Batavia's Graveyard (now Beacon Island), Commander Pelsaert and about 45 others took a longboat in search of water on the mainland. Unsuccessful in his search, Pelsaert decided to sail on to the city of Batavia to get help. By the time he returned in mid-September, the followers of Jeronimus Cornelisz, the man he had left in charge, had murdered 115 men, women and children.
Ongeluckige Voyagie, Van t Schip Batavia, nae Oost-Indien. Credit:State Library of Western Australia
It was not just the extent of the killings that shocked Pelsaert, but also their sheer cruelty: victims had been repeatedly stabbed, had their throats slit with blunt knifes, or their heads split with an axe. In his account of the events, Pelsaert tried to comprehend what had happened. No Christian man could ever have done this. It had to be the work of the devil.
Mutiny, shipwreck, treasures, brutal murders and a "happy" ending for the 116 people who survived: it all sounds like the script for a Hollywood movie. No wonder then that Russell Crowe has bought the rights to Hugh Edwards's novel Island of Angry Ghosts, which recounts the shipwreck and its rediscovery in 1963. The Batavia's tragic tale has inspired novels, a stage play, songs, an opera, a musical and radio dramas, and is now the subject of an exhibition combining art and science at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery at the University of Western Australia.
They need two million dollars - and they're half way there.
But with funding harder to come by in these straightened economic times, the backers of a project to create Perth's first playground inclusive of children with physical and intellectual disabilities or restrictions are doing it for themselves.
Charlie came up with the idea of baking scones to raise money for Pia's Place. Credit:Amy Rudd
Pia's Place is a specially designed inclusive playground aimed for installation at Perth's Whiteman Park, but only if enough money is raised.
"When my daughter, Pia Maeve died suddenly and unexpectedly as an infant, I thought all hope was lost," said the project's spearhead Amy Rudd, who's pursuing the playground in memory of her baby daughter.
Bali: Australian man Joshua James Baker could be jailed for up to 15 years after being named a suspect for allegedly bringing a mixture of marijuana, tobacco and prescription-only drugs into Bali.
Mr Baker, 32, was handed over to police after being apprehended at Ngurah Rai airport on October 8 with an alleged 28 grams of marijuana and 37 pills of diazepam, a prescription-only sedative.
Joshua James Baker in custody in Bali with the alleged drugs found on him.
Bali police spokesman Hengky Widjaja said Mr Baker, who was born in Mount Isa, Queensland, had been named a suspect but remained under doctor's observation.
Naming someone a suspect in the Indonesia justice system means authorities believe they have enough evidence for charges to be filed, which does not take place until the case is before the court.
Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
Like many people, Canadian woman Denise Robertson had often dreamt about winning the lottery with her partner Maurice Thibeault but when her wish came true last month, the result wasn't quite what she was hoping for.
Maurice Thibeault and Denise Robertson in happier times. Credit:Facebook
Now the couple are headed for court in a case which has gripped Canadian media.
"Together we dreamed about winning the lotto," she said in a sworn affidavit. "We both love muscle cars, we would each buy one and buy a large property in the country and build a large shop to work on our cars."
Ain Issa: Syrian Islamic State fighters are set to abandon Raqqa in a withdrawal agreed with US-backed Syrian militias that have them surrounded, a militia spokesman says.
The jihadists' defeat in their former Syrian capital is edging closer, the spokesman said.
Officials on Saturday gave conflicting accounts on whether foreign fighters would also be leaving the city, where the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have been battling to defeat Islamic State since June.
SDF spokesman Talal Silo said the foreign fighters would be left behind "to surrender or die", without saying when the evacuation of Syrian fighters would take place.
Santa Rosa: Fast-moving fires spread by shifting winds forced thousands more Californians to evacuate their homes on Saturday as the death toll from the deadliest blaze recorded in the state's history rose to at least 40, with hundreds of people still missing.
About 10,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters overhead were battling 16 major wildfires, some encompassing several smaller merged blazes, in areas north of San Francisco that have consumed nearly 86,000 hectares over seven days, or roughly 865 square km - an area larger than New York City.
An aerial view shows the devastation of the Coffey Park neighborhood after a wildfire swept through. Credit:AP
The 40 confirmed fatalities, including 22 in Sonoma County, already make it the deadliest fire event in California history.
Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including 3,000 evacuated on Saturday from the city of Santa Rosa, about 80 km north of San Francisco, and another 250 from nearby Sonoma city.
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STAMFORD Controversy is deepening over a twice-rejected proposal to build a large medical clinic in a single-family High Ridge neighborhood.
Applications by Ahuja Holdings LLC are set for a public hearing before the Zoning Board Monday night.
In one application, Ahuja Holdings seeks a special exception to build a 7,000-square-foot clinic that would provide outpatient services for acute and chronic medical conditions at 831-833 High Ridge Road, at the corner of Donata Lane.
In the other application, Ahuja Holdings seeks to change two zoning regulations.
First, the company wants the Zoning Board to lift restrictions on construction of medical clinics in single-family neighborhoods. If the board agrees, clinics could be built in residential zones citywide.
Second, Ahuja Holdings wants the Zoning Board, not the Zoning Board of Appeals, to take up its proposal. Regulations state that applications for medical clinics in R-10 zones such as the one in High Ridge are subject to approval by the appeals board. But that board shot down Ahuja Holdings proposal last year and in 2015.
The companys requests have raised the ire of High Ridge residents. A web page, www.stopahuja.com, questions why the Zoning Board has the proposal on its agenda for Monday night, given that the Zoning Board of Appeals has jurisdiction.
The web page also makes note of a civil lawsuit brought by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration against Dr. Ajay Ahuja, who runs Stamford Immediate Medical Care Center at 825 High Ridge Road, adjacent to the site of the proposed clinic.
In May, a U.S. District Court judge in New Haven ordered the doctor to pay $200,000 in penalties after he admitted to 23 counts of civil violations of the Controlled Substances Act, according to the lawsuit.
It states that Ahuja failed to keep accurate records for how he dispensed controlled substances that include the narcotic hydrocodone, the sedatives alprazolam and zolpidem, and the anabolic steroid testosterone cypionate. Ahuja improperly prescribed some of the drugs and could not account for quantities of pills, the suit states.
The doctor owns 1 percent of Ahuja Holdings, according to the lawsuit. He conveyed most of his assets to his son, Nicholas Ahuja, the suit states.
Nicholas Ahuja, an attorney, did not return a voicemail Friday seeking comment. Dr. Ahuja could not be reached Friday afternoon.
High Ridge residents want to know why Ahuja Holdings will be allowed to appear before the Zoning Board Monday.
The Zoning Boards decision to hear the clinic application is in violation of Stamfords existing zoning regulations and the city Charter, said Paul Longo, a neighborhood activist.
If the Zoning Board approves changes to the zoning regulations, it must publish them and allow 10 days for objections. Changes dont take effect until then, the city Charter states.
By hearing this application for the special exception, they are putting the legal cart before the horse, Longo said.
Well-connected
Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing said his office ran it by the citys legal department and got the OK.
We believe that having the Zoning Board hear applications that have a logical connection makes sense from a procedural standpoint, Blessing said.
Director of Legal Affairs Kathryn Emmett said there is nothing procedurally wrong with the way its being done. Its up to the Zoning Board to decide the merits of the application, she said.
If the text change is granted, the Zoning would be the proper board to review the request for the special exception to build the clinic in the single-family zone, Emmett said. If the text change is not granted, that would be the end of it. Its appropriate for the Zoning Board to hear the applications together.
Those who disagree with any decision may appeal it with the Board of Representatives, Blessing said.
But that is an onerous process that would require gathering hundreds of signatures on a petition and approval by a full majority of representatives, Longo said.
This just speaks volumes about our city government bending over backwards for the well-connected at the expense of the community, he said.
Besides the two clinic proposals rejected in the last two years, Ahuja Holdings in 2012 filed an application to build a day-care center, which the Zoning Board of Appeals also turned down.
High Ridge residents and their District 16 representative, Matthew Quinones, have charged that Ahuja Holdings proposals for the clinic and zoning changes are overly ambitious, too far-reaching, and will adversely affect nearly every single-family zone in Stamford, according to a web page Quinones posted at the time.
The Zoning Board public hearing is set to begin at 7 p.m. Monday in the fourth-floor cafeteria of the Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Blvd.
acarella@stamfordadvocate.com.
INTA is holding a couple of educational events in Berlin back-to-back:
-- A conference on Brand Authenticity a relatively new topic, where the focus will be on how sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility and integrity impact a companys bottom line (November 30-December 1). Details are available here and here
INTA has also recently announced their 2018 educational calendar and the Europe Conference will be held in February (26-27) in London on the topic of designs (full calendar at www.inta.org/calendar)
Press release: Best practice code of conduct on SEP licensing
EU innovators have kick-started the development of a best practice code of conduct for licensing Standard Essential Patents for 5G and the Internet of things. The project started at a Cen-Cenelec Workshop held in Paris.
The workshop is being held against the backdrop of an upcoming communication from the European Commission on the system of FRAND licensing of Standard Essential Patents. Supporters of the FRAND system unanimously agree that it is essential to maintain the balanced benefits that open standards deliver to developers of connectivity technologies, the developers and manufacturers that use them, and European consumers.
An online version of the press release can be found here
Press release: CENELEC Industry code of conduct launch on standards licensing
In the context of the European Commissions FRAND Communication (expected publication at the end of November) a project will begin on Oct. 6, 2017 in Paris under the oversight of the CENELEC standards body. It intends to establish an Industry Code of Conduct for Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) licensing. In particular, it will be relevant to the development of technology standards in the field of 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).
IP Europe an industry alliance promoting standards innovation and intellectual property believes that an industry Code of Conduct could help all stakeholders to harness the potential of the Internet of Things, without the need for further regulation.
A full press release with quotes from the Cenelec President, IP Europe and Nokia, can be found here
Upcoming events:
Question the Trade Mark Judges 2017
Wednesday 18 October 2017, 18:00 - 19:30, followed by a reception
J Z Young Theatre, UCL Anatomy Building, Gower Street
UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL) and MARQUES, the European Association of Trade Mark Owners, invite you to meet and question some of the judges that are or were until recently deciding our trade mark disputes.
Further details can be found here
Patents in Telecoms and the Internet of Things
Thursday 9 - Friday 10 November 2017, Washington DC
The UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law and George Washington Universitys Faculty of Law announce their 3rd Conference on Patents in Telecoms and the Internet of Things in November 2017 in Washington D.C.
The conference will be a unique gathering of industry, the judiciary and regulators from the US, Europe and Asia, organised by Professor Sir Robin Jacob (the Sir Hugh Laddie Chair of Intellectual Property at UCL Laws) and Professor Marty Adelman, Co-Director of the Dean Dinwoodey Center for Intellectual Property Studies of George Washington Universitys Faculty of Law.
View the full programme and booking details here
Fresh study: Strengthening the Position of Press Publishers and Authors and Performers in the Copyright Directive
This study was commissioned by the European Parliaments Policy Department for Citizens Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee. It reviews Art 11 and Arts 14-16 of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. It outlines criticisms that have been made of the proposals, includes reports of research into the operation and effects of precursors of Article 11 in Germany and Spain, a summary of the cultural economics literature on legal regulation of authors contracts and analysis of the laws of 7 Member States to see in what way Arts 14-16 would add value.
Further details can be found here . And the full text can be downloaded here
Expression of Interest for a Junior Research Position: Legal and Policy Recommendations for Community networks
The Department of Engineering and Information Science of the University of Trento is recruiting a temporary junior researcher in media and telecommunications law (at the post-doctoral, PhD or master level) for a period of 12 months to produce legal information and policy recommendations for community networks, as part of the netCommons project.
Further details can be found here
Industrial Strategy: Intellectual Property Call for Views
Call for views on maximising the incentives of the Intellectual Property system to stimulate collaborative innovation and licensing opportunities.
As the government sets out its plans for an ambitious new industrial strategy, the IPO is seeking views to form part of our contribution to the next phase of the strategy. We are looking for your views on a range of specific ways we can get innovators to work together more effectively and get the most out of their IP. The consultation will run for five weeks, closing on 15 November 2017.
The following area students were among the six Chadron State College students comprising the inaugural Rural Law Opportunities Program (RLOP) who were welcomed to the program by CSC faculty members and the Dean of the University of Nebraska School of Law, Richard Moberly, during a reception Aug. 30: Gunnar Buchhammer of Scottsbluff; Alexandria Nobiling of Chadron; Kevin Zhang of Alliance; and Celeste Cordona of Mitchell, Neb. (69357)
Vernon Lee Carlson, 89, of Scottsbluff died October 12, 2017 at his home in Scottsbluff. His funeral service will be held at 10 AM on Monday, October 16, 2017 at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Chapel with Stanley Morrison officiating. Burial with military honors by the Nebraska National Guard Honor Guard will follow at East Lawn Cemetery near Minatare. Visitation will be held from 3-5 PM on Sunday at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Chapel with the family present. Expressions of sympathy may be left by visiting Vernons Tribute page at www.dugankramer.com.
Vernon was born on the family farm north of Minatare, Nebraska to Edwin and Edna (Lipe) Carlson on June 16, 1928. He received his early education at Fairview 50 and graduated from Minatare High School with the Class of 1946. He chose to serve God at an early age and remained true.
One June 16, 1952 he was united in marriage to Cecel Olson in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Vernon served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. He returned home to the family farm and was very active on the farm until his health prevented him.
Vernon is survived by his wife of 65 years, Cecel; son Tim (Kim) Carlson of Minatare; daughters Ellen (Ken) Hansen of Estelline, SD and Julie (Patrick) Smith of Seattle, WA; grandchildren Sara (Ben) Treffer Nikki (Jared) Hoffman all of Scottsbluff, Katie Hansen and Carrie Hansen both of Minneapolis, MN, Andy (Kelsey) Hansen of Estelline, SD, and Alex Smith and Nolan Smith both of Seattle, WA; ten great-grandchildren: Madalyn, Jackson, Jayden, Aidyn, Tenley, Taya, Cali, Cash, Carsyn, and Jett; brother Beryl (Jean) Carlson of Leonard, ND; sisters Evelyn (Ladd) Olson of Broken Bow, NE and Edwina Carlson of Kimball, NE; and very special nieces, nephews, and extended family members.
Vernon was preceded in death by his parents, brother Alfred Carlson, sisters Alma Kocina and Belva Ring, and infant daughter Shelly Gay Carlson.
Vernon will be remembered for his quiet manner and gentle spirit. His strength of character and purity of soul will be forever cherished.
In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but he never, ever quite made it to America. Those small Caribbean islands he did attack were met with so much violence, a move has picked up steam recently to replace Columbus Day or to add Native American or Indigenous People/Leaders days in many cities and states, Nebraska among them.
Based on legislation introduced earlier this year in our state legislature, Nebraskas Native American story is recognized as symbolic of civil rights throughout the United States. In an 1879 U.S. District Court, Ponca Chief Standing Bear argued that Native Americans are people within the meaning of the law. He is well-known for holding out his hand and addressing the court, 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.
The judge agreed and ruled in favor of Standing Bear, recognizing the citizenship of Native Americans nationwide.
In 1879, the U.S. government had signed and broke 371 treaties with the Native Americans. Like many Native Americans, Standing Bear was forced to leave his homeland and march his people to the Oklahoma Territory. UNL Professor and author Joe Starita describes the pain, hunger and pestilence that attacked these people as more than a third of the tribe died, including Standing Bears only son.
Before he died, Bear Shield asked his father not to bury him in Oklahoma, but to return his body to their home in northeastern Nebraska, to free his spirit among his ancestors. Standing Bear complied, walking 550 miles back again to the tribal lands, carrying his son, dressed in his best clothes and wrapped in a buffalo robe, in the back of a shaky old wagon. They walked through blizzards with a wind chill of -77 degrees, dug tunnels in haystacks and rummaged for food. Within two days walk of their home, they were captured by the army and the trial began, making Standing Bear one of the nations earliest civil rights leaders.
Whats not to like with this man? Starita testified before a legislative committee in March. He did everything that he could for his people, which is the sacred duty of the chief. And he did everything for his son and his family, which is the sacred duty of a father. And to me, its really an apotheosis of everything that we value as Nebraskans and as Americans that come together and (honor) somebody who literally walked the talk.
Tomorrow, as part of the yearlong Nebraska sesquicentennial celebration, our states 150th anniversary, a bronze statue to honor Standing Bear will be dedicated on the Centennial Mall in Lincoln. The 10-foot tall statue depicts the chief with his arm outstretched toward the judge. State Senator Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, LB485s primary sponsor, was there when a life size clay model of the statue was brought through Lincoln last spring. She said the artist, Ben Victor, rivals the caliber of the artist who created the statue of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Despite the overwhelming support apparent at the unicameral hearing, the bill did not make it out of committee due to time constraints. Only one individual, representing an Italian American group from Omaha, testified against the abolition of Columbus Day. Pansing Brooks offered an amendment to keep Columbus Day as a state holiday, although Nebraska is one of only 24 states who recognize Columbus Day.
Why? Columbus never set foot in what is now the United States. He didnt sail on the Nina, the Pinta or the Santa Maria. No one in those days even believed the earth was flat.
Smithsonian Magazine credits Columbus confusion with the idea in the middle ages the world was much smaller and the distance from Europe to Asia was much shorter. He would have read from Marco Polo who occasionally slipped into fables and Sir John Mandevilles hoaxes of claims he visited this part of the world in the 1300s. Christianity was enough of a claim for the explorers to claim dominion over the natives on any non-Christian continent.
Id prefer todays school children learn about the heroes among our shared ancestry and the truth of the misery caused by Columbus. Raping and pillaging were the order of the day. Enslavement was common to obtain workers for the gold mines and the soldiers beds.
In many ways, the idea of abolishing Columbus Day parallels the recent decisions to take down Confederate statues and flags in the southern states. An Internet meme tells the story, If someone raped your wife and sold your children, would you put up a statue to honor them? You may see the other side of the same coin, those statues, flags and holidays remind us of what our ancestors did wrong, so that history might never repeat itself.
Patrick Powers is a mental health therapist, enrolled in the Lakota tribe and living in the Black Hills. He was raised in Alliance, graduating from Catholic school here in the 1970s. A laicized priest, Powers is active in his church and has followed a mentor to confront the local bishop about the Catholic Doctrine of Christian Discovery. The doctrine originated from a papal bull (like an executive order from the Vatican) and is used as the basis for U.S. Supreme Court cases as recently as 2005.
Of course, the bishop referred the matter to the Vatican and Native nations have since visited Rome, but were not allowed to meet with the pope. Calling it a slow process more than 600 years is an exaggeration of monumental proportions.
The 1455 doctrine simply says Christian nations become the rightful owners of any land they find occupied by non-Christian people. Thats papal bull all right, but it allowed Portugal to invade and colonize West Africa. A year after discovering America, a similar papal bull was extended to Spain. According to an article published online just this week, what followed was the kidnapping and enslavement of an estimated 12.5 million African people and the systematic genocide of an estimated 90 million indigenous people in the Americas.
Powers describes Columbus Day as a trigger for historical trauma, a contributing factor to PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, often triggered by fireworks or gunfire among veterans, is also common to Lakota people in recovery, he said. It is an assault by the people of Christian origin, encoded into law and celebrating the original oppressor of the Native people, he said
As a Catholic myself, Id favor the doctrine be overturned and removed as the basis of U.S. law. As Powers explained, its doctrine (written by humans), not dogma (written by God). And, as it has become so painfully obvious in hindsight, humans make mistakes. Big ones.
British ambassador in Bucharest, Paul Brummell, swapped the bed for the sleeping bag, spending Friday night outdoors as a volunteer to a fundraiser for homeless people organized by the Casa Ioana Association. Brummel and about 20 volunteers slept out rough on cardboards to mark World Homeless Day.
Fifteen minutes before 22:00, the diplomat, equipped with sleeping bag and roll-mat, entered the venue of the event - a cafe in downtown Bucharest - went past the tables on the terrace where the customers were enjoying the mild autumn evening, and joined the other volunteers.
This is the second year when the ambassador participates in the event organized by Casa Ioana, which has been holding for two decades now fundraisers for people without a roof overhead.
Sharing a memory, the ambassador said this was the sleeping bag he used for travels as a geography student, 30 years ago.
I am happy that the weather is very good today. Last year it rained all night; I think this will be a much easier night, the diplomat said.
Speaking about the purpose of the event he volunteered to, Brummel admitted that in a way such an event is contrived, but underscored that in his opinion, it is important to remember that there are 5,000 people without a roof here in Bucharest, spending every night outdoors, including in the middle of winter, and that they don't have it easy. He added that homelessness is a "global" issue.
This is an issue both in the UK and in Romania. The solutions are not easy, there is a link between homeless people and social problems, the British ambassador pointed out.
In his turn, Casa Ioana founder Ian Tilling told AGERPRES about the challenges regarding the homeless people's need for social services, but also about how the profile of the Romanian homeless has changed.
Tilling recalled having opened the first night shelter in Bucharest back in the '90s.
Back then the homeless were generally men in their '50s, elderly men, but then women appeared in the group too and then there was a massive addition of homeless elderly, they were tricked into selling their homes, Tilling explained.
In the early 2000s there was an "explosion" of families, most of them single-parent, who were left homeless.
The trouble was that the authorities provided shelter, but on the condition that they left their children in the care of social services, and of course they refused. We have since been focusing on families - back then there were homeless families, now we have families affected by domestic violence, he said.
Tilling argues that it is important for the public to know that for a homeless person this is generally just a transitory situation.
Being homeless is a situation, not a condition. It simply means that a person does not have a house to live in, full point, Tilling said.
He pointed out that in addressing the issues of this social category, the authorities should focus on encouraging these vulnerable people to regain their autonomy.
People don't become homeless overnight, this happens in months, in years, they simply lose their resources. The house is their last resource. They stay at friends for a while, but this option too disappears at some point. The issue here is the lack of services and it's true not just here, but in the entire region. Few are 'chronically' homeless, this is usually a transient situation, and we are trying to help the mothers who turn to us at Casa Ioana get back on their feet and be autonomous. This is what our efforts are directed at, he pointed out, voicing also regret that such services are missing.
Videoclips were running in the background, behind the group of volunteers lying on the cardboard-lined floor, with social experiments debunking stereotypes about street people.
If you ask a homeless person for money, he will offer you, if you ask for food, he will give you. There is also a clip with a homeless man who simply pays those who spend time talking to him, Tilling explained.
He also spoke about how homeless people see the world.
There is a general pattern about the invisibility of the homeless, but I read an article written by a homeless person who said 'Imagine spending your entire life in the public eye'. Things are like this from their point of view, he remarked.
The founder of Casa Ioana also spoke about the people's reluctance to offer material resources to homeless people.
No one should step back from giving money to homeless people. If they use it to buy cigarettes, that's it, it's their money, that's what matters to them. (...) Media once ran the information that a woman had sold the clothes Casa Ioana had donated to her. So what? It was our pleasure to offer her the clothing, it was the pleasure of the donor, and whoever bought it needed it and this is all that mattered, Tilling said.
British Council Romania country director Nigel Bellingham and president of the British - Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Charles Crocker, were among the volunteers to Friday's sleepout.
World Homeless Day is marked globally on October 10.
According to statistical estimations, there are some 5,000 homeless people in Bucharest but numbers could actually be higher. Others are compelled to live in overcrowded space or temporarily live at friends.
Casa Ioana was set up in 1995 in support to families - women and children in general - who fall victims to domestic violence or have no place to live. Casa Ioana provides them free accommodation until they are back on their feet. The association also offers these vulnerable persons a broad range of psychological and social assistance services, helping them to transition to an independent and stable living.
ST. LOUIS Shortly after Swiss-based Nestle SA outlined a new strategy this summer to focus future capital investment on its high-growth businesses, including Nestle Purina PetCare in St. Louis, the company announced plans for a $320 million new factory in Georgia to make pet food.
The factory Purinas 21st U.S. plant and its first new domestic manufacturing and distribution facility in 20 years reflects the potential Nestle sees in the pet products business whose brands include Beneful, Friskies and Fancy Feast.
The investment is in line with Nestles strategy to increasingly focus capital spending on advancing the high-growth food and beverage categories of coffee, pet care, infant nutrition and bottled water, Nestle said in a statement when Purinas Georgia plant was announced Sept. 27.
Nestle, maker of Nespresso coffee and Perrier water among other brands, last month raised its profit margin goal amid pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb. Loeb, CEO of New York-based hedge fund Third Point LLC, has increased its stake in Nestle this year and urged the companys board to make changes to improve shareholder value.
Nestle previously indicated it also plans to sell its U.S. confectionery unit as a way to trim its broad portfolio and focus on its strongest businesses. If a sale moves forward, brands such as Butterfinger and Smarties in the U.S. would no longer be owned by Nestle.
Though small, this deal may be the first sign that new CEO Ulf Mark Schneider is willing to refocus the portfolio, and shed low-growth businesses that do not add to the companys nutritional credentials, Morningstar director Philip Gorham wrote in a recent analysts note.
Nestles capital strategy has implications for St. Louis. Purina traces its roots to 1894 when William H. Danforth and partners formed the Robinson-Danforth Commission Co. in St. Louis. The company was renamed Ralston Purina in 1902 and launched Dog Chow in 1926. In 2001, Ralston was acquired by Nestle S.A. of Switzerland.
Purina had 8,000 employees in the U.S. as of the end of 2016, including 2,186 in St. Louis, the headquarters for Purinas U.S. and Latin American operations. In the Americas, Purinas sales totaled $8.7 billion in 2016, the companys 13th consecutive year of improved sales growth and profit.
We regard pet food as being somewhat removed from the hyper competitive broader packaged-food industry, as consumers tend to be slightly more brand-loyal and the category is ripe for the value-added nutritional innovation that Nestles cost advantage allows it to deliver, Gorham wrote in his analysts note.
Nestle also is poised to increase its local workforce next year when it moves hundreds of IT jobs to St. Louis from California as part of Nestle USAs relocation of its headquarters from California to northern Virginia. The IT jobs are moving to St. Louis due to its central location and will provide IT support for multiple business units, including Purina.
Purinas growth coincides with an increase in spending by pet owners. U.S. pet industry expenditures are expected to total $69.36 billion this year, up from $66.75 billion in 2016, according to the American Pet Products Association, an industry trade group. Of that amount, pet food is the largest expense, totaling an estimated $29.69 billion. According to an APPAs survey, people who own a dog or a cat spend an average of $235 on pet food for each animal.
Growing footprint
Since 2010, Nestle Purina PetCare Co. has expanded its local footprint by adding a $15 million building for employee training and development and a new litter pilot plant for its Tidy Cat brand at its St. Louis campus. The company also built an $11 million, 81,000-square-foot event center in Gray Summit, Mo., for dog and cat shows.
We were excited when we became one of the growth pillars for Nestle, Nina Leigh Krueger, Purinas president, said in an interview at the companys headquarters last week. Krueger joined Purina in 1993 as a brand management intern and was chief marketing officer before being promoted to president last fall.
We have been investing, and this will help us continue to invest, Krueger said, adding Purina spent $1.28 billion in North America over the last five years on capital investments.
In addition to adding its own new products, Purina has grown through acquisitions, including buying Zukes natural dog treats and supplements in 2014 and a natural and organic pet food company, Merrick Pet Food, in 2015. The company continues to look at acquisitions when it makes sense, Krueger said.
A growing area for Purina that will see additional investment is e-commerce, she said. Industrywide, e-commerce accounts for 10 percent of pet products revenue, with 56 percent coming from grocery stores, mass retailers and club stores. About 34 percent of revenue is from pet specialty stores including PetSmart and PetCo.
Weve seen e-commerce grow faster than any other category, Krueger said. Were shipping large bags of heavy food but consumers want convenience when it comes to pet food.
The company also is investing heavily in its research and development arm, which has grown to 500 employees worldwide, including several hundred in St. Louis. Purinas global R&D unit, which helps define strategy for the pet products business worldwide, also is based in St. Louis, where it operates a genomics lab.
Purinas pipeline of new and recent products includes foods designed to address cognitive health for older dogs and cats and pets that are overweight. One area the company is exploring for future products is eye health to help pets overcome vision deterioration.
Recent products the company considers breakthroughs include Purina Pro Plan Bright Mind dog food, launched in 2015, that uses enhanced botanical oils for dogs aged 7 and older to improve memory and decision making. Purina NeuroCare, available through veterinarians beginning this year, uses medium chain triglyceride oil to help dogs with epilepsy.
Were looking at areas that pet owners are struggling with and look to ways to solve that, said Dan Smith, Purinas vice president of R&D. We believe its possible, and ask, How can we provide nutrition for pets to become the best they can be?
Another new product targeting overweight dogs and cats that Purina plans to launch in January in specialty stores is Purina Pro Plan Simply Fit, a patented weight management system that includes two bags of dry pet food: one product delivers 25 percent fewer calories per serving than the other, Smith said, but with the same daily portion size. The two products are designed so pet owners alternate each week between the two to help pets maintain an active metabolism.
We have hundreds of patents and were growing them all the time, Smith said.
Its research and development efforts extend beyond the companys own products. This weekend, Purina invited engineers, technologists and students to participate in its first Better With Pets hackathon to spend 48 hours creating pet-friendly technologies with the goal of making St. Louis the most pet-friendly city in the U.S.
Purina knows nutrition better than anyone, Krueger added. Its probably one of the best times to be a pet owner.
One only has to look at the last mayoral campaign in St. Louis and assimilate how the black community operates or fails to operate. I keep thinking about the theme of last summers National Urban League Conference here in St. Louis, which was Wake Up, Stay Woke. Its a message the St. Louis black community needs to hear. The lack of leadership and aimless wandering on so many levels is shameful.
Consider the five black Democratic candidates in the primary race for mayor versus the two white candidates. Several meetings were held by the so-called black leadership to rally behind one strong and capable black candidate. But consensus couldnt be reached, so the black community watched their unguided hopes disappear.
Lyda Krewson, the lone white woman, won by 888 votes. When the black leadership splits, our votes wind up canceling each other out.
Lets take a quick look at the current protests happening right now in the city. No one, particularly the black leadership the black protesting leadership, the black political leadership or any of the black organizations has voiced what specifically must be done to address the needs and concerns of those who feel they are traumatized by the past events of injustice.
Krewson has attempted on several occasions to address the issue head-on without any guidance or suggestions by black aldermen or others in leadership roles. What amazes me is some of these protesters are black state legislators who can actually effect change in legal procedures governing local police and courts. They have done nothing.
The mayor has a unique opportunity to address so many critical issues. She should do the right thing and return the interim police chief to his previous role and appoint another qualified commander to run the department. She should call for collaboration with the black aldermanic leadership to determine which local and state laws need changing. Then, together, they can initiate the change everyone demands.
After all the racial issues, protesting, state and national attention, the city of Ferguson held its mayoral election last year. The choice was between the incumbent a white man and a black woman. Whereas Fergusons black community comprises 70 percent of the population, the white man won. The black community re-elected the same mayor whose failed leadership had created the conditions leading to the Michael Brown shooting. They didnt Wake Up, Stay Woke.
Black leadership in the city had a unique opportunity in 2005 to display solidarity regarding equality education. Thurgood Marshall Academy, a charter school, closed because of alleged mismanagement, violations of teacher certification and low test scores, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This school was a K-8 program and founded by a black retired St. Louis police officer, William Bill Monroe.
During the dismantling and destruction of the academy, no local or state politician, no member of the black leadership, no community organization and not even a member of the black clergy extended a hand of support to save this facility. It had been primarily responsible for educating 547 black male and 551 black female children.
Did black leadership Wake Up, Stay Woke? Absolutely not. They either ignored or just didnt give a damn about Thurgood Marshall or the 1,098 children it served.
Why cant the black community mirror the collaboration that brought Bosnians, Chinese, Middle Easterners, Croatians and Russians together upon their arrival in this city? Why cant the north side aldermen, who are black, develop economic and residential growth in their communities as their white counterparts have done in the south side, central corridor and downtown?
What is the mindset of the black leadership? Why cant it Wake Up, Stay Woke? Is it that the black leadership has been preconditioned to believe its efforts will be fruitless and that change is impossible? Is petty jealousy standing in the way of collaboration? Is it an entitlement mindset among some mayoral candidates who are incapable of new ideas and resolutions?
There need to be fundamental and drastic changes if the black community, not only here in the city but around this country, has any hope of being politically competitive and economically successful. Organizations such as the Urban League, Black Leadership Roundtable, the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Metropolitan Clergy Coalition must collaborate and bring others to the table, including those black organizations that have broken off from the original ones.
A concerted effort of all black people and organizations can effect a meaningful and lasting change to halt the crime epidemic and improve housing, employment, transportation and education. Collectively, these groups have the resources and influence to effect dramatic change. But it means putting aside the pettiness, jealousy and self-entitlement that continue to stymie our progress.
David L. Jackson Jr. is a small business consultant, former Board of Education president and former commissioner of the St. Louis Tax Increment Financing Commission.
In June 1858, Republican Abraham Lincoln kicked off his U.S. Senate race with a speech in his hometown of Springfield, Ill. The nation was threatening to come apart over the issue of slavery and Lincoln, who had memorized and taken to heart large parts of the Bible, borrowed a perfect metaphor from the gospel of St. Mark.
A house divided against itself cannot stand, he said. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
Every president, before and after Lincoln, paid at least lip service to the notion of unifying the country. Then a divided nation elected Donald Trump. Rather than turning around and trying to heal the divisions, or at least pretend to, Trump has continued to exploit them. However long it lasts, this is what his presidency will be known for.
Lincoln was the Great Emancipator. Reagan was the Great Communicator. Trump is the Great Divider.
I got to thinking about how Trump would have handled the Civil War, assuming there was such a thing as Twitter 156 years ago. Work with me here.
Southern artillery attack on Fort Sumter. Great people in Charleston, S.C. Come back!
22,000 casualties at Antietam. Plenty of blame on both sides!
Cotton a great fabric! Use for all my shirts. Lets keep American cotton jobs!
House divided? Get small million-dollar loan from dad, make two condos. Double the rent!
To be honest, weve seen this sort of thing before, at least we who remember Richard Nixon. He wasnt near the showman that Trump is, but he had his enemies list and talked about going after The Washington Posts television station license. But he did most of it secretly, not blatantly.
Even in his famous silent majority speech in 1969, when he appealed for support for the Vietnam War, he said he respected the idealism of antiwar protesters. At the same time he was sending Vice President Spiro Agnew out to rip the protesters, the effete corps of impudent snobs in academia and the nattering nabobs of negativism of the news media.
Say this for Trump: He would never hide behind his vice president or use the words impudent or nabob.
The war was only briefly the main fault line in America. Before and after Vietnam, the issue was race. Nixon devised his famous southern strategy to split conservative southern Democrats from the liberal ones in the north. Ronald Reagan had two sets of speeches, the welfare queen one for the north and the states rights one for the south.
George H.W. Bush, perhaps the nicest man ever to be president, had attack dogs working for him in his race against Democrat Michael Dukakis. They invented wedge issues for cultural differences and exploited racial animus with a TV ad blaming Dukakis for the terrible crimes that a convicted murderer named Willie Horton committed while free on a weekend furlough.
But they didnt go out of their way to govern by division. Nor did Bill Clinton, who loved everybody, some in very special ways. Fox News was created in 1996 specifically to promote and profit from American division.
George W. Bush campaigned as a uniter, not a divider. The Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore and the Iraq War took care of that, but Bush seemed to float above it all.
Then came Barack Obama, who thought there was no so such thing as red America and blue America and learned differently. For a brief moment on election night in 2008, there was hope that by electing a black president, America could start putting racial divisions behind it. As if.
There was the birther movement of which Trump became a leading proponent. And lies about Obama being Muslim; by 2015, 29 percent of Americans believed it. By the end of his term, the Gallup Poll had Obama ranked as the most polarizing president in history. This is no big deal; every president since John F. Kennedy is rated as more polarizing than his predecessor. Trump will be no exception.
What sets him apart is the way he embraces division. He doesnt even pretend to be a healer; maybe that makes him a political genius. He recognized early that working class white people were angry that people like him had sucked up all the money and jobs. He managed to shift the blame onto Obama, Muslims, immigrants, the news media, Saturday Night Live, Puerto Ricans and the list goes on.
America is not only divided, but big parts of it are pretty gullible.
In Marks gospel, right before it says a house divided against itself cannot stand, it says a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. That goes for a republic, too.
I found it interesting that the Post-Dispatchs reporting on the racial disparity in school suspensions (Report: Black students are four times as likely to be suspended as white students) and teachers creating classroom space to discuss social justice (St. Louis teachers turn their classrooms into hubs of social justice) were both online Thursday morning. While seemingly disconnected, the solution to this disparity will come only when schools and school districts shift policies and practices in light of racial and social justice.
A great example of a school that is doing this well is Northwest Academy of Law and Social Justice in the citys Walnut Park neighborhood. For the past several years, teachers and administrators at this magnet school have implemented schoolwide changes aimed at keeping kids in school by providing restorative alternatives to suspension and expulsion.
While important, these arent just changes in the student handbook or more programs in the school. They have incorporated social justice into their daily schedule. From mindfulness in yoga class, to peer mediation, to a restorative student court where young people can have a voice in the discipline process, to regularly inviting local activists to talk with students about how they can be positive change agents in the St. Louis community, Northwest is a model for how schools can address the suspension disparity by prioritizing social justice.
In a time when St. Louisans are looking for solutions, this school provides a way forward.
Joshua Saleem St. Louis
Maggie Boswell and Jane Holdsworth from Radway Riding School who were judged runners up in the Best Sporting Rural Business Category at the Rural Business Awards 2017.
RADWAY Riding School has been hailed for its contribution to the local rural community at the Rural Business Awards 2017.
It was crowned runner up in the Best Rural Sporting Business category.
Cotswolds Distillery, based in Stourton near Shipston-on-Stour, was also a runner up, in the Best Rural Start Up.
The categories were won by Divoky Riding School, based in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, and HS Products Ltd, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, respectively.
The 13 awards are organised by the Country Land and Business Association and Amazon, and supported by the governments Rural Affairs Minister, Lord Gardiner.
This years awards saw nearly three times as many entries as in 2016, with businesses from 52 counties in the UK sending in their applications.
Radway Riding School is situated on part of a working 100-acre farm from where a team of British Horse Society (BHS) qualified instructors teach riders from the age of four, with facilities including an indoor school with training mirrors and a large outdoor arena with a full set of show jumps.
Maggie Boswell, from school, said: The competition for this years Best Rural Sporting Business was really tough and were really happy to be taking home the runner-up prize. It has been great being involved in this years Rural Business Awards programme and maybe next year well be back and go one better to take home the top prize!"
Cotswolds Distillery is the first full-scale distillery in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and produces Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky and Cotswolds Dry Gin, as well as a selection of other small-batch spirits and liqueurs, using local raw materials and traditional techniques.
Spent grains from the distilling process go to feed the cows at the farm four minutes up the road.
Founder Daniel Szor said: Being involved in this years Rural Business Awards has been a wonderful experience for us.
"Cotswolds Distillery was born when I fell in love with the local area and wanted to spend more time with my family. We have built a great team here, with the perfect blend of forward thinking, passion and the experience of tradition. This year has been a huge success and were really excited about what the future holds for us.
The full list of Rural Business Awards 2017 winners:
ARCOLA -- Arcola, Tuscola and Arthur are coming together with the help of local businesses and concerned citizens to raise money for the people affected by this years brutal hurricane season through the American Red Cross.
Boots, Buckles and Hillbillies is a Texas-themed fundraiser being held at Kaskaskia Country Club from 2-5 p.m. Sunday in Arcola. Feudin Hillbillys will be playing country music outside under a tent while Ashley Riley will be playing acoustic coffee house music in the dining room. There will be food and beverages for purchase, a computer set up for online donations and many items for raffle including a seven-night vacation to your choice from over 3,000 resorts donated by Jamie Pilson.
It is amazing how when tough times come around, we see so many people unite. We are happy to be a part of this, says Pilson.
Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door and can be purchased at Just Sayin in Arcola, Kaskaskia Country Club, Arcola First Bank, Tuscola First Federal Bank, Arthur Community Bank, and Pilson Auto in Mattoon. You can also find more information on Facebook or CrowdRise.com by searching for Boots, Buckles and Hillbillies.
MATTOON -- Mary Gary was the guest speaker at the Kiwanis Club of Mattoon on Sept. 13. Mrs. Gary is a former member of the Mattoon club, having served as secretary for many years and as Division 26 lieutenant governor in 1996. She was one of the first female members of the local organization. Mrs. Gary was a librarian at Mattoon High School, serving as head librarian, and worked for the Mattoon Public Library (MPL). She created the MPLs first digital catalogue, involving more than 60,000 titles. Mrs. Gary spoke to the club about her late husband, Joe Gary. Joe Gary was also a long-time member of the Kiwanis Club of Mattoon. Mr. Gary, an employee of Lake Land College, was instrumental in forming a vocational scholarship for Lake Land to be given by Kiwanis to a local student. After Mr. Garys death in 1988, the scholarship was renamed in his honor and it remains a highlight of the Kiwanis philanthropic efforts to this day.
Joseph Gary was born in Elton, La. on Dec. 4, 1923, the son of Ambroise and Marie Duplechin Gary. Raised in the Cajun French traditions of his birth, and to French speaking parents, Joseph Garys native language was also French. His father was blind and was unable to find work and the family was forced to go on public aid. Joe Gary dropped out of high school.
Mr. Gary joined the U. S. Navy during WWII, participating in landings in North Africa, Southern France, the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach, and on Okinawa. His ship performed minesweeping duties in Tokyo Bay as the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed there on board the USS Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945, marking the end of WWII. He served in the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1946-1949 and 1951-1958 and earned a masters license which allowed him to serve as ships captain.
Mr. Gary attended junior college in Texas; he received a B.A. in history from Washington College in Maryland, and he received an M.A. in French from Indiana University. He taught French at Wisconsin State University and eventually settled in Mattoon, Ill. In Mattoon he taught French and became the first audio-visual director for Lake Land College. He eventually served as the director of printing services at Lake Land, and he completed his 17-year career at Lake Land in that capacity in 1985.
In 1976, Mr. Gary became engaged in genealogical research and around that time he became part-owner of Mattoon Photo. He was also known for making neckties, putting a great deal of time and thought into the design and creation of each piece. Mr. Gary presented then Illinois Secretary of State and future Governor Jim Edgar with a tie at a joint meeting of the Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions and Exchange Clubs in Mattoon in 1983.
Mr. Gary was member of the Kiwanis Club of Mattoon, and was described by his wife, Mary, as a real Kiwanian. He served as club president and secretary of the Mattoon club, and as statistical secretary and lieutenant governor of the Illinois-Iowa Kiwanis District. He attended 13 Kiwanis International Conventions held at various locations around the world. Mary Gary, a librarian at Mattoon High School, was also a member of the Kiwanis Club, and served several years as secretary, saying they were a true Kiwanis couple.
Mr. Gary was instrumental in creating the Kiwanis Club Vocational Scholarship to be awarded to a local student. Having been influenced by one of his children whom he felt was better at working with his hands than he was with traditional learning methods, he felt strongly that students wishing to earn a vocational degree deserved encouragement as well as those wishing to earn a masters degree. The first scholarship was awarded to Mattoon High School student Chris Dent in 1980.
Joe Gary passed away suddenly in 1988. The Kiwanis Club of Mattoon renamed the scholarship in his memory, honoring his many years of service and marking his dedication to Kiwanis. Today, the Kiwanis Joe Gary Scholarship is given each year to a local student of Lake Land College that best represents the Kiwanis spirit of service.
For more information about the Kiwanis club go to www.mattoonkiwanis.org.
I learned years many ago that the news media is fed information by politicians. Current Events was the second half of education for high school students to keep up with what was going on in the world and the second half of what should have been American history and was a run-down of legislation with relativity to the Constitution and was nonsense too.
So if you know more than what politicians want you to know, therell be trouble in River City; in the 1962 movie, "The Music Man," with Robert Preston, the con artist goes on to say kids are picking up words like "swell" and "sos youre old man" when they should be learning to play music and buy his musical instruments.
So when I told my knowledgeable friend about Iran reaching the economic take-off written by a second-rate economist, Walt Rostoff, that Iran had reached the stage when economic aid was no longer needed, I showed how well my knowledgeable high school teachers told me what was important. And the teachers believed the high school curricula was created by educators who knew what was best for us to learn.
However, my friend, who had more knowledge than me, said, Andy, you dont know what youre talking about, and proceeded to educate me. So I learned that to really know something, you find people who know and not people who say, "I think" or "in my opinion" or "it looks like" find someone who knows and one who can find someone who knows and you will have an education people would pay thousands of dollars for.
The truth was that the Iranian ambassador told the Shah that Richard Nixon would be more amenable to Irans problems as he asked Ike Eisenhower to let him work with Allen and John Foster Dulles. Ike said, OK, but Ike had also given the Dulles brother permission to overthrow the Iranian democracy under Dr. Mossadegh, prime minister of Iran, because he owed Winston Churchill a favor for making him Supreme Allied Commander in WW II instead of Montgomery.
When Jack learned the Shah gave five million to Nixons campaign, he used Walts book to say Iran need no more economic aid and the Shah was fit to be tied. Because Americans wanted Iran as a buffer to Russian penetration to oil rich Middle East, he went to Moscow and offered to sell gas to Russia in return for a steel mill in Ahwaz that would make ships for Irans navy. All this was to get back at Jack's development for the whole world would come from cutting the military budget which cut back promotions, weapons, and more war. Their days of having a blank check handed to them like it was in WW II, where Jacks idea was to offset Russian anti-American propaganda.
When Jacks father, Joe Kennedy, was FDRs ambassador to London, he sent Jack all over Europe and it was a great learning experience and he created the Peace Corps. Then after Jack was murdered, President Lyndon Baines Johnson created VISTA to combat poverty in America. No military budget cuts but an increase in war in Vietnam, and he is great until June 11, 1967, when Israel attacked the USS Liberty and he and Secretary of War McNamara told the Admiral of the USS Saratoga to call the planes back from driving Israeli planes and torpedo boats away to stop the attack. Thirty-two Americans were killed and 174 wounded.
What was lacking? The need for silence. So Admiral Isaac Shelby Kidd landed on the Saratoga to tell the survivors to keep their mouths shut or face court martials or worse. Cant learn that at a university.
After a brief slump the Appalachian School Law rebounded last year.
The Grundy based school opened its doors in August of 1997 and 20 years later it appears to have weathered the storm of a downturn in the number of students going to law school. Sandy McGlothlin, who serves as dean of the school said the school currently has an enrollment of 132.
The school is accredited by the American Bar Association which means the graduates can take the bar exam in any state. The schools mission is to provide opportunity for people from Appalachia and beyond to realize their dream of practicing law.
McGlothlin said 60 percent of the graduates remain in the region and 40 percent of them are in small communities. After having 37 students enroll last fall, the school boosted its number to 69 new students this fall.
The dean said some of those students are transfers from schools that closed. The school also hit its benchmarks for obtaining funding from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority.
We had to have 105 by last April and 122 by April of 2018 to get the final installment from $6 million, McGlothlin said. She said the job market was down for prospective students and law school enrollment went down in 2011 and Appalachians enrollment started to decline as well.
The $6 million was loaned from VCEDA to the Buchanan IDA which took the deed to the law schools library as collateral and loaned the money to the school to help cover operations cost.
Delegate Will Morefield, who is an admissions consultant for the law school said VCEDA saw the need to fund the school to help the economy of the region. The school initially drew $4 million from the funds and took $one million this year and will get another in 2018.
The school is tuition driven and charges $31,000 per year of tuition. McGlothlin said the school allows the community to offer lodging and meals as part of the economic development aspect of the program.
They employ 11 fulltime faculty members and eight adjunct members. They also have 30 fulltime employees that are not faculty members.
Morefield said the school wanted to let the community know the school is thriving and that it is not going out of business. MvGlothlin said it was too early to predict with any confidence how much if any growth the school would see.
She said there does appear to be growth in the market but the school is still at the mercy of the number of people taking the LSAT and applying to law school. She said the recruiters focus on smaller schools and career fairs to recruit students.
The school has 29 applications for the spring enrollment and McGlothlin is optimistic it will continue to see small growth. She said the professors have an open door policy and the students become a close knit community.
Veterans and people who have worked in other professions comprise a good number of the schools enrollment. McGlothlin said the fact the school does not have a lot of distractions seems to be a plus in recruiting.
They are required to do a minimum of 25 hours of community service work while enrolled at the school and they also have externship programs that allow the students to work in legal settings.
McGlothlin said volunteers from the school were at the Remote Area Medical program recently helping people prepare advance medical directives. Both the dean and Morefield say the school has a positive impact on the community and is doing what the steering committee believed it would.
Rebecca Fischer emerges in silhouette behind a lighted scrim, plucking the strings of her violin. Anthony Hawley kneels on the floor about 10 feet away, watching Fischer and waiting to turn on an overhead projector and computer.
Minutes later, Fischer has come into the gallery space and is playing while quietly singing Dear color, dear color as Hawley places a transparency with type on the projector, then pours colored liquid on a plate, creating a moving image on the wall.
The light from two projectors -- the overhead and one showing video from the computer -- bounces off the walls, illuminating the framed photographs and paintings, bringing the space fully to life.
The Afield -- duo Hawley and Fischer -- is at work Tuesday, casting its Book of Spells.
Taking its name from far afield, The Afield is a collaboration between husband and wife Hawley and Fischer, who began working together in 2011. But Tuesdays show was the first time they shared a stage at the same time.
Usually, its violin and video and Im a little more behind the scenes, said Hawley, a visual artist and writer. When Becca has been in my projects, Im more like a director. ... We wanted to figure how we both could be onstage and really do something a little more truly collaborative.
That opportunity came when Charley Friedman and Nancy Friedemann, who turn their west Lincoln studios into Fiendish Plots a few times a year, offered The Afield the opportunity to do an installation, by Hawley, and a series of three performances that began Tuesday and will conclude when the exhibition closes Nov. 3. The remaining two performances are 7 p.m. Oct. 17 and Nov. 3.
Taking inspiration from the French word grimoire, that means a book of magic and incantations, Hawley and Fischer set about planning the installation and performances that have become Book of Spells.
We spent a lot of time thinking about how could it all be meaningful, Hawley said. We could have a show, have a performance. But its more interesting to have it all connected. Its one organic thing. I think thats cool.
That organic thing literally took on a life of its own during the 45-minute performance of Spells for Color and Water as Fischer, working from her own compositions, pieces written for her and a pair of medieval works, improvised, responding to the colors and shapes being projected.
Thats far different from how she usually performs as a member of the Chiara String Quartet and even in her other collaborations with Hawley.
I come from a tradition, in classical music, of preparation and execution at the very highest level, Fischer said. Its all about process, then the five minutes to two hours of execution. To do something like this is much more conceptual in nature, trying things out. Its something I want to be doing more of.
As a married couple, Hawley and Fischer said they constantly work together, often critiquing each others work and creating an understanding that allows the collaborations to happen easily.
You dont have to talk about certain things, Hawley said. You definitely have to talk about other things.
Among the 25 spectators sitting on the gallery floor Tuesday were Oriana and Ilaria, the couples daughters.
Its just part of our family, all our crazy projects, Fischer said. We dont separate art from life. Our girls are very tough and fine critics of our artistic output, our creative output. They will tell us when things work and when they dont. Thankfully, they both had thumbs up Tuesday.
So did the rest of the audience, who watched Fischer play, bringing to mind American performance artist Laurie Anderson, joined her in chanting some of the words and saw the hippie-ballroom-style projections enliven the space, with some of the videos reflecting, repeating and expanding upon the images in the photographs and paintings that make up Hawleys installation.
Those framed manipulated photographs and parts of the painting come from Hawleys travels over the last couple of years -- ancient ruins in Malta; thermal pools in Iceland rendered in neon colors; Pacific Rim forests near Vancouver, British Columbia; hands manipulating rocks on an island off the coast and Maine; and images captured in Zimbabwe, where the Afield took part in the Harare International Festival of the Arts, a six-day multidisciplinary arts festival.
On the opening day of HIFA, the Afield offered a workshop titled 'Between Sight and Sound: Envisioning Artistic Collaborations,' Fischer writes in an article to be published in the November issue of Strings Magazine. We introduced the key tenets of our working philosophy -- Dream-Forward, Anywhere/Anyhow, and Something Out of Anything -- to the participants, and they got to work using color and their imaginations to develop plans for their own multimedia presentations.
We were inspired by the creativity of the participants and their sophisticated artistic and cultural sensitivity. Thanks to our experience at HIFA, the Afield is launching the Afield School, a mobile, transportable series of workshops in a new educational platform.
That school," Fischer said, wont be a traditional school -- the Afield has no desire to become educational administrators. Rather it will be a space run out of a home base, perhaps associated with a university, where classes and workshops, like those held in Zimbabwe, will be offered to students, with pop-up versions taking place across the country.
That is just one of the projects Fischer and Hawley are involved in this fall.
Tuesdays Fiendish Plots show began with what Hawley called a season of projects for the Afield, which is slated to perform at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks, Boston University and Omahas Kaneko in the next few months.
Its next out-of-Lincoln appearance will be at Harvester Arts in Wichita, Kansas, along with an installation of his Drawings for Donald, a series of daily drawings Hawley began on Jan. 21, the day Donald Trump became president. Those drawings are each inscribed with phrases like dear donald all the old dictators wish you a better hair day.
Wednesday morning, Hawley was at Fiendish Plots, taking out some of the Drawings for Donald and contemplating where they will be placed in the installation, which will change throughout the month.
The drawings also will figure in Spells for Dictators and Borders, the second of three performances the Afield will present at Fiendish Plots. The couple will be joined Tuesday by Fischers sister Abigail, a mezzo-soprano who is coming to Lincoln from New York to sing at the performance.
We both work with language on a regular basis, Fischer said, giving a hint to the content of Tuesdays performance. We both write in different contexts. We know the power of the word. What were trying to do with the next show is a performance that highlights the multiple meanings of a different work and words and learn more of the healing power of language.
Language now is putting walls between people, thats why it is Spells for Dictators and Borders.' We want to break down some of those borders.
The final Fiendish Plots performance, Spam Spells, with special guest Nat Castaneda, a New York artist, is set for Nov. 3. But it wont be the last of the couples both-on-stage collaborations.
I think well do more of this kind of work, Hawley said. Once you do it, why would you go back?
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man was shot to death Friday night on Syracuse's Near West Side.
Chevalier Fisher, 31, was shot just after 9:30 p.m. at 300 Kellogg St., said Detective George Hack, of the Syracuse Police Department. Fisher was pronounced dead at the scene.
His death marks the 16th homicide of 2017.
Detectives are actively investigating the homicide, Hack said. No suspect information is available.
Kellogg Street was quiet the morning after the fatal shooting. No police officers or police tape remained on the residential street.
Police asked anyone with information about the homicide to call (315) 442-5222. Anonymous information may be submitted, police said, through the SPD Tips app or by calling the homicide tip line at (315) 442-5223.
Fisher's death marks the second homicide in Syracuse in five days.
John White, 22, was shot to death Sunday, Oct. 8 in the 800 block of Butternut Street. No arrests have been made.
LAFAYETTE, N.Y. -- A Syracuse man who pulled over to help a friend died Friday night after he was hit by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81.
The man was driving behind a friend on I-81 south near the LaFayette exit just after 10:30 p.m. when he noticed a door on his friend's truck was open, said Sgt. Jon Seeber, an Onondaga County Sheriff's Office spokesman. Both men pulled over on the shoulder of the highway to shut the door, he said.
After helping his friend, the man started to walk back to his vehicle. He was returning to his car, Seeber said, when he was struck by a passing tractor-trailer.
The man -- who was in his 30s -- was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not immediately released.
The driver of the tandem FedEx tractor-trailer, a 43-year-old Oswego County man, was not injured, Seeber said.
In addition to deputies, the New York State Police and the LaFayette Fire Department responded to the crash, Seeber said. The state Department of Transporation helped deputies shut down the southbound highway.
The highway was closed for hours between the Nedrow and LaFayette exits while deputies investigated the crash.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man was shot in the chest Friday night in Syracuse, according to the Syracuse Police Department.
The 34-year-old is expected to survive, police said.
A call came in to the 911 center at 8:23 p.m. for an area near West Bissell Street, call logs show. Several people reported hearing gunshots in the area, and police found a man shot nearby soon after arriving, the department stated.
Three police vehicles sat at the bend of the short, 100-block residential street. The corner was cordoned off with yellow police tape. The Syracuse Fire Department and American Medical Response ambulance also responded, according to dispatch logs.
Neighbors said they saw the man be taken away in the ambulance. The person's clothes were still in the roadway, abandoned after neighbors said medics cut them off the man to tend to his wound.
The 34-year-old was taken to Upstate University Hospital and is expected to survive, police said. They are still working to determine possible suspects.
Officers were seen en masse downtown around the same time as the shooting, but Sgt. Richard Helterline, a police spokesman, said the two are not related.
The Syracuse Police Department asked anyone with information on the shooting to call criminal investigators at (315) 442-5222, or use the "SPD Tips" app.
MANLIUS, N.Y. -- Police have not found any information to suggest a threat made against a local high school Friday was credible, but the investigation is still open.
The Manlius Police Department asked anyone with information on the incident to speak up and call their department.
Police were called to Central High School at 6400 Fremont Rd. around 12:30 p.m. Friday after school officials learned of a possible threat of violence, according to the department.
A written message threatening a school shooting was found in a girls' bathroom, according to a recording sent out by the East Syracuse Minoa School District to parents. The note said the shooting would happen "because it was Friday the 13th," said Thomas Neveldine, deputy superintendent, in the recording.
Faculty, staff and students were ordered to shelter-in-place while police investigated, Neveldine said. The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office and the New York State Police both assisted with the investigation, bringing K-9 units in to help search, according to the police department.
Manlius officers said a student was being interviewed, but has since said that student was not specifically involved in the threat. No weapons were found at the school.
The Manlius Police Department is asking anyone with information about the situation to call their tips line at (315) 682-8673 or email tips@manliuspolice.org.
A Lincoln woman who went to prison in 1999 for shooting her abusive husband and later was pardoned now is seeking $500,000 under Nebraska's Wrongful Conviction and Imprisonment Act.
Attorney Herb Friedman says Charlene Marie, then Charlene Oldenburg, was wrongfully convicted and served nearly two years in prison for shooting her husband, Kurt Oldenburg, on July 30, 1998.
She shot him once with a .22-caliber handgun when he drunkenly charged at her at the couple's rural Gordon farmhouse.
The bullet struck him in the neck, leaving him partially paralyzed.
Marie, now 66, was charged with first-degree assault, making terroristic threats and use of a weapon. A Sheridan County District Court jury later found her not guilty of assault, but guilty of the gun and threats charges.
After then-District Judge Paul Empson sentenced her to four to 20 years in prison, she appealed, calling the sentences excessive.
In an April 2001 decision, the Nebraska Court of Appeals agreed and reduced her sentence to two years.
In a dissent, one of the judges said Oldenburg never should have been tried.
"In this case, the terroristic threats statute, which was designed for clearly different circumstances than that in which Charlene found herself, has been used to severely punish a woman who was attempting to defend herself against a drunken, angry and abusive husband," Judge Edward E. Hannon wrote then.
She served nearly three months in prison more before her release July 11, 2001.
Five years later, the Nebraska Pardons Board gave her a full pardon, exonerating her, Friedman said.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court, Friedman sought $500,000 from the state of Nebraska for Marie, the most he could, for damages he said resulted from "wrongful acts by county officials."
He said Marie's wrongful conviction and incarceration "caused her to suffer the loss of her personal privacy, personal liberty, extreme mental and physical anguish, emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, damage to her reputation, loss of earnings, impairment of her earning capacity."
In 2009, the Legislature passed the Nebraska Claims for Wrongful Conviction and Imprisonment Act finding that innocent people who have been wrongly convicted of crimes and imprisoned have been uniquely victimized and should have an avenue of redress.
Kurt Oldenburg died in Lincoln in 2015.
Finding out that historian Simon Schama was to appear at the Cambridge Union to speak about Belonging, the second instalment in his history of the Jews, made the startling amount spent on my membership immediately seem worth it. He had been one of the driving forces behind my interest in history at school; a discussion on his vigorous The Story of the Jews BBC documentary, which preceded the writing of these books, was what saved me in an interview for my 6th form. The opportunity to interview him seemed absurdly surreal to me, and indeed it was: he rejected press two minutes before we history fanatics posing as journalists were given the opportunity to meet him.
This could have clouded my impression of an academic who, up until that moment, had been held in my highest regard for being warmer and more open-minded than others in the field, but his subsequent interview with Tom Sutcliffe brought me back around.
From the onset, Schama was even more vibrant than expected. Within minutes he was explaining how his book was one about universal human sympathy, an important theme to emphasise in the current political climate. He explained that the title Belonging was triggered by his encounter with a Syrian immigrant in the US who had lived there for years and was now faced with resurfacing tribal attitudes and the politics of estrangement; for him, this resonated with what Jews had repeatedly faced between the 15th-20th centuries covered in this book. He used the example of Jews who, albeit wholeheartedly attempting to convert during the Spanish inquisition, were still persecuted and prosecuted and again left with the question: how can we ever belong?
History graduate and ex-Director of Studies at Christs Cambridge and Brasenose Oxford, writer and creator of several history books and documentaries on various topics and current professor of Art History and narrative non-fiction at Columbia University, Schama really breathes life into history. His speech was enthusiastic and rapid, even hard to follow at several points in its desire to get everything out. His professor at Christs was vital in this attitude towards the depiction of history, with Schama attributing to him the fight for forthright, polemical, rhetorical and dramatic history instead of the editorial interpretation of that time.
His preference for this style of history being thrown through the window into the past is evident in his rhetoric, where he uses several anecdotes instead of a broad, theoretical approach. In the talk we were introduced to a Dutch free-thinking Christian from the 17th century who liaised with a Jew, along with 18th century Daniel Mendoza, the first famous British boxer, who proudly represented his Jewish heritage in subsequent memoirs. Schama highlighted his use of the word story rather than history in the title of the series, as Jews have never been able to depend on monuments or buildings for their history, but have instead relied on the story of their past maintained in the Torah and religious and cultural scrolls.
Throughout the talk, Schamas assertion that fundamentally, Im an optimist was justified. He stressed that he wanted the book to be about vitality, not mortality, but also repeated his use of the death star image, which he had employed in an earlier interview with the Guardian. He said that this death star had always been present in the Jewish story, but that it was still a story of if only and continuous hope.
Nonetheless, in response to one of the audience questions on whether he knew of any aspects of Jewish culture lost over the centuries, Schama reminded us all of the frightening number of Jewish lives that had been prematurely taken, including up to 200,000 in WW1 alone. He went on to deal with a wide array of political polemics from other audience members, from the American political elite not learning from the failure of Reagans tax cuts, to that of Northern Ireland and its past. In response to How would you title the last 10 years in the UK, Schama persisted in his long, detailed answers, and though failing to give a concrete reply, emphasised the importance of facing up to cultural alienation, so as to avoid another situation like Brexit [which] was so bloody strange.
While my Simon Schama experience began with disappointment and frustration, it did not end so. His ability to eloquently explore this history of revival and the danger of estrangement in depth but with an uplifting spin, and his characteristic insistence on one last Jewish joke once the talk had ended, reasserted my initial excitement and respect for this immense historian.
Stateside folks may finally nab their own Xperia Touch projector for a cool $1,700, Sony has confirmed. This projector turns a flat surface a table, a wall, or anything clear of obstructions into a touchscreen, complete with a fully functional Android interface.
Unveiled during the Mobile World Congress earlier this February, the projector is also used for watching movies or playing video games or basically any function a traditional projector is used for. However, Sony doesn't make clear if the device can be hooked up to a laptop or similar devices for presentations and such, but it does have both a USB Type-C and HDMI Type-D port.
The Sony Xperia Touch is available now via Amazon, but folks can wait for it to appear in select T-Mobile stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami. New Yorkers can head over to the Sony Square display room and see it in action, as The Verge reports.
Sony Xperia Touch Turns Any Surface Into A Touchscreen Interface
When used as a touch interface, the projector can deploy up to 23 inches of screen real estate, and it's surprisingly able to handle multi-touch as well. For movie viewing and gaming modes, meanwhile, the Xperia Touch can measure up to 80 inches but can only output a resolution of 1,366 x 768, 100 lumens of brightness, and a contrast ratio of 4,000:1.
Ars Technica, who got to try the Xperia Touch during the Mobile World Congress, said it sets up fun and unique experiences thanks to its turn-a-surface-into-a-touchscreen functionality, but the low resolution left something to be desired, especially for its asking price of $1,700.
Sony Xperia Touch Is A Family Hub
More than a novelty item, Sony envisions the Xperia Touch as a family hub. For starters, it can become some sort of memo board, where all members of a household can leave notes or reminders for others to see. It also helps that it has a 13-megapixel camera and Skype functionality, so those who want to leave video messages may do so. Sounds like the future. A very low-res future, though.
Sony Xperia Touch Specs
As mentioned, the projector will run Android, but it's only Nougat for now. Still, this means it pretty much does what a standalone Android tablet can do, such as browsing the web, watching videos, and downloading Play Store apps. It has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, and it has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and NFC all built in. It should last about an hour per charge, Sony says, but users can leave it plugged in if they want.
Thoughts about the Sony Xperia Touch? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A mother in Canada had to undergo multiple limb amputations after giving birth in a Halifax hospital. Now she is suing the hospital for their contributions to her ordeal.
A New Mother's Ordeal
On March 2, Lindsey Hubley and her fiance, Mike Sampson, welcomed their son Myles in IWK Health Centre in Nova Scotia, Canada. The day after being discharged from the hospital, Hubley experienced abdominal pain but was diagnosed with constipation and sent back home. The next day, she fell ill and had to be rushed back to the hospital. Doctors found that she was suffering from necrotizing fasciitis, more commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria. She had apparently been experiencing severe septic shock.
After her surgery, doctors decided to place her under an induced comatose in the ICU where she continued to fight for her life through multiple organ failures and several surgeries. As a result of the flesh-eating bacteria, Hubley lost her limbs below both her elbows and knees, and she also underwent a total hysterectomy, or the removal of the uterus. Further, her fiance, Sampson, has not been able to work to care for both Hubley and their child.
Suing The Hospital
Because of the long ordeal that Hubley and her family had to endure for months, she is suing the hospital where she gave birth as well as a few Halifax-area doctors for their alleged negligence that contributed to her suffering.
According to Lawyer Ray Wagner, part of the placenta was not removed during the birth, and Hubley had a cut on her vagina that was not addressed, both possibly contributing to her flesh-eating bacteria contraction. Further, doctors allegedly did not perform examinations on Hubley on the day that she came back to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain, something that could have prevented the serious damages to her health that followed.
"Our allegations are that had she been properly assessed when she presented at the hospital ... a substantial part of the damage, if not all of it, could have been prevented," said Wagner.
The allegations have yet to be proven in court, and the hospital has not yet made their statement regarding the matter.
Now Hubley is free from the flesh-eating bacterial infection, but still requires further surgeries that include a kidney transplant. According to her fiance, Hubley remains positive even after their lives had been turned upside down. A GoFundMe page is set up to help the family with their medical bills.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Banking in Nebraska got off to a rocky start with the function of banks so negatively perceived that all banking was made illegal as part of the territorial legislatures original code. Two Nebraska banks ultimately managed to survive the economic depression of 1857 and though none exists today with its original name, the United States National Bank still exists as part of Wells Fargo.
The story of Nebraskas banks begins almost with the birth of the territory, when Jesse Lowe, later Omahas mayor in 1857, built the first brick building in Nebraska in 1854 on the southwest corner of 12th and Farnam streets.
The first territorial legislature met in January 1854. One of its first acts was to make banking a criminal offense, yet on March 16, the same legislature issued a charter to the Western Fire & Marine Insurance Company, a branch of a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, bank, allowing it to receive deposits and issue certificates of deposit which took the form of $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and $20 bank notes. This thinly veiled non-banks officers included Thomas Hart Benton Jr. and A.U. Wyman, later Treasurer of the United States. The insurance company/bank operated out of Lowes brick building on Farnam.
J.H. Millard arrived in Omaha at the age of 20, first working as a dealer in real estate. On Jan. 1, 1856, Millard, Willard Barrows and S.S. Caldwell established the firm of Barrows, Millard & Co. which was briefly located on Harney Street. But as it moved from real estate into private banking, it relocated to 1612 Farnam and, in 1858, moved into the Western Exchange building at 12th and Farnam after that firm failed in the 1857 depression.
As the depression bottomed out, Nebraska Territory experienced a shortage of capital allowing Barrows, Millard & Co. to write a loan in August 1858 charging 37 percent interest for the first year and 40 percent for the second year.
In 1859, Barrows, Millard expanded into insurance. The following year it advertised dealing in banking, land, insurance and gold bullion. Smith S. Caldwell, who had arrived from New York and joined the firm as its bookkeeper, began buying out the partners, and in 1865, changed the firms name to Millard, Caldwell & Co.
Charles W. Hamilton arrived in Omaha in 1856 first buying farm land west of 14th Street on Douglas, where he built the Hamilton House Hotel and later opened a dry goods store. In 1869, Hamilton promoted the Omaha & Southwestern Railroad with one of its engines named the S. S. Caldwell. He also was one of the developers of the Grand Central Hotel, the Omaha waterworks and the City of South Omaha. Hamilton began buying stock in Millard, Caldwell & Co., becoming an officer of the firm in 1865 and on May 1, 1868, bought Millards remaining interest in Millard, Caldwell & Co.
The private bank applied for a national charter in 1866, but opted to keep its name, advertising that business is transacted same as that of an incorporated bank. It also noted that of the four banks then in Omaha, it was the oldest established banking house in Nebraska, paying 6 percent on certificates of deposit.
In June 1883, the bank reorganized as the United States National Bank, the sixth national bank in Omaha and number 2,978 in the U.S. with $100,000 capitalization. Capitalization increased to $250,000 three years later. In spring 1887, the 12th and Farnam building was razed and a new bank building erected on the site. The new building was a five-story, Ohio bluestone structure designed by Omaha architects Mendelssohn, Fisher & Lowie and cost a reported $130,000.
U.S. National acquired Ezra Millards 1885 Commercial National Bank and Union National Bank in 1905 moving the combined business to 16th and Farnam. It also purchased J.L. Brandeis & Sons private bank in 1909.
About 1915, with deposits totaling $15,661,620, a new three-story building was erected at 16th and Farnam and termed one of the best-appointed bank buildings in the west.
By 1970, U.S. Nationals address was 1919 Douglas. A decade later its home office was the four-story building at 20th and Farnam. U.S. National Bank later became part of Norwest Bank and in 2000 was acquired by Wells Fargo.
Still buried in the corporate attic, however, is the 1856 Barrows, Millard Co. private bank and faint memories of 20-year-old J.H. Millards real estate business.
As those of you who follow the news and keep an eye on politics have probably noticed, our country's gun debate is misfiring.
It has gotten to the point where, whenever I hear just about any discussion of the subject -- whether by conservatives or liberals -- I'll wind up engaged in what has become a familiar ritual. I'll put my palms on my forehead and mutter five words about my fellow Americans: "What's wrong with these people?"
That's what I thought within hours of the tragedy in Las Vegas -- before the families of many of the victims had even been notified -- when Democrats abandoned all decency by ghoulishly using the tragedy to attack a nemesis. The National Rifle Association has long complicated their political lives by contributing millions of dollars to Republicans.
The morning after the shooting, Hillary Clinton eagerly tweeted: "Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again." Meanwhile, House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans in Congress of being "a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America."
That's how politicians roll. When they're not busy taking care of those who take care of them, they're trying to take out those who take care of their opponents. It's not complicated. But nor is it productive or helpful.
What's wrong with these people?
Still, there's a lot of truth in the idea that many Republicans have been bought and paid for by the NRA, and that this makes gun reform highly unlikely. Just as there is truth in the assertion that Democrats have been bought and paid for by the nation's teachers unions, and that this makes the prospect of real education reform just as unlikely. Our government at work, folks.
What's wrong with these people?
Special interests contribute to political parties and campaigns for one of two reasons -- either to grease the wheels so as to pass legislation that helps them or gum up the mechanism and thwart legislation that hurts them. At the same time, politicians in both parties have learned to fall in line and follow orders. They know who they work for. And it's not you and me.
The gun lobby on the right is just like the abortion lobby on the left. They won't give an inch, even on mild and modest restrictions on rights they consider not just fundamental but sacred. They know their supporters will see any degree of reasonableness as capitulation. And they're afraid that will mean fewer contributions down the road.
What's wrong with these people?
The two parties also have something else in common. Neither is above resorting to demagoguery -- some of it with a racial tinge -- to bolster their respective positions on gun control.
Appearing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock: "This is a well-to-do man. ... He wasn't a gangbanger." Later on the same show, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre suggested that "a gang member in Chicago" won't wait for a background check before buying a gun.
What's wrong with these people?
The modern gun debate is a farce. Such a serious subject deserves a more serious discussion. We're not delivering.
The obstinate loudmouths at the extremes are running the gun dialogue. It's up to the folks in the sensible center to restore sanity to this issue, and do everything we can to save future generations from the scourge of gun violence.
At least, authorities need to keep track of the lunatics -- people like Paddock, who bought 33 guns in one year and spent well over $100,000 on his personal arsenal, which included a total of nearly 50 weapons. Can anyone argue that this is normal behavior?
At most, we should limit the number of gun purchases by an individual in a given year. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, not the right to amass a stockpile of weapons with the intent of using them to kill others.
After all, we don't want our children, and one day their children, to look back at our inaction at a time of crisis and ask:
"What was wrong with those people?"
PRAIRIE DU SAC Culvers one of the states most successful, family-owned restaurant chains is taking on its first significant outside investors.
Culver Franchising System, based in Sauk County, has sold a minority share to Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta private-equity firm. The transaction took effect Friday. Terms of the deal and the percentage sold to Roark were not disclosed.
But co-founder and board chairman Craig Culver said the Culver family, which owned more than 99 percent of the shares until now, will remain the majority owner.
Our intentions are to remain a family-owned business for a long, long time, he said.
And there wont be any shakeup in the Culvers menu. Our menu will be the same, and the cooked-to-order concept, as well. That ButterBurger doesnt hit the grill until you order it and thats not going to change, said Joseph Koss, CEO and president.
Founded in 1984 by Craig and Lea Culver, Culvers has 638 restaurants in 24 states and five more will open by the end of this year, Culver said. The company known for its ButterBurgers and frozen custard had $1.3 billion in annual revenue in 2016.
Roark Capital Group specializes in franchises in the food service, retail and consumer services industries. Its holdings in the restaurant industry include investments in Arbys, Corner Bakery, Jimmy Johns, Wingstop and FOCUS Brands, which owns chains such as Cinnabon and Schlotzskys.
Other Roark portfolio companies include Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness, Pet Supermarket and Meineke car care.
We have long admired the Culvers brand and its commitment to culture, quality and service, said Erik Morris, senior managing director at Roark. We are excited to be partnering with the Culver family and management team, and look forward to supporting the brands continued success.
Watching company grow
Culver said he first met Roark founder Neal Aronson about 15 years ago. We were a small company at that time but he was interested in us back then. He has stuck by and watched us grow over the years, Culver said. In fact, a lot of other private-equity companies also have had their eye on Culvers for a while, he said.
Culver, 67, said discussions about a succession plan for the company started about 10 years ago and popped up again about two years ago but never moved forward. Then about a year ago, the board decided to take a more serious look.
Five private-equity companies put together proposals, and Roarks stood out, Culver said.
We thought they would be a great partner of ours, he said, citing the firms experience with restaurants and franchises. He also said he thought the two companies had similar attitudes.
Im talking about heart, about being a good person, about being able to say please and thank you and mean it. Being genuine ... treating each other well. Its about passion for what we do and doing it with heart, said Culver.
He declined to name the other companies that submitted proposals.
Private-equity investments can be a good way for a company to let owners diversify their assets, making their exposure to the companys risks more palatable, UW-Madison School of Business associate professor Oliver Levine said.
Speaking in general terms and not specifically referring to Culvers, Levine said, Overall, in a general sense, this type of outside financing is very likely good for the company because it allows the companys investment decisions and the familys liquidity needs to be less interconnected, he said.
The outside private-equity investors may also allow for easier access to capital in the future if it becomes necessary, and could provide financial expertise and monitoring that adds value to the company, Levine said.
He said sometimesbringing in outside, minority investors can create conflicts on a board for example, if certain uses of funds benefit the family owners but not the company as a whole, but that probably would not happen in this situation.
Given that the family is still the majority owner, the management still has strong incentive to maximize the companys value, so this is unlikely to be a significant issue, Levine said.
Culvers is No. 8 on Forbes list of the best fast-food franchises to own, and No. 20 on Entrepreneurs 2017 Franchise 500 Ranking.
Culvers has grown from 100 restaurants in 2000 to more than 600 today. It added 46 locations in 2016 and is on track to have opened 39 restaurants this year.
Craig Culver said, though, the equity infusion is not intended to accelerate the companys growth. Not that we wont open 50, or maybe even 60 restaurants a year, he added.
He said the funding will provide some liquidity to the major shareholders Craig; Lea; Craigs brother, Curt; and his sister, Georgia Littlepage but beyond that, it will bring in new blood.
Theyre coming in without blinders. When youve been doing something for a long period of time ... its good to bring in an outside perspective, Culver said.
Were looking at what they can bring to the table for us. The world is a changing place. ... They have great knowledge of our industry and great knowledge of franchising, he said.
Roark will provide two members for Culvers board of directors. In addition to the four family members, there are three other outside directors, who, together, cast a single vote on issues.
No public offering
Culver said the board considered the possibility of staging a public stock offering but decided it would be a distraction to us.
McDonalds shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Burger King is part of Canada-based Restaurant Brands International, of which 51 percent is owned by 3G Capital of Brazil and the rest is publicly traded. Panera Bread stock had been publicly traded until it was sold this year to German conglomerate JAB, which is privately owned.
Culver said all of those chains and more are Culvers competitors. Were kind of a tweener not pure fast food or casual dining.
Will Culvers eventually be dishing up frozen custard in all 50 states? I dont know if Ill ever see that in my lifetime, but would I like to see that? Heck, yes, Culver said.
About 25,000 people work for Culvers. Within the companys administration and in the eight corporate-owned Culvers restaurants and one Blue Spoon restaurant (in Prairie du Sac), there are about 400 employees.
Officials in a small village in southern Livingston Parish raised questions Wednesday night about a drainage tax proposal on the November ballot.
The mayor and emergency manager of French Settlement asked three parish councilmen attending their monthly village meeting whether the project could actually worsen their flooding problems and suggested there was little support for their tax in the town of about 1,100 people.
Parish Councilmen Jeff Averett, Tab Lobell and Shane Mack came to the meeting to advocate for the 8-mill property tax on the Nov. 18 ballot that would create a gravity drainage district in the southeastern part of the parish.
If passed, the tax would raise about $1 million per year to be spent on a gravity drainage district covering the area that lies to the east of Walker and south of Interstate 12. The board would be charged with cleaning lateral drainage ditches and canals that councilmen say are currently too blocked up to efficiently drain the parish during severe storms.
The councilmen claim the board, in having plans, funding and projects, could also help the region win federal grants for drainage projects and fight efforts to raise flood elevations and insurance premiums.
A similar proposal is on the ballot to form a drainage district east of Walker and north of Interstate 12. There are already three drainage districts in the western part of the parish.
French Settlement Emergency Manager Lawrence Callendar voiced concerns that clearing out some of the creeks, as proposed by the councilmen, might increase flooding in his region. With the sediment buildup in the Amite River, releasing drains further north could end up dumping more water on a place with no good outlet, he contended.
"I don't want to get to the point that we're putting five gallons in a one gallon bucket," he said.
Callendar said his priorities would be to dredge the Amite, repair the weir that diverts water and encourage more drainage friendly building practices.
Callendar said he wants to learn more about the drainage district's charter and board composition before deciding how to vote.
Mayor Toni Guitrau also questioned the councilmen's claims that the drainage district could prevent rising flood elevations and premiums, which she fought unsuccessfully in 2012.
She added that many village residents are already skeptical of the new tax proposal and encouraged the parish council members to disseminate more information to them.
"I feel like this could go 50-50," she said. "This could go, we might pass this, because we had a really bad flood and we want help. Or, no, we just had a really bad flood, we're poor right now, we're trying to get back in our homes and we're not going to put another property tax."
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YORKVILLE A Milwaukee man is accused of knowingly trafficking two 17-year-old girls for the purpose of commercial sex acts, a Class C felony, after an undercover sting by local police at a Yorkville hotel on Thursday.
One of the girls told an investigator that Jahlani D. Davis, 25, of the 4400 block of 76th Street, contacted her and the other girl through Facebook and facilitated dates for them through the website Backpage, an adult social media website.
According to the criminal complaint:
The first girl told police that the girls were visiting Milwaukee from Menasha, when Davis, who introduced himself as Johnnie, contacted them on Facebook and offered them a place to stay. Davis then asked the girls if they wanted to make some money and if they were familiar with Backpage.
On Thursday, the day of the sting, Davis had arranged three dates for the two girls. One of the girls said the first was with a man who paid her $160 to talk with him, half of which she gave to Davis. The second date was in Beaver Dam, where Davis had arranged for both girls to have sexual relations with an individual.
The third date was at the Yorkville hotel, where one of the girls was expected to have sexual intercourse. One of the girls said she didnt want to participate, so the other girl agreed to go inside while Davis waited in a car.
Davis was being held as of Friday afternoon on a $12,500 bond and he has a court is scheduled for Oct. 18.
Davis is also scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 18 for a charge of carrying a concealed weapon in Milwaukee County.
Electing a new state treasurer is at the top of Louisiana ballots Saturday when polls open at 7 a.m.
Voting will be allowed until 8 p.m.
Most parishes will have only the state treasurer and three constitutional amendments to consider.
But some voters will be choosing a Public Service Commissioner. Others have judges and local officials on the ballot. Two Louisiana House Districts are in the contest.
We anticipate turnout on Saturday, unfortunately, to be very low based on historical data and early voting statistics, said Secretary of State Tom Schedler. I have indicated that Ill happily eat crow if Louisianas voters prove me wrong and I hope they do.
He expects about 15 percent of the voters less than a half million out of the 2.7 million registered to go to the polls. A week of early voting collected half the number of ballots as the December 2016 runoff for a U.S. Senate seat, another low participation election with 29 percent turnout.
Statewide elections cost taxpayers about $6 million to conduct.
Though the state treasurer is fourth in the gubernatorial line of succession, the race to fill the remaining two years of John N. Kennedys term has been quiet. No one candidate is thought the favorite.
Kennedy resigned in January to join the Senate, necessitating this special election.
A treasurer is essentially the states banker and chairs the State Bond Commission, which oversees loans.
The candidates are former Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, R-Baton Rouge; New Orleans attorney Derrick Edwards, D-New Orleans; businessman Terry Hughesm R-Lafayette; mail carrier Joseph D. Little, a Libertarian from Ponchatoula; state Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia; and former state Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington.
A Nov. 18 runoff is scheduled between the top two vote-getters, if no one candidate wins a majority.
Voters in 13 parishes, including parts of Baton Rouge, Acadiana, Houma and Morgan City, also will be deciding who will fill out the rest of Scott Angelles term on the Public Service Commission. Angelle resigned in May to join the Trump administration.
Three Republicans Interim PSC Commissioner Damon Baldone, of Houma; former state Rep. Lenar Whitney, of Houma; and Dr. Craig Greene, of Baton Rouge are competing for the 2nd PSC Districts 610,334 registered voters.
The five elected commissioners set the rates utilities charge for electricity and telecommunications companies and transportation within the borders of the state, such as home movers and cabbies.
Voters across the state also are being asked to determine whether to add to the state Constitution a property tax exemption for projects under construction.
The second proposition would exempt the surviving spouses of first responders who died while on duty from property taxes on the home of the deceased.
And the third constitutional amendment asks voters to decide if the proceeds from any future hike in the state gas tax should go into a fund dedicated to construction of roads and bridges.
The amendments must win the support of a majority of those voting Saturday to be added to the states Constitution.
Residents of East Baton Rouge Parish School Board District 7, which includes LSU and stretches east to Kenilworth Parkway, are having a special election to pick who will replace Barbara Freiberg as their public school representative. Freiberg, after six years in the job, joined the Metro Council in December.
Also in Baton Rouge, six candidates are running for a City Court judge seat previously held by Suzan Ponder, who retired over the summer.
The Covington-based district includes much of western St. Tammany, also including Madisonville and parts of Folsom.
Three candidates are in contention for a judge seat on the 18th Judicial District Court to replaced Judge James Best, who retired earlier this year. This seat covers 22 precincts in Pointe Coupee Parish and two precincts in West Baton Rouge Parish.
Denham Springs voters will choose from six candidates for an at-large City Council seat.
Livingston Parish voters will consider a schools property tax renewal, while Gonzales residents will vote on a half-cent sales tax for fire and police protection, as well as building a new civic center and community youth center.
In parts of Iberville, Ascension and St. James parishes, 25,810 voters in the predominantly African-American Louisiana House District 58 are choosing a state representative among four Democrats.
Two of the candidates Miguel Aubert and Ken Brass hail from Vacherie at the southern tip of district. Adrienne Ricard Conish and Alsie Dunbar, live in Gonzales, on the northern end. The race is to fill the remaining two years of Ed Prices term. He was elected in the spring to the state Senate.
Four St. Tammany Parish residents are running to fill out the remaining two years of Schroders term in the Louisiana House. He resigned in June to run for treasurer.
Three Republicans Rob Maness, Casey Revere and Mark Wright but also a candidate with no party affiliation who until recently was registered as a Democrat, Lisa Condrey Ward, are running for House District 77.
New Orleans is electing a mayor and a city council.
Laura Maggi and Sara Pagones of The Advocate contributed to this report.
It's the same with typewriters. Most of us type on a keyboard whose top row begins with QWERTY. It was set up that way in the late 1800s in order to separate the keys of the letters commonly typed together on manual typewriters in order to ensure they didn't jam (or perhaps because that was the best way to type Morse code, the stories differ).
Centuries on, we still use the inelegant QWERTY even though we don't need to, although for better or worse Twitter says we are about to get 280 characters.
Which brings us to money. Have you ever wondered why we can't transfer it in real time, and why internet banking limits you to a miserly 14 characters to identify the reason. It's because the system it is built on dates back an awfully long way, back to the days of computer punch cards. The message length was then 80 characters because that's how many holes there were in the punch cards. It got crunched to 14 as more of the holes got used for other things.
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Until now. Adrian Lovney, chief of the new payments platform that will be rolled out from Australia Day describes it as an "entirely new set of rails". Built from the ground up it will allow us to use email addresses or phone numbers instead of BSBs and it will give us 280 characters rather than 14. Down the track it could give us more, if we need them. And it'll transfer money within seconds rather than overnight.
Peter Hudson's article is a welcome and measured contribution to the discussion. He raises issues that receive scant attention, such as complications caused by a protracted dying without the aid of a healthcare professional and the emotional toll on others. There's virtually universal agreement that every person approaching death deserves quality care to minimise suffering and maximise quality of life rather than investing in an unproven and dubious model of euthanasia, so why shouldn't we invest more substantially in enabling family carers greater access to the standard of care their loved ones deserve? Father Kevin Burke, Eltham Contact details reveal the irony It seems sadly ironic that contact details for mental health and crisis support services were given for readers who found this article disturbing. Ironic because at the heart of this proposed legislation is suicide by lethal medication endorsed and supported by the state and directly at odds with suicide prevention policy. Disturbing because it is obvious that this proposed law doesn't go far enough for euthanasia advocates, and that none of the people featured seemed to be engaged with palliative care services and were left entirely unsupported. Alice Woolven, Berwick
FORUM All's not fair A "fairer deal" is not necessarily a fair deal ('Reforms to give tenants a fairer deal", The Sunday Age, 8/10). Landlords may find raising rents harder, but some can be counted on to work harder in pursuit of outrageous rent rises. What is needed is an independent board presided over by an independent arbitrator that will annually convene advocates for the realtors and the tenants associations. (By definition the arbitrator will be acceptable to both sides.) The tenants will demand rent rollbacks or at least hold rents at the current level. The case the real estate interests will argue will not include using market data. If allowed it could cause devastating havoc.
After hearing the aforesaid presentations the arbitrator will then decide what fair increase the landlords can exact. In such a system tenants in New York can and often do live in the same apartment for decades. In that city, the arbitration comes under the aegis of the Rent Stabilisation Board. Ken Feldman, Sandringham Pets not allowed While so many of us are pet lovers and are very pro the RSPCA, property investors rent property to people, not pets, and should not be held over a barrel by this government who has no idea of the implications of mandatory "pet occupation right" in leased properties. Possible noise levels and property damage directly contradict the Residential Tenancy Act, which clearly stipulates "quiet enjoyment is a condition of occupation. No way would I rent a property to a tenant with a noisy or destructive four-legged person for all the tea in China and no government will force me to do it.
Ian Anderson, Surrey Hills Negative vibes A fair go for tenants? What is this altruism I've been reading about? Rental properties are usually negatively geared properties and this has led to a considerable decline in income tax revenue in Australia over the past 15 years. The loss to revenue should be concerning $600 million in 2001-02; $3.9 billion in 2004-05 and $13.2 billion in 2010-11. What has also been decreasing at an alarming rate is the amount of affordable rental property and public housing. It is disingenuous to suggest that rental housing makes up the shortfall and spurious for the Coalition to predictably trot out the well-worn "politics of envy" line. Taxpayers are subsidising property investors as they make a loss, plain and simple. Claims that it encourages individuals to become self-sufficient in retirement is a subtle form of pension privatisation. The people critical of scrapping negative gearing, often declaring a "class war", are the wealthy with the noisiest objectors being politicians.
Anyone who can afford two houses, or more, certainly shouldn't put their hand out to us taxpayers. David Legat, South Morang Going, going, gone I think Jessica Irvine was a little late to the gate with a 9.30am start to view properties and attend auctions ('Great Australian dream turns into amazing race', The Sunday Age, 8/10). But she made me laugh while I ate smashed avo in a fab Prahran cafe. Can't wait for the updates. Michele Layet, Prahran
Equal worth I would like to congratulate Lisa Wilkinson and Peter FitzSimons on renewing their wedding vows for their 25th anniversary ('Today's Lisa Wilkinson and Peter FitzSimons got married ... again', The Sunday Age 8/10). My partner and I celebrated 23 years together in a loving, committed relationship in April. We have not been able to marry in the first instance let alone renew our wedding vows further down the track ours is a same-sex relationship. We have loved and supported each other through 23 years of "normal" life: working, studying, managing life-changing health challenges, supporting each other at times of family crises no different to any other partnership. This survey is asking Australians to make a judgment call is my 23-year loving relationship worth less than Lisa and Peter's? Alexandra Hoskins, Reservoir
Hey, big spender Gary Oraniuk (Letters, 8/10) seems to think the Labor Party is the party that wastes taxpayers' money. Well, what about the $14billion it has cost us to keep those poor refugees locked up offshore, or the proposed $65 billion gift to the top end of town in tax breaks, or the proposed $1billion gift to Adani for 1500 jobs, or the $55million to Cambodia for taking two of the refugees, and $122million on this crazy same-sex marriage survey? And, of course, no one will ever know how much John Howard's foray into the Middle East has cost us, and will keep costing us, probably forever. Denis Hanrahan, Ivanhoe Power fault Thirty one years after Chernobyl we read that "Radioactive wild boar [are] rampant in parts of Sweden" (The Sunday Age, 8/10). And we learn that "toxic wild boar" are roaming across northern Japan.
Where are the nuclear industry apologists and boosters when this sort of evidence about (yet more) hidden costs of this already expensive form of power comes to light? I suspect they're at home eagerly anticipating the profits that will flow to them through their investments while they mouth pious but spurious claims about how nuclear power will save us all from global warming. They're as selfish and self-serving as the proponents of the Adani mine. Mark Minchinton, West Footscray A helping hand I wonder if travellers are aware of the wonderful work done by Heather Reid, Australia's Honorary Consul in Koh Samui ('Long-distance lifeline', The Sunday Age, 8/10)? My sister who was travelling alone at the time fell extremely ill in Koh Samui, Thailand. She was able to contact Ms Reid, who provided wonderful support by transporting her to medical appointments, booking flights home and arranging extra care through the airports. Her position is voluntary and unpaid. She deserves every accolade for the assistance that she provided to Australians who find themselves in difficulty overseas.
Merrian Robinson, Mount Waverley How sweet it is Grab your binoculars, people, and point tree-wise. The Red Box is out in all its creamy glory. Honey-eaters send clouds of blossom and bees spinning. The night air is sweet with honey. Go and watch. Sylvia Grose, Hurstbridge Family-friendly TV?
At about 7.15pm last Sunday, my family and I were settled down, watching Channel 9's The Block, a family-rated show, when an advertisement appeared for 60 Minutes, showing two young girls terrified witless by a man in the middle of "Salt Creek". I had to distract my six, seven and 10 years old children so they wouldn't listen to the ghastly story of the "backpacker nightmare" or see the looks of utter horror on the faces of the two traumatised girls. Then, at 7.29pm, I was further infuriated by an advertisement, in the form of a movie trailer, for a film called Happy Death Day. I madly tried to cover the eyes of my children from watching the unfolding horror of a scary doll-like creature and slashing of a knife. At what point did Channel 9 think it wise to show this trailer during the broadcasting of family-friendly The Block? Jane d'Oliveyra, Mont Albert North
Labor will create a $1 billion advanced manufacturing fund to back Australian industries and business if it wins the next federal election.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and shadow industry minister Kim Carr will make the pledge in Adelaide on Saturday and promise the fund will help firms who want to grow their business but are having difficulty accessing private finance.
Bill Shorten and Kim Carr will announce a $1 billion boost for advanced manufacturing while in South Australia. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Senator Carr is a long-time advocate of industry assistance, championing billions of dollars of subsidies to the automotive industry during his years as a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Those subsidies were ended by the Abbott government, which helped precipitate the end of local car making by Holden, Ford and Toyota and the loss of thousands of jobs. Many of those job losses have taken place in South Australia.
I first met Clive James in 1959. We were both students at Sydney University. I think he started there in 1958.
I saw Clive often over the next three years, although we were not great friends at this time. We were both indifferent actors, though I was the more indifferent, and came across each other occasionally during student productions, most of them dominated by students who went on to make a mark in Australian theatre: John Bell, Arthur Dignam and John Gaden. I still remember Clive's colourfully bizarre performance in Lysistrata and in annual university revues.
Bruce Beresford, Clive James at Clives party. January 01, 1980. Credit:Fairfax Media
Clive was a celebrity on campus, while I was something of an awestruck lightweight. Clive wrote extensively for the Sydney University newspaper, Honi Soit. He contributed many poems, most of which I considered to be far superior to the work of other student poets, with the possible exception of Les Murray. Some of these appear in his recently published Collected Poems: 19582015, a work that I consider establishes him beyond question as a poet of the first rank.
Clive also wrote hilarious sketches for the university revue and could be found in one of the campus coffee shops at almost any time of day, surrounded by acolytes a group that included many attractive girls as he voiced his opinion on numerous subjects, with an emphasis on poets and novelists.
RACINE As state Rep. Cory Mason and 6th District Alderman Sandy Weidner make their final campaign pushes this weekend ahead of Tuesdays special mayoral election, campaign finance reports filed this week show Mason once again with sizable fundraising lead.
The pre-election reports, detailing donations and disbursements made between Sept. 5 and Oct. 2, show Masons election committee raised $17,019 during the one-month period, with Weidners committee raising $15,049.
Masons year-to-date total, covering funds contributed between Jan. 1 and Oct. 2, was $123,091 more than four times Weidners year-to-date total of $29,039.
Mason donors
Masons campaign saw several sizable donations during the one-month reporting period, including three $1,500 donations: one from Vesna Balac, an assistant professor at Indiana University-Northwest; one from another Indiana resident, Luis Stevovic; and a third from Joyce Frierdich of Racine.
Other notable and sizable donations received by the campaign in September include $1,000 from Kevin Newell, president of Milwaukee-based Royal Capital Group, which is developing a 90-unit apartment complex near the new Milwaukee Bucks arena, and $500 from businessman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andy Gronik.
The state legislator also received several donations from Wisconsin Education Association or WEAC members, as well as a $750 donation from the WEAC Region 7 Political Action Committee or PAC. The campaign also received a $1,000 donation from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
The bulk of Masons smaller donations those between $10 and $100 came from mostly Racine-area residents.
Weidner donors
Weidner drew most of her September donations from Racine-area residents. Some of her biggest donors include longtime critics of City Hall and the administration of former Mayor John Dickert. The largest of those donations, $1,500, came from Wayne Clingman, who railed against Dickerts move to outsource operations of the citys cable access channel.
Fellow Dickert critic Dennis Montey also donated to the Weidner campaign during the reporting period, as did George Meyers, a local landlord and Racine Area Taxpayers Association member. Montey gave $525, Meyers gave $100.
Other notable contributions included $1,000 from retired businessman Donald Groetzinger; $1,000 from Henry Adams, who is listed in the report as being a CEO; $500 from Gerald Bloom, owner of the former Treasures bookstore, and $250 from Warren Industries President David Namowicz.
Ads and consultants
Mason spent just under $52,400 during the reporting period, with the bulk of that money about $38,416 going to The Pivot Group, Inc., a Washington-based consulting firm.
The Mason camp also paid the Democratic Party of Wisconsin about $2,475 for payroll expenses, and spent about $2,527 for signs.
Weidner spent about $15,105 during the same period. Just under $4,470 was paid to The Journal Times for print ads, while another $2,080 went to Printcolor.net for cardstock mailers. The campaign also paid Printcolor.net $1,680 for yard signs.
The final three days
Asked about her campaigns fundraising efforts and outlook heading into Tuesdays election, Weidner said Friday that she felt good but hadnt looked at (her) campaign finance reports.
I have no idea who contributed or how much. I know we have had enough money to keep this campaign moving forward, and I could not be more grateful to all the people that have made that possible, she added. I feel so incredibly privileged to be in the spot I am in right now. I have met so many wonderful people, and regardless of how the election turns out I would do this 100 times over to have the feeling that I have today.
Talking about the campaign, Mason said Friday that he felt positive, and was enjoying talking to people and hearing about their hopes for Racine.
We have over 300 people from the Racine community who have contributed to the campaign, Mason said. Just in the last week we have had more 100 people form the Racine community knocking on doors, and we have had more than 40 people submit letters to the editor.
I am really happy with the broad, grassroots support we have gotten for the campaign. I think people are really excited for change to come to City Hall and want to rebuild the middle class.
The winner of Tuesdays election will begin serving as mayor on Nov. 7.
Doctors at many hospitals offer pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, to screen embryos before a pregnancy begins. Recessive disorders go undetected, as they do not cause any symptoms in the carrier. Like their counterparts in the US, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are also recommending informing healthy adults about gene carrier screening before conception. Steve Robson says healthy adults should be informed about gene carrier screening before conception. Credit:Susan Gordon-Brown The college is preparing new guidelines for health practitioners detailing how to navigate the complex consultation that can deliver heartache and moral dilemmas.
Professor Steve Robson, president of the college, says it is a conversation that needs to be had. "It's now clear with the advances in genetic screening that patients should definitely be made aware that carrier screening is available," Robson says. "The critical thing, if you are going to offer screening, is the counselling. "It is not like other tests in pregnancy where you just write a form. It is an incredibly complex test with a lot of implications." Though not available on Medicare, the testing itself is not complicated, and costs up to $600.
Usually a swab taken from inside the cheek or a blood sample reveals within weeks the genetic lottery we all carry the gene mutations or changes in our DNA. One in 25 Australians carry the cystic fibrosis gene. As in other recessive conditions, it takes two to pass the disorder to the child. So when two carriers meet, fall in love and decide to have a baby, they create a one-in-four chance of having a child with the life-threatening disorder. A swab taken from inside the cheek can reveal within weeks the genetic lottery we all carry. Credit:Ken Irwin Nigel Laing, who hunts human disease genes at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Western Australia, says each of us is carrying three to five severe recessive diseases. We just don't know what they are, yet.
Cystic fibrosis is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, which tells the body how to control the salt and water balance in the lungs and other tissues. Advances in treatment have increased life expectancy of those affected to 37 years. Now 19, Georgia spends hours clearing her lungs of mucus just so she can breathe. Repeated physiotherapies and taking 35 tablets are daily realities of her life. Melissa Grigsbey says she blames herself for Georgia's suffering. "Because I know that it has come from my husband and I, I do feel responsible that she's got to go through all that," she says. "And I often think it is so unfair for her because they don't get to choose." Laing says everyone should be given the gift of knowledge.
"We should have pre-pregnancy carrier screening so that couples know they are at risk instead of finding out ... by having an affected child," he says. "I have been involved in diagnostic laboratories for 30 years. For example, Duchenne muscular dystrophy [a progressive wasting of the body's muscle tissue]: two-thirds of the mums of the affected boys are carriers. "And every time we diagnose a boy with Duchenne whose mother is a carrier, I wish we had found the carrier first so then she would be in the same position as a known family." He says those who have a family history of a disorder have choices. "Couples, who know they are at risk because they already have an affected child, they can test the pregnancy and see if the unborn child is affected," Laing says.
"You can also have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, but that means going through IVF and testing the embryos before you implant them. "They can decide to abstain from having children or [have a] sperm donation." When Georgia was a toddler, Grigsbey fell pregnant again. This time the family was prepared. Tests revealed Alexander, now 16, was a carrier. Another boy followed, Samuel, now 11, completely free of the disorder. Parents who are carriers can access IVF for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. "We didn't know IVF was an option when we had Alex. Sam just came along; we weren't planning on having another child," Grigsbey says.
"We wouldn't be without any of our three children [but] pre-pregnancy carrier screening gives you the opportunity to say 'well, this is the decision I am making that's right for me'. "I don't know what we would have done, but I think it's better to go into something knowing." A global issue Globally, mass-screening programs in groups with a history of genetic disorders have been known to reduce occurrence of certain diseases. This includes Tay-Sachs disease causing dementia in children, leading to their death by the time they are three or four years old. Laing says the long-term screening program in the Ashkenazi Jewish population around the world reduced the instance of the disease in those communities by more than 90 per cent.
"The most comprehensive population-wide pre-pregnancy carrier screening program is in Israel," he says. "They screen 60 to 70,000 people a year for about 100 recessive diseases." Laing says anecdotal reports suggest the screening program has reduced the incidence of a lot of those diseases in Israel. Some Mediterranean countries which have a screening program for thalassaemia, a disorder that causes severe anaemia, have also seen reduction in affected children, he says. Yet pre-pregnancy screening is not a silver bullet a cure-all magic formula for a healthy child.
Laing says screening doesn't guarantee an unaffected child because not all disease-causing mutations in genes have been identified. Then there are chance errors in DNA replication which result in a child being born with a disorder even though neither parent is a carrier. For Dr Felicity Boardman, who focuses on social and ethical aspects of medicine, the problem is not the disorders, but our attitude towards disability and illness. Boardman, an assistant professor at Britain's Warwick Medical School, says her research on families living with disorders such as thalassaemia, fragile X syndrome and cystic fibrosis shows their ambivalence towards pre-pregnancy carrier screening. "These people live closely with genetic conditions every day, and while the difficulties associated with this should not be under-estimated, many still asserted that having their condition enriched their lives in particular ways," Boardman says.
"There wasn't an overwhelming sense that these people felt short-changed in some way by the lottery of life. Rather, their accounts highlight that we need to question the inherent assumption that is right at the core of the drive towards pre-pregnancy screening: that having a genetic disease is always a tragedy to be avoided. Because for those people who know what it's like to live with better than anyone else, it's not always the case. "We have to think of the direction our society is taking, the ideas we are perpetuating, that it would be better to be non-existent than to have a genetic condition." She says despite advances in technology, pre-pregnancy screening can't predict diseases like mental illness or a tendency to alcoholism. "Pre-pregnancy carrier screening will change the way we view reproduction creating a best possible child who is going to have the best possible chance," Boardman says. "Yet genetic disease is one of many difficult things that can happen in people's life."
John Christodoulou, a professor of genomic medicine at Murdoch Children's Research Institute, says suffering can only be minimised, never removed completely. He says thanks to advances in genomic sequencing technology the ability to read and analyse the genetic code in one hit identifying new disease-causing genes has become faster and more cost-effective. Christodoulou says it is the most important technology of this decade, set to transform the way health care is delivered. In the movie Its aim, he says, is to restore reproductive confidence, prevent and treat disease, not to create perfect babies.
"As a medical geneticist I am not advocating that this technology is going to put us into a Gattaca [a 1997 American science fiction film] situation where people will only accept the absolute perfect individual and everyone else is deemed to be 'sub-optimal' or 'imperfect'," Christodoulou says. "We are about treating and preventing specific diseases rather than creating a superhuman." Professor John Christodoulou: 'We are about treating and preventing specific diseases rather than creating a superhuman'. Credit:Peter Casamento Deborah Schofield, professor of health economics at the University of Sydney, is working on the economic evaluation of genomic medicine.
Along with the NSW Genetics of Learning Disability Service, she is in the early stages of research into the cost-effectiveness of the use of whole-genome sequencing to diagnose intellectual disability in families. Their Economic and Psychosocial Impacts of Caring for families affected by Intellectual Disability (EPIC-ID) study is examining the potential economic benefits of preventing and treating intellectual disabilities. "We will look at economic impacts of improvement in health in the case where there is a treatment, and in a small number of cases there are therapies, but also in terms of family planning," Schofield says. "What we found in the part of the sample that we analysed is that the cost for families with a young adult with intellectual disability over 10 years now is about $1.75 million." She says apart from the financial costs, there is also a serious toll on the physical and mental health of the carers.
Taking a different path Growing up, Patti Ruby saw the effects of fragile X syndrome, passed on through the mother, on her beloved late uncle, a cousin, a nephew, and her older brother. The genetic condition causes intellectual disability, behavioural and learning challenges, and is also the most common single-gene cause of autism worldwide. At 12, Ruby decided she would not bring another fragile X carrier into the world. So when she became pregnant with a child with the disorder, she had no hesitation in obtaining an abortion.
"Growing up I saw the frustrations, I saw the lack of understanding, compassion," she says. "It's not that I couldn't love the child, I just didn't want that responsibility." Simon and Patti Ruby with their children, Connor and Mia, when they were younger. Patti, who is a fragile X carrier, says she didn't want her children to go through what she did. Two years later, Ruby fell pregnant again. This time testing at 12 weeks revealed the foetus - a girl - was a carrier. "That was a difficult choice," she says. "I decided not to have a child that was a carrier, because I was a carrier. I didn't want her to go through the struggles that I was going through."
Another pregnancy followed, this time a baby boy who would be heavily affected by fragile X syndrome. Despite it being a more clear-cut decision, the termination at 18 weeks left Ms Ruby grief-stricken and in need of counselling. The Queensland couple travelled to Sydney to try IVF and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, but fell pregnant naturally. Ruby again underwent a procedure at 12 weeks to abort another boy who would have developed fragile X syndrome. Difficult choices: Patti and Simon Ruby with Mia, 19, and Connor, 13.
The ruins of the medieval Cloth Hall in Ypres in September 1917. Credit:Frank Hurley/Australian War Memorial The Australians were relieved by the Canadians on October 18 and by that time the five Australian divisions had suffered 38,000 casualties, including 12,000 dead and missing. Total casualties at Passchendaele were estimated at some 500,000, about 275,000 British and Commonwealth and maybe more than 200,000 Germans. Nearly 15,700 Canadians and 5300 New Zealanders fell there, killed, wounded or missing. The Tyne Cot Cemetery in Passchendaele, Belgium. Credit:Australian War Memorial Sixty-one Victoria Crosses were awarded, nine to Australians. Five months later the Germans took it all back in three days.
On Thursday, the nightly Last Post at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra was dedicated to Passchendaele. The director, Brendan Nelson, declared October 12 one of the most significant days in Australian history. "Throughout the 1920s and 1930s whether in Australia or New Zealand, only one word was used to describe inconsolable grief and mourning and a suffering and a pain that would never go: and that word was Passchendaele," Nelson said. The eight-month Gallipoli campaign in 1915 had cost 26,111 Australian casualties, including 8141 deaths. Strategically it achieved nothing. But if Gallipoli was embraced as the necessary blood sacrifice of a new nation, by the time of Passchendaele enthusiasm for war back home was starting to wane. The images of men and beast floundering in a never-ending sea of mud at Passchendaele came to define World War I in the Australian public's imagination. Australians fighting overseas in World War I had enlisted voluntarily and troop numbers remained buoyant until the enormity of Australian casualties on the Western Front hit home. Passchendaele occurred smack dab in the middle of a bitter national argument on conscription that was fought on political and class grounds and pitted workers against employers while widening the secular divide between Christians from or descended from various parts of the British Isles.
Not only were fathers, sons, husbands and lovers dying but the public became aware that despite small gains made at Passchendaele, the overall result left both sides in deadlocked positions similar to where they had started. The disaster brought condemnation on British army commanders. Military historians now make harsh judgments about Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. When he died in 1928, his funeral became a day of national mourning but post World War II, Haig's name has become synonymous with carnage and futility. His troops arrived at that conclusion long before the historians: they called him "Butcher Haig". By 1916 Britain had started to pressure Canberra to send more troops and prime minister William Morris Hughes announced a referendum on compulsory overseas service. The October 28 vote resulted 1,087,557 for and 1,160,033 against. NSW, Queensland and South Australia voted "No". Victoria's agreement to send more soldiers was perhaps surprising. They used to say that Irish convicts left Sydney for honest work as servants for Melburnians made newly wealthy by gold, while cockney convicts stayed in Sydney to deal real estate. The World War I memorials scattered around Australian cities, towns and villages bear some but not many Irish surnames and a deep divide had opened between Irish Catholic Australians and other Christians following the British crushing of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. Yet many Melbourne Catholics voted for conscription even though one of their leading priests said Australians were already doing enough to help the British cause on the Western Front.
After the referendum loss, Hughes was tossed out of the Australian Labor Party. He established a new party, the Nationalist Party, and won the May 1917 federal election. The following day the Irish priest, Daniel Mannix, became Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne. During the election campaign Mannix had denounced the inequality of sacrifice, endorsing the justice of strikes and declaring that a vote for Hughes would be a vote for conscription. The British demanded more Australian troops but the shadow of Passchendaele fell and on December 20, 1917, Hughes put a second conscription referendum and the people again rejected it, by a larger majority than before: 1,015,159 in favour and 1,181,747 against. This time Victoria also voted "No". For the World War I generations, time never healed Passchendaele. But in 1936, two large stone guardian lions were donated to the Australian War Memorial by the burgomaster (mayor) of the Belgian city of Ypres. The lions had originally stood on plinths on either side of the Menin Gate at Ypres. This gate was one of only two entries into the medieval fortified city. Allied soldiers, including Australians, marched to the Passchendaele battlefields through the Menin Gate. The limestone lions were toppled by shellfire during the war as the town was reduced to rubble. The lions were given to Australia as a gesture of friendship, and reconstructed, they have been at the entrance of the Australian War Memorial since 1987.
A woman whose son was sexually and physically abused multiple times in a state-funded disability home is calling on the government to shut down the facility immediately.
In December 2016, Fairfax Media revealed that Matthew Thomas, an autistic man who doesn't speak, was raped at least once by another resident at the emergency facility Autism Plus.
Maria Thomas' son Matthew is severely disabled and has autism. He was sexually abused by another resident at a Autism Plus group home. Now Ms Thomas is calling on the government to shut down the facility. Credit:Eddie Jim
The case was later dropped due to fears that the accused's disability was too serious to enable him to comprehend the charges against him.
An investigation by the Victorian Ombudsman, released in September, found that despite ongoing threats to Matthew, the alleged perpetrator continued to live at the Autism Plus facility.
A female has died and multiple people have been injured, five of them critically, after a bus rolled near Avoca, about 180 kilometres north-west of Melbourne on Saturday.
Thirty people were on the bus that rolled on the Sunraysia Highway about 10 kilometres north of Avoca, 500 metres north of Stawell Avoca Road, at 3.10pm.
Police visit the scene of the bus rollover. Credit:Luis Ascui.
Victoria Police spokesman Senior Constable Adam West said the driver lost control of the bus while travelling south near Moonambel.
"The driver lost control of the vehicle, which left the highway and rolled down an embankment," Senior Constable West said.
Content to let Maree do the organising, by the time Des realised the date clash, it was too late to postpone the wedding.
Maree's family, from Robinvale, 57km away, were not into the races and had no idea how much the race day meant to the large Ryan clan.
Community stalwarts: Maree and Des Ryan at the centenary Manangatang Cup race meeting, holding a portrait of jockey Roy Higgins winning at Manangatang spring races on the horse Voltain in 1957. Credit:Jason South
That was the day he married Maree Perry, on April 12, 1969.
Des Ryan has missed just one Manangatang Cup day in his 71 years.
Light and joy: The Mallee crowd laps up the sunshine and pre-harvest joy as it watches the centenary running of the Manangatang Cup. Credit:Jason South
Mr Ryan's father, Tom, the then "Manang" races chief organiser, was heard to mutter darkly "it should have been another day" but he did choose to miss the Cup, and attend the wedding at St Mary's church in Robinvale.
Happily, the newlyweds went on, themselves, to be long term volunteer organisers of the Manangatang Cup meeting, which celebrated its centenary on Saturday.
The population of the tiny Mallee town, 80 kilometres north-west of Swan Hill, swells from 300 to 3000 for its big day of the year, the Cup.
One of the 2017 favourites, Diamond Duke, took the $16,000 first prize, but for many racegoers, it was a case of, "what horses"?.
Police are looking for a teenage boy they want to speak to in relation to a sex assault on an elderly woman in Perth's south.
The woman aged in her 80s was sexually assaulted, bashed and robbed during a burglary at her home in Waikiki early on Friday morning.
The woman was attacked on Friday morning.
Police want to speak to a 15-year-old boy over the incident.
Sonoma: Fire officials in Northern California continue to battle the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in the state's history, as the death toll rose to 35 and teams with cadaver dogs combed charred ruins for human remains.
The wind-driven blazes, which erupted on Sunday night in the heart of California's renowned wine country, north of San Francisco, have destroyed an estimated 5700 homes and businesses and forced the evacuation of at least 25,000 people.
The 35 confirmed fatalities - 19 in Sonoma County alone - mark the greatest loss of life from a single fire event on record in California, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.
With more than 200 people still missing on Friday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number of fatalities from the so-called North Bay fires would likely climb higher.
Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has warned he will declare a revolutionary government and arrest all his critics if a plot to oust him escalates.
"I will not hesitate to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term and I will arrest all of you and we can go to a full scale war against the Reds," he said.
Army troops fire Howitzer to welcome President Rodrigo Duterte at a ceremony in Fort Bonifacio in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines earlier this month. Credit:AP
For days senior officials and Mr Duterte's administration have been warning of a plot to overthrow the mercurial president whose war on drugs has left more than 10,000 mostly poor Filipinos dead in the largest loss of civilian lives in Asia since the 1970s.
Armed forces chief Restituto Padilla said last week that Maoist rebels and lawless armed groups in the southern Philippines have initiated destabilisation moves against 72 year-old Mr Durtere, a former provincial mayor.
Saturday
St. Francis Episcopal Church, 1101 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will host a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Harvey, with the support of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, Best Friends Animal Society, and Unidos por Puerto Rico. The concert begins at 5 p.m. and will feature violinist Travis Urban, cellist Andrew Nguyen, flautist Nami Kimura, pianist Miguel Sousa and the Women's Chorus at Texas A&M. Refreshments will follow. 696-1491 or stfrancisbcs.org.
Sunday
CBS Religious School is offering Sunday morning classes. Students are invited to learn about and experience Judaism in a welcoming and egalitarian environment. For more information or to register, contact religiousschool.cbs@gmail.com.
Faith United Church (UCC), 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, welcomes you with 9:15 a.m. Sunday study, "ASK: Faith Questions in a Skeptical Age;" 10 a.m. fellowship and 10:30 a.m. worship. Pastor Karl's message is "RSVP." Faithuccbryan.org.
First Christian Church, 900 S. Ennis St. in Bryan, will meet for worship at 10:45 a.m. The Rev. Jesse Myers' sermon topic will be "Smile, Lady," based on John 14:23-29 and Philippians 4:4-9. Sunday school classes for all ages begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by coffee time at 10:30 a.m. Child care is available. Youth groups meet at 3 p.m. 823-5451 or firstchristianbcs.org.
St. Francis Episcopal Church, 1101 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will celebrate Holy Communion at 9 a.m. (Rite 1) and 10:30 a.m. (Rite 2). The preacher and celebrant will be the Rev. Lisa Neilson of the Episcopal Student Center at A&M. Coffee and snacks will follow the later service. Children's Sunday school begins at 10:30 a.m. We will also bless prayer shawls and collect flour and sugar donations for the church food pantries in Iola and Bedias. We are also partnering with St. Francis Church in Houston to collect gift cards from Target or Visa to support families in their recovery from Hurricane Harvey. For information on weekday services and events, contact the church at 696-1491 or stfrancisbcs.org.
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley, 800 George Bush Drive (Texas A&M Hillel), will meet at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Aaron Stockwell will speak on "Unpacking our Backpacks and Looking Back, Part 2." 696-5285.
Covenant Presbyterian Church, 220 Rock Prairie Road in College Station, will worship at 10:30 a.m. with co-pastor the Rev. Jonathan Murray preaching on "Cultivating Disciples," from the Practices of Fruitful Congregations sermon series. Classes for all ages meet at 9:15 a.m., followed by coffee and fellowship. 694-7700 or covenantpresbyterian.org.
Hillcrest Baptist Church, 4220 Boonville Road in Bryan, will conduct a special contemporary Night of Worship service at 5:30 p.m. in the worship center. Childcare is available. 776-6185.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 217 W. 26th St. in Bryan, will host services at 7:30, 9 and 11:15 a.m. We will have coffee hour before and after each service. Christian formation classes begin at 10:15 a.m. www.standrewsbcs.org.
Unity Spiritual Center of the Brazos Valley, 4016 Stillmeadow Drive, Bryan, will have services at 10:30 a.m. Call 324-9857 or unityspiritualcenterbv.org.
Spirit of Faith Church, 900 E. 29th St. in Bryan, will have Sunday school classes for all ages at 10 a.m., followed by morning worship at 11 a.m. All are welcome. 436-6910.
Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, 3610 Plainsman Lane in Bryan, will have Sunday school classes for all ages at 9:15 a.m. and morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. 846-4753.
Tuesday
Eagle's Nest Praise and Worship Ministries will be opening a free prayer line from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The prayer line number is 775-1513, and calls will be answered by a trained prayer ministry associate. The prayer line is coordinated by pastors Gary and Sheila Jones.
Wednesday
Faith United Church, 2901 Austin's Colony Parkway in Bryan, invites men of all ages to Wednesday morning coffee and guy talk at 10 a.m. Faithuccbryan.org.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 217 W. 26th St. in Bryan, will have evening prayer at 5:30 p.m. www.standrewsbcs.org.
St. Anthony Catholic Church will soon be the permanent home of a rare relic of St. Anthony of Padua -- less than a year after the parish hosted a fragment of the saint's ribs and skin from his cheek during a 10-day tour of the Austin Diocese.
The Bryan church, which is more than 100 years old, will receive a small piece of St. Anthony of Padua's flesh on Tuesday and will celebrate Mass on Wednesday as part of a public veneration. According to church deacon Michael Beauvais, St. Anthony of Padua is one of the more popular Italian saints in history and is known as the patron saint of lost things.
"Historically, people pray to him when they lose things," Beauvais said. "Miraculously, those things end up being found."
A fragment of St. Anthony's ribs and cheek came to Bryan in February, as previously reported by The Eagle. This relic only stayed in the area for a short time before being taken back to Italy. On Tuesday, a church leader from St. Anthony's Basilica in Padua, Italy, will arrive in Bryan with a different but equally rare and special physical remain of the Italian saint. The church has prepared an area of the building to permanently secure the relic.
"We will have people visiting us like it's Thanksgiving," Beauvais said. "And we'll have to get the 'house' prepared, have everything ready."
To Beauvais' knowledge, this piece of skin will be the only "first-class" relic in the diocese, meaning it is the only relic made of a saint's remains. The Rev. Mario Conte of Italy will arrive in Aggieland on Tuesday and the next day Bishop Joe Vasquez and other clergy will concelebrate with deacons over Mass, and will then engage in a solemn procession across church grounds with the relic.
The Mass will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, and from Thursday through Oct. 31, the church will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for veneration. Beginning in November and continuing on a regular basis, the church will be open for veneration on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
"In a sense we are a universal church. We are never isolated from the rest of the church," Beauvais said. "This is a reminder that even though St. Anthony of Padua is in Padua, St. Anthony of Padua is also in Bryan. We are all connected."
To learn more about the relic's arrival in Bryan, visit saintanthonys.org/st-anthony-of-padua-relic. Groups wishing to make a special pilgrimage on a particular day can contact the church's business administrator Becky Scamardo by calling 979-823-8145.
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NORWALK The Connecticut Department of Transportation will update the public on its plans to rebuild the Route 7-Merritt Parkway interchange during a meeting a Norwalk City Hall on Tuesday.
The reconfiguration project was delayed several years by a lawsuit, then the recession.
The Public Scoping and Informational Meeting is in the Norwalk City Hall Auditorium, 125 East Ave. An open forum for individual discussions with DOT officials will start 4 p.m., followed by formal presentations at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
The meeting on Tuesday will focus on the Environmental Process as required by NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act), said DOT spokesman Judd Everhart. The Scoping Meeting is the first official step in the process. We will also discuss purpose and need of the job, goals and objectives, various alternatives and most importantly how to get involved with the project and how to provide input.
Construction is estimated to begin in 2012 and take at least a year, if not more, to complete, Everhart said.
Data collection done
The purpose of the project is to improve connections and mobility at Main Avenue and the Merritt Parkway as well as at the Route 7 Connector and Merritt Parkway. At present, motorists traveling west on the Merritt Parkway cannot exit to either the north- or southbound Route 7 Connector. Motorists driving either north or south on the connector cannot exit to the eastbound parkway.
The project remains in the planning phase. The DOT has held about 30 stakeholder meetings and formed a Project Advisory Committee comprised of various stakeholders. The committee has met three times.
We have completed our data collection phase and are developing a Purpose and Need statement, Everhart said. Various alternatives have been developed for this project over the years. The two latest are Alt 21C and Alt 26. All alternatives are still on the table.
Alternate 26, as the design is called, would add missing links, make the interchange fully directional and create three traffic lanes in each direction along the connector near the parkway. The design also would change the connector from a freeway to signalized boulevard by installing two traffic signals one north and the other immediately south of the parkway.
The interchange overhaul project was halted first by a lawsuit and later by an economic recession.
Before the project halted in 2009 amid the recession, the DOT had arrived at Alternate 21C as its preferred design. The design, which emerged after numerous meetings with residents and other stakeholders, would rely upon ramps but not signals. The design would improve the existing connections and create the four missing connections between the parkway, Route 7 Connector and Main Avenue.
Conservancy at table
The Merritt Parkway Conservancy is among those at the table as part of the recent stakeholder meetings aimed at coming up with a design thats acceptable to all.
The conservancy is satisfied with the process thats going on right now involving the different stakeholders and the presentations that have been given, said Jill Smyth, executive director of the parkway conservancy, who plans to attend Tuesday evening. Lets just hope that people come and give their opinions.
Mayor Harry Rilling said the DOT is looking to make many changes in the interchange area. He said the city is closely monitoring the plans as they unfold.
Obviously, were very interested because of the impacts on Norwalk and we want to make sure that we get a plan thats going to help move traffic safely and swiftly, Rilling said. We want to make sure our infrastructure is capable of handling the traffic load.
The Route 7 Connector carries not only Norwalk motorists but also traffic from throughout Fairfield County, he noted.
Benefits, negatives
In January, the Norwalk Association of Silvermine Homeowners and Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations hosted a public information meeting on the project at City Hall. About two-dozen people attended.
Were not here singing Hosanna, weve finally found the answer, said John Eberle, principal and project manager with Stantec, the consultant engineer hired by the DOT, while explaining Alternate 26. Theres benefits to it, theres negatives to it.
In 2005, the parkway conservancy and other preservationist groups filed a lawsuit against the Federal Highway Administration and the DOT in an effort to get the state to downsize its original design, which the groups considered too large, too costly and destructive to the parkway. U.S. District Court in New Haven found that the Federal Highway Administration had not met its legal obligation to ensure that all possible planning was done to minimize harm prior to approving the interchange project.
Information about the revamped project can be found at http://7-15norwalk.com/. Written comments from the public are welcomed and will be accepted by the DOT until the close of business on Nov. 16, 2017.
LINCOLN Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Friday that 18 Nebraska libraries will be the initial local participants in Nebraskas Library Innovation Studios: Transforming Rural Communities project to create library makerspaces.
The Nebraska Library Commission was recently awarded a National Leadership Grant of $530,732 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for this partnership project with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Nebraska Innovation Studio, Nebraska Extension, Regional Library Systems and local public libraries.
This partnership demonstrates how our Nebraska communities can use technology and education to empower community residents to create, learn, and invent, Ricketts said. By expanding the skills of the workforce in our communities, supporting entrepreneurs, and encouraging lifelong learning, this partnership reinforces our vibrant business climate and supports community development.
The project uses Library Innovation Studios makerspaces hosted by public libraries to support community engagement and participatory learning experiences by providing access to technology and innovative learning tools not readily accessible locally. This is expected to stimulate creativity, innovation, and the exchange of ideas to facilitate entrepreneurship, skills development and local economic development.
In Central Nebraska, the initial local library partners that will host one of the four rotating makerspaces are:
Broken Bow Public Library
Central City Public Library
Loup City Public Library
Ravenna Public Library
Twelve additional libraries will be selected in 2018 to host makerspaces in 2019-20. This project began July 1, 2017, and will conclude June 30, 2020. For more information about the project or equipment that will be featured in the rotating makerspaces, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/grants/InnovationStudios.
Nebraskas public libraries are the natural gathering points for people to come together to share materials, knowledge, and experiences, said Nebraska Library Commission Director Rod Wagner. Whether the materials and tools are high tech or low tech, digital or analog, art or science, the focus is to create, invent, tinker, explore, and discover using the tools, materials, and knowledge available. Libraries have always been dedicated to community partnership, collaboration, and the free exchange of ideas. Makerspaces are the next step in that progression.
Dear Annie: This is a problem I know my family will have pretty soon. My mother married my stepfather, Skip, after my father died 19 years ago. My stepfather had eight children before they got married, so I have eight stepsiblings. My mom passed away a few years ago.
Three of Skips sons wont speak to him or visit because he gave his daughter power of attorney and they were very upset by that. Anyway, the problem now is that Skip doesnt want his sons at his funeral at all. Besides these three sons, he has another son and four daughters. And he has told all five of them to make sure the other three arent there.
My question is: What can be done to get them to stay away at the funeral without causing a problem and without getting the law involved? Please help me to tell them how to fix this.
Very Unhappy
Dear Very Unhappy: You can try keeping the location of the service a secret and let all invited guests know to keep the address to themselves because its a private event. If the service is being held on private property, you can explain the situation to the owners and ask for their assistance in keeping out unwanted guests, who would technically be trespassing.
All that said, the onus is on the three brothers to respect their fathers final wishes. Should they manage to attend the funeral, keep the focus off them and on remembering and celebrating the life of your stepfather.
Dear Annie: I just read your column with the letter from Sad and Over It, With Empty Pockets. It was about a deadbeat sons not paying his parents back for a student loan. I almost fell off my chair. That is almost the same situation I am in.
About nine years ago, I co-signed a student loan for my granddaughter. She promised to pay it back. She said she really wanted to attend this expensive school. After about seven months, she quit. She has not made a payment in almost two years. The balance owed is a little over $10,000.
I get collection calls daily. I explain that I am on Social Security and have low income. They dont care. I sent my granddaughter a letter stating that she has to do something. She told me she isnt working and has two kids to take care of. I tell her to call the agency and arrange to make interest payments. She refuses.
I thought about calling an attorney but was worried that her mother (my daughter) would be upset with me. Well, after reading your reply to Sad and Over It, With Empty Pockets, I will be calling an attorney this week. Thank you, Annie. You have been a great help to me.
Empty Pockets, Too
Dear Empty Pockets, Too: Im proud of you for standing up for yourself. I hope the attorneys letter straightens your granddaughter out and youre made whole. Remember that assertiveness is not cruelty; its merely self-respect.
Annie Lane, a graduate of New York Law School and New York University, writes this column for Creators Syndicate. Email questions to dearannie@creators.com.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson will be hosting Mobile Office hours in Grand Island with several members of his staff inside the Grand Generation Center (304 E. Third St.) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The attorney general will visit the senior center from 11 to 11:45 a.m. He will also spend the day visiting law enforcement, area students and a local civic group.
During Mobile Office hours, representatives from both the Consumer Protection Division and Constituent Services will be on hand to personally meet citizens interested in submitting concerns to the attorney generals office.
Citizens will also have the opportunity to learn how to protect themselves from identity theft, guard against scams and rid themselves of unwanted calls. Many educational resources will be made available to interested constituents.
Any questions regarding the Mobile Office should be directed to Suzanne Gage, director of communications.
28 injured in Nawalparasi bus accident
As many as 28 persons were injured when a bus they were travelling in met with an accident at Binayi Triveni Rural Municipality in Nawalparasi district along the East-West Highway on Saturday
We spent the last few days with an amazing group of veterans and their family and friends in Washington, D.C. Conversations with some old friends and now our new friends will be memories that will last through our lifetime.
Seeing many of the military memorials, the night tour of the U. S. Capitol, watching the changing of the guard and the wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, touring the Caisson of the Army Old Guard at Fort Myer, Va. these are some of the impressive sites that make a person feel very proud to be an American and a veteran.
Thank you to Don Shuda, his staff and everyone that is either directly involved with the Hero Flights or indirectly by supporting this wonderful trip. Without all of you and your hard work, this amazing trip would not be possible.
Eagles rally, then get sloppy in 4th quarter as undefeated hopes end
Several observations from the Eagles' Monday night game against the Washington Commanders.
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Dublin Sat, October 14, 2017 12:38 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a247c3a8 2 Art & Culture Che-Guevara,stamps,history,#history Free
A set of stamps paying tribute to Ernesto "Che" Guevara on the 50th anniversary of his death has sold out in Ireland, a country where the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary had ancestral roots.
"Our initial print run of the stamps was 122,000... It is necessary now to print extra stock," a spokesman for Ireland's postal service An Post said on Friday.
The one-euro stamp features an iconic image of the guerrilla created by Dublin artist Jim Fitzpatrick in 1968 that became a poster for worldwide rebellion.
The stamps came out last week.
Che Guevara's father Ernesto Guevara Lynch was a civil engineer of Irish descent and a quote from him saying "in my son's veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels" features on an envelope to accompany the stamp.
The stamp has proved controversial, with Irish senator Neale Richmond saying it was "totally objectionable" and asking if there were plans to honor dictators like Cambodia's Pol Pot or Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu.
Read also: Che Guevara remembered 50 years after his death
Ninoska Perez Castellon, a prominent member of the Cuban exile community in Miami, was quoted by Irish public broadcaster RTE as saying that the stamp would "celebrate a man who slaughtered so many people".
Born in the Argentine city of Rosario, Guevara traveled across South America in 1952 and 1953 and was shocked to see the economic disparity across the continent, a road trip that was immortalized in the 2004 film "The Motorcycle Diaries".
It convinced him violence was necessary to overturn South America's unjust social order.
His life changed dramatically when he met Fidel Castro in Mexico in 1955 and joined his guerrilla expedition to Cuba, overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
In the early 1960s, he worked with Castro to consolidate the revolution, supervising the repression of counter-revolutionaries, and even for a time heading the Central Bank and industry ministry.
After leaving Cuba to spread revolution elsewhere, he was killed in an ambush by CIA-trained troops in Bolivia in 1967.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 08:00 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a246ebcb 1 City Sandiaga-Uno,police-questioning Free
Jakarta Police will question Sandiaga Uno after his inauguration as Jakarta deputy governor on Monday. He will be questioned as a witness in an embezzlement case.
Sandiaga was initially scheduled to be questioned by investigators from the polices general crimes directorate last Wednesday. However, he could not meet the summons because he was preparing for the inauguration.
The investigators will figure out a time [for him to be questioned], Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com.
Sandiaga and his business partner Andreas Tjahjadi were reported by tycoon Edward Soeryadjaya to the Jakarta Police in relation to an embezzlement case in Curug, Tangerang, Banten,
The governor-elect has denied the allegations, saying the case was made up for political gain. (ecn)
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) San Franscisco, United States Sat, October 14, 2017 11:20 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a247a918 2 World california,fire,death Free
The death toll from California's wildfires rose to 33 on Friday as firefighters made some progress in containing the infernos but said intensifying winds were a concern.
"We're not out of this emergency, not even close," said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
"But we are seeing some progress in areas the fires have impacted," Ghilarducci told a news conference. "We'll get ahead of these flames."
California fire chief Ken Pimlott said more than 9,000 firefighters were battling 17 large fires that have consumed a total of 221,754 acres (89,700 hectares) since Sunday.
An estimated 5,700 structures have been destroyed by the wildfires, up from 3,500 reported on Wednesday, CAL FIRE said on its Twitter account.
The death toll rose to 33 with a 14-year-old boy's body reportedly being recovered in Mendocino county near his family's home.
"It appears he was attempting to evacuate the area on foot when he was overtaken by the fire," the Mendocino County Sheriff's office told the Ukiah Daily Journal.
Sonoma County officials earlier Friday reported another death, which had brought the total to 32.
"We have had some significant progress," Pimlott said.
"Three smaller fires have been contained," he said, and "we've increased containment on some of the major fires."
Pimlott said firefighting efforts could be complicated, however, by winds that were expected to increase overnight to more than 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour).
Pimlott also said it could be weeks before investigators determine what caused the fires, the deadliest in California's history.
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.
Northern California Fires:
34 dead
500+ missing
220,000 acres burned
20,000+ ppl evacuated
5700+ homes destroyed
0 @realDonaldTrump tweets pic.twitter.com/5XLHCDnCql Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) October 13, 2017
Topics : california fire death
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 09:41 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2471236 1 City cemetery,Court Free
Three cemetery watchmen have been fined by the Central Jakarta District Court for installing permanent structures on graves at Petamburan Cemetery in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
Manta, 52, was fined Rp 3.5 million (US$259), while Andrianto, 40, was fined Rp 2 million and Maemudin, 70, Rp 1 million.
During their trial on Friday, judge Saifudin declared them guilty after the men admitted to building marble structures on two graves at the cemetery in June.
The cemetery is categorized as an open green space. Article 42 of Jakarta Bylaw No. 3/2007 on cemeteries forbids residents from installing permanent structures at cemeteries except headstones.
The Jakarta Forestry Agency's community development and law enforcement division head, Henri Perez, said this was the first case of its kind this year, saying that it came to light from a report from residents.
Henri said the men were proactive in offering their services to residents.
"We also allege they charged illegal fees," he added. (yon)
Topics : cemetery Court
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Linkedin Grace Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Washington, United States Sat, October 14, 2017 10:50 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2475d6c 1 Business IMF,IMF-WB-meeting,financial-market,financial-stability Free
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that vulnerabilities building under the surface of the seemingly calm global financial market may derail recovery in the world economy if they are not well managed.
In its October edition of the Global Financial Stability Report, the fund said the world had been seeing good news in the international market that includes a stronger global financial system and rebound of capital flows to emerging economies.
However, these favorable conditions have bred complacency in the financial market that spawns excessive financial activities, triggering vulnerabilities, including an increase in market risk caused by investors extravagant search for yields, the IMF says.
Read also: IMF revises up 2017, 2018 global growth forecast
Institutional investors are being drawn out of their natural habitats in a search for yield, but that exposes their balance sheets to increased credit, maturity and liquidity risks, said Tobias Adrian, financial counselor and director of monetary and capital markets at the IMF.
External borrowing in emerging market and low-income countries has also increased, creating a greater reliance on foreign inflows that may at some point make emerging economies vulnerable if the resources are not put to good use.
Portfolio inflows to emerging economies are on track to reach US$300 billion dollars in 2017, more than twice the totals over the past two years, IMF data show.
The IMF calls for policymakers to continue providing appropriate monetary policy support, while managing the underlying vulnerabilities.
Read also: Jakarta a possible alternative for 2018 IMF-World Bank meeting
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Mataram Sat, October 14 2017
The Immigration office of Mataram and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Police on Thursday apprehended three foreigners alleged to have run tourism related businesses without a permit.
The three foreign nationals are a Spanish man initialed AJA, 53, and a Spanish woman initialed IRU, 34, who were apprehended in Gili Air, North Lombok, while an Australian man initialed JWP, 71, was apprehended in the Senggigi area, West Lombok.
They are suspected to have run a room rental business in tourist hotspots, Monitoring and Enforcement Unit head at the Mataram Immigration Office Ramdhani Soeharto said in Mataram on Friday.
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Chure conservation project seeking funds from non-govt donors
The President Chure-Tarai Madhes Conservation Development Board, which is implementing various projects for the conservation of Chure ranges, has started talks with non-government partners for financial support.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 14 2017
Days after being discharged from the hospital, House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto visited evacuation posts near Mount Agung in Bali on Friday.
The Golkar Party chairman said he wanted to see the impact of increasing activity at the volcano on the Balinese people.
I can feel the apprehension of the evacuees. They have had to leave their villages and lost their livelihoods, he said, as quoted by kompas.com.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 09:25 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a246fdef 1 City equestrian,sport Free
City-owned construction company PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) is positive that it will wrap up construction work on one of the venues for the 2018 Asian Games, the equestrian facility in Pulo Mas, East Jakarta, next month.
Jakpro corporate secretary Erry Gunari Prakasa said that the construction progress had reached 50.20 percent as of Aug. 29, beating the target of 48.28 percent.
"We are optimistic that [the construction] can be completed by November, because the development of the equestrian [facility] has periodically exceeded the target," Erry said, as quoted by beritajakarta.id on Friday.
He added that the Rp 417 billion (US$30.8 million) facility was built to international standards and could host up to 1,000 spectators. It was set to be equipped with 100 stables, athletes lodging, an animal hospital, training places and a parking area on a 35-hectare plot of land.
"Thirty-nine percent of the budgeted funds has been used up," Erry said. "We are planning to hold a test event in December." (dis)
Topics : equestrian sport
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Sat, October 14 2017
Hayasa Roastery owner Johannes Soelistyo invites a buyer to smell the aroma of Arabica coffee from various regions of Indonesia on the sidelines of the Trade Expo Indonesia at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition in BSD, South Tangerang, on Friday. The government has encouraged growers to increase the production of local Arabica coffee from 10 percent of total domestic output to 50 percent, as it fetches a higher price that the widely produced Robusta coffee. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
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Linkedin Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post) Swiss Residence Jakarta Sat, October 14 2017
Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia Yvonne Baumann and her spouse Ruben Chirino hosted a Raclette party to introduce Swiss cuisine and drinks to Indonesian guests at their residence in Jakarta on Thursday night.
Our main intention is to introduce our cheese, chocolates, drinks and other food to our Indonesian guests. The main attraction is eating melting Swiss cheese and tasting our drinks, Ambassador Baumann told The Jakarta Post at the party.
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Linkedin Andrew Beatty (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Sat, October 14, 2017 09:35 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2470d9d 2 World Nuclear,Iran,trump,EU Free
President Donald Trump reignited the decades-old US feud with Iran on Friday, vowing to confront the "fanatical regime" and throwing a landmark international nuclear agreement into doubt.
In a speech pocked with grievances dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Trump railed against the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world."
And he threatened to rip up the 2015 agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program, saying it had failed to address Iranian subversion in its region and its illegal missile program.
"It is under continuous review and our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time," he warned.
And he later lashed out at countries that have stood by the agreement, appearing to accuse them of 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.
Trump's bellicose message brought an instant rebuke from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who -- also leaning heavily on past injustices -- declared the United States was "more than ever against the Iranian people."
But behind Trump's hardline rhetoric was a subtle but significant presidential climbdown.
He stopped short of nixing a deal negotiated with European allies, China and Russia to lift sanctions against Tehran in return for Iranian curbs on uranium enrichment.
Instead he took a procedural step of "decertifying" the agreement, leaving its fate in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress.
The US president said he supports efforts in Congress to work on new measures to address these threats without immediately torpedoing the broader deal.
"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.
Read also: US Secretary of State Tillerson called Trump 'moron'
European leaders slapped back that notion, saying the agreement was not America's alone.
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.
Read also: Iran threatens to quit nuclear deal
Topics : Nuclear Iran trump EU
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) United Nations, United Nations Sat, October 14, 2017 09:55 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2471bc3 2 SE Asia Myanmar,Rohingya,UN,KofiAnnan Free
Former UN chief Kofi Annan urged the Security Council on Friday to push for the return to Myanmar of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohyingas who have been driven out in an army campaign.
Annan, who led an advisory commission to the Myanmar government, said world powers must work with the country's military and civilian leaders to end the refugee crisis.
The Security Council is weighing action, possibly a resolution laying out demands, but diplomats have said China, a supporter of Myanmar's former ruling junta, and Russia are opposed to such a measure.
"I hope the resolution that comes out urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that would allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security," Annan told reporters after a closed-door meeting with the council.
"They should not be returned to camps. They should help rebuild," he said.
More than 500,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, have since late August crossed into Bangladesh, fleeing military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine state that the United Nations has denounced as ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar authorities say they are rooting out Rohingya militants following attacks on police posts in late August.
The issue of the return of the Rohingyas is shaping up as a major hurdle.
A recent report by the UN human rights office accused Myanmar of seeking to permanently expel the Rohingya, by planting land mines at the border with Bangladesh.
"The international community is now beginning to put pressure on the military," Annan said, adding that "military-to-military talks" were aimed at pressing Myanmar to rein in its operations.
He called on the council to agree with Myanmar on a "roadmap" and warned that without action "we are going to have a long-term festering problem" in the region that "can be very serious, down the line."
In late August, Annan presented the final report of the advisory commission on Rakhine state that he chaired at the request of Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Topics : Myanmar Rohingya UN KofiAnnan
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Linkedin News Desk (The Nation/ANN) Bangkok Sat, October 14, 2017 10:15 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24743af 2 SE Asia #Thailand,#ThaiKing,#BhumibolAdulyadej Free
The country stood still and silent yesterday at 3:52 p.m., as loyal subjects nationwide mourned the passing of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej a year ago. People from all corners of the country made merit, did good deeds, volunteered to engage in public work, or gave away free food as their way of honouring the memory of beloved King Rama IX.
Commemoration ceremonies were held across the nation, including major events at Siriraj Hospital and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Royal Family, including His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, attended the religious ceremony at the Temple of Emerald Buddha yesterday evening to make merit for the late King.
At the commemoration ceremony at Siriraj Hospital, it seemed as if the hearts of all Thais were united. At 3:52 p.m. Friday at Siriraj Hospital, the Kingdom marked the first anniversary of the passing of King Rama IX. For nine minutes, the usually busy hospital was tranquil, as thousands of mourners united in their final farewell to the monarch. Heavy rains in the morning soaked the hospital grounds, making it impossible for most people to sit outside. Some came well prepared with mats.
However, the ground floor of the hospital building were fully occupied, running from Prince Mahidols monument through to the corridors of the Chalermprakiet building where His Majesty had been hospitalised on the 16th floor.
The scene was overwhelming for some, who openly cried. Prasit Wattanapa, dean of Sirirajs medical faculty, said the days activities were an opportuntiy for all Thai people to pay their respects and show their gratitude to His Majesty the late King, to make merit, and to pray for the late monarch to rest in peace. An 89-year-old grandmother in a wheelchair, Teo Li Eng, said she came with her daughter Jureewan Limawararut, 54. They said they were proud to be there from 7am to offer food to monks and they planned to spend as long as they could at the hospital.
Jureewan said: Due to my mothers age, I would like to make all her wishes come true and for her not to be afraid of challenges. I felt a miracle, having the King as inspiration. I feel anything can be done smoothly. My mother and I already went to pay respects at Dusit Mahaprasart Throne Hall six times.
Teo says she teaches her children to be good people and to be careful in life.
Jureewan Jearanaisilavong, 65, is a retired assistant professor at the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital. She was at the hospital from 5am to offer food, books, and stationery to the monks, who will then pass on the offerings as donations to the southernmost area of Thailand.
The late King was very generous to all of us, said Jureewan. I offered stationery this morning because educational development was a matter of concern to His Majesty. I was at Siriraj Hospital last year; it was a very sad day. I prayed with all the people. His Majesty is in our hearts and hence I would like to carry on this virtue.
Official agencies, as well as the public- and private-sector organisations around the country held their own Buddhist religious ceremonies to make merit for the late King Bhumibol yesterday. The common practice for religious ceremonies marking the anniversary of the Kings passing was to invite 89 monks to perform the ceremony and to mourn silently for 89 seconds, as King Bhumibol was 89 years old when he passed away.
At Government House, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha led Cabinet members and their spouses in giving alms to 89 Buddhist monks yesterday morning.The Royal Thai Army, Navy, and Air Force also held merit-making events in tribute to the late monarch and there were religious ceremonies for the late King at all military bases nationwide.
All provinces in the country also participated in commemorating King Rama IX to give the local people a chance to pray and make merit. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration held an alms-giving ceremony at Lan Khon Meaung Plaza in front of the city hall.
Commemoration ceremonies were held at major local landmarks throughout the rest of the country. Nakhon Pathom provinces, for example, held the event at Phra Pathom Chedi Pagoda, while Nans was at Wat Phra That Chae Haeng Temple, and Nakhon Si Thammarats at Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan Temple.
In addition to making merit in a religious ceremony, loyal citizens also participated in various activities to honour the late King. In Sakhon Nakhon province, 109 men were ordained as monks at the Wat Ratniyom Temple, and thousands of people donated blood to the Red Cross in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
Pattayas local taxi cooperative, Loma Pattaya Taxi, arranged for 60 taxis to provide free rides in remembrance of the late King at seven spots from 8am to 8pm yesterday.In the northeastern province of Buri Ram, an optical clinic joined hands with Buriram Hospital to provide free medical check-ups and prescriptions in honour of the late King. More than 500 people received the services at Mor Witoon Clinic in Muang district. Clinic owner Dr Witoon Ruangsuksriwong said that this was the second time he had provided the free service and he would continue doing so every October 13.
It was also reported that many restaurants across the country provided free meals yesterday, including Chen Lhong Noodle Place in Songkhla provinces Hat Yai district, which served free noodles to people for the entire day.Owner Niwat Niewsakun saw it as his way to do a good deed for the late King on this special anniversary of his passing. Niwat said his gesture was a tiny good deed compared to the hard work of HM King Bhumibol for every Thai. The King will always be in every persons heart, said Niwat.
Topics :
This article appeared on The Nation newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 13:09 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a247c5d2 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,denpasar,Bali-tourism,international-flights,Melbourne Free
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is set to offer an additional flight from Denpasar to Melbourne.
The service currently offers seven flights per week.
The additional route will be officiated on Dec. 15 as part of our commitment to develop and improve Indonesia's tourism industry, said Garuda Indonesia marketing and information technology director Nina Sulistyowati.
The flight will available every Friday, departing from Denpasar at 9 a.m. and will arrive in Melbourne at 4:35 p.m. For the return trip, the plane will depart at 6 p.m. and arrive at 10:10 p.m.
Read also: The hipster's guide to Melbourne's indie bookshops
Australia is one of the Tourism Ministrys main target markets. Sixty percent of Australian tourists are repeat travelers, which means theyve been to Indonesia more than once and Bali serves as their most favorite destination.
Additionally, air connectivity is one of the ministrys three main programs at the national coordination meeting besides tourism and tourist village homestay.
Around 80 percent of foreign tourists come to Indonesia by airplanes which is why seat availability is a key to achieve the foreign tourists target numbers for 2017 and 2019, said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya. (kes)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 16:02 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2486f24 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Lombok Free
Throughout the months of September until October this year, the hotel occupancy percentage in Lombok, specifically in Senggigi area has reached the 80-90 percent mark.
The period between September up to October is considered as a low season in the tourism industry.
Currently, the occupancy percentage of hotels in Senggigi is above 80 percent. At Kila Hotel, it reaches 90 percent, said Kila Hotel general manager Erik Tumbeleka, who also heads the Indonesia Hotel General Manager Association (IHGMA) Lombok chapter.
According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), there were 97,060 people who stayed at hotels in NTB in August 2017, up 36.11 percent from July that welcomed 71,311 visitors and up 33.89 percent from August last year that welcomed 72,494 visitors.
Read also: 10 must-try traditional dishes in Lombok
Malaysia contributed the highest number of overseas tourists in August with 4,611 tourists. The second spot was given to China with 1,119 people and in the third spot was South Korea with 799 people.
There are direct flights that travel from South Korea to Lombok, said BPS NTB head, Endang Tri Wahyuningsih.
However, as of October 9, Korean Air has ended its charter flight service to Lombok International Airport for 2017.
The NTB tourism department head Mohamad Faozal said that Korean Air had brought in thousands of Korean tourists in the span of four months. The NTB provincial administration is currently trying to increase the number of charter flights for 2018.
Faozal moreover said that Korean tourists' interests include going to the beach and visiting traditional houses.
NTB has plenty of beaches, waterfalls and traditional houses for Korean tourists to visit, Faozal said. (asw)
Deuba inducts eight ministers from RPP
Hours after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba signed a commitment paper at the Election Commission (EC) saying he would abide by the poll code of conduct, he inducted eight ministers from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) into his government.
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 12:05 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a247bee5 1 Guide To Jakpost-guide-to,Jl-Bumi,South-Jakarta,culinary,salon,yoga,tea,#JakpostGuideTo Free
Located in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, Jl. Bumi is a relatively short leafy road with various things to offer.
Tall trees line the stretch along with a comfortable sidewalk for pedestrians who are looking to explore the block.
Predominantly a residential area, several shops and eateries stand out and are unique to the neighborhood.
How to get there
Several buses move along the road, making it easily accessible using public transportation. The bus routes that pass through Jl. Bumi include 938 Klender Terminal - Blok M Terminal, P201 Tanah Abang - Ciputat, P94 Pulo Gadung - Ciledug and bus AC44 Senen Terminal - Ciledug.
What to wear
With the street being a comfortable stretch to walk, feel free to wear casual clothes.
However, you may want to dress for the occasion if you are heading to the area for a specific activity. Be ready with your yoga outfit if you're heading for a class at Yoga Dham or dress up for a cup of tea at Lewis & Caroll.
What to do
A post shared by Yoga Dham Jakarta (@yogadhamjakarta) on Oct 2, 2017 at 7:08pm PDT
Among the highlights on Jl. Bumi include the Yoga Dham studio, which focuses on teaching the Iyengar method. All teachers hold Iyengar teaching certification.
Cyberhair Youth Salon on Jl. Bumi in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
Another unique place to visit is the Cyberhair Youth Salon. Established in 2000, the salon caters to the youth.
Their signature service includes cornrows, dreadlocks and braidbox. The salon is also a popular place for coloring, as it offers the highly sought-after balayage technique.
Several celebrities have entrusted their hair to the hands of Cyberhair's stylists, many of whom have been working there since the salon first opened.
Further south of the road is the main store of acclaimed Indonesian designer Poppy Dharsono. Step in to shop for one of her collections, as the designer is known for fusing Indonesia's cultural heritage into her designs to present a blend of ethnic and modern wear.
Once you reach the end of Jl. Bumi and head onto Jl. Kyai Maja, you may want to be adventurous and pay a visit to the busy Taman Puring Market. The market is known for a wide selection of running shoes at an affordable price.
Read also: Jakpost guide to Jl. Wijaya I
What to eat
Lewis & Carrol on Jl. Bumi in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
Located at the north end of the road, Lewis & Caroll cafe is not hard to miss. Its floor to ceiling windows let you peek inside, fueling the curiosity of those passing by, much like Alice in Wonderland.
The cafe does indeed quote a line from the book written by Lewis Caroll, "its always tea time", as its tagline.
Offering an extensive list of tea blends, visitors can choose anything from the usual black, white and green tea leaves to the more adventurous ones, such as herbal, fruit and spices.
Lewis & Caroll is also a restaurant, providing a wide selection for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mains include various pastas and salad dishes.
Eatlah food stall on Jl. Bumi in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
If you're looking for something more low-key, you may want to visit the Eatlah food stall, which is famed for its salted egg mix. While it is popularly ordered via online delivery service applications, Eatlah also provides a cozy seating area on premises.
The menu is freshly made to order, with its signature chicken dish priced at an affordable Rp 35,000 (US$2.59), while the dory fish comes at Rp 40,000, both are served with rice. Other meals available include sambal chicken rice for Rp 40,000 and salted egg bao for Rp 25,000.
Blue Jasmine, an Indonesian cuisine restaurant inside the The Maja on Jl. Kyai Maja, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
A little further down on Jl. Kyai Maja is Blue Jasmine, an upscale Indonesian cuisine restaurant. Located across the road from Taman Puring Market, the restaurant can be found inside The Maja building.
Signature dishes include chicken skewers pizza (Rp, 75,000) and nasi goreng kencong (Rp 75,000), which is fried rice cooked with papaya flower.
Tips
Wear comfortable footwear if you choose to walk down the street.
The surrounding area can get quite congested during rush hour, especially on Jl. Kyai Maja, so be mindful of the possibility of traffic if you choose to bring a private vehicle. (kes)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 15:08 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24853b2 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Sabang Free
A Tourism Awareness Campaign and Sapta Pesona Action events were held during Sabang Fair in Sabang, Aceh from October 9 until 12.
The events were listed in the tourism ministrys 10 priority programs that aim to strengthen Indonesia's position in the competitive global market.
Back in 2014, Indonesias competitive index was in the 70th ranking, which went up to the 50th spot in 2015. In 2017, Indonesia sits in the 42nd spot.
The event was attended by a total of 300 participants consisting of entrepreneurs, homestay owners, The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), The Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA), pedicab drivers, public figures, Pokdarwis and Saka Pariwisata.
Read also: On the beach in Sabang
Tourism ministrys destination management and community empowerment deputy assistant Oneng Setia Harini said that her team is responsible to prepare the community for the upcoming Sail Sabang 2017. The department has conducted a two-day training for 40 homestay owners and managers in Sabang.
On the same occasion, coordinating ministry for maritime affairs tourism network department Edi Susilo said that as the events coordinator, the ministry will encourage other ministries to support the event. He hoped that tourist destinations in Sabang will be ready to welcome local and international tourists.
Additionally, according to Sabang deputy mayor Suradji Junus, his team has formed a local committee for Sail Sabang 2017.
The event will be held at BPKS-owned CT 3 port area. Meanwhile, Sabang Fair that served as a supporting event and featured local dishes and products. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Sat, October 14, 2017 14:03 1858 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2483c6c 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,South-Sulawesi,festival Free
Selayar regency in South Sulawesi has officially launched its 2018 calendar of events consisting of 12 main events and 50 activities.
The launching was held on Oct. 11 at Balairung Soesilo Sudarman, Jakarta.
Selayar regency is home to 132 islands and strong in fisheries and tourism, in addition to agriculture, plantation and livestock, said Selayar Deputy Regent Zainuddin.
Takabonerate National Park that is listed as National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN) will be the venue for International Sail Indonesia, also known as Sail Takabonerate 2019.
Read also: Ten Indonesian travelers who may inspire your next trip
In terms of access, Wings Air has one flight per day that serves Selayar Makassar route. The regency also has a ferryboat service that travels between the two places twice a day.
Weve been talking with Garuda Indonesia [to expand connectivity]. With Garuda entering Selayar theres a possibility for foreign tourists to come to Selayar. We can start doing this in November using an ATR airplane, Zainuddin added. (kes)
Below is Selayar Regency 2018's calendar of events:
January 19: Selayar Marathon
February 11: Bajo Cultural Festival
March 8: Sail and Sale Selayar
April 10: Jambore Selam
May 2 4: Selayar Fishing Competition
June 3: Tourism Photography Exhibition
July 10 14: Gong Nekara Festival
August 8 12: Selayar International Folk Art
September 3: Adventure Trail Tour
October 23 27: Takabonerate Island Expedition
November 29: Selayars Anniversary
December 3: Classic Motor Tour
Organizers of the International Human Rights Arts Festival moved their event booked at St. Marys Church on Grand Street after Archbishop Timothy Dolan objected to two gay/transgender-themed performances.
The festival, a production of the Culture Project, was supposed to take place Sunday evening in the Grand Hall, a newly restored space in the basement of the Lower East Side Catholic church. Actress Kathleen Turner is headlining the event, which was relocated to St. Ann & the Holy Trinity, an Episcopal church in Brooklyn.
More from the New York Times:
Father Andrew OConnor, the administrator of St. Marys, said in an interview that he had recently received a call from Bishop John OHara, the vicar for Manhattan, expressing concern on behalf of himself and Cardinal Dolan about the gay and transgender-themed performances of the festival. He wanted Father OConnor to speak to the producers to make sure that the material was appropriate for the Catholic Church. Had there been more time, perhaps a compromise could have been worked out, Father OConnor said. When Mr. Block asked him if the festival would be allowed as is, Father OConnor said he told him probably not, and rather than ban some artists, Mr. Block decided to pull the show.
The festival includes an improvisational comedy piece, Thank You for Coming Out, and a series of cabaret songs from transgender artist Maybe Burke. These performances were apparently the ones that top officials in the archdiocese found objectionable.
The festivals producer, Tom Block, said he had the option of removing the two pieces, but decided that was not a viable solution. We are a human rights arts festival We are not going to abandon people. Kathleen Turner told the Times, I think its absolutely, completely wrong. Deciding who can and cannot be heard, she said, is very much against the teaching of Christianity.
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said, Whenever parish property is used by an outside group of any sort, whether for a performance, speech, discussion, or other use, the expectation is that nothing would occur that would violate Catholic sensibilities and teaching.
(lead article, editorial)
Revolution in Cuba shows road forward for workers
There were two great working-class revolutions in the 20th century the one led by the Bolshevik Party of V.I. Lenin in Russia in 1917 and the victory of workers and farmers in 1959, led by Fidel Castro and the July 26th Movement. The Cuban Revolution continues today to set an example for working people across the globe. Workers everywhere should join in demanding that Washington end its economic war against Cuban working people and get out of Guantanamo.
Every day Washington and the imperialist powers and other capitalist classes around the world show they are incapable of ruling in the interests of humanity. The endless wars from Afghanistan and Syria to Iraq and Yemen, the senseless deaths on the job as the bosses speed up production, the contamination of the environment, police brutality, discrimination against women around the globe, racist violence, denial of national rights, like the right of the Kurdish people to independence these are the reality of capitalist rule today.
Just look at the conduct of the U.S. rulers and their junior partners in the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico. More than 100 years of colonial rule has left millions without electricity, medical care in shambles and tens of thousands who can afford it trying to flee.
On an island frequently struck by hurricanes, the lack of preparation for hurricanes Irma and Maria was criminal. After the storms, containers of basic necessities stacked up in the port for days undistributed while thousands of people had nothing to eat or drink. And the people of Puerto Rico are still saddled with an utterly unpayable debt to the capitalist bondholders.
The same disregard for working humanity, turns natural disasters in country after country into social catastrophes, including in the U.S., where tens of thousands in Florida and Texas still have no home to return to. But not in Cuba.
Thats because the Cuban Revolution brought the working class to power.
In Cuba, working people, organized by their government, were prepared for the storm. Those most in harms way were evacuated. Shelters had food, water, beds, doctors. Reconstruction began the second the storm ended. No one was left on their own.
We share what we have, not whats left over, Cuban revolutionaries like to say. Hundreds of thousands of Cuban internationalist fighters defended Angolan sovereignty and defeated the invasions of South African apartheid in the 1970s and 80s. Che Guevara and other Cuban fighters gave their lives as they fought to win political power for working people in Bolivia and throughout the southern cone of Latin America. Thousands of Cuban health care workers are working across Venezuela in the face of Washingtons threats against the countrys sovereignty.
Their principled stand opposing nuclear weapons is a beacon the world over.
It is fitting that the World Festival of Youth and Students in Sochi is dedicated in part to Cuban revolutionaries Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.
(front page)
To unite the working class would be tremendous
Its the working class that basically has all the numbers. If we were to come together the amount of change we could make would be tremendous, apprentice welder Nicholas Murtagh told Communist League member Katy LeRougetel when he overheard her discussing theand books by leaders of the Socialist Workers Party with his friend Mohamed on his doorstep in Surrey, part of the Lower Mainland in Vancouver, British Columbia. He said he was low on cash and could she come back.
When LeRougetel returned with Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes and the paper, Murtagh said he was happy to see her again and set up an installment plan to pay for them. This is to hand around to others, too, he said.
The SWP and Communist League members in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are entering week four of a nine-week drive to increase readership of the books and the Militant. The heart of the effort is knocking on workers doors in cities large and small, discussing the attacks on working people today as the bosses seek to place the burden of the capitalist economic and political crisis on our backs, and the need for workers to join a revolutionary party and fight for political power. The response is good, and the drive is a little ahead of schedule.
LeRougetel said Communist League members and supporters also visited workers on Vancouver Island for two days, long a center of Canadas lumber industry. When we asked a young roofer if he knew anyone who works in the sawmills, he said no, she wrote. It really brought home how many of the sawmills have been shuttered. Three people bought books, one decided to subscribe for a whole year, others bought single copies of the Militant, and we got a $10 donation.
The drive runs concurrently with the SWPs $100,000 fall party fund to finance the partys ongoing work. At the end of the third week, contributors have sent in $20,701. Stepped-up efforts are needed to get on schedule to complete the drive in full and on time.
We sold four copies of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power and three copies of Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? to co-workers where I work, Jane Herndon writes from Minneapolis. Party members across the country are talking to co-workers about revolutionary literature and opportunities to introduce them to friends and family.
One of the Workers Power books went to a co-worker who is taking a leave, who also made a modest donation to the party fund, Herndon said. She got together with co-workers to say goodbye, and held up the book and a copy of the Militant, telling everybody it was her good fortune and theirs to work with someone who has a workers party that looks to working people throughout the world.
I plan to have extra books and papers with me when I go back to work, as well as the extremely useful Militant supplement reprinting the introduction to the Workers Power book, she said. Its got a couple big pages of pictures and captions from the book that really help show what its about.
This supplement is available from the Militant for 50 cents.
Another co-worker who took the Militant and a few party books home to look over said it turned out her father was even more interested than she was, Herndon said. He told her the literature spoke to what he has been going through his whole life. Now Im invited to come out and follow up with both her and her dad. The books on special are listed below.
SWP and Communist League members are using their election campaigns to boost the drive. Philippe Tessier, Communist League candidate for mayor of Montreal, filed over 200 signatures Sept. 28 to officially certify him for ballot status in the Nov. 5 election.
I didn`t know there were communists running for office, retiree Guy Trepanier told Tessier Oct. 5 when he knocked on his apartment door. Thats a good thing.
Pointing to the example of the Cuban Revolution, where working people are building a society organized to satisfy the needs of the producers and not profits for a handful of rich capitalist families, Tessier explained that building a revolutionary party to lead millions of working people was the only way forward out of the unending and worsening economic, social and moral crisis of the capitalist system.
This is the goal of the Communist League, Tessier said. Trepanier got a subscription along with the French-language edition of Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? and made a donation to the campaign.
If youd like to have a party member come out to your home and discuss the SWP and the literature, or to make a contribution to the party fund, contact the party office nearest you, listed on page 8.
SWP fund director Chris Hoeppner and John Steele in Montreal contributed to this article.
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(front page, As I See It column)
Supreme Court set to take on anti-union case vs.
dues checkoff
Union officials are up in arms after the U.S. Supreme Court announced Sept. 28 it will hear a challenge to an Illinois law that requires all workers covered by union contracts to pay union dues.
The anti-union lawsuit was filed by public worker Mark Janus against the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union and the Illinois state government. The unions fight is not my fight, Janus says.
Echoing the union officials, the New York Times claimed that if the court overturns the law it could deal a crushing blow to organized labor.
But the problem facing workers is that our unions and us along with them have been losing ground for decades. The central reason is not anti-union laws. Its because top union officials have tied our unions to getting out the vote for (mostly) Democratic Party politicians, instead of mobilizing to organize workers and build a broad social movement in the interests of workers, the unemployed and the oppressed.
The union bureaucracy fosters the illusion that by being the foot soldiers for friendly politicians, our friends take care of us.
Hows that been working out?
Over the last 43 years the number of unionized workers in manufacturing has declined nearly 80 percent, from 38.9 percent in 1973 to 8.8 percent in 2016.
Public workers union membership rose, going from 23 percent in 1973 to 34.4 percent last year. But this was based on reliance on Democratic Party politicians passing laws that expand the number of government workers who have to pay dues.
Fighting the carnage
Today workers dont have health care, we have health insurance with deductibles so high, its often like no insurance at all. Real wages are stagnant. Tens of millions who want to work cant find full-time jobs that pay a living wage. Homelessness is on the rise. Retired union members have seen their pensions slashed to the bone when pension funds go bankrupt. Its a growing carnage.
Many union officials say the turning point was in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker, elected in 2010, pushed through anti-union Act 10, which both ended mandatory dues checkoff and restricted public workers unions from bargaining over pensions, health insurance, anything beyond wages.
Union officials blame the law and the Republicans for the loss of 70 percent of AFSCMEs membership in two districts.
They say the answer for workers is to put more time and money into getting out the vote for Democratic Party politicians. Their protests at the Capitol in Madison, saying the answer was to kick Walker out of office, disoriented workers. The officials campaigned to recall Walker, or stop his reelection. They failed.
A dead end for workers
When the unions were expanding in the 1930s, workers used a qualitatively different approach. They won members and the dues needed to maintain a small staff by fighting for gains against the bosses and their backers in both capitalist parties. They backed other fights workers, farmers, the unemployed, youth, Blacks and immigrant workers.
Teamsters Local 574, led by members of the Socialist Workers Party and other militants, dealt with these questions in Minneapolis. Local 574 relied on the education, mobilization and democratic participation of its members to win thousands to the union.
In his book Teamster Power, former Local 574 and SWP leader Farrell Dobbs pointed out that whether an elected officer or an apprentice organizer, all on the union staff got the same pay, he said. And were not talking about the corporate executive level salaries that union tops get today.
The SWP and the leadership of Local 574 called on workers to break with the two bosses parties and build their own party to advance workers struggles and to fight for the working class to take political power.
For the union bureaucrats, Dobbs said, a closed shop compulsory union membership and dues payments was a liberating instrument because it enabled them to more or less freely ignore or go against the wishes of the rank and file. Whatever they did, the dues money was flowing into the union treasury.
Rank-and-file Local 574 members had viewed it differently. They had a healthy resentment against freeloaders, who didnt pay dues, Dobbs said, but received the benefits of union gains.
After the union defeated the employers in a militant strike, the Local 574 staff and rank and file would regularly organize to comb the city talking to workers on loading docks, shipping rooms and warehouses to collect back dues and sign up new members.
And, if they won dues checkoff, they continued to fight exactly the same way.
Thats the kind of unions we need to fight for today.
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(front page)
Kurds stand firm for independence against blockade by Baghdad
Since the overwhelming 93 percent vote for independence in Kurdistan Sept. 25, the capitalist regimes in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria all with substantial Kurdish populations have been moving to tighten a blockade against the Kurdistan Regional Government, demanding it back down.
Baghdad took advantage of formalities in international conventions covering air travel to halt all international flights to and from the Kurdistan region for at least three months Sept 29. Ankara and Tehran have both sent troops to join Baghdad in military exercises on Kurdistans border. The Iraqi government is demanding that all dealings on oil exports from Kurdistan be done directly with Baghdad, and claimed Oct. 10 it sent engineers to divert the flow out of the pipelines that carry the KRGs oil to the port in Turkey. The KRG relies on these oil exports for almost 90 percent of its revenues.
Washington, which opposed the independence referendum and has made clear its for maintaining one Iraqi state, is urging dialogue. The goal of the U.S. rulers is to prevent new fighting that would disrupt its coalition efforts to advance its economic and political interests in Syria and Iraq.
With virtually all flights halted, except a few flying out of Erbil airport, officials have said they may not be able to afford to stay open. With hundreds of Kurdish tourist and travel companies affected, some 7,000 workers would lose their jobs, reported Kurdish news service Rudaw.
Several days after the flight ban was put into effect, Iraqs central bank informed the KRG that it would stop selling dollars to four major Kurdish banks and halt all foreign currency transfers to the region.
Further tightening the squeeze, arrest warrants were issued Oct. 11 by an Iraqi court against members of the Kurdistan Regions High Electoral and Referendum Commission. Asked whether this will include a warrant to arrest Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told Rudaw, We are awaiting legal procedures in this regard.
The KRG has refused Baghdads demands to turn over control of its borders or allow Iraqi authorities into its airports. Protesting the government in Baghdad for a tsunami of illegal and unconstitutional measures against the people of Kurdistan, members of Barzanis Kurdish Democratic Party in parliament announced they would stop attending sessions and seek to win others to join them. Barzani has called for talks with the Iraqi government, which they have refused.
The Kurdish referendum victory has inspired the 30 million Kurds throughout the region the largest nation worldwide without its own state and won sympathy and support from workers around the globe.
And there are some barriers to Baghdads moves to seize Kurdish oil from the Kirkuk area. The Russian Rosneft oil company recently signed a multibillion-dollar deal to extract Kurdish oil and gas to be exported to Europe through Turkey.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has stated his opposition to Kurdistans referendum. Through the course of a more than six-year civil war in Syria, Kurdish forces have made gains. The Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) have been the most effective force there in pushing back reactionary Islamic State, and in the process some 2 million Kurds have carved out an autonomous area called the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria along the border with Turkey. The Assad regime now says its open to discussing an autonomous Kurdish region within Syrias borders after the end of the civil war there.
With the agreement of Tehran and Moscow, Ankara has begun an incursion into northern Syria, supposedly to de-escalate abutting areas in Idlib province controlled by rebels and the Syrian army. However, several reports say Turkish military forces are instead positioning themselves to encircle the Kurdish canton of Afrin controlled by the YPG.
Related articles:
Capitalist crisis, attacks on autonomy behind Catalan vote
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home
(special feature)
Capitalist crisis, attacks on autonomy behind
Catalan vote
The violent crackdown by the Spanish government cut down participation but failed to stop the Oct. 1 referendum on independence in Catalonia. Madrid deployed 10,000 Civil Guard and National Police forces, backed up by hundreds of soldiers. The brutality backfired when images of cops in full riot gear lashing out with batons, firing rubber bullets and dragging people by the hair out of the voting stations began to spread. Madrids brutality shifted the focus of the discussion to the right to debate and vote, which has a wider backing than independence itself.
The present showdown in Spain and Catalonia come out of two developments. The first is the global capitalist crisis of production, trade and employment. The steep downturn in 2007-2008 further increased the economic and class divisions throughout the imperialist world, including Spain. Unemployment is officially 17 percent and for youth more than double that.
Interrelated with the consequences of the capitalist crisis is the 2010 decision by Madrids Constitutional Court to overturn key aspects of Catalan autonomy that were granted in the 1978 Spanish Constitution adopted after the fall of Francisco Francos dictatorship and expanded by Catalonias 2006 Statute of Autonomy. The ruling was a blow to Catalan autonomy, removing recognition of Catalonia as a nation and the Catalan governments powers over courts and judges. It ruled unconstitutional the preferential use of the Catalan language over Spanish. The ruling provoked a surge in support for Catalan self-determination.
Spain is also very much part of the crisis in the European Union. It is the S in the PIIGS the derogatory and contemptuous term coined by the capitalist rulers and their mouthpieces for Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. More economically powerful ruling classes in Germany and elsewhere have squeezed more and more surplus value from workers and farmers in those countries and imposed onerous economic and social conditions on workers there, along with ever-growing debt. In light of Brexit, election results in France and Germany, and other pressures on the EU from immigration and the capitalist economic crisis, capitalist rulers across Europe have backed Madrids harsh opposition to Catalonias separation.
Fight for Catalan autonomy
The recognition of national rights for Catalonia in the 1978 constitution came after four decades of Francos brutal dictatorship. The use and teaching of the Catalan language was banned and Catalan culture repressed. Along with the Basque country, Catalonia was the center for resistance against the dictatorship, and mobilizations there played a vital role in bringing it down after Franco died.
Catalonia, the Basque country and the Madrid area are the three most economically developed regions and main industrial centers in Spain, with the highest standard of living. Catalonias gross domestic product per capita is about 15 percent higher than Spains, while in the southern Andalusia region it is over 15 percent lower. Catalonias official unemployment rate at around 15 percent is high, but pales compared to Andalusias almost 30 percent.
The responses to todays crisis conditions reflect social class. Substantial layers of the professional and middle classes, along with small and medium business owners, have responded by pressing for independence, arguing that Catalonia is subsidizing the central government budget and poorer regions in Spain and they would fare better on their own. This anti-working-class position is not held by all pro-independence forces, but is one of the factors fueling the rise of support for separation.
The world communist movement unconditionally supports the right to self-determination for Catalonia and all other oppressed nations but takes no position on independence. They are two separate questions. This can be seen in Catalonia today.
Referendums and polls over the recent period put support for independence at between 40 and 50 percent of the population. This was reflected in the Oct. 1 vote, and in both pro-Catalonia and pro-continued union with Spain rallies held in Barcelona.
The urban professional and middle classes, teachers and other government workers, university students, and layers of farmers form the social base of the pro-independence organizations. Industrial workers in auto plants, chemical factories and on the docks have not been central to the mobilizations, and the backing for independence in working-class areas is smaller.
With its high industrialization and job opportunities, many workers moved to Catalonia beginning in the 1960s, both from the rest of Spain and other countries. They make up a significant percentage of workers living in the industrial suburbs of Barcelona.
But support for national rights, including the right to vote on independence, is much higher. Dockworkers, firefighters and other unionists were in the front ranks defending the voting against attacks by Madrids cops. A poll conducted by the Catalan government in June showed 62 percent think Catalonia has an insufficient level of autonomy. While most major Spanish union federations opposed the referendum, their affiliates in Catalonia joined the large mobilizations and general strike Oct. 3 against Madrids attempt to stop the vote. In most cases, they made clear they werent pushing for a break from Spain.
The big capitalists the owners of Catalonias banks and industries reject independence. After the Oct. 1 referendum, the owners of the two largest banks, CaixaBank and Banco de Sabadell, as well as the insurer Catalana Occidente, Gas Natural Fenosa and other industries registered their companys headquarters elsewhere in Spain. They dont want to endanger access to markets in Spain and the EU, or travel and trade access across Europe. Madrid changed the corporate code to make such moves easier.
Outside Catalonia the treacherous conduct of the parties claiming to speak for working people and the trade union officialdom is what stands out. The Socialist Party supports the governments position that the referendum is unconstitutional. Izquierda Unida, formerly the Communist Party, and the new leftist formation Podemos, both give lip service to Catalonias right to self-determination, but didnt back the right to hold the referendum. None have taken any initiative to organize demonstrations or protests against the Spanish states brutal crackdown in Catalonia.
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Kurds stand firm for independence against blockade by Baghdad
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Election Commission issues 27-point directive to govt
The Election Commission has decided to issue a 27-point directive to the Government of Nepal to make necessary arrangement in connection with the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly election scheduled for coming November 26 and December 7.
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.
(Conor Nickerson)
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.
(Conor Nickerson)
(Conor Nickerson)
Then and Now Last year Conor made a project called, 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.
(Conor Nickerson)
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.
(Conor Nickerson)
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.
(Conor Nickerson)
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.
(Conor Nickerson)
This highly anticipated artistic endeavour utterly lives up to the sky high expectations.
A film where every frame is hand painted in the style of one of the most famous painters ever is such a staggering feat to even consider, to the extent that watching it is an almost emotional experience.
Douglas Booth is a compelling Armand Roulin, in his distinctive yellow jacket, on a journey to deliver one final letter to Van Goghs brother, a year after the artists controversial death. His travels take us through the familiar landscapes of Van Goghs works, and the carousel of colourful characters he meets along the way are all characters from his paintings brought to life.
The styling and costumes of each new character we meet is so impeccably matched to the paintings that the recognition triggered in the audience is immediate and delightful.
Armands journey is not only physical, but emotional, as his initially ambivalent attitude becomes more and more invested in uncovering the truth behind Van Goghs death. Far from just being an incredible visual spectacle, the films plot ends up becoming almost a detective story. Each character introduced has a different impression of Van Gogh and his life, and what could have led to his death, and the audience alongside Armand compile suspicions and constantly shifting conclusions.
The mysterious Doctor Gachet (Jerome Flynn), Van Goghs psychologist and friend, is the subject of wildly differing opinions, and therefore rightly becomes the centre of attention. Particularly compelling character witnesses are Eleanor Tomlinson as Adeline Ravoux, the inn owner, and Helen McCrory as Louise Chevalier, Gachets housekeeper. The film explores how class and religion based prejudices impact impressions and attitudes so drastically.
Saoirse Ronan plays Gachets beautiful, restrained daughter, who has her own reasons not to be entirely forthcoming regarding Van Goghs life and fate. Her elegance and poise is contrasted with Aidan Turner's rough and ready Boatman - yet another iconic figure.
The film is peppered with flashback scenes as each character relates their experiences with Van Gogh, and these are depicted in black and white, and in a softer style. The result brilliantly differentiates the truth of Armands experiences from the potential falsehoods of the stories he is told as well as delineating the time difference.
Particularly striking is seeing some of these scenes from different angles, and to different effect, as Armand gets to hear a different characters point of view on the series of events.
The portrait painted of the artist himself throughout the film is a complex and multifaceted picture of a mentally ill, lonely genius, with some true friends and others less true, who found solace in his work.
For a figure that has gripped all the characters and the audience too, its a clever choice to have Van Gogh himself (Robert Gulaczyk) present in the narrative only through the voices and recollections of others. He is a ghost in his own story: a beautifully evocative piece of storytelling.
The beautiful end credits will contain some surprises for all but the most well versed in Van Goghs paintings, as they match up each character to their paintings. After the ups and downs of the journey, the conclusion is terribly cathartic and emotionally satisfying. A groundbreaking film, that more than does justice to Van Goghs incredible talent and legacy.
Loving Vincent screened as part of the 2017 BFI London Film Festival this October. Further details can be found here.
The deposit is down, confirmation is through, your flights are booked and you'll soon be embarking on your dream travel adventure.
Going travelling can be such a liberating experience: you can remove yourself from the stress of work/university and are able to embrace a whole new window of exciting opportunities and experiences.
This can also be slightly daunting, as there are so many things you will need to think about and take responsibility for prior to and during your trip.
Whether you are about to set foot on your gap year global expedition, reaching the far perimeters of the Earth, or even just jetting off for a short European city break, you will have a long list of preparations,which, if comprehensively covered, will ensure that you have the best time whilst away!
Being a student, one of your finest qualities is probably being able to carry out anabundance of research in a short space of time. Therefore, why dont you put this trait to good use and create your own mini studies on the countries you intend to visit during your travels?
Foreign OfficessTravel Aware Research into your chosen destinations current circumstances can be carried out using a range of different online sources see thepage, which contains the most up to date and relevant information, covering issues such as safety, security, country entry requirements, travel warnings and health.
In the meantime, take a look at five of the most minor, yet very common, mistakes people make before going abroad, which often cause them significant issues when they are away from home. You can then use these in the future as a basis for your own travelling preparations.
1. CHECK YOUR PASSPORT IS IN DATE
Check your passport is in date , way before you set off. In 2008, my parents decided to book a week-long winter break to sunny Cyprus. However, absurdly, they only just remembered to give a quick once-over of our passports two days prior to embarking on our journey.
To their surprise, my passport was well out of date and therefore invalid, as it had expired a whole three months before.
If I had endeavoured to board the plane in the next two days, I would have been rejected and sent straight home! Luckily, my parents discovered the issue in just enough time. We had booked to stay in a hotel in Gatwick the night before our flight, so instead, we drove up early that day and took a detour into London Victoria to visit the Passport Office for an instant renewal.
This was such a frustrating mistake, calling for a completely unnecessary journey which could have quite easily been avoided if more care had been taken and more preparation had been done in the weeks leading up to our holiday.
2. TAKE OUT COMPREHENISIVE TRAVEL AND HEALTH INSURANCE
Wherever you go, always make sure that you have taken out comprehensive travel insurance Wherever you go, always make sure that you have taken out! Last year, I set off from London Heathrow with two of my friends from university to volunteer in the highlands of Viti Levu in Fiji for an entire month.
Our 24-hour flight had a quick hour and a half change over in Hong Kong scheduled. However, our first flight was delayed by three quarters of an hour, meaning that when we arrived at Hong Kong airport, we were unable to board our connecting flight. Instead, we were rescheduled onto a flight to Sydney and then from Sydney to Nadi, instead of flying direct.
When we arrived at Nadi Airport, we waited an hour for my friends' two bags to arrive on the conveyer belt, however, they never appeared as they had been lost in the change-over stages of the flight.
My friends had spent significant amounts of time and money in the UK, buying new clothes that would be appropriate for our time in Fiji, yet now the only outfit they owned was their lounging pants and their over-sized hoodies which now were rather smelly due to having been worn for a very long 24 hours already! In Fiji, they spent hours basically repurchasing the contents of their luggage which, after making about 50 separate phone calls to the airport and airline, was found to have been placed on a separate flight to Sydney.
After about two weeks of living in the village, located three hours away from the nearest civilisation of Suva, their luggage was finally returned to them. Luckily, both the girls were well insured and when they arrived back in the UK, they could quickly gain compensation for all the money that they had to fork out in buying the new clothes. Health insurance is also very important if you are unlucky enough to fall ill abroad.
3. CHECK OUT YOUR CHOSEN DESTINATIONS VISA & ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
For which ever country you are visiting, make sure that you have read the entry requirements, whether you're required to hold a visa and if so, what type do you need? For which ever country you are visiting, make sure that you have read the entry requirements, whether you're required to hold a visa and if so,
Once, when my mum and I visited Turkey, we arrived at Dalaman airport to see all the other passengers from our flight pulling out printed proof of holiday visas, and we realised that we had not been prepared enough for our Turkish trip. A lady overheard my mum telling me that she had forgotten to apply for a visa online and so she quickly turned around and warned us that it was the only way of possibly getting one oh nooo! We had travelled from rainy Bristol and had arrived in Turkey for a week of soaking up the sun without the necessary documents.
Fortunately, there was a counter where you could go to collect a visa, however, unlike those who had already printed one off at home, we had to pay 20 for each. This is not the end of the world and was definitely the best case scenario, but other airport regulations can be far stricter. For example, if you were to turn up to an airport in Australia without any form of visa, you would be very quickly deported from the country.
4. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR CURRENCY BEFOREHAND
Before going away, remember to check the best rate for the currency of the country that you are visiting Before going away, remember to check the best rate for theand always make sure that when you collect it you have received the correct amount.
My friends and I visited Croatia this year for Hideout Festival and, prior to the trip, we each got roughly 220 worth of Croatian Kuna from the Post Office. It was only when we arrived in Croatia and had to hand over a deposit to stay in our hostel that my friend Alice discovered that the currency she had brought with her was completely wrong. Alice had paid 220 for what she thought was nearly 2,000 Croatian Kuna and instead she was given 1,800 Czech Koruna, which was equivalent to a mere 60!
This was a nightmare start to the holiday as Alice, now gasping for an alcoholic beverage, could not pay for a single drink in cash as the currency in her purse was simply unusable! Instead she immediately had to seek a cash machine and with draw from her savings account to fund the holiday. Fortunately, Alice had enough money spare in her account to rely on through out the duration of the trip, however, this incident immediately dampened her party spirit as she was so frustrated as to how much of a silly mistake this had been.
In the mean time, she did ring the Post Office, who when she returned to the UK, reimbursed her with the correct amount of British pounds that she had originally paid out.
5. PRINT OUT SEVERAL COPIES OF YOUR MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
Always make photocopies of important documents - such as your passport and insurance details - and spread them out across different bags, so that if the original copy becomes lost you still have proof of your identity as a British national, who is fully insured and has the right to travel across foreign seas.
One of my friends, when travelling home from a boozy week in Magaluf, was passing through security at the airport when she found that her passport was no longer in her possession. In immediate panic, she raced around the airport retracing her steps in the hope that it would miraculously appear again. After half an hour, she discovered said passport beside the toilet to her great relief, which enabled her to board the plane for the UK.
Claudia was very fortunate that she found her passport so quickly, however, in many cases, it is never found/returned and so this becomes a major issue when an individual has no other proof of their identity and their right to travel.
A film fan was left looking a little silly after he tried to mansplain Indiana Joness costume to the woman who designed it.
Costume designer Deborah Landiss son Max Landis shared a screengrab on Twitter of a Facebook conversation about a question on a television quiz show.
He wrote: HOLY F****** SHIT dude online tries to mainsplain (sic) the costumes of Indiana Jones to my mom, the costume designer of Indiana Jones.
The question was: Charlton Hestons wardrobe in 1954s Secret Of The Incas inspired the clothes worn by this adventurous character 27 years later.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT dude online tries to mainsplain the costumes of Indiana Jones to my momthe costume designer of Indiana Jones. pic.twitter.com/bkYVtsnYPF Macks-O-Lantern (@Uptomyknees) October 11, 2017
The film fan piped up: The Jeopardy question is wrong. The movie was The Greatest Show On Earth.
But Maxs mother a costume designer on the first Indiana film, 1981s Raiders Of The Lost Ark replied: No. The question was exactly right because I provided it.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is almost frame for frame Secret of the Incas.
Heston later wore the same gear in Greatest Show. But his adventurer/treasure seeker Harry Steele cane first.
Undeterred, the person responded: Greatest Show came out in 1952, Incas came out in 1954.
Spielberg acknowledges he was inspired by Greatest Show in numerous in interviews.
Deborah replied: Really, In Interviews? I was there. He and I watched Incas together in an empty theater.
Stanley, you have got to be kidding.
Maxs Twitter followers saw the funny side of the exchange.
One said: You win for best cringe-worthy mansplaining of 2017. Best to your Mom. (Who may be still shaking her head!).
You win for best cringe-worthy mansplaining of 2017. Best to your Mom. (Who may be still shaking her head!) Optimist long memory (@Rockmedia) October 11, 2017
that is the most epic mansplaining in the history of mansplaining! WayneRobson (@WayneRobson) October 11, 2017
That is the most epic mansplaining in the history of mansplaining! tweeted another.
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Enchanted at Selfie Hill
Manholes swallow school girls whole. Buses and micros paraglide off highways. Something slipped, we come to hear. In some cases it was the attention of the driver, and in others, it was the tyres that skidded because small boulders never got removed after a landslide.
High-way
When construction of a road linking Besisahar in Lamjung to Chame in the trans-Himalayan district of Manang began in 2010, the project invited plenty of scepticism.
Home Ministry rolls out election security plan
The Ministry of Home Affairs has finalised a comprehensive security plan for the federal and provincial parliamentary elections scheduled to be held together on November 26 and December 7.
HPE Bills fate hangs in the balance
Efforts made so far to streamline the medical education sector in the country have met with a major setback, if they have not gone down the chute, as Parliament held its last meeting on Friday without endorsing the Health Profession Education (HPE) Bill.
Interpol to install biometric security devices in 4 locations
International Police Organisation (Interpol) is preparing to install biometric devices in four places of Nepal in a bid to track movements of terrorists and criminals, and to curb entry of people travelling with forged travel documents.
I watch as Dame Judi Dench eats her chilled corn soup with saffron and sips champagne. At 82, she is just as elegant as you would imagine, with silver hair, ice-blue eyes and crisp diction. Shes just five foot one inch tall but her reputation is towering.
Dench is one of the greatest British actresses, star alumni of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sally Bowles in the London production of Cabaret and an Oscar winner for her eight-minute turn as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. She died in James Bonds arms, as the murdered spymaster M. And she has portrayed so many queens on stage and screen that when she plays a duchess, it seems like a demotion.
So what to talk about with this regal creature? Well, what else? Lingerie, tattoos, rap music, younger men, sex and her hobby of embroidering cushions with raunchy sayings. This dame, as it turns out, is full of mischief. Dench got an Oscar nomination 20 years ago for playing Victoria in Mrs Brown, the saga of how the queen grew close to a younger man, a servant who doted on her after her beloved Albert died, outraging her household.
Now she is back in Oscar contention for Victoria & Abdul, the saga of how the queen grew close to another younger man, also a servant who doted on her after the other one died, again outraging her household.
The first of the forbidden relationships was with John Brown, a tall, rugged Scotsman nicknamed the Queens stallion, seven years her junior. As Julia Baird wrote in Victoria the Queen, Victoria was so ensorcelled by the handsome Brown that she asked to be buried with a lock of his hair and a leather case full of his photos in her hand.
His handkerchief was also placed on top of her body, alongside Alberts. The second entanglement, with the added complications of race relations in the colonial age, was with Abdul Karim, a 24-year-old Indian Muslim servant who became the 68- year-old monarchs munshi, or teacher, instructing her on Urdu, the Quran and mangoes.
Dench is far more padded as the older Victoria. She was 46 inches around her waist, and she wasnt tall, the actress told me. Both movies begin with the small, round queen widowed after having nine children with Albert dyspeptic and stonyfaced, miserable and in mourning with her black veil, only to show her brightening and melting under the sometimes impertinent ministrations of her attractive younger servants.
Even though her name became a synonym for priggishness, I observe, Victoria was a sexy little thing, wasnt she? We are not amused, Dench says with faux hauteur, offering the line associated with Victoria. Comparing the queen to the interior of a tree (Dench loves trees), she said: She had a huge passion and need inside her.
She had a happy life with Albert and then those years with John Brown, and then Im sure shed certainly given up by then and was just caught up in the drudgery of everything. And suddenly, that wonderful kind of flowering, where she thought, This is really something worth living for. She said she understands that heady state well, discovering someone you can laugh with and learn from. As a person, she said, Im very, very susceptible. For 60 years, Ive fallen in love with people.
Is there any advantage in women getting involved with subordinates? She said they could get smitten with the dustman, the postman, the butcher or the prime minister. It happens to be about the people. I ask Dench about her younger man.
This is where I get up and throw the table down and sweep out, she said with a puckish smile, pounding the table.
Actually, shes quite open about her new beau and hes with her in New York. Denchs husband of nearly 30 years, the actor Michael Williams, who sent her a red rose every Friday, died of lung cancer in 2001. She met David Mills, a conservationist, in 2010 when he invited her to help open a new red-squirrel enclosure at the wildlife centre he runs near her home in Surrey, England. He is 74, and she prefers to call him a jolly nice chap rather than a partner. Despite losing some eyesight to macular degeneration, Dench still seems elfin, determined to focus on the pluses. I ask about her tattoos. She had Swarovski crystal body art spelling out 007 on her shoulder for a Bond gala and premieres and had Carpe Diem engraved on the inside of her wrist in St. Martins for her 81st birthday at the urging of her daughter, Finty.
Weinstein says, She is one of the worlds great actresses but also great personalities. She speaks in the Queens English so elegantly and then shes flirting and speaking like British sailors on shore leave. Johnny Depp and I will go to our graves thinking shes the hottest of them all. I ask her if theres a trick, when youre the daughter of a doctor and a wardrobe mistress, to playing a monarch as well as she does.
It is more difficult finding out why youre saying the lines, she says. It doesnt matter whether youre playing a monarch or youre playing a slut down the street. Same process.
I wonder why America is still so obsessed with monarchies in culture and politics after breaking away from one, noting our current mad king Trump, the princeling Jared, the princess Ivanka and the way the administration projects racial insensitivity as if it were a colonial power. Dench says she doesnt watch The Crownand only watched a bit of the recent 20th anniversary commemorations of Princess Dianas death. I just felt very sorry for the boys, she said.
They didnt ask for this, but they do it well. The dishy 30-year-old Bollywood star, Ali Fazal, who plays Abdul Karim, has come to dinner with Dench. And over his scallops and Smokey Sour mescal cocktail he offers a story of his own about hated colonial statues.
He was shooting the last scene of the movie, when the queen has died and Abdul is back in India, withering away at the feet of a giant statue of Victoria in front of the Taj Mahal. Production designers had made the statue, since the Victoria statues that were once all over India had been removed.
Suddenly, a bunch of right-wing Indian nationalists charged the set in Agra. I start hearing the voices, and theyre hooting and talking about Victoria, Send Victoria away, and We dont approve of this, Fazal recalls. So Im like, Oh my God, theyre coming for us. So Im like, Shut this down, get in the tent. I FaceTimed you from there, remember? he says to Dench.
The two have just as much chemistry in person as on-screen, when his brown eyes meet her blue ones, and he sometimes takes her hand as he talks. I ask Dench if she will miss being in the next Bond film. No, she said, adding, I had the most wonderful time. James Bond is supposed to get married to the woman he loves in the next installment. That will go swimmingly, I note mordantly. Who knows? she says with a laugh.
Im not around to give him any advice or a sharp look. She understood why Daniel Craig made a joke about slashing his wrists if he had to do another Bond film.
Its a huge commitment, she says. But he has a ball. And the thing is, he wants a theatre career, too. And he went and played Iago, didnt he?
(The Independent)
Lithography in the 19th century was perhaps one of the few art forms which catered to both high and low art markets, and the artists of Kolkata who specialised in it did much to bring art to public consciousness and hold their interest, according to leading researcher and artist Ashit Paul.
At a talk organised by the Raza Foundation, Paul, editor of the well-regarded book Woodcut Prints of Nineteenth Century Calcutta, investigated the various aspects of the popular urban art traditions of woodblock printing and lithography and how they flourished in the Battala area of north Kolkata.
The talk, a part of the monthly Art Dialogues series organised in partnership with the Civil Services Officers Institute, addressed the topic Popular Prints of 19th Century Calcutta in a lecture on north Kolkatas vibrant indigenous art activity scene which had a deep influence on the evolution of Indian art prints. Paul, who has recently documented the native arts of Chitpur and allied areas of Kolkata, explained how the first relief printed images made their appearance as textual illustrations in the first half of the 19th century.
Annadamangala was the first Bengali book with illustration, published in 1816. Its publisher Ganga Kishore Bhattacharya adv ertised the launch of the book by announcing that it had six illustrations, said Paul.
The surge in popularity of woodblock printing in Kolkata was also fuelled by the huge upswing in demand for scandalous content, narrative fantasy and romance. Public interest in the Tarakeswar affair, an act of impropriety involving Elokeshi, the wife of a government employee Nobin Chandra, and the Brahmin head priest (or Mahant) of the Tarakeswar Shiva temple, compelled Bat-tala relief print makers to turn it into a subject of their art.
The work of woodcut artists was in tune with the rising trend of salacious literature, which dealt in subjects ranging from the interiors of homes and the Baiji Para (red light area) to escapades of the wealthy and sexual adventures of the babus, said the noted curator.
Paul also detailed how lithography started gaining prominence in the indigenous market of 19th century Kolkata, owing to its low price and the contribution of Government School of Art students in the citys commercial printing activity.
According to Indologist Rajendralal Mitra, markets were flooded with lithographs and oleographs in 1888, he said.
What also made the voice of lithographic prints ring loud and clear at the time, was the proliferation of different contemporary newspapers and journals, foremost among which was the art journal Shilpa Pushpanjali.
Prabasi and Modern Review were the other periodicals which featured a lot of lithographs by various painters, said Paul. According to him, the importance of lithography in its initial days as popular representations of art was manifold. Lithography made the general population aware of the importance of art as an integral part of life, he said.
The Special Investigative Team (SIT) investigating the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh on Saturday released the sketches of suspects who likely shot her dead on September 5.
Two male suspects have been identifying based on information from our technical team and information from locals. We have prepared a sketch of the suspects, SIT chief BK Singh said.
Before committing the crime, the suspects have stayed in the City at least for a week and have done a recce of Gauris house, he added.
Although there are two suspects in the case, the police have released three sketches based on different accounts.
Lankesh, the Editor of Kannada tabloid Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was shot dead outside her residence here on September 5 by unidentified assailants
The 150-member SIT is headed by Inspector General of Police BK Singh with Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) MN Anucheth as its main Investigation Officer.
The state government had announced Rs 10 lakh reward to anyone giving information leading to the killers.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will on Saturday attend the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra and address a public rally in Bardoli, he said on Twitter.
Going to Surat in Gujarat. Shall attend the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra and address a public meeting at Bardoli, Singh tweeted.
The Gujarat Gaurav Yatra a 15-day campaign across 149 assembly constituencies by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was flagged off by party chief Amit Shah in Porbandar on October 2. The Yatra will conclude on October 15.
The BJP launched Gujarat Gaurav Yatra as a response to the Congress Navsarjan Yatra, during Rahul Gandhis three-day stay in the region.
Section 2 of the Spanish Constitution, read with Section 143, guarantees the fundamental right of Autonomous Communities (AC) to self-governance. Section 151 outlines the procedures for implementation of this right by laying down two major routes to regional autonomy ~ a fast track route for historic regions that already have their Statutes of Autonomy; the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia became ACs through this route.
The other is a slow route applicable to other regions which need at least five years following the procedure described in the Section. But a homogenous standard is applied to governance in all 17 ACs: each AC has a legislative assembly, elected directly through proportional representation; the Government Council is headed by a President with legislative and executive powers and each AC has a Supreme Court of Justice under the jurisdiction of Spains Supreme Court. Castilian is the official language, but Section 3 of the Constitution recognises the existence of, and accords co-official status to, other Spanish languages in their respective Statutes.
However, as regards financial autonomy, two ACs, Navarre and the Basque Country, have additional competencies not enjoyed by the other ACs. They can collect some of the State taxes like the income-tax and pay to the State for the services they receive from it, while the other communities follow a uniform tax regime based on collection by the State and their redistribution and devolution to the Communities.
Distributing legislative competencies between the Centre and the ACs is rather complicated and ambiguous. Sections 148 and 149 of the Spanish Constitution stipulate separate lists of competencies for the Centre (Constitution uses the word State) and the regions (ACs), much like the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution. But the striking feature is that such allocation of powers and responsibilities remain open to negotiations, and this renders the federal dynamics highly flexible.
As the political scientist Wilfred Swenden says, Such complexity stems in part from the lack of agreement on where the Spanish state should be heading ~ a federal, a regionalized or unitary decentralized state? Here a fragile Central authority tries to hold together diverse nationalities which are in themselves powerful enough to demand additional competencies to serve their respective interests.
The conflict of interests, which are bound to arise from such an ambiguous arrangement, are to be addressed by the Spanish Constitutional Court. The high degree of asymmetry in its political structure was subsequently sought to be reduced through the so-called policy of cafe para todos ~ coffee for everyone instead of champagne for the nacionalidades. This was done through two agreements.
The first, called LOAPA (Law for the Harmonisation of Autonomous Process), was signed between the State and the major national parties in 1981 challenging the preferential status of some ACs even though these were ratified earlier by the Spanish Congress, which naturally brought these ACs, especially Catalonia and the Basque Country, into conflict with the State.
The Constitutional Court finally nullified a large number of its provisions as unconstitutional reinforcing the autonomy of the ACs, but the agreement still managed to bring in more uniformity and symmetry in the process. A second agreement, Pacto Autonomico, was signed in 1992 by the State with the two largest national parties for removing the asymmetry between the fast-track and slowtrack ACs, by equalisation of their competences through an Organic Law that was passed in December 1992 and followed by necessary reforms of the Statutes of the disadvantaged ACs.
This allowed major competences in education, health and some social services to be transferred to them. The progressive transfer of competences to the ACs enabled the Spanish system to reduce the extensive asymmetry in the original constitutional arrangement. Demands for renegotiation of the Statutes were subsequently raised by the Basque Country and Catalonia, driven by their nationalistic movements.
The Basque country wanted to be a free state associated with Spain, a demand that was rejected by the Spanish Congress in 2004. Catalonia demanded recognition as a nation and higher levels of competences reflected in its Statute of Autonomy in 2006 which was passed by its legislature. Most of these demands were approved by the Spanish Congress and later ratified in a referendum by Catalan voters.
However, Spains Constitutional Court had ruled in 2010 that parts of Catalonias revamped statute of autonomy were unconstitutional. It also did not recognise Catalonia as a nation ~ a ruling that had stoked nationalist sentiments in Catalonia demanding independence from Spain. Catalans looked at the judgment as an act of contempt against the will of the people expressed by its Parliament and a referendum.
In January 2013, Catalonias parliament approved a declaration of sovereignty through independence from Spain, to be ratified by a referendum in late 2014. However, in March 2014, the Constitutional Court pronounced that it was unconstitutional. But in November 2014 , Artur Mas, the then President of Catalonia, still went ahead with the referendum, already made non-binding by the Court.
Though the turnout was estimated at around 37 per cent (2 million out of total 5.4 million voters), about 80 per cent of the people voted for independence. Catalonia of course has the economic wherewithal to survive independently. It has a language of its own and it conforms to the definition of a nation in every sense.
In September 2015, separatist parties secured an absolute majority in the regional Parliament and in November, they voted for a resolution to support independence, which was again struck down by the Constitutional Court in December. In January 2016, the staunch separatist, Carles Puigdemont, was chosen as the successor to Mas.
He pledged to carry out a binding independence vote. He pushed the legislation authorising another referendum whose results would be binding through the Catalan Parliament with a narrow majority. Before the referendum took place, opinion polls had suggested that only 41 per cent of Catalans wanted to break away, while the majority still wanted to stay with Spain.
The Constitutional Court ruled the proposed referendum as illegal and the federal government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy opposed it, and tried to prevent it with all its might ~ by using disproportionate force to crack down on those who dared to vote, and to stop the referendum from going ahead. This infuriated the Catalans, including many of the 59 per cent who were opposed to the referendum and favoured national unity over attempts at self-determination by subnational groups.
Clearly, the people who had voted for independence did not represent the majority of Catalans. But now, thanks to Mr Rajoys high-handed techniques, the majority may actually be turning against Spain. As The Economist has commented, a well-run democracy must abide by the rule of law to protect democratic liberties and not to curb the freedom of minorities to express dissent and discontent.
Puigdemont may not have a strong case for independence or a claim for majority mandate. But democracy rests on the consent of the governed, and Constitutions exist to serve citizens, not the other way around. Rather than upholding the rule of law, Rajoy has tarnished the legitimacy of the Spanish state, and Spain may have to have to pay a price for it.
The case for unity must be won by argument and persuasion, not by the use of brute force and display of coercive state power, which instead of preventing might actually be precipitating the break-up of Spain. As Mr Puigdemont has now realised, negotiation is the only way out, and there ought to be a measure of give-and-take, giving Catalans more political and financial autonomy.
If the autonomous society is threatened, it may destabilise the federation, just as an overdose of asymmetrical federalism could result in secession. Multiple identities are natural in large and complex societies. The essence of a cohesive federation is to capture the complexity of society as a whole, to integrate unity with diversity while allowing distinct identities to flourish, and to provide an inbuilt mechanism to deal with the tension and conflicts which are parts of the natural order of things in every society.
Only by doing so, a common identity is evolved which does not subsume the individual identities of the constituent units, but helps them blossom further still.
(Concluded)
(The writer is a commentator. Opinions expressed are personal)
Eastern Germany in October is a time to celebrate and remember the 1989 democracy movement that brought an end to the repressive East German regime. Leipzig, where the pro-democracy demonstrations began, hosts the annual Lichtfest (Light Festival) to commemorate the candlelight vigils to protest police violence against prodemocracy demonstrators. October 3, German Unity Day, is a national holiday to commemorate reunification in 1990.
Apart from the busy October commemorations, cities in Eastern Germany have markers and museums to tell the story of the democracy movement and the history behind it. In Dresden and Leipzig, markers note where demonstrators gathered in the fall of 1989 and both cities have exhibitions in former offices and prisons of the East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi). Leipzig has a museum on postwar German history that deals with the division, the development of both German states, and the collapse of East Germany.
A museum in Dresden shows an extensive collection of material objects from East Germany that offer a window into everyday life. In the streets, the remnants of East Germany are easy to spot. A porcelain mural depicting East Germany as a workers paradise still adorns a long wall of a concert hall in the center of the city. Large uniform apartment blocks surround historic city centers.
The late 1980s witnessed important pro-democracy movements: the Philippines in 1986, South Korea in 1987, Poland in 1988. In 1986, the new leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, had started a series of economic and political reforms. After years of tension, the US and Soviet Union had begun a new era of detente in the mid-1980s.
The pro-democracy demonstrations in East Germany occurred in the context of these sweeping changes. I was living in Seoul teaching English at Korea University when East Germany collapsed. News cycles were slower before the internet and social media, but the demonstrations in East Germany were big news in South Korea because Germany was a divided nation. As pro-democracy demonstrations led toward the talk of reunification, commentators in South Korea began to think about scenarios for Korean reunification. The most common prediction was that North Korea would collapse when Kim Il-sung died. Another common prediction was that economic difficulties would cause an East German-style uprising, leading to the collapse of North Korea.
These predictions were wrong because they viewed the collapse of East Germany from above, but it really happened from below. The pro-democracy movement in East Germany had roots in two social movements that were closely related: a peace movement and an environmental movement. In the 1980s, East Germany devoted more resources to the military at a time when the economy began to weaken in response to the weakening of the Soviet economy.
Study groups in protestant churches began advocating peace as a way to overcome militarisation. East Germany was a very polluted place and it affected the health of people and the quality of life. Concern about the environment created a nascent environmental movement as people complained about the worst effects of pollution. The peace and environmental movements could not be openly critical of the government, but they think about politics and created the infrastructure for the democracy movement that blossomed once it perceived a weakness in the regime.
The East German situation remains relevant for Korea, despite the failed predictions of the 1990s. Change in East Germany began as a pro-democracy movement, not a reunification movement. Talk of reunification became serious only after the collapse of the East German economy. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl then saw a chance to negotiate conditions for reunification with the major powers US, the Soviet Union, France, and the UK that had defeated Germany in World War II and created the conditions for the division.
Economic issues played an important role in the background, but they were not the spark. Instead, the gap between reality and the regimes official orthodoxy caused it to lose all credibility. When challenged, the regime responded harshly, which inflamed passions and spread resistance. North Korea probably does not have nascent peace and environmental movements. It has no memory of having been a democratic state and it is far more closed than East Germany.
This does not mean, however, that North Koreans do not want freedom and that, even in the subtlest of ways, they do not resist oppression. They do, and when the gap between reality and official orthodoxy becomes unsustainable, change will come quickly just as it did in East Germany.
(The writer, a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul National University, is a columnist for The Korea Herald. This is a series of columns on global affairs written by top editors and columnists from members of the Asia News Network and published in newspapers and websites across the region.)
Macron told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that France remained committed to the 2015 nuclear agreement which, besides the United States, was also negotiated with Britain, China, Russia and Germany.
A trip to Iran by the president, at the invitation of President Rouhani, has been considered, the Elysee said, while the Iranian presidential website said the visit would happen next year.
Macron said the US decision will not put an end to the Iranian nuclear accord and that together all the parties in France and its European partners will continue to meet their commitments.
Rouhani assured Macron that Iran in turn will continue to carry out its commitments in the nuclear accord, the Elysee said.
The French leader added that it was also necessary to have a dialogue with Iran on other strategic issues including Tehrans ballistic missile programme and stability in the region.
Macron also spoke to Rouhani of his wish to work with Iran for a lasting political solution to the Syrian crisis. Tehran is a supporter of President Bashar al-Assads regime.
Macrons visit to Iran would be the first by a French head of state or government since 1971. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is set to travel to the Islamic Republic in the next few weeks.
Yesterday, the leaders of France, Germany and Britain issued a joint statement saying they were concerned about Trumps decision while reiterating their commitment to the deal.
Condemning Iran as a fanatical regime, President Donald Trump today threatened to terminate the landmark Iran nuclear deal if Congress and US allies fail to amend the agreement in significant ways.
In his hard-hitting speech from the White House, Trump accused Iran of violating the spirit of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
He said that Iran has committed multiple violations of the nuclear deal which among other things allows Tehran to continue and advance its nuclear weapons programme.
Trump announced that he would not continue to certify the agreement to Congress, but stopped short of immediately cancelling US participation in the deal and left its fate in the hands of Congress.
I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification, Trump said in a live address to the nation.
A presidential certification to the Congress is must to avoid American sanctions on Iran.
Trump said if he is not able to reach a solution working with congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated.
It is under continuous review and American participation can be cancelled by him as president at any time, Trump said.
Claiming that there are many flaws in the deal, Trump announced that he cannot and will not make certification under the JCPOA.
The Iran nuclear deal was signed by Iran and 5+1 group of countries (Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany) in 2015 under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear programme for 15 years in exchange for sanctions relief.
He also accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and said he would deny the regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.
History has shown that the longer we ignore a threat, the more dangerous that threat becomes. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Irans nuclear breakout, Trump said.
Trump said his policy is based on a clear-eyed assessment of the Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world.
Iran is under the control of a fanatical regime that seized power in 1979 and forced a proud people to submit to its extremist rule. This radical regime has raided the wealth of one of the worlds oldest and most vibrant nations, and spread death, destruction and chaos all around the globe, he said.
Observing that his new strategy addresses the full range of Irans destructive actions, Trump said his administration will work with US allies to counter the regimes destabilising activity and support for terrorists proxies in the region.
We will place additional sanctions on the regime to block their financing of terror. We will address the regimes proliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten its neighbours. And finally we will deny the regime, all paths to a nuclear weapon, he said.
Trump also announced several major steps his administration is taking in pursuit of this strategy.
This he said begins with the long overdue step of imposing tough sanctions on Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
He authorised the Treasury Department to further sanction the entire IRCG for its support for terrorism and to apply sanctions to its officials, agents and affiliates.
He also urged American allies to join the US in taking strong actions to curb Irans continued dangerous and destabilizing behavior, including thorough sanctions outside the Iran deal that target the regimes ballistic missile program in support for terrorism and all of its destructive activities of which there are many.
Trump alleged that the saddest part of nuclear deal for the United States is that all of the money was paid up front, which is unheard of.
The Iranian regime has committed multiple violations of the agreement. For example, on two separate occasions, they have exceeded the limit of 130 metric tonnes of heavy water.
Until recently, the Iranian regime has also failed to meet our expectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges, he said.
The Iranian regime has also intimidated international inspectors into not using the full inspection authorities that the agreement calls for, he said.
Iranian officials and military leaders have repeatedly claimed they will not allow inspectors onto military sites, even though the international community suspects some of those sites were part of Irans clandestine nuclear programme, he alleged.
On the grave matter of Irans nuclear programme, since the signing of the nuclear agreement, the regimes dangerous aggression has only escalated. At the same time, it has received massive sanctions relief while continuing to develop its missiles programme.
Iran has also entered into lucrative business contracts with other parties to the agreement, he noted.
Stating that when the agreement was finalised in 2015, the Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to ensure that its voice would be heard on the deal, he said among other conditions, this law requires the president to certify that the suspension of sanctions under the deal is appropriate and proportionate to measure and other measures taken by Iran to terminate its illicit nuclear programme.
Trump said he is directing his administration to work closely with congress and its allies to address the deals many serious flaws so that the Iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons.
Ahead of Trumps speech, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump will ask lawmakers to come up with legislation that would automatically re-impose sanctions that were lifted under the deal should Iran cross any one of numerous nuclear and non-nuclear trigger points.
Noting that Irans nuclear programme is of big concern, he said but there are also many more immediate concerns that the US has with Tehran s destabilising activities in the region.
This includes their support of terrorist organisations, regional destabilising activities and their export of foreign fighters throughout the region to destabilise areas in support of other terrorist activities.
We are concerned about addressing those elements which by and large have gone unaddressed in the past. On the one hand we want to examine the nuclear agreement understand how we can use that in a very productive and forceful way but also how do we address all of these other issues, Tillerson said.
Earlier, the White House while announcing President Trumps new Iran strategy, said the US will revitalise its traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region.
Local bodies asked to prepare programmes
The Ministry of Finance has called on newly-formed local bodies to frame short- and mid-term development programmes to streamline the process of formulating annual budget.
President Donald Trumps speech in which he outlined an aggressive new strategy against Iran shows the US is more than ever isolated in its opposition to the nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani said today.
Rouhani spoke in a televised address after Trump gave a much anticipated White House speech in which he decertified his support for the 2015 nuclear agreement, and left its fate in the hands of Congress.
Today the United States is more than ever isolated in its opposition to the nuclear deal and in its plots against the Iranian people, Rouhani said.
What was heard today was nothing but the repetition of baseless accusations and swear words that they have repeated for years, Rouhani said.
The Iranian nation does not expect anything else from you.
Rouhani dismissed Trumps threat to tear up the landmark deal between Tehran and six world powers including Washington if Congress does not impose tough new sanctions on Iran.
He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own? Rouhani said.
Apparently he doesnt know that this agreement is not a bilateral agreement solely between Iran and the United States.
Ruhani responded in kind to Trumps list of alleged destabilising activities in the region, with his own catalogue of US misdemeanours, starting with the CIAs involvement in a 1953 coup, which toppled Irans democratically elected government.
He also criticised US involvement in wars from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq, and highlighted the shooting down by a US naval vessel of an Iran Air passenger flight in 1988, which killed 290 people.
Trump called for tougher sanctions on Irans Revolutionary Guards and ballistic missile programme, and said the deal could still be terminated if Congress did not adequately confront destabilising Iranian activity in the Middle East.
But he stepped back from the sort of measures that would immediately torpedo the nuclear agreement.
Rouhani attacked Trumps characterisation of the Revolutionary Guards as a corrupt organisation propping up a fanatical regime.
Is the Iranian government a dictatorship or is it the governments who are supported by the United States and still run their country on a tribal basis and have never seen an election in their country? Rouhani said in a pointed reference to Irans regional rival, Saudi Arabia.
Despite Trumps aggressive rhetoric, Rouhani said Iran remained committed to the nuclear agreement for the time being.
We respect the JCPOA so long as it remains in keeping with our national rights and interests, he said, using its technical name.
Rouhani also responded to Trumps criticism regarding the frequently heard slogans of Death to America and Death to Israel, which Iranians usually depict as opposition to the policies of those nations, rather than a call for their hysical destruction.
Are you upset with the slogans? Then stop your hostile policies, Rouhani said.
Patnaik's close aides say that to understand him, one has to understand his empathy
By Pratul Sharma/Photos Sanjay Ahlawat
Mandamus order sought for Baramu special area
Two members of the Baramu community have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding a mandamus order to the government to form a special, autonomous and protected region in Gorkha.
Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai is a big fan of artificial intelligence (AI). No doubt these are early days for AI, but for him it is the most promising New-Age technology, one that can potentially change the way enterprises work and grow.
Now, AI in smartphones is nothing new. Apple's Siri, Samsung's Bixby and Google's very own Google Assistant are evolving as people communicate with their devices.
But this time around, Pichai is betting big on a mix of AI, software and hardware to take on Apple and Samsung - the undisputed leaders in the premium segment.
Industry analysts believe there is space for Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL to become serious contenders in the segment. With the right set of innovations and improvements in its sales and marketing network, these analysts say, Pixel could become a headache for Apple and Samsung in the days to come.
Currently, Pixel which was first launched last year, has less than two per cent market share globally.
"No matter how great the new Google-branded smartphones look, the main challenge is how to truly become a hardware company (and) to make itself available to consumers on the shelves," said Thomas Husson, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Forrester.
"It implies mastering the supply chain, partnering with carriers and other distribution channels, training vendors and investing a lot in marketing. That's no small task and quite far away from the company's DNA," Husson noted.
Google is nevertheless trying its best to make an impact. Last month, it acquired part of the Taiwan-based HTC Corporation's mobile division team for $1.1 billion. This team was working with Google to develop its Pixel smartphones.
This is the second time Google has acquired a smartphone manufacturer. It announced a $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola Mobility six years back and, in 2014, sold it to Lenovo.
According to Navkendar Singh, Senior Research Manager at IDC India, this underlines Google's ambitions as a serious smartphone maker.
"However, considering the design language, it looks like Google wants to play the premium smartphone game more from a software angle than a hardware one," said Singh.
At the premium end of the market, design, looks and overall aesthetics matter a lot more than a smartphone that only works well and is pragmatic.
"With the recent launches of Samsung Galaxy Note8 and the upcoming iPhone X with full screen, bezel-less displays and overall design, Apple and Samsung have taken the aesthetics and design language to the next level," Singh emphasised.
Considering this, the Pixel 2 range will face a stiff challenge in getting the desired volumes at the premium end of the market.
"Having said that, initial reports suggest that camera remains a strongpoint for the Pixel range, apart from giving stock Android experience with updates available as soon as they are released," the IDC India analyst added.
Launched last year, the Google pixel started off well.
Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems, Counterpoint Research, said that even though it didn't manage a significant market share, the device attracted users' attention -- especially those looking for choice in the Premium Android segment.
"This is likely to give a boost to the Pixel 2 family which has been priced very close to Samsung flagships. To summarise, it still might be a long way before Pixel makes a significant impact on Apple or Samsung, but it provides an alternative to users looking for something beyond these two brands," Pathak noted.
Addressing a jam-packed San Francisco event as he launched the new Pixel family, Pichai said: "Computing will now be conversational, ambient and contextual. It's a unique moment in time, when Google can bring AI, software and hardware together."
To remain a relevant platform between consumers and brands, Google needs to feed data into its AI machine to make its software smarter.
"Such relevant data will increasingly come from a more integrated hardware experience as demonstrated by the Google Lens preview. In order to catch up with Apple and its 'ARKit', Google was right to remind its ecosystem how AR is becoming a part of their platform play with 'ARCore' and Google Lens," Husson informed.
On Wednesday evening he again landed in Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the seventh time since December 6 when his leader J. Jayalalithaa was laid in state at the sprawling Rajaji hall in Chennai. He was all in tears, and disturbed when Modi allowed him to lean on his chest to share the grievance over the departure of the former chief minister. But since then, he was the only leader not just from Tamil Nadu but from entire India, who always had the easiest way to reach the prime minister. After he launched his Dharma Yudh to fight the 'evil forces' in the state, seeking an appointment with Modi was not that difficult for him.
But this time around, Tamil Nadus Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, the veshti-clad Amma loyalist had to struggle to get an appointment to call on Modi, unlike the earlier times. On Thursday when Panneerselvam stepped out after a 15-minute meeting with the prime minister, he did not sound so confident as he used to be.
However, he was quick to downplay the rumoured dissent in the state government. There are no differences with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy. There are no hard feelings in me. And there will be no hard feelings because of me. It has been an unconditional merger at the end of the dharma yudham. The functioning of the government is good and brilliant. The chief minister is consulting me and all other ministers before taking decisions," he said, after the journalists in Delhi shot several questions on the growing rift.
Yes, all is not well in the OPS-EPS camps post merger. In fact, the meeting with the prime minister, say sources, was the fall out of the widening rift between the two camps and particularly Panneerselvam's feeling of being sidelined by the chief minister.
The fresh rift began on September 14, 2017, when a Government Order was issued appointing a 2010 batch officer as the deputy secretary to the deputy chief minister, apparently ignoring the names put forward by Panneerselvam. Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri, IAS, Director of Sericulture, Salem, is transferred and posted as Deputy Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister, says the G.O. Panneerselvam, according to sources, wanted at least three secretaries, as there are five secretaries to assist the chief minister.
The initial understanding between OPS and EPS was that he (Panneerselvam) will be given the status almost equal to the chief minister and, in fact, that was the promise before the merger. Believing this, OPS gave a list of three IAS officers, Tamil officers, who will be his secretaries. OPS also expected that the files to the CM will be routed through him. He expected this on the belief that he is a three-time chief minister and EPS is a novice. But to Panneerselvams surprise, the list given by him was ignored and a very junior officer belonging to 2010 batch, who doesnt know Tamil, was assigned to him as secretary, says A. Shankar, an avid blogger who blogs on TN government and political deals in the state.
This was not the first time the deputy chief minister's demands were allegedly overlooked. Immediately after the merger, when Panneerselvam wanted certain transfers and postings in IPS cadre, it was reportedly shot down by the chief minister. OPS believed that he knew the intricacies of the administration more than EPS and so he will be consulted for every decision, but he was continuously ignored. Even Jayalalithaa had him next to her, as per protocol, during the government events. But except for MGR's birth centenary celebrations, OPS did not have space to share dais with EPS anywhere else, even in government functions, says a senior IAS officer.
Though he managed to get the desired portfolios, Panneerselvam is said to be not able to take any policy decisions in any of his departments. He is also not able to hold review meetings of any of the departments under him at his chamber, but is made to go all the way to the particular departments office to hear from the officers, according to reports. This did not happen to him even when he was under Jayalalithaa, says the officer.
When Panneerselvam had to go all the way to the Housing Board office to hold a review meeting, most of the officers did not turn up to brief him.
In fact, except Panneerselvam and Mafoi K. Pandiarajan, who was made to take over as the Tamil development minister, an insignificant portfolio until now in Tamil Nadu, nobody from their camp was accommodated in the cabinet. Apparently, Palaniswami had filled all the party posts with his own loyalists before the merger and except K.P. Munusamy, a senior in the OPS camp, none of others was accommodated in the party with a portfolio. The general council meeting on September 12, which Panneerselvam expected would elevate his political graph further, also failed to give him any boost.
He is being kept only as a figure head deputy chief minister, without any power to make any policy decisions even with regard to the portfolios he holds. All major decisions are being routed only through Palaniswami and he (Panneerselvam) is not even kept in the loop. The secretary appointment was one such, to make it clear to OPS that his wings are clipped and he doesnt have any power as he expected, writes Shankar.
The difference was obvious, when Panneerselvam was made to sit down along with his cabinet colleagues when Banwarilal Purohit was sworn in as Tamil Nadus full time governor. This was the most embarrassing moment for OPS, says a leader in his faction. This was when Panneerselvam, upset over the humiliation, decided to seek a formal meeting with Prime Minister Modi and express his grievances. Sources say the appointment was facilitated by AIADMK MP V. Maitreyan, of the OPS camp, through a senior minister in the Union cabinet.
Apparently, Maitreyan was the only person who accompanied Panneerselvam when the latter called on the prime minister on Thursday. Though the meeting with Modi was to seek coal allocation for TANGEDCO, Tamil Nadus power minister Thangamani was cleverly kept away from the meeting. Thangamai, later in the afternoon, called on Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman. Though the information from the Tamil Nadu house in Delhi was that OPS and Thangamani would call on Union power minister Piyush Goel, the meeting did not happen at all. Apparently Thangamani is Palaniswami's Man Friday in Tamil Nadu.
While Panneerselvam is in no mood to launch yet another DharmaYudh, the cold war between Palaniswami and him is expected to reach a feverish pitch very soon. It remains to be seen who will have the last laugh.
Five people were beaten up by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes on suspicion of carrying beef on Friday in Haryana's Faridabad.
The victims, who said they were carrying buffalo meat in a vehicle, were waylaid by a group of men and beaten up for allegedly carrying the prohibited meat.
"They stopped us and said 'you're carrying cow meat'," said one of the victims, Azad, adding, that he was forced to chant 'Hanuman ki jai' and 'cow is our mother.' However, when he refused, he was allegedly roughed up by the group, who allegedly told Azad that they belonged to Bajrang Dal.
Following the assault, Azad was left unconscious and was rushed to the hospital by the police.
Just last month, the Supreme Court had asked the states for a compliance report over the incidents of cow vigilantism.
The top court's three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and comprising of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud said that all states are under an obligation to compensate the victims of cow vigilante violence cases. The hearing in the matter is expected later this month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appreciated the efforts of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar towards development of the state, while attending the centenary celebrations of the Patna University here.
"The commitment of Nitish Kumar towards the progress of Bihar is commendable. The Centre attaches topmost importance to the development of eastern India," Modi said, addressing the centenary celebrations of Patna University here.
Modi said when the country celebrates the 75th anniversary of Independence day in 2022, he wants to see Bihar standing among the list of prosperous states. "Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's plan will help Bihar achieve its goal as seeds sown 100 years ago in Patna University are giving fruits now," the Prime Minister said while sharing the stage with Kumar and addressing the public gathering at Patna Science College.
This was the first time in nearly eight years that the Prime Minister Modi and Nitish Kumar came together to share the stage.
"I consider it my honour to visit Patna University and be among the students. I bow to this land of Bihar. This university has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation."
He also urged universities to move from conventional teaching to innovative learning. "As youngsters, I urge you to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people around you. Living in an era of globalisation, we need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness. In that context India has to make its place in the world."
He said that Bihar is blessed with both 'Gyaan' and 'Ganga.' "This land has a legacy that is unique," he said.
Modi is to later lay the foundation stones for several projects, including four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange Programme and four national highway projects in Mokama area of Patna district.
A US-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week, nearly five years after being abducted in Afghanistan, returned to Canada on Friday. The husband said one of his children had been murdered and his wife had been raped.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network. They arrived in Canada with three of their children.
"Obviously, it will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," Boyle told reporters after arriving at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, wearing a black sweatshirt and sporting a beard.
Pakistani troops rescued the family in the northwest of the country, near the Afghan border, this week. The United States has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
"The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim ... was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter," Boyle said, reading from a statement, in a calm voice.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, but by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
He did not elaborate on what he meant by "pilgrim", or on the murder or rape.
Coleman was not at the news conference.Boyle said the Taliban, who he referred to by their official namethe Islamic Emirate of Afghanistanhad carried out an investigation last year and conceded that the crimes against his family were perpetrated by the Haqqani network. He called on the Taliban "to provide my family with the justice we are owed".
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," said an exhausted-looking Boyle.
He did not take questions form reporters.The family traveled from Pakistan to London and then to Toronto.
Boyle provided a written statement to the Associated Press on one of their flights saying his family had "unparalleled resilience and determination."
Myanmars military has launched an internal probe into the conduct of soldiers during a counteroffensive that has sent more than half a million Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, many saying they witnessed killings, rape and arson by troops.
Coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on 30 security posts on August 25 sparked a ferocious military response in the Muslim-majority northern part of Rakhine state that the United Nations has said was ethnic cleansing.
A committee led by military Lieutenant-General Aye Win has begun an investigation into the behaviour of military personnel, the office of the commander in chief said on Friday, insisting the operation was justified under Buddhist-majority Myanmars constitution.
According to a statement posted on Senior General Min Aung Hlaings Facebook page, the panel will ask, Did they follow the military code of conduct? Did they exactly follow the command during the operation? After that (the committee) will release full information.
Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016.
But domestic investigations, including a previous internal military probe, have largely dismissed refugees claims of abuses committed during security forces clearance operations.
Thousands of refugees have continued to arrived cross the Naf river separating Myanmars Rakhine state and Bangladesh in recent days, even though Myanmar insists military operations ceased on September 5.
Aid agencies estimate that 536,000 people have arrived in the Coxs Bazar district, straining scarce resources of aid groups and local communities.
About 200,000 Rohingya were already in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Myanmar, where they have long been denied citizenship and faced restrictions on their movements and access to basic services.
Myanmars de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has pledged accountability for human rights abuses and says Myanmar will accept back refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar.
The powerful army chief has taken a harder stance, however, telling the US ambassador in Myanmar this week that the exodus of Rohingya, who he said were non-native Bengalis, was exaggerated.
In comments to Japans ambassador carried in state media on Friday, Min Aung Hlaing denied ethnic cleansing was taking place on the grounds that photos showed Muslims departing calmly rather than fleeing in terror.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan, who led a commission set up by Suu Kyi to find solutions for the ethnically and religiously divided Rakhine, briefed the UN Security Council and other key states in an informal closed-door meeting on Friday.
Some council members are exploring if the 15-member body could agree a formal statement or even a resolution to call for an end to the violence, for full aid access, the safe return of refugees, access for a UN fact-finding mission to ensure accountability and implementation of Annans recommendations.
Annan said he hoped any possible Security Council resolution urges the government to really press ahead and create conditions that will allow the refugees to return in dignity and with a sense of security, they should not be returned to camps.
Reuters
You will not find a memorial to Fidel Castro in Havana, but Ernesto Che Guevara is all over the placeat the Plaza de la Revolucion, at the Museum of the Revolution, and in the shops selling products with his pictures and the shining metal star. It is not that Cubans are uncomfortable with Fidel's memory, but their great leader wanted his greatest warrior to be remembered more. Fidel's mortal remains lie in a humble cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. But he built a mausoleum for the Argentine who had joined a battle that was not his.
Che's remains were found in an unmarked pit on an airstrip in Vallegrande, Bolivia, in 1997. Fidel brought them to Santa Clara, 300km from Havana. While the Cubans who fought with Che in the battle for Santa Clara in 1958 lie buried just outside Che's mausoleum, those who died with him in the Andean mountains in Bolivia find a place inside the chamber under the 15m-tall bronze statue of Che on the move with a bandaged left arm, overlooking the magnificent square. "No photographs," said the matronly woman guarding the door to the chamber. "No bags, either."
Actually, there are two chambers. Inside the first, one can hear the water flowing, an attempt at recreating the sounds of the Nancahuazu river in southeastern Bolivia, where Che set up his first camp. An eternal lamp lit by Fidel burns in the dimly lit chamber, which has plaques for the 18 fighters who died in the impossible battle against the 2nd Rangers of the Bolivian army trained by US Green Berets. Beyond the plaques are the mortal remains of those found at Vallegrande. Che's plaque is at the centre.
The second chamber, better lit, has exhibits from Che's early life in Argentina, his medical certificates, his personal belongings, including the wallet and personal effects of Tamara Bunke aka Tania, the East German girl killed in combat in Bolivia. The streets of Santa Clara are full of the memories of the warrior, who seized the city in 1958, forcing dictator Fulgencio Batista to flee the country with whatever he could lay his hands on.
An open museum in the heart of the city contains four closed wagons and an open one, next to the railway line to Havana. Batista had sent these wagons, filled with arms and ammunitions, and 400 soldiers to reinforce the barracks of Santa Clara, which already had 2,500 soldiers and 10 tanks. On December 29, Che's troops uprooted the rail lines and placed a Caterpillar bulldozer on the mouth of the broken tracks to stop the train. It rammed into the bulldozer, beyond which there were no rails, and derailed. The soldiers fired from portholes in the wagons, but Che's men threw Molotov cocktails at the train. As the wagons heated up, the soldiers came out and surrendered, with their 22 carriages of anti-aircraft and machine guns. It gave a great fillip to the rebel army, which was short on arms and ammunition. After that, the soldiers in the garrison surrendered without a fight.
Living like Che- Arley Varona with the man who calls himself Che. He lives deep inside Sierra Maestra, and leads a life similar to the one led by the revolutionaries in the late 1950s.
The battle for Santa Clara was one of Che's independent operations in the Cuban revolutionary war that lasted three years. In the midst of the battle, Che fell in love with a pretty combatant called Aleida March. She had been a peasant girl who trained to be a teacher, but ended up in the 26 July Movement, named so by Fidel to commemorate the daring attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, which led to his conviction and release from jail 22 months later. In her book Remembering Che, she describes how she came across a copy of 'History Will Absolve Me', Fidel's famous self-defence during the Moncada trial, and was bowled over.
Aleida mostly worked as a courier for the revolutionaries till she met Che at his camp in the Escambray Mountains. She had gone there to deliver money taped to her body. In her book, she remembers asking Che to help remove the tape which was hurting her. Later, he began taking her around in his jeep, and sometimes she acted as his secretary, taking notes. In her memoirs she claims she even had the power to correct him on occasion. With her knowledge or not, romance was blooming. Che confessed to Aleida that his marriage to the Peruvian economist and communist Hilda Gadea was over, but not entirely. The formality of a divorce remained, and it was done in 1959 after the revolution, before Che and Aleida became man and wife.
Hilda had met the penniless and jobless Che in Guatemala in the 1950s, during his second journey through South America. His first journey, with Alberto Granado on the Norton 500cc motorcycle they named La Poderosa, is much discussed thanks to a book he wrote and the movie called The Motorcycle Diaries. It is, however, his second journey that shaped Che the revolutionary, Che the communist, Che the anti-imperialist. He greatly admired the democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz regime in Guatemala, as is evident from the letters he wrote to his mother at the time, and when Arbenz was toppled by the US-backed puppets, his political orientation was complete.
Che was a floater, and for a while Hilda became the anchor, the provider. They got married in September 1955 after she became pregnant, but the marriage did not last longChe joined Castro on a leaky boat called Granma (which is preserved at the Museum of the Revolution,) to wage war in Cuba.
Fidel and Che hit it off the moment they met in Mexico City. Castro was not a communist, and his only aim was to overthrow Batista, and an armed struggle seemed the only way out. Che's position was different. At first he was not convinced, but he was attracted to the romantic adventure "and the notion that would be well worth dying on a foreign beach for such pure ideals". Even as the Granma expedition team trained in Mexico, they were raided by Mexican police units in March 1956, and Che and many others were jailed. When Castro visited them, Che apparently told him to continue without him, to which Fidel replied, "I will not abandon you."
"Precious time and money had to be diverted to get us out of the Mexican jail," writes Che in his Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War. "Fidel's personal commitment towards people he holds in high esteem is the key to the fanatical loyalty he inspires." The 82-member Granma team finally landed on Cuban shores on December 2, 1956, and after a long walk made it to the Sierra Maestra ranges without most of their weapons and ammunition. Over the next two years, Che's stature grew from a physician to a tenacious warrior to the great and ruthless commandant. Fighting alongside him was Camilo Cienfuegos, whose quicksilver reflexes earned him quite a reputation. After the war ended, Cienfuegos was appointed head of armed forces, but in October 1959, while returning from a mission from Camaguey, his Cessna 310 went missing over the Straits of Florida.
Both Che and Cienfuegos occupy the pride of place in Plaza de la Revolucion, where Fidel has delivered many a stirring speech, looking at the steel outlines of the faces of his two great commanders. Che's visage adorns the walls of the ministry of interior, with his famous words of salutation: "Hasta de la victoria siempre (Ever onward to victory)." The words with the visage of Cienfuegos on the wall of the ministry of informatics and communications are more down to earth: "Vas bien, Fidel (You are doing fine, Fidel)." And thereby hangs a story, narrated by Che's biographer Jorge Castaneda. The fun-loving Cienfuegos used to be by the side of Fidel at most of his public appearances. At one such appearance in Colombia, a dove settled on Fidel's shoulder. Fidel turned to Cienfuegos and asked: "Voy bien, Camilo (How am I doing, Camilo)?" Ever the loyalist, Cienfuegos said exactly what the leader wanted to hear.
Che had a different sort of relationship with Fidel, with the licence to disagree at times. The public perception of the asthmatic doctor with good looks, thus, is more romantic. The memory of Cienfuegos is celebrated with as much fervour, with children floating flowers in water on the anniversary of his disappearance, but a certain kind of reverence and adoration is reserved for Che.
Cuban children are brought up in the history of the revolution. They start their day saying, We will be like Che. "Education is compulsory from the age of six," said Arley Varona, who works with the state-controlled tourism department, Cubacan. "Apart from other subjects, students also learn about our heroes. As they move into higher classes, they learn in detail about the revolution."
All over Havana, the spirit of the revolution is kept alive in various museums, and the people are well aware of what took place back in December 1958. That gives them the strength to overcome the sanctions imposed by the US since 1959. Though they have free access to education and medical care and the ration books ensure that the families do not go hungry, most Cubans earn so little that sometimes they cannot afford even milk for their children. The young couple Sandro and Bayami, as they took me around old Havana, bought a packet of milk powder for their infant daughter for Rs 650 in the black market.
After the collapse of the sugar industry, tourism is the only money-spinning sector. We survived the blockade, with help from the socialist bloc countries, said Arley. But when Soviet Russia collapsed, our economy was the hardest hit. Arley started off as an English teacher with a monthly pay of 15 Cuban convertible pesos (one peso=one US dollar). He later became a customs officer, with a slightly better pay. Then he made the wise decision of joining the tourism sector as an English speaking guide. Now I can provide for my family with the generous tips I get, he said. Arley's dream is to buy a car, a used one. Not a really old one, but a Soviet-made one that would cost upwards of 20,000 pesos. The people who drive these old cars are not mechanics, but magicians, he said. They themselves repair the vehicles.
The really costly ones are the vintage convertibles. And its owners are the highest paid in the country! I can take you on a trip around Havana for $40 an hour, offered Carlos, owner of a vintage car. When I told him that I would rather hire a state-owned taxi that cost half the amount, or a Russian one that would cost even less, he said, with a sneer, You are wasting your time.
The medical education in the country is said to be the best, with the emphasis on prevention rather than cure, but Cuban doctors make money only out of the country. We export a lot of talent, you see, said Arley.
Despite the hardships, the Cubans are a happy lot. They are happy that they made their revolution and withstood the economic onslaught of a great power, even though critics say that the blockade only helped hide the shortcomings of the leadership. Their president, Fidel's younger brother Raul, will step down this year and 2018 could see a new leader for Cuba. But Cuba watchers are not expecting major changes straightaway.
Meanwhile, the legend of Che continues to grow. Deep inside the Sierra Maestra, near a waterfall called El Salton or the big jump, lives a man who calls himself Che. He grows his own crops and lives like a revolutionary, shunning the luxuries of modern life. Of late, he is getting some visitors who are willing to buy his produce, but he has no use for their money.
And then, there are those who believe in the infallibility of El Comandante. When Hurricane Matthew hit Cuba in September 2016, the government asked people living in the coastal areas to move out to safer places. A farmer in Baracoa, in the eastern part of Cuba, stayed put in his wooden house and he was untouched by the hurricane. When journalists asked him why he did not move out, he said, pointing to a picture of Che, "I didn't move, because I knew he was going to protect me."
On September 11, when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal arrived at a Vipassana camp at Igatpuri in Maharashtra, carrying a small bag, without any fanfare, he was closing an extremely difficult period for himself and his party. He had the satisfaction of a morale-boosting victory in the byelection to the Bawana assembly constituency in Delhi. The win ended a spell of defeats for the Aam Aadmi Party. Ten days later, when Kejriwal finished the Vipassana session and got back his cellphone, he immediately tweeted that he was returning to Delhi and would hold a review meeting in his office the next morning, marking his return to political business.
Earlier this year, after the AAPs poor show in the Punjab and Goa assembly elections, a bitter and dejected Kejriwal had said, We are not Napoleon to win election after election, cover territories. We are here for nations development.
The AAP then faced an even more demoralising defeat in the elections to the three municipal corporations in Delhi, with the incumbent BJP registering a thumping victory. The party seemed to be losing Delhi, let alone spreading to other states.
Critics did not lose any time in writing off the AAP, panning it for overreaching. Kejriwal was scheduled to address a rally in Gandhinagar, but it was cancelled. It seemed the AAPs expansion plans were on hold. Kejriwal retreated into a shell. It was quiet on the Twitter front, too.
Kejriwal has had to deal with rebellion in the ranks, with five MLAs and four MPs in Punjab revolting. In Delhi, his former associate Kapil Mishra turned into a sworn enemy, and Kejriwal had an uneasy truce with prominent AAP leader Kumar Vishwas.
Back on track: Arvind Kejriwal seems to have carried out a course correction | PTI
However, there is a new-found confidence in the AAP now. It can be traced to the Bawana victory, and is showing in many ways. Kejriwal seems to have found his voice again. He has attacked the BJP for trying to poach AAP MLAs. He attacked Lt Governor Anil Baijal for the delay in setting up Mohalla Clinics. However, it is not the same AAP, and neither is it the same Kejriwal. While both are looking and sounding confident yet again, there has been a course correction.
According to a senior AAP leader, it was felt that the party was losing the trust of the people of Delhi. Kejriwals intensive campaign in Punjab had led to his opponents labelling him as non-resident chief minister. People do not seem to appreciate his attacks on Modi. He had to get rid of that image. He has made it clear that the issues of the people of Delhi are his priority, said the leader.
Kejriwal has been meeting people in an open house every morning for an hour. He has also increased the frequency of his visits to his constituency to take stock of the functioning of public amenities.
One of the press conferences which he addressed recently was on acting against private schools that had hiked fees arbitrarily. He recently allocated the water portfolio to himself. These efforts are aimed at reassuring the people of Delhi that for Kejriwal Delhi comes first.
According to AAP leader Ashutosh, the party can boast a new development model. Development in Delhi is not about highways or malls or bullet trains. Our development model places health care and education at the centre of things, he said.
However, the AAP is looking beyond Delhi. But this time, it is doing it differently.
The party has announced that it will contest Gujarat assembly elections, but only on those seats which meet certain criteria, such as availability of a candidate with no corruption blemish, presence of booth level organisation and availability of funds. The AAP will project itself as a viable alternative to the Congress and the BJP, as conveyed by its slogan Gujarat Ka Sankalp, AAP Khara Vikalp. In these elections, the AAP will showcase the work it has done in Delhi in the health care and education sectors. The Gujarat model of development has been talked about a lot. We will project the Delhi model of development as an alternative, said AAPs Gujarat convenor Harshil Nayak.
The party recently announced that it will also contest the civic polls in Uttar Pradesh, which shows that it wants to go step-by-step in the state. AAPs UP in-charge Sanjay Singh has been touring the state, holding meetings with district level units of the party.
The AAP seems to have resumed its search for new pastures with ardent pursuit for Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan to join forces. Kejriwal flying down to Chennai for a meeting with Kamal fuelled speculation on a possible alliance.
It is learnt that Kejriwal had sought the meeting after having followed Kamal on Twitter for some time. According to sources, he has invited Kamal, whom he met over lunch at the latters ancestral house in Chennai, to join the AAP.
AAPs Tamil Nadu convenor S.A.N. Vasigaran said the party was coming up as an alternative to the regional giants AIADMK and DMK. The BJP is non-existent in Tamil Nadu. The Congress is also finished. There is a lot of interest in Arvind Kejriwal in the state, and if we build an organisation, it can translate into electoral support, he said.
Congress politician Sharmishtha Mukherjee said the AAPs confidence was misplaced, and by venturing out of Delhi yet again, it had shown that it had not learnt its lessons. The mandate that Kejriwal got was to provide good governance in Delhi. He does not seem to have learnt from Punjab and Goa, she said.
While the AAP is not going after the Modi government hammer and tongs, it is attacking the Centre in a targeted manner, choosing issues such as the oil price hike, lack of jobs, goods and services tax and demonetisation.
By raising these issues, said Swaraj Indias Delhi unit chief Anupam, the AAP was only trying to stay relevant. In the first place, it was unethical to retreat strategically as it showed that their opposition was guided by politics, he said.
Doubts may persist on the politics of the AAP and its future prospects. But one thing is clear; it cannot be written off yet.
Naya Shakti back to poll symbol eye
Accusing the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) of violating the agreement of using a common election symbol in the newly announced left alliance, the Naya Shakti Party, Nepal has decided to go to the federal and provincial elections with its own poll symbol.
Consumers offered smart readers can say no
The roll-out of smart meters is proving chaotic, prompting calls for it to be stopped.
Readers have contacted The Mail on Sunday in droves, listing a catalogue of problems with the meters. These include overcharging and equipment not working.
Smart meters began to be installed three years ago. They do away with the need for a meter to be read as usage is clocked remotely via radio waves that communicate directly with the energy supplier. They also come with hand-held devices that show the cost of energy consumed in near-real time.
Yet despite all the rhetoric fuelled by a hugely expensive 224 million advertising campaign featuring cartoon characters Gaz and Leccy the roll-out has been a mess.
Readers have highlighted seven big issues.
The first generation of smart meters SMETS 1 often stop working if someone switches to another energy supplier.
Some users have been over-billed, forcing them to have the meters replaced with traditional ones.
The meters are vulnerable to hackers, despite design help from intelligence service Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Such security breaches could leave households vulnerable to burglars.
The meters will often not work in rural areas, flats and homes with thick walls.
The installation programme is costing 11 billion 420 for every household in Britain.
Some suppliers are bullying people into accepting a smart meter by threatening them with price hikes if they do not accept one.
Claims that the hand-held devices showing energy usage will yield annual savings of 23 remain unproven.
Faulty meter readings
Ruth Kerry has had problems with her smart meter ever since it was fitted in October last year.
She agreed to have it fitted by her energy supplier First Utility after being convinced by TV advertising that showed a switch might help her save money.
The 62-year-old civil servant, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, says: It has never worked properly misreading my gas use by hundreds of extra pounds and not even picking up my electricity readings.
Smart home online energy control concept displaying an energy consumption and efficiency
I was fobbed off with ridiculous excuses such as my furniture interfering with the wireless signal being transmitted from the meter. I was told to move the wicker sofa in my conservatory where the meter was fitted as this might stop the problem. It was utter nonsense.
She adds: The final straw was when I went on holiday to Australia for Christmas and the house was left empty not using any energy. But a subsequent bill indicated I had used 200 worth of gas. I then demanded the smart meter be removed.
It will now take a dawn raid by the SAS to have one reinstalled in my home.
First Utility removed the smart meter in August and paid Ruth 150 as a goodwill gesture for all the inconvenience she had suffered.
A First Utility spokesperson says: The problem stemmed from the signal strength at her property not being strong enough to send readings so we reverted to estimated readings based on industry data. We have apologised for her experience and have now changed her unit back to a standard meter.
Smart guide to new meters MUST I HAVE ONE? No. There is no obligation to have a smart meter fitted. Firms often grind customers down with letters, phone calls and texts but just say no. A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesman confirms: Let us be totally clear smart meters are not compulsory. CAN I GO BACK TO A TRADITIONAL METER? If you already have a smart meter and regret the decision, ask to have it turned off at no extra cost. It then becomes what is termed a dumb meter. You are then responsible for meter readings or must rely on estimated bills. SHOULD I DELAY? The roll-out is a mess. The second generation of smart meters known as SMETS 2 will kick in next year when you will be able to switch supplier without the need to change your meter as is the case now. So it is much better to delay a decision. ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS? An end to estimated bills as the meter can be read remotely. Also, a device showing how much energy is being used and the cost. A spokesman for industry regulator Ofgem says: Choosing not to have a smart meter installed may mean you do not get access to all available tariffs.
Bully boy sales tactics
Many customers say they were told they had no choice but to accept the gadgets. Others say they are being bullied with daily friendly reminders made by phone, letter and text aimed at grinding them down until they cave in.
Another underhand tactic being adopted by suppliers such as Eon is to offer cheaper tariffs to those that agree to have a smart meter fitted. It is effectively a bribe.
The reason energy suppliers are so keen to install these new meters is that watchdog Ofgem is insisting everyone is offered one by 2020 otherwise suppliers could be fined as much as ten per cent of their annual revenue, leading to multi-million pound penalties.
Unexpected extra costs
Peter and Maureen Richardson believe the smart meter programme has already cost them 750 on top of the 420 that every home is paying for the meters to be installed.
Retired engineer Peter, from Tredington in Warwickshire, says: In July last year, without warning, a gentleman from First Utility knocked on our door and told us he was going to fit a smart meter.
But he ended up just changing our meter with a newer traditional one.
The following month First Utility phoned explaining every home had to be fitted with a smart meter and I would be getting one.
An engineer and his supervisor came in October to fit it. They said the one fitted in the summer had failed.
But the biggest shock was when they were told there was a problem with a gas pipe in their home and that the fuse box needed replacing as a matter of urgency.
Both were deemed safety hazards that could lead to a fire. They spent 750 getting a local handyman to address the problems, only to then be plagued with repeated power cuts as the fuses blew.
Peter, 79, says: The fuses even went when the turkey was in the oven on Christmas Day.
First Utility sent the couple a cheque for 100 as a goodwill gesture but Peter and Maureen, 74, rue the day they allowed a smart meter to be fitted.
A First Utility spokesman says: Engineers have a duty of care to provide safety advice.
What's the problem with smart meters? Smart meters can deliver accurate billing, so why are many people unhappy at having them fitted? Lee Boyce, Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert, discuss what's good and bad about smart meters in this excerpt from the This is Money podcast. Press play to listen to the smart meter discussion below, or listen (and please subscribe if you like the podcast) at iTunes, Acast and Audioboom or visit our This is Money Podcast page.
Campaign: The Mail on Sunday has consistently led the way on the shortfalls of the smart meter technology
Overcharging on bills
John Burrows was told he had no choice but to have a smart meter fitted after EDF Energy made a billing mistake. Yet not only did the new meter not work but he was then overbilled.
John, from Allhallows in Kent, is hard of hearing. His partner Val Worsley says: We knew something was wrong when John left the home empty for 20 days with only the fridge freezer left on, yet the meter was still whirling around. An engineer said it was over-reading by 6.8 per cent.
Another smart meter was then put in and thankfully the bills have now fallen.
The first smart meter was only put in after EDF Energy stopped taking direct debit payments from Johns bank account, resulting in a bill for 800. This was reduced to 470 with a further 70 taken off as a gesture of goodwill.
EDF Energy said it was rare for a smart meter to over-read.
Have you got a story about smart meters? Email Toby.Walne@mailonsunday.co.uk
For a politician under sustained fire for his unenthusiastic approach to Brexit, Philip Hammond is surprisingly unmoved. There would be no resignation, despite the call from his illustrious predecessor Nigel Lawson.
The clamour for money to smooth the Brexit process, whatever the outcome of the negotiations, has caused the Chancellor to shift his stance.
He claims to already have spent 500million, will be announcing extra funding in the Budget and, if necessary, he stands ready to reach into the contingency reserve.
The Treasury keeps 2billion in its back pocket to deal with emergencies.
Chancellor Philip Hammond claims to already have spent 500m, will be announcing extra funding in the Budget and, if necessary, he stands ready to reach into the contingency reserve.
There has been great concern in the City and among bankers here at the International Monetary Fund that the Chancellor is weak in protecting the financial community.
Jobs gradually have been sliding away, with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange among those to close and return home.
Hammond insists that he and the Treasury understand the concerns and suggested the most significant number of jobs in financial services are domestic and should be unaffected.
But he is promising a 'bespoke' deal for the European and global financial institutions based in London.
The Chancellor cannot afford not to. As much as banks may be despised for excessive pay and the havoc wreaked during the financial crisis, they remain a huge source of tax revenues.
If the Chancellor doesn't move rapidly to give the financial community the assurances it needs he may risk losing the goose which laid the golden egg.
Nuclear option
There was a time when the president of the US would pop into the IMF meetings.
Ronald Reagan famously came up with the notion that it was up to the Fund and World Bank to enable people in the developing world to 'pull themselves up by their bootstraps'. Right across Asia, most notably China, that has happened.
A Republican successor, Donald Trump, had something more frightening on his mind on Friday the 13th.
As if his rhetoric on North Korea's erratic nuclear programme is not scary enough, the president is following up on his electoral pledge to undo the Iran nuclear accord, which he has described as 'one of the worst deals ever'.
Allies including Britain are watching closely, as parties to the deal with Iran which is seen as having constrained its development of nuclear weapons.
The White House says Iran has failed to keep to the deal and is using Revolutionary Guards to spread terror across the Middle East and beyond.
Under the terms of the plan, the US President must review the accord every 90 days and can 'decertify' Iran should it be seen to be in breach.
That does not mean an immediate return to the sanctions regime which brought Tehran to the table. Instead, Trump is throwing the problem back to Congress.
Capitol Hill was never fully on board for the deal after lobbying against it by Israel. But it was former President Obama's biggest foreign policy achievement.
Nuclear peace, obviously, is the big prize for citizens and people around the world. Planes to Iran have been packed with sales executives taking advantage of a reopened marketplace. Airbus concluded one of the biggest deals, signing up to the supply of 100 civilian aircraft.
The direct impact on the UK has been on energy prices. Distribution of Iranian crude was limited by sanctions. When restrictions were lifted, crude prices fell and oil has been trading at or below $50 a barrel.
The White House stance will sound scary (because Trump always does) but is not decisive enough to undermine the era of low crude price or those Airbus wing manufacturing jobs.
Shooting the Fox
Remember Rod Eddington? He was the Aussie parachuted into British Airways, before Willie Walsh, to turn the airline around after disastrous union disputes.
Now he is back in the headlines. Activist shareholder group CtW Investment, which represents trade unions, wants him removed as a director and chairman of the audit committee at Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, holding him responsible for an alleged cover-up of payments to meet sexual harassment claims at Fox News.
That can't be helpful in Fox's battle to acquire the 61 per cent of Sky it doesn't own.
Nine fake MBBS entrance examinees arrested
Nine fake students were arrested from the MBBS entrance examination centre of Institute of Medicine on Saturday. Additional three examinees were arrested who had stealthily taken electronic devices inside the hall against the set examination rules.
Most people are encouraged to invest in the US through a low-cost fund that tracks the stock market. This is because few actively managed US portfolios beat the market.
But Miton US Opportunities is one of the exceptions. Since launch in early 2013, it has outperformed the S&P 500 Index, the main measure of the US market. No mean achievement.
The fund is run by Nick Ford and Hugh Grieves, who both have more than 20 years experience running equity funds. They previously worked together at Gartmore, a now defunct asset manager, running US funds with a focus on smaller companies.
On board: Miton US Opportunities is run by Nick Ford (right) and Hugh Grieves, who both have more than 20 years experience running equity funds
Their ability to outperform stems from a mix of experience, meticulous research and a willingness to scour the market for investment opportunities.
Though their starting base is the 3,000 firms that make up the Russell 3000 Index, which represents 98 per cent of the US equity market by value, they whittle down their universe to 1,100 stocks by eliminating those below a certain size and which operate in industries that fail their quality criteria.
A series of qualitative and quantitative checks then boils the number of possible investments down to 400, from which they select their holdings.
It results in a portfolio that is devoid of many of the iconic US brands such as Apple and Amazon. Instead, its top holdings include Vantiv, Americas biggest payment processor, and Eagle Materials, a buildings materials company based in Dallas.
Trading trends: Grieves and Ford invested in cruise firm Royal Caribbean and say demand is booming
Though the resulting 41-strong portfolio is full of unfamiliar names, the holdings have common characteristics they are cash-generative businesses with strong balance sheets and sustainable franchises.
We are looking all the time for the best ideas in a big pond, says Ford. We like firms that have a dominant market position and over time can grow their share.
One familiar name in its portfolio is cruise company Royal Caribbean. The industry is in great health, says Grieves.
Demand in Europe and the US is booming, while China is an exciting new market. There are not enough ships to fulfil demand and the companies are all generating lots of cash. Royal Caribbean stands out because of the quality of its management.
Grieves insists the duos approach is less risky than buying a fund tracking the performance of the S&P 500.
The businesses we are invested in have lots of cash and possess resilient balance sheets, he says. This builds in a margin of safety.
As expected of individuals who make a living from investing in America, they are not among those who believe the market is heading for a fall. Ford says: We argue against the idea that the US equity market is in a bubble.
Yes, the S&P 500 is high, but the firms in the index are far more profitable and cash-generative than ever. When people lose money investing in America, it is usually because their view is too short-term. Robust earnings growth and a stronger US dollar gives UK investors a positive background for investing.
Despite its strong record, the fund does not make it into investment broker Hargreaves Lansdowns list of top investment funds. Nor does it get an elite rating from scrutineer FundCalibre.
US funds that do include Axa Framlington American Growth, Brown Advisory US Flexible Equity and Lazard US Equity Concentrated.
Engineering firm GKN has warned that profits will be only 'slightly above' 2016 after it disclosed a 40million hit linked to legal claims and a 15million writedown.
The 'probable claims' which are expected to result in a charge of around 40million relate to GKN Aerospace and GKN Driveline, but the firm did not reveal any further details.
In addition, GKN Aerospace North America will book a 15million charge at its Alabama facility.
GKN's Aerospace North America will receive a 15million charge resulting in dwindling profits
In better news, GKN achieved good organic sales growth during the third quarter, with its GKN Driveline division continuing to outperform the market.
Nigel Stein, chief executive, said: 'GKN continues to grow well against its end markets although recent margin performance has not met our expectations.
'In addition, it is disappointing that we expect to have to provide for two unexpected claims which will slow our steady growth in profits.'
He added: 'In North American aerospace, we are redoubling our efforts to improve our operational performance.'
Trinity Mirrors 350 million merger with the publisher of the Daily Express faces scrutiny this weekend after the chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee of MPs asked the Pensions Regulator to investigate the effect of the deal on the firms retirement schemes.
Frank Field, who investigated the collapse of BHS before former owner Sir Philip Green handed over 363 million to help plug a pension hole, has written to the regulator.
Last month, Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror, confirmed it was in talks with Richard Desmonds Northern & Shell Media Group about a possible acquisition of his newspaper business, which analysts value at around 100 million.
Trinity Mirrors 350 million merger with the publisher of the Daily Express faces scrutiny this weekend after the chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee of MPs asked the Pensions Regulator to investigate the effect of the deal on the firms retirement schemes
In January, Field called on the regulator to block Trinity Mirror from spending 10 million on a share buyback because 18,000 current and former staff face a 426 million pension fund shortfall.
Field pointed out in his letter that the combined net pension deficit of Northern & Shell Media Groups defined benefit scheme was 19.1 million.
Has The Pensions Regulator engaged with either of the parties to ascertain who will assume ongoing responsibility for the Northern & Shell Defined Benefit Schemes? he wrote.
This week Field will also write to Tata steel and German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp demanding greater assurances for 130,000 British Steel pensioners.
An influential investor group has waded into a major City row, insisting share flotation rules should not be watered down to encourage Saudi Arabias 1.5 trillion state-owned oil firm, Saudi Aramco, to list in London.
The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum has demanded that the UKs relations with Saudi Arabia should not be allowed to dilute investor protection.
In its submission to a Financial Conduct Authority consultation on proposed rule changes, the body, representing 200 billion of pension funds, said City rules should not be modified to accommodate firms controlled by sovereign states.
An influential investor group has waded into a major City row, insisting share flotation rules should not be watered down to encourage Saudi Arabias 1.5 trillion state-owned oil firm, Saudi Aramco, to list in London
Following the closure of its consultation at the end of last week, the FCA will begin considering whether to implement the proposals, which would enable state-owned companies to qualify for admission to the London Stock Exchange with less onerous rules.
FCA boss Andrew Bailey faces a grilling from Treasury Select Committee MPs this month on the proposed changes. In a letter to MPs, Bailey admitted the FCA had met Saudi Aramco and its advisers early this year.
The company is planning an initial public offering next year. It is expected to split 5 per cent of its shares between its domestic market and an international exchange.
The LSE is in competition with international rivals to host the float. But doubts over the IPO emerged at the end of last week, with reports suggesting it could be shelved in favour of a private share sale.
The LAPFF, the Investment Association, the Institute of Directors, International Corporate Governance Network and ShareAction are opposed to the shake-up. But other City institutions have been more supportive.
With up to $1 billion of fees thought to be up for grabs for financial services firms, the City of London Corporation has backed the proposals.
And Sir Alan Yarrow, its former Lord Mayor and now chairman of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, has voiced his support.
Tim Ward, head of the Quoted Companies Alliance, has also thrown his weight behind the plan.
MANZINI The graduating Limkokwing University Class of 2017 has been described as masterminds.
His Majesty the King said he had no doubt that these students, who are ready to step into the world of employment, will not disappoint.
He was speaking at the graduation ceremony of 828 students of this university, which was held at the Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre.
Empowered
You are a new cohort of empowered graduates who will propel the kingdom to even greater heights. As expected, we can be assured that Limkokwing University will deliver convocation so unique and significant with the very best of creativity and design.
He said the university had placed the much needed innovation, creativity and smart technology at the heart of its academic agenda and pointed out that the programmes designed by the institution are the ones needed for the countrys economy needs.
The programmes empower our young people with the confidence they need to be the industry-ready leaders of tomorrow. By virtue of that, Limkokwing has succeeded in its mission to transform our youth into skilled techno-savvy individuals who will contribute to the countrys economy by developing new industries.
Opportunity
The King viewed this an opportunity for the graduates to introduce themselves to the local Science and Technology Parks where he said they could fit perfectly because they were intelligent thinkers, referring to them to masterminds.
He said the industries that they would venture in are increasingly being managed by young people with digital skills to operate a global business.
MBABANE The family of Ludzidzini acting Governor Timothy Velabo Mtetwa has appreciated the nations concern for the statesmans health but the allegations about his passing on were no were close to the truth.
This came after a post on social media that Mtetwa had passed on when the truth was that he is admitted to a South Africa hospital.
The name of the hospital could not be immediately confirmed.
Family members, who are at his bedside and spoke to this publication, confirmed having being aware of the reports and expressed concern where they could emanate from as their father was recuperating after undergoing an operation last week Thursday.
He was transported to South Africa about three weeks back according to the family after his health took a turn for the worst.
While some family members were reluctant to discuss their father and grandfathers health, a relative who answered his phone allayed fears and sounded surprised at the circulating reports.
The woman who answered the call, when queried about the rumours, calmly said: Hhawu! Kute intfo lenjalo. Sinaye la.
This is loosely translated, There is no such thing. We are here with him.
She mentioned that the Ludzidzini indvuna was in a stable condition as he was responding well to treatment. Some family members, however, shared that there were moments where they were also worried as it was a touch and go situation but he was no out of danger.
One of his granddaughters (name deliberately withheld at her request) revealed that at some point, the governor could not talk while one of his grandsons shared that he last spoke to him over the phone on Thursday.
The grandson said they were greatly disturbed by the reports which were nothing more than just rumours and he would like it to be known that his grandfather was currently recuperating in a South African hospital.
Their concern also arises from how he would receive the news that he had been declared dead while he was still alive.
One of his sons, Sibusiso, is based in South Africa, also confirmed that the elderly man was a bit better compared to previous days.
He succinctly stated that Mtetwa was alive, wondering who was spreading rumours that their father had passed on.
As Im speaking to you Im here in hospital with him. He is much better today.
Also reported to be by the acting governors bedside was his daughter, Esther Dlamini, the Mbabane East Member of Parliament, who most of the family members said would be in a better position to comment on the familys behalf.
Attempts to reach her on her mobile phone proved unsuccessful.
Parliament holding last meeting today
The Legislature-Parliament is holding its last meeting on Saturday. According to Parliament Secretariat, the meeting will take place at 3:00 pm today after taking a group photograph of lawmakers with speaker Onsari Gharti.
People in Tingla Village to boycott polls again
The people of Tingla Village in Necha Salyan Rural Municipality, Solukhumbu, have announced to boycott the upcoming federal and provincial elections as a protest against local restructuring. Earlier, the villagers had boycotted the local level.
A Rensselaer County man is accused of avoiding police stops twice last month while speeding off in his nine-year-old Volkswagen.
State Police arrested Sean Talarino, 26, of Schaghticoke on Thursday after the two police pursuits on September and follow-up investigations.
ALBANY -- The news media needs to assume more responsibility in clarifying and presenting facts in a "post-truth world," panelists said at symposium on Saturday.
"I think that the commercial media has always had a problem with the kind of narrative they produce, which is basically what's acceptable to certain interest groups in society," said Juan Gonzalez, co-host of Democracy Now!.
"You have problems with commercial media, you have the alternative media trying to present a more realistic opposition view, and then you have social media muddying the water and spreading false informationso it's a difficult situation for journalists now."
Local residents gathered at the University at Albanys downtown campus on Saturday to attend the panel Race, Class and the Future of Democracy as part of a two-day symposium hosted by the New York State Writers Institute called Telling the Truth in a Post-Truth World.
Theres that saying, Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant, said Paul Grondahl, institute director. The only way you get change, truth and honesty is to shed light on it.
Troubled by the 2016 presidential campaign and dialogue about fake news and alternative facts, Grondahl and William Kennedy, author and founder and institute executive director, decided to put together a symposium to address critical topics through critical lenses.
We looked for panelists that are diverse with a large range of opinions People are talking about these issues that people often dont talk about, Grondahl said.
The panel, which was moderated by historian and author Gilbert King, shed light on a range of topics including immigration, Make America Great Again, Hurricane Maria and Confederate monuments. The panelists were Emory University African-American History Professor Carol Anderson, UAlbany Associate Professor of Political Science Jose Cruz, Gonzalez, and journalist and author Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.
In the discussion of almost all of their topics, the panelists consistently concluded with the same explanation: that these issues are created, sustained and discussed in a way that will uphold the status quo of whites at the top of the social and racial hierarchy.
Make America Great Again is a backward-looking philosophy that conjures up an image of America being great when African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and women were systematically denied access to the resources of this nation, Anderson said when King asked when exactly America was great. So what you see is a promise to deal with the demographic shift that is happening in America and then pull the resources back into the hands of whites.
In Grondahls mind, this discussion of such taboo and controversial subjects is necessary to keep democracy alive in the U.S.
People can say anything they want on that panel without censorship, and its a reminder that this country has those freedoms, said Grondahl. (The symposium) is to remind us we need to defend democracy, especially against a president right now thats making a very calculated and cynical attack on it and stirring up racism.
Much of this defense, Grondahl said, needs to come from the press.
(Journalists) have fallen at the job at different times in history, Grondahl said. Nows a time to be a watchdog.
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EDUCATION
LA SALLE INSTITUTE
Alexandra Russell joined as middle school guidance counselor and 504 coordinator. Russell previously served as a school counselor in Orlando, Fla.
FINANCIAL
FIRST NEW YORK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
William Chow was promoted to assistant vice president of commercial lending. Chow previously served as commercial business development officer.
TEAL, BECKER & CHIARAMONTE CPAS PC
Gretchen Guenther-Collins joined as tax manager. Guenther-Collins served as an audit manager from 2000 to 2007.
HEALTH CARE
ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER
Matt Jones was appointed senior vice president and general counsel. Jones previously served as a partner at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia, where he concentrated his practice on health care and corporate law.
Darleen Souza was appointed senior vice president for human resources. Souza previously served as vice president of human resources at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center.
Britta Sundquist joined the Division of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and was appointed assistant professor of medicine at Albany Medical College. Sundquist specializes in treating patients with drug allergies, food allergies, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
Michelle Kaplan joined the Department of Psychiatry. Fellowship-trained in geriatric psychiatry, Kaplan has a special interest in providing therapeutic interventions for geriatric patients with chronic and acute illnesses.
Lindy Davis joined the Department of Surgery as a surgical oncologist. Davis is one of the few fellowship-trained surgical oncologists in the Capital Region, specializing in the surgical management of cancer, especially soft-tissue malignancies and skin cancers, including advanced melanoma.
MEDIA
PATIENT EXPERIENCE PROJECT
Paul Ivsin joined as managing director of clinical trial strategy and patient recruitment. Ivsin has more than 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical clinical trial recruitment, patient engagement and analytics, most recently serving as an independent consultant for medical advertising agencies.
PROFESSIONS
RYAN BIGGS | CLARK DAVIS ENGINEERING & SURVEYING
Lauren Stenroos joined as a design engineer in the Capital Region office. Stenroos will provide engineering support for existing building renovations, historic preservation and masonry and concrete restoration projects.
Rourk Marlow joined as a design engineer in the Capital Region office. Rourk will provide engineering support for the design of new and renovated structures in the educational, municipal and industrial markets.
Christopher Geroux joined as a civil engineering project manager in the Hudson Valley office. Geroux has 11 years of experience in the design and management of large transportation projects.
OSTROFF ASSOCIATES
Rebecca Marino joined as senior vice president. Marino has two decades of government affairs and state legislative experience, most recently as vice president of government affairs at CHMS.
Evan Sullivan joined as vice president. Sullivan previously served as legislative director at the Independent Democratic Conference in the state Senate.
Kathleen Digan joined as vice president. Digan previously served as a governmental relations representative for the New York State School Boards Association.
HERZOG LAW FIRM PC
David A. Kubikian was named principal. Kubikian focuses his practice on estate planning, Medicaid planning/elder law, estate administration, estate litigation and matrimonial law.
Jennifer Patterson
RingCentral's Nuvola Partnership Emphasizes Global Ambition
By Paula Bernier - Executive Editor, TMC
Nuvola Distribution has struck an agreement with RingCentral. As a result, its U.K. channel partners can offer RingCentral solutions to businesses in Europe.
RingCentral offers cloud-based unified communications and collaboration solutions. The company, which is based in Belmont, California, started out catering to small and medium businesses here in the U.S. But, recently, the company, and many of its peers in the UC marketplace, have been working to win the businesses of large enterprises and expand globally.
Its partnership with master agent and software services consultancy Nuvola Distribution is part of its effort to do that. Interestingly, the U.K. company also offers its own hosted cloud solution. The Nuvem offering is based on Alcatel-Lucent OpenTouch technology.
But RingCentral is a leader in the unified communications as a service space. At least by Gartners account. The research company last month issued yet another UcaaS Magic Quadrant that puts RingCentral in the Leaders box. Others in the Leaders quadrant this time around including Verizon, BT, West, Orange Business Services, and 8x8. BroadSoft and Mitel are listed as Visionaries. Microsoft, Google, and AT&T are considered Challengers. And Star2Star, Masergy, and NTT Group are in the Niche Players box.
RingCentral is the largest and fastest-growing pure-play cloud communications and collaboration provider, with 37 percent growth year-over-year of RingCentral Office annualized exit recurring software subscriptions based on Q2 2017 earnings results, RingCentral says. The company combines cloud PBX, team messaging and collaboration, and video and web conferencing in a single integrated platform for global delivery.
UC analyst Jon Arnold said RingCentral, West, Mitel and Vonage have been trying to move upmarket for a while. They have to in order to grow, he added, so they talk a lot about how many enterprise customers they have and how they can scale. But outside North America, he added, their penetration is still in the low single digits.
Frank Stinson of IntelliCom Analytics added that the UCaaS providers may be talking more about going global because Microsofts strategy is clearly a global one. Microsoft has local service partners that can address the needs of global customers.
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Edited by Mandi Nowitz
[October 13, 2017] Illinois American Water Announces Winners of "Imagine a Day Without Water" Art Contest
Illinois American Water has chosen the winners of its annual Imagine a Day Without Water art contest. The company offered the contest to 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classrooms within the Company's service area. The contest is held annually in conjunction with the Value of Water Coalition's "Imagine a Day Without Water" event to raise awareness about the value of water service. "It's hard to imagine even just one day without water. We need water to make our morning coffee, to cook family dinners, to fight fires, for public health and more. Even though water service is essential, the public often takes its value for granted," said Bruce Hauk, president of Illinois American Water. He continued, "We want to thank our local educators for taking time to talk to their students about the value of water. Our team was impressed with the number and quality of entries received from across the state." The art contest winners listed below earned a $100 donation for their classroom:
Jaden Lucas, 5th grader at Grace Christian School in Pontiac
Mary Clavey, 4th grader at St. Matthew Catholic School in Champaign
Sam Kurka, 4th grader at West Lincoln-Broadwell Elementary School in Lincoln
Allison Smith, 5th grader at Northlawn Junior High School in Streator
Cuinn Donnellan, 4th grader at St. Peter's Catholic School in South Beloit
Sydney Plavec, 4th gader at St. Vincent de Paul School in Peoria
th grader at Pleasant Hill Elementary School in Peoria
Twanya Davis, 5th grader at East Elementary School in Alton
Brooke Rister, 5th grader at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Godfrey
Cassidy Eccles, 5th grader at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Godfrey
Eila Brian, 4th grader at St. Joseph's Catholic School in Pekin
Sean Tison, 5th grader at Union Elementary School in Belleville
Rheece Garavalia, 3rd grader at Blessed Sacrament School in Belleville
Cayden McNease, 3rd grader at Notre Dame Academy in Belleville Winning artwork can be viewed on Illinois American Water's Facebook (News - Alert) page at http://tinyurl.com/y6uno93g. More information on "Imagine a Day Without Water" can be found at http://imagineadaywithoutwater.org/
About Illinois American Water - Illinois American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.3 million people. American Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in Belleville. With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly-traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171013005680/en/
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PM reiterates commitment to polls
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday reiterated his commitment to the upcoming elections, saying both federal and provincial polls will be held on the announced dates.
[October 13, 2017] Baron & Budd Teams Up With Wildfire Lawyers Singleton Law Firm and Ed Diab To Represent Victims of Deadly California Wildfires
The national law firm of Baron & Budd has joined forces with California wildfire experts Singleton Law Firm and Ed Diab, Esq., to investigate the wildfires currently ravaging Northern California, including, but not limited to, the Atlas fire in Napa County, the Tubbs fire in Sonoma County, the Redwood Complex and Potter fires in Mendocino County and the Cascade fire in Yuba County. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171013005699/en/ Map of Northern California Wildfire Locations (Photo: Business Wire) To date, this outbreak of wildfires has claimed the lives of 31 individuals and has destroyed more than 115,000 acres of land since Sunday, October 8. California's fire chief estimates that 2,834 homes, businesses and other buildings have been destroyed by these fires. In addition, 400,000 square feet of commercial space was also destroyed. Many of the structures destroyed were in the city of Santa Rosa - a major urban center that is home to approximately 167,000 residents. News reports have linked California power company PG&E (News - Alert) to the fire in Sonoma, with multiple reports called in to emergency dispatchers to report downed power lines and exploding electrical transformers. The California Public Utilities Commission fined PG&E $8.3 million in April 2017 for failing to maintain a power line that created the Butte Fire in Amador County. Baron & Budd represents victims of the Butte Fire who sued the utility giant for damags including displacement expenses, lost wages and loss of property.
"As a California resident, it has been heartbreaking to see the widespread devastation that these fires have created in communities throughout the state," said Baron & Budd Attorney John Fiske. "We are actively working to determine and confirm if power lines were the cause of these fires. As in the case of the Butte wildfire, which was linked to PG&E negligence, we are prepared to act quickly on behalf of the residents and businesses who have lost so much due to what may be another case of corporate carelessness. At Baron & Budd, we consider it a privilege to support the people who were impacted by past wildfires, and know that there is truly nothing that can prepare people for the physical and emotional toll of escaping these terrifying blazes." According to news reports, the Tubbs fire is only ten percent contained, and the Atlas Fire is only three percent contained. Current weather conditions are expected to create favorable conditions for the fires, a situation that is worsened by a weather forecast which shows no rain is likely for at least seven days in most parts of California. Historically, the state experiences the most devastating wildfires during October.
Baron & Budd's Environmental Litigation Group is investigating the cause of the fire. For legal help, representation and questions, please call (707) 533-8128. ABOUT BARON & BUDD, P.C. The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Diego, is a nationally recognized law firm with a nearly 40-year history of "Protecting What's Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd's size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals and government and business entities in areas as diverse as dangerous pharmaceuticals and medical devices, environmental contamination, the Gulf oil spill, financial fraud, overtime violations, deceptive advertising, automotive defects, trucking accidents, nursing home abuse, and asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma. ABOUT SINGLETON LAW FIRM, APC (News - Alert) Singleton Law Firm, based in San Diego, is one of the top fire litigation firms in the state of California. We have represented thousands of individuals in major fires all over the state of California, and we have recovered over $600 million for our clients in fire cases. Our lead attorney, Gerald Singleton, has served as Liaison Counsel and on the Executive Committees in some of the largest fires in the state. We currently represent over 2,000 individuals in the 2015 Butte Fire, which was a catastrophic fire started by PG&E power lines that burned over 70,000 acres in Calaveras and Amador counties. We recently represented the largest individual group of plaintiffs in the 2013 Powerhouse Fire in Los Angeles County, and Mr. Singleton served as Liaison Counsel for that case. Prior to the Powerhouse Fire, Singleton Law Firm was one of four firms who teamed up in a joint venture to represent over 1,600 individuals in the 2007 San Diego Fires. Although we specialize in high value cases, we represent individuals and business with all types of damages, from wrongful deaths to homeowners to renters. ABOUT ED DIAB, ESQ. Ed Diab is a nationally recognized attorney that has litigated numerous wildfire cases throughout the country. He was actively involved in the widely publicized lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric arising out of the 2010 San Bruno Gas Pipeline Explosion that leveled 38 homes and killed 8. He represented parties with property damage claims arising out of the 2013 Powerhouse Wildfire in Los Angeles that scored more than 30,000 acres in Santa Clarita. He also represented numerous people in lawsuits against Pacific Gas & Electric that sustained significant property damages arising out of the 2015 Butte Fire in Amador/Calaveras County that burned over 70,000 acres. Mr. Diab has also litigated gas explosion and wildfire claims in Montana, Washington and Texas. Because of the foregoing experience, Mr. Diab has been appointed by courts to several Plaintiffs Steering and Executive Committee positions to assist in guiding mass actions to resolution or trial. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171013005699/en/
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BlueCross Hosts Medicare Advantage Community Meetings
Individuals who are interested in learning more about Medicare coverage options can attend one of more than 70 meetings BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is hosting across the state over the coming weeks.
The meetings, which are free and open to the public, are designed to educate attendees about the Medicare Advantage options available through BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
"These sessions offer information on how to choose and use a Medicare plan," said Lisa Wright, principal consultant for community prgrams for BlueCross. "Whether you're newly eligible or considering a change to a different plan, our goal is to offer one-on-one support to help you find the option that best meets your needs."
For those not able to make an in-person meeting, BlueCross offers virtual information sessions via Facebook Live.
BlueCross offers all-in-one Medicare plan options that include prescription, medical and hospital coverage with premiums as low as $0, no deductibles and no referrals. Plans include dental, vision and hearing aid coverage, and also offer SilverSneakers gym memberships at no extra cost.
To find a community meeting near you, visit bcbstmedicare.com.
About BlueCross
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's mission is to provide peace of mind through better health. Founded in 1945, the Chattanooga-based company is focused on serving more than 3.4 million members in Tennessee and across the country. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit the company's website at bcbst.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171013005701/en/
[October 13, 2017] National Public Finance Guarantee Voluntarily Dismisses Adversary Complaint That Sought to Compel PREPA to Remit Pledged Revenues to the Bond Trustee
National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation (National), an indirect subsidiary of MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI), today announced that National and other creditors have voluntarily dismissed without prejudice the adversary complaint filed on August 7, 2017 which sought to compel the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority ("PREPA") to deposit revenues with the bond Trustee as required by the terms of the PREPA Trust Agreement, PROMESA and the U.S. Constitution. The voluntary dismissal of this proceeding follows National's decision on October 6, 2017 to dismiss a separate action that challenged the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico's fiscal plan. "While we have strong legal rights and believe that PREPA is required to remit pledged revenues to the bond Trustee, we also believe that it would be inappropriate to continue litigating the issue while PREPA is fully engaged in efforts to restore power across the island," said Bill Fallon, CEO of National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation. "Consequently, National has voluntarily dismissed without prejudice its adversary complaint against PREPA, the Oversight Board and other parties. We hope that PREPA will view this as a renewed opportunity, once circumstances permit, to re-engage with creditors to resolve the utility's debt and position it for greater efficiency, reliability and renewed market access in the future. As a guarantor of Puerto Rico's debt, National succeeds when the island succeeds and our interests will reman aligned with Puerto Rico for decades to come."
Forward-Looking Statements This release includes statements that are not historical or current facts and are "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "will likely result," "looking forward" or "will continue," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical earnings and those presently anticipated or projected, including, among other factors, the possibility that MBIA Inc. or National will experience increased credit losses or impairments on public finance obligations issued by state, local and territorial governments and finance authorities that are experiencing unprecedented fiscal stress; the possibility that loss reserve estimates are not adequate to cover potential claims; MBIA Inc.'s or National's ability to fully implement their strategic plan; and changes in general economic and competitive conditions. These and other factors that could affect financial performance or could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates contained in or underlying MBIA Inc.'s or National's forward-looking statements are discussed under the "Risk Factors" section in MBIA Inc.'s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which may be updated or amended in MBIA Inc.'s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. MBIA Inc. and National caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only to their respective dates. National and MBIA Inc. undertake no obligation to publicly correct or update any forward-looking statement if it later becomes aware that such result is not likely to be achieved.
National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation, an indirect subsidiary of MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI), is headquartered in Purchase, New York and provides financial guarantee insurance for the U.S. public finance market. Please visit National's website at www.nationalpfg.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171013005706/en/
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[October 13, 2017] Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, has productive discussions on climate action and clean growth with Irish leaders
DUBLIN, Oct. 13, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, met with Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar; Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten; Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy; and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney. During the meeting with Taoiseach Varadkar, both sides underscored the strong ties between Canada and Ireland. They pointed to the opening of a new Irish ?Consulate in Vancouver and the addition of direct flights from Canada to Ireland as signs of this strong relationship. They discussed the benefits of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the economic opportunities created by climate action and clean growth. They also talked about thepossible effects of the preliminary U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into imports of Bombardier's C Series aircraft could have on workers, communities and the aerospace sector in both Canada and Northern Ireland.
Minister McKenna and Minister Naughten discussed the need to take ambitious climate action and the need to urgently reduce carbon pollution. They also discussed the importance of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which can prevent the increase of global temperature of up to half a degree Celsius by 2100, in the lead up to its ratification. Minister McKenna and Minister Coveney discussed ways Canada and Ireland can increase trade in clean technologies under CETA and how it can support climate action and growth. Further, they underscored the importance of Bombardier and the C Series aircraft to the economy of Northern Ireland. They agreed to continue to raise this issue with Boeing and with the U.S. government at the highest levels on behalf of aerospace workers in both Canada and Northern Ireland.
Minister McKenna and Minister Murphy discussed green energy efficient buildings, and the great opportunity it presents for climate action and clean growth. All discussions touched on how Canada and Ireland can cooperate on clean technology and renewable energy such as tidal and offshore wind power. These meetings helped strengthen the strong ties between Canada and Ireland. Canada will continue to work with partners to transition to a low-carbon economy to leave a healthier planet and a strong low carbon economy to future generations. SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada
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Mohan Guragain is a desk editor at The Kathmandu Post. He edited a provincial youth-oriented monthly paper for nearly two years before joining The Himalayan Times in 2008. Guragain also writes occasionally on politics and socio-economic issues. He joined the Post in 2010.
Jackson County Legislature Continues SMACK DOWN Of Executive Frank White
Gun Grabbers Talk Kansas City Crime
Desperate Mayor Sly SPAMS Amazon
At the conclusion of this Friday the 13th we offer a glimpse at the top ranking Kansas City locals and their power moves this week.Take a look:Under the radar of most Kansas City media . . . Political upheaval has taken hold in Jackson County asThe strongest supporters of Exec Frank While believe that his popularity and legacy will carry him through this crisis but Courthouse insiders contend that his ability to govern has been completely undermined and irreparably damaged given his ongoing troubles managing his job duties.In the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. History, this weekTech media noted thatand might violate Amazon's terms of service. Nevertheless, it's a strong media move as the City's leader struggles to avoid lame duck status while so many locals start their campaign to replace the termed out politico.And so . . .As always, this list has been compiled according toand it's a weekly comprehensive guide to Kansas City's most powerful people.
As protests sparked by the Stockley verdict continue, Ferguson police make arrests Ferguson police arrested a handful of protesters late Friday during a demonstration in front of the city's Police Department. The arrests, made about 45 minutes into a demonstration billed as a "liberation party," came after a Ferguson officer used a bullhorn to warn that protesters who were blocking traffic on the street were in violation of a city ordinance.
A movement takes hold on the other side of the state as activists have been persistent in their complaints and police seem to be losing their patience. Checkit:
Thunderstorm Warning Afternoon
Storms roll through the KC area on Saturday The area has already seen a few showers and some thunder, but expect to see more wet weather before storms roll in this evening. Late in the afternoon and in the evening is when we'll see some stronger storms. Some could be severe.
JaxCo Tax Hot Mess
Jackson County's blunder in assessing Country Club Plaza shorts KC schools The Country Club Plaza sold for $660 million nearly two years ago. The Jackson County assessor's office set its value -- minus intangibles, such as the Plaza brand, and other non-real estate variables -- at $375 million. Yet the shopping district's 26 properties are now on the tax rolls at $145 million.
KCK Testimony After EXONERATION
Lamonte McIntyre 'thankful' he's been exonerated "I'm now in control of my own life and no one else is holding the key to mine," Lamonte McIntyre said. McIntyre was exonerated Friday in a 1994 double murder in...
1st Responder Report
Firefighters deal with large abandoned building fire on Friday night Kansas City firefighters battled a large fire on the city's east side on Friday night.
Kansas City Chiefs Consideration
Chiefs vs. Steelers Madden sim: Can Kansas City avenge its playoff loss? The Week 6 Madden simulation is here, and it features Big Ben's Pittsburgh Steelers trying to turn it around after their bad loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars while the Kansas City Chiefs try to stay undefeated. Watch above, or if you can't, here's the link.
On this rainy Saturday in the Kansas City metro and we have more than a few links here keep our blog community occupied with Internets reading in addition to. Checkit:And this is thefor right now . . .
ONE MORE CUP PENS A HOPEFUL BUT DEFIANT COMMENT REGARDING STARBUCKS NEARBY!!!
"This isn't scary to us. It's disappointing, since we love that Brookside and Waldo has been mostly small, unique, locally-owned joints. There has been a trend of non-local property owners in the area who don't really seem to actually know the neighborhoods they buy in. We hope people continue striving to support and buy local, but...
People will go to this Starbucks. They'll also go to The Roasterie, Bella Napoli, Second Best, Crows, One More Cup. Each shop will have the people who swear it's the best, who swear it's the worst, and everything in between. We are going to keep doing what we do - talking with people, serving up great drinks and snacks, and being ourselves. No other shop will make or break us, just our own actions will. Drink what makes you happy, and where you feel good."
Here's a bit of good local news and a glimpse at the true spirit of competition from Kansas City small biz that deserves to be appreciated and savored.Checkit . . .Take a look at the best reaction to the Starbucks Brookside move The reality is that "One More Cup" offers a unique experience that no other local place can replicate. They hire great, friendly people and serve their customers with a lot of care . . . The same can't be said of Starbucks.Even better, of all the coffee places in KC . . . The One More Cup Instagram actually feels like it's operated by aperson and in this day and age of corporate-speak . . . That is noteworthy.As always, we want our blog community to support local biz and this bit of bravery in the face of a mega-corporation is one of the reasons why.You decide . . .
Fortifying its strong presence in the countrys high-end commercial office real estate space, Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC), the kingdoms iconic landmark building, will be taking part in the upcoming Bahrain International Property Show (Bipex) in the capital Manama.
A major event that brings together leading Bahraini real estate companies and builders to highlight projects for investors and visitors, Bipex will run from October 26 to 28 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.
It is being organised by Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE) under the patronage of Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
A business address of choice for leading global and regional firms, BWTC will be taking part in the expo for the second time, having previously participated in other industry events including Gulf Property Show 2017 and Cityscape Dubai.
At the Bipex event, the 44-storey twin office towers will be advocating its world-class business amenities as well as competitive leasing options and showcasing them at its exhibition stands, E26 and F27, for business visitors to get more information on the property, said a statement from BWTC.
With the growth of Bahrains non-oil sector reaching 4.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, up from 3.7 per cent last year, as per Bahrain Economic Development Boards (EDB) economic quarterly report, the kingdoms commercial real estate market has remained stable with resilient occupancy and rental rates over the summer months, usually considered a lull period.
Financial services, transportation and communications sectors in particular have continued to perform strongly, resulting in increased leasing enquiries, as international businesses make Bahrain their preferred Middle East office headquarters, or look to expand existing operations, it stated.
To date, BWTC has secured eleven new lease agreements, a total of 7,444 sq m, representing six per cent of the developments total area.
In addition, seven lease renewals have been successfully completed, a total of 1,547 sq m, said a company spokesman.
BWTCs tenant portfolio now boasts a commanding 39 per cent of banking and financial services, 26 per cent of consulting firms and 11 per cent of real estate, with the remainder from other sectors, he noted.
Additionally, with hospitality and restaurants emerging as one of the fastest growing sectors, Moda Mall, the luxury shopping destination which is located at BWTC will be highlighting its high-end facilities to host additional food and beverage offerings, said the spokesman.
Customers will enjoy an elegant and relaxed ambience, complementing the business-oriented services of BWTC, he added.
To further highlight its dominant position in the kingdoms commercial real estate market, BWTC will be hosting an event on Tuesday (October 17) for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the global professional body which underpins international standards in valuation, management and development of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
Guest of honour for the event will be UK Ambassador to Bahrain Simon Martin.-TradeArabia News Service
US President Donald Trump has threatened to terminate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if Congress and US allies fail to amend the agreement in significant ways.
In a vituperative speech on Friday that began by listing Irans alleged crimes over the decades, Trump announced he would not continue to certify the agreement to Congress, but stopped short of immediately cancelling US participation in the deal, reported The Guardian.
Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Irans nuclear breakout, Trump said at the White House.
Trump put the onus on Congress and US allies to agree to means to toughen the conditions on Iran and to make restriction on the countrys nuclear programme permanent.
He made clear that if those negotiations fail to reach a solution which is almost certain he would unilaterally pull the US out of the international agreement, a move likely to lead to a return to nuclear confrontation in the Middle East, stated The Guardian.
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. It is under continuous review and our participation can be cancelled by me, as president, at any time, he added.
The president also announced he had ordered the US Treasury to impose new sanctions on Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a backer of terrorist groups in the region, although the state department did not designate the IRGC as a terrorist group itself.
The international backlash to Trumps speech was immediate. The leaders of the UK, France and Germany also signatories of the nuclear deal issued a statement vowing their commitment to the agreement.
The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, insisted that the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was working, and that no single country or leader could terminate it.
The president of the United States has many powers, but not this one, Mogherini told reporters in Brussels.
Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UNs nuclear watchdog, issued a statement restating the agencys finding that Iran was abiding by its obligations.
Within minutes of Trumps speech, Irans president, Hassan Rouhani, went live on state television.
He said: What we heard tonight was a repeat of the same baseless accusations and insults that weve heard over the past 40 years. It had nothing new; we werent surprised because for 40 years weve got used to these words. With your baseless speech you made our people more united.
Rouhani went on: Today, the US is more isolated than ever against the nuclear deal, [more] isolated than any other time in its plots against people of Iran.
However Trump's bold decision won a lot of backing from the region.
Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he wanted to congratulate President Trump for his courageous decision today and for boldly confront[ing] Irans terrorist regime.
Netanyahu, who has always opposed the agreement with Iran, said Trumps announcement created an opportunity to fix this bad deal and was a sign of his steely determination.
GCC countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE have welcomed what it called a new US strategy toward Iran.
Saudi Arabia lauded Trump's aggressive approach while praising his vision in this and commitment to work with the allies of the US in the region, to face their common challenges, particularly Iran's aggressive policies and actions.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia has previously supported the nuclear agreement between Iran and the "5 + 1" powers, in the belief that it is necessary to limit the regional and international proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, its statement stressed, adding that it had hoped that the agreement would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, to achieve security and peace in the region.
However, Iran had exploited the economic benefits of the lifting of the sanctions and used them to continue destabilising the region, especially through its ballistic missile development programme and its support for terrorism, including Hezbollah and the Houthi militias in Yemen, stated the SPA report.
Iran has not only flagrantly violated the resolution, but also transferred the benefits and its experience to its client militias, including the Houthi militias, which used the missiles to target Saudi Arabia, hence exposing the falsity of its claims that the development of these capabilities is only for defensive purposes, it added.
Students want Education Act amendment revoked
Students picketed the office of Education Minister Gopal Man Shrestha in the Capital on Friday, demanding withdrawal of the ninth amendment to the Education Act.
Teach your children well
Anbika Giris new childrens book, Hamro Kura Pani Sunnus, gives a peek into the psyche of the children and their vast emotional world.
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 14
The Amritsar rural police seized a major haul of industrial alcohol from two Mohali residents, who were carrying it to the Khasa distillery. But before reaching the distillery, the alcohol was being pilfered near Rampura village when a police team reached there and confiscated the alcohol.
Those arrested were identified as Kulbir Singh of Bakarpur, Mohali, and Sanjiv Kumar of Saneda in Mohali. Their third accomplice, identified as Sandeep Singh of Chhapa Ram Singh village, managed to dodge the police party.
The police confiscated over 24,000 litres of alcohol and the canter used for transporting it to the Khasa distillery.
Nirmal Singh, SHO, Chatiwind police station, said the police received a tip-off that the accused used to pilfer alcohol from the canter and sell it by diluting it with water. He said the police party was holding a naka at Jheete Kalan village when it received specific information regarding pilfering of alcohol from the canter. The alcohol is then sold in the rural belt by bootleggers at cheaper rates. The alcohol consumed directly after mixing it with water could prove fatal for consumers.
Only yesterday, the city police had arrested three persons with over 3,000 litres of pilfered alcohol, indicating the practice was continuing.
Mumbai, October 14
Ending months of speculation, Indusind Bank and the second largest microlender Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL) on Saturday announced largest merger in the MFI space in an all-share deal, which will help the private sector lender push its rural network and bring down credit cost for small borrowers.
The merger, which will add 6.8 million customers to Indusind's 10 million now, and which comes amid a slew of similar announcements involving the urban-focused new age private sector lenders such as Kotak Bank and IDFC Bank, will also help reduce cost of lending for micro borrowers as cheaper deposits can be used to fund their credit needs.
"The biggest gain for us is the rural network. It will also us help reduce cost of funds by 3-4 per cent," Indusind Bank managing director and chief executive Ramesh Sobti said.
Earlier this afternoon, the boards of both the lenders separately decided on the merger and approved the share swap ratio wherein BFIL shareholders will get 639 shares of Indusind for every 1,000 shares held.
The balance-sheet of BFIL, including the entire capital, assets and liabilities will move into Indusind, while the operation team will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary and work as business correspondents.
The combined entity will have 40,000 employees, Sobti said, stating all the 15,000 employees of BFIL will be absorbed and continue in the same role. However, the board of the Hinduja Group promoted bank will remain unchanged.
The Indusind scrip closed 0.43 per cent up at Rs 1,750.15 on the BSE on Friday, while BFIL shares closed 0.38 per cent up at Rs 1,003.45.
Sobti conceded that there is a 12-13 per cent premium over the average stock prices in the past two weeks which BFIL shareholders will get, but justified it on the Rs 9,500-crore loan book which his bank gets and also the synergies that will deliver higher value going forward.
The merger, expected to take up to 10 months to consummate, will help the bank in its rural play, where it has only 250 of its 1,210 branches, Sobti said.
BFIL's network touches 1 lakh villages across the country and the merger will help it act as a full service bank rather than the monoline micro-loan provider, BFIL managing director and chief executive MR Rao said.
In the past few months, speculation has been strong about BFIL's suitor, especially after repeated attempts by the microlender which has survived multiple crises to turn into a small finance bank have failed. Many of its peers did manage to turn into the new-age entities.
PH Ravi Kumar, non-executive chairman of BFIL, said the merger is not "an easy one" for the MFI and shared a trivia by stating that the announcement comes on the seventh anniversary of the passage of the Andhra MFI Act, which had led to doubts over the very survival of the sector.
This regulatory overreach had forced BFIL, floated by the high profile Vikram Akula as SKS Microfinance, and taken to a historic IPO in 2010 making it the first MFI to go public, to even change to its present name. The Andhra law left every player bleeding for a few years and forced RBI to bring the sector under its purview.
BFIL feels only two areas of the banking segment -- the lower-middle class and those around poverty line --are the ones accretive to margins and when coupled with the full range of service offerings, the merger is a win-win.
Sobti elaborated saying that apart from reducing cost of funds, merger will help Indusind not just achieve the priority sector lending sub-targets but also exceed them, making it a player in the PSL certificates market that is fee-accretive.
Because of the lower risk weights attached to lending by banks, it will help conserve capital as well, Sobti added, adding "the merger is value accretive from day one."
When asked about the structure of absorbing the balance sheet and keeping operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary, Sobti said it is in sync with past precedents which have been cleared by the regulators and will also help maintain the ethos of the company.
The merger, which comes amid a surge in agri loan losses by banks, will increase share of micro loans to 7 per cent of the loan book of Indusind from 2.8 per cent now, Sobti said, but will dip to 5 per cent over the next three years.
Asserting that microloan segment is "high yielding and has low delinquency rates", Sobti said it will not lead to much troubles on the asset quality as BFIL has a 99.6 per cent repayment levels in this calendar year, after the note-bank hiccups stabilised.
Rao chipped in saying demonetisation led to a Rs 400-crore loan loss for BFIL, but it has been fully provided.
The deal will have to pass through a slew of regulators such as the Reserve Bank, National Company Law Board Tribunal and fair-play watchdog CCI. PTI
Tribune News Service
Mohali, October 13
Appealing to school children and head of private schools to spread the message of Green Diwali in Mohali to promote the celebration of cracker-free green Diwali in the district during a function at Manav Mangal Smart School, Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said fire crackers contribute to noise pollution and environment pollution and are a matter of great concern on Diwali.
She said Diwali should be celebrated by only lighting candles and diyas.
She said cracker-free Diwali would save money which should be utilised for donating books to the poor and needy families, which will be a great contribution to society.
DC Sapra launched a sticker of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.
She said: We should not create any difference among boys and girls and should give respect to girls in society.
She said any kind of abuse with girls, if noticed, should be brought to the notice of parents and teachers.
A short play on the theme of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was staged by the students of Rattan Group of Colleges.
Tribune News Service
Mohali, October 13
Cracker dealers today expressed disappointment over the Punjab and Haryana High Court order to fix timing for bursting of crackers from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm this Diwali.
Traders termed the decision, taken to curb pollution level, as unnecessary and ad hoc. The order will be in effect till October 26, a week after Diwali ends.
The cracker sellers said pollution was caused by other factors such as burning of fossil fuels, burning of paddy straw, industrial discharge, mining and vehicles.
Vehicular traffic causes pollution on an exponential level. The authorities should put a ban on the movement of vehicles as well, said Seemant Sood, a third-generation cracker seller in Kurali.
He said: The order will cause inconvenience to local residents and children. What is Diwali without bursting crackers?
Balwinder Sood, another trader, said: The order will directly impact the sales and cause losses. This is a virtual ban on firecrackers. The authorities should consult small traders and unions before taking such an extreme step. High GST rate of 28 per cent is already eating into the profit margins.
Another seller said the order would impact several thousands of employees working in the industry.
Amarjeet Singh, a local resident, raised concern over the implementation of the order.
It will be tough to execute such an order. Will the police issue challans to children bursting crackers a day or two before Diwali? he asked.
A resident of Phase 2 said regulating the timing for bursting crackers was a good move considering high particulate matter in the air. Smog after Diwali can cause respiratory ailments, he said.
The Mohali administration has earmarked 17 sites for sale of crackers in the district and has issued 13 licences so far.
A cracker seller in Kurali said the HC order to regulate timings for bursting crackers and issuing 20 per cent less licences this year would result in a loss of about 60 per cent to cracker sellers.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday ordered Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to allow bursting of crackers only from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm. Chandigarh Tribune spoke to a cross-section of people to know how they feel about it.
Teams will be formed
We will hold a meeting with the police and other enforcement authorities to plan a strategy for implementing the order of the High Court to fix timings for bursting of crackers. Teams of officers will also be formed to ensure the compliance of the order.
Rajiv Gupta, Additional Deputy Commissioner
Order to check noise, air pollution
The order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the restriction on bursting crackers and permitting the same from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm only is almost in line with the order of the Apex Court, which was made in the larger interest of public health and controlling noise as well as air pollution.
Ajay Jagga, advocate
Order binding on everyone
The order of the High Court for allowing the bursting of crackers from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm only is binding on everyone. Parents should ensure that children should burst crackers only within the permissible time.
Pawan Kumar Bansal, former Union Minister
Two dimensions of order
There are two dimensions of the order of fixing the timing for bursting crackers. Though the intention of the order is noble as it aims at reducing pollution, the restriction should not be limited to one community/event only as it relates with faith, religion and the tradition.
Sanjay Tandon, president, BJP Chandigarh
Will help reduce pollution
While Diwali is the festival of celebrations and people have been bursting crackers for years, the order of the court to limit the time should also be viewed in the right perceptive as it will help in reducing the pollution.
Ramkaran Gupta, president, Grain Market association
Time should be extended
The intention of the order to fix the time limit for bursting crackers is in right direction, but it will be good if the time is extended for two more hours. The Administration should also ensure that the traders should not suffer losses, who have purchased crackers in advance investing a huge amount of money, after reducing the numbers of the licence.
Charanjeev Singh, chairman, Chandigarh Beopar Mandal
Ensure that directions are followed
We are yet to receive the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding timing for bursting of crackers. However, we will ensure that any directions by the court for the Police Department are followed.
OP Mishra, UT DIG
Cops to challan violators
The police would ensure strict compliance of the order and issue challans to people violating the order.
Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Mohali SSP
Celebrate cracker-free Diwali
It was a welcome move in view of the rising pollution in cities. I hope residents respect the decision and celebrate a cracker-free Diwali.
Balbir Singh Sidhu, Mohali MLA
Will comply with order
The order of the High Court will be complied with in letter and in spirit.
Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, Mohali DC
Decision taken too late
While pollution needed to be curbed, the decision was taken too late. What will cracker dealers do with the excess stock that will go unsold due to the order? Already, traders are suffering losses due to demonetisation and GST. The decision should have been taken 2 months ago.
Shailender Anand, senior vice-president of Beopar Mandal, Mohali
Residents should respect decision
I welcome the decision. A three-hour window for bursting crackers is good for all parties. It respects the tradition of bursting crackers while keeping pollution in check. The traders will be affected, but some sacrifices are required for the greater good of community. I will appeal to residents to respect the HC order.
Kulwant Singh, Mohali Mayor
Nobody will be allowed to violate orders
The Panchkula administration will fully comply with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The draw of lots will be held at 5 pm on October 16. Nobody will be allowed to violate the orders of the High Court.
Gauri Parashar Joshi, Panchkula DC
A welcome step
The Panchkula Municipal Corporation is already spreading awareness for the Green Diwali campaign. The High Court order is a welcome step and the Municipal Corporation will also ensure strict implementation of HC order.
Rajesh Jogpal, Panchkula MC Commissioner
Duties to be assigned accordingly
We are yet to see the copy of the order. After receiving the order, I will hold a meeting with police officers and duties will be assigned accordingly for the implementation of the High Court order.
AS Chawla, Panchkula Police Commissioner
Assn members to follow directions
It is a welcome decision. The High Court has not banned bursting of crackers. It has only limited the time and day, which will save our environment. The association welcomes the High Court order and our association members will also comply with the directions.
Arun Grover, Chairman, Industries Welfare Association, Panchkula
Will help save people from health problems
Our association welcomes the High Court order as it will not only save the environment, but will also save people from other health problems, which are caused due to pollution after bursting crackers. I think the public should support the order issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Vishnu Goyal, state president, Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Will spread awareness among people
The order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court will ultimately help in protecting the environment. I along with my councillors will support the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions and will also spread awareness among the public to follow the same.
Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia, Panchkula Mayor
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 13
On the 8th day of Jan Raksha Yatra organized by BJP Delhi Pradesh to protest against the leftist violence in Kerala, thousands of workers from Outer Delhi District assembled at Mandir Marg today.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda and national general secretary Arun Singh and the workers marched up to the head office of CPM at Bhai Veer Singh Marg where they staged a demonstration.
During the march, Nadda said, Taliban and leftists are the products of one thinking and the method of work of both the groups is similar. This is to force the people to follow their thinking and those who do not follow them should be eliminated.
And the foundation of the Government in Kerala lies on the dead bodies of the BJP and RSS workers and the Chief Minister himself is one of the accused in the case of murder, he added.
Arun Singh said, RSS and BJP workers are sacrificing their lives for establishing nationalism in Kerala. I had gone in that District of Kerala in connection with this movement from where Chief Minister P. Vijayan is elected. I met a mother in the village of the Chief Minister who had lost her husband and after that her son fighting for nationalism.
A teacher who talked about nationalism before the children of a school was cut into 52 pieces. Such acts and thinking do not build the nation rather create atmosphere of terror, he added
Dr Udit Raj, MP from North-west Delhi constituency, said, Violation and oppression do not last long and the BJP workers are united against leftist violence. I am fully confident that the unity of BJP workers will bring an end to the leftist violence.
BJP leader Sardar Arvinder Singh Lovely during the protest said, There are many golden chapters in the history of India. There is also a tradition of sacrifices for the country but the leftist thinking is a black chapter in the golden history of India.
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, October 14
Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including a top commander of the group, were killed in a gunfight in Pulwama in south Kashmir on Saturday morning.
The gunfight erupted in the wee hours when joint teams of police, army and CRPF launched an operation at Litter village, 35 km from here, after an input about the militant presence.
Later, a youth was killed and over a dozen injured in the clashes in Pulwama that erupted after the killing of the militants.
As the suspected houses were zeroed in on, the hiding militants fired at the forces to break the cordon. The fire was returned and in the gunfight two Lashkar militants were killed, a police officer said.
Army identified one of the slain militants as Waseem Shah, the district commander of the group in Shopian.
Shah, 23, believed to be the main architect of unrest last year in south Kashmir and also known as Abu Osama Bhai, was killed at Litter, a place considered a safe haven for militants. This is the first counter-insurgency operation in Litter area in four years.
Jammu and Kashmir Police have been tracking the movements of Shah, who is considered as the don of Heff, another traditional stronghold of militants in south Kashmirs Shopian district.
He was found at a hideout at Litter and police and its special operation group team cordoned off the area, police said.
Shah, along with his bodyguard Nisar Ahmed Mir, made an attempt to flee the area but could not penetrate the cordon which had been strengthened by the presence of CRPF and Army, they said.
Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined militancy in May this year.
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A college dropout, Shah, a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian, joined militancy in 2014 and was considered as the chief architect of last years unrest in various parts of south Kashmir.
Born in a middle-class family of Gul Mohammed Shah, who ran his fruit business, Shah was an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group since his school days and had doubled up as a courier boy for the outfit, police said.
Of late, Shah, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was recruiting fresh cadres for the militant outfit.
He had been involved in various attacks on security forces in south Kashmir, police said. With PTI
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, October 14
A policeman was killed and another wounded in a militant attack on a PDP lawmakers cavalcade in south Kashmirs Kulgam on Saturday, police said.
The attack took place at Nadimarg in Kulgams DH Pora. Police said constable-driver Khurshid Ahmad was killed and another policeman injured.
"The area has been cordoned off and security force reinforcements rushed to the spot," police said. With inputs from IANS
Majid Jahangir and Suhail A Shah
Tribune News Service
Srinagar/Anantnag, October 14
Security forces dealt a blow to the Lashkar-e-Toiba when they gunned down its top local commander in south Kashmirs Pulwama even as militants killed a policeman in an attack at neighbouring Kulgam district.
Lashkars district commander for Shopian Waseem Shah, alias Abu Usma, of Heff, Shopian, who was on the Armys most wanted list of 12 militants, was killed along with his associate Nissar Mir in an hour-long gunfight in Lassipora Litter.
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The incident sparked clashes and protests. A youth, Gulzar Ahmad Mir, was killed and nearly a dozen persons injured during the clashes in alleged firing by the security force. The police, however, claimed Gulzar was killed in a crossfire.
The gunfight erupted in the wee hours when joint teams of the police, Army and CRPF launched an operation at Litter village, 35 km from here, after getting a tip-off about the presence of two Lashkar militants in a house. As a cordon was being laid, some civilians who came out of the house confirmed militants were inside. The militants were repeatedly asked to surrender but they opened fire. We retaliated and in the hour-long gunfight, the two were killed, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Muneer Khan said. He said the killing of Waseem was a huge success for the security forces.
After joining militancy in 2014, he was involved in many incidents. He was recruiting locals for the Lashkar, the IGP said.
Waseem was categorised as A++ militant and carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh. He was also in the group photo of Burhan Wani, in which the slain commander was seen with 10 local militants wielding automatic rifles. The photo had gone viral on the social media and raised a security alarm in the Valley. Except one, all militants in that photo have been neutralised.
Police sources said after the killing of Pakistani Lashkar operations chief Abu Ismail on Srinagar outskirts last month, Waseem was heading the groups operations in south Kashmir districts. According to locals, Waseems associate was Nissar Mir, a resident of Pulwama, who was pursuing MPhil through the distance education mode, before joining the militancy in May this year. The two militants were laid to rest in their native places.
Cop killed in Kulgam
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, October 13
The air quality index (AQI) in Ludhiana even on daily basis is much beyond than the permissible safe limits. The AQI from 1 to 50 is good, and from 50 to 100 is moderate. On day to day basis, the AQI in Ludhiana is whopping 287, which beyond the safety limits.
But, on the Diwali night it rises to 405, which is several times higher that the recommended safety limit of the quality. It points towards air becoming dangerous for inhaling.
Maneet Dewan, from I am, an NGO, explained pollution during a meeting of school heads with the PPCB chairman, Kahan Singh Pannu. Several NGOs and district administration attended the meeting held at Bachat Bhawan to discuss Green Diwali celebrations.
He said the damage caused due to pollution on Diwali was not just for one night, but had a long-term negative impact. Crackers not only emit poisonous gases, but also cause severe health problems, as these contain harmful chemicals. When crackers are burnt chemicals goes to the garbage. These are then absorbed into soil, groundwater and finally enter food chain and get consumed recurrently, he added.
As much as 1,000 metric tonnes of garbage is generated from firecrackers alone. Last year, 812 burn cases were reported on Diwali, which include 40 serious burn injuries, causing permanent handicap to victims, he said.
The noise pollution exceeded the permissible limits on Diwali, which could lead to hearing loss and permanent deafness, he added.
According to an estimate, crackers worth Rs 30 lakh are burnt within three hours, causing severe pollution. Ninety per cent of workers in firecracker industry are child labourers. So, we are not actually celebrating the festival. We are destroying our future, said Dewan.
Pannu said, The AQI in Ludhiana is 287. It is not far behind Delhi, which has the AQI of 315. It points towards severe air pollution in the city. He said, The problem of pollution is more pronounced in North India, as compared to the South, which has sea on three sides.
We are trying make ourselves extinct by not paying attention to the pollution, he added.
Motivate students to go cracker-free
Pannu asked heads and representatives of different schools to motivate students to opt for cracker-free Green Diwali. He suggested that schools must organise activities and debates to motivate children to go green. He said children should be given this message in the morning assemblies and class teachers could then spread it.
Students can be asked to take an oath. They can be shown how Diwali can be celebrated better without crackers. NGOs can also be roped in by schools to hold sessions with students and highlight how to celebrate the festival of lights. Group activities can also be organised for this purpose, he added.
Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agarwal also directed officials of the district administration, including SDMs, to keep a close watch on firecrackers, so that these were sold only in the designated areas.
Col Jasjit Singh Gill, from Lets Clean Ludhiana Trust, said, Pollution is not caused only by burning crackers. It is also caused by garbage set on fire by the Municipal Corporation. Garbage generated during Diwali contains burnt crackers, boxes and wrappers. The MC should rather give such garbage to any company that makes recycled papers and cardboards. This waste can even be auctioned from next year onwards.
There should be a total ban on sale of firecrackers
Ravneet Singh from EcoSikh said, The government must completely ban sale of firecrackers in the state. Later, he also presented leaflets of the campaign that the organisation has been spearheading to motivate people to celebrate Green Diwali.
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, October 14
Diwali is a festival of lights and not crackers. That is what volunteers of EcoSikh movement have been attempting to convince residents to celebrate Green Diwali. They are spreading the message among the people to shun crackers and take the festival as an opportunity to reconnect with family. Volunteers say, The people must rejoice together rather that wasting time and money on crackers.
Speaking about the initiative, Ravneet Singh from EcoSikh, a city-based NGO, said, We are campaigning with six points as people need to switch over to values and old ways of celebrating Diwali to bring back the greater joy that is associated with the festival.
In fact, not only should people give up on crackers, but they must avoid using electric bulbs, as good old diyas and limited number of candles per family are sufficient for celebrations, he added.
We see that even at religious places, people light up so many candles, only adding to the pollution. They should light only one candle per family at temples and gurdwaras, he said.
Because of the busy life schedule these days, Diwali and festivals are the time to reconnect with family. That is why people should rather celebrate the festival by having a good time together, he added.
It is ironical that people spend time buying gifts and crackers, instead of doing more important things. There is a need to reduce consumerism also because to celebrate a family needs members and not products, he said. It is important that instead of celebrating individually, a communist celebration of the festival should be held, which is more economical and less harmful to the environment, he added.
EcoSikh is also campaigning for switching over to organic Rangoli on Diwali by using flowers, petals, rice and pulses instead of chemicals or synthetic colours, he said.
Several volunteers of the NGO are campaigning for making Diwali environment friendly. Residents of the city are being sensitised on issues related to pollution. They are also being convinced to become a part of this movement, he added.
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, October 14
The BJP ticket aspirants waited with bated breath for the declaration of candidates for the 68 Assembly seats of Himachal Pradesh as a meeting of the partys central parliamentary board continued till late into the night in New Delhi. The party high command, however, withheld the list till tomorrow.
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Earlier, the central election committee of the party met to finalise the candidates and sources said that names for more than 55 seats have been finalised. BJP circles were agog with reports that some Congress ministers and MLAs are likely to join the party, but there was no confirmation. Sources said the seats where the BJP did not have potential candidates might be offered to those aspirants. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 6 pm but as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived late, it got delayed.
The fate of BJP MLAs Narender Thakur and Dr Anil Dhiman, who won the bypolls from Sujanpur and Bhoranj, and Maheshwar Singh, the lone Himachal Lokhit Party MLA who merged the party with the BJP, is also hanging in balance. There are 28 MLAs of the BJP in the 68-member House, while three Independents have supported the party.
Sukh rams son joins BJP
The Himachal Congress received a jolt on Saturday with Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma, son of Former Union Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, reportedly deserting the party and announcing the decision to join the BJP. Photographs of Anil Sharma wearing a BJP scarf went viral on social media. He confirmed the development in an interview with a TV channel. He said, I have been given the BJP ticket from Mandi and have also received intimation in this regard. Anil was upset as he and his father were sidelined.
Jitendra K Shrivastava
Tribune News Service
Patna, October 14
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his commitment to Bihars development, as the two leaders shared the stage for the first time after the JD (U) returned to the NDA fold.
He also announced an assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to 20 universities in the country to make them world-class institutions.
Modi, who attended the centenary celebrations of Patna University (PU) here along with Kumar, said the Centre and the state government led by Kumar would work together with a pledge to bring Bihar on par with the other prosperous states by 2022.
Nitishji is committed to the development of Bihar...and the central government has pledged to develop the country. Together, the two will work together to ensure that Bihar is counted among the prosperous states by 2022 when the country celebrates 75 years of Independence, the Prime Minister said.
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Modi said Bihar had been blessed by Saraswati, the Goddess of learning. But the time has come to propitiate Laxmi (Goddess of wealth and prosperity) as well and take the state to new heights of development, he said.
Addressing the gathering, Kumar said it is a day of great honour that the Prime Minister is present for Patna Universitys centenary celebrations.
He also made a fervent plea to Modi with folded hands that central status be granted to Patna University.
However, Modi, during his address, said measures like grant of central status were a thing of the past and his government had taken a step forward towards making 10 private universities and 10 government ones world-class.
I would like to say something about a demand that was raised here and met with loud cheers by the young crowd attending this ceremony. Issues like grant of central status have become a thing of the past. We are taking a step forward.
We will provide an assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to 10 private universities and to an equal number of government ones for a period of five years. All these universities have to do is to demonstrate their potential to become world-class, he said, adding, I exhort Patna University to seize this opportunity.
Modi began his speech on a humorous note, saying the chief minister said in his speech that I was the first Prime Minister to visit this university. It seems my predecessors have left quite a few tasks for me.
Earlier, the Prime Minister was welcomed by Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik and the Chief Minister among others at the Patna airport from where he drove straight to the Patna Science College campus.
This is the Prime Ministers first full-fledged official tour to the state since the BJP became a part of the ruling coalition in Bihar in July this year after Kumar-led JD (U) snapped its alliance with Lalu Prasads RJD and the Congress.
In August, Modi along with Kumar had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
The Prime Minister had promised a package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore in 2015 for the state during the campaign for the assembly elections in which the BJP and the JD (U) were pitted against each other.
The two parties remained partners in Bihar for 17 years but the JD (U) severed ties in mid-2013 over elevation of Modi as the BJPs prime ministerial candidate. With PTI
Washington
Scientists have found possible evidence of a source of energy that could be responsible for heating the Sun's atmosphere or corona.
In the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the researchers used data from the FOXSI-2 sounding rocket a rocket payload carrying seven telescopes designed to study the Sun.
Space researchers have always wondered why the Sun's atmosphere or corona is so much hotter than its surface.
The main obstacle in answering the question is the lack of suitable instruments for measuring what occurs on the Sun's surface and its atmosphere, 'Phys.org' reported.
The researchers, including those from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, tested a theory that suggests heat is injected into the atmosphere by multiple tiny explosions on the surface of the Sun.
Such flares are too small to see with most observational equipment, so the idea has remained just a theory.
However, the new data offers some evidence suggesting the theory is correct.
To test the theory, the researchers looked at X-ray emissions from the corona and found some that were very energetic.
This is significant, because solar flares emit X-rays. However, the team was studying a part of the Sun that had no visible solar flares occurring at the time.
The researchers suggest the only likely source is superheated plasma that could only have occurred due to nanoflares. PTI
Rajeev Jayaswal & Vijay C Roy
Weeks ahead of Diwali, Simran Kapur (name changed) enters a prominent home decor showroom in Chandigarh to buy curtains, fancy lamps, mattresses, bed-sheets, doormats etc. Her brief to the salesman is simple; Show me quality stuff, but please no Chinese products. Hearing this, the manager escorts her to the area that displays Indian brands. She selects products of a famous Mumbai-based company. Just before she swipes her credit card, the young manager hesitatingly informs her; Pardon me mam; I think I must tell you this fact before you purchase these items. It is true that you have bought all Indian brands, but these companies have got them manufactured in China.
Moral of the story is that Chinese hand is all-pervasive in manufacturing across the globe; be it American iPhones or French LV collections. Notwithstanding economic reasons for the Chinese omnipresence, there has been a growing clamour for boycotting Chinese goods, particularly during Indian festivals. Passions run high because of Chinas overt support to Pakistan post-Uri attack and recent confrontations over Doklam. Many Indians have already stopped buying Made in China products. But, most of them are unaware that Indian brands now resort to Make in China for better margins. Its all business; there is nothing illegal about it. Major international stores such as Walmart have been doing this for years; sourcing their own branded products from countries like China and India to save on the cost of production.
The situation is a little complicated this festive season mainly because of the Supreme Courts ban on sale of fireworks in Delhi and surrounding areas ahead of Diwali. Anyway, children of the cyber world, by-and-large, shun anything that pollutes the environment. This will significantly reduce backdoor entry of Chinese crackers in the Indian market. However, smart businessmen from the neighbouring country often push their products in our market without the Chinese tag to avoid over attention on the social media that is usually followed by a boycott or call for it.
Will crackdown on fireworks also affect sales of Chinese fancy lights? Dealers say a definite No. According to a Delhi-based wholesaler, Customers want Indian stuff. We also want to sell Indian products. But, we have no alternative. Indian companies cant match the Chinese quality, quantity and pricing. Both buyers and sellers know this fact.
Many major dealers in Lajpat Rai market in New Delhi say that they do keep some Indian products for sale along with the Chinese ones, but people often prefer Chinese ones because of their better finish. A Chandigarh-based trader echoes the same view. Customers demand us to show both Indian and Chinese products, but most of them ultimately go for Chinese, he said.
Besides quality and scale of production, Indian manufacturers also fail to match their Chinese counterparts in adaptability. Because sales of products from China had dropped significantly last year due to boycott of its goods, Chinese traders have now slashed their rates by 25 per cent to 50 per cent on several items, including decorative lamps, dinner sets and idols of Indian gods and goddesses. They still manage their margins by adjusting quality and quantity. On the other hand, Indian products are 10 times costlier, adds the trader from Chandigarh.
Dealers of decorative lights and fancy lamps agree that sales in this festive season have dropped by almost 25 per cent, but not due to the boycott of Chinese goods. It is because people dont have disposable income any more. Demonetisation and GST have badly affected our business. People can only buy fancy lights after meeting their essential requirements, says a dealer.
A joint survey by Assocham and Social Development Foundation (ASDF) estimates a steep decline in the sale of Chinese products this year. The study expects 40 to 45 per cent drop in the sale of Chinese lights, gift items, lamps and wall hangings and other items this Diwali. The study says that customers are more inclined to purchase local products such as earthen diyas than Chinese decorative lamps and fancy lights.
But the ground reality appears to be little different. We have procured fancy earthen lamps and goddess idols from dealers based out of Kolkata to add variety. We were expecting brisk sales, but it turned out to be a big dampener. Sales of diyas and other articles are down by 60-70 per cent this year. People do come and ask for earthen lamps but only go for basic diyas, which is Rs 10 a dozen. They still prefer fancy Chinese lights, says Kamlesh Bhatnagar, a Chandigarh-based dealer.
Consumers are also disappointed by the quality and finish of Indian products. Sangeeta, who has been shopping for idols, has not been able to find an appropriate Indian polyfibre Ganesha of her choice, so she had to settle for a Chinese one she says. Simply banning or boycotting Chinese goods wont help until and unless the Indian manufacturers offer variety and competitively priced products, is the Chandigarh-based housewifes advice to Indian manufacturers.
The (Un)Festive season
Besides fire crackers and decorative lights, Indian cosmetic industry,too, has great expectations from the festive season that starts from the Navratras and continues up to Bhai Dooj . This industry is also facing tough competition from its Chinese counterparts. Most of the major cosmetic brands have started sourcing from China but sell under their own brand names. It is a fact that cost of production in China is quite low and quality of their packaging is excellent. If we are still surviving it is because of our quality and loyal customers. But our market is fast shrinking at such a rate that we may not survive by 2020, says a Delhi-based cosmetic manufacturer.
Chinese have captured the Indian market with their remarkable marketing strategies. They do not leave any opportunity, or any festival, to promote their products, he says. During this Rakhi, Chinese smartphone maker LeEco launched a campaign Why brothers must gift this phone to their sisters on this occasion.
Dealers say that online shopping has further fuelled the domestic versus foreign brand confrontations. Many Indian consumers, who do not buy Chinese goods at a brick-and-mortar shop, are unmindful of Chinese influence while purchasing jewellery, luxury goods, items of home decor and apparel,etc. online. Their decision is influenced by the name of the brand, the price and the look of the product. Consumers seldom check the place of manufacturing.
Online shopping is expected to grow with increasing number of cheaper smart-phones. According to a study by Criteo, an e-commerce marketing firm, online pre-Diwali sales have increase by 140 per cent, where shopping through mobile phones have played the major role.
By now, probably every politically sensitive Indian has heard or read about Jay Shah and his remarkable business. The Wire, the website that broke the story of the BJP presidents sons windfall gains, has been threatened with legal action by entrepreneur Shahs lawyer. The lawyer has argued, as per a story in The Wire, that Jay Shah is a private citizen doing his legitimate business. His business transactions are honest, legal and bona fide.
The Wire is not backing down and has announced its intention to contest the criminal defamation slapped against it by the Shah legal team.
In due course, the law will take its own course, as the familiar cliche goes.
My beef is with my own biradari, especially with those who devise yardsticks and evaluation criteria for judging success (or failure) in the risky field of business. Almost every pink paper and business magazine has this annual ritual of declaring this or that businessman as the most successful entrepreneur of the year. This circus has been going on for more than two decades; everybody stands to gain in this charade.
How is it that none of these respectable publications and news channels could spot the business acumen and genius of Jay Shah! Surely, a young man whose company goes from a mere Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in just one year ought to have been singled out for prescience and judgment to have read correctly the business and commodity trade winds. Surely, the man ought to have been honoured at least with the best young entrepreneur of the year award.
Selecting the best of this or that in this or that field or category is becoming a complicated arrangement. Often, there is a jury, an evaluation process, and a bunch of impresarios; everybody is happy to pretend that an honest selection has been made and a deserving candidate has been recognised.
Yet, all these elaborate precautions sometimes fail to do justice. None recognised the genius of Jay Shah. It is the medias collective failure.
Last week, the National Green Tribunal in its considerable wisdom decreed that Jantar Mantar would no longer be allowed to be a site for protests and demonstrations. The tribunal handed down this royal firman in response to a petition from local residents, who understandably find themselves often inconvenienced. This decision has to be a singularly ill-advised and ill-thought-out pronouncement.
As long as India is a democratic arrangement, there will be protests, demonstrations, hunger strikes, processions and other expressions of dissent. And we owe it to ourselves and our democratic pretensions that those who want to protest do not feel shut out. Democratic protests invariably but unavoidably cause minor disruptions. The Delhi citizens often find themselves inconvenienced on account of these democratic protests, but this is a price they need to occasionally pay for living in the capital of India. It is in the capital that our rulers live and work; and, every wise ruler in turn has a duty to hear if possible, heed the citizens grievances and demands.
The Jantar Mantar area is not exactly a residential locality except for one or two highly priced apartment complexes. It is inconceivable that the National Green Tribunal should have allowed itself to be persuaded to prioritise the privileges of a handful of super-affluent residents over the rites of democratic protest. It is an elitist ruling, to say the least.
As it is, the big rallies any way take place at the Ram Lila Ground. Those groups and political parties that are able to mobilise huge numbers necessarily prefer to pitch their tent at the sprawling Ram Lila Ground. It is the smaller groups, with fewer resources and a few supporters that park themselves at Jantar Mantar. As a site of political protest, Jantar Mantar is closest to Parliament House, the highest seat of our representative democracy. It has evolved as a hallowed spot because individual and small groups get a sense of being heard the ancient obligation on the ruler to be available for listening the citizens grievance.
The NGT has unwisely interfered with this vital rite of a mature democracy. As it were, our rulers are any way only too happy to barricade themselves behind a security cover. The NGT ruling has symbolically further removed the citizens away from the authority. It can only be hoped that sooner than later our judicial forums will be able to summon the wisdom to roll back the NGTs thoughtless and entirely unhelpful decree.
Many readers were unhappy at my disapproving words (in this space two weeks ago) about junior minister Jayant Sinha publicly disagreeing with his father Yashwant Sinha over the state of economy, its achievements and failures in the last three years of the Modi sarkar. Professor Chaman Lal has written to cite many instances when it was morally and ethically incumbent upon the son to dispute the father. He writes:
Recently, Supreme Court judge DY Chandrachud almost castigated his father Justice YV Chandrachud for supporting the Emergency, even indirectly, when he was Judge in the Supreme Court and the son overturned his father's judgment!
More seriously, Bhagat Singh wrote a historical letter to his father on 4th October 1930 and insisted on its publication immediately as the pronouncement of judgment in the Lahore Conspiracy case was due on 7th October. He castigated his father for trying to save his life by cooking up an excuse of Bhagat Singh not being present in Lahore on the day of Saunders murder. I am attaching copy of the letter, which was carried in media (perhaps The Tribune as well) on 5th October, two days prior to the pronouncement of judgement. Had that letter of Bhagat Singh not been published, his image as a fearless revolutionary would have been seriously compromised and he would not have attained the iconic status that he enjoys today!
One can see that Bhagat Singh maintained the dignity of the father-son relationship, yet expressed his views most clearly and sharply and his father Kishan Singh showed the same grace by getting the letter published as per the wish of his son.
In fact, there is a lesson for present day leaders of the country from this exchange of views between father and son. If Rahul Gandhi could gather courage and criticise the 1975 Emergency imposed by his grandmother and also express clear regrets on the 1984 Delhi riots under his father's government, his image as a political leader could soar to such heights that he could look like the true inheritor of his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehrus legacy, which was sadly betrayed by his own daughter and grandson!
I can only say that I have no reason to quarrel or disagree with Professor Chaman Lals views.
Last week, I was in Nepal for a spot of trekking and hiking, around that charming town, Nagarkot. It is just under two hours of drive from the Kathmandu airport. I was there last May and liked the place and decided to revisit Nagarkot. Both the mood and the weather were less disagreeable this time.
In May, there was an air of distinct unfriendliness towards India, a lingering soreness over New Delhis presumed economic blockade and the disruption after demonetisation. This time, one could feel that the unfriendliness has given way to indifference. Some kind of a mental separation has seeped in the Nepali psyche. Not a single word about India in the local newspapers. Of course, this was also the time when Nepal is totally preoccupied internally, with its factionalist politicians waging their factional feuds with conventional brazenness. The overall feel one gets is of a lack of warmth towards India and Indians.
On the other hand, the weather this time was reasonable, permitting outdoor adventure, a fabulous sunrise and an equally spectacular sunset. On the last day, it cleared up for about half an hour to afford a glimpse of majestic snow-clad peaks.
Nothing is more aesthetically pleasing than to have a cup of coffee and a breathtaking view of the mountains to admire. Join me.
kaffeeklatsch@tribuneindia.com
Abidjan, October 14
Four Moldovan citizens were killed and two others injured when a cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the sea near the airport in Ivory Coasts main city, Abidjan, on Saturday.
Four French citizens survived the crash but were injured, Ivory Coasts Security Minister Sidiki Diakite told reporters at the scene. Several Ivorian security sources said French soldiers were among the wounded.
What we can say for the time being is that this morning around 8:30 (0830 GMT), an Antonov plane crashed... with 10 on board, including the crew members, he said.
The crash occurred during a storm with heavy rain and lightning and rescuers were hampered by rough seas. Though Abidjans airport is located in a heavily populated area, it did not appear that anyone was hurt on the ground. The French military operates a logistics base next to the airport in support of its Barkhane operation, combating Islamist militants in West Africas Sahel region.
This was a plane chartered by the French army in the framework of the Barkhane force in order to carry out logistical missions, French army spokesman Colonel Patrick Steiger said. It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash, he said, adding that the four injured French citizens were being treated at the French military base adjacent to the airport.
Frances ambassador to Ivory Coast along with French gendarmes and soldiers quickly arrived at the crash site. French soldiers and Ivorian security forces later sealed off the area and French and Ivorian military vessels patrolled waters surrounding the crash site. Reuters
Dhaka, October 14
Bangladeshs first Hindu Chief Justice SK Sinha was today accused of graft and money laundering after he left the country amid reports that the government was upset with him over his decision to scrap parliaments authority in impeaching SC judges.
In an unusual move, the countrys SC said the apex court judges earlier this month decided not to sit in the Bench of Sinha over allegations of graft and moral lapses brought to their notice by President Abdul Hamid.
The SC issued a statement as Sinha overnight left for Australia, saying he was embarrassed over the controversy surrounding his July ruling. He also denied claims by the government that he was sick. This written statement (of Sinha) is misleading, reads the SC statement. PTI
Seoul, October 14
North Korea is preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said today, citing a government source.
The US navy said yesterday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit states weapons programme.
The move will likely rile Pyongyang, which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises. The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures showed ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
The US and South Korean military officials suspect the North may be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching the US territory.
A defence spokesman refused to comment on the report, saying: We dont comment on any matters of military intelligence We are keeping a close watch over the North. AFP
Washington, October 14
US Vice President Mike Pence has said that Pakistan has taken an important step in the fight against terrorism by helping secure the release of a Canadian-American family abducted by the Haqqani networks five years ago.
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, along with their three children, were rescued from the Haqqani network on Thursday after an operation by Pakistani forces.
The couple was kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Their three children were born while the pair was in captivity.
Pences comments on Pakistan came as he listed out some of the key achievements of the Trump administration at the international stage.
The president is achieving real results on the international stage, as well, he said.
While some critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, thanks to the presidents leadership, he said, adding the ISIS is on the run, North Korea is isolated as never before, and US NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defence.
Just this week, Pakistan took an important step to answer the Presidents call to do more in fight against terrorism, as they helped secure the release of an American family that had been held hostage for more than five years, Pence said.
US President Donald Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continued to do so.
Meanwhile, Canada welcomed the release of the family.
Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones, said Global Affairs Canada, a department in the Canadian government that manages Canadas diplomatic and consular relations.
Canada has been actively engaged on Boyles case at all levels, and we will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned, it said in a statement.
However, some of the well-known counter-terrorism experts appeared to be sceptical of Pakistans move given its past history.
Pakistans aid in release of hostages is a classic Pakistani move. Pakistan has a history of making high-profile arrests before big meetings, said Bill Roggio, editor of Lon War Journal.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan soon, followed by a visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. PTI
Washington, October 14
The United States is beginning to develop better relationship with Pakistan and its leadership, averred President Donald Trump.
Trump taking to his Twitter handle also thanked Pakistan for their cooperation on numerous fronts.
Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts, Trump tweeted.
Earlier, while addressing a gathering at the Values Voter Summit, Trump said things happened with Pakistan, but America is starting to have a real relationship with it. He further said Pakistan and other countries had started to have respect for the US again.
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I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but were starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and theyre to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations, Trump said.
Trumps remark came after a high-level delegation from the US visited Pakistan on October 13, to repair the strained bilateral ties between the two countries.
Both the countries have mutually agreed to continue bilateral engagements at all levels and strengthen their relationship to defeat terrorism.
Interestingly, it was on October 12 that a Canadian citizen, his US national wife and their three children were recovered from the custody of terrorists by the Pakistan Army--around five years after their abduction in Afghanistan.
Instantly, US President Donald Trump termed the safe recovery as a positive moment for the countrys relations with Pakistan.
This was the first high-level US delegations visit to Pakistan after Trump had criticised Pakistan for providing safe havens to terrorists, while unveiling the new strategy for South Asia and Afghanistan. ANI
Beirut, October 14
Syrian government forces and their allies said on Friday they seized the town of Mayadeen, an Islamic State stronghold in the country's east, in a major gain in the race for territories previously held by the militant group.
The announcement came as US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said they were in the "final" battle for control of Raqqa, the IS' de facto capital and the symbol of the group's reign of terror.
However, officials with the Kurdish-led SDF said it could be hours or days before Islamic State is uprooted from the city, to the north of Mayadeen.
Over the past months, Mayadeen had become a refugee for the Islamic State leadership from Syria and Iraq as its self-proclaimed caliphate crumbled.
The town, on the western bank of the Euphrates River, was also a major node in the race for control of the oil-rich eastern Deir el-Zour province that straddles the border with Iraq.
SDF has steadily been making a bid for areas in the province, securing territory to the east of the river as the US-backed offensive focused on the Iraq border area, still controlled by Islamic State.
Washington fears further advances by Syrian government forces could help Iran, which backs militias fighting alongside the Syrian military, expand its influence across the region by securing a land route extending from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, all the way to Israel.
As the Syrian government launched its Deir el-Zour offensive in September, the US-backed forces diverted some fighters from Raqqa toward Deir el-Zour to secure the Iraqi border.
This prompted the government troops and allied militiamen to push south to Mayadeen, finally securing the town on Saturday.
The fall of Mayadeen would strangle Islamic State militants in the city of Deir el-Zour, cutting their supply route from the south and the desert.
The pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV quoted an unnamed Syrian military official as saying that the jihadists defenses in Mayadeen collapsed on Saturday, with troops chasing last Islamic State fighters out of town as corps of engineers cleared land mines.
Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops, backed by Shiite militias, had control of the town but were still combing it for militants.
With Islamic State under fire in Deir el-Zour and Raqqa, the only remaining urban stronghold still in the militants' hand is Boukamal, a strategic border town that had linked IS territory in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said the Islamic State militants were putting up a desperate fight in its few remaining neighborhoods in Raqqa, spokesman Mustafa Bali, said. The US coalition said about 85 per cent of Raqqa was now controlled by the SDF.
Scores of civilians were seen in a video that surfaced Friday leaving Raqqa in desperate and terrified condition.
They emerged from destroyed districts, some of them collapsing on the ground in exhaustion as they arrive to a Kurdish-held area of the city, in haunting scenes reflecting their years-old ordeal.
Earlier this week, US officials said an estimated 4,000 civilians are believed still trapped in the city. Omar Alloush, a local Raqqa official, told The Associated Press on Friday that about 100 Islamic State militants surrendered at once.
The Observatory said negotiations over the fate of foreign fighters who remain in Raqqa have delayed the final push to regain control of the city. But SDF officials deny there are talks to evacuate Islamic State fighters.
US officials have said that only surrender, not a negotiated withdrawal for Islamic State fighters in Raqqa, would be accepted while the top US envoy for the anti-IS coalition Brett McGurk had said earlier foreign fighters in Raqqa will die in the city.
Losing Raqqa, in many ways the symbol of Islamic State's caliphate, would be yet another blow to the militant group and its reign of terror in the region as its strongholds crumble one after another in Iraq and other parts of Syria.
Still, the US-led coalition said it expects "difficult fighting" in the days ahead to completely oust Islamic State from the city and secure it. SDF and US officials said the remaining militants are mostly suicide bombers who only have small arms and rifles. With a small area remaining, they have no access to their weapon of choice, car bombs, said Bali, the SDF spokesman.
"Our forces are waging the final phase of the battle of the presence of Daesh in Raqqa. We have not decided if this battle will last hours, days or weeks," Bali said, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State.
Militants seized Raqqa in 2014, the first city to fall under the full control of the extremist group. It became synonymous with the jihadists groups reign of terror, with public killings and beheadings videotaped slayings that have shocked the world. It was also from Raqqa, which became a destination for foreign fighters from around the world, that many of IS' attacks in the West were plotted.
The latest battle for Raqqa began in June, with heavy street-by-street fighting amid intense US-led coalition airstrikes and shelling. The battle has dragged on in the face of stiff resistance from the militants and civilians trapped in the city.
The SDF said on Saturday that they seized the al-Nahda neighbourhood in Raqqa's western sector. A day earlier, the Islamic State carried out an offensive on SDF forces near the city's main hospital, an IS fortified headquarters. AP
Washington, October 14
An influential US lawmaker has expressed concern over human rights violations and forced conversions in Pakistans Sindh province, saying elements of the government or military see an opportunity in making their opponents disappear.
In the past year, the UN Human Rights Committee, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the State Departments own Report on Human Rights have all noted serious concerns about extra-judicial and targeted killings and disappearances in Pakistan and, particularly in Sindh, Congressman Brad Sherman said.
Human rights abuses of this type cannot go unanswered.
Activists disappear under suspicious circumstances. It is our obligation to speak out and demand accountability, Sherman, the Ranking Member on the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee and the founder and chair of the Sindh Caucus, said on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
These disappearances and other violations of human rights should be a major topic of conversation in all bilateral discussions between the US and Pakistan, he said, ahead of the visit of US Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Islamabad in the weeks to come.
Elements of the Pakistani government or military see an opportunity to simply make their opponents disappear, Sherman alleged, citing a few high-profile cases of disappearances.
The people of Sindh face religious extremist attacks. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, for example, claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sufi shrine in Sindh province in which nearly 80 people were killed.
Yet the government has not acted to protect religious minorities and, in general, has not acted to protect the people of Sindh from Islamic extremism, he said.
In Sindh, there are forced conversions of Sindhi girls belonging to the minority communities, Sherman said.
While the numbers are unclear, reports suggest that every year perhaps 1,000 girls and young women in Pakistan, including many in Sindh, are forcibly converted upon a marriage, not of their choice, to Muslim men, he alleged.
The Pakistani government has not done enough to stop this practice, and reform measures have been circumvented and not enforced, Sherman added. PTI
The teenager fatally shot by former Tulsa Police Officer Shannon Kepler in 2014 didnt have a gun on or near him when officers began investigating the shooting, several law enforcement witnesses told a jury Friday.
Kepler, 57, is on trial for the fourth time on a first-degree murder charge in the Aug. 5, 2014, death of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, who briefly dated Keplers estranged daughter, Lisa, after meeting her about a week before he died. Keplers previous trials on the same charge ended with mistrials due to hung juries in November, February and July.
Kepler has contended that he shot Lake twice in self-defense because he saw him carrying a gun, but a series of officers involved in the case against him each told jurors they didnt recover a firearm at the crime scene, which was in the area of Lakes aunts home in the 200 block of North Maybelle Avenue.
Three current or former Tulsa Police Department employees Cpl. Amber McCarty, Michael Brown and Detective Mark Kennedy also said Lisa Kepler identified her father as the person who shot Lake.
Brown, a former sergeant, said Lisa Kepler came up to me screaming at the shooting scene about Shannon Keplers involvement in the homicide, which made him very surprised based on his knowledge that Kepler was a longtime police officer.
None of them said they had any information to suggest that Lake handled a gun in any way the night he was shot.
Officer David Pyle, who testified Friday afternoon, described the scene as chaotic with a lot of spectators but also said he didnt see a gun on Lake or Lakes acquaintance Josh Mills, a witness Pyle transported to the Detective Division for an interview.
Kennedy, the lead investigator, interviewed Lisa Kepler and eventually her father at the Detective Division about what occurred. After taking a statement from Lisa Kepler and learning about comments from Mills and Lakes brother, Michael Hamilton, Kennedy told Shannon Kepler he would be arrested on a first-degree murder complaint, Kennedy said.
He said, He died? Kennedy said of Shannon Keplers response. And I said, Yes, he did.
Kepler did not consent to a full interview with Kennedy, as he had obtained lead defense attorney Richard OCarroll as counsel before he turned himself in at the Detective Division.
OCarroll later brought Kennedy the gun Kepler used to shoot Lake, which is an old Tulsa Police Department service revolver Kepler had purchased for personal use when the department switched to semiautomatic firearms. It had five spent casings and one live round in it.
The black SUV Lisa Kepler said her father drove to the shooting scene was recovered three days later at an east Tulsa parking lot about a mile from the Keplers residence, according to testimony from Homicide Detective Jason White.
Cpl. Joe Campbell, a crime scene investigator, said he collected evidence from the vehicle that included a stocking cap. Hamilton has said his brothers shooter was wearing a head covering, but Keplers defense has argued that the cap had been there since the holidays.
Detective Kyle Ohronowicz told jurors he photographed seven guns Kepler had in his home and recovered bullets for a .40-caliber semiautomatic weapon but found none for the revolver Kepler used to shoot Lake.
OCarroll, during his cross-examination, honed in on Kennedy authorizing the release of certain items of evidence to Lisa Kepler in 2015, which included an Oklahoma identification card and food stamp card. The property room worker who received the paperwork, OCarroll has said, also released several of Lakes possessions to her, including a small bag the defense wanted tested for possible drug residue.
Kennedy testified in Keplers February trial that the bags appearance did not give him adequate cause to believe Lake used it to hold drugs, which is why it hadnt been sent for testing. But he told OCarroll on Friday it would be fair to say someone made a mistake in giving the item to Lisa Kepler along with Lakes other belongings.
A toxicology report did not note Lake had drugs in his system at the time he died. Prosecutors had a sample of his blood tested recently for the presence of various synthetic cannabinoids, as OCarroll has claimed previously Lake may have been under the influence of K2, but court records show those results came back negative.
As a result, Holmes has barred either side from mentioning K2 in front of the jury.
Kennedy also said he was among the investigators who served a search warrant at the Keplers east Tulsa residence. During that search he recovered a Tulsa police report from a previous contact Lake had with police. He told Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray that someone had written Lakes most recent address the Maybelle Avenue residence on the back.
Gray and District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler allege that Kepler violated department policy by using police resources to obtain information about Lake after learning of his relationship with Lisa Kepler via Facebook on the day of the shooting. Lake was not the subject of any investigation at the time.
The prosecutors have pointed to the report in support of their belief that Kepler intended to confront Lake, but OCarroll has said his client went to Lakes home only to rescue his daughter from someone Shannon Kepler thought was dangerous for her.
He has also suggested that a witness to the shooting took a gun from Lakes body and disposed of it in some way before police arrived. Officers found a gun in a Detective Division interview room trash can the next day, but District Judge Sharon Holmes has not allowed the jury to hear information about it, saying no evidence has turned up that would associate it with Keplers case.
Testimony will resume Monday morning.
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| By Laura Lee
It was late July, and University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professor Larry Gibson, LLB, had just attended a pre-release screening of the new movie, Marshall, as part of the NAACP Convention being held in Baltimore.
He approached the films star, Chadwick Boseman, who portrays Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in the film, and its director, Reginald Hudlin. Gibson offered them both copies of his 2012 book, Young Thurgood: The Making of a Supreme Court Justice.
Before I could even ask anything, they both said, Oh, we read this book, and that made me feel so good Gibson recalls.
"Marshall" director Reginald Hudlin thanked Larry Gibson, LLB, for his book on Thurgood Marshall
Thats when I humorously said, I didnt see my name in the credits, and one of them said it was research!
The film, which debuts nationwide Friday, marks the 50th anniversary of Marshall taking his place on the Supreme Court in 1967. He was the first African-American to serve on the court and made his mark as a staunch defender of individual rights.
Marshall graduated from Howard University School of Law magna cum laude in 1933. He was a Baltimore native, but the segregation policies of what was then known as the University of Maryland School of Law prevented him from applying.
In 1935, Marshall successfully sued the law school on behalf of African-American applicant Donald Murray, resulting in a landmark ruling that desegregated the school. The Thurgood Marshall Law Library on campus bears his name.
Even though Gibsons name is not in the credits, he wholeheartedly supports the film that chronicles Marshalls early days as a young civil rights attorney defending a black chauffeur (portrayed by Sterling K. Brown) charged with the sexual assault and attempted murder of his white socialite employer (portrayed by Kate Hudson).
Gibson noted in a Twitter exchange to director Reginald Hudlin, Cecilia Marshall called my book 'the most accurate book every published about my husband' You have now made the most accurate film! Bravo!
He also has words for critics who say Boseman looks nothing like Thurgood Marshall, who was taller and had lighter skin. Hes an amazing actor, says Gibson of Boseman, who also played Jackie Robinson and James Brown in other films.
This man does a really good job of capturing Thurgood Marshall the person with his speech patterns, body language, attitude. You forget the difference visually within the first few minutes of the movie. That is simply no longer a factor.
Back in his office, surrounded by law books and personal photos that include the famed Supreme Court justice, Gibson notes that his book and the Marshall film tell the story of a young Thurgood Marshall. The movie is not about the period that people are most knowledgeable about, either his time on the Supreme Court or his most famous cases like Brown vs. Board of Education, he says. This is very early on in his career, this is 1941, and Thurgood Marshall is 33 years old.
Gibsons first book Young Thurgood, ends in 1938. He is currently writing another book with the working title Thurgoods Coming: Mobilizing Civil Rights Activists in the South 1938-1954, which begins when Marshall was starting off as an NAACP attorney and tells the story of how he crisscrossed the South taking on civil rights cases and helping to dismantle Jim Crow laws.
Rather than a chronological timeline, Gibson organized the book on a geographical basis to allow him to retrace Marshalls steps through the South, beginning in Texas. Gibson will soon embark on a tour of the South to step into Marshall's shoes and get a feel for the small towns where he tried many career-defining cases.
There are plenty of books out there that describe in great detail Marshalls well-known cases, says Gibson. My effort in this book is to show more of what he was like than what he did. I try to explain the person."
Coinciding with the movie release, Time also is releasing a special-edition book called Thurgood Marshall: The Visionary, which includes commentary from Gibson and references his first book.
Downtown Brew Festival , Motley Brews backyard beer bash, has announced its lineup of brewery and culinary participants, musical acts and VIP chef for the sixth annual event (Photo credit: Fred Morledge).
A silent auction to benefit the Las Vegas Victims Fund has also been added to the festival, which returns to Clark County Amphitheater on Saturday, Oct. 21.
The largest beer festival in Las Vegas every fall, Downtown Brew offers live music and a nighttime setting under strings of lights and a canopy of stars. Another sellout crowd of more than 4,000 guests is anticipated for the event, which will also showcase incredible culinary offerings in the VIP Pavilion and Festaurant Row.
The VIP Pavilion, which opens an hour early at 4 p.m., will pour exclusive rare craft beers paired with samplings of cuisine by Chef Joshua Clark. He will prepare popular selections from The Goodwich, his chef-driven sandwich shop that features made-from-scratch ingredients.
More than 60 breweries are on tap to pour nearly 200 craft beers. Local breweries include PTs, Record Street Brewing Company, Banger Brewing, Hop Nuts Brewing, Tonopah Brewing Co., Big Dogs Brewing Company, Lovelady Brewing Company and more. Out-of-state brewers include: Hop Valley Brewing, from Eugene, Ore.; Stone Brewing, from Escondido, Calif.; Latitude 33 Brewing, from Vista, Calif.; College Street Brewing, from Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; Shades of Pale Brewing, from Park City, Utah and others. A full lineup of brewers may be found on the Downtown Brew Festival website at http://downtownbrewfestival.com/about/breweries/
Local restaurants and food trucks will showcase culinary offerings at Festaurant Row, including QFS Tacos, Urban Turban, Donut Bar Las Vegas, Mochiko Chicken, The Black Sheep, Sin City Wings and Omings Kitchen.
Downtown Brew Festival also brings an extensive lineup of live musical acts including indie rock sensation Naked Elephant; genre-defying five-piece band, The Routine; hip-hop artist Mike Xavier, and more.
Motley Brews, in conjunction with sponsors, breweries and distributors, has also added a silent auction to the event. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Las Vegas Victims Fund in support of Vegas Strong.
Under a new program offered by nonprofit The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, several military families from across Southern Nevada participated in an arts workshop today building dinosaur puppets, followed by attending the family show Erths Dinosaur Zoo at no cost to the families (Photo credit: The Smith Center).
Photo credit: The Smith Center
Many of these parents are members of the National Guard who recently returned from overseas deployment, and the event provided a peaceful and fun activity to bond with their children.
Photo credit: The Smith Center
This is the first event under The Smith Centers new Community Outreach Performing Artists program, providing nurturing experiences to children of military parents in Southern Nevada. This new program at The Smith Center, including todays event, is made possible through funding from the John Krakauer Charitable Trust.
Photo credit: The Smith Center
1. Yes. The ordinance goes against state law and is not in the best interest of the cities.
2. Yes. At the very least, it should be amended to give police officers some discretion.
3. No. Voters approved the ordinance by large majorities; the councils cant ignore that fact.
4. No. The petition process has to be given a chance to work. Leave the ordinance alone.
5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the cities should move forward regarding the ordinance.
Vote
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Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, said the ID4D program hopes to use technology to improve the lives of people living without identification. (Photo: AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, said the ID4D program hopes to use technology to improve the lives of people living without identification. (Photo: AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
More than a third of these "invisible" people are children, the Bank said in a report issued for its annual meeting in Washington this week.
That is particularly hard on groups of people forcibly displaced by unrest and disasters.
To address the problem, the World Bank has launched its ID4D programme to expand digital identification programs in ways that can help fight poverty.
The poverty-fighting institution has digital identification and civil registration projects worth more than US$500 million in more than a dozen countries.
It says such programs can also help governments decrease waste and boost innovation in delivering crucial services.
"We are at an exciting point of technology, collaboration and commitment converging to make unprecedented improvements in the lives of the 1.1 billion people living without identification," said World Bank Group Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva.
ID4D advisory council member Eric Jing, CEO of China's AliBaba group payment unit Ant Financial, added that "families are left without access to health care, education and social and financial services."
Rapidly increasing water levels in ay River has submerged Yen Bang Commune, Y Yen District, in the northern province of Nam inh. VNA/VNS Photo Cong Luat
Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces suffered the most with 17, 14 and nine deaths respectively.
The devastating rains also flooded more than 30,000 homes nationwide, with 189 collapsing.
The water level of many rivers has reportedly exceeded water levels from floods in previous years. There were more than 60 incidents of landslide, erosion or dykes breaking in Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam, Nam inh provinces and Ha Noi.
A 10-m section of the dyke of the Bui River broke on Thursday in Chuong My District, Ha Noi, flooding a large farming area and affecting more than 200 households.
A section of the Vinh rivers dyke from Tan Phuong Bridge to Cau en in Nghe An Province has sunk and is in danger of breaking. Forces were mobilised yesterday to reinforce the dyke.
If the dyke breaks, it will affect more than 1,000 households with more than 4,000 residents, said Nguyen Hoai An, Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Vinh City.
Nearly 180,000 cattle and poultry died nationwide due to floods including nearly 6,000 drowned pigs at a farm in Yen inh District, Thanh Hoa Province.
According to the Viet Nam Road Administration, floods also caused landslides and huge damage to transport infrastructure in northern and central regions, with blockages bringing traffic to a standstill on many roads.
The train route connecting Ha Noi and Lao Cai Province re-opened yesterday morning after three days of closure due to a landslide that buried seven carriages of a cargo train on Monday night at Lam Giang Station in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bais Lam Giang Commune.
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh yesterday inspected flood response work in Nghia Lo town, Van Chan District, Yen Bai Province.
Six people have died so far in the province due to the floods. Seven were injured and 16 are missing. As many as 73 houses were washed away with estimated property damage exceeding VN500 billion (US$21.7million).
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said that the rains and floods in the upcoming time will be complicated, ordering local authorities to follow weather conditions to evacuate residents out of dangerous areas.
Forecasting capacity
Nguyen Phuc Vinh, former lecturer of Construction University in Ha Noi told Lao ong (Labourers) newspaper that in the historic flood, with flood waters higher than from the 1980 floods, over the past few days, weather forecasting agencies only focused on forecasting typhoons and tropical depressions, not rain.
Because agencies were passive in forecasting rain volume, water was not released from Hoa Binh reservoir in a timely manner. Opening the eight gates of Hoa Binh reservoir and stopping power generation at Son La hydropower plant was the right thing to do, as otherwise, reservoirs would have broken, flooding Ha Noi and neighboring provinces, he said.
If the accurate rain volume had been forecasted, reservoirs would have released water earlier and more slowly, reducing the risk of floods in the lowlands. The poor forecast resulted in sudden water release which surprised residents. They did not have time to evacuate, he said.
In another development, named Khanun, is moving towards the East Sea, the seas 11th this year.
The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said it was gaining central wind strength of level 12 (115-135km per hour).
The centre also said the water level of the Hoang Long, Thao and Hong (Red) rivers was down yesterday morning.
The northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Yen Bai and Hoa Binh have been put on high alert for landslides.
The Trang An cave complex in Ninh Binh province as introduced on the Facebook page of Mekong Moments. - (Photo: courtesy of Mekong Moments)
The Travel Department, under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), worked with co-ordinators of Mekong Moments to present the campaign in Hanoi on October 12.
Mekong Moments is a turn-key digital campaign and travel inspiration platform that will allow any business in the GMS, regardless of size and type, to develop its own campaign by encouraging consumers, staff, and stakeholders to share their Mekong Moments.
These will be aggregated into MekongMoments.com to inspire people to research and book travel to China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Mekong Moments will serve as a hub of capacity building (training and assisting travel enterprises) and increasing awareness about the mighty river and its region as an experiential travel destination globally.
The website of Mekong Moments campaign also introduces Vietnams Timeless Charm and leads to the official website of the Vietnam Administration of Tourism at www.vietnamtourism.com.
Delegates and representatives from the business community look at products displayed at the Viet Nam Entrepreneurs Day event in HCM City. - VNS Photo Bo Xuan Hiep
More than 800 delegates and representatives from state agencies and local and foreign business associations participated in the ceremony to celebrate the 13th Viet Nam Entrepreneurs Day, organised by the HCM City Business Association.
Of the honoured businesses, which were shortlisted from 400 businesses by the association, 23 have been operating for more than 30 years and 34 more than 40 years.
In addition, 79 products and services from 79 companies were also awarded as excellent products and services in 2017 during the ceremony. The selections were made by the HCM City Business Association, Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Science and Technology and the Viet Nam Standards and Consumers Association.
The businesses were honoured for their excellent observance of state policies and achievements in production and business and constant improvement in the quality of their activities.
Chu Tien Dung, president of the HCM City Business Association, said the fourth industrial revolution was posing opportunities as well as challenges for businesses, requiring them to take initiative in renovation and apply cutting-edge technologies to increase productivity and product quality.
Many businesses had established their brands which satisfy customers in terms of quality and service, he added.
The businesses also contributed to creating more jobs while ensuring sustainable development, environmental protection and corporate responsibility.
The HCM City Business Association had worked with agencies to provide timely assistance to businesses to ensure their smooth business operations, Dung said.
The Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of the city reached 7.97 per cent in the first nine months of the year, while the citys budget collection rose by 10.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to Dung.
Nearly 30,000 new firms had been established so far this year, while 1,372 household businesses had been transferred to businesses in the first nine months, Dung said.
Dr. Vu Nhu Thang
Base erosion and profit shifting projects aim to deal with transfer pricing. Why has Vietnam chosen this content as one of the four priority topics for discussion at FMM 24?
The initiative was introduced by Vietnam in late 2016, after consulting with other APEC members. Anti-transfer pricing scores high not only on Vietnams agenda, but also for global economies, including developed economies and international organisations, and particularly G20 countries, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), and the World Bank.
In 2015, G20 member states encouraged other economies outside the group to take part in and share BEPS-related experience. In the same year, OECD presented 15 steps to combat transfer pricing, called BEPS. This is a global issue, so when Vietnam as the host country of APEC 2017 recommended placing the issue as a priority topic for discussion at FMM 24, the motion saw general consent.
What actions have Vietnam and other APEC members taken to ensure efficiency of the discussion about BEPS at the upcoming FMM 24?
To prepare for FMM 24 on October 21, as the host country, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has successfully convened the APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM) in this February, the APEC Senior Financial Officials Meeting (SFOM) this May, and joined hands with the World Bank, OECD, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to host many international conferences covering the four priority topics for FMM 24, including the BEPS issue.
The conclusions of the FCBDM, SFOM, and recommendations at the aforementioned international conferences will be submitted to the APEC Ministers in the upcoming FMM 24.
What BEPS content was included in the FCBDM and SFOM that will be submitted to the FMM 24?
Representatives of 21 APEC economies agreed that due to different development levels as well as different legal systems, it is impossible to simultaneously carry out all the 15 actions on anti-transfer pricing that the OECD has recommended, but APEC members have proven proactive in expediting minimal and essential actions.
Even with these minimum and essential actions, as the economies feature different development levels, the members have reached a consensus that it is important to set up a close cooperation mechanism for the optimal efficiency of BEPS implementation.
Police prepare for issuing ID cards to citizens in HCM City. - Photo news.zing.vn
The move came after mass media recently reported that the ministry failed to issue ID cards for citizens as scheduled, causing problems for people because the ID cards were required for many activities in their daily lives.
For example, online newspaper Zing reported that the ministrys Police Department on Register, Residence management and National population data handed over thousands of ID cards to HCM Citys Police Department on Thursday after three months. The reason for the delay was the lack of material to make the cards.
Binh also required the ministry to deal with citizens complaints that they were forced to visit the police department several times to collect the cards and this made them uncomfortable.
The ministry was instructed to send its report before October 31.
Spain's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria (R) talks with the president of the Supreme Court Carlos Lesmes during the Spanish National Day military parade in Madrid on October 12, 2017 AFP/Javier SORIANO
Spain's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria (R) talks with the president of the Supreme Court Carlos Lesmes during the Spanish National Day military parade in Madrid on October 12, 2017 AFP/Javier SORIANO
The central government has given Carles Puigdemont until next Thursday to abandon Catalonia's push for secession, failing which it may trigger unprecedented constitutional steps that could see Madrid take control of the semi-autonomous region.
Puigdemont's separatist allies pressed him Friday to defy Madrid and declare independence.
But with dozens of companies having already moved their legal headquarters from Catalonia, concerns are rising that growth in the region could take a hit, and by extension that of Spain as a whole.
In Washington, IMF Europe Director Poul Thomsen said: "If there was prolonged uncertainty, that could weigh on growth, and obviously we want to avoid that."
Spain's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria warned that if "there is no quick solution, we see ourselves having to lower economic forecasts for 2018".
'DOMINO EFFECT'
She accused Puigdemont of "seriously damaging Catalonia's economic stability" as uncertainty over the fate of the region of 7.5 million people damages business confidence.
The eurozone's fourth largest economy said in July it expected growth of 2.6 per cent next year.
Spain's Association of Registrars said Friday that 540 firms had sought to relocate their legal addresses from Catalonia from Oct 2-11.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor's said the region's economy risked sliding into recession if the crisis dragged on.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday he was against Catalan independence because it could trigger a separatist domino effect in the EU.
"I wouldn't like to have a European Union which consists of 98 states in 15 years' time," he said during a speech in Luxembourg. "It's already relatively difficult at 28, no easier at 27 (after Britain leaves), but at 98, that seems impossible."
The Mobile World Congress, the phone industry's largest annual trade fair held every year in Barcelona, said it would hold its 2018 in February as planned, after media reports suggested it was considering delaying.
A spokeswoman told AFP "we are continuing to monitor developments in Spain and Catalonia and assess any potential impact."
Meanwhile Spain's CEOE business lobby group said this week that Catalonia was already "seriously affected" by the crisis.
Ricardo Mur, vice-president of the Aragon Business Confederation said the region, which borders Catalonia, had seen a surge in activity. "Industrial estates are almost full due to the transfer of Catalan businesses," he told AFP.
PRESSURE TO BREAK AWAY
But Puigdemont is also under pressure from his separatist allies who feel that any decision to back down would infuriate hundreds of thousands of Catalans who voted to split from Spain in a banned referendum.
On Friday, the far-left CUP party, an ally of his coalition government, said in an open letter that "only by proclaiming a republic will we be able to respect what the majority expressed in the polls."
The referendum took place on October 1 despite a court ban that ruled it unconstitutional, and regional authorities say 90 per cent chose to split from Spain in a vote marred by police violence.
Turnout was 43 per cent, they say, but the figures are impossible to verify as the referendum was not held according to official electoral standards.
Adding to pressure, Catalonia is deeply divided over independence, and those who want to stay in Spain are increasingly making their voices heard, having staged two mass rallies in just five days.
Puigdemont had pledged to declare independence if the "yes" vote won, but on Tuesday he gave an ambiguous statement.
Saying he accepted a mandate for "Catalonia to become an independent state," he immediately suspended the declaration, calling for more time for talks with Madrid.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy retorted that Puigdemont had until next Monday to clarify whether or not he would press ahead with secession and then until next Thursday to reconsider, otherwise Madrid would act. He rejected any form of mediation.
Apart from the CUP's open letter, the Catalan National Assembly, an influential pro-independence association whose followers are ready to take to the streets, also called on him to lift his suspension of the independence declaration.
The HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has urged the Government to ensure condotels and officetels are not used primarily as apartments, warning that would cause problems for urban planning and infrastructure and transport. Photo realestatevietnam.com.vn
HoREA chairman Le Hoang Chau said there are no design standards for projects that include both apartments and officetels-condotels.
There are no regulations on the number of occupants at these projects either meaning there would be unbearable pressure on infrastructure and transportation, he said.
The association suggested to the city Department of Architect Plans that the size of officetels should be 25-50sq.m while condotels should be of similar size as a room in a hotel or resort.
In terms of population, HoREA said it must be capped at half of that of a pure housing project.
In projects combining apartments and officetels-condotels, the latter should be in a specific area and separated from the apartments, it said.
Apartment projects with condotels or officetels have seen strong growth in the city in recent years.
They have been approved by the Ministry of Construction, but it is difficult for authorities to manage them since there are no regulations related to their planning or design.
Tran Vinh Tuyen, deputy chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee, was quoted by Tin Tuc (News) newspaper as saying that condotels and officetels are new products but there are no projects with officetels only.
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A model poses with The Raj Pink, a 37.30-carat fancy intense pink diamond, estimated to fetch up to US$30 million at Sotheby's action house in central London. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)
A model poses with The Raj Pink, a 37.30-carat fancy intense pink diamond, estimated to fetch up to US$30 million at Sotheby's action house in central London. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)
The stone, which weighs just over 37 carats, was displayed by auction house Sotheby's in London this week.
"It is a wonderful shape. It is a cushion modified diamond, with a lot of brilliance, a lot of facets, when you move it around and sort of have it on your finger," Sotheby's senior jewellery specialist Daniela Mascetti told Reuters.
The rough diamond was mined in 2015 and is being auctioned by an anonymous owner. Previous sales for smaller pink diamonds have yielded more than US$1 million per carat at auction.
A 24.78 carat intense pink diamond sold for more than US$46 million - a record price per carat for pink diamonds - in November 2010 in Geneva.
The City of New York is unique it is a nation within a nation. Its inhabitants, of which there are some 7,000,000 are called New Yorkers. This map is presented, after patient research, as a composite of the New Yorkers ideas concerning The United States..
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New York City maps
Historical Maps of the United States and North America
Operation of 8 October 2017
Following an agreement concluded between Russia and Turkey during the most recent Astana negotiations, the Turkish army entered the governorate of Idleb, violating Syrian sovereignty, in order to combat the jihadists there.
The Turkish army distinguishes between the following groups:
the Syrian Turkmen which it had gathered under the flag of the former Free Syrian Army (FSL) and which it intends to use as a support in the region.
the Jihadists that accept to continue their fight in South East Asia and which should be transferred there by Turkish Secret Services (MIT).
all the others, which should be eliminated.
Furthermore, the Turkish army already occupies Al-Bab, also violating Syrian sovereignty.
The Turkish presence at Idleb cuts the Rojavas access to the Mediterranean Sea. Its presence at Al-Bab offers it the possibility of cutting the Rojava into two and wiping out this pseudo State.
The Joint Operation of 12 October 2017
Turkey, Iran and Iraq had met to deaden the vague hopes of an independent pseudo Kurdistan. The Barzani family and Israel have gradually swallowed up territories thanks to local conflicts and war. In 15 years, the territory administered by the Barzanis and Israel under the name Iraqi Kurdistan has multiplied its areas by fivefold to the detriment of the native, Arab and Christian populations. On 25 September 2017, the Barzani family and Israel organized a referendum on independence. Following a vote that was largely rigged, especially in the Christian areas, the yes vote reached 92 %. During a popular festival, the Barzani family, brandishing Kurdish and Israeli flags, announced that the process for independence was irreversible. The journal Kurds-Israel revealed that an agreement had been concluded between Tel-Aviv and Erbil providing for 200,000 citizens to be transferred to the Kurdistan, once independence had been declared. The Israeli army intends to promptly station missiles there to threaten both Syria and Iran.
The pipeline linking the pseudo Kurdistan to the port of Ceyhan (Turkey) will be closed by BOTAS, the Turkish public operator which owns it. Accordingly, the Barzanis oil revenues would be cut. Currently, Kurdish oil is chiefly exploited by the French company Total. It is sold in the European Union, Ukraine and Israel where it represents almost the entire domestic consumption.
The Turkish and Iranian air space will be closed with the pseudo-Kurdistan. Taking account of the war, Syrian air space is not practicable for civil flights. Flights from and to Erbil will necessarily have to pass through Bagdad.
The border-posts between Turkey and Iran on the one side and the pseudo Kurdistan on the other, will all be closed, thereby cutting custom revenues of a potentially new State. So as to maintain Turkish-Iraqi trade relations, a new route will be open along the Syrian-Iraqi border permitting Ankara to be linked up to Bagdad. The Iraqi army will station 13,000 men to guarantee its security, whilst the construction works for a new pipeline along this route will begin at once.
This route will cut communications between the pseudo-Kurdistan and the Rojava.
Since 2015, the Turkish army has been occupying Bachiqa (the pseudo-Kurdistan), thereby violating Iraqi sovereignty.
An ultimatum (by 1 November at the latest) will be addressed to the Barzani family preventing it from announcing independence. In case it refuses, the Turkish army is preparing to declare war against the pseudo-Kurdistan. It would make a two-pronged attack on Erbil, from the Turkish border on the one hand, and from the new route that has been secured by the Iraqi army, on the other hand.
Objectives of the New Turkey
Three months after the assassination attempt and the coup detat were aborted in July 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered an inaugural address at the university which bears his name (RTEU). He then provided a glimpse into the ambitions of the Turkish Republic following its creation and those of the new regime. Making explicit reference to the National Oath (Misak- Milli), adopted by the Ottoman Parliament on 12 February 1920, he justified conquering former territories. This oath, which lays the basis for the passage of the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, claims the territory of the North East of Greece (Western Thrace and the Dodecanese), the whole of Cyprus, Northern Syria (as well as Idleb, Alep and Hasakah), and Northern Iraq (including Mosul).
In 1939, France only granted Hatay (Syria) to Turkey. Paris was also hoping that Ankara gets rid of its orthodox Christians which have their patriarchal base in Antioch.
Having counted off these territories one by one, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is claiming them in his turn [1].
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the only Head of State of a developed country to challenge the international order and to publicly claim, where necessary by force, new territories.
It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Irans government end its pursuit of death and destruction. President Donald J. Trump
President Donald J. Trump, in consultation with his national security team, has approved a new strategy for Iran. It is the culmination of nine months of deliberation with Congress and our allies on how to best protect American security.
HIGHLIGHTS
Core Elements of the Presidents New Iran Strategy
The United States new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Irans destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.
We will revitalize our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region.
We will work to deny the Iranian regime and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people.
We will counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons.
We will rally the international community to condemn the IRGCs gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges.
Most importantly, we will deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.
BACKGROUND
The Nature of the Iranian Regime under Supreme Leader Khamenei
For 28 years, Ali Khamenei has been Irans Supreme Leader. Before that, he held the office of President for 8 years. In that time, he has shaped the Iranian regime in his image.
Khamenei and the IRGC have pursued a steady policy of spreading a revolutionary ideology aimed at undermining the international system and many states by force and subversion. His main enemy and rallying point has been and continues to be the United States of America, which he calls the Great Satan.
Under Khamenei, Iran exports violence, destabilizes its neighbors, and sponsors terrorism abroad. Within Iran, under Khameneis rule the Iranian government has oppressed its people, abusing their rights, restricting their access to the internet and the outside world, rigging elections, shooting student protesters in the street, and imprisoning political reformers like Mir Hussein Musavi and Mehdi Karroubi.
The Threats from the Iranian Regime
The reckless behavior of the Iranian regime, and the IRGC in particular, poses one of the most dangerous threats to the interests of the United States and to regional stability.
The Iranian regime has taken advantage of regional conflicts and instability to aggressively expand its regional influence and threaten its neighbors with little domestic or international cost for its actions.
This occurred most recently following the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from the vacuum created by the Obama administrations ill-considered withdrawal from the region.
The full range of the Iranian regimes malign activities extends well beyond the nuclear threat it poses, including:
o Ballistic missile development and proliferation;
o Material and financial support for terrorism and extremism;
o Support for the Assad regimes atrocities against the Syrian people;
o Unrelenting hostility to Israel;
o Consistently threatening freedom of navigation, especially in the strategically vital Persian Gulf;
o Cyber-attacks against the United States, Israel, and Americas other allies and partners in the Middle East;
o Grievous human rights abuses; and
o Arbitrary detention of foreigners, including United States citizens, on specious charges and without due process.
The Need for a Comprehensive Strategy
The previous Administrations myopic focus on Irans nuclear program to the exclusion of the regimes many other malign activities allowed Irans influence in the region to reach a high-water mark.
Over the last decade and a half, United States policy has also consistently prioritized the immediate threat of Sunni extremist organizations over the longer-term threat of Iranian-backed militancy.
In doing so, the United States has neglected Irans steady expansion of proxy forces and terrorist networks aimed at keeping its neighbors weak and unstable in hopes of dominating the greater Middle East. Recently, the Iranian regime has accelerated the seeding of these networks with increasingly destructive weapons as they try to establish a bridge from Iran to Lebanon and Syria.
The Trump Administration will not repeat these mistakes.
The Trump Administrations Iran policy will address the totality of these threats from and malign activities by the Government of Iran and will seek to bring about a change in the Iranians regimes behavior.
The Trump Administration will accomplish these objectives through a strategy that neutralizes and counters Iranian threats, particularly those posed by the IRGC.
Countering the IRGC
Supreme Leader Khameneis primary tool and weapon in remaking Iran into a rogue state has been the hardline elements of the IRGC.
The IRGCs stated purpose is to subvert the international order. The IRGCs power and influence have grown over time, even as it has remained unaccountable to the Iranian people, answering only to Khamenei. It is hard to find a conflict or a suffering people in the Middle East that the IRGCs tentacles do not touch.
Unaccountable to Irans elected leaders or its people, the IRGC has tried to gain control over large portions of Irans economy and choke off competition, all the while working to weaken and undermine Irans neighbors and perpetuate the chaos and instability in which it thrives.
The IRGC has armed Bashar al Assad and guided his butchering of his own people in Syria and has cynically condoned his use of chemical weapons.
The IRGC has sought to undermine the fight against ISIS with the influence of militant groups in Iraq under the IRGCs control.
In Yemen, the IRGC has attempted to use the Houthis as puppets to hide Irans role in using sophisticated missiles and explosive boats to attack innocent civilians in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as to restrict freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
The IRGC has even threatened terrorist attacks right here at home. Senior IRGC commanders plotted the murder of Saudi Arabias Ambassador to the United States, Adel Jubeir, on American soil in 2011. But for exceptional work by our law enforcement and intelligence officers to detect and disrupt this egregious act, the IRGC would have conducted this terrorist attack and assassination in our own capital and would have killed not only a Saudi Arabian diplomat, but a host of other innocent bystanders at a popular restaurant in Washington, D.C.
The IRGC, which repeatedly displays reckless hostility and disregard for the laws and norms that underpin the international order, threatens all nations and the global economy.
Our partners in the international community agree with us that the IRGCs reckless behavior threatens international peace and security. They agree that the IRGC is fanning sectarianism and perpetuating regional conflict. They agree that the IRGC is engaged in corrupt economic practices that exploit the Iranian people and suppress internal dissent, human rights, and Irans economic prosperity.
For all these reasons, we want to work with our partners to constrain this dangerous organization, for the benefit of international peace and security, regional stability, and the Iranian people.
The Iranian Nuclear Program and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
The Iranian regimes activities severely undercut whatever positive contributions to regional and international peace and security the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) sought to achieve.
Even with regard to JCPOA itself, the Iranian regime has displayed a disturbing pattern of behavior, seeking to exploit loopholes and test the international communitys resolve.
Iranian military leaders have stated publicly that they will refuse to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of their military sites. These statements fly in the face of Irans commitments under JCPOA and the Additional Protocol. Not long ago these same organizations hid nuclear facilities on military sites.
This behavior cannot be tolerated; the deal must be strictly enforced, and the IAEA must fully utilize its inspection authorities.
Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
As the personal toll of Harvey Weinsteins alleged decades-long campaign of sexual harassment continues to climb, so too does the professional price. Amazon announced Friday that they will no longer be making David O. Russells untitled drama starring Julianne Moore and Robert De Niro, as the project was a co-production with the Weinstein Company. We support Amazons decision as in light of recent news and out of respect for all those affected we have decided together that it is best to not move forward with this show, Russell, Moore, and De Niro said in a joint statement following the decision. Meanwhile, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiners upcoming series, an anthology show about contemporary families who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian Imperial family, will continue at Amazon minus TWC. As an Amazon Studios spokesperson confirmed to Variety in a release, As for The Romanoffs, Amazon intends to move forward without the involvement of The Weinstein Company.
Photo: Mark Von Holden/Getty Images for Dimension Films
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bob Weinstein, who claims to have become essentially estranged from his brother over the last five years, discusses Harvey Weinsteins ongoing sexual-abuse scandal, for which Bob believes his brother and longtime business partner should be removed from the Academy, and the future of the Weinstein Company. According to Bob, he was aware his older brother was serially unfaithful to wife Georgina Chapman, but had assumed his many affairs were consensual. However, Bob acknowledges he did know about Harvey Weinsteins alleged history of non-sexual verbal and physical harassment. Its hard to describe how I feel that he took out the emptiness inside of him in so many sick and depraved ways. Its a sickness but not a sickness that is excusable, Bob Weinstein told THR. Its a sickness thats inexcusable. And I, as a brother, understood and was aware as a family member, that my brother needed help and that something was wrong.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Bob Weinstein denies masterminding the New York Times expose that led to his brothers ouster from the Weinstein Company. People that are liars lying to his wife, to his children, to everyone well, they have to turn around and say, Who stabbed me? Its unbelievable that even to this moment he is more concerned with who sold him out, said Weinstein. I dont hear concern or contrition for the victims. And I want them to hear that. Harvey has no remorse whatsoever. As for why Bob didnt take any action with regard to the abuse and intimidation he did reportedly see his brother inflict on employees and peers, including Bob himself, Weinstein admits, I regret that beyond all measure. I live with that. That was a defining moment for me of cowardice on my own part. He also refused to answer a question about Harveys contract renewal in 2015, during which the board was allegedly informed of three or four confidential settlements his brother had made with various women.
According to Bob Weinstein, he did at some point try to address his brothers aggressive non-sexual behavior with no luck: I saw it and I asked him to get help for many years. And thats the truth. He avoided getting the help. We begged him. As for rumors about the future of the Weinstein Company, Bob Weinstein isnt ready to dissolve the company just yet, despite Amazons decision to extricate itself from current TWC co-productions, an In the Heights co-writer asking the studio to drop the Lin-Manuel Miranda movie musical, and an alleged company meltdown. Says Weinstein, Well, they didnt shut Fox News down, they didnt shut NBC down. My brother is the one that should pay with everything.
When we last saw Rebecca Bunch, she just experienced the ultimate blow: After two years of obsessively courting Josh Chan, he left her at the altar to join the priesthood, ending all possibility of the two of them ever getting together. But while season two ended on Rebecca (and her biggest booster, Paula) dramatically vowing to get revenge, this seasons opener is more of a whimper than a bang. No one has seen or heard from Rebecca for two weeks not even Paula, whose sole receipt of communication is a Facebook like on a three-year-old Ice Bucket Challenge video.
Naturally, the whole town is a-twitter (on Twitter), which leads to a big medieval opening set piece, as the villagers of West Covina speculate about the fate of the princess in their tower a.k.a. the hotel where Rebecca has been sobbing and stress-eating in her bathrobe. This does bear a few funny medieval-meets-modern gags, like George getting fired again after failing to shine Nathaniels shoes and Darryl milking a cow into his latte, but the premise is pretty thin. Some of the cast members go for exaggerated British accents, others dont bother, and the medieval theme doesnt even translate to Rebeccas half of the song. It all feels a bit low-rent compared to last years big opening gambit of the Beyonce-aping Love Kernels (whose joke about consuming the whole production budget must have been too accurate to repeat for another season premiere).
Even as her romantic fantasies fade, Rebecca still relies on pop-culture tropes to define her life, and it isnt long before she decides to actually become the villain in her own story, metamorphosing from jilted, innocent bride into Basic Instinctinspired vixen who shows up at the office at 5 a.m. to prepare the perfect chair-spinning makeover reveal. (I know, my hair is dark, so I look evil, she tells her co-workers, but Im wearing white, which is ironic.)
But this is still Rebecca were talking about, and like that slinky white dress, the role doesnt really fit. Shes far too nerdy and excitable to maintain an icy cool, and her big plan for revenge consists of pulling a stunt straight out of The Help: She wants to send Josh a surprise box of cupcakes laced with her feces. Surprisingly, the only person she fools with her Sharon Stone act is Nathaniel, whose interest in a hookup has only increased now that its the last thing on Rebeccas mind. In fact, hes developing a few Rebecca-like tendencies himself, sending surprise gift baskets and just happening to run past her house.
Desperate to appease a grieving Rebecca, her girl squad of Paula, Valencia, and Heather urge her to skip the plan thats literally crap and opt for the only slightly superior backup: making a viral fake sex tape in which an actor playing Josh loudly rejects Jesus, thus screwing up the real Joshs chances at the priesthood. Its a terrible idea and Rebeccas pals know it, but it drags on far too long, in part to give Vincent Rodriguez III something to do. (With Josh sidelined in seminary, Rodriguez appears instead as Joshs British doppelganger Colin Crowley, an actor who answers Rebeccas casting call.)
It isnt until Rebecca goes so far as to attempt making literal porn with her Josh clone that her friends intervene, and realize that her yen for revenge is really more of a yen for self-destruction. Its an important revelation, but its also a bummer to have the bubble popped so early on. Rebeccas rapacious zeal for getting what she wants is what makes this show so much fun, and while the important flip side of that coin is its rigorous emotional honesty, the writers probably could have had a little more fun with her plan first. The show might be a little too committed to showing how a sad, exhausted real-life Rebecca would feel to provide the big thrills that make for a satisfying season premiere.
The revenge plot doesnt get enough time because the show is also handling the fallout of the rest of the finale: Paula agreeing to take back her cheating husband Scott, and Darryls revelation to White Josh that he really wants another kid. The Paula plot dovetails nicely with Rebeccas because shes also trying to exact a form revenge on Scott, subjecting him to a series of rules and sign-ins and extensive lie-detector tests, but its really just a cover for how insecure the affair still makes her feel. Donna Lynne Champlin is great in this episode, really nailing all the nuances of Paulas plight, but the whole thing doesnt quite get enough time to gel, and its resolved fairly quickly.
Paula and Rebeccas story lines should have gotten more breathing room by pushing the Darryl and WhiJo plot, in which they seek therapy over Darryls baby obsession (with Dr. Akopians husband Dr. Akopian!) to another episode. Still, we get Pete Gardner and David Hull wearing an adorable fuzzy anteater costume to shill protein bars, so what else can you ask for?
Amid this busy and chaotic jumble of plotlines, the episode manages to throw in one of its all-time best songs, Lets Generalize About Men, in which a totally 80s Rebecca, Paula, Valencia, and Heather engage in the time-honored female ritual of griping about the opposite sex. Catchy and perfectly written from end to end, its a knife-edge satire, both sympathizing with and satirizing womens tendency to gripe in blanket statements (and to perversely lionize gay men). In fact, its so good at skewering the kill all men mentality that Im actually worried MRA types might seize on it as a nice bit of self-justification before they go back to generalizing about women, of course.
In the end, Rebecca and Paula settle on a revenge plan more suited to the skills of a talented attorney and attorney-in-training: suing the crap out of Josh. But Rebeccas yen for self-destruction remains in full play. She lies to Paula about Robert, pretending he was a literal dog that deserted her, and the episode closes on her following through with the poop-cupcake plan. Its a lot of conflicting plot for the show to balance, and its clear that some of Rebeccas insecurity about whats next is shared by the show as well. Whats a woman worth without her man, and whats Crazy Ex-Girlfriend worth without Rebeccas need for a man? Its going to be an interesting ride.
Photo: YANN COATSALIOU/AFP/Getty Images
Earlier today, 54 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, reportedly including Tom Hanks, Laura Dean, Whoopi Goldberg, and Steven Spielberg, allegedly met to discuss producer Harvey Weinsteins membership status in the wake of his ongoing sexual-abuse scandal. In a little over a week since the New York Times published a report describing his history of sexual abuse, dozens of actresses have come forward to accuse the studio head of sexual assault, coercion, and rape. According to Variety, on Saturday afternoon, the Academys Board of Governors decided to officially revoke Weinsteins membership in the organization. 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 board said in a statement, which you can read in full below.
Rosario Dawson. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Residents of Puerto Rico are running out of potable water and only 16 percent of the island has electricity in the wake of Hurricane Maria. And then you have Agent Orange throwing paper towels at people? Rosario Dawson, whose mother is Puerto Rican and Cuban, says grimly. I was speaking to her after we did a panel together for the Audible book of Andy Weirs Artemis, which she voiced; she was laughing out of disbelief. Thats not even food or water. Its not a phone. I dont even understand what he thinks people are supposed to do with that! Are they supposed to use those to sop up all the flood waters and the mud? There was someone who was taking the piss when they were like, Hey, throw these. This is really helpful. Shes seen the many memes out there and would like the internet to know that she appreciates its work. I saw a picture where someone had him superimposed where hes supposed to be Marie Antoinette, like Let them eat cake, and it was just a tray with paper towels. It was so silly and great.
Meanwhile, Dawson says that she still doesnt know the whereabouts of much of her Puerto Rican family. We only just started getting in touch with aunts and uncles who are in their 80s, who were in the major cities, she says. That was really good to hear, but a lot of the family in the outer communities we havent heard from. And the ones we have heard from, it took days. What she does know is that paper towels are pretty low on their list of essentials. Theyre running out of water, she says. One of the things Im hearing, which is really devastating, is that the power lines and Wi-Fi that are going in are being taken down because there are criminal factions that are taking this opportunity to continue looting and taking advantage of the chaos.
She pointed out there are still crises to address in Haiti, Sierra Leone, the Virgin Islands, and Mexico City. Yes, Puerto Rico is incredibly important, she says. My familys there. These are Americans for people who care about that distinction. But as we keep moving on trend-wise and hashtag-wise to other issues, we need to remember that these are things that take a long time to make a difference. Its going to be several months until theres even full power in Puerto Rico. The hurricane pretty much wiped the island clean, so theres no potential to even grow food or anything.
Dawson was most devastated about the White Houses refusal to extend its waiver of the Jones Act, a 1920 law that mandates only American vessels can ship cargo to any U.S. ports, including Puerto Ricos. In this crisis, it has crippled the ability to have cheaper, readily available foreign ships transport relief supplies to remote parts of the island, where the trucking industry is now nonexistent. Getting rid of the Jones Act couldve made a proper impact, says Dawson. The fact that it was only lifted for ten days is absurd in light of the actual tragedy of whats happening there and whats necessary.
Trumps not my problem attitude toward Puerto Rico, says Dawson, is detrimental, but its not the first time youve seen this insensitivity from this person. And she thinks its ironic that he would compare the Puerto Rican disaster, lightly, to a real catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina. All she sees are similarities: What you saw in Katrina was that we allowed certain people and certain demographics and certain communities to be helped and other ones to not. This is where your start to see it in really grave and obvious terms, but this is the same conversation around health care and access to it, and education. As we were at the panel, shed gotten the news alert that Jeff Sessions had declared that civil-rights laws dont apply to transgender workers, and threw up her hands.
All of those things are interconnected, she says.
Wissam Al-Aethawi, a native of Baghdad, Iraq, who converted to Christianity from Islam and fled to America under threat of death, will discuss his experiences during a seminar planned Oct. 27 through Oct. 29 at New Road Church of Christ, 3100 S. New Road.
The public is invited to attend the three-part session that will include talks titled: The Quran or the Bible? Evolution of Islam, Is Allah God? and Islam: Myth Buster, among others, according to an information sheet provided by the church.
Al-Aethawi was found hiding for his life on a farm in Pennsylvania, but now serves as adjunct assistant dean of Arabic studies at the Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock and directs a ministry aimed at sharing the gospel with Muslims living in Dearborn, Michigan, said Douglas Hamilton, minister at New Road Church of Christ.
He spends time leading Muslims to Christ and has become one of the most sought-after speakers in our brotherhood, Hamilton said. He speaks lovingly but honestly, not trying to win an argument, but a soul.
Al-Aethawi speaks English and Arabic fluently and knows the Quran, the holy book of Islam, by heart, Hamilton said. Al-Aethawi learned English by watching American-made movies and converted to Christianity after becoming disenchanted with Islam and securing a Bible on the black market, Hamilton said. He was baptized in a hotel swimming pool.
He knew he could be executed for leaving Islam, Hamilton said. He quit going to the mosque where he lived, and the imams visited his family and said they needed to get him under control or they would.
A civil engineer by trade who also served in the first Persian Gulf War, Al-Aethawi fled the Middle East when a building he had just left exploded, killing nearly 300 people, Hamilton said.
He ended up taking refuge on a farm in Pennsylvania owned by a Christian he had met online. He later attended the Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, wrote a book and has started a second, and became a popular speaker at events sponsored by the Church of Christ.
Ive been to a number of his seminars, and he is very, very good, Hamilton said. He has a great sense of humor, and he wants to equip people of faith to reach out to Muslims. He tells Muslims about Christ and Christians about Islam. Anyone would learn a lot by attending.
Hamilton said Al-Aethawi, whom he described as one of his closest friends, initially did not want to be photographed or filmed while leading seminars. He has changed that stance, Hamilton said. Al-Aethawi is not hostile to Muslims, rather hes brutally honest in a loving way, Hamilton said.
Promotional material provided by New Road Church of Christ says there will be a 15-minute session for questions and answers following the second lesson on both Friday and Saturday evenings of the seminar.
Lessons start at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on both Oct. 27 and Oct. Lessons start at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Oct. 29. A potluck fellowship meal is planned for noon. The seminar will close with a final presentation at 6 p.m. titled For We Do Not Wrestle.
George V. Meurer, age 85, of West, passed away on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 at his residence. A Rosary will be recited at 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 15, at St. Mary's Catholic Church of the Assumption in West, with visitation to follow until 6 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m., Monday, Oct. 16, at St. Mary's Catholic Church of the Assumption. Military Graveside Rites will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery, conducted by the West Veterans Honor Guard.
Electric-car maker Tesla fired hundreds of workers this week after a series of performance reviews conducted during the biggest expansion in the company's history.
Tesla said on Friday that the dismissals were not out of the ordinary, even though they came as the automaker tries to increase the production of its first mass-market vehicle, the Model 3 sedan.
The company has been criticised for the slow pace of its early production of the new model, which has generated hundreds of thousands of deposits from prospective buyers.
Tesla built about 25,000 vehicles in the three months that ended September 30, but only 260 of those were Model 3s - considerably fewer than the 1,500 it had projected.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 10, 2017 | 05:19 AM | PADUCAH, KY
Mary Alice Donofrio gave blood for the first time in memory of her mother who received several blood transfusions while being treated for breast cancer. I had no idea what to expect, but the experience was very easy and quite rewarding. Ever since then, I try and give blood as often as I can, and every time it gives me a good feeling in my heart. It is so nice to know that taking just an hour or so out of my day can help save the lives of others.
According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 1.7 million new cases of cancer are expected in the U.S. this year. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, with nearly 253,000 women expected to be diagnosed in 2017. Cancer patients may need blood products during chemotherapy, surgery or treatment for complications.
Upcoming blood donation opportunities October 16-31:
Shawnee Community College, 8364 Shawnee College Road, Ullin, IL. 62992
10/25/2017: 9 am - 2 pm
Ballard County Elementary, 3383 Paducah Road, Barlow, KY. 42024
10/26/2017: 1:30 - 6:30 pm
Ballard County Cooperative Extension Office, 110 Broadway, La Center, KY. 42056
10/19/2017: 12:30 - 5:30 pm
First Presbyterian Church, 1601 Main St. Murray, KY. 42071
10/19/2017: 12:30 - 5:30 pm
Trace Creek Baptist Church, 3577 State Route 131, Mayfield, KY. 42066
10/17/2017: 11 am - 5 pm
American Legion, 211 South 7th, Mayfield, KY. 42066
10/24/2017: 11 am - 5 pm
Talon Falls, 2932 St. Route 849 W. Melber, KY. 42069
10/21/2017: 5 - 10 pm
First Christian Church, 2515 S. Main St. Benton, KY. 42025
10/16/2017: 2 - 6 pm
Calvert City Church of Christ, 4625 U.S. Highway 62, Calvert City, KY. 42029
10/30/2017: 12:30 - 5:30 pm
Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive, Paducah, KY. 42001
10/16/2017: 11:45 am - 6:15 pm
10/17/2017: 8:45 am - 3:45 pm
10/18/2017: 2:30 - 7:30 pm
10/19/2017: 11:45 am - 6:15 pm
10/20/2017: 8:45 am - 3:45 pm
10/21/2017: 7:45 am - 2:45 pm
10/22/2017: 7:45 am - 2:15 pm
10/23/2017: 11:45 am - 6:15 pm
10/24/2017: 8:45 am - 3:45 pm
10/26/2017: 11:45 am - 6:15 pm
10/27/2017: 8:45 am - 3:45 pm
10/28/2017: 7:45 am - 2:45 pm
10/29/2017: 7:45 am - 2:15 pm
10/30/2017: 11:45 am - 6:15 pm
10/31/2017: 8:45 am - 3:45 pm
Risco High School, 101 Locust St. Risco, MO. 63874
10/17/2017: 11 am - 3 pm
Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, from a computer or mobile device. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site.
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nations blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the American Red Cross encourages eligible donors to give blood to support cancer patients and others.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2017 | 01:30 PM | MURRAY, KY
Murray-Calloway County Hospital will host its annual Breast Cancer Awareness luncheon Wednesday, Oct. 18 with guest speaker Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton.The event is set for 11:30 am at the Yates Event Center, 2760 State Route 121 North in Murray.Hampton is the first African-American in Kentucky history to hold statewide office and the fourth woman to serve as Lt. Governor. She will give a motivational talk on how to be an example in todays world.Also at the event will be a catered lunch, giveaways, door prizes and motivation and relaxation methods. All are welcome to the free event, and interested parties are asked to RSVP by calling 270-762-1381, or by emailing marketing@murrayhospital.orgThe luncheon is sponsored in part by Loretta Jobs, Breast Cancer Survivor, and Principal Broker at Keller Williams Experience Realty through the Murray Calloway Endowment for Healthcare.While breast cancer affects people throughout the year, October has been marked as a month of heightened awareness of the disease and those it impacts, in hopes of moving closer to eventually finding a cure.In addition, October is also used as a reminder to women to make sure they are keeping up with preventative and early detection measures against breast cancer. At Murray-Calloway County Hospitals Mammography Department, the staff knows first-hand how vital early detection is. Thanks to new digital mammography technology, early detection is faster and much more accurate. Radiologists can view and manipulate the images and detect smaller changes that may be early signs of cancer.The Murray-Calloway County Hospital Mammography Center is accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the FDA's federal accreditation program. The equipment is regularly checked for accuracy and is used only for mammography. Technologists perform required daily, weekly, and monthly quality control tests.In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, every patient who gets a mammogram at MCCH in October will receive a breast cancer utility tote.For more information on mammograms or womens health, call 270-762-1971.
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I grew up on a dairy farm. From a very young age, I milked right alongside my dad. As I grew, I took on more responsibility and learned how to do new things. I was a part of our family business and knew the value and satisfaction of hard work. I credit these experiences for my strong work ethic and lifelong drive to do my best every day.
When I heard about the Eberle family, which owns The Mixing Bowl Bakery in Sauk City, I knew I needed to take action. Last year, a customer from the bakery filed a complaint with the Department of Workforce Development because several of the Eberles nine children were working in the bakery. The kids were clearing dishes, washing tables, making change and other small tasks. Curtis and Vicki Eberle were investigated and told that their children could not work at the bakery without a work permit. Since most of the kids are fairly young, they do not qualify for a work permit. Thus, none of the Eberles children are allowed to help at the bakery anymore.
I decided to author Senate Bill 420 to allow a minor to be employed without a child labor permit if they are working at a business owned by their parents, guardians or grandparents. Current child work permit exemptions already exist for agricultural work, domestic employment, work in or around a private home (such as babysitting or yard work), volunteer work for a nonprofit agency and work through the Youth Apprenticeship Program. Similarly, federal law also exempts children of any age from child labor minimum age requirements if they are employed in a family business, with some exceptions for hazardous occupations.
Some of the best lessons a child can learn take place when they are working alongside their parents. Farm kids are some of the hardest workers with the best work ethic in our state. I learned many skills on our family farm: responsibility, problem solving, etc. Under current law, a minor does not need a work permit to work on the family farm. A family business should be treated the same way.
Curtis Eberle joined me Oct. 4 to testify before the Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform.
Our oldest son has a great work ethic now because he started helping out at the bakery when he was young, Eberle said. He will be 12 in December. Had we waited to teach these lessons, we would have lost valuable time for learning.
It is important to note that all other minor employment protections would remain in place. Current law protects children by prohibiting them to be employed in any place that is dangerous to their health, safety, or welfare or where the employment may be dangerous. There are also additional protections and limitations on what hours minors can work.
When our children helped in the bakery, they wore hair nets, gloves and aprons. They washed their hands, Eberle said. We still have standards and we must follow the laws to maintain our license.
Small, family-owned businesses are an important part of our economy and of our culture as Americans. The knowledge passed down through families through hard work should not be impeded by government regulations. I trust parents to make good choices for their kids.
As drafted, the bill would only eliminate the work permit requirement for minors ages 12-16 that work at a family business. I plan on introducing an amendment so there would be no age minimum for children to help their familys private businesses. This would align our statutes with agriculture and federal law.
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Margaret Carroll, 93, of Millville, a longtime volunteer for the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor, waves to well-wishers as she prepares to fulfill an item on her bucket list, a ride on the Blackstone Bikeway on a TerraTrike Rover universal-access equipped bicycle, in Blackstone on Thursday.
The United Kingdom (UK) has several universities which rank among the best in the world. The four largest universities in the UK with the highest enrollment of students are University of London, Open University, Open University in England, and University of Manchester. These universities enroll distance learning, part-time, and full-time students. Furthermore, their enrollments go beyond the UK border to international students from over 100 countries.
The Largest Universities in the United Kingdom
University of London is located in London, England. It is the largest UK university by enrollment having 161, 270 full-time students. In addition, it has over 50,000 students enrolled for distance learning. University of London is a collegiate as well as a federal research university. It offers both undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. University of London boasts of approximately two million alumni in the world. Some of those notable alumni of University of London were Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alexander Graham Bell. Furthermore, there are 84 Nobel Laureates, six Grammy Award Winners, and two Oscar Winners associated with University of London.
Open University is a Wales university. It is a research and public distance learning university. The university is popular for being the world leader in provision of flexible and high quality online degree programs. In fact, Open University was among the pioneers of distance learning in the world. It enrolls the second highest number of students in the UK after University of London. Statistics shows that their latest enrollment is 126,210 students. Many of the Open University students study off-campus. The university awards degree and non-degree qualifications to its students. The degrees awarded are both undergraduate and postgraduate while the non degrees are certificates, diplomas, and continuing education units. Some notable alumni of Open University include Meles Zenawi, Mary Stuart, Peter Cottrell, and Craig Brown.
University of Manchester ranks fourth amongst the universities in the UK with the highest enrollment. It comes after Open University in England which is the third with a number of 101,490 enrolled students. University of Manchester is a public research institute with a student enrollment of 39,700. By performance, it was ranked 34th in the world in 2018. It is UKs largest single site university and hosts students from over 160 nations in the world. The university is a member of the renowned Russell Group of UK universities. University of Manchester is a result of a merger between Victoria University of Manchester and University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. The merger took place in 2004. University of Manchester provides undergraduate and post-graduate degree programs. It has about 25 Nobel laureates among its present and past staff and students. Besides the degree programs, University of Manchester owns and operates cultural properties such as Jodrell Bank Observatory, Whitworth Art Gallery, and Manchester Museum.
Factors Influencing High Student Enrollment
The UK colleges experience high enrollment of students in spite of their high fees due to several factors. Firstly, most of the universities offer quality education. The measure of quality is in accordance with the satisfaction of the current students as well as league-table rankings. The second greatest factor considered by students is the long term employment and earning prospects. Students make their university choices with these two factors in mind.
A small, landlocked nation nestled in the heart of the Eastern Himalayas in South Asia, Bhutan is bordered by India and the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is South Asias second smallest nation and has a distinct national identity of its own based on Buddhist principles. The country has been independent for centuries and has never been colonized. A 2016 estimate puts the countrys population at 797,765. The country covers a total area of 38,394 square km.
What Is The Capital Of Bhutan And Where Is It Located?
The only settlement with a city status in Bhutan, Thimpu is also the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan. The city is based on the western bank of the Raidak River valley in west-central Bhutan. The elevation of Thimpu ranges between 2,248 meters and 2,648 meters, making it the worlds third highest capital city. Unlike most national capital cities of the world, the international airport of Bhutan is not located in Thimpu but in Paro about 54 km away.
History Of The Capital City Of Bhutan
Prior to 1960, the area that is now the thriving capital of Bhutan, Thimpu, was occupied by several small hamlets. The area was witness to one of the most decisive battles in the history of the country in 1885 which led to the establishment of the rule of the Wangchu Dynasty with Ugyen Wangchuck becoming the first King of Bhutan. Under the dynasty, the Kingdom thrived and the progressive decisions taken by the rulers were welcomed by Bhutans people. Although Punakha was the former capital of Bhutan, in 1952, a decision was taken by the king to shift the capital to Thimpu. The city was formally recognized as the countrys capital in 1961. In 1971, after Bhutan became a member of the United Nations, Thimpu has rapidly developed due to the presence of international funding organizations and diplomatic missions in the country. The city hosts a population of 104,000 (2015) and occupies a total area of 26 square km.
Present-Day Role Of The Capital Of Bhutan
Being the seat of the Bhutanese government, Thimpu hosts the important political buildings of the country like the National Assembly building (Thimpu is a recently formed parliamentary democracy) and the formal residence of the nations King, the Dechencholing Palace. The economy of the city is based on agriculture and livestock grazing. The city contributes to 45% of the nations GNP. Tourism is also a thriving industry in Thimpu but the people and government here ensure sustainable tourism that does not disturb the fragile ecological balance of the area. Thimpu also reflects the culture of the country. The locals here adhere to their religion, tradition, customs, and costumes. Lively and colorful festivals like the Cham dances are celebrated in the city.
The loss of a million public sector jobs since 2010 has reduced the public sector share of total employment to just 16.9 percent. This figure, published by the GMB trade union, was down from 17.1 percent in 2016, 22 percent in 2009 and an all-time high of 30.6 percent in 1977. The estimate is derived from a report compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)Public Sector Employment June 2017.
Seven years ago there were 6.4 million employed in the public sector. Today the figure is down to 5.33 million. Most jobs lost are from local government, which provides essential services including education, transport, planning, fire and public safety, social care, libraries, waste management and trading standards.
According to the ONS, local government jobs fell to 2.115 million, the lowest figure since records began in 1999. The national civil service had 423,000 employees as of June 2017, which the GMB calculated as an 18.2 percent drop from 517,000 in 2010.
The scale of austerity imposed in the last decade is evident in the fact that even under the Conservative Thatcher government of the 1980swhich privatized swathes of industry including the major utilities, car production, shipbuilding and steelthe share of the public sector was never lower than 20 percent.
The ruling elite are seeking to return social conditions to the Victorian era, pre-dating the introduction of the post-World War II welfare state. How far this has gone is indicated in the fact that public sector employment is now at its lowest since 1947, the year before the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS).
The jobs have mostly gone in councils in the main towns and cities nationwide. These are run, in the majority, by the Labour Party. Labour has imposed billions of pounds in austerity since the Brown Labour government bailed out the banks to the tune of around 1 trillion after the 2008 crash.
Labour-held Birmingham city council, for example, has announced further cuts of 113 million for the current 2017/2018 budget. Since 2010, the council has cut services by 650 million.
By 2018, 13,000 public sector jobs will have been slashed in Birmingham, the UKs second largest city. The council is currently engaged in a long running dispute with striking refuse workers, responsible for ensuring the safety of refuse collection, over a planned 120 redundancies.
In just the four years to 2014, the councils comprising the region of Greater Manchester, with a population of 2.5 million people, imposed cutsincluding thousands of job lossesof 1.2 billion. Nine out of ten of the councils are Labour-run.
This is entirely in line with Labour Party policy. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell wrote to Labour councils last year instructing them to set legal budgetsi.e., impose cuts. He recently addressed a meeting of leading financiers and business magnates in the city of London, reassuring them that business has no need to fear a Labour government.
After a decade of cuts and losing more than 40 billion of its budget, the NHS is plagued with staff shortages among frontline staff, including doctors, nurses and midwives. Between January 2017 and March 2017, there were 86,000 vacant posts. This is expected to worsen due to the Brexit vote and the insecurity for EU workers it implies.
While the public sector has been haemorrhaging vital jobs and services, there has been a growth in employment overall. But the growth has been confined mainly to low-paid, temporary, and zero hours contacts jobs in what is known as the gig economy.
The ONS reports a rise in the private sector share of employmentup 167,000 from the previous quarter to 26.696 million, the highest since 1999 when comparable records began.
The move away from the public to the even worse paid private sector employment is having a knock-on effect in relation to poverty. Of the 30 percent of UK children classified as poor, two thirds live in working households dependent on benefits to supplement their income.
The decline in public sector jobs has not been caused by austerity cuts alone but though a parallel process of privatisation and outsourcing. This has resulted in private companies raking in handsome profits at the expense of deteriorating services.
A recent programme on BBC Radio 4, You and Yours, aired an item on Homecarecare in the community for the elderly, disabled and vulnerable. Once provided by local authorities, this is now outsourced to private companies. According to Richard Whittell, who works for Corporate Watch, Home Care was privatised and run increasingly by big corporate players. He said that councils have handed over huge amounts to corporate players, to the tune of 70m in the last five years.
After the Thatcher years, privatization and the redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich continued unabated under the government of New Labour, led first by Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown. Much of this was bound up with the introduction of the Tories Public Private Partnership (PFI) into hospitals, schools and the London Underground.
Under PFI, the public-sector leases assets built and owned by private companies, which make staggering profits out of the contracts. According to the website FullFact, in 2016/2017 the NHS alone paid 2 billion for past and present PFI contracts. The latest figures as of 2015 show the NHS will have to continue paying for 105 projects until 2050.
Labour also introduced Foundation Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups into the NHS, laying the ground for the introduction of the market into health provision. These initiatives were taken up and expanded under the Conservative governments that came to office after Labour was ousted in 2010.
Commenting on the GMB report, the unions national secretary, Rehana Azam, said, funding reductions are cutting into sheer bone. Not only are public sector employees being denied fair pay rises [capped at one percent for the past seven years] but the vital services they deliver are being stripped back and hollowed out and denied the resources they need.
The catastrophic decline in public sector is an indictment of the trade unions. Unison, the GMB and others including the health and education sector unions, with a membership of around 3.5 millionhave sabotaged all struggles against austerity. Admitting the compliance of the unions with the cuts already imposed, Azam is quoted in the GMB report saying, Any sensible opportunities for efficiencies are long gone, and that in order to provide services GMBs members are performing miracles.
This elicited the comment from a reader on the LocalGov website, who said, About time the unions told members to stop performing miracles and start working to contract, hours and health and safety rules.
The October 4 killings of four US Green Berets in Niger has provided a rare glimpse into the far-reaching American military operations throughout the African continent which have been conducted almost entirely in secret.
Pentagon officials on Friday told reporters that the ambush was carried out by a self-radicalized group supposedly affiliated with ISIS. The Pentagon additionally admitted that at least 29 patrols similar to the one that was fatally ambushed have been carried out by American soldiers in Niger.
According to AFRICOM, the US military command based in Stuttgart, Germany, the US special forces deployed to Niger are tasked with providing training, logistics, and intelligence to assist the Nigerien military in fighting militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Mali and Boko Haram in neighboring Nigeria. AFRICOM has officially stated that its forces interact with the Nigerien army in a non-combat advisory capacity.
The circumstances surrounding the ambush which resulted in the deaths of the four Green Berets expose AFRICOMs claim of non-engagement as a lie. The killings occurred during a joint patrol of elite American soldiers and Nigerien forces in a remote hostile region on the border with Mali known for frequent raids conducted by Islamist militants. Some 800 US commandos are deployed to bases in Niamey and Agadez making quite clear the offensive role that the American military is playing in Niger.
Underlining the incident is Nigers configuration in Washingtons imperialist offensive across Africa. The expanding levels of US military forces arrayed across the continent have increasingly taken on the character of an occupying army. According to the Pentagon, there are a total of 1,000 American troops in the vicinity of the Lake Chad Basin which includes eastern Niger, Chad, northern Nigeria and part of the Central African Republic. An additional 300 troops are stationed to the south in Cameroon.
After its establishment in 2008 as an independent command, AFRICOM has significantly expanded American military influence and troop deployments on the African continent. Measuring the breadth of US military expansion is the construction of a $100 million base in Agadez in central Niger, from which the US Air Force conducts regular surveillance drone flights across the Sahel region.
Augmenting the special forces contingent in the region are military personnel stationed at several dozen bases and outposts including a US base in Garoua, Cameroon.
The special operations units in Africa have their genesis in 1980, after the Pentagon created Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to conduct a raid on the US embassy in Tehran, Iran to rescue American hostages. Over the years, SOCOM has vastly broadened its scope, and currently has forces stationed on every continent around the globe.
Made up of various units of the US military, including Green Berets, Delta Force, and Navy Seals, SOCOM carry out a broad spectrum of offensive operations including assassinations, counter-terrorism, reconnaissance, psychological operations, and foreign troop training. Under AFRICOM, these forces form a subgroup of SOCOM designated as Special Operations Command in Africa (SOCAFRICA).
Between 2006 and 2010 the deployment of US special forces troops in Africa increased 300 per cent. However, from 2010 to 2017 the numbers of deployed troops exploded by nearly 2000 per cent, occupying more than 60 outposts tasked with carrying out over 100 missions at any given moment across the continent.
The scale of the military expansion which began in earnest under the Obama administration is part of a renewed scramble for Africa, comprised of a reckless drive for economic dominance over Africas vast economic resources which threatens to transform the entire continent into a battlefield.
The immediate roots of the Niger ambush can be traced to the 2011 US/NATO war in Libya which resulted in the removal and assassination of Libyas leader Muammar Gaddafi. Under the Obama administration, Washington cultivated and armed various Islamist militant groups with ties to Al-Qaeda as a proxy force to carry out its aim of regime change. The resulting US/NATO bombardment left Libyan society in shambles, and the Islamist fighters spilled forth and out across North Africa and south to the Sahel.
In 2012, as a consequence of a US and French backed coup against the government in Bamako, Tuareg rebels in northern Mali took advantage of the chaos resulting from the coup to stage a rebellion. After the Tuareg militants began taking control over cities and territory as it cut deeper into southern Mali, France with the Obama administrations backing deployed 4,000 troops to the country to neutralize the Tuareg rebels, eventually stabilizing the government it placed in Bamako.
While the Tuareg rebellion may have been halted by the US-backed French offensive, Islamist fighters from Libya were pouring into Mali, with many taking up arms against the Western backed puppet government. The Islamist fighters largely united into one large group, declaring allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The military forces of Niger and Chad which participated in the US/French intervention in Mali have become frequent targets by the Islamist militants who began conducting cross-border raids and launched attacks on patrols and garrisons.
The rise of these warring Islamist militias which have transformed West Africa into a battlefield is the end result of Washingtons decades-long strategy in cultivating these forces as a proxy army in its wars for regime change, at first, in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and subsequently in Africa.
Underscoring Frances military deployment are the French economic interests it seeks to protect not only Mali, but throughout West Africa, the region which was once part of its colonial empire. In Niger, the French energy giant Arven has established mining operations extracting the countrys rich uranium resources.
For its part, Washington has enlisted the participation of the military forces of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Mali in its drive for dominance of the Sahel and West Africa, with all of these countries featuring US outposts or bases.
A key element of Washingtons military expansion in the region is the significant economic resources that it aims to secure for American corporate interests. On behalf of these interests, and complementary to its military operation, Washington has constructed a $300 million embassy in Niamey.
Washingtons military interventions in Africa must also be seen as an effort to offset Chinas growing economic influence on the continent. Beijing in recent years has secured investment deals with African governments in nearly every sector of Africas economy.
China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) purchased the permit for oil drilling in Nigers Agadem Basin, and CNPC also constructed and operates the Soraz refinery near Zinder, Nigers second largest city. Deals by Beijing for the construction of pipelines traversing through Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon are currently in the development stage, causing no small amount of consternation in Washington.
There are few public figures more justifiably reviled by thinking people than Thomas Friedman. As a columnist for the New York Times, Friedman has served as a propagandist for every war the United States has started over the past two decades, from the bombing of Serbia, to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, to the regime change operations in Libya and Syria.
It was Friedman who infamously declared, hailing the US bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, The hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fistMcDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the builder of the F-15.
In another column, he threatened the population of Serbia, Every week you ravage Kosovo is another decade we will set your country back by pulverizing you. You want 1950? We can do 1950. You want 1398? We can do 1398, too.
In a column publsished in 1997, and entitled Head Shot, Friedman wrote that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is the reason God created cruise missiles. Cruise missiles are simply the only way to deal with him.
Friedmans malice is outdone only by his stupidity. Former Times journalist Chris Hedges summed up Friedmans persona when he recently noted in a WSWS interview that he might as well be writing for the satirical publication, The Onion.
Friedmans columns consist of pretentious, pseudo-intellectual rants worthy of Shakespeares Polonius. In his public appearances, he gives the impression of a small-town police chief who has gone mad and proclaimed himself a world-class intellectual, and whom everybody is humouring as a malicious prank.
But like the proverbial holy fool, Friedmans tirades often spell out his reactionary arguments more directly than those of his smarter co-thinkers, who have the sense to speak with more reserve.
Such is the case with Friedmans latest column, From Russia with Poison, in which he serves as a cheerleader for Senator Mark Warner and Congressman Adam Schiff, who have spent the last several months hounding Facebook and Twitter into confessing that they were unwitting accomplices in Russias attempt to subvert the 2016 US election.
In so doing, Friedman spells out a sweeping justification for state censorship that makes clear the deeply authoritarian impulses behind the hysteria whipped up by the Democrats, the Washington Post, and the New York Times against Russian fake news, used by the social media companies and Google as the framework for censoring oppositional views.
There is an abiding dream in the tech world that when all the planets people and data are connected it will be a better place, Friedman writes. But getting there is turning into a nightmarea world where billions of people are connected but without sufficient legal structures, security protections or moral muscles among companies and users to handle all these connections without abuse.
The last elections, Friedman asserts, show that Facebook and Twitter have connected more people than they can manage and theyve been naive about how many bad guys were abusing their platforms.
These companies lack of morals was expressed in the insufficient enthusiasm with which they accepted Warners absurd lie that $44,000 in Russian advertisements swung the 2016 US election, and their resistance to publishing a blacklist of accounts supposedly belonging to Russian agents.
Friedman smugly notes, Last November, Facebook C.E.O. Mark Zuckerberg dismissed as a pretty crazy idea evidence that people were using Facebook to generate fake news to tip the US election. But after he got a personal visit by Warner, no doubt accompanied by threats, Zuckerberg admitted, Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it.
Friedman explains these supposed moral transgressions by stating that Internet companies wrongly believe their business is to facilitate communication, instead of blocking it.
One reason Facebook was slow to respond is that its business model was to absorb all of the readers of the mainstream media newspapers and magazines and to absorb all their advertisersbut as few of their editors as possible.
Friedman is, of course, referring to editors like those at the Times, one of whom, Bill Keller, infamously declared that the Freedom of the Press includes the freedom not to publish.
On the Internet, readers can choose between content edited by shills like Keller, and material published by Wikileaks and commented on by critical writers such as Seymour Hersh, Chris Hedges, and Robert Parry, not to mention the World Socialist Web Site, who denounce editors like Keller and the current, CIA-connected Times editorial page editor, James Bennet, as the enablers and accomplices of war crimes.
Friedmans own admission that alternative news sources are absorbing all of the readers of the mainstream media newspapers makes clear which sources readers prefer.
At the Times newsroom and on TV talk shows, Friedman is regarded as a visionary, while online, where there is genuine freedom of the press, he is pilloried as a dunce and a criminal. Numerous articles, many of which have appeared on the World Socialist Web Site, have argued that if international law were interpreted as it was at the Nuremberg Trials, where pro-war propagandists were treated as equally culpable as the political leaders who launched criminal wars, Friedman would have to stand in the dock.
Friedmans overriding aim is to prevent such criticism from finding an audience. His authoritarianism comes out most directly in the following passage: Americas democracy is built on two principles: truth and trust, he writes We trust that our elections are fair and that enables our peaceful rotations of power.
But reality is the exact opposite. Bernard Bailyn, in his masterful treatise The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, made clear that American democracy was not founded on trust, but on profound distrust of all authority, with the corollary that those in power are assumed to be lying.
A better world, Bailyn wrote, than any that had ever been known could be built where authority was distrusted and held in constant scrutiny where the use of power over the lives of men was jealously guarded and severely restricted. It was only where there was this defiance, this refusal to truckle, this distrust of all authority, political or social, that institutions would express human aspirations, not crush them.
The explosive growth of the Internet is driven by the same impulse. It allows people all over the world to access information critical of corrupt liars like Friedman, and provides the basis for discrediting them in the court of public opinion.
It is for this reason that Friedman supports the censorship of the internet.
October 9 marked 50 years since the murder of the Argentine-born guerrilla and co-leader of Cubas 1959 revolution, Ernesto Che Guevara, who was captured after the collapse of a disastrous 11-month-long attempt to foment a guerrilla war in Bolivia.
The anniversary has been widely marked by the media as well as in speeches and ceremonies in Cuba, Bolivia and elsewhere. Much of the press coverage serves to deliberately obscure the political significance of Guevaras life and death, while those marking the anniversary have, for the most part, exploited the occasion as a means of lending a left cover to their reactionary politics and masking their own betrayals.
The New York Times published a lengthy feature article Monday on the anniversary, interviewing witnesses to Ches capture and subsequent assassination by Bolivian soldiers. Notably absent from the piece was any mention of the presence at Guevaras execution of the CIA agent Felix Rodriguez, a Bay of Pigs veteran assigned to hunt down the guerrilla leader. Rodriguez went on to participate in the Operation Phoenix assassination campaign in Vietnam and the Iran-Contra affair. This professional killer subsequently claimed that his intention had been to transport the guerrilla leader to Panama for interrogation and, undoubtedly, torture, but that the order to kill him had come down from the Bolivian army command.
This omission amounts to a form of historical revisionism that defies innocent explanation. Rather, the attempt to write the CIA out of what constituted a criminal assassination is in keeping with the close ties between the Times editorial board and the US intelligence apparatus.
The anniversary was marked in various ways in Latin America. Among the most hypocritical and absurd was the observing of a minute of silence by the corrupt politicians of the Mexican House of Deputies, a proposal made by a leading member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), a political formation deeply implicated in the disappearance and presumed mass murder of the 43 Ayotzinapa teaching students three years ago.
In Bolivia, President Evo Morales marked the anniversary by traveling to the site of Ches murder and sleeping there in a tent. He used this stunt to launch his campaign for a fourth consecutive term, despite a 2016 popular referendum rejecting a repeal of the Bolivian constitutions term limits. The move has sparked widespread demonstrations under conditions in which the Morales government, part of Latin Americas so-called left turn begun at the end of the 1990s, has come into increasing confrontation with the working class.
In Cuba, the main event marking the anniversary was held in Santa Clara, the site of a mausoleum containing the remains of Guevara, which were transferred from Bolivia to Cuba in 1997. Miguel Diaz-Canel, first vice president of Cubas Councils of State and Ministers and the expected successor to the presidency when 86-year-old Raul Castro steps down next year, gave the main speech, sounding the familiar themes of Guevara as a kind of secular saint and inspiration for Cuban youth based on his upholding of the sanctity of study, work and fulfilling ones duty.
He said Che had taught that imperialism cannot be trusted, even a bit, adding that recent events had borne out this advice. He was apparently referring to the recent moves of the Trump administration to roll back the rapprochement initiated between the Obama administration and the Castro government, which has thrown into crisis the plans of Cubas ruling elite to solidify their privileged position by forging closer relations with US capitalism.
In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro, confronting the countrys deepest economic crisis, a mounting corruption scandal, growing popular hostility to his government and threats of intervention from Washington, delivered a statement on the anniversary proclaiming, Today we revolutionaries, the guevaristas-chavistas of this time, can say that 50 years ago, a man did not die, but a myth was born.
Neither Maduro nor any of the others issuing such tributes have cared to delve too deeply into the precise content of this myth, which has been promoted not only by bourgeois and petty-bourgeois nationalists in Latin America, but also by a host of middle class and pseudo-left groups in Europe and North America, most notably the Pabloite revisionist tendency that broke with the Fourth International.
In their heyday, these tendencies openly embraced the Guevarist conception that guerrilla war waged by small bands based in the countryside represented a new road to socialism, eclipsing the revolutionary role of the working class and the necessity of forging its conscious vanguard through the building of independent mass revolutionary parties.
The attempt to implement this retrograde guerrilla perspective led to a series of catastrophic defeats in Latin America, separating a layer of revolutionary youth from the working class and helping to pave the way to decades of military dictatorships.
While the successor organizations to the Pabloite groups that promoted guerrillaism in the 1960s and 1970s have long since moved on, entering capitalist governments and supporting imperialist regime change operations, some of them still exploit the image of Che as a kind of phony revolutionary window-dressing for their reactionary operations. None of them have attempted a serious reappraisal of Ches legacy, not to mention their own reprehensible role.
The following lecture on these questions was delivered in January 1998, in the aftermath of the 30th anniversary of Guevaras death, when the slain guerrilla leaders remains were returned to Cuba.
***
Castroism and the Politics of Petty-Bourgeois Nationalism
By Bill Van Auken
This lecture was delivered in Sydney, Australia on January 7, 1998 to the International Summer School on Marxism and the Fundamental Problems of the 20th Century. It is also available from Mehring Books in pamphlet form.
Castroism has been the subject of immense confusion, not a small part of it created by the Pabloite revisionist tendency which emerged within the Fourth International. The Pabloites presentedand some of them still presentCastroism as a new road to socialism, as confirmation that the socialist revolution could be carried out, and a workers state established, without the conscious participation of the working class.
Led by Joseph Hansen in the US and Ernest Mandel in Europe, the Pabloite revisionists abandoned the struggle for revolutionary leadership in the working class, and ceded the historical tasks of the proletariat in the backward countries to the petty-bourgeois nationalists.
In so doing, they helped prepare some of the most terrible defeats suffered by the working class in the latter half of the 20th century.
The International Committee of the Fourth International waged an implacable struggle against this perspective, thereby defending and developing the theoretical and political weapons forged by Marxism over the whole previous period. Involved in this struggle were the most essential questions relating to the tasks of Marxists.
Our movement fought against those who saw Marxism merely as a means of discovering, describing and adapting themselves to supposedly unstoppable objective processes that were compelling other, non-working class, forces to lead the struggle for socialism. It defended the perspective that the only road to socialism lay in building revolutionary parties, based on the international proletariat, in a relentless struggle against the dominant bureaucracies and petty-bourgeois leaderships, no matter how powerful or popular they might appear.
In dealing with Castroism 35 years later, we are entitled to ask who was right in this dispute? Did Castroism provide a new road to socialism or did it turn out to be a blind alley and a trap for the working class? What were the consequences of the Pabloites renunciation of the role of the working class and its conscious revolutionary vanguard? We will take the opportunity in this lecture to review this strategic experience and its lessons for the working class movement.
Ches revival
A fitting place to begin our analysis is with the recent commemorations marking the 30th anniversary of the execution of Ernesto Che Guevara, the most prominent exponent and practitioner of the perspective of guerrilla warfare with which Castroism is identified. In recent months we have witnessed a virtual Che revival, though not the sort that the Argentine-born guerrilla could have envisioned, even in his worst nightmare.
Che has become the object of commercialization in a manner which seems quite incongruous with his radical reputation. His image itself has been transformed into a commodity. The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has come out with a revolution model, with the guerrillas visage. His face has also been used to advertise skis, to adorn the covers of rock CDs and even to sell beer.
In Argentina, the government of Carlos Menem, the favorite of Washington for his embrace of the IMF and enthusiastic support for the Persian Gulf war, has even issued a commemorative stamp honoring Che as a great Argentine.
The Castro regime has also gotten into the act. It recently brought back Guevaras remains from Bolivia, reintering them in Cuba with pomp and circumstance. The Cuban government has organized Che tours for foreign ex-radicals and markets Che T-shirts and trinkets, providing a new source of hard currency for the crisis-ridden Cuban economy.
What is it about Che that makes him so susceptible to being turned into a harmless, though profitable, icon? The qualities which his admirers cite are well-known. Physical bravery, self-sacrifice, asceticism, giving his life for a cause. These can all be admirable traits. No doubt they present a stark contrast to the prevailing social ethic in which a mans worth is determined by the size of his stock portfolio. But these qualities, in and of themselves, are by no means indicators of the political and class character of those who possess them. Religious sects and even fascist movements can claim to have produced martyrs with similar qualities in their own struggles for wholly reactionary ends.
A careful review of Guevaras career demonstrates that his political conceptions had nothing to do with Marxism and that the panaceas of armed struggle and guerrilla warfare with which he was identified were fundamentally hostile to the revolutionary socialist struggle of the working class.
In the midst of the recent revival of the image of Che there have appeared several new biographies of the guerrilla leader. Those of the Mexican author Jorge Castaneda and the American John Lee Anderson, while by no means offering a Marxist political analysis, do provide some useful insights into both Guevaras trajectory and that of the Cuban revolution.
What emerges so clearly from the detailed recounting of Ches career in these books is the abysmal shallowness and the tragic results of his political perspective.
Alongside these factual accounts there has been a renewed attempt by various petty-bourgeois left tendencies to portray Guevara as a revolutionary leader and theoretician whose example and conceptions continue to provide a meaningful perspective for the struggle against capitalism. Unlike the biographers, these groups provide no fresh insights or information. They combine a diseased nostalgia for the glory days of middle class radicalism with what can only be described as a falsification of Guevaras real views and their political consequences.
Some, such as the Socialist Workers Party in the United States, uncritically echo the official commemorations of the Cuban government. Others, like the old Pabloite scoundrel Livio Maitan in Italy or the Morenoite MAS in Argentina, attempt to portray Guevara as having posed some sort of revolutionary alternative to both Stalinism and the Castroite regime itself.
In a recent statement on the Cuban question, the Morenoites praise Ches slogan of One, two many Vietnams, and declare: Even if with disastrous methodsguerrilla focos, isolation from the mass movement, opposition to the construction of revolutionary workers partiesit expressed the necessity of extending the revolution internationally.
How a necessary and revolutionary perspective can be expressed through disastrous methods, the Morenoites do not bother to explain. This tendency, like all the Pabloite factions, has made a career out of attempting to demonstrate how various forcesPeronism, Stalinism, guerrillaismare expressing the struggle for socialism.
Indeed, the Morenoites, at an earlier stage, even reached the point of finding this expression in the Cuban dictator whom Castro overthrew, Fulgencio Batista. Proclaiming him Cubas Peron, they hailed the Cuban working class for failing to respond to a general strike call issued by Castros July 26th movement. After Castro won, however, they placed his portrait alongside that of General Peron on the masthead of their newspaper.
The political alchemy of the Morenoites notwithstanding, the disastrous methods of Guevara were a faithful expression of the political perspectiveor perhaps more accurately lack of any real perspectivewhich underlay them.
Neither the Morenoites nor any of the other Pabloite tendencies care to make a class analysis of Castroism and Guevarism, trace their historical origins and development, or draw up a balance sheet of the experience with guerrillaism in Latin America over the past nearly four decades.
That critical task can only be carried out by our movement, based on the struggle it has undertaken throughout that period for the political independence and international unity of the working class.
Proletarian socialism versus petty-bourgeois nationalism
The Pabloite revisionists, like the middle class ex-radicals in general, are hostile to such an approach. They fervently hope for a revival of Castroism. All of them were enthused by the appearance of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas, Mexico and likewise applauded the actions of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement when it seized the Japanese embassy in Lima, a little more than a year ago.
Our movement did not join in celebrating this apparent resurgence of Guevarism and the hollow political formula of armed struggle. We have a long record of fighting against such conceptions, recognizing that they embody not the revolutionary socialist strivings of the proletariat, but rather the politics of petty-bourgeois nationalism. They are directed not at resolving the vital questions of revolutionary leadership within the working class, but rather at denying the revolutionary role of this class altogether and diverting radicalized layers of students, as well as workers and peasants, away from the struggle for socialism.
They serve not to illuminate, but rather obscure, the strategic problems of the socialist revolution that were elaborated by Trotsky in his theory of Permanent Revolution. Such slogans as the duty of the revolutionary is to make the revolution, armed struggle, and protracted peoples war leave unanswered the issues of what class will play the leading role in the revolution, what is the connection between the revolution in one country and the world revolution, and what is the relation between the struggle of the workers and oppressed in the backward countries and that of the working class in the advanced capitalist ones.
Behind their radical rhetoric, these movements have definite conceptions about all these questions. Invariably, they are directed at suppressing the independent revolutionary struggle of the proletariat, and subordinating the oppressed masses as a whole to the needs of the national bourgeoisie.
In this sense, no matter how radical these movements may appear, they are, in the final analysis, one of the last bulwarks of imperialism against the socialist revolution. It is this essential nature of petty-bourgeois nationalism and guerrillaism which provides a key to understanding the ease with which capitalism has appropriated the image of Che for its own purposes.
If one examines carefully the politics of the Peruvian MRTA and the Mexican Zapatistas, they are merely a different manifestation of the accommodation with imperialism carried out by all bourgeois nationalist regimes and movements. The Tupac Amaru group seized the Japanese ambassadors residence with the aim of pressuring Japanese imperialism to exert influence over the Fujimori regime to soften its policy. The groups ultimate aim, communicated to some of the hostages, was to force a negotiated settlement through which it could transform itself from an armed movement into a legal petty-bourgeois political party.
As for the Zapatista movement, it has been universally hailed precisely because it has, from the beginning, renounced any revolutionary aims. The vague demands of Subcomandante Marcos have been for democratization, an end to corruption and increased cultural rights for the indigenous population. These demands could and have been embraced not only by the petty-bourgeois left, but by sections of the ruling PRI and even the right-wing opposition party, PAN. Marcos and the Zapatistas, rather than providing a revolutionary road forward for the Mexican workers and oppressed peasantry, have been converted into another instrument for settling political accounts within the Mexican bourgeoisie.
The political role of the petty bourgeoisie
What precisely do we mean when we describe these different movements as petty-bourgeois nationalist? This is not merely a political epithet thrown by Marxists at their opponents. It is a scientific definition of the class interests and methods which characterize these movements. Marx, basing himself on the experience of the 1848 revolution, and Trotsky, in his theory of Permanent Revolution, demonstrated that the petty-bourgeoisie is incapable of independent and consistent political action. Its inconsistency is a reflection of its intermediate social position. Caught between the two main classes of society and continuously being differentiated into exploiter and exploited, it is compelled to follow one or other of these classeseither the proletariat or the bourgeoisie.
In the postwar period, imperialism created and came to depend upon a new social layer identified as the middle class. In the advanced capitalist countries, this consisted of functionaries who staffed government bureaucracies and corporate offices, administered social services of newly-created welfare states and ran the growing mass media.
An analogous stratum emerged within the oppressed countries, and it was to this layer that imperialism handed over power during the period of decolonization. In Latin America, as in other areas of the globe oppressed by imperialism, the opportunities presented to this social layer were far more limited than what prevailed among their counterparts in the advanced capitalist countries. Thousands of students graduated from university with no prospect of a professional career. In many cases those who did pursue a profession or attempted to live off a small business enjoyed little more in terms of living standards than the average worker. It was this social stratum which provided the principal social base for petty-bourgeois nationalist politics.
There was, therefore, an objective class basis for the emergence of the Pabloite theories of a new world reality, in which the struggle for socialism could be undertaken, not by the working class and its conscious revolutionary vanguard, but rather by the radicalized petty bourgeoisie. Ultimately these revisionist formulations reflected both the strivings of this particular social layer, as well as imperialisms need for a buffer between itself and the threat of proletarian revolution.
The roots of the Cuban Revolution
Like every major event, the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959 had deep roots in preceding historical developments. These historical roots, generally ignored by the cheerleaders of Castro among the Pabloites and the petty-bourgeois left in general, must be examined to understand the class content and political significance of Castroism.
Cubas history was shaped principally by the abortive character of its independence struggle, which effectively transferred its status from a colonial possession of moribund Spanish colonialism, to an economic and political semi-colony of the rising imperialist power, the United States.
The US intervened in Cuba in 1898 following a 30-year war waged for Cuban independence. The intervention was short and decisive. The Spanish were relieved of their colonies in the Treaty of Paris, a settlement in which the Cubans themselves had no participation.
This settlement produced what became known as the Platt Amendment Republic. Named for the US senator who drafted it, the legislation was passed in Washington and then imposed as an amendment to the first Cuban constitution. It included a prohibition against the nominally independent Cuban republic entering into any international treaty deemed prejudicial to US interests. It also guaranteed the US the right to intervene militarily: for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris. The US would avail itself of this right repeatedly in the first part of the 20th century.
Cubas dependence upon US imperialism was not merely the formal one embodied in the Platt Amendment. It rested upon the Cuban export of sugar to the US market. This single crop accounted for the vast majority of the islands export earnings and was shipped almost exclusively to the United States. The sugar monoculture condemned the majority of the population to backwardness, poverty and chronic unemployment.
The political and social relations that came to prevail in Cuba were bound up with the uncompleted character of the bourgeois democratic struggle for national independence. While Cubas semi-colonial status was among the more blatant in the world, it was by no means unique.
As the Fourth International was to warn on the eve of the Second World War: Belated national states can no longer count upon an independent democratic development. Surrounded by decaying capitalism and enmeshed in the imperialist contradictions, the independence of a backward state inevitably will be semi-fictitious and the political regime, under the influence of internal class contradictions and external pressure, will unavoidably fall into dictatorship against the people.[1]
Another statement, written in the same year, stressed that there was no possibility of ending imperialist oppression outside of the world socialist revolution: The hopes of liberation of the colonial peoples are therefore bound up even more decisively than before with the emancipation of the workers of the whole world. The colonies shall be freed politically, economically and culturally, only when the workers of the advanced countries put an end to capitalist rule and set out, together with the backward peoples, to reorganize world economy on a new level, gearing it to social needs and not monopoly profits.[2]
As we shall see, Cubas subsequent history has proven this thesis, albeit in the negative. Without such a united and international struggle of the working class, genuine economic, political and cultural liberation has proven impossible.
The relationship between the US and Cuba gave rise to a bourgeois political setup which was notable for its impotence, extreme corruption and frequent eruptions of violence. US domination of the economy, combined with a predominance of foreign immigrants in both the business and landowning classes, also bred a Cuban nationalism which was characterized by extreme anti-Americanism and even a xenophobic strain.
Another perspective, however, did emerge in Cuba. In 1925, the Cuban Communist Party was formed, affiliating itself to the Third International. Its most prominent figure was Julio Antonio Mella, a law student who became the leader of a university reform movement in the early 1920s and sought to turn the students to the working class.
Mella and his comrades led the struggle against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, whom Mella described as a tropical Mussolini. Jailed by the dictatorship, he was freed under popular pressure and then fled the country, traveling to the Soviet Union, Europe and finally Mexico.
Mella broke with the Communist Party in Mexico in 1929, declaring his support for Trotskys struggle against the Stalinist bureaucracy. Shortly thereafter he was assassinated.
Mella had emerged out of a broad movement of Cuban students and intellectuals seeking to change the islands corrupt political system and its domination by US imperialism. But he renounced the prevailing nationalist conceptions and adopted the perspective of socialist internationalism.
Stalinism was to prevent the working class from providing its own solution to Cubas historic problems based on such a perspective. It can be said, therefore, that Stalinism helped prepare Fidel Castros rise to power long before he and the Cuban Communist Party ever considered joining forces. By suppressing the perspective for which Mella and the first generation of Cuban Marxists had fought, Stalinism promoted the growth of radical petty-bourgeois nationalism.
In the first lecture at this school, David North dealt at some length with how history consisted, not merely of what happened and who won, but rather, what alternatives existed, what were the consequences of those which were taken and those which were not. What would have happened had the Left Opposition prevailed? The same question can be posed in relation to Cuba, albeit on a smaller scale.
There are limits, of course, on what we can safely say about what might have been. One cannot assert with any assurance, for example, that had there been a genuine communist party in Cuba, a socialist revolution would have taken place in such and such a year. We can state with certainty, however, that had there existed a genuine revolutionary party of the working class, as opposed to the corrupt political apparatus of Cuban Stalinism, the emergence of the specific tendency known as Castroism would have been impossible.
In the wake of the Stalinist degeneration of the Communist Party in Cuba, the country passed through a profound revolutionary crisis. A nationwide insurrection erupted in 1933, forcing the dictator Machado to flee the country. The high point of this movement was a general strike by the working class, which saw the seizure of factories, sugar mills and estates.
As the general strike grew in intensity and scope, the Stalinist Cuban Communist Party, which dominated the unions, issued a back-to-work order, claiming that the strike threatened to provoke a US intervention. While the vast majority of workers ignored the order, the CP nonetheless entered into secret talks with Machado, obtaining concessions for the party in exchange for its responsible role in seeking to end the walkout.
This deal, short-lived only because of Machados subsequent flight into exile, was to set a pattern which the CP would follow for the next 25 years. The Stalinists continued their domination of the labor movement, while forging a series of alliances with conservative bourgeois parties and even military regimes. In the 1940s, the Stalinists entered the government of US-backed strongman, Batista.
Castro and Castroism
With Stalinism held in contempt for its collaboration with right-wing parties and dictatorships, the rhetoric of anti-imperialism and social revolution became increasingly the monopoly of radicalized middle class nationalist elements particularly centered among the students of Havana University. It was in this hothouse environment that Fidel Castro got his start.
Born to a Spanish landowning family, Castros awakening to political life began as a student in a Jesuit high school. There, he came under the influence of Spanish priests who supported Franco fascism. He read all of the works of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Spanish Falange and was, according to his classmates, strongly attracted to fascist ideology.
In the late 40s and early 50s Castro was involved in the activities of the armed student gangs that dominated the university. The ideology of these gangs was both nationalistic and explicitly anti-communist.
Castro entered a struggle against Batista as a member of the bourgeois Ortodoxo Party. He had stood as a candidate to the Cuban legislature in 1952, but Batistas coup of that year thwarted his parliamentary ambitions. He then began organizing a small group of followers for armed action. He led an assault on the Moncada army barracks in July 1953. All of the 200 participants were either killed or jailed.
Castros actions were not unique. Throughout this period, followers of various parties and petty-bourgeois factions carried out attacks on garrisons, assassination attempts and even the seizure of Batistas palace. There is little in Castros political statements during the period leading up to the 1959 revolution to differentiate him from the run-of-the-mill politics of anti-Batista Cuban nationalism. His most famous speech, History will absolve me, prepared in his defense at the trial on the Moncada assault, consisted of denunciations of the dictatorships repression and a list of fairly mild democratic reforms.
Following a brief jail sentence, Castro went to Mexico, from where, at the end of 1956, he organized a landing of some 80 armed men. Like Moncada, the landing was a catastrophe with barely a dozen surviving the first encounters with Batistas repressive forces. Yet, barely two years later Castro was to take power.
Power literally fell into the hands of Castros guerrillas because there existed no other credible political force on the island.
This political vacuum was a function, above all, of the absence of any revolutionary leadership in the Cuban working class. Whatever the limitations of Castros reformism, his social policies were far more radical than those put forward by the Stalinists. Moreover, his armed actions, as limited as they were, won wide popular support at a time when the Cuban Stalinists were seen as accomplices of the dictatorship.
Castros original intentions were to reach an accommodation with the US. On his first trip to the United States, four months after coming to power, Castro declared the following; I have stated in a clear and definitive manner that we are not communists. The doors are open to private investments that contribute to the development of industry in Cuba. It is absolutely impossible for us to make progress if we do not reach an understanding with the United States.
Castros movement, however, had committed itself to a limited agrarian reform as well as social measures to benefit the Cuban people. In its first months it had decreed a redistribution of unused land, a reduction in rents, wage increases and various measures expanding education and health care.
Washington would have none of it.
The US sought to discipline Castro with naked economic pressure. In a spiraling conflict with the Cuban regime, the US cut Cubas sugar export quota, its principal economic lifeline and then refused to provide it with oil.
The Cuban regime responded with nationalizations, first of US property, then Cuban-owned enterprises, and a turn to the Soviet bureaucracy for assistance.
US foreign policy was rigidly ideological and vindictive. Britain had handled similar developments in a quite different way. African leaders like Nkrumah, Kaunda and Kenyatta were cultivated despite their radical and even socialist rhetoric, thereby preserving British imperialisms influence and interests in the region.
Ironically, US arrogance and stupidity has proven to be one of the central pillars of Castros rule over the past 40 years. They have has allowed him to pose as the embodiment of Cuban nationalism and to cast any opposition as a tool of Yankee imperialism.
Along with the turn to Moscow, Castro forged an alliance with the Cuban Stalinists. This move was hailed by the Pabloites, and the petty-bourgeois left in general, as a further indication of the revolutions radicalization and its socialist character. It was nothing of the sort. As we have seen, Cubas Popular Socialist Party, as the Stalinists were then known, was a thoroughly reactionary and discredited political force. It represented part of the existing bourgeois political setup in Cuba, having faithfully served even the Batista regime.
Having found himself unexpectedly catapulted into power, Castro turned to the PSP out of necessity. He had neither a party, a program nor even a real army. The Cuban Stalinists provided him with an apparatus and an ideology through which he could rule.
Castro subsequently would reinterpret his own political past, declaring that he had become a Marxist- Leninist long before the Batista coup, though not quite a communist. All of his political adventures, from his days with the armed anti-communist gangs on the university to his campaign as a Congressional candidate for a bourgeois party, were recast as mere tactical initiatives aimed at preparing the conditions for a socialist revolution.
What was it that Castro, as well as other left bourgeois nationalists, found in Marxism-Leninism? Clearly, they were not seeking a scientific perspective to guide the struggle of the working class for its own social and political emancipation. At the same time it was more than just a pretense aimed at winning support from Moscow.
They saw the Marxism-Leninism they learned from the Stalinists as a policy which promoted the use of the state to effect desired changes in the social order. They also found in it a justification for their own unrestricted control over this state, ruling through an omnipotent revolutionary party headed by an infallible and irreplaceable national leader. It should be recalled that Chiang kai shek also modeled his party, the Kuomintang, on what he learned from Stalinism.
The myth of guerrillaism
Like virtually all the nationalist regimes and tendencies that emerged in the postwar period, Castroism has rested on a set of myths concerning its own origins and development. Such mythologizing is inevitable, given the class character of these movements, resting as they do upon the petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie, while claiming to represent the interests of the oppressed masses.
After coming to power, Castro and his followers portrayed their victory as the exclusive outcome of the armed struggle waged by the guerrillas in the Sierra Maestra mountains: a military victory over imperialism and the native bourgeoisie won by a small force through sheer will and determination. As Che Guevara was to write, barely a month after the toppling of the Batista dictatorship:
We have demonstrated that a small group of men who are determined, supported by the people, and without fear of dying... can overcome a regular army... There is another lesson for our brothers in [Latin] America, economically in the same agrarian category as ourselves, which is that we must make agrarian revolutions, fight in the fields, in the mountains, and from here take the revolution to the cities, not try to make it in the latter..
This conception, which became the official explanation of the Cuban revolution, represented a radical distortion of events. In the course of Batistas six years in power, some 20,000 Cubans lost their lives at the hands of the regime. Of these, 19,000 were killed in Cubas cities. Acts of sabotage, political strikes and other forms of resistance, the majority of them outside the control of Castros July 26th movement, were widespread and ultimately provided the principal impetus for the regimes downfall.
Castros guerrillas amounted to, at most, a few thousand men. There were no conclusive military battles and the largest engagement involved no more than 200 guerrillas. Batista lost the support both of the Cuban bourgeoisiea substantial section of which backed Castroand Washington, which imposed an arms embargo on his regime. Deprived of this support it rapidly disintegrated.
Within Cuba, this myth of Castros guerrillas defeating both US imperialism and the native ruling classes through sheer audacity and military prowess served a very definite political purpose. It justified the consolidation of a regime that placed all the reigns of state power incontestably in Castros own hands.
The myth developed by Castro and Guevara was to be exported with catastrophic results. The so-called Cuban road was promoted throughout Latin America as the only viable form of revolutionary struggle. Thousands of Latin American youth were led to the slaughter by the promise that all that was required to overthrow governments and end social oppression was courage and a few guns.
Guevaras most well-known writing, Guerra de Guerrillas or guerrilla warfare, served as a handbook for this doomed strategy. It summed up what he described as the three great lessons of the Cuban experience for the mechanics of revolutionary movements in America:
Popular forces can win a war against the army. It is not necessary for all conditions to be present to make a revolution; the insurrectional foco [term for guerrilla unit] can create them. 3. In the underdeveloped Americas the terrain of the armed struggle must be primarily the countryside.[3]
What little political analysis these writings contained was radically false. Latin Americas path of development had been capitalist for many years. The essential foundation of oppression in Latin America was not, as Guevara claimed, Latifundia - that is the concentration of land in the hands of a tiny minority - but rather capitalist relations of wage labor and profit. Even as these works were being written, the continent was undergoing major structural changes that were further proletarianizing the population and leading to massive migration from the rural areas to the cities.
None of this was analyzed. Revolutionary preparation was reduced to the impressionistic process of picking the appropriate rural arena for guerrilla war. Those who followed this advice ended up trapped in jungles and backland, where they were condemned to one-on-one combat with the Latin American armies.
What emerges again and again in Guevaras politics is the rejection of the working class as a revolutionary class and contempt for the ability of the workers and oppressed masses to become politically conscious and carry out their own struggle for liberation.
While he proposed the countryside as the only possible venue for armed struggle, it was not a matter of mobilizing the peasantry on social demands. On the contrary, Ches conception was one based on the utilization of violence in order to oblige the dictatorship to resort to violence, thereby unmasking its true nature as the dictatorship of the reactionary social classes. In other words, the aim of the guerrilla band was to provoke repression against the peasantry, who would supposedly respond by supporting the struggle against the government.
For such a struggle, neither theory nor politics were required, much less an active intervention in the struggles of the working class and oppressed masses. As Guevara set about to build guerrilla groups in Latin America, he insisted that they exclude all political controversy and discussion. Unity was to be based solely on an agreement on the tactic of armed struggle.
The fiasco of Guevarism
The results were predictably disastrous. It was in his native Argentina where Che set up one of the first guerrilla groups, under the leadership of the journalist Jorge Masetti. In his biography of Che, Anderson provides a particularly chilling account of this fiasco. The guerrillas never saw combat. Some became lost and apparently starved in the wilderness. Others fell into the hands of the police. Before the decimation of the group, however, Masetti had ordered the execution of three of its members for alleged disciplinary infractions. The author cites one of the survivors of this debacle, who notes that all three of the condemned men were Jewish. It turned out that Masetti, before his alignment with Castroism, had been a member of an extreme right-wing nationalist and anti-Semitic organization in Argentina.
Ches own group in Bolivia came to a similar end. What is most noteworthy about his activities there was his complete indifference to the social and political situation in the country itself. The tin miners, the most powerful force in the Bolivian revolution of 1951, were engaged in strikes and confrontations with the army in the months preceding Ches arrival in the country. In his diary he merely noted these events as part of the scenic backdrop to his own activity. He had no perspective or policy to present to the Bolivian workers. As for the Bolivian peasantry, its reaction to the initiation of armed struggle was not to back the guerrillas but rather to turn them in to the military.
In Bolivia, the Castroites had counted on the support of the pro-Moscow Communist Party. This support was never forthcoming and many have blamed the Stalinists and the Moscow bureaucracy itself for condemning the guerrillas to total isolation and perhaps even providing US intelligence with information on Ches whereabouts.
This is plausible. The secretary general of the Bolivian CP, Monje, was apparently a KGB asset who moved to permanent residence in Moscow shortly after Guevaras death. One thing that emerges from Castanedas biography is the extraordinary domination of all of the principal Communist Parties of Latin America by such figures, in many cases men who had a direct role in Trotskys assassination in 1940. He also establishes, through formerly secret documents from the Soviet archives, how these parties were funded through direct subsidies from Moscow. The Soviet bureaucracy was financing reliable political agencies whose purpose was to further its own quest for peaceful coexistence with Washington.
But in the end one is left with the fact that such a betrayal was not really that necessary. The idea that a revolution would be made by bringing less than two dozen armed men into a region where they had no political antecedents, no support or even a worked out program and perspective to win such support, was doomed from the outset. It is a measure of the pathetic character of this adventure that in his final days, surrounded by the Bolivian army, Guevara was planning to appeal for international support... by addressing letters to Bertrand Russell and Jean Paul Sartre.
Cuba and the Fourth International
The Cuban revolution proved to be a crucial turning point in the history of the Fourth International.
After leading the struggle against Pabloism in 1953, the American section, the Socialist Workers Party, reunified with the main Pabloite tendency led by Ernest Mandel a decade later. The reunification was based primarily on their common assessment of Castroism and the role of petty-bourgeois nationalism. They determined, based on the nationalization of the bulk of the productive forces in Cuba, that it had become a workers state. Furthermore, they advanced the perspective that Castroism could become an international tendency, giving rise to a new revolutionary leadership of the world working class.
This perspective had implications reaching far beyond Cuba. As Trotsky had pointed out in relation to the debate over the definition of the Soviet state in 1939-1940, behind every sociological definition lies a historical prognosis. Bound up with the designation of Cuba as a workers state was a break with the entire historical and theoretical conception of the socialist revolution developed from Marx onwards.
In Cuba, power had fallen into the hands of a guerrilla army which was clearly of a petty-bourgeois nationalist character, without any serious ties to the workers. The workers themselves had played no significant role in the formation of the new regime, nor had they established any means of exerting democratic control over the state once it was formed.
To designate such a regime as a workers state had immense ramifications. It meant abandoning the entire struggle waged by the Marxist movement for the political and organizational independence of the working class. Instead, it indicated that the path to socialism lay through subordinating the working class to the nationalist leaderships. It would be the Castroites, the guerrilla armies and other nationalists rooted in the petty-bourgeoisie who would lead the socialist revolution, not the working class, educated and organized by parties of the Fourth International. That was the central historical prognosis flowing from the sociological definition of a Cuban workers state put forward by the Pabloites.
The perspective elaborated by the SWPs Joseph Hansen in relation to Cuba was founded upon a gross vulgarization of Marxism. He took as his point of departure the previous decision by the Trotskyist movement to use the highly conditional and somewhat makeshift definition of deformed workers state in describing China and the Eastern European buffer states.
In these earlier discussions, the SWP had placed the emphasis on the adjective deformed, to indicate that these states were historically unviable. They had opposed Pablos attempt to use this definition as a means of endowing Stalinism with a revolutionary potential.
Hansen, however, in an even cruder fashion than Pablo, set out to demonstrate how Cuba met a series of abstract criteriaabove all economic nationalizationwhich supposedly placed it in the category of workers state.
The working class had not made the revolution, and it exercised no control over the state apparatus in the revolutions aftermath. But these facts were taken merely as a few more normative criteria the Cuban revolution had failed to meet, demonstrating that progress was still to be made, and that uncritical support was all the more necessary.
As Hansen wrote at the time: The Cuban government has not yet instituted democratic proletarian forms of power as workers, soldiers and peasants councils. However, as it has moved in a socialist direction it has likewise proved itself to be democratic in tendency. It did not hesitate to arm the people and set up a popular militia. It has guaranteed freedom of expression to all groupings that support the revolution. In this respect it stands in welcome contrast to the other non-capitalist states, which have been tainted with Stalinism.
If the Cuban revolution were permitted to develop freely, its democratic tendency would undoubtedly lead to the early creation of proletarian democratic forms adapted to Cubas own needs. One of the strongest reasons for vigorously supporting the revolution, therefore, is to give the maximum possibility for this tendency to operate.[4]
Cuban reality was quite different from the rosy scenario painted by Hansen. The Cuban Trotskyists, for example, were ruthlessly repressed, their leaders jailed and their press smashed. The island has long held one of the largest number of political prisoners of any country in the world, not a few of them Castros former comrades in the July 26 movement.
From a theoretical standpoint, the most deceptive aspect of Hansens assessment was his suggestion that, if given the opportunity, the Castro regime would institute democratic proletarian forms of power; i.e., workers councils or, to use the term forged in the Russian revolution, soviets.
Such organs of workers power, however, are not instituted or granted from above by a regime created by the petty-bourgeois nationalists. Such institutions, whether created by Castro, Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein, are never more than window dressing for a bonapartist regime. Genuine workers councils or soviets can be created only by the workers themselves, as a means of organizing the masses, overthrowing capitalism and establishing a new proletarian state power.
Lenin and the Bolsheviks did not hand soviets down to the workers after seizing power. Rather, they led the struggle for power through these organs that the Russian proletariat had created itself, based on the development of its class struggle and the growth of political class consciousness produced by the protracted intervention of the Russian Marxists.
The Pabloites adopted the position that Castros national-izations, and his self-proclamation as a Marxist-Leninist, constituted the confirmation of the Permanent Revolution.
In reality, Cuba, like so many other oppressed countries in the course of the decades following the Second World War, provided a confirmation of Permanent Revolution, but in the negative. That is, where the working class lacked a revolutionary party, and therefore was incapable of providing leadership to the masses of oppressed, representatives of the national bourgeoisie and the petty-bourgeois nationalists were able to step in and impose their own solution. Nasser, Nehru, Peron, Ben Bella, Sukharno, the Baathists and, in a later period, the Islamic fundamentalists in Iran and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, were all examples of this process. In virtually all of these cases nationalizations were also carried out.
In a document sent by the Socialist Labour League to the SWP in 1961, the British Trotskyists sharply criticized Hansens adulation of the petty-bourgeois nationalist leaderships.
It is not the job of Trotskyists to boost the role of such nationalist leaders, they stated. They can command the support of the masses only because of the betrayal of leadership by the Social Democracy and particularly Stalinism, and in this way they become buffers between imperialism and the masses of workers and peasants. The possibility of economic aid from the Soviet Union often enables them to strike a harder bargain with the imperialists, even enables more radical elements among the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois leaders to attack imperialist holdings and gain further support from the masses. But, for us, in every case the vital question is one of the working class in these countries gaining political independence through a Marxist party, leading the poor peasantry to the building of Soviets, and recognizing the necessary connections with the international socialist revolution. In no case, in our opinion, should Trotskyists substitute for that the hope that the nationalist leadership should become socialists.[5]
Those familiar with the subsequent degeneration of the Workers Revolutionary Party know that this passage reads like a direct indictment of the line which Healy, Banda and Slaughter would begin pursuing barely a decade later, in relation to the PLO and various Arab regimes. This only demonstrates the acuteness of the analysis, and the fact that the revisionist attack on the Fourth International was rooted in objective class forces. Having abandoned the struggle against Pabloism, the leadership of the British section was to fall victim to the same class forces that had fatally undermined the SWP.
What was involved in proclaiming Cuba a workers state, and its revolution a new road to socialism, was the renunciation of the entire perspective of Permanent Revolution. The working class no longer had to play the leading role in the backward countries, nor was it necessary to fight for the development of socialist consciousness within this class. Instead, bands of guerrillas, basing themselves on the peasantry, could bring about socialism without, and even in spite of, the workers.
This marked the rejection of the most essential foundation of Marxism. The struggle for socialism was separated from the proletariat. No longer was the liberation of the working class the task of the working class itself. Instead it was turned into a mute spectator of the actions of heroic guerrillas.
In considering this perspective, one can clearly grasp the class basis for the enduring infatuation of the petty-bourgeois left as a whole with Fidel Castro. What they see in Castro is the ability of the petty-bourgeoisie to dominate the working class and to play a seemingly independent role. Cuba, for them, served as proof that the leftist intellectual, the student radical or middle class protester did not have to subordinate themselves to the working class and the difficult and protracted struggle for the development of socialist consciousness among the workers. Rather, they could revolutionize society through their own spontaneous activity.
In combating this revisionist attack on Marxism, the SLL traced the dispute over Cuba to fundamental methodological questions. It demonstrated that the SWP was engaged in what Trotsky had described as the worshipping of the accomplished fact, that is, adapting themselves to the so-called reality determined by the existing social structure, the existing leaderships in the working class and the bourgeois forms of consciousness prevailing among the broad masses of workers and oppressed. All of these were accepted as objective, determining factors, entirely separated from the conscious struggle of the revolutionary proletarian party.
The SWPs method was one of passive contemplation of these facts, and an adaptation to existing leaderships, in search of what appeared to offer the most immediate prospects for political success. Thus they became apologists for these leaderships, justifying their every action with the argument that, given the circumstances, what else could they do? These circumstances however, always excluded the conscious struggle of Trotskyists to mobilize the working class independently on its own socialist and internationalist program.
The SLL defended the theoretical conquests made by the Trotskyist movement in the struggle against Stalinism. It insisted that the strategic experiences of the whole imperialist epoch had demonstrated that non-working class leaderships could not carry through to completion the struggles for liberation from imperialist oppression and backwardness in the colonial and former colonial countries.
These struggles could be completed only through the conquest of power by the working class and the extension of the world socialist revolution. The principal task flowing from this analysis was the building of independent revolutionary parties of the working class, based on a struggle against all opportunist trends, particularly the Stalinists, who sought to subordinate the working class to nationalism and nationalist leaderships.
Above all, Pabloism denied that the achievement of the socialist revolution required the development of a high level of socialist political consciousness within the leading sections of the working class. The political consciousness of the workers was, in the Pabloite scheme of things, a matter of indifference. To the extent that the working class was seen as having any relation to the socialist revolution, it was merely as an objective force led and manipulated by others.
The resolution drafted by the Pabloites after reunification with the SWP spelled out the political implications of the theoretical revisions developed on the Cuban question. It stated the following: The weakness of the enemy in the backward countries has opened the possibility of coming to power even with a blunted instrument.[6] In other words, workers states could be established without even building parties of the working class.
In these countries, they declared, and particularly in Latin America, the conditions of mass poverty and the relative weakness of the bourgeois state structures create situations in which the failure of one revolutionary wave does not lead automatically to relative or even temporary social or economic stabilization. A seemingly inexhaustible succession of mass struggles continues... The weakness of the enemy offers the revolution fuller means of recovery from temporary defeats than is the case in imperialist countries.[7]
This was a gross distortion of Trotskys theory of Permanent Revolution. When Trotsky pointed to the weakness of the bourgeoisie in Tsarist Russia it was not in some kind of timeless vacuum, but rather in relation to the domination of imperialism on the one hand and the objective strength of the small, but concentrated, Russian working class on the other. The bourgeoisie was never too weak to either crush or control the petty-bourgeois democracy. It was weak in that it confronted a young proletariat with a revolutionary leadership at its head.
The Pabloites, however, had rejected the role of the industrial proletariat and had assigned the task of revolution to just such petty-bourgeois forces.
Their theory of blunted instruments and inexhaustible mass struggles was elaborated on the eve of the first in a series of US-backed coupsled by General Castelo Branco in Brazilwhich were to plunge Latin America into a decade of nightmarish repression, whose shadow still hangs over the continent.
The Pabloites not only failed to prepare the working class for these events, they helped facilitate them by insisting that the revolution could be carried out by forces other than the working class and endorsing the Castroite perspective of armed actions by isolated guerrilla bands.
Pabloism and the crisis of leadership
Why did Castroism become such a pole of attraction in Latin America? While the continental-wide conditions for guerrilla warfare presented by Guevara may have proven false, there was one thing that the countries shared in common. The dominant leaderships in the working class, particularly the Stalinist Communist Parties, offered no way forward under conditions of growing revolutionary crisis.
So the new reality which the Pabloites celebrated, the rise of a petty-bourgeois-led radical nationalist tendency like Castroism, was essentially a manifestation of the unresolved crisis of revolutionary leadership in the working class itself. Yet they presented it as the solution to this crisis, disavowing the strategic aim of the Fourth International. Abandoning an independent orientation to the working class and the struggle to build up a party which could smash the bureaucracies domination, they reduced the role of the Fourth International to that of aiding the petty-bourgeois nationalists and Stalinists, influencing them and subtly nudging them to the left.
How was this perspective realized in practice? In1968, the Pabloites held their Ninth Congress, in the immediate aftermath of Guevaras Bolivian fiasco and on the eve of great class struggles in Latin America. They instructed the parties affiliated to the United Secretariat in Latin America to abandon the working class and engage in guerrilla warfare.
As the congress document stated: Even in the case of countries where there may first occur great mobilizations of conflicts by the urban classes civil war will take varied forms, in which the principal axis for a whole period will be the rural guerrilla, a term whose principal meaning is military-geographic and which does not imply an exclusively (or even predominantly) peasant composition.[8]
The resolution continued: The only realistic perspective for Latin America is that of an armed struggle, which can last for many years. Technical preparation cannot be conceived of merely as an aspect of work, but rather as the fundamental aspect on an international scale and one of the fundamental aspects in those countries where even the minimum conditions dont yet exist.[9]
There could not have been more explicit instructions. In case anyone within the Latin American sections harbored doubts as to whether they had sufficient backing among the peasantry, or the necessary political conditions to stage an uprising in the countryside, the resolution assured them that no peasant support was necessary and that the political situation was beside the point. All that was required were technical preparations for armed struggle.
The result was the political liquidation and physical annihilation of the cadres led by the Pabloites in Latin America.
In Argentina, for example, the official section of the United Secretariat reconstituted itself as the ERP before formally breaking with the Pabloites. It engaged in the kidnapping of business executives for ransom, simply adding on demands for increased wages and better conditions for the workers.
What was the effect of such actions? The workers were essentially taught that it was not their role to wage the struggle to put an end to capitalism. They were merely to serve as grateful spectators, as heroic armed guerrillas did it for them.
In Chile, the workers conducted a sustained offensive, ultimately strangled by Allendes Popular Unity government whose policies paved the way for the Pinochet dictatorship. In Argentina, the Cordobazo of 1969, in which the workers of Cordoba seized control of the city, inaugurated a protracted offensive which was suppressed by the Peronists and then annihilated by the dictatorship of Videla. In Bolivia, the miners rose up repeatedly only to be subordinated by their leaderships to a supposedly nationalist and left section of the military under General Torres. Predictably, Torres soon handed power over to his more traditional colleagues who carried out the ruthless repression of the Bolivian workers.
With their turn to Castroism, the Pabloites had abandoned both the working class and the struggle to free it from the domination of the old bureaucracies. Just as Castro had supposedly confirmed Permanent Revolution, he had also rendered this crucial struggle superfluous.
The SWPs Hansen put forward this thesis with his usual cynicism and crudity, proclaiming that Castro had overcome the counterrevolutionary role of Stalinism.
Unable to blast away the Stalinist obstacle, the revolution turned back a considerable distance and took a detour. The detour has led us over some very rough ground, including the Sierra Maestra of Cuba, but it is clear that the Stalinist roadblock is now being bypassed.
It is not necessary to turn to Moscow for leadership. This is the main lesson to be drawn from the experience in Cuba... To finally break the hypnosis of Stalinism, it became necessary to crawl on all fours through the jungles of the Sierra Maestra.10
This conclusion had definite political implications, reaching far beyond Cuba. If one could simply bypass the Stalinist roadblock by means of guerrilla war led by petty-bourgeois nationalists, the difficult and protracted struggle waged by the Fourth International to break the chokehold which Stalinism maintained over the working class, was not only superfluous but counterproductive.
The net effect of this perspective was not to break, but rather strengthen, the grip of Stalinism over the workers movement in the oppressed countries and particularly in Latin America. It helped to divert a whole generation of Latin American youth from any struggle within the working class. The turn to guerrillaism represented a boon to the Stalinists and other bureaucratic leaderships. It isolated the most revolutionary elements among the youth as well as a section of radicalized workers, thereby strengthening the bureaucracys own grip over the workers movement.
In the end, the Pabloites adaptation to petty-bourgeois nationalism helped ensure that the working class had no revolutionary leadership as it entered the major class struggles of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The guerrilla adventures they promoted, gave the military and imperialism the pretext for imposing dictatorship. Thus, this revisionist tendency played a crucial role in preparing the bloodiest defeats ever suffered by the workers of Latin America.
Balance sheet of guerrillaism
What became of the Guevarist-Castroite movements that the Pabloites proclaimed as the new instruments of the socialist revolution? To trace their concrete evolution is to lay bare the class character of these movements from their origins.
The FALN of Venezuela was one of the principal guerrilla movements of the 1960s, formed with Cuban support. Let us cite a statement by one of the leaders of this movement during that period.
When we speak of the liberation of Venezuela we mean the liberation of all Latin America; we do not recognize frontiers in Latin America. Our frontiers are ideological frontiers. We interpret international solidarity in a truly revolutionary way, and we are therefore committed to fight, to fight imperialism until it no longer exists; we are committed not to lay down our arms until North American imperialism in particular is reduced to impotence.
The author of these lines was Teodoro Petkoff. Not only did he lay down his arms, he has since become Venezuelas Minister of Planning and the chief official responsible for implementing IMF austerity programs. From proclaiming continental solidarity and a struggle to the death against Yankee imperialism, Petkoff is now engaged in slashing wages and privatizing state enterprises with the aim of successfully competing with other capitalist economies in the region for transnational investment. He is expected to emerge as the leading candidate in this years presidential election in Venezuela.
His case is representative. In Uruguay, the Tupamaro guerrillas now form part of the Frente Amplio, a bourgeois electoral front which administers the disintegrating social conditions in the capital of Montevideo. The M-19 movement worked out an arrangement with the Colombian government, that not only assured their leaders posts in parliament, but allowed their members to trade their weapons for small business loans.
In the early 1980s, the Castro regime and its supporters claimed that Central America, with the taking of power by the Nicaraguan Sandinistas and the eruption of civil war in El Salvador, offered a fresh vindication of their perspective.
But what became of all these movements? The Sandinistas, the FMLN in El Salvador, the URNG in Guatemala, all joined in pacts with the very forces responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants. Castro helped broker these pacts in the Contadora and Esquipulas negotiations which consolidated power in the hands of US-backed factions of the bourgeoisie, while turning the cadres of the so-called liberation movements into parliamentary deputies, military officers and policemen in the new regimes. All of these groups have become divided into various factions, denouncing each other, with great justification, for political betrayal and financial corruption.
Meanwhile, the masses of the region confront conditions of poverty and oppression which are as bad or worse than those which gave rise to the revolutionary upheavals in the region 20 years ago. The net effect of these Castroite-influenced petty-bourgeois nationalist movements was to sow demoralization among a layer of the more militant workers, youth and peasants.
Cuba today
What of Cuba itself? What is the end result of the new road to socialism which both the Castro regime and the Pabloite revisionists proclaimed 35 years ago?
For 30 years the island survived thanks to huge subsidies from the Moscow bureaucracy. According to both Castros supporters and US estimates, economic subsidies from the Soviet Union to Cuba amounted to somewhere between $3 and $5 billion annually. The mechanism for this aid was the purchasing, by the Soviet bloc, of Cuban agricultural products, particularly sugar, at above world market pricesas much as 12 times as highand the sale of petroleum at below market prices. Based on this arrangement, Cuba reached the point of buying sugar from the neighboring Dominican Republic, and reselling the oil on the world market to obtain hard currency.
Dependence on Soviet subsidies ultimately had the effect of solidifying Cubas monoculture in sugar, the historic foundation of its backwardness and oppression. Just as before the 1959 revolution, Cubas exports, 83 percent of which went to the USSR and Eastern Europe, consisted of sugar, tobacco, nickel, fish and a few other agricultural commodities. From the Soviet bloc it imported manufactured consumer goods and machinery, not to mention a large share of its food.
No amount of tinkering or abrupt changes in economic policy dictated by the infallible lider maximo Fidel Castro changed this essential relationship. In the end, the substantial reforms won by the Cuban people in the areas of health, education and nutrition were sustained through these subsidies. Now that the regime is turning to foreign direct investment, the reforms are being systematically whittled away.
Castro entered into a Faustian bargain with the Soviet bureaucracy, in which he functioned as a pawn in US-Soviet relations in return for Soviet subsidies. Inevitably, the devil has come to collect his due.
Dissolution of the USSR spelled economic catastrophe for Cuba. The Castro regimes response has been to promote increased foreign investment and to allow the emergence of a growing social stratification within Cuba itself.
Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina explained Cubas policy recently in an interview with the state-run newspaper Granma: In Cuba what is taking place is an economic opening with full guarantees for foreign investors... This opening is strategic and is widening and deepening with every day...
Mitsubishi Motors, Castrol, Unilever, Sherrit Gordon, Grupo Sol, Total, Melia Hotels, Domos, ING Bank, Rolex, DHL, Lloyds, Canon, Bayer, these are all names of success in the universe of business and they are in Cuba. Some of these firms have the greatest capital in the world and they have placed their confidence in us.
Ease of investing capital, security and respect, guarantees of profit repatriation, availability of personnel with a high level of excellence, accommodation, desire to get ahead, seriousness in negotiations and loyalty of their Cuban partners are some of the elements which those who have decided to join with Cuba appreciate most...[11]
Though he didnt say it in Granma, the point is undoubtedly made to these investors in private that in Cuba they can obtain some of the cheapest labor in the hemisphere and are guaranteed a strike-free environment by a Stalinist-trained police state.
The Castro regime habitually claims that foreign capitalist investment has been sought for the purpose of saving the social conquests of the Cuban revolution. The reality is that the Castro regime, like bourgeois regimes throughout the former colonial world, is engaged in marketing cheap labor to the multinationals.
In the case of Cuba, this is done in an extremely direct and centralized form. Cuban labor is contracted out to the foreign corporations for hard currency paid to the Cuban government. The government hires the needed workers and then pays them a fraction of this amount in the form of pesos, the local currency. The foreign companies retain full discretion in firing workers.
The growth of social inequality is fed by a burgeoning dollar economy. The greatest source of foreign reserves today is the cash sent by exiles based largely in the US to their relatives in Cuba. What can one say of a revolution which is economically dependent on those whom it recently denounced as counter-revolutionary gusanos, or worms?
Other hard currency filters in through the growth of the tourist industry, which the Castro regime has made the centerpiece of its economic planning. The result is what some in Cuba have described as touristic apartheid. New hotels, restaurants, stores have been erected, reserved solely for foreigners, with ordinary Cubans barred. Prostitution is rampant. The immense majority of the population lives under conditions of poverty.
The Castro regime blames all of the islands economic problems on the US embargo. Without question the US policy is a brutal and irrational exercise of imperialist power against a small, oppressed country. But this policy has been in effect for 35 years. In the meantime, Cuba had economic relations with virtually every other major country in the world.
Cubas crisis is fundamentally the outcome of the bourgeois character of the revolution itself. It failed to resolve any of the historic problems of Cuban society. Rather, the contradictions were covered over with massive subsidies from the Soviet bureaucracy.
Few countries have seen such a massive exodus of refugees. In the first years of the revolution these consisted largely of the bourgeoisie and more privileged layers of the middle class. But those who have fled on rafts and inner tubes in the 1980s and 1990s are motivated by the same forces which sent thousands fleeing from Haiti, Mexico and other countries: the desire to escape hunger and oppression.
On top of these conditions rests a regime that stifles the aspirations of the masses of Cuban working people. Castro rules through a political dictatorship organized along military lines. The essential institution of the state is the armed forces which runs most of Cubas economic enterprises.
Castro is enshrined in the Cuban constitution as president for life. To oppose him is therefore not merely counter-revolutionary, but unconstitutional. He is both head of state and head of government as well as first secretary of the Communist Party and commander-in-chief of the military. In short, all power is concentrated in his hands and he imposes his personal dictat over every significant decision With Castro now in his 70s, succession is becoming an increasingly pressing question. His brother Raul occupies all secondary posts in the government, military and party.
To the extent that Cuba was identified with socialismsomething promoted by both the imperialists on the one hand and the Castro regime and its petty-bourgeois left supporters on the otherit has had the effect of discrediting the conception of a socialist alternative to capitalism, particularly in Latin America.
Summation
The First International under Marx adopted the slogan that The liberation of the workers shall be the task of the workers themselves. That is, socialism was, in the final analysis, the self-determination of the working class. It could not be granted to the workers or won for the workers by some other class force acting on their behalf. It could be the product only of the conscious struggle of the working class, democratically organized as a class for itself, fighting to change society on its behalf and that of all humanity.
The International Committee defended this perspective against all the fashionable theories of the 1960s and 1970s which rejected the working class and claimed to have discovered other, more revolutionary, vehicles providing convenient shortcuts to socialism. Thirty odd years later, there is nothing left of these theories. The struggle undertaken by the ICFI has been powerfully vindicated by history.
We should recall what Joseph Hansen said about the intransigent struggle of the International Committee and its refusal to bow before Castroism. This stand, he warned, would be political suicide in Latin America. What really happened? Pabloite revisionism and its support for Castroism helped to lead a generation of radicalized youth into suicidal adventures for which the working class paid the biggest price.
What would have been the effect if, instead of adapting themselves to Castroism, the forces which fell under the influence of Pabloism had subjected the politics of petty-bourgeois nationalism to a relentless criticism?
Certainly the result could have proven to be one of temporary isolation, at least from the movements dominated by the petty-bourgeoisie. But in the process they would have educated the most advanced sections of workers and youth. Through this struggle, a leadership could have been prepared capable of mobilizing the working class in revolutionary struggle. Instead of falling under the domination of military dictatorships which helped achieve a temporary restabilization of world capitalism, Latin America could have given a powerful impetus to the world socialist revolution.
The central lessons we must draw from this strategic experience concern the critical responsibilities of Marxists. Their task is not that of discovering and adapting themselves to some other forces who will spontaneously carry out the socialist revolution. Rather, it is to build independent revolutionary parties of the working class, sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International, that base themselves on implacable theoretical firmness and tell the working class the truth.
The objective conditions in Latin America and internationally are maturing to the point where the struggle undertaken by the Trotskyist movement will intersect with the revolutionary movement of millions. The lessons this movement has assimilated from the struggle for socialism in the 20th century, will become decisive for its realization in the 21st.
Notes
[1] Leon Trotsky, Writings of Leon Trotsky 1939-40,
(New York: Pathfinder Press, 1973), p. 202
[2] Documents of the Fourth International:
The Formative Years 1933-40 (New York: Pathfinder, 1973), p. 394
[3] Ernesto Che Guevara, La Guerra de Guerrrillas,
(La Habana:Talleres de INRA, 1961)
[4] Joseph Hansen, Dynamics of the Cuban Revolution:
The Trotskyist View (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1978), p.75
[5] Cliff Slaughter, ed., Trotskyism Versus Revisionism: A Documentary History(London: New Park Publications, 1974), vol. 3, The Socialist Workers Partys Road Back to Pabloism, p. 65
[6] Ibid, vol. 4, The International Committee Against Liquidationism,
p. 199
[7] Ibid
[8] United Secretariat 9th Congress documents
[9] Ibid
[10] Joseph Hansen, Dynamics of the Cuban Revolution:
The Trotskyist View (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1978) p. 265
[11] Granma, 16 November, 1994
According to a study by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), 134 students committed suicide in the 2014-15 academic year. This figure, an all-time high, represents an increase of 79 percent since 2007, when 75 students took their own lives.
The IPPRs research findings come amid a worsening mental health crisis in the UK and worldwide, which is particularly affecting young people under the age of 25. Approximately one-in-four people in the UK suffer from a mental health condition each year, with around three-quarters of adults with a mental illness first experiencing symptoms before the age of 25, according to the report.
The proportion of 16-to-24-year-olds experiencing a mental health condition in England is rising, with 19 percent in this age group suffering from some form of mental health problem, up from 15 percent in 2003. Young women under 25 are hit hardest by the mental health crisis, with 28 percent affected.
In the past ten years, the number of students disclosing a mental health problem to their university has skyrocketed. In the 2015-16 academic year, 15,395 UK-domiciled first-year students reported a mental health condition, a fivefold increase since 2006-07.
Nearly all (94 percent) universities in the UK have reported an increase in the number of students seeking counselling, with 61 percent of campuses seeing a rise of more than 25 percent. At some institutions, as many as one-in-four students are using, or are on a waiting list for, mental health services.
Even these figures do not tell the whole story. Due to fear of being stigmatised or feeling that help or support would not be available, nearly half (48 percent) of students who have experienced mental health problems do not disclose it to their university.
Many students fear that admitting to a mental health problem would have a negative impact on their social relationships with peers or academic staff, or that it would adversely affect their chances of getting a good job after they graduate.
The IPPR report stated that due to the lack of support and treatment poor mental health can lead to increased risk of students dropping out of university, or in the most severe and tragic cases, death by suicide. Although suicide is intimately linked to mental health conditions, only 25 percent of people who die by suicide in the UK were in contact with mental health services in the year before their death.
While the rate of student suicide is increasing, it is in fact lower than the population as a whole. However, suicidal thoughts are prevalent within universities. The charity YouthSight and the National Union of Students report that the proportion of students thought to have experienced suicidal thoughts is between 8 and 13 percent respectively.
Young adults between the ages of 20 and 24 are the least likely of any age group to report high levels of well-being, the indicators of which are: life satisfaction, feeling that things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and low anxiety. Students experience lower rates of well-being than young adults as a wholewith less than one-in-five students reporting high levels in each of these four main well-being indicators in 2017.
Austerity cuts have reduced the capacity for prompt intervention to prevent mental health problems developing, and are a significant factor in the increased rates of mental illness and in the rise in demand for mental health services among young people. Students also experience specific risk factors that can lead to poorer mental health and well-being, according to the study, including academic demands and pressure to achieve high marks, social pressures and financial worries.
According to Ruth Caleb, a well-being consultant at Brunel University, the increase in students suffering from mental health problems could be attributed to the fact that more students are now arriving at university already anxious and worried about their degree, as well as feeling anxious about the obscene levels of debt they will incur before even starting work.
With average debt at around 57,000, and with living costs spiralling upwards in most cities, worries about not having enough money are one of the factors causing students the most stress. According to a survey by education charity Teach First, 44 percent of students said this caused them stress in their first year.
Disadvantaged students are significantly more likely to drop out of university in their first year than their wealthier peers. According to the Office of Fair Access, in the 2014-15 academic year, 8.8 percent of full-time undergraduates below the age of 21 coming from disadvantaged backgrounds did not continue with their studies beyond their first year, compared to less than 5 percent of wealthier students.
Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency published in May revealed the impact that poor mental health is having on student retention. A record 1,180 students dropped out of university in 2014-15 due to mental health problems such as anxiety. This has more than trebled since 2009-10in the aftermath of the global financial crashwhen 380 students were forced to leave university for this reason.
Pressure to achieve high marks also has more of an adverse effect on poorer students than on their wealthier peers, with nearly half (47 percent) saying that keeping up with academic work caused them stress.
Exam pressures and fears of not getting good grades are factors taking the highest tolls on youth mental health. They are some of the common reasons for suicide among young people, and not just those at university age.
According to a study by the University of Manchester, suicides among children and young people peak every year around exam season. In England and Wales, an average of 96 young people under the age of 25 take their own lives each year in April and May during the period when most exams are held. The next highest number of youth suicides takes place in Septemberthe start of the academic yearwhen an average of 88 young people die by suicide every year.
The University of Manchester research revealed that 47 percent of the young people who took their own lives in 2014-15 were experiencing academic pressures overall before their death. Nearly one-in-three (32 percent) either had exams at the time, would be sitting exams soon, or were waiting to receive exam results.
This appalling rise in mental health issues and youth suicides is not just a phenomenon affecting the UK, but can also be seen in the US, the wealthiest country in the world.
Suicide rates among young girls in the US have reached a 40-year high. Children between 10 and 14 in the US are now more likely to die by suicide than by car accidents.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Florida House is on a fast track to try and repeal Florida's red-light camera law.
The appropriations committee voted this week to back elimination of the devices by July 1st, 2021.
It's the only committee to hear the bill before the issue move to the house floor during the 2018 legislative session.
According to a December 2016 survey by the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 59 cities and counties reported using red-light cameras. Motorists cited for red-light camera violations face a $158 fine.
Republican representative Blaise Ingoglia is one of the bill's sponsors. He urged members to back the repeal, arguing the cameras are more important to local governments as a revenue source than as a traffic-safety measure.
"Red light cameras are nothing but a money-making scheme for local governments," said Ingoglia. "Forty-nine percent of all the money goes to the vendors, and only 14 percent goes to increasing safety."
Representatives from the city of Orlando asked lawmakers to reject the repeal, arguing the cameras are improving road safety.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Tallahassee Police Department is investigating a traffic crash involving a single vehicle.
Police say it happened in the 3700 block of Old St. Augustine Road at about 3:26 a.m. A passenger was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The crash is still under investigation. Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call (850) 891-4200 and ask to speak with the TPD Traffic Homicide Unit. They may also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS.
During reconciliation talks in Cairo , Hamas was asked to present the Palestinian Authority security services with a map of the tunnels in the Gaza Strip, as part of their agreement to coordinate security activity vis-a-vis Israel. Hamas's representatives didn't even bother responding to the request.
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The Cairo talks left Hamas with its tunnels, labs, weapons factories, drones and with the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and their naval commandos. In fact, Hamas's military wing remains as it wereunder the direct and exclusive command of Hamas.
This is why Israel views the agreement signed on Thursday as one that has no chance of being realized, so there's no reason to even waste energy on trying to sabotage it. Especially as both the American administration and the Egyptians have asked Israel not to interfere.
Hamas and Fatah sign a reconciliation agreement (Photo: AFP)
Nevertheless, the agreement does indicate some change in Hamas's willingness to give up its monopoly over arms in the strip. For example, the responsibility over border crossings will gradually be transferred to the Palestinian Authority. Some 3,000 policemen are set to be transferred from the West Bank to Gaza and join the 12,000 existing Gazan police officers, who will also go under the PA's purview.
The manner in which these moves and others will be carried out will be determined in discussions of joint Fatah-Hamas committees. In general, most of the articles of the agreement signed on Thursday are dependant on the work of these committees, and there are no deadlines for most of the planned changes. For example, the future of the Gazan government bureaucrats will be discussed in a committee due to issue its recommendations in four monthsan eternity in the Middle East.
Another committee is supposed to present a plan to put an end to persecution and arrests of Hamas members in the West Bank, which will theoretically require Hamas to announce a halt to terror activity. But there is no mention of such a provision in any joint Hamas-Fatah document, and the information the Shin Bet currently has does not indicate a decline in the activity of Hamas's West Bank militant cells, quite the opposite.
Hamas and Fatah sign a reconciliation agreement (Photo: AFP)
Israeli officials believe the fact Abbas acquiesced to the Egyptians, and his willingness to accept an agreement that does not give him control of the weapons in the strip, only perpetuates his position as a lame duck.
Furthermore, his need to present himself to the Americans as a leader who has the mandate to act on behalf of the entire Palestinian people is more important to him than short-term concessions. The US is about to present a diplomatic plan for an agreement in the Middle East, and presenting himself as a legitimate partner is of utmost importance to Abbas.
Either way, Israeli officials don't believe Hamas would take on the commitments the PA has towards Israel. Their assessment is that the agreement would collapse within three or four months.
In any case, the Israeli government would not be able to live with this agreement, even if it includes a Hamas commitment to the PA to lower tensions in Gaza. Such an agreement would require Israel to drop its policy of treating the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as two separate entities, which has so far allowed it to avoid going into diplomatic talks, claiming Abbas does not represent the entire Palestinian people. This is something Israel would not be willing to give up so fast.
Furthermore, Israel would not receive any guaranteed achievement in return for such a concession, such as Hamas recognizing Israel or a commitment from the Palestinians to stop the acts of violence.
Therefore, this agreement will likely not be able to hold water.
UNESCOs executive board on Friday chose former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay to be the UN cultural agencys next leader over a Qatari candidate in an unusually heated race overshadowed by Mideast tensions.
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The US announcement this week that its quitting UNESCO rocked the multi-day election and heightened concerns about the agencys funding and future direction.
Azoulay succeeds outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestines inclusion as a member. On Thursday, the US and Israel said they plan to pull out of the Paris-based organization over its perceived anti-Israel bias
Audrey Azoulay (Photo: AFP)
The 45-year-old took the stage to chants of Audrey! Audrey! following her victory and said the response to UNESCOs problems was to reform the agency, not to walk awayan understated rebuke of the US and Israel.
In this moment of crisis, I believe we must invest in UNESCO more than ever, look to support and reinforce it, and to reform it. And not leave it, she said.
In a short address, she also thanked the Executive Board member states that gave me their trustin her surprise 30-28 vote win Friday over Qatari candidate Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari.
UNESCOs general assembly will have to sign off next month on the executive boards leadership pick, but its seen as a formality.
The new director will set priorities for the organization best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. The agency also works to improve education for girls, promote an understanding of the Holocausts horrors, defend media freedom and coordinate science about climate change.
Azoulay, a Jewish woman, had started the weeks voting with much less support but built up backing as other candidates dropped out and won a runoff earlier Friday against Egypts candidate.
The vote was a huge blow to Arab states, who had long wanted to lead the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO has previously had European, Asian, African and American chiefs, but never an Arab one since the organization was founded in 1945 following World War II to promote world peace through culture.
The agencys inclusion of Palestine as a member state in 2011 complicated this push, as did Qatars diplomatic dispute with Arab neighbors over accusations of sponsoring Islamic extremism.
Azoulay will be the second French leader of the organization since Rene Maheu, UNESCOs director general from 1961-74. Azoulays father is Moroccan and was an influential adviser to Moroccan kings, so she does have a connection to the Arab world.
UNESCO is going through a profound crisis, Azoulay told journalists on Friday after making it to the final vote. As a response to these difficulties, France has chosen not to leave but at the contrary to invest more ... because we believe in multilateralism. We believe in universal values.
Jewish groups took issue with al-Kawaris candidacy, citing a preface he wrote to a 2013 Arabic book called Jerusalem in the Eyes of the Poets that they claim is anti-Semitic. He wrote We pray to God to liberate (Jerusalem) from captivity and we pray to God to give Muslims the honor of liberating it.
In March, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre wrote an open letter to German Ambassador Michael Worbs, chair of the UNESCO Executive Board, to criticize the organization for accepting al-Kawaris candidacy.
Azoulays late entry into the leadership race in March annoyed many UNESCO member states who thought that since France hosts the Paris-based agency it shouldnt field a candidate. Arab intellectuals urged French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw his support for her.
The voting process itself was highly politicized.
French media reported that Qatar recently invited several members of the UNESCO executive board on an all-expenses-paid trip to Doha. In addition, the vote came as Egypt and three other Arab nations continued a months-long boycott of Qatar over allegations that the government funds extremists and has overly warm ties to Iran.
Egypts foreign ministry has demanded an inquiry into alleged violations during the UNESCO voting.
The next leader will have to allay fears over UNESCOs future as the agency faces a withdrawal from both the US and Israel.
Azoulay with Israel's envoy to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen
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. Bokova expressed profound regret at the US decision and defended UNESCOs reputation.
The US 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. UNESCO says the US now owes about $550 million in back payments.
Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, called UNESCOs July designation of Hebrons 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.
Iran, US allies in Europe and Russia on Friday criticized US President Donald Trump's threat to end the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran, saying they would stick by the deal.
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Trump said in a Washington speech that he would not certify that Iran is complying with its agreement with six world powers and the European Union, despite a determination by the UN's nuclear watchdog that Tehran is meeting the deal's terms.
The Republican president threw the issue to the US Congress, which has 60 days to decide whether to reinstate US sanctions. He warned that if "we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated."
Donald Trump and Hassan Rouhani (Photo: AP, MCT)
Trump's actions appeared to leave the United States relatively isolated on the world stage, with backing coming only from Israel and Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will remain committed to the multinational nuclear deal as long as it serves the country's national interests.
Trump's decision to decertify the deal will isolate the United States, as other signatories of the accord remained committed to it, Rouhani said in a live television address. The deal was not renegotiable, he said.
The deal, negotiated by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, eased sanctions on Tehran in returns for strict limits on its nuclear program.
Trump's stance put him at odds with key US allies, including Britain, France and Germany who, along with Russia and China, were the major powers that negotiated the deal with Iran alongside the European Union.
Trump outlines new Iran policies (: )
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In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Washington could not unilaterally cancel the agreement.
"We cannot afford as the international community to dismantle a nuclear agreement that is working," said Mogherini, who chaired the final stages of the landmark talks. "This deal is not a bilateral agreement.
"The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will continue to be, in place," Mogherini told reporters in Brussels.
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement warning the United States against taking decisions that could harm the nuclear deal such as re-imposing sanctions.
The three leaders also said they shared US concerns over Iran's ballistic missile program and regional destabilizing activities and were ready to work with Washington to address those concerns.
French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he had spoken with Rouhani by telephone and assured him of France's commitment to the deal, but that Tehran must strictly comply with it.
Russia's foreign ministry said there was no place in international diplomacy for threatening and aggressive rhetoric, and said such methods were doomed to fail, in a statement issued after Trump's speech.
Donald Trump, making his Friday speech
In contrast, Russia's foreign ministry said there was no place in international diplomacy for threatening and aggressive rhetoric, and said such methods were doomed to fail in a statement issued after Trump's speech.
The ministry said Trump's decision to de-certify the deal would not have a direct impact on implementation of the agreement but that it ran counter to its spirit.
There was no immediate reaction from China, though Alexei Pushkov, a pro-Kremlin lawmaker in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said neither Moscow nor Beijing backed Trump's stance.
"Russia of course does not support the US position, nor does China. So Trump will be left in proud isolation in an attempt to improve his image among his own supporters," Pushkov told Russia's state-run Rossiya-24 TV station.
The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was complying with the accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under the world's "most robust nuclear verification regime."
"The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented," Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA said in a statement.
"What has been agreed ... must be fully implemented. It is a very important deal, I'm sorry to see what is now happening," former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at the United Nations on Friday. Ban, who stepped down at the end of 2016, was UN chief when the deal was agreed.
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Trump received support from Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.
"President Trump has just created an opportunity to fix this bad deal, to roll back Iran's aggression and to confront its criminal support of terrorism," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement.
Saudi Arabia also welcomed what it called Trump's "decisive strategy" towards Iran and said lifting sanctions had allowed Tehran to develop its ballistic missile program, step up its support for militant groups including Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, and attack global shipping lanes.
The Riyadh government said in a statement it had supported the nuclear agreement, "but Iran took advantage of the economic gain from raising sanctions and used it to continue destabilizing the region".
The United Arab Emirates said it fully supported the new US policy towards Iran and renewed its commitment to work with Washington to counter Iran's support of extremism, the state news agency WAM reported.
"The UAE announces its full support to the new US strategy to deal with the Iranian policies undermining security and stability," WAM said on its Twitter account.
President Donald Trump's former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was interviewed on Friday by the special counsel investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 US election.
"Mr. Priebus was voluntarily interviewed by Special Counsel Mueller's team today," said his lawyer, William Burck. "He was happy to answer all of their questions."
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators are interviewing a number of White House and other officials as part of the inquiry into any ties between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
Mueller's inquiry includes whether Trump might have obstructed justice by trying to persuade then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation of Michael Flynn, the president's first national security adviser.
The US military said on Friday it was identifying new areas where it could work with allies to put pressure on Iran in support of President Donald Trump's new strategy, which promises a far more confrontational approach to Tehran.
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Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it.
The Pentagon said it was reviewing its options on implement President Trump's policy on Iran (Photo: EPA)
He also promised to address Iran more broadly, including its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.
Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Defense Department spokesman, said the Pentagon was assessing the positioning of its forces as well as planning but offered few details.
President Trump announces new Iran strategy (: )
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"We are identifying new areas where we will work with allies to put pressure on the Iranian regime, neutralize its destabilizing influences, and constrain its aggressive power projection, particularly its support for terrorist groups and militants," he said.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said his first goal would to talk with US allies in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere to gain a shared understanding of Iran's actions.
Defense Secretary Mattis will talk with US allies to gain a shared understanding of Iran's actions (Photo: AFP)
"Certainly we intend to dissuade them from shipping arms into places like Yemen and explosives into Bahrain and the other things they do with their surrogates, like Lebanese Hezbollah ," Mattis said.
The US military has long been a strident critic of Iran, accusing it directly and indirectly of trying to undermine the United States and its allies, including in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The tensions escalated in recent months in Syria, where American pilots shot down two Iranian-made drones this summer.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard will be hit by sanctions levied by US (Photo: AP)
Still, a more aggressive approach to Iran could trigger a backlash from Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and forces that it backs. That includes in Iraq, where US troops are fighting Islamic State and trying to keep their distance from Shiite militia aligned with Iran.
"US forces in Iraq are quite exposed, and coalition forces are quite exposed to the risk of attack if Iranian elements so choose," said Jennifer Cafarella, lead intelligence planner at the Institute for the Study of War, a think-tank in Washington.
The Israel Navy's warships and patrol boats are usually somewhat shrouded in mystery, carrying out oftentimes-clandestine operations far from Israel's shores.
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Now, in this special photographic essay, the Navy has agreed to pull back the curtain and allow a rare glimpse at the vessels and people tasked with defending Israel's maritime borders.
Haifa
The Haifa theater is the name of the IDF's naval division near the northern city, incorporating many units including the missile boat flotilla.
The missile boat flotilla, or 3rd Flotilla by its official name, operates night and day in every inch of Israel's territorial waters, and beyond.
A nocturnal look at the Haifa bay from a crewman's point of view (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The flotilla defends the country's borders and strategic assets and contributes to Naval intelligence operations.
The Lahav corvette, or small warship, is staffed by dozens of soldiers. The ship sails in and out of its home port of Haifa, allowing its crew a clear, unobstructed view of the Haifa bay in all weather conditions and times of day.
A concluding sail, marking the end of Navy midshipmen's training course (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
In addition, the Lahav often sets sail farther away, giving its crew glimpses of the spectacular vistas Israel has to offer in the region.
Ashdod
Squadron 916 is the Navy's routine security operations squadron, entrusted with maintaining security along Israel's southern theater, and its naval border with Gaza.
A crewman aboard a Navy ship across from the port of Ashdod (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
As the squadron tasked with defending Israel's "hottest" sector, the crew carries out training sessions and drills 24/7.
A Tzira defender-class boat, part of the Snapir harbor security unit, sailing near Ashdod (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
A particular Dvora's crew consists of 15 sailors led by a commanding officer. When a Dvora patrol boat sails for its routine security operations, it runs just ten kilometers from the Gaza shoreline, carrying out its duty of ensuring the sector remains peaceful.
Dvora patrol boats near Ashdod (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The sailors serving in the Ashdod theater's Squadron 916 say the beauty of serving in that particular sector is the peace and calm of the high seas on the one hand, coupled with the Israel Navy's most operational sector on the other, which allows them to feel what they do is crucial to safeguarding their country.
Eilat
The Red Sea theater, the Navy's southernmost operational sector, may appear calm and tranquil at first glance, but it is otentially fraught with peril.
A Dvora patrol boat off the densely populated coast of Eilat (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Its role is to safeguard Israel's southern border, both naval and on land, and defendboth in routine and emergency situationsthe residents of Eilat and the many tourists who frequent the popular holiday destination every year.
A Dvora patrol boat sails across the Red Sea (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Lieutenant Tal Katz, 24, commands the Dvora 819 patrol boat. Katz said the challenge of the Eilat theater was the proximity between Israel's naval borders there and foreign, potentially hostile elements, enabling enemy combatants to reach Israel within minutes.
Soldiers serving aboard Dvora patrol boats in Eilat describe the view of the port of Eilat as seen from their ships as breathtaking, especially when the setting sun seems to almost merge with the ocean.
Joshua Boyle, patriarch of the American-Canadian family released earlier this week with their children after five years in captivity in Pakistan, recounted Saturday their harrowing experiences at the hands of their captors, the Haqqani network, saying their infant daughter was murdered and his wife raped.
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Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada with his wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.
Joshua Boyle and his family were held in captivity for five years (Photo: AFP / SITE Intelligence Group)
The couple was rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport.
"It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," he said in his later statement at the airport. "To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost."
Pakistani security forces extracted the family from where it was held in captivity in the country's northwest, near the Afghanistan border. The rescue operation came following years' long accusations leveled by the US against the Pakistani government, saying it was not doing enough to combat groups such as the Haqqani network.
"The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," he said, adding one of his children suffered health problems during their captivity and their Pakistani rescuers needed to force-feed him.
Boyle spoke with reporters after his release, saying his infant daughter was murdered and his wife raped by his captors (Photo: AP)
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," he said.
The journey home was complicated by Boyle's refusal to board a US military aircraft in Pakistan, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Boyle instead asked to be flown to Canada.
Boyle's father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America. Another US official said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" given his family ties.
Boyle speaking with reporters in Toronto after his release (Photo: Reuters)
He was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a senior al-Qaeda 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 US troops following a firefight and was taken to the US 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 Boyle-Coleman families were questioned why the couple went backpacking in such a dangerous region (Photo: AP)
Boyle and Coleman's families were repeatedly questioned during the couple's years in captivity why their relatives would go backpacking in such a dangerous area, especially considering Coleman was pregnant at the time.
At his impromptu press conference, Boyle claimed he went to Afghanistan 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."
BERLIN A senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party has been rebuked by his own political allies for suggesting that Germany might introduce public holidays to celebrate the Islamic religion.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told a party rally in northern Germany this week that he was willing to discuss Islamic holidays in areas with large Muslim populations.
There are an estimated 4.7 million Muslims in Germany, mostly immigrants from Turkey.
Alexander Dobrindt, who also belongs to Merkel's conservative Union bloc, told the daily Bild on Saturday that he was against Islamic holidays: "Our Christian heritage isn't up for negotiation."
"Minister Aryeh Deri is an example of unsuccessful rehabilitation," said Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority Director Aryeh Bibi.
Speaking at a Shabatarbut event in Be'er Sheva, Bibi added, "57 percent of the inmates released end up relapsing and returning to prison, but if they undergo the Authority's rehabilitation program, that number is decreased by half."
"44 percent of Israel's inmates are Arabs, whereas their share of the populace is much lower at 20 percent," he said.
Three years ago, at only 17, Moshe Ben Naftali arrived at a drug rehabilitation center and was mentored by Omer Meir, who was doing his service year there. Then, several months ago, the two met again, under much happier circumstances: Omer was Private Ben Naftali's commanding officer at a Nahal training base.
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Private Ben Naftali, now 20, serves as a medic for a Nahal reconnaissance battalion. His early life, however, provided no indication he would make it this far.
Moshe Ben Naftali (R) and his former sponsor Omer Meir reconnected when the two met again in the IDF (Photo: Zvika Tishler)
Even before celebrating his bar mitzvah, Ben Naftali began using drugs and in his early teens he'd already amassed 18 criminal records, mostly for dealing drugs.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, andafter serving just two monthswas offered to undergo drug rehab at the Malkishua rehabilitation village as an alternative to staying incarcerated.
"It was a very difficult time on a personal level," Ben Naftali said. A year after Ben Naftali started his time at Malkishua, Meir arrived for his pre-army service year there. He became Ben Naftali's personal sponsor and the two struck up a fast friendship.
"It's somewhere between instructor and friend. I learned a lot from him. He's a very unique personality and it shows right away. He's a top notch guy with tons of ability," Meir said.
Nahal soldiers in training (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
After more than a two-year stay at Malkishua, the two went their separate ways and lost contact. Following Meir's recommendation, Ben Naftali decided to study at a Jerusalem preparatory program.
Despite receiving an exemption from IDF service, Ben Naftali insisted on enlisting. He arrived at the Havat Hashomer army base for at-risk youth and was then chosen to participate in selection for the Nahal's reconnaissance battalion.
Concurrently, Meirwho was conscripted firstunderwent a Nahal commanders' course. Then, on the first day of basic training, the two happened to meet.
"My platoon sergeant sent me to meet my commander. I opened the door and there was Omer. Moments later all of the soldiers were standing in two rows and I was laughing it up with the soldier standing in front of me. Suddenly Omer popped up and told me to shut up. That's when the penny dropped: he was my commanding officer," Ben Naftali recollected.
Ben Naftali reconnected with Meir during Nahal basic training (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Omer was happy to meet his former protege, but had some reservations about picking up where they left off. "There is the distance thing (army commanders distancing themselves from their subordinates to maintain authorityed.), but he got where I was coming from in our very first conversation. If he was going to make trouble, he'd get hit, hard. When it came down to it, I had to prepare him to being a combat soldier," Meir said firmly.
Regimented army life had proven a tough adjustment for Ben Naftali. "Prison and rehab were very strict institutions, and now I found myself in the same situation. Omer's presence here helped a lot. There's something convenient about not having to explain yourself over and over again," he said.
Ben Naftali is expected to finish his Nahal training this month, and will hold a week of concluding drills with his commander before once again bidding him farewell. "Moshe taught me there are no crises in life you can't overcome," Ben Naftali's former sponsor concluded.
MOGADISHU Somalia's al Shabaab militants took over a town close to the capital Mogadishu on Saturday, officials said, after government troops withdrew from the area.
Bariire, in Lower Shabelle, is about 50 km (30 miles) from Mogadishu. In late August 10 Somalisincluding three childrenwere shot dead there during a botched raid by Somali forces backed by US troops.
"We captured it this morning without any resistance. The soldiers left when we advanced towards the town," said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operation spokesman.
The government confirmed its seizure.
BAGHDAD Tension flared on Saturday in the ethnically mixed Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu after a clash between Kurdish and Shiite Turkmen political parties divided over the independence of the Kurdistan region, security sources said on Saturday.
A dozen Kurdish families were displaced from the predominantly Turkmen district of Askari to Kurdish neighborhoods of the town, after the two-hour clash in the early hours of the morning, the sources said.
The exchange of mainly automatic gunfire left no casualties, they said. It pitted members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan against Turkmen loyal to Shiite political groups ruling Iraq.
Tuz is located 75 kms (47 miles) south of the multi-ethnic oil-rich city of Kirkuk, held by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and claimed by the central government of Baghdad.
Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay said at a Be'er Sheva Shabatarbut event Saturday he would not be willing to form a coalition government with the Arab Joint List , saying he didn't see anything that "connects us with them."
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"In order to form the next government, we would need around 27 mandates, whereas (Yesh Atid Chairman Yair) Lapid would need 11," Gabbay explained.
Gabbay ruled out a coalition government with the Joint List (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Gabbay was also asked about the prospect of his party allying itself with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party, in light of the tense relationship between the two, as Gabbay was himself a member of Kahlon's party in the past.
"Everybody wants to have their say. Apart from two parties insisting on staying out of power, everyone wants to be in the coalition," Gabbay said in response.
Gabbay also added he believed Tzipi Livni's place on the Zionist Union's list for the next elections would be reserved, and confirmed a place would also be reserved for a former member of the security establishment. Perhaps hinting at the person's identity, he expressed his hope former Minister of Defense and IDF Chief of Staff Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon will join the Labor Party.
From local politics, Gabbay went on to speak about international affairs, and President Donald Trump's press conference about Iran and the nuclear deal.
Speaking of Iran and Trump, Gabbay said he hoped for tougher sanctions (Photo: MCT)
"Iran is a real threat to the State of Israel, but not an existential one. It was a very nice speech. But you have to remember Trump has already told Congress twice Iran is living up to its part of the deal," Gabbay said.
"Obviously isn't cannot allow Iran to reach nuclear capabilities There is the stage of speeches, and that's followed by the stage of closed-door diplomacy. Last time we ran away from that. We made it as far as the speeches stage, but because we were absent from the diplomacy phase, we couldn't impact what was going on," Gabbay criticized.
When asked about Trump's hard-line stance on Iran, which sometimes seems to eclipse even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own position, Gabbay said, "We're the ones who have to live here. The Americans don't, and we have to do whatever safeguards our own interests."
"I think we need to keep pushing for sanctions, especially on terrorism. I hope Trump would take it that extra step and won't settle just for speeches," Gabbay added.
Israel was right to follow the US out of UNESCO, Gabbay said (Photo: AP)
Gabbay then went on to speak about the American decision to withdraw from UNESCO , which was quickly followed by a similar Israeli declaration . "It was my understanding we were blindsided by the American decision. We have a tendency to be taken by surprise with these things If the Americans left UNESCO, we don't have to stay there either," he said.
Gabbay then stressed he thought the fact a Jew was voted to be the next UNESCO director should have no bearing on the decision to leave the organization.
The same event also hosted Director of the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority Director and former MK Aryeh Bibi, who shared data about number of prisoners successfully rehabilitated. When asked about the rehabilitation of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who was convicted of corruption offenses and served jail time, Bibi replied he was an example of unsuccessful rehabilitation.
The large-scale Northern Corps exercise last month allowed the IDF's Technological and Logistics Directorate to carry out a trial by (pretend) fire for a number of new weapons it was looking to try out.
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These included unmanned ammunition and equipment trucks, a hovercraft used to carry the wounded, an underground hospital and a parachute with a GPS device that can land dozens of kilograms of equipment in enemy territory with almost laser precision.
The recently unveiled equipment is leaps and bounds from that used in past conflicts. During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, for instance, the IDF used much simpler parachutes, with many of their crates eventually landing in Hezbollah hands. Though the new parachutes have not yet been declared operational, hundreds of them are expected to be purchased as part of the IDF's multi-year acquisition plan.
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Several hovercraft demonstrations were also carried out during the exercise, showcasing their ability to, among other things, safely and efficiently carry hundreds of kilograms of equipment, ammunition, water and fuel. A more unusual demonstration included using a hovercraft to carry a simulated "wounded individual." This was done by laying out a dummy on a stretcher, which was then flown for five minutes at a height of 40 meters.
The initial impression of the Medical Corps was positive. "The demonstration was well-executed, and it's not far from the day when this hovercraft becomes operational," a senior medical officer told Ynet. "We fitted the dummy with a monitor, which enabled us to monitor its condition while it was in the air and we were on the ground."
Practicing emergency care (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The exercise also included a convoy of unmanned transport vehicles, which were controlled by remote technology operated by a soldier in the only manned vehicle on site. Each of the trucks in the convoy was able to carry eight tons of logistics supplies.
"It worked very well," explained a senior IDF officer. "Since drivers aren't skilled at fighting, we wanted to prevent risking our men during the next war."
IDF remote-controlled vehicles (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Pro-robots (or unmanned vehicles) were also utilized to carry combat equipment alongside infantry forces, with up to 500 kg per pro-robot. "They've proven to be highly successful in working in rocky terrain, quietly and effectively," added the officer. "We'll know how to keep our maintenance units from the border; we will operate in a mobileas opposed to stationarymanner, because of the mortar shells of Hezbollah's Buraq unit and its elite Radwan unit."
A driverless truck (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
As part of its emergency preparedness, an IDF field hospital was deployed in the parking lot of a Nahariya shopping mall during the exercise. It was set up in the underground lot to simulate a situation in which the area is hit by Hezbollah rockets. It included a large number of medical reserve personnel (comprised, among others, of 200 physicians) under the command of Shaare Zedek Medical Center Trauma Room director Col. (Res.) Dr. Ofer Marin.
Underground military field hospital (Photo: Spokesperson's Unit)
During the exercise, the hospital "treated" some 200 mock casualties, some of whom were evacuated using the Air Force's helicopter fleet and Hercules aircrafts. The hospital included emergency and trauma rooms, four operating beds, ten intensive care beds, x-ray and laboratory facilities, hospitalization rooms and even a pediatric ward. All in all, the compound is capable of treating 200 wounded a day, while around 100 of them are hospitalized.
The IDF field hospital was declared to be the world's best by the World Health Organization. Despite it never being used during wartime, it has taken part in disaster relief missions in Haiti, the Philippines and Nepal. Up until two years ago, it also operated in partial capacity along the Golan Heights border, where it assisted in caring for wounded Syrian refugees.
Iranians and US elected officials responded with anger, mockery and great concern on Saturday to the US President Donald Trump threat to tear up the landmark nuclear deal.
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Over in Iran, Trump's use of the phrase "Arabian Gulf" rather than "Persian Gulf" particularly hit a nerve, in a country with a fierce nationalistic streak.
"Everyone knew Trump's friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too," wrote Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, referring to the US alliance with Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia.
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Despite pressure from the Arab Gulf monarchies, most international bodies still use "Persian Gulf" as the conventional name for the region's waterway, and many Iranians shared photos of US veterans' medals and graves referring to the "Persian Gulf conflict" of the 1990s.
House Minority Leader Pelosi (: )
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In his White House speech on Friday, Trump reeled off a list of grievances committed by the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world."
He threatened to "terminate" the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers unless Congress passed stringent new sanctions.
Iranian reads about Trump's speech in local paper (Photo: EPA)
"Trump's statements are so ridiculous that it actually works in Iran's favor. Speaking about the 'Arabian Gulf' is taken very badly by people here," said Abbas, a 40-year-old banker who only gave his first name.
"The reaction of the Europeans shows that the United States is isolated, and only Saudi Arabia and Israel have supported Trump," he added.
The other signatories to the nuclear dealBritain, France, Germany, China and Russiahave called for its preservation, saying that Iran is clearly sticking to its commitments.
Trump's efforts to reach out to ordinary Iranians, who he referred to as the "longest-suffering victims" of the Islamic regime, also appeared to have fallen on deaf ears, with many recalling the travel ban he slapped on them earlier this year.
Trump (Photo: AP)
Trump's Instagram page was inundated by more than a million comments, mostly from jeering Iranians.
"I was so angry last night. This person hates Iran so much that even if we don't support the ideas of the regime, we find ourselves supporting them and the Revolutionary Guards," said Layla, 42, in her Tehran artisan shop.
"Trump stopped Iranians going to the US. How can he say he's on our side?" she added.
For all the bluster, Trump's strategy was not as tough as many had predicted.
It placed new sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards, but did not designate them a foreign terrorist organisation as trailed in the run-up to the speech.
The hardline Kayhan newspaper spun this as a victory, saying Trump had not "dared" to do so after the Guards warned the US would have to move its regional bases out of reach of Iranian missiles.
Rouhani
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had pushed back against the Revolutionary Guards' deep involvement in the economy after winning re-election earlier this year.
But Trump's threats have brought a new solidarity among Iran's often fractious institutions.
"We have dissatisfactions, for example there are economic problems," said Bahram Siavoshi, 36, as he walked to work at a private finance firm in Tehran.
"But if it comes to it, we will stand together to the end, and will defend even the Guards. Their efforts cannot be ignored. If it wasn't for them we would be like Syria or Yemen."
Rouhani took to the airwaves shortly after Trump's speech on Friday night, dismissing it as "nothing but the repetition of baseless accusations and swear words."
"He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own?" Rouhani said.
Nonetheless, the deal's future hangs in the balance as the US Congress has 60 days to decide how to tighten sanctions, or possibly introduce new red lines that would trigger a US response.
"If the Congress goes ahead with new sanctions, then the deal is dead and Iran will restart its nuclear programme and move forward full-steam ahead in all fields," Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told AFP.
"Iran will probably invest even more than before in order to show the Americans that they can't get away with destroying the agreement."
US Democrats go after Trump, while Republicans support him
Back home, Trump's vow to strike a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers will likely give US lawmakers 60 days to decide whether to bring back sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the deal.
If Congress reimposes the sanctions, the United States would in effect be in violation of the terms of the nuclear deal and it would likely fall apart. If lawmakers do nothing, the deal remains in place.
The move has caused many elected officials to express dismay at its possible outcome.
Trump's speech has particularly raised criticism among Democrats. Chief among them was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who upported the original deal and still supports it.
"President Trump's refusal to recertify is a grave mistake that threatens America's security and our credibility at a very critical time. The president is ignoring the overwhelming consensus of nuclear scientists, national security experts, generals and his own cabinetincluding, reportedly the secretary of defense (james Mattised) and the secretary of state (Rex Tillerson)," Pelosi said in a statement following Trump's speech. "The fact is, iran remains in compliance with the nuclear agreement."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who opposed the deal two years ago, has more recently said it should be left in place but strongly enforced with efforts to clamp down on other activities like Irans ballistic missile program.
House Foreign Affairs Top Dempocrat Elliot Engel opposed the deal two years ago but said killing it now would be a "grave mistake." Engel remains an Iran hawk on issues such as Tehrans ballistic missile program, human rights violations and its support for what Washington sees as terrorism.
Ryan (Photo: AP)
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan congratulated Trump and said that "the nuclear agreement struck by the previous administration with Iran is fatally flawed.
"Not only did it codify Tehran's domestic enrichment capability, but once key restraints expire in the coming years, the regime will be free to pursue nuclear weapons under the guise of international legitimacy. All the while, Iran has continued to test-fire ballistic missiles and finance its terrorist proxies across the globe. Simply enforcing a fatally flawed agreement is not sufficient. I support President Trump's decision to reevaluate this dangerous deal, and the House will work with his administration to counter Iran's range of destabilizing activities."
Republican Senator John McCain, who has butted heads with Trump in the past, also stated his support of re-examining the nuclear agreement with Iran. "For years, the Iranian regime has literally been getting away with murder," McCain said in a statement. "Meanwhile, the United States has lacked the comprehensive strategy to meet the multifaceted threat Iran poses. The goals President Trump presented in his speech today are a welcomed long overdue change."
Iran carried out a cyber attack on British lawmakers earlier this year, The Times newspaper reported on Saturday, citing an intelligence assessment of the incident.
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The report came the day after Britain joined other European countries in warning the United States against harming a nuclear deal with Iran.
Britain was hit by a worldwide sustained and determined cyber attack in June, designed to identify weak email passwords, just over a month after a ransomware worm crippled parts of the countrys health service.
UK Cyber attack (Photo: EPA)
The Times said that the attack was Irans first significant cyber attack on a British target after the hack was initially blamed on Russia.
Britains National Cyber Security Center was not immediately available for comment, and nor did the Iranian government.
While the motive for the attack has not yet been established, the hackers were not seeking simple financial profit, The Times said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Israel Police's conduct on Saturday, as news came out that the police will continue investigating both cases in which he is suspected of bribery: namely, the cases involving his allegedly receiving illicit gifts from rich donors (also known as Case 1000), and his talks with Yedioth Ahronoth owner Arnon Mozes on gaining more favorable coverage in return for promoting legislation against Yedioth's rival newspaper Israel Hayom (also known as Case 2000).
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"When (Police Commissioner Ronied) Alsheikh took office, he made two important decisions: there will be no more leaks from the investigations, and that there will be no more recommendations made by the police," Netanyahu stated on Saturday. "Since political adviser Lior Horev was appointed as an external adviser to the police, costing millions taxpayers millions and without a tender, the illegal leaks have become a tsunami, and the decision to avoid recommendations has disappeared as if it never was.
"The public has long understood that there is a clear media campaign against the prime minister. As it always has been in the past, this time all allegations against the prime minister will prove to be false, and therefore nothing will come of them."
Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh (L) and Netanyahu (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Lior Horev declined to comment on Netanyahu's accusations.
According to reports, police investigators will try to once again coordinate an investigation of Netanyahu, some time over the next two weeks.
It was also reported on Saturday that Netanyahu would be required to testify in the submarines affair (also known as Case 3,000), in which he is currently not a suspect, at a later date.
Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog responded to Netanyahu's remarks by saying, "What began with artists, journalists and judges has now reached the police." He continued by accusing Netanyahu of incitement and acting for personal gain, even at the price of "causing damage to the symbols of law and the government."
Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak also responded, over Twitter: "It's starting. Netanyahu is on his way out, ready to burn the country, a despicable and dangerous persecution of the state's institutions. When the law threatens Bibi, Bibi threatens the law."
Yesh Atid Leader Yair Lapid, came out against the prime minister in a statement that read, "Netanyahu's attack on the police commissioner - a new low in an attempt to threaten the rule of law in the country."
In August, the police expanded the ban on the publishing information pertainig to the ongoing investigations against Netanyahu. As part of the request for the order, it was revealed that the one of main suspicions against Netanyahu is bribery. At the time, Rishon Letzion Magistrate's Court Judge Einat Ron, stated: "Today, Superintendent Shlomo Meshulam appeared before me as part of the investigations and affairs known as '1,000' and '2,000' that include suspicions of bribery, fraud and breach of trust."
The Russian military says the Syrian army has taken the full control of a key Islamic State stronghold in eastern Syria.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that Syrian troops have now fully freed the town of Mayadeen from ISIS militants. Konashenkov said that Mayadeen was the last major stronghold in eastern Syria for the Islamic State group.
He said that the Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes are now pushing their offensive against the IS.
YORK What could 25 water towers, not one capable of holding so much as a drop of H2o possibly be worth? Nothing, right?
Wrong. Very wrong.
Thursday evening, in fact, 25 successful bidders decided $49,850 was about right.
Proceeds from the portion of that total collected for sale of 15 large towers will support Yorks annual Firecracker Frenzy display each year on Independence Day eve.
Each artist was paid a stipend when the towers went on exhibit across town after receiving a heavy layer of clear coat sealer complements of Autocraft Collision and Graphics.
Chamber director Madonna Mogul said money bid on the 10 smaller towers created by local students will be split between Firecracker Frenzy and the school from which each piece was submitted.
The top bid of $5,000 purchased YHS senior Nicole Mittmans large tower entitled Twilight Harvest.
Mittman created the spectacular piece during her junior year. She was playing center field for the Dukes at the state tournament Thursday and could not be there to see the spirited bidding on her depiction of men and machines rendered in silhouette against the magnificent palette of a rural Nebraska sunset.
Emmanuel-Faith Lutheran School earned the top small tower bid of $850 for Walking with Jesus.
The artists were so excited about the value bidders placed on their work, said Mogul.
The project began in November 2015 started with making the pitch to the senior Organizational Management Class at York College, said Mogul. They did the legwork in the spring semester of 2016
The blank towers arrived in town and were distributed to the artists in the dark of a November 2016 night on the parking lot at the Holthus Convention Center.
They went to Autocraft Collision and Graphics which sprayed layers of clear coat protection against the elements at no charge in March of this year.
The pieces were on display by late that same month thanks to the City of York Public Works Departments equipment and personnel.
It exceeded all of my expectations, said an ecstatic Mogul early Friday morning. I cannot say enough how proud I am of this community for its support of this project from the beginning. It was obvious from the packed house and generous bidding last night.
Mogul declared herself definitely willing to do it again. I can envision it happening in about a three to five year time frame.
Towers again, however, are unlikely.
Probably something other than towers, she commented, We want to kind of keep it fresh.
She said from four years ago when current board president Pat Hanrahan came onto the board, He has wanted to have some kind of public art display. Then, a week after he talked to me, Nick DiToro stopped in my office looking for a project his Organizational Management students could take on.
DiToro is Associate Professor of Business and Roger Collins Endowed Chair at York College.
The students began their work by crafting, distributing and analyzing results of a survey asking respondents to make a choice from a list of four or five different options for objects to use for the theme.
We intentionally did not list water tower on the survey, Mogul said, so it (the tower theme) came about organically. A strong majority selected the tower even though it wasnt even on the list.
To me that spoke volumes and gave us the go-ahead and make towers the project theme.
Below are the Towers, artists and how much they were auctioned for:
Bob - The Stained Glass Balloon St. Joseph School - 5th Grade $250.00
Alive in the Spirit Emmanuel Faith Lutheran School - 3rd Grade $400.00
Pride of the Heartland - B.J. Sievers - $4,000.00
Legacy Keri Kircher $2,000.00
A Landmark Takes Root Mindy Burton $4,250.00
The Story of York YES - Allie Colburn, 4th Grade $350.00
My Nebraska Stacy West-Chos $2,500.00
Maze Tower - Eric Eckert - $1,300.00
Walking With Jesus - Emmanuel Faith Lutheran School - 5th Grade $850.00
Be More at YC - Meghan Shruck - $4,000.00
H2O - Kami & Kinsley Flynt - $1,700.00
Growing Towards Greatness - St. Joseph School - 7th Grade $300.00
Deep Blue - Heidi Chapman - $4,500.00
Shine YES - Emory Flynt, 5th Grade - $600.00
The Challenge - Monica Robinson Swerczek - $2,300.00
In This World - Emily Petersen - $1,500.00
Roberto the Elephant - YES - Lauren Hills, 5th Grade - $500.00
Grainy Mania - Cathy Cornish - $1,900.00
Spring Day - YES - Zoey Eckert, 3rd Grade - $500.00
Twilight Harvest - Nicole Mittman - $5,000.00
In God's Hands - Emmanuel Faith Lutheran School - 4th Grade $700.00
Sunset in Bloom - Lacey "Lovelace" Stamler - $3,500.00
Rooted in Our Faith - St. Joseph School - 8th Grade - $450.00
Old Cigars, Steel Guitars and Railcars - Michael Bristol - $2,500.00
Cometas de Colores - Anabel - $ 4,000.00
News
Washington, DC - The United States and China welcome three new EcoPartnerships for 2017. Over the past nine years, the State Department-sponsored Ecopartnerships program has facilitated 42 partnerships among experts and innovators from U.S. and Chinese cities, companies, universities, and NGOs. Those partnerships have produced tangible results in addressing the challenges facing the energy and environmental technology sectors.
The three new EcoPartnerships for 2017 are:
Capstone Turbine and BROAD Air Conditioning will develop combined cooling-heating power (CCHP) systems to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
National Resource Defense Council and Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau will focus on the establishment of market mechanisms for energy demand response, the integration of renewable energy into power grids, and best practices for the design of electricity pricing and grid planning policies.
Louisiana State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences will work together on conservation and management of wetlands through joint data collection and analysis that will develop research capabilities in both countries.
EcoPartnerships mobilize private sector investment and leverage capital to move forward new and innovative solutions to global energy and environmental challenges, creating new opportunities for U.S. companies. EcoPartners invaluable peer-to-peer collaborations have led to the piloting of new technologies and systems and the sharing of best practices in these fast moving fields.
Latest News
Washington, DC - It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Irans government end its pursuit of death and destruction. President Donald J. Trump
President Donald J. Trump, in consultation with his national security team, has approved a new strategy for Iran. It is the culmination of nine months of deliberation with Congress and our allies on how to best protect American security.
HIGHLIGHTS
Core Elements of the Presidents New Iran Strategy
The United States new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Irans destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.
We will revitalize our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region.
We will work to deny the Iranian regime and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people.
We will counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons.
We will rally the international community to condemn the IRGCs gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges.
Most importantly, we will deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.
BACKGROUND
The Nature of the Iranian Regime under Supreme Leader Khamenei
For 28 years, Ali Khamenei has been Irans Supreme Leader. Before that, he held the office of President for 8 years. In that time, he has shaped the Iranian regime in his image.
Khamenei and the IRGC have pursued a steady policy of spreading a revolutionary ideology aimed at undermining the international system and many states by force and subversion. His main enemy and rallying point has been and continues to be the United States of America, which he calls the Great Satan.
Under Khamenei, Iran exports violence, destabilizes its neighbors, and sponsors terrorism abroad. Within Iran, under Khameneis rule the Iranian government has oppressed its people, abusing their rights, restricting their access to the internet and the outside world, rigging elections, shooting student protesters in the street, and imprisoning political reformers like Mir Hussein Musavi and Mehdi Karroubi.
The Threats from the Iranian Regime
The reckless behavior of the Iranian regime, and the IRGC in particular, poses one of the most dangerous threats to the interests of the United States and to regional stability.
The Iranian regime has taken advantage of regional conflicts and instability to aggressively expand its regional influence and threaten its neighbors with little domestic or international cost for its actions.
This occurred most recently following the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from the vacuum created by the Obama administrations ill-considered withdrawal from the region.
The full range of the Iranian regimes malign activities extends well beyond the nuclear threat it poses, including:
o Ballistic missile development and proliferation;
o Material and financial support for terrorism and extremism;
o Support for the Assad regimes atrocities against the Syrian people;
o Unrelenting hostility to Israel;
o Consistently threatening freedom of navigation, especially in the strategically vital Persian Gulf;
o Cyber-attacks against the United States, Israel, and Americas other allies and partners in the Middle East;
o Grievous human rights abuses; and
o Arbitrary detention of foreigners, including United States citizens, on specious charges and without due process.
The Need for a Comprehensive Strategy
The previous Administrations myopic focus on Irans nuclear program to the exclusion of the regimes many other malign activities allowed Irans influence in the region to reach a high-water mark.
Over the last decade and a half, United States policy has also consistently prioritized the immediate threat of Sunni extremist organizations over the longer-term threat of Iranian-backed militancy.
In doing so, the United States has neglected Irans steady expansion of proxy forces and terrorist networks aimed at keeping its neighbors weak and unstable in hopes of dominating the greater Middle East. Recently, the Iranian regime has accelerated the seeding of these networks with increasingly destructive weapons as they try to establish a bridge from Iran to Lebanon and Syria.
The Trump Administration will not repeat these mistakes.
The Trump Administrations Iran policy will address the totality of these threats from and malign activities by the Government of Iran and will seek to bring about a change in the Iranians regimes behavior.
The Trump Administration will accomplish these objectives through a strategy that neutralizes and counters Iranian threats, particularly those posed by the IRGC.
Countering the IRGC
Supreme Leader Khameneis primary tool and weapon in remaking Iran into a rogue state has been the hardline elements of the IRGC.
The IRGCs stated purpose is to subvert the international order. The IRGCs power and influence have grown over time, even as it has remained unaccountable to the Iranian people, answering only to Khamenei. It is hard to find a conflict or a suffering people in the Middle East that the IRGCs tentacles do not touch.
Unaccountable to Irans elected leaders or its people, the IRGC has tried to gain control over large portions of Irans economy and choke off competition, all the while working to weaken and undermine Irans neighbors and perpetuate the chaos and instability in which it thrives.
The IRGC has armed Bashar al Assad and guided his butchering of his own people in Syria and has cynically condoned his use of chemical weapons.
The IRGC has sought to undermine the fight against ISIS with the influence of militant groups in Iraq under the IRGC's control.
In Yemen, the IRGC has attempted to use the Houthis as puppets to hide Irans role in using sophisticated missiles and explosive boats to attack innocent civilians in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as to restrict freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
The IRGC has even threatened terrorist attacks right here at home. Senior IRGC commanders plotted the murder of Saudi Arabias Ambassador to the United States, Adel Jubeir, on American soil in 2011. But for exceptional work by our law enforcement and intelligence officers to detect and disrupt this egregious act, the IRGC would have conducted this terrorist attack and assassination in our own capital and would have killed not only a Saudi Arabian diplomat, but a host of other innocent bystanders at a popular restaurant in Washington, D.C.
The IRGC, which repeatedly displays reckless hostility and disregard for the laws and norms that underpin the international order, threatens all nations and the global economy.
Our partners in the international community agree with us that the IRGCs reckless behavior threatens international peace and security. They agree that the IRGC is fanning sectarianism and perpetuating regional conflict. They agree that the IRGC is engaged in corrupt economic practices that exploit the Iranian people and suppress internal dissent, human rights, and Irans economic prosperity.
For all these reasons, we want to work with our partners to constrain this dangerous organization, for the benefit of international peace and security, regional stability, and the Iranian people.
The Iranian Nuclear Program and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
The Iranian regimes activities severely undercut whatever positive contributions to regional and international peace and security the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) sought to achieve.
Even with regard to JCPOA itself, the Iranian regime has displayed a disturbing pattern of behavior, seeking to exploit loopholes and test the international communitys resolve.
Iranian military leaders have stated publicly that they will refuse to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of their military sites. These statements fly in the face of Irans commitments under JCPOA and the Additional Protocol. Not long ago these same organizations hid nuclear facilities on military sites.
This behavior cannot be tolerated; the deal must be strictly enforced, and the IAEA must fully utilize its inspection authorities.
Washington: A Saudi man who is being held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was sentenced on Friday to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The sentencing of Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi follows his guilty plea in February 2014 for his role in an attack on a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, the statement said.
As part of a plea deal, al-Darbi agreed to cooperate with the U.S. government, the Pentagon said.
Lahore: The Pakistan government on Saturday withdrew its request for extending the detention of Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed under the anti- terrorism law.
On January 31, Saeed and his four aides were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under preventative detention under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. They have been under house arrest since then.
An official of the Home Department of Punjab government told a three-member federal judicial review board headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court that the government did not require the extension of Saeed and his four accomplices' detention any more.
"The provincial government does not require extension to the detention of Saeed, his aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - under the anti-terrorism law. Therefore it requests the board to accept withdrawal of extension to detention of Jamaat-u-Dawah leaders," he said.
The board accepted the government's plea and disposed of the matter.
Explaining as to why the government withdrew its application, a senior official of the Punjab government told PTI that since the government has extended the detention of Saeed and four others till October 24 under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 it does not require to have them house arrested under the anti-terrorism law.
He said the government was to produce Saeed and others before the review board for their detention under 11 EEE (I) and 11D of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
"But since since all five of them are detained under the public order there was no binding on the government to produce them before the review board today to seek extension to their detention," the official said.
The Punjab Home Department issued an order extending the house arrest of Jamat-d-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and four other JuD men for another 30 days with effect from September 25 under the public order. The previous detention order issued on July 28 was expired on September 25.
The last two extensions were made on the 'public order'.
The JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014. The JuD chief carries a reward of?USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday sought more road projects and bridges and direct road connectivity from the state to Varanasi.
"I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build road connecting Buxar (Bihar) and Banaras (Uttar Pradesh) as the number of pilgrims travelling to Banaras is more," Nitish Kumar said while extending support of the state on acquisition of land for the projects.
The Chief Minister also praised the Modi-led central government`s functioning and different schemes.
Kumar said people of Bihar have huge expectation of development from the alliance of JD-U and NDA.
Kumar was addressing a gathering after Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange Programme and four national highway projects in Mokama area of Patna district.
The total outlay of these projects is over Rs 3,700 crore.
"Sardar Patel got Junagad and Hyderabad to become part of the country. Had Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru not stopped him from also deciding the fate of Kashmir, then, I think, the Kashmir issue would not have been before us today," he said.
The BJP has launched the `gaurav yatra' to galvanise support ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat. A number of BJP leaders and Union ministers have taken part in the campaign and addressed rallies.
New Delhi: The erotic thriller franchise Hate Story's fourth installment will release on March 2, 2018. The previous three films of the franchise were much liked by the audience and the excitement level of fans is high as the gorgeous Urvashi Rautela will star in Hate Story IV. The movie also stars Karan Wahi and Ihana Dhillon in pivotal roles.
Noted trade analyst and movie critic Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to share the release date of the film. He also shared a picture of Urvashi's look in the film and she looks alluring!
Here's his Twitter post:
Hate will be back, darker than ever. Urvashi Rautela in #HateStoryIV, directed by Vishal Pandya. Produced by TSeries. 2 March 2018 release. pic.twitter.com/xXjkJ5BG6r taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) October 14, 2017
The movie is helmed by Vishal Pandya and is produced by T-Series.
New Delhi: Sahara on Saturday said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has misled the Supreme Court as it has blamed Sahara for obstructing the auction process of Aamby Valley.
SEBI has filed a petition in the apex court alleging that Sahara was obstructing the auction process and strongly prayed for initiation of contempt proceedings against the directors of Aamby Valley, including against its chief Subrata Roy.
On the issue of obstructing the auction process, Sahara`s lawyer Gautam Awasthi said that Sahara has not handed over custody of Aamby Valley to police. "Sahara had, in fact asked for police protection and that too on payment," the lawyer said.
"SEBI very wrongfully presented to (the) Supreme Court, while hiding the fact that presence of police was meant only to provide police protection and not handing over possession of the property to police," the statement said.
The lawyer added that in some publications, it was also absolutely wrongfully written that the court warned Subrata Roy whereas there was no such warning.
The top court directed the auction of Aamby valley to recover money that the Sahara group has to pay to the market regulator SEBI for returning investors money that its two companies SIRECL and SHICL had raised from investors in 2007 and 2008.
The top court by its August 31, 2012 order had asked Sahara group`s two companies - Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd. (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) - to return to investors Rs 17,400 crore, along with 15 per cent interest.
The Sahara group has already given a part of the money to SEBI that was being parked in the SEBI-Sahara Refund Account.
New Delhi: In a bid to improve the quality of food served in trains, Indian Railways has decided to change its menu.
As per reports, the railways is planning to copy the menu card of airlines. Soon the passengers will be served dry food items similar to flight food.
The Railway committee, set up to work on the menu, has submitted its report to board. Based on it, the board will soon come out with a decision, reports said.
However, with the change in menu, price rationalisation will also be madewhich means passengers may have to shell out more after the new menu is released.
The committee has suggested that Railways should also focus on serving ready to eat items. The new menu will offer food items without gravy.
Passengers should be served vegetarian biryani, rajma chawal, hakka noodles, pulav, and laddo, the committee suggested.
The Railways have now made catering optional in all the Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains following which 20 per cent people have rejected the option, recent figures have stated.
Railways have already started the new catering system in Delhi-Firozpur Shatabdi and Bihar Sampark Kranti as part of trial
It may be recalled that last month Railways carried out another trail to record customer feedback through an online form on the tablets.
Around 100 tablets were so far been given by the Railways to on-board supervisors of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in different railway zones for recording customer feedback on food quality, staff behaviour and other related issues.
The tablet was used on a trial basis for the first time on the Ahmedabad-Delhi Rajdhani.
Navsari: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that his party BJP can easily win 150-plus seats in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, the saint-politician said, "The target of 150-plus is easy for the BJP as the development done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his stint as Gujarat Chief Minister is visible in the state."
"Also, as the speedy manner in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's roadmap for Gujarat and other Indian states has been implemented, it has also boosted confidence of people," he added.
The UP Chief Minster also said that per capita income in Gujarat has risen ten times in the last 20 years.
"In the last 20 years, per capita income in Gujarat has risen up to 10 times from Rs. 14,000 to Rs. 1,41,000. Gujarat's rate of development is highest in the country and it is frontrunner in the employment generation. The development and sense of security in Gujarat has become emulation for other Indian states," CM Adityanath said.
Commenting on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's visits to temples in Gujarat, Yogi Adityanath said, "Rahul has made himself a laughing stock by his childish and cheap publicity acts."
"I am surprised that it was Rahul's Congress party-led then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, who tried to demolish the Ram Setu but the Supreme Court had stayed it. In fact, the then Congress led Union Government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court and even termed Lord Ram and Lord Krishna as 'myth'. Now, when Rahul Gandhi visited Dwarkadhish Temple, then a question arises that whether his party's affidavit was right or is he right?" said Adityanath, and demanded, "I feel that Rahul should give clarification to nation on this issue".
The UP Chief Minister also said that if the tribals (adivasis) are out of country's mainstream, then only the Congress is responsible for it.
Replying to a question, Yogi Adityanath said, "Ram Temple is not an election issue for us, but a matter of belief. The matter is sub-judice and we hope that the decision will be according to the public sentiments."
When asked that patidars and dalits are unhappy with the BJP led Vijay Rupani Gujarat government, Yogi Adityanath recounted how farmers are getting water from Sardar Sarovar Dam and availability of water in the entire Saurashtra region.
He claimed that not only patidars and dalits, but also farmers and all other sections of the society will extend support to the BJP.
Earlier in the day, Adityanath launched a scathing attack on the Congress by terming it as a "symbol of devastation".
Addressing a rally in Valsad, Adityanath censured Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over his allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"They (Congress) are not supporters of development, but of devastation. That is why when terrorists like Ishrat Jahan were killed by the security forces in Gujarat, then Rahul Gandhi came to support her. The Congress is not a symbol of development, but of devastation," said Adityanath.
He said that Rahul Gandhi was confusing the people of Gujarat during his election rallies.
"I have come here to apprise you about the reality of Gujarat's development as recently Congress' prince (Rahul Gandhi) had tried to confuse you. Today, those people are talking about development in Gujarat who never discussed about development in the country in last 70 years," said the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
Adityanath also said that Rahul Gandhi was talking about development of Gujarat when he himself hasn't developed his parliamentary constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
"When Gujarat witnessed heavy floods then Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah came here but Rahul Gandhi fled to Italy," said Adityanath.
Rahul Gandhi is eyeing to dethrone the ruling BJP in Gujarat. The last Congress government in Gujarat was led by Chhabildas Mehta from February 17, 1994 to March 13, 1995.
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.
With ANI inputs
New Delhi: The wars of words between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over delay in Gujarat polls date escalated on Saturday after the BJP slammed the Congress for doubting the discretion of the Election Commission.
The Congress party has been accusing the BJP of putting pressure on the Election Commission to delay the polls in Gujarat.
Talking to ANI, Union Minister Jitendra Singh shrugged off Congress` claim and said the BJP accords absolute independence to constitutional bodies.
"What Congress and other opposition leaders are saying actually amounts to questioning the prudence, wisdom, discretion and above all the independence of constitutional body like the Election Commission," Singh said.
He further said that if the Congress believes that Election Commission is under some sort of pressure then they are speaking from their own experience.
The minister said that the Congress` statement shows that they are being jittery at the prospects of BJP`s huge victory in the ensuing Gujarat assembly polls.
The Congress continued its tirade against the BJP on Friday over delay in announcement of Gujarat poll dates and said that it hints at Centre`s "direct interference" in the functioning of the Election Commission.
The Election Commission was scheduled to announce the dates for Himachal and Gujarat Assembly elections on Thursday, but it only announced the dates for Himachal.
Chief Election Commissioner A K Jyoti, had however, said Gujarat polls will be held before December 18, the day when the results of the Himachal Pradesh polls are to be announced.
Ahmedabad: Calling languages as soul of society, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that India should have a pragmatic policy to encourage mother tongues at early stages of school.
Inaugurating two-day International Conference on `The Journey of Indian Languages: Perspectives on Culture and Society`, Naidu said : "We should have a pragmatic policy to encourage mother tongue at the early stages of schooling and gradually move on to other languages."
The program was organised by B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here.
Naidu said that language is the binding thread of human existence and it has been a vehicle, from time immemorial, for communication of thoughts, feelings and ideas.
"Our societies have been built on the recognition of the fact that language is the lifeblood of a culture and building block of civilization. The richness of a culture is evident from the vocabulary, the syntax," he said.
Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasmaji, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Anju Sharma, BAOU Vice Chancellor Pankaj Vani, and IGNOU Vice Chancellor Ravindra Kumar were also present during the occasion.
Naidu called for good researches that would aim to cement and enhance India`s tradition of excellent critical, historical, theoretical and creative scholarship across a full range of periods, genres and linguistic research areas.
"Open Universities are making higher education opportunities available to a much larger number of students because they offer flexible schedules enabling learners like women and working population to study anywhere, anytime," he said.
Ahmedabad: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today termed as a "sham" Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's recent visits to temples in Gujarat during his recent campaign tour in the poll-bound state.
Tearing into the Congress and its leadership, Adityanath also said they have no right to berate the `Gujarat model of development'.
"As far as Rahul Gandhi's visits to temples are concerned, I am surprised. Rahul Gandhi's 'pakhand' and 'dhong' (hypocrisy and sham) is not going to work," Adityanath said, speaking to reporters at Nakhatrana in Kutch during BJP's `Gaurav Yatra' election campaign.
"The same Congress was eager to destroy the Ram Setu. During a hearing in the Supreme Court, Congress government had raised question about the existence of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna," he claimed, and asked, "If the party does not believe in the existence of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna, then why Rahul Gandhi wants to take credit by visiting temples."
Ram Setu, also known as Adam's Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. PILs were filed in the Supreme Court in the past, demanding that it be declared a national monument.
"If the country is facing poverty, terrorism and Naxalism, then the Congress is to be held responsible for that. Congress and Rahul Gandhi have no right to discuss development; even the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has accepted the (genuineness of) development of Gujarat," he said.
The BJP government is not doing the politics of "caste and dynasty," the chief minister added.
"The BJP talks about the entire society, and the programmes that the BJP has launched under the leadership of respected Narendra-bhai (prime minister Narendra Modi) focus on farmers, villagers, poor, women and youth," he said.
Gandhi started his recent campaign for Gujarat Assembly polls by visiting the Dwarkadeesh temple and offered prayers at many other temples in the state.
Yogi Adityanath has been campaigning in the BJP-ruled state since yesterday.
Navsari: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that Ram temple is not an election issue but a matter of belief for them.
CM Adityanath was speaking a rally in Valsad in Gujarat when he said, "Ram Temple is not an election issue for us, but a matter of belief. The matter is sub judice and we hope that the decision will be according to the public sentiments."
Taking a dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's visit to temples in Gujarat, Adityanath said, "Rahul has made himself a laughing stock by his childish and cheap publicity acts."
"I am surprised that it was Rahul's Congress party-led then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, who tried to demolish the Ram Setu but the Supreme Court had stayed it.
In fact, the then Congress-led Union government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court and even termed Lord Ram and Lord Krishna as a 'myth'. Now, when Rahul Gandhi visited Dwarkadhish Temple, then a question arises that whether his party's affidavit was right or is he right?" said Adityanath, and demanded, "I feel that Rahul should give clarification to nation on this issue".
The Uttar Pradesh CM also said that if the tribals (adivasis) are out of country's mainstream, then only the Congress is responsible for it.
When asked that patidars and dalits are unhappy with the BJP led Vijay Rupani Gujarat government, Yogi Adityanath recounted how farmers are getting water from Sardar Sarovar Dam and availability of water in the entire Saurashtra region.
He claimed that not only patidars and dalits, but also farmers and all other sections of the society will extend support to the BJP.
Earlier in the day, Adityanath launched a scathing attack on the Congress by terming it as a "symbol of devastation".
"They (Congress) are not supporters of development, but of devastation. That is why when terrorists like Ishrat Jahan were killed by the security forces in Gujarat, then Rahul Gandhi came to support her. The Congress is not a symbol of development, but of devastation," said Adityanath.
Adityanath also said that Rahul was talking about the development of Gujarat when he himself hasn't developed his parliamentary constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. "When Gujarat witnessed heavy floods then Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah came here but Rahul Gandhi fled to Italy," he said.
(With Agency inputs)
Gandhinagar: In view of the upcoming assembly polls in the state, senior BJP leader and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would interact with over one lakh women from different parts of Gujarat at 'Mahila Town Hall' programme to be held in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Through this 'Adikham Gujarat (Resolute Gujarat)' Town Hall, Swaraj would have a direct dialogue with over 1lakh women in 25 different locations and answer their questions.
I will be in Ahmedabad in the University Convention Centre on 14th October at 2 pm to speak to all my sisters in Gujarat. /1 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 11, 2017
This is the second such event of the BJP within a month.
A similar event, 'Yuva Town Hall', was held by BJP president Amit Shah on September 10. Over 1 lakh youth from 312 different locations across the state saw the event live while some of them had asked questions through video conferencing facility, as per a report.
About the event:
The Mahila town hall event being organised by the BJPs women wing, Mahila Morcha is scheduled from 2 pm onwards at GMDC convention centre.
Former chief minister Anandiben Patel is said to be supervising the preparations for the event.
Sources said that while Anandiben will be sharing the stage with Swaraj, it was still not clear whether she would take questions along with Swaraj from the participants.
Women can ask their questions using various social media platforms, such as Whats App, Twitter and Facebook, or by giving a missed call on 7878182182. They can also log on to www.adikhamgujarat.com to register their questions.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, who is on his two-day visit to Gujarat, will on Saturday take part in the ongoing Gaurav Yatra.
The party has started two Gaurav Yatras from Karamsad and Porbandar, birth places of Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi respectively.
London: Actor Andy Serkis has revealed he nearly turned down the iconic role of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings films.
The 53-year-old actor said he did not want to just voice act a character, reported The Guardian newspaper.
"When I started doing Lord of the Rings, I liked the gamble. Originally, I heard it was going to be like doing a voice for a digital character, and I wasn't interested, but then I met Peter Jackson and he said, 'We want an actor to play the role, be on set and make decisions for that character'," Serkis said.
Since featuring in the hit Peter Jackson-directed film franchise, he has been Hollywood's most sought-after actor for roles powered by CGI (computer generated imagery).
Other blockbuster voice act roles to Serkis' credit are - the title part as the giant ape in King Kong and the intelligent chimpanzee Caesar in the Planet of the Apes trilogy.
The actor added he had an "epiphany" while playing King Kong.
"That was the epiphany because it was like: you can now play anything. Then, as the technology evolved and facial capture came into play, and (it became) total performance capture, not just motion, I realised how important it is as an actor's tool in the 21st century," he said.
Previously, Serkis said the idea of making movies with live animals is "cruel" now that Hollywood has moved light years ahead in terms of technology.
New Delhi: The Congress party on Saturday chastised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for mocking their party vice president Rahul Gandhi and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to not ridicule a national leader of Gandhi's stature.
Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said the BJP must not forget that the grand old party won more seats than BJP in Punjab, Manipur and Goaunder Gandhi's leadership.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not able to handle Gujarat anymore and out of insecurity and fear he is using Yogi Adityanath to add fuel to the fire. I think he is forgetting that they contested the Punjab, Manipur and Goa elections against Rahul ji and Congress had won more seats than BJP. Making such statements against a national leader is not right. What if I comment something bad about Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde reminded the BJP of Nanded Municipal polls where Congress marked its victory after Rahul campaigned for it.
"This is false. Congress' victory in the Nanded Municipal polls is the evidence of the fact that Rahul ji's presence made us win," he added.
Adityanath on Friday cornered Rahul, saying whenever he takes the onus of campaigning for his candidates, his party loses.
"If Rahul Gandhi is campaigning, it seals a loss for the Congress," Adityanath said, at rally in Gujarat's Valsad.
New Delhi: A day after the deadly terror attacks struck the heart of Mumbai in 2008, the then External Minister Pranab Mukherjee had called Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and told him to return to his country immediately.
Mukherjee made these revelations in his new book, "The Coalition Years, 1996-2012", that was released on Friday.
He wrote in the book that after the four-day seizure began, he came to know that Pakistani Foreign Minister was holding a press conference in Mumbai.
The book mentions that Pranab decided to interrupt the press meet and asked one of the journalists, he knew would be attending the conference, to inform the Pakistani minister that he wants to speak to him on an urgent basis.
When Pranab got Qureshi on the phone line, he asked the latter to leave the country immediately and go back in the wake of terror attacks on Mumbai.
"Mr Minister, no purpose will be served by your continuing to stay in India in these circumstances. I advise you to leave immediately. My official aircraft is available to take you back home. But it would be desirable if a decision is taken as quickly as possible," Mukherjee told the minister.
The book also mentions that in return, the Pakistani minister expressed his gratitude and informed Pranab that a Pakistani aircraft would take him back home.
The BJP had then accused the UPA government's alleged soft stance towards Pakistan for the attacks.
Meanwhile, Islamabad has continued to deny any knowledge of the strike and has claimed that no concrete evidence has been produced by India so far that could link Pakistan-based outfits behind the 2008 attacks.
Patna/Mokama: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday shared the stage with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the first time after the JD(U) returned to the NDA fold.
While sharing a public platform with Kumar, the Prime Minister said he and the Bihar Chief Minister would take the state to new heights of development even as he announced that infrastructure projects of Rs 53,000 crore were underway or completed in the state.
Addressing a rally at Mokama, Modi heaped praise on Nitish Kumar and said the central and state governments were working tirelessly to fulfil the dreams of people of Bihar.
Modi referred to Kumar`s demands for development of Mokama and said he respected sentiments of the Chief Minister. "I assure you that the central government will walk with you shoulder to shoulder to fulfil dreams of people of Bihar and take this journey of development to new heights," he said.
Modi laid the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange programme and four national highway projects and said the state was getting gifts worth Rs 3,700 coinciding with festivals of Diwali and Chhath.
The four sewerage projects include Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage Treatment Plant at Karmalichak and STP and Sewer Network at Saidpur. These projects together will create new STP capacity of 120 MLD and upgrade the existing 20 MLD for Beur.
Addressing a large public meeting, the Prime Minister said that he is delighted to come to a land closely associated with the great poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Ji. He assured everyone that the Union Government and the State Government will do everything possible for Bihar's growth.
The Prime Minister said that the Government is working tirelessly to fulfil the aspirations of the people. He said the projects whose foundation stones are being laid today will give impetus to Bihar's development.
He added that the Government is focussing on increased pace of road construction. The projects related to Namami Gange will help preserve the River Ganga, he said.
Referring to the recent launch of the Antyodaya expresses, he said these will improve connectivity between Bihar, eastern India and other parts of the country. Asserting that good connectivity will lead to greater development, the Prime Minister said stress is being given to roads, railways, and waterways.
Modi, who arrived in Patna on a day-long visit, earlier addressed centenary celebrations of Patna University and said the government will provide autonomy and Rs 10,000 crore to top 10 public and 10 private universities to make them world-class.
"I bow to this land of Bihar. This University has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that he had observed, that across states, the top levels of the civil services have people who have studied in Patna University. "In Delhi, I interact with so many officials, many of whom belong to Bihar," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that Bihar is blessed with both 'Gyaan' and 'Ganga.' This land has a legacy that is unique, he added. He said that from conventional teaching, our universities need to move towards innovative learning.
PM Modi said that in the era of globalisation, we need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness. In that context, India has to make its place in the world, he added.
He urged the students to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people. He said that by applying what they learn, and through the Start-Up sector, there is a lot that they can do for society.
Kumar, who also spoke at the varsity function, said people of the state were keen that Patna University is made a central university. Modi, however, responded by saying that he was going beyond the demand and was keen that the Patna varsity competes successfully in the challenge for 10 public universities and becomes a global-level institution.
In his speech at Mokama, Modi said he was grateful from his heart to Kumar and his team for their strong support to central schemes. "If there are difficulties, he strives to remove them. The state and central government are working shoulder to shoulder and doing everything possible to fulfil the dreams of Bihar and the results are visible," Modi said.
Referring to the long list of road projects mentioned by Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in his speech, Modi said, "So many projects to change the fate of Bihar can be implemented in such a short time, we have shown this."
Nitish Kumar had joined again with the BJP in July after falling out with the party ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls over its projection of Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. The fallout happened after the JD-U and BJP had been together in the NDA for almost 17 years.
Without taking names, Modi said there had been people with "demented mindset" who even talked against the need of roads as there were no vehicles to run on them. He said roads bring prosperity and development.
Meanwhile, RJD president Lalu Prasad said PM Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were fooling the people of Bihar by not according central status to the Patna University (PU).
"Both of them (Modi as well as Kumar) are making fools of people of Bihar. They must have decided beforehand that one will propose and another would dispose it (proposal for central status to PU)," Prasad told reporters at Patna's Jay Prakash Narayan Airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Bihar on Saturday to address the Centenary Celebrations of Patna University.
The PM took to Twitter yesterday to confirm that he will be in Bihar on Saturday to inaugurate several projects.
Tomorrow I will visit Bihar & address the Centenary Celebrations of Patna University. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 13, 2017
At Mokama, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange programme and four National Highway projects.
The total outlay of these projects will be over Rs. 3700 crores.
He will also address a public meeting.
The four sewerage projects include Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage Treatment Plant at Karmalichak and STP and Sewer Network at Saidpur.
These projects together will create new STP capacity of 120 MLD and upgrade the existing 20 MLD for Beur.
The four National Highway projects, for which foundation stone will be laid, include:- 4-laning of Aunta-Simariya section of NH-31 and construction of 6-lane Ganga Setu- 4 laning of Bakhtiyarpur-Mokama section of NH-31- 2-lane construction of Maheshkhunt-Saharsa-Purnea section of NH 107- 2-lane construction of Biharsharif-Barbigha-Mokama section of NH-82.
Jammu: A Jammu and Kashmir policeman was on Saturday taken hostage by locals for allegedly taking pictures of a woman in Ganderbal.
According to reports, the cop allegedly took pictures of a woman while she was standing at the Manigam Bypass in Ganderbal.
The cop was taken hostage by the locals after the woman raised objections.
The cop was later handed over to the local police and a case was also registered against him.
He has been formally arrested, according to ANI.
The incident was reported on a day when two top LeT terrorists were killed in a fierce encounter in Pulwama by the securiuty forces, triggering violent protest by the locals.
Rajouri: Four civilians, including children, were injured after Pakistan on Saturday initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing in Jammu and Kashmir's Bhimber Gali Sector along the Line of Control (LoC).
Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Balakote sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir; three children injured. pic.twitter.com/ueFifgq8YZ ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
The firing which took place at around 7:45 hours deliberately targeted villages of Basauni and Sandot in Balakote area.
As per the latest information, the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively to the Pakistan shelling.
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Police chief on Saturday hailed the security forces for killing terrorist Wasim Shah who belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in a fierce encounter in a village in the Pulwama district.
Talking to reporters, J&K Inspector General of Police Munir Khan said, ''Shah's killing is a big success for the security forces as he was recruiting cadres for the LeT.''
Of the 2 terrorists Wasim Shah was very notorious and his elimination was a big success as he used to recruit cadre for LeT: IG Munir Khan pic.twitter.com/T7lSZFiUEI ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
IG Khan said that Shah and one of his close aides were killed during a joint operation launched by the J&K Police, Army and the CRPF after specific info was received about there presence in the Litter village in Pulwama.
Revealing details about the operation, IG Khan said, ''Of the two terrorists, Wasim Shah alias Usman was very notorious and wanted in connection with several terror-related cases.''
Both the terrorists were first asked to surrender but instead they started firing, compelling the troops to retaliate. They were eventually gunned down by the security forces, IG Munir Khan said.
The J&K top cop further revealed that one civilian died and one other was injured in the cross firing between terrorist and security forces during the operation in Pulwama.
Speaking about the modus operandi of these Pakistan-backed terrorists, Khan said, ''They have been misusing the social media to lure youth in south Kashmir and there's no doubt about it.''
Besides Wasim Shah, the other terrorist killed in the encounter was identified as Naseer Mir, he added.
Shah was a resident of Shopian district, while Mir belonged to the Litter village, where the gunbattle took place.
One AK-47 and one AK-56 rifle and six magazines were recovered from the encounter site.
The operation in the area is now over, the top cop said.
The operation started after the security forces received specific intelligence inputs on the presence of the militants in the village.
As the security personnel closed in on their hide-out, the militants opened fire triggering the gunfight.
Immediately after the news about the killings of the LeT militants spread in the area, announcements were made through mosque public address systems asking people to come out and stage protests.
Protesters gathered in large numbers in the area shouting Pro-Islam slogans.
Jammu: Two dreaded terrorists belonging to the Pakistan-backed militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were killed by the security forces in a fierce gunbattle in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Saturday.
According to ANI, the encounter is still underway in the Litter village in Pulwama.
Two terrorists killed by the security forces have been identified as Wasim Shah and Hafiz Nisar.
Shah is believed to be the LeT's local area commander who was planning an attack on the security forces along with his aides including Nisar.
However, the troops involved in the operation got a tip off about them and eliminated them.
Based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Litter village, the security forces launched an early morning operation, a police officer told IANS.
When the hiding militants fired at the approaching security personnel, the gun battle was triggered in which the two were killed.
The security forces have recovered 1 AK-47, 1 AK-56 and 6 AK magazine from the slain leT militants.
All the troops involved in the operation are reported to be safe.
The killing is part of security forces' ongoing crackdown on terrorists and several Pakistan-backed terror outfits.
J&K DGP SP Vaid termed Shah's killing as a huge success since he was involved in many cases and recruitment of Kashmiri youths for 'jihad'.
Taking a tough stand on cross-border infiltration bids and terror-related incidents, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had recently said that at least five terrorists are being neutralised in Jammu and Kashmir everyday.
On October 11, two LeT militants were killed in an encounter in Bandipora district.
Two Garud Commandos of the Indian Air Force also attained martyrdom in the operation.
Bengaluru: In view of the opposition attack over nearly four deaths caused by rain-battered roads and potholes in Bengaluru this month, the Congress party has sought a report from the S Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka.
ANI on Saturday quoted Congress sources as saying that party vice president Rahul Gandhi has sought a report from the Karnataka government on issue of deaths in Bengaluru due to potholes and incessant rains.
It further claimed that KC Venugopal, the AICC in-charge for Karnataka, is in consultation with the Chief Minister and the concerned ministry over the matter.
The development comes days after the main opposition party - BJP - held a massive protest in the city condemning the deaths caused due to potholes and attacked the Congress government for failing to ensure proper infrastructure.
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.
Commenting on the issue, former chief minister and BJP state unit president BS Yeddyurappa had tweeted that he was saddened by these deaths. While (the Karnataka chief minister is) busy in corruption, innocent people paying with their lives for (Siddaramaiahs) incompetency.
Meanwhile the Chief Minister has blamed heavy monsoon rains for the damaged roads.
The government later gave Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike10 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.
Monsoon rain and frequent flooding over the last few months have battered Bengaluru's roads, and, if the city's civic body is to be believed, there are currently more than 15,000 potholes in the city.
Mumbai: A 19-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly having unnatural sex with a stray dog in suburban Powai, a senior police official said.
As per the complainant, who is also a eyewitness, he saw the accused, Kuldeep Karotiya, taking a stray dog inside a community toilet in area, last night and performed unnatural sex with it, police said
The accused got scared after being caught and asked the complainant not to reveal the incident to anyone, the official said
However, the complainant brought the matter to the notice of Powai police and lodged a complaint in this regard.
The control room, later, informed the Powai police and the accused was detained late on Friday night.
Powai police have booked the accused under section 377 (unnatural offences) of IPC, the official said.
The accused was detained last night and placed under arrest today after interrogation, he said.
Police have noted the statement of the eye-witness and and interrogated the accused, the official said, adding further investigation into the matter is underway.
San Francisco: There is early excitement for the iPhones releasing in 2018 and Apple is likely to ditch Touch ID feature and move to Face ID, said reports.
Despite initially believing Apple might re-adopt the fingerprint technology -- an identity sensor that makes it easy for the user to get access to the device -- it is now likely that all 2018 iPhones will move to Face ID, 9to5Mac reported.
"3D sensing will be a `key selling point` of all new 2018 iPhone models," Ming-Chi Kuo, KGI Securities analyst was quoted by 9to5Mac.
Ming said although Apple currently faces manufacturing difficulties with 3D sensing, `TrueDepth` cameras and Face ID will help Apple capitalise on its clear lead in 3D sensing design and production for smartphones.
However, according to Ming`s report in September the company had not entirely moved away from Touch ID.
Meanwhile, the company`s newly-launched iPhone 8 is facing problem of swollen batteries and incidents have been reported from Taiwan, Japan China, Canada, Greece and the US.
The tech giant would be praying that a full batch is not affected, which would mean recalling units, ruining the whole reputation built around iPhones for years.
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus went on sale on September 22 and the company was yet to release figures for the early sales of the devices.
The pre-orders for "super-premium" iPhone X will begin on October 27, with shipping starting November 3.
New Delhi: All the Bigg Boss fans eagerly wait for the weekend to see their favourite host Salman Khan interacting with and giving advise to the contestants.
On October 14, the weekend ka vaar episode of Bigg Boss 11, the contestants were brought into a witness box one by one and our dear host Salman asked them to answer the 'charges' that were pressed against them.
The episode began on a cheerful note with Salman talking about the favourite 'Jodi' of the house. While we all thought that he is talking about Bandgi and Puneesh, Salman soon revealed that the favourite jodi of the house is Arshi and Hiten. In the previous episodes, we have seen Arshi flirt with Hiten now and then, in a joking manner.
Hiten and Arshi sat on the special couch while Salman and other housemates had a good laugh.
After this, the first contestant to enter the box was Arshi who was charged with using foul language. After her, Shilpa who was accused of constantly changing sides answered Salman's questions.
Hina, on the other hand was accused of thinking that she's the one who's always right and the other person is wrong. She denied all charges against her while Benafsha grabbed the opportunity and called her 'overconfident'.
Benafsha and Hina also had an arguement inside the house when the latter was in Jail.
Hina was further accused of crying when she's out of support and that she doesn't know how to maintain friendship. After this Salman announced that Hina is safe from eviction.
When Vikas entered, he was accused of being 'Kaamchor' and that in just one week, he tried to run away from the Bigg Boss house. He further commented on the way fights are planned in the Bigg Boss house regarding which the housemates had different opinions.
The next 'ilzaam' against Vikas was that he doesn't know how to use power- a statement given by Arshi.
It was indeed a relief for all fans of Vikas when Salman declared that he is safe from eviction.
This time the Appy Fizz caller of the week was Abhianv Nagar from Delhi. He asked Shilpa about the reason of her sudden change in behaviour towards Vikas, is it because Vikas is now captain? Shilpa agreed that she has changed her behaviour because she respects Vikas as the captain of the house. Also she doesn't want that he gets any point against her.
With Vikas and Hina safe, the contestants in the danger zone are Sapna, Jyoti and Shivani.
Keep watching this space for more Bigg Boss updates!
Kolkata: The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) has summoned Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung for "repeated gross violation of child rights", the statutory body`s chief said on Saturday.
The Commission took suo motu cognisance of an incident telecast live on a TV channel wherein GJM supporters in Darjeeling were seen "ransacking" a car ferrying schoolchildren on September 15.
"This is a repeat offence by the GJM. We had sent them a letter earlier as well but they did not respond. We have summoned them on October 23 for a hearing," WBCPCR Chairperson Ananya Chakraborti said.
The summons issued on October 10 says: "You have been repeatedly committing offence which is unacceptable and is violating the rights of the children."
The summons said that Gurung was earlier also asked to present himself before the commission over the "GJM`s political rallies using children during school hours" on June 29 and July 3.
Life came to a standstill for 104 days in Darjeeling and its neighbouring hills district Kalimpong after the GJM called an indefinite shutdown on June 12 to press for its demand for Gorkhaland.
The shutdown was lifted on September 27, hours after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the GJM to call off the over three-month-long strike and invited them for talks to find an amicable solution to the issue.
Kolkata: Enforcement Directorate on Saturday issued summons to Mukul Roy and three Trinamool Congress leaders in connection with Narada sting case.
The ED has asked them to join the investigation by the end of October.
The controversy erupted in election-bound West Bengal in March 2016 when Narada News portal uploaded a video clip purportedly showing the Trinamool leaders receiving money for extending favours to a fictitious company.
The Narada tapes scam purportedly showed the Narada News CEO Matthew Samuels posing as a businessman and allegedly offering money to several TMC leaders.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agency lodged an FIR on April 17 against 13 persons, including several state ministers and Members of Parliament from the ruling Trinamool Congress, a month after the Calcutta High Court ordered a preliminary inquiry into the Narada sting footage case.
Beirut: Around 100 Islamic State fighters have surrendered in Syria's Raqqa in the last 24 hours and were "removed from the city", a spokesman for the US-led coalition against Islamic State told Reuters on Saturday.
"We still expect difficult fighting in the days ahead and will not set a time for when we think (Islamic State) will be completely defeated in Raqqa," Colonel Ryan Dillon said in an emailed statement.
Abidjan: Four Moldovan nationals were killed and three French soldiers hurt on Saturday when a transport plane chartered by France`s army crashed off Ivory Coast, authorities said.
There was a storm over Abidjan early in the day, but it was unclear whether heavy weather had played a role in the Antonov aircraft going down.
A French military source said the plane was chartered as part of anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane, under which France maintains a 4,000-man mission in the region.
The operation aims to shore up fragile Sahel countries against Islamists who have carried out a wave of bloody bombings, shootings and kidnappings.
Four French nationals and two Moldovans were hurt, the French military source said, adding that three of the French injured are soldiers.
"There were 10 people on board, Moldovans and French people. The four victims who died are Moldovan nationals," firefighter Colonel Issa Sakho told local television.
The plane had taken off from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and crash-landed in the sea near Abidjan, breaking in half, he said.
Local forces were hoping to secure the wreck before it drifted away "so investigators can do their job", he said.
The wreck could be seen from the beach, where hundreds of onlookers gathered after the crash, an AFP reporter said.
The French military base in Abidjan provides logistical support for the operation which is headquartered in N`Djamena, the capital of Chad. French special forces are stationed in Ouagadougou.
Every year, around 100 sorties are flown out of Abidjan airport as part of Barkhane, often by former Soviet army pilots in Ukrainian-made Antonovs.
The planes frequently carry French military personnel and sub-contractors accompanying their cargo.
James Mobioh Aka, a rescue worker based near the airport, said he received a call around 0600 or 06030 GMT saying an aircraft had crashed in the sea.
"When we arrived, we saw the plane, and we saw there were bodies in the water," he said. "One young man went into the water, another followed, and they recovered three."
The fourth body was found further along the coast.
France keeps around 950 military personnel in Ivory Coast as part of a contingent based in the biggest French army base on Africa`s Atlantic coast. Other bases are in Libreville, Gabon, Dakar and Senegal.
One of their key missions is to extract French or other western civilians in case of trouble in Ivory Coast or neighbouring countries.
Abidjan is strategically well-placed in the region as most French-speaking African countries can be reached by air in under three hours.
Mozogo: Nearly 60 men who said they were captured by the Boko Haram Islamist group and forced to fight for them in Nigeria have surrendered to authorities in northern Cameroon.
After spending two years with Boko Haram, the men decided to flee with their families and hand themselves in, according to several men who had surrendered and spoke to journalists at a ceremony in the town of Mozogo on Friday.
A total of nearly 400 people originally from Cameroon -- 58 men, 86 women and 244 children -- said they had been taken hostage by Boko Haram fighters during attacks on their villages and taken to Nigeria, where they were forced to join the jihadist group.
The men told reporters they had fought for Boko Haram and were laying down their arms of their own will.
They surrendered at the border with Nigeria to a village vigilante group formed to combat the jihadists. The vigilantes then handed them over to the authorities.
Ousmane Kouila, head of the group, said they had been out on patrol in the border area when they met the fleeing Boko Haram fighters. "They said they were returning, and that they were surrendering," he said.
The local governor went to meet them and ordered them to be moved away from the border to avoid any reprisals by Boko Haram.
"We are counting on them to also convince others who are hesitating (to surrender) and there are a lot of them they tell us," said Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the Far North region.
Authorities would provide the escapees with psychological help, he said.
"They have been through brainwashing, perhaps also having taken an oath on the Koran or made a blood pact," the governor said, adding they needed help with "all they must have endured" in the hands of Boko Haram.
Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency began in 2009 and has claimed at least 20,000 lives and forced more than 2.6 million from their homes.
The violence has largely been concentrated in northeast Nigeria but there have also been repeated attacks in Cameroon, as well as Chad and Niger.
District of Columbia: Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus submitted to questioning Friday by investigators looking into Russian meddling in the US presidential campaign and possible collusion by associates of President Donald Trump, US media reported.
Politico and the Washington Post quoted Priebus's lawyer William Burck as saying the interview with members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller`s team was voluntary.
"He was happy to answer all of their questions," Burck said.
Priebus himself did not comment but Politico said he had been preparing for several weeks for the interview.
Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but Mueller`s team has shown interest in the president`s firing of former FBI director James Comey over his Russia probe, according to the reports.
Other areas of interest are reportedly Trump`s eldest son`s meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the campaign and Trump`s meetings at the White House with Russian officials.
Priebus participated in meetings where Comey`s firing was discussed and played a key role in the White House as well as during the campaign as head of the Republican National Committee.
Moscow: The Russian military has said less than eight percent of Syrian territory remains in the control of the Islamic State (IS) as Syrian government troops supported by Russian jets have freed most of the country.
IS-held territory declined by 5,841 sq-km in the past month and 142 settlements were liberated, Sergei Rudskoi, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, said at a news briefing on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.
He said Syrian troops are successfully advancing in the east of the country, having repelled attacks by several thousand IS militants.
In central Syria, the government troops have completely eliminated IS units surrounded in the city of Akerbat, Rudskoi said.
The Syrian government troops and the Russian Air Force will continue operations against the IS and other terrorist groups until their complete destruction, he said.
The ongoing Syrian civil war broke out in spring of 2011 between the government forces, along with its allies, and various forces opposing the government, including the IS militants.
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has congratulated US President Trump for his decision not to re-certify the Iran nuclear deal.
In a statement released today, Netanyahu praised what he called a "courageous decision." He says Trump has created an opportunity to "fix this bad deal" and to roll back Iran's aggression. He encouraged all other relevant nations to do the same.
Netanyahu has been a fierce critic of the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions regarding its nuclear program. He has long warned that it failed to address Iran's support for militant groups who act against Israel.
Iran is Israel's archenemy and openly calls for its destruction.
Mogadishu: Two car bombs in separate parts of Somalia`s capital Mogadishu killed at least 22 people on Saturday and injured several others, police said.
The first explostion - in the city`s K5 Junction area which is lined with government offices, hotels, and restaurants - destroyed several buildings and set dozens of vehicles on fire.
"We know that at least 20 civilians are dead while dozens of others are wounded," said Abdullahi Nur, a police officer who was in the area.
"The death toll will surely rise. We are still busy transporting casualties," he said, adding that there were bodies under the rubble.
About two hours later, a second blast took place in the city`s Madina district.
"It was a car bomb. Two civilians were killed, " Siyad Farah, a police major, told Reuters, adding that a suspect had been caught on suspicion of planting explosives.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the Islamist al Shabaab group has carried out regular attacks.
The al Qaeda-allied group is waging an insurgency to topple the weak U.N.-backed government and its African Union allies and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam.
They frequently launch gun, grenade and bomb attacks in Mogadishu and other regions controlled by the federal government, though in recent years the militants have lost most territory under their control to African Union peacekeepers and government troops.
Seoul: North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.
The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state`s weapons programme.
The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching US territory, the newspaper said.
This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.
Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: "We don`t comment on any matters of military intelligence".
"We are keeping a close watch over the North," he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.
These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
On Friday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine -- the USS Tuscon -- left after a five-day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was "highly likely" that the North could launch missiles in response to next week`s joint navy drill.
US President Donald Trump's continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of a conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have "devastating consequences", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he is open to the possibility of negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme.
"We're going to see what happens with North Korea. That's all I can say. We're going to see what happens. We're totally prepared for numerous things," Donald Trump told reporters on Friday at the White House, Efe news reported.
"If something can happen where we negotiate, I'm always open to that. But if it's going to be something other than negotiation, believe me, we are ready, more so than we have ever been," he added.
Two weeks ago, Trump was dismissive of remarks by his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, indicating the US had established direct lines of communication with North Korea and was interested in dialogue.
"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump tweeted on October 1, using his nickname for North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
"Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump added.
A day after that tweet, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the "only conversations that have taken place" with Pyongyang "would be on bringing back Americans who have been detained."
"Beyond that, there will be no conversations with North Korea at this time," she added.
Trump ominously warned Pyongyang in his debut speech before the United Nations General Assembly on September 19 that the US would obliterate the secretive Asian country if necessary.
"The US has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," Trump said in his UN speech.
Shortly afterward, Kim accused Trump of being mentally deranged and said he would "pay dearly" for making threats against North Korea.
The Asian nation's foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told reporters in New York on September 22 that North Korea may retaliate for Trump's threats by testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
Washington: United States is beginning to develop a better relationship with Pakistan and its leadership averred President Donald Trump.
Trump taking to his Twitter handle also thanked Pakistan for their co-operation in numerous fronts.
"Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts(sic)," Trump tweeted.
Earlier, while addressing a gathering at the Values Voter Summit, Trump said things happened with Pakistan, but America is starting to have a real relationship with it.
He further said Pakistan and other countries have started to have respect for the US again.
"I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but we`re starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and they`re to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations," Trump said.
Trump`s remark came after a high-level delegation from the US visited Pakistan on October 13, to repair the strained bilateral ties between the two countries.
Both the countries have mutually agreed to continue bilateral engagements at all levels and strengthen their relationship to defeat terrorism.
Interestingly, it was on October 12 that a Canadian citizen, his U.S. national wife and their three children were recovered from the custody of terrorists by the Pakistan Army - around five years after their abduction in Afghanistan.
Instantly, U.S. President Donald Trump termed the safe recovery as a 'positive moment' for country`s relations with Pakistan.
This was the first high-level US delegation's visit to Pakistan after Trump had criticised Pakistan for providing "safe havens" to terrorists, while unveiling the new strategy for South Asia and Afghanistan.
Canberra: An Etihad Airways flight bound for Sydney from Abu Dhabi made an emergency landing in the Australian city of Adelaide on Saturday, after pilots noticed a smoke alarm on board.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying 349 people when pilots made the decision to divert to Adelaide at about 5 aam, Xinhua news agency reported.
In a statement detailing the diversion, a spokesperson from Etihad Airways said the decision was made with the safety of all passengers and crew in mind after a smoke alarm warning light was illuminated.
The spokesperson added that Etihad Airways flight EY450 would undergo a safety check before it takes to the skies once again.
The fire brigade was kept on alert. Passengers were told they would be making their way to Sydney on domestic flights.
United Nations: A day after the US and Israel announced they were withdrawing from the Unesco alleging anti-Israel bias in the organisation, it elected Audrey Azoulay, a French-Jewish woman of Moroccan descent, as its next Director-General.
In the final round of voting by Unesco's Executive Board on Friday at its headquarters in Paris, Azoulay defeated Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari of Qatar, winning 30 votes to his 28.
She will succeed Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian who ran unsuccessfully for Secretary-General of the UN last year.
In her vision statement or manifesto while campaigning for the post, Azoulay wrote, "Unesco must assert itself with ambition as the conscience of the United Nations."
Through "the defence of humanist values" the Unesco can bring new life to the UN`s "universalist project of peace and democracy," she said.
Unesco is the science, education and culture arm of the UN family.
Azoulay has had a long career in arts and culture administration before becoming Culture Minister last year and leaving the job after the national elections last May.
She has been the deputy Director-General of the French National Centre of Cinematography and a legal expert on culture and communication for the European Commission.
When she takes over the helm of Unesco she must grapple with the fallout of the US leaving the organisation.
US membership in the Unesco will formally end in 2018 but already in 2013 Washington had lost its voting rights 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 per cent of Unesco`s budget and the organisation had to cut its programmes with US arrears in excess of 600 million.
The breaking point for the US came in July, when Unesco called the Old City of Hebron and a sanctuary considered holy by both Jews and Muslims in the West Bank a part of Palestinian territory while designating them World Heritage Site.
The area is under Israeli control and Israel claims the area. Palestinians call Hebron Al-Khalil and the sanctuary is called the Tomb of the Patriarchs by Jews and Ibrahim Mosque by Muslims.
The campaign for Unesco`s top job started with 10 candidates and the list was whittled down to three this week.
Egyptian Moushira Khattab was the third candidate in Thursday`s fourth round ballot where Azoulay and Al-Kawari led and moved on to the final round.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Ara Babloyan met with Iran's Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani on October 14 in the sidelines of his visit to St. Petersburg.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the National Assembly of Armenia, during the meeting the sides mentioned that Armenian-Iranian relations are on a high level, and continue to develop in an atmosphere of mutual trust which is also fostered by parliamentary cooperation.
The interlocutors stressed that Armenia is a reliable partner for Iran. The heads of the parliaments of the two countries highlighted the fact that the parliamentary friendship groups actively work.
A reference was made to issues of regional security. Irans Majlis speaker noted that Armenia has important role in ensuring regional security.
The sides also touched upon issues of developing political and economic relations.
The heads of the parliaments invited each other to visit their countries.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has sent a congratulatory message to Julie Payette on the occasion of assuming the high and responsible post of Governor General of Canada, wished her good health and future success, and peace and welfare to the friendly people of Canada.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, Serzh Sargsyan stressed that during the past quarter century Armenia and Canada succeeded to establish friendly relations and high level partnership based on the mutual respect and trust of the two peoples.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. The peacekeeping unit of the Armenian Defense Ministry departed for Kazakhstan on October 14 to participate in the Indestructible Brotherhood 2017 military exercises of CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces on October 16-20 and its preparatory stage.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Lieutenant general Haykaz Baghmanyan will participate in the last active stage of Indestructible Brotherhood 2017 military exercises on October 20.
LOS ANGELES MILF performer Sofie Marie made her first appearance for Naughty Americas My Friends Hot Mom site this past Monday.
Sofie Marie finds herself home alone, and wants to spend some quality time in her hot tub. Unbeknownst to her, her sons friend, Tyler Steel, stops by. When he knocks on the front door and gets no answer, he goes around back and sees Sofie Marie. While embarrassed, it doesnt take Sofie Marie long to convince Tyler to join her. The action moves to Sofie Maries game room, where they enjoy a tryst on top of the pool table.
Sofie Marie said, I loved how I got to wear a bikini, seduce a hot young guy, and have hot sex on a pool table. It shows so many real life loves in my first scene!
Sofie Marie can also be seen in the recently released web scene for Family Strokes. In Family Makes Me Feel Better Sofie Marie wants to make sure stepson Dylan is up and ready for school. When Dylan claims to be ill, Sofie Marie does what any good stepmom would do and takes his temperature. She decides he does seem a little warm, but she still isnt convinced he's sick so she checks to see if his dick is in working order. Since hes already hard, Sofie Marie figures she better take care of him the best way imaginable.
Sofie Maries official website, YummySofie.com, has several new updates, including Pool Boy and How To Make Salad Dressing. In Pool Boy, while her husband is distracted, Sofie Marie indulges herself in another man at a swingers pool party. And, Sofie Marie has her own special recipe in How To Make Salad Dressing.
Join Sofie Marie Saturday, October 14, for her exclusive live weekly camshow on VNALive.com. The show starts at 10pm EST, and can be accessed via Sofie Maries website or VNALive.com.
Sofie Marie is represented by East Coast Talent and is available for B/G, G/G, B/B/G, B/G/G, solo, fetish, and more. Directors and producers who would like to get Sofie on set can contact East Coast Talent at 732-859-2414 or [email protected]
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Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder, a member of the 'Spellings Commission,' said the panel was unable to bring about serious higher education reforms. (CJ file photo)
"When I told my wife I was going to be on the commission, she said, 'You're wasting your time. It's much ado about nothing.' And she was more right than wrong."
"The federal government has totally screwed up higher education, and we didn't even address that."
"It takes a generation to accomplish things of the magnitude that we need in higher education."
"That sounds like an invasion of privacy. But one of the [federal government's] roles is to collect data and present it to the public. We do it all the time, on everything."
"This idea of raising sticker prices is coming to an end, I think. The market won't bear it. People are saying, 'Don't do it.'"
"When that starts happening, schools are forced to become - against their will - more innovative, nimble, and willing to change."
RALEIGH - The political interests of colleges and universities are adding to a growing list of problems for the schools over the past decade, and the free market will punish them accordingly, experts say.University cartels grasp for revenue and squelch accountability. The federal government is partly at fault for failing to publish data to help students make informed choices. But university lobbying organizations - using heavy-handed tactics to sway lawmakers - are more to blame, said Richard Vedder, an economist and professor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.High-level discussions of higher education took off in 2005, when U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings - now president of the University of North Carolina system - assigned 19 experts, including Vedder, to study access, affordability, accountability, quality, and innovation. The group was dubbed the "Spellings Commission."The commission released a 2006 report, "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education.In September, Spellings hosted a conference at UNC-Chapel Hill to look back at the results. Small steps were taken since the days of the Spellings Commission, but not much has changed, she said.she said Sept. 27.The former White House adviser is just being modest, Charles Miller, former chairman of the Spellings Commission, told Carolina Journal.No one was talking about university problems in the early 2000s. During the George W. Bush era, the focus was on K-12, not higher education. Conversation about real issues was a big deal, Miller said. That effort alone made the commission a success.The group made a few modest reforms, but results were disappointing, Vedder said.Vedder said the commission didn't take a decisive stance on many issues. Nothing was done about financial aid, he said. There was discussion about accreditation but no real reform.Access to universities isn't as big a problem as the commission thought, Vedder said. Some students aren't equipped for college, and the market is overwhelmed by jobless undergraduates. The real question is how to provide technical work force training.The commission's attempts to increase accountability failed.Vedder said.Change will take years, Miller said. A former chair of the University of Texas System's Board of Regents, Miller got plenty of pushback from university administrators and lobbyists.Several organizations, including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the American Council on Education, have done all they can to block transparency, Miller said.Still, the commission raised awareness of the problems. That's the first step in a fight for change, he said.He added:Resolving major policy issues requires more than brainstorming and offering ideas, Miller said.American universities are entering a new era, Miller added. Accreditation is under continuous analysis. College funding is scrutinized.The federal government should collect data on students, beginning with enrollment in K-12 schools and ending with entrance into the work force, Miller told CJ.People need to see what's happening in the system. The Spellings Commission pushed for more federal data collection, but private colleges and universities called the plan an invasion of privacy.Universities don't want people to see what's going on inside the system, Miller said. It's a system where youIn the long run, only transparent, affordable colleges will win, Vedder said.
Proponents of school choice in North Carolina have reason to cheer the state's ninth-place ranking in the Center for Education Reform Parent Power! Index for 2017.But they may want to soften their applause, as challenges remain in providing even more parents and students with diverse educational opportunities.said Jeanne Allen, founder and chief executive of CER North Carolina ranks higher than the national parent power average, at 73 percent, but is ninth with only a C. The U.S. average PPI score is 63 percent, with 36 percent for school choice and 46 percent for transparency. CER found that only one in three states provide significant charter school opportunities.CER is a nonprofit school-choice advocacy group promoting more innovative education options for students across the country.The CER national study ranks the ability of parents to control their child's educational future on a scale of zero to 100. Included in the study is a review of teacher quality, transparency of school performance data, and digital and online learning opportunities. Florida, Indiana, and Arizona have the highest PPI scores; North Dakota, Nebraska, and Alaska trail far behind.Plenty of room for improvement in North Carolina remains.Transparency of school performance data scored 70 percent, for example. While school report cards are easy to find on the Department of Public Instruction website, analyzing the data is far more difficult.CER praised North Carolina legislators for removing a cap on the number of charter schools and for authorizing more innovative charter schools. But it gave the state a 78 percent for a lack of equitable funding and multiple, independent authorizers. The N.C. Charter Schools Advisory Board is the lone entity allowed to authorize charter schools, and it prohibits charter school operators from appealing the board's decisions.Teacher quality in North Carolina is a mixed bag, says the CER, which gave the state 72 percent. Identifying effective teachers received a B-, and firing ineffective teachers scored an F. Expanding the teacher hiring pool earned a D. Retaining teachers, pension plans, and delivering well-prepared teachers all earned a C.The PPI indicates North Carolina could vastly expand student access and eligibility for the Virtual Public School. As the CER notes, the N.C. Virtual Public School is the second largest in the country but has limited student access. A cap of 1,500 students for the state's first virtual charter school prevents it from meeting demand.
Tom Campbell
Most cities of any size are salivating at the opportunity to land the big Amazon fish, including several in North Carolina angling to win the trophy. Jeff Bezos' Seattle based company is shopping to locate a second headquarters site and the bait they are dangling is 50,000 new jobs and $5 billion in investments.Amazon's list of desirables is extensive. They want to locate in a metropolitan area of more than 1 million, have nearby universities, on-site access to mass transit, a 45 minute or less commute to an international airport, major highway artery access, a diverse population and recreational opportunities. An all-out bidding competition, among cities offering Amazon economic incentives, has erupted.North Carolina hasn't done well in these big-game tournaments. Until 1993, our state didn't offer incentives other than roads, utility improvements and job training. Mercedes Benz changed all that. North Carolina made the short list to lure the carmaker, but lost out to Alabama's $300 million plus incentive package, an unheard of amount at that time. Earlier this year we were thought we were in the running for Foxconn's $10 billion investment with thousands of jobs. Our state offered incentives of more than $570 million, but lost out to Wisconsin's $3 billion incentives package.These ever escalating, high stakes incentives pageants are little more than a Robin Hood in reverse scenario. Bezos, Amazon's principle owner, is reportedly worth more than $84 billion. North Carolina's leaders claim we don't have the wherewithal to build roads, fund schools and provide for those in need, yet we are willing to shell out a billion or more to give to those already wealthy. It is insane and the payback to taxpayers is problematic.Most all these big prospects will choose larger cities, further exacerbating our urban-rural problems as more move to the cities to take jobs. But rural areas won't be alone in suffering, as increased demands on the cities where the plants locate require higher taxes to improve congested roads, construct new schools, expand water and sewer utilities and other public amenities. Taxpayers pay on both ends.Too many times the companies we've offered these incentive packages fail live up to their promises, sometimes later pulling up and leaving, or laying off employees. Our state is littered with water and sewer systems built to accommodate now vacant textile operations, systems now unable to generate sufficient revenues to properly keep them maintained.Yes, we want more and better paying jobs for our people. Yes, we want to attract businesses with newer technologies and modern operations and yes, we want to make this a more desirable state in which to live. But we are neglecting those businesses that started and stayed here. Just think of the benefits we could enjoy if our leaders spent as much time and money helping small to medium-sized companies as we do chasing after these big fish. These companies create 7 out of 10 new jobs.This logic won't change the mindset of economic developers or politicians. It's sexy to announce and cut the ribbon on a big catch and get media headlines. But we've demonstrated the odds of landing the big ones are about as good as winning the sweepstakes. A safer bet is to help the small fish grow larger and that is no fish tale.
The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day?
Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount.
Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what so called "Democracy" does exists.
In Alor Setar, Malaysia, married couple Zul Hanif Anip, 25, and his wife Puteri shot this video of a strange slithering creature emerging from their toilet. Anip insists that it didn't look anything like any snake he'd ever seen. He claims they captured the creature and release it into the river.
"I think the creature grew up inside the pipe works connected to the toilet hole, because I have checked and there is no entry point for it to have got inside," Anip said. "He was about two meters [6.5 feet] long with a very fat, thick body. I'm not sure if it was a snake or a kind of tidal creature or from the swamp.
"Its head was very small and it had a short tail, which did not look like a snake."
(UPI)
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Even in Alberta, political connections are inevitable in municipal politics
They don't fly partisan political banners or plaster their posters with familiar party logos, but don't be surprised if your candidate of choice in the municipal election has some connection to an established political party in Alberta.
Flaunting it too heavily though, according to University of Alberta political scientist James Lightbody, could work against them.
Lightbody said cities on the Prairies have a deeply ingrained practice of keeping municipal politics largely non-partisan.
"The electors in Edmonton, Calgary, most of Prairie cities, view partisanship as inappropriate at the local level," said Lightbody.
"They (voters) understand that some candidates are Liberals, and some are Conservatives, and so on. But any attempt to inject overt partisanship inevitably leads to a backlash."
The danger of being aligned with a specific political party, said Lightbody, is the candidate will be held responsible for the mistakes of the party before, during and especially after the election.
"It seems impossible not to step in a cow-pie, if you get involved as a party," said Lightbody.
There are obvious political leanings in some campaigns.
Political past and present
Edmonton Ward 5 candidate Sarah Hamilton was endorsed by former mayor Stephen Mandel, and former Progressive Conservative party president Katherine O'Neill. Hamilton worked for Mandel when he was Alberta health minister, under then-premier Jim Prentice.
Jacquie Fenske, former PC MLA for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville, is now running to be mayor of Strathcona County, and former PC MLA David Xiao is running for Edmonton city council in Ward 5.
Beatrice Ghettuba, former St. Albert Liberal candidate, is running for a seat in Ward 4, as is Aaron Paquette, who ran for the federal NDP in the 2015 election.
Candidate Tricia Velthuzian worked for the United Conservative Party as a research analyst before taking a leave to run for city council in Ward 4.
Story continues
Ward 12 candidate Nigel Logan previously worked for the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Mill Creek, Denise Woollard, as constituency manager.
Until May, Ward 8 candidate Kirsten Goa worked in Premier Rachel Notley's constituency office. Goa said she's been thinking about running for quite some time, and quit her job to focus on the campaign.
"What I like about municipal politics [is] we can stay out of ideology," said Goa.
'Gladiators' enjoy the political ring
Sandy Pon, candidate for Ward 9, sought the Conservative party nomination in 2015, but lost to Matt Jeneroux, who went on to win the seat in Edmonton Riverbend.
Ward 10 incumbent Michael Walters ran for the Alberta Party in the 2012 election.
Lightbody said it's no surprise that so called "gladiators" end up being involved in different levels of political activity.
They're the ones who like to work on campaigns, raise money, volunteer to door knock, and even run for office, he said.
"When an election comes around, they just cannot turn aside."
Though there are some with provincial and federal party connections, Lightbody cautioned against reading too much into the outcome of a municipal election.
"It's not a referendum on the provincial government," he said. "If it were, Iveson would lose because he's the New Democrat candidate."
Economy a big issue in Calgary
That's not necessarily the case in Calgary, according to University of Calgary assistant professor Jack Lucas.
Lucas said a hotly contested mayoral race between incumbent Naheed Nenshi and former PC party president Bill Smith is generating interest and exposing pent up voter anger about everything from municipal taxes to the provincial government carbon levy.
"To some extent, it's clear that people are considering this broader context when they're thinking about who to vote for," said Lucas.
Lucas, who teaches a class in municipal politics, said while Nenshi isn't identified as being an NDP proxy, the sharp economic downturn in Calgary has had an impact.
"There's a perception, fair or unfair, that the provincial and municipal governments haven't been doing enough to reduce the tax burden that people who are in economic tough times are facing," said Lucas.
Lucas said it's not just the mayoral race that is attracting interest; there are also a number of competitive ward races.
"Whatever's going on in Calgary is affecting the mayoral race, and also appears to be affecting the ward-level races," said Lucas.
Lucas is part of the first Canadian municipal elections study, where research into voter preference is being conducted in eight cities over the next two years.
A survey currently underway in Calgary is asking residents a wide range of questions to determine what influences their municipal election choices, Lucas said.
Preliminary data from the first round of surveys is expected by the end of the week.
By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on Thursday the company was committed to helping U.S. congressional investigators publicly release Russia-backed political ads that ran during the 2016 U.S. election. "Things happened on our platform in this election that should not have happened," Sandberg said in an interview in Washington with Axios news that was broadcast on its website. "We told Congress and the intelligence committees that when they are ready to release the ads, we are ready to help them." Axios asked Sandberg what the world's largest social network knew about the extent of Russia's use of its platform and if ads on Facebook that had been placed by Russian accounts and Donald Trump's presidential campaign had overlapped in terms of target audiences. She appeared to sidestep the questions and said only that targeting on Facebook was often very broad. The interview was the first by a senior Facebook executive since the company disclosed last month that it had found some 3,000 politically divisive ads believed to have been bought by Russia before and after the presidential campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia used cyber-enabled means in an attempt to help Trump win the White House, an allegation the Kremlin has denied. Sandberg was in Washington for meetings with U.S. lawmakers. Sandberg told the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday that Facebook planned to add an African-American to its board of directors, a source familiar with the closed-door meeting said, but she offered no details. The board has been criticized for its lack of diversity. She and two other Facebook executives, Erin Egan and Elliot Schrage, also met privately with Representative Jackie Speier, a California Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee. Facebook and other major internet companies including Alphabet's Google and Twitter are on the defensive as they try to limit fallout from a torrent of revelations about how Moscow sought to use their platforms to sow discord in the United States and influence the election. Sandberg told Axios that Facebook began hearing rumors around Election Day last November of Russian attempts to use the platform to spread propaganda but did not give a precise timeline about when the company began its review. Sandberg said she supported the public release of those ads, and the pages to which they were connected. Information about how the ads targeted specific types of users would also be released, she said. Asked if Facebook contributed to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's defeat last year, Sandberg, an open Clinton supporter during the campaign, did not answer directly but said it was important the website was "free from abuse" during any election in any country. Congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller are investigating Russian interference in the election, including whether there was any collusion between Trump associates and Moscow. Trump has denied that there was any collusion between his campaign and associates and Russia. ANGRY, UPSET Sandberg acknowledged that the company had erred in how it handled the issue of foreign interference last year. "It's not just that we apologize. We're angry, we're upset. But what we really owe the American people is determination to do a better job of preventing foreign meddling," she said. "We don't want this kind of foreign interference" on Facebook, Sandberg said. She said the company had been too permissive at times in terms of how advertisers were allowed to target users. Sandberg said it was important to protect "free expression" on Facebook and that if the Russian ads had been bought by legitimate accounts instead of fraudulent ones, many would have been allowed to run on the site. She criticized Twitter's decision this week to remove a campaign video from Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee. Twitter took down the video, saying a remark Blackburn made about opposing abortion was inflammatory. Twitter later reversed its decision. "In that ad, there are a lot of things that people don't like, that I don't like. ... But the question is, 'Should divisive political or issue ads run?' Our answer is yes because when you cut off speech for one person you cut off speech for all people," she said. Sandberg said Facebook wanted other internet companies to work toward making ad purchases more transparent, and she said Facebook was talking with lawmakers who want to introduce legislation on the issue. Representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter are expected to testify about Russian influence at hearings before the Senate and House intelligence committees on Nov. 1. (Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
By Tais Haupt SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Ride-hailing startups that cater solely to women are catching on in Brazil, reflecting safety concerns in one of the biggest markets for Uber Technologies Inc and other incumbents, which have invested heavily in security features. One of the new mobile apps, FemiTaxi, has expanded into six Brazilian cities and is eyeing other Latin American markets. Competing app LadyDriver, which launched in Sao Paulo in March, will start operations in Rio de Janeiro in October. Ride-hailing apps for female drivers and passengers are not unique to Brazil. All-women ride hailing app See Jane Go launched in California in 2016, and rival Safr launched in Boston this year. Yet their rapid growth in cities such as Sao Paulo, Uber's biggest market by rides, underscores rising concerns about public safety in Brazil and efforts to shield women from the discomfort and danger of a culture steeped in machismo. Reports of sexually charged crimes such as attempted rape rose by double digits in Sao Paulo state in August from a year earlier, and high-profile cases of sexual assault on public buses have drawn attention to the issue. Metros in the cities of Belo Horizonte and Recife rolled out female-only train cars in the past year, taking up an idea pioneered by Rio more than a decade ago. "I think the problem of sexual harassment in public transport always existed, but it wasn't discussed," said Gabriela Correa, founder and CEO of LadyDriver. "Now woman are standing up, taking initiatives like our own to seek safety." Uber, along with peers such as Spain's Cabify and local rival 99, which is backed by China's Didi Chuxing and Japan's SoftBank Group, have also stepped up efforts to improve safety for drivers and passengers this year. Press representatives for all three apps said they were working to guarantee safe and comfortable experiences for users. Uber [UBER.UL], which reported more than 500 million rides in Brazil in the past three years, said it runs background checks on drivers, bans users who behave inappropriately and allows riders to share their location in real-time with friends and family. More than 5,000 people work for Uber's support center in Brazil, offering a 24-hour hotline for drivers and passengers, after an investment of 200 million reais ($63 million) announced in January. A surge in violence against Uber drivers in Brazil last year forced executives to rethink the use of cash payments and admit they had underestimated security risks here. Cabify also said it has a 24-hour help line and runs rigorous background checks on its drivers. Embracing demand for female drivers registered in a passenger survey, 99 said it began offering a women-only option on its app late last year, which is second only to air conditioning among preferences set by users. Lady Driver, which has over 100,000 users and 8,000 drivers in Sao Paulo, will expand to Rio in October, Correa said. FemiTaxi now has more than 20,000 rides per month and 1,000 drivers. Founder Charles-Henry Calfat said he plans to expand into two more Brazilian cities in coming months, then Mexico and Argentina early next year. (Reporting by Tais Haupt; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Brad Haynes and Susan Thomas)
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
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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 ..
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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, ..
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Jakarta. The government is pressing ahead with plans to build more prisons on Indonesia's outermost islands and to house drug and terrorism convicts separately from other categories of prisoners.
The plan comes amid concerns over prison overcrowding and the fact that they have become breeding grounds for terrorists, while drug syndicates continue to operate from inside prisons.
"We're pushing efforts to prepare [inmates] to reintegrate into society [upon their release], but instead they are sharing evil things," Chief Security Minister Wiranto said at his office in Jakarta on Friday (13/10).
"This is akin to the government facilitating them in spreading bad things," the retired army general added.
Separate prisons for drug and terrorism inmates on remote islands are expected to prevent such problems, Wiranto said, without providing further detail.
"We're planning for the separation of inmates, instead of keeping complaining about prison overcrowding," he said. "The impact is extraordinary, for instance, on jailbreaks."
In one of the biggest jailbreaks in years, about 450 inmates rioted and escaped from a prison in Pekanbaru, Riau, in May this year. There were 1,800 inmates in the facility, which was only designed to accommodate 400.
The total population in Indonesia's 477 prisons currently stands at around 150,000, while the total capacity is only about 120,000, government data showed in June.
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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
Update: Robert Pruett was executed by lethal injection on Thursday.
Robert Pruett is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas Thursday. He has never had a chance to live outside a prison as an adult. Taking his life is a senseless wrong that shows how badly the justice system fails juveniles.
Mr. Pruett was 15 years old when he last saw the outside world, after being arrested as an accomplice to a murder committed by his own father. Now 38, having been convicted of a murder while incarcerated, he will be put to death. At a time when the Supreme Court has begun to recognize excessive punishments for juveniles as unjust, Mr. Pruetts case shows how young lives can be destroyed by a justice system that refuses to give second chances.
Mr. Pruetts father, Sam Pruett, spent much of Mr. Pruetts early childhood in prison. Mr. Pruett and his three siblings were raised in various trailer parks by his mother, who he has said used drugs heavily and often struggled to feed the children. When his father returned from prison, things got worse: Mr. Pruett says his family sometimes had to move to flee the police, and that his father introduced him to marijuana at age 7. By elementary school, he was using drugs regularly. By middle school, he was selling them.
And at age 16, he began a 99-year prison sentence, after his father stabbed a neighbor to death outside the family home, with Mr. Pruett present. The court found that Mr. Pruett was culpable under Texas infamous law of parties, whereby anyone who solicits, encourages, directs, aids, or attempts to aid a person who commits a crime is equally liable, no matter small his or her role. The extent to which Mr. Pruett assisted or encouraged his father is disputed, but even under the prosecutions version of events, he did not kill the man.
At age 20, while still behind bars, Mr. Pruett was accused of killing the correctional officer Daniel Nagle. At 22, he was sentenced to death for the crime. He has maintained that he is innocent, and there is reason to believe he is telling the truth. The conviction relied largely on the testimony of inmate eyewitnesses, who are alleged to have received favorable deals in exchange for testimony. No physical evidence ever connected Mr. Pruett to the killing, and when he finally succeeded in having the murder weapon tested for DNA, nothing conclusive was found. Legally, that wasnt enough to overturn Mr. Pruetts conviction, but it should be deeply discomforting and raise serious doubts about whether hes responsible for the crime.
But even a focus on the intense uncertainty surrounding his conviction for the crime of killing Officer Nagle risks ignoring what led to it: the original injustice that was committed against Mr. Pruett when he was a teenager, when he was given a life sentence for something that never would have occurred had he not had the misfortune of being his fathers son. As a minor in an adult prison, he faced threats of rape and violence, which he says began almost immediately upon his arrival. In his unpublished autobiography, while he admits that by that age he had spent years using drugs and committing petty thefts, Mr. Pruett ponders how anyone could consider 99 years a reasonable sentence for someone as young as he was:
At 15 I wasnt old enough to be outside after the 11 p.m. curfew, I couldnt watch R-rated movies without adult supervision, I couldnt smoke, drink, get a tattoo, own a gun or even drive a car. Yet I was mature and reasonable enough to make decisions that would impact the rest of my life? Old enough to spend the rest of my life in prison? It is still unfathomable to me.
In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has begun to agree with this position. In 2005, the court ruled that sentencing minors to the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment, with Justice Kennedy citing the growing body of research demonstrating that juveniles are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure, that they have less control over their own environment and that the character of a juvenile is not as well formed as that of an adult.
The court has increasingly recognized that young people have a limited ability to control both their impulses and their circumstances. If Mr. Pruetts first conviction had occurred today, his legal team could have made a compelling argument that the sentence was unconstitutional.
After all, the fact that father and son were given sentences that were effectively the same Mr. Pruett was sentenced to 99 years, and his dad was sentenced to life is in tension with the courts conclusion that adults have greater power to control their environment. The court subsequently went further, in 2009 abolishing life without parole for juveniles convicted of non-homicide convictions, and in 2012 doing the same for mandatory life without parole on homicide convictions.The court has increasingly recognized that young people have a limited ability to control both their impulses and their circumstances. If Mr. Pruetts first conviction had occurred today, his legal team could have made a compelling argument that the sentence was unconstitutional.After all, the fact that father and son were given sentences that were effectively the same Mr. Pruett was sentenced to 99 years, and his dad was sentenced to life is in tension with the courts conclusion that adults have greater power to control their environment.
Mr. Pruetts story illustrates just how brutally the criminal justice system can mistreat minors. He is going to be put to death on Thursday because he was failed: first, failed by the father whose actions landed his own son in prison, and then failed by the Texas court system, which senselessly threw a teenagers life away.
His impending execution should deeply trouble the countrys conscience.
This story was originally published under the headline "Texas Should Not Execute Robert Pruett Tonight"
Source: The New York Times , Opinion, Nathan J. Robinson, October 12, 2017. Mr. Robinson is an attorney and a Ph.D. student studying criminal justice at Harvard University.
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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
By Mark Najarian
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump blasted Iran, calling it a rogue regime run by fanatical leaders, but he stopped short of immediately pulling the United States out of a landmark 2015 nuclear accord signed with global powers.
Trump, giving a long-awaited Iran-policy speech on October 13, also announced tough sanctions on Irans hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for what he called its support for war and terror abroad, something many observers had speculated on and which Tehran warned would bring a "proportionate response" from its side.
The president did not designate the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization, however.
Although Trump did not pull out of the nuclear deal, he did threaten to walk away from the multilateral accord later if the administration, working with Congress and U.S. allies, cannot eliminate the deals many serious flaws.
Under U.S. law, the president is required every 90 days to certify whether Iran is complying with the terms of the nuclear deal.
Trump said that, based on the factual record, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror, and a very real threat of Irans nuclear breakout.
To address the flaws in the deal and counter Irans activities, Trump said he will call on Congress to strengthen the U.S. law -- known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) -- which runs alongside the nuclear deal and was passed by Congress in response to the international nuclear agreement.
U.S. officials said Trump would ask lawmakers to set "firm trigger points" related to Iran's nuclear- and ballistic-missile programs, the crossing of which would immediately and automatically reimpose sanctions against Iran.
Congress will have 60 days to consider any amendments to the INARA.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in a televised address that the United States is standing against an international treaty and that it would lead to its isolation.
"Today the United States is more than ever opposed to the nuclear deal and more than ever against the Iranian people," Rohani said.
He said that as long as Irans interests are preserved, Tehran will remain with the deal, and he rejected the inclusion of any new clauses to the agreement. He added that he continued to support the IRGC.
Trump asserted that in the event that we cannot reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminatedOur participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time.
He slammed Tehran for what he said were violations of the spirit of the accord, in part for its continued testing of ballistic missiles and its support for extremists in the Middle East.
While the United States adheres to our commitment under the deal, he said, the Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict, terror, and turmoil throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Along with amending the INARA, Trump announced further nonspecific steps as part of his new strategy to address the full range of Irans destructive actions.
He said the United States will work with allies to counter Irans destabilizing activity and support for terrorist proxies, place additional sanctions on Tehran to block its financing of terror, and address the regimes proliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten its neighbors.
He said he will deny the Iranians all paths to a nuclear weapon.
In the 2015 deal, signed during the U.S. presidency of Barack Obama, Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Other signatories to the accord are Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany.
U.S. officials said sanctions reimposed under INARA would not necessarily remove the United States from the multilateral nuclear accord.
Trump cited as a major flaw the so-called sunset clauses in the nuclear accord that set expiration dates for some restrictions against Tehran in the nuclear deal. He said he would work to eliminate the clauses from the accord.
In just a few years, as key restrictions disappear, Iran can sprint toward a rapid nuclear weapons breakout, Trump said.
We got weak inspections in exchange for no more than a purely short-term and temporary delay in Irans path to nuclear weapons."
Mara Karlin, a former senior U.S. Defense Department official involved in policy, strategy, and planning for Middle East affairs under both Democratic and Republican administrations, said Trumps actions represented a lot of bluster with not a lot of change.
It seems as though we went through this giant hullabaloo, where the president was threatening to tear up this deal, per his political promises throughout the election and afterward, she told RFE/RL.
And instead what hes choosing to do is really defer his power to Congress.
So the Washington story is this is a diminution of executive power. The Europe story is the European allies have been really put through the ringer for not terribly much, she added.
Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that Trumps proposed changes would not remove the United States from the nuclear accord and that he expects to introduce new INARA amendments within two weeks.
He added that he expects one of the amendments to change the certification requirement from every 90 days to every 180 days.
Democratic Representative Eliot Engel, who voted against the nuclear deal in 2015, said Trumps plan doesn't make sense.
Negotiating additional terms to the nuclear deal requires a coalition of international partners, not unilateral congressional action, said the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. To ensure that, we must strictly enforce the nuclear deal, work to lengthen its sunset provisions, and hold Iran's feet to the fire on the regime's other bad behavior, he added.
But House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said the nuclear deal negotiated during the Obama administration was "fatally flawed" and that he supported Trumps decision to reexamine the accord.
Influential Republican Senator John McCain, often a Trump critic, said in a statement that "the goals President Trump presented in his speech today are a welcomed long overdue change."
"For years, the Iranian regime has literally been getting away with murder. Meanwhile, the United States has lacked a comprehensive strategy to meet the multifaceted threat Iran poses," McCain said.
U.S. allies and other countries also weighed in on Trumps statement and his threats to the nuclear accord.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the nuclear deal is a robust agreement that is working and cannot be terminated by any one leader.
"The president of the United States has many powers. Not this one," she added.
In a joint statement, the leaders of France, Britain, and Germany warned the United States against making decisions that could harm the nuclear deal.
We encourage the U.S. administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the U.S. and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the [accord], such as reimposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement," it said.
The statement was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said it was "extremely troubling" that Trump was raising questions that had been settled when an international deal on Iran's nuclear program was signed, Russias RIA news agency reported.
Saudi Arabia, a major Middle East rival of the Iranian government, said it supports Trumps "firm strategy" and aggressive policy toward Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also praised the U.S. presidents decision, calling it a courageous and bold move.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Mike Eckel, AP, and AFP
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Gulgiz Muradova - Trend:
Pakistani companies are eager to enter Azerbaijan's pharmaceutical market.
Pakistani Ambassador to Baku Saeed Khan Mohmand said several pharmaceutical companies currently eye partnership with Azerbaijan.
"They plan to create joint venture in the Pirallahi Industrial Zone, which offers tax reliefs," the envoy said in an interview with Trend.
Khan Mohmand further stressed that Pakistan's pharma industry is quite huge and owns modern technologies, further mentioning that Azerbaijan can also import surgical goods and medical instruments from Pakistan.
Pakistan has a very vibrant pharma industry, with about 400 pharmaceutical manufacturing units including those operated by 25 multinationals present in the country. The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Industry meets around 70% of the countrys demand of Finished Medicine.
The Pirallahi Industrial Park was created by the order of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in September 2016 and specializes in the production of pharmaceutical products.
Currently, three pharmaceutical plants are being constructed in the Pirallahi Industrial Park.
The first plant is a joint venture with a group of companies R-Pharm (Russian Federation), Vita-A LLC (Azerbaijan) and Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC). The foundation of the Hayat Farm was laid in November 2016.
The joint pharmaceutical plant between Iranian company Tamin Pharmaceutical Investment Company (TPIC) and Azerbaijans Azersun Holding, Caspian Pharmed became the second resident of the plant. The foundation of the plant was held in January 2017.
The Azerbaijani company Diamed Co, founded in April 2017, is the third resident of Azerbaijans Pirallahi Industrial Park.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend:
Russias providing a loan to Armenia for a period of 20 years for the purchase of modern weapons aims to arm this country, Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade has told Trend.
In late 2015, Russia and Armenia agreed on allocation of a $ 200 million loan to Armenia for the purchase of modern weapons. The Armenian government approved the first $100 million loan package Oct. 12, 2017.
Under the agreement, a $100-million loan will be extended to Armenia for 20 years.
Today Armenia has a very poor economy, and it is difficult for the country to replenish the budget. The purpose of giving a loan for a period of 20 years is to arm Armenia. I believe that taking this decision prior to the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents is not the right step, Mirzazade said.
He believes that $100 million is a rather small amount for the country at war.
The reality is that Armenia is still dependent on foreign countries. Armenia's policy cannot bring it any strength, influence or capital, he said.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijans independent foreign policy is aimed at its strengthening as a state and its becoming a participant of the project important for the region, Mirzazade added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Gulgiz Muradova - Trend:
The purchase of advanced weapons by the Armenian Government is surely a threat to peace and stability in Europe, said Peter Tase, a political analyst and international relations expert with the Milwaukee-based Marquette University.
Tase, commenting on the approval of Russia's credit line worth $100 for purchase of the weapons, told Trend that such an attitude will further instigate armed clashes in the line of contact, result in more innocent Azerbaijani civilians being killed by the very same weapons, as well as harm the socio-economic environment in the Caucasus region.
The expert voiced surprise that NATO and the European Union have not denounced and condemned the recent purchase of weapons made by Yerevan.
"Indeed it is a 'hypocritical' gesture on the part of NATO," he said. "We have Armenia, a European country purchasing a large quantity of weapons, becoming the North Korea of Europe, and such a threat is not perceived, nor condemned with a sense of urgency by NATO. "
In late 2015, Russia and Armenia agreed on allocation of a $ 200 million loan to Armenia for the purchase of modern weapons. The Armenian government approved the first $ 100 million loan package on October 12.
Under the agreement, a $100-million loan will be extended to Armenia for 20 years.
Asked about the timing of the credit approval by Armenia, which was announced ahead of the summit of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Geneva, Tase said that Yerevan's attitude focused in piling up weapons and military equipment, is a threat to peace talks.
"Above all, it is a constant danger to the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Azerbaijan. The international community is making a big mistake as they are maintaining silence and continue to apply the famous formula of double standards, that in the long run will further ruin the image and reputation of multilateral diplomacy that is actively promoted by Brussels," Tase said, adding that NATO's silence is unacceptable.
Tase further voiced disbelief that the upcoming official meeting will generate any positive outcome nor any concrete results, as "the feeble pressure from international community is favoring the current status-quo that is embraced by Armenia, for a number of years".
The expert called on the international community to raise its voice and call for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and for the immediate lifting of Armenian economic blockade imposed against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in a conflict, which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. Although the UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, they have not been enforced to this day.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Ali Mustafayev - Trend:
Moscow acknowledges that the military advantage of Azerbaijan may be enhanced much more rapidly than Armenia's ability to reflect this pressure, said Alexander Karavayev, a research fellow at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Karavayev made the remark when commenting on Russias decision to supply Armenia with a loan worth $200 million to buy modern weapons.
In late 2015, Russia and Armenia agreed on allocation of a $ 200 million loan to Armenia for the purchase of modern weapons. The Armenian government approved the first $100 million loan package Oct. 12, 2017.
Under the agreement, a $100-million loan will be extended to Armenia for 20 years.
He added, that it is impossible to accurately calculate the military advantage of one or another party to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, since the quantity and quality of military equipment are not priorities in case of an unstable situation.
During the events of April 2016 it became possible to make an unambiguous conclusion that Moscow allows the use of military equipment, including those delivered from Russia, by Azerbaijan, with the aim of returning the regions around Nagorno-Karabakh, which remain under the occupied occupation, Karavayev said.
The military loan was issued with a maturity of 15 years and a rate of 3 percent per annum. The period of use is from 2018 to 2022.
Without any doubt, this deal will negatively affect the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
However, Azerbaijan expects more balanced solutions from Moscow for the resolution of the conflict with Armenia.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
Trend:
Combat readiness of the Buk-MB anti-aircraft missile systems of Azerbaijans Air Defense troops were inspected in line with the instructions of Azerbaijani defense minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, the Defense Ministry said Oct. 14.
During the execution of tasks, the Air Defense units detected and took for tracing high-speed, small-sized air targets of the simulated enemy, and destroyed them in practical missile firings.
The Defense Ministry leadership commended the combat readiness, skills and interoperability of military personnel.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Anvar Mammadov Trend:
Azerbaijani companies exported non-oil products worth $110 million in August 2017, according to the Export Overview published by the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication.
According to the Center, 423 local companies participated in export operations during the month.
Excluding oil and gas, Azerbaijan mainly exported electricity ($10.3 million), gold ($8 million), methanol ($6.4 million) and others in August 2017.
A major part of the Azerbaijani products were exported to Turkey ($30 million), Russia ($27 million), Georgia ($13 million), Switzerland ($8 million) and Turkmenistan ($3 million).
In total, Azerbaijan exported non-oil goods worth $963.5 million in January-August 2017 and 1,467 companies took part in export operations.
The main non-oil products exported abroad were tomatoes during the period. Azerbaijan exported tomatoes worth $128.1 million, which is followed by gold ($67.4 million) and polyethylene ($57 million).
Russia ranks first among importers of Azerbaijans non-oil products. In the period, goods worth $338 million were exported to Russia, which is followed by Turkey ($2017 million), Georgia ($91 million), Switzerland ($84 million) and Turkmenistan ($41 million).
According to the report, the electricity export increased by four times, while export of export of fruits and vegetables rose by 42 percent in January-August 2017 as compared to the same period of 2016.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Ali Mustafayev Trend:
The livestock industry is being actively developed by the government of Kazakhstan.
As for October 1, the level of livestock production has shown significant growth compared to the same period of the previous year, Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan said in a message.
In particular, the number of horses has increased by 7.7 percent, which amounts to (2,445.300 heads), as did the number of cattle (by 4 percent, to 7,104.400 heads), camels - by 7.8 percent (195.300 heads) and sheep - 0.7 percent (18,300.000 heads).
Production of meat in dressed weight amounted to 688.300 tons, which is 5.7 percent more compared to the same period of 2016.
The Kazakh government has allocated 58 billion tenge for the livestock industry's development in 2017, according to the Ministry.
Currently, the country works on the development of agribusiness. The production of livestock products is also expected to increase by 21 percent, within a year.
From October 16-18, The United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Commerce will lead a trade mission of 14 U.S. companies to Azerbaijan. There are 27 participants on the mission, making it the largest trade mission of U.S. companies to Azerbaijan ever. The companies represent a broad swath of commercial sectors, and will engage in business-to-business and business-to-government meetings while they are here. The companies will also have a roundtable discussion with the Ministry of Economy and AzPromo
Commercial Counselor for Turkey and Azerbaijan William Czajkowski and Managing Director at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Kenneth Angell are accompanying the delegation. Together with U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Cekuta, they will meet with government ministries to discuss the governments reform agenda and how to help Azerbaijan attract more American investment.
Today, thanks to joint efforts between Azerbaijan and the United States, residents of the village of Varkhan in the district of Saatli celebrated the completion of an improved irrigation system. Mr. William Gill, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baku, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ministry of Economy, the local Executive Committee, and municipal government representatives attended the event. USAID and the Government of Azerbaijan co-financed the project, which was managed by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI).
The United States is pleased to be a part of this important project. We look forward to further cooperation to improve the quality of life and advance economic development throughout Azerbaijan, DCM Gill said during the opening ceremony.
With technical support from EWMI, Varkhan residents worked with local and regional governments to improve the irrigation water supply system by installing a water pump to enable a flow of 1,700 m3/hr. The new irrigation system will improve local farmers livelihoods by increasing their access to irrigation water, improving agricultural production, and helping save time and resources.
Via EWMI, the United States and Azerbaijan have implemented 101 community projects in 89 Azerbaijani communities benefiting more than 152,000 people. Through USAIDs Socio-Economic Development Activity (SEDA) program, EWMI promotes cooperation between citizens, civil society organizations, and the government to advance socio-economic development and improve the quality of life in rural areas.
Azercell Telecom LLC held a meeting with students from higher institutions in Baku and the regions in the framework of Student Bursary Program 2017.
The representatives of Human Resources Department of the company informed students about the program and answered their questions. About 1000 students from universities located in Baku, as well as Nakhchivan State University, Lankaran State University, Azerbaijan State Agrarian University, Ganja State University, Azerbaijan Technologies University and Mingachevir Polytechnical University took part at the meeting.
Azercell Telecom launched the next Bursary Program for all students on September, 15.
Young fellows wishing to become professional in their field of specialty may apply the Bursary Program. The Program is aimed to encourage the successful students and young talents with outstanding academic achievements, and support the professional growth of the students with high potential in their field of specialization.
It is worth noting that the talented youth qualified for the program will be offered a monthly stipend throughout the remaining period of their university studies. Furthermore, they will gain an opportunity for career growth. Thus, they will have a chance to enrich their knowledge about telecommunications, participate in Azercells corporate events and social activities, receive various trainings, as well as take internship at Azercell.
In order to apply to the program, the students need to get registered via the official website at www.azercell.jobs. Applications must be submitted online.
The deadline for application is 15 October 2017.
Azercell has been conducting the Student Bursary Program every year since 2008. Over 130 students from various universities in Azerbaijan have received the title of honored scholar of the company.
The leader of the mobile communication industry of Azerbaijan and the biggest investor in the non-oil sector Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. With 48% share of Azerbaijans mobile market Azercells network covers 80% of the territory and 99,8% of population of the country. Currently, 4,5 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Azercell has pioneered an important number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, 24/7 Customer Care, online customer services, GPRS/EDGE, M2M, MobilBank, one-stop- shop service offices Azercell Express, mobile e-service ASAN signature, etc. Azercell deployed first 4G LTE services in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to the results of mobile network quality surveys of Global Wireless Solutions company and international systems specialized in wireless coverage mapping such as Opensignal and Testmy.net, Azercells network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
Trend:
The Day of Silence has been declared in Kyrgyzstan ahead of presidential election to be held Oct. 15, Kabar information agency reports.
On this day, any agitation by presidential candidates is prohibited, according to the countrys Central Electoral Commission.
The media outlets accredited by the Electoral Commission to participate in campaigning are not eligible for it either.
Eleven candidates run for president in Kyrgyzstan. Incumbent President Almazbek Atambayev is not allowed to run for the office, because the constitution sets a single six-year term for the head of state.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 14
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
Best practices in countering money laundering through offshore zones were shared at an OSCE-supported seminar, which was held in Ashgabat, for representatives from Turkmenistans Ministry of Finance, its law enforcement and supervisory bodies, several commercial banks and other relevant agencies, said the organization in a message.
The three-day event addressed the international legislative provisions, standards and tools available to identify companies registered in territories and jurisdiction with special taxation regimes and to prevent financial crimes, money laundering, fraud and terrorism financing by companies or third parties .
The experts presented the international AML standards and best practices in the field of preventing the use of offshore companies for different types of crimes and violations as well as the possibilities in terms of developing risk analysis systems and fostering more international cooperation.
The seminar introduced the concept of offshore jurisdictions and what the indicators of offshore companies generally are, while also highlighting the issues arising from the use and regulation of offshore companies.
International experts elaborated on customer due diligence as the main element of combating money laundering. The importance of adopting a modern world approach to building systems for customer due diligence was underlined.
The OSCE attaches great importance to the efforts aimed at strengthening international co-operation in the area of anti-money laundering, said Ambassador Natalya Drozd, head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.
Organized as part of our continuous support for reinforcing the adherence to good governance principles in Turkmenistan, todays event stresses the significance of a comprehensive approach to countering money laundering, which also includes specific measures in offshore zones, she noted.
The seminar featured practical exercises related to the exchange of information with financial intelligence units and other responsible institutions of foreign countries supporting to identify beneficiaries/owners of offshore companies and its financial operations.
Special emphasis was laid on recommendations for the identification and assessment of the risk of money laundering through offshores and new technologies provided by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 14
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
Turkmenistan and Afghanistan at the intergovernmental level discussed the preparation and holding of the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA VII), which will be held in Ashgabat on November 14-15, 2017, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message Oct. 14.
The Afghan delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Adela Raz.
The Turkmen side noted that regional economic integration is one of the priorities of foreign policy and Turkmenistan fully supports and participates in economic projects in the field of energy and transport, says the message.
Earlier, it was reported that Turkmenistan put forward initiatives, including from the high rostrum of the United Nations, to unite efforts in developing fundamentally new mechanisms for stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan.
The RECCA, initiated in 2005 in Kabul, aims to consolidate the efforts of the countries of the region in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan and promoting regional economic integration of South and Central Asia.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 14
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
The eighth meeting of heads of administrations of the Caspian littoral states seaports is being held in Turkmenbashi city, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported.
Representatives of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan will discuss the cooperation in the field of navigation, maritime freight traffic, ensuring safety of navigation, development of port infrastructure, exchange of logistics information, protection of the Caspian marine environment.
One of the meetings main topics is the capacity building and raising the international rating of the Caspian ports, including through the modernization of their production infrastructure, technical re-equipment, the introduction of modern technologies in the service of transportation ships, says the report.
Earlier, local media reported that given the favorable geo-economic position of the country, Turkmenistan attached great importance to the development of the sea and river transportation sector.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 14
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
The fifth meeting of the Turkmen-Saudi intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation will be held on November 8-9, said Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Maksat Babayev at a governmental meeting, the Altyn Asyr TV channel reported Oct. 14.
Commenting on the issue, Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted the presence of an impressive potential for activating and expanding the range of mutually beneficial business contacts.
The energy sphere was earlier defined as a priority sphere for trade and economic cooperation. Particularly, Saudi Fund for Development expressed interest in financing the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.
Moreover, the issue of participation of Saudi companies in the construction of plants in Turkmenistan for processing oil and gas, the production of finished goods and their sale in world markets is being considered.
Earlier, the parties noted the existence of conditions for cooperation in industry and production of building materials, in particular, cement, as well as in the textile industry. There is a potential for expanding ties as part of the North-South and East-West transport-transit corridor projects.
Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations on Feb. 22, 1992.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 14
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, addressing a governmental meeting, instructed to take targeted steps to increase the volume of export of Turkmen energy and finished petrochemical products to world markets, the Watan newspaper reported Oct. 14.
Moreover, the countrys Deputy Prime Minister Maksat Babayev was instructed to take measures on further modernization of the production infrastructure of the oil and gas industry, diversification of the fuel and energy complex.
It was previously reported that Turkmenistan plans to increase gas export up to 45 billion cubic meters in 2017 as compared to 42 billion cubic meters in 2016.
Turkmenistans total natural gas reserves are estimated at 50.4 trillion cubic meters. The country is one of the major suppliers of natural gas in Central Asian region, as well as is the biggest supplier of natural gas to China.
The development of Galkynysh field and construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline are one of the strategic priorities for the country. It should be reminded that the construction of the TAPI pipelines Turkmen section started in December 2015.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan has been conducting negotiations since 2011 to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe. The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which includes the Trans-Caspian project, remains as a priority for the EU.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Farhad Daneshvar Trend:
A foreign-based Iranian expert has criticized US President Donald Trump over his decision on decertifying Iran nuclear deal, calling for establishing peace between the two countries.
During a combative speech on Friday, US President Donald Trump condemned Iran as a "fanatical regime" and refused to continue signing off on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal).
In the meantime, the US president accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and proposed new sanctions.
Iran is under the control of a fanatical regime that seized power in 1979 and forced proud people to submit to its extremist rule. This radical regime has raided the wealth of one of the worlds oldest and most vibrant nations, and spread death, destruction, and chaos all around the globe, Trump said.
Akbar Ganji, a political analyst and an author, believes that the world leaders should prevent any possibilities of waging wars and attempts to topple rulers.
Iran and the P5+1 group of countries exercised a successful diplomacy which led to concluding the nuclear deal approved by the UN Security Council, Akbar Ganji said.
Following US President Donald Trumps remarks on Friday, France, the UK, Germany, Russia, China and Federica Mogherini, foreign policy chief of the European Union, called on the signatories to the nuclear deal to honor their commitments under the nuclear accord.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also announced that Iran has fulfilled its commitments under the nuclear deal.
Former Vice-President of the United States Joe Biden also wrote on Facebook that unilaterally putting the deal at risk does not isolate Iran. It isolates the US.
Who will place trust at the US government in this situation? Libya during the rule of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over all of its nuclear facilities and equipment to the US. And then the US government invaded Libya and reduced the country into ashes, a country without a central government and a hub for terrorism is the outcome on the US meddling, the expert believes so.
Today the US contrary to its written commitments takes measures against the JCPOA and also looks for regime change in Iran
Speaking about Trumps remarks on the domestic political situation of Iran, the expert questioned the credibility of the US president.
Trump ignored the concerns of the Iranian nation over the historic name of the waterway between Iran and seven Arab nations and used the term Arab Gulf instead of the Persian Gulf. Do you think Iranians in this condition will build trust in Trump?
Akbar Ganji further touched upon the impacts of Trumps refusal to recertify the accord and said this would damage the efforts to halt the nuclear program of North Korea.
How North Korea can trust the US concerning the experiences of Iran and Libya? That is why Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said over the recent days that the US government is arming terrorists in Syria in order to create a terror corridor in Southern Turkey, this means the lack of confidence.
The diplomacy of the dialogue is successful but Trump during the Friday speech appeared in the role of a historian instead of a diplomat and the president of the US. He repeated distorted historic claims which have no contribution to the peace process. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also spoke about the other side of the history. It is not the duty of diplomats to give lecture about the history.
Ganji suggested that the leaders need to make efforts to establish peace instead of waging war.
They must take smart decisions to prevent the possibility of wars and hostility. They must open the path for peace and friendship.
He believes that the nuclear deal was solely designed to resolve the nuclear dispute, and the accord had a successful performance in this regards.
The existing problem is that Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expected the nuclear deal to resolve all existing issues. There is no ways but only dialogue and agreement, for resolving issues and dispute between Iran and the US.
The expert urged the US administration to take on its commitments, noting that improvement in ties would serve the national interest of both, Iran and the US.
For paving the way for dialogue the US government must show that the White House is capable of meeting its obligations. This would open the path for negotiations and deals concerning the deep disputes between Tehran and Washington.
Establishing friendly ties between Iran and the US is in the favor of national interests of the both nations.
Tehran, Iran, October 14
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
In his Friday speech, US President Donald Trump derailed an event that was meant to address Irans nuclear dossier, an expert believes.
Rather than to address Irans compliance with the nuclear deal, for which the day had been set, Trump talked about non-nuclear issues and in fact derailed the event, Hassan Lasjerdi, member of the Islamic Coalition Partys central committee told Trend October 14.
Accusing Iran of sponsoring terrorism, Trump on Friday said Washington will adopt tough sanctions on the IRGC for its regional influence.
In the meantime, the Treasury announced it had put under sanctions a number of companies affiliated with the IRGC.
Trumps speech indicated that Irans nuclear deal and its implementation are not the focus of Washingtons Iran policy, Lasjerdi noted.
Trumps speech addressed three non-nuclear issues in a bid to open new horizons with the world community to deal with Iran. The first issues was Irans regional influence. The second was allegations regarding terrorism. And the third was Irans defense capabilities, especially its missile program, Lasjerdi added.
We will counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons, Trump said during a speech in which he was supposed to announce Washingtons assessment of Irans compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
We will work to deny the Iranian regime and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) funding, the US president added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend:
The visit of Turkish MP Garo Paylan to Yerevan is an obvious step for the benefit of Armenia, Erdem Eren, Turkish foreign policy expert and chief coordinator of the Beyaz Hareket political movement, told Trend.
Paylan, given his nationality, may be in sympathy with Armenia, but in this case he represents the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has long been maintaining close contacts with Armenia and PKK, he said.
He noted that in 2008, when military operations against the PKK were held in Turkey, numerous members of this organization fled to Armenia.
The expert said that Paylans visit to Armenia can be assessed in this context, as in Yerevan, he called on Ankara to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide and called Armenia a more democratic state, unlike Turkey.
If Armenia and its friends are so democratic, why dont they recognize the Khojaly genocide, and why Yerevan still holds native Azerbaijani lands under occupation?
When it comes to Turkey and its friends, some countries perceive terrorists as defenders of democracy, Eren added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Turkish authorities arrested four people over Wednesdays explosion in a storage tank at a Tupras refinery, Anadolu news agency said Oct. 14.
The explosion, which killed four people, was a result of gas entrapment.
The explosion occurred following maintenance work at the refinery in the western Turkish province of Izmir, wounding two other workers, but had no impact on production.
On Thursday, authorities had detained seven people over the blast, of which four have been formally arrested and three have been released on probation.
The report gave no details of what charges the four may face.
Four Moldovan citizens were killed and two others were injured on Saturday when a cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the sea near the airport in Ivory Coasts main city, Abidjan, Ivorian and French officials said, Reuters reported.
Four French citizens were also injured in the crash, which occurred as the Antonov 26 plane, en route from Burkina Fasos capital Ouagadougou, neared the airport, said Sinaly Silue, director general of Ivory Coasts civil aviation authority.
A witness had earlier told Reuters that the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
There were 10 people aboard including six crew members, three French soldiers and a French civilian who was working for the (aviation) company, Silue said at a news conference. He said the plane was registered in Moldova, but did not name the company.
The control tower in Abidjan lost contact with the plane at 8:24 a.m. (0824 GMT) during a heavy thunderstorm, Silue added.
Abidjans airport is located in a heavily populated area but it did not appear that anyone on the ground was hurt.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 14, 2017 - 09:45 | All
The World Medical Association picked Yoshitake Yokokura as its new president for a one-year term at its annual general meeting in Chicago on Friday.
Yokokura, 73, who became president of the Japan Medical Association in 2012 and is starting his third term, said in his inaugural address as WMA president that the world faces challenges from aging societies.
"I want to spread the concept of Japan's healthcare system and know-how, which have raised the healthy life expectancy of Japanese people to amongst the highest in the world, throughout the world," he said, according to a statement released by the association.
Yokokura is the third Japanese doctor to become president of the WMA.
Two weeks after the Equifax Inc. (EFX) data breach was revealed, 61 million Americans checked their credit score or credit report,according to a new CreditCards.com report. However, about 71 million U.S. adults say they havent heard anything about the data leak, which came to light on Sept. 7 and impacts about 145.5 million U.S. consumers.
Half of younger millennials, those 18 to 26, were unaware the breach had occurred. Older millennials, who are between 27 and 36, were more aggressive in reviewing their credit in a timely fashion, with 33% of them checking their credit score in the first two weeks after Equifaxs disclosure.
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Three in five adults have inspected their credit within the past year, and one in five have never done so. The remainder of the adults checked more than a year ago.
By ethnicity, 38% of Hispanics, 22% of African Americans and 16% of whites have never examined their credit. The same is true of 32% of those with no more than a high school education and 29% with annual household income less than $30,000.
Credit awareness increases as income and education rise: 89% of those with annual household income of $75,000 or more and 88% of college graduates have evaluated their credit, usually within the past year.
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Atlanta-based Equifax first learned about suspicious network traffic on July 29. On Aug. 2, Equifax hired cybersecurity firm Mandiant. It took weeks until Equifax told its customers that much of their personal data was at great risk.
Among several steps consumers can take to try to minimize the damage caused by the Equifax leak is to place a freeze on their credit report. That might hit you in the pocketbook, however. Depending on which state you live in, that can range in cost from zero to $10, and a request to unfreeze or thaw the report may cost a similar amount.
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Meanwhile, Equifax dealt with more bad news on Friday. The Internal Revenue Service said it has temporarily suspended a contract worth more than $7 million it recently awarded to Equifax following a security issue with the beleaguered credit reporting agency's website on Thursday.
Shares of Equifax have fallen more than 22% to about $110.24 since the breach was revealed in September. The stock has rallied from the year's trough of $92.98 reached on Sept. 15 when 85.5 million shares changed hands, more than 24 times the daily average.
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PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's Airbus does not buy products directly from Japan's Kobe Steel but is investigating whether any of its suppliers have been affected by a cheating scandal at the Japanese group, an Airbus spokesman said.
"So far we have not identified any suppliers that procure materials from Kobe Steel for parts fitted on our aircraft," he said by email.
In July last year, however, Kobe Steel said it had begun mass production of titanium forged parts for A350 landing gear. The parts would be supplied to France's Safran, which manufactures the gear for Airbus's newest long-haul jet.
Safran had no immediate comment.
Announcing the contract jointly with Safran in 2014, Kobe said the parts for A350 landing gear would be manufactured by Kobe Steel and its affiliate Japan Aeroforge in Kurashiki.
Japan Aeroforge is a venture controlled by Kobe Steel and Hitachi Metals.
A Kobe Steel spokesman said that Japan Aeroforge is still making parts for Safran Landing Systems. The venture's products are "not at this point" included in the probe, he added.
The A350 entered service in 2015. It was not immediately clear whether any Kobe-supplied parts had yet entered the fleet.
Asked about the status of the Kobe contract with Safran, an Airbus spokeswoman said its investigation was continuing.
The Nikkei newspaper reported earlier that more than 30 non-Japanese customers including Airbus had been affected by data fabrication discovered at the Japanese firm.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Tim Kelly; Editing by Sarah White and Adrian Croft)
It took less than a month for bitcoin investors to shake off Chinas cryptocurrency crack down and Wall Street naysayers. On Friday, the price of bitcoin jumped within striking distance of $6,000 as optimism surrounding the cryptocurrency reignited thanks in part to traders using the Japanese yen.
That comes after the price of bitcoin shot as low as about $3,000 in mid-September, after Chinese authorities shuttered local cryptocurrency exchanges, while CEO Jamie Dimon dubbed bitcoin a fraud.
But it was neither the U.S. nor China, which have dominated the cryptocurrency markets since its inception, that apparently led to the price of bitcoin to come back up. Until recently, China has represented the majority of bitcoin trading since about late 2013. In 2016 alone, the Chinese yuan represented 96% of all trading with bitcoin, according to data from CryptoCompare, helping the price more than double that year. In fact, trading in China has been so heavy that since 2010, the vast majority of trades has still largely been dominated by the yuan.
But since Chinese investors began leaving major bitcoin exchanges for over-the-counter markets, its been the Japanese yen thats begun taking over the role that the yuan once held. Over the past month, bitcoin trading using the Chinese yuan slid to 5% of total trades, according to data from CryptoCompare. Traders using the Japanese yen meanwhile have become 51% of the market, with $30.3 billion changing hands over the past month based on bitcoins current price. The U.S. dollar meanwhile represented a lesser 31% of trades.
The reason for Japans surge? The countrys government has been extremely accommodating towards cryptocurrencies and bitcoin in particular, said Fran Strajnar, CEO of Brave New Coin. Bitcoins liquidity is quickly move from Chinese yuan to Japanese yen and Korean won, simply because of friendlier legislation, better clarity and better infrastructure and access coming out of Japan and Korea.
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In Japan, the government has been proactive in regards to addressing bitcoin. The country passed a law in April recognizing bitcoin as a legal payment method, with its Financial Services Agency issuing operating licenses to its bitcoin exchanges earlier this year. Trading in Japan has also been an attractive choice as the countrys exchanges operate on a zero-fee trading system.
Its an interesting shift in the dynamics of bitcoin. In the short history of the cryptocurrency, the price of bitcoin has been dominated by investors using either the yuan, or the U.S. dollar. In 2011 for instance, the U.S. was the main player. A flurry of Chinese investors flocked in thereafter. In the latter half of 2015 especially, bitcoin trading activity from China began to pick up as the yuan devalued, pushing investors toward bitcoin as a way to move assets outside the country.
Notably, while Korean investors are beginning to make up a larger part of the overall market, they are still a relatively small section at about 7% of total trades in the last month.
Now, says Strajnar, its all eyes on Japan and Korea as they continue to pave the regulatory way and in turn dominate crypto liquidity.
But in the near term at least, aside from legal developments related to cryptocurrency in the U.S., China, Japan, and South Korea, investors also have technological developments to look out for. And there are two major ones around the corner: one planned hard fork on Oct.25, and another expected Nov.18. A hard fork happens when a segment of cryptocurrency users decide they dont update the blockchains underlying software, which effectively creates one new currency. As a result of the fork, bitcoin owners would receive an equal amount of the new coin.
So why are these hard forks potential reason to be buying into bitcoin? Well, says Charles Hayter, co-founder of CryptoCompare, look to the recent August fork of bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin users disagreed on how to speed up and cheapen cryptocurrency transactions at the time, leading to the split. While some users worried that Bitcoin Cashs existence would divert users to the new coin and undercut bitcoins legitimacy, it proved to be an unneeded worry. The price of bitcoin continued to surge upward. And to top it all off, bitcoin owners also received a equal amount of Bitcoin Cash following the fork. That made some users quite a bit wealthier.
In bitcoin, one plus one seemed to equal three, Hayter said.
Thats not to say bitcoin users are guaranteed a good outcome after the hard forks. The concerns around the split fragmenting support for bitcoin still exist today--but having a major global economy signal acceptance of the cryptocurrency certainly helps keep the outlook rosier.
This is part of Fortune's new initiative, The Ledger, a trusted news source at the intersection of tech and finance. For more on The Ledger, click here.
See original article on Fortune.com
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FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians walk past an Aviva logo outside the company's head office in the city of London, Britain, March 5, 2009. REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - British insurer Aviva said on Friday its decision to sell its 49 percent stake in a Taiwan joint venture to its partner First Financial Holding fits into its strategy of withdrawing from less profitable markets.
Aviva declined to put a price tag on the sale, but Annie Lee, head of investor relations at Taiwan's First Financial, said Aviva sold its share in the joint venture, First Aviva Life, for $1.
The sale enables Aviva to withdraw its capital from the business, following low returns after the financial crisis, she added.
The decision came after a review of the business found it did not fit with the group's aim of focusing on markets where it can achieve scale or have a distinct competitive advantage, Aviva said in a statement.
"This was not about financials, it was more a strategic decision," an Aviva spokeswoman said.
The insurer has also this year sold its stake in three Spanish joint ventures, its Italian joint venture and part of its French business, as it tries to focus on core markets including Britain and Canada.
It has also said it would look at its Indian joint venture with Dabur Invest Corp.
The sale of the Taiwan business will have a negligible impact on Aviva's capital position and operating profit, the insurer said.
Aviva previously looked at exiting Taiwan in 2010 and 2012, but opted not to in the face of opposition from regulators.
Aviva's shares were trading at 499.4 pence at 0841 GMT, down 0.1 percent.
(Reporting by Clara Denina and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Adrian Croft)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) on data suggesting the global tractor market recovery is not materializing.
The firm downgraded AGCO from Neutral to Underperform and lowered its price target for the company from $75 to $70.
At the time of writing, the farm equipment company's shares were sliding 2.75 percent to $72.60.
Weakness All Around
While AGCO expected flat Brazilian demand in the second half of 2017 following a sharp recovery in the first half, analyst Ross Gilardi said Brazilian tractor sales instead fell in the third quarter.
Citing Deere & Company (NYSE: DE)'s sunny outlook in Brazil, Giladi said competition might be taking a toll on AGCO.
Recent tractor data from Europe, which accounts for 80 percent of AGCO's EBIT, is incrementally weaker, Gilardi said. (See Gilardi's track record here.)
North America didn't fare any better, with a 14 percent decline in HHP tractor sales in September on top of a 2 percent drop in August.
BofA lowered its 2018-19 EPS estimate for AGCO by 3-4 percent on the weak tractor data.
Valuation Unattractive
While the global tractor market data remained negative, Gilardi said AGCO stock was trading at an all-time high, discounting a sustained farm equipment recovery.
With the stock having hit BofA's previous price objective of $75, the analyst said he doesn't project it will push higher.
CNH Industrial NV (NYSE: CNHI) and Deere, though impacted by weak agricultural equipment data, are more diversified, with Buy-rated CNH Industrial remaining a compelling break-ups tory, Gilardi said.
Deere is expected to close soon on the highly accretive Wirtgen acquisition, which is yet to be reflected in consensus estimates, the analyst said.
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Latest Ratings for AGCO
Oct 2017 Bank of America Downgrades Neutral Underperform Oct 2017 JP Morgan Downgrades Neutral Underweight Aug 2017 BMO Capital Maintains Market Perform
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2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
By Elizabeth Dilts
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp select @ReportId= REPLACE(@ReportId,';','') select @filepath= REPLACE(@filepath,';','') select @sheetname= REPLACE(@sheetname,';','') select @providername= REPLACE(@providername,';','') select @providerversion= REPLACE(@providerversion,';','') declare @tempString nvarchar(max)='', @selectquery nvarchar(max)='' if (@sheetname is null) or (@sheetname='') set @sheetname=N'[Sheet1$]' if (@providername is null) or (@providername='') set @providername=N'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' if (@providerversion is null) or (@providerversion='') set @providerversion=N'Excel 12.0' + N';' else set @providerversion=@providerversion + N';'
if (@filepath is not null) or (@filepath <> '')
set @filepath=@filepath + N';'
set @tempString=@providerversion+@filepath
--truncate table saw_raw.[GL].[HpxrStage]
set
@selectquery=
'select *
,''' + @reportid + '''
from OPENROWSET(''' + @providername + ''',''' +
@tempString+ ''',''' +
N'SELECT * FROM ' + @sheetname + ''')'
--print @selectquery
exec (@selectquery)
END
--truncate table saw_raw.[GL].[HpxrStage]
--exec SAW_raw.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New]
And I calling it as below Insert into saw_raw.[GL].[HpxrStage] exec Saw_Raw.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New]
But I want to use as below: Insert into saw_raw.[GL].[HpxrStage] (([Category] ,[Line of Business ID] ,[Line Of Business] ,[Delinquent Definition] ,[Subscriber ID] ,[Last Name] ,[First Name] ,[Group ID] ,[Subgroup ID] ,[Class ID] ,[Paid within Tolerance] ,[Elig Thru Dt] ,[Created End Date] ,[Outstanding Balance] ,[Receipt Payment Type] ,[Date Posted] ,[UNREC Cash] ,[Payment Due Date] ,[PNC Generated] ,[Cancel Reason Code] ) exec Saw_Raw.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New]
When I am trying with the OpenQuery as below its giving me the error: Select * from OPENQUERY([WSQL123S,50101], 'EXEC xxxx.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New] @ReportId=''1-085'' , @filepath=''Database=\xxxxx\1-085 Cancelled with Cash-Report 129_2017-10-09.xls'' , @sheetname=''[Sheet1$]'' , @providername=''Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0'' , @providerversion=''Excel 12.0''')
I am getting the following error if I am using the OpeQuery Could not find server 'WSQL123S,50101' in sys.servers. Verify that the correct server name was specified. If necessary, execute the stored procedure sp_addlinkedserver to add the server to sys.servers.
Anybody can help me please, any help would be very very helpful - thanks in advance.
Thanks,
Abdul Aleem
"There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection."
Following in google seems to return quite a few suggestions.
TSQL openquery "Could not find server" "sys.servers"
Insert into xxxxx.[GL].[HpxrStage] exec xxxxx.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New] The only thing is I want to use the Column names in both the Inserting table and for the Stored Procedure, is there anyway to do that? Any help would be greatly helpful. Thanks for the help my friend.
Thanks,
Abdul Aleem
"There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection."
-- modified 16-Oct-17 13:26pm.
Select * from OPENQUERY([MySQLServer], 'EXEC xxxx.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New] @ReportId=''1-085'' , @filepath=''Database=\\xxxxxx\User.Developed.Reports\HPXR\1-085 Cancelled with Cash-Report 129_2017-10-09.xls'' , @sheetname=''[Sheet1$]'' , @providername=''Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0'' , @providerversion=''Excel 12.0''')
Error message The metadata could not be determined because statement 'exec (@selectquery)' in procedure 'PopulateStageRpt129_New' contains dynamic SQL. Consider using the WITH RESULT SETS clause to explicitly describe the result set.
And when I use the ColumnNames as below in the query Select * from OPENQUERY([WSQL569S], 'EXEC Saw_Raw.[GL].[PopulateStageRpt129_New] @ReportId=''1-085'' , @filepath=''Database=\\bsc\cscm\IM_PHI\Facets_Team\User.Developed.Reports\HPXR\1-085 Cancelled with Cash-Report 129_2017-10-16.xls'' , @sheetname=''[Sheet1$]'' , @providername=''Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0'' , @providerversion=''Excel 12.0'' WITH RESULT SETS ([Category] ,[Line_of_Business_ID] ,[Line_of_Business] ,[Delinquent_Definition] ,[Subscriber_ID] ,[Last_Name] ,[First_Name] ,[Group_ID] ,[Subgroup_ID] ,[Class_ID] ,[Paid_within_Tolerance] ,[Elig_Thru_Dt] ,[Created_End_Date] ,[Outstanding_Balance] ,[Receipt_Payment_Type] ,[Date_Posted] ,[UNREC_Cash] ,[Payment_Due_Date] ,[PNC_Generated] ,[Cancel_Reason_Code] ,[ReportId])' )
It is giving me the error as below: OLE DB provider "SQLNCLI11" for linked server "WSQL569S" returned message "Deferred prepare could not be completed.". Msg 8180, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Statement(s) could not be prepared. Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 6 Incorrect syntax near 'Category'.
I want to somehow get the column names of the stored procedures I am trying all the options anything that can help me is going to be very helpful. Thanks in advance my friends.
Thanks,
Abdul Aleem
"There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection."
-- modified 16-Oct-17 13:54pm.
Hi all,
I am trying to read from an Excel file using OpenRowSet, I am getting the above error, as I found in the google I tried the below script.
USE master GO sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1 GO RECONFIGURE WITH OverRide GO sp_configure 'Ad Hoc Distributed Queries', 1 GO RECONFIGURE WITH OverRide GO EXEC master.dbo.sp_MSset_oledb_prop N'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' , N'AllowInProcess' , 1 GO EXEC master.dbo.sp_MSset_oledb_prop N'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' , N'DynamicParameters' , 1 GO EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1 GO -- To update the currently configured value for advanced options. RECONFIGURE GO -- To enable the feature. EXEC sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell', 1 GO -- To update the currently configured value for this feature. RECONFIGURE GO
Still no luck it would be very helpful if anybody can help me out, I am also trying different options from online but somehow its not working. Here is the script I am trying.
SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET('Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0', 'Excel 12.0;Database=C:\TestFiles\1-085 Cancelled with Cash-Report 129_2017-10-03.xls;', 'SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$]')
And the error message full is: OLE DB provider "Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0" for linked server "(null)" returned message "Unspecified error". Msg 7303, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0" for linked server "(null)".
This error is happening even if I open VS on the server itself and run this openrowset script and even if I run from the client machine like my local machine, in both cases the openrowset is failing any help can be greatly appreciated friends.
Thanks in advance friends.
Thanks,
Abdul Aleem
"There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection."
Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0" for linked server "(null)".
Thanks,
Abdul Aleem
"There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection."
-- modified 12-Oct-17 19:54pm.
indian143 wrote: linked server "(null)".
I think the word null in that message may be a clue.
Hi,
I am trying to run an SSIS Package that's installed in MSDB on my Server manually, the problem is, when I run the Package in 32 bit mode, it gives me the following error:
The requested OLE DB provider Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 is not registered. If the 32-bit driver is not installed, run the package in 64-bit mode
When I run the Package in 64 bit mode it gives me the following error: The requested OLE DB provider Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 is not registered. If the 64-bit driver is not installed, run the package in 32-bit mode
When I am checking the drivers that are installed I am seeing the Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 driver there, when I try to install it, it gives me error message saying its already there I need to uninstall the existing one 32 bit, and I am seeing the Excel 14.0 drivers there too, just paused not understanding what to do, because its happening only on Server and only for Excel files, even though the SSIS uses Ace 12.0 drivers for csv and txt (comma separated, tab delimited or pipe delimited) files, they are not giving any problem (I mean the Packages that are using those files are importing fine only Packages using Excel files are giving problems), and I am importing the files successfully without any issues.
I tried to change the provider at runtime using by Changing the connection string like below: "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.14.0;Data Source=" + @[User::FilePath] + ";Extended Properties=\"EXCEL 14.0 XML;HDR=YES\"", its giving compile error, so just paused not able to find anything I can do. In google its only showing to change the mode of the Package running 32 bit and 63 bit, I did try both modes both are giving me errors, and this Package is running fine in Development environment, I mean if I am running within SSDT, any help can be very helpful.
Can somebody suggest me anything I can do except converting the Excel files into Pipe delimited (I have already implemented that option) but its more work on the SSIS side to change all those Packages to be able to import the files into SQL Server db.
Any help would be greatly helpful, thanks in advance my friends.
Thanks,
Abdul Aleem
"There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection."
-- modified 11-Oct-17 15:29pm.
i see this article How to prevent SQL Injection in Stored Procedures[^]
i compose my code like that way but not save from sql injection in my code. what is wrong there in my code ?
SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ) DECLARE @sqlcmd NVARCHAR (MAX); DECLARE @params NVARCHAR (MAX); SET @Name = ' like ''%ra%''' ; SET @sqlcmd = N ' SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name ' +@Name; SET @params = N ' @Name NVARCHAR(50)' ; EXECUTE sp_executesql @sqlcmd , @params , @Name ;
suppose i have store proc where i will send name when i will call store proc. so we can send parameter value like 'like ''%ra%'''
sp_executesql not saving me from injection problem. guide me how to prevent injection in procedure. thanks
SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ); DECLARE @sqlcmd NVARCHAR (MAX); DECLARE @params NVARCHAR (MAX); SET @Name = ' %ra%' ; SET @sqlcmd = N ' SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name Like @Name' ; SET @params = N ' @Name NVARCHAR(50)' ; EXECUTE sp_executesql @sqlcmd , @params , @Name ;
Now the question is, why are you using dynamic SQL for such a simple query?
SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ); SET @Name = ' %ra%' ; SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name Like @Name ;
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
so tell me what is way out
see my fresh code where %ra% is working instead of protection.
SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ) DECLARE @sqlcmd NVARCHAR (MAX); DECLARE @params NVARCHAR (MAX); SET @Name = ' %ra%' ; SET @sqlcmd = N ' SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name like @Name' ; SET @params = N ' @Name NVARCHAR(50)' ; EXECUTE sp_executesql @sqlcmd , @params , @Name ;
Mou_kol wrote: i thought sp_executesql will prevent that but did not. "sp_executesql" executes sql. The SQL-command has no need to check for injection by the user, as most users will not directly access the database.
There is no way you can add strings and magically secure them.
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell
sp_ExecuteSQL is when you the Database Developer absolutely needs to create Dynamic SQL, and not for protection.
While what you have written appears safe, there is no need for Dynamic SQL and you are only adding a layer of service and reducing performance.
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
Picture the scene. Miles of traffic queueing back from Dover. A quarter of a million trapped in gridlock. Children and the elderly among those caught without food or water. Thousands of lorries stretching back 30 miles. Disruption to business costing billions. Well we did try to warn you, declare prominent Remainers. Except that we have already had such scenes if we have forgotten then Charlie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover and Deal, is anxious to remind us. They have happened while we are members of the EU. We had tailbacks in 2015 caused by strikes at Calais. Then last year we had the same again due to a lack of French Border Police at Dover.
There is a notion that spending money on infrastructure improvements as a contingency for a no deal Brexit would be wasted if at the last minute a deal transpires. But as Elphicke asked us on Thursday:
Why wouldnt we want to have world class customs systems, cutting edge digital border controls and resilient road infrastructure?
Naturally he has his constituency interests to champion and quite right too. But the case he makes is pretty compelling. I havent see the total bill for Elphickes shopping list but I suspect it will be much more modest than the demands from Jean-Claude Juncker.
Each day of intransigence from the Eurocrats makes the no deal outcome more likely. As Paul noted yesterday, Steve Baker, the DEXU Minister with responsibility for Contingency Planning, must get the full backing of the Government.
Let him who desires peace prepare for war, was the advice from the Roman writer Vegetius. Perhaps if our EU partners (or enemies as the Chancellor of the Exchequer describes them) realise that we are not desperate for a deal they will become serious about offering one.
It is hard to see that the Government can be expected to go any further. A payment to the EU of 20 billion is regarded as not acceptable by 65 per cent of the British public. The idea of agreeing to pay any more than this would be politically challenging. What would we be paying it for? It would make little sense to pay for tariff free access to EU markets if they are not paying for tariff free access to our markets. In any case if you are paying then in what sense is it tariff free?
The Prime Ministers Florence speech implied that we should pay more than we legally need to, as some kind of Overseas Aid:
I do not want our partners to fear that they will need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to leave.
A poll for Sky News this week found that 26 per cent of the public felt that any deal is better than no deal while 74 per cent declared that no deal is better than a bad deal. Of course that latter mantra is already long-standing Government policy. Yet the truth is that public opinion is ahead of the politicians. We can sense that the negotiations are failing.
So there needs to be a change of emphasis. Given that the Budget is on November 22nd, the Prime Minister might feel that getting a new Chancellor before then would be rather disruptive. But as Tony Benn used to say, it is the policies that matter more than the personalities. The presumption must be that we are going to leave the EU without a deal and that full scale preparations are needed. It must be made clear that they will be paid for and that there will be no delays. That is the only responsible course to adopt. Signals of craven desperation will be of no use at all.
Pa. Dems could flip the House of Reps. Here's what that might mean
Flight 666, I will see you in HEL Helsinki, Finland, that is, after you safely landed there Friday the 13th after leaving Copenhagen, Denmark, about an hour earlier at 1 p.m.
(Reporters note: I will not actually see you in Helsinki as theres no way I can fly to Europe on a moments notice.)
Finnairs flight AY666 takes off for HEL every day, which is odd enough given the numbers association with the devil and the Finnish airport abbreviations similarity to the devils traditional domain, but it was especially strange for the superstitious among us when it boarded at 13:00 hours on Friday, Oct. 13.
While its the 21st time the trip to Helsinki has been made on that day associated with things spooky, this was one particularly creepy. Friday marked the last Friday the 13th to have a flight 666 to HEL, as Finnair is changing its flight numbers Oct. 29, according to its Twitter account. There will be 15 additional fights with that number before it changes to AY954 to reflect a new numbering system.
The flight drew attention as the odd coincidence gave people a reason to revisit a superstition thats largely gone by the wayside no offense intended to anybody suffering from triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).
While Finnair is changing its numbers, the airline is still keeping things light, announcing on Twitter, Farewell to Finnair AY666, but remember, we still have a flight from SIN to HEL.
The hubbub over the flight and Friday the 13th in general brought to mind a question best asked by Vox.coms Aja Romano: Why does the simple act of combining the greatest weekday with the worst prime number strike such fear into our hearts?
Friday is undoubtedly the best day, making even Rebecca Blacks terrible YouTube hit tolerable, but, according to Romanos reporting, this wasnt always the case.
Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales back in the late 1300s, referred to Friday as a day of misfortune, and whether he was joking or not, by 1633, Friday was known as the most unfortunate day in the whole week, as described by playwright William Rowley.
Somehow, the dislike was persistent, according to Vox, which reported that Franklin D. Roosevelt would never start an important trip on a Friday if he could help it.
The number 13, on the other hand, has been considered ominous throughout most of the world since the days of ancient Greece, when a guy named Hesiod cautioned farmers to avoid the thirteenth of the waxing month for beginning to sow in an almanac that did not go on to explain exactly why anyone should do that.
Theres also a longstanding 13th guest superstition referenced in Harry Potter, which says if 13 people get together, the first one to leave will supposedly die within a year. Please, if youre hosting any parties, make sure the guest list only has 12 people on it, just to be safe. And let this serve as a reminder to anyone who dares bring an uninvited guest that its both impolite and threatens the lives of all your friends.
Contrary to rumor, the fear of Friday the 13th did not begin after a raid on the Knights Templar that essentially wiped them out. Some knights may have been arrested, but no one cared that much. The unluckiness of the day is a relatively new phenomenon, beginning with a book.
Thomas Lawson published a novel called Friday, the Thirteenth back in 1907 about a stockbroker who picked that particulate day and date to deliberately crash the stock market.
After the fictional account, it essentially became a meme, turning into a joke in a New York Times story which read Friday the 13th holds no terrors for Senator Owen by 1908 and growing into a myth that spawned a ridiculous movie franchise featuring Jason Voorhees, born on Friday the 13th and also killing a bunch of people on Friday the 13th (dont quote me on who the murderer is in that movie. Ive never seen it.)
But dont worry. Despite the persistent superstition, Vox reports that there is no compelling evidence that anything especially historically bad ever happened on Friday the 13th. Assuming nothing bad happens between me filing this column and it being printed, theres no need to fear the day. But, uh, let me knock on wood just in case.
LA CRESCENT La Crescent United Methodist Church will host a pie and coffee plus pie auction event on Saturday, Oct. 21, in the church fellowship hall. A slice of homemade pie and a beverage (coffee or milk) will be sold for $5 beginning at noon. A pie auction will begin at 1 p.m. with auctioneer Freddie Frickson.
Proceeds from this event will benefit the Local Emergency Fund, which helps those in need pay rent, utility bills and food when other sources have failed. Due to and increase in need this year, the fund has been exhausted.
Donated 9-inch pies can be dropped off at the the church from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 21. For more information, call 507-895-2373.
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 SAP: Abakus, Abakus Europe Limited, Abakus Ukraine Limited Liability Company, Adatfeldolgozasban Informatikai Kft., Altiscale, Ambin Properties Proprietary Limited, AppGyver, Ariba, Ariba Czech s.r.o., Ariba Inc. Palo Alto, Ariba India Private Limited, Ariba International, Ariba International Holdings, Ariba International Singapore Pte Ltd, Ariba Slovak Republic s.r.o., Ariba Software Technology Services (Shanghai) Co., Ariba Technologies India Private Limited, Ariba Technologies Netherlands B.V., Beijing Zhang Zhong Hu Dong Information Technology, Business Objects, Business Objects Holding B.V., Business Objects Option LLC, Business Objects Software Limited, CNQR Operations Mexico S. de. R.L. de. C.V., Callidus Software, CallidusCloud, Christie Partners Holding C.V., Clear Standards, ClearTrip Inc., ClearTrip Inc. (Mauritius), Cleartrip MEA FZ LLC, Cleartrip Private Limited, Coghead, ConTgo Consulting Limited, ConTgo Pty. Ltd., Concur (Austria) GmbH, Concur (Canada), Concur (France) SAS, Concur (Germany) GmbH, Concur (Japan) Ltd., Concur (New Zealand) Limited, Concur (Philippines) Inc., Concur (Switzerland) GmbH, Concur Czech (s.r.o.), Concur Holdings (France) SAS, Concur Holdings (Netherlands) B.V., Concur Technologies (Australia) Pty. Limited, Concur Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited, Concur Technologies (India) Private Limited, Concur Technologies (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Concur Technologies (UK) Limited, Concur Technologies Inc. Bellevue, Contextor, Coresystems, Crystal Decisions (Ireland) Limited, Crystal Decisions Holdings Limited, Crystal Decisions UK Limited, Emarsys, EssCubed Procurement Pty. Ltd., Extended Systems, Factory Logic, Fedem Technology AS, Fieldglass Europe Limited, Financial Fusion, FreeMarkets Ltda., Frictionless Commerce, Gigya, Gigya Australia Pty Ltd, Gigya Ltd., Gigya UK Ltd, GlobalExpense Limited, Highdeal, Hipmunk, Hybris (US) Corp., Hybris GmbH, Inxight Federal Systems Group, KXEN, Khimetrics, LLC "SAP Labs", LLC "SAP Ukraine", LLC SAP CIS, MaXware, Merlin Systems Oy, Multiposting Sp.z o.o., Nihon Ariba K.K., OpTier, OutlookSoft, OutlookSoft Deutschland GmbH, PLAT.ONE, PT SAP Indonesia, PT Sybase 365 Indonesia, Pilot Software Inc., Plat.One Inc., Plat.One Lab Srl, Plateau Systems LLC, Quadrem Africa Pty. Ltd., Quadrem Brazil Ltda., Quadrem Chile Ltda., Quadrem Colombia SAS, Quadrem International Ltd., Quadrem Netherlands B.V., Quadrem Overseas Cooperatief U.A., Quadrem Peru S.A.C., Qualtrics, Recast.AI, Right Hemisphere, Roambi, Ruan Lian Technologies (Beijing) Co., SAF, SAP (Beijing) Software System Co., SAP (Schweiz) AG, SAP (Schweiz) AG Biel, SAP (UK) Limited, SAP (UK) Limited Feltham, SAP AZ LLC, SAP America, SAP America Inc. Newtown Square, SAP Andina y del Caribe, SAP Argentina S.A., SAP Asia (Vietnam) Co., SAP Asia Pte Ltd, SAP Australia Pty Ltd, SAP Australia Pty Ltd. Sydney, SAP Belgium NV/SA, SAP Beteiligungs GmbH, SAP Brasil Ltda, SAP Brasil Ltda Sao Paulo, SAP Bulgaria EOOD, SAP Business Compliance Services GmbH, SAP Business Services Center Nederland B.V., SAP CR, SAP Canada, SAP Chile Limitada, SAP China Co., SAP China Co. Ltd. Shanghai, SAP China Holding Co., SAP Colombia S.A.S., SAP Commercial Services Ltd., SAP Concur, SAP Costa Rica, SAP Customer Experience, SAP Cyprus Limited, SAP Danmark A/S, SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG, SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG Walldorf, SAP Dritte Beteiligungs- und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, SAP EMEA Inside Sales S.L., SAP East Africa Limited, SAP Egypt LLC, SAP Erste Beteiligungs- und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, SAP Espana - Sistemas Informatica, SAP Estonia OU, SAP Fieldglass, SAP Financial, SAP Finland Oy, SAP Foreign Holdings GmbH, SAP France, SAP France Holding, SAP France Levallois Perret, SAP Global Marketing, SAP Hellas S.A., SAP Holdings (UK) Limited, SAP Hong Kong Co., SAP Hosting Beteiligungs GmbH, SAP Hungary Rendszerek, SAP India (Holding) Pte Ltd, SAP India Private Limited, SAP India Private Limited Bangalore, SAP Industries, SAP Industries Inc. Newtown Square, SAP International, SAP International Panama, SAP Investments, SAP Ireland Limited, SAP Ireland US - Financial Services Designated Activity Company, SAP Israel Ltd., SAP Italia Sistemi Applicazioni Prodotti in Data Processing S.p.A., SAP Italia Sistemi Applicazioni Prodotti in Data Processing S.p.A. Vimercate, SAP Japan Co., SAP Japan Co. Ltd. Tokyo, SAP Kazakhstan LLP, SAP Korea Ltd., SAP Labs, SAP Labs Bulgaria EOOD, SAP Labs Finland Oy, SAP Labs France SAS, SAP Labs India Private Limited, SAP Labs Israel Ltd., SAP Labs Korea, SAP Latvia SIA, SAP MENA FZ L.L.C., SAP Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., SAP Malta Investments Ltd., SAP Mxico S.A. de C.V., SAP National Security Services PA, SAP Nederland B.V., SAP Nederland B.V. s-Hertogenbosch, SAP Service and Support Centre (Ireland) Limited, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP d.o.o., SeeWhy, Signavio, SuccessFactors, SuccessFactors Inc. South San Francisco, SwoopTalent, Sybase, Syclo, TopTier Software, Triversity, Vimercate, Virsa Systems, Visiprise, Wicom Communications, and conTgo limited.
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Team, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides asset performance assurance and optimization solutions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Inspection and Heat Treating (IHT), Mechanical Services (MS), and Quest Integrity segments. The IHT segment offers non-destructive evaluation and testing, radiographic testing, ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle inspection, liquid penetrant inspection, positive material identification, electromagnetic testing, alternating current field measurement, and eddy current testing services. This segment also provides long-range guided ultrasonic testing, phased array ultrasonic testing, terminals and storage inspection and management program, rope access, mechanical and pipeline integrity, heat treating, and robotics and inspection services. The MS segment offers engineered composite repair, emissions control/compliance, hot tapping, valve insertion, field machining, bolted joint integrity, vapor barrier plug and weld testing, and valve management services, as well as leak repair services for pipes, valves, and flanges, as well as other parts of piping systems, pipelines, and related assets. The Quest Integrity segment provides furnace tube inspection system-enabled, in-line inspection, pipeline integrity management, engineering and condition assessment, and robotics and inspection services. It also offers onstream services comprising of line stopping and on-line valve insertion solutions. The company serves refining, power, renewables, nuclear, liquefied natural gas, chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, automotive, mining, valves, terminals and storage, pipeline, offshore oil and gas, and aerospace and defense industries, as well as amusement parks, bridges, ports, construction and buildings, roads, dams, and railways. Team, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas.
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Health, Wealth and Career; and Risk and Broking. The company offers actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for traditional pension and retirement savings plans; plan management consulting, broking, and administration services for health and group benefit programs; and benefits outsourcing services. It also provides advice, data, software, and products to address clients' total rewards and talent issues. In addition, the company offers risk advice, insurance brokerage, and consulting services in the areas of property and casualty, aerospace, construction, and marine. Further, it offers investment consulting and discretionary management services to insurance and reinsurance companies; insurance consulting and technology, risk and capital management, pricing and predictive modeling, financial and regulatory reporting, financial and capital modeling, merger and acquisition, outsourcing, and business management services; wholesale insurance broking services to retail and wholesale brokers; and underwriting and capital management, capital market, and advisory and brokerage services. Additionally, the company provides primary medical and ancillary benefit exchange, and outsourcing services to active employees and retirees in the group and individual markets, as well as delivers healthcare and reimbursement accounts, including health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, flexible spending accounts, and other consumer-directed accounts. The company was formerly known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company and changed its name to Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company in January 2016. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company was founded in 1828 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
ALLETE, Inc. operates as an energy company. The company operates through Regulated Operations, ALLETE Clean Energy, and Corporate and Other segments. It generates electricity from coal-fired, biomass co-fired / natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, and solar. The company provides regulated utility electric services in northwestern Wisconsin to approximately 15,000 electric customers, 13,000 natural gas customers, and 10,000 water customers, as well as regulated utility electric services in northeastern Minnesota to approximately 145,000 retail customers and 15 non-affiliated municipal customers. It also owns and maintains electric transmission assets in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. In addition, the company focuses on developing, acquiring, and operating clean and renewable energy projects; and owns and operates approximately 1,000 megawatts of wind energy generation facility. Further, it is involved in the coal mining operations in North Dakota; and real estate investment activities in Florida. The company owns and operates 158 substations with a total capacity of 10,066 megavolt amperes. It serves taconite mining, paper, pulp and secondary wood products, pipeline, and other industries. The company was formerly known as Minnesota Power, Inc. and changed its name to ALLETE, Inc. in May 2001. ALLETE, Inc. was incorporated in 1906 and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota.
BP, plc, once known as British Petroleum, is one of the worlds 7 oil & gas supermajors with operations spanning the globe. In terms of revenue, it ranks 4th on the list and the company is vertically integrated as well with operations in all segments of the oil and gas sector. Operations are currently underway in 80 countries around the world, the company can produce 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalents per day, and it lays claim to nearly 20 billion barrels in proven reserves. On the retail end of the business, the company operates more than 18,700 fuel stations and its largest segment is in the US.
The company was founded in 1908 with the purpose of exploring for and producing oil in the middle east. The company expanded into Alaska in 1959 and then accelerated its expansion when it merged with Amoco in 1998. Another merger with Burhman Castrol in 2000 created the company that is traded today.
BP, plc rebranded itself in 2000 giving new meaning to its name. The once British Petroleum is now Beyond Petroleum and focused on a major shift in its business. The company is working hard to move away from non-renewable carbon-based energy and into biofuels, solar, and wind. The company hopes to be net-zero in regard to carbon emissions and production by 2050 or earlier and is well on the way to doing so. Among the many avenues of advance are the build-out of solar and wind farms as well as the expansion of a major EV charging network. The network totaled more than 9,000 stations around the middle of 2022 and expansion was ramping in order to meet the goal of 100,000 EV stations before 2050.
BP p.l.c. currently operates through 4 segments including Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, Customers & Products, and Rosneft segments. The company produces and trades in natural gas and oil liquids, offers biofuels, and operates wind and solar power generating facilities. The company also provides de-carbonization solutions and services, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as part of its green agenda.
In addition, it produces and refines oil and gas for its downstream operations as well as invests in upstream, downstream, and alternative energy companies including advanced mobility. Advanced mobility is the future of transportation and includes technologies like EV, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cells. To that end, the company is building 7 hydrogen production and storage hubs in key locations around the world. The company aims to produce blue and green hydrogen for the global transportation industry with production beginning in 2027. Blue hydrogen is hydrogen captured from the companys natural gas deposits using a process that captures the waste carbon.
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 61,000 kilometers (km) of operational electricity transmission and distribution lines; 5,300 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 7.3 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 360,000 long-term contracted sub-metering services. This segment also offers heating and cooling solutions; gas distribution; water heaters; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioner rental, as well as other home services. Its Transport segment offers transportation, storage, and handling services for merchandise goods, commodities, and passengers through a network of approximately 22,000 km of track; 5,500 km of track network; 4,800 km of rail; 3,800 km of motorways; and 13 port terminals. The company's Midstream segment offers natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and storage services through approximately 15,000 km of natural gas transmission pipelines; 600 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage; 17 natural gas processing plants; and 3,900 km of gas gathering pipelines, as well as one petrochemical processing complex. Its Data segment operates approximately 148,000 operational telecom towers; 8,000 multi-purpose towers and active rooftop sites; 10,000 km of fiber backbone; 1,600 cell sites and approximately 12,000 km of fiber optic cable; and 2,100 active telecom towers and 70 distributed antenna systems, as well as 50 data centers and 200 megawatts of critical load capacity. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
Calix, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud and software platforms, and systems and services in the United States, rest of Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company's cloud and software platforms, and systems and services enable broadband service providers (BSPs) to provide a range of services. It provides Calix Cloud platform, a role-based analytics platform comprising Calix Marketing Cloud, Calix Support Cloud, and Calix Operations Cloud, which are configurable to display role-based insights and enable BSPs to anticipate and target new revenue-generating services and applications through mobile application. The company also offers EXOS, a carrier class premises operating system and fully integrated with its GigaSpire family of systems to be ready for deployment as a complete subscriber experience solutions for BSP's residential and business subscribers; and AXOS, a software platform to access edge of the network by its architecture and operations. It offers its products through its direct sales force and resellers. Calix, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Western Technical College will host its annual college-wide open house event, Thursday, Oct. 19, from 4-7 p.m. at the La Crosse, Black River Falls, Independence, Mauston, Tomah and Viroqua locations.
Program and admissions information, facility tours, refreshments and door prizes will be available at each location. The residence hall in La Crosse will be open for tours and wait list sign up. The college will be waiving the $30 application fee for those who apply during the open house. The offer is available to high school seniors and older, who wish to apply to attend Western in spring, summer and fall 2018.
At the La Crosse main campus, all activities will be held in the Lunda Center, 319 Seventh St. N. There will be representatives from student services, clubs and organizations, and four-year universities that accept Western credits. Financial aid (FAFSA) filing for the 2018-19 school year will also be available at the La Crosse main campus only. Your 2016 tax return is needed to complete the application on site.
The Vehicle Technology Center, 2719 Larson St., La Crosse, which houses the Automotive Technician and Truck and Heavy Equipment Technician programs, will be open for program information and facility tours.
The public is invited to attend anytime during the open house events. For details on activities, visit www.westerntc.edu/openhouse.
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 Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III Scots L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Aoba Life Insurance Company Ltd., Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI Ireland L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI US L.P., Dale/P Minerals Limited Partnership, Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Horizon GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sprint GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Harvest Asset Management LLC, Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Kyouei Nenkin Home, LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., Lotus Reinsurance Company Ltd., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Montana Capital Partners, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund A LP, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund II - A LP, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Desert Falcon Farms Manager LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI River Bend Ranches LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PG Friendly Partners Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM AC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory Shanghai Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Australia Pty Ltd, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Feeder VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM Custom Harvest LLC, PGIM DC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC JV GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC Solutions LLC, PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM Holdings Limited, PGIM Hong Kong Ltd., PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM IRELAND LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments Ireland Limited, PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management Shanghai Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital Ireland Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS LLC, PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Global Master Fund GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles II S de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Japan Ltd., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. CORE Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate UK Limited, PGIM Scots Limited, PGIM Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Shanghai Company Ltd., PGIM Singapore Pte. Ltd., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM Taronga Investor GP LLC, PGIM U.S. Agriculture Fund LP, PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Wadhwani LLP, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings UK Limited, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP SCOTS FEEDER LLP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF Debt Fund Manager LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica Business Consulting Shanghai Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Pramerica Insurance Agency China Company Ltd., Pramerica Luxembourg CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate Scots LP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I Scotland Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Netherlands GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Scots CP GP LLP, Preco III Scotland Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd. Prudential Gibraltar Agency Kabushiki Kaisha, Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Select Strategies LLC, Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Tax Services LLC, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service, Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy US Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., VIP Australia Holding Company LLC, VIP Australia Trustee Pty Ltd, Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I Ireland L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I US L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC.
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The Lebanon Police Department arrested a woman on felony assault charges after she allegedly ran over her brother in the Walmart parking lot on Sunday night. Two children were in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Melissa Louise Bennett, 35, of Vida, was charged with second-degree assault in Linn County Circuit Court on Oct. 9. Judge Carol Bispham set her bail at $50,000, as requested by the prosecution, and the next hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 26.
Second-degree assault is a Measure 11 crime that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of nearly six years in prison.
The initial 911 call about the incident came at 5:05 p.m., and officers responded for a reported vehicle-versus-pedestrian crash.
Investigation revealed that an altercation occurred between Bennett and her 21-year-old brother Derrick James Freeman, also of Vida. Freeman was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, according to a Lebanon Police Department news release.
The Department of Human Services was called to assist with the case due to the children in the automobile.
Matthew Saathoff of Lebanon, and his wife, Sarah Saathoff, had just finished buying a printer at the store and were putting it in their vehicle when they heard an automobile horn blasting and saw a woman inside a white car about 30 yards away.
He stepped out of the passenger door, and ran to the front of the car to the hood. He lifted up the front of the hood and reached his hand in. She waited about three seconds. She floored it, Saathoff said.
The 21-year-old backpedaled away, Saathoff added.
He tripped, he fell backwards and she ran him completely over, with both the front and rear tires of the drivers side, Saathoff said. She looked like she was going to keep on driving.
Saathoff told his wife to stay with the victim while he ran after the vehicle, got its license plate and called 911.
Charlotte Roles witnessed the incident as well, and said there was a major altercation in the car before the man was ran over.
It looked like she was being pulled out of her drivers seat, Roles said. She added that it looked like when the man exited the vehicle, he was trying to disconnect the battery when he reached under the hood.
She told me she was trying to swerve the car to try to get him to get out of the way, Roles said. She told me it was a total accident and she didnt mean to do it.
Investigation into the incident is continuing, and those with information about the crash are asked to call the Lebanon Police Department at 541-451-1751.
Police say they believe a missing Glendale kindergarten teacher last seen bailing convicted felon Charlie Malzahn of Williams out of jail in Flagstaff is dead.
Sgt. Cory Runge of the Flagstaff Police Department said the remains of an adult female found Friday are believed to be those of Cathryn Gorospe, whose blood-stained Rav4 was recovered when Malzahn was arrested Monday in Phoenix on charges unrelated to her disappearance.
Malzahn has not cooperated with police, and Gorospes family and friends spent the last two days searching the woods around Williams for her.
Runge declined to release the location of the remains until investigators have processed the scene. He said positive identification has not been confirmed, but the evidence points toward Gorospe.
The Flagstaff Police Department would like to express our condolences to her family and thank the public for their patience and assistance during the search for Cathryn, he said in a prepared statement.
Runge said the time and cause of death is unknown and is pending an autopsy.
PUZZLED AT POSSIBILITY
Earlier on Friday, some in Williams were puzzled by the possibility that Malzahns could be involved in Gorospes disappearance.
But others like Malzahns sister, Lauren Mossman, had little doubt. Mossman called him a monster on social media and said he will pay the price.
Malzahn was arrested August 20 after he stole Mossmans car at gunpoint in Tempe, stranding her and her children on Interstate 10.
Malzahn is the stepson of the Williams chief of police and attended Williams high school a decade ago but did not graduate. He only recently returned to Williams after more than four years in prison for aggravated assault, and Gorospe became friends with him while working during the summer at Grand Canyon Railway.
Rebel Grimm, a manager of Canyon Club Cocktails, said Malzahn, 27, and Gorospe, 44, would often have drinks out on the bar patio and then head to Sultana Bar for another cocktail later in the evening.
They met about four months ago when Charlie came back home, Grimm said. You would see them outside having drinks and they seemed like really good friends.
Grimm described Malzahn as a person likely to make stupid decisions, but never hurt someone.
He would get into trouble, but it was always dumb, little stuff, Grimm said.
Sultana bartender Laurie Arnberger said Malzahn and Gorospe were regular visitors at the bar.
Over the summer I saw them pretty regularly, Arnberger said. They would have a few drinks and then leave. They were never an issue and always seemed friendly.
Sherri Milton, who attended Willams High School with Malzahn, described him as a ladies man who was always fooling around.
However, Milton also was not surprised about Malzahns potential involvement in Gorospes disappearance.
This whole situation doesnt really shock me, Milton said. He was always the type of guy that would get in trouble.
Williams Mayor John Moore, who owns Wild West Junction Steakhouse where Malzahn worked as a waiter, said Malzahn was pleasant, cordial and a good worker.
UNAWARE OF PAST ARRESTS
Many residents interviewed Friday said they did not know of Malzahns stint in prison, the Aug. 20 arrest or his alleged assault of an Arizona State University Student in her dorm on Sunday and an alleged carjacking of a woman in Tempe that same night.
When he came back to Williams he just said he had been away, Grimm said. I didnt know he had been in prison and it makes a lot of sense that I havent seen him for a month because he has been locked up.
However, Williams Police were aware of Malzahns criminal history.
Lt. Darrell Hixson of the Williams Police Department wrote that Malzahn had an extensive criminal history and determined that contact with Mr. Malzahn would be hazardous, according to a Williams Police report of Malzahns August arrest.
Malzahn was given a supervised release from prison in November 2016. One month later he barricaded himself in the Budget Host Inn in Williams. He was charged with criminal damage and disorderly conduct.
He was taken off supervised release in June, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Malzahn was arrested in Phoenix on Monday on assault charges unrelated to Gorospes disappearance. He was driving Gorospes Toyota Rav4 at the time of his arrest.
Acquaintances in Tucson told police that they saw blood inside the vehicle, according to Runge.
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 Dawson County, the personal property tax made up 7 percent of the total property tax collected. The plurality of that, nearly 43 percent, came from agricultural businesses and farms. On a per person basis, Dawson County is ranked 66th highest in personal property tax burden out of the states 93 counties, amounting to $157.32 per person.
Any solution for Dawson 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.
Sarah Curry is the Policy Director for the Platte Institute. Learn more about personal property tax at PlatteInstitute.org/Personal.
The AroundTown section of the Clipper-Herald is to notify the public of upcoming events and to publicize pertinent information from individuals, groups or organizations that are not for profit.
PEOPLE
The family of Mrs. Iris Matz invites you to the celebration of her 90th birthday on Oct. 14 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the Lexington Berean Church, 210 W. 7th Street. Hosts are Lon and Andrea Matz of Madison, Wis., Randy and Cindy Matz of Memphis, Tenn., and Brent and Cindy Matz of Lincoln. If unable to attend, cards may be sent in care of Brookdale, 1811 Ridgeway, Lexington, Ne. 68850.
A card shower is suggested for Bertha Ponders 99th birthday on Oct. 15. Cards may be sent to Bertha Ponder at Welcov, 1505 N. Adams, Lexington, NE 68850.
The family of Gene and Bernadette Lauby suggest a card show in honor of the Laubys 50th wedding anniversary Oct. 14, 2017. Cards may be sent to them at 75450 Rd 427, Lexington, NE 68850.
A card shower is suggested for former Lexington resident James Weides, who will celebrate his 70th birthday on Oct. 18, 2017. Cards may be sent to James Weides, 7276 E. Buena Vista Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85250.
HAPPENINGS
Miller Dances: All Dances start at 7 p.m. Bring finger food and snacks. Questions? Call 308-325-2909. Oct. 14, John Stitt, Oct. 21. "Classic Country," Oct. 28, "Diamonds and Dust."
The 7th annual Hi-Line Toy Run, benefiting the Dawson County Parent-Child Center, will be Oct. 14, 2017. Sign-up is 10-11 a.m. at the Darn-Small Pub in Eustis. All vehicles are welcome, not just for motorcycles. See www.facebook.com/hilinetoyrun.
Lexington Regional Health Center is hosting free workshops focused on wellness for individuals with diabetes. Workshop Schedule is every Tuesday through Oct. 14, in Lexington, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Community Health and Fitness Center, 1600 West 13th St. and in Elwood, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at Gosper County Senior Center, 406 Ripley St. Class size is limited. For more information or to register contact Gloria Dawson, 308-324-8315 or Lacey Zarek, 308-324-8338.
The October program for the Dawson County Childrens Museum will be held Saturday, Oct. 14 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Lexington Public LIbrary. The program will be "Kindess Rocks." Rocks will be paint
ed with positive messages. The event is free to the public.
A "Youth Mental Health First Aid Training,"offered by Central Community College in partnership with Region II Human Services. This seminar is Monday, Oct. 16, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Lunch is on your own. There is no fee to attend. Trained facilitators will be presenting. Contact Central Community College, Lexington to register by calling 308-324-8480. This is an all-day seminar designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.
Lexington Area Compassionate Friends will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 at the Great Western drive through bank at 120 W. 6th St., Lexington. Pastor Rob Kuefner from Trinity Lutheran Church will be the guest speaker. All who have lost a child too soon are encouraged to attend.
Lexington Area Christian Womens Connection will meet for a 12 p.m. luncheon Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 at Parkview Baptist Church, 803 W. 18th St., Sari Cobb of Craig, Colo., will speak on "Finding Joy in Your Trash Can." Music will be by Stacey Mathers of Craig, Colo. For reservations or cancellations call Sheri Giesbrecht, 308-320-0952 or Teresa Lanman, 308-324-8386.
Lexington Regional Health Center Hospital Auxiliary will meet Oct. 18 at 2:00 p.m. at the LRHC Community Health and Fitness Center. The program will be a hospital orientation for all members. New members are welcome to join. Visit the hospital gift shop in the hospital. Great gifts for all ages.
A Drink for Pink fundraiser will be held on Thursday, Oct. 19 at Plum Creek Market Placde from 4 to 7 p.m. The event will celebrate couragesous pepoole who have been or will be affected by breast cancer.
A Self Defense Class will be offered on Wednesday, Oct. 25 from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Parent-Child Center, 1001 N. Washington St., Lexington There is no cost but a canned food donation will be accepted. For more information call 308-324-2336.
The Daughters of the American Revolution Board of Management meeting will be held Oct. 27, 28, 2017 at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Kearney.
The Lexington FFA Chapter is selling Christmas Greenery, live wreaths and garland until Oct. 27. If anyone is interested in supporting the local FFA chapter by making a purchase, contact Timothy Potter, FFA advisor, at timothy.potter@lexschools.org We are selling until October 27.
The Annual First United Methodist Church Auction will be held on Sunday, Oct. 29 at the church, located at 201 E. 8th St. Lunch at 11 a.m., with the auction starting at 12 p.m. The event will feature a variety of items, including homemade items such as quilts and baked goods and tickets to sporting events. Open to the community.
Harvest Party: LexChristian Church Annual Harvest Party will be Tuesday, Oct. 31 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., 1206 N. Erie, Lexington (across from hospital). Chili cook-off, hot dogs, bingo, cake walk, bouncy house, games, candy and prizes. No scary costumes please. Please join us for a warm, safe, fun, family night. Open to the community.
The Oconto United Methodist Church annual Turkey Dinner and Bazaar will be Sunday, Nov. 5, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Oconto Community Building. Adults, $8.00, children (5-10).
The Holy Rosary Youth Group in Overton will host their annual Turkey Dinner on Sunday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Overton Public School commons area. A free will donation will be accepted.
Veterans Day activities on Nov. 11 at the Heartland Military Museum will include: Coffee and rolls at 9:30 a.m. , 11 a.m. hour ceremony with keynote speaker Sen. Tom Brewer, a bean soup lunch at 12:15 p.m. and a parade trhough downtown Lexington at 2 p.m. All events open to the public.
Events at the Lexington Grand Generation Center - Public Bingo on Mondays at 7 p.m. Must be 18 to play. For questions call 308-324-2498. Homemade Pretzel Baking on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. Cost to purchase pretzels is .50/pretzel, $6.00/dozen. Purchase and/or come help roll!
Love in Action Outreach, 907 West 8th St., Lexington, is open Monday through Thursday, 12:30 4 p.m. For assistance go to 909 West 8th St. Donations of clothes, furniture and other items any time back of store or contact 308-651-0925 for further assistance. Monetary donations are accepted as well.
Lexington Area Parkinsons Disease Support Group Meetings are held the second Thursday each month at 2 p.m. in the education room at the Community Health & Fitness Center (1600 W. 13th, Lexington) For more information contact Dixie Menke at 308-325-5350 or 308-784-4022 or Brenda Bierman at 308-324-2523 or 308-325-9216.
RYDE Transit - Public Transportation is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule a ride in Dawson County or Lexington call 308-324-3670. Public Transportation is easy to ride and open to everyone.
COMMUNITY
The Lexington Bloodmobile will be held Tuesday, Oct. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at First United Church, 201 East 8th, Lexington. For appointment call Mag Fagot 308-324-3280.
MEETINGS
American Legion in Lexington meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group meets every second Monday of the month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 1616 W. 39th St., in Kearney. For more information contact Carol Rowedder at 308-237-2635.
Farmers Market
Lexington Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m. and every Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Dawson County Opportunity Center parking lot through Saturday Oct. 14.
LEXINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Mark your calendar--Sunday, Oct. 15, Lauren Pelon will be at the Lexington Public Library at 2:00 p.m. Join us for an afternoon featuring music and stories of Americas indigenous peoples expressed using songs and instruments of Americas immigrants. This program is sponsored by the Lexington Public Library Memorial Fund, the Friends of the Lexington Public Library, and the Lexington Community Foundation.
The Lexington City Employees are sponsoring a "NEW Pillow and Blanket Drive." The week of Oct. 23-27, City of Lexington employees are holding a "New Pillow and Blanket Drive" to help people in need this winter, Bring a new blanket or pillow to the Library and help yourself to an item from the Gently Used Book Sale shelf, or bring one to the Grand Generation Center and get a free meal, or bring one to City Hall! Thank you for your generosity!
Storytime meets on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Lexington Public Library. Children and their caregivers are invited to join us for fun and exciting stories, music, and learning activities. We look forward to seeing you this fall.
The Monday Afternoon Book Club will meet Monday, Nov. 6, at 3:00 p.m. Our book for November is "Say Nothing" by Brad Parks. You are invited to read the book and join us for a lively discussion at the Lexington Public Library.
Novel Stitchers meets on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. If you enjoy stitching -- knitting, crocheting, quilting, cross stitch, needlepoint, or have another portable stitching project -- join us at the library for two hours of stitching and visiting. We will meet on Tuesdays, Oct. 17, 24, and 31 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Lexington Public Library Board Room. We would love to have you join us.
LEXINGTON GRAND GENERATION CENTER
Exercise room is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Every Sunday the Center available for rent.
Monday
9a.m. - Tai Chi
10 a.m. - FROG
12:45 p.m. - Ive Got It
3 p.m. - Strength Training
7 p.m. - Public Bingo
Tuesday
10:30 a.m. - "Lex Rocks"
1:00 p.m. - Pretzels
2 p.m. - "Lex Rocks"
7 p.m. - FArmers Market Vendor Meeting
Wednesday
9:15 a.m. - Go4Life
9:30 a.m. - Coffee/Crafts
9:30 a.m. - Pool T. - Holdrege
12:45 p.m. - Cards
1:30 p.m. - FROG
2:30 - 3:30 p.m. - Hot cookies
3 p.m. - Strength Training
LEXINGTON GRAND
GENERATION
CENTER MENU
Homemade bread everyday. Choice of skim, 2% or chocolate milk. No reservations needed except for large groups. Serving time: 11:30 a.m.
Monday
Ham and bean soup, chicken salad/bun, potato salad, cole slaw, orange juice
Tuesday
Mushroom steak, potato, green bean casserole, apricots
Wednesday
Baked chicken, baby bakers, dilled carrots, diced plums
LEXINGTON SCHOOL MENU
Breakfast
Monday
Choice of breakpacker/yogurt, cereal and cheese stick, fruit variety, 100 percent fruit juice
Tuesday
Choice of Dutch waffle with topping, cereal and cheese stick, fruit variety, 100 percent fruit juice
Wednesday
Choice of egg and sausage burrito, cereal and cheese stick, fruit vareity, 100 percent fruit juice
Lunch
Monday
Fajita chicken with tortillas, chicken patty on a bun, pork fritter on bun, sub sandwich, yogurt, muffin and cheese stick, refried beans
Tuesday
Pizza calzone, hamburger on bun, chicken patty on bun, sub sandwich, yogurt, muffin and cheese stick, steamed corn
Wednesday
Beef frankfruter in a blanket, pizza, cheese max sticks, sub sandwich, yogurt, muffin & cheese stick, puffs of potatoes
OVERTON SCHOOL MENU
Breakfast
Monday
Waffles and egg
Tuesday
Breakfast pizza
Wednesday
Biscuit sandwich
Lunch
Monday
Mandarin orange stir fry
Tuesday
Shredded pork sandwich
Wednesday
Taco salad
ORGANIZATIONS
AA/NA: open meeting Friday nights at 7 p.m. at Plum Creek Mall at Two Bridges Counseling, 513 N. Grant St., Suite 3a, Lexington.
Westside Group: AA/NA open meeting on Monday and Wednesday nights at separate locations at 8 p.m. Monday night meetings at First Christian Church, 1206 N. Erie St. in Lexington. Wednesday nights at Community Health Center (west of hospital) 1600 W. 13th St. in Lexington.
AA Elwood: at 8 p.m. on Sundays at United Methodist Church, 601 Rush in Elwood. Contact: 785-3567 (Tom).
Al-Anon meets Mondays, 8 p.m. at the LexChristian Church, 13th & Erie; Wednesdays, 8 p.m. at Lexington Regional Health Center Board room, use east entrance; Thursdays, noon at Grace Lutheran Church, 105 E. 17th, use office door. For more information call 308-651-0143.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, non-smoking: at noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at St. Anns Catholic Church basement, 301 E. Sixth St.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, non-smoking - Smithfield: At 8 p.m. on Thursdays at Hope Lutheran Church, 74098 Road 436 in Smithfield. Call 785-3567 or 472-3376.
Celebrate Recovery: a 12-step, anonymous program helping participants overcome any hurts, habits, addictions or hang-ups. Meets twice: 1) at 7 p.m. on Thursdays at Lexington Evangelical Free Church, 810 S. Washington Street. Contact: 308-324-3825 or 308-238-1298. 2) at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays at Parkview Baptist Churchs Y.A.C., 1105 Park St.. Contact: 308-324-4410.
Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska Public Immunization Clinic, 1st & 3rd Mondays every month: Open 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. by appointment at 931 West 7th St., Lexington. Clinics serve ages 2 months - 18 years. Children must be accompanied by an adult, previous vaccination records required. Contact 308-865-1352 ext. 143.
Dawson/Gosper County CASA: seeking Volunteers. CASA Volunteers are everyday people from all walks of life, who advocate through the court system in the interests of children. Contact 324-7364.
Grupo Lexington AA (Spanish Speaking) open meeting Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 11 p.m., at 114 West 6th St. in Lexington.
Lexington Area Grief Support Group: meets at 4:30 p.m. on the first Mondays of each month at Fitness Center, 1600 W. 13th Street. Open to anyone experiencing the death of a loved one. Contact Lexington Regional Health Center Home Health office, 324-8300.
Lexington Lions Club meets the 4th Monday of every month at the Lexington Grand Generation Center hospitality room. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., followed by a program and meeting.
Lexington Optimist Club: meet at Kirks Nebraskaland Restaurant every Thursday at noon except the first Thursday of the month. If you need to get ahold of us you can email us at lexoptimist@gmail.com or you can send mail to Lexington Optimist Club, PO Box 355, Lexington, NE 68850.
Lexington Rotary Club: meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at Lexington Public Library from 12 to 1 p.m. For more information contact Kirsten Faessler at 308-324-8333.
Narcotics Anonymous: open meeting on Sundays at 12 p.m. at Two Bridges Counseling, 513 N. Grant St. Suite 3a in Lexington.
Michigans Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued a violation notice to Energy Transfer Partners after its Rover pipeline project spilled water containing gasoline into wetlands near Pinckney.
The violation notice was issued after the departments Water Resources Division (WRD) staff received a complaint on Wednesday regarding a petroleum odor coming from water discharged from the pipeline project near the northern crossing of Dexter-Townhall Road in Washtenaw County.
Upon inspecting the site, WRD staff noted a petroleum odor and observed a sheen in the dewatering enclosure. Staff from the Remediation and Redevelopment Division inspected the site on Thursday and also noted the presence of a petroleum odor and determined a nearby former gas station was the likely source.
Due to the observed odors and the close proximity to a former gas station, the source of the petroleum is likely to be contaminated groundwater from a release at the former gas station, the violation notice states. The contaminated groundwater is being captured through the dewatering process, which is being employed for the pipeline installation and is being discharged to the wetland. Regardless of the potential source, the presence of odor and sheen indicates a discharge of petroleum-contaminated water from the dewatering activities being conducted on site.
[facebook https://www.facebook.com/OverWithRover/posts/2008479082756014 expand=1]
Because of the petroleum contamination, the company must apply for a special permit and treat the water prior to discharging it, MDEQ said. Additionally, the water withdrawal system should be registered with the DEQ prior to operating because it has the capacity to pump more than 100,000 gallons a day.
Finally, Rovers dewatering activities may be exacerbating the spread of contaminated groundwater, the notice states.
The company has until Oct. 18, to submit a written response confirming intents and summarizing actions to resolve the issues.
While the department recognizes that Energy Transfer is taking immediate action to address the violations outlined in the notice, the DEQs priority is protecting public health and protecting the environment, a MDEQ spokesperson told EcoWatch.
According to a press release from Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, local residents first noticed the spill at the pipelines construction easement on Dexter Townhall Rd. where the right-of-way crosses a wetland.
The residents estimated that hundreds of gallons of water per minute had been spilling over a silt-fence reservoir meant to temporarily contain water moving from one wetland to another. The residents noticed that the water smelled strongly of gasoline.
An Energy Transfer Partners spokesperson told EcoWatch on Fridaybefore the violation notice was issuedthat the water is coming from a dewatering well point system.
The water is pumping through one of the silt fencing structures and due to the heavy rainfall we have had periodically the last few days, the well point system is bringing decomposing organic vegetation from underground up to the surface with the water, the spokesperson said. The FERC monitor and the Michigan DEQ monitors have both been onsite and have stated that the work is going according to plan. We will continue to work with both agencies as a precautionary measure.
Once complete, the 713-mile Rover pipeline will carry fracked gas across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan and Canada. Construction has been plagued by numerous environmental violations, including a 2 million gallon drilling fluid spill into an Ohio wetland in April.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Thomas J. Madden, Chairman and CEO, Transmedia Group
Perhaps Harvey Weinstein would have a case, if you read his contract with his own company. Looking at the contract, its pretty clear his colleagues knew about his penchant for playing adult peekaboo or worse with pretty ingenues.
In his contract are spiraling levels of fines for first, second, third incidents of sexual encounters, harassments or assaults and any incidents thereafter. Actually, horny Harvey may have a case he cannot be fired for just exercising his brand of fooling around.
When you read his contract, its obvious the company realized they had a problem on their hands with Weinsteins weaknesses with women, especially young actresses who looked to him as their gateway to a career in the magic kingdom of film.
Did NBC Drop the Ball Because It Lacks Them? As a former NBC VP, Im disappointed NBC didnt break the Weinstein story and run with it when they had the chance. Sure it takes chutzpah to take on the head of a major studio, but thats what NBC had when I was there reporting to take-no-prisoners, quick-on-the-draw NBC CEO Fred Silverman who was afraid of no one.
BABYLON IN THE BACK SEAT
I know about those cab rides. I took many of them with the most beautiful actresses in the world, but I kept my lustful thoughts to myself, my hands in my lap and my attention on business, definitely not monkey business.
As Hollywood super producer Weinstein continues to arouse the film industry to fasten their heat belts, Amazon did the right thing to suspend the head of its programming division following allegations of sexual harassment. Amazon says that the executive was put on an immediate leave of absence after a producer said that he harassed her in the back of a cab in San Diego.
Isa Hackett, a producer on the show The Man in the High Castle told The Hollywood Reporter that Price made inappropriate sexual comments to her following an appearance at Comic-Con in 2015. She said that she reported the incident to Amazon executives at the time.
Just as it took Hillary a while to wag her finger at Weinstein, it took Amazon a while to take action and come out with this carefully worded statement:
OMG WE ONLY JUST FOUND OUT
We take seriously any questions about the conduct of our employees, Amazon told The Hollywood Reporter. We expect people to set high standards for themselves; we encourage people to raise any concerns and we make it a priority to investigate and address them. Accordingly, we looked closely at this specific concern and addressed it directly with those involved.
I guess better late than never.
About the Author: Thomas Madden is CEO of TransMedia Group, one of the largest independent PR firms in Florida, where it currently operates. The firms clients have included AT&T, American Red Cross, City of New York, GL Homes, Jordache Enterprises, McCormick and Schmicks, Rexall Sundown, Stanley Steemer.
(Maddens latest book Is there enough Brady in Trump to win the inSUPERable BOWL? on Amazon)
UK-Australia trade deal 'gave away far too much', Eustice admits
Six Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai checkpoint attack
Iran Press TV
Fri Oct 13, 2017 01:25PM
Suspected Takfiri militants have attacked a security checkpoint in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, killing six soldiers and wounding four more.
"Armed terrorists attacked one of the security checkpoints in Arish City using handbombs and firearms," an army statement read on Friday.
Two of the gunmen were killed and one was injured during the exchange of fire that lasted about half an hour, security sources added.
Egyptian armed forces are fighting a militancy in northern Sinai led by Velayat Sinai, formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which is a militant group affiliated to Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
Hundreds of Egyptian security forces have been killed in attacks carried out by Velayat Sinai group over the past few years.
In July, nearly two dozen soldiers were killed and 26 more wounded in two bombings claimed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which targeted security checkpoints south of the city of Rafah in northern Sinai.
Velayat Sinai has also carried out terrorist attacks against members of Egypt's Coptic Christian community as well as foreigners visiting the country.
In May, Takfiri militants attacked a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Egypt's southern Minya Province, leaving dozens of causalities.
The attack came after church bombings in December and April claimed by the Daesh group that killed dozens of Egypt's Coptic Christians.
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South Africa court upholds reinstatement of charges against Zuma
Iran Press TV
Fri Oct 13, 2017 11:01AM
South Africa's top court of appellation has upheld a ruling on the reinstatement of corruption charges against Jacob Zuma, who has served as the country's president for two terms since 2009.
The Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday upheld an earlier High Court ruling to reinstate the hundreds of corruption charges that had been filed against Zuma before he became president, saying rejecting the cases was "irrational."
On April 6, 2009, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had dropped the 783 counts of corruption, fraud, racketeering, and money laundering leveled against Zuma, ruling that the charges against him lacked legal basis and were politically-motivated.
By setting aside the charges, state prosecutors had paved the way for Zuma's presidency later that year.
However, on April 29, 2016, the High Court in Pretoria dismissed the NPA's decision to drop corruption charges against Zuma in 2009, reinstating the charges.
Zuma and the NPA appealed against the High Court ruling.
The focus of the corruption allegations that Zuma has faced since taking office has been on alleged emails pointing to the Gupta family business friends of the president using their influence to secure lucrative state contracts for their companies.
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Kyrgyz President Calls Candidate Foreign 'Flunky' As Election Nears
RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service October 13, 2017
BATKEN, Kyrgyzstan -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has called a leading contender in the race to succeed him a "flunky" of a foreign country, lashing out amid tension ahead of an October 15 vote in the Central Asian country.
Atamabev did not name the candidate or the country in his remarks on October 13, but they were aimed at Kazakhstan, which he has accused of meddling in the election and backing businessman Omurbek Babanov over the ruling party favorite.
"Now, a foreign country's moneybags and power holders are imposing their flunky on us," Atambaev said during a visit to the southern Batken region.
"Failing to buy us with their money, they are trying to frighten us," he said, referring to what Kyrgyz officials say are stepped up border checks that have caused hours-long delays for people and vehicles trying to cross into Kazakhstan.
"The Kyrgyz people, with at least a 3,000-year history, will never be frightened of a three-day blockade and will never vote for someone's flunky," Atambaev said.
Atambaev is constitutionally barred from seeking a second presidential term in the country of 6 million and has made clear he wants his former prime minister, ruling Social Democratic Party candidate Sooronbai Jeenbekov, to win the election.
Atambaev's latest comments echoed a public statement on October 7 in which he accused the Kazakh authorities of "meddling in Kyrgyzstan's internal affairs" and of openly supporting Babanov.
In those remarks, 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 Jeenbekov -- an unusual step by the president of a neighboring country during an election campaign.
Adding to the pressure on Babanov, the Prosecutor-General's Office said on October 13 that recent remarks he made to ethnic Uzbek voters in southern Kyrgyzstan "contained elements of incitement of ethnic hatred." It did not say whether there would be a formal investigation or what the consequences might be.
The statement came after the Central Election Commission (BSK) issued a warning to Babanov on October 10 about the same remarks, saying they risked inciting ethnic discord.
It was the third warning of an alleged campaign infraction that Babanov has received, after one involving campaign posters and another what the election officials said was the participation of Islamic clergy in his campaign.
The warning led to concerns that the commission could seek to bar Babanov from the vote -- something his backers say would be illegal this close to election day. While three warnings can lead to the disqualification of a candidate, disqualification later than five days before the election is unlawful.
Atambaev's remarks about a "blockade" referred to the chaotic situation along the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, where long lines formed after Kazakh authorities appeared to slow passage across the border following his initial public criticism of Kazakhstan.
Kazakh officials have rejected the claims of interference in the Kyrgyz election and said the slowdown at the frontier was the result of a "scheduled border operation."
On October 13, the Kazakh Central Election Commission (OSK) said that commission member Marat Sarsenbaev had rejected a Kyrgyz invitation to observe the election "to avoid speculation that our country is in any way interfering in the voting in Kyrgyzstan."
The commission supported the move. Deputy Chairman Konstantin Petrov announced that the OSK would not observe the election following "unprecedented statements by the president of Kyrgyzstan about Kazakhstan."
The OSK said, however, that 46 Kazakh officials will take part in observing the election as part of missions from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking Countries.
The presidential campaign in Kyrgyzstan officially ends at midnight on October 13, with campaigning prohibited on the day before the vote.
The border bottleneck and the dispute with Kazakhstan have added to tension ahead of the election in the former Soviet republic, where presidents were driven from power by protesters in 2005 and 2010.
Atambaev was elected in 2011 after an interim president, who was selected following the ouster of Kurmanbek Bakiev in 2010, stepped down as promised.
A peaceful succession would mark the first time a popularly elected president takes over from another popularly elected president in Kyrgyzstan, which gained independence in the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyzstan-atambaev- babanov-flunky/28791913.html
Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Chinese Leader Xi Jinping to See Power Grow at Upcoming Party Congress
By William Ide October 13, 2017
China will host one of the biggest events of its political cycle next week, a once-in-five-year Party Congress that will reshuffle the country's top leadership. Anticipation is building about which leaders will stay or leave China's top decision-making body of the Politburo Standing Committee, and how Chinese leader Xi Jinping will use the gathering to further solidify his power as the country's supreme leader.
Xi's re-election as party secretary is not in doubt, but one key question is whether China's Premier Li Keqiang will remain in his post as one of the seven top leaders on the standing committee. Most analysts believe Li will stay on.
Another question is what will happen to the man regarded as China's second most powerful, Wang Qishan. Like Li, Wang is a member of the standing committee. He is the country's anti-corruption czar and heads the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Some believe that Wang's recent meetings with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon are a sign that he could stay on; others are not convinced.
Over the past five years, Wang has led a sweeping campaign that has seen more than one million lower-ranking officials punished and has taken down several high-ranking politically connected figures. The campaign has not only targeted the rampant problem of corruption within the party and government, but sidelined Xi's political rivals. This has allowed Xi to move many of his close confidants up in the ranks.
In that process, Wang has made many enemies and, according to veteran China watcher Willy Lam, he is likely to be replaced. Wang, 69, not only fits unwritten party rules about age and retirement, but he is a handy bargaining chip for Xi to use in striking deals with other factions in the party.
"After staying in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for five years, Wang Qishan has created a big empire and there is even a Wang Qishan faction within the party. This is something, I think, Xi Jinping will not appreciate very much," Lam said.
Role of factions
During the meetings that begin Wednesday, some 2,300 delegates to the Congress will vote on the members of a Central Committee. That body of 350 or more then selects members of a 25-member Politburo and a Politburo Standing Committee. The party's Central Military Commission, which issues directives to the army, senior appointments, troop deployments and arms spending, is also selected by the Central Committee. Membership in the traditionally 11-man commission, however, is tightly controlled by the Politburo Standing Committee.
Some see factions continuing to play a role. Others, not as much.
"The old alliances, the Shanghai faction, the Youth League faction, these are all smashed, because he has picked and choose between different factions and everybody has to plead allegiance only to him," said Francesco Sisci, a Beijing-based China analyst.
Under China's previous leaders, power bases evolved, such as the Communist Youth League faction of Xi's predecessor Hu Jintao, and the Shanghai faction of former leader Jiang Zemin. Sisci says that Xi must choose carefully as he moves his own candidates up in the ranks, and selects members of the Central Committee, Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee.
"If he makes mistakes, it will be upon him, it will be nobody else's fault," he added.
Analysts say there is a chance that Xi could streamline both the Politburo Standing Committee, reducing its number of seats from seven to five, and the Central Military Commission, from 11 to five. Xi fills one of the seats on both bodies, which means both would have only four other members.
Rise of Xi
Since his election as party secretary five years ago, Xi has risen to become one of China's most powerful leaders in decades. He is now referred to as the "core" of the party and presides over the military and government, as well. In addition to his titles of president, party secretary and head of the Central Military Commission, he also heads a handful of other leading groups that oversee everything from foreign affairs to military reform, internet security and the economy.
But what Xi will do with all that power is still unclear. While some hope it could lead to movement on long stalled reforms, others are not convinced.
Lam says Xi's focus will be on securing the party's position, as well his own position as China's perennial ruler. Xi's approach will be cautious, Lam adds, noting how the leader once compared the risks the country faces to the Titanic.
"Beijing cannot risk any subversive errors; subversive errors being those mistakes which could jeopardize the ruling status of the party. So, he [Xi] said: If the Titanic sinks, it will sink just like that," Lam said. "On another occasion, Xi pointed out that irrespective of how brilliant and effective new policies are, if these new policies will lead to the demise of the Communist Party, then they cannot be adopted at all."
Sisci says that, in principle, Xi will need to redistribute the power that he has accumulated and initiate some changes, but what those changes might entail is still unknown.
"We do know that the guy is full of surprises. He was totally underestimated by the people who chose him as successor. They thought he maybe was going to be their puppet, but he turned out to be his own man," Sisci said. "We really don't know what he is going to do next."
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Libya: UN agencies scale up response as fighting displaces thousands in Sabratha region
13 October 2017 United Nations relief agencies have upped their response in western Libya's Sabratha region following intensification of conflict that has already driven over 15,000 people from their homes.
"Because of the conflict, many of the normal systems that people depend on to meet their daily needs have ceased to function," said Richard Ragan, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) country office in Libya, in a news release.
"[Our] support gives hope to those most in need and offers life-saving food assistance during a period when help is most urgently needed."
With its partners on the ground, the UN emergency food relief agency has delivered enough food to feed some 1,500 people who have been most affected by the fighting. It is providing food assistance to almost 300 families, with each ration offering a family of five a month's supply of rice, pasta, wheat flour, chickpeas, vegetable oil, sugar and tomato paste.
In 2017, WFP aims to assist 175,000 Libyans suffering from food insecurity. It has prioritized the most vulnerable families, especially the internally displaced people, returnees and refugees, as well as households headed by unemployed women, but needs $9.2 million to continue its food assistance operations in the country for the next six months.
Similarly, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also displaced emergency assistance including sleeping bags, hygiene kits, food and blankets to respond to the immediate needs. It has also deployed staff to various locations to assess needs.
"The most pressing needs include psychological first aid, emergency medical care, food, water, core relief items and shelter, as many refugees and migrants, including children and vulnerable individuals, are sleeping out in the open," Andrej Mahecic, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, told reporters at a regular news briefing in Geneva.
However, information from the ground points to a very grim picture individuals are suffering from trauma, injuries and diseases, and many are without proper clothing or shoes. There are also unaccompanied and separated children, with some children reporting the recent loss of their parents.
Located 80 kilometres (about 50 miles) west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, Sabratha city has been the location of three weeks of fierce fighting. The hostilities are reported to have damaged or destroyed over 500 houses and displaced more than 3,000 Libyan families and stranded over 10,000 refugees and migrants, who are need of urgent assistance.
In 2017, WFP aims to assist 175,000 Libyans whose food insecurity means they do not know where their next meal is coming from.
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Pakistan Electoral Body Bars Political Party Due to Terror Ties
By Madeeha Anwar October 12, 2017
Pakistan's Election Commission (ECP) on Wednesday rejected the registration application of a newly established political party with alleged ties to a banned militant group in the country.
Milli Muslim League (MML) has been disqualified to participate in the country's state and general elections.
The electoral commission's decision is said to be based on a request made earlier by the country's Ministry of Interior Affairs, stating that Milli Muslim League is a front organization for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a U.S.-designated terror sponsoring organization in Pakistan.
"The government is vigilant and under no circumstances will allow any political party with a proven record of promoting violence and terrorism to spread their extremist ideology through democracy and political means," Tallal Chaudhry, Pakistan's minister of state for Interior Affairs, told VOA.
Saif Ullah Khalid, president of Milli Muslim League, dismissed the election commission's decision and said the party will take the matter to the country's judiciary.
Political wing
Milli Muslim League was established in August 2017 as a political wing for the controversial Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which is believed to be a front organization for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group led by Hafiz Saeed.
Saeed was accused of masterminding Mumbai's 2008 terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Saeed has been reportedly under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore for the past eight months.
In September, during an important by-election in Lahore, when the National Assembly's seat fell vacant following the disqualification of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the newly launched MML backed an independent candidate who finished fourth in the race for Sharif's seat.
At the time, Pakistan's upper house of parliament strongly criticized the country's election commission for allowing JuD's political wing, MML, to participate in the Lahore by-election.
Some experts were concerned about the emergence of militant groups joining mainstream politics in Pakistan. They maintain that the political trend seen in Lahore's by-election, where parties linked to militant groups are able to mobilize and generate sufficient numbers of votes within a very short period of time, as alarming.
"There should be a debate on this sensitive issue through social, political and media channels. By allowing militant-based political parties to integrate into mainstream politics, it will only escalate radicalization in the society," Khadim Hussain, a Peshawar based political analyst, told VOA.
"There are people who believe with the merger of such militant groups into politics, we'll provide them an avenue to maintain a political presence without leaving their extreme ideologies," Hussain added.
Army's support
Earlier last week, Pakistan's army acknowledged they are mulling over plans to blend the militant-linked political groups into the mainstream political arena.
Some analysts side with MML, arguing the party should be allowed to participate in elections.
"I do not understand in what capacity the election commission has rejected MML's application to register as a party," said Ahmad Bilal Mehboob, the head of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT).
"Did they (MML) break any law? If not, how can you bar MML from entering the mainstream politics when they're doing it through legitimate ways," Mehboob emphasized.
Zubair Iqbal, a Washington-based South Asia expert, also raised concerns over the validity of the decision.
"This is how democracy works. ... There are some extreme groups, some moderate groups and no one should be stopped because of their extreme ideologies," Iqbal told VOA. "The extremist groups can be barred from entering into the politics only through people and democracy."
"Unless these parties and individuals are allowed to participate in the political system they might never change their extreme ideologies and might continue operating underground which will prove to be more dangerous," Iqbal added.
International pressure
In the past few years, Pakistan has faced escalating pressure from the international community for not being able to crackdown on militant groups enjoying safe havens in Pakistan and launching attacks in neighboring countries.
In his recent speech on the region, U.S President Trump put Pakistan on notice to take actions against safe havens in Pakistan. Pakistani officials deny the existence of safe havens on its soil.
Pakistan is also accused of being selective in its pursuit of terror groups. It allegedly goes after only those groups that pose a threat to the country's national security, ignoring others that threat India and Afghanistan.
Pakistan rejects the allegations and reiterates its stance of having no sympathy for any terror group operating in the country.
VOA's Urdu service has contributed to this report.
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US Conspiracy Fears Grow in Turkey With Looming Court Case
By Dorian Jones October 13, 2017
The current diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the United States, sparked by the arrest of local U.S. employee Metin Topuz at a diplomatic mission, is underscored by growing fears in Ankara that Washington is conspiring against it.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech Friday, warned that Turkey is the target of daily attacks and plots, and in a thinly veiled reference to Washington added, "Those who supported terror groups such as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and the PKK failed to corner Turkey ... [and] now are taking direct action."
In its war against Islamic State, Washington is arming the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG. Ankara claims the group is linked to the PKK that has been fighting Turkey for decades and is designated by the U.S. and European Union as a terrorist organization.
Ankara blames FETO for last year's failed coup in Turkey. Its alleged leader, Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, lives in the United States and has been subject to what so far have been failed attempts by Turkey to extradite him.
But behind the current war of words and reciprocal restrictions on the issuance of visas between the NATO allies is a pending New York court case.
"First and foremost is the case of Reza Zarrab, the Turkish Iranian so-called businessman, who [allegedly] has been involved in illicit trade with Iran, contravening the American embargo at the time. He is now in jail," said political scientist Cengiz Aktar.
Zarrab allegedly organized a multibillion-dollar scheme to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran. U.S. prosecutors say the scheme also has implicated a senior Turkish state bank employee and a former minister.
"On the one hand, you arrest the deputy manager of my bank, who has not committed any crime," Erdogan said Thursday, attacking the U.S. legal probe. "But on the other hand, my citizen [Zarrab] has been in prison in the U.S. for two years without crime, trying to use him as a confessor."
Analysts suggest Ankara fails to understand the limitations of Washington's influence.
"The indictment against the Iranian trader, Zarrab, and then later on, against Turkey's deputy manager of Halkbank, is essentially now being driven by the judiciary in the U.S.," said Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at the Carnegie Institute in Brussels. "So the executive .. in accordance with the principles of the independence of the judiciary, has little influence on how this procedure will unfold. And that's something that Turkey's policymakers should take into consideration."
But Ankara views the Zarrab case not as a legal matter, but more as a conspiracy.
"He [Erdogan] believes there is a massive conspiracy against him, and America is part of this, and so is this court case," said Semih Idiz, political columnist for the al-Monitor website.
This case, he added, "has potential political land mines strewn in it as far as the present [Turkish] administration is concerned, in connection with previous allegations of corruption.
Idiz went on to say that three ministers had to resign over those allegations. "And it has also involved the president's son," he added. "And there is the fear within the government and party that this case may revive that all again, especially as we are heading for elections in two years."
In December 2013, Erdogan's government was almost brought down by Turkish prosecutors investigating Zarrab on graft charges that implicated senior ministers and extended to a member of Erdogan's own family.
The probe was shut down, and the prosecutors were arrested and accused of being followers of Gulen. Erdogan claimed the investigation was the first attempt by Gulen to unseat him from power, calling it a "judicial coup attempt."
Pro-Erdogan media have sought to link this month's arrest of U.S. diplomatic employee Topuz to the Zarrab case, producing video allegedly showing Topuz meeting with one of the Turkish prosecutors involved in investigating Zarrab in 2015.
Pro-government media also point out that while the Zarrab case is about to begin, Ankara's year-long demand to extradite Gulen has not even reached the court.
With the Zarrab trial due to start in November in New York, the potential for more damage to already frayed U.S.-Turkish relations is real.
"It does not bode well," warned columnist Idiz, "because the number of names involved [in the case] are likely to grow. And the [court] revelations, if they anger Erdogan and the government again ... will be seen as part of this conspiracy against Turkey and against Erdogan. And the allegations put forward will heighten Americanism here."
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Samsung Mobile Philippines just added two more variants to the already confusing pool of Galaxy J7 handsets. The Galaxy J7+ does have one really major distinctive feature going for it - a dual 13MP, plus 5MP rear camera setup. These sensors are placed behind quite bright f/1.7 and f/1.9 lenses, respectively and enable Samsung's Live Focus feature on the budget device.
Samsung Galaxy J7+
Judging by the new J7+ specs page, the effect should work the same way it does on the Galaxy Note8, enabling selective amounts of background blue before, as well as after taking a shot. Hopefully, the quality of the end results will be comparable as well. Samsung seems to have included its new animated filters and stickers in the J7+ camera app as well.
As far as other specs go, the Galaxy J7+ appears to have a few other notable differences, compared to the regular Galaxy J7. The display seems identical - a 5.5-inch, FullHD, Super AMOLED panel. Beyond that, the non-removable battery is a bit smaller at 3,000 mAh. The front camera has seen a bump up in resolution, up to 16MP (f/1.9). Just like its siblings, it also has a front-facing flash and only fixed focus on the selfie shooter.
Samsung Galaxy J7+
RAM on the J7+ is set at 4GB and 32GB of expandable storage. While not explicitly stated on the Samsung page, the chipset, powering the Galaxy J7+ is described as an octa-core one with two distinct clusters, running at 2.39GHz and 1.69Ghz, respectively. This is likely the MediaTek Helio P25.
Other specs on the J7+ include Dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 (no ANT+ support), a 3.5mm audio jack and a Micro USB 2.0 port. NFC and MHL are not supported either. You do get 4G LTE with a decent list of bands and two nano SIM slots. The second one of which shares a hybrid cradle with the microSD card. Color options include Black and Gold (although a Pink one is pictured as well) and the asking price is PHP 19,990, or about $390.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Core
The other new addition to the Galaxy J lineup in the Philippines is the J7 Core (Also known as the J7 Nxt). Overall, it seems to be a slightly downgraded version of the basic Galaxy J7 (2017). Its 5.5-inch, Super AMOLED display only operates at 720p and memory is set at 2GB RAM, plus 16GB of expandable storage. The battery has been shrunk down to 3,000 mAh, while the chipset is the same 14nm, efficient Exynos 7870. The J7 Core gets a slightly darker 13MP, f/1.9 main camera and a lower resolution 5MP, f/2.2 selfie one, still complete with a selfie flash.
Other specs include Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, interestingly enough, with ANT+ enabled. Still no NFC or MHL though. A Micro USB 2.0 and 3.5mm audio jack are also part of the mix. So are Dual-SIM and LTE support. The Galaxy J7 Core is also available in Black and Gold and currently going for only PHP 9,990 or $195 in the Philippines.
Thanks for the tip Ef Raim
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Haiti - Justice : About forty demonstrators incarcerated in the National Penitentiary
On Friday, members of the Democratic opposition coalition, including several senators, paid a supportive visit to about forty demonstrators arrested and held in pre-trial detention in the National Penitentiary following anti-budget and anti-government demonstrations in the metropolitan area and in several provincial towns the past week.
These demonstrators, whose files are in the hands of the investigating judge, are accused of interferences with public order, violence and destruction of property of others...
On Saturday the demonstration again degenerated into violence and was once again dispersed firmly before its term by the police.
However, Me Michel Andre, one of the Spokespersons of the opposition coalition, says that the mobilization against the regime in place will not be stopped, despite the difficulties encountered during the last demonstrations. He confirmed that the four-day event is scheduled for: Tuesday 10, Thursday 12, Saturday 14 and Tuesday 17 October 2017, to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise from the presidency in Haiti.
He also called for the immediate and unconditional release of the demonstrators imprisoned in the National Penitentiary, calling them political prisoners.
SL/ HaitiLibre
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.
Gondhoraj Momos Take Over West Bengal; Have You Tried Them Yet?
Kolkata, Oct 13 (IBNS): Starting Saturday, October 14, Honor, the e-brand from Huawei, will begin the sale of Honor 9i, a smartphone with four camera setup and full view display, to be available exclusively on Flipkart at Rs 17,999, for 4x64 RAM /ROM configuration, according to the company.
The smartphone was unveiled recently.
The Honor 9i comes in three popular colour options - Platinum Gold, Midnight Black and Navy Blue.
On October 14, when Honor 9i sale kicks off, consumers can look forward to some exciting offers, the company said.
Peter Zhai, President Huawei India Consumer Business Group said, We are thrilled to launch a phone which can be termed a global first, as the Honor 9i is the only phone so far to boast of two dual cameras and FullView FHD+ display. As front runners in bringing breakthrough technology as well as great features at attractive prices, we remain committed to bringing best-in-class devices and services to our users in India."
The Honor 9i cameras produce pictures with 45-degrees projection, making every shot a cover shot under butterfly lightning.
The 13 MP dual-lens front camera incorporates studio-level smart selfie toning flash and delivers a bokeh effect, the company said.
The 16 MP dual lens back camera produces pictures with vivid details, according to the company.
P. Sanjeev, Vice President Sales, Huawei India-Consumer Business Group said, Honor is Huaweis global e-brand. In India, Honor pioneered dual camera phones over the last three years. Our team has spent extensive time studying what consumers in this segment prefer and we have worked to raise the bar each and every time, creating industrys new bench marks. Today with the launch of Honor 9i, we have ushered in 4-camera technology which is widely acclaimed for its excellent selfies and low light photography capabilities. We view Honor 9i as a never-before opportunity for consumers who wish to experience an outstanding product."
The new smartphone from Honor features a 5.9 display and effectively retains a 5.5 form factor, the company said.
The company elaborated that the Honor 9i sits perfectly in one hand, while 18:9 aspect ratio offers a more comfortable split-screen experience for users to effectively multitask, allowing two apps to be run side-by-side to increase productivity.
On the back of the Honor 9i, the flashlight, fingerprint sensor, USB socket and dual-lens camera all lie on the central axis of the phone.
On the front, the dual-lens camera sits on the right, a reflection of the camera flash and distance sensor on the left. Achieving this level of near-perfect symmetry is an intelligent and purposeful design achievement.
Ajay Yadav, VP - Smartphones, Flipkart said, At Flipkart, we constantly strive to redefine the smartphone experience by offering customers outstanding devices that are equipped with innovative technology and are high on performance. The exclusive launch of the new Honor 9i marks an important milestone in our journey with the brand.
With a 8-core Kirin 659 chipset under the hood and 4X64 RAM/ROM internal storage, the Honor 9i is capable of running multiple tasks.
Huaweis Android 7-based EMUI 5.1 optimizes user experience by learning and predicting user behavior, making it a device that really understands its owner and acting on this knowledge to improve performance, the company said.
The 3340mAh battery delivers talk time upto 20 hours.
Honor9i features the proprietary Huawei Histen audio system. It also supports Bluetooth aptX.
The phone has Kirin 659 chipset, EMUI 5.1 and 4GB of RAM + 64GB of ROM.
Honor 9is 3340 mAh battery can easily last up to two days of ordinary use, with talk time up to 20 hours or video play up to 9 hours, which varies according to local networks and user habits, according to the company.
During the unveiling of Honor 9i, it also unveiled a new addition to its accessories portfolio a 10,000mAh Quick Charge Power Bank.
Priced at Rs 2,399, this power bank will be available exclusively store.hihonor.com/in.
The company said that consumers can avail of a special Diwali offer till October 28, when this will be available at Rs 1999.
Srinagar, Oct 14 (IBNS): Top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, Wasim Shah and his aid Hafiz Nasir Ahmad Nir, were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, media reports said.
The encounter started after the terrorists opened fire at the security forces.
Defence Ministry spokesman, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, was quoted by News 18: "The police and Army had received information about terrorists hiding in Litter village of Pulwama district. The area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched."
The operation has however been called off after recovering the bodies of the deceased terrorists.
Shah, a Shopian resident, was wanted for carrying out various attacks.
New Delhi, Oct 14 (IBNS): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi attacked the Election Commission of India on Friday, calling it a "toothless tiger" for not derecognising political parties which have failed to produce their poll expenditure details on time, media reports said.
Gandhi even said the political parties spend immensely on poll campaigns, denying opportunity to people coming from nominal backgrounds to contest elections.
Gandhi, while delivering a speech at a university, said: "One of the biggest problems is the problem of the Election Commission which is really a toothless tiger. Article 324 of the Constitution says it (EC) controls and supervises elections. But does it really do that?"
"It does not have the power to file cases once elections are over. It has to go to the Supreme Court to do so," the BJP leader was quoted by media.
Gandhi's comments came a day after the opposition has alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of pressuring the EC to keep the announcement of the dates of Gujarat assembly election on hold for political motives, scheduled to take place this year.
Image: Facebook/@varungandhi80
Bengaluru, Oct 14 (IBNS): More than a month after the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh,the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted by the Karnataka government, revealed the sketches of the suspects on Saturday.
The SIT has revealed three sketches of two suspects.
Out of the three, two sketches have been drawn of one suspect, as they have been made as per the direction of two different people.
Two prime suspects have been identified, IGP Karnataka DK Singh said.
Singh said the CCTV footage outside Lankesh's house helped them in probing.
He even said the suspects, who have been staying in Bengaluru for a week before committing the murder, carried out a recce.
"Minimum seven days the suspects stayed in Bengaluru" Singh said at the press conference.
The SIT has probed the professional angle of Lankesh in the murder case, though Singh said the investigating team is probing other angles as well.
"All angles are still open" Singh said.
He also said Lankesh's murder has no resemblance to murders of rationalists like Narendra Dabholkar and MM Kalburgi.
The age group of the suspects are expected to be between 25 and 35, the IGP added.
Lankesh, a popular journalist who took stands against Right-wing ideology, was shot three times by some unknown assailants outside her residence last month.
Lankesh, 55, was the editor of a Kannada weekly Lankesh Patrikewas.
Gauri Lankesh's murder had sparked country-wide protests.
Patna, Oct 14 (IBNS): Addressing the gathering at the centenary celebrations of the Patna University in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the university has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation.
"I consider it my honour to visit Patna University and be among the students. I bow to this land of Bihar," said the Prime Minister as he took the stage with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Political pundits were quick to point out that this was the first time the Prime Minister was sharing stage with Nitish Kumar after the JD(U) joined the NDA, breaking away from the alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav and his party.
The PM said, "The commitment of Shri NitishKumar towards the progress of Bihar is commendable. We in the Centre attach topmost importance to the development of eastern India."
"In every state, the top levels of the civil services has people who have studied in Patna University. In Delhi, I interact with so many officials, many of whom belong to Bihar," the PM said.
Addressing the students, the PM said, "As youngsters, I urge you to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people around you. Through what you learnt and the Start up sector there is a lot you can do for society."
Urging the universities to move on with the times, the PM said, "From conventional teaching, our universities need to move towards innovative learning. Living in an era of globalisation, we need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness. In that context India has to make its place in the world."
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by the Governor of Bihar, Satya Pal Malik and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on his arrival in Patna, Bihar.
Images: PIB
Guwahati, Oct 14 (IBNS) : A BJP legislator of Manipur escaped unhurt, when suspected militants hurled a powerful grenade at the MLA's house but the grenade did not explode, according to media reports on Saturday.
Later, police recovered the unexploded grenade safely.
According to reports, suspected militants hurled a grenade at the house of BJP MLA Heikham Dingo Singh, who represents the Sekmai assembly constituency in Manipurs capital city Imphal.
A top official of Manipur police said that the suspected militants had fled from the area.
Meanwhile, security forces have launched a massive operation against the culprits.
On the other hand, at least 10 people including a woman and a minor were injured in a grenade attack by suspected militants at a local fair in Tera Lukram Leirak area of Manipur's capital Imphal on Friday evening.
According to reports, the incident took place when some local people were preparing for an exhibition to be opened on October 15.
The injured persons were rushed to the nearest hospital and two among them of are said to be in critical condition.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Patna, Oct 14 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was present at the centenary celebrations of Bihar's Patna University on Saturday, along with Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, later visited the Patna Museum, according to media reports.
The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Modi, accompanied him.
Addressing the gathering at the Patna University Centenary celebrations, the PM said, "I consider it my honour to visit Patna University and be among the students. I bow to this land of Bihar."
He pointed out, "A nation seen as a land of snake charmers has distinguished itself in the IT sector."
"As youngsters, I urge you to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people around you. Through what you learnt and the Start up sector there is a lot you can do for society," said the PM.
He told the students, "India is a youthful nation, blessed with youthful aspirations. Our youngsters can do a lot for the nation and the world."
Later in the day, he reached Mokama to lay foundation stones for several developmental projects, according to media reports.
He is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under Namami Gange and 4 National Highway projects in Bihar, according to media reports.
Images: PIB
Patna, Oct 14 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shared the dais at an event in Patna on Saturday.
This was for the first time the two leaders shared the stage since Kumar's JD(U) returned to the NDA fold.
Modi and Nitish Kumar attended the centenary celebrations of the Patna University (PU).
Narendra Modi said that the commitment of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, towards the progress of the state is commendable.
The Union Government attaches topmost importance to the development of eastern India, he added.
He said that he considers it his honour to visit Patna University and be among the students.
"I bow to this land of Bihar. This University has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that he had observed, that across States, the top levels of the civil services have people who have studied in Patna University.
"In Delhi, I interact with so many officials, many of whom belong to Bihar," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that Bihar is blessed with both 'Gyaan' and 'Ganga.' This land has a legacy that is unique, he added. He said that from conventional teaching, our universities need to move towards innovative learning.
The Prime Minister said that in the era of globalisation, we need to understand the changing trends across the world and the increased spirit of competitiveness.
In that context, India has to make its place in the world, he added.
He urged the students to think about innovative solutions to the problems faced by people. He said that by applying what they learn, and through the Start-Up sector, there is a lot that they can do for society.
On the way back from Patna University to the airport, the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister of Bihar, and other dignitaries, visited the Bihar Museum, which showcases the rich culture and history of the State.
New Delhi, Oct 14 (IBNS): Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu has stressed on the need to address distress situation, inherited over the years, in farm sector on priority and make farming a remunerative activity.
He interacted with over 400 farmers from Outer Delhi area. Member of Lok Sabha Parvesh Verma was present on the occasion.
Voicing concerns over the difficulties being faced by the farmers even after 70 years of Independence and the country making strides in various fields, Naidu said, A doctor wants his son to become a doctor, a lawyers son becomes a lawyer, an actor wants his son to become an actor despite not being fully qualified, but a farmer prays for his son becoming at least a Class-IV employee. This is because of the uncertainty of farm incomes even as farming is physically very demanding. The only way to address this is to ensure remunerative and assured incomes to farmers through necessary interventions.
Naidu, addressed the farmers who came to facilitate him on a farmer becoming the Vice-President and dwelt at length about the problems adversely impacting farm incomes including the paradox of high input prices and non-remunerative prices for farm produce, inadequate institutional financing, lack of cold storage and transport facilities, shortage of irrigation and power supply, poor marketing systems, inadequate penetration of modern farm technology, inadequate public investments etc.
Naidu referred to his visiting Madanapalle market in Andhra Pradesh where tomato was sold at one rupee per kg and the same day in Bengaluru at Rs.8/kg and the next day in Delhi at Rs.20/kg, which reflect poorly on farmer being deprived of his due.
He urged the farmers to take advantage of the e-NAM (National Agricultural Market).
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modis call for doubling farmers incomes by 2022, Naidu urged the State Governments to ensure necessary infrastructure like good road connectivity, irrigation water, electricity, network of cold storage facilities, problem oriented farm research and extension services, marketing support to farmers etc.
Noting that States have to play a critical role in assuring remunerative returns to farmers,Naidu referred to the success of focussed efforts of the Madhya Pradesh Government that led to a 22% growth in farm output in the State.
He stressed, Parliament, Political Parties and the Press need take farming sector challenges more seriously enable workable solutions.
Naidu said, As Chairman of Rajya Sabha I will sincerely endeavour to ensure that farmers problems get due attention of the House.
In a rural ambience with a large number of turban wearing farmers, Naidu spent about two hours with them, enquiring about their experiences, difficulties being faced, attitudes of their children etc.
Naidu urged them to adopt modern farm technology and take full advantage of the schemes of central and state governments.
New York, Oct 14(Just Earth News): One year since the start of the military campaign to retake Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) terrorist group, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator said hundreds of thousands of people are vulnerable and still need assistance.
The number of people who fled exceeded even our worst-case projections, Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq said on Thursday. We feared that as many as 700,000 civilians might flee. The actual number was far, far higher.
Iraqi Security Forces evacuated one million civilians in one of the largest managed evacuations in recent history, she explained.
During the nine-month battle, 673,000 Muslawis are still displaced from their homes; 274,000 are living in 18 camps and emergency sites surrounding the city; and 400,000 are staying with family, friends or in rented accommodation, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Ensuring that people can return voluntarily and safely to their homes is a collective responsibility, said Grande.
Of the one million civilians who fled the city, 327,000 have returned to their homes; 184,000 to eastern Mosul and 143,000 to western Mosul.
Eastern and western Mosul couldn't be more different, Grande continued.
Ninety-seven percent of the population has returned to their homes in eastern Mosul. People are rebuilding their lives there. Children are in school, services are being re-established and businesses are open, she said.
Conditions in western Mosul are very difficult. Large parts of the city are destroyed and have not yet been green-lighted for returns. Families are worried about booby-traps, security and services, added the humanitarian coordinator.
Vast humanitarian operation under way
The Mosul humanitarian operation is one of the largest in the region.
Government ministries and departments have worked for months to provide direct assistance to families fleeing the city. Humanitarian partners have reached two million civilians, including thousands of families who stayed in their homes.
More than 3.3 million emergency boxes with food, water and hygiene items have been distributed by partners and a quarter of a million highly traumatized women, girls, boys and men have received psycho-social support.
Additionally, two million people have benefitted from water and sanitation services; over 1.5 million have received health care; and 20,000 people with trauma injuries have been stabilized at or near the frontline before being transferred to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment.
Even now, three months after the fighting has stopped, humanitarians are providing assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people who are still displaced and to the hundreds of thousands who stayed in their homes or who have gone back to them, Grande explained.
Meanwhile, the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan is only 57 per cent funded.
We want the emergency to be over, but as long as highly vulnerable people need our help, we will be here, concluded Grande.
Iraq. Photo: OCHA/Themba Linden
Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Oct 14(Just Earth News): Sixty-six Syrian adults and children arrived in Santiago, Chile from Lebanon on Thursday, making the South American country the newest to resettle Syrian refugees under a United Nations-backed programme.
We congratulate Chiles Government and society for extending their hand in solidarity with Syrian refugees in need and for participating in the response of the international community to one of the greatest humanitarian crises since the Second World War, Michele Manca di Nissa, regional representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said.
At Santiago airport, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet welcomed the refugees.
The State of Chile has the obligation, but also the privilege, of extending its hand, because we are a land of democracy, peace and respect, Bachelet said in her welcome message, expressing wish that the refugees, step by step, start leaving behind their fear, pain and uncertainty, and find a land that welcomes them with friendship and good will.
The Syrian refugees attended a pre-departure orientation session delivered by experienced trainers at the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These sessions help to prepare the refugees for their initial period of resettlement by providing them with accurate information about life in Chile, as well as by helping refugees develop realistic expectations about their future.
They will be hosted in two different communities in Chile: Villa Alemana, some 100 kilometers northwest of the capital, Santiago, and Macul in the central-eastern part of the Greater Santiago area.
The adults and children will all receive intensive Spanish-language classes and help from psycho-social professionals of the Vicaria de Pastoral Social Caritas, the organization responsible for following up and helping them integrate.
The children will attend local schools and kindergartens from March next year, while the adults will be helped to find employment to speed up their integration and ensure their and their families autonomy and self-sufficiency.
Chiles Syrian resettlement programme aims to resettle 120 highly vulnerable Syrian refugees from Lebanon.
Photo: Chiles Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme
Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Oct 14(Just Earth News): After 14 years, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will close its doors on 15 October. The Mission was established by the Security Council at a time when State authority had been weak and limited to parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, with the three branches of power either non-functional or non-existent, and a national police force that was overwhelmed by the multiple threats to public order and the rule of law.
On Friday, the Haitian people enjoy a considerable degree of security and greater stability; political violence has diminished; armed gangs no longer hold the population hostage, thanks in part to the work of the 14,000-strong national police; and all three branches of power are in place.
Haiti is now in a position to move forward and consolidate the stability that has been obtained, as a framework for continued social and economic development, says Sandra Honore, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Haiti and head of MINUSTAH.
Next week will see the beginning of a smaller successor mission the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) which is mandated by the Security Council to assist the Government in strengthening rule of law institutions, reinforcing national police capacities, and engaging in human rights monitoring, reporting and analysis.
On the eve of MINUSTAHs closure, Honore spoke with UN News about the Missions contributions to the Haitian Government and people, what continued UN support to the fight against cholera will look like, and how the UN is perceived in the small Caribbean nation.
UN News: What does the departure of the UN Mission represent for Haiti?
Sandra Honore: The departure of MINUSTAH represents, on the one hand, that the stabilization mandate entrusted to the Mission by the Security Council has been met, and that Haiti is now in a position to move forward and consolidate the stability that has been obtained, as a framework for continued social and economic development.
The Security Council in taking the decision to close MINUSTAH which has been operating and cooperating with the Haitian authorities and the Haitian people for 14 years, also in recognition of certain weaknesses that still exist in the justice and rule of law areas has decided to establish the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti. It is my hope that the opportunity will be seized by the Government and people of Haiti to use the contribution of the new UN Mission to advance and to consolidate rule of law in Haiti.
UN News: What do you think was MINUSTAHs strongest contribution to the Haitian people?
Sandra Honore: MINUSTAHs strongest contribution was to support the Haitian people with the provision of a secure and stable environment; to support them with the professionalization of the Haitian National Police, which numbered some 3,300 when MINUSTAH was established. They now are at 14,000 and by the end of 2017 will reach a minimum level of 15,000. The percentage of women in the police force has also increased: there are now 9 per cent female police officers in a country where the female members of the population number 52 per cent. It is important that the Haitian National Police also reflect the population as a whole.
The Mission was also able to support the electoral processes in the country. During 14 years, we saw the handover on three occasions from one democratically-elected President to another, including from one elected President to another from the opposition in 2011. The most recent handover being to President Jovenel Moise, who assumed office in February this year. The fact that the democratic process has started to become stronger, to consolidate itself. The fact that the three powers of the State are now functioning: the executive; the elected parliament; and the judiciary.
I think these are the legacy of MINUSTAH and the elements of the support that the Mission was able to provide to the Haitian Government, and above all to the Haitian people, as they strive for a better standard of living.
UN News: The UN launched a strategy to help Haiti tackle cholera. What will the UN support look like once MINUSTAH leaves, and what is the current state of relations between the UN and Haitians?
Sandra Honore: The support strategy of the United Nations for the Government of Haiti, as the Government moves to work toward eliminating the transmission of cholera, will continue even after MINUSTAH leaves. This support was not only provided through MINUSTAH but also, importantly, through the UN agencies, funds and programmes, such as UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) the regional arm of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Secretary-General announced in December of 2016 the new approach of the Organization to support the Government of Haiti. This involves the two tracks: one dealing with the treatment of cholera, and infrastructure for water and sanitation which is sadly lacking in the country; and the second track of material assistance for communities most affected.
In June of this year, the Secretary-General appointed Assistant Secretary-General Josette Sheeran as his Special Envoy for Haiti. One of the tasks will be precisely to work to support the new approach and to support the mobilization of resources that will be required to pursue the new approach.
The Secretary-General has also asked Member States to forego the return to them of unexpended balances, for example from the MINUSTAH 2015-2016 budget, to be used on the new approach.
It is my hope that Member States will respond positively to the call from the Secretary-General, and that the work of the Special Envoy will go beyond the support for cholera and also involve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals that Haiti has for its development within the framework of the 2030 Agenda.
UN News: How is the UN perceived currently and what are relations like between the UN and the Haitian people?
Sandra Honore: The relations between the UN and the Haitian people are positive. In the time that I have been there I have been able to interact with Haitians from all sections of the society at all levels even those who may have some difficulty, philosophically lets say, with the fact that a peacekeeping mission is functioning in the country. But they all acknowledge the contribution that MINUSTAH has been able to make to a safe and secure environment and to stabilization in the country, which saw a period of sustained disturbances in 2004 which led to the establishment MINUSTAH.
So, I see a relationship that is positive and I see a desire on the part of the Haitian people to see the United Nations contributing more to development and the development objectives of the country.
UN News: As head of the Mission, does any particular memory stand out?
Sandra Honore: I spent a lot of time after I arrived in Haiti in July 2014 working with my colleagues in MINUSTAH and in the UN system in the country, including UNDP, UNOPS and UN Women, on the electoral question together with the provisional electoral council.
There were some moments that were very difficult. The electoral process, as you know, started in August 2015 and was not concluded until January 2017. There was a presidential election in October 2015 which was rerun so that the verification process could be conducted. At the end of it, President Moise was declared the winner in the first round of the rerun presidential election, and following that the appointment of the President on 7 February and the installation of his Government on 22 March I think that was a particularly gratifying moment because it was a moment that demonstrated that the attention and stick-to-it-iveness, as it were, that had to be applied to ensure that the electoral process was completed, that that was in fact done and that Haiti was now on the path to be able to concentrate on her development, and that was certainly a moment of gratification.
UN Photo/Logan Abassi
Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Oct 14(Just Earth News): Concluding her visit to Ukraine, the United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator underlined on Friday the urgent need for humanitarian funding to address the dire situation faced by millions of civilians during the coming winter months.
I met people who showed incredible resilience. Their lives continue to worsen, but they live with hope, said Ursula Mueller, who is also the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, in a news release.
Their only wish is for peace, to be able to return home and live a normal life.
During her three-day visit, Mueller met with officials as well as with those affected by the conflict, witnessing first-hand the human face of the conflict on both sides of the contact-line, the news release noted.
The UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator also met with leaders of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, where she stressed the need for increased cooperation to align relief and development efforts. In meetings with the de facto authorities in Donetsk, she called for sustained humanitarian access to all areas in eastern Ukraine.
The news release also noted that during her meeting with the Deputy Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, in Kyiv, the challenging situation facing 1.6 million displaced Ukrainians and providing them with services and benefits was discussed.
Photo: UNOCHA
Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Oct 14(Just Earth News): The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide has strongly condemned provocation of ethnic and religious hatred armed groups and politicians in the Central African Republic and impressed the need for urgent, concerted and coordinated steps to end violence, defuse intercommunity tensions and alleviate the suffering of the civilian population.
I condemn in the strongest possible terms the manipulation and incitement to ethnic and religious hatred instigated by armed groups and militias and accomplice politicians, with the aim of establishing territorial control, mobilizing combatants or extending their predatory instincts to private property and the countrys economic resources, said Special Adviser Adama Dieng, in a statement (originally in French).
All victims made it clear to me that their wish was to live together in peace and harmony with all the people of the Central African Republic.
The Special Advisers visited the country from 6 to 11 October amid reports of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including sexual violence, for allegedly belonging to certain ethnic, religious and/or armed groups as well as the manipulation of religion, ethnic sensibilities and community origins from the south-east to the north-west of the country.
During the visit, Dieng met with authorities, including the countrys President, and raised concerns he observed regarding the seriousness and scope of the criminal atrocities committed with impunity by armed groups.
The President, according to the Special Adviser, underscored his determination to continue the dialogue with the armed groups, in order to ensure that they put down their weapons.
Further, Dieng urged everyone to condemn the unacceptable manipulations that seek to divide the society, and called on the Government and all parties commit to dialogue, but without sacrificing the need to strengthen the rule of law, to restore good governance and to combat impunity.
Any individual responsible for criminal atrocities or incitement to commit such atrocities will sooner or later have to assume criminal responsibility for their acts and face national or international justice, he stressed.
In the statement, Dieng also condemned attacks against the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (known by its French acronym, MINUSCA) and humanitarian personnel.
Photo: OCHA/Emmanuelle Schneider
Source: www.justearthnews.com
Manila, Oct 14 (IBNS): A Hong Kong-registered freighter sunk in rough seas off the Philippine coast, according to media reports on Saturday.
The media quoting the Japanese coast guard said that the 23 crew members, all Indians, were aboard the 33,205-ton Emerald Star,at the time of the incident.
Ten crew members are missing, according to latest reports.
Search and rescue operations are on by the Philippine and other neighbouring countries in the region.
Cause of the accident is not yet known.
Kabul, Oct 14 (IBNS): At least 10 IS terrorists were killed during clashes in Afghanistan, media reports said on Saturday.
A commander of the terrorist group was reportedly killed during the clash in eastern Kunar province of the country.
The clash occurred after terrorists launched attacks on security check-posts at 3am in Shegay area on the outskirts of Asadabad.
Kunar police chief Maj. Gen. Juma Gul Himmat told Afghanistan's Pajhwok Afghan News that 10 IS rebels were killed, including a notorious commander named Zahir, and four others wounded.
Two policemen were reportedly injured in the clash.
The operation is still going, as per media reports.
Montreal, Oct 14 (IBNS): Montreal actress Erika Rosenbaum has finally gone public with her alleged sexual harassment complaints against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, saying Weinstein harassed her years ago, media reports said.
Rosembaum joined the list of actresses, who have alleged Weinstein of sexually harassing them following a report by The New York Times on October 5, which reported about the producer's alleged sexual misconduct.
The Montreal actress, who was so far mum about the sexual harassment, going back to mid 2000, reached out to the original reporter, Jodi Kantor, to share her own experience.
Thanking the news organisation for publishing the report, she said: "I just wanted to thank her for her reporting and told her that I had a similar experience and it was a relief that it was coming out.
"I felt that speaking out against a predator was the only choice at that point," Rosenbaum added.
Rosenbaum said she was shaken to hear the experiences of other actresses, including one Canadian, which were similar to her own experience.
Revealing her experience to the media, the Montreal actress said that Weinstein approached her aggressively thrice when she was in her early 20s, at a time she was pursuing her career in Los Angeles.
During the third occasion, Rosenbaum alleged the producer held lher by the back of her neck and masturbated while standing behind the actress.
In an interview to a radio station, the actress said she kept the whole episode a secret out of fear that her career will be ruined.
"Theres a great deal of unwarranted shame that youre settled with, she was quoted by CBC News.
"When it comes to the power and the abuse of power that occurs in this kind of relationship, theres a slippery slope where it doesn't take much for someone with influence like Harvey Weinstein to cross a line and for the innocent person to be left holding the bag and wondering what's to be done, she added.
Weinstein, however, denied any such allegations.
Rosenbaum, 37, is credited for her roles in films like The Smurfs 2 and The Trotsky.
(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)
Image: Facebook
Toronto, Oct 14 (IBNS): In a major revelation, a man, who was freed with his family after five years in militant captivity in Afghanistan, has said that people who had captured them had authorized the killing of one of his children and raped his wife.
Joshua Boyle, his wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children were freed from captivity on Thursday.
They were reportedly freed during a mission carried out by Pakistani forces.
"The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, Martyr Boyle," Canadian Boyle was quoted as saying by CNN.
The family reached Toronto city on Friday.
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.
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.
Image: Youtube/Creative Commons
Ottawa, Oct 14 (IBNS): A Canadian man, who has been released along with his family from the Taliban captivity in Afganistan, said the kidnappers had raped his wife and killed one of his children, media reports said.
Joshua Boyle (34) and Caitlan Coleman (31), who were kidnapped by the Taliban linked Haqqani network in 2012 as the couple crossed into Afganistan, reached Canada on Friday.
Coleman was pregnant at a time the couple were kidnapped in 2012 and they had four children in the captivity.
Boyle has also said the captivators killed one of their children.
Interacting with media, Boyle said: "The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter."
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)
Mahadev Gopale leaves his home somewhere in the outskirts of Mumbai in the wee hours for hid daily job, much before the city rises. He represents what Mumbai is made of - hardwork and spirit. Gopale is also one of the mascots of this city. He delivers 'dabbas' to the working class across Mumbai. He has been doing this for decades now so no season or peak-hour time bothers him. However, when the city stopped in the flood, Gopale, against his will, had to stop.
The moment one might have thought that Mumbai rains would make the life slow and might stop the people from continuing with their daily life, the dabbawalas told us what the Mumbai spirit is all about. Despite warnings by the IMD, the dabbawalas are back the very next in business like nothing had happened on the previous one.
The spokesperson and secretary of the Dabbawala Association of Mumbai, Subhash Talekar, is sitting outside the Lower Parel station, coordinating over 50 of his men carrying tiffin boxes back at home. Talekar is the third generation of Dabbawalas in Mumbai and seems quite satisfied with the work he does. He expresses that all they do is feed people on time and feed their families in turn.
Subhash Talekar
The men in white with the classic Nehru topi over their heads can be called as one of the unique features of Mumbai city. With over 5,000 dabbawalas across the city, Talekar happens to be belonging to one of the oldest families in the profession.
The story behind Mumbai's lunch box
Talekar tells us that his grandfather and father have both been in this business, and he is happy being in it too. I joined this business after my father and never have felt the need to go elsewhere. Were just a bunch of people doing our jobs which people find fascinating, he said.
It is not a secret that the dabbawalas and their operating system have been in the syllabus of management schools around the country and world. Every successful business or organization has a backstory, and the dabbawals have theirs too. Their story of the inception of dabbawalas and their occupation dates back about 125 years. For more than a century, thousands of men in white have been roaming the tiniest grime-ridden streets of Mumbai to deliver food of people from their homes to offices on time.
The tale, as narrated by Talekar goes that when Mumbai began to attract workers from everywhere, there were those who had high-profile jobs as well. These people had to go back home for lunch, wasting a lot of time. One day, a Parsi banker wanted the home cooked meal in his office, and therefore assigned the job to the first ever dabbawala. This concept slowly caught pace and became a trend.
The dabbawalas pose outside lower parel station
Instead of just following the bandwagon of going back home for lunch, a new trend rose where people in areas like Fort, Colaba and few other areas of South Mumbai began to demand dabba deliveries from their homes. What began as a small business idea turned into a venture when Mahadeo Havaji Bachche, one of the earliest Dabbawalas post-1890 began lunch delivery service in a team format with a team of 100 dabbawalas.
Delivering Excellence
Mumbaikars who travel via local trains know that the three railway lines Harbour, Central and Western are lifelines to the dabbawalas as well. Initially, the dabbawalas worked on the basis of colour coding in order to identify and deliver the tiffins at the right places. With their expansion, however, alpha numerical is how they follow directions and deliver.
The walls outside stations marked with numbers where the man assigned to the numbered delivery stations and sorts tiffins
This is visible outside all the stations where every morning dabbawalas are seen assembling. People must often wonder what the random numbers written on walls pillars outside railway stations in Mumbai mean. Talekar unravelled this mystery for us by telling us that each number written on the walls or pillars where the dabbawalas assemble are the numbers assigned to each one of them. Each number represents an area from where a tiffin box has to be collected and taken back to. Each tiffin goes through a leader that is assigned by the association so there are no errors in the delivery, he informed us.
Cycling into future?
Mahadeo Pokle, one of the dabbawalas heads towards the customers
We see the large horde of dabbawalas are bustling all around us trying to pick up their right tiffins and deliver them back to the homes they belong to. Within a time span of fifteen minutes, the dabbawalas manage to sort the tiffins out with such finesse, they all look like theyre on autopilot. Some of them get done even earlier and sit down to catch up with their other colleagues for a piece of gossip. This view, is what Mumbai is all about the land of opportunities and dreams, offering a livelihood to everyone who is deemed worthy and ready to reward the tenacious and determined. The dabbawalas are a symbol of grit and the metro itself.
The total weight of the tiffins is as much as 70 Kgs which these men carry
It remains to be seen where the future generations of these tiffin-box delivering men riding their cycles will take this profession. Talekar tells us that there is a high possibility that this profession will decline, slowly, but possibly.
My own son wants to study and have a high-paying job, It is for the uneducated that this profession is a way to earn money with respect. Also, each dabbawala here carries as much as 70 Kg of weight on their head and gets into the train every day. Who in this generation would choose to do such strenuous work every day? he told us.
Rresident Donald Trump, known for making bold statements about terrorism, on Friday said that Pakistan took "tremendous advantage" of the US over the years, but is now "starting to have a real" relationship. These remarks day after Pakistan secured the release of an American-Canadian family from the clutches of the Haqqani terror network, five years after they were abducted.
"Yesterday, things happened with Pakistan," said the US president, "In this administration, we will call evil by its name," Trump said.
reuters
"I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but we're starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan, and they're to respect us as a nation again, and so are other nations," Trump said. "They are starting to respect the United States of America again," he said and thanked the leaders of Pakistan for "what they've been doing".
reuters
American citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle along with their three children were rescued from the Haqqani network yesterday after an operation by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from the US authorities, PTI reported.
Trump had slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so while announcing his Afghan and south Asia policy in August. Trump also 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."
Today, catching a plane is a mundane and almost tiresome task. Add to that annoying co-passengers, cranky babies, uncomfortable seats the list goes on. But some airlines have decided to put a little zing to when you take wing.
Take a look:
1. German Nude Airline
Twitter
Passengers can actually wander around naked on this flight. The airline started this bizarre trend for passengers going on their summer holiday from the German city of Erfurt to a popular Baltic Sea resort.
2. The VietJet Air
Twitter
On this airline, one is welcomed by air hostess wearing a bikini. The firm stirred up a controversy in 2011 when it released a series of images of women dressed only in bikinis as part of an advertising campaign. It quickly became known as the bikini airline and female crew still wear them on special flights.
3. Giant pink plane called GAY
Flickr
In the fight for rainbow rights, Icelands WOW Airline takes the cake. The Reykjavik-based airline launched the hot pink planes in support of LGBT rights. That's a win!
4. Air Malta
maltatoday
For those who are afraid flying, Air Malta is the best bid to ward off the fear. This flight offers services that include complimentary neck, head, and foot massages. It also gives out spa vouchers and beauty products.
5. A Hello Kitty themed airline
mommymusings.com
Hello Kitty, the cat that conquered the world has even taken to the skies! And a Taiwanese airline took Hello Kitty mania to the next level by having designing aircraft interiors around the fantasy feline.
6. North Korea, Air Koryo
TripAdvisor
Air Koryo, the carrier of North Korea, has been named the worlds worst airline. Air hostesses sing patriotic songs through the flight and one cannot watch anything but the leader Kim Jong Un's favourite lectures. Since it started services in the 1950s, the airline has been serving the same kind of burger!
7. Kulula Airlines
kulula.com
Founded in July 2001, this South African low-fare airline that only travels in and around a handful of African countries. Its planes are a funky neon green and also has a humorous tag line on the aircraft that says This way is up!
8. Air New Zealand
airnewzealand
For people flying between New Zealand and Los Angeles, this airline provides something called skycouches or cuddle class. Passengers get to turn their seats into beds or couches.
9. Bearskin Airlines
bearskin
This Canadian airline has the most unusual slogan on the aircraft, which reads, Let the Bear take you there! The airline has no beverage service or bathroom on board. They also have no overhead storage bins and have very limited space under the seat. Yet, this is the most popular airline and offers more than 100 departures daily to 18 destinations in Ontario and Manitoba.
10. Hooters Air
2OceansVibe
In 2003, the restaurant chain Hooters joined the airline business. While it eventually stopped its services, the airlines "delightfully tacky yet unrefined" theme was the centre of everybody's attention. The plane had scantily clad Hooters girls and flight attendants that entertained passengers with trivia games, Hooters merchandise, and assisted with beverage service. The airline shut shop in 2006.
11. La Compagnie
lacompagnie
This French airline provides massage chairs that can be transformed into beds; passengers also get gourmet dishes of your choice, and everyone gets a Samsung tablet The best part? The price of the seat is less than business class!
12. Virgin Atlantic
Twitter
If youre a fan of art, this upper-class flight between London and New York has an in-flight commercial art gallery. It is called the Gallery in the Air, and the exhibit featured many typography-style works by Ben Eine. Passengers on board can take a virtual tour of the art exhibit and purchase some of the art pieces.
13. United Airlines
united
This airline started offering passengers the option of ordering up a ride through their mobile app. They have a mobile app which allows one to get an Uber to bypass the long airport taxi lines. Once you select a ride, the app automatically transfers passengers to the Uber website to sign up for an account to complete the transaction.
14. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
KLM
They actually let people view other passengers Facebook or LinkedIn profile details and see where theyll be sitting. Its called the 'Meet and Seat' service, While it sounds exciting, it's almost glorifying stalking.
The Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, China has been accused of racism after its photo exhibition showed Africans paired with wild animals.
Also read: This Aussie Cricketer Did Not Support His Country During Matches As He Was Subjected To Racism
shanghaiist/youtube
The exhibit, called This Is Africa, displayed a series of photos where an African person was paired with an animal from the wild. In one photo, a child with his mouth wide open was paired with a gorilla. Other animals included cheetahs and baboons.
Also read: Serena Williams Slams Racism Again Says She Has To Be Twice As Good As Maria Sharapova For Being 'Black'
The exhibit was removed after outrage from Africans, including those living in China. All photos were taken by Yu Huiping, a construction magnate.
One of the exhibit's curators, Wang Yuejun explained in their defence that such comparisons with animals were normal in the Chinese culture, as the Chinese zodiac identifies people with animals according to their birth year.
Also read: Abhinav Mukund's Stand Against Racism Finds Support From Skipper Virat Kohli
Over 141,000 people visited the exhibition which opened before the week-long Chinese National Day holiday.
North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said today, citing a government source.
The US navy said on Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme.
Reuters
The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.
The Donga Ilbo daily, quoting a government source, said satellite pictures show ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province.
The US and South Korean military officials suspect the North might be preparing to launch missiles capable of reaching the US territory, the newspaper said.
AFP
This could be the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), whose range could extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles which Pyongyang threatened to fire towards the US Pacific territory of Guam in August, the report said.
Another possibility is that the North might be preparing to test a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it added, that has a longer maximum range than the other two missiles and could potentially reach the US West Coast.
A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report, saying: "We don't comment on any matters of military intelligence".
Reuters
"We are keeping a close watch over the North," he added.
The joint drills led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier come after hectic US military hardware movements around the Korean peninsula in recent days.
These follow a flurry of missiles from Pyongyang, which conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
Yesterday the nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at the southern South Korean port of Busan, just days after another nuclear-powered submarine the USS Tuscon left after a five day visit.
Earlier this week the US flew two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula, staging the first night- time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea.
Reuters
That mission came 17 days after four US F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1Bs flew over the peninsula.
Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said it was "highly likely" that the North could launch missiles in response to next week's joint navy drill.
US President Donald Trump's continued threats of military action against Pyongyang if it does not tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula.
But military intervention against North Korea would have "devastating consequences", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned yesterday, after Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
The Chart of the Day belongs to the financial management and advice partnership Ares Management (ARES) . I found the stock by sorting the Russell 3000 Index stocks first by the most frequent number of new highs in the last month and having a Trend Spotter buy signal then used...
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According to Kurdish TV station, Rudaw, an additional 6,000 Peshmerga forces have been mobilized in Kirkuk to defend from a possible Iraqi threat.
Kurdish TV channel Rudaw has reported that tens of thousands of Kurdish fighters have been deployed in the Kurdistan region of Iraqs capital of Kirkuk to defend the region from possible threats from Iraqi forces.
Tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces are already stationed in and around Kirkuk, said Kurdish Vice President Kosral Rasul. At least 6,000 additional Peshmerga were deployed since Thursday night to face the Iraqi forces threat.
Rasul, a veteran Peshmerga commander was interviewed by Rudaw, and said that there are threats by the Iraqi army that has deployed forces near Kirkuk supposedly to attack Kirkuk. But I dont believe it will be easy for them to do that.
We do not want war, and we seek to solve problems through dialogue, the Kurdish commander continued.
We are not afraid of anyones threats, because the Peshmerga, as it is evident from its name, means dying for victory.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stated that We will not use our army against our people or fight a war against our Kurdish and other citizens, following a warning issued by the Kurdish officials. Officials in Kirkuk claimed that the Iraqi army in conjunction with Shia militias had been planning a major attack.
Rudaw reports that a prominent Shia commander stated that they were on alert to launch an attack on Kirkuk at the command of PM Abadi.
VP Rasul called on the international community to intervene in this matter to make sure that a major conflict does not break out.
Reports about a possible confrontation come during the wake of the controversial independence referendum held in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in which voters voted for an independent Kurdish state.
Baghdad referred to this referendum as illegitimate and unconstitutional.
Dana White, Chief U.S. Defense Department spokesperson, addressed these tensions to reporters and reiterated that the U.S. is focusing efforts on the Islamic State group and encourages both parties to do the same.
The Iraqi government has responded that their forces are mobilizing to attack the Islamic State group and that they do not plan to attack Kurdish forces near Kirkuk.
Via TeleSur
Related video added by Juan Cole:
AFP: Kirkuk: Peshmerga forces prepare to defend themselves
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By Steven Feldstein | (The Conversation) |
When President Donald Trump took office in January, it was unclear whether the bombast from his campaign would translate into an aggressive new strategy against terrorism. At campaign rallies he pledged to bomb the hell out of the Islamic State. He openly mused about killing the families of terrorists, a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits violence against noncombatants.
Ten months into his presidency, a clearer picture is emerging. The data indicate several alarming trends.
According to research from the nonprofit monitoring group Airwars, the first seven months of the Trump administration have already resulted in more civilian deaths than under the entirety of the Obama administration. Airwars reports that under Obamas leadership, the fight against IS led to approximately 2,300 to 3,400 civilian deaths. Through the first seven months of the Trump administration, they estimate that coalition air strikes have killed between 2,800 and 4,500 civilians.
Researchers also point to another stunning trend the frequent killing of entire families in likely coalition airstrikes. In May, for example, such actions led to the deaths of at least 57 women and 52 children in Iraq and Syria.
The vast increase in civilian deaths is not limited to the anti-IS campaign. In Afghanistan, the U.N. reports a 67 percent increase in civilian deaths from U.S. airstrikes in the first six months of 2017 compared to the first half of 2016.
The key question is: Why? Are these increases due to a change in leadership?
Delegating war to the military
Experts offer several explanations.
One holds that Trumps total authorization for the military to run wars in Afghanistan and against IS has loosened Obama-era restrictions and increased military commanders risk tolerance. Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations notes: Those closer to the fight are more likely to call in lethal force and are less likely to follow a value-based approach.
In other words, an intense focus on destroying IS elements may be overriding the competing priority of protecting civilians. Because Trump has scaled back civilian oversight and delegated authority to colonels rather than one-star generals, the likely result is higher casualties.
Urban battlefield?
A second explanation points to the changing nature of the counter-IS campaign. The Pentagon contends that the rise in casualties is attributable to the change in location of battlefield operations towards more densely populated urban environments like Mosul and Raqqa.
This is a partial truth. While urban warfare has increased, Trumps team has substantially escalated air strikes and bombings. According to CENTCOM data, the military has already used 20 percent more missiles and bombs in combined air operations in 2017 than in all of 2016. One notable airstrike in March, for example, killed 105 Iraqi civilians when U.S. forces dropped a 500-pound bomb in order to take out two snipers in Mosul. In fact, a Human Rights Watch analysis of bomb craters in West Mosul estimates that U.S. coalition forces are routinely using larger and less precise bombs weighing between 500 and 1,000 pounds than in prior operations. Finally, the urban battlefield explanation also does not account for increased civilian deaths in Afghanistan from airstrikes, where the environment has remained static for several years.
Pressure from the president
A third explanation of higher civilian casualties is that aggressive rhetoric from the president is inadvertently pressuring the military to take more risks and to deprioritize protecting civilians.
As former Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski observes: If your leaders are emphasizing the high value of Raqqa and Mosul, while saying less about the strategic and moral risks of hurting civilians, its going to affect your judgment. Words matter, especially coming from the commander-in-chief. In the face of such aggressive rhetoric, it should not come as a surprise that military officers feel encouraged if not indirectly pressured to take greater risks.
Unfortunately, the increased trend of civilian casualties is unlikely to diminish. In fact, signs abound that the White House is developing a new set of policies and procedures that will authorize more sweeping discretion to the military. In September, The New York Times reported that White House officials were proposing two major rules changes. First, they would expand the scope of kill missions and allow for the targeting of lower-level terrorists in addition to high value targets. Second and more notably they would suspend high-level vetting of potential drone attacks and raids.
These changes represent a sharp about-face. The Obama administration carefully crafted a deliberate set of rules guiding the use of force. In 2013, Obama released the Presidential Policy Guidance for Approving Direct Action Against Terrorist Targets (PPG), which created specific rules for determining when the use of force against terrorists was legally justified.
Then, in 2016, Obama issued an executive order on civilian harm that established heightened standards to minimize civilian casualties from military actions, and required the public release of information pertaining to strikes against terrorist targets.
While the latest actions from the Trump administration stop short of reversing Obama-era restraints, they are unsettling steps in the opposite direction. For example, it appears for now that the White House will preserve the near certainty standard, which requires commanders to have near certainty that a potential strike will not impact civilians. But this could change over time.
One senior official quoted in The New York Times article bluntly asserts that the latest changes are intended to make much of the bureaucracy created by the Obama administration rules disappear. As the White House dissolves the existing bureaucracy and relinquishes civilian oversight, Trump is embarking on a slippery slope that will potentially lead to major diminutions of civilian protection.
The current battle to take the Syrian city of Raqqa is emblematic of the stakes at hand. The U.S. is leading a punishing air war to soften IS defenses. In August, U.S. forces dropped 5,775 bombs and missiles onto the city. For context, this represented 10 times more munitions than the U.S. used for the whole of Afghanistan in the same month and year. The resulting civilian toll has been gruesome. At least 433 civilians likely died in Raqqa due to the August bombings, more than double the previous months total. Since the assault on Raqqa commenced on June 6, more than 1,000 civilians have been reported killed.
U.N. human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein cautions that the intense bombardment has left civilians caught between ISs monstrosities and the fierce battle to defeat it. Zeid insists that civilians must not be sacrificed for the sake of rapid military victories.
Trump would be wise to heed this warning. Even as U.S. forces continue to turn the tide on IS, the trail of destruction left in the campaigns wake is unsettling. The specter of massive civilian casualties will remain a rallying point for new terrorist organizations long after anti-IS operations conclude.
Steven Feldstein, Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs & Associate Professor, School of Public Service, Boise State University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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Related video added by Juan Cole:
PBS NewsHour from last week: Battle to retake Raqqa inches toward conclusion
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |
The Trump administration (actually UN Ambassador and far right Evangelical Nikki Haley) has decertified Iran from compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or Nuclear Deal of 2015. It would be interesting to know how many of Haleys stupid and inaccurate talking points were provided by Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu and Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
The decertification means very little, since Iran is not actually in violation of the agreement and anyway it was concluded with the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, Russia, Britain, France and the USA), not just with Washington. A US certification is not even mentioned in the deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency is the body responsible for certifying Iranian compliance, and it has repeatedly so affirmed.
Ominously, the former head of the IAEA, Mohammed Albaradei, who pointed out in spring of 2003 that the George W. Bush administrations case for going to war against Iraq was bogus has weighed in on this new warmongering ploy:
Trump ignoring IAEA inspection findings re Irans compliance w/ nuclear deal brings to mind run up to Iraq war. Will we ever learn? #JCPOA Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) October 13, 2017
The JCPOA is narrowly focused on Irans nuclear enrichment program, which Tehran has all along maintained is only for the purpose of producing fuel for its nuclear power plants at Bushehr. It denied to Iran a heavy water reactor, which is far easier to use to collect fissile material than light water reactors. It limited the number of centrifuges to 6,000. It limited the amount of uranium enriched to 19.5% for the Iranian medical reactor (which makes isotopes for treating cancer) that can be stockpiled in usable form. And it subjected Iran to the most stringent inspection regime ever imposed on any country.
Iran is observing all four of these conditions.
The Trump-Haley fake news document that challenges Irans compliance does not actually deny that Iran is complying with the JCPOA. Trump incorrectly asserts that military bases have not been inspected. The IAEA inspectors visited the Parchin base in 2015. It is not part of the regular inspections because the JCPOA excludes military bases. In fact the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty excludes military bases, at the insistence of the US and the then USSR. So Washington has only itself to blame. In any case, that objection is a red herring, since the inspectors can ask to visit Parchin at any time and would be allowed to do so. They deliberately arent making the request these days because they do not want to give the impression that the Trumpies have a leg to stand on with this critique.
The list of grievances Trump/Haley present against Iran have nothing to do with the nuclear deal. They dont like Irans ballistic missile development program. Im not sure why, since Iran has nothing impressive to put in the warheads except dumb bombs, which it would be brain dead to launch against nuclear-armed Israel or even against Saudi Arabia, which has a US defense umbrella.
The US complaints also include Iranian support for Hizbullah and intervention in Syria, which Trump and Haley are pleased to call terrorism. But if that is such a bad thing then why not also sanction Vladimir Putin, who is doing the same things in Syria and giving air support to Hizbullah and other Shiite militias? And why is it so bad for Iran to prop up Bashar al-Assad if Trump himself said that Arabs need a strongman at the helm and it is all right with him if al-Assad stays and Putin takes care of Syria? The Haley indictment of Iran has an oddly Neoconservative ring that ill fits with Trumps positions and ends up condemning Der Donald as much as anyone else.
Not to mention that it has come out that the US saw ISIL growing in eastern Syria and let it do so because they thought it would pressure al-Assad. So who was complicit with terrorism in Syria? Not Hizbullah and Iran, the most effective fighters against ISIL. (Trump and Haley are so ignorant that they do not know that ISIL and al-Qaeda more generally are hyper-Sunni fanatics who have a genocidal attitude toward Shiites such as Iranians, and they even try to implicate Iran in 9/11, which is Alex Jones conspiracy-theory territory).
And they want to sanction the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, escalating the covert struggle between Irans national guard and the US security agencies. (Though note that the US military has been de facto allied with the IRGC in Iraq in the fight against ISIL. Maybe now that ISIL is nearly over with as a state, the long knives have come out among the victors?)
The Trump decertification asks the US Congress to make foreign policy, which is not how I remember the Constitution.
As for the likely impact, it will be to bolster the hard liners in Iran like the IRGC and to isolate the US as a rogue nation.
Trumps move immensely strengthens Khamenei and the IRGC in Iranian politics and flushes President Hassan Rouhani and other centrists down the toilet.
If the goal were to get Iran out of Syria, this way of proceeding forestalls success. Lots of Iranians are embarrassed to be supporting a Baath regime in Damascus, and as the ISIL threat receded so too might have public willingness to incur casualties for the sake of al-Assad.
But now any such calls would be branded as treason in the service of USA imperialism, and successfully so.
Regionally, moreover, the Iraqi government would collapse without IRGC support, and since it increasingly doesnt need the US, will likely distance itself from Washington over time, increasing rather than decreasing Iranian influence. This will especially be true if Kurds declare independence and are kicked out of the Baghdad government, leaving Arab Iraq 80% Shiite. Nouri al-Maliki already has attempted a vote of no confidence against the Kurdish president. The US has powerful ties of clientelage to Erbil (the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan) and if Baghdad thinks it is insufficiently hard on Barzani, that will be another wedge. Muqtada al-Sadr and other nationalists who want the US back out will be strengthened.
Outgoing German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel observed that if Iran continues to be compliant, wed now see Europe lining up with Russia and China against the US on the Iran issue. And sure enough, Britain, Germany and France issued a statement today standing behind the nuclear deal and declining to go along with Trump.
In short, this step profoundly weakens the United States internationally and strengthens the worst elements in Iran.
-
Related video:
Iran nuclear deal: Trump vows not to sign off agreement BBC News
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Oct. 13, 2017) - Maya Gold & Silver ("Maya" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:MYA) reports a monthly production of 46,331 ounces (1,441Kg) of silver during the month of September 2017 at its Zgounder silver mine in Morocco. This constitutes an improvement over the previous months, and the production is now reaching the Company's objective of 45,000 to 55,000 ounces of silver per month.
Flotation cells will be integrated to the processing circuit by the end of Q1 2018, increasing the tonnage of ore processed from 187 t/day to up to 500 t/day (a 267% increase) and reducing the processing costs by 15%.
September 2017 Production Highlights
A silver production of 46,331 ounces representing a increase of 10.22% relative to August 2017;
A total of 4,972 tons of dry materiel was processed, yielding a 18% increase compared to the previous month;
A total recovery rate of 86% was attained, an improvement over previous months;
Production information
Month of September % Production information
for nine months ending on September 30, % 2017 2016 Var. 2017 2016 Var. Tonnage of dry material processed (t) 4,972 4,961 .22 39,523.2 43,678 -9.51 Average grade processed (g/t Ag) 336.23 330.80 1.64 358.61 346.73 3.43 Metal produced (kg) 1,441 1,360 5.96 11,947.54 12,085.48 -1.14 Ounces of silver ingots produced 46,331 43,082 5.96 384,122 388,832 -1.21 Average recovery rate (%) 86.2 80.87 6.59 84.3 79.79 5.64
Development highlights at the Zgounder Mine
During the month of September, 5,404 t of ore material were extracted, from the mine at an average sampled grade of 382.4 g/t Ag, of which an estimated 2,400 t were stockpiled.
Level 2000 underwent excavation and blasting of Corps D along EW-oriented mineralized structures, of panels 8 and 9 and of Corps B south. Excavation and blasting also occurred at the 2000W level.
The enlarging of level 2125 was performed to initiate backfilling of Corps Y and start prospection and research work. Production at mining site P9 began this month. Two exploration surface diamond drill holes were completed and produced a total of 822 m of core material.
Separately, Maya is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Mpoyi Musampa CPA, CGA, as its new Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Musampa is a member of the Ordre des CPA du Quebec, he holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) and a post-graduate degree in accounting from the University of Sherbrooke. During his career, Mr. Musampa has developed expertise in the mining sector, holding finance and operating roles with several public junior mining companies. Currently a member of the Young Leaders' Circle of the International Economic Forum of the Americas, Mr. Musampa was a member of Youth Canadians in Finance, Vice-President Finance at the Youth Chamber of Commerce of Montreal and Treasurer for several organizations.
Qualified Persons
The technical content of this news release has been provided by Zgounder Millenium Silver Mining and has been reviewed and approved by Michel Boily, PhD, geo from GEON; an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101 standards.
ABOUT MAYA
Maya Gold & Silver Inc. is a Canadian publicly listed mining corporation focused on the exploration and development of gold and silver deposits in Morocco. Maya is initiating mining and milling operations at its Zgounder Mine owned by Zgounder Millenium Silver Mining, a Maya 85% owned joint venture with l'Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines of the Kingdom of Morocco (15%).
Stuff reports:
Political parties should be required to use consistent, independent methods to give firm details of the financial cost of the policies they promise, think tank NZIER says. Principal economist Peter Wilson said the public needed to understand the impact of parties fiscal promises before they went to vote. He said much of the recent election campaign was tied up in arguments about how the costs of various policies and pledges were determined, not whether the parties intentions had merits. New Zealanders deserve better that. We propose that before the next election, New Zealand establish a transparent system that will allow voters to judge the costs of promises based on independent and consistent information. We also propose that each election a Parliamentary Commissioner for Policy Costings should be appointed. The commissioner would be an eminent person appointed for a limited period who would have the assistance of experts from the Treasury to undertake detailed costings.
A great idea. The Greens support this, to their credit. National and Labour should do the same. Voters deserve to know how much a partys promises will cost.
In the absence of official costings, the Taxpayers Union did ballpark estimates of costs and they were eye wateringly large especially for NZ First.
He said the fact there is no official requirement for political policies to be costed by anyone independent made New Zealand something of an outlier. In Australia, details of the costs of parties promises are provided on a website. Larger parties sometimes will get things costed by outsiders but then you get, like Labour did, debate about how their spreadsheets were put together. New Zealand had world-class systems to hold the government to account for its fiscal policies once it was elected, but no requirement for how political parties made election promises, he said. New Zealand isnt at the cutting edge of best practice New Zealand has a Rolls Royce system with what the government is doing but a tricycle with what happens at elections. There seems to be quite an odd disparity.
Its too late to have this in place for 2017 but would be great for 2020. Could be a great members bill from a Green MP.
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Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) President Shin Sung-chul, left, and Murat Sonmez, head of the World Economic Forum's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, speak during a press conference at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap
By Yoon Sung-won
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) pledged to boost cooperation with the government, enterprises and the World Economic Forum (WEF) to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The institute hosted a roundtable, "The Future of Jobs and Inclusive Growth in Korea," with the WEF in Seoul, Friday, to discuss how to handle conundrums such as the replacement of people at workplaces by intelligent robots.
"Unlike previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is much faster and is unpredictable. We need new governance models for technologies while minimizing existing regulations," said Murat Sonmez, head of the WEF's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
"We need to include societies, governments, public organizations, private enterprises, startups and academia to co-design such models through global efforts. Ethics and influences on the job market should also be taken into consideration."
Sonmez said nine factors blockchain, internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, cross-border data flow, drones, 3D printing, autonomous driving, environment and precision medicine will take center stage in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In particular, he said the blockchain, which is a cybersecurity technology for online financial transactions, will bring even bigger change than the "World Wide Web" has done over the last three decades.
"To this end, we will have to closely work with major academic institutes," he said. "Through the partnership with KAIST, we will make the fruits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution benefit Koreans and Korean society."
KAIST President Shin Sung-chul said, "Two decades later, we will live with considerable number of robots around us. It is possible that our societies in the future will consist of Homo sapiens and robo sapiens. We need to create new jobs for Homo sapiens to prepare for a society that we will have to coexist with robo sapiens."
Doosan Group Vice Chairman Lee Hyun-soon, who has been invited to represent the business sector, pointed out that the introduction of intelligent automation systems faces objection from unions.
"Unions don't like the introduction of such technologies," he said. "We are not alone to face such a problem. This is a matter that all industries and the whole countries should think about to realize the Fourth Industrial Revolution."
Lee said businesses also undergo difficulties in hiring experts in sensor devices, AI and big data analysis due to a lack of such human resources.
"We need to help workers with simple jobs have training to become high-caliber professionals who are capable of handling new technologies," he said.
The KAIST president said industries need continuing short-term education to retrain workers for the changing industrial landscape of the future.
Polymers are materials made of long, repeating chains of molecules. The materials have unique properties, depending on the type of molecules being bonded and how they are bonded. Some polymers bend and stretch, like rubber and polyester. Others are hard and tough, like epoxies and glass.
Polymers touch almost every aspect of modern life. Chances are most people have been in contact with at least one polymer-containing product from water bottles to gadgets to tires in the last five minutes.
The term polymer is often used to describe plastics, which are synthetic polymers. However, natural polymers also exist; rubber and wood, for example, are natural polymers that consist of a simple hydrocarbon, isoprene, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Proteins are natural polymers made up of amino acids, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are polymers of nucleotides complex molecules composed of nitrogen-containing bases, sugars and phosphoric acid, for example.
Chemical reactions
Hermann Staudinger, a professor of organic chemistry at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (University of Applied Sciences) in Zurich, is the father of modern polymer development. His research in the 1920s led the way to modern manipulations of both natural and synthetic polymers. He coined two terms that are key to understanding polymers: polymerization and macromolecules, according to the American Chemical Society (ACS). He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1953 "for his discoveries in the field of macromolecular chemistry."
Polymerization is the method of creating synthetic polymers by combining smaller molecules, called monomers, into a chain held together by covalent bonds, according to ThoughtCo., an online educational resource. Various chemical reactions those caused by heat and pressure, for example alter the chemical bonds that hold monomers together, according to Scientific American. The process causes the molecules to bond in a linear, branched or network structure, resulting in polymers.
These chains of monomers are also called macromolecules. Most polymer chains have a string of carbon atoms as a backbone. A single macromolecule can consist of hundreds of thousands of monomers, according to the Polymer Science Learning Center.
Uses of polymers
Polymers are used in almost every area of modern living. Grocery bags, soda and water bottles, textile fibers, phones, computers, food packaging, auto parts, and toys all contain polymers.
Even more-sophisticated technology uses polymers. For example, "the membranes for water desalination, carriers used in controlled drug release and biopolymers for tissue engineering all use polymers," according to the ACS.
Popular polymers for manufacturing include polyethylene and polypropylene. Their molecules can consist of 10,000 to 200,000 monomers.
During a polymerization reaction, a large number of monomers become connected by covalent bonds to form a single long molecule, a polymer. (Image credit: LibreTexts)
Future of polymers
Researchers are experimenting with many different types of polymers, aiming to further medicine development and enhance products we already use.
For example, carbon polymers are being developed and enhanced for the automotive industry.
"Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites also called carbon-fiber laminates are the next-generation materials for making cars lighter, more fuel efficient and safer," according to a 2016 Live Science column by Nikhil Gupta, an associate professor, and Steven Zeltmann, a student researcher, both in the Composite Materials and Mechanics Laboratory of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at New York University Tandon School of Engineering. "Carbon laminate is extremely strong and stiff because of its woven layers of nearly pure carbon fibers bonded together by a hardened plastic, such as epoxy resin." [The Carbon-Fiber Future: It's About More Than Speed]
Polymers are also being used to enhance holograms. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania created a hologram on flexible polymer material called PDMA that was embedded with gold nanorods, according to a study published online in early 2017 in the journal Nano Letters. This new hologram device can hold several images instead of just one.
"The question we asked is, 'Can we encode multiple bits of information in a hologram?'" Ritesh Agarwal, research leader and professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, told Live Science. "It's an important piece of work, because it's the first time someone's shown you can record multiple holographic images, and by just stretching the polymer, you can basically change the image."
Artificial skin made of a silicone polymer may be the future of anti-aging efforts. In the form of two creams, the polymer may be able to tighten a person's skin, reduce the appearance of wrinkles and diminish under-eye bags, according to a study published May 2016 in the journal Nature Materials. Such artificial skin may also be used to help those with skin conditions, such as eczema, or be used as sun block.
"We are excited about it; it is a brand-new material," study co-author Robert Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Live Science.
Additional resources
Elisha Owusu Akyaw is only 16 years and a second year student of Legon Presbyterian Boys Secondary School, but you are not far from right to call him an expert in cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency is defined as a digital designed to work as a meduim of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency.
Confused?
Let's break it down, Cryptocurrency is digital money which you keep in your digital wallet. Something similar to mobile money.
Created in 2009, Bitcoin was the first decentralised cryptocurrency and since it's inception other cryptocurrencies are in use over the world.
The first time I met Elisha Owusu Akyaw was at a workshop organised by Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA), in Accra on Open resources.
He was one of the facilitators. His role was to expose participants to the world of cryptocurrencies. Just 5 minutes into his session, participants were awed by his expertise, effortless delivery and his depth of knowledge on cryptocurrencies.
Listening to him, one would think a much older person is leading the session but his teenage looks subtly gives him away.
Owusu Akyaw got into the technology space in 2013 when he was only 12 years and had recieved a mobile phone which could access the internet after using a Nokia 3310.
"So I got access to the internet and started exploring what operating systems and websites were all about. I learned how to create websites on my own through Youtube," Owusu Akyaw told Modernghana.com, in an interview.
"The journey of web development exposed me to open resources such as Firefox by Mozilla which pushed me to volunteer for the community locally," he added.
He has been called to speak on a couple of occasions with his significant one being a presentation at the Software Freedom Day 2015 in Accra.
He built one of the first commercial blogs for Firefox OS ( Mozilla's mobile operating System), called firefoxcentral.com but had to explore other areas when the Firefox project was discontinued which landed him into cryptocurrencies.
"I have been into cryptocurencies for almost three years now. The whole idea of financial freedom and an entire economy based on the internet appealed to my curiosity and caused me to invesatigate about Bitcoins and cryptocurrency as a whole."
Most Ghanaians at his age will probably be focused on normal schooling but he has decided to set himself apart.
"From childhood, I have always wanted to understand things in-depth. I love to know how and why things were made and what it will look like in future."
Additionally, he started the first commercial (worldwide) Dash blog called "The Dash Times" and later to PIVXtimes.com, in early 2015. Akyaw also started working with PIVX (Private Instant Verified Transaction) in 2016.
"PIVX is a digital currency which when adopted will be useful for Africans. The private nature of these transactions will allow us achieve true financial freedom," he further said.
He is curently working to set a cryptocurrency marketing firm called, Token Media and is looking forward to educate Africans on cryptocurrency.
To him, Ghana has a future with cryptocurrencies because untill recently, Ghana was leading the list of countries with the most interest in Bitcoin according to numbers from Google search.
This according to Owusu Akyaw, dipicts the growing interest for an alternative to what he calls weak financial systems backed by the traditional currency. He however, was quick to add that cryptocurrencies are the answers to the poor policies that continue to put the people and resources at risk.
"It's just a matter of time before mass adoption of digital currencies happens in Ghana." he concluded.
Ghana is set to host the first-ever Block Chain Conference on November 16, 2017, at the Golden Tulip.
Blockchain is the digital distributed ledger technology for recording ordered set of crypto-currency transactions securely including Bitcoin, Etherum and others.
Photo credit - legendary photography
14.10.2017 LISTEN
The style a Ghanaian bride would wear for their traditional marriage ceremoney is easily predictable ahead of the event these days, thanks to Off the Shoulder trend.
To say Off the Shoulder style is having a moment, is to put it mildly. Ladies could be seen rocking it in different versions and for varying occassion.
It has eventually warmed its way up to the hearts of Ghanaian brides making it the prefered style for traditional marriage ceremonies.
While some prefer to sew the style plainly with kente, others prefer to embelish with beads and lace among others.
" Off the Shoulder is the most prefered style for brides because a lot of necklines and sleeves can be created out of it. It also gives a perfect finish as it reveals the neck line areas to the shoulders," fashion designer with 10 years, Selasi Borbor of Selasi Afrique said in an interview with Modernghana.com.
According to Ama Ohenewaa of Porchlines,"Kente is already heavy and colourful, so there is no need to sew complicated styles like adding sleeves, collar and so on. Brides prefer Off the Shoulder style because it makes their kente looks simple and nice."
Ohenewaa believes the style is going to be around for a long while but adviced brides who don't want the style of the moment to opt for a peplum top with high neck and a cup sleeve.
"Off the shoulder is chic and shows a little skin which gives room for accessories.With the type of hairstyles for brides these days, Off the Shoulder compliments it, adding that, the style is cut to fit all body types and it is trending worldwide, Mrs Salome Amoako, CEO of Anfashion by Sally observed.
Modernghana.com, further spoke to some women who opted for the style on thier big day.
"Because I'm busty and have a broad chest, this style compliments my look better, according to my fashion designer. The details in front of my 'kaba' fits perfectly with my style," said Mrs Christiana Abugah who got married April, 2017.
Nana Yaa didn't choose the style for any particular reason." I only wanted to look good and stylish," she said.
Judith Owusu Ansah got married in 2016 and had no other style sewn for her kente than Off the Shoulder." You need to feel free on your big day so you don't have to wear anything that will make you uncomfortable, the reason why I opted for this style."
The views expressed above is probably why most Ghanaians love to rock this style for their big day.
Some have nicknamed it the bridal uniform but what other style should brides switch to?
I was flabbergasted when I read news reports earlier today that Professor Adei - the former rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) - had tried to stop the vice-president's convoy on the Accra-Cape Coast highway. Incredible.
One hopes that the said news story is "inaccurate" (to quote the ever-so-charming Manyhia Palace spin doctors' favourite word at the moment).
Apparently, Professor Adei had felt so outraged by the number of vehicles he counted in the vice-president's convoy that he apparently said was travelling to Cape Coast - and had wanted to halt it so he could ask the vice-president to reduce the number of vehicles that accompany him when he travels around the country. Amazing.
Well, be that as it may, one can understand the frustration of the Professor Adeis in our midst. However, in an age of global terrorism, they ought to resort to other means of protest in such matters, for their own good, if they are wise.
Anyone approaching such a convoy risks losing his or her life. Simple. If it had occurred in either the U.S. or the UK, chances are that Professor Adei might actually have been shot dead by those guarding a travelling VVIP's vehicle.
In the extremely dangerous times we now live in, it is vital that all Ghanaians understand clearly that our nation's leaders do not personally determine how their safety is assured by the security agencies, when in office, during their tenures.
Perforce they must follow the expert advice of the security agencies in all such matters - be they: district or metropolitan chief executives; members of Parliament; government ministers; vice-president; or even president of the Republic of Ghana. Full stop.
With respect, what that usually very sensible academician who now lectures at the excellent and prestigious Ashesi University College (one of Africa's best universities, incidentally), did was extremely foolish on that particular occassion.
Professor Adei was unwittingly putting himself in grave danger when he sought to halt the vice-president's convoy in the manner he supposedly described to the media.
The question is: What if the security detail escorting Bawumia had felt that the professor represented a threat to the vice-president and thus shot him dead - perhaps because in a split-second judgment they had come to the conclusion that he was an unhinged suicide bomber on a car-bombing mission to assassinate the vice-president?
In future, Professor Adei would be wise to use the media for such one-man protests. Same for other people in our homeland Ghana harbouring such dangerous and extreme public-protest ideas too. In an age of terrorism the security of our leaders is not something to be toyed with. Ever. Haaba.
Three suspects have been arrested and handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), of the Ghana Police Service for their alleged involvement in an armed attack on the entourage of the Mankrado of Gomoa Fetteh Kakraba in the Central Region.
The three, whose names have been withheld, shot several times at seven men, including officials of the Chief of the area, Nana Yaw Kumedi II, and three surveyors who had been sent by the Chief to the Twidan Royal family land situated at Essien.
Three of the victims, Addo, Tetteh and Kwasi Kakraba, sustained various degrees of bullet injury, and have been admitted at the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital for treatment.
A police source explained that, on Friday morning, the seven men were returning from the royal land after an official assignment there ordered by the Chief.
He said on their way back, twenty men on motorbikes, believed to be land guards, armed with AK 47 assault rifles and pump action guns, attacked them and fired at them indiscriminately.
When police arrived at the scene, the assailants had escaped, but three of them were later arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack.
The police collected from the scene nineteen empty shells of AK 47 assault rifles, and eight shells off BB cartridges which will be used in their investigations.
Calm has since been restored in the area.
By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Zoomlion Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility wing of the Jospong Group of Companies, has commemorated Global Handwashing Day with its partners, notably the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA).
The day was observed with pageantry at the Adjei Kojo Methodist School in the Ashiaman Municipality, Friday with pupils of different Junior and Senior High Schools taking turns with a sketch on the importance of handwashing to human survival.
The theme for this years programme, Our Hands Our Future, could not have come at a better time when cholera is still killing many Ghanaians.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Executive of Community Water and Sanitation Agency, Engineer Worlanyo Kwadwo Siabi, said the theme is a great reminder to everyone, especially children about the need to wash hands at all times in order to protect human lives, build a better future for individuals, communities and the world at large.
He charged all stakeholders to join in the celebration so as to create better awareness about the need to wash hands and demonstrate the value for clean hands.
Sanitation Clubs
As part of efforts to ensure personal hygiene as well as clean environment, the Zoomlion Foundation is running environmental sanitation clubs in schools.
A section of the schools were present at the Adjei Kojo Methodist School to showcase the knowledge they have acquired over the period.
In a solidarity message, the Programmes Officer at the Zoomlion Foundation, Thomas Narh Korley, underscored the need for collaboration between state agencies, private sector, NGOs and Education Institutions to spread awareness messages about the need to wash hands with Soap.
When done this will expand access to handwashing equipment, clean water and soap, to encourage participation, he said.
He said the Zoomlion Foundation, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service has established Sanitation Clubs in over 400 schools in Ghana as part of efforts to increase sanitation across the country.
The clubs are called Zoomkids in basic schools and Zoom Ambassadors in senior high schools. Some of the students were present with sketches, placards all calling for the need to wash hands with soap and to ensure higher sanitation.
Global Handwashing Day seeks to raise awareness about the importance of handwashing, and encourage action to promote and sustain handwashing habits.
Handwashing with soap is essential to child survival, minimises gastrointestinal diseases and reduces government spending on health care.
Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com
Driven by its core value to ensure an improvement in the lives of Communities in which it operates, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine on Friday, 13th October, 2017 donated a used pay Loader Truck and an IVECO Bitumen Truck estimated at about USD$ 200.000.00 to the Obuasi Municipal Assembly.
Receiving the items on behalf of the good people of Obuasi, the Municipal Chief Executive, Honorable Elijah Adansi Bonnah commended the management of Anglo Gold Ashanti for the donation. He said the donation was borne out of a fruitful interaction he had with the General Manager and Managing Director of Anglo Gold Ashanti Ghana, Mr. Eric Asubonteng and his management team immediately after he assumed Office as the MCE. He promised AGA of the Assemblys unflinching support at all times and especially as they are getting to restart the mine.
On the benefits of the two trucks to the Municipality, the rather affable politician said the trucks would help in filling potholes and other road maintenance works as well as to handle waste materials at the Municipals rubbish dump site.
Nana Ampofo Bekoe, the Sustainability Manager of Anglo Gold Ashanti who led the team from AGA to do the presentation, said the company was motivated by one of their operational values which is to ensure that there is an improvement in the standard of living of the people in the communities where AGA operates.
He also revealed that though the mining company had the option of getting some funds through auctioning of those trucks, they considered the needs of the Municipality as paramount. He expressed hope that the two trucks would go a long way to assist in the development of the Municipality.
The donation of the two trucks to the Assembly forms part of series of donations by Anglogold Ashanti to key institutions in the Municipality including Ghana Police Service and the Municipal Education Directorate.
The Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of petroleum, Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has affirmed Governments commitment to support institutions that trains Ghanaian workforce to operate in the Oil and Gas industry.
Dr. Amin Adam, made this known when he paid a working visit to the Regional Maritime University (RMU) in Accra to, amongst other things, get himself acquainted with the activities of the university, interact with university authorities and inspect engineering equipment procured and installed by the Oil and Gas Capacity Building Project (OGCBP) for RMU.
According to the Deputy Minister, it is important that Ghanaians acquire requisite skills needed to be at the forefront of Ghanas petroleum industry.
He further indicated that Government will soon rollout a new programme dubbed the Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity Building Programme, to build capacity of state institutions and improve local content in the petroleum sector.
We are through with the concept and we will soon submit it to Cabinet for approval he said.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Elvis K. Nyarko thanked the Deputy Minister for visiting RMU.
He then indicated that the OGCBP has provided them with state of the art equipment to build capacity to support the local content policy and also train Ghanaians to operate in the sector.
This will enable us to train more people and bring them up to a level where they can be properly certified he said.
He further indicated that, RMU is now well equipped to provide training in both the petroleum upstream and downstream sectors.
Prof. Nyarko also expounded the significant contributions that RMU is making in Ghanas petroleum industry.
RMU is contributing to producing critical human resources needed for Ghanas oil and gas industry. We collaborate with industry to ensure that those who get trained with us get work easily he added.
Project Coordinator of the OGCBP, Mr. Alex Kyei, indicated that the Ministry is collaborating with RMU to train 500 welders in order for them to be certified.
The Deputy Minister and his entourage including the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr. Lawrence Apaalse, toured the Well Control Simulator Lab, Process Operator Simulator Lab, Drilling Fluids Lab and Electrical Lab of the university.
There was tight security at the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the party's plush office complex at Adabraka, Accra, on Thursday.
The party introduced strict security measures for members attending the meeting, because it did not want any member to leak information from the very important meeting, which took a decision on its timetable for electing officers at the various levels.
Thorough Search
According to a source at the party's headquarters, the NEC members were subjected to thorough search at the entrance, to the embarrassment of some of them.
Unconfirmed report says NDC stalwart, Ato Ahwoi, who could not stand it, allegedly walked out in anger.
Before the meeting started, the party's security detail reportedly prevented visitors from entering the premises and all NEC members were not allowed to enter with their mobile phones or any other gadgets.
They were then said to have been screened with metal detectors, in spite of vehement protests by some of the committee members.
The party's leadership had been incensed following the recent leakage of the report of the Professor Kwesi Botchwey Committee that investigated why the NDC embarrassingly lost the December 7, 2016 general elections.
The 65-page Executive Summary of the 455-page report, which the NDC is keeping like a state secret, was leaked to the media, forcing some of the executives to attempt to play down on the significance of the contents of the report, albeit unsuccessfully. DAILY GUIDE will resume the publication of the report next week.
Presidential Support
According to the report, John Dramani Mahama's presidency schemed for Kofi Portuphy and Kofi Adams to become National Chairman and National Organizer respectively of the NDC a factor the 13-member Prof Kwesi Botchwey committee report claims contributed to the disastrous defeat of the party.
Immediately that was done, the party's machinery collapsed and never recovered, according to the executive summary of the report.
Sycophantic Executives
The report says with the election of the two leading officers, the party's hierarchy became sycophants and did the bidding of the presidency instead of concentrating on how it would remain in office.
Kofi Adams and Kofi Portuphy were beneficiaries of the presidency machinations during the Kumasi Congress to elect them, the report reveals on Page 27.
It adds on page 28 that after the party's congress in Kumasi, the party's hierarchy collapsed, saying, party hierarchy became sycophantic in its relationship with the government.
Kofi Adams unseated incumbent Yaw Boateng Gyan as National Organizer while Mr Portuphy removed then Chairman Dr. Kwabena Adjei aka Wayo Wayo or cat hunter, from office in an acrimonious congress of the party held in Kumasi in December, 2014.
Stolen Party Cash
The report recounts instances where some greedy party executives put in-charge of Mahama's second term bid, stole campaign cash and denied the NDC foot soldiers their share of the cake.
According to the report, President Mahama let himself down with his attitude towards the campaign, saying, John Mahama lost the elections and not the NDC.
President Mahama ignored the Akuse strategy. It included no flamboyant campaign, no amorphous group etc.
The report revealed that then President Mahama, seeking re-election, carried himself like a 'movie star' and surrounded himself with aides who were intolerant to dissenting views.
Disastrous Solomon Nkansah
The report also asserts that the reign of Solomon Nkansah as the Communications Officer of the party was disastrous.
Mr Solomon Nkansah was the National Propaganda Secretary before the NDC turned the propaganda office into communication when the party moved into its $20 million office complex which the top hierarchy vehemently denied owning in 2014.
Solomon Nkansah as Communications Director was a disaster, the report claims on Page 28.
Party Disconnection
According to the report, there was disconnection between the government and the party, and also there was disconnection between the party and the grassroots.
The report says there were palpable divisions in the party and cited Afram Plains in the Eastern Region as typical example.
It points out that the 13-member committee heard how the party's hierarchy ignored warnings that the Lawra seat in the Upper West Region and other constituencies were falling into the hands of the opposition, but nobody did anything about it.
Greed & Selfishness
NDC was its own enemy. Greedy, selfish, dismissive, arrogance of power, were the party's undoing according to the report on Page 27.
By William Yaw Owusu
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has shut down a total of 21 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) filling stations in some parts of the country.
The move, according to NPA, became necessary after it observed that the affected stations located in Kumasi, Ho, Accra and Takoradi had not met the minimum operating and safety requirements, hence posing a threat to human lives and properties.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NPA, Hassan Tampuli, made this known in an interview with DAILY GUIDE.
He said the closure was done on Thursday, October 12, 2017, after safety audits by officials of the Authority on the various stations.
According to him, more stations are likely to be shut down by the time the Inspectorate and Monitoring Unit of NPA was done with the inspection.
NPA shot into action following the gas explosion at Atomic Junction in Accra on October 7, this year, which killed seven persons including a cameraman of Net2 Television attached to the presidential press corps and injured about 132 persons.
Following the explosion, President Akufo-Addo issued a directive for the deployment of a taskforce to within 30 days assess the risk that Ghanas current LPG infrastructure poses in terms of public health and safety.
DAILY GUIDE contacted Mr Tampuli after the directive had been issued to find out what NPA was doing to ensure public safety as far as threat from LPG's infrastructure in the country is concerned.
By Melvin Tarlue
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) David Asante-Apeatu has warned Bimbilla residents not to engage in any act that will disturb the peace of the area.
According to him, for far too long, free movement at Bimbilla has been restricted and this has hampered economic activities and growth at the place.
Due to the burial of the late Nakpa Naa of Bimbilla, top security officials have gone to the town to assess the situation and ensure peace.
Addressing residents of Bimbilla, the IGP said should anyone or group of persons decide to engage in any act that will constitute a breach of the peace at Bimbilla and the country at large, the law would deal with them.
Mr Asante-Apeatu has expressed gratitude to the people and the traditional leaders of Bimbilla for their conduct regarding the burial of the late Nakpa Naa.
The regent of Bimbilla, Naa Andani Dasana, indicated that the main issues surrounding the conflict had to do with the place of burial for the late chief and the title he should have been buried with.
The regent revealed that as traditional rulers, they respect the laws of the land and the law enforcement agencies of the country but that respect had never been reciprocated.
Naa Andani Dasana stated that over the years, all the crises that had existed were as a result of the failure of the law enforcement agencies to live up to their mandate of enforcing the law.
He hinted that all verdicts from competent courts of law, the regional and national houses of chiefs and the Supreme Court had all been in the favour of the Bimbilla people, yet the law enforcement agencies had refused to play their part to ensure peace.
Meanwhile, lieutenants of the regent have warned that should the Nakpa Naa family go ahead to enskin a regent, drum and dance, there would be resistance.
Spokesperson of the newly enskinned Sung Lana, Yussifu Salifu Dawuni of Bimbilla, said the bereaved family was grateful for the efforts and mediations of the government towards the burial of the late chief.
He was also grateful to the government for offering to pay for the cost incurred at the hospital to get the late chief out for burial.
The family of the late chief promised not to engage in any activity that would jeopardize the peace of Bimbilla.
He assured the IGP and his entourage that they would not engage in unruly acts such as enskinment of sub-chiefs and sale of skin lands.
Meanwhile, the bereaved family has called on the government to see to it that the late chief is given a befitting burial in line with the custom of the Gbewa State.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale
Former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey, believes that some officials of the 10-month old New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, are already showing signs of corruption.
The man, who blatantly criticized officials of the erstwhile Mahama administration for being corrupt and having mismanaged the country, appears to be turning the heat on the Akufo-Addo administration.
He has thus called for a constitutional direction to streamline the size of Government in the country, since in his view, a large size government contributes to corruption.
The NPP government has been severely accused following Nana Addos appointment of 110 ministers of state, the largest in the countrys history.
The outspoken bishop warned that those NPP appointees who have begun showing signs of corruption, will soon be exposed.
Professor Martey was speaking at a Public Lecture on the Corruption menace in Ghana, organized by the Christian Service University College(CSUC) in Kumasi.
He said Government must prioritize issues of corruption and ensure a vigorous fight against the menace if positive results are to be seen.
A large Government means large corruption. So we should have a constitutional direction. NPP and corruption, I said clearly that what has been proven, the NPP appointees have begun showing signs of corruption.
He cited the recent happenings at the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), and urged the President to ensure issues about corruption under his administration are dealt with.
The NPP government has so far found itself in two cases of alleged corruption, with the recent one being the allegations of corruption against two deputy chiefs of staff, by musician and NPP sympathizer Kwame A-Plus, as well as the perceived corruption in the sale of contaminated fuel involving BOST.
There has also been perceived corruption in governments handling of the Ameri Power Deal, in which the same firm that was being questioned over a supposed bloated contract, sponsored a committee from Ghana to Dubai to hold discussions with them.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, was also accused of cronyism by the minority in one of governments bond issue. Another major scandal, which many were unhappy with, was the allegations of corruption leveled against Boakye Agyarko, now Energy Minister during his vetting.
He was accused by some minority MPs of seeking to bribe them to enable him sail through his vetting with ease. The matter was later investigated by parliament, but the accusers were supposedly unable to prove their claims.
The lecture, on the theme: Institutional Corruption in Ghana: Causes and Effects brought other dignitaries including; the outgoing Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group, Ken Ashigbey, and the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Reverend Dr. Opuni Frimpong.
Mr. Ashigbey, who spoke on 'The Efficacy of Anti-corruption measures in Ghana: What is missing and the way Forward', said corruption is purely thievery and must not be glorified.
He wants political parties to publish their sources of funding used for electioneering campaigns.
He also called for the quick passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill and a reformation of the Asset Declaration Act.
By:Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline/Ghana
Abidjan (AFP) - An Antonov cargo plane that crashed off Ivory Coast Saturday, killing four, was chartered by the French army as part of the anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane, military sources said.
The four dead are Moldovan and six other people, including French nationals, were injured in the crash of the aircraft which had 10 people on board, Colonel Issa Sakho, an Ivorian firefighter, told local television.
A French military source said the Antonov was chartered as part of Barkhane, under which France maintains a 4,000-man mission in the region.
The operation aims to shore up fragile Sahel countries against jihadists who have carried out a wave of bloody bombings, shootings and kidnappings.
The French military base in Abidjan provides logistical support for the operation which is headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.
Two persons have been arrested for allegedly duping unsuspecting hawkers at Kejetia in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.
The two suspects, James Nsowaah, 36, and Kwame Owusu, 30, told the victims that the monies would be handed over Osei Assibey Antwi, the Kumasi Mayor.
Nsowah and Owusu were arrested at the PZ area in Kumasi on Wednesday by some staff of the KMA while in the process of collecting the monies.
Efforts are being made to arrest one Adwubi, a cosmetics dealer, who is said to be the ringleader.
Nsowaah and Owusu, who admitted to collecting GH10 from each victim, have been handed to the police for further investigations.
Reports indicate that Adwubi, Owusu and Nsowaah lied to the hawkers that some top gurus at the KMA, including the Mayor, had saved their businesses.
They told the unsuspecting hawkers that due to construction works at Kejetia, the KMA was supposed to eject them, adding that the Kumasi Mayor intervened and prevented their ejection from the place.
They asked each hawker to pay GH10 each to be given to the mayor for saving their businesses.
The three people have nothing to do with the Kumasi Mayor, but decided to allegedly dupe them.
Their activities were eventually reported to the KMA by some Good Samaritans that led to the arrest of Owusu and Nsowaah.
The Chairman of Petty Traders Association of Kejetia, Eric Prempeh, told DAILY GUIDE that about 100 hawkers were duped by the suspects.
He said the three persons have no links to the mayor.
According to Prempeh, KMA officials were informed about their activities and that led to the arrest of two of the suspects, who were in the process of collecting additional monies from hawkers.
Meanwhile, Goodwin Okumah Nyame, the KMA PRO, has urged the public to arrest people that would demand money from them in the name of the mayor.
According to him, Osei Assibey has not sanctioned anybody to collect money from traders or hawkers in the city.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
WHEN A man of God or a church forsakes Christ, they refuse to preach the incarnation, the deity, birth, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They refuse to preach and teach about the ascension, and the second coming of Jesus Christ. I mean, such ministers underrate the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A few years ago, a Kumasi-based man of God told Bible school students in his church that the preaching and teaching of the aforementioned topics are fundamental and that they are supposed to be preached and taught by upcoming ministers. He stated unambiguously that a pastor will collapse his church if he preaches Jesus Christ.
In his view, mature ministers must concentrate on feeding Christians with messages about success, career development, financial prosperity and wealth creation so they can make money and live happy lives.
It is not evil at all for us to create wealth because we live in a real world where money rules, but we must not forget the mandate and commission Christ entrusted to the Church. We are charged to preach the crucified Christ to make disciples, baptise and teach them to observe the commands of our Lord so that we can grow up spiritually to conform to the image of Christ.
But that pastor did not see the need to uphold and respect the command of Jesus Christ. One may wonder if such a pastor was genuinely called, prepared and commissioned by the Lord to do His will. Christ is the Builder of His Church using men filled with His Spirit, who glorifies Christ. A true servant of Christ will preach Christ and honour Him.
Remember we are still discussing how Christ Jesus examined His ministers who oversaw churches in the days of the Early Apostles. Now, the church in Thyatira did not escape the condemnation of the Son of God. He carefully and closely examined this church, and saw that the church had fallen into sin despite its love, faith, service, patient endurance and improvement in its works.
But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2: 20).
Similarly, in most churches today, the practice of idolatry, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, occultism and witchcraft are rampant. The spirit of Jezebel has succeeded in deceiving many ministers with her seductions to follow materialism and demonic teachings against the call to preach the crucified Christ.
Now, there are several other comments our Lord made about these ancient churches which we may read about. But the hidden truths which Jesus Christ revealed to John about these churches should warn us that no one can run away from the presence of the Lord. Everyone is naked before His eyes. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness (Daniel 2: 22).
The Lord counselled some of the Pastors of the seven churches to remember where they had fallen, repent, and do the works they did at first or they would lose their churches. He threatened others with different kinds of grave punishments.
Christ's advice and warnings to the Pastors in-charge of the churches apply to us too. Jesus Christ is alive, and He watches everything we do. He has been warning us through various media including this publication. Those who have ears let them hear the warnings of the Spirit of Christ.
Beloved, Christ knows everything we do in our churches, offices, bedrooms and cars. The Lord knows our motives for the messages we preach and teach. He knows for the funds we raise and everything we do. What a God we serve! He knows the messages we decide to preach even before we mount the pulpit and open our mouth to speak (Psalm 139: 4).
Ministers speak in the name of the Lord. We mention His name in our preaching, teachings, prayers, exorcisms, fasting, and lectures and in our writings, but Jesus Christ might be unhappy with some of us after all. He says:
Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord; will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness (Matthew 7: 21- 23).
The discussions so far point to the fact that our Lord probes His ministers to correct, criticise and commend them even before they appear before Him for accountability on the Judgment Day.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi
[email protected]
14.10.2017 LISTEN
The late Prof J R Anquandah obtained a B.A. Honours at the University of Ghana, Legon, as his first degree in 1963. He then took a post-graduate course in Archaeology at the University of Ghana, that earned him an Academic Diploma in Archaeology (1965).
This latter degree made Anquandah an academic trail-blazer. For, according to Prof. Merrick Posnansky (Professor of History and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles and a former don at Legon, see:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa/person/67
Anquandah was the first West African to gain a post-graduate qualification at a West African University.
With that accolade under his belt, Anquandah next left for the University of Oxford, where he studied for an M. Lit. in Archaeology (1965-67). He was fortunate enough to have his wife, Susan, at his side whilst he drank more fully of the Pierian Spring at Oxford.
But ever the ambitious self-improver, Anquandah was not yet done with educating himself. Although hed been lecturing in archaeology for over a decade, he was humble enough intellectually to present himself again before an educational institution in the United Kingdom, to study for a Certificate in University Teaching at UCOSDA University, Sheffield, England (1995-96).
Meanwhile, hed been publishing books and academic papers by the trunk-ful. His most important book, as far as conveying knowledge about Ghanas past (in a simple, easily-understood, very readable manner) is concerned, was Rediscovering Ghanas Past (Sedco 1982; ISBN 9964 72 024 6; and Longman 1982; ISBN 0 582 64309 0).
In an Introduction to this book, the aforementioned Prof Posnansky of UCLA wrote:
QUOTE: With the appearance of Rediscovering Ghanas Past, Ghanaian archaeology has come of age. At long last, the results of numerous excavations, long treks through tangled brush and ten-foot high elephant grass, as well as detailed examination of countless stone flakes and potsherds by several generations of archaeologists, have borne fruit in this readable account that it is my pleasure to introduce
I hope that this book will herald a succession of other studies on different aspects of Ghanas past by students trained in the University of Ghana
It is only within the last generation the generation of Independence that Ghanaians have reversed the tide which threatened to replace indigenous name[s], dances, art, crafts, music and festivals by those of Europe. Ghanaian traditional culture was at best thought of as interesting, though outmoded, and at worst as primitive and tribal by Eurocentric scholars who mostly had little or no knowledge of the antecedents of that culture.
Ghanaian traditional culture was at best thought of as interesting but outmoded and at worst, as primitive and tribal. . . It is important that Ghanas history be interpreted by Ghanaians who have a love [for] and an understanding of the culture that nurtured them and their fathers. UNQUOTE
The research projects which Anquandah participated in to empower him to write his book and the other works that will carry his name into eternity took him, among other places, to Deberira, Nubia (in Sudan); this region is of key interest to Africanists because it carries the keys to the ancient Egyptian civilisation that has baffled Eurocentric scholars for years, unable, as they are, to reconcile themselves to the idea that BLACK peoples founded the universally-acclaimed Egyptian civilisation that not only gave the world the pyramids, but also, invented many major components of mathematics, science and medicine.
Anquandah also investigated the cultural remnants of the Takyiman and Begho statehoods in Brong-Ahafo; Boyase Hill, Kumase; Ladoku and Shai, in Dangmeland; Ayawaso; Yikpabongo in Northern Ghana; and several of the forts on the coast of Ghana. He also found time to do historical research into such subjects as the Back to Africa Movement as well as study of the life Chief Alfred Sam.
Anquandah found fame in North America and the Caribbean by making himself an authority on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Route. He edited a large tome on this subject and was part of a project, promoted by the late Ghanaian Minister of Tourism, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, whose objective was to attract African descendants in the US and the Caribbean, to come back to Ghana during special festivals, to study their origins.
This project has unfortunately not survived Jake Diabetes Lamptey, but the great work done by ANQUANDAH and others have provided enough material to guide any patriots who might want to take it up where those two passionate Africanists left it.
Anquandah was given a befitting send-off at the Trinity United Church, Madina, on Saturday, 7 October 2017 exactly one month after he died. Heartfelt tributes were paid to him by representatives of the University of Ghana, and by his family, including his wife, Susan. Her fortitude in being able to read many verses from the Scriptures, whilst obviously in the grip of massive attack of grief, astounded many in the audience.
As I looked for the last time at the face in repose of the Anquandah that I had first known so many years ago, I couldnt help but be philosophical. Jimmy, I said to him in my mind, you always loved knowledge; you gathered a great deal of knowledge; and it will outlive you for a long time to come. What more can a man want in life? You have achieved immortality, havent you? Rest in Deserved Peace!
Some of the books that will enable Anquandahs name to remain on the lips of all Africanists for ages are:
Together, We Sow and Reap (1979); Rediscovering Ghanas Past (1982); Koma-Builsa, its art and archaeology (1998); Castles and Forts of Ghana (1999); Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Landmarks, Legacies, Expectations (ed- 2007);
Dangme Se, Ghana Saga of a Resilient Kingdom (In press);
80 years of the Christian Council of Ghana (2009); A Panorama of Ghanas Heritage (2012); Current Perspectives in the Archaeology of Ghana joint ed (2014 and The Ankobra Gold Route joint ed (2013.)
The girl-child in Ghana, as she is in other African countries, is still challenged by an assortment of stereotypes. The setting aside of a day to highlight her challenges with a view to reversing these, as took place last week, could not have come at a better time.
She is still the washer of the household bowls hewer of wood and drawer of water in many a household in rural and some parts of urban Ghana.
The daily order to her to go wash the bowls is the beginning of the stereotypes as her brothers watch and learn from.
Her education is not considered as critical as her male counterparts in the same compound; the notion that her place in adulthood is still the kitchen: still an entrenched idea in the minds of many parents. Interestingly, some mothers also go with this position when it is for them to start educating the girl-child that both boy and girl have a role to play in keeping the house in order.
We should not limit discussions about the plight of the girl-child to only the day set aside for the commemoration of her situation because the challenge involved in reversing the stereotype is enormous and could take years to occur.
A holistic treatment of this situation is required if we are to make headway in arresting the unfortunate social anomaly which unfortunately holds sway even among some educated Africans.
Let the religious leaders from the two great Abrahamonic faiths, Islam and Christianity, do more than they are doing in reversing this trend. The near misogynic treatment of matters pertaining to the feminine sex is generally awful and needs a massive social overhaul.
The misinterpretation of the scriptures has a hand somewhat in this equation that is why we demand the involvement of the religious leaders.
In Saudi Arabia, we have learnt about plans to now allow women to drive; the first time that they are going to be allowed to do so since the Kingdom was founded close to a century ago.
There is no doubt that with time, the stereotyping would give way to better handling of this rather important yet ignored subject.
The girl-child is still being stopped from going beyond the JHS level in education as her male counterparts are encouraged to continue.
Statistics continue to pop up about how girls when given the necessary push can reach wherever their male counterparts get to. We are denying society the opportunity of benefiting from the enormous potentials of the girl child.
We have come a long way from our primitive past and should adopt progressive ways of responding to modern day realities. It is unacceptable that the girl child continues to suffer such negative stereotypes even in urban areas.
Were it possible we would have suggested the criminalization of the denial of education to the girl-child so that parents who still out of ignorance or sheer wickedness tread on this path would be sanctioned.
Rabat (AFP) - Moroccan police on Saturday arrested 11 members of an "extremely dangerous terrorist" cell linked to the Islamic State group and seized chemical products used to make bombs, the interior ministry said.
The suspects were active in the neighbouring northern cities of Fez and Meknes, in commercial capital Casablanca, as well as in the central town of Khouribga, a statement said.
The ministry said the "extremely dangerous terrorist" cell had planned to carry out attacks in "sensitive areas... in coordination with an affiliate" of the jihadist Islamic State group.
Moroccan media broadcast live video footage showing heavily armed and masked members of an elite police unit surrounding a building in Fez.
The ministry said the unit searched an apartment and arrested the "suspected mastermind of the cell and one of his accomplices".
Police also seized firearms, knives, gas cannisters as well as "products used to make homemade bombs" and a car carrying "suspicious material" that was near the building, the ministry added.
Morocco has been spared deadly jihadist attacks since a 2011 bombing in Marrakesh's famed Jamaa El Fna Square that killed 17 people, mainly European tourists.
But in recent months, authorities have regularly announced the dismantling of IS cells and arrests of suspected jihadist recruiters.
Victims of the June 3, 2015 explosion are preparing to sue government for statutory negligence in the explosion at a fuel station that left 150 dead.
The class action suit is organised by OneGhana Movement founded by Rev. Joyce Aryee of the Salt and Light Ministries.
The victims say they can no longer work or cater for the families after severe burns have left them jobless. Government handed them a compensation 10,000 each after various degrees of life-threatening injuries.
One of the victims, Alex Mensah has explained his post-June 2015 ordeal saying, Today Im not even able to pay my rent as Im unemployed because of someones negligence. Im not even able to take care of my family.
"Even if Im not able to take care of my mother who brought me into this earth, I must be able to cater for my wife and kids but life has been very difficult since the accident.
Two of my children are still at home since school reopened in September. Due to the severe burns on my body especially my face, it has become difficult for me to get a job as a driver. Sometimes a friend will inform me that a car owner needs a driver to use his vehicle for commercial purposes."
"Whenever Im led to see the car owner, the moment the person sees my scary face, out of fear the person declines to give his car to me. Painfully, Ill later see that same car being driven by another person," he narrated sadly.
Five houses together with the filling station were damaged at a cost of which was valued at GHE1,658,847.00.
A five-man committee was constituted to investigate the cause of the disaster and make recommendations. It did.
A lit cigarette from one Seth Kwesi Ofosi ignited the fire; the leakage from the fuel filling station and floods at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle were found to be the remote causes of the disaster.
The OneGhana movement was launched on the third anniversary of the disaster. Madam Joyce Aryee explained, the mission of OneGhana is to promote citizen and policy accountability and the prioritization of the national interest over partisan politics.
Its modus operandi is "employing policy analysis, advocacy, legal and financial interventions to ensure the drive for social and political change in Ghana is clear.
The Movement's first target is to secure justice for the June 3 disaster victims in a campaign dubbed "J4J3-Campaign".
Expect more...
Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|files
Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has dismissed the claim that his convoy is made up of 16 vehicles.
The Vice President in a statement Saturday said, his team uses the maximum of seven vehicles for trips outside the capital Accra.
The statement from the Office of the Vice President was reacting to comments by educationist Professor Stephen Adei who claimed Dr Bawumia was accompanied by 16 four-wheel drivers during a visit to the Central Region.
Bawumia noted the vehicles include the one used by leading police team, security detail, protocol, the media team and an ambulance.
Related Article: Ill go on one-man demo over Bawumias 16-vehicle convoy Stephen Adei
The former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration had said he will stage a one-man protest anytime he sees the Vice President with that number of vehicles.
So far, government is doing well, except that if you go to the right quarters, tell them that the next time I see Bawumia or any of them travelling with 16 four-wheel drives, occupying the two lanes, Im going to do a one-man crusade, he said.
Educationist Professor Stephen Adei
Professor Adeis comments have triggered criticism from the public against Dr Bawumia.
But the Office of the Vice President said there has not been a day its team has used more than seven vehicles.
It should, however, be noted that on many occasions (including funerals) while on a trip, several other people, including the Police Commander of the area, Ministers, MPs, MMDCEs, CEOs and party officials may decide to meet and accompany the Vice President on arrival, the statement added.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | AKAP
Lagos, Nigeria, October 14, 2017//-African philanthropist Tony Elumelu, has urged African leaders across the continent to continue to focus on creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
According to him, entrepreneurship cannot thrive without the enabling environment. So, our leaders should continue to create the conducive business environment for private sector players to grow their businesses.
Mr Elumelu who is the Group Chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and pan-African investment company Heirs Holdings said this when the bank hosted more than 100 African journalists at the UBA House in Lagos, Nigeria.
The journalists are in Lagos at the invitation of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to cover its TEF Entrepreneurship Forum 2017 underway. Mr. Elumelu, the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation told the visiting journalists that becoming an entrepreneur is very important because it can change lives in the community, in the country, and on the African continent.
For instance, established in 2015 the Tony Elumelu Foundation Programme (TEF Programme), is his foundations 10-year, $100 million commitment to empowering the next generation of African entrepreneurs and surely, there are more private sector leaders that are willing to invest in the continents future.
I see great entrepreneurship potential in many of the over 93,000 applicants that applied for this year alone, but the level of training, mentoring and networking that we offer means that we can only select over 1,000 this year. I call on everyone here to support those who missed the cut. This is a clear path to sustaining African economic growth.
He explained that the TEF Programme which is the largest African sourced philanthropic gift targeting the entrepreneurial sector was inspired by three guiding principles: the inclusive economic philosophy of Africapitalism, based on the belief that a vibrant African-led private sector is the key to unlocking Africas economic and social potential; commitment to drive African economic growth through the empowering of African entrepreneurship; and a mission to institutionalise luck by creating an environment where African entrepreneurs can get critical elements of support in the early stages of their business life.
Entrepreneurship is the cornerstone of African development and the key to local value creation in Africa. I am determined to ensure that Africas next generation of entrepreneurs have the platform they need to turn their entrepreneurial aspirations into sustainable businesses that will drive economic growth and job creation across Africa, Mr Elumelu stated.
The fact that billions of dollars worth of goods is exported each year outside the continent of Africa which is much more than the aid given. He opined that International Aid organisations need to re-evaluate the way they engage Africa in the 21st century.
Young people need a helping hand, the kind that will make them self- reliant and self- confident so that they can add their quota to the development of the continent. The solution to the problem of unemployment is going to come first from within and then from all of us working collectively. I believe entrepreneurship can solve the problem of job creation, Mr Elumelu added.
On advice to entrepreneurs, the billionaire African investor whose UBA operates in 19 African countries including Ghana advised the young entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurship is not a short-term journey but a long-term one. You have to be disciplined, focus and defer your spending to enable you to have a better future as an entrepreneur.
Another attribute Mr Elumelu wants every entrepreneur to possess is the culture of excellence. As he put it: As an entrepreneur, you must do everything quality. At UBA, we preach quality, reliability and above-all professionalism. So, excellence is extremely important. Mr Elumelu encouraged the young entrepreneurs that they could do better, stressing: It is just by applying the principles.
Touching on Africapitalism, Mr. Elumelu spoke about what already-established businesses could do to advance Africas development through an economic philosophy he calls Africapitalism which focuses on the private sectors critical role in driving economic and social development across Africa.
Africapitalism means we cannot leave the business of development up to our governments, donor countries and philanthropic organizations alone, he said. We in the African private sector must wake up, recognize and embrace our role in driving the economic growth and the social development of Africa, and we must act on that responsibility in tangible ways.
Mr Elumelu who propounds the Africapitalism, the economic philosophy which is predicated on the belief that Africas private sector can and must play a leading role in the continents development, used the occasion to again call on African governments to provide conducive business environment for entrepreneurs to operate. Entrepreneurs need more eco-systems to succeed in their business operations which will enable them to contribute to the development of the economy.
UBA Subsidiaries In his welcome, Kennedy Uzoka, Group Managing Director (GMD) and CEO of pan-African banking group, UBA) Plc said UBA subsidiaries operating in the 19 African countries are now contributing more than 25 percent to the Group operating revenue.
UBA is increasingly recognised as a strong pan-African brand, hailed for democratising banking in its countries of operation while participating in leading financial transactions, he told the visiting journalists.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Lagos, Nigeria, Courtesy Tony Elumelu Foundation
It was a busy week for us at the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment so we might as well dive in to give you all the details on how it all went.
The Honourable Minister, Okechukwu Enelamah led the team to the Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering in Marrakech, Morocco, where he had talks with counterparts from Iran; host country, Morocco and other members of the KENSA Group (Kenya, Egypt and South Africa).
At the ministerial meeting chaired by HM Enelamah, the conversation centred on the construction of a single market in Africa. Enelamah reiterated the need for a strategy to stay relevant in the midst of diversity. Heres the biggest takeaway from his speech: This is a moment when our approaches must combine realism with pragmatism, non-dogmatism and acceptance of responsibility. In Nigeria, we have decided to accept responsibility.
The Minister also met with Chinas Vice Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen; Nigerias Ambassador to Morocco, Baba Garba and the Director General/Chief Negotiator, Ambassador Osakwe.
Thats not all we got up to during the week.
On Tuesday, NIPC received the team from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The teams visit was essentially to provide technical support to NIPC for the development of an iGuide for Nigeria.
What is an iGuide and why does Nigeria need it anyway?
Heres how it works: Investors will have a field day with an online platform that provides information on business costs, opportunities and investment requirements.
Meanwhile, the team at NIPC got on the move too. First stop was Akure where we attended the formal launch of the Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency (ONDIPA). Then in Lagos, we presented a speech at a FGN-Union Bank Breakfast Meeting with embassies, consulates and trade offices.
Between January and August 2017, the sum of $22 billion has been attracted as foreign direct investments for 41 projects across 22 states of the country. The investments came from UK, China, Indonesia, Belgium and Japan.
CCSO Bald Mountain Road West Point Marijuana Enforcement Operation Oct 12 2017 View Photos
San Andreas, CA A large illegal marijuana grow in West Point was the focus of a search warrant and seizure that turned up evidence that human waste was being applied onsite.
Calaveras sheriffs officials report that around 9:30 a.m. Thursday deputies served the warrant on an unregistered marijuana grow site located on the 3000 block of Bald Mountain Road. While on the property, deputies discovered evidence that the neighboring property also had two connected outdoor marijuana grows, noting connecting waterlines and electrical extension cords so another search warrant was obtained that allowed deputies to further investigate the adjoining grows. Officials say that 445 marijuana plants and 60 pounds of processed marijuana were seized and destroyed.
During the search, deputies also discovered the occupants septic system was discharging waste and sewage above ground and a farming practice was being used that involved applying human feces to the soil around the plants and vegetables.
While at the location, deputies contacted 63-year-old e Rong Zhang and 42-year-old Sishou Zheng, both with Sacramento addresses. Both were subsequently arrested for illegal marijuana cultivation and felony charges of knowingly discharging hazardous substances upon the land of another without the permission of the owner. They are being held in the Calaveras County Jail on $30,000 bail.
- 18 more states will benefit from 500 million dollars World Bank assisted projects
- According to the national coordinator of the Rural Access and Mobility Project, these states drawn from the six geo-political zones were able to meet the criteria set up by RAMP
- Ularamu Ubandoma said the essence of the project is to provide suitable road network for rural farmers to convey their farm produce to the market to avoid losses
No fewer than 18 states will be benefitting from the 500 million dollars World Bank assisted projects, the national coordinator of the Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) Ularamu Ubandoma has said.
He disclosed this at the unveiling of selected participants in the 18 states under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP3) and Pre Appraisal Mission Wrap Up Meeting with the development partners in Abuja on Friday, October 13.
According to him, the selected states are able to meet the criteria set up by RAMP and the three development partners were involved in their selection, NAN reports.
He said that 50 to 60 million dollars would be used to construct about 500 km roads in each of the 18 participating states across the country.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Buhari meets southeast governors, leaders
The whole essence of the project sponsored by the World Bank, French Development Bank and Africa Development Bank is to provide suitable road network for rural farmers to convey their farm produce to the market to avoid losses, he said.
What we are doing here today is a meeting with new RAAMP states. New RAAMP is rural access and agricultural marketing and we have about 18 states that have been selected to participate in this new project all over the country, he said.
The 18 states which emerged from the six geo-political zones are:
In the northeast
1. Borno
2. Bauchi
3. Taraba
In north central
4. Plateau
5. Benue
6. Kogi
7. Kwara
In northwest
8. Kano
9. Kastina
10. Sokoto
11. Kebbi
In southeast
12. Abia
13. Anambra
In southsouth
14. Cross River
15. Akwa Ibom
In southwest
16. Ogun
17. Oyo
18. Ondo
The new RAAMP3 will be a little different from the usual RAMP1 and 2, and we have implemented projects in seven states and these projects are almost 100 per cent conclusion.
The only difference is that we are targeting RAAMP3 in line with president Buharis policy on agricultural transformation.
The policy is implemented through the Green Agricultural Alternative under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbeh.
The thinking now is zero rejection of our agricultural produce at the international markets, Ubandoma added.
He said that the third phase of this project, RAAMP3 was to improve rural access and agricultural marketing in the selected participating states, whilst enhancing sustainability of the rural and state road network.
READ ALSO: Court orders interim forfeiture of Paris Club and London Club loans
He said: We are going to target markets and the value chains by adding value to our agricultural produce right from production level. We will be looking at storage and processes.
We want to know how these produce can access different level of markets. We are trying to shift away from the usual market not considering the rural people.
We are now considering the rural people because they form the bulk of our production level and they are predominantly farmers living in the rural areas.
We believe if we develop the rural farmers through the provision of markets, definitely the economy will improve and we will be earning foreign exchange through exportation.
Ubandoma, however appealed to state governors to show some level of seriousness in paying their counterparts fund which is just eight per cent of the total cost of the project in their states.
Tesfamichael Nahusenay, the World Bank Task Team leader, said from the result of study conducted in Nigeria, 60 per cent of farm produce got wasted during transportation and lack of storage facilities.
He said that World Bank hoped to add value to farmers income by giving them access to market after harvest, proper handling of farm produce after harvest and provide storage facilities to them.
World Bank has been providing assistance to Nigerian government for many years and we have standard for procedure in execution of any project in the country, he said.
The federal government will receive the fund they lent to states. We have mechanism to process the procurement process to ensure that value for money is achieved and transparency in transaction.
At the end of the day, money intended for any project is used correctly. We do direct checking of the projects across all the states. The states bring back the money if they cannot achieve the set project.
We do field visit to ensure that the goods are delivered in appropriate time and ensure standard, he stated.
Assessing the level of RAMP2 project, the Adamawa project coordination, Abbas Adamu, said about 201.4 km of roads had been completed in 13 locations under the first phase in the state.
He added that about 140 km was ongoing under the second phase which would be completed by December across the state.
He said so far, farmers in the state had benefited from RAMP projects through easy access to market after harvest for better livelihood.
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The project coordinator however appreciated the support of the state governor on his intention to change the entire state with good and quality roads, adding that the governor did not deviate in payment of counterpart fund.
The project coordinator, Akwa Ibom RAAMP3, Gideon Akpan, said that the state decided to join in the project because of the state governors transformation agenda in agriculture.
Looking at the past resources we have in agriculture sector, we decided to express interest in joining the third phase of the project to bring development to our rural farmers.
Most of the challenges our farmers faced is the inability to access market after harvest due to bad road networks, he said.
RAMP is a federal government agency saddled with the responsibility of constructing rural roads to help farmers to access markets to avoid post-harvest losses.
RAMP is a co-sponsoring project of the World Bank, the French Development Agency, Africa Bank and the federal government.
Legit.ng earlier reported that in line with a request allegedly made by President Muhammadu Buhari, the World Bank disclosed that it is concentrating its efforts on Northern Nigeria.
The disclosure was made by Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group.
He stated: You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and weve done that.
Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult."
In reaction to the report which caused so much buzz, the presidency accused some persons of twisting what President Buhari actually said insisting he meant that the Boko Haram-ravaged region needed extra attention.
Ebonyi state, Nigeria and West Africa's food capital - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
Depression seems as common as ice cream on a hot, sunny day. Yet many people dont know if they are affected by it or not. Just taking a clinical look at depression in America, it is believed that 40 million people have depression, and that women are twice as likely to have it as men. Often, doctors give their patients pills to address the symptoms, only to mask a heart condition.
So, what is spiritual depression? Right up front I must tell you that trying to find a succinct and clear definition of it was very difficult; it was like nailing Jello to a wall. But let us process this and come to a working definition. In his booklet Depression: The Way Up When You Are Down, Edward T. Welch says that depression is organic and hard to define. Why? Because each situation, each dark valley of spiritual depression is unique to the person.
Welch goes on to give us some symptoms, however, that I think will help us grasp this. He describes depression as feeling numb, yet your head hurts; empty, yet inside there are screams; fatigue, yet fears abound. Things that were once pleasures now hardly hold your attention. Your brain feels like it is in a fog. You feel weighted down. Let me add, goals seem lost or too hard. You just want to make it through the day. Days feel fuzzy. You function, but you are not very productive. The list goes on and on. What is ironic about this whole thing is that even the medical profession is at a loss for a distinct definition. Thus, they describe it in a list of twenty or so symptoms; if you have five of them, you are considered depressed. Most people are likely to find five symptoms that apply to them in a list of twenty. Now let me throw these definitions at you: Depression is a prolonged emotional tone dominating an individuals outlook and mood. Normal moods of sadness, grief and elation are typically short-lived and part of everyday life, but these can progress into a depressed mental state Stephen Shober of the Berean Bible Society. R.C. Sproul, in the simplest of terms, calls spiritual depression a joy thief; it is pressure on the soul. And biblical counselor Zack Eswine defines spiritual depression as ordinary sadness that is stuck or infected. A person caught in spiritual depression feels that God has left them and they are spiritually and emotionally alone.
Now with those definitions swirling in our heads, let us ask what the Bible says about depression. If you were to search the Scriptures, you would find that there is no biblical warrant calling sadness or spiritual depression a sin. Nowhere. So how do we handle that? It must be said that one who has spiritual depression can use that condition to sin but in and of itself, it is not sin. Let me give you some biblical evidence. The Bible points to sadness as demonstrating wisdom and something we are to help each other with. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 7:35 tells us, Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure. It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools. We have the book of Lamentations, in which the prophet is saddened over the state of Israel. Proverbs 25:20 says, Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.
Scripture commands us to weep with those who weep, to embrace their sadness and sorrow. Romans 12:15 tells us, Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. We are to walk with them in their dark valleys; Galatians 6:2, Bear one anothers burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Notice that this isnt a time for you to cheer up someone who is sad, but to walk with them through their sadness.
So, if sadness is biblical and appropriate, how do we understand it especially if it leads to a deeper sadness called spiritual depression? Here is the key: 2 Corinthians 1:56, For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Knowing that sadness is a part of our lives, we apply the truth in 2 Corinthians 4:1618 where it says, Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Spiritual depression is a deeper sadness. You are stuck in your sadness and infected by it. If you are depressed, you often make decisions based on what you think. In that depressed state, you will probably have dark thoughts, feel hopeless, be pessimistic, and be critical of others and yourself. Your reality is not true reality. Your thoughts are tainted and obscured. Beloved, that is a bad place to be. Spiritual depression is sadness stuck and infected in your heart.
So, what is our hope? What is our answer? The simple answer is Jesus. And you must remember, depression doesnt have the last word; Jesus does. Let me remind you of the words of our God in 2 Corinthians 4:710, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Beloved, what great hope there is in these verses. They tell us that there are limits to our depression. We might experience it, but it is not permanent, nor is it fatal. Jesus is our hope!
- Zimbabwe has appointed a minister to control internet use in the country
- The minister is reported appointed to clamp down on indiscriminate use of social media apps like Facebook and Whatsapp
- The appointment has raised a lot of controversy over the president's attempt to clamp down on freedom of speech
Zimbabwes president, Robert Mugabe, has announced that a new ministry for cyber security has been created as a trap to catch rats misusing the internet in the country.
Former Zimbabwe finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, has been named as the minister who will head this new Cyber Security, Threat Detection, and Mitigation ministry.
The controversial appointment has been criticised by many who believed it is a way for the president to clamp down on freedom of speech and expression in the country.
READ ALSO: The statement made by the World Bank President is not as it sounds - Ezekwesili
The ministers has since been renamed as minister of WhatsApp and Facebook by the locals.
Zimbabwe has in fact, issue new rules on the us of Whatsapp in the country.
Before a Whatsapp group could be formed in the country, the rules required the group to be registered and for the administrator of the group to have government level clearance.
While Mugabe and the government describe the new ministry as protective i.e. acting in a defensive role, there are worries it is really aimed at attacking, like controlling social media use locally. This all comes as Zimbabwe finalizes a Computer and Cyber Crimes Bill that has already attracted criticism from human rights and freedom of expression campaign groups, Quartz reports.
PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Mugabe attacked Donald Trump of the United States calling the latter the biblical Goliath at the 72nd General Assembly of the United Nations.
He also said Africa was suffering a system perpetrated by historic injustice, one that can never be justified today.
Mugabe wondered why Trump was interfering in the issues of other countries.
He also warned that countries, especially Africa, would fight every monster that comes in any way just like the continent successfully fought imperialism.
2019 Presidency: Nigerians reveal why they prefer Atiku to President Buhari - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
TWIN FALLS Solicitors have been coming to peoples doors and claiming to be licensed with the Twin Falls Fire Department, the city reported Friday.
Residents have said that the transient vendors are selling fire safety or smoke alarm inspections. The Twin Falls Fire Department says it does not sell goods or services door-to-door, and it is not affiliated with these vendors.
Door-to-door salespeople are required to carry a city issued license at all times. They must show the license when asked to by residents or law enforcement.
The Twin Falls Police Department also requires all transient vendors to be fingerprinted, with the exception of nonprofits.
Because of Twin Falls unique location along major highways and interstates, we receive several transient vendors who are soliciting business from citizens, Police Chief Craig Kingsbury said in a statement. Although most of vendors are legitimate and acting with the best of intentions, residents should know that they are well within their rights to close the door on a pushy salesperson.
Police ask residents to report anyone conducting door-to-door sales who cannot or will not display a city issued license. Unlicensed transient vendors can be reported by calling 208-735-4357 or 911 in an emergency.
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1583 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.
By Lisa Cook, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and in International Relations, Michigan State University, Trevon Logan, Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Department of Economics, Ohio State University and John Parman, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, College of William & Mary. Originally published at VoxEU
Lynchings in the American South reached their peak in the 1890s, but their impact persists today. This column applies a new measure of segregation to data on the incidence of lynchings to confirm earlier findings that counties with larger black population shares were more likely to experience lynchings, but also that greater segregation of the black population increased lynching activity. These findings demonstrate that residential segregation matters in rural areas for both intergroup relations and the economic and social outcomes that depend on those relationships.
A growing body of empirical evidence documents important impacts of ethnic diversity and ethnic conflict on both economic and social outcomes. In the US context, economists typically focus on the influence of ethnic diversity on urban economic outcomes, with mixed results. While some studies document economic benefits of diversity in urban areas (e.g. Ottaviano and Peri 2006), others find that increased diversity is associated with lower levels of social capital (Costa and Kahn, 2003), public goods provision (Alesina et al. 1999) and economic growth rates (Alesina and La Ferrara, 2005).
One limitation of this literature is a lack of historical depth. Ethnic and racial divisions are inherently historical processes which play out over time and which can have persistent effects, from altering paths of development to becoming cultural norms. Consider the long-run impacts of Americas dark history of interracial violence in the form of lynchings, which most often involved white mobs targeting black victims. Lynchings reached their peak in the 1890s, as seen in Figure 1, yet their impact persists to this day (Messner et al. 2005). One visible consequence of the long history of discrimination and interracial violence faced by black Americans is the modern gap in trust levels in the US, where black individuals are 24% less likely to trust others than non-black individuals (Alesina and La Ferrara 2002). These modern trust levels are lowest in those states that experienced the highest levels of lynchings in the early 20th century, with Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas among the states with the highest number of lynchings historically and the lowest levels of trust today. These same states also have some of the lowest average incomes and levels of public goods in the country today. Understanding the nature of lynchings and other forms historical intergroup conflict is crucial to understanding modern attitudes, institutions, politics, and economic performance.
Figure 1 Number of lynchings in the American South by year and race of victim
Source: Project HAL (Historical American Lynching) database.
Investigating the causes and consequences of violent racial conflict in Americas past requires pushing the existing literature on ethnic diversity and conflict in two understudied directions.
First, it requires shifting the focus to rural rather than strictly urban communities.
Second, the spatial distribution of racial groups, rather than simply their population shares, must be emphasised.
Historically, racial violence in the form of lynchings was particularly concentrated in Americas rural communities. These are areas that continue to show complicated links between anti-minority attitudes, political attitudes, public goods provision, and intergroup conflict (e.g. Tope et al. 2015, Kimmel and Ferber 2000). Furthermore, these areas span both majority-white and majority-black communities in the past and present. Group population shares alone the focus of much of the ethnic fractionalisation and conflict literature fail to identify the spatial distributions of these populations. However, spatial distribution is fundamental to understanding intergroup conflict. How segregated a group is will determine the extent to which that group interacts with members of other groups, interactions that can serve to either lessen or inflame tensions between groups.
Recent work by two of us on the rise of residential segregation in the US provides a way to directly address the spatial distribution of groups in rural populations (Logan and Parman 2017). We construct a new segregation measure that exploits the availability of the complete (100%) manuscript pages for the federal census to identify the races of next-door neighbours. We measure segregation by comparing the number of household heads in an area living next to neighbours of a different race to the number expected under random assignment, i.e. the number expected under complete segregation and under no segregation. Being defined at the household level means that the measure can be constructed simultaneously for urban and rural areas, for the first time giving us a consistent measure of segregation. The importance of having a measure of segregation to complement the population shares by race used in the existing literature is demonstrated by Figure 2. This figure depicts both percent black for Southern counties in 1880 and neighbour-based segregation for those same counties. While some areas of the South such as counties along the Mississippi had both high black population shares and high levels of segregation, generally the spatial patterns of black population share and segregation are quite different.
Figure 2 The distribution of the black population in the American South, 1880 as shown by black population share (left) and neighbour-based segregation (right)
Source: Logan and Parman (2017).
In a separate recent paper by all three authors, we match a county-level version of this new measure of segregation to the most comprehensive Southern lynching data available in order to assess how both the black population share and the segregation of that population were related to interracial violence (Cook et al. 2017). These lynchings span the years between 1892 and 1930 while our segregation data correspond to the year 1880. Thus, we are focusing on the impact of the pre-existing segregation of the black population on subsequent interracial violence, not on how the incidence of that violence drove changes in the residential location of black and white individuals.
Consistent with prior work on Southern lynching, we find that counties with larger black population shares were more likely to experience lynchings, as shown in Figure 3. However, with these new segregation data we are also able to demonstrate that the segregation of that black population was also critical in predicting lynching activity. We find that segregation was strongly correlated with lynching: increasing segregation from one standard deviation below its mean to the mean is associated with a 43% increase in the predicted number of black lynching victims, from 2.1 to 3 (Figure 3). Counties that were more segregated were much more likely to experience a lynching. Conditional on having a lynching, more segregated counties were more likely to experience multiple lynchings.
These findings are not the product of more segregated counties being generally more prone to violence or vigilante justice; we find that segregation is strongly correlated with lynchings involving a black victim, but uncorrelated with lynchings involving a white victim. Residential segregation was strongly correlated with interracial violence but had little effect on intraracial violence. This asymmetry in negative outcomes associated with lynchings involving black victims and white victims is consistent with the finding in Cook (2014), that significant diminished patent activity was associated with the former but not the latter.
Figure 3 The predicted number of black lynchings experienced by a county between 1882 and 1930 when varying black population share and segregation
Source: Cook et al. (2017).
These results shed new light on the United States history of interracial conflict. They demonstrate that segregation is an important factor in interracial violence in rural communities, which is where three quarters of the population lived in the South in 1880. The most recent literature on lynching emphasises region-wide phenomena, and here we see that local variation in racial segregation plays a role in lynching. That rural social organisation, as measured by residential segregation, was related to conflict is a new finding which expands the scope of research on ethnic and racial fractionalisation and social conflict to rural areas. Furthermore, our finding that greater residential segregation was associated with more lynchings helps us begin to sort through potential mechanisms underlying interracial violence. In the case of the American South, residential segregation did not allow the black community to insulate itself from interracial violence, nor did it serve as a substitute for interracial violence. Instead, racial segregation appears to have inflamed interracial conflict. This is a critical new finding to help us understand more generally the ways that residential segregation and intergroup contact influence intergroup conflict.
This exploration of Americas history of interracial violence helps us better understand the deep roots of racial tensions in the US today. However, it also emphasises a more general point that residential segregation matters in rural areas for both intergroup relations and the economic and social outcomes that depend on those relationships. Rural residential segregation grew tremendously during the first half of the 20th century (Logan and Parman, 2017) and remains particularly high throughout the country today (Lichter et al., 2007). Given that racial and ethnic dynamics in rural areas play a large role in contemporary national politics, public-goods provision, and public policy, further study of how rural segregation continues to influence those dynamics is crucial.
See original post for references
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1584 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.
Arctic on Fire World Policy Institute (resilc). And you though it was just California.
Dimon and Fink unite on need to crush bitcoin Financial Times. As we said, prosecution futures. Use of bitcoin is on its way to being deemed proof of criminal intent, at a minimum tax evasion.
The scientists persuading terrorists to spill their secrets Guardian
Tourniquets, once out of favor, helped save lives in Vegas shootings Reuters. EM:
Consider the following guffaw-worthy new medical consensus based on all the latest clinical trials data, no doubt! described in the article: Although it has been around since the Middle Ages, the tourniquet fell out of favor in recent decades because of concerns that it increased the risk of amputation. Now, that notion has given way to a new medical consensus that it is better to save a life than a limb. Article goes on to mention that the loss-of-limb risks are actually quite low, since the aim is only o keep the victim alive until proper medical treatment can be brought to bear, i.e. the tourniquet typically does not need to stay on for hours as in days of yore.
Magic mushrooms reboot brain in depressed people study Guardian
Only China Can Restore Stability in The Global Economy Ilargi
Who cleans up Scotlands shell firm mess? Scotland Herald. Our Richard Smith in the press again!
Brexit
I must confess to being mystified at the Government postponing the debate over the Great Repeal Bill. It is over my pay grade to assess how quickly the 300 amendments that dont have enough votes would be dispatched. The reports I have seen say that a bit over a dozen do. Say its two dozen. So why doesnt the Government just grind through the process? Or do some of the amendments that might pass create more impediments to the Government having its way? The Governments response seems disproportionate to the apparent trigger, so there is something at work here that the press either hasnt figured out or hasnt explained well. Having said that, this Financial Times story, Theresa May forced to delay flagship EU withdrawal bill, provides more of an explanation (as in one presumes enough of the 300 amendments are viable so as to create a procedural obstacle, plus they are symptoms of other problems, above all, a desire to check the planned use of Henry VIII powers.) British politics for the perplexed, by an @FT reader. pic.twitter.com/lyHPhdDzeH Michael Skapinker (@Skapinker) October 13, 2017 Juncker calls Brexit talks on citizens rights nonsense Politico Hammond forced to apologise after branding EU the enemy The Times
Shark costume man bitten by Austrias burqa ban Politico
Catalonia
Syraqistan
Imperial Collapse Watch
Hackers steal restricted information on F-35 fighter, JDAM, P-8 and C-130 NakedSecurity. Glenn F: This may be the best news for the F-35 critics. It obviously needs major tweaks and this may be the catalyst.
Trump Transition
Muellers investigative team interviews Priebus The Hill Trump Is Far Less Popular Than The Economy Suggests He Should Be FiveThirtyEight (resilc). In part due to the fact that high levels of un and under-employment mean the economy isnt as good as many of the stats would have you believe. That is why Clintons incrementalism helped sink her. But yes, Trump has alienated pretty much everyone save loyal Republicans. Mnuchin call for sweeping IMF and World Bank reform Financial Times. I should write on this because it is world class horrible and embarrassing, except I think this also has zero chance of getting done, at least as far as the IMF is concerned (Im not up to speed on World Bank governance). For the IMF, this looks like a last-gasp effort for the US to throw its weight around in a world where it isnt as important to be and has alienated lots of allies. The US has only about 1/6 of the votes at the IMF. Europe has about 1/3, which is a source of great unhappiness to the rest of the world, since in terms of GDP weight, the US and Europe are overrepresented. And since Europe is not too happy with Trump right now, it wouldnt take many defections to stymie this scheme. From the FT comments section: These guys are literally unbelievable. People used to dream about being Treasury Secretary no wonder millennials spend their whole times stuck in their screens, better than striving to get ahead in the real world Andrew Sullivan: Trumps Mindless Nihilism New York Magazine (resilc) DOJ Says No One Has Any Right To Question The Adminstrations Handling Of Records, Not Even The Courts Techdirt (Chuck L)
Obamacare
Republicans Arent as Vulnerable in 2018 as You Think Vice (resilc)
Womens March on making Bernie opening speaker: We all know how busy women leaders are Vox (resilc). Help me. What about Sanders is the most popular politician in America dont you understand? Women will not win on womens issues if they dont have male allies. Serious, these people deserve to lose.
Who Is Seth Moulton For? Slate (resilc)
California Burning
Puerto Rico
Fake News
The Legacy of Reagans Civilian Psyops Consortium News (furzy) Sheryl Sandberg reveals Facebook will only go so far to limit misinformation. Slate (resilc). Generally speaking, if you control content (and that includes reader supplied content if you intervene in it), you are liable. So Facebooks position is that any fake news blowback is just a cost of doing business.
Hitlers American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law Bill Moyers
Oregons new retirement savings plan faces legal challenge Register-Guard (JM)
Amazon Is Getting Into Sportswear Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia Weighs Giving Up on International Listing for Aramco Wall Street Journal. My guess is they dont want to make the disclosures required under the securities laws of the various exchanges, a huge red flag. They claim they want to list on international exchanges later, but the price that matters to you is the IPO price, since that is when the seller gets cash. Press stories meant to reassure investors that theyll be able to trade their shares on big exchanges are an awfully weak promise.
Saudi Arabia Looks To Shelve Aramco IPO OilPrice. Based on the FT, which may have a better grip on the state of play.
Rick Perry Wants to Bail Out the Coal Industry The Atlantic (resilc)
The End of Coal Will Haunt the Navajo Bloomberg (resilc)
Money and Banking Post 21: The Interest Rate New Economic Perspectives
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Personal Responsibility Mad Money, CNBC YouTube (resilc)
Goldman Is Setting Up A Special Team For Clients Who Have More Money Than Ideas DealBreaker. This is hardly new. I knew people who worked in groups like this in the 1980s and 1990s. Surprised its taken this long for that sort of thing to become fashionable again.
Weinstein Co. Is Exploring Sale or Shutdown Wall Street Journal
Youre wrong about Second Amendment rights Medium (Glenn F). Important.
Class Warfare
Tesla fires hundreds from headquarters, factory Mercury News Black Americans Need Bourgeois Norms Wall Street Journal. If you need proof that the WSJ editorial page lives in an alternative reality, youve got one-stop shopping here. UserFriendly: ROFL I dont think the WSJ understands what bourgeois means, and clearly they have no clue how norms are set. The geography of desperation in America Brookings (UserFriendly)
Antidote du jour (Timotheus):
See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
.
(Natural News) Theres no other way to say it colleges and universities today are more determined to create an entire generation of radical progressives and social justice activists than a generation of intelligent, hard working Americans.
At Pennsylvania State University, public speaking professor Angela Putman recently published an academic article criticizing the concept of meritocracy and calling on her fellow teachers to help dismantle whiteness ideologies and institutional racism. In addition, Putman also designed a three-day seminar addressing the non-issue of white privilege for her students.
After the seminar, Putman was shocked to learn that many of her students actually endorsed what she considered to be whiteness ideologies because of the fact that they agreed with the statements, If I work hard, I can be successful and everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve success. How these outlooks on life are in any way connected to whiteness or racism is anyones guess, but Professor Putman decided to pursue the issue further.
In her article, Putman argued that students are socialized to believe that we got to where we are because of our own individual efforts, particularly inside of the classroom. She went on to write, Thus, whiteness ideologies may be reproduced through a general acceptance and unchallenging of norms, as well as through everyday discourse from a wide variety of racial positionalities.
In order to get more and more young people on board with her radical ideology, Professor Putman believes that other educators must teach students to reject meritocracy and the idea of equal opportunity for all. According to her, professors need to teach how racism and whiteness function in various contexts, the powerful influence of systems and institutions, and the pervasiveness of whiteness ideologies within the United States, adding that the use of role-play activities and readings, discussions, films and activities are all good options for accomplishing this task.
By learning more about whiteness ideologies in the classroom, Professor Putman hopes they will be inspired to resist perpetuating and reifying whiteness through their own discourse and interactions, and also learn to fight manifestations of racism and whiteness within U.S. institutions and systems.
It goes without saying that this sort of liberal indoctrination being forced down the throats of students in the classroom is entirely inappropriate and absolutely despicable. Forget about math, history, and American literature; today, school is all about social justice and dismantling institutionalized racism. As a result, students will grow up to be left wing political activists rather than intelligent, hard working Americans.
As sick as Professor Putmans outlook on life is, the destruction of individualism and strong work ethic is something that the progressives have been working towards for quite some time now, and not just within the classroom. When Barack Obama stood before the entire country and famously declared that the American businessman only became successful because of government aid and assistance, this was an attempt to dislodge the American people from their firmly held belief in self-reliance, rugged individualism, and hard work. Even more than that, it was a complete rejection of the values and principles that America was founded upon but then again, thats never stopped the left before, has it?
The truth is, people like Professor Putman, Barack Obama, and most other liberal progressives want to create a country that emphasizes the collective rather than the individual. This is exactly why Professor Putman wrote her article about the need of educators to dismantle meritocracy and the idea of equal opportunity both of these concepts have to do with the individual pursuit of happiness, which cannot exist alongside a massive, centralized federal government.
Sources include:
CampusReform.org
FoxNews.com
The states worker safety agency issued a worker safety advisory late Friday after NBC Bay Area took video of workers harvesting grapes at The Robert Mondavi vineyard in the fire-torn Napa Valley, some without any protection from the smoky air that surrounds them.
While most workers are wearing some sort of mask, others use a bandana or no mask at all.
That should not happen, said Garrett Brown, a retired 20-year veteran inspector with the states worker safety agency, Cal/OSHA.
Brown says under state regulations, employers are required to outfit each worker with a specially fitted respirator mask, capable of filtering out fine particulates in the air. They should also limit harvesting time.
According to a chart on the website of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, air quality in Napa County ranged from unhealthy to extremely unhealthy as of Friday morning, based on high levels of the tiny particles from the massive firestorm.
Bad air has prompted schools as far away as San Jose to limit outdoor activities. Brown says workers in the vineyards should be protected, and its up to the employers to make sure that happens.
It should not be simply a situation, Brown said, where some workers are sent, as sort of a sacrifice, to work outdoors in unhealthy air to gather grapes.
Late Friday, Cal/OSHA issued an advisory notice to employers, telling them to provide approved masks, allow for breaks and to be alert to workers becoming dizzy due to exposure.
Mondavi did not respond to our requests for comment. Brown welcomed the advisory.
Anything Cal/OSHA can do to remind and inform employers of their legal responsibilities to protect their employees health and to provide information on how they protect their health would be a big advantage, he said.
At least 40 people have died in the deadliest week of wildfires in California history. The victims include a couple who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, a 14-year-old boy whose parents and older sister were severely burned, and a woman born with a spinal defect who worked to help others despite her own troubles.
A look at some of those who were killed in the blazes:
Very Generous Spirit
LeRoy and Donna Halbur, both 80, had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and for years Leroy delivered food for the needy three times a week.
They had no chance to flee a wildfire that destroyed their Santa Rosa home early Monday, said their eldest son, Tim Halbur.
The winds came up pretty quickly. It was all countryside behind them, Tim Halbur said. My mom was found in the car in the garage. My dad was somewhere on the driveway. He probably had gotten her into the car, and he went outside to check on conditions.
Tim Halbur said his parents were devoted to community, friends and family. An avid world traveler, LeRoy Halbur was an usher at Resurrection Catholic Church in Santa Rosa. He volunteered with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Sonoma County, delivering meals right up to the week before the fires.
Donna Halbur wrote childrens books and was a former elementary school teacher.
What I want you to know is that they were very generous of spirit and they carried that spirit to the community, their son said.
Doing Good by Others
Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88, lived a life quietly doing good for others.
The Mendocino County couple provided money to help launch a Spanish-speaking ministry at the Assembly of God church in Ukiah, recalled Sylvia McGuire Nickelson, who met the Bowmans at church.
They both were beautiful, inside and out, Nickelson told the San Francisco Chronicle . I just loved them.
Anybody who needed a second chance, the Bowmans were their advocate, said Felice Lechuga-Armadillo, who with her siblings would host the Bowmans for Sunday dinners. Anyone who needed help, they stepped forward but quietly.
The couple were found in the fire-ravaged remnants of their home in the remote Redwood Valley, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Santa Rosa, on Monday.
Roy Bowman was a U.S. Navy veteran and former federal employee. Irma Bowman loved to bake and would tell us to speak well of other people, said Lechuga-Armadillo.
Roy Bowman had a stroke earlier this year. Irma Bowman told Lechuga-Armadillos mother that if he had another, she wanted to have one as well because she didnt want to be on this Earth without him, Lechuga-Armadillo said.
'The Horse Lady'
Valerie Lynn Evans had a fierce love of animals.
Evans, 75, kept horses, goats, dogs, a mule and a steer at her Santa Rosa home. Shed sometimes lead the mule down the street, allowing folks to feed it, said her longtime neighbor, Tracy Long.
We knew her as the horse lady, Long told the San Francisco Chronicle.
As flames approached their homes late Sunday, Brian Strehlow, a neighbor across the street, offered to help.
She said, We got this, Strehlow said.
Evans died while trying to save her dogs.
Evans neighbors said they believed that her husband, son and a daughter-in-law were able to escape, but that they hadnt been able to reach them since the fire.
Evans kept a large collection of books on horses. Long, whose home was damaged by fire, said she occasionally sees pages from Evans library blowing along the street.
Timid and Giggly
At 14, Kai Shepherd was among the youngest victims of the wildfires.
After flames swept over a mountain, the Shepherds had tried to drive down to escape. Their neighbor Paul Hanssen found their two charred vehicles blocking the road, doors still ajar from when they had apparently abandoned them and fled on foot.
Hanssen found the mother, Sara Shepherd, and her 17-year-old daughter, Kressa, lying on the ground, more than half their bodies burned. Kai Shepherd was further down the mountain and did not survive.
First responders found Kais father, Jon Shepherd, separately, on the mountain. He was also badly burned but alive. Kai Shepherds parents and sister are being treated at burn centers.
His sister, Kressa Shepherd, a Ukiah High School junior, had to have both legs amputated beneath her knees.
Family friend Irma Muniz remembers Kai Shepherd was timid and giggly after she met him last year while shooting a Christmas card photo of the family posing in the woods of Redwood Valley, a community of about 1,800 roughly 70 miles (113 kilometers) north in Mendocino County
'She Was My Life'
George Powell woke to a wall of fire already bearing down on his Santa Rosa home and immediately yelled to his 72-year-old wife, Lynne Anderson Powell: Get out!
Lynne Powell grabbed her border collie, Jemma, which always slept next to her, a laptop and asked for the best way to get off their mountain before jumping in her car.
George Powell left 15 minutes later after fetching his three dogs. George Powell now realizes when he raced down the mountain he drove past his wifes car that had gone off the road and into a ravine in the heavy smoke.
After searching for her all night and the next day, a detective called to tell him a body burned beyond recognition was found steps from her car. Inside was a dog also burned to death.
If I had known, I would have gone down there with her, even if it meant I would have died with her, George Powell, 74, said. I dont know how Im going to cope. She was my life. He repeated: She was my life.
The couple had been married for 33 years. He was a photojournalist and she was a professional flutist, spending much of her career playing for the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, which operated until 2011.
The two met while she was on vacation in Los Angeles, where George Powell freelanced for newspapers. He said it was love at first sight and he moved to New Mexico to be with her. After they retired, they settled in northern California so his wife could take care of her aging parents.
The two shared a love of border collies and entered in agility runs with their dogs. She was an avid quilter. The fire took everything, including her quilts and his lifes photo archive.
Lynne Powell did not want a memorial service or obituary. But George Powell said he may hold a special lunch with friends to celebrate her life.
I dont think I ever felt unloved or uncared for any second of my life with her, he said.
Together in Life and Death
Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98, are the oldest victims of the wine country wildfires identified so far.
Their bodies were found by one of their sons who had made his way past security and found the home in Napa where they had lived for 35 years completely gone. Only two blackened metal chairs, a porcelain tea set of white and soft washes of blue and other small remnants remained to testify to the couples long life together.
Charles Rippey who was known by his nickname Peach since he was a toddler appeared to be heading to the room of his wife, who had had a stroke in recent years.
Mike Rippey said his father would have never left his mother. The couple met in grade school and recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary with their five children.
Those of us in the family always would, you know, wonder what would happen if one of them died and the other one was still left because we knew that, you know, theres no way they would ever be happy whoever was the last one and so they went together, Rippey, 71, said as he stood among the charred ruins of their home.
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 then became an executive with the Firestone tire company.
Dedicated to Helping Others
Christina Hanson, 27, used a wheelchair and spent her life dedicated to helping others despite her own hardships, her family said.
Kelsi Mannhalter had posted on social media asking people to search for her cousin after the fire Monday ravaged Santa Rosa where Hanson lived.
Mannhalter later confirmed on Facebook that Hanson did not survive when the flames consumed her home.
Just surreal, Mannhalter posted. I love you so much and am going to miss you sweet cousin. I cant say it enough.
Her father was found collapsed on the street in front of his home with third-degree burns and was taken to a hospital in San Francisco. Hanson had tried unsuccessfully to reach him as flames surrounded her apartment around 1:30 a.m. Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Hanson was born with a spinal defect and lost her mother at 9 to lupus.
Still, her focus was always on others, her stepmother, Jennifer Watson, told the newspaper, describing her as a very happy, social and positive person.
Hanson volunteered two days a week at an Alzheimers residential care facility in Santa Rosa, where she would entertain residents.
She also taught herself sign language and interpreted for the hearing impaired.
She loved helping people and loved her family, said Watson, who was with her stepdaughter the day before she died.
Her family wrote in an online obituary that Hanson was granted her angel wings.
Died in Her Husband's Arms
In the 55 years they were married, Carmen Caldentey Berriz had spent countless hours in her husband Armandos arms.
In his arms was where the 75-year-old took her last breath on Monday, as he held her afloat in a swimming pool as walls of fire burned around them, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Carmen had known Armando was the one since she was 12, and the two dated for years before marrying in 1962. By the time Carmen turned 75, their family had grown to include two daughters, a son, their childrens spouses and seven grandchildren.
The Berrizes were three days into a vacation at a Santa Rosa rental house with family when son-in-law Luis Ocon woke early Monday morning and saw the fire begin to overtake the neighborhood.
They fled to their cars.
Luis, Monica Ocon, and their daughter made it through the thick smoke and flames and pulled over, watching for Carmen and Armandos car to emerge behind them. It never came.
Armando Berrizs car had gotten stuck on a fallen tree. He told his wife they had to run back to the house to take shelter in the backyard pool.
As flames melted the chaise lounges a few feet away, Carmen clung to Armando, who kept them both afloat by hanging onto the brick sides of the pool.
Armando Berriz held on for hours, even as the brick burned his hands, even as his wife stopped breathing. He let go only after the flames had burned out, laying Carmen on the steps of the pool with her arms carefully crossed over her chest.
He walked 2 miles to find firefighters.
Everything they did was as a team, daughter Monica Ocon said. They had this bond and this strength that literally lasted a lifetime.
One Last Phone Call
Linda Tunis moved from Florida to the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa to be closer to her family. When the northern California wildfires quickly overtook the park, the 69-year-old woman phoned her daughter.
She was trapped, she told her daughter, Jessica Tunis. She was surrounded by fire, and going to die.
Jessica Tunis screamed at her mom to run to safety, to flee the burning home.
I was telling her I love her when the phone died, Jessica Tunis told the San Francisco Chronicle.
After three days of hope and dread, Jessicas brother Robert Tunis found his mothers remains in the debris where her house once stood.
Linda Tunis was spunky and sweet, Jessica Tunis said Wednesday. She was also fiercely independent, an attitude that wasnt dampened by her health problems. She had failing memory because of a stroke, and had lost the sight in one of her eyes because of high blood pressure.
She loved bingo and the beach, choosing to move California mostly because it brought her nearer to her close-knit family, Jessica Tunis said.
My mothers remains have been found at her home at Journeys End. May she rest in peace, my sweet Momma, Jessica Tunis posted on Facebook earlier this week.
Christina Hanson, 27, used a wheelchair and spent her life dedicated to helping others despite her own hardships, her family said.
Kelsi Mannhalter had posted on social media asking people to search for her cousin after the fire Monday ravaged Santa Rosa where Hanson lived.
Mannhalter later confirmed on Facebook that Hanson did not survive when the flames consumed her home.
"Just surreal," Manhalter posted. "I love you so much and am going to miss you sweet cousin. I can't say it enough."
Her father was found collapsed on the street in front of his home with third-degree burns and was taken to a hospital in San Francisco. Hanson had tried unsuccessfully to reach him as flames surrounded her apartment around 1:30 a.m. Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Hanson was born with a spinal defect and lost her mother at 9 to lupus.
Still, her focus was always on others, her stepmother, Jennifer Watson, told the newspaper, describing her as "a very happy, social and positive person."
Hanson volunteered two days a week at an Alzheimer's residential care facility in Santa Rosa, where she would entertain residents.
She also taught herself sign language and interpreted for the hearing impaired.
"She loved helping people and loved her family," said Watson, who was with her stepdaughter the day before she died.
Her family wrote in an online obituary that Hanson "was granted her angel wings."
What to Know At least 40 people killed by fires burning across Northern California
More than 100,000 people forced to evacuate
5,700 homes and businesses destroyed
Rising winds fanned the California wildfires again Saturday, forcing hundreds more people to flee from their homes in the states fabled wine country and testing the efforts of crews who have spent days trying to corral the flames behind firebreaks.
Just a day after firefighters reported making significant progress on a blaze that has killed an unprecedented 40 people, the winds kicked up several hours before dawn and pushed flames into the hills on the edge of Sonoma, a town of 11,000. About 400 homes were evacuated as the fires threated Sonoma and a portion of Santa Rosa that included a retirement community that evacuated earlier this week, authorities said.
Napa County announced two more deaths Saturday bringing the total death toll to 40. As of Saturday afternoon, the death toll stands at 22 in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, six in Napa County and four in Yuba County.
A Red Flag Warning is in effect across the North Bay and parts of the East Bay through 11 p.m. Saturday. Low humidity, higher temperatures, and gusty winds are expected to persist into the weekend and contribute to extreme fire behavior.
"Everyone is coming to grips with idea that Santa Rosa is never going to be the same again," said councilman Chris Rogers.
Coffey Park, a square-mile of middle-class homes and friendly neighbors on the northern edge of Santa Rosa, was among the hardest hit areas from the series of wildfires that broke out last Sunday in Northern California. Dozens died, and thousands of homes were destroyed, 2,800 alone from the Tubbs Fire that scorched Santa Rosa.
Governor Jerry Brown and senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris visited the hard-hit town on Saturday.
"At a time like this, we all pull together," Brown said, describing the fires as a "horrible situation."
Harris encouraged residents to pay heed to evacuation orders while Feinstein promised the government's help.
New evacuation orders in Santa Rosa have caused residents to worry about the safety of their homes. Garvin Thomas reports.
Critical fire threats will exacerbate ongoing fires in Northern California, according to the National Weather Service. Any new fires are expected to spread rapidly no matter what firefighters do to stop them. Firefighters have been warned that conditions in the field have reverted to the severity of Sunday, when a firestorm struck the region.
"Normal is going to take a very new meaning here in Napa as we see our way out of this," said Belia Ramos, chairwoman of the Napa County Board of Supervisors.
As of Saturday, though, strong winds in the region had prompted officials to halt escorts into evacuated areas.
No evacuations are planned Saturday, but ongoing weather conditions could change that, Ramos said, urging people to be "vigilant."
[[4450940083, C]]
"This morning I woke up and I saw blue skies, but I can tell you I know Im not the same person I was on Sunday," Ramos said. "None of us are. And that takes a toll on everybody."
A local assistance center will be available for Napa County's fire victims, starting next week. Congressman Mike Thompson said FEMA has approved individual disaster assistance grants that will be made available to people who have lost their homes and been otherwise affected by the wildfires. However, they will only be available after residents have received insurance funds.
"It's like a hurricane. Instead of water drops flying sideways and wind, you have fire flying sideways," Cal Fire Capt. Jerry Fernandez told NBC Bay Area.
According to Cal Fire, the Atlas Fire has burned 50,383 acres in Napa and Solano counties and is 45 percent contained; the Tubbs Fire has scorched 35,270 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties and is 44 percent contained; the Nuns Fire has burned 46,104 acres in Sonoma County and is 10 percent contained; the Partrick-Carneros Fire in Napa County has charred 12,379 acres and is 18 percent contained; the Pocket Fire has burned 10,996 acres in Sonoma County and is 5 percent contained; and the Pressley Fire has torched 473 acres in Sonoma County and is 10 percent contained.
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 Valley Fire burning in Mendocino County has torn through 34,000 acres and is 20 percent contained; the Sulphur Fire has torched 2,500 acres in Lake County and is 60 percent contained; and the Cascade Fire in Yuba County has burned 10,120 acres and is 75 percent contained, officials said.
Early Saturday, firefighters reported a new Lake County blaze, dubbed the Long Fire, which charred 20 acres off Highway 20 and Long Valley Road, east of Clearlake Oaks.
Dean Vincent Bordigioni, winemaker and proprietor at the Annadel Estate Winery awoke at 3 a.m. with flames erupting on the ridge above his property. Things went to hell last night, he said. Theyve got a good fight going on.
Nearly a week after the blazes began, the fire zone had swollen to an area as long as 100 miles on a side. The flames have left at least 35 people dead and destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, making them the deadliest and most destructive group of wildfires California has ever seen.
Police officers are guarding several affected areas in Santa Rosa to avoid possible looters. Sam Brock reports.
On Saturday, an unknown number of additional structures burned down in a rural area, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Judy Guttridge, who was evacuating for the second time this week, said her daughter saw flames advancing over the side of a hill around the same time Bordigioni did and told the family to get out.
I have good insurance, everything, she said. All the kids, grandkids, great-grandkids are fine. Im OK with that.
Firefighters spent much of the last week digging defense lines to keep the flames from spreading. On Friday, they tried to fortify the edge of Sonoma using bulldozers and other heavy equipment.
But if winds push the flames over that barrier, neighborhoods including some of the towns costliest homes were in the path, along with a historic central plaza built centuries ago when the area was under Spanish rule.
The renewed strength of the winds was testing the work that we accomplished, Berlant said. The greatest risk was that winds would blow embers across the firebreaks and ignite new blazes.
Bodycam footage from a Sonoma County Sheriffs deputy shows him rescuing people from the fire (Warning: Strong language).
Winds gusting up to 40 mph were expected to continue throughout the day and into the evening.
Also Friday, a lucky few of the nearly 100,000 people who have fled from their homes got to return, and examples of charity were everywhere, along with a sign that began popping up in more and more places: The love in the air is thicker than the smoke.
Astonishing video released from the fires hellish first night showed the courage of the deputies and firefighters working amid the flames.
Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! an unidentified Sonoma County deputy can be heard yelling in the body-camera video released by the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office. The footage was recorded as he urged hesitant drivers to speed out of a town that was being devoured by flames.
The deputy is shown lifting a disabled woman out of her wheelchair and into an SUV to rush her out of town. And he drives through walls of flame looking for more people to help.
And thats just one person, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a news conference.
[NATL COPY] California Inferno: Images From Northern California's Deadly Fires
At an RV evacuation site at Sonoma Raceway, evacuees counted their blessings, trying not to think about what they had lost and what they might yet lose.
The mood at sunset Friday was upbeat, even cheerful, as children and dogs played in the twilight. More than 100 campers were parked by the side of a highway. There were portable bathrooms and tables groaning from donated water bottles, stuffed animals and food.
Ron Vitt, 75, and Ellen Brantley, 65, sat in chairs watching the cars go by, a small table between them holding drinks: gin with cocktail onions for him and gin with lime for her. They joked as their dog bounced about happily.
There is a sun thats going to set. Theres a dog who is really happy, Vitt said. So you got to bring some sanity into this whole thing.
At Sonoma Valley High School, the parking lot was packed with cars and vans. Middle school Principal Will Deeths supervised volunteers and made sure people had plenty of water and a filter mask. He said more than 100 people spent Thursday night at the school, which has been converted into a shelter.
He said the community response has been phenomenal. Hairdressers from Oakland came to fix peoples hair and a young man played guitar to entertain families, he said. They even had a birthday party for a 5-year-old boy, complete with a donated cake from a local bakery.
[BAY GALLERY BAY ONLY SB]North Bay Inferno: Images From Wine Countrys Deadly Fires
Two days ago we were in need of size 5 diapers, he said. Someone put it on Facebook and within an hour, four or five cars pulled up, two or three boxes. Boom, boom, boom, here you go.
More than a dozen fires broke out nearly simultaneously on Oct. 8 and people had little time to escape. Most of the deaths were elderly people.
In all, 17 large fires still burned across the northern part of the state, with more than 9,000 firefighters attacking the flames using air tankers, helicopters and more than 1,000 fire engines.
Associated Press writers Paul Elias in Sonoma, Olga R. Rodriguez, Jocelyn Gecker and Daisy Nguyen in San Francisco and Martha Mendoza in Santa Cruz also contributed to this report.
Four deaths in Hurricane Maria's aftermath are being investigated as possible cases of a disease spread by animals' urine, Puerto Rico'sgovernor said Wednesday amid concerns about islanders' exposure to contaminated water.
A total of 10 people have come down with suspected cases of leptospirosis, Gov. Ricardo Rossello said at a news conference.
On a U.S. territory where a third of customers remain without running water three weeks after the hurricane, some became ill after turning to local streams to relieve their thirst.
Jorge Antonio Sanyet Morales, a 61-year-old bus driver, took a drink from a stream near his concrete home on a hillside in Canovanas a week after the Sept. 20 storm. He then developed a fever, his skin turned yellow and within a week, he died at a hospital in Carolina, according to his widow, Maritza Rivera.
Dr. Juan Santiago said Sanyet was among five patients who came in his emergency clinic last week with similar symptoms after drinking from streams in Canovanas and Loiza.
The water was still not running at Sanyet's house this week, but Rivera, said she and her family were drinking only bottled water, including some delivered by the town. Her husband was the only one who drank from the stream, she said.
"He was a friend to everyone," Rivera said. "I don't know how I'll face everything without him."
Forty-five deaths in Puerto Rico have been blamed on Hurricane Maria, which tore across the island with 150 mph (240 kph) winds. Ninety percent of the island is still without power and the government says it hopes to have electricity restored completely by March.
Leptospirosis is not uncommon in the tropics, particularly after heavy rains or floods. Rossello said the symptoms can be confused with those of other illnesses, including dengue, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was helping to investigate. Two of the deaths were in Bayamon, and one each in Carolina and Mayaguez. Other patients have been receiving treatment with antibiotics.
Rossello said that fliers with instructions on how to disinfect water will be sent to mayors for distribution with food supplies in towns across Puerto Rico.
"For people that have access to internet and have access to printers, be good citizens and help us distribute this information," Rossello said.
The Health Department and the U.S. military also will be distributing pills to purify water, he said.
President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this summer of the nation's highest ranking national security leaders, three officials who were in the room told NBC News.
Trump's comments, the officials said, came in response to a briefing slide he was shown that charted the steady reduction of U.S. nuclear weapons since the late 1960s. Trump indicated he wanted a bigger stockpile, not the bottom position on that downward-sloping curve.
According to the officials present, Trump's advisers, among them the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, were surprised. Officials briefly explained the legal and practical impediments to a nuclear buildup and how the current military posture is stronger than it was at the height of the build-up. In interviews, they told NBC News that no such expansion is planned.
The July 20 meeting was described as a lengthy and sometimes tense review of worldwide U.S. forces and operations. It was soon after the meeting broke up that officials who remained behind heard Tillerson say that Trump is a "moron."
Asked for a response to the president's comments, a White House official speaking only on the condition of anonymity, said that the nuclear arsenal was not a primary topic of the briefing. Trump later tweeted that the story is, "Pure fiction," and told reporters, "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write."
Dana White, spokesperson for the Pentagon said "the Secretary of Defense has many closed sessions with the president and his cabinet members. Those conversations are privileged."
A Motorola Mobility logo is seen on a screen at the public unveiling of their global headquarters in Chicago, US, April 22, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]
US data communications and telecoms equipment provider Motorola Solutions Inc is transforming from a manufacturer of critical communications equipment to an integrated solution provider utilizing artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data analytics in a mobile intelligence era, according to its head of Chinese operations.
Lily Fu, general manager of Motorola Solutions China, said the company is bullish on its prospects in China as the country's traditional manufacturing industry is now facing upgrading and transformation, which gives the company plenty of opportunities.
"We are looking forward to providing a comprehensive end-to-end solution by integrating critical communication technologies with big data, cloud computing, virtual reality and AI to help people forecast the potential risks, to reduce possible losses and enhance working efficiency," Fu said.
The company has experienced a technical transformation. In the past, people used high-quality and advanced communication system in times of crisis, but with the rapid development of technology, Motorola is building up an entire ecosystem focused on intelligent mobility, according to Fu.
"We defined ourselves as a hardware equipment producer before. We are aiming to ensure people (are) safer and let them work more effectively in the critical communications sector."
Fu added that China is an important market for Motorola Solutions and said she is confident about the company's growth in the country, adding that China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) would also boost its development.
The company's digital two-way portable radios and services have a broad application in a wide range of fields such as oil and petrochemicals, transportation, forest protection, hospitality and public safety.
In August, it launched a customized product for Chinese marketa broadband LTE handheld device.
Motorola Solutions, as a global leader in critical communications, was among the first multinational technology companies to set up an office on the Chinese mainlandin 1987.
US technology giant Motorola Inc divided its business into the mobile phone division Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions in 2011. Motorola Mobility was acquired by Chinese personal computer maker and smartphone group Lenovo Group Ltd from Google Inc for $2.9 billion in October 2014.
According to the company's earnings results for the second quarter, its sales reached $1.5 billion, up 5 percent from a year ago, and its products segment sales grew 6 percent, with growth in every region. It expects revenue growth of 3 to 4 percent compared with the third quarter of 2016.
Fu Liang, an independent telecom expert, said Motorola has a traditional strength in the two-way radio field, but it still faces some competitors such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, which are making efforts in radio communication network.
PHOENIX -- Registered sex offenders who become homeless can't be jailed for failing to immediately report their new address to law enforcement, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The justices acknowledged state law spells out that anyone who is required to register as a sex offender must inform the sheriff of a new address within 72 hours of moving. But Justice Clint Bolick, writing for the unanimous court, said he and his colleagues read that to apply only when there is an actual new address to report.
In this case, Bolick said that Lynn L. Burbey, after being discharged from a halfway house, was living on the streets on Tucson near the intersection of Speedway and Alvernon Boulevard. And with no actual address, Bolick said Burbey violated no laws and his conviction of failure to register -- and the seven-year prison term imposed -- must be overturned.
Robb Holmes, an assistant Pima County legal defender, said that means Burbey, incarcerated since 2014, will be released from prison.
Holmes also said the ruling means that other transients who were convicted of not meeting the 72-hour registration deadline also could seek to have their convictions overturned and be released from prison. But he did not know how many might be affected.
Friday's ruling does not absolve convicted sex offenders who are homeless from registration. Bolick pointed out that a separate provision of the law requires that transients without a fixed address must register and check in with the sheriff every 90 days.
Court records show that Burbey, a convicted sex offender, was released from prison in April 2014 to a halfway house. The records do not show the reason for his initial conviction.
In his initial registration, he listed the address of that facility as his residence.
In September, after leaving the halfway house, he became homeless. He did not notify the sheriff's department that he was no longer living there nor did he register as a transient.
Burbey was arrested within a month after he admitted to Tucson police he not reported a change of address.
At trial, his attorney argued that, being homeless, the only requirement Burbey had was to register as a transient every 90 days. But Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott Rash told jurors that did not also excuse him from the 72-hour reporting mandate.
Bolick acknowledged the two laws can be confusing. But he said it made no sense to impose a 72-hour reporting requirement on someone like Burbey.
"Reading the statute to encompass reporting a homeless person's chance of 'residence' or 'address' could trigger the same notice requirement every time the person moves from one street location to another,'' he wrote.
"As a transient person would have neither an address nor a residence to report, it would seem implausible that the 72-hour requirement to report a new address or residence would apply,'' Bolick said. "Indeed, if a cardboard box or a spot by a dumpster is a 'residence' for purposes of the 72-hour reporting requirement, then 'moving' from it to another transient location would repeatedly trigger the reporting requirement, which would render the 90-day transient registration requirement largely pointless.''
Bolick also pointed out that the statute does not require reporting within 72 hours of moving from a residence -- something that would have allowed for the arrest and conviction of Burbey -- but instead mandates registration of a new residence or address. And Burbey had none.
"Logically, a person either has a residence or is transient, but cannot be both,'' the judge said. And he said if the location where a homeless person spends the night were a "residence,'' there would be no need for the part of the law requiring those who are transient to check in every 90 days.
Bolick also noted that the 90-day requirement was added to the law in 2006 because lawmakers recognized there were problems with homeless people complying with that 72-hour requirement. That, the judge said, shows legislators wanted the provision to transients to be in place of the 72-hour notice, not in addition to it.
"It would not make it easier for homeless persons to comply with the statute if it created a new requirement in addition to the notification requirement rather than replacing it,'' the judge said.
Bolick said if lawmakers want registered sex offenders to have to notify the sheriff within 72 hours of becoming homeless they are free to rewrite it.
There was no immediate response from the Attorney General's Office which had defended the conviction.
A man has been arrested after police say he shot a stranger in the face inside a Walmart store in Maryland.
DeAndre Edward Eason, 20, has been charged with shooting and wounding a man inside the Walmart store on the 3200 block of North Ridge Road in Ellicott City, Howard County police said Friday.
Police were called to the store about midnight Sunday, Oct. 8 for a report of a fight inside the store with shots fired.
Officers arrived and found a 23-year-old man with a non-fatal gunshot wound to the side of his face.
Detectives believe the men "exchanged words and gestures as they passed, the context of which is unknown." The man was leaving the store and Eason was entering.
The man turned around and walked back into the store to confront Eason, police said. Eason pulled out his gun, shot at the man and then fled the Walmart store, police said.
Police previously said that the shooting victim then went to a vehicle in the parking lot and fired "multiple retaliatory shots" toward the store. No one was hit by that second volley of gunfire.
The shooting victim was taken to a hospital and later released.
There is no indication that the men knew each other, police said. The investigation is ongoing.
Eason has been charged with first-degree attempted murder, assault and handgun violations.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-313-STOP or email HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov.
Myanmar's embattled leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, 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 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 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."
Maine State Police are investigating the discovery of skeletal remains found earlier this week in a wooded area of Byron.
Authorities said a hunter found the remains Tuesday off Weld Road, about a mile into the woods, and notified the Oxford Sheriff's Office.
The remains, which were recovered on Wednesday, are now at the State Medical Examiners Office.
State police said a number of searches have taken place for 46-year-old Derek Adams, who went missing on Dec. 28, 2016. Adams lived nearby and his family has been notified of the discovery.
The Medical Examiners Office is likely to utilize the State Police DNA lab to assist them in the identification process.
A Vermont state lawmaker is accused of driving drunk.
The Williston Police Department says Debbie Ingram, 55, went off the road and into a ditch Thursday night.
Officers said it was the second time on that same stretch of South Road that Ingram veered off the edge, previously having struck what was termed a "fixed object".
Ingram represents Chittenden County as a Democrat in the Vermont Senate.
According to her biography published on the online directory of the Vermont General Assembly, Ingram lives on South Road in Williston.
The Williston Police Department said it cited Ingram to appear in court in early November to answer to a drunk driving charge.
An attorney for Ingram, Ted Kenney, said his client intends to plead guilty at her arraignment and intends to continue serving her constituents.
Additionally, Kenney sent media organizations the following statement from Sen. Ingram:
"Last night I was arrested near my home in Williston and charged with a DUI. I am grateful that no one was injured as a result of my irresponsible behavior. I suffer from a disease for which I have been getting treatment through a 12-Step program. I had a temporary setback last night and will continue to seek treatment to ensure that something like this never happens again. I accept full responsibility for the consequences of my actions."
More than 10,000 firefighters are now battling 16 large wildfires that have burned more than 330 square miles (214,000 acres) of California neighborhoods, forests and businesses since Sunday, with 100,000 people evacuated from the fires so far.
Predawn winds in Santa Rosa helped the Nuns Fire jump firelines and push into two directions, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes near Oakmont and northeast of the city of Sonoma.
These fires have been extremely destructive with 5,700 structures estimated to have been destroyed. While crews continue their search for missing people, the death toll has risen to 35. There are ovrr 200 missing people as well. (250-400 missing
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In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, President Trump said he would be a leader for the entire nation.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again.
But so far on Twitter, the presidents preferred method for speaking directly to Americans, Mr. Trump has lavished praise, thanks and support exclusively on states he won. Since the 2016 election, he has written at least one positive tweet about 19 of the 30 states that voted for him.
Mr. Trump has called 14 of the states he won great or wonderful, sometimes more than once, in a total of 25 tweets. (Ohio leads the pack with six greats in four tweets.) He has never written a negative Twitter post about a state he won.
The only time he has tweeted about states that he lost was to accuse them, without evidence, of voter fraud.
He has said nothing negative or positive about 28 states 11 that he won and 17 that he lost.
Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming
This difference is also stark in his response to several recent natural disasters.
His recent attacks on the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where he lost the Republican primary to Marco Rubio, stand in sharp contrast to his frequent and supportive posts about states that were also hit hard by hurricanes and that he happened to win: Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
A day after facing criticism for his tweet about Puerto Rico, President Trump paid the islands citizens a compliment while disparaging the islands situation prior to the storm.
In addition, as of Friday night, he had not voiced support on Twitter for Californians dealing with the deadliest wildfire outbreak in the history of the state, which voted for Hillary Clinton. He tweeted that his thoughts and prayers were with the great people of Tennessee on Nov. 29, 2016, soon after wildfires started there. In remarks before a ceremony at the White House this past week, he addressed Californias disaster and called it a great state.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. State officials announced Friday that the wildfires across Northern California have destroyed at least 5,700 buildings. An analysis by The New York Times using satellite images in combination with its own ground surveys found that one fire in particular incinerated at least 5,100 structures, which would make it the most destructive wildfire in the states history.
The inferno, known as the Tubbs fire, began Sunday, Oct. 8, and, as of Friday morning, was not expected to be fully contained until next Friday, Oct. 20. The homes and structures that it destroyed are shown in red in the map below.
Tubbs fire Area shown Extent of Tubbs fire as of Friday Buildings destroyed by fire Redwood Hwy. Larkfield- Wikiup Fountaingrove Coffey Park Area shown CALIF. SANTA ROSA 1 mile Tubbs fire Area shown Extent of Tubbs fire as of Friday Buildings destroyed by fire Redwood Hwy. Larkfield- Wikiup Fountaingrove Coffey Park Area shown CALIF. SANTA ROSA 1 mile Tubbs fire Extent of Tubbs fire as of Friday Area shown Buildings destroyed by fire Larkfield- Wikiup Redwood Hwy. Fountaingrove Coffey Park Area shown SANTA ROSA 1 mile The New York Times | Sources: Sonoma County Vegetation and Habitat Mapping Program (building footprints); U.S. Geological Survey (fire perimeter)
About 2,800 buildings in Santa Rosa were destroyed. The Coffey Park neighborhood and Fountaingrove area were among the hardest hit.
There was another concentration of incinerated homes in the Larkfield-Wikiup area, about a mile north of the city, where about 500 buildings were destroyed.
About 1,300 destroyed homes are visible in this satellite image of the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa.
DigitalGlobe
A ground survey of the neighborhood found almost no homes that sustained partial damage. The homes were either seemingly untouched or completely burned to the ground.
The New York Times | Sources: Sonoma County Vegetation and Habitat Mapping Program (building footprints); Sonoma County (parcel boundaries)
Fire officials are going foundation by foundation to document each damaged structure, so it will take at least another week until a fuller count will be available, a Cal Fire official said.
On some streets in Coffey Park, homes on one side were incinerated while those on the other side appeared untouched. Derek Watkins/The New York Times
Virtually all the homes in this image of the Fountaingrove area more than 500 structures appeared to be destroyed.
DigitalGlobe
Explained: Why did the ECI freeze the symbol of the Shiv Sena
Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav
6 MNS corporators in BMC join Shiv Sena, Thackeray calls it ghar wapsi
India
pti-PTI
Shiv Sena on Friday inducted six out of the seven corporators of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS in its fold, a day after the ruling BJP narrowed the gap to match the Senas tally of 82.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray termed the development "gharwapsi" whereas the BJP called it "horse trading".
In a shrewd political move, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has not only improved its tally in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) but has virtually uprooted the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), floated by Uddhavs cousin Raj Thackeray in 2006, from the political landscape in Mumbai.
With todays development, Shiv Senas strength in the 227-member BMC has risen to 90, eight more than the BJP, a senior Sena leader said.
In the BMC polls held in February this year, the Sena had won 84 seats, and the BJP 82.
The Sena also enjoys the support of four independent corporators, while the BJP has the support of two independents.
The MNS has now left with just a single corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The development comes a day after BJP nominee Jagruti Patil defeated Senas Meenakshi Patil in a bypoll in suburban Bhandup. A victory here would have taken the BJPs tally to 83, however, it remained 82 due to death of a BJP corporator from western suburbs last month.
Sena and BJP, though allies in the Centre and Maharashtra governments, do not have a formal tie-up in the BMC.
MNS corporators Dilip Lande, Archana Bhalerao, Snehal More, Datta Narvankar, Parashuram Kadam and Ashwini Matekar joined the Sena in presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Addressing the media after inducting the corporators in the party, Thackeray, in an apparent reference to the fact that the MNS was an offshoot of his party, said nobody should accuse the Sena of "poaching" the corporators as this was "homecoming".
In a dig at the BJP, Thackeray said, "Poaching took place in Arunachal Pradesh and Goa. Today, it is only Ghar Wapsi. There is no ulterior motive behind inducting the MNS corporators and it was done only after they expressed their desire to join the Shiv Sena".
Attacking the BJP, he said, "They (BJP) must have realised our strength now after seeing what can we do in one day".
Dilip Lande, one of the six corporators, said the main reason behind joining the Sena was "the BJPs plan to oust the Marathi mayor from his post".
"We joined the Sena for the welfare of the Marathi people," he said.
Sena leader Anil Parab said he has written a letter to the Konkan division commissioner, informing him about the induction of six MNS corporators in the party.
MNS spokesperson Avinash Abhyankar said if these corporators had defected to the Sena, then "appropriate action will be initiated against them".
Manoj Kotak, group leader of the BJP in the BMC, termed the induction of MNS corporators in the Shiv Sena as "betrayal of voters".
"This is not just horse-trading, but a betrayal of promise made to the Mumbaikars. We have demanded that Konkan commissioner, police commissioner and the Anti-Corruption Bureau investigate the matter and initiate action against the the mastermind of this episode," he said.
Addressing reporters, Thackeray took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the Modi wave has waned and that the BJP now relies on "sympathy wave" to win elections.
He said the national party gets "stomach ache" if the Sena becomes politically strong.
"The Modi wave has waned now. The BJP has to rely on sympathy wave to win polls and bypolls. If they (the BJP) get stomach ache with our increased strength, what kind of allies are they?" Thackeray asked.
The defection has come as a big setback for MNS, whose political fortunes are steadily on decline in Mumbai, its home turf, as well in rest of Maharashtra.
MNS had 27 corporators after the 2012 BMC elections. The number dwindled to 7 in the 2017 polls, and is now reduced to just one after todays dramatic development.
Similarly, the partys tally in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has come down from an impressive 13 after the 2009 polls to just one MLA after the 2014 elections.
The partys fortunes, which were on the upswing after it came to power in the Nashik Municipal Corporation in 2012, declined in the next polls, with many of its corporators in the north Maharashtra city quitting ahead of the polls.
Now, there are just five MNS corporators in Nashik--three in Pune and one in Pimpri civic bodies, once considered pockets of influence of the 11-year-old party.
MNS had projected itself as a better alternative to Sena on the "sons-of-the-soil" issue.
PTI
Aarushi murder case: Will the outsider theory be probed?
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
The Allahabad High Court said that the possibility of an outsider in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case could not be ruled out.
On the basis of the record and statements of witnesses, justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra said a clear and credible evidence of alternative hypothesis available on record substantially demolished the prosecution's theory that the crime was committed by 14-year-old Aarushi's parents Nupur and Rajesh Talwar alone.
Allowing the appeals of the duo against the November 28, 2013 CBI court judgement, the judges said this was so as there was "no proof" of any outsider having access to the apartment.
Recommended Video
Aarushi Hemraj Case : The 'Outsider' theory returns after Rajesh and Nupur Talwar's acquittal
The court acquitted the couple, who are both dentists, saying that there were contradictions in the evidence furnished. The judgement was uploaded on the court website on Friday.
The Talwars had filed appeals in the high court against trial court order sentencing them to life for the murders of Aarushi and 45-year-old domestic help Hemraj in May 2008.
Aarushi was found dead on May 16 morning and the body of Hemraj was located on the terrace of the Talwar residence the next day.
The court said a call was made from the landline phone of the appellants installed in their flat L32 in a Noida apartment on Hemraj's mobile phone number at about 6am on May 16.
"The possibility of the presence of other persons besides Hemraj having access to the apartment on the fateful night cannot be ruled out and the clear and credible evidence of alternative hypothesis available on record substantially demolishes the prosecution's theory that the crime was committed by the appellants alone as there was no proof of any outsiders having accessed...the apartment," it said.
The court said the investigating authority in its final report although had claimed that Hemraj's phone was active in Punjab, it did not place any evidence in support of this assertion.
"The fact that Hemraj's phone was active on 16.5.2008 and was in possession of someone else is another very strong circumstance which strongly indicates that someone had entered into the house of the appellants in the night of the incident and after committing the double murder had taken away the cell phone of Hemraj otherwise there is no explanation for the Hemraj's cell phone responding and being picked up by someone upon a landline call being from the landline of L-32 although at that time Hemraj was lying dead on the terrace of the appellant's flat," it added.
OneIndia News
Great tolerance, the CBI is sitting idle in Goa says its SP
AgustaWestland: Last minute tweaks brought deal into fray says CBI
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
The CBI has alleged that former Deputy Chief of Air Staff J S Gujral had tweaked operational requirements for VVIP helicopters from "should be twin engines" to "at least twin engines", paving the way for AgustaWestland's entry into the bidding for the 12-helicopter deal.
The agency, in its charge sheet filed before a special CBI court last month, has alleged that in a meeting on April 1, 2005, attended by the then defence secretary, the operational requirement of the VVIP helicopters was decided to be of "twin engines".
The CBI has alleged that during the meeting there was no suggestion for any amendment in the requirements that the helicopters "should be twin-engined".
It has alleged that helicopters having more than twin engines and one engine were not eligible for the bids.
"However, by adding the word 'at least' before 'twin engined' the helicopter EH-101 (subsequently known as AW-101) was dishonestly and fraudulently made eligible to participate in the bids with the approval of Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi," the CBI has alleged.
The changes were made without assigning any reason, the agency alleged.
"As per the directions of Air Marshal (Retd) J S Gujral, Air Cmde M Matheswaran added the word 'at least' before the words 'twin engined'...," the CBI alleged in the charge sheet.
Gujral discussed these revised requirements with the then air chief S P Tyagi and Vice Chief S K Malik and obtained "oral approval" of Tyagi, it claimed.
He gave a note that the "above (matter) was discussed" during PSOs conference, the CBI said.
"Investigation has established that Air Marshal J S Gujral has taken false plea that the revised ORs (operational requirements) were to be thoroughly discussed and to be put up accordingly," it said.
It is amply clear that the word "at least" was inserted by Air Commodore M Matheswaran on the instructions of Air Marshal J S Gujral in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy with other persons in order to favour and accommodate EH-101 for participating in the bidding process, it alleged.
"Investigation has revealed that the exact copy of the said revised ORs approved by the Chief of Air Staff on April 13, 2005, has been recovered by Swiss Police from the house of Haschke's (one of the European middlemen) mother during search. The same has been received in the execution report of LR from Italian authority," it said.
The agency has alleged that there was an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.
Seventy-two-year old Tyagi is the first chief of the IAF to be chargesheeted in a corruption or a criminal case by the CBI.
Others named in the charge sheet are -- Gujral, Tyagi's cousin Sanjeev alias Julie, advocate Gautam Khaitan, alleged European middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel, Guido Haschke, former AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini and former Finmeccanica Chairman Giuseppe Orsi.
They have been chargesheeted for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC in the case relating to alleged bribery of Rs 450 crore.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 6:47 [IST]
Lack of development in J&K for decades was one of the reasons behind rise of terrorism: Rajnath Singh
His contributions ignored: Why Rajnath Singh said Netaji was first PM of India
Army free to act against terrorists: Rajnath Singh
India
oi-PTI
Bardoli (Guj), October 14: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday hit out at Pakistan for its "impious" activities against India and said no power in the world can stop the government from resolving the Kashmir issue.
Singh said the NDA government has given a free hand to the Army to act against terrorists and give a befitting reply to any firing from across the border in Kashmir.
"I would like to say that nobody needs to be worried about Kashmir. No power in the world can stop us from resolving the issue," he said.
Addressing a gathering in Surat district as part of the BJP's 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra', Singh attacked Pakistan saying it sends terrorists into India and wants to break the country.
"Pakistan is our neighbouring state. Its name is 'Pak'-istan, but it regularly indulges in 'napaak' (impious) activities, tries to break India and sends terrorists into India," he said.
"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried his best (for peaceful resolution of bilateral issues) considering that Pakistan is our neighbouring state. He even went to Pakistan breaking all protocol, but Pakistan is not refraining from its activities. This can't continue for long," he said.
The home minister said he has asked the Army to reply with bullets to Pakistani firings on the Kashmir border instead of showing the "white flag" (of peace).
"We have given a free hand to the Army. I have said you are free to act against terrorists," Singh said, adding this has resulted in a "record" number of militants being killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016-17.
"We do not need to tell you the numbers. Sometimes it is one (militant) in a day or two or four or six. The jawans of our Army keep greeting them with 'Jai Sri Ram.' It has never happened before that militant have been killed in such a large number," the Minister said.
Singh recalled how a few months after the Modi government came to power in May 2014, he had given standing orders to the BSF DG to stop the practice of showing "white flags" to Pakistan in response to their firings at the Indo-Pak border.
Singh said he came to know about the practice after he talked to the BSF chief following news that five Indian citizens had been killed in firing by Pakistani personnel.
He (The BSF DG) "told me it is an old practice to show white flag in response to Pakistani firing... this is to tell them that we want peace. I asked the DG as to what was Pakistan response to our flags being shown 16 times.
"He said Pakistan did not show any white flag. On telephone I told him not to show white flag for the 17th time.
And it is my standing order that while first bullet shall not be fired by India, if we receive even a single bullet, we will retaliate," he said.
Singh said had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country's first deputy prime minister who launched a satyagrah (in support of farmers) during the British rule from Bardoli in 1928, been allowed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to act freely, India would not have been facing the Kashmir issue.
"Sardar Patel got Junagad and Hyderabad to become part of the country. Had Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru not stopped him from also deciding the fate of Kashmir, then, I think, the Kashmir issue would not have been before us today," he said.
The BJP has launched the gaurav yatra' to galvanise support ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat. A number of BJP leaders and Union ministers have taken part in the campaign and addressed rallies.
PTI
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 17:56 [IST]
With another ISIS module busted, TN has become a paradise of Islamic Jihadists
'Medicine can also be studied in Tamil medium!' - CM Stalin's efforts are getting a growing response
Mayor Priya is not the puppet but the savior - How did Chennai recover from the floods?
Cow-dung can repel dengue mosquitoes, says TN Minister
India
oi-PTI
Madurai, October 13: Tamil Nadu Minister Sellur K Raju is facing flak again this time for suggesting the use of cow-dung to control dengue-causing mosquitoes. Once Raju was ridiculed for using thermocol to prevent water evaporation.
Participating in a door-to-door campaign to create awareness about dengue here yesterday, Raju asked the people to sprinkle cow-dung mixed water in their front courtyards to prevent breeding of mosquitoes.
"Our forefathers used to sweep and sprinkle cow-dung water in front of homes to keep away mosquitoes. We are not following such practices now. You do the same (sprinkle cow-dung mixed water) neither mosquito nor dengue will come," Raju, Minister for Cooperation, said.
Talking to reporters, the minister said dengue could be controlled easily with the cooperation of the people.
The campaign has been launched at a time when the state has been witnessing a spike in dengue fever cases.
However, his remarks on cow-dung use drew flak on the social media with PMK leader Dr S Ramadoss suggesting Nobel prize for the minister.
Taking a dig, Ramadoss tweeted: "...Nobel prize for science and medicine should be given to him (Raju) only."
The Minister had earlier come under criticism for launching an experiment of state public works department to try and cut water loss due to evaporation in the Vaigai Dam by covering a small portion of it with thermocol sheets.
But the effort came a cropper with the sheets being swept away by strong winds.
The Minister had then said the idea was not his, indicating it came from officials, after criticism over social media.
PTI
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 8:37 [IST]
Ex-CEC Quraishi explains why non-announcement of Gujarat poll dates invites questions
India
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia
New Delhi, Oct 14: At a time when the Congress has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of pressuring the Election Commission (EC) to delay announcing dates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), SY Quraishi, in a column for The Indian Express explained why non-announcement of Gujarat poll dates invites questions from several quarters.
"There are two sets of questions: Why have the Gujarat dates not been announced? And, why a gap of 39 days between the voting and counting in Himachal Pradesh? Actually, both these questions are interlinked...Both mainstream and social media are abuzz with speculation and snide comments, casting aspersions on the EC. Is it to accommodate some VVIP visit to the state (Gujarat)?" asked Quraishi in his column.
"If the government does announce new populist schemes and freebies, it would cause the EC a huge embarrassment. It would be accused of giving the government of Gujarat the few extra days before invoking the model code of conduct. The hard-earned reputation of the Commission's ferocious independence could be in tatters, which would be disastrous for our democracy.
"Politicians must remember that their legitimacy comes from free and fair elections conducted by a constitutional body whose own legitimacy is the ultimate guarantor of the credibility of elections. The EC has been fortunate to have established such a reputation not just in India but globally. Hillary Clinton described it as the gold standard. Reputations take years to build but minutes to crash," the ex-CEC added.
Quraishi lamented the fact that the EC has come under scanner over the issue of announcement of poll dates in Gujarat.
"It's painful to see aspersions being cast on the Commission, especially the CEC, just because he was a Gujarat cadre officer. How can we forget that the same Commission had covered itself with glory just a month ago in the high stakes Gujarat Rajya Sabha election by asserting its well established independence and neutrality?
"The ruling party and the government would do themselves, the EC and the nation a great favour if no new schemes are now announced, belying the people's apprehensions. This would shut up the critics who say the delinking of 4-5 days is to enable the government to announce poll sops, beating the model code of conduct," he wrote.
The Congress has alleged that the EC has not announced the poll dates for Gujarat to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "announce sops" at a mega rally planned in state capital Gandhinagar next week.
On Thursday, the EC announced the date for elections in Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh will vote on November 9 and election results will be declared on December 18.
CEC AK Joti said that the dates for Gujarat polls will be announced later, however, he added voting will take place before Himachal Pradesh election results are declared.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 13:39 [IST]
Timings and Capacity
The visitors will be given the opportunity to visit Rewari Steam Centre, which is the only working steam locomotive shed over Indian Railways homing 10 steam locomotives. After a break of about three hours, the train will start from Rewari at 4:15 PM and reach Delhi Cantonment at 06:15 PM.
The train has a capacity 60 passenger and the tickets can be booked at IRCTC website as well as at various tourist facilitation centres of IRCTC, National Rail Museum and through travel operators. Photo credit: PIB
Marks celebration of Paryatan Parv
Commencement of steam operation shall also mark celebration of "Paryatan Parv"(5 - 25 October, 2017), a nationwide event to showcase tourism potential of the country.
Over the years, Indian Railways have initiated several innovative measures to promote steam tourism in the country which includes operation of steam charters in hill railways, regular steam operation in world heritage railways, restoration of steam locomotives etc.
162 year old
Built by Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson in England in 1855, the 5 feet 6 inches gauge locomotive reached Kolkata the same year. Till 1895, it was known as number 22. It was used by the East India Company to run light mail trains between Howrah and Raniganj in West Bengal. During the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, the steam engine was used to ferry troopers. Later, it was sent to Bihar to be used for line construction. The engine retired in 1909.
In 1977, the engine was restored and since then it has been kept at the National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri, Delhi.
Guinness record
It was certified by the Guinness Book of Records in 1998 as the world's oldest steam locomotive in regular operation.
The following year, the train received a National Tourism Award for the most innovative and unique tourism project from the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
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Fire breaks out at Ghazipur landfill in Delhi
India
oi-Vikas
By Vikas
A fire broke out at Ghazipur garbage dumping site in East Delhi on Saturday evening.
Five fire tenders have been rushed to the spot to douse the flames, said reports.
According to reports, there was a minor fire at the Ghazipur landfill even earlier this month because of which smoke had spread to nearby areas like Kondli village.
While no reports of burns or injuries have been reported, the fire can escalate the pollution levels in Delhi, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world.
In September, two people were killed when a portion of the landfill had collapsed. The collapsed garbage had pushed a car and three two-wheelers into a nearby canal.
[2 killed as garbage dump collapses in Delhi's Ghazipur]
The massive pile of garbage at Ghazipur is close to 60 meters high.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 20:46 [IST]
Gauri Lankesh murder: Killers were in Bengaluru for at least a week, recceed neighbourhood
India
oi-Anusha
Journalist Gauri Lankesh's killers stayed in Bengaluru for at least a week before they murdered her in cold blood. The assailants, investigating officials said, recceed her house and neighbourhood for at least a month before shooting her dead on September 5, 2017.
IGP B K Singh, the chief of the Special Investigation Team probing the murder, in a press conference on Saturday, said that the assailants were in the city for at least a week. Officials part of the SIT, however, told OneIndia that the suspects- who may have recced Gauri's neighbourhood for a month- strategically chalked out a 'minimum digital presence path' to Gauri's residence.
"In this case, the accused has taken precautions to hide himself, very consciously, something as simple as wearing a helmet while surveying the house. They (suspects) have probably surveyed for a month to identify all the CCTV locations and use a path where there were no CCTVs," said an officer who is part of the SIT, requesting anonymity.
No evidence to prove "same gun theory"
Putting to rest speculations of Prof M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh being murdered by the same weapon, the SIT said there was no evidence to suggest so. "Assailants used a 7.62 mm countrymade pistol to shot at Gauri. There has, however, been no evidence to prove that it was the same gun used in the murder of Prof M M Kalburgi. There are similarities in both killings but there is an equal number of dissimilarities," B K Singh said.
[Gauri Lankesh murder: Cops rule out professional angle, release sketches of suspects]
SIT yet to approach other agencies
Contrary to what many reports have suggested, the SIT probing Gauri Lankesh' murder claimed that it is yet to reach out to other agencies probing similar murders. The SIT is yet to approach agencies like the CBI and Maharashtra SIT probing the Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare murder cases. The question of cross-verifying cartridge samples, ballistic reports do not arise since the SIT is yet to seek information.
The SIT released two CCTV footages from the date of crime i.e., September 5, 2017. The footages- 4-second and 9-second each, acquired from two different CCTV cameras show a man on a bike riding around Gauri Lankesh's residence. The SIT has claimed that the man on the bike is one of the assailants aged between 25 and 35 years.
"We are confident that these are the killers. Till about a couple of days ago, we were not sure but today, because of corroboration of both, technical analysis and eyewitness analysis, we have been able to zero in on the accused. We are confident that the man in the video is a suspect," said the officer.
The SIT held a press conference for the first time ever since its formation following Gauri Lankesh's brutal murder. While it has ruled out professional rivalry as a motive, all other angles are being probed. The SIT officials are confident that the killers have left the city but are encouraging the public to share any information that could help the investigation.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 16:45 [IST]
Cong for Muslims, BJP for Hindus: Did Rahuls temple visits in Guj help to bust the myth?
Gujarat Assembly Election 2017: BJP belittling the ECI says Congress
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
The Congress is likely to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission about not announcing a date for the Gujarat Assembly Election 2017.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged that within 10 minutes of the Election Commission announcing the dates of the Himachal Pradesh elections, the Gujarat government announced sops worth hundreds of crores.
The Gujarat government on Thursday declared a slew of sops aimed at wooing agitating Patidars, the Valmiki community, lakhs of government employees and the powerful builder lobby. Why was it in such a tearing hurry, he asked.
He also said that anticipating the announcement of the election date for Gujarat and the consequent enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the BJP ruled Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation advanced its standing committee meeting by an hour and half to clear proposals estimated at Rs 530 crore.
The frenzied, desperate and last-minute attempt by the BJP to force this change so as to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce various sops like a Santa Claus in Gujarat on October 16; this speaks volumes about how the BJP is staring at a complete decimation in Gujarat, Singhvi also said.
He also said that the BJP is trying its best to influence the functioning of the Election Commission of India. Just like it belittled the authority of the RBI, the judiciary and other important institutions, it is trying to pressurise the ECI, the Congress spokesperson also alleged.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 6:21 [IST]
How illicit trade of cigarettes is funding terrorism globally
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
A report states that illicit trade including smuggling, piracy and counterfeiting continue to be the most preferred mechanisms used by terrorists to fund their operations.
According to the report - titled Illicit Trade: Fuelling Terror Financing and Organised Crime - many prominent terrorist organisations, including Hezbollah, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Al Qaida, and the Irish Republican Army, rely on illicit trade for financing up to 20 per cent of their terror operations.
The Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in 2015 is one example given where this was the case, while Al-Qaeda uses the illicit trade of cigarettes and apparel as one of its financing sources. Both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Irish Republican Army source income from the illicit trade of cigarettes among other goods, the report said.
The report was launched at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) MASCRADE 2017 conference.
In India, D-Company is identified as a terrorist organisation thriving on the black market of counterfeit goods in the country. The report said that the transformation of D-Company into a terrorist entity is believed to coincide with its entry into trade of counterfeit goods.
"It has now been established beyond doubt that illicit trade is the fuel that energises the terror machine," said Anil Rajput, chairman of FICCI CASCADE. "Today, the world's largest and most notorious terrorist organisations are relying on the proceeds from illicit trade to give shape to their evil designs. It is my firm view that in order to conquer this menace, all stakeholders will have to collectively put their might behind the cause. This will enable us to reach our desired goal of defeating the evil intentions of the terrorists and those indulging in organised crime."
Counterfeiting provides terrorists with an opportunity to quickly finance themselves under the radar of authorities. For instance, the smuggling and counterfeiting of cigarettes has been found to account for more than 20 per cent of criminal funding sources for terrorist organisations. "Smuggling, counterfeiting and piracy appeal to the terrorist organisations more than the other means of financing because of the low risks associated with it," the report also said.
The report also notes that the evolution of terrorism in recent times has been driven by the development of unique technologies that provide a platform to manoeuvre its illicit trade operations, pointing to the Darknet as the main culprit, with its anonymity and lack of traceability. "Essentially, the Darknet has become one of the major platforms for supporting illicit trade, which eventually helps in generating easy financing for organised crime and terrorism," the report said.
The development of the internet and e-commerce has also allowed illicit trade to prosper, which terrorists have taken advantage of, the report also states.
The report makes four main recommendations to control illicit trade: Better awareness about counterfeit and smuggled products through government initiatives; the partnering of government and industry to run campaigns for reducing the market for counterfeit and pirated goods; the development of task forces to check the growth of illicit trade and links between terrorism, organised crime and illicit trade; and moves to draw a balance between government revenue needs through taxation and the incentives illicit market gets through increased taxes on goods.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 7:01 [IST]
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
How a trade hub in Manipur, near Indo-Myanmar border, is checking entry of Rohingyas
India
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia
Imphal, Oct 14: As Rohingyas continue to flee from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh, India, especially the Northeast region of the country, has been on a high alert to check any infiltration of illegal immigrants as the entire region shares porous border both with Myanmar and Bangladesh.
According to reports, the Manipur government has recently opened a police outpost at Tusom, a village along the Manipur-Myanmar border in Ukhrul district, to stop Rohingya refugees from entering the state.
"We have opened one police outpost at Tusom, a vulnerable village in Ukhrul district so as to maintain strict vigil against any attempt by Rohingyas to cross over to Manipur," an official was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
The police outpost was opened last week. The outpost has a company of Manipur Rifles and police personnel to guard the border areas near the village.
However, the Manipur government maintains that so far no illegal infiltration of Rohingyas has taken place in the state. But the outpost was opened to thwart any entry of illegal Rohingyas from Myanmar to Manipur.
Moreover, intelligence reports, also did not mention any movement of Rohingyas close to the Manipur border. However, security agencies are not taking any chances.
The village of Tusom has always been a popular trade hub for Myanmarese nationals. Thus people from Myanmar on a regular basis keep on entering and leaving the village for trade-related purposes.
Tusom is located nearly 200km from Imphal, the capital city of Manipur, and 115km from Myanmarese town of Somrah.
Thus, those who come to Tusom from Myanmar for work purpose have to show valid documents before getting permission to enter India.
Two districts of Manipur, Ukhrul and Kamjong, share a 200km border with Myanmar. Thus Manipur is on a high alert to restrict entry of illegal immigrants from Myanmar. There are nearly 50 Manipur villages along the Myanmar border. The district administration identified six vulnerable villages along this border.
Reports suggest that the state government is working on opening another police outpost at Behiang, a village in Churachandpur district which is also close to the Myanmar border.
The entire Northeast region shares more than 4,500 km of border with Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and Bhutan. The states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share 1,643 km border with Myanmar. Hardly, the Indo-Myanmar border areas are being fenced or well-guarded.
Moreover, India also has a porous border with Bangladesh, where most of the Rohingyas are currently fleeing to from their homeland. India also fears that Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh might enter the Northeast region through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 11:10 [IST]
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India-Sri Lanka bilateral talks: Permanent solution to fishermen issues at the earliest
India
oi-Chennabasaveshwar
By Chennabasaveshwar
India and Sri Lanka agreed that a permanent solution to fishermen issues should be found at the earliest, said a joint Press Communique on India-Sri Lanka meet.
The talks followed by the 3rd Meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries held in New Delhi on 13 October 2017.
The Joint Working Group was co-chaired by Secretary (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries), Government of India and Secretary (Ministry of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources Development), Government of Sri Lanka.
Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh met with Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development of Sri Lanka.
The Indian side was satisfied with progress on the release of apprehended fishermen and detained fishing vessels by Sri Lanka in the recent past.
Also, India reiterated the release of all the remaining Indian fishing vessels in Sri Lankan custody.
For nearly 35 years due to the Sri Lankan civil wars the fishermen of India have been facing a lot of hardship. Fishermen's arrest and seizing of trawlers have become a common scenario between the two countries. At present 47 Indian fishermen and more than 140 boats are in Sri Lankan custody.
(With agency inputs)
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 15:31 [IST]
Indian Mujahideen terror funding: ED attaches assets in Karnataka
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 5 lakh in connection with a money laundering probe in a terror financing case involving the Indian Mujahideen.
The ED said the attachment, issued under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), includes a residential property in Mangalore "belonging to the persons involved in terror financing" who were also "linked" to a Pakistani.
The ED said that a person named Dheeraj Sao got cash deposits in his bank accounts from various parts of the country for a commission. "After keeping his commission, he (Sao) used to transfer the remaining amounts to bank accounts of persons associated with terror outfit Indian Mujahideen such as Zubair Hussain, Aysha Banu, Raju Khan and others," it alleged.
The agency said it tracked the crime money and found that Banu and Hussain had acquired a residential property at Panjimogeru in Karnataka's Mangalore. "All the accused were linked to Pakistani national Khalid and as per his directions had opened accounts in various banks to receive money and transfer the same to members of terrorist outfit IM after deducting their commission.In all these accounts, mostly cash money had been deposited by unknown persons from various locations in India other than the home branch and the cash deposits were withdrawn immediately through ATMs and used for terror activities," the ED said.
The ED said it is probing the people involved and their links further.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 6:54 [IST]
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K
J&K: 3 children injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch
India
oi-Vikas
By Vikas
Three children were injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch region on Saturday.
Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing in Balakote sector.
On Thursday, a Jawan and one civilian were killed as Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. On October 6, Pakistani troops had opened fire in Baba Khori and other areas in Rajouri district.
Incidents of ceasefire violation by Pakistan have increased sharply this year. Till August 1, there were 285 such violations by the Pakistan Army, while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to the Army figures.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 20:11 [IST]
J&K: 2 terrorists killed in Pulwama encounter
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
Two terrorists have been killed down in an encounter at Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorists have been identified as Wasim Shah and Hafiz Nisar. The terrorists are suspected to be part of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
Sources say that Wasim Shah was a commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the Pulwama area. He is a grade A terrorist, the source also added.
The encounter broke out this morning at the Litter village in Pulwama. Intelligence Bureau reports suggested the presence of terrorists in the area following which the security forces launched an encounter.
Meanwhile the Army has recovered one AK-47, an AK-56 and 6 AK magazines.
Shortly after the encounter, there were incidents of stone pelting that were reported. The security forces however managed to get the situation under control.
Kashmir IGP Munir Khan said that the operation was carried out by the police, Army and CRPF after they received specific inputs about the presence of two Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists. He said out of the two terrorists killed Shah was very notorious and his elimination is a big success. He used to recruit cadres for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Khan also said. He also added that when the encounter began, the two terrorists were told to surrender. However they began firing which led to the retaliation by the forces, he also said. Khan said that with his killing the people will be able to live in peace. This is a very successful operation for the forces, he also said.
OneIndia News
Kanpur police books 22 traders for posters comparing Modi with Kim Jong
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
The Kanpur police have registered criminal cases against 22 persons for putting up posters comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to North Korean dictator, Kim Jong. The posters were put up to highlight the issue of a deluge of small coins affecting their businesses.
Following the arrest, a trade leader said that they did not wish to celebrate Diwali this year. The posters had a photograph of Kim Jong on one side declaring that he will rest only after he has destroyed the world. On the other side of the poster is Modi saying, " I will bring an end to businesses."
The traders also asked Modi to resolve the small coins issue. The posters surfaced on Wednesday morning at many places throughout the city before the state executive of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was to hold a meeting.
The traders commissioned these posters after banks in the city refused to take deposits in coins, stating the lack of chests to keep them. According to the traders, many in the wholesale grocery business are left with coins worth about Rs 10 to 15 lakh each, while the retailers, on an average, have a stock of coins worth Rs 6-7 lakh each.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 6:08 [IST]
Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig uses expletive against Modi, kicks up storm
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig was in the eye of the storm after he used expletives against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function.
Baig had said, "When Modi was voted to power as prime minister, his supporters said he is our son. But, now what has happened? He banned Rs 1000 note. Banned Rs 500 note. Now, these very same people are chiding him," he said and went on to use an expletive.
State BJP Incharge Muralidhar Rao said the Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, talk about parliamentary system, but use unparliamentary language. "They don't know to use good language.
From Rahul Gandhi to Roshan Baig why have they taken time to disown
(the remarks). They talk about Parliamentary system, but use unparliamentary language," he told reporters.
Asked if BJP wants Baig's resignation, Rao said "Baig is part of Congress, and my agitation is against Congress, and we want to fulfil the dream of Congress-mukht India by routing the party in next state elections."
Baig, on October 10, had used an expletive in Tamil language to launch a tirade against Modi while he was addressing Congress workers.
Rao also hit out at Kerala Congress leaders including K C Venugopal, who is Karnataka Party Incharge, for his alleged involvement in solar scam. "Even Venugopal is facing charges. He is not free from any taint and corruption. The charges have not been levelled by BJP, but a party which is collaborting with Congress against BJP. That party's (CPM) government in Kerala has spoken about it," he said.
Rao also announced BJP's 'Parivartana Yatra' to 'expose' the Congress rule in the state from November 2 under the leadership of State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa.
"November 2 will be a historic, massive, innovative and participative and mobilising event," he added.
The yatra will highlight Congress government's corruption, bad governance, law and order, farmers unrest and soft approach towards religious terror, giving scope to radicalisation, Rao stated. "These issues will be centre of debate, and BJP leaders are ready to face any debate anywhere. I challenge Congress leaders who have the guts to take part in a debate," he also said.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 7:15 [IST]
Mumbai 26/11 attacks: When Pranab Mukherjee asked Pak foreign minister to leave
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
Pranab Mukherjee had in 2008 called the then foreign minister of Pakistan Shah Mehmood Qureshi out of a press conference and asked him to leave immediately. This was in the aftermath of the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.
In the third volume of his autobiography, Mukherjee who was then the external affairs minister had even offered and aircraft to take Qureshi back to Pakistan.
After the attack began, Mukherjee was informed that his counterpart was at a press conference. Mukherjee interrupted the press conference through a journalist he knew and asked her to inform Qureshi that he wanted to talk to him urgently. When Qureshi came on line, Mukherjee read out a note prepared by the foreign secretary.
"Mr Minister, no purpose will be served by your continuing to stay in India in these circumstances. I advise you to leave immediately. My official aircraft is available to take you back home. But it would be desirable if a decision is taken as quickly as possible," Mukherjee told the minister.
Mukherjee said the Pakistani high commission later informed him that Qureshi had expressed gratitude for the offer and that a Pakistani air force aircraft would take him back home.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 8:33 [IST]
'No Hindi, no prime ministership': Pranab Mukherjee on why he didn't become PM
India
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia
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Pranab Mukherjee reveals why he was not made Prime Minister | Oneindia News
New Delhi, Oct 14: Probably, the question as to why Pranab Mukherjee was never made the Prime Minister of the country by Congress president Sonia Gandhi back in 2004 after the party's handsome win in the Lok Sabha elections, instead decided to give the coveted chair to the unlikely man Manmohan Singh, would never fail to elicit various responses in the political circle.
On Friday, during the release of Mukherjee's new book, the third volume of his autobiography, The Coalition Years: 1996-2012, his long-time colleague from the Congress and former PM Singh to everyone's surprise stated that the former President was more qualified to become PM than him.
However, Mukherjee, who was also the country's Union minister on several occasions and one of the country's tallest political personalities, had a different take on the entire matter, which is generally not discussed openly by the members of the grand old party.
The former President said that it was his lack of grasp on Hindi and his long tenure in the Rajya Sabha which "disqualified" him to become the country's PM.
In an exclusive interview to India Today, Mukherjee rejected the idea that he was "disappointed" when Singh was made the PM, instead of him by Gandhi.
"Not disappointed, because I considered myself disqualified from ever being the Prime Minister of India. One disqualification was that, for most part of my career, I was always in the Rajya Sabha. Only in 2004 did I win a seat to the Lok Sabha.
"Second, though I was elected to the Lok Sabha, I did not know Hindi. And without knowing Hindi, nobody should venture to be the PM of India. Kamaraj said that once- 'No Hindi, no prime ministership'," Mukherjee said.
"My honest assessment at the time was that Manmohan was the best choice. Over time, he had understood administrative and political nuances. He had vast administrative experience and was well-versed in economic affairs. He has always been a man of highest integrity. He's widely respected across the world as an economist of repute," he added.
Singh said on Friday that Mukherjee was right to feel upset when Congress president Gandhi sidelined him and named Singh as head of the UPA government in 2004.
"In 2004, Sonia ji chose me to be the Prime Minister. Pranab ji was the most distinguished colleague that I had. He had every reason to feel a grievance, that he was better qualified than I was to be PM but he also knew I had no choice in the matter," Singh said.
Singh added while his entry into politics was "accidental", Mukherjee was a politician by choice and is one of the greatest politicians living in our country.
Singh told the audience at the book launch event that both he and Mukherjee always shared a healthy working relationship.
OneIndia News
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The museum has been built in accordance with developed technology and broad-based vision of international standard. Courtesy:@narendramodi
Artefacts from ancient times
The museum houses a rich collection of items of art, history, and artefacts from ancient times till 1764. Bihar museum located on Bailey road, at the heart of the capital. Courtesy:@narendramodi
Museum built at cost of Rs 500 crore
The museum was dedicated to the public on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.Built at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore. Courtesy: @narendramodi
Museum houses 3,060 artefacts
The Bihar museum displays a huge collection of about 3,060 artefacts and statues.The museum would showcase Bihar's rich history and culture to the world. Courtesy: @narendramodi
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Nitish, Modi have habit of fooling people, says Lalu
India
pti-PTI
RJD president Lalu Prasad on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were fooling the people of Bihar by not according central status to the Patna University.
Modi, who earlier in the day attended the centenary celebrations of the varsity here along with Kumar, said measures like grant of central status were a thing of the past.
The prime minister said his government has taken "a step forward" towards making 10 private universities and 10 government ones world-class.
"Both of them (Modi as well as Kumar) are making fools of people of Bihar. They must have decided beforehand that one will propose and another would dispose it (proposal for central status to PU)," Prasad told reporters at Patna's Jay Prakash Narayan Airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
Prasad had served as president of PU students' union that provided vital support to the anti-Congress Jay Prakash Narayan movement in 1974.
The RJD chief has been on the offensive after the disintegration of the grand alliance government in Bihar in which his son Tejaswi Yadav was deputy chief minister.
During the fucntion, Modi said the Centre will provide assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to 10 private universities and as many government ones for a period of five years.
"I exhort Patna University to seize this opportunity," he added.
Prasad, taking a swipe at Modi, said, "Will he (PM) be on the chair till that time?"
Asked why he did not attend today's function at PU, Lalu said he did not get an invitation. "Even if I had got an invitation, I would not have gone to share dais with PM."
The RJD chief also questioned BJP president Amit Shah for giving a "clean chit" to his son Jay Amit Shah, whose company saw a huge rise in turnover after the BJP came to power in 2014, as claimed in a report by The Wire.
"Are you (Amit Shah) heading ED or CBI that you are giving clean chit to your son Jay Shah?" he said.
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20 universities to get Rs 10,000 crore for world-class education system: PM Modi
India
oi-Chennabasaveshwar
By Chennabasaveshwar
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday applauded Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for his commitments towards the progress of Bihar, saying "We in the Centre attach topmost importance to the development of eastern India."
PM was speaking at the Centenary Celebrations of Patna University in Patna.
PM Modi said, "I consider it my honour to visit Patna University and be among the students. I bow to this land of Bihar. This university has nurtured students who have contributed greatly to the nation."
"In every state, the top levels of the civil services has people who have studied in Patna University. In Delhi, I interact with so many officials, many of whom belong to Bihar," he said.
Commenting on legacy if the state, PM said, "Bihar is blessed with both 'Gyaan' and 'Ganga.' This land has a legacy that is unique."
Also, Pm announced that 10 private and 10 public universities will be given a fund of Rs 10,000 Crore over five years to make them world-class.
About country's progress in the education sector, PM said, "A nation seen as a land of snake charmers has distinguished itself in the IT sector."
Earlier, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar received PM Modi with a flower as he arrived in Patna on Saturday. Adhering MHA guidelines, Nitish Kumar did not welcome Modi with bouquets.
PM Modi is on Bihar visit for the first time since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) returned to NDA.
Later, PM Modi' is scheduled to lay the foundation for development and infrastructure projects.
At Mokama, the PM will lay the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange programme; and four National Highway projects.
The total outlay of these projects will be over Rs. 3700 crore. He will also address a public meeting.
The four sewerage projects include Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage Treatment Plant at Karmalichak and STP and Sewer Network at Saidpur.
These projects together will create new STP capacity of 120 MLD and upgrade the existing 20 MLD for Beur.
The four National Highway projects for which foundation stone will be laid include:
4-laning of Aunta-Simariya section of NH-31 and construction of 6-lane Ganga Setu
4 laning of Bakhtiyarpur-Mokama section of NH-31
2-lane construction of Maheshkhunt-Saharsa-Purnea section of NH 107
2-lane construction of Biharsharif-Barbigha-Mokama section of NH-82
OneIndia News
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Rahul Gandhi supporter of destruction: CM Yogi in Gujarat
India
oi-PTI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday stepped up his attack on the Congress, describing its lead campaigner Rahul Gandhi a supporter of destruction, not development.
Adityanath also hailed the Gujarat model of development, which is often mocked by the Congress vice president.
Participating in the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in Valsad district, the saffron leader alleged that the Congress party has "insulted" Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the two tall leaders from Gujarat.
"He is not a supporter of development, but a supporter of destruction. Rahul Gandhi has supported Ishrat Jahan, a terrorist who was killed by security forces here (in 2004)," Adityanath told a rally during the yatra.
Gandhi, at his recent rallies in the poll-bound Gujarat, had often targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Gujarat model of development. Modi often refers to the model as a benchmark of development.
Targeting the Congress, Adityanath said the party is a "symbol" as well as the "messiah" of destruction.
The BJP leader claimed that Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi, has not seen any development over a long period.
"In the last 14 years, being an MP from Uttar Pradesh, he has not even built an office of the district collector. What can you expect from such a person for development of Gujarat?" he said.
He said the scourge of naxalism, terrorism and corruption are "gifts" of the Congress to the nation.
Adityanath also questioned the "absence" of the Congress vice president when Gujarat battled floods this year.
"When Saurashtra was flooded, you went to Italy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes here, Amitbhai Shah (BJP president) comes here, but you cannot visit people at that time," he said.
Hailing Modi, he said the prime minister has turned development into a movement of people and that the country is on the path of rapid progress.
Uttar Pradesh has adopted the Gujarat model of development and is implementing many schemes, he said.
The UP chief minister addressed a number of gatherings in south Gujarat today.
Adityanath was shown black flags by a group of Congress supporters in Valsad citys Dharampur road. Three of them were detained by the police and later released, officials said.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 15:06 [IST]
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Swaraj slams opposition parties for calling BJP anti-women
India
oi-Chennabasaveshwar
By Chennabasaveshwar
Union Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday slammed opposition parties for calling BJP anti-women. Swaraj was speaking in a Mahila Townhall in Ahmedabad.
Sushma Swaraj said, "Rivals call BJP anti-women party but it gave four women CMs and four women governors, adding there are six women cabinet ministers."
"Prior to our government, no woman was ever a member of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), comprising Home, External Affairs, Defence and Finance Ministry," she said.
She further said that she was made EAM in May 2014 and now Nirmala Sitharaman is the Defence Minister. "Two out of four CCS members are women now."
Speaking of women safety, Swaraj said, "Centre will soon launch Push Panic Button Yojna to ensure women safety."
Gujarat BJP claimed that Mahila Town Hall with Sushmaji is a huge success and has received more than one lakh questions through various mediums.
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 16:58 [IST]
Talwars likely to walk free on Monday
Even after release, Talwar couple to visit Dasna Jail every 15 days
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Talwars' lawyers receive copy of Allahabad HC order
India
oi-PTI
New Delhi, October 14: The lawyers of Talwar couple have received a certified copy of the Allahabad High Court order acquitting the dentist couple in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.
It will be provided to a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on Monday, which will then issue an order to the Dasna prison authorities to release the couple, one of the Talwars' lawyers said.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are lodged in the Dasna prison in Ghaziabad since November 2013 after they were awarded life sentence in the case.
Courts in Ghaziabad observe a holiday on second Saturdays.
The order's copy was received late last evening.
"We have received a certified copy of the order of the Allahabad High Court. It is expected that they (Rajesh and Nupur) will walk out of the jail on Monday," Vandana Talwar, Aarushi's aunt, told PTI.
The Allahabad High Court acquitted Talwar couple in the sensational double murder case earlier this week.
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Won't react to Rahul's indecent' comment: Swaraj on shorts' remark
India
oi-Vikas
By Vikas
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday refused to comment on Rahul Gandhi's 'shorts' remark on the RSS, but dubbed Congress vice-president's statement as 'indecent'.
"If he (Rahul Gandhi) had asked about women's role in RSS, then I would have given him an appropriate answer," she said at a Mahila Townhall in Ahmedabad.
"Par jis tarah ki abhadra bhasha ka unhone prayog kiya, main aise abhadra prashn ka uttar nahin dena chahti (But he spoke in an indecent way so I would no comment on it)," she added.
She also said that a politician of such a stature should be using that kind of language.
#WATCH: "Netaon ko aisi baat kehna shobha nahin deta" responds EAM Swaraj to a question over Rahul Gandhi's RSS women in shorts remark pic.twitter.com/C8r9T9VF7o ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017
Swaraj's was responding to a question on Rahul Gandhi's comment on RSS in Vadodara earlier this week.
"How many women are there in the RSS.... Have you ever seen any woman in the 'shakhas' wearing shorts? I have never seen them," he had asked.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday demanded Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's apology for his remarks.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's women in shorts comment, the BJP has said that the Congress vice president has a perverse mind.
[Rahul's 'shorts' remark leaves RSS fuming, demands apology]
Slamming Rahul for the comment, Union Minister Smriti Irani had 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."
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 22:06 [IST]
Family freed from Haqqani's captivity reaches Canada
International
pti-PTI
Toronto, October 14: Former hostage Joshua Boyle said Haqqani network in Afghanistan had killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity. The family reached Canada on Friday night.
Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada late yesterday with his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.
The couple was rescued on Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport.
"The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter," he said.
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," he said. He said he was in Afghanistan 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."
On the plane from London, Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press saying his family has "unparalleled resilience and determination." Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, sat in the aisle of the business-class cabin wearing a tan-colored headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly when she confirmed her identity to a reporter on board the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest child in his lap. US State Department officials were on the plane with them.
The handwritten statement that Boyle gave the AP expressed disagreement with US foreign policy. "God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organised injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege," he wrote.
He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, "Their interests are not my interests." He added that one of his children is in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
The family was able to leave the plane with their escorts before the rest of the passengers. There was a short delay before everyone else was allowed out.
"It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," he said in his later statement at the airport.
"To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost." Dan Boyle, Joshua's younger brother, said outside the family home in Smith Falls, Ontario, that he had spoken to his brother a few times in the past few days. "He's doing very well. He sounds a lot like how he sounded five years ago. He sounds like he had his head on his shoulders and his wits about him," he said.
The Canadian government said in a statement they will "continue to support him and his family now that they have returned."
"Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones," the Canadian government said. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said the Pakistani raid that led to the family's rescue was based on a tip from US intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a "common enemy" when Washington shares information. US officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network.
US officials consider it a terrorist organisation and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the Haqqani 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.
A US national security official, who was not authorised to discuss operational details of the release and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the US obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani government officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages, and they did.
President Donald Trump, who previously had warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Pakistan for its "cooperation on many fronts." On Twitter, he wrote yesterday that the US is starting to develop "a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders."
The operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captor's final, terrifying threat to "kill the hostage."
Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors' car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said. US officials did not confirm those details.
A US 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 and had a transport plane ready to go, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyle's father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America. Another US 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 US troops following a firefight and was taken to the US 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 US Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.
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.
US officials have said that several other Americans are being held by militant groups in Afghanistan or Pakistan. They include Paul Overby, an author in his 70s who had traveled to the region several times but disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in mid-2014 and Kevin King, 60, a teacher at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who was abducted in August 2016.
PTI
India has high growth potential for next two decades, says Jaitley
International
pti-PTI
Washington, Oct 14: The whole environment of doing business has changed in a matter of months, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said said on Saturday.
India has the potential to grow at a reasonably high level in the next decade or two, owing to some structural changes by the government and a turnaround in the global economy, Jaitley told a Washington audience at an event organised by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum.
"India has the potential to grow at a reasonably high level in the next one-two decades. This is mainly because of the series of structural reforms being carried out by the government, turnaround in the global economy, and the massive investment opportunity that the infrastructure sector offers," said Jaitley.
"I am certain that now that the growth is returning back to the world, the future holds an important direction as far as India is concerned. The sheer size of the country and economy would offer huge opportunity for investment in India in the next few years," he said.
Jaitley said that when the BJP government came to power in 2014, it had the choice to look the other way and allow the shadow economy to continue.
"But it did not do so, as it took a series of courageous steps which ultimately culminated in demonetisation of high- value currency," the finance minister said.
The government knew that there would be short-term impact on the economy, Jaitley said, "but, in the long term, it would benefit the country," he told a gathering of investors and corporate leaders.
In an effort to pitch India as an investor-friendly destination, the finance minister said that his government had taken a series of steps to improve the ease of doing business.
"India today is one of the most open, globally integrated economy. In the last few years, we are moving up the ease of doing business ranking," he said, as he listed out some of the key initiatives by his government.
Among these are the "massive steps" that the Indian government has taken in using new digital technologies for governance and making them beneficial to the people, Jaitley said.
"Today, almost everyone is connected to the banking system. Almost every adult in India has biometric. The integrated data has helped the government to reach every citizen on digital platform," he said.
"This has helped us save billions of dollars," he said, adding that India is now using technology "in a big way" in order to ensure that the resources reaches the intended population.
Speaking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley said it was "a more efficient system which has brought the country together, even economically, allowed free flow of goods and services across the country."
However, he conceded, that it could cause disruption for a quarter or two.
The event closed a week of meetings that the minister attended in the US, including the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Members of the USISPF audience included senior representatives from companies such as Apple, Boeing, Google, etc. while senior officials from different departments of the US government also participated in the programme.
PTI
US-Iran nuclear deal decertified, Trump calls it worst in history
International
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
Calling it as one of the worst in history, US President Donald Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers.
Trump made the announcement in a speech that detailed a more confrontational approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.
Trump said in an address at the White House that his goal is to ensure Iran's never obtains a nuclear weapon.
"Today I am announcing our strategy along with several major steps we're taking to confront the Iranian regime's hostile actions and to ensure that Iran never -- and I mean never -- acquires a nuclear weapon," Trump said.
While Trump did not pull the United States out of the agreement, aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the pact.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Saturday, October 14, 2017, 8:25 [IST]
There is no 'one-size-fits-all' to curb poverty
Thief calls cops for help after being caught by mob
Cyclone Sitrang heading towards Bangladesh; Heavy rains likely to pound West Bengal, Odisha and NE
Wild elephants kill four Rohingyas at Balukhali camp in Bangladesh
International
pti-PTI
Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh), October 14: Four Rohingya refugees, including three children, were trampled to death by wild elephants as they were building a shack on forest land in southern Bangladesh on Saturday.
The incident occurred at Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar district, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have set up makeshift shelters since fleeing violence across the border in Myanmar.
"They were trampled to death by seven or eight wild elephants. They include a woman and three children," Afrozul Haq Tutul, deputy police chief of Cox's Bazar, told AFP.
Two people were also injured, he said, adding all the victims were Rohingya who were building a shack on in a part of the forest where wild elephants frequently search for food and shelter.
This is the second time Rohingya refugees have been attacked by wild elephants in the area. Earlier two Rohingya - an elderly person and a child - were killed by elephants as they were sleeping in a makeshift shelter.
An estimated 536,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a fresh outbreak of violence erupted on August 25 in Myanmar's westernmost Rakhine state.
Space at established refugee camps in Bangladesh has been all but exhausted, with new arrivals hacking away trees and other vegetation anywhere they can to erect shelters from the monsoon rain.
Many newly arrived refugees are camping in the open or along roadsides, where they rush aid trucks for food and other desperately needed supplies.
The Bangladesh government has allocated 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares) of forest land to build proper shelters for the refugees but many have already set up shacks before the actual construction begins.
A Cox's Bazar district forest official told AFP that clashes between animals and refugees were "inevitable" as the camp areas have been a roaming ground for elephants for centuries. "The is a reserve forest land, frequented by wild Asian elephants all the time," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The authorities want to extend the existing camps around Kutupalong and Balukhali into a refugee city for 800,000 Rohingya, but the United Nations has warned such a settlement would be dangerously overcrowded.
The latest violence erupted after Rohingya militant raids on 30 police posts in Rakhine triggered a military crackdown.
The UN calls the army fightback a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" with villages set ablaze to drive Rohingya civilians out.
PTI
From Consortium News
U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies transport and deliver food and water to Puerto Rico.
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Some three weeks after Hurricane Maria shredded Puerto Rico, the situation on the U.S. island territory remains grave with only about 10 percent of Puerto Rico's residents having electricity, according to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. Meanwhile, thousands of people remain in packed shelters in San Juan.
Health and public officials now worry about a developing public health crisis with outbreaks of several deadly water and airborne diseases that have not plagued the island for years, including four confirmed cases of Leptospirosis, a rat urine-borne disease that can be deadly. The death toll has risen to about 50 although a precise count is difficult given the lack of telephone service in remote areas.
On Oct. 11, I spoke with Attorney and Human Rights Activist Judith Berkan about the ongoing rescue and recovery, and the major failures on the part of the Trump Administration to deal with a very serious ongoing life and death situation.
Dennis Bernstein: Tell us about your day today. You were delivering generators?
Judith Berkan: People are organizing here like crazy, given the absence of effective official relief. We went out into the countryside today to deliver a generator, flashlights and batteries.
Dennis Bernstein: Before we get into the government failure, tell us about the situation on the ground and the other kinds of actions taken by people who obviously realize that there is racism at play and the federal government is out of town.
Judith Berkan: In some ways it has gotten a little worse than when we spoke last week. The electrical power, which was beginning to come on at a very slow rate, has now basically collapsed again. Virtually no one has power.
The other thing that has changed is that we are beginning to see in concrete ways a public health crisis developing. We have four confirmed cases of Leptospirosis, a rat urine-borne disease you get from being exposed to water or mud and which must be treated very early or it is fatal. About seven other cases have been identified in four island towns. We also have mosquito-borne diseases and stagnant waters are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
We are experiencing major problems with our hospitals. A lot of them no longer have electrical power. Everything we anticipated happening is beginning to happen. People cannot get fresh food. Asthma and other respiratory diseases are rampant. People are dying in nursery homes with limited access to power. They are rationing dialysis at most hospitals.
Apparently there is some kind of official narrative being heard in the United States that things are vastly improved, that the federal and state response has been good. This is not at all the case. The long-term effects of this storm are going to be worse than the storm itself. It is a lot worse in the countryside than it is here in San Juan, and it has been from the beginning. About half the island now has water, but the water is unsafe for drinking. Health officials are telling people to boil the water before drinking it, but no one has electricity!
There is no strategic planning and there is a sense of total chaos in coordination of services, whether it is the Red Cross or FEMA or the Coast Guard. Nobody seems to know who is supposed to do what. It is a devastating situation and I believe it is going to get worse before it gets better.
Dennis Bernstein: On the island of Vieques, people are concerned that toxins there are being scattered around by the storms.
Judith Berkan: Yes, on the offshore islands the situation is even worse. In 1942 and 1943 the US expropriated the islands and continued to bomb Vieques until 2003. There is so much toxic material still in the ground water and one of the problems with the lack of sanitation is that the toxins tend to propagate.
Another issue is that we have had extraordinarily heavy rains in the last three days, which has caused flooding because the waterways are full of debris. There hasn't been a cleanup since Irma.
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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121
"Bottom-Up is a direct and logical look at how we live our lives, conduct our business, manage our societies, and, most importantly, communicate with each other. Author Rob Kall explains it all in plain English. But don't let the readability of this book fool you into thinking that it's not important. Kall cuts to the heart of the most critical issues in communication today. This book is as important as game theory. And people will take notice."
John Kiriakou, former CIA officer and author of The Reluctant Spy and Doing Time Like a Spy
I am not a lawyer and I readily admit my understanding of the law is limited. However one does not need a law degree or legal education to know the following case is an abhorrent perversion of law and justice.
The case of Anastasia Adams proves that having power of attorney and an advance directive will not protect you if a major hospital like Inova Fairfax in Northern Virginia sues for guardianship and hands you over to their designated guardians. Even having a court appointed guardian will not protect you from guardianship if Inova thinks your child needs Electro-Shock therapy and you disagree with them; as Francisca Zegarra-Rodriguez found out. Francisca was appointed as her son's guardian by Loudon County Circuit Court judge the Honorable Jeanette A. Irby on December 14, 2015. When Francisca disagreed with Inova's treatment decision Inova simply took her to court and had a Fairfax County Circuit judge set aside her guardianship order and took her son forcing him to have ECT. They returned custody of Francisca's son to her six months later.
Inova in both of these cases -- and in 35 others and counting, 19 just since February 2017 -- had Fairfax County judges appoint the same two co-guardians and co-conservators, using the same two guardian ad litem's, and the same external law firm Blankingship & Keith; who allegedly according to public records always state it is an emergency and there are no known power of attorney's even when they allegedly know they exist.
Anastasia's sister Yolanda Bell had been her power of attorney for 15 years when Inova sued for guardianship. In their petition for guardianship Inova and their attorney's did not allege there was abuse, neglect, or exploitation (nor did the circuit court judge find abuse, neglect, or exploitation). All Inova alleged was Yolanda "refused to consent to discharge" and therefore was not acting in the best interests of her sister. So on February 15, 2017, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Stephen C. Shannon issued an order appointing Inova's two designated guardians as co-guardians and co-conservators of Anastasia's person, property, and estate. Like Francisca Yolanda had simply disagreed with Inova. Yolanda disagreed with Inova wanting to discharge her Anastasia with a large pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart) and a 12" blood clot, so she appealed Inova's decision to Medicare. Medicare agreed with Yolanda that Anastasia was still too ill to be discharged but Inova had already taken custody of Anastasia.
Since the guardianship order Anastasia's health has been run into the ground by Inova's designated guardians. Allegedly the facility where she was first placed severely broke her right hip and the guardians would not have it set or fixed leaving it grossly deformed. Allegedly the next facility where she was placed broke Anastasia's right ankle and again the guardians would not have it set or fixed. What is allegedly happening to this woman and dozens of others by Inova in this writer opinion is both morally wrong and criminal.
According to public records there are at present approximately 38 people whom Inova Healthcare Services has sued for guardianship, allegedly either to enforce treatment decisions or effect discharge from one of there hospitals. All of these individuals are on Medicare or Medicaid and it appears that when Inova thinks they will not be paid they simply call in Laurie Kirkland from B&K and she files an emergency petition for guardianship. Amazingly at least 35 of the 38 guardianships all have two attorneys from Dingman and Labowitz, PC as co-guardians and co-conservators -- principal Kenneth E. Labowitz, Esq and partner Anne M. Heishman, Esq -- and either Saben N. Johnston, Esq or Gary Jetter, Esq as court appointed guardian ad litems. At first glance this might appear to be a coincidence but upon closer inspection one realizes the same one or two names are shown in appointing the guardian ad litems, with the predominant name being the Honorable Daniel Ortiz.
According to official court transcript in the Anastasia Adams hearing, guardians Heishman and Labowitz have up to 120 at a time. Conservatively, this means if each ward receives $1200 a month in social security benefits the guardians are receiving $144,000 a month and $1,728,000 a year since they have had all funds diverted to bank accounts they control. Meanwhile their wards, as evidenced by Anastasia's situation, are relegated to languish in substandard and poorly run nursing homes isolated from their families, clergy, and loved ones. In fact Anastasia was placed in a room with no TV or radio and left to just stare at the walls 24 hours a day.
Family members dealing with what has been labeled "predatory" guardianships have attempted to obtain legal help but lawyers in Northern Virginia will not help the victim's party because Inova is a major employer and contributes to many political campaigns. Add to this the fact that Kenneth Labowitz started a political action committee (PAC) in the '90s that got Senator Jim Moran (D) elected and served as the president of Legal Services of Northern Virginia; it becomes clearer why families are unable to get any help to fight the Inova guardianship machine and extract their loved ones from their clutches.
Both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have just passed SB178 Robert Matava Elder Abuse Prosecution Act of 2017 and it is waiting for President Trump to sign it into law. The Bill promises some potential protections (and hopefully prosecutions) for those families and individuals who find themselves trap in the agonizing torment of a guardianship like those above.
Donald Trump - Caricature
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Reprinted from www.wsws.org
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 Trump's repeated threats of nuclear war against the regime of Kim Jong-un.
Corker made the warning about Trump's 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 Trump's 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 country's capital--read by everyone in Congress and the Trump administration--proclaimed 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 administration's 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 Trump's 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 Corker's 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 Trump's 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.
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Reading the Tea Leaves
War - The House and Senate have passed different versions of a 700 B Defense Budget.
Congressman Duncan Hunter's Editorial in the 9/29/2017 San Diego Union Tribune SDUT -- Hunter claimed North Korea was an existential threat to the US and San Diego would be a target. He espoused a preemptive attack.
Thursday 10/5/2017 President Trump at a dinner for his senior military stated,
"it's the calm before the storm."
Saturday 10/7/2017 President Trump speaking of North Korea stated,
"only one thing will work."
President Trump plans not to re certify Iran's compliance with the JCPOA by 10/15/2017.
10 04 2017 SDUT Bibi (Big Brother) Netanyahu in a visit to Maaleh Adumim stated, "We will build thousands of housing units here" This place will be part of the state of Israel""
Economic Crises - 2016 Debt to GDP was 253.5%
LT bond and equity prices relative to LT averages are near the highest they have been in modern history. The Cyclically adjusted price earnings ratio of the stock market is 30. It has only been higher twice in the 2000 dotcom bubble and before the 1929 crash. (The Economist 9/30/2017 (p.65) and 10/07/2017 (p.23))
The Fed plans to stop reinvesting principal redemptions on its LT bonds, by 10 B per month, beginning in October.
The Dow is approaching 23,000. There were 23,000 Levites in the second census before the Conquest of Canaan. Jews are an integral part of our financial systems and among those who manipulate our economy. Summers, Rubin, and their acolytes worked to deregulate before the great recession and to prevent reregulation after the great recession. I submit these men, and many of the plutocrats they work for, would prefer 23,000 as the next crisis point.
(Treasury's Summers, Treasury's Rubin, Fed's Greenspan, and SEC's Levitt are all Jews and all opposed CFTC Chairwoman Brooksley Born's 1999 attempt to regulate credit default swaps.
Fed Chairmen Greenspan, Bernanke, Yellen are all Jews and all oversaw regulatory forbearance in the run ups to the great recessions I and future II. 23,000 is a significant number.)
Crisis Point: Tuesday 10/31/2017 1:23 PM EST / or within the following two years.
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From Consortium News
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Declassified records from the Reagan presidential library show how the U.S. government enlisted civilian agencies in psychological operations designed to exploit information as a way to manipulate the behavior of targeted foreign audiences and, at least indirectly, American citizens.
A just-declassified sign-in sheet for a meeting of an inter-agency "psyops" committee on Oct. 24, 1986, shows representatives from the Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department, and the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) joining officials from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department.
Some of the names of officials from the CIA and Pentagon remain classified more than three decades later. But the significance of the document is that it reveals how agencies that were traditionally assigned to global development (USAID) or international information (USIA) were incorporated into the U.S. government's strategies for peacetime psyops, a military technique for breaking the will of a wartime enemy by spreading lies, confusion and terror.
Essentially, psyops play on the cultural weaknesses of a target population so they could be more easily controlled or defeated, but the Reagan administration was taking the concept outside the traditional bounds of warfare and applying psyops to any time when the U.S. government could claim some threat to America.
This disclosure -- bolstered by other documents released earlier this year by archivists at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, California -- is relevant to today's frenzy over alleged "fake news" and accusations of "Russian disinformation" by reminding everyone that the U.S. government was active in those same areas.
The U.S. government's use of disinformation and propaganda is, of course, nothing new. For instance, during the 1950s and 1960s, the USIA regularly published articles in friendly newspapers and magazines that appeared under fake names such as Guy Sims Fitch.
However, in the 1970s, the bloody Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers' revelations about U.S. government deceptions to justify that war created a crisis for American propagandists, their loss of credibility with the American people. Some of the traditional sources of U.S. disinformation, such as the CIA, also fell into profound disrepute.
This so-called "Vietnam Syndrome" -- a skeptical citizenry dubious toward U.S. government claims about foreign conflicts -- undermined President Reagan's efforts to sell his plans for intervention in the civil wars then underway in Central America, Africa and elsewhere.
Reagan depicted Central America as a "Soviet beachhead," but many Americans saw haughty Central American oligarchs and their brutal security forces slaughtering priests, nuns, labor activists, students, peasants and indigenous populations.
Reagan and his advisers realized that they had to turn those perceptions around if they hoped to get sustained funding for the militaries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as well as for the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, the CIA-organized paramilitary force marauding around leftist-ruled Nicaragua.
Perception Management
So, it became a high priority to reshape public perceptions inside those targeted countries but even more importantly among the American people. That challenge led the Reagan administration to revitalize and reorganize methods for distributing propaganda and funding friendly foreign operatives, such as creation of the National Endowment for Democracy under neoconservative president Carl Gershman in 1983.
Another entity in this process was the Psychological Operations Committee formed in 1986 under Reagan's National Security Council. In the years since, the U.S. administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have applied many of these same psyops principles, cherry-picking or manufacturing evidence to undermine adversaries and to solidify U.S. public support for Washington's policies.
This reality -- about the U.S. government creating its own faux reality to manipulate the American people and international audiences -- should compel journalists in the West to treat all claims from Washington with a large grain of salt.
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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121
"The book is very well written...very important in this individualized capitalistic illusory world that enslaves us all within its tentacles and forces us to believe that we are atomized and disconnected beings. Indigenous Lakota people end prayers with "Mitakuye Oyasin...all my relations..." An ancient African proverb states, "A person is a person only because of and with others..." This instructive text is very useful for us living in what we are always told is the modern world, because it reconnects us all and reminds us that ultimately, the endless circle of the Universe binds and connects us all and the Earth is Mother to us with no hierarchy...the ones at the bottom matter the most...like the ants who build mounds and hills, all working in unison and harmony...the book teaches that we were created for community and our destiny is organic community...anything else is doomed..."
Julian Kunnie, Professor of Religious Studies/Classics at the University of Arizona and author of The Cost of Globalization: Dangers to the Earth and Its People
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From Greg Palast Website
Mobile home on tracks, Sun Valley CA, birthplace of the Vegas shooter. From the film The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
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[Los Angeles] When we were at Francis Polytechnic High in Sun Valley, Steve Paddock and I were required to take electrical shop class. At Poly and our junior high, we were required to take metal shop so we could work the drill presses at the GM plant. We took drafting. Drafting like in "blueprint drawing."
Paddock. Palast. We sat next to each other at those drafting tables with our triangular rulers and #2 pencils so we could get jobs at Lockheed as draftsman drawing blueprints of fighter jets. Or do tool-and-dye cutting to make refrigerator handles at GM where they assembled Frigidaire refrigerators and Chevys.
But we weren't going to fly the fighter jets. Somewhere at Phillips Andover Academy, a dumbbell with an oil well for a daddy was going to go to Yale and then fly our fighter jets over Texas. We weren't going to go to Yale. We were going to go to Vietnam. Then, when we came back, if we still had two hands, we went to GM or Lockheed.
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In The Secure and the Dispossessed, Nick Buxton and Ben Hayes have collected an unflinching survey of a species gone mad. The book's subtitle is "How the Military and Corporations Are Shaping a Climate-Changed World." In short, the Authoritarian Exceptionalist Military Corporate Complex is flamboyantly recognizing the hole it is in, and exponentially increasing the rate of digging, while hiring PR firms to redefine "digging" as "robust engagement in advanced resilient green initiatives that save us all by further enriching the rich, militarizing the world, and rendering the earth uninhabitable."
The contributors to this book confront the idea that surviving in a further climate changed world is unrelated to surviving in the world we have right now. Avoiding the need to reform the most destructive practices now engaged in, they suggest, is not the surest path to useful future innovations. In fact, it exacerbates future crises. Out-of-control corporate crony capitalism and militarism are problems that must be addressed now and ever more so as the natural environment collapses. War and disaster capitalism are not produced by environmental or economic or refugee crises, quite the reverse. Climate crisis could produce greater social unity and sustainable practices if those are what we choose to respond with.
Corporate and military greenwashing should be powerwashed with facts. Wal-Mart's renewable energy goal is set to be actually reached in about 300 years. The U.S. military's supposed greening consists mostly of token moves toward non-green nuclear energy and bio-fuel "alternatives" dwarfed by such leading threats as a massive new investment in nuclear weaponry. Exxon Mobil now possesses more oil that the human-friendly climate can survive, and Exxon Mobil is focused on finding more. The proxy wars of the previous cold war ravaged social cohesion while killing 20 million, injuring 60 millions, and making 15 million people homeless. Rex Tillerson, one of the supposed "adults" keeping Trump under control, has said that climate crises for agriculture are no problem at all, as people can simply change the locations of the farming of various crops. Scientists do not agree with him. Following the BP oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, insurance companies have been offering reputational-risk insurance, meaning the provision of public relations services to sell a false but preferable image of a corporation following its creation of a widely known catastrophe.
As climate change creates weather extremes, weather extremes create greater energy use, which creates greater climate change, which opens up previously inaccessible northern fossil fuel supplies, which can be used to create both greater climate change and energy use, as well as military conflicts, which are the biggest energy user there is -- militarism creating a level of energy use that guarantees much greater climate change, which a militarized academia is establishing as a "cause" of militarism. I'm fairly certain that our Mentally Deranged Dotard in Chief could not find his way out of these loops with a headlamp and a smartphone even if he wanted to, which would have to follow his admitting they exist.
Part of climate-change denial is results-of-climate-change denial. And that's best accomplished by keeping problems out of sight. Two years ago, UK representatives at the EU suggested that rescuing drowning refugees from the Mediterranean would only encourage more refugees. Rather than refugee aid, the biggest industry to have grown out of the recent crises of mass fleeing from Western-driven-and-armed wars has been border walls, fences, guards, and weapons. People are being kept where they will die. Cameras are being kept where they won't see. This is part of the story of the current genocide in Yemen. Another part is the reluctance to tackle famines or disease epidemics when they've been produced by "successful" drone war and wider war in amicable partnership with a friendly vicious monarchy. And that problem is part of the wider problem of the massive arms-for-oil trade what takes place between the wealthy warmongering permanent members of the UN "Security" Council and the oil-rich dictatorships.
Another part of climate denial, pushed in great part by the same people who engage in climate denial, is the pretense that climate change (now admitted as quite real) can be solved through such insanities as filling the sky with sulfuric acid. Because the Harvard scientists pushing this "geo-engineering" madness have not tried it out on numerous uninhabited planets, most uncorrupted scientists suggest we'd be very wise to not try it out on ourselves, but rather to ban geo-engineering tests right away -- and to focus on reducing the ongoing destruction of the climate.
Why do we not hear these pressing arguments everywhere? Here's part of the answer. The Nature Conservancy lists the U.S. military as a "Partner in Conservation." The National Resources Defense Council "partners" with the military. Conservation International helps weapons dealers greenwash, and was exposed by journalists posing as representatives of Lockheed Martin who asked purely for dishonest cover of destructive practices. The Sierra Club dropped out of a coalition effort I was part of when it found out that an organization involved in the coalition opposed drone murders. When I invited representatives of environmental organizations to take part in a conference last month on war and the environment, Greenpeace gave me a completely nonsensical refusal, while 350.org reluctantly signed on, then dropped out, then agreed to come, then called in sick.
From Smirking Chimp
Imagine that there was another revolution. And that nothing big had changed. Demographics, power dynamics, culture, our economic system and political values were pretty much the same as they are now. If we Americans rolled up our sleeves and reimagined our political system from scratch, if we wrote up a brand-new constitution for 2017, what would a brand-spanking-new United States Version 2.0 look like today?
A lot of stuff would be different. Like, there wouldn't be an electoral college. (Only a handful of countries, mainly autocracies in the developing world, do.)
There probably wouldn't be a Second Amendment; if there were, it would certainly be limited to the right to own pistols and hunting weapons. And the vast majority of gun owners believe in regulations like background checks.
Does anyone believe we would choose the two-party duopoly over the multiparty parliamentary model embraced by most of the world's representative democracies?
Our leaders fail us in innumerable ways, but perhaps their worst sin is to accept things the way they are simply because that's the way they have always been. Whether in government or business or a family, the best way to act is determined by careful consideration of every possibility, not by succumbing to inertia. Don't just imagine -- reimagine.
We live in the best country in the world. That's what our teachers taught us, our politicians can't stop saying (even the critical ones), and so most Americans believe it too.
But it isn't true, not by most measures.
Americans suffer from drastic income inequality, massive adult and child poverty, an atrocious healthcare system, higher education affordable only to the rich, blah blah blah. Plus the candidate who gets the most votes doesn't necessarily get to be president. It doesn't have to be this way. We just need a little imagination.
Probably because I have a foreign-born parent and thus dual citizenship, and also because I have been fortunate enough to visit a lot of other countries, I bring an internationalist perspective to my political writing and cartoons. Like RFK I don't accept things how they are. I imagine how things could be. Why shouldn't we learn from China's ability to build infrastructure? Why can't we improve food quality standards like the EU? Aiming for the best possible result ought to be the standard for our politicians. For citizens too.
New New York Times columnist Bret Stephens called for repealing the Second Amendment following the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas. His piece made a splash because he's a conservative. Setting aside whether banning guns is a good idea, no one followed his suggestion to its logical conclusion: it won't happen. Not just because guns are popular (which they are), or of the influence of the NRA's congressional lobbyists (who are formidable), but because it's impossible to amend the constitution over any matter of substance. In fact, the U.S. has the hardest-to-amend constitution in the world.
Girls can join the Boy Scouts and women can fight our wars, yet we live in a country that never passed the Equal Rights Amendment. We The People have moved past our ossified, stuck-in-1789 Constitution.
So has the rest of the world. In days of yore, when the U.S. was still that shining city on a hill, newly independent nations modeled their constitutions on ours. No more. Rejecting our antiquated constitution because it guarantees fewer rights than most people believe humans are entitled to, freshly-minted countries like South Sudan instead turn to documents like the European Union Convention on Human Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Other nations replace their constitutions completely an average of every 19 years. By global standards, our 228-year-old charter is ancient. More recent constitutions cover the right of every citizen to education, food and healthcare. Unlike ours, they guarantee the right of defendants to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
I'm not suggesting that we convene a second constitutional convention. Not now! Two hundred twenty-eight years ago they had Thomas Jefferson and James Madison; we have Nancy Pelosi and Paul Ryan. This political class isn't fit to rubberstamp a routine raising of the debt limit, much less figure out how this More Perfect Union could become new and improved.
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Heparin Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022
Heparin Market
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MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Heparin Market By Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022new report to its research database. The report spread across in a 117 pages with table and figures in it.Heparin, a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan, is widely used as an injectable anticoagulant, and has the highest negative charge density of any known biological molecule. It can also be used to form an inner anticoagulant surface on various experimental and medical devices such as test tubes and renal dialysis machineScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Heparin 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 coversHepalink, Changshan Pharm, Qianhong Bio-pharma, Opocrin, Pfizer, Aspen Oss, King-friend Biochemical Pharmaceutical,Bioiberica, Dongcheng Biochemicals, Jiulong Biochemicals, Tiandong, Xinbai, Yino Pharma Limited, Deebio.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, coversHeparin Sodium, Heparin Calcium, Other.Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoUFH, LMWH.Order a Purchase Report Copy atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Heparin market.Chapter 1, to describe Heparin Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Heparin, with sales, revenue, and price of Heparin, 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 Heparin, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Heparin market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Heparin 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 Heparin 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 CCTV Camera Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025
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A new report added to the repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine, CCTV Camera Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 is a comprehensive repository of information, providing market share, size, and forecast.Request for Sample Report:CCTV cameras offer a secure medium to monitor and record images and video. The demand for CCTV cameras for the purpose of surveillance has soared globally. This demand is attributed to the rising threat to public security due to criminal and terrorist attacks. Apart from public security surveillance CCTV cameras are used to monitor areas such as shopping malls, hotels, streets, banks, and government buildings.CCTV cameras vary on the basis of technology and model type. The CCTV camera market consists of a large number of software and hardware providers. The CCTV camera market value chain is characterized by system integrators and service providers. The CCTV camera market is highly competitive since it has a large number of hardware, software, and technology providers. Intense competition in the market affects the pricing strategy adopted by the players in the CCTV market. Investments in research and development initiatives is largely prevalent in the CCTV camera market.Global CCTV Camera Market: Regional SegmentationBased on geographical regions, the report segments the global CCTV camera market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America, which are analyzed in terms of revenue generation. The report provides country level revenue for CCTV camera market. The U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, India, China, Japan, GCC, South Africa, Brazil, and Argentina are the countries covered in the report. The report also provides the country level data of each of the market segments for all the countries mentioned above.North America is expected to lead the CCTV camera market during the forecast period. The region houses a large number of CCTV camera system and solution providers. The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the highest growth rate of 14.6 percent during the forecast period.The Middle East and Africa and South America are in the early phases of large scale installation of CCTV cameras. The anticipated growth of tourism sector of the Middle East and Brazil is expected to support the market growth of the CCTV camera market of these regions during the forecast period. The CCTV camera market comprises large number of medium and large players. Product innovation, mergers and acquisition, and research & development investments are the key growth strategies adopted by the players in the CCTV camera market. The market is expected to be hit by a huge wave of mergers and acquisitions in the coming years.Global CCTV Camera Market: SegmentationThis research report provides an in-depth analysis of the global CCTV camera market based on model type, technology, end-use application, and geography. The global CCTV camera market is categorized based on model type into PTZ camera, box camera, dome camera, bullet camera, and others (hybrid, etc.). The technology segment for the global CCTV camera market consists of analog CCTV systems, wireless CCTV systems, IP-based CCTV systems, and hybrid CCTV systems. The end-use segment is classified into retail, hospitality, BFSI, home security, government, and others (transportation, healthcare, etc.). The report analyzes each of these segments for the various geographies considered under the scope of the study.Browse Full Report with TOC:The report includes analysis of the factors that drive and restrain the growth of the CCTV camera market. It discusses the prevailing market trends and prospective growth opportunities in the global CCTV camera market. It provides market estimates and forecasts for all the segments in terms of revenue. Also provided in the report is the market positioning of the companies in the CCTV camera market.Major business strategies adopted by key players, their SWOT analysis, and competition matrix has also been identified in the research report. Axis Communications AB, Bosch Security Systems, Inc., Geovision Inc, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd, Hanwha Techwin Co. Ltd, Honeywell International Inc., Panosonic System Network Co. Limited, Pelco Inc, Toshiba Corporation, and Zhejiang Dahau Technology Co. Ltd. are major players profiled in the global CCTV camera market report.Global CCTV Camera MarketBy Model TypePTZ cameraBox cameraDome cameraBullet cameraOthers (Hybrid, etc)By TechnologyAnalog CCTV SystemsWireless CCTV SystemsIP-based CCTV SystemsHybrid CCTV SystemsBy ApplicationRetailHospitalityBFSICommercial InfrastructureHome SecurityGovernmentOthers (Transportation, Healthcare, etc.)By GeographyNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeGermanyThe U.K.FranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaSouth AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMake 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. 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Electrical Steels Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022
Electrical Steels Market
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MarketResearchNest.com adds North America Electrical Steels Market By Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022 new report to its research database. The report spread across in a 123 pages with table and figures in it.Electrical steel is an alloy that contains iron and silicon. It can be manufactured by modifying the magnetic properties of steel for efficient magnetism and electricity conversion. Also called silicon steel, lamination steel, relay steel or transformer steel, this type of steel is very often used to build the cores of transformers as well as the stators of generators and motors. An electrical steel sheet is a functional material used as an iron core material for electrical equipment. There are two types of electrical steel sheet: grain-oriented electrical steel sheet and non-oriented electrical steel sheet, and they are used for different applications. In this report we researched the two types of steel sheet respectively.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Electrical Steels in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.Browse full table of contents and data tables atMarket Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversBaowu, ArcelorMittal, JFE Steel, Shougang, TISCO, NSSMC, NLMK Group, AK Steel, ThyssenKrupp, Ansteel, Masteel, Posco, Cogent (Tata Steel), Voestalpine, Benxi Steel, APERAM, Nucor, ATI, Stalprodukt S.A., CSC.Market Segment by Countries, coveringUnited States, Canada, Mexico.Market Segment by Type, coversOriented Electrical Steels, Non-oriented Electrical Steels.Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoTransformer, Power Generator, Electric Motor, Other.Order a Purchase Report Copy atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Electrical Steels market.Chapter 1, to describe Electrical Steels Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Electrical Steels, with sales, revenue, and price of Electrical Steels, 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 Electrical Steels, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Electrical Steels market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Electrical Steels 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 Electrical Steels 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
Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Research Report 2017 - Industry Analysis- Size, Share, Trends, Demand, Overview, Forecast 2022
Renewable Aviation Fuel Market
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The Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Research Report 2017 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the Renewable Aviation Fuel 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.Request for sample of Renewable Aviation Fuel Market research report @The report on Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market is a professional report which provides thorough knowledge along with complete information pertaining to the Renewable Aviation Fuel industry a propos classifications, definitions, applications, industry chain summary, industry policies in addition to plans, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, etc.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 Renewable Aviation Fuel 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. Furthermore, the report contains diverse profiles of primary market players of Renewable Aviation Fuel Market.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Renewable Aviation Fuel in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering:North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, IndiaGlobal Renewable Aviation Fuel market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Renewable Aviation Fuel sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including:Amyris, LanzaTech, General Biomass, SGB, UOP, Neste, TOTAL, Byogy, Sundrop Fuels, AltAir Fuels, BP,Chevron, Aemetis, REG Synthetic Fuels, Gevo, Terrabon, Envergent, Solazyme, INEOS, DONG EnergyOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:Algal Biofuel, Plant Biofuel, OthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Renewable Aviation Fuel for each application, including:Commercial, DefenseDetailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Research Report available @The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Renewable Aviation Fuel 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. 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 Renewable Aviation Fuel 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 Renewable Aviation Fuel Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Check for Discount @Table of ContentsGlobal Renewable Aviation Fuel Sales Market Report 20171 Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Renewable Aviation Fuel1.2 Classification of Renewable Aviation Fuel by Product Category1.2.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Algal Biofuel1.2.4 Plant Biofuel1.2.5 Others1.3 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Commercial1.3.3 Defense1.4 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market by Region1.4.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Renewable Aviation Fuel Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Renewable Aviation Fuel Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Renewable Aviation Fuel Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Renewable Aviation Fuel Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Renewable Aviation Fuel Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Renewable Aviation Fuel Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Renewable Aviation Fuel (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Renewable Aviation Fuel (Volume) by ApplicationEnquiry before Buying @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:Jia Wang, Room B1510, ShijiKemao Building, No.66,Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing, 100190,China
5G Market Research Depth Study 2017 and Top Key Players: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Huawei Technologies, Vodafone Group and LM Ericsson
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Market Research Future (MRFR) Announces the Publication of its Half Cooked Research Report 5G Market 2016-2022.The 5G market is growing rapidly. Increase in mobile data traffic volume is driving the 5G market as 5G aims to provide very low latency. Innovation is a key driver in 5G. The 5G Market is evolving across world. The increasing machine to machine communication in organizations and demand for high-speed and large network coverage is driving the 5G market.The growing investments in 5G, rapid technological advancements and extensive usage of mobile data applications are the key market drivers for the 5G market. Companies like Ericsson and Telefonica are taking initiatives to implement 5G advanced very soon. The 5G is expected to emerge soon enough to the market. The study indicates that compatibility of 5G with all the existing devices is a major concern for deploying 5G. The study also reveals that the costing of 5G is also a major concern for the growth of 5G market.Get Sample Copy of Report @As per the recent news about 5G, the study indicate that many companies have partnered with their competitors for developing and deploying 5G technology worldwide. Ericsson has partnered with many different companies like SoftBank, AT&T, Vodafone, Telstra, Chungwa, NTT DoCoMo and others for 5G developments, trials and deployment.Key Players:Market Research Future (MRFR) recognizes the following companies as the key players in the 5G Market: Verizon Wireless (U.S.), AT&T Inc. (U.S.), LM Ericsson (Sweden), Alcatel-Lucent (France), China Mobile Ltd. (China), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (China), NTT DOCOMO, Inc. (Japan), Vodafone Group PLC (UK), Bharti Airtel Limited (India) among others.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said:By application segment, the consumer electronics is expected to dominate the market in the early stages. The study indicates that after the deployment of 5G, automotive and healthcare segments are expected to grow significantly in the 5G market.By Region, MRFR analysis shows that North America region will account for largest market for 5G in the coming years. It has been observed that countries like Russia, South Korea, Japan, China and United States are expected to deploy 5G very soon and expected to dominate the 5G market.Get Complete Report @For the purpose of this study, the global 5G market has been segmented on the basis of type, technology and end user. The report on 5G contains detailed analysis with market size of each segment.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.About Us: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
Gaseous Helium Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022
Gaseous Helium Market
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MarketResearchNest.com adds EMEA Gaseous Helium Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022 new report to its research database. The report spread across in a 122 pages with table and figures in it.Gaseous helium is inert, colorless, odorless, noncorrosive, and nonflammable. Helium is the lightest rare gas. Helium is a monatomic chemically inert gas. It will not react with other elements or compounds under ordinary conditions. Since helium is noncorrosive, special materials of construction are not normally required. Vessels and piping must be selected and designed to withstand the pressure and temperatures involved and comply with applicable codes and regulations.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Gaseous Helium in EMEA market, covering Europe, 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 coversAir Liquide SA, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Airgas, Buzwair, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Gazprom, Gulf Cryo,Iwatani Corporation, Linde AG, Messer Group GmbH, PGNiG (PL), Praxair Inc., Somatrach, Weil Group Resources, LLC.Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversEurope (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Turkey), Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE and Iran), Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria).Market Segment by Type, coversIndustrial-Grade Helium, Grade A.Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCryogenics, Aerostatics, Pressurizing and Purging, Leak Detection, Welding, Other.Order a Purchase Report Copy atThere are 13 Chapters to deeply display the EMEA Gaseous Helium market.Chapter 1, to describe Gaseous Helium Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Gaseous Helium, with sales, revenue, and price of Gaseous Helium, 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 EMEA market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Gaseous Helium, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, to analyze the market by regions, manufacturers, type and application, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 8 and 9, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 10, Gaseous Helium market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 11, 12 and 13, to describe Gaseous Helium research findings and conclusion, sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, 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 Gaseous Helium 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
Foodservice Market in Americas, APAC and EMEA Region 2017 to 2021
Foodservice market
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MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Foodservice Market 2017-2021 new report to its research database. The report spread across 91 pages with table and figures in it.Research analysts forecast the global foodservice market to grow at a CAGR of 4.98% during the period 2017-2021.About FoodserviceFoodservice is also known as catering service. It includes all companies that engage in serving meals prepared outside homes. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, and catering outlets. Foodservice restaurants are classified into two sectors: commercial and non-commercial foodservice. Commercial foodservice refers to market-oriented foodservice as the primary motive of commercial foodservice operators is to make profits. The growing demand for gluten-free food is expected to further propel the market's growth. Gluten-free food is prepared with great caution to avoid cross-contamination. The demand for gluten-free restaurants is increasing as consumers have become more aware of gluten intolerance and celiac disease.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of global foodservice market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from sales of food and beverages sold through commercial and non-commercial foodservice sectors globally.Browse full table of contents and data tables atThe market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEATechnavio's report, Global Foodservice 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.Technavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global foodservice market: Aramark, Compass Group North America, Dominos, McDonalds, Restaurant Brands International, Sodexo, Starbucks, and Yum!BrandsOther Prominent Vendors in the market are: Abela, American Dairy Queen, SONIC AMERICA'S DRIVE-IN BRAND PROPERTIES, Arby's, Autogrill, AVI Foodsystems, Ben E Keith, BON APPETIT MANAGEMENT COMPANY, Brock & Company, CulinArt, CARL'S JR. RESTAURANTS, Cajun Operating Company, Del Taco, Dicos, In-N-Out Burger, JACK IN THE BOX, Jollibee Foods, MOS FOOD SERVICES, Mr. Lee's, Papa John's International, Services Group of America, Telepizza Espana, The Little Caesars, Truitt Bros, Whataburger, and White Castle Management.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Research team said: The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Innovative packaging. Innovative packaging is very important in the foodservice market. Consumers often opt for takeaway because of their busy schedules and changing lifestyles. However, the selection of takeaway options completely depends on convenient food packaging options available at different outlets to maintain the freshness of food. Innovative packaging has a strong impact on consumer purchasing behaviorOrder a Purchase Report Copy atAccording to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Innovation and customization of food menus. Consumers worldwide are looking for new flavors, foods with bold flavors, and premium alternatives. As consumers' taste preferences are evolving, they are demanding more exotic cuisines. Millennials, aged 20-34 years, are demonstrating an inclination toward innovative and exotic flavored fast food. They seek options that allow them to customize their food based on their taste and calorie intake per day.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is Fluctuations in food commodity prices. The global foodservice market is highly dependent on fluctuating food commodity prices. Raw materials that include sugar, grains, meat, salt, and dairy products are very important in the global foodservice market. Any shortage in the supply of raw materials affects the market growth. A shortage mainly occurs because of adverse weather conditions and natural calamities. Bad weather conditions can affect crop production. For instance, wheat requires warm conditions to grow. However, the temperature requirements change at various stages of its growth. Climate disparities can negatively affect the volume and quality of production.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Key questions answered in this report: What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be; What are the key market trends; What is driving this market; What are the challenges to market growth; Who are the key vendors in this market space; What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors; What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors;Enquiry before Buying 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 industries, organizations, products, and trends.ContactMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070(U.S)+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)Connect with Global: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Dodecanedioic Acid Vendor Landscape with SWOT Analysis 2017 to 2021
Dodecanedioic Acid, Quick-Service Restaurants Industry, Quick-Service Restaurants Trends
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MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Dodecanedioic Acid Market 2017-2021 new report to its research database. The report spread across 76 pages with table and figures in it.Research analysts forecast the global dodecanedioic acid market to grow at a CAGR of 6.06% during the period 2017-2021."About Dodecanedioic AcidDodecanedioic acid is a dibasic acid, which appears as a white solid substance. It can be manufactured either synthetically or bio-technologically. The synthetic chemicals used for manufacturing dodecanedioic acid are cyclododecane, dodecyl alcohol, 1-3-butadiene, and hydrogen peroxide. The bio-based manufacturing process uses paraffin wax and yeast to prepare dodecanedioic acid. The dodecanedioic acid is segmented based on applications, such as resins, powder coatings, adhesives, lubricants, and others.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global dodecanedioic acid 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.Browse full table of contents and data tables atThe market is divided into the following segments based on geography:APACEuropeNorth AmericaROWTechnavio's report, Global Dodecanedioic Acid 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.Technavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global dodecanedioic acid market: BEYO Chemical, Cathay Industrial Biotech, Evonik Industries, UBE INDUSTRIES, and Verdezyne.Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Merck, Nantong Senos Biotechnology, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, and Zibo Guantong Chemical.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Research team said: One trend in the market is increased demand for paints and coatings from the automobile and construction industries. Dodecanedioic acid is used extensively as a raw material in paints and coatings. The rapid growth of the construction and automobile industries will contribute to the growth of the dodecanedioic acid market. Paints and coatings are used by the construction industry to coat metallic parts and steel products.Order a Purchase Report Copy atAccording to the report, one driver in the market is increased demand for nylon-based products. Dodecanedioic acid is used extensively in the production of polyamides, one of the most important raw materials required for manufacturing nylon-based products. The increased demand for nylon products from India and China in the APAC region is one of the key factors for the growth of the dodecanedioic acid market. The sudden growth of the construction and automotive industries, and the increased demand for paints and coatings will enhance the growth of the dodecanedioic acid market. Nylon is also used to manufacture thermoplastics.Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is threat of substitutes. Sebacic acid is one of the major substitutes to dodecanedioic acid and is used in the production of plasticizers, nylon, synthetic resins, and lubricants. Sebacic acid is used extensively in the production of plasticizers due to its superior properties. Sebacic acid is used as stabilizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) due to its low temperature. Sebacic acid is used in the production of saturated and unsaturated polyester resins. In addition, it is used to manufacture lubricants that are used in the automobile industry.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Enquiry before Buying 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 industries, organizations, products, and trends.ContactMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070(U.S)+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)Connect with Global: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Automotive Powertrain Testing Vendor Landscape with SWOT Analysis 2017 to 2021
Automotive Powertrain Testing, Quick-Service Restaurants Industry, Quick-Service Restaurants Trends
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MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Automotive Powertrain Testing Market 2017-2021 new report to its research database. The report spread across 81 pages with table and figures in it.Research analysts forecast the global automotive powertrain testing market to grow at a CAGR of 3.60% during the period 2017-2021."About Automotive Powertrain TestingAn automotive powertrain includes all the major components that generate power and transmits it to the road or the surface. The components included in the powertrain are the engine, transmission, drive shafts, differentials, and the driving wheels. In hybrid vehicles, the battery, electric motor, and the control algorithm also constitute a part of the powertrain. Continuous pressure to innovate and increasingly short development cycles are some of the big challenges in the development of modern automotive powertrains.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global automotive powertrain testing market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.Browse full table of contents and data tables atThe market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Automotive Powertrain Testing 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.Technavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global automotive powertrain testing market: AVL, HORIBA MIRA, Ricardo, thyssenkrupp system Engineering, Internek Group, and FEV.Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: A&D Company, AKKA Technologies, Applus+ IDIADA, ATESTEO, ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Cosworth, IABG, IAV, Mustang Advanced Engineering (MAE), and REDVIKING.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Research team said: One trend in the market is automatic transmission vehicles to drive the market for transmission testing. Automatic transmission vehicles, especially passenger cars, are gaining popularity in the global market. Majority of customers opt for automatic transmission systems in premium and luxury vehicle segments. Such systems are also gaining ground in smaller car segments.Order a Purchase Report Copy atAccording to the report, one driver in the market is cold and hot engine tests are done to analyze complete engine performance. Complete powertrain final tests for engines, axles, and transmission are being developed to ascertain the performance of the powertrain. Hot and cold engine tests are conducted to analyze the performance of engine under various circumstances. In a cold engine test, the engine is delivered on an assembly pallet from the conveyance system to a fully automatic test machine.Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is high set up cost of testing facilities and high price of powertrain testing machines. Powertrain testing machines and setup are considered capital-intensive products. The average price of a powertrain testing machine is around $500,000 to $1,000,000. Additionally, setting up a testing facility is costlier. The capital intensity of the test equipment makes it unaffordable for small body shops. These factors will likely challenge the growth of the market, as body shops remain a main source of alterations to engine components and for engine upgrades.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Enquiry before Buying 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 industries, organizations, products, and trends.ContactMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070(U.S)+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)Connect with Global: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Fungicides Market in Americas, APAC and EMEA Region 2017 to 2021
Fungicides market
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MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Fungicides Market 2017-2021 new report to its research database. The report spread across 88 pages with table and figures in it.Research analysts forecast the global fungicides market to grow at a CAGR of 5.20% during the period 2017-2021.About FungicidesDiseases are a common occurrence among plants, creating a significant economic impact on yield and quality. Therefore, managing diseases is an essential part of the production for most crops. Fungal infection is one of the topmost causes of crop loss worldwide. Fungicides are used for both prevention and control of fungal diseases that affect plants. They may be selective for specific diseases or non-selective, with wide-spectrum activity against multiple fungal diseases. The use of fungicides varies based on the crop type. Broadly, there are three main reasons behind the use of fungicide: (a) To control a disease during the developmental stages of a crop. (b) To enhance the productivity of a crop. (c) To improve the shelf life and quality of harvested plants and produce.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global fungicides market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the sales market.Browse full table of contents and data tables atThe market is divided into the following segments based on geography: APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, South AmericaTechnavio's report, Global Fungicides 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.Technavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global fungicides market: BASF, Bayer, FMC, Sumitomo Chemical, and SyngentaOther Prominent Vendors in the market are: ADAMA Agricultural Solutions, American Vanguard Corporation, Isagro, ISHIHARA SANGYO KAISHA, NIPPON SODA, and UPI.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Research team said: The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Increasing popularity of bio-based fungicides. Biological fungicides or bio-based fungicides or biofungicides help in effectively managing diseases in greenhouse vegetables and floriculture crops. Biofungicides are made of beneficial microorganisms such as specialized fungi and bacteria that attack and control plant pathogens and diseases caused by them. Biofungicides can be a viable substitute to chemical fungicides and is used as part of an integrated disease management program reducing the risk of pathogens developing resistance toward traditional chemical-based fungicides.Order a Purchase Report Copy atAccording to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Increasing food demand and agricultural land scarcity. Developing economies, with huge populations, rapid economic growth, and limited natural resources, are facing the intense pressure of ensuring food security. Economic development, rapid population growth, and urbanization have significant impacts on these countries, increasing the consumption of food and imposing excessive pressure on arable land demand. Even with substantial investments in the agricultural sector, low labor productivity, natural catastrophe, land constraints, and slowing crop yield pose significant barriers to overcome. It is highly challenging for the regions to tackle difficulties even with effective land reform policies, without negotiating the problems of food security.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is Genetically modified crops hampering use of fungicides. Genetic engineering involves the physical removal of DNA from one organism and transfer of genes into another. Genetically modified (GM) crops are capable of addressing problems such as pest infestations, diseases, and low crop yields where other breeding techniques have failed.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Key questions answered in this report: What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be; What are the key market trends; What is driving this market; What are the challenges to market growth; Who are the key vendors in this market space; What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors; What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors;Enquiry before Buying 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 industries, organizations, products, and trends.ContactMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070(U.S)+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)Connect with Global: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Construction Chemicals Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024
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Construction chemicals are additives that are used with concrete, cement, and other construction materials to provide additional durability and workability to various structures. The type of chemical to be used depends on the size and nature of the project. Construction chemicals are used to obtain certain desired characteristics in concrete such as high workability, high compressive strength, and high performance and durability parameters to meet the requirement of complexity of modern structures. Hardeners are used with structures to seal them against moisture and making them dustproof by bonding the crystalline structure of cement.Request Sample of Construction Chemicals Market:Admixtures can modify properties such as workability, water reduction, heat of hydration, dispersion and air-entrainment, accelerating or retarding setting time, impermeability and durability factors. Commonly used admixtures are hydro carbolic acid salts and ligno-sulphonates. Construction chemicals provide structures with enhanced bond strength and moisture retention, increased crack resistance of mortar, increased yield with same quantity of construction materials, decreases drying time of mortar and improves appearance.Construction chemicals Market TaxonomyOn the basis of type of product type, global market is classified into:Concrete admixturesFlooringRoofingRepairWaterproofingSealants & adhesivesOn the basis of application, the global market is segmented into:ResidentialCommercialIndustrialAdmixtures can be further classified as chemical admixtures and mineral admixtures. Chemical admixtures include plasticizers, accelerators, and set retarders, which are used for water reduction and decreasing hardening time of concrete or cement. Mineral admixtures consist of fly ash, silica fume, blast furnace slag, and rice husk that are used to enhance the properties of cement. Waterproofing is a cement coating which when applied to permeable masonry surfaces forms a heavy-duty and durable finish which water resistant and increases the toughness of the surface. Construction chemicals are also used for repairing concrete structures and are suitable for structural and non-structural repairs. Flooring chemicals provide high bond strength and can be used with mosaic tiles, glazed tiles, granite tiles, terrazzo tiles, brick, and marble.Construction Chemicals Market Outlook Need for Durable and Lightweight Materials Expected to Boost DemandRapidly increasing growing construction industry coupled with complex modern infrastructural needs fuels growth of construction chemicals market. Asia Pacific is one of the major contributors to the construction chemicals market. This is owing to constantly growing construction industry in emerging economies such as India and China. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)part of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of Indiathe Indian construction industry is expected to grow to a value of US$ 5 billion by 2020. Also, various government schemes and foreign investments have augmented the growth of construction chemicals market in the region. Growing infrastructural needs in India has attracted various investors such as Silver Spring Capital Management, Altico Capital, The Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia, and many more. This in turn creates a conducive environment for market growth.Check The Trending Report of Construction Chemicals Market:High price of construction chemicals is one of the restraining factors for the construction chemicals market. Mergers and acquisitions and expansions in various geographies are some of key strategies followed by the top players in the construction chemicals market. In August 2016, Pidilite Industries, a leading manufacturer of construction chemicals, adhesives and sealants, along with Industria Chimica Adriatica Spa (ICA) of Italy formed an equal joint venture company - Wood Coat. Developing an innovative product portfolio is also one of the key strategies for the new entrants in the construction chemicals industry. The Dow Chemical Company is developing construction chemicals with increased use of silicone, which will enhance the characteristics of construction chemicals.Some of the companies operating in the market of construction chemicals globally are Pidilite Industries, BASF SE, RPM International Inc., Sika A.G., The Dow Chemical Company, Fosroc International, Arkema S.A., Ashland Inc., Mapei S.p.A, and W.R. Grace.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.comWebsite:
PHOENIX -- Attorneys for Volkswagen are telling a judge the firm can't be found guilty of consumer fraud and fined potentially hundreds of millions of dollars because its now-disproved claims of the cleanliness of the diesel vehicles it was selling were just promotional "puffery.''
In new court filings here, the legal team is acknowledging that Volkswagen had designed and sold vehicles under the VW, Audi and Porsche labels with "defeat devices,'' essentially allowing its cars to emit more pollutants of oxides of nitrogen during actual on-road driving than show up when they are actually being tested. And the emissions were many times higher than federal standards.
VW eventually pleaded guilty to three felonies, including defrauding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and agreed to $4.3 billion in penalties and another $4.9 billion to address pollution from the supposedly low-emission diesel vehicles. And Arizona is getting $57 million for projects to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen.
But the legal team, represented in Arizona by attorney Keith Beauchamp, told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner he should reject a bid by Attorney General Mark Brnovich to have VW also found guilty of consumer fraud because it advertised and marketed the vehicles to Arizona consumers as "clean.''
In essence, VW contends that when the firm said it was promoting "clean diesel'' that phrase really has no legal meaning. More to the point, VW's legal team says the consumers were not led to believe that the statements actually meant VW was making specific environmental claims concerning its nitrogen oxide emissions.
"Simply put, 'clean diesel' is legal puffery under Arizona law,'' the legal briefs argue. And that, the lawyers said, means there was no violation of the state's Consumer Fraud Act.
To buttress this argument, the lawyers told Warner that it's not like VW was claiming some actual factual basis of cleanliness -- or that the term "clean'' has an actual meaning.
"Consider how one perceives how immaculate different 'clean' locations are: a 'clean' bedroom, a 'clean' locker room, a 'clean' operating room, and a 'clean' semiconductor fabrication facility,'' they wrote. "Each conveys different degrees of cleanliness -- driven not by the word 'clean' but by the location 'clean' describes.''
And VW said the state, in filing suit, never claims there is any "objective meaning'' of the word "clean'' or that those who viewed its commercials would share such a meaning.
Even if it did convey some meaning to those who bought its vehicles, VW said the statement is true to the extent that the vehicles emit less soot and carbon dioxide than earlier diesels, even if its nitrogen oxide emissions were higher than legal standards.
Similarly, the company's lawyers brushed aside other claims by the state of consumer fraud based on statements by VW claiming that diesel is "no longer dirty.''
"No standard is provided to measure 'dirty' or 'clean,' they said.
VW's contention is getting a fight from Assistant Attorney General O.H. Skinner who is leading the legal team that filed the 2016 lawsuit. He hopes to get Warner, after reviewing the company's commercials at a January trial, to conclude they misled viewers.
That finding would open the door to fines of $10,000 per violation. With VW admitting in other legal documents that more than 11,000 of these vehicles were sold or leased to Arizonans between 2009 and 2016, that would total $110 million.
But the state also is claiming that Arizona laws also make false advertising a violation. And that makes each ad and each commercial run in the state a separate offense.
Skinner does not deny that courts have ruled that mere puffery does not give rise to claims of consumer fraud. But he told Warner in his own court filings that VW's efforts to use that to have the case dismissed should be rejected.
"The 'puffery' doctrine does not protect criminal schemers from the consequences of their intentional deception,'' he wrote.
"Puffery is no defense to the specific representations made in the ads,'' said, saying it cannot apply to "long-running intentional deceptive practices'' in which the state claims VW engaged.
Skinner said he sees the commercials as part of a "master scheme'' that started with VW manufacturing vehicles designed to defeat emission testing and then concealing that from regulators. He told Warner that allowing the company to claim the commercial were puffery would require the judge to conclude that the statements were unlikely to induce consumers to rely on those claims.
"This does not track,'' he said.
The lawsuit claims that Arizonans were effectively duped into buying vehicles with the special diesel engine that was advertised as having just a fraction of the emissions as similar cars. Buyers paid anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000 more than comparable vehicles.
But those low emissions were, in many ways, on paper only.
VW engineers had programmed each vehicle's computer to recognize when it was being tested for emissions. At that point, it would go into a low-power mode with sharply reduced pollution.
Once the test was over, the engine returned to full power. Only thing is, that mode produced more pollutants, including as much as 40 times the maximum allowable standards of nitrogen oxides.
Aside from claiming there was no consumer fraud, VW attorneys say the penalties the state is seeking are duplicative.
"Volkswagen has already been penalized, multiple times,'' they said. And they said it would be "inequitable and serve no purpose'' to impose penalties which are not based on the number of people who purchased a diesel VW or Audi vehicles.
Skinner, in the latest filings, defended the broad relief sought.
"To limit defendants' Consumer Fraud Act violations to the number of sales and leases allows them to evade liability commensurate with the true effect of their deceptive conduct,'' he told Warner, saying that VW and Audi "must be accountable for their actions.''
"Even if this results in millions of violations, such would be proper given the sweeping nature of this fraud, which involves multiple parties and advertising campaigns spanning a decade-long conspiracy,'' Skinner said.
At the hearing Warner has scheduled for January, the judge will review several of the company's commercials aired in Arizona to determine if they cross the line into consumer fraud.
Conductive Inks Market- Industry Insights, Outlook,Trends, Industry Insights, and Forecast 2024
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Conductive ink results in a printed object, which conducts electricity. It is produced by infusing conductive substrates into ink. Conductive inks comprise silver, graphite, carbon, or any other type of precious metal coated base material. Conductive inks can be applied in different ways including, flexographic, screen print, spray, dip, stencil print, and syringe dispense, among others. Growing use of conductive inks in OLEDs, smart packaging, flexible displays, thin film transistors, and smart textiles is projected to surge the demand for conductive inks over the forecast period. Recent advancements in the printed electronics sector have enabled conductive inks find application in electronic and medical devices, which is projected to drive the market growth over the forecast period. Conductive inks are being widely used in flexible displays, smart lighting, RFID tags, and so on. Rising demand for miniaturized and efficient electronic devices is also fueling the market growth. Smart devices, touch screens, printed batteries, and printed sensors are some of the major application areas of conductive inks, which is contributing to the positive growth of the market globally.Request sample of Conductive Inks Market:The global conductive inks market is estimated to be valued at US$ 2,723.2 million in 2017 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period (2017 2025).Growing demand for miniaturized and efficient electronic devices drives the marketConductive inks are used in printed electronics for better electric conductivity and efficient operation. Silver conductive inks are primarily applied in PV cells and membrane switches, which is identified to be the prime trend in the global conductive inks market. Consumer goods is a key application industry of conductive inks, for example, smart packaging, which contributes significantly to the market growth. In addition, conductive inks find application in printed circuit boards and biosensors. Need for printed materials for smart textiles as well as wearable electronics, for example, health monitoring, smart and OLED displays, etc. is fueling the demand for conductive inks globally. Increasing adoption of diverse conductive inks in cutting-edge medical devices along with sensors and industrial equipment can be considered as a key driver for the market. The market in Asia Pacific is projected to gain traction over the forecast period, mainly due to the increasing application of conductive inks in smart devices, touch screens, sensors, and so on, mainly in China and Japan. However, the high cost of silver conductive inks along with fluctuating prices of conductive inks hinders market growth.Check the Trending Report of Conductive Inks Market:Significant application of conductive inks in advanced medical sensors to drive the market growth:Market for conductive inks is gaining traction globally as a result of high rate of commercialization of printed electronics in emerging economies along with rising consumption of smart devices, miniaturized devices, and printed batteries. In addition, growing application of conductive inks in different components of vehicles is another prominent driver for the market. Growing usage of conductive inks in medical sector, for instance, in medical sensors and other devices, is anticipated to surge the demand for conductive inks. Product innovation through research and development is one of the major approaches adopted by key players operating in the conductive inks market to strengthen their foothold globally. The launch of novel products such as gold, aluminum, and nickel based conductive inks is expected to bolster the market growth further.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.comWebsite:
Blister Packaging Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2017-25
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Blister Packaging is a plastic packaging used for pharmaceuticals, small appliances and consumer goods. Their function is to protect the packaged material from air, moisture and contamination from external sources. Blister packagings advantages over alternatives include cost-effectiveness, enhanced durability, tamperproof, improved shelf life and lower risk of contamination. It is a hard material and protects from mechanical damage as well. Blister Packaging is versatile and can be designed to suit specific needs. For example, child-proof seals, individual pouches and calendar packs can be designed.Request Sample Copy of this Report:Pharmaceuticals is the largest end-use industry in the blister packaging market. Tablets and capsules are widely sold in blister packaging. The added advantages are assurance of product safety and multiple product packaging. Despite its advantages, blister packaging is non-biodegradable and non-recyclable. This has led to environmental concerns regarding its large scale use.Blister Packaging Market Taxonomy:On basis of technologyThermoformingVacuum FormingPressure FormingCold formingOn basis of blister packing machinePlate typeRoller typeRoller-Plate typeOn basis of product typeBlister CardsFace SealFull Face SealTrapped BlisterFull Card BlisterClam ShellMockTwo pieceTrifoldOn basis of MaterialPlastic FilmsPVCPETPEOthersPaper and CardboardSBSWLCOthersAluminumOn basis of end-usePharmaceuticalElectronics and SemiconductorsConsumer GoodsOthersBlister packaging market can be segmented on basis of fabricating process, thermoforming and cold forming respectively. Thermoformed plastics are versatile, lightweight and aesthetically pleasing. Cold formed plastics have more tensile strength and stiffness. Clamshell packaging is used for consumer goods. They are usually transparent in order to ensure that the consumer can see the contents of the packaging. Blister cards are used in pharmaceuticals industry, and they are manufactured by heat sealing a sheet foil. Plastic films, cardboard and aluminum are used as blister packaging materials.Check the Trending Report of Blister Packaging Market:Blister Packaging Market Outlook:Asia Pacific is the fastest market due to burgeoning growth of the pharmaceuticals industry, which has been driven by large populations in India and China. Increase in the geriatric and infant population has led to surge in demand for medicines. Moreover, relatively low-cost healthcare in countries such as Thailand and India has boosted medical tourism in the region. Lax regulations have hindered exports to countries such as US and Canada. For instance, India-based manufacturer Ranbaxy was banned from drug sales in US due to manufacturing and quality violations.North America and Europe markets are also expected to gain major traction due to high consumption of consumer goods and electronics. Also, the pharmaceuticals industry in these regions is matured and with the high prevalence of lifestyle diseases the market is projected to grow further. The market is supplemented by Latin American and Asian markets.Middle East region population has high disposable incomes which drives consumerism. Electronics and consumer goods are growing rapidly, driving the blister packaging industry as well. Decline in markets of Syria and Iran have been compensated by high growth in the GCC countries.Latin America is a growth engine, with Brazil positioned as the fourth largest pharmaceuticals market in the world. Argentina, Mexico and Brazil are also among the largest producers of non-patented generic drugs, which are exported to over 40 countries from these countries. Mexico being a member of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has access to the lucrative markets of US and Canada, which has resulted in Mexico becoming a manufacturing hub for international pharmaceutical companies.To Get Discount on this Report:Alternatives to blister packaging such as Stretch and Skin packaging are gaining popularity due to increased performance. More durability, toughness, improved aesthetics and lower material use are advantages over conventional blister packaging.The major players in the blister packaging market are Constantia Flexibles, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (U.S.), Klockner (Germany), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Tekni-plex, Inc. (U.S.), and Display Pack, Inc. (U.S.).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
Automotive Interior Materials Market-Trends, Outlook, Opportunity Analysis, and Global Industry Insights, 20162024
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Automotive interiors, including seats, door panels, cockpit modules, steering wheels, and dashboards offer comfort to the vehicle drivers and also enhance the aesthetic appeal of the vehicle. Automotive interiors of superior quality minimize engine vibrations and act as effective cabin insulators, thereby enhancing the consumers riding experience. Attributed to the growing consumer preference for premium automotive interior materials and the desire to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the interiors, the global automotive interior material market is expected to witness a significant growth during the forecast period.Request Sample of Automotive Interior Materials Market:Growth of the automotive interior materials market is mainly driven by rapidly growing automotive industry and rising inclination of consumers towards aesthetic features of the automotive interiors and also improving driving experience. OEMs offer high customization to satiate the specific demands of consumers, in order to capitalize upon high consumer purchasing power. Consumers are increasingly inclined towards vehicles with features that were until now reserved for premium vehicles. These include premium seat covers, leather covered dashboards, and luxury carpeting, among others. This creates a highly conducive environment for growth of the market. Furthermore, increasing demand for lightweight vehicles due to its low carbon emission quality, is also driving the manufacturers to focus on smart textiles appropriate for the vehicles thereby, boosting the demand for automotive interior materials. In 2015, global vehicle production was pegged at over 90 million, which increased to around 95 million in 2016. This creates a highly conducive environment for growth of the automotive interior materials market.Growing awareness about waste disposal in the process of leather manufacturing required for the automotive interiors along with high prices of leather material are expected to restrain the growth of the market. Leather manufacturing is affected by a number of factors such as the use of chemicals such as formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, cyanide based materials and others that result in toxicity of the environment, usage of animal by-products thereby pressurizing the animal population, manufacturers who use premium leather to manufacture automotive interiors. A number of U.S. cities have passed on procurement policies on phasing out the purchase of PVC which is considered to a toxic material that can contaminate the environment. Hence the use of PVC in automotive interior materials is decreasing thereby hampering the growth of the market.Automotive Interior Materials: Market Taxonomy:By Material TypeThe global market can be segmented on the basis of type of material used which includes:Synthetic leatherPure leatherFabricsThermoplastic polymersBy Vehicle TypeOn the basis of vehicle type, the global market can be segmented into:Passenger vehiclesLight commercial vehiclesHeavy commercial vehiclesBy Interior TypeBased on the interior type, the global market can be segmented into:Seat beltsSteering wheel beltsSeat coversUpholsteryInterior roofingCockpitOthersGlobal Automotive Interior Materials Market Outlook: Burgeoning growth of Automotive Sector in Asia Pacific to Fuel Market Growth:Geographically, the global automotive interior materials market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Booming automotive industry along with rising middle class population with high spending power creates highly lucrative opportunities for players in the automotive interior materials industry. In Asia-Pacific region, government initiatives in terms of subsidies and tax concessions across various countries are attracting the automotive OEMs to build their manufacturing plants in the region. For instance, in July 2016, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced plans to make electric car batteries run longer, build a network of charging stations and make electric car purchases and ownership more affordable. The government expects that the current and future policy programs will help increase the electric car market share in South Korea to 0.5% in 2017, up from 0.2% in 2015, and to achieve 5.3% in 2020. Also, In April 2014, the Indian government announced a new plan to provide subsidies for hybrid and electric vehicles. The plan will have subsidies up to US$ 2,314 for cars and US$ 463 on two wheelers. This in turn positions Asia Pacific as a high growth market for automotive interior materials.Request to view the table of Content:Global automotive interior materials market is extremely competitive and consolidated with the presence of large players accounting for major share. Key players in the market include Sage Automotive Interiors Inc., BASF S.E., Katzkin Leather Interiors Inc., Eagle Ottawa, Borgers A.G., International Textile Group Inc., Faurecia S.A, Johnson Controls Inc., Lear Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, DK Leather Corporation Berhad, and E.I.DU Pont De Nemours.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.comWebsite:
Automotive Brake Fluid Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Size, Share, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20172025
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Automotive brake fluid is a hydraulic fluid used in hydraulic clutch and hydraulic brake applications in motorcycles, light trucks, automobiles, and bicycles, among other applications. Automotive brake fluid is used to transfer force and to apply pressure on brakes and increase the brake force. Automotive brake fluid are composed of various types of glycols with low freezing point and designed not to damage rubber components in the braking system.Request Sample of Automotive Brake Fluid Market:Automotive brake fluid is mainly used in automotive to lubricate and prevent corrosion of the moving parts. Automotive brake fluid are renewed or changed every 1 to 2 years and monthly in racing automotive to improve the safety and durability of the vehicle, which creates a major market for automotive brake fluid across the globe and is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. Growing number of automotive OEMs and car services providers has resulted in the growth of technological advancement and product innovations of brake fluids by core companies such as BASF, Castrol, Bosch, Dow Automotive Systems, and Exxon Mobil along with others. Owing to these factors global automotive brake fluid market is expected to increase at a significant growth rate over the forecast period (2017-2025).Automotive Brake Fluid Market Taxonomy:On the basis of fluid types,Non-petroleum basePetroleum (mineral) baseOn the basis of product type,Castor oil-based (pre-DOT, DOT 2)Glycol-based (DOT 3, 4, 5.1)Silicone-based (DOT 5)Automotive brake fluid is hydroscopic, meaning absorption of moisture is a natural property of brake fluid due to which corrosion is accumulated which serves as a restraint for the automotive brake fluid market. These restraints are significantly curtailed through product innovations by market leaders. For instance, a new product by Castrol which consist of polyglycol type brake fluid provides high braking performance under normal driving conditions which is commercialized under the product named as Castrol brake fluid dot 4.The DOT (department of transportation) is categorized in automotive brake fluids by its boiling point and chemical composition. Automotive brake fluid is given by type such as DOT 5 (silicone based), DOT 5.1, DOT 4, and DOT 3 (glycol ether based). DOT 3, DOT 4, DOT 5.1 mainly consist of polyglycol and DOT 5 is composed of silicone. Gylcol fluids are used in 99% of vehicles and DOT 3 is majorly used due to its low content of water which affects the brake system and reduces corrosion. Brake pistons and cylinders suffer from wear and tear which results in periodic change in brake fluid which is a major factor for the growing demand of automotive brake fluid in the global market during the forecast period.Automotive Brake Fluid Market Outlook Asia Pacific to provide major growth prospects throughout the forecast period:In Asia Pacific, India and China is expected to fuel the growth of automotive brake fluid market at an increasing rate due to its regional demand and establishment of companies such as S-CCI India Private Limited, Napson Lubricants Private Limited and Unicorn Petroleum Industries Private Limited, and Starol Petroleum Limited. In new developments, BASF established an automotive brake fluid manufacturing plant in Pudong, Shanghai due to rise in demand of the domestic population. Owing to these factors the automotive brake fluid market is expected to grow at a significant rate in Asia Pacific in the forecast period.Establishment of numerous workshops, retailers and service centers are the major factors to drive the global automotive brake fluid industry in the forecast period. In recent developments, TRW aftermarket brake fluids has developed an advanced DOT 3 brake fluid, which is utilized in advanced braking systems, which includes electronic stability programmers (ESP) due to which the brake fluid needs to react quickly and maximize the performance of the vehicle and prevents skidding. New brake fluids are installed in every new vehicle prior to sale, which is also a factor due to which growth is expected at a significant rate for the automotive brake fluid market during the forecast period.Request to view the table of Content:Some of the key participating players in the automotive brake fluid market are Beijing Haidian Huiyuan Synthetic Agents, Bosch, Copton, Beijing Haidian Huiyuan Synthetic Agents, Cnpc, Castrol (BP), Caltex, Exxon Mobil, Delian Group, Fuchs, Jilin Hairun, Irico Group, Original, Laike, Shenzhen Pingchi Industry Co, Shell, Sinopec, Total, Teec, Zhuhai Gaida Shiye, and Tianjin Xuqi Gongmao along with others.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.comWebsite:
Electronic Medical Records Market Size To Reach Close To US$ 40 Billion upto 2024
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The Global Electronic Medical Records Market was valued at US$ 21,444.4 million in 2015 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period (20162024),as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights.Increasing digitization is propelling deployment of EMR across the global healthcare sector.Healthcare delivery is expected to undergo a drastic transformation through integration of information technology and healthcare services. The market is presenting new growth avenues for healthcare companies as well as major IT companies such as Apple and Microsoft. These companies are working in close coordination with healthcare service providers, understanding the various nitty-gritties of processes and problems and accordingly developing integrated solutions. Besides, emergence of health monitoring devices and applications and rising awareness among the populace about the ease of use and various benefits of such services led to increases demand for digital solutions to track health parameters and securely access personal medical records. Moreover, the advent of on-cloud EMR solutions further provides significant growth traction for the electronic medical records market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @There are plethora of electronic medical record solutions available in the market, which makes the market highly competitive diverse scale of operations and unique requirements of users. However, the market provides highly lucrative growth opportunities, given the increasing inclination of various governments towards encouraging deployment of EMR in hospitals and private clinics. For instance, the Dubai government, has installed EMR system, Salama, across the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) network of health facilities. The government will be rolling out its MER system across the DHA network in three phases through 2017.Furthermore, facilities already using EMR systems are upgrading to improve healthcare delivery. Catholic Health Services (CHS) and University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) achieved Stage 6 recognition (almost fully automated/paperless medical records) by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Analytics on their Outpatient EMR adoption model of HIMSS Analytics. Deployment of new EMR systems and upgrading of systems would be significantly contributing towards growth of the global electronic medical records market.At the same time, industry experts opine to have a defined legal framework for EMRs to avoid unnecessary legal issues. Emerging economies such as India, Brazil, Turkey, China, and Indonesia need to devise a framework for the use of EMR systems in their respective countries. In India, there are no defined legal framework in place to govern EMR and EHR systems, with preexisting IT laws applied to these systems. Cyber Laws, Indian Information Technology Act laws and compliances concerning health and medical industry are various governing laws posing a major challenge to smooth operations of present EMR systems. Healthcare facilities in India, using EMR systems, are facing challenges in complying with these laws and thus, are at risk of being faced with legal issues. Having a proper legal framework is essential in the growth path of electronic medical records market.Get Discount For First Time Buyers@Key takeaways of the market:The global electronic medical records market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period (20162024) as there exists a huge demand especially in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa marketsCloud-based solutions are expected to fuel the global electronic medical records market growth exponentially during the forecast period. Chain of hospitals and diagnostic laboratories who can afford cloud-based EMR systems find it very beneficial for their patients.Hospitals are the major end users of EMR systems as these organizations deal with a huge patient database and have high demand among their patients to access their medical recordsThe demand for EMR is growing in ambulatory/outpatient services, which is expected to fuel the growth of this market in near futureHigh healthcare spending and rapid digitization has supported the North America and European regions to dominate this market. However, increasing funding in emerging regions driving better healthcare infrastructure would drive substantial demand in Asia Pacific and Latin America during the forecast period.Some of the major players involved in global electronic medical records market include Cerner Corporation, Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc., McKesson Corporation, Quadramed Corporation, Medical Information Technology Inc., Sage Software Healthcare Inc., Greenway Health, LLC, NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC, Epic Systems Corporation, and GE Healthcare.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: +12067016702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR) Market Growth, Trend and Forecast 2022
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The report entitled Global Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement Market: 2017-2022 Edition, added by Market Research HUB, provides analysis of the global TMVR market, with detailed analysis of market size and growth, penetration, market share and economic impact of the industry. The analysis includes the market by value, by volume, by segments and by penetration.Request Free Sample Report -The report also includes the detailed analysis of the regional TMVR market of the following regions: The US and Europe. The analysis in this segment is done by penetration, by segments, by value and by volume.Growth of the overall global TMVR market has also been forecasted for the years 2017-2022, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. Edward Lifesciences, Medtronic, and Abbott Laboratories are some of the key players operating in the global TMVR market, whose company profiling has been done in the report. In this segment of the report, business overview, financial overview and business strategies of the companies are provided.Country CoverageThe USEuropeCompany CoverageEdward Lifescience IncorporationAbbott LaboratoriesMedtronicExecutive SummaryThe mitral valve allows the passage to oxygenated blood from lest atrium (LA) to the left ventricle (LV) and prevent the backflow of blood back into the left atrium. Mitral Regurgitation (MR) is a valve disorder where during heart contraction, blood leaks backward through the mitral valve. This reduces the amount of blood pumped through the body, which leads to declining heart function and heart failure, over the time.The causes of MR disease are congenital heart disorder, rheumatic fever, trauma, any other heart disease, radiation therapy, etc. The treatments available for MR disease are surgical repair, drug treatment and replacement. There are two types of MR: Degenerative MR (DMR) and Functional MR (FMR). The DMR and FMR can further be subdivided into many types.Browse Full Report with TOC-There are different approaches for replacement surgery, depending upon the type of MR disease. The TMVR market is in very early stage at this moment, with many companies developing their TMVR devices. The commercial TMVR devices are expected to be launched in next 2-3 years.Currently, the global TMVR market is in early stage, but is expected to increase at high growth rates during the forecasted period (2017-2022). The global TMVR market is supported by various growth drivers, such as aging population, high number of cases of congenital heart defects, rheumatic fever, low survival rate of surgical repair in FMR patients, etc. Yet, the market faces certain challenges, such as, complexity in design, success of repair surgery in DMR patients, high number of patients not referred for surgery, etc.Table of Contents1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Heart Valves: An Overview2.2 Mitral Regurgitation: An Overview2.2.1 Transcatheter Mitral Valve Timeline2.2.2 Types of MR2.2.3 MR Clinical Guidelines2.3 Aortic Valve v/s Mitral Valve3. Market Sizing3.1 Global Mitral Regurgitation Market: An Analysis3.1.1 Global MR Market by Number of Patients3.1.2 Global MR Market by Patient Severity3.2 Global Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation Market: An Analysis3.2.1 Global DMR Market by Number of Patients and Prevalence of TMVR3.3 Global Functional Mitral Regurgitation Market: An Analysis3.3.1 Global FMR Market by Number of Patients and Prevalence of TMVR3.4 Global TMVR Market: An Analysis3.4.1 Global TMVR Market by Value3.4.2 Global TMVR Market by Volume......Enquire about this Report-About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email : press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite :Read Industry News at -
The 2017 World Series of Poker International Circuit King's Casino Rozvadov has determined the next champion and winner of the elusive WSOP Circuit ring. Bulgaria's Fahredin Mustafov emerged victorious in the 40-entry strong 5,300 High Roller after 10 hours of play on Day 2 and claimed the lion's share of the 190,000 prize pool, taking home 70,300 for his efforts.
PokerStars Team Pro Felipe Ramos, who already finished second to Ben Bensimhon in the 550 Monster Stack for 43,636 at the start of the festival in Europe's biggest poker arena, had to settle for another runner-up finish once more. "It is all good, I will save my luck for the big ones" the Brazilian said with a smile on the face.
Final Result 5,300 High Roller
Place Winner Country Prize (EUR) 1 Fahredin Mustafov Bulgaria 70,300 2 Felipe Ramos Brazil 48,450 3 Robert Schulz Germany 30,875 4 Fabrice Halleux Belgium 22,325 5 Pierre Neuville Belgium 18,050
Day 2 Action
Late registration remained open for the first two levels and following break, and until then the number of entries grew to 40 in total. Among those to enter the tournament for the first time were Martin Kabrhel, Asher Dahan, Yair Bitoun and, at the last minute, Felix Schulze.
In the first level of the day, Pavel Plesuv went from top spot to zero after losing two big pots against Robert Schulz. Plesuv bought back in, but would ultimately fail to reach the money. Others that bowed out early on and didn't buy back in were Viliyan Petleshkov, Gregor Greko and Michal Ozimek. Mike Brandau busted in the first hand of the day and his second attempt was not crowned by success either.
Martin Kabrhel fired twice and ran with deuces into the pocket nines of Pierre Neuville. By the turn of a jack-high board, Kabrhel could only chop to remain in contention and his set on the river was of no help as Neuville had already flopped the higher set. Bernd Gleissner and Vojtech Ruzicka both busted on Day 1 and tried their luck again today, but also failed to reach the money.
Well before the final table, Michael Sklenicka and Sander van Wesemael ran out of chips and Ognjen Sekularac went from big stack to the rail in one massive bluff attempt. Robert Schulz happily called his shove on the river of an ace-high board with a flopped set of sixes, while Sekularac only had queen-nine suited for a lot of hot air. The eliminations of Pavel Plesuv, Asher Dahan and Aleksandar Tomovic set up the last table and Schulz was dominating at the top of the counts.
Anatoliy Zyrin was short and doubled twice before losing a big flip to Felipe Ramos. The remaining few chips vanished soon after and Zyrin was gone in 9th place. He was joined by Czech high stakes pro Pavel Binar, who had his pocket jacks cracked by the ace-three of Fahredin Mustafov. One level later it was game over for Vadzim Lipauka, who jammed 16 big blinds with deuces into the kings of Mustafov in a battle of the blinds.
On the money bubble, both Felix Schulze and Pierre Neuville were on life support and it was the German who was forced to commit his last chips first. Schulze picked up non fewer than four callers and his pocket nines were no good against the pocket kings of Felipe Ramos. Neuville tripled up once before calling the shove of Ramos with jack-six suited. Ramos had three-deuce of the same suit and flopped a pair, then rivered a straight for good measure to eliminate Neuville in fifth place.
Fellow Belgian Fabrice Halleux was the next to fall. Down to fewer than one big blind, he called all in and saw Robert Schulz and Fahredin Mustafov check down all the way to the river when an ace hit. Schulz bet, Mustafov folded and the German, based in Vienna for more than two years already, turned over ace-seven for top pair. Halleux grinned, mucked pocket queens and took fourth place.
Down to the last three players, Fahredin Mustafov held more than half of the chips in play and he would boost his lead further after sending Robert Schulz to the rail. In a three-bet pot, Schulz check-called a bet by Mustafov on the flop and shoved the river after having missed his nutflushdraw with ace-queen suited. Mustafov snap-called with king-nine suited, of diamonds as well, for a flopped straight and second nutflushdraw and turned top pair.
Heads-up only lasted a few hands, and Fahredin Mustafov three-bet jammed with his commanding lead and ace-queen. Felipe Ramos called with ace-eight suited and failed to get there despite turning an open-ended straight draw.
This wraps up the updates from the WSOP Circuit High Roller, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back in action tomorrow Saturday october 14th 2017 for the second and final starting day of the 1,650 WSOp Circuit Main Event.
North Korea has threatened Australia for showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the United States against its regime.
The provocations aggravate the situation of the Korean peninsula into a touch-and-go phase, the Norths Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, according to Yonhap news agency.
The Australian foreign minister personally expressed her support for the stand of the U.S. to consider all options including the use of force towards DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea), KCNA said.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defense Minister Marise Payne visited the truce village of Panmunjom and later held a meeting with their South Korean counterparts in Seoul.
The four ministers issued a joint statement on Friday calling on Pyongyang to refrain from provocative behaviour and to abandon all nuclear weapons and programmes.
North Koreas actions are illegal and Australia will play our part in supporting South Korea, our friends and allies, in deterring North Korea from further provocative acts and compelling it to return to the negotiating table, Bishop told reporters in Seoul.
Should Australia continue to follow the U.S. in imposing military, economic and diplomatic pressure upon the DPRK despite our repeated warnings, they will not be able to avoid a disaster, KCNA said.
The rogue state has threatened Australia in the past, including of nuclear retaliation in April.
In September, Australian prime minister said that the government was considering plans to evacuate its citizens from the Korean peninsula if threats from North Korea escalate.
Bishop said that the threat of war is now the greatest it has been in 60 years since the Korean War.
(dpa/NAN)
Hundred of parents on Monday rushed to withdraw their children from public primary schools in Damaturu, Yobe State, following a rumour that an unusual injection was being administered on school children.
According to the rumour, a non-governmental organisation was administering the injection on the heads of male and navel of female pupils in public primary schools in the town.
The resulting panic forced schools in the Yobe State capital, Damaturu, to shut down.
However, the state government refuted the rumour and the schools resumed the following day.
Bello Kawuwa, Yobe Commissioner for Health, said at a press briefing that things calmed down after parents were persuaded that the rumour was unfounded.
There was no such incident in any location in Damaturu or any other part of the state.
There is no non-governmental organisation in charge of vaccination; it is the state Primary Health Care Management Agency that is the sole custodian of vaccination, he said to reassure the public on the development.
However, the panic was not peculiar to Yobe State. Two days later on Wednesday, a similar rumour in Anambra state led anxious parents to withdraw their wards and disrupt school activities.
The rumour in Anambra claimed that some students died after being forcefully injected with a vaccine by Nigerian Army personnel.The rumour spread to neighbouring states in the South-east of Nigeria and created panic across the region.
It also reached the South-south region such that the Bayelsa State Government on Friday had to announce a ban on all forms of medical outreach programme in public and private schools throughout the state to calm anxious parents.
The decision, according to the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, at a joint press briefing with his Health Commissioner, Ebitimitula Etebu, was sequel to the scare of a purported injection being given to students against the viral monkeypox disease.
He said the government would monitor the situation and ensure strict compliance with the ban, while urging the management of schools to closely monitor visitors.
It later emerged that the cause of the panic in the various regions was the recent outbreak of Monkeypox virus in Bayelsa state capital.
About two weeks ago, the first index case of the rare viral zoonotic disease was reported at Agbura, a rural settlement near Yenagoa.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the number of suspected cases in Bayelsa later reached 13. Three suspected cases were later reported in Rivers State. Samples from the suspected victims were later sent to the World Health Organisation, WHO laboratory in Dakar, Senegal for testing.
The national coordinator, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that results of the laboratory tests would be out on Friday.
NCDC said in Abuja that 31 suspected cases of the monkeypox virus had been recorded in seven states.
They include Bayelsa, Rivers, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Ogun and Cross River states.
Meanwhile, the monkeypox virus have no vaccination and nobody have been able to trace the source of the rumour.
However, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, who are in charge of vaccination in Nigeria, has stated clearly, that there is no such vaccination that is harmful to any child in Nigeria.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the Director for disease control and immunization, NPHCDA, Dorothy Iwodo said that the widespread rumor of vaccination against monkeypox is false, malicious, unpatriotic, and misleading the public.
She said that the federal government was concerned about the wellbeing of Nigerians, most importantly children and have their best interest at heart.
She said: Attention of the Federal Government has just been drawn to rumors circulating in parts of the South East concerning vaccination perceived to be harmful to children.
The Federal Government wishes to state clearly that there is no such vaccination in any part of the country that is harmful to any child in Nigeria.
Most importantly, the Federal Government wishes to re-assure all parents, guardians and care-givers of globally confirmed safety, potency and effectiveness of all antigens in the National Immunization Schedule against vaccines preventable diseases in the country and the vaccination is free in all public health institutions, she said.
She added that the annual budgetary allocation, release and cash-backing of huge resources for the provision of safe and potent vaccines was a practical manifestation of governments commitment to the safety, growth and survival of Nigerian children.
While commending major development partners for their support and commitment on immunization, Mrs. Iwodo urged those peddling the unpatriotic, malicious and misleading information to desist from inglorious acts and turn a new leaf in support of their country and fellow countrymen and women.
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The Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima, said on Friday that he was at a 2015 meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the President of the World Bank, Jim Kim.
According to Mr. Shettima, four other governors including three from Southern Nigeria were also at the meeting.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Mr. Shettima said it was at that meeting that President Buhari requested the World Bank to focus its efforts on rebuilding the North-east which has been devastated by Boko Haram attacks.
On Thursday, a statement by the World Bank chief that Mr. Buhari asked the agency to focus on northern regions of Nigeria caused a stir among Nigerians with critics accusing the Nigerian leader of promoting sectional interests.
In my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern regions of Nigeria and weve done that, said Mr. Kim, who has led the World Bank since 2012.
One of such critics who latched on to the World Bank chiefs statement was the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, a vociferous critic of Mr. Buhari.
Once again, the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari is an ethnic champion, a religious bigot and the number one promoter of disunity in Nigeria was brought to the fore by the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, Mr. Fayose said in a statement by his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka.
The presidency on Friday, however, explained that what Mr. Buhari said was that the bank should focus on the North-east because of the Boko Haram devastation; a stance now seconded by Mr. Shettima.
According to Mr. Shettima, the other governors at the July 2015 meeting were Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo, and Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa.
Mr. Shettima said it was after the request that the World Bank, in 2016, in collaboration with the European Union and office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, organized a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment Report on the six states affected by the Boko Haram attacks in the northeast following which it was discovered that the Boko Haram had destroyed public and private infrastructure worth $9 billion in the North-east from which destructions in Borno alone accounted for $6 billion.
The President and the Federal Government have very competent spokespersons, I dont speak for the President or the FG, the governor said.
However, the controversy affects my state because the discussions with the World Bank focus on rebuilding the North-east and everyone knows that when the issue of rebuilding the North-east is the subject, Borno naturally comes into perspective.
The whole thing is in the open and we believe the objectives of the President will be actualised as go forward, Mr. Shettima said.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday warned he would declare a revolutionary government and arrest all political dissidents, including the communists and opposition yellow forces should they continue with their efforts to destabilize his administration.
If they try to destabilize and the situation becomes too violent, I will not hesitate to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term. I will arrest all of you and we can go to a full-scale war against the Reds, Duterte told his critics in a television interview aired over state-run PTV4.
If I think youre about to take over the nation, and you have destabilized government like a new one would replace the current administration I am on guard, he added.
In a related development, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said he had instructed the Senates IT Department to find out what security measures could be adopted to thwart a recurrence of the spread of fake e-mails sent from the hacked e-mail accounts of the Senates minority staff.
He also ordered the department to determine if such hacking could be stopped.
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Although I also havent seen any complaint from Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino about this, we already acted on it, having read it in the news, Pimentel said.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
Aquino, in a press conference on Thursday, revealed fake e-mails he said were attempting to connect the minority senators to destabilization plots.
Fake news has escalated to fake e-mails and digitally planted evidence, Aquino said.
Duterte is confident the military will stick with him amid destabilization efforts by the Reds and the Yellows.
Duterte said the military was aware the Communist Party was active in the destabilization scheme, adding Do you think the armed forces and police will sympathize with you after youve cheapened the lives of security forces with the [extrajudicial killings]?
Duterte said his move to declare a revolutionary government was the same as what then President Corazon Aquino, whom he tagged as the heroine of the yellows did, soon after the Marcos regime.
Unlike Marcos, Dutete sees a revolutionary government as a more practical step since this eliminates the need for the President to report to Congress.
When then President Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he did by virtue of his powers as commander-in-chief of the armed forces vested in him by the 1935 Constitution, after he called on the troops to quell a rebellion and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpusall steps given the incumbent chief oif state by the Charter.
Marcos lifted the emergency in January 1981, three months before the presidential elections where he trounced former Defense Secretary Alejo Santos.
Aquino said the fake e-mails were found in the draft and spam folders of employees in an attempt by hackers to connect the opposition to the destabilization plots against the government.
We decided to share this with the public because a lot of pro-administration personalities and online supporters alike are spreading fake news of a destabilization plot by the Liberal Party, Aquino said.
We have no destabilization plot. Those behind the hacking and fake e-mails are the true destabilizers. They want chaos in the Philippines.
Aquino said the accounts of some staff members had been used to send dubious e-mails containing controversial subject lines like Leaked Media Plan to Destroy PRRD and The Investigation on DDS, together with an attached file.
It is also possible that these files, which prompt an error when opened, are being used to gain control of the device or fish for information, Aquino said.
The minority senators have reported the issue to the National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to determine the people behind the hacking and the spread of destabilization rumors.
A total of five e-mail accounts have been hacked: two from the office of Aquino and three from the office of Senator Francis Pangilinan.
We should know who are behind this and hold them liable. These people should go to jail because what they did was a crime, Pangilinan said.
The Liberal Party senators have criticized the administration for continually insisting that the party had a plan to destabilize the government.
Liberal Party president Pangilinan stressed that airing criticisms and their sentiments were the foundations of democracy and should not be considered destabilization against the government.
Aquino said top government officials should stop floating news about destabilization as the Armed Force of the Philippines had declared it had monitored no moves to oust Duterte.
Senator Franklin Drilon said the administration should be open to criticisms and use these to improve governance and not consider them as destabilization moves.
The administration needs to learn to take criticisms as these can also help improve ways of running the country, Drilon said.
Macon Ramos-Araneta
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The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, on Friday gave reasons for terminating its boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement with Intels Nigeria Limited, a firm largely owned by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar.
The NPA made its stance in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Abdullahi Goje.
Mr. Goje confirmed PREMIUM TIMES earlier report that the NPA relied on advice from the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to terminate Intels contract.
Many Nigerians have accused the NPA of playing politics as Mr. Abubakar is seen as the most likely person to contest against President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
The statement, however, explained that the NPA sought the AGFs advice after trying in vain for more than one year to get Intels to comply with the federal governments directive on the Treasury Single Account, TSA.
The first such correspondence was through a letter written by the former Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Olumide Oduntan on June 28, 2016, directing the company to pay all revenues collected on behalf of the NPA into the TSA sub account at the CBN.
All further attempts by the Authority to get the company obey this directive was met with various excuses until the Authority wrote to seek the AGFs legal advice on how to proceed with the NPA/Intels relationship in a letter dated May 31, 2017.
The legal advice contained in a September 27, 2017 letter addressed to the Managing Director of the Authority, Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman, by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN) expressly stated as follows:
For the avoidance of doubt, the agreement for the monitoring and supervision of pilotage districts in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria on terms inter alia that permits Intels to receive revenue generated in each pilotage district from service boat operations in consideration for 28 per cent of total revenue as commission to Intels is void, being a contract ex facie illegal as formed for permitting Intels to receive federal government revenue contrary to the express provisions of Sections 80(1) and 162(1) and (10) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which mandates that such revenue must be paid into the Federation Account/Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The statement further read, In the premise of the above, the conflict between the agreement and the TSA policy presents a force majeure event under the agreement, and NPA should forthwith commence the process of issuing the relevant notices to Intels exiting the agreement which indeed was void.
The statement said as a responsible agency of the federal government, the NPA had no option but to act as advised.
The Authority has taken note of threats by Intels to withdraw its investment plans in Nigeria and must point that business thrives in favour of everyone involved only when the laws of the country of operation are adhered to.
No organisation is above the Nigerian constitution and it is only when all corporate entities obey the laws of the country that everyone benefits. There must be a level playing field for all players in the sector, and this is the commitment of the Authority.
The NPA, however, said it respects the right of Intels and all other corporate entities in Nigeria to explore opportunities presented by the courts to enforce their right. The agency said it is confident of the correctness of the step that it has taken adding that its board and management is committed to serving the best interest of Nigeria at all times, and this is what has happened in the case under discussion.
The NPAs explanation comes days after Intels kicked against the termination of its Pilotage Agency Agreement by the NPA describing the action as preposterous and highly injurious to Nigeria.
For the years he lived with his parents and siblings, Ibrahim Kwarakwara, like other residents of Mambilla plateau of Taraba State, witnessed bouts of ethno-religious violence. Now and again, armed attackers belonging to either the indigenous Mambilla ethnic group or settlers Fulani group, pounced on each other, destroying lives and properties.
The Kwarakwara family survived those attacks until Saturday, June 17. That night, men armed with machets stormed their home in Kwarakwara town in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state with deadly violence.
Eighteen-year-old Ibrahim said he watched from a kolanut tree where he took cover as his father, mother, stepmother and eight of his sisters, were slaughtered.
It was the worst day of my life, Ibrahim told PREMIUM TIMES.
That round of bloodletting affected 13 communities including Kwarakwara, Mayo Ndaga, Nguroje, Dorofi, Tamya, Hainare, Bang Three Corner, Chabbal Peluwaje, Labbare and Tep. The others are Barup, Mayo Dule and Tanviya. Most of the victims this time were Fulanis, several witnesses said.
In all, police said only seven people were killed, figures the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, a Fulani group, disputed. The group said about 351 persons were killed, including 11 members of the Ngurojes family. About 381 people went missing, it also claimed, while over 20,000 cows were killed or stolen and 483 houses or settlements razed.
But the Taraba State Government said the figures were grossly exaggerated. PREMIUM TIMES could not independently confirm any of the figures.
By some accounts, the violence was in retaliation for an earlier attack on the Mambilla group by their Fulani neighbours. Reports of the alleged attack had spread for days and tension mounted with some local government officials urging natives to fight back.
In an article on Daily Trust, the Taraba State governors spokesperson, Emmanuel Bello, said the crisis happened after a Fulani gunman fired at the chairman of the local government, John Yeps car in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.
But other residents said the immediate trigger for the crisis was when security operatives, early June 16, arrested some persons in Nguroje town, accusing them of causing unrest in the area and belonging to a Mambilla militia group.
In response, Mr. Yep allegedly led some youth of the Mambilla ethnic group to Nguroje to protest the arrest which they said was instigated by their Fulani neighbours.
Mr. Yep did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES request for comments. He is currently on suspension, and was not in Gembu town when PREMIUM TIMES visited. His phone lines were also reachable.
Umar Abdulmumin, a youth leader in the area, said the June 7 attacks went on unabated for four days, with little or no help coming from the local and state authorities. The attacks only ended when the federal government deployed soldiers and anti-riot policemen to the area.
Never seen this level of carnage
During a visit to the area, the Acting General Officer Commanding, GOC, Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos, Benjamin Ahanotu, said he had never seen a carnage like he saw on the Mambilla plateau.
Even Boko Haram did not slaughter women and children. But here, I saw young children and pregnant women slaughtered, said Mr. Ahanotu, a brigadier-general, as he inspected the scene.
He blamed the Mambilla plateau traditional rulers and community leaders for failing to stem the fighting.
Throughout the crisis, Mambilla village heads and community leaders did not come to the aid of the victims as they just watched them die helplessly right in front of their houses, Mr. Ahanotu was quoted as saying.
As elders, they did not also make any effort to convey the injured to hospitals, making the victims to lose confidence in the system and to seek medical attention in neighboring Cameroon Republic.
He blamed politicians for the crisis.
Previous crises
The Mambilla plateau has witnessed several ethnic crises dating back to the 1970s. There were attacks in 1979, 1980, 1982, 2001 and 2002. In each, the fighting was between the Mambilla and the Fulani ethnic groups.
Each round of violence spiralled in to the next with successive governments failing to punish those responsible for the previous killings.
Thousands of peopled were displaced by the 2002 crisis, with many slipping across the border, 100 kilometres away, into neighbouring Cameroon.
Mambilla is the site of a $5.9 billion federal hydro power project, aimed at generating 3,050 megawatts of electricity. As a result, some politicians told PREMIUM TIMES the crisis was an attempt by the opposition to scuttle the project.
Still, another Mambilla elder, Emmanuel Njiwa, told PREMIUM TIMES the latest crisis was caused by struggle for land ownership.
Mr. Njiwa said the Fulani took over most of the land through the grazing permits they were given to help the then authorities identify grazers for the purposes of tax collection.
He said over the years, the cattle owners turned the grazing permits into certificates of occupancy, thus acquiring vast lands without permits.
Most Mambilla officials refused to comment on the violence.
The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Abel Diah, also declined to speak on the matter. Speaking through his spokesperson, Baba Dahiru, Mr. Diah said a judicial panel of enquiry was in place and as such, he would not say anything that may influence its findings.
Internally Displaced persons
The killings resulted displaced about 12, 421 people sheltered in 12 IDP camps.
Ibrahim Nguroje was registered at the Nguroje camp. Due to the cold weather, most of the IDPs, especially in Nguroje, moved to various houses for shelter.
Other camps are in Gembu, Mayo Ndaga, Dorofi, Hainare, Tamnya/Tuwa, Bang 3 corner, Labarre, Kan Iyaka, Njawai and Mbamnga/Tavia.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okDslatB79E&w=560&h=315]
The Nigerian presidency had shortly after the crisis, ordered the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to assess the situation and deliver relief materials to the victims as soon as possible.
About 12 trailer loads of relief materials had since been delivered to Gembu, the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government for distribution.
Panel of inquiry
A few days after the bloodletting was halted, Governor Darius Ishaku set up a judicial panel on the Mambilla crisis to find a lasting solution and to avert its recurrence.
The panel is headed by a serving Taraba state high court judge, Nuhu Adi, and has six other members, including representatives of the police, civil defence and the State Security Services, SSS.
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There were smiles on the faces of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the two men who sat on both sides inside the Lagos House, Ikeja, as cameras clicked while the governor signed the Lagos State governments N813 billion Appropriation Bill for 2017 into Law.
Flanked by Akinyemi Ashade, the Commissioner for Finance, and Rotimi Olowo, the Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Ambode said his administration was committed to prudent financial management and would ensure proper fiscal discipline in the implementation of the Appropriation Law.
The budget, the biggest ever by the Lagos State government since its creation, was made up of N507.816 billion earmarked for capital expenditure and N305.182 billion set aside for recurrent expenditure, an aggregate ration of 62:38.
But a breakdown of the budget figures has been kept away from the cameras as well as the public, a marked departure from previous years where even a summary of expenditures and earnings were uploaded on the governments official website.
They (Lagos State government) are very tricky about it, Stanley Achonu, Operations Lead at BudgIT, a civic organisation that helps Nigerians better understand governments annual budgets.
What they publish is the summary of the budget, you know, what went to what ministry, it doesnt include details of the budget.
For the 2017 fiscal year, both the summary and the detailed breakdown which had never been publicly disclosed of the budget is missing on the budget website of the Lagos State government.
Months of efforts to get a clarification from Steve Ayorinde, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, yielded no results as he neither answered phone calls nor replied text messages.
A silent government
While providing a sectoral breakdown of the states 2017 budget last January, Mr. Ashade said roads and infrastructure would get N141.692 billion, almost 20 percent of the total budget.
Between February and July, Governor Ambode commissioned over a dozen infrastructural projects, including the Abule Egba and Ajah Fly Overs; the Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge; and the Ojodu Berger Pedestrian Bridge, Lay By, Slip Road and Segregated Bus Park.
Others include the Omotayo Banwo/Kola Iyamolere Street in Ogudu, Kosofe local council; the Admiralty/Freedom Road in Lekki; the pedestrian bridge in Ojota; and a walkway in Jakande, Lekki.
In August, PREMIUM TIMES submitted two requests to the Lagos State government an official letter requesting information and a Freedom of Information request seeking the cost of some of these projects, including that of the 20 patrol vehicles procured for the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command.
Although the state government acknowledged receipt of the two letters, there have been no response two months after.
A similar FOI request months earlier asking for the cost of some projects undertaken by the states water corporation was also acknowledged but the information was not provided.
A Subnational Transparency Report published this year by BudgIT listed Lagos State among 16 states in Nigeria without a detailed public budget.
On March 27, the state government held a world press conference where it rolled out activities lined up for the last 50 days of the Lagos@50 celebration musical concerts, boat regatta, jazz and film festivals, comedy show and the governors banquet among dozens of other events to commemorate the states 50th anniversary.
The state government did not also respond to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries about how much was spent on the year-long event.
But in an interview with Punch newspapers last May, Mr. Ayorinde, responding to a question on how much the Lagos@50 celebration cost the state government said they received more than N1 billion in support from sponsors.
Before the sponsors came, what Lagos did was to give seed money so that things could move. But from sponsors alone, we have raised more than N1bn which is not just going into celebration, Mr. Ayorinde said.
He did not provide details as to how much was the seed money, who the sponsors were, and how the funds were disbursed.
Lanre Arogundade, Chairman of the International Press Centre, said the lack of access to public information in Lagos State is a concern for citizens and called for the issue to addressed urgently.
Lagos is supposed to be the centre of excellence in everything but when the budget is not easily accessible, thats worrisome, Mr. Arogundade said.
We can only talk of high rate of transparency when FOI requests are responded to, when information are made readily available.
In July, the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in conjunction with BudgIT wrote to the states procurement agency over the unavailability of public procurement journal to the public.
In a correspondence seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the agency said the governor had just inaugurated its governing board and had just requested to set a threshold for what it would consider as major contracts.
It further stated that the agency was working towards a holistic upgrade of its website in order to make it more interactive and advanced in line with international best practices.
Upon completion of the said upgrade which we hope will be accommodated in the 2018 budget, the agency website will be better positioned to supply adequate responses to enquiries from stakeholders, the agency stated in its response dated 11th July 2017.
Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director at SERAP, said while his organisation had not had a serious interaction with the present government, it had had little success with Mr. Ambodes predecessor, Babatunde Fashola.
In December 2013, SERAP wrote to the Lagos State government requesting information and documents on spendings in public schools, following a $90 million World Bank loan, between 2009 and 2013.
The government did not respond.
In suit FHC/L/CS/57/2014 filed before a Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, SERAP urged the court to declare that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, the governor is under a binding obligation to provide it with the information requested.
In its counter affidavit, the Lagos State government, represented by then Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, argued that the Freedom of Information Act was a federal legislation and, as a result, not binding on states.
The public records of Lagos State government are generated and kept by various ministries, departments, agencies and personnel of the state government in execution of their functions and responsibility in the service of the state, Mr. Ipaye, who is now Chief of Staff to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said.
Such state government agencies and personnel are statutorily created or regulated by laws of the state House of Assembly and the handling of public of public records has serious security implications which are routinely handled by rules established by the state government.
The court ruled in favour of Lagos State government.
Wed sought information about the state of primary schools and what they have done; they refused, they insisted that the FOI must be domesticated, Mr. Mumuni told PREMIUM TIMES.
We reacted that that shouldnt be and gave reasons why it shouldnt be domesticated before such information is made available to us.
We went to court but we lost. We are still appealing the case.
In 2014, another division of the federal high court, in Enugu, ruled that the Freedom of Information Act is applicable in all states of the federation.
Hitting a brick wall
This year, Mr. Arogundades IPC in collaboration with BudgIT sought to get a copy of the 2017 Lagos State government budget.
They hit a brick wall.
I think its something worrisome and the issue needs to be taken up because more can still be done by the government, Mr. Arogundade said.
Last February, a PREMIUM TIMES reporter seeking the Lagos State governments response to claims by traders at the rebuilt Tejuosho Market in Yaba, was given the run-around by government officials.
First, the market officials directed the reporter to the Public Relations Officer at the states Ministry of Commerce and Industry at the Alausa secretariat, where an official redirected him to Lagos State Market Board.
At the Lagos State Market Board at the Old Secretariat in Ikeja GRA, a senior government official who declined to respond to questions directed the reporter back to Alausa, to the LGA Unit of states Ministry of Local Government Affairs, where he was referred to the Public Relations Officer.
Bisi Olufuwa, the ministrys PRO, said she would direct the questions to her boss, the permanent secretary of the ministry.
I am just seeing this (and you, too) for the first time and I promise to fix a session where you will meet my boss and discuss these issues, said Ms. Olufuwa.
The session was never fixed.
The lawyer representing billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike (popularly known as Evans), has accused officers of the Inspector General of Polices Intelligence Response Team of extorting money and valuables running into hundreds of millions of naira from his client.
Olukoya Ogungbeje, who petitioned the Police Service Commission on Friday, also accused the officers of sexually molesting Evans girlfriend, Amaka Offor.
The petition was also copied to the National Assembly, the Inspector General of Police, the National Human Rights Commission, and Amnesty International.
Our client has duly briefed us on the above captioned subject matter involving the police officers and policemen attached to the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, read the petition captioned in part The Evans Case and Saga: Brazen Extortion, Corruption, Gross Misconduct, Indiscipline, Sexual Molestation and Human Rights Violation Against the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team Police Officers and Policemen.
Jimoh Moshood, the Force Public Relations Officer, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Evans pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and kidnapping last August, and is currently at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison awaiting sentencing by a Lagos court.
But in this latest development, Mr. Ogungbeje accused the police, who detained him (Evans) for almost three months, before his first appearance in court, of forcefully collecting millions of naira as well as valuables and properties from his client.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is our secured brief that in the course of investigating our client while being detained in the custody of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) on the allegation of kidnapping, the following under-listed items were forcefully and corruptly extorted from our client.
1. The sum of N50, 000,000 (Fifty Million Naira) cash.
2. Another sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira) sent by our clients wife as pressured by the above policemen.
3. Twenty-five (25) Mack Trucks forcefully taken but not listed as exhibits in the ongoing criminal trial of our client.
4. Brigade wristwatch worth One Hundred and Seventeen (117) Thousand U.S Dollars.
5. Pendant cross worth Seventy (70) Thousand U.S Dollars.
6. Necklace worth Twenty-Five (25) Thousand U.S Dollars.
7. Virtu Phone worth Thirty (30) Thousand U.S Dollars.
8. Virtu Signature Phone worth Seventeen (17) Thousand U.S Dollars.
9. Ten (10) Thousand U.S Dollars cash extorted by ASP Phillip Rieninwa.
10. Five (5) Pieces of Saphono Rucci Diamond Rings worth One Hundred (100) Thousand U.S Dollars.
11. Lexus 470 Jeep.
12. Grand Cherokee Jeep.
13. L 400 Mitsubishi Bus.
14. Toyota Highlander (Gold Colour).
15. Eighty-Five (85) Inches Samsung Television set worth 6.5 Million Naira amongst others.
The lawyers added that, our client also confided in us that one (Amaka Offor) his girlfriend was sexually molested and abused by the above policemen of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), the petition read.
The petition urged the Police Service Commission to conduct an investigation into the incident and invoke appropriate sanctions including dismissal against the culpable police officers.
Sir, you would agree with us that these allegations are too weighty to be ignored by any right-thinking Nigerian.
There is no gainsaying the fact that it calls for prompt investigation, inquiry and appropriate sanctions. We are using this medium as our own way of galvanizing institutional sanity, cleansing and reform in the Nigeria Police Force as an institution.
As we speak, the brother in law and other relations of our client are still being detained and tortured by the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) without being arraigned before a Court of law, the petition added.
The Federal Government has listed 18 states that will benefit from the $500 million World Bank-financed project.
The disclosure was made by the National Coordinator of Rural Access and Mobility Project, RAMP, Ularamu Ubandoma, at the unveiling of selected participants in the states in a meeting with the development partners in Abuja on Friday.
He said the states will join the already benefiting ones to share from the $500 million fund, a project under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, RAAMP3.
He said, The whole essence of the project sponsored by the World Bank, French Development Bank and Africa Development Bank is to provide suitable road network for rural farmers to convey their farm produce to the market to avoid losses.
What we are doing here today is a meeting with new RAAMP states. New RAAMP is rural access and agricultural marketing and we have about 18 states that have been selected to participate in this new project all over the country.
In the North-east, we have Borno, Bauchi and Taraba. In North-central, we have Plateau, Benue, Kogi and Kwara. In North-west, we have Kano, Kastina, Sokoto and Kebbi. In South-east, we have Abia and Anambra. In South-south, we have Cross River and Akwa Ibom. In South-west, we have Ogun, Oyo and Ondo States. These are states that emerged from the six geopolitical zones.
Mr. Ubandoma said the new RAAMP3 will be a little different from the usual RAMP1 and 2, as various projects, that is almost 100 percent completed, have been implemented in seven states.
He also said the only difference is that they will be targeting RAAMP3 in line with President Buharis policy on agricultural transformation.
The policy is implemented through the Green Agricultural Alternative under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh. The thinking now is zero rejection of our agricultural produce at the international markets, he said.
He further explained that the third phase of the RAAMP3 was to improve rural access and agricultural marketing in the selected participating states, whilst enhancing the sustainability of the rural and state road network.
We are going to target markets and the value chains by adding value to our agricultural produce right from production level. We will be looking at storage and processes. We want to know how these products can get to different levels of markets. We are trying to shift from the usual market not considering the rural people.
An aspirant for the national chairmanship position of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Gbenga Daniel, on Friday visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo to seek his support for his ambition.
Mr. Daniel, a former Ogun State Governor, is contesting the position alongside other chieftains of the party including Bode George, Tunde Adeniran, and Raymond Dokpesi.
Mr. Obasanjo, who served as president on the PDP platform for two terms, publicly quit the part in the build up to the 2015 elections.
In spite of his quit, Mr. Obasanjo is still considered influential within the party.
Although the former president had altercations with Mr. Daniel in 2011, both men resolved their differences and Mr. Obasanjo assigned the ex-governor a role during his 80th birthday anniversary held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Mr. Daniel, who governed Ogun State for eight years on the platform of PDP, had earlier disclosed that he will formally declare his intention for the PDP chairmanship position in Abuja next Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists after the visit, Mr. Daniel said he came to consult with Baba Obasanjo and seek his advice on his ambition.
He added that he can not make any move in that direction without the ex-presidents input.
Im contesting for the PDP chairmanship position. Im consulting and Baba is one of the foundation member of the party and we cant move without him, Mr. Daniel said.
The aspirant said the party is now united and being rejuvenated to make it a party to beat both in Ogun State and at the centre.
We have been united. You can see all of us are here. We have realised that united we stand and divided we fall. There are no many problems or many challenges. What you see is just called internal democracy, he said.
And to summarise it, we just want to return the party to the people and once that is done, I think the people will be in control, Mr. Daniel added.
Mr. Daniel had earlier visited ex-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida to also seek his support for the election coming up next month.
A former vice president of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, has intervened in the controversy surrounding the statement ascribed to President Muhammadu Buhari asking the World Bank to prioritise the Northern part of the country in its intervention.
She said Mr. Buharis statement was taken out of context as it is one of the policies of the World Bank to give more attention to post-conflict zones like the North-east.
She blamed presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, on how his team handled the misunderstanding.
Ms. Ezekwesili, who took to her Twitter page to address the issue, said: the terrible indecorous press release by Femi Adesina worsens a fractious debate. This FG cannot be leaders of toxicity in public debate. Healthy debates are important for managing our diversity. The government of President Buhari should reign in his media team and retrain them to be effective.
In an attempt to correct the perceived misunderstanding of Kims statement and calm the uproar it has generated against the person of President Buhari, Mr. Adesina released a statement wherein he labelled the presidents critics as ignorant and mischievous.
Healthy Debates are IMPORTANT for MANAGING OUR DIVERSITY. FG of Pres @MBuhari should reign in his media team & RETRAIN THEM to be EFFECTIVE, she added.
Ms. Ezekwesili explained that at the time the World Bank team met government officials in 2015, serious work had taken place among development partners on how best to help stabilize North-east, adding that post-conflict zones like Northern Uganda and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo receives special focus from World Bank and as the destabilization in the North-east worsened, Nigeria sadly joined the list.
Emphasising her position as a former senior officer of the bank, she explained that the statement made by the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, is not as it sounds, adding that prioritising reconstruction of post-conflict zones in any of those countries factually proved to be key for the rest of the countrys growth and stability.
I want EVERYONE to KNOW that the statement made by the @WorldBank President @JimYongKim IS NOT AS IT SOUNDS. I should KNOW. I was VP there.
Mr. Jim Kim had said in a press conference in Washington DC that President Buhari requested concentration of the banks intervention effort in the northern regions of Nigeria.
Critics lashed out on the Nigerian president, accusing him of being a regional leader.
Presidential spokesperson, Mr. Adesina had kicked back at critics in a subsequent response, explaining his boss position and equally flaying critics.
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed delight at the mutually beneficial cooperation that exists between Nigeria and China.
In a letter of felicitation with President Xi Jinping of China, on the occasion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), President Buhari lauded China for becoming an indispensable force in the comity of nations.
The Chinese President is also the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC.
The letter from President Buhari states in part:
On behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I have the pleasure to send our warmest congratulations to you and through you to all the 2287 delegates and the 89 million party members on the auspicious occasion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
It is my firm belief that the 19th National Congress of CPC will be a new starting point in the history of China, and it will usher in a new period of great accomplishment for your Party and the nation.
The leadership of CPC is understood to be the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. China has made remarkable progress under the leadership of CPC and remains an inspiration to developing countries and the whole world. In the past 30 years and more, over 700 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty, creating a Chinese miracle in the history of poverty reduction.
As you often say, Empty talk harms the country, while hard work makes it flourish. Under the strong and focused leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Your Excellency as its core, the CPC has continuously guided the Chinese people to achieve the Two Centenary Goals and realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, while China is becoming an indispensable force in the comity of nations. Indeed, I am satisfied with the mutually beneficial cooperation between Nigeria and China.
While expecting the delivery of policy guidelines and framework for Chinas development and foreign relations in the next 5 years and beyond, and the election of a new CPC Central Committee, we wish the 19th National Congress of the CPC a complete success.
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Raymond Dokpesi, the founder of Daar Communications, has intensified lobbies toward winning the support of key PDP leaders in his ambition to become the partys National Chairman.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Dokpesi, on Friday night, visited Edwin Clark, the Ijaw leader, former Niger Governor, Babangida Aliyu, and former FCT minister Ibrahim Bunu, at their residences in Abuja.
Mr. Dokpesi also visited Tunde Adeniran, former education minister and a rival in the PDP chairmanship race.
Mr. Clark, while receiving Mr. Dokpesi, described him as courageous, transparent, fearless and the right man the PDP needs to move forward.
Mr. Clark, who endorsed Mr. Dokpesi, said he had been a dedicated PDP member, who did a lot for the party in 2015.
The party stalwart stressed the need for PDP to ensure internal democracy, pointing out that it was key to its success in the 2019 general elections.
For every election, PDP must ensure that there is internal democracy.
If 10 people want to be chairman in a local government, they should all be allowed to go for the election. That is how to do it, Mr. Clark said.
He said that impunity of the governors must be stopped, noting that the recent leadership crisis of the party was caused by such impunity.
Mr. Clark advised PDP members and leaders to see the December convention as an important project of the party that would open doors for a brighter future.
Mr. Aliyu, who also endorsed Mr. Dokpesi, said the PDP needed a leader like him rather than those that will create negative image for the party.
After 14 months of leadership crisis, there is the need to rebuild, re-brand and rejuvenate the party, he said.
On his part, Mr. Bunu said that PDP was responsible for its current woes.
Borno PDP was made to remain in opposition for 18 years by PDP. The partys members kept undermining its chances over the years, he fumed.
He expressed confidence in Mr. Dokpesis capacity to lead the party, saying that he had demonstrated his commitment to fighting peoples causes.
Supporting your ambition is not for our individual selves, but for the party. We want PDP to succeed. We want the values of the partys founders sustained.
If these values were sustained, we would not have been where we are today, Mr. Bunu said.
Mr. Dokpesi, in his separate responses, said that unity and sanity must return to PDP.
He said that PDP was in need of a visionary leader, who was committed to its ideals and values.
Mr. Dokpesi said that he had remained an unrepentant member of PDP and was a strong supporter of the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, even at the peak of the party crisis.
He promised to build a fearless team that would prepare PDP for the 2019 elections.
NAN reports that Mr. Dokpesi had earlier visited Minna to seek the blessings of two former Military Heads of State Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalam Abubakar. (NAN)
The General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Enoch Adeboye, is the first Nigerian to acquire a Ph.d Degree in Applied Mathematics from a Nigerian University, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Mr. Osinbajo said this at the 2017 distinguished alumni awards and celebration of University of Lagos at 55 which held at Oriental Hotel, Lagos on Friday.
Apart from Mr. Adeboye, the Vice president also said the pastor and founder of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, Daniel Olukoya, was the first to clone genes.
I want to say that UNILAG has proved time and time again to be not just a university of first-choice but also the university of firsts!
So many firsts in different areas; just reading about Doctor Olukoya, he was the first to clone genes. Hardly anyone would know that the pastor and founder of Mountain of Fire and Miracles was also the first to clone genes. That is an absolutely outstanding thing.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God was also the first Nigerian to get a PhD in a Nigerian university in Applied Mathematics, he said.
Mr. Osinbajo, who was a professor of law at the University, expressed his delight at being at the occasion, which, he said, afforded him the opportunity to enjoy the company of many who have either been colleagues or seniors in the same university.
He also said it is not often that one gets to celebrate the 55th anniversary of a great institution.
The vice president said there are so many other firsts in Unilag, adding, but the most important thing today is to ensure that those firsts do not become the last.
We must ensure we continue in the great traditions of the University of Lagos and this is why I am so excited to see a lot of committed alumni who want to see to it that our University goes from glory to glory.
Mr. Osinbajo also said the government alone cannot support universities to the extent that is required, to keep them even at the current levels.
A lot will have to come from the Alumni and the private sector. Thats how great universities all over the world are run.
I am so excited to see that our fund raising project is one that has clearly shown the way to go with respect to developing our University, he said.
The vice president congratulated those who were given awards at the ceremony.
He also prayed that all those present will also be around when the university continues to celebrate milestones.
THE Department of Foreign Affairs refuted this week the claim of President Rodrigo Duterte, stressing that there was no new offer of money from the United Kingdom, contrary to the chief executives claim on Thursday.
In a statement, the DFA stressed the British Government remained one of the countrys most active bilateral partners, including cooperation in political, security, economic, cultural, and people-to-people spheres.
The Philippines acknowledges the UKs support in the development efforts of the Philippine government, particularly in Mindanao, the DFA said in a statement.
At the moment, there is no new offer of direct monetary assistance to the Philippines, the foreign agency noted.
In his fresh tirade on Thursday, Duterte claimed he had refused $18 million to $20 million from the UK.
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The latest word from Sonny [Dominguez III], the one from Great Britain, ah, $18 million, 20? I told Sonny, dont accept, Duterte said in his speech during the launching of the newly renovated press office in Malacanang.
We will survive. Anyway, I control the foreign affairs of this government, the Chief Executive said.
President Rodrigo Duterte
DFA, on the other hand, said the Philippine government was committed to continued engagement with the UK in furthering both countries longstanding and mutually beneficial partnership.
The Philippines and the UK have enjoyed 71 years of friendly, productive and dynamic relations, the DFA said.
During this time, the UK has remained one of the most active bilateral partners of the Philippines in the political, security, economic, cultural and people-to-people spheres, it added.
Also on Thursday, Duterte threatened the European diplomats to leave the country in 24 hours.
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 of you, Duterte said.
Duterte, whose political career was a mayor of Davao for more than 20 years, was reacting from a wrong information allegedly fed to him by his camp, that the EU wanted the Philippines expelled from the United Nations.
The President made the response in apparent reference to recent warnings by international rights group Human Rights Watch and the Philippine UPR Watch, calling for the expulsion of the Philippines from the UN Human Rights Council if unabated killings under the bloody drug war continues.
Duterte, however, erroneously attributed a call of a seven-member delegation of international parliamentarians for an end to the bloody war on drugs to the 28-member European Union.
A former senior diplomat, on the other hand, had also advised Duterte to refrain from making impulsive remarks, given the fact that the Philippines was exporting billions amount of goods to the European Union with zero-tariff or on duty-free basis.
PRRD should restrain himself from making such impulsive remarks, DFA retired ambassador Jose Cuisia said in a text message.
He warned that his remarks could have an adverse impact on the Philippines relations with EU.
Again, the President has made unfortunate remarks which will have an adverse impact on our countrys relations with EU, Cuisia said.
He noted the Philippines was exporting substantial amounts of goods to the EU on duty-free basis.
This trade can be imperiled and who will be the loser? The Philippines, of course, he added.
The EU was the 8th largest contributor of Official Development Assistance to the Philippines in 2015, according to latest data from the National Economic and Development Authority.
The EU provided $227.31 million in grants, interest-free, and accounted for about 2 percent of the total ODA funding in 2015.
According to the EU office in Manila, aid to the Philippines was raised to 325 million for 2015 to 2019, from 130 million for 2007 to 2014.
Bulk of the current aid has gone to Muslim communities in Mindanao where the EU has been active in funding peace- and development-related initiatives.
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The Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance, APDA, has said three of its local government officials in Kogi state have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the abducted officials are principal officers in their respective local governments. They are Ademu Kadir from Idah, and Messrs Alilu Omo and Ocholi from Igalamela-Odolu.
The Kogi State Chairman of APDA, Abdulmumini Ibrahim, said the officers were on their way to Idah after attending the inaugural meeting of the state working committee of the party in Lokoja yesterday.
He explained that the bus conveying the party leaders was attacked by armed bandits along Idah road, and passengers were robbed while the trio were taken to an unknown destination by the kidnappers.
Mr. Abdulmumini said he has contacted the Commissioner of Police, Kogi state command, Ali Janga, to report the incident.
He said the police chief assured that the police command would do its best to secure the release of the officers.
He appealed to all members of the party to remain calm and promised that nothing will deter the party from winning the state in 2019.
Meanwhile, publicity secretary of the party, Tosin Adeyanju, on Saturday said the kidnappers had not yet reached out to anyone.
A group of militants in the Niger Delta has threatened to attack oil pipelines in the region, following comments by the World Bank president that President Muhammadu Buhari requested it to concentrate development in northern Nigeria.
The militants, who call their groups the Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, NDRC and the 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta, made this declaration via a statement by Izon Ebi on Friday. They also condemned the armys Operation Crocodile Smile II.
Part of the statement read: The current revelation of the World Bank and the present NNPC scandal has given us no choice but to activate our digital strike team to swing into action to stop further exploration and exportation of oil from the Niger Delta.
For it is very obvious that this present administration is for the North only, without putting into cognizance that 90 per cent of the resources that sustain this nation is from the Niger Delta.
We want to warn that this deliberate provocation and intimidation by the northern oppressors to provoke the Niger Delta people would be counterproductive because we are going to resist them with the last drop of our blood and a devastating response.
The two groups said they were determined to commence attacks on oil infrastructures in the region. The militants said they would not allow their resources to be used to fund only the north and to intimidate them.
The antics of their divide and rule tactics would never work again in the Niger Delta in this 21st century because the world and all honest Nigerians have seen the antics and tactics of the federal governments insensitivity and insincerity after the adoption of the 16-point agenda of PANDEF on the 3rd of August 2017.
It is still very fresh in our minds the betrayal of Isaac Boro to keep Nigerian one, the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 9 and the dehumanization of their bodies with acid, the genocide in Odi, the genocide in Gbaramatu Kingdom, the groups said.
The militants also said they were unshaken by the military presence in the region.
We the NDRC and the 21st Century Youths and all affiliate organizations are determined to prove to the world that we are not cowards. The present military operation called Operation Crocodile Smile II that is currently going on in the Niger Delta would not deter us, neither would we be intimidated because the current agitators have succeeded in taking the struggle from analogue to digital.
We have successfully proven to our oppressors before the ceasefire that we have the capacity to stop the flow of our God-given resources as our clamour and fight is for equity and justice. We have also succeeded in educating our brothers that we do not have any problem with the military because the military is a victim of the northern political elite conspiracy because of our God-given resources.
It also flayed a seeming attempt to Islamise the nation.
We want to warn that the planned Islamization and conqueror approach by this present government would be resisted with the last drop of our blood in this 21st century. We advise our brothers to be calm and steadfast and avoid any confrontation with the army because we the 21st-century youths and other agitators have the ability to stop the flow of our oil in our backyards.
Our grievances and agitations are genuine and nobody can or would be able to intimidate us with whatever military operations because we already know their aims and objectives. We want to warn that we are closely watching their actions and inactions and would respond at the appropriate time as we still believe in the eminent members of the PANDEF that persuaded us to a ceasefire for sincere dialogue, for lasting peace for the rich, but impoverished people of the Niger Delta, the groups added.
Peace recently returned to the Niger Delta region after serial peace visits to the area by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo early 2017 to show the governments commitment to meeting the demands of the people of the region.
Before that, the oil-rich region, which is the mainstay of the economy had witnessed consistent attacks by militants on oil and gas infrastructure which led to a nosedive in the nations oil revenue.
The presidency has since clarified the statement credited to Mr. Buhari noting that he was quoted out of context.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.
Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.
Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.
to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.
Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.
View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.
Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.
Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.
A flight belonging to Abu Dhabi-based state-owned airline Etihad has made an emergency landing at Adelaide airport over a technical fault on the aircraft.
The aircraft Boeing 777, carrying 349 passengers, left Abu Dhabi on Friday. The airline has said a technical fault with a cargo hold air recirculation fan had been found.
Passengers were able to leave the jet through emergency exits, and continued their journey via other airlines.
The Saturday incident is the Emirati carriers second in Australia this year.
The Australian police arrested in July four men accused of plotting a terrorist attack against an Etihad flight out of Sydney.
The attackers were to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer.
The would-be attackers reportedly linked to the Islamic State group were targeting Etihad flight bound for Abu Dhabi, with 500 passengers onboard.
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
DUBLIN, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The "PD-L1 Overexpression in Solid Tumours Forecast in 18 Major Markets 2017-2027" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.
PD-1 is a T-cell immune checkpoint that is involved in the dampening of autoimmunity in the peripheral effector phase of T-cell activation. This leads to a tolerance' of cells expressing PD-L1 (programmed death ligand-1). PD-L1 is expressed normally on a number of different cell types including; placenta, vascular endothelium, pancreatic islet cells, muscle cells, hepatocytes, epithelium, mesenchymal stem cells, B-cells, T-cells, dendritic cells, macrophages and mast cells.
This report provides the current prevalent population for PDL-1 over-expression in cancer populations across 18 Major Markets (USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, India, South Africa and Australia) split by gender and 5-year age cohort. Along with the current prevalence, the report also contains a disease overview of the risk factors, disease diagnosis and prognosis along with specific variations by geography and ethnicity.
Providing a value-added level of insight from the analysis team, several of the main cancers with PDL-1 over-expression have been quantified and presented alongside the overall prevalence figures.
PDL-1 over-expression is most often associated with the following cancers:
Bladder
Breast
Colorectal Cancer (CRC)
Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Kidney
Liver
NSCLC
Melanoma
Oesophageal
Pancreatic
Prostate
Stomach
Key Topics Covered:
1. Introduction
2. Cause of the Disease
3. Diagnosis of the Disease
4. Variation by Geography/Ethnicity
5. Disease Prognosis & Clinical Course
6. Key Cancers associated with the condition
7. Methodology for quantification of patient numbers
8. Top-line Prevalence for PD-L1 over-expression in Cancer populations
9. PD-L1 over-expression by type of cancer
10. Abbreviations used in the report
11. Patient-Based Offering
12. Online Pricing Data and Platforms
13. References
14. Appendix
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4qgrnj/pdl1
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
DUBLIN, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The "Personal Care Product Contract Manufacturing Market Analysis by Service [Manufacturing (Skin Care, Hair Care, Color Cosmetics, Fragrances), Custom Formulation, Packaging] and Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.
The global personal care contract manufacturing market is expected to reach USD 25.8 billion by 2025
Increasing focus on R&D and promotional activities to gain market share in competitive personal care industry are expected to drive demand over the forecast period.
The major brands including P&G, and Unilever are outsourcing mass manufacturing and have initiated the manufacturing of innovative products to protect their intellectual property as well as to reduce the operating cost, which is expected to drive the contract manufacturing market over the forecast period.
Rising need for skin care products, advanced beauty treatments and marketing strategies by manufacturers such as Unilever, L'Oral and P&G and macroeconomic factors such as rising disposable income of consumers is expected to result in an increasing demand for cosmetics products, which in turn is expected to drive the market.
VVF India Ltd. and ApolloCorp., Inc. survive in the market by catering to the local customers and maintaining their contracts. As the survival in the industry is challenging owing to the presence of a large number of local manufacturers, these companies focus on providing premium quality services to their current customers rather than acquiring new contracts.
Further key findings from the report suggest:
Skin care contract manufacturing accounted for 30.5% of the revenue share in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% owing to the rising demand from millennials to delay the signs of aging
Fragrances & Deodorants accounted for 14% of the overall revenue share with growing demand for premium fragrances and deodorants such as Axe and Dove owing to rising focus on personal hygiene
Rising demand for organic and natural products is expected to compel the formulators to search for organic alternatives for synthetic raw materials which are expected to have a positive impact on the custom formulation and R&D segment growth
Asia pacific accounted for 29.0% of revenue share in 2016 owing to the growing demand for personal care products among youth in the developing economies including China and India
pacific accounted for 29.0% of revenue share in 2016 owing to the growing demand for personal care products among youth in the developing economies including and The major players in contract manufacturing industry adopt different pricing strategies to acquire new customers and gain regional share by providing high-performance products with customized solutions concerning services.
Key Topics Covered:
Chapter 1 Methodology And Scope
Chapter 2 Executive Summary
Chapter 3 Market Variables, Trends & Scope
Chapter 4 Personal Care Contract Manufacturing Market: Service Estimates & Trend Analysis
Chapter 5 Personal Care Contract Manufacturing Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis
Chapter 6 Competitive Landscape
Chapter 7 Company Profiles
VVF India Limited
A.I.G. Technologies, Inc.
Sarvotham Care Limited
Nutrix
Formula Corp.
Mansfield-King, LLC (MK)
Tropical Products, Inc.
Sensible Organics
ApolloCorp, Inc.
CoValence Laboratories
McBride plc
RCP Ranstadt GmbH
Beautech Industries Limited
Skinlys
Alkos Group
Albea Beauty Holdings S.A. (Albea)
KIK Custom Products Inc.
Knowlton Development Corporation (KDC)
Vi-Jon
HCT Group
Cosmetic Essence Innovations
HCP Packaging
Maesa Group
HATCHBEAUTY, LLC.
Fareva
Colep
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dzb2wd/personal_care
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
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
LONDON, October 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
- Parties will work together to foster the development of innovative solutions based on space-derived data analytics -
- Kx will be proposed as a platform technology to third parties looking to provide disruptive solutions -
- Agreement strengthens Kx's presence in the space market, following agreements earlier this year with Airbus and 3DEO -
Global technology specialist First Derivatives today announces that it has signed a letter of intent with the European Space Agency (ESA) to foster the development of disruptive applications in the commercial space market, based on its Kx technology. Under the agreement, Kx and ESA's Business Applications (formerly Integrated Applications) Programme will work together to assist innovative start-ups seeking to use Kx technology as a platform technology for big data analytics in the commercial space market.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/519591/Kx_Logo.jpg )
ESA is at the forefront of efforts to utilise satellite data to benefit European and global citizens and has identified support for key enabling technologies, such as analytics, as a priority to achieve its goals. Kx's ability to analyse large volumes of historic and streaming data in real time makes it ideally suited as a platform for use cases ranging across sectors including transport, energy, safety, development and agriculture. The agreement with ESA strengthens Kx's presence in the space market, following recent announcements such as a collaboration agreement with Airbus and the selection of Kx as its real-time analytics platform by Earth observation specialist 3DEO.
Kx and ESA have had preliminary discussions over multiple opportunities to work together, and with third parties, to address specific data challenges. Over the coming months Kx and ESA Business Applications will foster the development of innovative applications based on Kx and seek to raise awareness of Kx technology within the commercial space market. Kx and ESA will also discuss opportunities to collaborate on Earth Observation analytics, where ESA provides multiple applications including disaster management to alert first responders on floods, major fires and natural disasters such as hurricanes.
Elia Montanari, ESA Business Applications commented: "Developing a business by extracting meaningful information from space derived data rests in the hand of clever people and machines. ESA and Kx technology offer novel resources and tools to reduce complexity and distil precious information. SME and large companies alike are set to benefit from this alliance."
Brian Conlon, Chief Executive Officer of Kx commented: "The commercial space market is flourishing, leading to increasing demand for advanced technologies such as Kx to analyse the data generated by the rapid growth in the number of satellites in orbit. Kx's ultra-high performance capabilities are ideally suited to meet these challenges and we look forward to working with ESA to support the development of commercial space applications."
SOURCE Kx
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC, the global Jewish advocacy organization, called the United States decision to leave UNESCO regrettable, but one that should serve as a wake-up call for the other member states.
"UNESCO without the United States will be a diminished organization, and the U.S. outside UNESCO runs the risk of reducing our nation's global role," said AJC CEO David Harris. "We can only hope that member states will address the U.S. concerns seriously and swiftly. All will be better off with the U.S. in, not out."
The State Department announced today that due to "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. will withdraw from the Paris-based UN specialized agency as of December 31, 2018.
In the wake of the U.S. announcement, Israel indicated that it would follow suit.
"A minority of UNESCO members, led by the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries, has long sought to exploit this body to castigate Israel," said Harris. "They have shamelessly politicized the organization by blatantly -- and repeatedly denying the millennia-old and indisputable links between the Jewish people and Judaism's holiest sites, including the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and Hebron. In doing so, they have also challenged Christian history and belief. And their actions, we should remember, also led to an earlier U.S. withdrawal during the Reagan administration, which continued for nearly two decades."
These acts, then and now, undermine the noble mission of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which was established as a non-political body to promote education, science, and culture around the world.
"It is important in the current discussion to distinguish between a determined, troublemaking bloc of member states and the outgoing Director-General, Irina Bokova, who has valiantly tried to keep UNESCO away from an obsession with Israel, while appropriately addressing rising anti-Semitism, Holocaust education, genocide prevention, and counter-radicalism, but, alas, her powers in this regard are limited," Harris added.
Within the Jewish world, AJC has a unique record of engagement with the UN since its founding in 1945, when AJC leaders traveled to San Francisco for the founding conference and successfully argued for the inclusion of human rights protections in the UN Charter.
SOURCE American Jewish Committee
Related Links
http://www.ajc.org
LONDON and NEW YORK, October 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
ICIS (www.icis.com ), the trusted information provider for the global chemical and energy industries, today reveals that Netherlands-based coatings and specialty chemicals producer AkzoNobel has been chosen as the overall winner in the ICIS Innovation Awards (www.icis.com/awards ) for 2017, sponsored by Elsevier's R&D Solutions.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160408/353056LOGO )
AkzoNobel's entry for its Interline 9001 advanced coating system for ship's cargo tanks also won the Best Product Innovation category, sponsored by management consultancy Accenture.
The novel BiModal polymer formulation and curing technology that underlies Interline 9001 has enabled AkzoNobel to take a greater than half share of total global chemical tanker new-build volume in 2016.
The innovation is based on patented BiModal technology, whereby the coating is formulated at lower stoichiometry than conventional epoxy amine systems and undergoes initial conventional cure at room temperature before being subjected to a high temperature post-cure, which induces homopolymerisation of unreacted epoxy groups in the presence of a catalyst.
This delivers very high conversion and results in a highly cross-linked network, which is the basis of the step change in chemical resistance, says AkzoNobel.
The innovation was judged the clear winner by the panel of seven leading industry innovation experts. The judges commented on its rapid success in the market and the scale of the benefits on offer to users.
The ICIS Innovation Awards, sponsored overall by Elsevier R&D Solutions (www.elsevier.com/rd-solutions/chemicals) and with category sponsorship from U.S. Chemicals, a Maroon Group company, (www.uschemicals.com), ExxonMobil Chemical (www.exxonmobilchemical.com) and Accenture (www.accenture.com), recognise outstanding technological and business innovation in the global chemical industry, on a company and individual level.
OTHER WINNERS IN THE ICIS INNOVATION AWARDS THIS YEAR WERE:
Best Process Innovation - and overall special mention
Dow Chemical - Fluidised catalytic dehydrogenation process (FCDh)
Best Innovation by an SME, sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical
Genomatica - GENO BG: a more natural, sustainable way to make butylene glycol
Innovation with Best Benefit to Environment or Sustainability, sponsored by U.S. Chemicals
Enerkem - Driving the circular economy by converting waste to everyday goods
ALPHA INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR - New Product Development/Process Optimisation
Muralidhar Ingale, Adroit Pharmachem - A cost-effective process for converting waste ammonia and CO2 into phthalocyanine compounds via intermediates
ALPHA INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR - Environment/Sustainability
Dr Mei Li, Dow AgroSciences - Design, implementation and commercialisation of three novel agrochemical products
John Baker, ICIS editor and organiser of the Awards, commented that: "This year's entries led to the creation of a very strong short-list of entries. The judging discussion as ever was very robust but in the end AkzoNobel was a clear winner overall.
"As in previous years, the innovations before the judges showcased a wide range of excellent products and processes, with the potential to make important impacts in their respective markets and reduce environmental impacts.
"All the winners demonstrate not only that innovation is well and truly alive in the chemical industry but that this innovation brings benefits not only to companies and their customers but the environment as well. And it helps the sustainability of the business of chemicals."
Full descriptions of all the winning entries, and interviews with the sponsors, can be found at www.icis.com/awards
The winners can be contacted for more information at:
AkzoNobel
Derrikq Goh
Tel: +65-6594-8824
[email protected]
Dow Chemical - FCDh
Mark Siddoway
Tel: +1-979-238-1304
Email: [email protected]
Genomatica
Steve Weiss
Tel: +1-858-210-4424
Email: [email protected]
Enerkem
Pierre Boisseau
Tel: +1-514-875-0284
Email: [email protected]
Muralidhar Ingale
Tel: +91-96-6252-6605
Email: [email protected]
Dow Chemical - Dr Mei li
Greg Whiteker
Email: [email protected]
About ICIS
ICIS is the world's largest petrochemical market information provider and also publishes benchmarks that are widely used in the energy and fertilizer markets. Our aim is to give participants in global commodities markets a competitive advantage by delivering trusted pricing data, high-value news, analysis and independent consulting, enabling our customers to make better-informed trading and planning decisions. We have more than 30 years' experience providing pricing information, news, analysis and consulting to buyers, sellers and analysts.
ICIS has a global staff of more than 530, and its main offices are in London, Singapore, Shanghai, Houston, New York, Karlsruhe, Milan, Guangzhou and Tokyo. Its Editorial team of 180 report thousands of market prices and news events each week, and ICIS is fully committed to upholding the highest principles of verification, corroboration and authentication. ICIS has a compliance framework that along with its methodologies and business processes adheres to the requirements of the IOSCO PRA Principles, and has successfully passed annual external audits since those regulatory guidelines were introduced in 2012.
ICIS is a division of Reed Business Information, part of RELX Group. Further information can be found at www.icis.com
About Elsevier R&D Solutions
Elsevier helps chemical companies bring commercially successful compounds to market while efficiently managing costs, safety, and regulations, by providing immediate access to specialised technical intelligence.
About U.S. Chemicals, A Maroon Group Company
Serving the needs of the chemical industry for over 55 years, U.S. Chemicals, a Maroon Group company, combines quality, innovation and service like none other. U.S. Chemicals has built a team that thoroughly understands the complexities of the chemical industry and includes experts at material sourcing and acquisition.
About ExxonMobil Chemical
ExxonMobil Chemical is one of the largest chemical companies in the world. Our unique portfolio of commodity and specialty businesses generates annual sales of more than 24 million tonnes of prime products. We have world-scale manufacturing facilities in all major regions, and our products serve as the building blocks for a wide variety of everyday consumer and industrial products.
About Accenture
Accenture 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.
For further information contact:
John Baker
Global editor, ICIS
Tel: +44-20-8652-3153
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.icis.com
Elizabeth Airhart
Elsevier R&D Solutions
Tel: +1-917-929-1909
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.elsevier.com/rd-solutions/chemicals
Carol Piccaro
Former CEO, now Senior Executive
USC, A Maroon Group Company
Tel: +1-203-655-8878
Email: [email protected]
Web site:www.uschemicals.com
David Woods
Opportunity Identification Manager
New Product Platforms
ExxonMobil Chemical Company
Tel: +1-832-625-4134
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.exxonmobilchemical.com
Guy Cantwell
Accenture
Tel: +1-281-900-9089
[email protected]
SOURCE ICIS
"Alaska crab is prized for many reasons its appearance, texture and flavor, but most importantly its sustainability, which is why this harvest season is so important," said Jeremy Woodrow, Communications Director, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). "Behind every Alaska seafood species, including Alaska crab, are devoted fishermen and fisheries managers who work together to regulate each year's harvest to ensure the fishery is sustainable for future harvests. The total allowable catch this year is 33.6 million pounds combined for all three species of Alaska crab."
Choosing Alaska crab for appetizers, entrees, sides and even breakfast not only means supporting the people in the Alaska seafood industry, but enjoying crab that is known to be some of the best in the world. Each Alaska crab species has a distinct flavor and texture that is versatile and easy to prepare. The culinary choices are endless as Alaska crab is available year-round as legs, clusters, claws or even whole and delicious on its own or in a dish.
Alaska King Crab Regal and delicious, no other shellfish in the world makes quite the impression of Alaska king crab. Rich and luxurious, Alaska king crab delivers on the 'wow' factor, whether served simply, enhanced by a special sauce or used in signature preparations. The combined allowable catch for red and golden Alaska king crab is 12.1 million lbs. this season.
Recipe suggestion: Alaska Crab Legs with Dipping Sauces
Regal and delicious, no other shellfish in the world makes quite the impression of king crab. Rich and luxurious, king crab delivers on the 'wow' factor, whether served simply, enhanced by a special sauce or used in signature preparations. The combined allowable catch for red and golden king crab is 12.1 million lbs. this season. Alaska Crab Legs with Dipping Sauces Alaska Snow Crab Known as one of the best shellfish values thanks to its stunning appearance and ease of preparation, Alaska snow crab is recognized for its snowy-white meat, delicate flavor and tender texture. It is extremely easy to cook with and available year-round in two species: Opilio and Bairdi. The combined allowable catch for Opilio and Bairdi Alaska snow crab is 21.5 million lbs. this season.
Recipe suggestion: Alaska Snow Crab Tortilla Soup
Known as one of the best shellfish values thanks to its stunning appearance and ease of preparation, snow crab is recognized for its snowy-white meat, delicate flavor and tender texture. It is extremely easy to cook with and available year-round in two species: Opilio and Bairdi. The combined allowable catch for Opilio and Bairdi Alaska snow crab is 21.5 million lbs. this season. Alaska Snow Crab Tortilla Soup Alaska Dungeness Crab The largest and most flavorful Dungeness crab come from Alaska . Traditionally served whole, hot or cold, with melted butter or dipping sauces, Alaska Dungeness crab is known for its sweet flavor and flaky white meat making it also amazing in salads, sandwiches, appetizers and pasta. Fishermen from Southeast Alaska caught 1.4 million pounds of Dungeness crab this past summer. It is anticipated that the fall fishery will slightly increase the total annual catch.
Recipe suggestion: Alaska Crab Mac & Cheese
For more information and recipe inspiration, including COOK IT FROZEN! techniques, visit www.wildalaskaseafood.com or follow Alaska Seafood on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube, and use #AskForAlaska alongside photos of Alaska crab. Additional information on each species of Alaska crab, harvesting methods, cooking techniques and recipes is available in the Alaska Crab Guide.
About Alaska Seafood:
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) is a partnership of the State of Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry. ASMI works to promote the benefits of wild and sustainable Alaska seafood and offer seafood industry education. For more than 50 years, Alaska has been dedicated to sustainable seafood. It's so essential to our way of life that our constitution mandates that fish are "utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle." The seafood industry is Alaska's largest private sector employer, and as a result, Alaskans understand the need to protect the fisheries and surrounding habitats for future generations. We're proud of our leadership in sustainable management, which has led to an ever-replenishing supply of wild seafood for markets around the world.
SOURCE Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
Related Links
http://www.wildalaskaseafood.com
MADRID, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) announced its global expansion with the launch of Alexander Graham Bell International (AG Bell International) in Madrid, Spain, the first-ever expansion of the 126-year-old nonprofit organization. AG Bell acquired Spanish organizations CLAVE and Fundacion Oir Es Clave (Hearing is Key Foundation), which now comprise Alexander Graham Bell International. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, best known for inventing the telephone, launched the original nonprofit organization in the 1890s to assist those with hearing loss.
This week, AG Bell Chief Executive Officer Emilio Alonso-Mendoza arrived in Spain to meet new staff and to launch AG Bell International in Madrid.
"We are very pleased to launch AG Bell International in Spain and look forward to a new future as we work to improve the lives of children who are deaf and hard of hearing so that they can live a life without limits," said Emilio Alonso-Mendoza, CEO of AG Bell. "For nearly ten years, CLAVE has followed AG Bell's vision and model throughout Spain and Latin America very effectively. We see this acquisition as the perfect opportunity to reach Spanish speakers with hearing loss and the professionals who serve them, not only in Spain but throughout all Spanish-speaking populations, including those in the United States."
AG Bell International will also be the European headquarters, connecting the United States, Europe and the world. The new office in Spain is an extension of the current organization, which advocates on behalf of those with hearing loss and the speech and hearing professionals who serve them. It also serves as a resource for families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing, provides scholarships to children with hearing loss, and certifies Listening and Spoken Language professionals through its Academy.
AG Bell International will continue the work of CLAVE, which is based in the United Kingdom. Since 2008, CLAVE has provided training and programs for hearing and speech professionals and has contributed to their career development in audiology, speech therapy and early intervention programs under agreements with Spanish institutions and universities. Similar to AG Bell, CLAVE raises awareness and promotes measures to improve accessibility for those with hearing loss.
About the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) helps families, health care providers and education professionals understand childhood hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis and intervention. Through advocacy, education and financial aid, AG Bell helps to ensure that every child and adult with hearing loss has the opportunity to listen, talk and thrive. With chapters located in the United States and a network of international affiliates, AG Bell supports its mission: Advancing Listening and Spoken Language for Individuals Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. AG Bell comprises a staff of 30 at the historic Volta Bureau in Washington, D.C. and in Madrid, Spain. For more information, please visit agbell.org.
SOURCE Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Related Links
www.agbell.org
Frances candidate Audrey Azoulay was elected Friday the future Head of the UN agency for education, culture and science (UNESCO) beating her Qatari challenger, who was let down by Gulf countries opposed to Doha in the lingering diplomatic crisis shaking the region.
Azoulay, aged 45, beat Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari with 30 votes against 28 at the last round carried out on Friday.
Azoulay received the support of Egypt after Cairos candidate Moushira Khattab was edged out in the first round.
Egypt is the fourth Arab country besides Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain which has severed ties with Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism.
The four have cut ground, sea and air links with Doha.
Vera El-Khoury, Lebanon candidate in the race hinted that the vote was dominated by power play instead of consideration for candidates programs.
Kawari was front-runner until the Friday round. His lead in the vote irked several countries including Israel.
Azoulay will be confirmed in her new position on November 10 during all the 195 member-states meeting.
She will be the second woman to lead the UN agency after outgoing Bulgarian Irina Bokova who has been in the steering seat for 4 years.
With Moroccan Jewish roots, Azoulay was French culture minister from February 2016 to May 2017. She also worked for the European commission as legal expert in the fields of culture and communication.
She graduated from Frances school of public administration, lEcole nationale dadministration, and holds an MA in Business Administration from the University of Lancaster (UK) and a degree in political science from lInstitut dEtudes Politiques (France).
She will face the challenge of bringing back the US and Israel, which announced Thursday their withdrawals from the organization on anti-Israel bias ground.
ANNAPOLIS, Md., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution calling attention to improving universal access to safe and affordable surgical care. Why? Of the world's seven billion people, five billion lack access to the most basic surgery.
Otherwise simple conditions, like a bone fracture or dislocation, a hernia, cataract, or obstructed labor, often turn life threatening for people living in many of the world's developing nations.
"In the developing world, surgery has been viewed for a long time as a luxury for the rich," says Adrian Park, MD, chair of the Department of Surgery at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC).
But now, he says, the need for better surgical care is too great to ignore.
"Data shows the burden of illness for surgically correctable conditions in the developing world eclipses that of malaria, HIV, AIDS, or tuberculosis," says Park. "It is so significant that this can no longer be viewed as a luxury for the wealthy, this has to be viewed as a human right to have access to safe surgical care."
One part of the solution: equipping surgeons with skills to manage the challenges of surgical care in low- or limited-resource settings. In his new book, "Global Surgery: The Essentials," Park provides an unprecedented resource for surgeons who have a desire to become involved.
Coedited by University of Utah's Raymond Price and published this year by Springer International, the book provides a ready guide for surgeons to manage clinical scenarios beyond the scope of their training or current practice. It also provides an in-depth look at unmet needs, and epidemiological, socioeconomic and political factors that frame global surgery.
Park says his desire for readers is to become a part of efforts with lasting impact. "I want readers to think beyond just being a 'drop in the ocean,' but look to deliver sustainable change in providing access to safe surgical care in lower resource and remote settings."
He adds that sustainable change will also come from training those in low-resource settings to become surgeons work he is actively engaged in. But that, he says, will take time.
Park sees the heightened awareness and increased efforts around global surgery as promising. He is a part of work to facilitate the WHO resolution for access to safe, affordable surgical care for 80 percent of the world's population by 2030.
Park is a member of the American Surgical Association and fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, American College of Surgeons, and the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa.
He is author of more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters, and is internationally known as a leading authority in minimally invasive surgery. Park is also co-editor and chief of Surgical Innovation, a peer-reviewed bimonthly journal.
Global Surgery is available for purchase on the website of Springer International Publishing and on Amazon.com.
www.askAAMC.org.
SOURCE Anne Arundel Medical Center
Related Links
http://www.aahs.org
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As reports are now emerging of the Las Vegas country music festival shooter Stephen Paddock being prescribed the mind-altering sedative-hypnotic, diazepam, the mental health industry watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) said this should play a role in ongoing law enforcement investigations and government response to increasing acts of senseless violence in the country. Police have been baffled by the motive of 64-year-old Paddock, whose mass shooting on October 3, where he killed 59 and wounded more than 500, was the worst in U.S. history. But CCHR says that for the public's protection governments need to ignore psychiatric-pharmaceutical interests and investigate the potential link between psychotropic drugs and both the Las Vegas shooting and similar acts of violence.
CCHR Says Latest Act of Senseless Violence and 1,531 Cases of Psychotropic Drug-Induced Homicidal Ideation Should Spur Federal Investigation
CCHR posted an informational page on its website citing facts to back up the need for a federal investigation. This highlights the lack of media coverage about the potential role of psychotropic drugs impacting the mental state of the shooter. It applauded those few journalists that did investigate this possible link. CCHR especially refers to the 27 international drug regulatory agency warningsciting psychiatric drug side effects of mania, psychosis, violence and homicidal ideation. There are also 1,531 cases reported to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch program alone that document psychotropic-drug induced homicidal ideation.[1]
The sedative-hypnotic Paddock was taking is from a class of drugs also known as benzodiazepines that have been documented in several studies to cause violence, aggression, homicidal ideation and suicide risk or attempts. They can become addictive within 14 days of taking them, although Dr. David Sack, board certified in addiction medicine, says, "Tolerance and dependence can develop quickly. There have been reports of people who received high doses of benzodiazepines becoming physically dependent in as little as two days."[2]
Media reporting on Paddock's diazepam use include:
Paul Harasim from the Las Vegas Review-Journal obtained records from the Nevada Prescription Monitoring Program that show Paddock was prescribed fifty 10-milligram diazepam on June 21of this year, as well as fifty 10-milligram tablets in 2016.[3]
On October 9 , Scott Glover and Kyung Lah for CNN reported that court records CNN obtained indicated that Paddock had been prescribed the drugs as far back as 2013.[4]
In a 97-page 2013 court document exclusively obtained and released by CNN, Paddock himself admitted to being prescribed diazepam when he was deposed as part of a civil suit he filed against a hotel, after slipping on its walkway in 2011. According to CNN, the document revealed Paddock said he was prescribed diazepam for "anxiousness" and when asked whether he had a good relationship with the doctor who prescribed him the pills, he responded, "He's like on retainer, I call it, I guess. It means I pay a fee yearly...I have good access to him."
CNN also noted that "Rage, aggressiveness, and irritability are among the possible side effects of taking diazepam" according to a manufacturer of the drug. It is not known when Paddock last took the drug.
WND reported that according to a study published in the June 2015 World Psychiatry journal there is a strong correlation between a person's risk of homicide and use of benzodiazepines. After examining 960 adults and teens convicted of homicide, the study found users of benzodiazepines have a 45 percent increased risk of committing homicide.[5]
WND also reported that nearly every mass shooter in recent decades used mind-altering drugs prior to or during their acts of violence a trend that CCHR has been tracking and documenting, especially since the Columbine high school shooting in 1999 when an antidepressant was implicated in the mass killing.
CCHR has documented 65 high profile acts of senseless violence, including mass school shootings, mass stabbings, and even the intentional crashing of a commercial airplane, committed by individuals taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs, resulting in 357 dead and 336 wounded. Drug proponents argue that there are thousands of shootings and acts of violence that have not been correlated to psychiatric drugs but as CCHR points out, these have neither been confirmed nor refuted to have been connected to psychiatric drugs. This is largely because law enforcement may not be educated about the studies showing the link or are not required to investigate or report on prescribed psychotropic drugs linked to violence.
The New York State Senate recognized the lack of reporting correlating mind-altering psychiatric drugs to both suicide and violence as far back as 2000, when the senate introduced a bill which would "require police to report to the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), certain crimes and suicides committed by persons using psychotropic drugs," citing "a large body of scientific research establishing a connection between violence and suicide and the use of psychotropic drugs."
Unfortunately, that bill stalled out in the finance committee, yet had it passed, a reporting system would be in place to determine the extent to which violence is committed by those under the influence of mind-altering prescribed drugs.
The FDA admits that only 1-10 percent of drug adverse effects are reported to MedWatch[6], so taking a medium range of 5 percent, the number of homicidal ideation/homicides linked to psychiatric drugs could be more than 30,600.
CCHR says that while not all of the millions of Americans taking these drugs will experience violent reactions, drug regulatory agency warnings confirm that a percentage will. And no one knows who will be next.
Some examples of high-profile cases where the individual was under the influence of such drugs include John Hinckley who on March 30, 1981 gunned down James Brady, press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, a Secret Service agent, and a D.C. police officer outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. A psychiatrist later attributed Hinckley's attack on the president and others to a violent rage precipitated by diazepam.[7]
Contemporary cases include:
Arcan Cetin: Burlington, Washington September 23, 2016 : The 20-year-old opened fire in a Macy's department store at the Cascade Mall, killing five people. He was on three different psychiatric drugs. He had been receiving antidepressants in the months before the shooting. Side effects include homicidal ideation, agitation/hostility, mood changes and depression.[8]
Andreas Lubitz : Southern France March 24, 2015 : The pilot deliberately crashed a Germanwings plane into the side of a mountain killing all 150 people on board. He was on an antidepressant and an anti-anxiety drug. Side effects of these drugs include homicidal ideation, hostility, aggression, mania and depression.[9]
Elliot Rodger : Santa Barbara, California May 23, 2014 : 22-year-old Rodger stabbed three roommates to death at his apartment then drove to a sorority house where he shot three women, killing two of them. Driving again, he exchanged fire with deputies, hit a bicyclist, fired on other people in multiple locations and then killed himself having killed six and wounded 13 others. He was taking an anti-anxiety drug. Side effects include homicidal ideation, hallucinations, unusual changes in mood or behavior and depression.[10]
Ivan Lopez : Fort Hood, TX April 2, 2014 : Lopez opened fire at Fort Hood military base, killing three people and wounding 16 others before taking his own life. He had been prescribed an anti-anxiety drug, antidepressants and other drugs to treat anxiety and depression. Side effects include homicidal ideation, abnormal thinking, hallucinations, behavioral changes and suicidal thoughts/actions.[11]
Aaron Alexis : Washington, DC September 16, 2013 : Alexis opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 and wounding eight before he was killed by police. Alexis was prescribed an antidepressant. Side effects include homicidal ideation, aggressiveness, irritability, mania and akathisia.[12]
James Holmes: Aurora, CO July 20, 2012 : Holmes opened fire at a movie theater during "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 people and wounding 70. He was on an antidepressant and an anti-anxiety drug. Side effects include homicidal ideation, hallucinations, agitation, anxiety and behavior problems.[13]
Scott Dekraai : Seal Beach, California October 12, 2011 : A harbor tugboat worker, Dekraai entered the hair salon where his ex-wife worked, shot and killed her and seven others and injured one. He was prescribed an antidepressant and a "mood stabilizer." Side effects include homicidal ideation, aggressiveness, irritability, mania and paranoia.[14]
Steven Kazmierczak : DeKalb, Illinois February 14, 2008 : The 27-year-old shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. His girlfriend said he had recently been taking an antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs, but had stopped taking the antidepressant three weeks before the shooting. Toxicology results showed that he still had a trace amount of one of the anti-anxiety drugs in his system. Side effects include homicidal ideation, suicidal ideation, hallucinations and unusual changes in mood or behavior.[15]
As CCHR states in its online story, while there is never one simple explanation for what drives a human being to commit such unspeakable acts of senseless violence as that committed by Paddock and others, one common denominator is that a percentage of cases are prescribed psychiatric drugs which are documented to potentially cause mania, psychosis, violence, suicide and in some cases homicidal ideation. The not inconsequential link can sometimes be overlooked where there is a lucrative psychiatric-pharmaceutical drug industry that rakes in $80 billion a year through sales alone.
It is long past the time that government health care agencies launch an investigation, which would help not only the families and communities looking for answers to these mass killings but also to assist the many first responders and law enforcement officers that face gruesome consequences of these. Moreover, the New York bill which would have required law enforcement to report any use of mind-altering psychiatric drugs prescribed to those who committed violent criminal acts should be reintroduced and enacted not only in that state but across the country.
To read all documented drug regulatory agency warnings, studies and reports to the US FDA's MedWatch system, click here.
As a nonprofit, CCHR relies on memberships and donations to carry out its mission and actions to curb psychotropic drug violence and suicide. Click here to support the cause. CCHR has already been responsible for helping get over 180 laws enacted and to raise awareness with drug regulatory agencies to issue warnings such as the FDA black box warning of 2004 about antidepressants causing suicide in those 18 and younger.
Contact: Amber Rauscher, [email protected] or (323) 467-4242.
References:
[1] "The Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS): Older Quarterly Data Files," U.S. Food and Drug Administration, https://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20170404211700/https:/www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Surveillance/
AdverseDrugEffects/ucm083765.htm.
[2] David Sack M.D., "Benzodiazepines: The Danger Lurking in the Shadow of Opiates: Fatal overdoses more than quadrupled for benzodiazepines prescriptions," Psychology Today, 29 June 2017, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/where-science-meets-the-steps/201706/benzodiazepines-the-danger-lurking-in-the-shadow-opiates.
[3] Paul Harasim, "Las Vegas Strip shooter prescribed anti-anxiety drug in June," Las Vegas Review Journal, 3 Oct. 2017, https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/las-vegas-strip-shooter-prescribed-anti-anxiety-drug-in-june/.
[4] Scott Glover and Kyung Lah, CNN "Exclusive: Vegas killer described his unusual habits in 2013 testimony," CNN, 9 Oct. 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/09/us/las-vegas-stephen-paddock-deposition/index.html.
[5] Alicia Powe, "Paddock prescribed drug linked to violent outbursts:Use of anti-anxiety medication can sometimes trigger aggressive behavior, psychotic experiences," Oct. 2017, http://www.wnd.com/2017/10/paddock-prescribed-anti-anxiety-drug-in-june/.
[6] David A. Kessler, MD, "Introducing MEDWatch," JAMA, Vol 269, No. 21, June 2, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/19/us/hinckley-treatments-termed-absolute-calamity.html .https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Safety/MedWatch/UCM201419.pdf.
[7] Stuart Taylor Jr., "Hinckley Treatments Termed 'Absolute Calamity,'" The New York Times, May 19, 1982, http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/19/us/hinckley-treatments-termed-absolute-calamity.html.
[8] Andrew Blankstein and Corky Siemaszko, "Arcan Cetin, Accused Cascade Mall Shooter, Faces Five Counts of Murder," NBC News, 27 Sep 2016, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arcan-cetin-accused-cascade-mall-shooter-charged-five-counts-murder-n654586; "Hospital tried to commit suspected Cascade Mall shooter,"King 5, 27 Sep 2016, http://www.king5.com/news/crime/cascade-mall-shooting-suspect-says-he-did-it-say-court-records/326243270; Jessie Stensland, "Treatment, supervision didn't stop alleged shooter with a troubled past," Whidbey News-Times, 1 Oct 2016, http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/395470251.html.
[9] Elizabeth Whitman, "What Drugs Was Andreas Lubitz On? Lorazepam, Antidepressants Could Have Affected Germanwings Pilot," International Business Times, 2 Apr 2015, http://www.ibtimes.com/whatdrugswasandreaslubitzlorazepamantidepressantscouldhaveaffected1867744; "Germanwings co-pilot had serious depressive episode: Bild newspaper," Reuters, 27 Mar 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/usfrancecrashcopilotidUSKBN0MN0I620150327; Shena Shankar, "Germanwings Plane Co-Pilot Andreas Lubitz Told Doctor He Could Not 'See Clearly' And Had Insomnia," International Business Times, 7 Mar 2016, http://www.ibtimes.com/germanwingsplanecopilotandreaslubitztolddoctorhecouldnotseeclearlyhad2331365.
[10] Oren Dorell and William M. Welch, "Police identify Calif. Shooting suspect as Elliot Rodger," USA Today, 26 May 2014, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/24/shooting-california-santa-barbara/9532405/; Richard Winton, Rosanna Xia, Rong-Gong Lin II, "Isla Vista shooting: Read Elliot Rodger's graphic, elaborate attack plan," LA Times, 25 May 2014, http://latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-In-isla-vista-document-20140524-story.html#page=1.
[11] David Montgomery, Manny Fernandez and Ashley Southall, "Fort Hood Gunman Was Being Treated for Depression," The New York Times, 3 Apr 2014; Ben Brumfield, Tom Watkins and Josh Rubin, "Fort Hood shooting spree: 'Texans' hearts are once again very heavy,'" CNN, 3 Apr 2014.
[12] Trip Gabriel, Joseph Goldstein and Michael S. Schmidt, "Suspect's Past Fell Just Short of Raising Alarm," The New York Times, 17 Sept 2013.
[13] Maria L. La Ganga, "What will Dr. Lynne Fenton say about her former patient James Holmes?," LA Times, 4 Jun 2015, http://www.latimes.com/nation/lanadrlynnefentonjamesholmes20150603story.html; "Timeline of Events Leading to James Holmes' Guilty Verdicts," ABC News, 16 Jul 2015, abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/theater-shooting-key-events-life-james-holmes-32506142.
[14] "OC DA Expects Seal Beach Shooter to Use Insanity Defense," LAist.com, 14 Oct 2011; "Ex-wife feared Seal Beach suspect as unbalance," CBS News, 13 Oct 2011.
[15] "Report of the February 14, 2008 Shootings at Northern Illinois University," NIU, http://www.niu.edu/feb14report/; "Girlfriend: Shooter was taking cocktail of 3 drugs," CNN, February 20, 2008, http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/20/shooter.girlfriend/index.html; Dave Newbart, "NIU shooter had trace amounts of drugs in system," The Chicago Sun-Times, March 15, 2008, http://schoolshooters.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/41/#more-41.
Related Links
Another Mass Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug27 Drug Warnings and 1,531 Cases of Drug-Induced Homicidal Ideation Back Need fo
SOURCE Citizens Commission on Human Rights International
"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
BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Axial Benefits Group (ABG), a full-service benefits management company, announced today that it will be integrating BerniePortal into its comprehensive portfolio of benefits services. BerniePortal, a state-of-the-art software platform that combines benefits expertise with modern HR and benefits technology, will provide ABG clients and their employees a user-friendly online platform for managing and monitoring benefits programs.
"Providing our clients with the highest level of customer service is imperative to us," said Mick Rodgers, President and Managing Partner, ABG. "BerniePortal will make benefits selection, enrollment, and management easier, less cumbersome and more efficient for ABG's employer community and their employees, which is one of our primary goals."
Launched in 2008, BerniePortal was created to solve transactional HR challenges by migrating employers to a comprehensive benefits administration online platform. By bringing together key HR initiatives, including benefits, onboarding, PTO tracking, time and attendance and compliance and integrating with leading payroll and insurance providers, BerniePortal simplifies processes across the HR continuum.
Continued Rodgers, "Having all benefits information online and easily accessible for both employers and employees helps alleviate frustration, reduce paperwork and streamline processes. Time saved from these activities can be invested in advancing other initiatives and help improve employee satisfaction."
BerniePortal will be integrated into ABG's new coalition and traditional benefits clients as of January. Current ABG clients will be migrated to the online system as they renew beginning in January as well. Clients will be notified and receive training and support from ABG and BerniePortal to ensure that they see the new capabilities and what resources they have access to.
Contact:
Ron Carlstrom, Director of Marketing - [email protected] - (781) 273-1400
About Axial Benefits Group
Founded in 2004, Axial Benefits Group (ABG) is a full-service benefits company based in Boston, Massachusetts. ABG, part of The Axial Company, specializes in Healthcare Purchasing Coalitions for mid-size companies; and direct contracting with hospitals and providers to build there own HMO products for local employers. For more information, visit www.axialbg.com.
About BerniePortal
Nashville-based Bernard Health offers BerniePortal, a unique all-in-one online HR platform, to help small and medium-sized employers solve the transactional challenges of HR, such as onboarding, PTO tracking, compliance, benefits administration, and COBRA. For more information, you can visit www.BerniePortal.com.
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SOURCE Axial Benefits Group
Related Links
http://www.axialco.com
LONDON, October 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Expanding and deepening financial markets across Africa is a central condition for the next stage of the continent's development. That is a key conclusion of the Africa Financial Markets Index launched today by think tank OMFIF and sponsored by Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161110/437958LOGO )
Africa's large and dynamic markets present above-average opportunities for growth, yet investment prospects - for both international and local investors - are hampered by underdeveloped financial markets and unclear legal and regulatory frameworks.
The Index ranks the maturity, openness and accessibility of 17 financial markets in Africa, based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria. Development of local investor capacity and ability to attract foreign capital are key points of focus. "Through expert analysis of the African financial markets, the Africa Financial Markets Index draws global attention to the considerable investment opportunities and uncovers the untapped market potential," says Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank.
The Index focuses on six fundamental pillars for financial market performance:
Market depth
Access to foreign exchange
Market transparency and regulation
Capacity of local investors
Macroeconomic opportunity
Enforceability of international financial agreements
The markets surveyed are; Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The Index intends to track progress annually, supplying a toolkit for countries wishing to build financial infrastructure.
African countries are implementing a growing number of national policy frameworks for market development. One of the greatest constraints on growth-enhancing investment is the low capacity of local investors, partly linked to limitations on the range of assets for local investors.
Given its size and historical position, South Africa tops the 2017 list, despite poor recent macroeconomic performance, based on the strength of its financial markets as well as its relative openness and transparency for transactions. Others are closing the gap. Mauritius and Botswana have strengths in tax and regulation and access to foreign exchange. Kenya and Ghana provide signs of progress. Ivory Coast, with a low overall score, is home to a growing regional bourse, pointing to future improvement. Ethiopia shows the highest GDP growth prospects of the 17 countries - even though it comes bottom of the list in terms of financial market prowess.
"The Index provides countries with valuable insights and tools to improve the state of their financial markets," says Maria Ramos, Chief Executive, BAGL. "By broadening and deepening their understanding of the requirements of local and international investors, Africa's leaders can develop robust markets - a prime condition for sustainable, inclusive growth."
"Liquidity, regulation, foreign exchange restrictions and policy choices are among the chief concerns for investors considering their African engagement," says David Marsh, Managing Director, OMFIF. "Our survey highlights the areas where specific countries need to make genuine advances to forge strong positions in the competition for sustainable investment."
In addition to statistical analysis, OMFIF gained additional insights by surveying 60 top executives from financial institutions operating across the 17 countries, including banks, investors, securities exchanges, regulators, audit and accounting firms, and international financial and development institutions.
The Index can be viewed here: http://thinktank.omfif.org/afmindex
Media enquiries:
Sarah Butler
Communications and Marketing
OMFIF
[email protected]
+44-207-965-4492
Lerato Matsaneng
Media and Corporate Relations
Barclays Africa Group
[email protected]
+27-64-757-4716
For further information about Barclays Africa, please visit http://www.barclaysafrica.com
SOURCE OMFIF
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Icelandic Glacial, Ben Stiller's Stiller Foundation and Cher today announced their partnership and plan to donate over 600,000 bottles of water to people across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to the catastrophic hurricanes. Over 500,000 bottles are reaching Puerto Rico with the help of Save the Children. The donated water should begin to arrive within the coming weeks.
"This tragedy has had a devastating impact on the communities, and water is one of the most basic needs to get everyone back on their feet," said Jon Olafsson, Chairman and Co-Founder of Icelandic Glacial.
Added CEO Reza Mirza, "With the assistance of Ben and Cher and the incredible reach of their voices, we hope that our water will not only reach the families in need, but also raise awareness for continued support from around the country."
This is not the first time Icelandic Glacial and Cher have teamed up to be first responders to a national crisis; the two made headlines in January of 2016 for sending water to the people of Flint, Michigan after the poisoning of local water. As one of the first high-profile people to speak out against the crisis, Cher had initially reached out to her friend and Icelandic Glacial investor Brad Horwitz, who was able to also connect her with the brand. He made a similar introduction for Stiller and his charity, The Stiller Foundation, when they were looking for ways to help the people affected by the disaster. Icelandic Glacial had previously been one of the first major companies on the scene to donate water to Haiti relief in 2010 and to Canada's McMurray fire disaster in May of 2016.
"These two catastrophic hurricanes have devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, forcing families there to rely on the support from people around the world," said Stiller. "I am partnering with Cher and Icelandic Glacial to provide some fundamental emergency relief as residents work toward rebuilding their communities."
About Icelandic Glacial
Icelandic Glacial is the super-premium natural spring water, bottled at the source from Iceland's legendary Olfus Spring, which was formed more than 5,000 years ago and is shielded from pollution by an impenetrable barrier of lava rock. The spring produces water so pure that nothing is added or taken away. As a result, Icelandic Glacial possesses exceptional balance featuring a naturally low mineral content and a naturally alkaline pH of 8.4. Icelandic Glacial is further distinguished as the world's first certified carbon neutral natural spring bottled water for product and operation. Icelandic Glacial uses 100% natural green energy to fuel its production delivering a premium bottled water to discerning consumers around the world while maintaining a "net zero" carbon footprint.
Press Contact
John Filizzola
[email protected]
310.734.7834
SOURCE Icelandic Glacial
Related Links
https://icelandicglacial.com
- With Photo
The Simpleshow Company S.A., the explainer video pioneer, raises funding from Luxembourg-based investor BIP Fund SCA (Sicar) to further support its successful growth path.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582731/Karsten_Boehrs.jpg )
Since its inception in 2008, simpleshow has become the worldwide market leader for professional explainer video production. Last year, the company released the DIY online video creator mysimpleshow.com, which automatically creates video content from text input.
simpleshow CEO Karsten Boehrs emphasizes that "The new funding will promote international growth, further development of mysimpleshow.com and ongoing digitalization of the company. It accelerates our momentum, helping us to accomplish our mission to provide the best explainer video solutions to anyone."
Morten Sondergaard, Chairman of The Simpleshow Company S.A., welcomes the new investor and adds that "BIP is a strong partner for the Company and, alongside our other shareholders, will help to achieve our ambitious goals."
Katrin Wehr-Seiter, Managing Director of BIP who will, together with Natalia Sutugina of BIP, join the Board, highlights: "simpleshow has exciting growth perspectives based on very attractive market dynamics and the Company's profound expertise, strong customer relationships and technical innovation. We are looking forward to support simpleshow in its next growth phase."
With offices in 10 international cities and last year's launch of mysimpleshow.com, simpleshow has successfully established from a German startup to an international player, providing eLearning and communication resources primarily to large corporates, but also to other business and education customers.
About simpleshow: simpleshow is the market leader for professional explainer video production and so far has produced several thousand clips in more than 50 languages worldwide. With offices in Luxembourg, Berlin, Stuttgart, London, Zurich, Miami, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo, more than 150 employees serve customers around the globe. simpleshows explain complex topics in short, entertaining, and easy-to-understand videos; and its methodology is trusted by major blue-chip corporations worldwide. Today, the company offers a variety of formats, from simple online videos to innovative and interactive online courses, and its online video maker mysimpleshow.
About BIP: BIP Fund SCA (Sicar) is an independent investor based in Luxembourg with proven experience and a sustainable track record. It invests in medium-sized companies with a clear growth perspective, especially in Germany, the Benelux countries, France, Austria and Switzerland. BIP supports the further development and expansion of companies in various sectors, both through relevant expertise and through the provision of financing for growth initiatives or acquisitions.
Note to Editors:
A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.
Contact:
The Simpleshow Company S.A.
Alexander Teschner, CFO
62 Avenue Victor Hugo
1750 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Tel.: +352-20-21-00-12-12
BIP Fund SCA (Sicar)
1, rue des Coquelicots
1356 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Tel.: +352-26-00-26-1
SOURCE simpleshow GmbH
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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King Mohammed VI of Morocco has renewed his strong determination to press ahead with the reform process in his country and to address the difficulties and shortcomings noticed in the Moroccan development model, particularly with regard to administrative services, as well as elected councils and local governments.
In a speech he delivered Friday (October 13) before members of the Parliaments two Chambers, marking the opening of the fall parliamentary session, King Mohammed VI recalled the critical analysis of the Moroccan administration services he had made in the State of the Nation Address last July 29.
Actually, in the State of the Nation Address and in a speech before the Parliament in October 2016, King Mohammed VI had vehemently criticized the public administration for its inefficiency, poor performance and sluggish services, and
stressed the rights and obligations of officials in their relations with citizens.
Pointing out, however, that the critical analysis is not an end in itself, he said in his Friday speech In fact, it is the beginning of a crucial stage in which the holding of public office is linked with accountability, and during which appropriate answers and solutions to citizens pressing problems and issues must be found.
I do not criticize just for the sake of criticizing, nor do I let matters go unattended. What I want is for the situation to be addressed, mistakes corrected and shortcomings remedied.
I am paving the way for an effective approach and for a March of a new kind, he announced, reiterating his strong determination to press ahead with the reform process and to lead by example.
As the guarantor and custodian of the rule of law, and the first person to respect it, I have never hesitated to hold to account anyone who has patently underperformed while carrying out his or her professional or national duties, he said, warning that the situation today commands greater firmness in order to put an end to complacency and to disregard for citizens interests.
The Monarch stressed in this connection the need to find practical, applicable solutions to the real problems, and fulfil the reasonable, legitimate expectations of citizens in the areas of development, education, health, employment and so on, and at the same time, to make sure that there is judicious, continuous monitoring of the progress made in the implementation of social and development programs, and that we carry out systematic, impartial assessment throughout the implementation phases.
Part of his Africa-oriented strategy and out of his concern to see materialized all the agreements concluded with African partners, King Mohammed VI announced his decision to create a ministerial department, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of African affairs especially investment as well as a monitoring unit, both at the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Finance.
He also called on the Court of Auditors to monitor and assess the implementation of public projects in all of the Kingdoms regions.
On the other hand, King Mohammed VI urged the government to establish a timetable for completing the implementation of advanced regionalization and called elected councils, particularly at regional level, to shoulder their responsibility when managing affairs in their regions, and to take action to respond to the needs of local populations and answer their legitimate demands.
In this connection, he called for the preparation and adoption of an advanced administrative devolution charter and for setting a precise timetable for its implementation.
Regardless of how thorough and full-fledged it is, a development model will remain limited in scope if it does not comprise effective mechanisms that allow for evolution at local and regional levels, the monarch said.
The King recalled that he has repeatedly called for speeding up the full implementation of advanced regionalization, because, he explained, that system provides solutions and fulfils social and development expectations in all of our regions.
He argued that this is the most effective way to tackle local problems and respond to the demands of local populations since it involves listening to citizens and including them in decision-making, especially through their representatives in elected councils.
The Monarch stressed further the need to ensure that public policies address the concerns of citizens, in the light of the needs and specific features of each region, noting that there are no ready-made solutions to the problems encountered in the various regions.
ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Law today announced that it will introduce new practical guidance for understanding and obtaining cyber insurance at the Privacy. Security. Risk. (P.S.R.) 2017 conference hosted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) on October 16-18 in San Diego, California. Bloomberg Law (Booth #20) is the Palladium Sponsor for the conference and is also participating in a panel about the European Union's looming new General Data Protection Regulation privacy regime.
Emerging and increasing cyber threats have resulted in a burgeoning field of insurance coverage options, which are distinct from other insurance contracts and require careful consideration. To meet this growing need, Bloomberg Law's cyber insurance content, authored by Sergio F. Oehninger, Patrick M. McDermott and Walter J. Andrews of Hunton & Williams LLP, provides step-by-step and task-based expert guidance. This practice guide, Cyber Insurance, provides guidance on negotiating and obtaining cyber insurance coverage, identifying and quantifying risk, best practices for preventative cyber security measures and business continuity plans, and coordinating and communicating with the insurer as part of incident response.
"Recent cyber events continue to prove that prevention is very difficult," said Oehninger of Hunton & Williams. "Managing cyber risk is therefore about resilience and recovering quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively so that a company can continue its operations. Cyber insurance is a key component of any effective, comprehensive cyber risk management program. We have collaborated with Bloomberg Law to provide this practical guidance solution to help companies mitigate risk through insurance and navigate the complex issues involved within the framework of business continuity."
"Law firms and legal departments are focused on privacy and cyber security more than ever before," said Brian Kudowitz, commercial director for Bloomberg Law. "Bloomberg Law arms these professionals with the expert perspectives, resources and data to make informed decisions and keep abreast of global privacy laws, regulations and enforcement actions."
Also at the conference, Bloomberg Law Senior Legal Editor Jimmy Koo is moderating a panel, "Don't Panic! The Hitchhiker's Last Minute Guide to the GDPR Galaxy," on Tuesday, October 17, focused on how companies should prepare for the GDPR's strict new consumer consent rules.
The new Cyber Insurance practice guide is a powerful addition to Bloomberg Law's other resources, including the GDPR Developments tool, which provides one-stop-shop access to GDPR implementation monitoring and guidance, news, and analysis. To learn more about the full suite of privacy and data security news, practical guidance and time-saving practice tools available on Bloomberg Law, visit http://on.bna.com/M36P30fOclC.
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.
SOURCE Bloomberg Law
CAMARILLO, CA, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - BNK Petroleum Inc. (the "Company") (TSX: BKX) is pleased to announce that the Brock 9-2H well (100% working interest) averaged about 730 Barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD), of which 625 barrels are oil, for the last 5 days, while still producing back completion fluid. The production from the well, which is located in BNK's Tishomingo field, in the SCOOP region of Oklahoma, is currently over 600 BOEPD, of which 520 barrels are oil (87%) and appears to be stabilizing.
Commenting on the announcement, Wolf Regener, President and CEO, said:
"Our Brock 9-2H well is currently producing oil at rates that are 39 percent higher than the possible type curve used to estimate the reserves attributed to the Company's Tishomingo Field. If the production follows a similar path to our previous well, the Hartgraves 1-6H, then it should have an excellent 30-day initial production (IP) rate, well over the possible type curve.
"The Brock 9-2H well was identified as a possible location on our year end 2016, NI 51-101 reserve report and is about a mile east of the closest proved location on that reserves report. This well demonstrates the excellent production that is achievable as we continue to expand our drilling in the field further east.
"This outstanding result comes in addition to the strong results from our previous well, the Hargraves 1-6H. The Hargraves 1-6H well produced a 30-day IP rate of 385 BOEPD (317 barrels oil), which oil rate is above the probable type curve used to estimate the Company's reserves. These two wells bring our current production to over 1,800 BOEPD which has significantly increased our cash flow."
About BNK Petroleum Inc.
BNK Petroleum Inc. is an international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on finding and exploiting large, predominately unconventional oil and gas resource plays. Through its subsidiaries, the Company owns and operates shale oil and gas properties in the United States. Additionally, the Company is utilizing its technical and operational expertise to identify and acquire additional unconventional projects. The Company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol BKX and on the OTCQB under the stock symbol BNKPF.
Cautionary Statements
In this news release and the Company's other public disclosure: The references to barrels of oil equivalent ("Boes") reflect natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A Boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf:1 Bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalency of 6:1, utilizing a conversion on a 6:1 basis may be misleading as an indication of value. Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves. Readers should be aware that references to initial production rates and other short-term production rates are preliminary in nature and are not necessarily indicative of long-term performance or of ultimate recovery. Readers are referred to the full description of the results of the Company's December 31, 2016 independent reserves evaluation and other oil and gas information contained in its Form 51-101F1 Statement of Reserves Data and Other Oil and Gas Information for the year ended December 31, 2016, which the Company filed on SEDAR on March 23, 2017.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding the timing of and expected results from planned Caney wells development. Forward-looking information is based on plans and estimates of management and interpretations of data by the Company's technical team at the date the data is provided and is subject to several factors and assumptions of management, including that that indications of early results are reasonably accurate predictors of the prospectiveness of the shale intervals, that required regulatory approvals will be available when required, that no unforeseen delays, unexpected geological or other effects, including flooding and extended interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions, equipment failures, permitting delays or labor or contract disputes are encountered, that the development plans of the Company and its co-venturers will not change, that the offset operator's operations will proceed as expected by management, that the demand for oil and gas will be sustained, that the Company will continue to be able to access sufficient capital through financings, farm-ins or other participation arrangements to maintain its projects, and that global economic conditions will not deteriorate in a manner that has an adverse impact on the Company's business, its ability to advance its business strategy and the industry as a whole. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions on which such forward looking information is based vary or prove to be invalid, including that the Company or its subsidiaries is not able for any reason to obtain and provide the information necessary to secure required approvals or that required regulatory approvals are otherwise not available when required, that unexpected geological results are encountered, that equipment failures, permitting delays or labor or contract disputes or shortages are encountered, the risks associated with the oil and gas industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration and development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks, including flooding and extended interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions), that the offset operator's operations have unexpected adverse effects on the Company's operations, that completion techniques require further optimization, that production rates do not match the Company's assumptions, that very low or no production rates are achieved, that the Company is unable to access required capital, that occurrences such as those that are assumed will not occur, do in fact occur, and those conditions that are assumed will continue or improve, do not continue or improve, and the other risks and uncertainties applicable to exploration and development activities and the Company's business as set forth in the Company's management discussion and analysis and its annual information form, both of which are available for viewing under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com, any of which could result in delays, cessation in planned work or loss of one or more concessions and have an adverse effect on the Company and its financial condition. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law.
SOURCE BNK Petroleum Inc.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- boostr, a next-generation CRM platform designed specifically for Media & Advertising companies, announced today the closing of $1 million in seed round funding. The seed financing comprises industry visionaries, VCs and angels including Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Jon Steinberg, CEO of Cheddar and Bryan Goldberg, CEO of Bustle, who join existing strategic investors including Jonah Goodhart's WGI Group, LLC.
"We are thrilled to have high-caliber media visionaries as partners in this journey," said Patrick O'Leary, CEO of boostr. "We've grown to over 25 customers in less than two years based on the strength of the product and we're starting to see real momentum in the market. Support like this will take us to the next level."
"We're excited to be investing in boostr and believe their CRM is a game changer for the advertising and media industry. Several of our portfolio companies are existing customers who are using boostr to significantly accelerate revenue growth and team productivity," says Urs Cete, Managing Partner at Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.
"Our company has been an enthusiastic client of boostr, and now I'm excited to be an investor as well. They have contributed to our success in 2017, and I'm excited to be able to contribute to theirs." - Bryan Goldberg, CEO of Bustle
"boostr is a game changer for sales teams in media. It is delightful and fast for sellers to use, and easy for managers to get a top-level view of the whole pipeline. It's a glass of water in the desert for teams that are currently using the legacy solutions." - Jon Steinberg, CEO of Cheddar
"Between the Facebook & Google duopoly, linear-digital TV convergence and programmatic evolution, growing revenue has never been harder. Programmatic has driven significant improvements in fulfillment but the pre-sales, ad operations and sales management tools have been a disappointment," says O'Leary, who spent six years leading Sales Operations at Yahoo. "Ultimately, running the business on spreadsheets just doesn't work. The industry wastes too much time reconciling data and arguing about wrong numbers instead of having strategic business conversations. We're going to help change that. The best is yet to come."
boostr has a laser focus on customer success with differentiated engagement and plans to continue to make this the cornerstone for its customers. boostr will use this new funding to expand marketing, sales, and customer success with industry experts who can further help publishers, ad-tech and programmatic players simplify their business and realize better outcomes. The solution works across all media types - display, content, video, programmatic, TV and print, bringing together the pipeline, sales and delivery workflows, forecast and delivery actualization. It's supported by a library of pre-built integrations to systems like Operative.One and Doubleclick from Google. Its innovative AI-based Smart Insights turn data into rich information for sales strategy and decisions; and most importantly, it's all wrapped in a next generation, beautiful user interface sellers actually enjoy using.
About boostr, inc.
Silicon Valley & New York-based boostr is the only CRM solution built specifically for Media & Ad Sales Teams by Ad Sales Experts. Frustrated by expensive, generic CRM tools, boostr's founders are on a mission to solve the most important problems for media companies. boostr's customers save time, improve forecast accuracy and close more business.
Please direct inquiries to [email protected]
About Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI)
Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global media, services and education company Bertelsmann. As a financially driven corporate venture investor, BDMI draws upon Bertelsmann's global reach to provide not only capital, but also access to their network of businesses within Bertelsmann and across the media industry. BDMI has invested in over 50 startups since 2007 and is currently focused on the categories of online video, ad tech, SaaS, content and e-commerce. For more information visit www.bdmifund.com.
SOURCE boostr, inc
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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
Authored by Assembly member Patrick O'Donnell (D-Long Beach), Assembly Bill 485 protects animals and consumers, and sets an important precedent for the rest of nation. The bill passed the CA legislature Sept. 14. To date, 36 jurisdictions in California including the cities of Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco have enacted similar ordinances, and the signing of AB 485 makes California the first state in the nation to enact a statewide prohibition on pet store sales of dogs from puppy mills.
"This landmark law breaks the puppy mill supply chain that pushes puppies into California pet stores and has allowed unscrupulous breeders to profit from abusive practices," said Matt Bershadker, president and CEO of the ASPCA. "We're proud to be part of the coalition that worked alongside Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell to pass this critical animal protection bill, and thank the California legislature and Governor Brown for sending the clear message that industries supporting animal cruelty will not be tolerated in our society."
"By signing this groundbreaking bill, California has set an important, humane precedent for other states to follow," said Gregory Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society. "We commend Governor Brown's signing of this lifesaving legislation to codify statewide what cities across California have already done to help put an end to the cruelty of pet mills."
"Californians recognize that pet stores enable the work of puppy mills, which cause suffering for dogs and heartbreak for consumers," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "We are grateful to Governor Brown for putting his stamp of approval on a state policy to dry up funding for this inhumane industry."
"This is a significant milestone in easing the overcrowding of homeless animals in California shelters, relieving county budgets and stopping the abusive puppy mill industry," said Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society. "We commend Governor Brown for signing AB 485 so California can continue to lead the country in the protection of animals and helping end the cruelty of commercial puppy mills once and for all."
"This legislation is a big step forward for animals in California," said Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, President of the SF SPCA. "By signing AB 485, Governor Brown has helped stop pet mill cruelty and save the lives of rescue animals in San Francisco and across our state. We want to extend our sincere thanks to Governor Brown for his leadership on this issue."
California joins more than 230 cities, towns and counties across the U.S. that have passed pet store ordinances to take a stand against allowing cruelly-bred animals to be sold in their communities. Despite enticing claims that they only source from licensed, humane or small-scale breeders, pet stores across the country are invariably supplying unsuspecting consumers with animals from puppy and kitten "mills." These "mill" facilities are designed to maximize profits at to the expense of the animals in their possession. Those animals are generally kept in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialization. Animals bred in these conditions may suffer severe health problems, including contagious and deadly diseases and congenital defects, as well as behavioral problems. AB 485 will help break the supply chain so that "mill" operations are unable to profit from their abusive practices.
This groundbreaking legislation has the enthusiastic support of a coalition of local and national animal welfare groups including the ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, The Humane Society of the United States, San Diego Humane Society and San Francisco SPCA.
Media Contacts:
Best Friends Animal Society: Temma Martin; [email protected]; 801-953-8876
ASPCA: Maureen Linehan; [email protected]; 646-706-4602
The Humane Society of the U.S.: John Goodwin; [email protected]; 301-653- 2542
San Diego Humane Society: Elizabeth Pecsi-Guerrero; [email protected]; 619-279-5086
San Francisco SPCA: Krista Maloney; [email protected]; 415-522-3507
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 1,900 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from 17 million per year to about two million. Determined to get that number to zero by the year 2025, Best Friends and its nationwide network of members and partners are working to Save Them All.
To become a fan of Best Friends on Facebook, go to Facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety. Follow Best Friends on Twitter (@BestFriends) and Instagram (@BestFriendsAnimalSociety).
About the ASPCA
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was the first animal welfare organization in North America and continues to serve as the nation's leading voice for animals. More than two million supporters strong, the ASPCA is committed to its mission of providing effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach and animal health services. For more information, please visit www.ASPCA.org, and be sure to follow the ASPCA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States is the most effective animal protection organization, as rated by our peers. For more than 60 years, we have celebrated the protection of all animals and confronted all forms of cruelty. We and our affiliates are the nation's largest provider of hands-on services for animals, caring for more than 150,000 animals each year, and we prevent cruelty to millions more through our advocacy campaigns. Read about our more than 60 years of transformational change for animals and people. HumaneSociety.org
About San Diego Humane Society
Serving San Diego County since 1880, San Diego Humane Society's scope of social responsibility goes beyond adopting animals. San Diego Humane Society offers San Diegans a wide range of programs and services that strengthen the human-animal bond, prevent cruelty/neglect, provide medical care, educate the community on the humane treatment of animals and provide safety net services for all pet families needing assistance with keeping their pets.
As one of San Diego's oldest nonprofit organizations, San Diego Humane Society has campuses located in Escondido, Oceanside, and San Diego as well as adoption centers inside select Petco stores throughout San Diego County. San Diego Humane Society is supported solely through contributions, grants, bequests, investments, municipal contracts and small fees for services. For more information or to view our current animals available for adoption; please visit www.sdhumane.org.
About the SF SPCA
The San Francisco SPCA is an independent, community-supported, non-profit animal welfare organization dedicated to saving, protecting and providing immediate care for cats and dogs who are homeless, ill or in need of an advocate. The SF SPCA also works long-term to educate the community, reduce the number of unwanted kittens and puppies through spaying and neutering, and improve the quality of life for animals and their human companions. The organization does not receive government funding and is not affiliated with any national organization.
For more information, call the SF SPCA at (415) 554-3000 or visit sfspca.org.
SOURCE Best Friends Animal Society
Related Links
http://www.bestfriends.org
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canale Communications Inc., an award-winning life science communications firm, has been honored with 11 awards from Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) Edward L. Bernays Awards, the Southern California public relations industry's annual celebration of excellence. The agency was honored in the categories of Media Relations, Reputation/Brand Management, Websites, Integrated Communications, Social Media, Investor Relations and Editorials/OpEd Columns.
"Winning these Bernays Awardsa total of 11, no lessdemonstrates both CanaleComm's collective expertise and our consistency in delivering strategic, life science-focused counsel," said Carin Canale-Theakston, the agency's founder and chief executive officer. "While we don't necessarily need formal awards to recognize our efforts, it's incredibly moving to be acknowledged by our industry peers for the quality work we deliver to our clients."
Named after Edward L. Bernays, a man commonly referred to as the "father of public relations," the awards recognize the collective accomplishments of agencies and organizations in the San Diego and Imperial counties. The awards are divided into two categoriesSilver, honoring entire public relations campaigns, and Bronze, honoring PR tactics. Members of the of the West Michigan PRSA Chapter judged all award entries.
Of the 11 awards received, Canale Communications was honored with four Silver awards and seven Bronze Awards, ultimately winning the Silver's "Best in Show" for Reputation/Brand Management on behalf of work for Johnson & Johnson Innovation. The agency also swept the Bronze Media Relations category, being recognized for work done for Eidos and Synthetic Genomics, and Lovelace Biomedical and Xencor's websites were both honored Bronze awards for Websites.
For more information on the Edward L. Bernays Awards, please visit PRSA's website.
About Canale Communications
Canale Communications is a privately-held, strategic communications and creative firm exclusively serving the life science and healthcare industries, with a focus on emerging companies. The company has worked with more than 300 biotech, health tech and pharmaceutical companies at virtually every stage of development. The firm specializes in corporate communications, public relations, investor communications, website development, creative services, content creation and distribution, and social media. Canale Communications primarily serves clients headquartered in the biotech hubs of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, and also extends to other life science hubs that are home to some of the hottest new biotech and digital health companies. Visit CanaleComm.com to learn more.
SOURCE Canale Communications Inc.
Related Links
http://www.canalecomm.com
HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE: CSV) today announced plans to release 2017 third quarter results on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 after the market closes. In conjunction with the release, Carriage Services has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the Internet on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. Central Time.
What: Carriage Services Third Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call When: Thursday, October 26, 2017 9:30 a.m. Central Time How: Live via phone By dialing 866-516-3867 (conference ID 99303249) or live over the Internet by logging on to the Company's website at www.carriageservices.com.
An audio archive of the call will be available either by phone until October 30, 2017 by dialing toll-free 855-859-2056 (conference ID 99303249) or on the Company's website at www.carriageservices.com. For more information, please contact Viki Blinderman at 713-332-8568 or Ben Brink at 713-332-8441 or email [email protected].
SOURCE Carriage Services, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.carriageservices.com
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
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
CH2M's preliminary front end engineering design (Pre-FEED) deliverables support final decision-making on the hub location, layout, and the form and method of construction of the inshore hub and support to marine operations and project execution planning.
BP named KBR as an Engineering Services Contractor for the Tortue development, and KBR selected CH2M as the BP-approved civil and marine engineering support provider. According to Dr Colin Skipper, CH2M Vice President and Practice Director, "CH2M has a strong civil and marine works portfolio for global energy producers, and we are pleased to perform a critical role working with KBR on this technically challenging project for BP. Delivering this project requires deep technical experience and innovative thinking--qualities on which our reputation has been built."
With a longstanding oil and gas industry service record, CH2M has worked for major energy producers on many projects around the world for over 30 years. Civil and marine engineering support for the Tortue are being delivered in the UK by CH2M's international terminal, pipeline and infrastructure engineering team.
About CH2M
CH2M leads the professional services industry delivering sustainable solutions benefiting societal, environmental and economic outcomes with the development of infrastructure and industry. In this way, CH2Mers make a positive difference providing consulting, design, engineering and management services for clients in water; environment and nuclear; transportation; energy and industrial markets, from iconic infrastructure to global programmes like the Olympic Games. Ranked among the World's Most Ethical Companies and top firms in environmental consulting and programme management, CH2M in 2016 became the first professional services firm honored with the World Environment Center Gold Medal Award for efforts advancing sustainable development. Connect with CH2M at www.ch2m.com; LinkedIn; Twitter; and Facebook.
Contact: John Petraglia
CH2M, Corporate Marketing and Communications
510-587-7509
[email protected]
SOURCE CH2M
Related Links
http://www.ch2m.com
Fakher Al Shawaf: Georgia is Interesting Potential Market for Investors of Saudi Arabia
To tell you the truth, you have exceeded expectations. Cultural diversity, astonishing people and a wonderful city really encourages the wish to take another step, Fakher Al Shawaf, CEO of Saudi Arabias largest group Al-Bawani said. He pays a business trip to Georgia.Fakher Al Shawaf considers Georgia as an interesting potential market and sees a probable cooperation.We have found a lot of opportunities for cooperation during the meetings with the Prime Minister of Georgia, Ministers of Infrastructure and Economics and Funds, Fakher Al Shawaf said.The investor from Saudi-Arabia emphasized positive dynamics of tourism development in Georgia and noted that his company will discuss opportunities in relations with Georgia in different directions.It is worth mentioning that the Al-Bawani Group has more than 30 years of working experience and unites more than 10 major companies operating in various fields. The visit of the investor from Saudi-Arabia to Georgia was carried out within the framework of a new economic diplomacy policy implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Trump just signed two executive orders that knocked out key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats have denounced the decision. Republicans are defending it.
But for millions of Americans, it doesn't matter what Democrats or Republicans in Congress think of what the president just did. It matters what they do now. And No Labels is calling on Congress to do something they have resolutely refused to do for all of 2017.
Find a durable bipartisan solution to ensure access to affordable and quality care for the American people.
Fortunately, the co-chairs of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucuswhich earlier this year released the only bipartisan health care fix offered in this Congresstoday released a joint statement saying they are "ready to work with the president" on a bipartisan health care solution.
"Whatever you think of the president's decision, the implications could not be any clearer. Both parties need to come together to find a solution. If they do not, lots of people are going to get hurt," said No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy. "A challenge as big and complex as health care can't be addressed by just an executive order. Or by one party. It requires both parties at the tablefocused not on securing a better position for the 2018 midterms but securing health care for the American people. No Labels commends the co-chairs of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer and Rep. Reed for announcing their willingness to get to work. We hope others in Congress will follow their lead."
The most disruptive executive order from President Trump was the suspension of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments paid by the federal government to help low and middle-income individual afford health care insurance.
Without these payments, premiums in the individual marketplace could rise by 20 percent or more according to the Congressional Budget Office, while a million people could lose insurance altogether in 2018. Every congressional district in Americared, blue and swingwill be impacted by suspension of CSR payments. Consider:
Blue: (CA-32, Rep. Maxine Waters ): 14,500 people receive CSR payments
): 14,500 people receive CSR payments Red: (NC-11, Rep. Mark Meadows ): 29,200 people receive CSR payments
): 29,200 people receive CSR payments Swing: (PA-15, Rep. Charlie Dent ): 11,600 people receive CSR payments
The health care fix released by the Problem Solvers Caucus earlier this year included funding Cost Sharing Reduction payments (CSRs) to prevent premium increases and allow for more options for consumers. But it also allowed for more flexibility at the state level, raised the employer mandate, and was fiscally responsible, provisions that were critical to gaining Republican support.
No Labels believes the Caucus plan offers a welcome foundation for other leaders in Congress to build on as they seek a bipartisan health care solution. No Labels is calling on Congress to begin bipartisan negotiations without delay.
SOURCE No Labels
Related Links
http://www.nolabels.org
CHENGDU, China, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chengdu, China's big key city in the west region has been found for more than 2,300 years, boasting a civilization history of 2,300 years. It is one of the Chinese historical and cultural cities as well as the top ten ancient capitals and has always been known as "the land of abundance".
Developing a modern industrial system
In recent years, Chengdu has undertaken a number of national missions, including National Tianfu New Area, National Innovation Demonstration Zone, Comprehensive Innovation and Reform Pilot Area, Inland FTA and other major reforms and innovation opportunities give great impetus for the development of the city.
The Chengdu Industry Development Conference of National Central City on July 2 is the general prologue to the city's industrial development, where objectives, tasks and approaches for the new round industrial development of Chengdu have been fully arranged. On the conference, the "50 new policies for industrial development" was released, mainly targeting talented people, technology, capital, energy and other sectors. In the future, Chengdu will also reshape its economic geography into the construction of a network function system of dual core linkage and multi-center support and the implementation of "the crossing development strategy" to advance the east, expand the south, control the west, reconstruct the north and optimize the central area. In the overall urban planning, Chengdu will shift from the "single center" urban development pattern into the strategic spatial pattern of centering on Longquan mountains, extending northward and southward and developing westward and eastward.
Building an ecological and livable city
For a long time, Chengdu has been known as "a city that you do not want to leave". Between spring and summer when the weather and visibility are both fine, the distance view of snow mountains appears for many times and stunning view of Gongga mountain 230 kilometers away can also be appreciated in Chengdu. "Chengdu, a balcony where you can see the snow mountain", many people use this poetic expression to admire for the fine environment in Chengdu.
In 2017, Chengdu has clearly proposed the action of the "global greening", to specific, building of five-level urban landscaping system which covers ecological zone, greenways, parks, small amusement parks and micro greenbelts, and then launched the Tianfu Greenway Construction Project in a total length of nearly 17000 kilometers, with the goal of reshaping economic geography with the natural features.
Constructing an opening up center
On September 13, 2017, the UNWTO 22nd General Assembly was held in Chengdu, which attracted more than 1000 foreign guests from over 100 countries, the number of participants recording the highest.
Last June, China-Europe freight trains in 8 Chinese cities departed at the same time. Chengdu-Europe Express Rail originating from Chengdu rail first arrived at the terminal, showing the speed of Chengdu. According to the data provided by Chengdu municipal government, Chengdu-Europe Express Rail performs noticeably well among China-Europe freight trains with the most stable running frequency, the fastest speed and the most cost-effective transportation service, having run for a total of 100 trips so far. It has completely changed the opening pattern of the cities not by the sea and border, and Chengdu has thus become a leading position inland for China's westward and southward opening. On September 19 this year, the MOU on Rail-Prague Non-stop Train of Chengdu-Europe Express Rail (China-Europe Freight Trains) was signed in Prague, a marker of Chengdu-Europe Express Rail to further widen the opening cooperation as an international logistics passage along the Belt and Road, opening a handy and efficient new channel for foreign trade and economic cooperation.
Inheriting and developing the Tianfu culture
Innovation and creation are the inherent cultural genes of Chengdu. In history, Chengdu built the world's earliest dam-free water division project -- Dujiangyan Irrigation System which is still used today, and invented the world's earliest paper money. Today, Chengdu is well known as a city of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it has become home to 56 universities, more than 30 national research institutions, 333 innovation and entrepreneurship entitles and nearly 5 million of talented people in all sectors.
Elegance and fashion are Chengdu's wonderful cultural characteristics. Geographical advantages of abundant natural resources, the rich and leisure life environment and assembly of poets and literati make the city superior and elegant since ancient times. The ancient Shu culture, culture of the Three Kingdoms, giant panda culture, lacquer, Sichuan brocade, Sichuan Opera, Wuhou Shrine, Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, Jinsha SiteA cultural highlights are as many as stars in the sky. As the world-renowned city of leisure and gastronomy, Chengdu is emphatically building into an international shopping paradise and international fashion city and 80% of world's well-known brands have settled in Chengdu, commercial resources are clustered to an extent next to Beijing and Shanghai. In the City of Gastronomy ass awarded by the UNESCO, authentic Sichuan cuisine and delicacies introduced from other places fully meet the needs of people for different tastings. The cultural creative industry is flourish ing in Chengdu. Visiting museums, appreciating musicalsA have become the best way to relax after work in Chengdu.
Today, Chengdu is facing the world and the future with unprecedented tolerance and ambition. There is poetry and harmony, also full of opportunities and dreams.
SOURCE Chengdu Municipal Government
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of workers went on strike on October 11, in protest of Jabil's layoff, position rearrangements and its refusal to provide previously promised rewards, according to workers' account.
Workers say the factories are laying off workers and rearranging workers' positions as iPhone 8 sales have slowed. Some workers at the Green Point factory have been reassigned to the Green Magnesium factory, where the salary and benefits are not as good. Both Green Point and Green Magnesium are factories in Wuxi province and affiliated with Jabil, a major supplier of components for Apple products.
Workers on strike are also demanding that they receive a reward promised upon employment. Beginning in June, Jabil has been hiring large numbers of workers to manufacture Apple products. But it has had difficulty recruiting enough workers due to poor labor conditions. Workers at Jabil earn around 1890 RMB ($286) per month. Workers normally work 11 hours a day and often have to stay late after work for an hour without pay. The living conditions are also worse than similar factories in the same industry.
In order to recruit more workers, Jabil worked with labor dispatch companies, which promised workers that if they work at the factory for more than 45 days, they would receive a reward from 4500 to 8000 RMB ($683 - $1214) in addition to wages.
However, as iPhone 8 sales have declined and Apple has decreased its orders to Jabil factories, workers have not been able to work as much. The labor dispatch companies involved are now unwilling to provide promised rewards to workers who have worked for more than 45 days. Currently, these companies are requesting workers, which includes those who have worked at the factory for around 45 days, to leave or be reassigned to another factory.
Neither Jabil nor the labor dispatch companies has responded to workers' demands yet.
The above is based on workers' accounts obtained by China Labor Watch, and we are contacting workers for more information.
SOURCE China Labor Watch
Related Links
http://www.chinalaborwatch.org
China's progress in poverty relief, which was made under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), should be recognized as a monumental victory in human history. In the past four decades, more than 700 million Chinese people were lifted out of poverty, accounting for 70 percent of the global poverty reduction during the period. Over the last five years, China reduced the number of rural residents living in poverty by more than 13 million annually, achieving a miracle in the history of global poverty relief.
China's success in poverty reduction should be primarily attributed to the country's rapid economic development. Since China adopted the reform and opening-up policy more than 30 years ago, its economy has continued to grow at a high speed, which has helped address the basic living needs of the majority of its people.
Furthermore, equality is important in Chinese political and social culture. As the ruling party, the CPC has always taken safeguarding fairness and justice and achieving widespread prosperity as its missions. After the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, it has made poverty eradication its top priority. While some Chinese people have already become wealthy during the country's rapid development, the CPC has put more emphasis on the poor and focused on ensuring the inclusiveness of economic growth. This has always been its political pursuit and demonstrated its governance capabilities.
China is at a challenging stage in its poverty relief endeavor. From 2013 to 2016, another 55.6 million Chinese people were lifted out of poverty, an achievement attributed to effective measures taken by the Chinese government. These measures included channeling investment from various sources into local industries to increase farmers' income; improving the ecological environment of some poverty-stricken areas; and reducing medical expenses for indigent rural populations to prevent poverty caused by disease. Through these measures, China has gained valuable experience in alleviating poverty.
As the 19th CPC National Congress is about to convene, lifting the remaining 40 million people out of poverty is expected to be the most arduous task the CPC must complete before 2020. The CPC and the Chinese government will continue to prioritize the people's rights to subsistence and development, contributing ample experience and a model to reduce world poverty.
China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm
BRICS potential huge, but needs more work
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2017-10/13/content_41726071.htm
About China.org.cn
Founded in 2000, China Internet Information Center (China.org.cn/China.com.cn) is a key state news website under the auspices of the State Council Information Office, and is managed by China International Publishing Group. We provide round-the-clock news service in ten languages. With users from more than 200 countries and regions, we have become China's leading multi-lingual news outlet introducing the country to the outside world.
We are one of the country's authoritative outlets for government press releases and are authorized to cover various major events. 'Live Webcast' is our online webcasting service to present State Council Information Office press conferences in both Chinese and English languages. We are reputed for timely and accurate delivery of news and information, and wide interactions with audiences. In addition, we are authorized to publish and live broadcast major events and press conferences of ministries, local government agencies and institutions as well as enterprises.
In the era of mobile internet, we endeavor to create an array of products for mobile devices headed by the multilingual WAP platform and the mobile APP. We also use Chinese and international social media to publish information for different user groups.
In the future, CIIC will continue to offer authoritative information about China, tell China's stories, voice China's opinions, and introduce a vivid, panoramic and multicultural China to the world through multi-language, multi-media and multi-platforms.
Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE China.org.cn
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Clark County Nevada on behalf of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in American history that took place on October 1, at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The suit, filed by Las Vegas law firm Eglet Prince and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, is against Slide Fire Solutions, LP and the sellers, manufacturers and marketers of "bump stock" devices which convert semi-automatic weapons to the functional equivalent of a machine gun.
This case is on behalf of all the festival goers who suffered emotional distress as a result of the shooting. The lawsuit asks the defendants to pay for the costs associated with counseling and other treatment for emotional distress. The lawsuit also asks the court to award punitive damages. The lawsuit alleges that such damages are appropriate for defendants who provided a product that turned a semi-automatic gun into the functional equivalent of a machine gun, thereby evading longstanding federal law.
The lawsuit asserts that Slide Fire Solutions, LP was negligent in developing and marketing "bump stocks" to the general public without any reasonable restrictions, thereby subverting federal law that has highly regulated machine guns for over 80 years. According to the Complaint, "this horrific assault would not and could 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 goes on to allege that the damage caused to the plaintiffs, "resulted from the military-style arsenal that the defendants manufactured, marketed, and sold to the public, without any reasonable measures or safeguards."
Representing the Plaintiffs are Robert Eglet, Robert Adams, Aaron Ford, and Erica Entsminger of the Eglet Prince law firm, and Jonathan Lowy, of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Brady Campaign & Center Co-Presidents, Kristin Brown and Avery Gardiner, released a statement regarding the impact of this case:
The people who attended the concert have suffered so much already. The physical injuries are staggering, and we know the emotional injuries can be equally severe and long term. Brady has decades of experience supporting the victims of gun violence and has been the only organization in the nation focused on seeking justice for them in the courts.
The announcement was made at a press conference on Tuesday, October 10th at 10:30 am PST by Robert T. Eglet of Eglet Prince and Jonathan Lowy, Vice President, Litigation of the Brady Center. The event was held at the law offices of Eglet Prince 400 South Seventh Street, Suite 400 in Las Vegas.
Background:
Since 1986, the National Firearms Act ("NFA") has heavily regulated the sale of fully automatic guns, a.k.a. "machine guns," so they are not readily available to the US public. "Bump stocks" enable generally available semi-automatic firearms to simulate machine guns by greatly increasing their rate of fire. Based on reports, in the October 1 Las Vegas mass shooting, the number of lives lost and people injured and emotionally traumatized in 11 minutes -- a mere 660 seconds in which bullets hailed down upon them -- resulted from the shooter using "bump stock" devices. Numerous bump stock devices were found in the killer's hotel room.
Bump stock devices were created by Slide Fire Solutions, LP. In 2010 letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Explosives, ("ATF") Slide Fire wrote that the bump stocks were intended to assist "persons whose hands have limited mobility." However, Slide Fire's inventor of the bump stock, in a 2016 interview with AmmoLand, Jeremiah Cottle stated later, that the bump stock was geared toward "people like me, who love full auto." The complaint alleges that plaintiffs are unaware of bump stocks actually being marketed or sold only to people whose hands had limited mobility. The complaint alleges that Slide Fire grossed more than $10 million in sales of bump stocks in 2010. According to Cottle, a semi-automatic rifle may cost between $800 and $1,200, while a fully automatic model can run more than $15,000. It was also asserted in marketing materials that the bump stock allows semi-automatic rifle to mimic the fire rate of a fully automatic rifle for a fraction of the price and without the legal paperwork. Slide Fire marketed its bump stock as a military-grade accessory for civilians, and sold for $100 to $400, depending on the model. Slide Fire has since suspended new orders on its website and disabled its "locate a dealer" section. Also, some retailers have stopped selling bump stock products after the shootings.
The members of the class action suit are seeking equitable relief in the form of a court supervised program for psychological monitoring for all the Class Members at the expense of the Defendants. Equitable medical testing will provide medical monitoring, testing and evaluation that would have been unnecessary had the Defendants not been negligent and conducted this reckless behavior.
A COMPLETE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT AVAILABLE AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
ABOUT EGLET PRINCE
Eglet Prince has successfully represented thousands of clients. The firm is best known for its multimillion-dollar verdicts, including two verdicts in excess of $500 million against a pharmaceutical company. The attorneys at Eglet Prince are experienced trial lawyers and have successfully handled complex litigation, mass tort litigation and class actions. Eglet Prince is located at the Robert T. Eglet Advocacy Center 400 S. 7th Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101, 4th Floor
702-450-5400
ABOUT BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE
For more than 25 years, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence has represented victims of gun violence litigation cases across the country. As a result, the Brady Center has obtained or helped obtain more than $80 million in verdicts and settlements against gun companies on behalf of victims. A 501(c)(3) organization, the Brady Center is located at 840 First Street, NE, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20002
https://www.bradycampaign.org/legal-action-project
SOURCE The Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Related Links
https://www.bradycampaign.org
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Global Coagulation Testing Market: Overview
This report provides forecast and analysis of the coagulation testing market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2016 along with forecast from 2017 to 2025 in terms of revenue (US$ 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
Related Links
http://www.reportlinker.com
NOVI, Mich., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With the expansion of the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (AACVTE) program at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), Danlaw has been selected to supply DSRC Aftermarket Safety Devices (ASDs). In addition to providing ASDs, Danlaw will be developing applications that will enhance the safety of drivers and passengers by alerting them to potential hazards in their environment. These devices are in addition to the Danlaw Vehicle Awareness Devices (VADs) awarded early this year. The primary goal of this effort is to expand the deployment of V2X products and applications, moving the technology forward from research to commercial viability.
UMTRI is committed to interdisciplinary research that will increase driving safety and is taking the next step in their ongoing program for testing vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems with DSRC enabled connected vehicles. Danlaw, a global supplier of telematics solutions, automotive electronics, and engineering tools, is actively involved with developing DSRC connected vehicle technology. Products include a DSRC test and certification platform for the USDOT as well as a full range of in-vehicle connectivity solutions.
"Danlaw is excited to continue to support UMTRI's V2X expansion," said Andrew Donaldson, Program Manager - Connected Vehicles, at Danlaw. "The University of Michigan has been a great partner, and their continued use of Danlaw's product portfolio underlines the confidence that UMTRI has in Danlaw's ability to deliver."
"Danlaw has proven themselves to be an excellent partner to UMTRI for the AACVTE Deployment Program. There is no better place to develop connected vehicle technology than right here in Michigan," said Debby Bezzina, Senior Program Manager for the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment at UMTRI.
With the addition of these ASDs, Danlaw will have supplied more than 1000 devices to volunteer and fleet vehicles in the UMTRI program. The ASDs will be able to send and receive safety messages using the DSRC communication link. In addition, the device runs V2V and V2I safety applications, and issues warnings to the vehicle driver. This deployment will determine how connected vehicle safety technology works under real-life conditions, with actual drivers and vehicles. Additionally, the deployment provides UMTRI stakeholders with a real-world environment to test and develop future commercial products.
ABOUT DANLAW
Danlaw's 800+ engineering professionals have been providing connected vehicle telematics and automotive embedded electronics solutions to OEMs and their Tier-1 supply base for more than 30 years. In 2015, Danlaw was selected by the USDOT to develop a certification environment for testing and validation of connected vehicles using the Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) standard, ISO 802.11p. Customers include Automotive OEMs, Automotive Electronics Suppliers, Fleet and Automotive Insurance companies worldwide. Danlaw has facilities in the USA, India and China.
ABOUT UMTRI
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is committed to advancing safe and sustainable transportation for a global society. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the heart of the transportation industry, UMTRI partners with government and industry and draws on scholarly collaborations to deliver high-quality research and the deployment of solutions to critical transportation issues. Since 1965, UMTRI has conducted thousands or research projects, has collected hundreds of terabytes of data and is now the sixth largest research institute on the U-M campus in terms of research expenditures, bringing in over $20 million annually. UMTRI's multidisciplinary research includes short- and long-term projects in areas involving accident-data collection and traffic-safety analysis, bioengineering, human factors, mechanical engineering, psychology, economics, and public policy.
SOURCE Danlaw, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.danlawinc.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
"October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I thought who better to interview than Dr. Cynara Coomer, one of the primary catalysts in establishing the first Comprehensive Breast Center on Staten Island," explained Dr. Samadi. "She is not only one of my most esteemed former colleagues from Lenox Hill Hospital , but also one of the foremost experts in breast health."
Previous to her tenure at the Northwell Health Staten Island University Hospital, Dr. Coomer was a Breast Surgeon at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City where she developed a very successful clinical practice devoted to the treatments of both benign and malignant breast diseases.
"I am so excited to be reunited and join Dr. Samadi on Sunday Housecall to discuss hot topics in medicine, including breast cancer awareness," Dr. Coomer added. "I am happy to be apart of Dr. Samadi's mission to educate the American people about important medical conditions such as breast and prostate health."
The show airs every Sunday at 12:30pm EDT and you can watch it LIVE at Samaditv.com
About Dr. David Samadi
Dr. David Samadi is the Chairman of Urology and Chief of Robotic Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital. He is a board certified urologic oncologist trained in open traditional and laparoscopic surgery and is an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He has dedicated his distinguished career to the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and is considered one of the most prominent surgeons in his field. Dr. David Samadi's life mission is to bring global awareness and attention to a disease that is the second leading cause of death in men. For more information on Dr. David Samadi go to davidsamadibio.com.
SOURCE Dr. David Samadi
Related Links
http://www.davidsamadibio.com
RHODES, Greece, October 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Dr Vladimir Yakunin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute ("DOC", or the "Institute") gave a welcome address at this year's 15th Anniversary Rhodes Forum, a two-day event themed "Multipolarity and Dialogue in Regional and Global Developments: Imagining Possible Futures" which opened on 6 October in Greece.
In his address, Dr Yakunin thanked the people of Rhodes, the island's Governor and Mayor, for hosting the forum, and welcomed this year's high-profile guests including the Honourable Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria 2010-2015, Dioncounda Traore, President of Mali 2012-2013, Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister of France 2005-2007, and Dr Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development, Oxford University.
"In 2006, the Rhodes Forum had warned of the pending global financial crisis. After 2008, when the economic crises hit the world, the ideas of the Forum began to be heard. We were discussing the need for a new fair and humane system of interaction between nations, capable of taking into account the interests of the majority, and not to ignore the hopes for the future of those who - due to wars, revolutions, and coup d'etats - were excluded from world development."
"Two years before the European refugee crisis began, the Rhodes Forum had warned that faulty inter-societal policies would inevitably lead to a migration crisis. And we all have witnessed how our forecasts came true," Dr Yakunin said.
Dr Yakunin stressed the transformations that the Rhodes Forum has undergone in the years since its inaugural edition, mentioning that thousands of people have participated in the Rhodes Forum and related events over its history.
"Our annual Rhodes Forum has developed over its fifteen-year history into a strong platform where world scholars, businessmen, policy-makers, and heads of government debate the most pressing global issues," Dr Yakunin said.
"The vocabulary and methodology of dialogue of civilizations, developed by our expert community, have firmly entered the language of international relations and have become a critical component in bridging what Samuel Huntington termed 'cultural fault lines'," Dr Yakunin said.
First convened in 2003, the Rhodes Forum brings together concerned members of the international political, business, civil society and academic communities in a spirit of dialogue and inclusivity. Every year, hundreds of participants from more than 70 countries explore the major challenges facing the world and seek concrete, applicable solutions rooted in shared values of equality, mutual respect and compassion.
About the DOC
The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute is an international think tank that researches and develops proposals to address key challenges faced by the international community today .
Committed to seeking dialogue-based solutions to humankind's most pressing issues, the DOC builds on the legacy and expertise of the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations. We bring together global thought leaders from academia, public policy, business, and civil society in order to foster debate, share experiences, and develop sound policy recommendations.
The idea of a public forum that would promote dialogue as a means of easing and preventing conflicts, contrary to the theory of an imminent clash of civilizations, followed the adoption of key documents by the UN. On 9 November 2001, UNESCO Member States unanimously adopted the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and the UN General Assembly presented its Global Agenda for Dialogue Among Civilizations. These resolutions laid out principles of intercultural dialogue and laid the basis of the DOC.
The World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations (WPF), the predecessor of DOC, was founded to advocate for this initiative and help implement its objectives. The WPF was founded in 2002 by Indian entrepreneur and visionary the late Jagdish Kapur, business leader and philanthropist Dr. Vladimir Yakunin, and the businessman Nicholas F.S. Papanicolaou. The WPF has enjoyed UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Special Consultative Status and regularly collaborates with UNESCO.
The DOC is an independent, non-partisan think tank, and receives no government funding.
Media Contacts
Agnieszka Rzepka, Press Officer
+49-302-096-77900
[email protected]
SOURCE Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute
Shall Catalonia turmoil affect Georgia?
By Messenger Staff
This week, the turmoil in Catalonia has stirred some concerns whether the case might create an unfavorable precedent for Georgia and its breakaway regions.Even if Catalonia is separated from Spain, the attitude of the European nations - and even Spain itself - towards the territorial integrity of Georgia will not change, said Kakha Gogolashvili, head of the European Research Center, adding that Catalonias developments may only encourage separatists in the Georgias occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).The analyst stressed that this will be the only effect the process may have on Georgia, as the Georgian and Catalonian situations differ significantly from each other.Our territory is occupied by Russia. The process here began a long time ago, while the Catalonian processes are new and no third country is involved there," said Gogolashvili.He stressed that Catalonias ambitions have existed for centuries. It is one of Spain's richest regions with its capital, Barcelona, being one of the world's most famous tourist destinations.Gogolashvili believes that Catalonia has the opportunity to become independent; its possibilities are much bigger than, for example, the possibilities of Abkhazia.Russia is annexing Abkhazia. So these two processes are quite different from each other, said Gogolashvili.He highlighted none of the European state supports the independence of Catalonia. This is unconstitutional and this is forbidden by international law, he added.In the referendum held in Catalonia, 90% supported the separation of the region from Spain; 2.26 million people took part in the referendum, which is 42.3% of the total number of voters (5.34 million).It is very unlikely that the situation in Spain will have any influence on Georgia.It will be difficult for the de facto authorities of Tskhinvali and Abkhazia to compare their situation to Catalonias.There are a range of historical documents proving the two regions are integral parts of Georgia and this is recognized by the international community.Also, unlike the prosperous Catalonia, the occupied regions are in a very poor condition, with little infrastructure and lack of fundamental human rights.Russia is the main actor in the conflicts in Georgia, doing its utmost to annex the regions and broaden the occupied lands through permanent creeping occupation.
The MyLab9 eXP will be launched at JFR 2017 in Paris, October 13th-16th, Palais des Congres, BOOTH 1N01 - Level 1 - Hall Neuilly.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/557501/ESAOTE_Logo.jpg )
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/557506/Esaote_MyLab.jpg )
"The MyLab9 platform represents a new chapter for Esaote," said Luca Bombino, High-End Ultrasound Product Marketing Manager. "We invested in technologies that have a real clinical impact, improving image acquisition, diagnostic confidence and patient throughput. Our multi-modality approach allows quick access to other imaging modalities and PACS systems, for immediate clinical follow up and fusion imaging. At Esaote, we believe this is an important step for a more informed and efficient healthcare system."
The MyLab9 eXP takes advantage of cutting-edge manufacturing to offer an ultra-ergonomic experience, such as the easyMode unique touch-tool for image optimization. "In everyday clinical practice, it's crucial to be precise, and confident at the same time. The easyMode technology allows the operators to conduct the examination with a focus on the patient, without distractions or complex technical routines of the system," said Carlo Biagini, MD, Radiologist, Florence, Italy.
Developed to provide ultra-quality ultrasound technology to hospitals, clinics and private practices, the MyLab9 eXP offers smart upgradability, remote serviceability, long-term maintenance options and transducer compatibility. For more information visit www.esaote.com
Massimo Rosa, Esaote Chief Global Marketing Officer said "Today economic constraints, and the increase in average life expectancy, are opposing forces. The MyLab9 eXP provides advanced diagnostic capabilities and clinical efficacy to respond effectively to the most demanding healthcare needs expanding the access to innovative technologies for more customers."
About Esaote : With a consolidated turnover of EUR 270 million in 2016, the Esaote Group is a leader in the biomedical equipment sector, in particular the areas of ultrasound, dedicated MRI and software for managing the diagnostic process. The Group currently employs 1,200 people. With its own production and research units in Italy and the Netherlands, Esaote is recognised as one of the top 10 diagnostic imaging companies in the world. Information on Esaote and its products is available at www.esaote.com
Copyright Esaote 2017
Technology and features are system/configuration dependent. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Information might refer to products or modalities not yet approved in all countries. For further details, please contact your Esaote sales representative.
Communications & External Relations:
Mariangela Dellepiane, Tel.: +39-010-6547249 , e-mail: [email protected]
SOURCE Esaote S.p.A.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first major event for the Year of Education on Station (YES) will be hosted by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli on a special Facebook Live broadcast from the International Space Station.
The broadcast, which also will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website, will begin at 12:05 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct.16.
International Space Station Program Manager Kirk Shireman will kick off the nearly continuous year of educators on the station through the event from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The event will be streamed live from the space station's official Facebook account.
NASA is coordinating an unprecedented number of special educational outreach activities and resources this school year that will feature all U.S. crew members aboard the outpost. The effort has been designated the Year of Education on Station and takes advantage of the unique capability of the space station to stimulate the interest of students from kindergarteners to post-graduates.
"As a dream realized through imagination, innovation, hard work and persistence, and dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the station is an example, actually a shining star, of what can be achieved through learning," Shireman said. "Having astronauts with extensive experience as classroom educators, like Joe and Ricky, along with the entire crew, living and working on station is a great opportunity to inspire more students and teachers than ever before."
Before joining NASA, Acaba taught high school and middle school math and science in Florida. Vande Hei taught physics at United States Military Academy. Arnold, who launches to station in March 2018, taught middle school math and science in Maryland, as well as overseas in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Romania. Together, they will bring their experience in the classroom and passion for teaching to bear during YES.
"While NASA continues to inspire students and educators through an array of missions and activities," said Mike Kincaid, acting associate administrator for the agency's Office of Education in Washington. "The Year of Education on Station provides an opportunity for NASA to use a unique platform to connect astronauts with millions of students and educators providing an extraordinary classroom experience."
The Year of Education will include opportunities for hundreds of students and teachers across the nation to speak directly with the astronauts in space. Thousands more will participate through NASA partnerships with companies, learning centers, associations, universities, media organizations and institutions. And new educational demonstrations filmed in orbit, linking life in space and human exploration, will be unveiled and available to classrooms coast to coast throughout the year.
Students, teachers and the public are invited to submit questions during the event through the station's Facebook page, as well as prior to the event via the NASA Education Twitter account @NASAedu using #TeacherOnBoard.
Learn more about the Year of Education on Station at:
https://www.nasa.gov/education/onstation
To follow astronauts Acaba and Nespoli on twitter, visit:
@AstroAcaba
@astro_paolo
SOURCE NASA
Related Links
http://www.nasa.gov
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Picture gazing into your rearview mirror and seeing two in-human eyes looking back at you, or having rock formations mysteriously show up on your driveway. Farmers Insurance announced today the launch of The Stranger Claims digital campaign featuring an innovative 360-degree virtual experience for consumers to explore some of the strangest insurance claims seen and covered by Farmers. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor J.K. Simmons as Professor Nathaniel Burke, this immersive digital campaign will run between Friday the 13th and Halloween at https://www.farmers.com/learn/unbelievable-claims/stranger-insurance-claims/.
"In recognition of the Halloween season, we wanted to give consumers a 360-degree interactive view of the creepiest part of the Hall of Claims," said Leesa Eichberger, head of brand marketing for Farmers Insurance. "This integrated campaign employs a multi-channel consumer engagement strategy to highlight the breadth and depth of some of Farmers strangest claims handling know-how."
Developed by the insurer group's agency of record, RPA, "The Stranger Claims" campaign continues the evolution of positioning Farmers as an organization consumers can look to for consumer-centric knowledge and insurance smarts.
"It's the time of year where people embrace the creepy," said Joe Baratelli, executive vice president and chief creative officer for RPA. "It's great to see Farmers adopting a darker tone that will resonate and also further the campaign messaging."
With the help of Zenith Media, notable digital placements include a YouTube masthead showing "The Stranger Claims" video teaser and an interactive 360-degree experience, which will also be promoted in pre-roll and across Farmers digital and social media channels. The content will also be presented as an interactive Facebook canvas unit.
About Farmers Insurance
"Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies nationally through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurers that are part of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2017 Fortune 500 list.
For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.
SOURCE Farmers Insurance
Related Links
http://www.farmersinsurance.com
ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT), a national leader in the retail real estate industry, received the inaugural Best Sustainability Program award from the NAIOP DC | MD Chapter. The award is given to an organization that "demonstrates a strong commitment to sustainable business practices and solutions that contribute to environmental responsibility and economic success."
"Combining environmental responsibility with economic success is a key principle that permeates the way we operate and develop real estate at Federal Realty," said Chris Brown, Director of Sustainability of Federal Realty. "We're humbled to be acknowledged by NAIOP for those efforts and look forward to identifying new opportunities for environmental leadership."
Some of the components of Federal Realty's sustainability program for which it was recognized include:
Investment of over $50 million in rooftop solar photovoltaic systems at almost one-third of Federal Realty's properties with the capacity to generate more than 18 megawatts of energy.
in rooftop solar photovoltaic systems at almost one-third of Federal Realty's properties with the capacity to generate more than 18 megawatts of energy. 19 USGBC LEED New Construction projects, 1 LEED Neighborhood Development (under review) and 3 Cal Green certifications.
Implementation of technology and management best practices to reduce water and electricity consumption throughout our portfolio.
Introduction of the first rooftop farm in Maryland at Bethesda Row and a new 24,000 square foot farm underway at Pike & Rose.
About Federal Realty
Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, D.C. to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded in 1962, our mission is to deliver long term, sustainable growth through investing in densely populated, affluent communities where retail demand exceeds supply. Our expertise includes creating urban, mixed-use neighborhoods like Santana Row in San Jose, California, Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland and Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts. These unique and vibrant environments that combine shopping, dining, living and working provide a destination experience valued by their respective communities. Federal Realty's 104 properties include over 2,800 tenants, in over 24 million square feet, and over 1,800 residential units.
Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 50 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT. For additional information about Federal Realty and its properties, visit www.FederalRealty.com.
Investor Inquires: Media Inquiries: Leah Andress Andrea Simpson Investor Relations Associate Vice President, Marketing 301.998.8265 617.684.1511 [email protected] [email protected]
SOURCE Federal Realty Investment Trust
Related Links
http://www.federalrealty.com
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
AKRON, Ohio, Oct. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) today announced a Request for Proposal (RFP) to purchase both Ohio-compliant Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for its Ohio utilities Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating and Toledo Edison. The purchases will help meet the Companies' 2017 renewable energy targets established under Ohio's alternative energy law.
SRECs and RECs sought in this RFP must be able to be utilized by the Companies for compliance with its 2017 renewable energy obligations in accordance with rules and procedures put forth by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), be deliverable through PJM-EIS GATS, and generated between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017. The following amounts are being sought:
9,200 SRECs
320,000 RECs
One SREC represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of generation from a solar renewable generating facility qualified by the PUCO. One REC represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of generation from a PUCO-qualified renewable generating facility. The cost of the RECs is recovered from utility customers through a monthly charge filed quarterly with the PUCO.
No energy or capacity will be purchased under the RFP. The number of individual bidders is not limited. Participants in the RFP must meet and maintain specific credit and security qualifications, and must be able to prove their SREC or REC generating facilities are certified or in the process of becoming certified by the PUCO.
The RFP is a competitive process managed by Navigant Consulting, Inc., an independent evaluator and a global consulting firm with expertise in energy markets, renewables and competitive procurements. Based on the RFP results, the Ohio utilities will enter into agreement(s) with winning suppliers to purchase the necessary quantities of RECs and SRECs.
The FirstEnergy Ohio utilities have established a website to provide bidders with a central source of documents, data and other information for the RFP process. This information is available by accessing http://www.FEOhioRECRFP.com.
On October 6, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. EPT, the FirstEnergy Ohio utilities and their consultant, Navigant, will conduct a webinar to outline the RFP process and the terms of the agreement, as well as to provide a forum to submit any questions. Questions also may be submitted during the RFP process directly through the RFP website.
To participate in the RFP, potential bidders are encouraged to submit credit applications by October 31, 2017, and proposals are due November 7, 2017 by 5 p.m. EPT.
The RFP Manager is Dan Bradley, Managing Director, Navigant Consulting, Inc. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia. Its generation subsidiaries control more than 20,000 megawatts of capacity from a diversified mix of scrubbed coal, non-emitting nuclear, natural gas, hydro, pumped-storage hydro and other renewables. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements include declarations regarding management's intents, beliefs and current expectations. These statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms "anticipate," "potential," "expect," "forecast," "target," "will," "intend," "believe," "project," "estimate," "plan" and similar words. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, which may include the following: the ability to experience growth in the Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments and the effectiveness of our strategy to transition to a fully regulated business profile; the accomplishment of our regulatory and operational goals in connection with our transmission investment plan, including, but not limited to, our planned transition to forward-looking formula rates; changes in assumptions regarding economic conditions within our territories, assessment of the reliability of our transmission system, or the availability of capital or other resources supporting identified transmission investment opportunities; the ability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic and financial goals, including, but not limited to, the ability to continue to reduce costs and to successfully execute our financial plans designed to improve our credit metrics and strengthen our balance sheet; success of legislative and regulatory solutions for generation assets that recognize their environmental or energy security benefits, including the United States Department of Energy study; the risks and uncertainties associated with the lack of viable alternative strategies regarding the Competitive Energy Services (CES) segment, thereby causing FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES), and likely FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), to restructure its debt and other financial obligations with its creditors or seek protection under United States bankruptcy laws and the losses, liabilities and claims arising from such bankruptcy proceeding, including any obligations at FirstEnergy Corp.; the risks and uncertainties at the CES segment, including FES and its subsidiaries and FENOC, related to continued depressed wholesale energy and capacity markets, and the viability and/or success of strategic business alternatives, such as pending and potential CES generating unit asset sales, the potential conversion of the remaining generation fleet from competitive operations to a regulated or regulated-like construct or the potential need to deactivate additional generating units; the substantial uncertainty as to FES' ability to continue as a going concern and substantial risk that it may be necessary for FES, and likely FENOC, to seek protection under United States bankruptcy laws; the risks and uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration, mediation and like proceedings, including, but not limited to, any such proceedings related to vendor commitments, such as long-term fuel and transportation agreements; the uncertainties associated with the deactivation of older regulated and competitive units, including the impact on vendor commitments, such as long-term fuel and transportation agreements, and as it relates to the reliability of the transmission grid, the timing thereof; the impact of other future changes to the operational status or availability of our generating units and any capacity performance charges associated with unit unavailability; changing energy, capacity and commodity market prices including, but not limited to, coal, natural gas and oil prices, and their availability and impact on margins; costs being higher than anticipated and the success of our policies to control costs and to mitigate low energy, capacity and market prices; replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or not fully hedged; our ability to improve electric commodity margins and the impact of, among other factors, the increased cost of fuel and fuel transportation on such margins; the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures that may arise in connection with any litigation, including New Source Review litigation, or potential regulatory initiatives or rulemakings (including that such initiatives or rulemakings could result in our decision to deactivate or idle certain generating units); changes in customers' demand for power, including, but not limited to, changes resulting from the implementation of state and federal energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins such as a polar vortex or other significant weather events, and all associated regulatory events or actions; changes in national and regional economic conditions affecting us, our subsidiaries and/or our major industrial and commercial customers, and other counterparties with which we do business, including fuel suppliers; the impact of labor disruptions by our unionized workforce; the risks associated with cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our information technology system that may compromise our generation, transmission and/or distribution services and data security breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary or personally identifiable information regarding our business, employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, business partners and other individuals in our data centers and on our networks; the impact of the regulatory process and resulting outcomes on the matters at the federal level and in the various states in which we do business including, but not limited to, matters related to rates; the impact of the federal regulatory process on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-regulated entities and transactions, in particular FERC regulation of wholesale energy and capacity markets, including PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) markets and FERC-jurisdictional wholesale transactions; FERC regulation of cost-of-service rates; and FERC's compliance and enforcement activity, including compliance and enforcement activity related to North American Electric Reliability Corporation's mandatory reliability standards; the uncertainties of various cost recovery and cost allocation issues resulting from American Transmission Systems, Incorporated's realignment into PJM; the ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability standards and energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; other legislative and regulatory changes, including the new federal administration's required review and potential revision of environmental requirements, including, but not limited to, the effects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, Coal Combustion Residuals regulations, Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards programs, including our estimated costs of compliance, Clean Water Act (CWA) waste water effluent limitations for power plants, and CWA 316(b) water intake regulation; adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes with respect to our nuclear operations (including, but not limited to, the revocation or non-renewal of necessary licenses, approvals or operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or as a result of the incident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant); issues arising from the indications of cracking in the shield building at Davis-Besse; changing market conditions that could affect the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts, pension trusts and other trust funds, and cause us and/or our subsidiaries to make additional contributions sooner, or in amounts that are larger than currently anticipated; the impact of changes to significant accounting policies; the impact of any changes in tax laws or regulations or adverse tax audit results or rulings; the ability to access the public securities and other capital and credit markets in accordance with our financial plans, the cost of such capital and overall condition of the capital and credit markets affecting us and our subsidiaries; further actions that may be taken by credit rating agencies that could negatively affect us and/or our subsidiaries' access to financing, increase the costs thereof, increase requirements to post additional collateral to support, or accelerate payments under outstanding commodity positions, letters of credit and other financial guarantees, and the impact of these events on the financial condition and liquidity of FirstEnergy Corp. and/or its subsidiaries, specifically FES and its subsidiaries; issues concerning the stability of domestic and foreign financial institutions and counterparties with which we do business; and the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and other similar factors. Dividends declared from time to time on FirstEnergy Corp.'s common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances considered by FirstEnergy Corp.'s Board of Directors at the time of the actual declarations. A security rating is not a recommendation to buy or hold securities and is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating. These forward-looking statements are also qualified by, and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements and risks that are included in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The foregoing review of factors also should not be construed as exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such factors, nor assess the impact of any such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any current intention to update, except as required by law, any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
www.firstenergycorp.com
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
Related Links
http://www.firstenergycorp.com
MOSCOW, Oct. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Based in Russia, a team of dedicated technologists work on a platform that will change e-commerce forever. Flipz will launch their Pre-ICO on October 12th, and will sell tokens to raise funds for their project. The money raised will be used to develop software, pay staff, and market the platform. Flipz will sell a hundred million tokens, with unsold tokens being burnt.
What is Flipz
Flipz
When co-founder Alexei Bobylev was asked what exactly Flipz was, he gave the following answer:
"Shortly speaking, FLIPZ is a smart marketplace platform with smart contracts, a unique rating system of vendors based on blockchain technology, and transactions without commission."
There are many problems in ecommerce today, and it is an industry just waiting to be disrupted. Current leaders in the space are outdated, and do not facilitate smaller vendors. Flipz believes that they are the answer to these problems.
What's UNIQUE
Flipz has a unique monetization strategy. It will not charge any commission and will not have intrusive ads throughout their website. Instead, it will ask users to use their token FLZ for all purchases on the platform. The idea is as the website grows in popularity, the tokens which have a limited supply may rise in price.
Flipz's primary goal is to solve two issues in the E-commerce industry. The first problem is that up to 50% of the cost of a product is because of promotional costs incurred by the vendor. With a foolproof rating system that cannot be influenced by money and is secured through smart contracts, users can find the best products rather than the ones that spent the most money advertising. This will ultimately lower costs to both the consumer and the vendor, and help encourage small business. It will also make shopping for products much easier, which solves the second big problem in the space.
Current incumbents are not innovating their platforms due to a lack of competition. Flipz is changing this by implementing blockchain technology into their unique project.
Visit The Flipz Website: flipz.io
Read The Flipz Whitepaper: https://ico.flipz.io/files/docs/whitepaper_web.pdf
Flipz on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyiP2GR844L_aWyT0_GtmVw
Bitcointalk ANN thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2222857.msg22444288#msg22444288
Visit the Flipz Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flipzico
Media Contact:
Name: Denis
Email: [email protected]
Location: Moscow, Russia
Flipz is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.
Related Links
Flipz
Bitcoin PR Buzz
SOURCE Flipz
Related Links
https://ico.flipz.io
VANCOUVER, Sept. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE MKT: NSU) ("Nevsun" or the "Company") today announced that Chief Operating Officer, Frazer Bourchier, will step down from the Company to pursue a position with a gold company based in Toronto. Mr. Bourchier continues with the Company until December 31, 2017. Nevsun has a de-centralized model with strong Eritrean and Serbian teams who will manage the business during a successor search. As part of his transition through December 31, 2017, Mr. Bourchier will work closely with Nevsun management to transition key relationships in Eritrea and Serbia.
"Frazer has been a valued member of the Nevsun team and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours," said Peter Kukielski, Nevsun's President and Chief Executive Officer, "We have commenced a search for Frazer's successor, and remain focused on delivering the Timok PEA in October and the PFS in Q1 of 2017."
About Nevsun Resources Ltd.
Nevsun Resources Ltd. is the 100% owner of the high-grade copper-gold Timok Upper Zone and 60% owner of the Timok Lower Zone in Serbia. Nevsun generates cashflow from its 60% owned copper-zinc Bisha Mine in Eritrea. Nevsun is well positioned with a strong debt-free balance sheet to grow shareholder value through advancing Timok to production.
NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.
"Peter G.J. Kukielski"
Peter G.J. Kukielski
President & Chief Executive Officer
SOURCE Nevsun Resources Ltd.
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Genesis Capital, LLC ("Genesis" or "the Company"), a specialty commercial lending platform providing financing solutions to professional residential real estate developers, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with an affiliate of Goldman Sachs ("Goldman Sachs") to support the Company in its next phase of growth. Genesis is being acquired from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P. ("Oaktree") and management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The transaction will enable Genesis to continue to grow its platform, with a focus on achieving additional scale in its current market segments and introducing new products and financing solutions to a broader and national customer base. The Company's strategy is to be the debt financing partner of choice to the nation's top professional residential developers offering responsive, flexible and reliable service that empowers clients to seize upon opportunities and grow their businesses successfully.
"Our new partnership is a validation of the platform we have worked tirelessly to build and the strong relationships we have developed with a loyal customer base," said Robert Wasmund, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Capital. "We look forward to working with the Goldman Sachs team in our next stage of development."
Rayman Mathoda, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Genesis, stated, "Over the last several years, we have grown significantly and solidified our position in the market. Through our robust and differentiated platform, we are well-positioned to extend financing solutions so that our customers can capitalize on the market's opportunities. This transaction will support that strategy by bringing further investment into the Company and allow our customers to benefit from an expanded suite of offerings designed to meet their growing needs."
"We are delighted to partner with the Genesis management team and help them scale in a large and attractive segment of the real estate lending market," said Anthony Arnold, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. "We look forward to building on Genesis' industry-leading platform and positioning the Company for continued innovation and success."
Commenting on today's announcement, Brian Laibow, Managing Director of Oaktree, said, "We have enjoyed our relationship with Genesis over the past four years and are delighted to have overseen their rapid development, including loan originations surpassing $2.5 billion. The management team has built a truly differentiated platform that should afford them continued success. We wish Genesis well under their new stewardship."
Genesis was advised by Wells Fargo Securities. Legal counsel was provided to Genesis and Oaktree by Munger, Tolles & Olson. Goldman Sachs was advised by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and legal counsel was provided by Davis Polk & Wardwell and Mayer Brown LLP.
About Genesis Capital
Genesis Capital is a high growth specialty commercial lending platform providing financing for qualified and experienced real estate developers focused on the residential real estate market. Genesis Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Visit Genesis Capital at www.genesiscapital.com.
About The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.
About Oaktree
Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $99 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2017. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in distressed debt, corporate debt (including high yield debt and senior loans), control investing, convertible securities, real estate and listed equities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm has over 900 employees and offices in 18 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit Oaktree's website at www.oaktreecapital.com
Media Contact for Genesis Capital, LLC
Brian Schaffer
212.279.3115 x229
[email protected]
SOURCE Genesis Capital, LLC
Related Links
http://www.genesiscapital.com
ABERDEEN, N.J., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- While job competition in the U.S. is getting steadily tougher, there is a right job for everyone, if they know how to find it and win it. A jam-packed little book provides professionals and executives thought-provoking insights and guidance on how to research, prepare and conduct searches that beat all competition.
Need a New Job front cover Bob Hoberman photo
"Need a New Job? START HERE!" is a uniquely revealing book that looks at job search from both candidate and employer perspectives. The book was written by Bob Hoberman, a 40-year HR and recruitment veteran who has screened, interviewed and counseled thousands of professionals and executives.
Hoberman uses proven marketing, advertising and sales techniques to help candidates produce clear and convincing resumes and interview presentations designed to elicit quick action from recruiters and hiring managers.
Key points include:
--How to create action plans based on candidates' strengths
--How to overcome weaknesses
--How to find new jobs in which candidates can excel
--How to network and build relevant connections
--Which skills top companies crave
--How to find pain points the candidate can cure in a target company
--How to write an effective, relevant resume that grabs attention
--How to answer any interview question with clarity and confidence
Hoberman says the book is written for two audiences. The 60+ million workers who say they are unhappy in their current jobs and six to eight million more who, despite the falling unemployment rate, are still unemployed or have dropped out of the job market.
"I've counseled, placed and learned from men and women of all ages and backgrounds in the past 40 years. I use that knowledge to help others analyze their strengths and package their talents, experience and relevant accomplishments to win jobs they really can enjoy. Not repeat the mistakes that caused their present unhappiness."
Hoberman earned a B.A. in Journalism from Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he was trained by NY Times editors, and an Executive MBA in Management from Pace University. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Md. and was an intelligence analyst in both the army and the U.S. National Security Agency.
He ran domestic and international training operations for both American Express and Continental Insurance Companies before moving into executive search with David Brooke Associates, where he was a Partner for 23 years. He also managed a Federal program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology that ultimately placed some 300 mid-level IT and STEM professionals who had been out of work.
"Need a New Job? START HERE!" ($19.99, ISBN 1548089222) is a 200-page paperback published by Amazon's CreateSpace and also available on Kindle ($9.99). Soon to be in book stores. It can be purchased directly from CreateSpace (Amazon), at https://www.createspace.com/7255471.
Contact: Bob Hoberman 609-512-5627(JOBS) or [email protected]
SOURCE Bob Hoberman
HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A consortium of agencies today held simultaneous "Financial Reality Fairs" for reentrants, or incarcerated individuals getting ready to reenter the community, in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Reading, Erie and Philadelphia.
The fairs, which involved a great deal of coordination and planning, were spearheaded by the Pennsylvania Departments of Corrections and Banking and Securities, the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, the Pennsylvania Credit Union Foundation, with contributions from the Insurance Department, the PA Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) and individual credit unions. Hundreds of community volunteers, who were trained by credit union officials, also helped to make the Financial Reality Fairs possible.
"Each year, the DOC releases either on parole or after completion of a sentence nearly 23,000 individuals," Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said. "During their transitions home, reentrants face a variety of barriers that often impede their success. We believe in doing all that we can to help reentrants overcome the barriers they face in order to reduce future criminality. Money management plays a huge role in everyday life. So, it is only fitting that we aid their transitions by providing these Financial Reality Fairs."
Today's Financial Reality Fairs helped approximately 150 reentrants at each location learn how to manage a "real life" budget, including paying for rent and utilities, their court costs, restitution and, for many, child support. There were financial counselors on hand to assist the reentrants as they moved through the workshop, managing life expenses.
This is the first time in Pennsylvania's history that the agencies have held five Financial Reality Fairs simultaneously.
At the Reality Fairs, reentrants are provided the opportunity to learn about:
The importance of and basics about working with a financial institution like a credit union or bank
The importance of credit reports and credit scores
How to create a personal budget and spending plan
"We are very proud of the work of our Foundation, which is collaborating with the Pennsylvania Departments of Corrections and Banking and Securities, to bring Financial Reality Fairs to individuals re-entering society. With a joint goal of increasing the financial capability of those leaving the corrections system, we are playing an important part in helping these individuals and in reducing their probability of relapsing into the system," Pennsylvania Credit Union Association President & CEO Patrick Conway said. "After the success of our first reentry Financial Reality Fair earlier this year and the ones held today, we look forward to expanding this important program statewide in the future."
"Equipping parolees with financial skills necessary to make good decisions improves their ability to be successful. This builds upon the increase in the number of parolees employed we have seen over the past two years," said Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole Chairman Leo L. Dunn.
The goals of the Financial Reality Fairs are to:
Address one of the barriers facing reentrants as they return home from prison by teaching them how to plan a budget
Help to reduce recidivism by providing reentrants with financial tools needed to achieve self-sustaining independency
Improve the transition for reentrants from prison to community
Raise awareness of the PA $AFE initiative, the state's clearinghouse of consumer protection information
Educate citizens about the Commonwealth's Consumer Financial Protection Initiative
Recognize the innovative, inter-agency work to reduce recidivism
Share reentry best practices with citizens and other state corrections departments
"This is government that works -- breaking down barriers, drawing on expertise and experience from different agencies and perspectives, and working together to protect Pennsylvanians," said Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin L. Wiessmann. "I hope that other states look at our efforts and successes as a model for how they can create partnerships and develop similar programs to help their citizens."
"Clearly this program has terrific potential to help people better make the transition from prison life back to society," said Brian Hudson Sr., executive director of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. "Our goal is to reduce recidivism, and by providing financial education in an engaging way, we give former inmates more tools to be successful in their new lives. That benefits them and everyone else."
One Financial Reality Fair was held earlier this year at the Harrisburg Community Corrections Center. After attending that event, reentrants said that they learned to "keep focused on their needs and not their wants," and that they "never had to worry about a budget, so the fair was helpful" to him. Another said that "when it comes down to it, we don't want all the luxuries when we see the prices."
In addition to Financial Reality Fairs, the Departments of Banking and Securities and Corrections as part of PA $AFE began offering earlier this year financial education courses to inmates who are nearing release from prison.
The courses focus on the basics of banking, understanding credit reports and credit scores, saving money and avoiding predatory lending, creating spending plans, investing, and benefit programs.
Agencies and organizations involved in this endeavor plan to make these Financial Reality Fairs annual events.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Susan McNaughton (Corrections) 717-728-4025
Ed Novak (Banking and Securities) 717-783-4721
Maria Finn (Probation and Parole) 717-231-4411
Scott Elliott (PHFA) 717-780-3916
Mike Wishnow (PCUA) 717 903-3100
David Misner (PSECU) 717-777-2169
SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities
Related Links
http://www.state.pa.us
"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
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/583025/Greater_Zurich_Area_Ambassadors.jpg )
Greater Zurich Area's success as a business location and innovation region is an accomplishment by many brilliant individuals together. At the residence of Consul General of Switzerland, Mr. Hans-Ulrich Tanner, Greater Zurich Area for the first time appointed U.S. executives, entrepreneurs and influencers as Honorary Ambassadors.
"We launched this program to give recognition for each executive's outstanding accomplishments between the United States and Switzerland. The Honorary Ambassadors are vital to conveying Greater Zurich's overall message and to continue to elevate the peer support for those interested in doing business in Greater Zurich Area" Sonja Wollkopf Walt, CEO Greater Zurich Area, said.
The Honorary Ambassadors all have strong ties to the Zurich region. They've helped companies to establish their operations in the Greater Zurich Area and grow their business. The Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassadors are:
Anita Roth, Airbnb
Anthony Maggiore, Atlassian
Friedemann Thomma, Venable LLP
Matt Atkin, UBER
Philipp Stauffer, FYRFLY Venture Partners
Randy Knaflic, Jawbone (former employer: Google Zurich)
Stewart Karlinsky, Pacific Tax Policy Institute
Ted Rogers, XAPO
Suzi LeVine, a strong proponent of Swiss technology and innovation, shared her experiences in office. "Throughout my time in Switzerland, I was impressed with the quantity and quality of innovation demonstrated across sectors and with every size business. That is only possible because of the exceptional talent coming out of the Swiss Dual-Education system. This includes apprenticeship as well as people coming out of the Universities. When I speak with U.S. businesses looking for where to locate their innovation-oriented businesses in Europe, I emphasize that those U.S. firms who have already chosen Switzerland are fishing in a stocked pond of talent. I believe that U.S. firms thrive in Switzerland because of the many shared values we have between our sister republics."
Sonja Wollkopf Walt, CEO Greater Zurich Area, together with Consul General of Switzerland Hans-Ulrich Tanner and Suzi LeVine then appointed the Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassadors.
After the ceremony, Ted Rogers, President at Xapo and newly appointed Honorary Ambassador, commented, "I'm truly honored to be appointed as a Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassador. I continue to believe that Switzerland and particularly the Zurich region offers the world's best operating, financial and regulatory environment and consequently the greatest level of protection for our customers' bitcoins."
Matt Atkin, another newly appointed Greater Zurich Honorary Ambassador and formerly in charge of Uber's international expansion into Switzerland remarked, "Ever since I connected with Greater Zurich Area in early 2013 to discuss launching Uber in Zurich, I've been blown away by everything your organization and region has done to make us feel welcomed in Zurich (and more broadly in Switzerland)."
--
About Greater Zurich Area
Greater Zurich Area AG (GZA) is the official investment support and promotion agency of Switzerland's largest and most innovative metropolitan area. GZA is a public private partnership that helps international businesses set up and grow in Switzerland and engage with the largest R&D institutes.
Media Contact:
Lukas Sieber
Executive Director North America, Greater Zurich Area Ltd.
+1-646-874-0486
[email protected]
A picture accompanying this release is available in the AP PhotoExpress feed using ref# PRN1119697
SOURCE Greater Zurich Area AG
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeUnion, a leading online real estate investment and management firm, has released its second annual list of the top 20 neighborhoods for trick-or-treating just in time for Friday the 13th. The company analyzed the largest metros in the United States based on median home prices, neighborhood density, neighborhood safety, and the proximity to the nearest cemetery to create the comprehensive list. Median home price was the heaviest weighted factor analyzed in the study.
"This list serves as a great guideline for trick-or-treaters," says Steve Hovland, director of research for HomeUnion. "We have eliminated communities with safety issues, and those with homes that are too far apart for children to trick-or-treat. To add an element of spookiness to the study, we've even factored in how close the nearest cemetery is to each neighborhood. This list highlights HomeUnion's big data capabilities: Just as we utilize micro-level data to help investors acquire single-family rental (SFR) properties that meet their customized financial needs, we have utilized micro-level data to help kids and their families find some of the best neighborhoods in the U.S. for trick-or-treating," notes Hovland.
Here's a complete list of the top neighborhoods in the U.S. for trick-or-treating, based on data from HomeUnion Research Services, Maponics and the FBI:
Metro Area Zip Code Submarket Median Home Price Density / Homes Per Sq. Mile Safety Ranking Distance to Nearest Cemetery Oakland, Calif. 94618 Rockridge neighborhood $1,442,400 3,855 99% 0.9 Washington, D.C. 20016 American University Park neighborhood $1,120,000 2,791 99% 0.4 San Francisco 94941 Mill Valley, Calif. $1,479,700 3,300 97% 1.7 San Jose 94306 Palo Alto, Calif. $2,481,300 2,715 89% 1.0 Boston 02478 Belmont, Mass. $875,500 4,142 91% 0.6 Los Angeles 90272 Pacific Palisades neighborhood $2,093,400 2,491 98% 3.4 Chicago 60043 Kenilworth, Ill. $1,218,700 1,444 98% 0.7 Dallas 75225 University Heights neighborhood $1,896,500 1,770 89% 1.0 San Diego 92118 Coronado Beach South Island neighborhood $1,482,700 4,049 91% 4.0 New York, N.Y. 07657 Ridgefield, N.J. $490,600 3,672 97% 0.7 Portland, Ore. 97212 Irvington/Grant Park neighborhood $637,000 3,103 92% 1.1 Seattle 98033 Kirkland, Wash. $925,900 2,068 91% 1.2 Miami 33149 Key Biscayne, Fla. $1,961,400 1,885 98% 5.7 Houston 77005 West University Place neighborhood $1,232,700 2,549 87% 2.4 Minneapolis 55419 Lynnhurst/Tangletown neighborhood $512,700 2,251 99% 1.1 Baltimore 21212 North Baltimore $525,700 1,970 97% 0.5 Pittsburgh 15217 Greenfield neighborhood $504,600 2,772 91% 0.7 Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33316 Port Everglades neighborhood $1,068,200 1,436 86% 0.5 Charlotte, N.C. 28207 Eastover/Freedom Park neighborhood $981,800 1,267 100% 2.8 Atlanta 30022 Alpharetta, Ga. $680,300 1,357 93% 0.7
For a list of the best neighborhoods for trick-or-treating in HomeUnion markets, visit: https://goo.gl/4qghVM.
About HomeUnion
HomeUnion is an online real estate investment management firm. Based in Irvine, Calif., it provides all the services needed for individuals to invest remotely in rental properties. The company uses a combination of research and proprietary analytics to incorporate data on over 110 million homes and 200,000 neighborhoods into their database, and then delivers its solutions to an on-the-ground infrastructure that currently serves six locations. HomeUnion's role spans the lifecycle of the investment transaction: identifying sound investments, handling all aspects of acquisition, maximizing income, protecting asset value, and selling the asset when the time comes.
SOURCE HomeUnion
Related Links
http://www.homeunion.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
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/583011/UBM_Logo.jpg )
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/583012/IFSEC_International_Logo.jpg )
Following the hugely successful introduction of this new demonstration zone in 2017, the Attack Testing Zone will be expanded and moved to a prominent position in the Borders & Infrastructure area of IFSEC 2018, providing dramatic and energetic demonstrations of the capabilities of world class security solutions. Expert technicians from BRE Global/ LPCB will actively demonstrate the effectiveness of a range of physical security solutions. All of the products on display are LPCB Red Book approved and will have met a range of UK and European standards, so you'll be watching top of the class products being taken to task in real time scenarios.
Richard Flint, Physical Security Technical and Business Development Manager at BRE Global says:
"BRE Global is delighted to once again partner with IFSEC 2018 to continue with the Attack Testing Zone. We were hugely impressed at the volumes and quality of the visiting audience in 2017 and we made sure the IFSEC team expanded and relocated the Zone for 2018- such was the level of interest. It's a unique opportunity for security professionals to see leading products being tested in real time and showcases the levels of security and protection these solutions can provide."
Gerry Dunphy, Brand Director, IFSEC & Firex International says:
"The Attack Testing Zone was the star performer at IFSEC 2017 with visiting customers standing four deep around the area just to get a view of what was going on. It's clearly a major area of interest so we're happy to follow Richard's lead and have expanded and relocated the Zone to an A-list position within the Borders & Infrastructure area of IFSEC 2018. The Attack Testing Zone is a great example of where real time demonstrations capture the imagination of the visiting audience and it adds to whole IFSEC experience."
IFSEC International 2018 will take place between 19th and 21st June at London's ExCeL venue. Co-located with Firex International, Safety & Health Expo and Facilities Show this blend of leading events provide security, safety and facilities professionals with an unrivalled opportunity to meet with suppliers, network with peers and drive agendas.
Please find below a press release for IFSEC International 2018 and the return and expansion of the BRE Global/LPCB Attack Testing Zone.
Security currently is the biggest challenge the world is facing, the need to safeguard people and property has never been greater, and knowing which products and solutions you're making critical decisions on are fit for purpose is of the highest importance.
Contacts:
Ricky Abate
Content Marketing Executive
UBM EMEA
Tel: +44(0)20-7921-8192
Address: 240 Blackfriars Road, London, SE18BF
Web: www.ubm.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-abate
SOURCE IFSEC International London
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- If you are an active distributor / fulfillment center for Amazon and are going through countless hours creating invoices for your factoring company that requires invoices to get funded, MyBizPad Amazon Software package is now available for businesses. It is a proprietary online software system developed to process high volume Amazon Invoices for factoring companies.
1st Commercial Credit Invoice Factoring Video. Amazon Seller Merchant Invoice Factoring Services
My Biz Pad is an invoicing software package for businesses billing on credit terms that has an invoice factoring module. It was specifically designed for businesses that need tracking of accounts receivable due to credit sales and process batches of invoices to factoring companies for funding in a seamless method.
Due to the nature of Amazon's portal and order fulfillment process, Seller Merchants with high volume sales can generate up to 10,000 invoices a day. If you can imagine the work load for the Seller and the factoring company trying to manually post that many invoices per day every day is a very high administrative task.
Even if the Seller Merchant achieves that manually compiling the data whereas there is a definable invoice ID and a total amount due, the factoring company cannot take a spreadsheet with assigned order ID's from Amazon as collateral because it is just a reference for the Merchant. The spreadsheet and the internal assigned invoice ID's from amazon do not mention the Merchant's name on the spreadsheet or internal assigned invoices. This is a problem for a factoring company as the collateral is not clearly identified of what has been assigned.
Most buyer/seller factoring agreements specify that the invoices that are purchased shall have terms that may include date of invoice, billable terms within the guidelines of the factoring agreement of net 30, 60 or 90 days, and the notice of assignment language. The invoices must have the business name as the billing party and the Sold to party shall have the account debtor information. This completes a legal Invoice for collecting and the Merchant can assign its proper collateral to its factoring company.
MyBizPad can generate up to 2000 invoices along with the Schedule of Accounts and XLSX file for Cadence uploading in just 6 minutes.
In the event the Seller merchant is not factoring its invoices, the system can take the CSV file that is downloadable from the Amazon portal and create invoices based on the order Id in the spreadsheet.
1st Commercial Credit, LLC has developed MyBizPad for its current factoring clients and is now offered to businesses in need of online invoicing software in smaller packages.
Contact:
1st Commercial Credit, LLC
24/7 1800-876-6071
SOURCE 1st Commercial Credit, LLC
Related Links
https://www.1stcommercialcredit.com
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
https://www.reportlinker.com/p05140736
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Royal, one of America's best-selling and most-loved whiskies, has re-enlisted the creative brilliance of actor and comedian J.B. Smoove to help fuel its flavored whisky collection, which includes Crown Royal Regal Apple Flavored Whisky and Crown Royal Vanilla Flavored Whisky. As a leader within the nearly 10 million case flavored whisky category that grew 8% last year1, Crown Royal looks to celebrate the fun-loving side and irresistibly delicious side of whisky with a spirited campaign, titled "Crown Royal Regal Apple: The Musical."
JB Smoove | It's Apple Time | Crown Royal Regal Apple :30 JB Smoove | It's Apple Time | Crown Royal Regal Apple :60 The recently crowned King of Flavor, actor/comedian J.B. Smoove sits on his official Crown Royal Throne after his coronation in New York City on October 11, 2017 Multitalented entertainer J.B. Smoove stars in the new spirited campaign titled Crown Royal Regal Apple: The Musical. Crown Royal Vanilla Smoove :15 Feat JB Smoove Crown Royal Vanilla Smoove :30 Feat JB Smoove
Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8189951-crown-royal-regal-apple-whisky-jb-smoove-king-of-flavor/
The latest work between J.B. and Crown Royal premiered last week and it's a complete showstopper. In a true creative collaboration, J.B. and his crew teamed up with director Greg Brunkalla, Anomaly New York and Storefront Music to create a pulsating original track, "It's Apple Time, Baby," and a series of short films, which also include an exuberant dance number choreographed by Fatima Robinson. The main film features J.B. strutting through a lavish nightclub, as patrons jump into his dance and join his crew for Crown Royal Regal Apple shots all while not missing a beat. The integrated marketing plan consists of TV, social media, public relations and bar events rolling out nationwide this October and continuing throughout 2018.
"From the day I took the name 'Smoove' I knew it was my destiny to one day be crowned the first official 'King of Flavor!' Now while Crown Royal Vanilla has been near and dear to me for a while I knew I had to find the savory ying to that sweet Vanilla yang! Then along came Crown Royal Regal Apple!!! Woo, like peanut butter and jelly, like Bonnie and Clyde, better yet like a leopard and a tiger!" said actor/comedian J.B. Smoove. "See on the one hand a leopard and a tiger are a lot alike, they're majestic, regal and powerfulbut on the other hand very different! One of them has spots and the other has stripes! And that gives you a choice! Smoove and sweet like Crown Royal Vanilla? Or savory and sexy like Crown Royal Regal Apple? Either way, just like a leopard and a tiger make sure you enjoy them responsibly cause trust me they do bite!"
To commemorate J.B.'s starring role and new-found crooner skills, Crown Royal crowned him as its "King of Flavor" during an uproarious coronation in New York hosted by comedian Chris DiStefano. This is not the first foray for Crown Royal and the newly anointed King. Over the last year, J.B. brought out the true meaning of "Vanilla So Good," to launch Crown Royal Vanilla, as well as appeared in a series of hilarious recipe videos including a now-viral video created with the foodies at Tasty on making the comedian's signature Spiked Banana Pudding "Smoovie." The delectable how-to video brings together the deliciousness of Vanilla, along with a side of life advice that only J.B. can deliver.
"Flavored whiskies are on fire, and J.B. adds a fresh energy to our already irresistible and great tasting products," said Jim Ruane, brand director for Crown Royal. "Working with a talented entertainer like J.B. who genuinely loves your brand makes things easy and more fun for the people looking for a new whiskey to enjoy responsibly. His talent, charisma, and to be completely honest, dance moves, took the work to a whole new level. It's only fitting that we recognize him --one of the true kings of comedy, and a dear friend of the Crown-- as our King of Flavor."
As part of his King duties, J.B. will carry the banner for Crown Royal's award-winning flavored whiskies through events, media appearances and video content reinforcing the tempting irresistibility of Crown Royal Regal Apple, the smooth deliciousness of Crown Royal Vanilla and further support the brand's commitment to remind consumers to drink responsibly. King's orders!
About Crown Royal
Crown Royal Canadian Whisky is the number-one selling Canadian whisky brand in the world and has a tradition as long and distinctive as its taste. Specially blended to commemorate a grand tour of Canada made by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain in 1939, Crown Royal's smooth, elegant flavor and gift-worthy presentation reflect its regal origins it is considered the epitome of Canadian whisky. For more information, visit www.crownroyal.com. Crown Royal encourages all consumers to please enjoy responsibly.
About Diageo
Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives and ways to share best practice. Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.
1 Flavored Whiskies Approach 10 Million Cases In The U.S. Market" ShankenNewsDaily.com, last modified June 28 2017 http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2017/06/28/18668/flavored-whiskies-approach-10-million-cases-u-s-market/
Media Contact:
Christina Dwyer
[email protected]
704-644-6933
SOURCE DIAGEO
MIAMI, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten years is something to raise a glass to. On October 14th, Yuliya (Julie) Sidorevskaya, broker/owner of Julie's Realty, will do just that in a gala celebration marking the ten year anniversary of Julie's Realty. To celebrate the landmark occasion, Sidorevskaya has spared no expense and left no detail unattended to, crafting a blue-carpet event replete with live music, gourmet cuisine, libations, and a silent auction.
It's no secret that the Miami real estate market can be highly competitive. It's exactly that type of business ethic that Sidorevskaya combats with her unique, relational approach to real estate. In the business since 2001, Sidorevskaya quickly adopted an approach that endeared her to colleagues and clients alike. Among her employees, Sidorevskaya counts her mother, sister, cousin, and childhood best friend. Broker-associate Bunny Hart speaks to Sidorevskaya's empathetic approach, "She speaks three languages, but she hears in ten." She continues, "When there is an issue and I need to call Julie, she calls me back. She has eighty-five realtors, yet she's always there for you." Sidorevskaya shares, "I want to have that personal relationship with each one of my realtors. We treat our agents as part of our family."
Tailored to Miami's real estate elite, the invitation-only celebration is sponsored by Nu World Title, Home Bridge Financial Services Inc., The 5th Color Designs, and Exclusive Motoring Worldwide. Produced by Coolam Productions, the celebration will include "Julie's Oscars," awards of excellence given out by Julie's Realty to the real estate community's best-of-the-best. A five course meal will be provided by Shaike's Kosher Catering, including a freshly made seafood paella, rolling cigars and a liquid nitrogen signature cocktail, the "Julitini." Dessert will follow with an intricate cake catered by Divine Delicacies. In deference to the recent devastating hurricanes affecting so many, the event will also feature a silent auction, wherein guests will be able to bid on memorabilia donated by top athletes, as well as original artwork by local artist Anthony Liggins. 100% of auction proceeds will benefit hurricane relief in the islands.
No good birthday celebration can end without a few words from the host. When asked about her next steps, Sidorevskaya sets her eyes on expansion, citing South Miami and Broward as her next markets. Yet looking towards the horizon, she also turns her eyes towards the past. A Russian immigrant, Sidorevskaya first migrated to the area in 1992, directly following Hurricane Andrew. "The first place we came to," she says, "was North Bay Village." Now, Sidorevskaya maintains her home within the same building the Julie's Realty office inhabits. "From my balcony," she says, "I can see the building that we first moved in to. Now, it's all come full circle I'm back where it all started, and I'm able to give back. It's truly something special."
For further information, visit http://juliesrealty.net You may also write to [email protected] or call 305.751.6400
SOURCE Julie's Realty
Related Links
http://juliesrealty.net
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
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) plans to issue its 2017 third quarter financial results at approximately 8:00 am EDT on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
The following documents will be available on the website, http://investor.kelloggs.com, at 8:00 am EDT: Press release, financial tables, GAAP reconciliations, and presentation slides.
The company will also host a public conference call / webcast during which Kellogg executive management will review and discuss these results. Speaking on behalf of Kellogg Company will be John Bryant, Kellogg Company Chairman; Steve Cahillane, Chief Executive Officer; Fareed Khan, Chief Financial Officer; and Paul Norman, President, Kellogg North America. A question and answer session with analysts and investors will follow. A transcript of the conference call will be posted on the company website within 24 hours of the event.
Live Conference Call
Date: Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Time: 9:30 am 10:30 am EDT
Teleconference Number: (855) 209-8258 in the U.S.
(412) 542-4104 outside the U.S.
Dial-in available beginning at 9:15 am EDT, no access code needed.
Presentation Slides: Printable slides available at approximately 8:00 am EDT on Tuesday, October 31 at http://investor.kelloggs.com.
Webcast: Live audio webcast with or without slides is available at http://investor.kelloggs.com.
Participation by the press in the live Q&A session is in a listen-only mode.
Rebroadcast
Webcast: Available beginning at 1:00 pm EDT Tuesday, October 31, and for at least 90 days thereafter at http://investor.kelloggs.com.
Podcast: MP3 audio file (podcast) available for download beginning at about 1:00 pm EDT on Tuesday, October 31, at http://investor.kelloggs.com .
Telephonic: Available beginning at 1:30 pm EDT Tuesday, October 31,
until Thursday, November 7, 2017.
(877) 344-7529 in the U.S., access code # 10111921
(412) 317-0088 outside the U.S., access code # 10111921
About Kellogg Company
At Kellogg Company (NYSE: K), we are driven to enrich and delight the world through foods and brands that matter. With 2016 sales of more than $13 billion, Kellogg is the world's leading cereal company; second largest producer of cookies and crackers; a leading producer of savory snacks; and a leading North American frozen foods company. Every day, our well-loved brands nourish families so they can flourish and thrive. These brands include Kellogg's, Keebler, Special K, Pringles, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Pop-Tarts, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Kashi, Cheez-It, Eggo, Coco Pops, Mini-Wheats, and many more. To learn more about our responsible business leadership, foods that delight and how we strive to make a difference in our communities around the world, visit www.kelloggcompany.com.
K-FIN
SOURCE Kellogg Company
Related Links
http://www.investor.kelloggs.com
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
Related Links
http://www.faruqilaw.com
DUBLIN, October 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The "OTT Regulation - Hot Topics: Level Playing Field, Privacy, Taxation, Net Neutrality, Platform and Competition" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.
This report addresses the emerging debates regarding regulation for OTT services. Indeed, as seen with Google Shopping or Apple taxes and sharing economy specific rules in many countries, the initiatives from public stakeholders are becoming more and more important.
Hot topics are so far around taxation, privacy and more recently competition rules. In the context of level playing field, often promoted by telecom operators, the regulations around Net Neutrality and OTT communications are also under the spotlight.
This report provides an overall analysis of the key topics mentioned above and a benchmark of developments at the European level, on 6 European countries (France, UK ,Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain) 3 American countries (USA, Canada, Brazil) and 3 Asian countries (Japan, India, Hong Kong)
Slideshow
Introduction on OTT services
Level Playing Field
Telco concerns with OTTs
Introduction: Level Playing Field
Level Playing Field: the case of communication
Level Playing Field: the case of communication
OTT dynamics
OTT markets
OTT concepts and markets
OTT market dynamics and competition: concerns on competition and privacy
OTT regulation hot topics
Where is the debate heating up?
Taxation: Internet giants avoiding full payment of corporate tax
Taxation: overall view in selected countries
Privacy: users concerned, but few of them taking action
Privacy: overall view in selected countries
Privacy: GDPR in Europe
Platforms: Internet giants and the unfair use of their dominance
Platforms: overall view in selected countries
Net neutrality: EU vs USA
Net Neutrality: Europe
Net Neutrality: overall view in selected countries
Key Topics Covered:
1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction on OTT concepts and markets
2.1. Definitions of OTT
2.1.1. Scope issues
2.1.2. European framework not directly addressing OTT 12
2.1.3. The BEREC approach
2.2. Level Playing Field
2.2.1. Traffic impacts
2.2.2. Traditional telecom market impacts
2.2.3. Other elements for the level playing field; Europe vs International
2.2.4. Relationships between telcos and OTT
2.3. OTT dynamics and key characteristics
2.3.1. OTT revenue models
2.3.2. OTT value chains
2.3.3. OTT markets
2.4. Identification of major topics for potential OTT regulation
3. Privacy
3.1. Synthesis
3.2. Key stakes: personal data now available at unprecedented levels, but with it come various privacy risks
3.2.1. A contrasting approach to privacy between EU and US
3.2.2. Trans-Atlantic data transfer evolves from Safe harbour to Privacy Shield
3.3. Initiatives and reactions in Europe
3.3.1. At the EU level: Reform of EU data protection rules
3.3.2. France
3.3.3. UK
3.3.4. Germany
3.3.5. Netherlands
3.3.6. Italy
3.3.7. Spain
3.4. Initiatives and reactions in the Americas
3.4.1. The US approach to data protection
3.4.2. Canada
3.4.3. Brazil
3.5. APAC
3.5.1. Japan
3.5.2. Hong Kong
3.5.3. India
4. Platform and competition
4.1. Synthesis
4.2. Focus on Uber's embattled expansion
4.2.1. Europe
4.2.2. Americas
4.2.3. Asia-Pacific
4.3. Key stakes
4.4. European Union
4.5. UK
4.5.1. Independent review of the collaborative economy
4.5.2. NRA and NCA opinions
4.6. France
4.7. Germany
4.7.1. White book Digital regulatory policy for growth, innovation, competition and participation
4.7.2. Bundeskartellamt
4.7.3. Other initiatives
4.8. Italy
4.8.1. Sharing Economy Act
4.8.2. AGCM
4.9. Spain
4.9.1. Transportation and ride sharing
4.9.2. CNMC investigation
4.10. Netherlands
4.10.1. Ministry of Economic Affairs
4.10.2. ACM platform investigation
4.11. Canada
4.11.1. Policy and regulation
4.11.2. Canadian Competition Bureau
4.12. Hong Kong
4.12.1. A difficult regulatory environment
4.12.2. Recommendations by the Hong Kong Consumer Council
4.13. USA
4.14. Brazil
4.15. India
4.15.1. TRAI OTT consultation
4.15.2. Supreme Court hearing on privacy
4.15.3. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on ride-sharing
4.16. Japan
5. Taxation
5.1. Synthesis
5.2. Key stakes: Multinational and major companies avoiding full payment of various taxation schemes
5.2.1. Double Irish and Dutch sandwich system to shift value overseas
5.2.2. The Luxembourg tax regime, revealed through LuxLeaks
5.2.3. VAT and other discrepancies also cause for concern
5.2.4. Income stashed overseas
5.3. Reactions to tax avoidance schemes
5.3.1. At the European level
5.3.2. Brazil
5.3.3. Canada
5.3.4. France
5.3.5. Germany
5.3.6. Hong Kong
5.3.7. India
5.3.8. Italy
5.3.9. Spain
5.3.10. United States
5.3.11. UK
5.3.12. Japan
5.3.13. Netherlands
5.4. Appendix
5.4.1. The six key measures proposed by the European Commission to fight tax avoidance
5.4.2. Action Plan on VAT- Towards a single EU VAT area
6. Net neutrality
6.1. Synthesis
6.2. Key stakes
6.2.1. Consumer impact
6.2.2. Technical-economic issues
6.3. European Union
6.3.1. Legacy
6.3.2. Net neutrality in the 2009 framework
6.3.3. Net neutrality in the TSM
6.4. France
6.4.1. Regulator (ARCEP)
6.4.2. Legislation
6.5. UK
6.5.1. Regulator (Ofcom)
6.5.2. Legislation
6.6. Germany
6.6.1. Regulator (BNetzA)
6.6.2. Legislation
6.7. Italy
6.8. Spain
6.9. Netherlands
6.10. Canada
6.11. Hong Kong
6.12. USA
6.13. Brazil
6.14. India
6.14.1. Creating a legal framework for net neutrality
6.14.2. Zero rating
6.15. Japan
Companies Mentioned
ACM
AGCM
AGCOM
Airbnb
Akamai
Alibaba
Amazon Kindle
Amobee
ANRT
AOL
Apple
ARCEP
AT&T
Baidu
Bell Mobility
BEREC
BlaBlaCar
BNetzA
Bobsled
Boku
Booking
BskyB
BT
Cell C
Cisco
CNMC
CNMT
Comcast
CRTC
DataSparks
DBA
Dell
Deutsche Telekom
Didi Chuxing
Dropbox
Evernote
Everything Everywhere
Expedia
Facebook
FreeBeeData
FREETEL
GE
Google
H3G
Hulu
ITunes
J:COM
JD.com
Kayak
KDDI
Level 3
LINE
LoveFilm
Meetic
Microsoft
MTN
Nest
Netflix
NTT DOCOMO
O2
Ofcom
Orange
PriceMinister
Rakuten
Rogers
Salesforce
Samsung
SingTel
Skype
Spotify
Sprint
Starbucks
TalkTalk
Tango
Telecom Egypt
Telecom Italia
Telefnica
Telkom
Telstra
Telus
Tencent
The Priceline Group
Three
T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA
TRAI
Trivago
Twitter
Uber
Verizon
Viber
Vimpelcom
Virgin Media
Vodacom
Vodafone
Waze
WeChat
WhatsApp
Wikipedia
Xfinity
Yahoo!
YouTube
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f7f6zv/ott_regulation
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Host of PBS' Reading Rainbow and lifelong children's literacy advocate, LeVar Burton, will address over 200 legislators, philanthropists, education and public health leaders today at the City Club in LA, highlighting the income-related disparity in kindergarten readiness. The Little by Little School Readiness Program (LBL), an evidence-based early literacy initiative, created by nonprofit Heluna Health, will be the focus of an inaugural 'Literacy for Life' luncheon, emphasizing the need for national investments in early literacy.
Research shows low-income children fall behind in literacy skills extremely early. A study by Hart and Risley found that by age three, children in lower-income families hear 30 million fewer words than children in higher-income families, a disparity called the '30 million word gap.' As a result, poorer children often test lower on school readiness scores than wealthier kids; the gap continues throughout life, affecting graduation rates, income and health. LBL addresses this gap by reaching families served through the WIC program in Los Angeles County.
"The goal of Little by Little is to level the playing field for American children by giving low-income kids an equal chance at success in school and in life," says Dr. Blayne Cutler, CEO of Heluna Health, the nonprofit agency that created LBL. "We are honored to have LeVar Burton lend his esteemed voice to the call for scaling evidence-based programs like LBL across the country." Former LA County Public Health Director, Dr. Jonathan Fielding, and pediatrician, Dr. Neal Kaufman, prior First 5 LA Commissioners and early champions of Little by Little, will also be honored.
About Little by Little: LBL creates a stimulating home environment, fosters literacy, and improves school readiness for over 65,000 low-income children annually. The program delivers a cost efficient ($52/child/year), high-impact program through WIC centers. It is a program of Heluna Health, funded by First 5 LA. Visit www.lblreaders.org.
About Heluna Health: Heluna Health is a national leader in providing program and support services to optimize population health. The agency offers a full range of program development, personnel, financial and grant management support to researchers, consortia, government agencies and nonprofits. Visit www.helunahealth.org.
SOURCE Heluna Health
Related Links
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CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2107 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindsey S. Strom is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Professional Member in the Legal field.
Strom serves as an Attorney at the law firm of Strom & Associates, which specializes in legal services for clients. She brings over 10 years of career experience, as well as expertise in worker's compensation law, appellate practice and general litigation, to her role.
"We take a client-focused approach to every matter we handle," the firm's website states. "We take the time to evaluate your individual needs and expectations and make it a priority to meet them. Once we have an understanding of your situation, we create a plan to reach a conclusion that is of the most benefit to you while in the shortest amount of time possible."
Strom earned her Bachelor's degree in Speech Communications from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2004. She then went on to complete her Juris Doctor from DePaul University in 2008. While she was completing her legal education, she had the opportunity to gain field experience as a law clerk with the Cook County State Attorney's Office in the Juvenile Justice Bureau. Additionally, she obtained her 711 license, which has allowed her to represent clients in court before completing her degree.
Following completion of her degree, Strom joined her father, Neal B. Strom, at his legal firm, Strom & Associates. She has practiced worker's compensation as an insurance defense attorney. Her experience working with insurance companies has provided a wealth of knowledge to clients, and has made her better equipped to help injured workers in need of such expertise.
To further her professional development, Strom is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the Workers' Compensation Association and the Chicago Bar Association. In 2013, she was selected as a Board Member of the Workers' Compensation Lawyers' Association Young Lawyers Section.
In recognition of her outstanding accomplishments in the field, Strom has been recognized by Super Lawyers and Chicago Magazine, and as an Emerging Lawyer in Illinois.
For more information, visit www.stromlawyers.com.
Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]
SOURCE Continental Who's Who
Related Links
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NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Media iQ, the leading global analytics and technology company, announced today that it has achieved two important industry designations that affirm its commitment to brand safety and consumer privacy in the digital space. The company has earned TAG Certified Against Fraud status by the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) and has been accepted as a member of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) by adhering to the organization's strict Codes of Conduct.
TAG is the leading global certification program to fight criminal activity and increase transparency in the digital advertising supply chain. The NAI is a non-profit organization whose purpose is improving the health of the online ecosystem by enforcing high standards for data collection and consumer privacy. The NAI Codes of Conduct are considered the gold standard for self-regulation in the ad-tech industry.
"Together, these two designations underscore how dedicated we are to protecting both brands and consumers online," says Paul Silver, Chief Operating Officer at Media iQ. "Being an NAI member communicates to the industry and our clients that we take all steps necessary to let users know how we use data for online behavioral advertising. And TAG certification confirms that we maintain best practices for brand safety and take advantage of a full array of protective technologies."
The TAG Certified Against Fraud seal also reinforces GUARD, Media iQ's existing three-part brand safety system, and demonstrates that Media iQ meets following requirements:
Uses an MRC Accredited IVT monitoring solution on 100% of impressions bought (Integral Ad Science)
Fraud domain blacklist on 100% of impressions bought
Fraud IP blacklist on 100% of impressions bought
"Especially in light of recent headlines about advertisers paying for fake traffic on major publisher sites, our clients want absolute assurance that their brands and budgets are protected," says John Goulding, Global Product Director at Media iQ. "This certification is just one more way we demonstrate our absolute commitment to ad integrity."
Some studies estimate that as much as 20% of all ad spend is wasted on fraudulent ad traffic industry-wide. MIQ's GUARD helps advertisers avoid fraud online by ensuring brand-safety, minimizing fraud and maximizing performance across all Media iQ campaigns.
"By aligning with NAI and TAG standards, Media iQ is contributing to a healthy online and mobile infrastructure, consumer privacy, and overall trust in the digital ecosystem. We want all stakeholders to be assured of our unwavering stance on brand protection; transparency as well as data access, quality and security." concludes Paul Silver, Chief Operating Officer at Media iQ.
About Media iQ
Media iQ is a leading global analytics technology company that uses its superior analytical platform AiQ to unlock insights from data to drive business growth. AiQ collects, stores and processes over one trillion data points per day, providing customers with valuable insights.
Media iQ has a clear vision for clients to inspire through insights. Its expertise is ingesting large amounts of data, modelling data to convert into insights and then actioning these insights through a variety of products and services. In short, Media iQ makes data valuable, insightful, and intelligent, which helps clients engage customers, grow sales and unlock new revenue opportunities.
Founded in 2010, Media iQ has more than 400 staff in 12 offices globally, serves more than 650 clients, and enjoys a 92% client retention rate globally. Headquartered in the UK, it has offices across North America, Europe and Asia.
About the Trustworthy Accountability Group
The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) is the leading global certification program fighting criminal activity and increasing trust in the digital advertising industry. Created by the industry's top trade organizations, TAG's mission is to eliminate fraudulent traffic, combat malware, prevent Internet piracy, and promote greater transparency in digital advertising. TAG advances those initiatives by bringing companies across the digital advertising supply chain together to set the highest standards. TAG is the first and only registered Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO) for the digital advertising industry. For more information on TAG, please visit tagtoday.net.
About the NAI
The Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) is the leading self-regulatory association exclusively comprised of third-party digital advertising companies. As a non-profit organization, the NAI promotes the health of the online ecosystem by maintaining and enforcing high standards for data collection and use for advertising online and in mobile applications. The organization also educates and empowers consumers to make meaningful choices about their experience with online advertising through an easy-to-use opt-out mechanism.
To learn more, click here.
Media contact:
Nazli Ekim
Director of Public Relations, North America
[email protected]
646.217.0758
SOURCE Media iQ
Related Links
http://www.mediaiqdigital.com
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The global market for medical device security totaled $4.7 billion in 2016. The market should total $5.2 billion in 2017 and $7.5 billion by 2022, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 7.4% from 2017 to 2022.
Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05142316
The hardware segment totaled $2.8 billion in 2016. The market should total $3.0 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion by 2022, increasing at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2017 to 2022.
The software segment totaled $1.0 billion in 2016. The market should total $1.2 billion in 2017 and $1.8 billion by 2022, increasing at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2017 to 2022.
Chapter 1: Introduction
According to the Medical Devices Innovation, Safety and Security Consortium, medical devices comprise a $100 billion market, with one-quarter of these digitally connected devices. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires assurance that new devices are 100% secure, legacy devices deployed prior to regulations regarding cybersecurity are still in use. These pose a security threat, with more than two dozen device types being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Industrial Control Systems - Cyber Emergency Response Division.
The visibility and sensitivity of medical device security provide a strong opportunity for suppliers to offer ways to secure both new and legacy devices. Unlike consumer devices, medical devices must meet guidelines for intelligence sharing regarding potential cyber threats. This includes reporting to federal information sharing organizations and providing vulnerability disclosures and remediation programs.
This means a layer of embedded security features is added in the design phase of the devices.
Manufacturers must implement embedded security measures and monitoring within devices as well as software-based data collection and sharing systems within networks.
Study Goals and Objectives
The goal of this report is to spotlight the key technologies and global market opportunities for medical device security. Opportunities are expressed in terms of potential revenue for the addressable market for medical device security technologies by geographic region, application type and technology type.
This is a companion report to reports on medical device technologies and connected medical devices provided by BCC Research.
Reasons for Doing This Study
The purpose of this study is to size the market for medical device security and the underlying technology. Specifically, the repost estimates the size of medical device security technology hardware, software and platforms, provides related forecasts and discusses the market in depth. This data will enable manufacturers to determine the most effective directions for research and development, product packaging and marketing and sales strategies.
Scope of Report
This report covers the global market for medical device security technologies and provides regional analyses of the markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific. Component segments include chip sets, platforms, software, and services. The market is also segmented by end users such as providers, payers and manufacturers. Furether, application areas such as consumer, wearable, embedded, and in-hospital devices are sized.
Information Sources
The primary information sources include global manufacturers and suppliers of medical device security technology and associated products, suppliers for the manufacture of these products, major users of these products, research organizations, governmental agencies, trade associations, and various equipment suppliers. Additional secondary research sources such as databases, trade literature, specialized journals, and government statistics were used to compile this report.
Methodology
Both primary and secondary research methodologies were used to prepare this report. Initially, a comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on medical device security was conducted. These sources include relevant journals and related books, trade literature, marketing literature, other product/promotional literature, annual reports, analyst reports, and other publications. Subsequently, telephone interviews and email correspondence were conducted with marketing executives, product sales engineers, international sales managers, application engineers, and other personnel of medical device companies. Other sources included academics, related suppliers, technical experts, and consulting companies.
Geographic Breakdown
In this report, the geographic regions considered for market analysis are the following:
North America.
Europe.
Asia-Pacific.
Rest of world.
Medical Device Security, by Technology
Hardware
Software
Services
Medical Device Security, by End Use Market
Healthcare Provider
Manufacturer
Medical Device Security, by Application
Consumer Monitoring
Wearable External
Internally Embedded
Stationary
Chapter 2: Summary and Highlights
For patients, healthcare providers and device manufacturers, cybersecurity in healthcare is "the wild wild west", according to Josh Singletary, CIO for the National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC). Singletary is referring to the number and types of threats, which range from ransomware to credential harvesting.
The motivation in most cases is financial as healthcare associations report that protected heath information (PHI) records are worth $50 each on the black market, which is six times the value of a social security number. Credential harvesting can be used to access PHI records or for other aspects of identity theft in addition to credit card or other financial data. Most recently, ransomware such as WannaCry simply locked down internal systems until the medical provider paid a ransom via Bitcoin.
Protecting against these varied and increasingly sophisticated attacks is difficult as the medical information system footprint is quite large with multiple entry points. Providers must consider incursions across the entire stack of systems, ranging from enterprise IT infrastructure to networks and end points, especially medical devices. In this environment, medical devices can be major entry points into vulnerable healthcare systems.
"Devices have risks, you need to know them and work them," Kevin Fu, CEO of Virta Laboratories and an associate professor and leading research participant for the Archimedes Center for Medical Device Security at the University of Michigan, has stated. The state of vulnerability of medical devices increased in phases. Initially, there were few incursions so over time, legacy devices were deployed with minimal security. Within the last few years, however, the capability to access medical devices via remote wireless signals has ratcheted up risk.
A few recent cases include:
Johnson & Johnson famously became the first device manufacturer to issue a security warning. The warning was regarding its Animus OneTouch Ping Insulin Pump, which could be accessed through unencrypted wireless remote communications to trigger a potential overdose.
In another famous case, a consultant was able to remotely activate a pacemaker, giving him the ability to administer a potentially fatal shock.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, more than 300 security breaches were reported by healthcare facilities in 2017, exposing 1.3 million patient records.
Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05142316
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POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Prescriber's Choice Inc. and Sincerus Florida LLC -- two companies that are revolutionizing the way that pharmaceutical drugs are dispensed -- announced that they have filed counterclaims in their lawsuit against the Bio-pharma giant Allergan plc. The counterclaim alleges that Allergan representatives use false and misleading tactics to dissuade prescribers from working with the two companies, which facilitate physician dispensing of customized lower cost alternatives. The counterclaim comes at a time when Allergan is already under fire for the ethics of their business conduct.
Commenting on the lawsuit, the companies issued the following statement:
"Prescriber's Choice and Sincerus Florida are saddened that a Biopharmaceutical company as large as Allergan must resort to using unscrupulous tactics to mislead prescribers. Rather than relying on the strength of their branded products, they have resorted to telling lies and using bully tactics to instill uncertainty and fear. Today, in true David vs Goliath fashion, we have fired back at the giant by bringing suit against them. Prescriber's Choice and Sincerus Florida have an altruistic vision to provide access to customized affordable medications. This suit is another step in the fight to bring safe innovation to doctors, patients, and the healthcare system."
About Prescriber's Choice Inc and Sincerus Florida, LLC
Prescriber's Choice Inc. and Sincerus Florida LLC are two companies working together to change the paradigm of drug dispensing. Prescriber's Choice which serves as a marketing and consulting arm for Sincerus Florida, a FDA Registered 503B Outsourcing Facility, both work with prescribers to create their own customized formulary, dispense the personalized medications at the time of the patient visit, and allow patients affordable access to drugs. Most of the time, the customized drugs that are dispensed are less than the patients' copayment at the pharmacy on a commercially available drug.
Prescriber's Choice and Sincerus Florida are paving the way for a more streamlined access to medications. Thousands of prescribers around the nation have implemented this streamlined approach. The goals of Prescriber's Choice and Sincerus Florida are to help prescribers so that they can enhance their patients' understanding, increase their patients' compliance, and improve their patients' outcomes.
Contacts:
[email protected]
SOURCE Prescriber's Choice
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The World Thrombosis Day (WTD) Campaign, led by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), today announced that more than 1,000 partners across 85 countries are now participating in a united effort to reduce death and disability from thrombosis (commonly known as blood clots) a more than five-fold increase since the campaign launched in 2014.
"One in four people worldwide die from conditions caused by thrombosis, though many cases are preventable," said Gary Raskob, PhD, Chairman of the World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee, and Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. "We are grateful for the extraordinary support of our global campaign partners who work year-round in their communities to raise awareness of thrombosis, the risk factors, and the signs and symptoms an effort that ultimately helps save lives."
Recognized annually on 13 October, WTD is a global movement that puts a spotlight on thrombosis the underlying cause of the world's top three cardiovascular killers: heart attack, stroke and venous thromboembolism (VTE). WTD 2017 focuses on hospital-associated VTE, given up to 60 percent of all VTEs occur during or after hospitalization and VTE is the leading preventable cause of hospital death.
To learn more about WTD and its campaign partners, visit WorldThrombosisDay.org.
About World Thrombosis Day:
Launched in 2014 and held annually on 13 October, World Thrombosis Day (WTD) aims to increase public, healthcare professional and health care systems' awareness of thrombosis and, ultimately, to reduce deaths and disabilities from thromboembolic disease through a greater awareness of its causes, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and evidence-based prevention and treatment. WTD's mission supports the World Health Assembly's global target of reducing premature deaths by non-communicable disease by 25 percent by 2025, as well as the WHO global action plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in the 2013-2020 timeframe. Unrestricted corporate grants to help support WTD come from Bayer HealthCare, Boehringer Ingelheim, Boston Scientific, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer Alliance, Daiichi Sankyo, Janssen, Portola Pharmaceuticals, Cardinal Health, Siemens, Aspen, Instrumentation Laboratory, Precision BioLogic, Roche and Stago. Visit www.worldthrombosisday.org for more information.
About the ISTH:
Founded in 1969, the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) is the leading worldwide not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic and bleeding disorders. The ISTH is an international membership organization with nearly 5,000 clinicians, researchers and educators working together to improve the lives of patients in more than 90 countries around the world. Among its highly regarded activities and initiatives are education and standardization programs, research activities, meetings and conferences, peer-reviewed publications and expert committees. Visit ISTH online at www.isth.org.
Media Inquiries:
Barbara Krolak, Relationship and Campaign Specialist
International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
[email protected]
SOURCE International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH)
Related Links
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The News in Brief
Georgia's Tourism Strategy is Starting to Pay Off
Georgia takes its tourism seriously, very seriously. Just ask Jesper Black. When the Dutch tourist landed at Tbilisi International Airport becoming the countrys six millionth visitor in 2016 he was whisked away in a Mercedes sedan for a red carpet welcome and private dinner with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili. The agency behind the campaign to mark the countrys milestone even created a website for Georgians to vote on which national dish should be served to the six millionth tourist, khinkali dumplings or chkmeruli chicken? Clearly having jumped from 2.8 million visitors in 2011 to six million in 2016 is a big deal in this former Soviet Republic situated between Europe, Russia and the Middle East. And suddenly it feels as if its on every travelers radar. In 2015, Georgia ranked 25th on the New York Times 52 Places to Go. New flight routes have launched from cities around Europe and this year Georgia made Conde Nast Travelers list of hottest upcoming wine destinations.
These inroads are the culmination of a significant push and investment on all fronts to develop Georgias tourism industry into sustainable major driver to improve its overall global economic position. In 2015, the Georgian government partnered with the World Bank to develop a cohesive strategy to attract high-value tourists from around the globe.
Georgia has always been synonymous with a culture of hospitality and warmth, visitors are said to be gifts from God. In Soviet times its Black Sea resorts were a big draw along with its celebrated cuisine and wine culture. But after the breakup of the Soviet Union tourism began to decline due to crumbling infrastructure, corruption, failure to collect tax revenues and political unrest.
Since 2004 the government has simplified the tax code, improved tax administration, increased tax enforcement, and cracked down on petty corruption, leading to higher revenues. The World Bank has praised Georgias anti-corruption efforts and is working closely with the country to modernize its tourism industry.
Georgia has all the makings of the next great tourist destination -- an impressive list of UNESCO world heritage sites, rugged alpine villages with monasteries dating back to the Middle Ages and a renowned cuisine. But perhaps more than any other facet of its tourism industry, Georgias esteemed wine culture may ultimately put it on the map. Georgia has distinct wine traditions dating back 8,000 years, picturesque hill towns reminiscent of Italys Tuscany and hundreds of indigenous grape varieties.
In Kakheti, one of the most prominent wine regions in the country, monks have been making wines in Qvevri, large clay vessels, since the Middle Ages. The Qveri are filled with crushed grapes, skins and seeds then buried to allow for fermentation. Georgians refer to the nine month long process that forgoes sulphites and added chemicals as leaving the wine with its mother before it's born."
The Qvevri method is increasing in popularity with vintners who recognize the benefits of natural and organic wine-making. At Pheasants Tears, a restaurant and vineyard founded by American John Wunderman and his Georgian wife, Ketevan, they use naturally occurring yeasts to achieve wines of unique character and sophistication. Their wines are on the menu at Denmarks celebrated Nomarestaurant and the couple, which has seven vineyards, plans to open a hotel, event space as well as a beer and hard cider brewery. As for how they chose the name of their restaurant, Wunderman explains, According to Georgian folk tale, only the finest of wines can bring a pheasant to tears. Underscoring an upbeat mood about the economy, many young Georgians who were educated abroad are returning home to spur development in many business sectors and tourism start ups.
Nino Turashvili, who works with the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA), is a perfect example of young and mobile professional who has returned with knowledge and theory to make an impact on the countrys tourism industry.
There has always been a culture of hospitality in Georgia, she said. But we need to teach local small business owners about standards of modern tourism industry and at the same time keep authentic the Georgian spirit of generosity and hospitality.
Small business owners like Giorgi Khutsishvili who studied medicine abroad before returning to help modernize his familys business have sought foreign investors eager to promote Georgian products unknown outside the country.
Take Khutsishvili, he is on a mission to introduce the world to Churchkhela, a Georgian delicacy made by threading shelled nuts onto string with a needle then dipped several times into a mix of wine, spices and flour. Each layer is left to dry in the sun before the next resulting in a chewy, confectionery-like shell that resembles a sausage.
Churchkhela has long been an obsession at home, but now there is a demand abroad for Khutsishvilis products which are sold in European and American markets and on Amazon.
At a recent travel forum the Georgian government laid out its ambitious goals for the tourism industry: Build 25 new hotels in next two years, improve infrastructure, work with locals to develop guest houses along the Black Sea coast and elevate tourism standards. The countrys overall goal is to reach $6.6 billion in tourism dollars by 2025.
Its strategy rests in part on strategic partnerships with Google and travel websites such as Tripadvisor and Expedia. And on innovative internet and TV campaigns like the one celebrating the arrival of the countrys six millionth man, Jesper Black.
As for Black, hes moved to Georgia. One week simply wasnt enough. He told us he stuck around to travel and happened to land a gig on Dancing With The Stars Georgia. When Black first arrived in Tbilisi he was welcomed with a massive billboard with his picture on it that said, He has arrived. It seems so has Georgia, at least when it comes to the tourism strategy. (Forbes)
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
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. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. will have a significant presence at the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. next week. Two of the company's leading experts will present on trending industry topics, and Wolters Kluwer's duo of workflow solutions for corporate counsel effacts and General Counsel Navigator will be featured in their most recently updated and improved versions at the conference.
Tina Ayotte Welu, Corporate Counsel Practice Lead at Wolters Kluwer, and Michele Alwin, Manager for effacts Sales & Operations, will participate in a roundtable discussion on October 17, entitled "Using Legal Technology Tools to Increase Productivity." Both experts will provide practical guidance for corporate counsel on topics including legal technology tools for managing workload, and best practices for approaching challenges in selecting and implementing workflow solutions.
"Everyone wants to increase efficiency and cut costs, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every legal department to do so," said Ms. Ayotte Welu. "It is crucial that corporate counsel identify specific goals before implementing a legal technology solution, and create a step-by-step plan for execution in order to avoid paralysis and ensure success."
The ACC Annual Meeting will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. To learn more about the ACC Annual Meeting, visit http://www.acc.com/education/am17/index.cfm
Wolters Kluwer is a leader in developing highly innovative and eminently practical tools for corporate counsel. Two of these tools - effacts and General Counsel Navigator - will be on display at the ACC Annual Meeting.
effacts is a simple, affordable and secure solution to extract value from legal information, manage risk and collaborate seamlessly with other departments. Designed specifically for the small to mid-sized corporate legal department, effacts provides smart tools, a secure online repository and customizations to meet each organization's needs. To see a demo of effacts, visit Booth #357. To learn more about effacts, visit WoltersKluwerLR.com/effacts
Wolters Kluwer will also feature its newly redesigned General Counsel Navigator, the company's leading workflow tools for corporate counsel professionals. Designed by in-house counsel, the platform features a new, intuitive user interface and search capabilities, providing users with a single resource to access Wolters Kluwer's expert content and actionable information more quickly than ever before. To speak with Wolters Kluwer experts and see a demo for General Counsel Navigator, visit Booth #355. To learn more about the tool, visit: www.WoltersKluwerLR.com/GCN
About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is a part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.
For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media
Linda Gharib
Director, Communications
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Related Links
http://www.WoltersKluwerLR.com
SEATTLE, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading fashion retailer Nordstrom, Inc. opened the doors to its new, relocated store at Westfield UTC today. The two level, 145,000 square-foot store features the company's latest interior and exterior design concepts, a full-service restaurant and bar, designer boutiques and an expanded beauty experience. The store is a relocation from its previous home at the other end of the mall, which opened in 1984.
"Our La Jolla customers have been very supportive of our business over the past 33 years," said Kathy Keegan, store manager at Nordstrom La Jolla at UTC. "We love serving this community and relocating and opening a new store allows us to better serve customers on their terms through an updated shopping experience."
What's New
The store showcases the company's newest design concepts, which incorporates natural light with a single-surface floor throughout to help create a sense of discovery for customers to experience new brands. New additions include eight designer boutiques housing apparel and handbags from Chloe, Gucci, Saint Laurent and Valentino; SPACE, a boutique curated by Vice President of Creative Projects Olivia Kim with advanced and emerging designers like Comme des Garcons, Simone Rocha, Molly Goddard, Jacquemus and Y/Project; Bazille, a full-service restaurant and bar serving bistro-cuisine; an expanded beauty experience with Beauty Concierge for questions and booking appointments, and new brands including Charlotte Tilbury, Tom Ford, Hourglass, Le Labo, Byredo, Atelier Cologne and more; as well as services like Buy Online & Pick-Up In-Store, Curbside Pickup, Reserve & Try In-Store, Style Boards, and Same-Day Delivery which bridge the convenience of online shopping with the personal experience of the store.
Brands & Services
Nordstrom La Jolla at UTC offers customers a comprehensive offering of popular, luxury and designer brand names for men, women and children. Customers can shop designer fashion from Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Isabel Marant, and shoes by Gucci and Valentino. The store also offers apparel from A.L.C., Alice + Olivia, Rag & Bone, Self-Portrait, Veronica Beard, Frame Denim, Rebecca Taylor, as well as limited-distribution brands TOPSHOP, Madewell, and J. Crew. For men, the store offers TOPMAN, Wings & Horns, Norse Projects, John Varvatos, A.P.C. and more.
To enhance the in-store experience, Nordstrom provides special services to make shopping convenient, easy and fun for customers, including Personal Stylists, Beauty Stylists, alterations and tailoring, certified shoe and bra fitters, prosthesis services, shoeshine, coffee bar and more.
Opening Events
Opening day festivities kicked off with a Beauty Bash at 8 a.m. just outside the store's mall entrance. Customers learned the latest tips and tricks for fall from the top names in beauty and fragrance. In what has become Nordstrom opening tradition, more than 550 employees welcomed and applauded the first customers through the doors at 10 a.m.
Promises2Kids and Voices for Children were the beneficiaries of a sold-out opening gala earlier in the week. Nordstrom hosted and underwrote the gala for more than 1,400 guests that raised $140,000 for the nonprofits work on behalf of local foster youth.
Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 360 stores in 40 states, including 122 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 227 Nordstrom Rack stores; two Jeffrey boutiques; and two clearance stores. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com and HauteLook. The company also owns Trunk Club, a personalized clothing service serving customers online at TrunkClub.com and its seven clubhouses. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.
CONTACT: John Bailey
Nordstrom, Inc.
(206) 303-3018
SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.nordstrom.com
The Northwell contingent leaving this afternoon from JFK International Airport is part of a team of 78 New York hospital volunteers heading to the hurricane-raved island. In addition to supplying a team of nurses, physicians, medics, EMTs and other clinicians and administrators to help out with the medical mission, Northwell is donating $750,000 toward the effort, and shipping 60,000 pounds of supplies and personal hygiene products that were donated by the health system's employees.
The donated supplies everything from cases of water to baby formula, diapers, batteries, toothpaste and cleaning supplies will be transported on a container ship to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and distributed by MedShare, a humanitarian organization that Northwell Health has worked with in response to numerous natural disasters over the years. The health system had previously donated about 800 boxes of clinical supplies such as surgical masks and catheters as well as pharmaceutical drugs to local hospitals through MedShare's disaster relief program.
Speaking to volunteers on Wednesday who gathered at the health system's corporate headquarters in New Hyde Park for a briefing on the mission, Northwell Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Solazzo said, "This mission is important to us at Northwell. It goes to the core of what we believe in. We are proud and honored to provide this help."
Team leader Randy Howard spoke about the potential difficulties of a mission of this nature, explaining that the volunteers will likely be asked to provide medical support at a federal medical station in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, located on the island's northern coast. Such facilities, located throughout Puerto Rico, are designed to care for up to 250 patients at a time.
"We will be asked to deal with everything from scrapes and bruises to the most acute care that is called for," said Mr. Howard, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army before retiring from the military. "While we don't know exactly where we will be stationed, we will be prepared."
Mary Mahoney, senior director of emergency management at Northwell Health, discussed existing living conditions and what volunteers will face during the mission.
"Aside from the obvious medical difficulties the island's inhabitants are living with on a daily basis, we are also aware of the potential outbreak of infectious diseases there," said Ms. Mahoney. "It won't be easy, but we are well equipped and most concerned about the safety of our team. We've planned very long and very hard for this, knowing that we might be living in a hospital, a shelter or outside. Our team is honored to provide medical care that will help get the people of Puerto Rico back on their feet."
As part of the medical mission initiated by Gov. Cuomo and coordinated by the Greater New York Hospital Association and the state Department of Health, the Northwell volunteers will be joined by colleagues at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York- Presbyterian, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in Manhattan, and Albany Medical Center.
"Our employees' response to this call for help was extraordinary," said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. "Just like they do every day in responding to the needs of their patients, our employees demonstrated incredible caring and commitment to helping the people of Puerto Rico recover from one of the worst natural disasters in its history."
About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 22 hospitals, over 550 outpatient facilities and nearly 15,000 affiliated physicians. We care for more than two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 62,000 employees 15,000+ nurses and 3,900 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.
Contact: Michelle Pinto
516-321-6708
[email protected]
SOURCE Northwell Health
Related Links
https://www.northwell.edu
Omnigo's mission is to help ensure a world with safer tomorrows by giving security professionals the tools they need to prevent threats from becoming incidents. "I see tremendous opportunity to create new solutions that can enhance and expand upon the technologies now being used by first responders," Robertson said. "These are the heroic men and women who protect lives daily. Our team looks forward to helping them serve the public in the most effective way possible."
Omnigo recently relocated its headquarters to 10430 Baur Blvd. in St. Louis. Robertson said that while other options were explored, "the company chose Missouri because of its solid pro-business environment that aligns well with Omnigo's strategy to invest in and grow a high tech company. We project 2017 revenue at approximately three hundred percent of our revenue at the end of 2016 and we will head into 2018 with more than 100 full-time employees."
"It's an honor to provide a corporate home to Omnigo's workers, and support its important mission," said Missouri Governor Eric Greitens. "We look forward to a bright future with new innovations being made in St. Louis and new jobs coming to the area."
According to Robertson, Omnigo has attracted several seasoned professionals for key executive positions such as CFO and CTO. Hiring of additional top-level and mid-level executives is now underway and Omnigo will fill dozens of positions in its Missouri office as it grows rapidly into 2018.
Prior to joining Omnigo, Robertson pioneered the use of cloud-based software applications in post-acute healthcare settings. During a 20-year period, he grew HEALTHCAREfirst into a leading provider of EHR, revenue cycle management and analytics solutions for home health and hospice providers. Robertson is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and currently serves on the boards of HEALTHCAREfirst (which serves the needs of more than 4,000 health care providers,) MedtranDirect (which provides HIPAA compliant electronic data interchange solutions to healthcare technology companies and providers,) and Missouri's Coordinating Board for Higher Education (which oversees the Department of Higher Education in Missouri).
About Omnigo Software
Omnigo Software is the leading provider of public safety, incident and security management solutions for law enforcement, education, healthcare and other enterprises, offering easy-to-use and flexible applications that provide actionable insight for making more informed decisions. Omnigo solutions have helped law enforcement and security professionals increase staff productivity by up to 25%, reduce compliance risk, and show measured improvements in safety and security. Founded by law enforcement professionals, Omnigo can be found online at www.omnigo.com.
SOURCE Omnigo Software
Related Links
http://omnigo.com
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
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
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- INDATEL Services, LLC Carrier Wholesale Division to provide simple national pricing for over 275,000 buildings in 30 states starting November 1, 2017, with a projection of over 500,000 buildings in early 2018, and eventually exceeding one million buildings. The sites are primarily located in rural America where carriers often find difficulty quoting, coordinating and delivering services. Nearly 700 independent Rural Local Exchange Carrier providers (RLECs) make up INDATEL's 30 Statewide Member/Owners and Affiliates.
INDATEL's value to wholesale clients is the ability to connect Ethernet services through its network of rural providers by simply meeting at one or more of INDATEL's current 6 (six) National Points of Presence (PoPs). The project is large in scope but according to Diana Dreyer INDATEL's Carrier Sales Manager, that is where the members and owners of INDATEL prove to have the essential assets to make an effective and efficient nationwide network. Dreyer says; "By breaking down the project state by state, each of INDATEL's Members play a critical role in putting pricing together by leveraging the independent rural providers and owners in their area; pricing that fits the simple flat rate model. With this initiative, wholesale customers will now enjoy a simple experience when partnering with INDATEL to serve clients in rural areas." INDATEL expects to complete the first phase of the project prior to November and should have approximately 275,000 sites priced with the flat rate model; eventually growing to over 500,000 sites priced by early 2018. Justin Forte, Vice President - National Sales, says, "We will greatly improve turnaround times, efficiencies, and ultimately drive down costs for our clients and Member/Owners and Affiliates. We surveyed our customers to determine what things we can control to improve their experience, drive profitable business and build better relationships; this is what they asked us to provide. On-boarding with INDATEL will be a breeze thanks to the new simple rate structure providing service to business-critical locations in rural and suburban America. There has never been a better time to partner with INDATEL!"
The company is comprised of 30 Statewide Members, 20 are considered owners that provided the funding to create the company. INDATEL's Member/Owners & Affiliates reinvest in INDATEL annually to promote the continued success. INDATEL provides insight and access to national opportunities many of the statewide and independent rural exchange providers may not otherwise garner and serve.
www.INDATEL.com/
SOURCE INDATEL Services LLC
Related Links
http://www.Indatel.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
SEATTLE, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In the first three quarters of 2017, PE firms deployed $401.7 billion across 2,820 deals, representing an 11% decline in deal volume compared to the same period last year, according to PitchBook's 3Q 2017 US Private Equity Breakdown report. The slowdown in deal making comes as a surprise given fundraising in 2017 is nearing the highest levels ever tracked. In the third quarter, Apollo Asset Management closed a $24.7 billion fund, making it the largest buyout fund ever raised. While deal making was challenged by several factors, including price and quality issues, PE investors continue to make add-on acquisitions a key strategy in 2017, accounting for 64% of all US-based buyouts. At the same time, the number of exits in 3Q dropped 20% from 2Q 2017, despite PE investors being eager to exit the nearly 40% of PE company inventory acquired over five years ago. As PE investors struggled to find strategic buyers, the proportion of secondary buyouts increased to 50% of exits.
"As evidenced by near record-breaking fundraising, confidence in the PE asset class remains strong, despite headwinds investors face with elevated prices, high levels of dry powder and a decrease in activity from strategic acquirers," said Nico Cordeiro, analyst at PitchBook. "Investors have implemented strategies to adapt to the current market environment, but are still under pressure to put capital to work and source exits for their inventory of aging portfolio companies. With several announced deals with initial valuations above $1 billion, PE deal making could end up finishing the year strong."
Add-On Acquisitions Become Key PE Strategy Amidst Price and Quality Challenges
In 3Q 2017, PE firms invested $163.4 billion across 959 deals, up from $115.7 billion across 859 deals last quarter. Despite an uptick in 3Q, overall PE deal making is down compared to 2016 and is most noticeable in the lack of mega-deals. The largest PE investment this year was BDT Capital Partners' $7.16 billion buyout of Panera Bread, which is significantly smaller than years' past, including PE-backed Dell's $67 billion acquisition of EMC in 2016 and PE-backed Heinz's $55 billion acquisition of Kraft Food Groups in 2015. The reluctance in PE can be attributed to several factors, one being a supply and demand issue. Record M&A activity in 2015-2016 has left a smaller number of quality investment opportunities, adding to pricing pressures for promising companies. Since 2016, EV/EBITDA multiples have held at 10.5x, a steep multiple on a historical basis. To cope with the high-priced environment, PE firms have continued to focus on add-on investments (64%) as these deals tend to have lower price multiples and help with growing platform companies. The software industry, which now accounts for 68.3% of deals in the IT sector, has served as a source of growth for PE investors.
Secondary Buyouts Provide Liquidity Relief for Aging Portfolio Companies
In the private market's current state, all indicators point to a sellers' market, with sky-high valuations, ample dry powder, aging portfolio companies and healthy corporate balance sheets. Despite these factors, PE-backed exits have experienced a 20% dip from 2Q 2017 with just 224 exits in the third quarter totaling $40.8 billion. One cause of the decline in exits is the recent pullback from strategic acquirers. In 2017, corporate acquisitions have made up just 46% of all exits, the lowest percentage the PitchBook Platform has tracked. On the flip side, secondary buyouts made up the highest percentage ever tracked, or 50% of total exits. PE firms may be feeling pressure to exit long-held portfolio companies as 38% of US PE company inventory was acquired over five years ago. With PE firms also needing to deploy record levels of dry powder, secondary buyouts will likely remain a prominent exit strategy.
Fundraising Nears 2007 Record in 2017 With Fewer, Larger Vehicles
PE fundraising is near its all-time high as a result of the asset class' continued outperformance of public markets and other alternative assets. What's more, fund managers are raising larger sums across fewer vehicles. In the third quarter, $62.4 billion was raised across 58 vehicles, the lowest number of funds since 2Q 2016. Median fund sizes have skyrocketed in recent years, currently sitting at $265 million, which is the highest PitchBook has recorded since 2006. The number of mega-funds raised this year has also reached a decade-high, accounting for 54% of all capital raised by PE funds in 2017. Leading the way on the fundraising trail was the aforementioned Apollo Global Management and its $24.7 billion fund, which dethroned Blackstone Group's 2007 vehicle worth $21.7 billion as the largest buyout fund ever raised.
Additional findings in this report include:
Q&A: Merrill Corporation
Deals by size and sector
PE activity in Software
Q&A: Murray Devine
Exits
Q&A: Twin Brook Capital Partners
Fundraising
League Tables
Download the full report here.
About PitchBook
PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscapeincluding public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook has offices in Seattle, New York and London and serves more than 12,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.
Contact: Bailey Fox, 1 206-823-3022, [email protected]
SOURCE PitchBook
Related Links
http://www.pitchbook.com
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
(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
[email protected]
http://WWW.NATUREANDMORE.COM
SOURCE Eosta
The international market research and consulting team, Navigant Research, analyzed and assessed the global solar PV market and the 15 leading providers of Residential Solar Monitoring and Home Energy Management Systems. They ranked companies based on the criteria of technical functionality, product portfolio, geographical coverage, and the service life of the products. According to the Navigant Research report, Residential Solar Monitoring and HEMS , Solar-Log is no. 2 worldwide for residential solar PV monitoring and home energy management.
According to the GTM Research report, Global PV Monitoring 2017-2022, Solar-Log is monitoring the second largest fleet (in GW) among all other independent software vendors globally.
"We are proud and honored to be recognized by these two titans of research," said Anthony Conklin, President of Solar Data Systems, "We are in constant innovation mode and to see these two reports confirms that our newest products are right in-line with today's industry demand."
Solar-Log has been leading the solar PV monitoring industry in both the residential and commercial sectors for more than 12 years. State-of-the-art technology combines yield forecasting, PV management, battery storage monitoring, EV charging stations, heat pumps, and power generators which can be switched on or off and visualized through the web-based platform, Solar-Log WEB Enerest. Solar-Log is a truly hardware independent platform compatible with over 1,700 inverter models from 100 different manufacturers and with more than 100 additional component manufacturers. The result is an easy, all-in-one solution for solar installers and plant owners to protect their solar investment.
About Solar Data Systems, Inc. and Solare Datensysteme GmbH
Solar Data Systems, Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of Solare Datensysteme GmbH, manufacturer of Solar-Log web-enabled monitoring and metering solutions for photovoltaic plants. Solar-Log is a global market leader with over 270,000 plants monitored world-wide, with a generating power of 11.8 GWp. The Solar-Log product family monitors plant performance, integrates yield forecasting, provides real-time error detection, automatic status information, and offers revenue-grade metering for incentive reporting. This industry-leading functionality maximizes PV plant performance, optimizes self-consumption, provides intelligent grid feed-in controls, and best-in-class PV plant fleet management. Solare Datensysteme GmbH is based in Binsdorf, Germany and is a subsidiary of BKW AG (Bern, Switzerland) a global company for energy and infrastructure.
SOURCE Solar Data Systems, Inc.
LONDON, October 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
On 9-10 October, EU Fisheries Ministers are provisionally scheduled to consider adoption of a European Commission proposal which would ban eel fishing in the Baltic as an emergency measure, because the EU Eel Regulation, established in 2007, is considered to be failing: the agreed goals have not been realized and the required protection has not been achieved. The Sustainable Eel Group (SEG), however, is convinced that such a measure in isolation is not effective and, in contrast, calls for a holistic approach to ensure better eel management.
SEG, a Europe-wide NGO whose mission is to accelerate the recovery of the eel, is now calling for a decisive response to this impasse. Banning a particular fishing area is not a long-term solution for international effective eel management. Many factors have and continue to contribute to this decline: loss of wetland habitat, pollution, water-management blocking migration pathways, unscreened water pumps, hydropower stations, and over-exploitation. This is a complex problem that cannot be solved by regional emergency measures focusing only on fisheries. SEG is convinced that a full scale re-evaluation of the Eel Regulation is now required.
Eel stocks throughout Europe have declined drastically in the past 60 years. Culturally, ecologically and economically, the European eel is a very important species and therefore needs to be well protected. The eel is enjoyed in many communities across Europe and North Africa. The eel processing and retail adds value and the total employment amounts to many thousands of jobs. SEG estimates the total worth to be 750m Euros annually.
In 2003, in the build-up to the Eel Regulation 2007, the Commission published a Communication which included discussion on the partitioning of responsibilities for managing the eel between the EU and its Member States. Amongst others, the Commission considered "the possibility of developing a management body" for coordination and orchestration of national and international protective actions. Until now no such management organization has been established. Partly as a result, national protective actions remain uncoordinated and have become ineffective.
SEG believes that a step change is needed to ensure adequate protection and sustainable use of the eel in the form of the creation of an international body, as considered in 2003 to coordinate and promote efficient and effective protection, thus enabling sustainable exploitation with a view to ultimately achieving responsible management for a recovery of the European eel stock.
About SEG
SEG is an International NGO for accelerating the recovery of the European Eel that brings together the leaders from Science, Conservation and Commercial interests.
Information: http://www.sustainableeelgroup.org
SOURCE Sustainable Eel Group
DUBLIN, October 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The "Sonar System Market - Global Forecast to 2022" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.
The sonar system market was valued at USD 3.49 Billion in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 3.72 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 4.33% from 2017 to 2022. Various factors such as growth in the defense spending of Asia Pacific and North American countries on naval platforms has led to a rise in the demand for sonar systems for defense in these regions. Moreover, growth in the usage of sonars for fish finding has led to the demand for commercial sonars.
Among applications, the defense segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the sonar system market in 2017. Anti-submarine warfare operations have the highest application of sonars in defense. Commercial application includes usage of sonars in hydrographic surveys, navigation, and fisheries. The demand for navigation sonar systems is mainly from shipbuilding countries.
Among product types, the general-purpose hull mounted sonar segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the sonar system market in 2017. These sonars are installed in ships' hull for navigation and threat detection. The seabed imaging and information sonar segment is expected to account for the second-largest market share in 2017. These sonars are used for hydrographic surveying and sub bottom profiling.
Based on installation, the vessel mount segment is projected to lead the sonar system market during the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the increase in shipbuilding activities wherein these sonars are installed in a ship's hull. UUV is the fastest growing installation segment due to the increase in the utilization of Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (AUV) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV). These vehicles are used for hydrographic surveys and underwater military surveillance.
The Asia Pacific sonar system market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2017 to 2022. Countries in this region include China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India. Substantial investments by China in defense and investments by various Asia Pacific nations in shipbuilding capabilities are some of the factors driving the sonar system market in the Asia Pacific region.
However, adverse effects of sonar systems on the marine life are expected to act as a restraint for the market growth.
Companies Mentioned
Atlas Elektronik
Furuno
JRC
Kongsberg Gruppen
L3
Lockheed Martin
Navico
Raytheon
Sonardyne
Teledyne
Thales
Ultra Electronics
Key Topics Covered:
1 Introduction
2 Research Methodology
3 Executive Summary
4 Premium Insights
5 Market Overview
6 Industry Trends
7 Sonar System Market, By Product Type
8 Sonar System Market, By Installation
9 Sonar System Market, By Mode of Operation
10 Sonar System Market, By Application
11 Geographical Analysis
12 Company Profiles
13 Appendix
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5dpb8x/sonar_system
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
Related Links
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
Built on the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC20 token, the STK token will enable users to transact with cryptocurrency in global markets and at brick-and-mortar stores in real-time. "STK will bridge the gap between the 22 trillion dollar retail marketplace and one of the fastest growing currencies in the world," said Miro Pavletic, co-founder and Director of STK Global Payments. "We've simplified the blockchain process so that you can use cryptocurrency as easily as you would a debit card or cash."
STK's Global Advisory Board has decades of combined strategic experience spanning multiple industries, including finance, technology, political science and regulatory affairs. The Board includes a founding member of Ethereum, a Stanford University Visiting Fulbright Scholar, an award-winning publisher and entrepreneur and a Blockchain Specialist with multiple successful exits.
"This is an incredibly distinguished group of industry leaders, with a wealth of both practical and strategic experience," said Pavletic. "We're fortunate to benefit from their thought leadership as we move into the development and implementation phase ahead."
STK Advisory Board
Ethan Wilding
Co-Founder of Ledger Labs, and a founding team member of Ethereum
Ethan Wilding is the former Chair of the Certified Bitcoin Professional exam, one of the first not-for-profit programs to establish a standard body of knowledge in the field of blockchain technologies. Ethan earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo and taught at the Balsille School of International Affairs.
"STK aims to break down the cryptocurrency usability barrier and make crypto as familiar to use as traditional payments, all with no fees and no confirmation delays. To do this they are leading the way by implementing a cutting-edge Ethereum blockchain technique called State Channels; this technique will be become the standard for many types of cryptocurrency payments." -- Ethan Wilding
David LEE Kuo Chuen
Professor, Entrepreneur, Director and Advisor
Visiting Fulbright Scholar (2015) at Stanford University and Professor for Fintech and Blockchain at Singapore University of Social Science
Professor David LEE Kuo Chuen is the founder of several companies including California-based Left Coast and Singapore's Ferrell Group. He is an investor in several successful Blockchain companies including Qtum and TenX. David has held several esteemed positions in the financial industry, including Director of the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at Singapore Management University and Group Managing Director of OUE and Auric Pacific. He graduated with BSc, MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
"One of the areas of financial services and financial technology that I'm most passionate about is the idea of financial inclusion. People around the world face many barriers when it comes to accessing, spending or saving their money. A universally accessible solution like the STK token, that provides advanced financial services to people regardless of country or currency is something I am excited to be a part of." -- David LEE Kuo Chuen
Richard Kastelein
Founder of Blockchain News
Richard Kastelein is a partner at ICO services collective CryptoAsset Design Group, and Director of educational company Blockchain Partners (an Oracle Partner). An award-winning publisher & entrepreneur, Richard has advised several blockchain start-ups through successful ICOs and has authored more than 1400 articles on blockchain technology on leading industry publications including Harvard Business Review, Venturebeat and Blockchain News.
"I like to support a solid project with a solid team. I got involved with STK because the team was very strong. When you couple that with a brilliant product you get a winner. I'll use the solution myself, so I'm confident there is a market for their mobile-first, crypto-friendly solution. And, they're fellow Canadians, which added to my decision." -- Richard Kastelein
Chami Akmeemana
Blockchain Specialist
Chami Akmeemana has had four successful venture exits in the last decade, and currently advises a select roster of Blockchain companies. Chami was the Director of regulatory and government affairs at ConsenSys Inc., Fintech Advisor to the Ontario Securities Commission and Managing Director, Fintech and Blockchain at the Global Risk Institute. Chami is also the Chairman of the Blockchain Association of Australia.
"This is a true game changer for the financial payments and retail sectors. The STK token represents a significant stride in the journey to achieve real time settlement of cryptocurrencies in all forms of mainstream financial transactions, in large part leveraging State Channels, which is one of the latest updates to the Ethereum Blockchain." -- Chami Akmeemana
The STK public token sale begins on November 13, 17:00 UTC.
Visit www.stktoken.com for more details.
SOURCE STK Global Payments
ESCONDIDO, Calif., Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stone Brewing's distributing division, Stone Distributing Co., will donate a portion of its sales throughout the month of October to benefit those affected by the devastation of the Northern California fires. Donations will be made to Direct Relief providing emergency assistance to California's Office of Emergency Services, the Napa County Public Health Department and more than 40 health centers and clinics in the affected region.
Stone Distributing Co. is responsible for the distribution of independent craft and specialty beers throughout all of Southern California. Alongside the self-distribution of Stone Brewing beers, the company also proudly represents 38 craft and specialty beers from California, across the US and the world. These include Sonoma County's Bear Republic Brewing and Russian River Brewing Company, since 2001 and 2005, respectively.
"We have spoken with Richard Norgrove Sr. and Jr. of Bear Republic, and Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo of Russian River and verified that they are personally OK and that their businesses are safe," said Dominic Engels, Stone Brewing CEO. "However, they have many employees, colleagues, friends, family and neighbors who have been dramatically affected in this historically tragic set of Northern California wildfires. We cannot sit idle with such devastation at hand."
The thoughts of many Southern Californians this week are with their Northern California brothers and sisters, especially at Stone Brewing, where the team is anticipating the opening of its Napa brewery this December. With a tragedy of such huge proportion, Stone is taking immediate action.
For the month of October (retroactive to October 1):
For every case of Bear Republic and Russian River beer sold by Stone Distributing Co., the company will donate $0.25 .
. Stone will further donate $0.25 for every case of Stone Brewing beer sold in Southern California .
for every case of Stone Brewing beer sold in . Stone Brewing will donate $0.15 for every case of Stone beer sold via its wholesale distribution partners throughout the rest of California .
What's more, in an act of amazing solidarity that is characteristic of the independent craft brewing community, the following list of brands distributed by Stone Distributing Co. have committed to splitting a donation of $0.25 per case for the entire month.
Avery Brewing Co.
Kern River Brewing Company
MadeWest Brewing Company
Mason Ale Works
Maui Brewing Co.
Mikkeller Brewing
Smog City Brewing Company
The Bruery
The Lost Abbey
Victory Brewing Company
Wandering Aengus Ciderworks
This is the initial list at press time. More are anticipated to be added as brewers are able to respond. The final list will be updated at stonebrewing.com/about/press
Stone Distributing Co. anticipates that this effort will allow the company to donate more than $50,000 to fire relief charities.
"Russian River and Bear Republic are incredibly appreciative of all the support Stone Distributing Co. and its partner breweries are giving Sonoma County," expressed Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing Company Owner / Brewer. "Additionally, Russian River and Bear Republic are also doing their own fund raising efforts to help those in need."
To date, Stone Brewing has donated more than $3.3 million to charity. In addition, Stone Brewing is donating $1 of every pint or growler fill of Stone Delicious IPA to Direct Relief to aid Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico. The campaign continues throughout the month of October at all Stone Brewing locations. In September, the company donated proceeds to the Houston Food Bank via a similar campaign aiding Hurricane Harvey victims.
About Stone Distributing Co.
Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1998, Stone Distributing Co. is California's largest distributor of independent craft beers and specialty beverages. The company represents 38 brands and services the largest beer market in the U.S., comprised of 40,000 square-miles within all of Southern California. The company's fleet of 100 refrigerated trucks is completely biodiesel-powered and all drivers are Cicerone and Draft Technician certified. Stone Distributing Co. is a division of Stone Brewing and exists to show Southern California that independent craft beer matters. For more information, please visit stonedistributing.com.
SOURCE Stone Brewing
Related Links
http://www.stonebrewing.com
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
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In his keynote address, Mark Cotter, CEO of The Food Group, will illustrate to attendees at the Organic & Non-GMO Forum here, November 6-7, how breakthrough thinking, trendspotting and data-driven insight can help navigate the challenges of the $47 billion U.S. organic marketplace, where food sales grew 8.4 percent last year, according to a recent Organic Trade Association survey.
The growing market for organic, non-GMO and healthier food products is being driven by macro trends related to health and wellness, along with major shifts in retail food marketing. These trends also are supported by both the current and the next wave of food shoppers, such as Millennials and Gen Z'ers, who are demanding healthier and more sustainable food choices, as well as the details on how, where and when their food was grown.
The Food Group, with clients such as Mondelez, Kraft Heinz, and Delmonte, has helped build some of the world's most iconic brands and directed them through this new food transition. Putting years of experience to use, Cotter will speak on Agriculture at the Crossroads: Emerging Opportunities for Producers and Processors at this third annual Organic & Non-GMO Forum. This dynamic presentation will cite quantifiable research and data on food purchasing habits that illustrate why agricultural and food production practices are at the crossroads, with transparency, quality and sustainability as the new measurements of success. This sea change is expected to provide ample opportunities for farmers, midstream processors and food marketers for the foreseeable future.
Furthering this discussion will be a presentation on Sustainability, Climate Change and Other Concerns for the Future. Lead by Ryan Sirolli, agriculture director at DanoneWave the new organization of the renowned Dannon brand and Elizabeth Reaves, program director at the Sustainable Food Lab, this session promises to delve deeper into how companies address the challenges of climate change, how and where water rights and access can make or break an opportunity, and how investments in technology and infrastructure can reap benefits.
At this gathering for buyers, processors and handlers that covers both the practical and business end of the organic, non-gmo and conventional supply chain, the conversation would not be complete without an update on labeling initiatives in the sector. This will be addressed during a breakout session with Kristina Bierschwale of Where Food Comes From, Inc., Marni Karlin of Karlin Strategic Consulting, and Mark Zovodnyik of HighQuest Group.
Learn more at www.ongforum.com, or join us using this $100 off discount code: ONGF-EB.
About the Organic & Non-GMO Forum
The Organic & Non-GMO Forum is the only U.S. event that covers both the practical and business end of the organic, non-GMO, and conventional supply chain and addresses the growing opportunities and significant challenges in the sector. It is hosted by Danvers, Mass.-based HighQuest Group, a strategic advisory, conference, and media firm serving the ag investing and agribusiness industries. The company also hosts the Global AgInvesting series, GAI AgTech Week, AgTech Nexus and the Women in Agribusiness Summit series. www.highquestgroup.com
PR CONTACT:
Michelle Pelletier-Marshall, 978.887.8800, x117
[email protected]
SOURCE Organic & Non-GMO Forum
Related Links
http://www.ongforum.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
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, October 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly is set to take place from 14 to 18 October in St Petersburg. The Assembly is the largest international parliamentary event to be organised in Russia, and holds special importance and significance for our country.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/583010/Roscongress_Logo.jpg )
The IPU is the oldest existing international parliamentary organisation. It was established in 1889 and brings together parliamentarians from 173 countries, as well as 11 inter-parliamentary organisations. Throughout its history, the IPU has facilitated the development of parliamentarism, the protection of human rights, the establishment of a multinational world, and the preservation of international security. It is one of the world's most authoritative parliamentary organisations.
This year's Assembly promises to be the largest in the history of the IPU. Approximately 100 heads of foreign parliaments, as well as delegations from more than 150 countries, representing five continents, have already confirmed their participation. The total number of registered participants already exceeds 2,300. The 137th IPU Assembly will be covered by the world's major media organisations.
Russia has guaranteed smooth entry into the country for all foreign participants, irrespective of their presence on Russian restricted lists drawn up in response to Western sanctions. Everything will be provided to ensure an atmosphere in which parliamentarians can engage in productive dialogue at the Assembly venue.
One of the main events on the programme will be the tabling of the resolution 'On the 20th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Democracy: the Commonality of our Diversity'. It will also include thematic conferences and sessions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Sessions of the following IPU standing committees will take place: the Assembly Steering Committee, the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, the Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs, the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance, and Trade, and the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security.
The Assembly will also feature sessions of the IPU's six geopolitical groups: the African Group, the Arab Group, the Asia-Pacific Group, the Eurasia Group, the Group of Latin-America and the Caribbean, and the Twelve Plus Group (which includes the countries of Western and Central Europe, Canada, and some other states). The Eurasia geopolitical group will be made up of a delegation from the Russian Federal Assembly, together with parliamentarians from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova. This group may also be joined by parliamentarians from Turkmenistan in the event of the country's accession to the Union. Turkmen parliamentarians announced such an intent on the eve of the 137th IPU Assembly.
The programme for the Assembly in St Petersburg will notably include the election of a new IPU President.
The events of the 137th IPU Assembly will take place at three venues: the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre, Tavricheskiy Palace, and the Parliamentary Centre.
The Roscongress Foundation is a major organizer of convention and exhibition events.
The Roscongress Foundation was founded in 2007 to develop Russia's economic potential and strengthen the country's image by organizing congresses and exhibitions with an economic and social focus. The Foundation develops the substantive content for these events, and provides companies with advice, information, and expert guidance, as well as offering comprehensive evaluation, analysis, and coverage of the Russian and global economic agenda.
Today, its annual programme includes events held from Montevideo to Vladivostok, offering an opportunity to bring together global business leaders, experts, the media, and government officials in one place, creating favourable conditions for dialogue and the promotion of new ideas and projects, and assisting in the creation of social enterprise and charity projects.
http://www.roscongress.org
SOURCE Roscongress Foundation
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
READING, Pa., Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) announced that a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued to purchase 71,000 Solar Photovoltaic Alternative Energy Certificates (SPAECs) annually over a two-year period on behalf of three of FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania utilities Pennsylvania Power Company, Pennsylvania Electric Company, and Metropolitan Edison Company.
The RFP process will be conducted by The Brattle Group and will take place in October and November, with qualifying applications due by Wednesday, October 11 and bids due by Wednesday, November 1. Bidders in this RFP can offer to sell tranches of SPAECs, where each tranche represents a commitment to sell 500 SPAECs annually over a two-year period. Based on the RFP results, FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania utilities will enter into separate agreement(s) with winning suppliers to purchase the necessary quantities of SPAECs.
Further information about the SPAEC RFP is available on FirstEnergy's website at www.firstenergycorp.com/PA2017SPAECRFP.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements include declarations regarding management's intents, beliefs and current expectations. These statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms "anticipate," "potential," "expect," "forecast," "target," "will," "intend," "believe," "project," "estimate," "plan" and similar words. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, which may include the following: the ability to experience growth in the Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments and the effectiveness of our strategy to transition to a fully regulated business profile; the accomplishment of our regulatory and operational goals in connection with our transmission investment plan, including, but not limited to, our planned transition to forward-looking formula rates; changes in assumptions regarding economic conditions within our territories, assessment of the reliability of our transmission system, or the availability of capital or other resources supporting identified transmission investment opportunities; the ability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic and financial goals, including, but not limited to, the ability to continue to reduce costs and to successfully execute our financial plans designed to improve our credit metrics and strengthen our balance sheet; success of legislative and regulatory solutions for generation assets that recognize their environmental or energy security benefits, including the United States Department of Energy study; the risks and uncertainties associated with the lack of viable alternative strategies regarding the Competitive Energy Services (CES) segment, thereby causing FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES), and likely FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), to restructure its debt and other financial obligations with its creditors or seek protection under United States bankruptcy laws and the losses, liabilities and claims arising from such bankruptcy proceeding, including any obligations at FirstEnergy Corp.; the risks and uncertainties at the CES segment, including FES and its subsidiaries and FENOC, related to continued depressed wholesale energy and capacity markets, and the viability and/or success of strategic business alternatives, such as pending and potential CES generating unit asset sales, the potential conversion of the remaining generation fleet from competitive operations to a regulated or regulated-like construct or the potential need to deactivate additional generating units; the substantial uncertainty as to FES' ability to continue as a going concern and substantial risk that it may be necessary for FES, and likely FENOC, to seek protection under United States bankruptcy laws; the risks and uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration, mediation and like proceedings, including, but not limited to, any such proceedings related to vendor commitments, such as long-term fuel and transportation agreements; the uncertainties associated with the deactivation of older regulated and competitive units, including the impact on vendor commitments, such as long-term fuel and transportation agreements, and as it relates to the reliability of the transmission grid, the timing thereof; the impact of other future changes to the operational status or availability of our generating units and any capacity performance charges associated with unit unavailability; changing energy, capacity and commodity market prices including, but not limited to, coal, natural gas and oil prices, and their availability and impact on margins; costs being higher than anticipated and the success of our policies to control costs and to mitigate low energy, capacity and market prices; replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or not fully hedged; our ability to improve electric commodity margins and the impact of, among other factors, the increased cost of fuel and fuel transportation on such margins; the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures that may arise in connection with any litigation, including New Source Review litigation, or potential regulatory initiatives or rulemakings (including that such initiatives or rulemakings could result in our decision to deactivate or idle certain generating units); changes in customers' demand for power, including, but not limited to, changes resulting from the implementation of state and federal energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins such as a polar vortex or other significant weather events, and all associated regulatory events or actions; changes in national and regional economic conditions affecting us, our subsidiaries and/or our major industrial and commercial customers, and other counterparties with which we do business, including fuel suppliers; the impact of labor disruptions by our unionized workforce; the risks associated with cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our information technology system that may compromise our generation, transmission and/or distribution services and data security breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary or personally identifiable information regarding our business, employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, business partners and other individuals in our data centers and on our networks; the impact of the regulatory process and resulting outcomes on the matters at the federal level and in the various states in which we do business including, but not limited to, matters related to rates; the impact of the federal regulatory process on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-regulated entities and transactions, in particular FERC regulation of wholesale energy and capacity markets, including PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) markets and FERC-jurisdictional wholesale transactions; FERC regulation of cost-of-service rates; and FERC's compliance and enforcement activity, including compliance and enforcement activity related to North American Electric Reliability Corporation's mandatory reliability standards; the uncertainties of various cost recovery and cost allocation issues resulting from American Transmission Systems, Incorporated's realignment into PJM; the ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability standards and energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; other legislative and regulatory changes, including the new federal administration's required review and potential revision of environmental requirements, including, but not limited to, the effects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, Coal Combustion Residuals regulations, Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards programs, including our estimated costs of compliance, Clean Water Act (CWA) waste water effluent limitations for power plants, and CWA 316(b) water intake regulation; adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes with respect to our nuclear operations (including, but not limited to, the revocation or non-renewal of necessary licenses, approvals or operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or as a result of the incident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant); issues arising from the indications of cracking in the shield building at Davis-Besse; changing market conditions that could affect the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts, pension trusts and other trust funds, and cause us and/or our subsidiaries to make additional contributions sooner, or in amounts that are larger than currently anticipated; the impact of changes to significant accounting policies; the impact of any changes in tax laws or regulations or adverse tax audit results or rulings; the ability to access the public securities and other capital and credit markets in accordance with our financial plans, the cost of such capital and overall condition of the capital and credit markets affecting us and our subsidiaries; further actions that may be taken by credit rating agencies that could negatively affect us and/or our subsidiaries' access to financing, increase the costs thereof, increase requirements to post additional collateral to support, or accelerate payments under outstanding commodity positions, letters of credit and other financial guarantees, and the impact of these events on the financial condition and liquidity of FirstEnergy Corp. and/or its subsidiaries, specifically FES and its subsidiaries; issues concerning the stability of domestic and foreign financial institutions and counterparties with which we do business; and the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and other similar factors. Dividends declared from time to time on FirstEnergy Corp.'s common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances considered by FirstEnergy Corp.'s Board of Directors at the time of the actual declarations. A security rating is not a recommendation to buy or hold securities and is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating. These forward-looking statements are also qualified by, and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements and risks that are included in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The foregoing review of factors also should not be construed as exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such factors, nor assess the impact of any such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any current intention to update, except as required by law, any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
Related Links
http://www.firstenergycorp.com
TOKYO, Oct. 13, 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:
HISTORY IN CITY
After exploring Nihonbashi, an area that prospered as the center of Edo (today's Tokyo), visit Sendai, the gateway to the Tohoku region. Here, you will visit the vibrantly colored Zuihoden mausoleum, which is dedicated to the legendary feudal lord Date Masamune, once the ruler of this land. Follow the footsteps of history still left in the city.
(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201710066593/?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
TOKYO, Oct. 13, 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:
HEART & WORSHIP
This route introduces a wondrous pilgrimage journey that transports visitors to Tokyo's shitamachi (traditional downtown) culture, which is overflowing with human warmth, as well as to Shonai (northern Yamagata) traditional culture, together with faith and food.
(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201710066591/?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
TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Founders of UAVENTURE CAPITAL, LLC today announced the launch of a new venture capital fund designed to support the commercialization of University of Arizona science, services and intellectual property. UAVC has been formed by Fletcher J. McCusker, the business driver behind the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy spin out SinfoniaRx, Inc., and the founder of the public company Providence Service Corporation. Joining McCusker as fund principals will be Larry M. Hecker, Esq. and Michael N. Deitch, CPA.
UAVENTURE CAPITAL, LLC will be headquartered in the iconic Ronstadt House at 607 North Sixth Avenue, one of Tucson's landmark turn of the century mansions, just blocks away from downtown and the University.
The Fund will consider investing in University of Arizona science, technology, services and intellectual property originating from faculty, students, alumni, and affiliates. "The biggest problem for Tucson based startups has been growth capital," said Fletcher McCusker, CEO and co-founder of the new fund. "With Providence and SinfoniaRx, we had to continually search for investment capital. Ultimately, SinfoniaRx was funded entirely by Tucsonans and we believe that model, combined with institutional investment, can support a number of startup ventures," he concluded.
"Having access to local capital will definitely be a boost for UA technology commercialization. Tech Launch Arizona is excited to work with the fund managers," said David Allen, the UofA vice president for Tech Launch Arizona.
SOURCE UAVENTURE CAPITAL, LLC
Related Links
http://www.uaventurecap.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
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Home Furnishings Market in North Carolina, under the leadership of Robert Maricich, Chairman and CEO of International Market Centers, is the celebratory location for the launch of Michael Amini kathy ireland Home Designs. Kathy joined Michael Amini and the AICO team to introduce the largest collection of home furnishing designs to date for her eponymous company. The collection features a complete array of; bedroom, dinning room and upholstered furnishings inspired by kathy ireland Worldwide's (kiWW) Americana Style Guide for her millennial customers. Ireland has a unique and expanding following of people 34 years old and under, due to kathy ireland Weddings.
Also to premiere at in the Michael Amini kathy ireland Home Designs will be an original portrait by world renown artist Romero Britto titled Kathy Ireland. The Britto brand is represented by EE1, a subsidiary of Level Brands, which is currently in the testing the water phase of a Reg A+ IPO offering. "Romero Britto is a dynamic, world renown artist who has established himself as one of today's true masters of the art world through his use of bold design and color. It is thrilling for Romero's stunning work to be unveiled and exhibited for the first time in the magnificent palace of beautiful home designs, by Michael Amini whose genius is unparalleled," said Kathy Ireland.
Level Brands' CEO and Chairman of the Board, Martin Sumichrast will be in attendance of the official unveiling, with Michael Amini CEO and Founder of AICO, Kathy Ireland, Chief Designer and CEO of kiWW and Chief Brand Strategist and Chairman Emeritus of Level Brands, who will be wearing over 30 million dollars of jewelry suites this weekend from her personal collections of Kathleen Marie NY by Paul Raps and diamonds by kathy ireland collections.
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.
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In conjunction with the U.S. Navy Memorial, U.S. Money Reserve will unveil the new construction of a Lone Sailor Statue at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, HI. The Statue will be installed at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, standing watch over the USS Arizona Memorial.
Today, October 13th, also marks one of national pride as it is the official birthday of the U.S. Navy. This year the Navy celebrates 242 years since authorization as the first American naval force. Unveiling the Lone Sailor on the Navy's birthday is another way to show respect and pride for the maritime forces. A ceremony will start at 8am HST, with the first half celebrating the Navy's birthday then transitioning into the statue dedication.
"Our company feels truly privileged to have helped with the construction of the Lone Sailor Statue," said Philip N. Diehl, president of U.S. Money Reserve. "We must remember that our dedicated and patriotic customers also played a role in this monumental event."
A majority of the funding for the seven-foot bronze statue came directly from a portion of the proceeds of U.S. Money Reserve's sales from its exclusive 75th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Gold and Silver Coins. The 75thAnniversary Pearl Harbor Coin beautifully and respectfully honors the events of December 7, 1941, "A date which will live in infamy."
"The Lone Sailor Statue is a patriotic symbol of appreciation to the brave men and women in the Sea Services who voluntarily risk their lives to protect freedom," added Angela Koch, CEO of U.S. Money Reserve. "The Lone Sailor is the iconic image of the U.S. Navy Memorial. It embodies honor, respect and devotion to duty. We feel honored to help solidify America's appreciation into a beautifully sculpted statue."
The bronze statue is the creation of Stanley Bleifeld, the U.S. Navy Memorial's official sculptor. The statue contains two piecesthe Sailor who stands 7 feet tall and weighs approximately 1000 lbs., and his sea bag and cleat weighing 700 lbs. Uniquely, Bleifeld incorporated steel from the USS Arizona into the base of the Lone Sailor Statue.
"We are thankful to U.S. Money Reserve for helping to make this event happen. This statue stands watch looking across the harbor at the Arizona and USS Missouri as a sign of America's respect and appreciation," said retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Frank Thorp, president and CEO of the U.S. Navy Memorial. "We could not have installed this statue without the support of U.S. Money Reserve. They are a great partner for the U.S. Navy Memorial and the men and women of the U.S. Navy."
U.S. Money Reserve partnered with the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation since the launch of its Pearl Harbor coin series last year.
For more information or to speak with company leadership at U.S. Money Reserve, please contact Christol Farris at 512-568-9991 or [email protected] or Lacy Jansson at [email protected] or visit www.usmoneyreserve.com .
About U.S. Money Reserve
U.S. Money Reserve is one of the nation's largest private distributors of U.S. government-issued gold, silver, and platinum products.
Founded in 2001, U.S. Money Reserve has grown into one of the world's largest private distributors of U.S. and foreign government-issued gold, silver, and platinum legal tender products. Hundreds of thousands of clients across the country rely on U.S. Money Reserve to diversify their assets with physical precious metals, primarily in the form of U.S. gold and silver coins.
U.S. Money Reserve's uniquely trained team includes coin research and numismatic professionals equipped with market knowledge to find products for precious metals buyers at every level. U.S. Money Reserve goes above the industry standard to provide superior customer service, with the goal of establishing a long-term relationship with each and every one of its customers. U.S. Money Reserve is based in Austin, Texas. Like them on Facebook, connect on LinkedIn, and follow on Twitter.
About the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
The U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation is a national nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation whose mission is to educate the public about the maritime heritage of the United States.
For more than 25 years the United States Navy Memorial Foundation has honored sea service warriors past and present. Located in our nation's capital the memorial has inspired future service in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines. In addition to Memorial Plaza featuring the Lone Sailor Statue, Granite Sea and fountains, visitors will experience innovative, interactive, informative and awe-inspiring exhibits for all ages, including videos of aircraft flying overhead, and the Chief of Naval Operation's welcome to the Navy Memorial. It remains a living memorial through ceremonies, concerts, book events, and other activities throughout the year. Support of the nonprofit United States Navy Memorial Foundation is key to continuing efforts to honor the sea services and remind the public of the service and sacrifices made by those standing watch to guard our nation. Call 202-737-2300 or visit www.navymemorial.org for more information.
Contact: Christol Farris
[email protected]
512-568-9991
Lacy Jansson
[email protected]
512-228-8563
SOURCE U.S. Money Reserve
Related Links
http://www.usmoneyreserve.com
SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Utah Wonder Women (UWW), the premier networking community in Utah for accomplished women and future leaders, today announced it will host its inaugural summit at the University of Utah on November 10, 2017. The UWW Summit will be followed by SUREFIRE Utah, a day-long conference designed for 15 to 18-year-old girls, on November 11, 2017.
The partnership between UWW and SUREFIRE marks an unprecedented intergenerational investment in female leadership. Girls and women will have the opportunity to network with some of the most powerful leaders in business, building important connections and gaining encouragement from their experience.
"Over the past three years since UWW was founded, we have built a community of over 200 of Utah's most incredible women business leaders," said Jacki Zehner, co-founder of Utah Wonder Women. "We're excited to be partnering with SUREFIRE for our first summit and to provide two days of discussion, learning and inspiration to girls and women of Utah."
The UWW Summit will be the largest event in UWW history and will cover important topics, including the future of work and raising visibility of female leadership in Utah. Rosie Rios, former Treasurer of the United States, will be a featured keynote at the summit. Rios is a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Media Executive Pat Mitchell, FJ Management CEO and President Crystal Maggelet, and LHM Management Corporation Owner and Chair Gail Miller are also among the esteemed speakers. Dr. Stacey Smith, founder and director of the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative, will be debuting her research on examining the prevalence and portrayal of girls and teens in popular movies at the conference, as well. A full list of those participating can be found here.
SUREFIRE Utah offers a unique occasion for local teen ambassadors to control programming a conference for girls by girls. The day will include workshops lead by industry leaders, non-profit organizations and influential women in the community and will allow an opportunity for girls from different high schools and backgrounds to form new friendships.
"We are honored to have such a great partner in Utah Wonder Women who brought SUREFIRE to Salt Lake City," said Heather Mason, SUREFIRE founder. "Their dedication has made our dream and the dreams of teenage girls here a reality."
Afghan rapper and child marriage activist Sonita Alizadeh, who is currently attending school at Wasatch Academy in Utah, will keynote SUREFIRE Utah. Other presenters include actress Monique Coleman, Lucie Fink from Refinery29 and Lauren Magenta from Spoon University. You can learn more about the other presenters and speakers here.
Several generous sponsors have joined the cause to help make this event possible, including The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, Maverik, Zions Bank, CHG Healthcare, The Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Cambia Health Solutions, J.P. Morgan, Method Communications, Pluralsight and numerous others who are committed to supporting and championing female leadership in Utah. You can find the full list of sponsors here.
Learn more about the UWW Summit at www.utahwonderwomen.com.
Learn more about SUREFIRE Utah at www.surefiregirls.com. Registration is open to all girls between the ages of 15 and 18.
About Utah Wonder Women
Utah Wonder Women is the premier networking community in Utah for today's accomplished women and tomorrow's ambitious leaders. Founded in 2013 by Jennifer Danielson, vice president of Cambia Health Solutions; Geralyn Dreyfous, chair of the Utah Film Center; David Parkinson, CEO of Method Communications; and Jacki Zehner, cofounder of Women Moving Millions Inc., the organization was created with the purpose of bringing together inspiring women to connect with each other and impact the next generation of leaders. For more information, visit www.utahwonderwomen.com.
About SUREFIRE
SUREFIRE is an innovative, one-of-a-kind event created by girls and for girls! The organization looks to girls first for content, outreach and the topics curated for mainstage and workshops. Founded by Heather Mason in 2013, SUREFIRE gathers the resources of local communities to provide one-day events for girls to highlight the magnitude of opportunities available to them in a given community. SUREFIRE works with local girls ages 15 to 18 to organize the event and offer workshops, skills and unique learning activities. Utah organizations involved to date include: Spyhop, University of Utah Women's Enrollment Initiative, Utah Valley University Women and Leadership Project, Westminster College, the Leonardo Museum, and more to come.
Agency Contact
Ashlyn Hewlett, Method Communications
801-461-9772
[email protected]
SOURCE Utah Wonder Women
Related Links
http://www.utahwonderwomen.com
RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Virginia Commonwealth University today announced a $2.5 million gift from real estate data firm CoStar Group to establish the CoStar Group Endowed Chair in Real Estate Analytics in the VCU School of Business.
"In establishing the CoStar Group Endowed Chair in Real Estate Analytics, we aim to bring the intersection of big data and real estate together to bring more transparency, velocity and efficiency to the global commercial real estate market," said Andrew C. Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar. "Dr. David Downs, Alfred L. Blake Endowed Chair of Real Estate and director of the Kornblau Institute, and his team have done a tremendous job in taking a leadership role in developing the next generation of real estate professionals, and we want to provide VCU with the resources necessary to support and grow that effort."
Florance founded CoStar in 1987, fundamentally changing the way commercial real estate professionals access, use and share information. Through CoStar, Florance pioneered the concept of commercial real estate firms outsourcing research functions to a third-party information provider. CoStar is among Forbes magazine's 2017 list of 100 most innovative growth companies in the world, placing it among the top 10 companies within the software and services category.
"We are thrilled and excited to receive such a generous gift from CoStar," said Ed Grier, dean of the School of Business. "The VCU School of Business and CoStar are natural partners with our common focus on creativity, analytics and innovation. We couldn't have a better partner for our university and community."
Grier and Florance met at the 2016 VCU Real Estate Trends Conference, and since then the CoStar-VCU partnership has flourished.
"Just less than one year ago, CoStar committed to a future in Richmond with the announcement of our global research headquarters downtown," Florance said. "The state and city made it possible to come to Richmond, and Virginia Commonwealth University is a key component of our incredible success here over the past year. We currently employ 165 associates who have a degree from VCU." Those 165 VCU alumni comprise nearly a third of CoStar's local workforce.
Organizations and individuals fund endowed chairs to build partnerships with a university and its students who represent the future workforce, Grier said. Increasing the number of endowed positions, and faculty support in general, is one of the pillars of the Make It Real Campaign for VCU, the largest fundraising campaign in the university's history with a $750 million goal.
"Endowed chairs reward excellence and are essential to attracting and retaining top faculty talent," Grier said. "Holding an endowed chair is an honor for a professor and carries with it the expectation and responsibility of continuing to make significant contributions to his or her discipline, the school and the community."
VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., said CoStar has quickly become "a wonderful partner" for VCU.
"We are grateful they chose to locate in Richmond and work so closely with VCU a city and university rapidly becoming known for being forward-thinking and innovative," Rao said. "I look forward to the many opportunities our students will have as a result of the CoStar Endowed Chair in Real Estate Analytics."
Grier and Florance announced the gift to a crowd of 1,400 industry professionals, faculty and students at the 27th annual VCU Real Estate Trends Conference hosted by the Kornblau Real Estate Program at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
About VCU and VCU Health
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 225 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Seventy-nine of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. The VCU Health brand represents the health sciences schools of VCU, the VCU Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Health System, which comprises VCU Medical Center (the only academic medical center and Level I trauma center in the region), Community Memorial Hospital, Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, MCV Physicians and Virginia Premier Health Plan. For more, please visit www.vcu.edu and vcuhealth.org.
About the VCU School of Business Foundation
The VCU School of Business Foundation was founded in 2005 to support the educational aspirations of the VCU School of Business. Gifts to the Foundation are used to fund strategic initiatives such as faculty recruitment and retainment, professional development for students, scholarships, international programs and so much more.
SOURCE CoStar Group, Inc.
Related Links
http://www.costar.com
WYNYARD, UK, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Venator Materials PLC (NYSE: VNTR) ("Venator"), will hold a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2017 financial results on Friday, October 27, 2017 at 9.00 a.m. ET. Third quarter 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 1-866-807-9684
International participants 1-412-317-5415
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 and separate call-in number to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. To pre-register, please go to:
http://dpregister.com/10113037
Webcast Information
The conference call will be available via live webcast and can be accessed from the company's website at venatorcorp.com/investor-relations.
Participants are encouraged to dial into the call or link to the webcast at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start time.
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 1-877-344-7529
International participants 1-412-317-0088
Passcode 10113037
About Venator
Venator is a global manufacturer and marketer of chemical products that comprise a broad range of pigments and additives that bring color and vibrancy to buildings, protect and extend product life, and reduce energy consumption. We market our products globally to a diversified group of industrial customers through two segments: Titanium Dioxide, which consists of our TiO 2 business, and Performance Additives, which consists of our functional additives, color pigments, timber treatment and water treatment businesses. We operate 27 facilities, employ approximately 4,500 associates worldwide and sell our products in more than 110 countries.
Social Media:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/VenatorCorp
Facebook: www.facebook.com/venatorcorp
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/venator-corp
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent Venator's expectations or beliefs concerning future events, and it is possible that the results described in this press release will not be achieved. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of Venator's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as required by law, Venator does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Venator to predict all such factors. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in the prospectus filed with the SEC in connection with Venator's initial public offering. The risk factors and other factors noted in Venator's prospectus could cause its actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
SOURCE Venator Materials PLC
Related Links
http://www.venatorcorp.com
WWP partnered with Big Surf to offer veterans and their families five weeks of surf sessions. While surfing is often recognized for its physical health benefits, it also promotes mental health by offering warriors the opportunity to connect with fellow service members. All WWP connection events support the long-term recovery of warriors by providing a chance to build lasting support structures.
Army veteran Jesus Ibarra said he always wanted to surf. Not only did he fulfill his dream, but he also met other service members who can relate to his struggles.
"Wounded Warrior Project has helped me meet others that battle with some of the same things I battle with daily," Jesus said. "It helps to have someone to talk to who understands what is going on."
George Almasan, also an Army veteran, agrees with Jesus. His involvement in WWP programs has helped him enjoy different activities while seeing the recovery aspect.
"It helps in dealing with the invisible scars we have as wounded warriors," George said.
Attending program events like the surfing sessions can aid veterans physically, socially, and mentally. In a WWP survey (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/mission/what-our-warriors-say) of the injured warriors it serves, more than half of survey respondents (51.7 percent) talked with fellow veterans to address their mental health issues, and 29.6 percent expressed physical activity helps.
To learn and see more about how WWP's programs and services connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org, and click on multimedia.
About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.
SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project
Related Links
https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Watchdog Real Estate Project Management, a leading owner's representation, and real estate project management firm, announces the promotion of Stephen Fean II to President.
As President, Stephen will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Watchdog's business as it continues to grow and expand into new markets. Stephen will be charged with growing and diversifying the firm's business and team in Philadelphia and at Watchdog's newest location in Los Angeles, California.
Stephen S. Fean II President of Watchdog Real Estate Project Management, Philadelphia, PA, Los Angeles, CA
"I am excited to make this announcement. I knew early on that Stephen would be successful at Watchdog," says Watchdog Principal, David Heckler. "Throughout his years at Watchdog, Stephen has made many significant contributions to the company. He has proven himself time and time again, both in growing our business and market share and in his passion for the organization and our culture. He continually puts Watchdog before himself, even when it means making a decision that may not be in his own best interest. Stephen is the ideal leader to help carry Watchdog into the future."
In addition to bringing in new businesses, during his time at Watchdog, Stephen has helped to define the organization's mission, vision and core values, executed cutting-edge HR policies to attract and retain top talent, and has implemented a new strategic talent management system and process.
"Since day one, what I have loved most about Watchdog has been the ability to carve my own path. It has been an exciting journey and I am proud to be part of a successful and growing firm. I am committed to Watchdog and look forward to leading our firm in achieving our goals and to ensure we provide the highest quality of real estate project management services to clients throughout the country."
Stephen has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Temple University's Fox School of Business. He earned his bachelor's degree from Monmouth University.
Media Contact:
Katie Craven
Phone: 215-625-8550
Email: [email protected]
About Watchdog Real Estate Project Management:
Watchdog Real Estate Project Management provides real estate consulting services across a variety of market sectors. We act as the project management extension of an existing real estate department or as an advocate for companies without this internal resource. Founded in 2003, the firm employs a deep bench of qualified, experienced, passionate project managers with diverse backgrounds and skills, including real estate brokerage, architecture, engineering, construction management, and more. Watchdog is deeply committed to providing conflict-free project management services while building customer loyalty and cultivating longstanding relationships. For more about Watchdog, visit www.watchdogpm.com.
Related Links
Watchdog Website
SOURCE Watchdog Real Estate Project Management
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
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?
A connecting city cultures event was held at the Beijing Ritz-Carlton Hotel on October 11 to showcase the interaction. Titled "When Lanzhou beef noodle meets pasta", Chinese and Western chefs staged a wonderful food duel with on-site production of delicious Lanzhou beef noodles and pasta. This "culinary feast" also facilitated Chinese and Western culinary and cultural exchanges, adding more flavors to the event.
This event was held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Committee of Lanzhou and the Office of Commerce of the Embassy of Italy in Beijing. Both China and Italy have strong feelings for noodle and the inter-city exchange event via noodle aimed at further deepening communication and exchanges of the two countries in business, logistics, tourism, culture and other areas. It is also expected to enhance inter-city interaction and improve the publicity, reputation and influence of the two countries' food.
As one of the ten most famous noodles in China, Lanzhou beef noodle boasts a history of 102 years and is known for its tasty beef, soup and noodle. Lanzhou is also qualified as the hometown of Chinese beef noodle.
As one major city along the ancient Silk Road, Lanzhou has witnessed the arduous efforts of our ancestors and their feat of developing the Silk Road, according to Zhang Hui, deputy director with the Publicity Department of the CPC Committee of Lanzhou.
Lanzhou's culinary culture has developed its own time-honored characteristics. The event will make Lanzhou beef noodles smelled not only across Lanzhou, but also across the world via the Belt and Road Initiative thanks to the participation of the two countries' noodle masters. It will also facilitate cultural and culinary exchanges, Zhang added.
Lanzhou people would like to work with friends at home and abroad to promote culinary innovation and development and we hope more cultural exchanges of this kind will be held in Italy and Lanzhou in the future, Zhang pointed out.
Pasta is also one popular delicacy in China thanks to its exotic taste. This event will promote culinary cultural exchanges and bring the two countries closer, said Enrico Berti, First Secretary of the commerce office with the Embassy of Italy in Beijing, adding that the two countries both have time-honored history and culture despite a long distance while Lanzhou beef noodle and pasta are both delicious despite many differences.
Lanzhou beef noodle has become the city's name card and Lanzhou broth beef noodle production skills have become one of Lanzhou's intangible cultural heritage protection projects. Ma Wenbin is one senior chef of Lanzhou beef noodles who masters the top skills of noodle-making. He made Lanzhou beef noodles on site, with the dough turning into noodles within a second. He can make six bowls of noodles within one minute and make noodles of twelve different shapes.
Chef De Cuisine Amedeo Ferri of Barolo at Beijing Ritz-Carlton Hotel also made pasta on site. The Italian chef has rich cooking experience after working in Italy, Dubai, Japan, Thailand and other countries. He could deliver a special taste to each meal thanks to his study and interpretation of culinary differences among different regions.
Meanwhile, eight attendees of the event tried making Lanzhou beef noodles and pasta themselves. The interesting experience gave attendees deeper understanding of the Chinese and western food.
A bowl of delicious noodles becomes important bond of cultural exchanges linking China and Italy. Food and food materials are traveling across the regions along the Belt and Road Initiative, enriching people's tastes and mutual understanding. The event will not only allow Lanzhou beef noodles to go global, but also introduce food from other regions, especially those from the B&R countries into Lanzhou.
This intercity cultural exchange event let the guests feel the food culture with on-site engagement, thus boosting Chinese food's confidence to go global, and China and Italy both attach importance to the development of culinary culture and enjoy promising globalization prospects, according to Li Yaguang, deputy director with the China Cuisine Association.
Building a bridge between the two countries via food will further promote bilateral culinary and cultural exchanges and cooperation and contribute to the development of the B&R Initiative by expanding international market together. There are promising prospects for Chinese food to go global as well as for Italian food to expand in China, Li added.
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SOURCE Publicity Department of the CPC Committee of Lanzhou
BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the annual City Day celebration in Uzice, Serbia, Yihai Group Chairman of the Board Linda Wong was awarded the "Uzice City's Senior Economic Adviser" honor by the government in recognition of her contributions to Serbia and the city of Uzice. The City Day celebration commemorates the first written mention of the city more than 688 years ago as well as the city's triumph over Fascism during the First World War. Uzice is the second largest city in the heart of the Balkans.
Government of Uzice awards Linda Wong "Senior Economic Adviser" Honor Linda Wong receiving Uzice's Lifetime Contribution Award
Ms. Wong traveled to Serbia with a delegation of 23 outstanding Chinese entrepreneurs interested in investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. As part of President Xi Jinping's "One Belt, One Road" initiative Serbia is known as the "crossroads between the East and West" and the economic and communication center of the Eurasian corridor. Since 2013, Yihai Group has promoted communications between China and Serbia driving the "16 + 1" cooperation that is part of "One Belt, One Road."
In June 2015, Yihai Group brought 39 Chinese representatives to the "First Economic and Trade Forum" in Belgrade to promote the economic and trade agreements between the two countries. It was during that visit that Yihai Group learned that the construction of a local kindergarten in Uzice was delayed due to lack of funding. Yihai Education Group and Beijing Yihai Foundation donated $402,000 through the Chinese Charity Foundation to build the kindergarten, which was opened as part of the 2017 City Day celebration by Uzice Mayor Tihomir Petkovic and called the Yihai Mama Wong Kindergarten in recognition of Ms. Wong's philanthropy and commitment to educational excellence. Ms. Wong was also instrumental in making Harbin, China and Uzice sister cities further strengthening the friendship between China and Serbia.
This is the third City Day celebration that Ms. Wong has attended. In October 2015, she was the only Chinese person invited to participate. During the 2016 ceremonies she was awarded the Uzice's highest accolades the "City Lifetime Contribution Award" the first time a non-Serbian received this honor.
Ms. Wong said: "The political relationship between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and China have steadily developed, which deepens the mutual trust on both sides. With the visit of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to Serbia, the economic and trade exchanges between the countries has increased. It is my hope that by bringing a delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs to Serbia we will find new ways to work together that will be mutually beneficial."
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 the family and an elder college. Similarly, her investment in the important medicine and health care project reflects her views on the importance of an ecosystem that makes a social contribution in her developments.
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
Yisrayl says one of the most fascinating Prophecies the Book of Revelation speaks of, though there are many, is relating to the "fourth part of the earth." Yisrayl says this Prophecy is for this generation and speaks of a very specific area on the earth showing the activities that are taking place there now; yet, were foretold in the year 96 AY.
"When Prophecies are given, there are so many details in them but they're not plain to see. Yahweh put things here a little and there a little, and then gives a teacher to help you understand them. You won't understand them without that prophesied chosen teacher," Yisrayl says.
Yisrayl says he is chosen, and prophesied of in your Bible, to explain the Prophecies in this generation, which are a complete set of publications in itself to prove. He adds that once you read his writings and see just how much understanding and proof goes into each of his publications, one will realize this can only be inspiration from Yahweh Himself.
"Yahweh inspires His prophesied servants and gives them knowledge that comes forth from Him. That's the only reason I can explain Prophecy to you, because Yahweh is inspiring His prophesied House," Yisrayl proclaims.
Yisrayl goes into depth in this letter on this one Prophecy and sprinkles in other information to build upon and support his information. He says he makes it easy to read and cost-free so people of all statuses and situations can have access.
To read this post, go to http://yahwehsbranch.com.
About Us
The House of Yahweh, fully recognized in 1983 as a non-profit organization in the United States of America, continues to this present day to fulfill its commissioned work of preaching and publishing the True Message of Salvation.
The House of Yahweh has correctly restored the Heavenly Father's Name and the Savior's True Name in the translation named in Scripture as The Book of Yahweh.
SOURCE The House of Yahweh
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GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zuzuche.com, China's leading outbound car rental and travel service platform, provides clear illustrations of the growing international tourism trend from China as well as the increasing need for car rental services. This year, the internet company has seen its National Holidays rentals double compared to 2016, and its attraction ticket and activities booking services' sales triple.
Chinese National Holidays take place at the beginning of October, and give a unique chance to Chinese citizens to explore other parts of the world for a week. This year, an increasing proportion has not resisted the call of the open road.
Explaining this growth, Zuzuche's vice-president Mr. Zheng Chengjun asserted that "The Chinese outbound tourism industry has been growing at an impressive pace over the past years. In the past, 'package tours' were very popular. However, Chinese travelers seem increasingly willing to select transportation methods which provide them as much freedom and flexibility as possible. This is a key rationale behind strong growth in the outbound car rental segment."
Targeting Chinese tourists' needs for flexible and reliable car rental services, Zuzuche.com has been cooperating with global top car rental companies as well as local partners over the world, currently offering over 100,000 renting locations.
Zuzuche.com is the largest outbound online car rental platform in China, accounting for 76.2% of the market share in the industry. Its multi-lingual customer service enables the firm to effectively liaise Chinese tourists with car rental partners worldwide, and different additional services - such as portable WiFi, complementary insurances or Chinese GPS - ensuring clients can enjoy a road trip tailored to their needs.
Zuzuche recently expanded scope in the Chinese outbound tourism segment, currently offering attraction tickets and activities' bookings at a guaranteed best price.
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Guangzhou, Zuzuche has enjoyed rapid growth and now comprises over 500 employees. Its latest fundraising in 2016 allowed the firm to complete a 700 million RMB (106 million USD) of Series B and B+ funding from GF Xinde Investment.
As the market leader in the outbound road trip industry in China, Zuzuche not only makes Chinese travelers' trip easier, but also promotes cultural communication and understanding among different countries. As an illustration, Zuzuche has been cooperating with tourism administrations from different countries, including the United States, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Contact:
Lu Yin
+86 18320132179
SOURCE Zuzuche
Casaretts ethical Thai detective, nurse Ladarat Patalung, returns in The Missing Guests of the Magic Grove Hotel (Redhook, Dec.).
What led to your starting this series?
I created Ladarat as the embodiment of what I think is the best of Thai culture in general, and Thai health care in particular. My experiences teaching at a medical school in Thailand made me think about how the Western concept of medicine sometimes clashes with Thai culture. And howmaybethe traditional Thai culture might make some aspects of medicine and health care better. As I spent time on the wards in Thailand, I was impressed by how some of the most advanced medicine is softened by the emphasis on compassion and empathy. So even when treatment is very aggressive, theres a layer of kindness and support thats not always present in the same situation in the U.S. Ladarat embodies that, and since shes spent time in a big, busy hospital in the U.S., she recognizesand appreciatessome of the most unique aspects of Thai medical culture.
In what way have your own experiences as a doctor influenced the books?
These arent medical mysteries, by any means. Still, so many of the medical and ethical conundrums she wrestles with are things that Ive faced in the past. For instance, as she struggles with how to talk to the family of an injured man about what they can hope for in terms of recovery, Ive realized that the things that she says (or the things that she wished she had said) reflect pretty well the conversations that I have every day with my patients. One of the reasons I like Ladarat so much is that she genuinely enjoys having those conversations. She likes finding the right questions to ask, and thinks very carefullyas I doabout how to ask them.
Why did you choose a nurse instead of a doctor for your lead?
Doctors are boring. Everybody writes about doctors, and people have so many preconceptions about what they do and how they think. Besides, a nurse ethicist is much more interesting to me because she doesnt have a lot of power or status; she needs to get people to do the right thing through nudges and guilt. That offers many more potential plot lines than, say, a doctor who just tells people what to do.
Your novels join quite a few others that are set in Thailand. Why do you think the country is such a popular setting for crime fiction?
Thailand is a bewilderingly complex puzzle of country, with lots of pieces that dont seem to fit together. For instance, its a very traditional place in some ways, but condones and even encourages prostitution. Its a democracy that worships royalty, and also an ancient farming culture that takes enormous pride in its cities.
Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush are known everywhere as the children and grandchildren of two U.S. presidents, but talking to them, it's immediately clear that they are, as the title of their new book says, sisters first. Jenna calls Barbara "sissy"short for "sister"and while it's also immediately obvious that they're very different people, they're deeply in sync. "One of the themes of our lives is, we have this person who's given us a voice or listened to our voice. We're twins, so in some ways we've spoken for each other," says Jenna, who is a correspondent on the Today show, has written two children's books, and has previously appeared at the festival, which was founded by her mother.
"We had always daydreamed of writing a book together, but it was always an idea in our heads that we just liked to talk about," says Barbara, who is the CEO and cofounder of Global Health Corps, an organization that supports global health leaders. "We've always known how lucky we are to have had the life we've had," she continues.
The idea for a book gathered steam when Jenna was pregnant with her second daughter. "We wanted Mila to get excited for her new little sister, which got us talking at the time about a book about being sisters," says Barbara. Around the 2016 campaign and election, the idea went from daydream to plan.
"It was so clear, with the campaign and the broader language around women, how important it is to build women up right now," says Barbara. The sisters see the book as a personal way to combat the reductive effect of boiling everything down to tweets and Facebook posts. "It was important to us to write about the people that we love who are public figures and show more sides to them to make them more complete people. That is so much of what is missing right now in the dialogue around issues in our country. It seems like we're just seeing people for three attributes of themselves rather than who they truly are as a full human being," Barbara continues.
"We're not talking about political parties," Jenna adds. "We're talking about decency and kindness and humility. Our grandpa never talked about himself. He still never talks about himself. I learned things about him through reading biographies because he would never brag or show off, and people may not know that about him."
While Sisters First is by no means a political book, it speaks deeply to the strength these two women draw from each other and their close bond with the members of their famous family. "Things feel very divisive right now, and politics feel very different than when we were growing up," says Barbara. "We've always had someone that has had our back and thought that we were enough and supported us in the decisions we were making and the risks we were talking," she continues. "We both realized how grateful we are."
Jennifer Egan is a famous novelist these days. Her 2010 novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize right after, catapulting Egan to international literary stardom. Sudden fame, among other factors, made writing her next novel harder.
"I was well aware," says Egan, "that a lot of writers don't have that opportunity even once in their career, much less twice, so I figured, this is my shot, and I tried to really maximize it. What that meant was that while I had been researching Manhattan Beach since 2004 in fits and starts, I didn't really sit down to write it in earnest until after the New Year in 2012."
She felt pressure due to the success of Goon Squad, plus she had to spend a lot of time promoting the book that she might have otherwise used to write. And she had two small children. And Manhattan Beach is Egan's first historical novel, meaning it presented a whole set of newthough ultimately excitingchallenges.
At one point, she continued, "I really thought I just may not have it in me to do this, and may have moved too far outside of my skill set."
The novel, set in 1930s and '40s New York, follows Anna Kerrigan, a young woman whose father struggles to support his wife and two daughters, one of whom is severely disabledand his work leads him into New York's underworld. By the time Anna's grown, her father has mysteriously disappeared, and WWII opens the opportunity for Anna to become the first female civilian diver at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, while she also dives deeper into her father's disappearance.
Casting her imagination back to midcentury wasn't easy for Egan. "I begin with a time and a place, but no characters or plot," says Egan. "Even though I had vague notions of areas of interest, like diving and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, I really didn't know what my story was. I didn't know what specific things I needed to know."
Getting to the heart of her characters required more than simply knowing about 1940s New York: "There's a kind of deep engagement that I need to feel with characters that requires a lot more than knowing what they're wearing. It requires, especially, a sense of what the past is for them."
That meant researching not just the past but the past of the past. "What I realized with a kind of dawning horror," Egan says, "was that it was really about feeling deeply what the past would be for people of all ages alive in that time. What are people thinking about? What are they reacting against? What are they nostalgic for? What is the collective memory? Both superficially and deeply."
It took her about two years until, she says, "I felt the research coalescing in my brain." In the third year, she was able to begin really writing, and, she says, "It was just thrilling to feel versatile and transported into another time." In the process, Egan caught the historical fiction bug: "It was totally worth the two years of sufferingin fact, I want it again."
Considering her background and all the twists and turns in her life, its not surprising that Sujata Massey wrote mysteries set in contemporary Japan, switched to writing historical fiction about British colonial India, and then combined the two. Masseys 13th novel, The Widows of Malabar Hill (Soho Crime, Jan. 2018), is the debut volume in a mystery series set in 1920s Bombay.
In Widows, Perveen Mistry, an Oxford Universitytrained lawyer from a Parsi Indian family, works in the law offices of her father, a highly respected barrister. The elder Mistry has been charged with executing the will of a Muslim client who has died, leaving behind three widows who live together in full purdah (seclusion from public view) in Bombay. After Perveen notes irregularities in the legal documents, her father dispatches her to consult with the women, setting off a volatile chain of events against the backdrop of a city renowned for religious and cultural diversity.
In my own reading, I like sweeping epics, and Ive always loved those big historical novels that talk about a period through the lives of families and small things, Massey says, as we sip Darjeeling tea at the dining table in her parents 1930s American foursquare house in St. Paul, Minn. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and two children but is back in her hometown to visit family and conduct research for her next Mistry novel in the archives at the University of Minnesotas Ames Library of South Asia.
Massey notes, Lisa See, Amy Tan, and Amitav Ghosh all look at historical events and tell them through domestic experience, personalizing it, bringing it down to scaleand they do it very well. Referring to topics she addresses in her novel, she continues: For instance, people dont think about marital law, what that was like in the old days. And a lot of cultures have different attitudes, towards menstruation, for example. See wrote about foot binding in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Now we know so much about that, which is valuable and interesting.
Massey is adept at moving fluidly between various cultures: she has done it her entire life. Born in England to a German mother and an Indian father, she immigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was five years old. The family landed in St. Paul after her father, a geophysicist, was hired by the University of Minnesota; he is now a professor emeritus there. Her mother stayed home with Massey and her two younger sisters.
It was during her college years at Johns Hopkins University that Massey decided upon writing as a career, embarking on an interdisciplinary, workshop-oriented writing program. It opened my eyes to the idea that you could make a living writing fiction, she says. We had Martha Grimes teach workshops twice while I was therethat was pivotal. That put the idea in my head that this was a field I could explore someday. She laughs at the memory that, as a young woman, she had believed that she had to be like Anne Tyler to get a novel published, and that she would perhaps be able to launch a literary career in my 50s.
After graduating from Johns Hopkins in 1986, Massey landed a job as a features reporter for the now-defunct Baltimore Evening Sun newspaper. There, she met another young journalist who also aspired to a writing career: Laura Lippman. The two became friends and remain close to this day.
Five years later, Massey left the newspaper to live for two years on a U.S. Navy base south of Tokyo, where her husband, a medical officer, was stationed. It was there that she began writing her first novel, The Salarymans Wife, the first of 11 novels in the Rei Shimura mystery series, featuring a Japanese-American amateur sleuth in Tokyo. Salaryman was published in 1997, long after Massey had returned stateside. It won the Agatha Award that year for best first novel.
Lippmans debut mystery novel, Baltimore Blues, was also published that same year. Massey recalls the two of them going on tour together: We had so much fun. There were so many bookstores in those days, she says with a sigh.
While Massey enjoyed examining contemporary Japan in her novels, she became increasingly drawn to exploring historical backstories. In The Brides Kimono (2001), for instance, she delved into the lives of women in 19th-century Japan, and in The Samurais Daughter (2003), the nationalism that led to Japans entry into World War II.
I was finding that the kind of stories I wanted to write in my modern mysteries were old stories, Massey says. HarperCollins discontinued the series in 2006 after the ninth volume, Girl in a Box, but Severn House published the next one, Shimura Trouble, in 2008. By the time Massey self-published the final one, The Kizuna Coast, in 2014, she realized that she had this huge opportunity, not just to break out of the series, but to expand beyond the genre.
Massey has visited India seven times in her life, including a three-month stay during her childhood. She loves the Raj period (18581947). After four years of research and writing, including studying Hindi to get a better feel for the culture and gain insight into the construction of dialogue, The Sleeping Dictionary (Gallery) was published in 2013. Its a 528-page epic set in the 1930s and early 40s, about a Bengali peasant who uses her wits to rise up from poverty and enter the world of Calcuttas British civil servants, where she spies for Indian freedom fighters. Both Masseys father and stepfather were born in British India; they shared many of their memories of that era with her, which has been a great resource, adding to the strong sense of time, culture, and place she seeks to impart to readers.
It took Massey only two years to research and write Widows, which was sold to Soho on a proposal after the press had solicited her to write another novel set in India. Masseys research began with reading the memoirs of Indias first woman lawyer, Cornelia Sorabji, who had studied at Oxford and specialized in representing female clients. I decided to model my heroine on her, but to make it fictional, so all kinds of things could happen, and I could hit on certain issues, like [Perveens], as a Parsi, not being allowed to divorce despite having an abusive husband, she says. These lawyers worked with everybody: Christians, Muslims, Parsis, Hindus. They all had separate laws in British India; justice would depend upon your faith. I realized I could go all over [India] with this, and even bring in British characters.
Research ranged from consultations with Mitra Sharafi, a legal historian at the University of Wisconsin, who specializes in the role of Parsis in Indias legal history, to discussions with Perzen Patel, an Indian chef with an expertise in Parsi cuisine, to make sure my menus [in scenes involving food] were absolutely correct.
As for Masseys return to writing mysteries after her foray into historical fiction, she enjoys the intricacies of constructing a mystery plot, she says, and she craves the sense of community created by mystery fans. Mystery readers are just great readers. Theyre loyal and supportive, and you can find them at the mystery bookstores and at mystery conventions. I really enjoy that aspect. But I also didnt want to give up my love of the past.
American comics and graphic novels (and media based on them) are more popular than ever, but the way these works are purchased is being transformed by a new wave of consumers looking for new material and new places to buy it. Pop culture trade news site ICv2s Insider Sessions, an annual trade conference organized at New York Citys Javits Center to kickoff New York Comic Con, brought together industry constituents looking to understand a growing and quickly changing comics marketplace.
The program, held on October 5, featured ICv2 CEO Milton Griepps annual white paper, a report on the size, trends, and direction of the North American comics and graphic novel marketplace. This years program also featured Kristen McLean, NPD BookScans executive director of business development, who presented data focused on consumer spending on comicsand particularly on book-format graphic novelsthat highlighted who these consumers are and their spending habits.
American comics, especially superhero periodical comics, have been sold primarily through the comics shop market (also known as the direct market) since the 1970s. This distribution system is dominated by Diamond Comics Distributors, and the market consists of about 2,000 stores that buy their inventory wholesale on a nonreturnable basis from Diamond.
However, Griepp pointed out, the growth in popularity of book-format graphic novels and the rapid influx of a new generation of female comics fans over the past decade are beginning to produce a U.S. comics marketplace that looks a lot more like the book trade. 2017 has been a year of rapid change, he said in his presentation. The direct market is struggling with flat sales, while other channels are gaining new consumers.
Sales of graphic novels via the book channelwhich includes chains and independent bookstores, online retailers such as Amazon, mass market retailers like Target and even Scholastic book fairscontinue to grow. The direct market, on the other hand, is struggling. Rebounding from the recession years, graphic novels sales via the book trade grew from $250 million in 2011 to $405 million in 2016, according to Griepp. In the direct market (which sells periodicals as well as books) the growth was also significant, with graphic novel sales rising from $140 million in 2011 to $185 million in 2016.
The comics marketplace has become a contest between bookstores and the direct market, Griepp said, as well as a battle of the formats between traditional periodical comics and the growing popularity of graphic novels. He noted that comics shops are struggling to accommodate their legacy consumers while appealing to new readers, many of whom are either unfamiliar with comics shops, uninterested in traditional comics, or looking for new retail options.
Part of the problem, Griepp explained, is that the comics shop market can be conservative in what it offers consumers. Indeed, the channel can sometimes be hostileor perceived to be hostileto new kinds of comics content or even new kinds of fans. A new generation of comics consumers are looking for material that includes works about and by women and LGBTQ people and works aimed at middle grade and teen readers. This is an emerging class of comics consumerspart of a younger indie and manga-influenced generation that isnt focused solely on superhero comicsthat the traditional comics market, which continues generally to cater to an aging straight white male clientele and to focus on stocking periodical-format comics, often struggles to attract.
Griepp argued that these new comics consumers can find what they want a lot easier in the book tradeeither from traditional book publishers with newly launched graphic novel imprints or from a new generation of indie comics houses, which are more likely to focus on book-format comics. Books [graphic novels] offer a complete story, good value, and broad distribution, he said. This is in sharp contrast with the periodical format focused on serialized incomplete stories sold at a comparatively higher price than books.
Buying stock on a nonreturnable basis is another problem for comics shops. The inability of comics shops to return most titles, Griepp said, tends to limit experimentation at a time when all pop culture retail channels should be experimenting with new kinds of graphic novel content. Griepp said that, if current trends continue, he projects that the book channel will soon become the primary outlet for comics sales. It would be the first channel power flip since comics shops took over from newsstands in the 1980s.
In her presentation, NPDs McLean called this transition a channel shift from the comics shop market to the book channel. This shift in consumer preference, she explained, is being driven by both a new emerging demographic that is primarily young and female and the overall revival of print sales in recent years.
The emerging demographic, she said, is aged 1829 and is driving sales of comics and graphic novels in the book channel, specifically at mass market retail outlets and independent bookstores. Juvenile is exploding, she said, pointing out categories such as childrens humor, kids graphic novels, tie-in works, and manga, whose buyers are among the most diverse in the pop culture marketplace. Women, she said, prefer to buy comics at chains, while men [aged 3054] continue to prefer the local comics shop.
McLean emphasized the importance of studying comics consumers. NPD BookScan, she said, plans to collect more data from the direct market, principally through the use of consumer surveys and interviews, since most comics shops do not have POS systems that can extract and transmit data.
How do we bridge the differences in these channels? she asked. We need a view of both sides of the comics market. Why are women not connecting with comics shops? What are the emerging alternatives? We have tons of data, but do we know how to read it? We have to facilitate positive retail experiences for these new consumers.
Becky Saletan, v-p and editorial director of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, is having a particularly good year. Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid, with whom she has worked with throughout his career, was shortlisted for the second time for the Man Booker Prize, for Exit West, a love story that touches on immigration. (The winner will be announced October 17.) Kamila Shamsie, also from Pakistan, made the Booker longlist for her first book with Saletan, Home Fire, a novel told in multiple voices.
The National Book Awards committee has been equally impressed with Saletans list. Russian-American journalist Masha Gessens The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia was shortlisted for a National Book Award in nonfiction. Gessen has worked with Saletan for all but her first two books. And Lesley Nneka Arimah, who was born in the U.K. and grew up in Nigeria and the U.S., has just released her debut collection of short stories, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, which was one of the National Book Foundations 5 Under 35 honorees. (The collection also received a starred PW review.)
Saletan is one of the few trade editors to get her start in academic publishingand on the production side of editorial, copyediting indexes and page proofs for Yale University Press. These awards serve as an affirmation of her decision to move into trade. That is, if she needed any affirmation other than her roster of writers, which includes Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ivan Doig, and Peter Matthiessen. She has worked with some of her authors since the 1980s and 90s, after she left Yale in 1984 to go to Random House, initially as Jason Epsteins assistant, and then to Simon & Schuster.
Long before the current push for diverse voices in publishing became fashionable, Saletan championed writers of different nationalities, ethnicities, and points of view. And so has Riverhead, which she joined as editorial director in 2009. I just find a lot of these voices exciting because they arent reflecting back to me the dominant culturethe culture I already know from the inside out, Saletan said. Theyre taking me somewhere else. And thats true of both the fiction and nonfiction that I publish.
For Saletan, finding new voices and ways of storytelling is what keeps publishing exciting. Of Arimah, she said: Her stories are unusually structured. Thats the kind of thing that gets me excited as an editor. Is somebody doing something unexpected on the page? Im bored as a reader if a book just seems to be telling me something I already know. I am a sucker for a beautiful sentence, but I really get excited when I feel like a book is taking me someplace I havent been before, if I cant see around the corners and know what is coming next. And [Amirah, Gessen, Hamid, and Shamsie] have that.
Surprisingly, given the number of award-winning fiction writers she publishes, Saletan generally edits more nonfiction than fiction. New nonfiction titles include Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing (Oct.) by physician Victoria Sweet and former U.S. Border Patrol agent Francisco Cantus The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border (Feb. 2018). The things that excite me about fiction, Saletan said, are also the things that excite me about nonfiction: that sense of going to unexpected placeshaving some bearing on showing us the world, not being too hermetic[and the] beauty of prose, the sense that the story is going to endure in some way.
Saletan said that she was drawn to Gessens work because it was about more than just Putin, or Russia, or even the U.S. I had the feeling she was writing about power and corruption in a way that transcends the headlines and the current moment, even if it speaks to them, Saletan said. Thats the thing I look for in nonfiction. And in fiction, similarlylike with MohsinI dont just want a nicely told familiar story. Im looking for something that bites a little deeper and disturbs a little more.
When it comes to editing, Saletan described herself as a both forest and trees person. I do broad-stroke edits, but a lot of editing is in the details. She said she believes it clarifies what a problem is to show a writer one way to solve it, even if he or she ultimately chooses to solve it a different way.
As for this seasons many awards for her writers, Saletan posed a theory that has less to do with editorial acumen than a world in transition: Maybe this has been such a rich year for the writers that I publish because the things they write about coincide more than they ever have with what were all thinking about in these crazy times.
Age: 57
Current title: V-p and editorial director, Riverhead Books
Higher education: B.A. in English, Yale University
Recent favorite books: The last things I was blown away by were The Sympathizer and John Freemans Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation.
The 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair wrapped up on Sunday, October 15, and, as of Friday morning (the final professional day before the public descends on the fair), organizers said professional attendance was on track to be slightly above that of last years fair. If the final figures bear that out, it will be the third-straight year of rising attendancea welcome sign of stabilization after a global recession and the digital transition dragged attendance down for years following the 2009 fair.
Stability for the publishing industry was in fact a common theme at this years event. With the cloud of digital disruption no longer hanging over the industry, no new boiling disputes with Amazon, print and digital sales finding balance, and business generally good, publishers at the fair expressed something that has been missing in recent years: confidence.
Book markets have seen growth in most countriesslow but continuous growth, said Markus Dohle, the Penguin Random House CEO, at the fairs opening press conference, and he pointed to the now healthy coexistence of print and digital markets as a driver of that growth. Dohle noted that print now accounts for 80% of sales and digital accounts for 20%. Who would have predicted this five years ago? he asked. Most people thought it would have been the opposite.
Stephen Page, CEO of U.K. publisher Faber & Faber, also mentioned the stabilization of the print market, and the lack of fear from previous years that print might be wiped out by digital. Its more about the what than about the how, he said, referring to the importance of content over format.
Speaking at the annual CEO talk, Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy also acknowledged the print renaissance. E-books have done some pretty remarkable things, she said. But e-books are, and always have been, just a format.
As for the rights trade, Frankfurt officials said this years fair set another record, with more than 500 tables booked in the LitAg and some 700 agents on hand.
Among the big deals that dropped at this years fair were two celebrity memoirs (one by Cher and one by the Whos Roger Daltrey). A book about an unusual mother-daughter relationship called Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover and Me, and a book about an interstellar scientist and young widow who finds unexpected solace in a widows support group, The Smallest Lights in the Universe, both sold in seven-figure deals just before the fair. An untitled memoir by a terminally ill lawyer, mother, and wife living in Brooklyn, and a post-Holocaust memoir by Jonathan Safran Foers mother, Esther Safran Foer, called I Want You to Know Were Still Here, also generated buzz at the fair.
The sense of stability noted by publishers was in contrast with the growing political instability around the world, however, and, as expected, politics and world events energized this years professional program.
In a keynote address at the fairs preconference, international agent Andrew Wylie offered a strong defense of diversity in literature and of the importance of international voices in a world that he observed is broadly reassembling along nationalist lines.
I think that autocrats and autocratic societies are doomed to fail, Wylie said. Because the desire politically to enforce a single view of the world is inevitably destined to run afoul of the fact that a diversity of views is what we have.
In a coup for the Frankfurt Book Fair, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel spoke at this years opening ceremony. France was this years Guest of Honor, and the two leaders spoke of how books, and culture can hold Europe together during a time of rising nationalism.
There are so many groups trying to spread hatred, fanaticism, and dogmatism, and we have to stand up to that, Macron said, adding that books and literatureeven when the ideas expressed make us uncomfortableare vital. This is what holds us together, what prevents us from closing ourselves off, and prevents us from giving way to fear, brutality, and disunity.
In her remarks, Merkel noted the importance of literature in the political realm, as well as in our cultural lives: In literature, we see the reflection of the soul of our society, which is based on freedom, and that freedom of expression goes hand-in-glove with political freedom.
One month after Sheryl Sandbergs husband died, in June 2015, the Facebook COO posted an essay about her grief and ongoing recovery, crediting Adam Grant, her friend and an organizational psychologist, with teaching her about resilience. The essay went viral and spawned Sandberg and Grants Option B (Knopf, 2017), which has sold 338,000 print copies.
The subject of resilience had been gaining traction in self-help circles before Sandberg and Grant published their book. Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL who began his first term as Missouri governor earlier this year, shared his correspondence with a former SEAL comrade who was struggling through PTSD in 2015s Resilience (HMH), which has sold 63,000 print copies and which PWs starred review called a no-nonsense self-help book filled with lessons that can apply to anyones life.
Donna Loffredo, an editor at Harmony Books, says that such titles are helpful at a time when people are feeling especially rattled by political forces and economic forces. She edited the forthcoming Resilient (Apr. 2018) by Rick Hansona psychologist whose books include 2009s Buddhas Brain (New Harbinger; 231,000 print copies sold)and Forrest Hanson, his son.
The book grew out of the online course Rick Hanson started in 2014, the Foundations of Well-Being, and is built around what he deems 12 key strengths, including aspiration, confidence, and motivation. Readers can work through the books material in conjunction with the yearlong course on which its based, or dip into sections as they appeal.
Eamon Dolan, v-p and editorial director at his eponymous imprint at HMH, is publishing David DeStenos Emotional Success (Jan. 2018), which he describes as taking a new approach to the theme of resilience. DeStenos book, based on evidence that the author has gathered with his colleagues at Northeastern University and elsewhere, emphasizes the role of prosocial emotionscompassion, gratitude, and pridein developing resilience.
We usually think of emotions making us more impulsive, Dolan says, but Emotional Success shows readers how emotions increase our self-control, not decrease it.
The Five Gifts by Laurie Nadel (HCI, Apr. 2018), which features an introduction by her colleague Dan Rather, also emphasizes the role that emotions play in developing resilience, proposing that patience, empathy, humility, forgiveness, and growth can help build personal strength in the face of a disaster or other major chaotic event. Nadel, a journalist who was inspired by survivors stories to become a psychotherapist and counsel first responders, has been a field reporter around the world, covering the Rwandan genocide, the tsunami in Bali, 9/11, and the Newtown shooting, among other traumatic events.
Elizabeth Smart recounted her personal traumaher abduction from her home at age 14in My Story (St. Martins, 2013), which has sold 180,000 print copies. For the forthcoming Where Theres Hope (St. Martins, Apr. 2018), she interviewed 21 people who have overcome grief, sexual abuse, and other trauma.
Elizabeth opens each chapter by describing going to a persons house or calling them, says Charles Spicer, v-p and executive editor at St. Martins Press. Its not a q&a format, but a very personal book. Where Theres Hope, which includes discussions with well-known figures like Anne Romney and Diane von Furstenburg, offers readers tools for overcoming tragedy, and lessons about resilience from the interviewees, and Smarts own thoughts on subjects such as rage and forgiveness.
Adversity Reactions
Several forthcoming books propose that resilience can develop not only out of major trauma, but also out of the challenges of daily life. Illustrator Meera Patel, for example, faces a familiar foe head-on in My Friend Fear (TarcherPerigee, Jan. 2018). This year has been filled with fear for me, she says. Ive made so many changes in almost every part of my life, and Im learning to see my fears in a way that can help me.
Patel is the author of the 2015 guided journal Start Where You Are (TarcherPerigee), which has sold 165,000 print copies. (For more on guided journals, see The Write Direction.) In her new title, which she also illustrated, she shares 13 essays walking you through how fear takes root and affects all parts of your body and your outlook on the world. The book, she says, positions fear as a means to know oneself and to learn to overcome the obstacles that fear creates, in order to build resilience.
With a pub date timed to Valentines Day, Guy Winchs How to Fix a Broken Heart (TED, Feb. 2018) encourages resilience in the face of another common adversity: heartbreak. Winch, whose TED Talk Why We All Need to Practice Emotional First Aid has more than five million views, is a practicing psychologist, and his book follows the stories of a handful of patients as they deal with different aspects of a broken heart.
Guy Winch identifies heartbreak as not necessarily connected to love, but a state that you can attach to any important life event, says Michelle Quint, executive editor at S&S imprint TED Books. Theres a lot breaking peoples hearts right now, from politics to hurricanes. Through the stories of Winchs patients, readers learn the many faces heartbreak can wear, the tricks it can play on even the most grounded person, and how to move through and past it.
Julia Samuel, who has worked as a grief psychotherapist for 25 years, also draws on her work with her patients. Grief Works (Scribner, Jan. 2018), which was published to positive attention in the U.K. earlier this year, is organized thematically, with case studies showing the ways people may cope with the death of a particular family member, or in situations of terminal illness or suicide. Its intended for those suffering a loss and for the loved ones who want to help them through difficult times.
New Harbinger has several new titles on the theme of resilience, among them Anneliese Singhs The Queer & Trans Resilience Workbook and Sheela Raja and Jaya Ashrafis The PTSD Survival Guide for Teens, both due in February 2018, and Kate Swobodas The Courage Habit, pubbing in May 2018. The Courage Habit is intended for a broad audience, while the other two titles address New Harbingers developing interest in providing books for marginalized communities. Books like The Queer & Trans Resilience Workbook and The PTSD Survival Guide for Teens, says Ryan Buresh, acquisitions editor at New Harbinger Press, offer tools for building resilience that speak to the specific needs of people in those demographics.
The theme of resilience has long been relevant, Buresh says, but new books on the subject reflect a growing awareness of how the world works. Resilience doesnt ask the world to change, he says. It asks us to change our response to it.
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Almost one year ago, the United States came closer than ever before to electing its first female president. When that didnt happen, groups that had been fighting for womens rights became even more vocal, regardless of their original candidate preferences.
The year 2017 has seen a surge in community organizing, the Womens March, and the recent publication of Hillary Clintons What Happened (Simon & Schuster, Sept.), which has already sold 341,000 print copies.
A few weeks later, Atria imprint Enliven Books published The Awakened Woman, by Oprah Winfrey favorite Tererai Trent, who made her way from a rural village in Zimbabwewhere by age 18 she had three children and no high school educationto a PhD from Western Michigan University. Trents book, with a foreword by Winfrey, discusses what the author calls the Sacred Sisters, a movement to tap into the underused potential of women to change the world. The coming year brings many more books that aim to inspire women and help them empower themselves.
Krista Suh, creator of the Pussyhat Project, a lasting visual symbol of the 2017 Womens March, has written DIY Rules for a WTF World (Grand Central, Jan. 2018), pubbing just in time for the anniversary of that march. Gretchen Young, v-p and executive editor at Grand Central, who acquired the book, says she was interested in Suh right off the bat, because in two months time she created this worldwide project.
DIY Rules, illustrated by Aurora Lady, the artist who contributes to the Pussyhat Project website, comprises 46 chapters, a key number representing the next president. The book includes the authors personal introspection along with numerous self-help exercises (e.g., Practice saying no to three people without apologies or justification) and two knitting patterns: one for the emblematic hat, and, Young says, one that has to do with Kristas next big project.
When Sara Carder, editorial director at TarcherPerigee, met with Tyra Banks and her mother, Carolyn London, about their coauthored treatise on overcoming obstacles and achieving success, Perfect is Boring (TarcherPerigee, Apr. 2018), all three were excited to be living in an amazing moment when feminism is no longer a bad word, Carder says. In chapters including Take Responsibility for Yourself, Lipgloss + Pizza Sauce = Boss, and Embrace Your Booty, Banks and London reflect on Bankss experience in the modeling industry and as a businesswoman. The book also emphasizes the importance of female relationships. They want to talk about how behind every great woman is often a very strong mother, Carder says of the authors. Carolyn has guided Tyra through her whole career.
Nina Collins, daughter of pioneering African-American filmmaker Kathleen Collins, will publish What Would Virginia Woolf Do? with Grand Central Life & Style in April 2018, named after the private Facebook group she created. Drawing on opinions crowdsourced, with permission, from that discussion group, as well as on stories from her own life, What Would Virginia Woolf Do? encourages women in their 40s and 50s to examine how their experiences can empower them. A lot of books about midlife are serious, another to-do on womens to-do lists, says Karen Murgolo, v-p and editorial director at Grand Central Life & Style. In contrast, she says, Collinss book romps through a diverse array of subjectsempty nesting, fasting, sexand even describes an orgy she went to with her second husband.
Grand Central Life & Style will also publish The Gutsy Girl Handbook by Kate White (Apr. 2018), who was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan for 14 years. (Shes also written several thrillers and four business advice books for women.) In her latest, White takes the nine core principles from her 1995 book Why Good Girls Dont Get Ahead... But Gutsy Girls Do (Grand Central) and updates them for the current generation of women in their 20s to mid-30s, with chapters including A Gutsy Girl Knows How to Hustle and A Gutsy Girl Doesnt Worry Her Butt Off (and Faces Trouble Head-On).
Our Bodies, Our Self-Help
A number of forthcoming titles embrace positive body image as a tool for womens empowerment, including Brittany Gibbonss The Clothes Make the Girl (Look Fat?) (Dey Street, Jan. 2018), Gibbonss follow-up to her memoir Fat Girl Walking (Dey Street, 2015), which has sold more than 7,500 print copies.
Plus-size fashion is booming, Gibbons says, but so many people are still wearing ill-fitting clothes. She encourages women to ignore the number on the tag and offers measuring and proportion tips for finding the right fit. Its easy to write fashion off as being a superficial thing, Gibbons says. But its the first narrative we give people, and body image is very tied to confidence.
Jes Bakers Landwhale (Seal, May 2018) offers inspiration in memoir form with stories of her journey as a body activist and body positive writer, as she has grown into the person she is today, says Stephanie Knapp, senior editor at Seal Press. Baker, who has 127,000 Facebook followers, blogs at The Militant Baker and is the author of 2015s Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls, which has sold almost 8,000 print copies.
Another forthcoming Seal title, Physical Disobedience by Sarah Hays Coomer (Aug. 2018), shows that a womans relationship to her body is a political act. For too long women have been told that our bodies are something to be contained and mastered in some way, Knapp says.
Coomer encourages women to practice self-care as a way to reclaim their bodies and minds from the constructs that contain them. Her book, and others like it, suggest that in reclaiming their space (and perhaps, a la politician Maxine Waters, reclaiming their time), women can discover powerful ways to resist oppression and further the cause of equal rights.
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The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation.
Dementia, which includes Alzheimer's and other disorders, is a chronic disease of aging that reduces cognitive function, leaving people unable to tend to even their most basic, everyday needs.
In addition to the emotional toll it can inflict on families, dementia is associated with tremendous long-term care costs. Moreover, some families face especially devastating costs due to extended nursing home stays. All too often, dementia can lead to financial ruin.
In 2011, citing a growing body of evidence demonstrating dementia as a serious public concern, President Barack Obama signed the National Alzheimer's Project Act into law. The law seeks to improve the federal government's ability to track the monetary costs of dementia incurred by public programs (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid), as well as individuals.
A Chilean court has fined DirecTV $1 million for selling and distributing set-top boxes that didnt comply with the countrys regulation.
The decision of the Santiago-based court has confirmed the actual fine issued by the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC) to the satellite operator and puts the case to an end. However, Liberty Globals VTR, which was involved in a similar case and was fined by the SEC, is still pending on the courts last word.The case started two years ago, when a disciplinary proceeding was opened following a fire that started in a DirecTV STB. Back then, both VTR and the AT&T company agreed to replace the irregular boxes , which amounted to over one million.
FashionTV has launched two localised livestreams, FTV USA and FTV Brazil, whereby the two OTT offerings broadcast exclusive shows and up-and-coming fashion trends.
"FTV channels and VOD are now more engaging to our audience across all devices, said Michel Adam, president of FashionTV The FTV+ platform now presents 12+ visually stunning OTT streams on FTV+ which cover all types of themes and can be received through satellite, IP or mobile application."FashionFlix is a SVOD platform focusing on must-watch cult fashion films, such as the Devil Wears Prada, Coco Chanel and Dior and I; along with trend-setting fashion-leading films like the Matrix, James Bond instalments, Dreamgirls, Casablanca and more, along with documentaries about the fashion industry and the iconic people behind the luxe of the world of fashion.The content is available in SD, HD, 4K UltraHD and virtual reality, across a variety of platforms.The company is currently working on the launch of FTV China, FTV India, FTV Indonesia, FTV Spain, FTV Japan and FTV Africa, in linear and SVOD formats, by the end of the year.
Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used.
A U.S.-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week after almost five years in captivity in Afghanistan has returned to Canada where the husband said one of his children had been murdered and his wife had been raped.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network. They arrived in Canada with three of their children.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the Pakistani special forces that rescued the family on October 11 acted on a tip from U.S. intelligence, showing that Islamabad will act against a "common enemy" when Washington shares information.
U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring the presence of the Haqqani network and other extremist groups within its borders.
Reading from a statement upon arrival in Toronto late on October 13, Boyle said, "The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim...was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter."
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," he said.
Boyle did not elaborate on what he meant by "pilgrim," or on the murder or rape. His wife was not at the news conference.
On October 12, President Donald Trump, who previously warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Islamabad for acting on the U.S. intelligence tip and showing its willingness to "do more to provide security in the region."
The United States has designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization and has targeted it with drone strikes.
The Haqqani group 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.
U.S. officials say 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 disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in mid-2014.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
A European Union delegation has found persisting "shortcomings" in the human rights situation in Tajikistan, although it has noted "good progress" in some areas, the EU said in an October 13 statement.
The statement was immediately criticized by Human Rights Watch as "very weak."
The EU delegation, led by the head of its Central Asia division, Toivo Klaar, met with Abdujabbor Sattorzoda, chief of President Emomali Rahmon's human rights department, in Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, the statement said.
It concluded that the activity of civil society groups in the Central Asian country has become more restricted and urged the Tajik government to better involve NGOs in the legislative process.
The meeting agreed that Tajikistan has made "good progress" regarding womens rights and the prevention of domestic violence, and that "significant efforts have been made by the Tajik government to prevent torture and ill treatment," the statement said.
The EU delegation also urged the Tajik government to take concrete measures to lift restrictions on the media and independent journalists as well as on freedom of belief, the statement said.
The EU delegation noted that "shortcomings" still remain, and raised specific torture instances including in the military, pretrial detention, and semiclosed and closed state institutions.
"The Tajik government must review the case of imprisoned defense lawyer Mr. Buzurgmehr Yorov.... The European Union expects the Tajik authorities to ensure that no pressure is exerted on family members of the political opposition, including those living abroad," said the statement.
Yorov was a lawyer for 13 jailed members and leaders of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, which President Rahmon's government labeled a terrorist organization and outlawed in 2015.
In October last year, Yorov was sentenced to 23 years in prison after a court convicted him of calling for the government's overthrow and inciting social unrest.
In mid-March, Tajikistan's Supreme Court found Yorov guilty of contempt of court and insulting a government official and extended his prison term by two years.
Yorov is among at least five human rights attorneys whom rights groups say have been targeted by authorities in Tajikistan in connection with their work.
The EU statement was more mildly worded than other criticism of Tajikistan's treatment of human rights lawyers.
In May, Amnesty International issued a scathing report, which accused Tajik authorities of having launched an unrelenting assault against lawyers, particularly those who took up the defense of government critics.
Human Rights Watch Central Asia researcher Steve Swerdlow on October 13 criticized the EU statement, tweeting, "Very weak statement by @eu_eeas on its dialogue held yesterday on #Tajikistan's #humanrights record (thoughts contd)"
A familiar kind of weird is returning to Turkmenistan.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedovs recent decrees seem like echoes from more than a decade ago, when his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, was in power.
About 11 years after independence, Niyazov started raising the status of a body called Halk Maslahaty, a group numbering between 2,000 and 3,000 with representatives from various sectors of the government, the business world, state enterprises, and social organizations.
In Niyazovs case, the decision came after a reported attempt on his life in November 2002. Authorities apprehended many of the alleged perpetrators, but the details of the plot were never made clear. However, it appears to have involved killing Niyazov, then getting parliament to recognize a new leader.
The logic for boosting the powers of the Halk Maslahaty, eventually to a position higher than parliament, seemed to be that it would be difficult to assemble the more than 2,000 members quickly to make any decision, thus harder for a coup to receive official status from the completely compliant parliament.
Berdymukhammedov came to power at the end of 2006, shortly after Niyazov's death, and eliminated the Halk Maslahaty in 2008.
Now, about 11 years after he came to power, for reasons that are not clear, he is essentially recreating the body.
Berdymukhammedov already said after his reelection in February 2017 that the Elders Council would become the highest legislative body in the country; now he says younger colleagues will be admitted.
An anonymous, but clearly knowledgeable, author did a thorough job covering the new Peoples Council for Eurasia Net.
Berdymukhammedov is also shaking up national holidays.
Independence Day, which was coming up on October 27, is being moved to September 27.
That was the final day of the 10-day Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) that Turkmenistan hosted last month.
However, it seems that for this year, at least, Independence Day will be on October 27, as scheduled, as people throughout the country are being driven to stadiums for marching drills, or marshirovkas, as part of rehearsals for any major celebrations in Turkmenistan. But next year, Independence Day celebrations will remind people of the countrys glory on the day AIMAG was concluded.
Flag Day is being shifted from February 19, the day it has been marked since it became an official holiday in 1997, to May 18.
May 18 is Constitution Day; henceforth it will also be Flag Day.
February 19 was not only Flag Day, it was Niyazovs birthday.
No holiday will be marked on February 19 from now on.
Constitution Day was already a dual holiday as it also marked the birthday of legendary 18th century Turkmen poet Magtumguly.
Magtumgulys birthday is being moved -- from now on, it will be marked on June 27, which, by less than amazing coincidence, happens to be Berdymukhammedovs birthday.
Strangely, however, June 27 will not be a day off work.
The Soviet-era Victory Day, May 9, marking the end of World War II is now just a regular day in Turkmenistan.
Other holidays -- New Year's; International Womens Day; Navruz, the Day of Commemoration and National Mourning; October 6 (marking the anniversary of the devastating 1948 earthquake that hit the Ashgabat area); and Neutrality Day, December 12, remain as they were.
The shuffle of holidays seems reminiscent of the August 2002 decision, officially from the Halk Maslahaty, to rename the days of the week and months of the year, which was, of course, President Niyazovs idea, and something else Berdymukhammedov eliminated after coming to power.
In his recent remarks, Berdymukhammedov also made some impossible promises, such as spending a lot of money Turkmenistan does not currently have on boosting production of oil and natural gas, Turkmenistans major exports.
Its okay if he doesnt because Turkmenistan doesnt have customers for the oil and gas it produces right now.
Okay, at the Qishloq were used to weird and Turkmenistan.
Thats been going on for years.
But it used to be infrequent blasts of erratic or eccentric behavior.
Turkmenistan was normally the isolationist country its leadership wants it to be and it rarely generated any news.
Since 2016, Turkmenistan is a different country.
Strange decrees, reshuffling of officials, restructuring of the government, and antics by Berdymukhammedov are regular events lately.
RFE/RL Turkmen Service Director Farruh Yusupov contributed to this report
The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.
Iran will remain committed to the multinational nuclear deal -- the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) -- as long as it serves the country's national interests, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said on October 13. Rohani was responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's speech in which he said he would not continue to certify, and might eventually cancel, the 2015 agreement aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. (Reuters)
Ukraine has banned a new Russian banknote that includes images from the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea.
The National Bank of Ukraine announced on October 13 that the new Russian 200 ruble ($3.50) bill showing a memorial in Sevastopol, a ruin in Chersonesus, and a map of Crimea would be illegal in Ukraine beginning on October 17. Banks and exchanges will not accept them.
The bank's statement said the ban covers any Russian currencies depicting "maps, symbols, buildings, monuments" or other objects "based in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia."
Russia presented the new banknote on October 12.
Ukraine and Russia have been locked in a standoff since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and began offering military, economic, and political support to separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine.
Although Russia denies military involvement in the conflict, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2016 determined the conflict to be "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."
More than 10,000 people have been killed, at least 23,900 have been injured, and some 1.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict in eastern Ukraine since the spring of 2014.
With reporting by AFP
BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz election officials say preliminary results from Kyrgyzstan's presidential vote indicate that Sooronbai Jeenbekov, a political ally of incumbent President Almazbek Atambaev, has won more than 54 percent of the vote, appearing to negate the need for a second-round runoff.
With 97 percent of the votes tallied, Jeenbekovs main rival, Omurbek Babanov, gained just short of 34 percent, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said on October 15. Preliminary figures showed voter turnout at just over 50 percent.
A total of 11 candidates, including one woman, were listed on the ballot to replace Atambaev, who is constitutionally barred from running for a second consecutive six-year term. The three leading contenders -- Babanov, Jeenbekov, and Temir Sariev -- were all prime ministers during Atambaev's term in office, raising expectations of policy continuity in a country that has to balance the often-competing interests between neighbors Russia and China.
Speaking shortly after the preliminary results were announced, Jeenbekov praised the countrys great achievements and developments in all sectors in the past six years, referring to Atambaevs term in office.
My task is to preserve what has been achieved, to strengthen what has been started, Jeenbekov said.
Asked if he has thought about asking Babanov to join his team, Jeenbekov said he has never had such intention.
Babanov is expected to speak to the media on October 16. While voting was still under way, Babanov said: There is no fair election today. Law enforcement authorities are interfering with the election. Is this what they call a fair election?
A spokeswoman for Babanov was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that they were conducting "a parallel count."
Barring any unrest, the vote would be the first peaceful transfer of power from one popularly elected president to another in Central Asia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
While dirty tricks, arrests, and the alleged abuse of the levers of power cast a pall over the campaign, a smooth election and orderly succession would bolster Kyrgyzstans credentials as an island of democracy in the regions authoritarian sea.
I am proud of my freedom-loving people who have staged two national revolutions against dictatorial regimes over the last 12 years and have proven that people are the only possible source of power in the Kyrgyz Republic, Atambaev said during the campaign.
Atambaev said that Kyrgyzstan had achieved peace and stability in recent years and claimed it is "the first and only country in post-Soviet Central Asia with a parliamentary democracy.
Having battled through two revolutions and several noisy election campaigns, the 6 million mainly Muslim citizens of this mountainous former Soviet republic have become an anomaly among the region's five ex-Soviet states: the most democratic country in a predominantly authoritarian region.
Jeenbekov, a 58-year-old political ally of Atambaev, used his political leverage and support from the incumbent to wage a heated battle with 47-year-old Babanov, a wealthy entrepreneur and former oil trader from the north.
Neither had been able to gain a strong upper hand, with a September poll by the Western-backed NGO Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society giving Jeenbekov 41 percent to about 39 percent for Babanov.
Amid concerns of potential unrest and political confrontation, Sariev, the other leading candidate, said that there shouldnt be any tension in the country after the election.
The election must finish tonight, he said.
Atambaev said that the authorities have "jailed and will continue to jail" those planning unrest "so that they don't spoil our celebration."
For elections in Kyrgyzstan, one must expect the unexpected, according to Michal Romanowski, an expert in Eurasian affairs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Citizens have proved to those in power that in the end they call the shots and authorities will be held accountable for their actions. The attitude promotes political pluralism and a substitute for real electoral competition, he said.
The campaign was littered with accusations of dirty tricks and outright corruption, underlying the instability that led to the ouster of two leaders through revolutions in 2005 and 2010.
Government critics said the campaign was marred by a criminal conviction handed down to opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party leader Omurbek Tekebaev in August after a trial his backers say was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, the government accused Babanov of trying to buy votes and late last month detained one of his supporters, saying there were efforts to plot a coup during the election.
Babanov denied the accusations and in turn alleged the government has used administrative resources against his candidacy and in favor of Jeenbekov.
While Kyrgyzstan's key ally Russia has stayed neutral, neighboring Kazakhstan's autocratic President Nursultan Nazarbaev made a surprise appearance in the campaign in September by appearing to endorse Babanov.
That sparked a strong rebuke from Atambaev, who blasted Nazarbaev in a speech lauding his country's democratic principles and accusing Kazakhstan of being ruled by corrupt "sultans."
In a sign of building tensions and in a thinly veiled criticism of Babanov on October 13, Atambaev also called an unnamed leading contender in the elections a flunky of a foreign country.
Kazakhstans government called the remarks "unacceptable" and introduced tighter controls this week on the Kyrgyz border, citing security concerns.
With reporting by AFP and RFE/RL correspondent Alan Crosby
Four Moldovans were killed and two others were injured when a propeller-engine cargo plane crashed into the sea near the international airport in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan on October 14, the Ivorian security minister said.
The crash occurred during a storm with heavy rain and lightning and rescuers were hampered by rough seas.
Four French citizens also survived the crash but were injured, Sidiki Diakite told reporters at the scene of the accident. Several Ivorian security sources said they were French soldiers.
The sources said the the plane was a Russian-made Antonov and had been chartered by the French army as part of the antimilitant Operation Barkhane, under which France maintains a 4,000-man mission in the region.
The operation aims to shore up fragile sub-Saharan countries against Islamist militants who have carried out a wave of bombings, shootings, and kidnappings.
The French military base in Abidjan provides logistical support for the operation, which is headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
Thousands of Ukrainian nationalists have marched through the capital, Kyiv, to mark the 75th anniversary of the creation of the controversial Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
March organizers said as many as 20,000 people participated in the October 14 march, which was supported by the right-wing Freedom, Right Sector, and National Corp political parties.
Some 5,000 police were on hand to keep order. Journalists reported seeing some marchers giving Nazi salutes.
Since 2015, the October 14 anniversary has been marked as the Defender of Ukraine Day public holiday.
The UPA was founded in western Ukraine during the Nazi occupation of the country in World War II and fought against both the Nazis and the Soviet Red Army. Tens of thousands of ethnic Poles were killed in what some historians say was ethnic cleansing by the UPA.
When the war ended, many UPA fighters continued to fight a guerrilla campaign against the Soviet authorities into the early 1950s.
MOSCOW -- As President Vladimir Putin this week continued his run of sackings in Russia's regions, state TV told the nation the Kremlin is grooming a new generation of leaders for top posts across the country.
Channel One on October 8 aired video of a team-building exercise near Sochi in which promising thirty- and forty-something officials were shown in wetsuits and helmets, queuing up to leap from a seven-meter cliff into the water below.
This is not the end of their career, but rather a step into the future, the reporter quipped, adding that recent graduates of the Kremlin's new leadership school include several of Putin's fresh gubernatorial appointees.
Over the last three weeks, the governors of 11 regions have been replaced in a series of moves that analysts say are designed to give the illusion of renewal as Putin, who recently turned 65, prepares to seek a fourth term in March.
In the Kremlin, the thinking goes that a fresh face in the governors seat may reduce the populations unhappiness and increase turnout in the [presidential] election, Natalia Zubarevich, an expert in regional politics, wrote in a piece for the Moscow Carnegie Center on October 12.
Incurring no visible political resistance, the appointments illustrate the Kremlin's firm hold on once-rebellious provinces and powerful local elites.
Some analysts declared the raft of appointments another blow to Russian federalism.
When Putin came to power in 2000, he set about strengthening Moscow's power over the countrys 80-plus regions, which were often ruled by elected governors with the backing of local elites unbeholden to the capital.
In 2004, Putin abolished direct elections for governors, appointing regional heads personally, and weakened provincial authorities through tax reform and the neutering of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament. Gubernatorial elections were brought back in 2012 by then-President Dmitry Medvedev, but a new signature-collecting requirement known as the municipal filter makes it almost impossible for opposition candidates to register in elections without official backing.
In the current arrangement, Putin can dismiss regional heads and appoint acting governors who must then stand for election -- usually little more than a formality -- on united election day in September.
Putin's latest round of sackings at the regional leadership level -- the second such wave this year -- began on September 26.
More regional heads were replaced this week in Pskov, Ivanovo, and Omsk regions. That followed dismissals last week in the North Caucasus region of Daghestan, Primorsky Krai in the Far East, the western Oryol region, and the Siberian region of Novosibirsk, as well as late last month in the Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara regions along with the Nenets Autonomous District.
Loyal To Putin
Dmitry Oreshkin, head of the Moscow-based Mercator group, suggested the Kremlin's choice of mainly young, inexperienced officials to serve as acting governors is in line with a discernible shift over the past year toward youthful technocrats.
The notable exceptions have been 68-year-old Vladimir Vasiliyev, who was made head of the troubled republic of Daghestan, and 62-year-old Aleksandr Uss, who was placed in charge of the sprawling Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fifty-four-year-old Andrei Tarasenko was made head of Primorsky Krai.
Oreshkin speculated that younger appointees will be heavily indebted to, or even reliant on, the Kremlin.
"This is not about efficiency -- Putin needs to maintain control, Oreshkin said. They have to create the illusion of a new wave, so that people believe there is renewal and improvement.
Oreshkin compared Putins current situation -- facing deepening confrontation with the West and slow recovery at home after two years of recession -- to the situation of Soviet leader Josef Stalin in 1934 in the aftermath of his failed collectivization policies. After a clandestine revolt at the 17th Party Congress that year, three-quarters of the Central Committee would be shot, while Stalin brought in a raft of new, younger recruits. New people were brought in from the regions -- people who, thanks to this rapid vertical social lift, were delighted with Stalin and prepared to support him to the end, Oreskhin said.
An October 10 report by the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation, a think tank, argued that the Kremlins drive to bring in younger cadres has become a key factor in appointments throughout 2017. https://fpp.spb.ru/fpp-rejuvenation
In all but two of 19 important appointments made this year, the group said, outgoing officials were replaced by younger appointees. In 11 of them, the successor was at least 20 years younger than the outgoing official. In the case of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the new governor is 30 years younger than his predecessor.
The string of youthful appointees has kept the average age of Russia's regional governors around the 53-year mark in 2017, the report found. Putin's powerful Security Council, however, has aged during Putin's almost 18 years in power, with the average age of that influential consultative body's membership rising from 50 to 60.
Oreshkin insisted the Kremlin is seeking only the illusion of renewal, arguing that authorities would behave differently if their real goal was to bring in youth. He pointed to the example of the ailing governor of Kemerovo Oblast, 73-year-old Aman Tuleyev, who has been in power since 1997 and had surgery on his back this year but nevertheless remains in power.
Hanging By A Thread
For analysts like Kirill Rogov, a senior research fellow at the Moscow-based Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, the most striking thing about the appointments has been how little regional interests were taken into account. He characterized it as a big fat full stop in the history of Putins gradual bringing-to-heel of the regions.
There has never been such voluntarism, such disregard for the feelings of regions, such disregard for local elites, he told the liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station. Even when governors were appointed [by the Kremlin], there was some kind of procedure: They were agreed with the local elites through [the ruling] United Russia [party].
Rogov cited a lack of resistance from local elites that he said demonstrates how cowed they are following a string of arrests in the regions. Several governors and their deputies have been arrested on corruption charges in the last three years, including Kirov Oblast Governor Nikita Belykh and Komi Republic Governor Vyacheslav Gaizer.
Oreshkin agreed that governors and regional elites are rattled.
"Every governor understands they are hanging by a fine thread," he said. "That thread is called 'the faith of the president and his entourage.' Correspondingly, it is important not to make mistakes. It's not important if you're a bad economist, it's not a problem if you have a bad social situation; it's important to deliver the right result at elections and that Moscow has no doubts in you."
Russian officials on October 13 questioned the United Nations inquiry into who is to blame for a toxic gas attack in Syria and threatened it might not support extending the investigating team's mandate if it is not satisfied with the resulting report.
The probe was carried out by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
The JIM was authorized by the Security Council in 2015 and had its mandate renewed for another year in 2016. The mandate will expire in the middle of November unless further renewed.
The dispute centers on who is to blame for an April 4 attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens.
The United States, France, and Britain have accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of carrying out the air assault on Khan Sheikhoun, a conclusion supported by an OPCW fact-finding mission.
The United States subsequently launched a missile attack on Syrias Shayrat airfield after concluding that government aircraft had departed from the airfield loaded with sarin gas for the attack on Khan Sheikhun.
However, Russia and Syria have blamed the attack on Syrian antigovernment rebels.
Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russia Foreign Ministry's head of nonproliferation, told a briefing at the UN that the sarin attack was most likely caused by a bomb set off on the ground in the village itself and not by an air strike.
Ulyanov complained that investigators failed to search for traces of the banned nerve gas on their visit to the airfield this week, which he said was a scandalous situation and an indication of the JIM teams unwillingness to carry out a qualitative investigation.
"A reliable investigation is simply impossible without sampling," Ulyanov said.
A spokesman for the UN investigative team declined to comment.
Ulyanov said Moscow will await the team's report on October 26 and then decide whether to block renewal of the investigative team's authority when it comes up next month.
The JIM has already determined that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State (IS) militants used mustard gas in attacks.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the countrys more than 6-year-old civil war.
Assads government agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 as part of an agreement brokered by Russia and the United States.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and TASS
Dozens of people have been detained in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea for demonstrating in defense of Crimean Tatars.
Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov said on October 14 that more than 100 people had staged one-person protests across Crimea earlier in the day and that at least 34 had been detained, even though one-person protests do not require advance permission from officials.
The Russian authorities in Crimea reported that 49 people had been detained, according to the Russian website Meduza. The Russian police statement said all the detainees had been released after "precautionary conversations."
The protesters held signs with slogans including "Stop the arrests, searches, and robbery of Muslims" and "Muslims are not terrorists."
"The detentions violated the right of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of speech and the free expression of opinion," Olha Skripnik, head of the Crimean Human Rights Group, told RFE/RL. "This was a peaceful action that did not present any danger.... One-person pickets -- which these people have been forced to adopt -- are not restricted even by the Russian laws that are de facto operating in Crimea."
On October 11, six Crimean Tatars were arrested in the city of Bakhchisarai and accused of membership in Hizb ut-Tahir, an Islamic organization that is legal in Ukraine, but banned by Russian authorities.
The Crimean Solidarity rights group said that several other Crimean Tatars were detained while protesting against those arrests.
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they call a persistent campaign of oppression targeting members of the indigenous, Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority and other citizens who opposed Moscow's annexation.
The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed Russia's 2014 annexation of their historic homeland.
U.S. President Donald Trump's call for legislation aimed at toughening the Iran nuclear deal faces an uncertain future in Congress even as leading Republican senators stepped forward to champion the cause.
"I am directing my administration to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deal's many serious flaws so that the Iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons," Trump said as he announced steps to try to rein in what he described as Iran's "rogue" activities in the Middle East.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker and fellow Republican Tom Cotton shortly after Trump's speech offered an outline of legislation they said would "address flaws" in the 2015 accord identified by the president.
According to a summary, the legislation would reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran if it restarts enrichment of uranium after 2025, when the deal's restrictions on enrichment are due to expire under a "sunset" clause singled out as offensive by the administration.
"I think that we have provided a route to overcome deficiencies and to keep the administration in the deal, and actually make it the kind of deal it should have been in the first place," Corker said on a call with journalists on October 13.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce and other House Republican leaders also expressed support for Trump's goals and said that the House will vote in coming weeks to boost non-nuclear sanctions against Iran.
The Presidents announcement today rightly focuses on the full range of deadly threats from the Iranian regime. Our relationship with Iran should not be defined by one flawed nuclear deal. From Yemen to Lebanon, Iran...supports terrorist groups like Hizballah, bolsters the ruthless [dictatorship of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad], promotes instability through sectarianism in Iraq, and abuses the human rights of the Iranian people," Royce said in a statement joined by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other House Republicans.
We are committed to work with the president to address [the nuclear deal's] flaws, hold Iran strictly accountable to its commitments, and support efforts to counter all the Iranian threats," they said.
Republicans control Congress, but not by overwhelming majorities. Their four-seat edge in the Senate, in particular, means that for any legislation to pass, it would need Democratic support as well as the backing of nearly every Republican.
Mustering that level of support in the Senate has proved difficult for Trump thus far on other critical legislative matters.
Trump faces opposition from within his own Republican party. Senator Marco Rubio said he has "serious doubts" about Trump's Iran strategy and would have preferred that the president just abandon the nuclear deal.
"Ultimately, leaving the nuclear deal, reimposing suspended sanctions, and having the president impose additional sanctions would serve our national interest better than a decertified deal that leaves sanctions suspended or a new law that leaves major flaws in that agreement in place," Rubio said in a statement.
Most Democrats in Congress also appeared to oppose Trump's plan.
Senator Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused Trump of "manufacturing a new crisis that will isolate us from our allies."
"We will not buy into the false premise that it is Congress role to legislate solutions to problems of his own making," Cardin said. "It is now up to Congress to show the world that there is bipartisan support for the United States to uphold its commitment" to the nuclear deal.
Cardin told Reuters that he would only support legislation that has the backing of the European allies who signed the nuclear pact -- Britain, France, and Germany.
Corker acknowledged a tough fight ahead to gain backing for his legislation, but said he hoped to win over Democrats. He also pledged to seek the support of European allies.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
A spokesman for the U.S.-backed forces fighting Islamic State militants in Syria says the "final" battle to uproot the extremists from the northern city of Raqqa is under way, as dozens of IS fighters surrender.
Mustafa Bali, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said on October 14 that the battle could take hours or days.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is an alliance of Arab and Kurdish militias dominated by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.
Also on October 14, the U.S.-led coalition said local officials in Raqqa had struck a deal with IS militants to allow a convoy to evacuate the city later in the day. Under the deal, SDF forces will have the right to inspect the vehicles as they are leaving the area.
The coalition statement said it believes the deal "will save lives" and enable the coalition and the SDF to focus on the fight against IS.
The loss of Raqqa, once the de facto capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate, would deal a huge blow to the militant group.
Bali says IS militants are putting up a desperate resistance in a number of neighborhoods in the city.
However, the coalition said in an e-mailed statement that dozens of IS fighters have surrendered over the past day.
"Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ISIS terrorists have surrendered in Raqqa, and were removed from the city," the statement said.
The battle for Raqqa began in June, with heavy street-by-street fighting amid intense U.S.-led coalition air strikes and shelling. The battle has dragged on in the face of stiff resistance from the militants and civilians trapped in the city.
However, the coalition says it controls about 90 percent of the city.
An activist group that reports on Raqqa, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, said on its Facebook page on October 14 that dozens of buses had entered Raqqa city overnight, having traveled from the northern Raqqa countryside.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian Islamic State fighters and their families had already left the city, and buses had arrived to evacuate remaining foreign fighters and their families. It did not say where they would be taken to.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
Keeping festive season in mind, Skoda India had introduced the much awaited Monte Carlo edition of the Rapid sedan. Priced from Rs 10.75 lakhs, this special edition paid homage to the racing heritage of the company which is associated with the place called Monte Carlo situated in Monaco, Europe.
Many enthusiasts, who connect with the racing heritage of Monte Carlo, had were waiting to buy this car. Sadly, they will not be able to. In India, there is a fashion company with the name Monte Carlo. They had filed a trademark infringement case against Skoda India, for using Monte Carlo name.
Based in Punjab, the fashion and clothing company, Monte Carlo does not want their trademarked name to be used by a car company and thus they filed a case in local district court. Ruling of this was delivered, and it is in favour of Monte Carlo Apparels. This means, with immediate effect Skoda India is banned from selling Monte Carlo Edition, or using the name Monte Carlo. Rapid Monte Carlo Edition has now been removed from their official site as well.
What is interesting here, in spite of Skoda paying royalty to Monaco, which is where the place Monte Carlo is located, they cannot use the name here in India. On the other hand, it is to be noted that Monte Carlo Apparels too have their name inspired from the same Monte Carlo in Monaco.
This is not the first time something like this has happened in India. Ford had to change the name of their SUV which is known as Everest everywhere else to Endeavour, just because the name Everest has been trademarked by a masala making company. Even the Ford Endeavour carried the Everest motif on the spare wheel cover.
How can a apparel or masala maker be threatened by a car company? Are we missing something here?
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.
@PatriciaMazzei
Former U.S. Rep. David Rivera avoided criminal charges in an unlawful campaign-finance scheme he was suspected of masterminding. Now hes evading the feds again this time, U.S. marshals trying to serve him with a civil lawsuit.
Since July, marshals have attempted to formally notify Rivera in person, by phone, by overnight mail and via email that the Federal Election Commission sued him, seeking $486,000 in penalties for at least $69,000 in unreported campaign cash Rivera funneled to a ringer candidate in 2012
Each time, Rivera, a 2018 candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, has eluded them.
His unknown whereabouts and a delay of service attempts due to Hurricane Irma prompted FEC attorney Greg J. Mueller to ask U.S. District Judge Robert Scola on Thursday for 60 more days to serve Rivera. Scola granted the request Friday, giving the feds until Dec. 11 to serve the lawsuit.
The Commissions diligent efforts to serve Rivera have been thwarted so far by Riveras apparent evasion of service, Mueller wrote in his request to Scola. Rivera is almost certainly aware of this lawsuit.
Four times, marshals tried to serve Rivera in person. On the first occasion, three days after the FEC sued on July 17, a deputy marshal visited Riveras townhouse, inside a Doral gated community.
The Deputy Marshal then encountered an individual in the driveway at that address who refused to answer questions regarding Rivera, Mueller wrote.
More here.
Photo credit: Roberto Koltun, el Nuevo Herald
A false-color image of Mercury taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft highlights the physical variation across the planet.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and the smallest planet in our solar system. The tiny planet has no moon of its own and zips around the sun faster than all the other planets, which is why the Romans named it after their swift-footed messenger god.
The Sumerians also knew of Mercury since at least 5,000 years ago. It was often associated with Nabu, the god of writing, according to a site connected to NASA's MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) mission. Mercury was also given separate names for its appearance as both a morning star and as an evening star. Greek astronomers knew, however, that the two names referred to the same body, and Heraclitus, around 500 B.C., correctly thought that both Mercury and Venus orbited the sun, not Earth.
Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth, with a huge metallic core roughly 2,200 to 2,400 miles (3,600 to 3,800 kilometers) wide, or about 75% of the planet's diameter. In comparison, Mercury's outer shell is only 300 to 400 miles (500 to 600 km) thick. The combination of its massive core and composition, which includes an abundance of volatile elements, has left scientists puzzled for years.
Related: What is Mercury made of?
Mercury: Temperature, size and surface activity
Because the planet is so close to the sun, Mercury's surface temperature can reach a scorching 840 degrees Fahrenheit (450 degrees Celsius). However, since this world doesn't have much of a real atmosphere to entrap any heat, at night temperatures can plummet to minus 275 degrees Fahrenheit (minus degrees 170 Celsius), a temperature swing of more than 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (600 degrees Celsius), the greatest in the solar system.
Mercury is the smallest planet it is only slightly larger than Earth's moon. Since it has no significant atmosphere to stop impacts, the planet is pockmarked with craters. About 4 billion years ago, an asteroid roughly 60 miles (100 km) wide struck Mercury with an impact equal to 1 trillion 1-megaton bombs, creating a vast impact crater roughly 960 miles (1,550 km) wide. Known as the Caloris Basin, this crater could hold the entire state of Texas. Another large impact may have helped create the planet's odd spin, according to research in 2011.
As close to the sun as Mercury is, in 2012, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft discovered water ice in the craters around its north pole in 2017, where regions may be permanently shaded from the heat of the sun. The southern pole may also contain icy pockets, but MESSENGER's orbit did not allow scientists to probe the area. Comets or meteorites may have delivered ice there, or water vapor may have outgassed from the planet's interior and frozen out at the poles.
Mercury seen in silhouette as it transits across the face of the sun. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Fast facts Average distance from the sun: 35,983,095 miles (57,909,175 km). By comparison: 0.38 Earth's distance from the sun Perihelion (closest approach to sun): 28,580,000 miles (46,000,000 km). By comparison: 0.313 times that of Earth Aphelion (farthest distance from sun): 43,380,000 miles (69,820,000 km). By comparison: 0.459 times that of Earth Day length: 58.646 Earth days Color: Gray
As if Mercury isn't small enough, it not only shrank in its past but is continuing to shrink today, according to a 2016 report. The tiny planet is made up of a single continental plate over a cooling iron core. As the core cools, it solidifies, reducing the planet's volume and causing it to shrink. The process crumpled the surface, creating lobe-shaped scarps or cliffs, some hundreds of miles long and soaring up to a mile high, as well as Mercury's "Great Valley," which at about 620 miles long, 250 miles wide and two miles deep (1,000 by 400 by 3.2 km) is larger than Arizona's famous Grand Canyon and deeper than the Great Rift Valley in East Africa.
"The young age of the small scarps means that Mercury joins Earth as a tectonically active planet with new faults likely forming today as Mercury's interior continues to cool and the planet contracts," Tom Watters, Smithsonian senior scientist at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., said in a NASA statement.
Indeed, a 2016 study of cliffs on Mercury's surface suggested the planet may still rumble with earthquakes, or "Mercuryquakes." In addition, in the past, Mercury's surface was constantly reshaped by volcanic activity. However, another 2016 study (opens in new tab) suggested Mercury's volcano eruptions likely ended about 3.5 billion years ago.
One 2016 study suggested that Mercury's surface features can generally be divided into two groups one consisting of older material that melted at higher pressures at the core-mantle boundary, and the other of newer material that formed closer to Mercury's surface. Another 2016 study found that the dark hue of Mercury's surface is due to carbon. This carbon wasn't deposited by impacting comets, as some researchers suspected instead, it may be a remnant of the planet's primordial crust.
Mercury's magnetic field
A completely unexpected discovery made by Mariner 10 was that Mercury possessed a magnetic field. Planets theoretically generate magnetic fields only if they spin quickly and possess a molten core. But Mercury takes 59 days to rotate and is so small just roughly one-third Earth's size that its core should have cooled off long ago.
"We had figured out how the Earth works, and Mercury is another terrestrial, rocky planet with an iron core, so we thought it would work the same way," Christopher Russell, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a University of California, Los Angeles statement.
An unusual interior could help to explain the differences in Mercury's magnetic field when compared to Earth. Observations from MESSENGER revealed that the planet's magnetic field is approximately three times stronger at its northern hemisphere than at its southern. Russell co-authored a model that suggests that Mercury's iron core may be turning from liquid to solid at the core's outer boundary rather than the inner.
"It's like a snow storm in which the snow formed at the top of the cloud and middle of the cloud and the bottom of the cloud too," said Russell. "Our study of Mercury's magnetic field indicates iron is snowing throughout this fluid that is powering Mercury's magnetic field."
The discovery in 2007 by Earth-based radar observations that Mercury's core may still be molten could help explain its magnetism, though the solar wind may play a role in dampening the planet's magnetic field (opens in new tab).
Although Mercury's magnetic field is just 1% the strength of Earth's, it is very active. The magnetic field in the solar wind the charged particles streaming off the sun periodically touches upon Mercury's field, creating powerful magnetic tornadoes that channel the fast, hot plasma of the solar wind down to the planet's surface.
Does Mercury have an atmosphere?
Instead of a substantial atmosphere, Mercury possesses an ultra-thin "exosphere" made up of atoms blasted off its surface by solar radiation, the solar wind and micrometeoroid impacts. These quickly escape into space, forming a tail of particles, according to NASA (opens in new tab).
The atmosphere of Mercury is a "surface-bound exosphere, essentially a vacuum." It contains 42% oxygen, 29% sodium, 22% hydrogen, 6% helium, 0.5% potassium, with possible trace amounts of argon, carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, xenon, krypton and neon, according to NASA.
Mercury's orbit
Mercury speeds around the sun every 88 Earth days, traveling through space at nearly 112,000 mph (180,000 km/h), faster than any other planet. Its oval-shaped orbit is highly elliptical, taking Mercury as close as 29 million miles (47 million km) and as far as 43 million miles (70 million km) from the sun. If one could stand on Mercury when it is nearest to the sun, it would appear more than three times as large as it does when viewed from Earth.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and has a thin atmosphere, no air pressure and an extremely high temperature. Take a look inside the planet. (Image credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com)
(opens in new tab)
Oddly, due to Mercury's highly elliptical orbit and the 59 Earth-days or so it takes to rotate on its axis, when on the scorching surface of the planet, the sun appears to rise briefly, set, and rise again before it travels westward across the sky. At sunset, the sun appears to set, rise again briefly, and then set again.
In 2016, a rare transit of Mercury happened (opens in new tab), where the planet crossed the face of the sun (opens in new tab) as seen from Earth. Mercury's transit may have yielded secrets (opens in new tab) about its thin atmosphere, assisted in the hunt for worlds around other stars, and helped NASA hone some of its instruments.
As Mercury takes just Earth days to orbit the sun and Earth takes 365 days, approximately three or four times a year Mercury overtakes Earth during its trip around the sun and an optical illusion occurs, according to The New York Times (opens in new tab). Mercury appears to move "backward" across the sky for about three weeks, it is during this time Mercury is said to be in retrograde. Astrologers consider Mercury in retrograde to be a time of misfortune and miscommunication as the perceived backward motion interferes with the planet's rules, according to Dictionary.com (opens in new tab). The retrograde motion is explained in this YouTube video from Vox (opens in new tab).
Research and exploration
The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was Mariner 10, which imaged about 45% of the surface and detected its magnetic field.
NASA's MESSENGER orbiter was the second spacecraft to visit Mercury. When it arrived in March 2011, it became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. The mission came to an abrupt end on April 30, 2015, when the spacecraft, which had run out of fuel, purposely crashed onto the planet's surface for scientists to observe the results.
In 2012, scientists discovered a group of meteorites in Morocco that they think could have originated from the planet Mercury. If so, it would make the rocky planet a member of a very select club with samples available on Earth; only the moon, Mars and the large asteroid Vesta have verified rocks in human laboratories.
In 2016, scientists released the first-ever global digital-elevation model of Mercury, which combined more than 10,000 images acquired by MESSENGER to take viewers across the wide-open spaces of the tiny world. The model revealed the planet's highest and lowest points the highest is found just south of Mercury's equator, sitting 2.78 miles (4.48 km) above the average elevation of the planet, while the lowest point resides in Rachmaninoff basin, the suspected home of some of the most recent volcanic activity on the planet, and lies 3.34 miles (5.38 km) below the landscape average.
In 2018, a new Mercury explorer was launched. The BepiColombo mission jointly operated by the European and Japanese space agencies is composed of two spacecraft Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter that, after a long trek to Mercury, will split up to better understand the tiny world. The European Space Agency's segment of the mission will focus on studying Mercury's surface while the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's portion will focus on the planet's strange magnetosphere.
In 2021, BepiColumbo captured its first views of Mercury during a gravity assist flyby. BepiColumbo is scheduled to arrive at Mercury in late 2025, and gather data during its one-year nominal mission with the possibility of a one-year extension, according to ESA.
Mercury quiz
Additional resources
Learn more about Mercury at NASA's Solar System Exploration (opens in new tab) website. Read about MESSENGER's top science results via Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. See MESSENGERs crater on Mercury (opens in new tab), made when the spacecraft deliberately crashed into the planet
Bibliography
Strom, Robert G., and Ann L. Sprague. Exploring Mercury: the iron planet. (opens in new tab)New York: Springer, 2003.
Charlier, Bernard, and Olivier Namur. "The origin and differentiation of planet Mercury (opens in new tab)." Elements: An International Magazine of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Petrology 15.1 (2019): 9-14.
Mangano, Valeria, et al. "BepiColombo science investigations during cruise and flybys at the Earth, Venus and Mercury. (opens in new tab)" Space Science Reviews 217.1 (2021): 1-81.
Hauck, Steven A., and Catherine L. Johnson. "Mercury: Inside the iron planet. (opens in new tab)" Elements: An International Magazine of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Petrology 15.1 (2019): 21-26.
November's full "Beaver Moon" will occur on Nov. 8 and will undergo a total lunar eclipse. The total phase will be visible on almost the entire night side of Earth, from the eastern half of Russia and Kazakhstan China and eastern India to North America and the western half of South America.
The moon becomes officially full at 6:02 a.m. EST (1002 GMT), according to the U.S. Naval Observatory (opens in new tab). For New York City observers, the moon will set about a half hour later at 6:42 a.m., per timeanddate.com (opens in new tab) and rise that evening at 4:52 a.m. (0852 GMT).
Eclipses happen because sometimes the full moon, which occurs when the moon is on exactly the opposite side of the Earth from the sun, enters the Earth's shadow. Most of the time this doesn't occur because the moon's orbit is slightly inclined to the plane of Earth's orbit, so the moon "misses" the shadow. Lunar eclipses often accompany solar eclipses, and this one is no exception there was a partial solar eclipse in October, at the new moon.
Related: Beaver Blood Moon lunar eclipse 2022: Everything you need to know
An illustration of the night sky on Nov. 8 depicting the full Beaver Moon. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan)
Beaver Moon total lunar eclipse
TOP TELESCOPE PICK: (Image credit: Celestron) Looking for a telescope to see the Beaver Moon up close? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 (opens in new tab)as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide.
For sky watchers on the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, the penumbral phase of the eclipse starts at 3:02 a.m. EST (0702 GMT) on Nov. 8, 2022. The penumbra is the lighter part of the Earth's shadow; it's often difficult to see when it covers the moon because it just makes the moon look a bit yellow or brownish, depending on the weather and one's color perception. At 4:09 a.m. EST (0808 GMT) the umbra, the darker shadow of the Earth, will make contact with the moon and the partial phase of the eclipse begins; this is the point where one can see the Earth's shadow take a "bite" out of the moon.
At 5:16 a.m. EST (0916 GMT) the moon will be fully within the Earth's umbra, and observers will see the "blood moon" effect. This happens because the Earth's atmosphere bends the light of the sun like a lens, and also scatters blue wavelengths more than red ones. It's a similar mechanism to that which makes the sunsets appear red on Earth and sometimes makes the sun look flatter as it approaches the horizon. If an astronaut were standing on the moon, they would see the Earth eclipse the sun and be surrounded by a ring of red light.
During a total lunar eclipse, the moon appears to turn red while passing through Earth's shadow. (Image credit: NASA)
The moon will be closest to the center of the umbra at about 5:59 a.m. EST (0959 GMT) and will touch the edge of the umbra at 6:41 a.m. (1041 GMT), just as it sets, so East Coast sky watchers won't see the latter part of the eclipse. As one moves west, though, the eclipse starts earlier in Chicago and other Central Time Zone cities it begins at 2:02 a.m. and the partial phase starts at 3:09 a.m. The moon will start to emerge from the umbra at 5:41 a.m. By moonset (which is at 6:40 a.m. in Chicago) the moon will be almost out of the umbra.
To see the entire umbral phase of the eclipse one has to be a bit further west and south. In Texas, for example, the eclipse also starts at 2:02 a.m. and the partial phase ends at 6:49 a.m. Because the city is further south (even though it is still in the Central Time Zone) the moon sets a bit later than in Chicago, at 6:59 a.m. local time, so observers there will get to see it before the moon gets below the horizon.
Observers in Phoenix will get to see the entire eclipse, which starts at 1:02 a.m. and ends at 6:56 a.m. just a few minutes before moonset at 7:04 a.m. Further west than that, and the entire eclipse will be visible (and an hour earlier in the Pacific Time Zone).
In the Pacific, the eclipse will start before midnight on Nov. 7 Hawaiians, for example, will see it begin at 10:02 p.m. local time on Nov. 7 and end at 3:56 a.m. The moon will also be well away from the horizon at maximum eclipse, which occurs at 12:59 a.m. on Nov. 8, the moon will be 78 degrees high in the south.
Beaver Full Moon and visible planets
As the penumbral eclipse starts in New York the only planet still above the horizon will be Mars, which will be east of the moon (to the left) and form a rough triangle with Betelgeuse in Orion and Aldebaran in Taurus. Betelgeuse and Aldebaran are, like Mars, reddish, with Betelgeuse being more so, and so the (temporary) configuration will be quite distinct.
For those who have a small telescope or binoculars, the moon will also occult Uranus as it is eclipsed but the phenomenon is only visible from northern North America and northeastern Asia. From Tokyo, for example, Uranus will pass behind the moon at 8:40 p.m. local time, and reappear from behind it at 9:25 p.m., according to In-the-sky.org (opens in new tab). The occultation will start just before the total phase of the lunar eclipse ends at 8:41 p.m. local time, so people in Japan will see the planet disappear behind a blood moon and emerge from a partially-eclipsed one. In Anchorage, Alaska, the occultation will start at 3:39 a.m. local time, about 10 minutes before the end of the partial phase of the lunar eclipse. Uranus emerges from behind the moon at 5:14 a.m. local time.
The moon rises again on Nov. 8 at 4:52 p.m., and at that point in New York City the sun sets at 4:44 p.m. About an hour later when the sky is fully dark, one will see Saturn and Jupiter in the south, with Jupiter towards the southeast. Saturn sets at 11:09 p.m. local time and Jupiter at 2:34 a.m. on Nov. 9. If one has a clear horizon to the south, one will see Fomalhaut, the brightest star in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, almost midway between the two giant planets and a bit below them. Fomalhaut is relatively close to Earth at 25 light-years, and was the first star around which an exoplanet was spotted in visible wavelengths.
Beaver Moon and other November moon names
While Americans (specifically those in the U.S. and Canada) call the November full moon the Beaver Moon, other cultures see it differently. The Ojibwe people call it Mshkawji Giizis, or "Freezing Moon." Similarly, the Cree people called it "Kaskatinowipisim" or "Freeze up Moon." Both the Cree and Ojibwe nations' traditional territories are in the Great Lakes region, where, traditionally, October and November was when freezing temperatures would begin, especially at night.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Tlingit called the 11th full moon Cha'aaw Kungaay, which means "bears hibernate," according to the " Tlingit Moon and Tide Teaching Resource (opens in new tab)" published by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The traditional Chinese calendar is lunisolar based on both lunar and solar cycles and the November full moon occurs in the 10th month rather than the 11th because the Chinese new year happens in February. The November lunar month is called Yangyue, or "Yang Month" as that is when the Taoist "yang" or masculine force is stronger.
The KhoiKhoi people in South Africa called the November full moon the Milk Moon, according to the Center for Astronomical Heritage (opens in new tab), an organization that works to preserve local astronomical traditions.
If you hope to snap a photo of the eclipse, our guide on how to photograph a lunar eclipse, as well as how to photograph the moon with a camera in general, can help you make the most of the event. If you need imaging equipment, our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography have recommendations to make sure you're ready for the next eclipse.
Editor's note: If you snap a great photo of the Beaver Moon lunar eclipse or any other night sky sight you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a story or image gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson most likely won't be going to space in the next six months, despite his recent statement that he'd be "very disappointed" otherwise.
Mike Moses, president of Virgin Galactic, said yesterday (Oct. 12) that while the company plans to have one of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicles reach altitudes of more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth's surface within the next three months, it's unlikely that passengers including Branson will be on board in less than half a year.
Branson made his comments on Oct. 2 at a the Nordic Business Forum in Helsinki. Moses addressed Branson's comments during a question-and-answer period following a presentation here at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS). [Virgin Galactic: Richard Branson's Space Tourism Company]
"Richard always poses a challenge. He likes to push very hard. Sometimes, I wish he wouldn't talk so much," Moses said, getting a laugh from the audience. "But three months is about right. We hope to be in space by the end of this year. He's a little bit further away [from a flight] than that."
The SpaceShipTwo space plane will serve primarily as a tourism vehicle that will take customers on brief flights to altitudes of over 50 miles. It is carried to a height of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) by a large aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo.
Branson has a history of publicly declaring ambitious timelines for the company. Virgin Galactic, together with the company Scaled Composites, began developing the tourism venture in 2004, with Branson originally estimating that the company would fly customers by 2007. The company's progress was further delayed in October 2014, when a SpaceShipTwo vehicle broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another.
In April, Branson said he would be disappointed if he did not get to take a trip aboard a SpaceShipTwo vehicle by the end of 2018, which is more in line with Moses' projection. The company CEO, George Whitesides, has also said the company should be flying tourists in 2018.
Virgin Galactic has been conducting glide tests of a SpaceShipTwo vehicle named VSS Unity, meaning the vessel has flown while attached to WhiteKnightTwo but without an engine. Powered tests (with an engine) are expected to begin this year, Moses said.
"We're going to do the powered program just like we did the glide program," Moses said. "The first thing you want to do is kind of predict what you're going to see, fly it, make sure you got what you thought so you know that your prediction for the step after that is right. We'll take our time with it. We're going to fly when we're ready."
Moses added that the company is currently building two additional SpaceShipTwo vehicles. He said Virgin Galactic has completed the fabrication of the two ship's cabin shells and will be putting the various systems (such as electrical) into the cabins next.
"The skeletons of our next two spaceships are well on their way," Moses said. "The next step is to start assembling the wings and the fuselages and then bring those parts together. It's going to take a year to a year and a half for these vehicles to come online. We really do want a fleet of spacecraft."
Operating multiple spacecraft at the same time should allow Virgin Galactic to lower the price of a ticket for a suborbital flight, Moses said. The company has presold about 700 tickets at $250,000 each, but put a freeze on those sales last year, Moses said.
"By having multiple ships, we can fly multiple times. It drops our overhead, and that really lets us open the market up and drop those prices down," he said. "The real vision is to democratize access to space. And the price point is a part of that. We need to get those price points down. Space is expensive. You need to do what you need to do, but I think we'll drive them down."
Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the classified NROL-52 spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office stands atop a launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for an Oct. 14, 2017 launch.
Calling all early-bird space fans! Two rockets one Russian and the other American will launch on two very different missions early Saturday (Oct. 14). You can watch both launches online, but you'll have to wake up in the wee hours to do it.
The space action starts at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT) with the launch of a classified U.S. spy satellite on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Then, at 4:46 a.m. EDT (0846 GMT), a Russian Soyuz rocket is scheduled to blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the uncrewed Progress 68 cargo ship filled with supplies for the International Space Station.
You can watch the back-to-back launches live on Space.com here, courtesy of ULA and NASA TV. ULA's Atlas V launch webcast will begin at 3:11 a.m. EDT (0711 GMT), followed by NASA's webcast at 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 GMT).
Both missions launching Saturday were previously delayed due to one issue or another.
ULA initially tried to launch the Atlas V mission on Oct. 5 but was delayed several days by bad weather. Then, a telemetry transmitter issue pushed out the launch another week.
The Atlas V rocket is launching the classified NROL-52 spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The mission follows the launch of another clandestine satellite by ULA, the NROL-42 mission, from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sept. 24.
The first launch try for Russia's Progress 68 cargo ship occurred Thursday (Oct. 12), with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) aborting the mission at the last minute due to an unspecified issue. That issue was apparently resolved Friday, allowing for a Saturday launch attempt, according to a NASA update.
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the Progress 68 cargo ship is readied to launch from Site 31 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Liftoff is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2017 after a two-day delay. (Image credit: RSC Energia)
Progress 68 is carrying nearly 3 tons of food, fuel and supplies for astronauts and cosmonauts living on the International Space Station. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at the station Monday (Oct. 16) after making 34 orbits of Earth.
Roscosmos initially hoped to try a new ultrafast rendezvous plan, which would deliver Progress 68 to the space station in just 3.5 hours, on Thursday. But the launch delay required a more typical two-day flight due to the orbital mechanics involved to reach the orbiting laboratory, NASA officials said.
The launch delay for Progress 68 has forced NASA to reschedule an upcoming spacewalk for two American astronauts on the space station. That spacewalk, originally scheduled for next Wednesday (Oct. 18), is now set for Friday (Oct. 20). NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Joe Acaba will take part in the spacewalk to perform maintenance tasks on the station's exterior.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
After a two-day delay, robotic Russian cargo ship launched into orbit Saturday (Oct. 14) to deliver nearly 3 tons of fresh food, equipment and other supplies to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station.
The Russian Federal Space Agency's (Roscosmos) automated Progress 68 resupply ship lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket at 4:46 a.m. EDT (0846 GMT), beginning a weekend chase of the space station. The cargo ship is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting lab Monday (Oct. 16) at 7:09 a.m. EDT (1109 GMT).
"Liftoff of the 68 Progress resupply craft bound on a two-day journey to the International Space Station," NASA spokesman Rob Navias said during NASA TV commentary. [How Russia's Progress Cargo Ships Work (Infographic)]
The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos launches a Soyuz rocket carrying the uncrewed Progress 68 cargo ship from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 14, 2017 to deliver 3 tons of supplies to the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA TV)
Roscosmos initially attempted to launch the Progress 68 mission Thursday (Oct. 12), but an unspecified problem with the Soyuz booster forced flight controllers to abort the liftoff at the last minute. That problem appeared to be resolved Saturday, with the Soyuz flawlessly launching Progress 68 into orbit.
"A perfect ascent to orbit, two days behind schedule but safe and sound nonetheless," Navias said.
The two-day delay, however, meant that Progress 68 was unable to test a novel new flight plan that would deliver the cargo ship to the International Space Station in just 3.5 hours after two orbits of Earth. Instead, it will take a more typical two-day trip to the space station, which requires 34 orbits of Earth, due to the orbital mechanics involved to reach the station, NASA officials have said. Roscosmos can also fly Progress and Soyuz crew capsules to the station on 6-hour flights that orbit Earth four times.
Progress 68 is packed with 5,946 lbs. (2,697 kilograms) of supplies for the space station's six-person Expedition 53 crew. Those supplies include:
2,976 lbs. (1,349 kg) of dry cargo like spare parts or science gear,
1,940 lbs. (879 kg) of propellant,
926 lbs. (420 kg) of water,
53 lbs. (24 kg) of air,
51 lbs. (23 kg) of oxygen.
Russia's Progress cargo ships are similar in appearance to the country's crewed Soyuz spacecraft, but in place of a central crew module Progress vehicles carry propellant to periodically reboost the space station's orbit.
NASA will broadcast live views of Progress 68's arrival on Monday, beginning at 6:15 a.m. EDT (1015 GMT). You can watch the docking live here, courtesy of NASA TV.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Algiers, Oct 14, 2017 (SPS) - Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Western Sahara Horst Kohler will pay, on 18-19 October, a visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps, announced on Friday the ambassador of the Sahrawi Republic to Algiers.
It is Kohlers first visit to the region since his appointment in September by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as his personal envoy for Western Sahara, replacing Christopher Ross.
Kohler has already expressed his intention to visit the region to relaunch the peace process, frozen for five years, because of Moroccan deadlocks.
The Polisario fronts representative to the United Nations Ahmed Boukhari reiterated last week in New York, at the 4th UN Commission for decolonization, the Sahrawi sides firm commitment to cooperating with new envoy Horst Kohler, expected in the region to relaunch the UN process.
Our position is consistent, clear and transparent. It is the position of the United Nations and the African Union concerning the issue of decolonisation, governed by the principle of self-determination, he said. (SPS)
062/SPS/APS
T aylor Swift fans have shared their excitement after they were among a select few invited to preview her new album Reputation in London.
A group of just 100 'Swifties' was handpicked to attend to a "secret session" of the highly anticipated new record and meet the star in the capital on Friday night.
They were personally selected by Swift after she apparently stalked them over the last year on their social media accounts.
The listening party is a tradition for the Grammy winner and comes ahead of the launch of her sixth studio album.
Before the release of 1989 in 2014, she invited fans to her various homes to listen to her new tracks.
Enthusiasts who attended the event shared their excitement on social media.
One wrote on Twitter: "I'm crying OMG", alongside photos of a Reputation tote bag and a snake pendant with London written on it.
The snake has become a symbol of Swift's new record, featuring heavily in the promotion ahead of the lead single Look What You Made Me Do and in the video for the track.
Another said: "How did I end up on Taylor's living room floor listening to her unreleased album," while another added: "So I just met Taylor Swift and she's been stalking me for over a year and I'm crying".
Another fan who attended wrote on Twitter: "I just met Taylor Swift and she knew my name and she called me buddy and my life is complete."
Another shared a picture of wristbands bearing the words United Kingdom in the same font used on Swift's album cover.
One attendee said fans from 13 different countries had been invited to the event in London.
Reputation is due to be released on November 10.
I ran is being blamed for a "brute force" cyber attack on Parliament that compromised dozens of MPs email accounts.
The "sustained and determined" attack on June 23 saw hackers try to break into 9,000 email accounts including that of Theresa May by searching for weak passwords.
Blackmail fears were raised when around 90 accounts belonging to MPs, staff and peers were undermined in the unprecedented incident.
It was initially thought Russia was behind the attack but investigators have traced the source of the hit to the Tehran regime, according to The Times.
The House of Commons said it did not comment on security matters.
A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate to comment further while enquiries are ongoing."
The revelations come as Britain tried to keep the Iran nuclear deal on track after Donald Trump's refusal to back it.
The US president accused Tehran of violating the spirit of the landmark 2015 agreement and believes the international community is being naive in its dealings with the regime.
Theresa May joined Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron to issue a statement insisting preserving the pact was "in our shared national security interest" and calling for Washington to "consider the implications" of taking action that undermine it.
Mr Trump stopped short of ripping up the deal but said without measures to toughen it up "the agreement will be terminated".
The statement from the UK, France and Germany said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had "repeatedly confirmed" Iran's compliance to the terms it signed up to.
It said: "We, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump's decision not to recertify Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) to Congress and are concerned by the possible implications.
"We stand committed to the JCPoA and its full implementation by all sides. Preserving the JCPoA is in our shared national security interest.
"The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step towards ensuring that Iran's nuclear programme is not diverted for military purposes."
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry accused Mr Trump of an "act of wanton vandalism" and said it was "high time" the Government stopped kow-towing to the US president and challenged him on his actions.
She said: "From the Paris climate change deal to US membership of Unesco, he has demonstrated a flagrant disregard for the institutions and agreements that bind the international community together in the shared pursuit of a better future.
"That is not what we expect from the President of the United States, and it is high time for the British Government to tell him so.
via @learyreports
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Marco Rubio has serious doubts whether the Iran deal can be refashioned and said Friday it should be killed outright.
President Donald Trump said Friday he would withdraw certification of the deal but keep it in place, effectively asking Congress to come up with new provisions.
President Trump made the right decision to decertify the Obama Administrations Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran (JCPOA). He is correct in finding that this deal is not in our national interest, Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in a statement.
I know the White House has been working hard to craft a new law to fix the Iran deal, and I appreciate them and Chairman Corker seeking my input. I will reserve judgment until actual legislation is presented. But I have serious doubts about whether it is even possible to fix such a dangerously flawed agreement.
Ultimately, leaving the nuclear deal, reimposing suspended sanctions, and having the president impose additional sanctions would serve our national interest better than a decertified deal that leaves sanctions suspended or a new law that leaves major flaws in that agreement in place.
Democrats blasted the move. Florida Rep. Lois Frankel, who voted against the Iran deal in 2015, said Trumps actions Friday were reckless.
Her statement:
In 2015, I opposed the Iran nuclear agreement because I felt it would legitimize Irans nuclear program after 15 years and give Iran access to billions of dollars without a commitment to cease its terrorist activity. These concerns remain. Moreover, since the adoption of the agreement, Iran has increased its destabilizing activities in the region, including ballistic missile testing, sponsorship of terrorism, propping up the Assad regime in Syria, and arming Hezbollah.
With that said, Iran has already received billions of dollars in previously frozen assets as a result of the JCPOA and there is no credible evidence that it is in violation of its requirements. The International Atomic Energy Agency has continuously confirmed Iranian technical compliance with the agreement. Our European allies agree. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak warned that if the U.S. were to pull out of the deal, it would give Tehran a pretext to resume its race to a nuclear capability. The Presidents own national security team has urged him not to withdraw.
Donald Trump is wrong to believe that we have leverage to bring the parties back to the table to negotiate a better deal. Instead, by turning our backs on a multilateral agreement, we send a chilling message about the United States willingness to honor its commitments, throwing into question our reliability. We cant afford such a dangerous gamble, especially when tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea are at an all-time high. Todays action undermines the possibility, however unlikely, for a diplomatic approach to this ongoing crisis.
Mr. Trumps reckless decision leaves Congress to decide whether the U.S. will reimpose JCPOA-related sanctions on Iran. If Congress were to take such action, the deal would likely collapse. Iran would walk away with the upper hand, leaving them an unobstructed path to race toward nuclear weapons. The consequences for peace and security in the Middle East would be catastrophic, and would put our greatest ally Israel at grave risk. We would lose the mantle of leadership in the international community.
--ALEX LEARY, Tampa Bay Times
A man is fighting for life after a knife attack on a busy road in west London.
Police and paramedics sped to the scene of the incident in West End Road in Ruislip shortly before 7pm on Friday.
A man was found at the scene, near the junction with Mason Avenue, suffering from serious stab injuries.
He was rushed to a west London hospital where he remains in a critical condition, Scotland Yard said.
Pictures posted on social media show a number of emergency services vehicles in attendance as the road was cordoned off for several hours after the stabbing.
A Met Police spokesman said no arrests and enquiries are ongoing.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
T hree young men were stabbed when a bar fight spilled out onto the street near London Bridge station.
Shocked witnesses said the brawl began indoors before moving onto Tooley Street shortly after 6am on Saturday.
Police and paramedics were called and three men, believed to be aged in their late teens or early 20s, have been taken to hospital.
None of their injuries are believed to life threatening, Scotland Yard said.
A police cordon has been put in place while officers carry out an investigation.
A Met Police spokesman said one arrest had been made.
He said: One man was arrested at the scene.
He has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody.
P rotesters walked through the streets of central London with their mouths taped shut as part of an international day of campaigning to call for an end to modern slavery.
Londons Walk for Freedom today coincided with hundreds of other marches in cities around the world.
Campaigners dressed in black and fastened black tape across their mouths before setting off from Old Palace Yard in Westminster at 9.30am on Saturday.
Others tied their mouths with yellow cloths, marked with the names of victims and survivors who were rescued from slavery.
They walked in a silent, single-file procession through Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Hundreds of marches are happening around the world. / Mili Clayton/Jocelyn Rhoda
The aim of the annual walk, which last year saw 300 marches in 40 different countries, is to demand urgent action against forced labour, servitude and sexual exploitation.
Protesters in Soho on Saturday. / Andrew Murray
It is organised by A21, a non-profit organisation working to fight human trafficking.
The London protesters held placards with messages including slavery still exists and abolish slavery everywhere, forever.
It comes as the Evening Standard launched an investigation into modern slavery. 40 million people worldwide are estimated to be living in slavery with more than 3.25 million in Europe.
The majority of people held as slaves are female, making up 28 million of the worldwide total. 11 million children are estimated to be enslaved in forced labour.
In London, experts say the problem is rife with slaves holed up and forced to work in brothels or businesses such as car washes and nail bars.
H urricane Ophelia is hurtling towards the UK despite temperatures hitting 20C in the capital.
Britain is set to be lashed by the tail end of the storm which has now set the record for the strongest hurricane to hit east of the Atlantic.
The US National Hurricane Center said Ophelia strengthened Saturday from a Category two to a Category three hurricane, with peak winds near 115 mph (185 kph.)
On Monday, 80 mph winds will batter parts of the UK but experts believe Ophelia will have returned to storm status.
However, temperatures are set to soar as high as 22C as the storm sweeps hot air from the Atlantic.
Parts of the UK enjoyed highs of 25C on Saturday - 10C hotter than October's average temperature of 15C, forecasters said.
Ophelia is set to hit exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 that killed 18 people in Britain.
The Met Office has issued severe weather alerts ahead of Ophelia and has warned there could be potential power cuts, disruption to road and rail networks, and damage to buildings as a result of Monday's stormy weather.
The Great Storm: 15th October 1987 1 /20 The Great Storm: 15th October 1987 My other car was a Porsche: damage done during the great storm of October 15 1987 Ros Drinkwater/Rex Features Two of the 27 light aircraft at Shoreham airport that were damaged in the wake of the savage weather that left a trail of chaos in the south of England. PA Devastation everywhere PA Michael Fish failing to predict the Hurricane, that hit the south-east in October 1987 BBC Red alert: phone boxes after the storm Rex Features PA PA Devastation in Kew Gardens Robin Anderson/Rex Features Crushed beetle: October 16 1987 Sten Rosenlund/Rex Features Man struggles on the Embankment at 11.30am on October 16 25 years ago Rex Features Getty Images A tree squashed Porsche in Wandsworth SW18 Mail on Sunday Uprooted trees crashed onto houses in Old Tovil Road in Maidstone, Kent, after a hurricane hit Britai PA A light aeroplane upside down by the savage storms which hit the south, at Stapleford Abbotts airfield near Epping in Essex PA Mrs Joan Rix, owner of the Abridge Park Residential Caravan Park, tries to make a call from a blown over telephone booth in the wake of the savage storms that swept the South Coast. PA
The Republic of Ireland's Met Office has issued a red warning for counties in Munster and Connacht, predicting that coastal areas will be hit by winds in excess of 80mph (130km/h) from 9am on Monday until Tuesday.
C olin Firth said he is ashamed not to have spoken out when a British actress told him about a distressing encounter with disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.
In an interview with the Guardian, the film star revealed Sophie Dix had spoken to him about an incident more than 25 years ago.
Ms Dix, 48, said she was 22 when she alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a London hotel.
The Kings Speech actor Firth, who starred with Sophie Dix in 1990 film The Advocate, said: She told me she had had a distressing encounter with Harvey Weinstein.
Producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Colin Firth in 2011.
I dont think she went into all the horrific detail Ive read in her interview. But I remember her being profoundly upset by it. To my shame, I merely expressed sympathy.
He added: I didnt act on what she told me. It was a long time ago and I dont know if she remembers telling me, but the fact that I had that conversation has come back to haunt me in the light of these revelations.
Its the only direct account of this kind of behaviour by Harvey Weinstein thats ever been told to me.
Firth previously joined the voices of scores of other film industry figures expressing shock and disgust at the allegations, saying he read the claims with a feeling of nausea.
Harvey Weinstein on the Oscars red carpet at this year's awards. / Getty Images
Weinstein was fired by his own film company last Sunday after a litany of sexual harassment allegations. He also faces allegations of rape.
The film producer, who founded up Miramax with brother Bob and ran The Weinstein Company, has apologised for elements of his past behaviour, strongly denies any claims of non-consensual sex, rape and sexual assault.
He has reportedly flown to Europe for therapy as police forces in both the US and the UK announce they are investigating the allegations.
Emma Thompson labels Harvey Weinstein 'a predator'
The British Academy Film Awards (Bafta) has already suspended the producer's membership, while organisers of the Cannes Film Festival said they were dismayed by the allegations.
The Oscars film board are meeting to decide whether to strip Weinstein of his membership in the elite Academy Awards club.
Meanwhile the list of female stars to go public with allegations of sexual impropriety against the 65-year-old has continued to grow on Saturday, with UK actress Alice Evans alleging Weinstein made a "sinister advance" towards her.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she suggested that her refusal to respond when he said he wanted to "touch your t***. Kiss you a little" influenced his decision not to give her film roles.
On Thursday US actress Rose McGowan - one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment - tweeted that "HW raped me".
A Canadian held hostage in Pakistan for nearly five years has revealed his captors murdered one of his children and raped his wife.
Joshua Boyle and wife Caitlan Coleman have touched down in Canada after they were kidnapped by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012.
Ms Coleman was heavily pregnant at the time with the couples first child.
Her father this week described the decision to visit the dangerous country as unconscionable.
The couple arrived home on Friday with three children, all born in captivity, but Mr Boyle revealed in a statement that a fourth child, a baby girl, was killed by their captors.
Joshua Boyle speaks to the media after arriving with his wife and three children to Toronto Pearson International Airport / REUTERS
Wearing a black sweatshirt and sporting a beard, Mr Boyle said in a calm voice: "The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim... was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
Pakistani troops rescued the family in the northwest of the country, near the Afghan border, this week.
Caitlan Coleman and husband Joshua Boyle holding their children while in captivity / AFP/Getty Images
The United States has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
Mr Boyle did not elaborate on what he meant by "pilgrim", or on the murder or rape. Ms Coleman, who is from the US, was not at the news conference.
He added: "Obviously, it will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home.
Linda and Patrick Boyle, parents of Joshua Boyle, speak with the media outside their home / AP
Both sets of parents have previously questioned why the couple were in Afghanistan in the first place.
"Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," Ms Coleman's father, Jim, told ABC News.
He said: "I can't imagine doing that myself. But, I think that's all I want to say about that."
S ome of Hollywoods top figures are meeting to discuss whether to expel disgraced Harvey Weinstein from the elite Oscars club.
More than one week after the allegations were first published, a board of film industry stars including Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg will decide what action if any should be taken.
The host of the prestigious Oscars, the 54-member board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, are holding an emergency meeting.
The Oscar awarded to the producer in 1999 for his work on Shakespeare In Love may also be considered for nullification, according to reports.
Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman at the 89th Academy Awards. / REUTERS
Weinstein was fired by his own film company last Sunday after a litany of sexual harassment allegations. He also faces allegations of rape.
Police forces in both the US and the UK have announced that they are investigating allegations made against the mogul. Weinstein has apologised for elements of his past behaviour but strongly denies any claims of non-consensual sex.
The British Academy Film Awards has already suspended the producer's membership, while organisers of the Cannes Film Festival said they were dismayed by the allegations.
Some of the actresses who are among the many women who have spoken out against Harvey Weinstein in reports that detailed claims of sexual harassment. (Top row from left, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosanna Arquette, Mira Sorvino and bottom row from left, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Asia Argento and Ashley Judd.) / AP
The film producer, who founded Miramax with brother Bob and ran The Weinstein Company, has reportedly flown to Europe for therapy.
His British wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, announced earlier this week she is leaving him.
On Friday his brother and co-founder, Bob Weinstein, was forced to deny reports that The Weinstein Company or its board were trying to find a buyer, saying it was "business as usual."
Director Quentin Tarantino and Producer Harvey Weinstein attend the Oscars Governors Ball at Hollywood in 2013. / Getty Images
"Our banks, partners and shareholders are fully supportive of our company," he said in a statement.
US banking giant Goldman Sachs had earlier confirmed it was "exploring options" for its near 1 million (752,000) stake in the Weinstein Company.
The bank's announcement came amid questions about what the independent film studio's board may have known about the movie mogul's actions.
Weinstein with Gwyneth Paltrow. / Getty Images
Meanwhile the list of female stars to go public with allegations of sexual impropriety against the 65-year-old has continued to grow on Saturday, with UK actress Alice Evans alleging Weinstein made a "sinister advance" towards her.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she suggested that her refusal to respond when he said he wanted to "touch your t***. Kiss you a little" influenced his decision not to give her film roles.
On Thursday US actress Rose McGowan - one of the first women to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment - tweeted that "HW raped me".
Dame Judi Dench was among one of the first high profile figures to slam the producer following the reports. / Scott Wintrow/Getty Images
The 44-year-old actress made a series of claims in several tweets to Amazon chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos.
She wrote: "I told the head of your studio that HW raped me. Over & over I said it. He said it hadn't been proven. I said I was the proof."
Amazon said studio head Roy Price had been put on leave of absence "effective immediately" and said it was "reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co".
Emma Thompson labels Harvey Weinstein 'a predator'
McGowan's disclosure followed accusations from stars including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and UK model Cara Delevingne.
British actress Kate Beckinsale has also described an alleged encounter when she was a 17-year-old schoolgirl.
The stream of lurid allegations has seen condemnation heaped on the producer, with figures from showbusiness to politics describing their horror and disgust at the scandal.
On Friday filmmaker Alexander Payne called Weinstein a "bully and a thug" who was "asking for" his downfall.
Meanwhile former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton commended the women who had spoken out, telling the BBC such behaviour "cannot be tolerated anywhere".
F our people have died after a cargo plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Ivory Coast.
The plane, chartered by the French military, was approaching the international airport in Abidjan when it plunged into the ocean, killing four crew members from Moldova.
Six others from Moldova and France were also injured.
Ten people were on board the plane arriving from the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso.
Fatal crash: French soldiers work to pull the wreckage from the ocean / AFP/Getty Images
The French Defence Ministry said the four French nationals included a civilian and three military personnel. It said the plane was chartered for operations in Western Africa.
Ange Koutaye Ismael, a 19-year-old student, told The Associated Press he saw the four bodies carried out of the plane, which had been broken in two in the shallow waters.
"There was winds yesterday and I saw how planes seemed to have difficulties in getting up," he said.
Four dead: Crowds gather at the scene of the crash off the Ivory Coast / AFP/Getty Images
Chrisian Kouame, who also lives near the airport, said he woken just before 7am by a loud noise and people screaming.
"We thought at the beginning it was the waves of the sea in the rain, but the cries of our neighbours caught our attention," he said.
Air traffic at the airport in the West African nation continued after the crash, according to the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
A wildlife success story has turned into a nightmare for residents after a surge in wild turkeys left gardens destroyed and cars damaged.
Towns in New England, US, have become overrun with the birds, which are increasingly clashing with humans as they move further into urban areas.
Complaints about turkeys have surged in Boston and its suburbs over the past three years with police and health officials being called in to handle problems.
The birds have reportedly chased pets, damaged property and in some cases even attack people.
Turkeys have overrun Boston and its suburbs in Massachusetts. / AP
Boston city officials say they received at least 60 complaints last year, a threefold increase over the year before. Nearby Somerville, Belmont and Brookline have seen similar upticks, combining for a total of 137 turkey gripes since the start of last year.
"Several years ago it was more of an isolated situation here and there," said David Scarpitti, the wild turkey and upland game biologist for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. "Now it's starting to spread into communities all around Boston."
Often the grievance is little more than a wayward turkey blocking traffic, but in at least five cases turkeys became so aggressive that police said they had to shoot them as a matter of public safety.
Some area residents have suffered minor injuries from the birds, including a 72-year-old woman who told police she was bruised in August after a gang of turkeys scratched and pecked her during a walk.
The birds were wiped out from New England in the 1800s but in recent years have repopulated the area in what is considered a major success tale for wildlife restoration.
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On October 1st North Korea established a second link to the worldwide Internet via Russia. This link is via a fiber optic line that extended to the North Korean border along the Russian railroad (which is how Russia has long strung long distance telephone and telegraph access). The Chinese fiber optic link near the west coast remains thus for the first time North Korea has two high speed connections to the international Internet. As much as North Korea fears the Internet, especially given its vulnerabilities North Korea eventually figured out (with a little help from Russia and China) that the Internet has many benefits for those with the proper attitude. North Korea found that while restricting Internet access for North Koreans it could create an elite group of Cyber Warriors who could make lots of money, obtain your enemies military, diplomatic and technology secrets. Meanwhile it was relatively easy, especially for a brutal police state, to leave your victims with insufficient evidence to pin the blame on the North Korean hackers. But with success comes new demands, like more high speed Internet access to the outside world.
North Korea didnt get its first high speed link until 2010 when the Chinese link was established. Before that there were so few North Korea users of the worldwide Internet that the only link to the outside was an expensive satellite link that actually saw very little traffic. The only other time North Korea had two international Internet connections was in 2012 when, for a year, the second link was available via a satellite service. Having two high speed links makes North Korea less vulnerable to being completely cut off in an emergency while keeping North Korean vulnerability to attack via the Internet. Moreover the growing number of sanctions against North Korea (the price of success), especially those now enforced by China, means it is safer to bring home North Korean hackers that had been operating outside the country.
There are only a few thousand North Korea Internet users who have permission to access the international Internet and that use is monitored by the secret police. Even with the monitoring and few users any increased international access makes North Korea more vulnerable. This was demonstrated in late 2016 when the hack proof North Korean Red Star PC OS (operating system) was hacked. Where there is one vulnerability there are many, at least when it comes to exploits (OS vulnerabilities) that allow hackers to get in via a network. When it comes to hacking North Korea prefers to give and not receive.
Many Internet security experts saw this North Korean misfortune as inevitable after the 2014 decision to increase Internet access and computer use for North Korean students and trusted members of the population. Most of these users only have access to the North Korean Internet. But to obtain new people for the elite hacker teams you have to expose a lot of promising candidates to PCs and a safe version of the Internet.
This safe local Internet is called Bright and consists of a few thousand web pages on nearly fifty different websites, all hosted within North Korea and mostly containing educational or propaganda material plus government announcements of importance. The news sites on Bright give the government version of the news. Discussion is permitted, but constantly monitored for disloyalty. Bright is isolated from the international Internet and access to Internet sites outside North Korea is strictly monitored, as is email sent or received from outside the country.
Anyone who misuses either Bright or the international Internet access is severely punished. Thus while Internet access is sought, it is also feared. Yet even is such a closely monitored police state as North Korea access to the international Internet is becoming more important. Now that there are sanctions limiting the number of North Koreans who can be working outside the country it is even more important to have more international Internet access from North Korea itself.
Since the 1990s North Korea has been seeking out more people with a talent for using the Internet, primarily for espionage and cyber (Internet based) combat and crime (to raise money for the nukes and missile work). Since the early 1990s North Korea has been training a small number of people (a few hundred a year) as network engineers and hackers. Once the Internet became a big deal in the late 1990s North Korea increased training activity but found few North Koreans had any exposure to the Internet or PCs. At that point more and more of the elite families (a few hundred thousand people) began acquiring personal computers. The youngsters in those families, like kids everywhere, took to this new technology. The current (since 2011) North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, was only 31 years old when he took over and grew up during all this and is a big fan of PCs and all manner of tech. He is mainly responsible for the increased access to the Internet for more North Koreans.
Kim Jong Uns father, who ran the country from 1994 to 2011 was also a tech fan and understood the usefulness of the Internet. But he also feared the Internet, as does his son. In 2010 the secret police were ordered to crack down on North Korean PC users (a few percent of the population, most belonging to the ruling Communist Party elite) who were still using copies of Windows XP (a pirated, Chinese language, version) operating system. That crackdown was because the government had banned the use of Windows in 2009. In that year North Korea ordered everyone to switch to a new operating system, a version of Linux (Red Star) in the Korean language with a graphical interface that was very similar to Windows XP. The secret police wanted the Chinese language version of Windows gone in order to make it more difficult for North Koreans to communicate in Chinese, and to watch videos (XP was much better equipped for video than the new Linux OS). Red Star 2.0 appeared in 2011 with an interface similar to that found in Windows 7. The latest Red Star 3.0 appeared in the last year with an interface that looks like Mac OS 10. As of late 2017 it is known that a Red Star 4.0 exists and is being field tested.
What North Korea is more worried about than getting hacked is North Korean Internet users sending and receiving files, especially media files from China or North Korea. Thats not a problem because North Koreans eager to obtain foreign video and music have a less risky source. It works like this. Until recently there were over 100,000 North Koreans legally working in China and Russia and when they return home for a visit or for good they have found it very profitable to buy Micro SD cards and fill them with foreign music and videos. The Micro SD cards are the size of a fingernail and easy to hide. It is impossible to search returning North Koreans (and all their clothing and other goods coming home with them) for illegal Micro SD cards. So these get in. Even with most of those foreign workers being sent home and not replaced (because of sanctions) there is still enough traffic between North Korea and China (and Russia) plus several dozen embassies overseas to obtain this material.
While overseas the North Koreans can buy Micro SD cards for much less than a dollar per gigabyte and fill it up with thousands of hours of high quality video. Some of that video, software and music will be the latest stuff which can be sold to distributors in North Korea who sell this illegal content on the black market. Currently these Micro SD cards are available in sizes up to 128 GB (at affordable prices).
Then theres also illegal use of Chinese cell phones which, when used near the Chinese border can connect to the Chinese Internet and the world. North Korea has been pretty successful in keeping the Internet and PCs out of the country but to keep the economy going in the 21st century both these technologies are needed, at least in small quantities. The problem is that you can never obtain complete control over what people will do with these technologies. And then there are the hackers, especially the foreign ones.
North Korean hackers have also figured out how to move hidden malware via these Micro SD cards which are left where some foreigner can find it and then, as foolish foreigners are wont to do, install the card in their smart phone to see what is there.
"We should not divide the world into parts," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said, calling on the world to act wisely. | Read More
Jody Daly, the CEO of Western Montana Mental Health Center in Missoula, announced Friday that she is resigning to take another job. She has accepted a position as CEO of Comprehensive Healthcare in Yakima, Washington, the largest private behavioral health organization in central Washington.
Western Montana Mental Health Center is the largest mental health center in Montana and serves 16 counties and employs over 800 people. Daly had been with the organization for 13 years.
Im very proud of what weve accomplished as a team over the past 13 years. While its hard to leave Montana, I know that I leave our clients in the best possible hands at WMMHC, she said in a press release.
The Board of Directors of WMMHC will begin an immediate national search for a new CEO.
During Daly's time with WMMHC, the center expanded services to include crisis stabilization, additional housing for women and children, the addition of a drop-in center in Lewis and Clark County and centralizing administrative services, according to spokesperson Mary Windecker.
Dealer Gifting From Manufacturer -NADA Wants Equality Without Small Print
NADA wants equal gifting without the strings attached
By Martha Hindes and Steve Purdy
The Auto Channel
Michigan Bureau
Being an automobile dealer is tough work but someone has to do it. The risks are great and rewards can be huge . . . or not. And, to complicate their lives, as a franchisee they have an often-troubled relationship with their franchisors.
The National Automobile Dealers Association traditionally comes before the assembled media at the Detroit Automotive Press Association each fall to talk about the important relationships of their 16,500 dealer/members around the country with both government and their main partners - the auto manufacturers. These relations have been divisive over the years and some issues seem perennial, particularly those around manufacturer control over the dealersbusiness decisions.
One of the biggest NADA complaints on Tuesday was aired before some 100 mostly auto writers by 2017 chairman and longtime Chicago area dealer Mark Scarpelli but aimed directly at auto makers themselves. It was: what can happen to both dealerships and OEMs when dealers get convoluted incentive programs. They are often not shared equally with different dealer bases and subsequently not shared equally with potential buyers. Thats a complicated, many-faceted program commonly referred to simply as stair steps.
If high-volume Dealer A gets the maximum incentive package based on previously higher sales numbers and expected incentive-boosted quotas rather than a less generous portion for Dealer B, with a more mom-and-pop clientele and a previously lower sales volume for example, there can be some unexpected fallout.
More favorable treatment for Dealer A means potentially more cash and the ability of that dealer to put deeper discounts on products. Besides jacking up short term sales for Dealer A and being a bit gnarly for Dealer B, it also can make potential customers who have done their homework do a double take, Scarpelli warned.
And most potential vehicle buyers now have thoroughly researched their planned purchase before setting foot in a showroom. If those incentive-based prices vary at different dealerships or on different days or arent offered on the chosen vehicle because of program restrictions, it can turn away customers.
Besides seeming unfair to some dealers who are the ones to work directly with consumers, it also is unfair to the customer in the market for new wheels, according to NADA. Their dealer members are the people who have worked at the grass roots level to build up a trust with consumers. And if customers lose that trust it also can diminish their perception of the brand itself and put the model and vehicle brand itself on a downward spiral.
At the same time, someone wanting a Tesla can simply go to the Tesla website with prices posted and order from there. That what you see is what you get simplicity and exclusivity hasnt seemed to harm Tesla one bit with a consumer base that almost reveres the vehicle.
While NADA has been unsuccessful in wooing Tesla into its membership and forcing it to set up dealerships the way the rest of the North American auto market operates, perhaps that Tesla comment by an unnamed NADA executive tells more than just humor. Could it be wishful thinking and perhaps some reluctant admiration for a maverick that continues to brush off a century of selling success without the complications. We wonder about that too.
Perhaps the most noteworthy comment that came out of the NADA luncheon was meant in jest. Something about what will happen with Tesla when it runs out of billionaires to buy its cars.
Of course, buying a Tesla, the automotive brainchild and experiential baby of multi-billionaire Elon Musk between Trip-to-Mars developmental sessions, isnt for the faint of heart. One simply doesnt drive down to the corner dealership and plop down a hefty deposit to get in line for one of the perhaps 40,000 built each year, referring, of course, to the newest Model 3 electric sedan.
But thats how the entrepreneurial spirit works in the realm of all-electric, eclectic, trend-blasting vehicles that for half a decade have denied its buyers the basic consumer experience of going into a dealership and, armed with a dozen hours of internet research, negotiating the right price for exactly the chosen car or truck.
We have often seen experimental attempts by automakers to institute a no-haggle pricing policy but they mostly go by the wayside. And, we often see hand-wringing and exasperation at profit-killing upfront incentives to move languishing models. But with these backroom deals, it gets even more complex.
Mr. Scarpelli spent much less time calling attention to political issues like the NHTSA rules that have required no-sale orders on car that have recalls that have not been addressed. It seems they cannot sell a car even if the recall is so minor as to compromise safety or drivability not at all.
Martha Hindes and Steve Purdy
Felicity Huffman at the 2006 Golden Globes wearing Marchesa. Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
On Thursday night in Los Angeles at the Eva Longoria Foundation Gala, actress Felicity Huffman confirmed that Harvey Weinstein forced her to wear Marchesa, his wifes fashion label.
Yeah, its true, Huffman told TooFab on the red carpet. According to the outlet, this was in response to a rumor that Mr. Weinstein threatened to stop financially supporting the promotion of Huffmans 2005 Oscar-nominated drama Transamerica, if she didnt wear Marchesa at various red carpet events. Its no coincidence, then, that Huffman was seen wearing the brand at the 2006 Golden Globes, when she was nominated for her role in the same film, and won.
After doing some digging this week, Jezebel discovered that frequently when a Marchesa gown appeared on a red carpet, the celebrity wearing it just happened to also be appearing in a film produced by Weinstein. (See Sienna Miller, Blake Lively, Anne Hathaway, etc.) They also found a Vogue article from 2013, in which Weinstein admits: Maybe I helped, but just very, very little, with Renee Zellweger, in regards to getting his wifes brand, which she founded in 2004, off the ground.
[He] wasnt exactly subtle about asking Miramaxs female stars to wear Marchesa on the red carpet, an anonymous fashion insider told Page Six last weekend, following the Times report. In 2013, Page Six also reported that Kerry Washington upset the producer when she refused to wear Marchesa to the Oscars.
Of course, forcing someone to wear a dress is arguably the least serious of the allegations coming out against Harvey Weinstein right now, but it is still indicative of his desire to control womens bodies. Additionally, in trying to help his wife, he seems to have only hurt her and her brand even more.
Truck Driver Stops a Carjacking Attempt
A local police station in Michigan posted a video of an attempted carjacking, which shows a truck driver coming to the rescue of a woman who had her car snatched while filling up at a gas station.
The carjacker approached a silver Chevrolet sedan from the back as a woman was fueling it at 2:09 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12. The man jumps into the front seat and starts driving away, ripping the gas line off the station.
The female driver runs after the car as it pulls away and jumps into the front passenger seat. As the car pulls around the station, a second video shows the jacked car slowing down as a passing truck blocks its path.
A truck driver then runs up to the car and appears to briefly interact with the woman in the passenger seat. He is then seen running around the car quickly toward the drivers side. Before the truck driver gets there, the carjacker opens the door and begins to get out. This is when the truck driver begins a struggle with the man, but the carjacker eventually escapes.
The victim was unharmed and the suspect did not use a weapon, the Allen Park Police Department wrote on Facebook.
Police were looking for information on the suspect and released still photos of the man later that day.
Some locals who saw the video were shocked by the content.
Wow thats scary, Sandra Crimmins-Carter commented on Facebook. I fill up at this gas station every time I come down to my moms.
Hats off to the gentleman who helped her. This is crazy, Bryon Rocz commented on Facebook. Poor woman is going to be terrified every time she gets gas.
Others commended the truck drivers actions.
Kudos to the tanker driver! wrote Leah Holben. I really hope his employer sees this and gives him a bonus or a raise or something! That is a true man right there.
Thank you tanker driver! wrote Colette M. Subjeck. Good for you!
A few people who saw the video advised others to always take their keys out of the ignition when pumping gas.
Never, and I mean never, leave your keys in your car or the door unlocked when getting gas, wrote Joan Brown. Common sense can go a long way to save a life.
From NTD.tv
Pamela Garibaldi looks over burned remains of her parents home destroyed by wildfire in Napa, California, Oct. 13. (REUTERS/Jim Urquhart)
Death Toll Expected to Climb as California Wildfires Rage, Worst in History
SONOMA, CaliforniaFire officials reported further headway on Friday against devastating blazes in Northern Californias wine country but said the death toll of 34, already a record for the state, would likely climb higher with more than 250 people missing.
Even as firefighters gained enough ground for authorities to consider letting some of the estimated 25,000 evacuees return home, they were bracing for more hot, dry winds that could escalate the threat to communities still in harms way.
Ground crews raced to clear away drought-parched vegetation along the southern flanks of fires, removing highly combustible fuels adjacent to populated areas before extreme heat and winds were forecast to revive over the weekend.
Weve challenged the troops to get out there and secure mainly the south parts of these fires in preparation for those strong north winds, Bret Gouvea, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said at an afternoon press conference.
As of Friday afternoon, 17 major wildfires some encompassing several smaller blazes merged together have consumed nearly 222,000 acres of dry brush, grasslands and trees across eight counties since erupting on Sunday night.
Officials have said power lines toppled by gale-force winds the first night may have sparked the conflagration, though the official cause remained under investigation.
The fires have destroyed at least 5,700 homes and other buildings, Cal Fire said, with much of the devastation centered in and around the Sonoma County town of Santa Rosa, where whole neighborhoods were reduced to gray ash and smoldering ruins.
Some victims were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, and many survivors had only minutes to flee.
The Napa Valley town of Calistoga faced one of the biggest remaining threats. Its 5,000-plus residents were ordered from their homes on Wednesday night as one of the fiercest of the blazes, the so-called Tubbs fire, crept to within 2 miles of city limits.
On Friday evening, fires continued to rage along mountain ridges overlooking Calistoga, threatening to rain embers onto the town if strong winds blow out of the north as predicted, Cal Fire spokesman Dennis Rein said.
Other communities drafted contingency plans in case of a weekend flare-up, while officials hoped to allow evacuees to return to portions of Santa Rosa that were no longer at risk, Gouvea said.
The 34 confirmed fatalities mark the greatest loss of life from a single fire event on record in California, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles. At least 17 people have died in the Tubbs fire alone, which now ranks as the deadliest single fire in the state since 1991.
Officials expected the death toll to rise as the ruins of burned homes and businesses were searched by recovery teams.
Most of the more than 1,000 people initially listed as unaccounted for have since turned up safe, Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at the news conference, but 256 were still missing.
Giordano said 45 search-and-rescue teams and 18 detectives had been deployed to comb obliterated neighborhoods for more victims.
Critical fire weather conditions
Winds of up to 60 miles per hour and humidity of just 10 percent were expected to create critical fire weather conditions and contribute to extreme fire behavior on Friday evening and into Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
At a fairground converted to a shelter in the nearby city of Petaluma, about 250 cots were full by Friday, and people slept in tents in the parking lot as volunteers served porridge and eggs for breakfast.
Yasmin Gonzalez, 28, her four children and husband, a grape picker, were anxious to leave the shelter and return to their apartment in Sonoma.
Its horrible to leave your home, and your things and not know whats going to happen, Gonzalez said on Friday.
The regions health system has also been weakened by the fires. Kaiser Permanente was forced to close its Santa Rosa medical center and pharmacy, and many doctors and small practices evacuated.Kaiser said on Friday that it was rerouting patients, some of whom complained of respiratory ailments as a result of smoke, to nearby medical centers.
At least 40 Sonoma County physicians have lost their homes in the fires, leaving the county medical association to seek alternative accommodations for them, agency director Wendy Young said.
The years wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres burned so far, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In the worst year, 2015, about 9.3 million acres burned.
The fires in Californias world-renowned wine-producing region have wreaked havoc on its tourist industry and damaged or destroyed more than a dozen Napa Valley wineries.
The states newly legalized marijuana industry was also hit hard, with at least 20 pot farms in Sonoma, Mendocino and Napa counties ravaged, a growers association said.
This undated picture released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on March 7, 2017 shows the launch of four ballistic missiles by the Korean People's Army (KPA) during a military drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (AFP/Getty Images)
EU to Ban Business Ties with Pyongyang Over Nuclear Tests
The European Union is set to agree on Monday to ban business ties with North Korea, part of a new package of sanctions to isolate Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.
North Korean workers in the EU, of which Brussels estimates there are about 400 mainly in Poland, will face a lower limit on the amount of money they can send home and their work visas will not be renewed once they expire.
The measures to be agreed by EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg go further than the latest round of multilateral sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.
The North Koreans appear to be uninterested in having the EU get involved as a peace mediator, said an EU diplomat. The North Koreans want direct talks with the United States, but President (Donald) Trump has ruled that out, the diplomat said.
The sanctions will add three more top North Korean officials and six businesses to a blacklist banning them from travel to the EU and freezing their assets. That will take the total of those sanctioned by the EU to 41 individuals and 10 companies, a senior EU official said. Separately, U.N. sanctions target 63 people and 53 companies and institutions.
We have in place everything that we possibly could do to try to get the DPRK to change their behavior, the EU official said, using North Koreas official name of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
Although the EU does not export crude to North Korea, its aim is to push other countries to ban oil exports, either unilaterally or at the United Nations. The U.N. Security Council last month cappedNorth Korean imports of crude oil, but China and Russia resisted an outright ban.
Diplomats said that if Pyongyang launches more missiles, the EU could consider imposing sanctions on non-EU firms doing business with Pyongyang, as the United States has done.
However, such secondary sanctions need clear evidence to avoid legal challenges and the bloc is reluctant to anger China, a top trading partner, by targeting Chinese people and firms.
By Robin Emmott
This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 5, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) inspecting the defense detachment on Jangjae Islet and the Hero Defense Detachment on Mu Islet located in the southernmost part of the waters off the southwest front. (AFP/Getty Images)
Former Close Friend Malaysia Halts All Imports From North Korea
Malaysia, which until recently had been one of Pyongyangs closest friends, has halted all imports from North Korea, as part of global efforts to cut off funding over its nuclear and missile programs.
Malaysia did not buy any goods from North Korea in June and July, after buying 20.6 million ringgit ($4.89 million) worth of goods in the first five months of the year, according to data from the Department of Statistics.
Malaysias ties with North Korea have deteriorated since the February assassination of Kim Jong Uns estranged half-brother at Kuala Lumpur international airport, which the United States and South Korea say was ordered by the North Korean dictator.
Kuala Lumpur last month banned its citizens from traveling to North Korea, two weeks after Prime Minister Najib Razak met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. The visit gave Najib a political boost at home, with his popularity suffering over a massive scandal at a state investment fund, which the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.
Trump told reporters after meeting with Najib at the White House last month that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak does not do business with North Korea any longer, and we find that to be very important.
Malaysia had been a key source of revenue for the North Korea. Citizens from both countries enjoyed visa-free travel. Malaysia was host to hundreds of overseas workers. More importantly were operations that funneled money to the regime. Reuters reported earlier this year North Koreas spy agency, the Reconnaissance Bureau, was running an arms operation out of Kuala Lumpur.
Drastic Sanctions
Malaysias halt to North Korean imports came ahead of drastic U.N. and U.S. sanctions last month that ramp up export bans and penalize companies and individuals doing business with North Korea.
The United Nations on Sept. 11 banned North Koreas lucrative textile exports as well as all joint ventures with North Koran individuals or entities.
Trump issued an executive order 10 days later penalizing any company or person doing business with North Korea by cutting off their access to the U.S. financial system, freezing their assets or both.
Other Southeast Asian nations have similarly reduced imports from North Korea. The Philippines said last month it has suspended trade with North Korea to comply with sanctions.
Thailands imports from North Korea dropped to $400,000 between January and August, compared with $1.8 million in the same period last year, according to data from the commerce ministry.
Indonesia, on the other hand, increased its imports from North Korea to $1.8 million in January-July before the latest round of sanctions, versus $910,000 in the same period last year.
Secretary of state Rex Tillerson, on a swing through Southeast Asia in August, urged countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea.
For instance, North Korean front companies were using Bangkok as a regional hub, changing their names frequently, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton told reporters during Tillersons visit to Bangkok in early August.
Crabs And Coat Hangers
Malaysias past imports from North Korea ranged from big-ticket items such as coal, medical devices and light-emitting diodes to even crabs, noodles, cloth hangers and fire extinguishers.
A U.S. government official told Reuters Malaysia has assured the United States it does not import from Pyongyang anymore.
Malaysias trade ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Malaysia had been one of the few countries increasing its imports from North Korea in recent years from a mere 1,183 ringgit ($311) in 2012 to 8.2 million ringgit in 2016.
An unusual purchase this year was coal, which Malaysia bought right after China, the top buyer of the Norths minerals banned imports of the commodity in February. A U.N. report in September said North Korea had diversified its coal exports to other countries after the China ban.
Malaysia bought $3.4 million worth of coal in March and $16.6 million worth of coal tar products, data showed. The March purchase was the first time Malaysia had bought coal from North Korea since at least 2012.
While imports have stopped, Malaysia has continued exports to North Korea. Exports included palm oil, food and medical supplies worth 4.4 million ringgit between January and July.
By A. Ananthalakshmi
The train runs over the Glenfinnan Viaduct in Glenfinnan, Scotland and features in the Harry Potter films. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Hogwarts Express Rescues a Stranded Family
One family had an unexpected magical experience when they found themselves stranded in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands.
Jon and Helen Cluett and their four young children were rowing across Loch Eilt in Lochaber and canoed to a bothy for shelter. But on Thursday, Oct. 13, they realised their canoe had been swept away, reports said
The stranded family called the police, who then informed the coast guard.
To the familys surprise, they decided to send the train that features in the Harry Potter films, to come and pick them up.
They were quite near the railway line so the Jacobite steam train was contacted and they picked them up and took them to Mallaig, a spokeswoman for Stornoway Coastguard told The Herald Scotland.
They were well after the Harry Potter train came to their rescue, she said.
The Jacobite steam train runs for 41 miles and travels over the arches of the Glenfinnan Viaduct, creating a dramatic backdrop in the Harry Potter films when the young wizard travels to school.
The magical solution came as a relief to the family, who were faced with either a 3-mile walk on boggy land or next to the railway line. Both options seemed too dangerous.
We threw all our stuff into some bags and boxes and ran out of the door of the bothy at the same time as the train is coming around the tracks, Jon Cluett told the BBC.
The train is getting closer, were running down, stuff bouncing everywhere, big smiles on the kids faces. It all started to be fun at that point, he said.
He added, Im slightly sad because Id lost my boat but the kids, when they saw the steam train coming, all sadness left their little faces and was replaced by excitement and funjust the real joy of having an adventure and having the train stop right next to them.
A company logo is pictured outside a Gucci store in Vienna, Austria on May 4, 2016. (REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger)
Italys Gucci Bans Fur, Joining Others in Seeking Alternatives
PARISItalys Gucci will stop using fur in its designs from next year, joining a growing number of fashion houses looking at alternatives after coming under pressure from animal rights activists and changing consumer tastes.
Gucci, part of Paris-based luxury group Kering, has paraded models down the catwalk in luxurious fur coats in the past and creative director Alessandro Michele brought in loafers and sling-backs lined with kangaroo-fur two years ago.
But the brand said it would now join an alliance of fur-free companies, adding it would sell off remaining accessories and clothing made with animal fur in a charity auction.
Gucci has sold some of its mink fur coats for over $40,000.
Marco Bizzarri, Guccis chief executive, said the brand would drop fur starting from its spring and summer 2018 collection and that its new approach had been agreed on with Michele.
Gucci has enjoyed a revival under Michele, whose flamboyant, colorful designs have fueled sales over the past two years.
Animal rights campaigners said they hoped the move by the Italian fashion house could have a knock-on effect, although it is far from the first label to stop using fur.
Guccis decision will radically change the future of fashion, Simone Pavesi, manager of animal-free fashion at Italian campaign group LAV. As fashion becomes more and more ethical, supply chains that revolve around animals will be a thing of the past.
In June, Yoox Net-A-Porter, a multi-brand online luxury retailer, adopted a fur-free policy on accessories and clothing sold on the site.
Italys Giorgio Armani last year committed to stop using fur, saying technological progress meant there was no longer any justification for cruelty to animals, while U.S. brand Calvin Klein took the plunge in 1994.
Anti-fur protesters have been known to demonstrate outside catwalk shows at fashion weeks around the world to call for an end to practices many see as cruel to animals, and luxury goods buyers especially younger generations have become more sensitive to environmental issues, too.
Many labels and other luxury groups such as LVMH owner of Louis Vuitton are tightening their policies on how leather is sourced from tanneries and how they obtain furs, after a series of scandals over how animals are treated in breeding farms.
Frances Hermes was caught in a storm two years ago when a crocodile farm used to supply leather for one of its best-selling handbags was accused of cruel slaughter practices.
By Sarah White
North Koreans listen to a television broadcast of a statement by communist dictator Kim Jong-Un, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 22, 2017. (ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korea Cannot Fire a Nuclear Weapon Yet, Says Souths Defense Minister
South Korean defense minister Song Young-moo said on Thursday that the North Korean communist regime does not yet have the ability to fire a nuclear weapon.
When asked whether the North had developed the technology and ability to launch such a weapon, Song said he believed it had not reached that level yet, The Korea Times reported.
The rapidly closing window of time before North Korea does obtain such a weapon of mass destruction provides the United States with a crucial opportunity to address the North Korean problem.
President Donald Trump has said that a nuclear-armed North Korea is unacceptable, and has vowed to protect America from such a threat.
In announcing his actions on the Iranian nuclear program on Friday, Trump used North Korea as an example of what happens when a problem is not addressed in time.
As we have seen in North Korea, the longer we ignore a threat, the worse that threat becomes, Trump said.
Over the past decades, the world has been keenly aware of the Norths nuclear weapons program. But despite the Norths frequent and blatant violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions and agreements with the United States, the world has been unable to stop it.
Notably, since coming to power in 2011, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has significantly sped up the countrys nuclear program. Kim has conducted an estimated 85 ballistic missile tests since coming to powerfar more than his father and grandfather combined.
President Donald Trump during a nomination announcement at the East Room of the White House in Washington on Oct. 12, 2017. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)
In a statement released by its state media on Friday, the North said that it is dashing ahead toward the final goal of rounding off the state nuclear force.
Nothing can break the invincible faith and indomitable will of the army and people of the DPRK to surely achieve the goal of accomplishing the state nuclear force without any vacillation despite manifold hardships and ordeals, the statement said.
In an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity, Trump said that North Koreas nuclear weapons program is now at a point where its very, very far advanced.
Something has to be done. We cant allow this to happen, he said.
Since coming to office Trump has taken a hard line approach on North Korea. Demanding the denuclearization of the North.
While Trumps cabinet has quietly tried diplomatic and economic channels for a solution to the problem, Trump has ordered his military to draw up plans for potential military options. Earlier this week, Trump met with his highest ranking military officers to discuss military scenarios.
Trumps strategy appears to be working, with North Korea being increasingly cornered and appearing afraid of an actual military confrontation with the United States.
Trump succeeded in getting China, North Koreas closest ally and key lifeline, to agree to implementing its toughest sanctions yet on the regime. In addition to voting last month at the U.N. in favor of imposing new sanctions, China has also cut off funding to the regime and ordered North Korean businesses in the country to close down.
Simultaneously, the Trump administration has been bolstering the defenses of its close allies in the region, Japan and South Korea, providing them with advanced missile defense technology.
Trump is also sparing no effort in rebuilding and increasing U.S. military might. Trump said that the United States is spending $800 billion on defense this year, up from $611 billion in 2016, with much of the money going toward new equipment such as fighter jets and ships.
In a timespan of less than a week, two nuclear-powered U.S. submarines docked in South Korea. While its not uncommon for submarines to operate in the region, the disclosure of the location of the submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles is highly unusual and likely intended to send a message to the North.
The United States has also been conducting joint military exercises with its allies. Earlier this week, the United States conducted a 12-hour military drill involving two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and Japanese and South Korean fighter jets.
North Korea threatened last month to shoot down U.S. bombers operating over international waters in the Korean Peninsula, but does not possess the advanced missile defense technology capable of doing so.
Park Sang-Hak, who heads a group of North Korean defectors, tears a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an anti-North Korea rally outside South Korean government complex in Seoul on Sept. 22, 2017. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean Defectors Describe Living in South Korean Freedom
North Korean defectors dont have an easy time when they try to get away from North Korea, both on a physical and mental level.
But North Korean defectors are speaking up, describing the huge adjustments they have to make to fit in with a normal functioning modern society. The roads that North and South Korea have taken after seven decades of separation make them look like two separate worlds that are set right next to each other.
Many North Koreans try to escape through China, but are often sent back to North Korea where they face harsh consequences. People can be shot for just trying to escape North Korea, like in the back on the way out. Getting sent back after escaping is no less perilous. One mans family who were staying in China, had to leave when China started deporting North Korean refugees before the 2008 Olympics, according to an Asian Boss interview.
When the authorities started searching houses, my mom and I were cornered like rats. We could feel them getting closer and we were running out of places to hide, said an unnamed defector via Asian Boss. If we were going to die either way, we thought we might as well die searching for freedom.
Another defector has met with success after leaving the North, but has also had to deal with difficulties as he navigated South Koreas educational system. He described some of the vast differences he experienced.
My classmates in South Korea didnt want to include me in teamwork projects because they thought I really lacked understanding of technology, how to write, and the knowledge of classics and history, Kim Seong Ryeol told NBC News. North Koreas education is not modernized and many things are based on propaganda to make sure people worship the Kim family.
The Kim family refers to three generations of communist dictators who have ruled North Korea ever since Korea was split into two territories after World War II. In the North, the Soviet Union aided in bringing a communist dictatorship to power. The South became democratic. Communism has kept the country backward, and North Koreans are educated with lies about South Korean poverty from a young age.
It really confused everything to find out that South Korea is actually a highly developed society, said Kim Seong Ryeol.
A 37-year-old cartoonist from North Korea, now draws cartoons that laugh at the challenges North Koreans face when defecting to South Korea, as he did. His comics shed light on the difficulties that defectors face due to cultural differences despite being from the same culture. He was surprised that even just the nature of his profession took on a vastly different tone.
When I first saw South Korean cartoons, I just didnt get them, said Choi Seong-guk to PRI. There were no stories about patriotism or catching spies or war. They just seemed useless to me.
His views point to the constant political indoctrination that North Koreans face and how it pervades all professions and areas of society. The propaganda cartoons he was praised for drawing in North Korea started to no longer make sense to him. Now his cartoons depict North Koreans eating grass to survive or defectors risking their lives to escape North Korea by water.
These North Korean defectors describe how in professional or academic settings things are difficult for them in South Korea, but by escaping they can experience the truth instead of having to ingest the official stance of the communist regime that they are no better off if they leave.
Not just South Korea, but of course the United States is the other major target of societal brainwashing in North Korea. Choi Seong-guk portrayed American soldiers as ugly and as violent as possible in his propaganda cartoons. North Koreans are taught to blame America for the poverty and other problems they face, while the regime hides the fact that their former countrymen in South Korea are modern and thriving.
When I was little, every book, every curriculum, they always mentioned that America is the enemy, said Kim Seong Ryeol. When I was little I dreamed about fighting Americans.
It broadened my perspective, when I met my American friends, and made me think differently, to see that the world is global, he said.
From NTD.tv
L: The test fire of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea in an undated photo released by North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency on May 30, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images); R: Effects of an electromagnetic pulse at 248 miles above the Earth's surface. (NACLE2/Public Domain;Iantresman/CC BY 2.5)
North Korean EMP Attack Existential Threat to US, Experts Warn
With this years revelation that North Koreas nuke-tipped missiles could likely reach the West Coast of United States, a more insidious threat has gained prominencean electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
While not deadly on its own, an EMP attack can ruin most electronics within a massive radius and could cripple the power grid, sending the country back into the 18th centurypotentially a death sentence for a large part of the population.
Worse yet, such a catastrophic scenario could be triggered by a lone, relatively weak nuclear weapon, just like those wielded by North Korea, experts have warned.
It is critical that the U.S. national leadership address the EMP threat as a critical and existential issue, stated leading experts on the freshly defunded congressional EMP Commission in an Oct. 12 testimony to a House subcommittee hearing on the North Korean threat to the United States.
The commission was set up by Congress in 2001 to figure out how much damage an EMP attack could cause and how to protect against it. It was defunded on Sept. 30 and is to be replaced.
The commission has produced two reports, one in 2004 and another in 2008, painting a gloomy picture of a mostly unprepared nation so vulnerable it invites attack.
How Does EMP Work?
The capability of a nuclear explosion to produce an EMP was a surprise to scientists of the early 1960s. It was discovered when the United States and the Soviet Union conducted a series of high-altitude nuclear tests.
Here is how it works:
A nuclear explosion produces gamma rays.
The gamma rays strip electrons from atoms in the atmosphere.
As the electrons fly away from the explosion toward the surface, they get trapped in the Earths magnetic field.
They start to spiral along the magnetic field lines, generating an electromagnetic pulse.
Because the electrons travel at near-light speed, trillions of trillions of them produce the pulse at virtually the same time, creating a single burst of electromagnetic energy.
The pulse travels toward the surface and is picked up by all electrical conductors.
Wires in electrical circuits pick it up, just like antennae pick up radio waves, and it manifests as a brief spike in voltage.
The longer the wire, the more of the pulse it picks up and the higher the voltage spike.
Because modern electronic parts usually operate on only a few volts, even a small spike can damage them.
Because a nuke-induced EMP produces tens of thousands of volts per meter and because most electronics are connected to a power supply by a cable at least a meter long, the burst could easily fry them.
But it doesnt end there.
A high-altitude nuclear explosion creates a disturbance in the Earths magnetic field. Just as electricity is induced in a loop of wire if we move a magnet around it, electric currents also get induced in all electrical circuits with the sudden shift of the planets magnetic field. They are called geomagnetically induced currents (GIC). They build up gradually and can last tens of seconds. And again, the longer the wire, the stronger the current. Long power transmission lines are thus especially vulnerable and the GIC disruption can destroy transformers attached to them.
This is actually the main problem. There are some 2,000 extra high voltage (EHV) transformers across the country. If enough of them are damaged, virtually the whole grid shuts down.
And replacing them would take years. The transformers are custom made in Germany and South Korea and it takes 18 months to make one, according to Peter Vincent Pry, former EMP Commission chief of staff.
With few exceptions, the U.S. national electric grid is unhardened and untested against nuclear EMP attack, the commissions testimony states. In the event of a nuclear EMP attack on the United States, a widespread protracted blackout is inevitable.
Most people are not ready for a blackout longer than a few daysnot to mention years. Tap water runs thanks to pumpsconnected to the power grid; food arrives to stores in trucks that run on diesel pumped by gas stationsconnected to the power grid.
Author and historian William Forstchen attempted to imagine a post-EMP America in his 2009 novel One Second After. The novel ended one year after an attack with 90 percent of the population dead.
We think that is in the correct range, EMP Commission Chair William Graham told House Armed Services Committee in 2008.
Can North Korea Do This?
Experts believe North Korea likely has 10-20 kiloton warheads small enough to fit in its missiles that are capable of reaching the West Coast.
A 10-kiloton warhead detonated around 45 miles above the earths surface could potentially cause EMP damage with a radius of over 570 miles, according to Graham.
A 10-kiloton EMP could destroy dozens of EHV transformers and thousands of control elements, causing catastrophic collapse and protracted blackout of the U.S. Eastern Grid, putting at risk the lives of millions, the EMP Commission estimated.
However, the commission likely expected the nuke to explode above the middle of the country, not above the West Coast. Most of the power grid infrastructure is concentrated in the eastern half of the country.
But North Korea could also hide the nuke in a satellite and put it in the orbit above the United States. North Korea already has two satellites crossing over America, Graham pointed out.
Worse yet, in 2004, two Russian generals and EMP experts warned the EMP Commission that the design for Russias super-EMP warhead was accidentally transferred to North Korea. They said the warhead can generate an EMP of 200,000 volts per meterfour times what was previously expected from an EMP attack.
Can We Shield the Transformers?
It would take $1 billion-$5 billion to harden the grid against a GIC event, said John Houston, chairman of the Electric Power Research Institutes Power, Delivery and Utilization Council. That was back in 2011.
Last year, the Electric Power Research Institute launched a research project into EMP effects on the power grid. The three-year project is about half complete but results are released as completed through the project schedule, said Rob Manning, the institutes vice president of Transmission and Distribution.
So far, however, utility companies seem hesitant to make the investment.
Because the effects of an EMP attack on the energy grid are not sufficiently understood or remain classified, crafting appropriate mitigations and making business-risk decisions to address EMP threats require more research, stated an August policy brief of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an industry association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies that provide electricity for about 220 million Americans.
Dozens of utility companies have an agreement to share transformers in case of an attack, which is a good start, Houston said.
But as long as the overall vulnerability to an EMP continues, it gives a certain strategic advantage to North Korea.
A still image from a video posted by the Taliban on social media on December 19, 2016 shows American Caitlan Coleman (L) speaking next to her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their two sons. (Courtesy Taliban/Social media via Reuters)
Pakistan Official Details Car Chase That Freed Kidnapped US-Canadian Family
ISLAMABADPakistani troops shot out the tyres of a vehicle carrying a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their children in a raid that led to the familys release after five years of being held hostage, a Pakistani security official said on Friday.
U.S. drones were hovering near the northwestern Pakistani area where American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed, another security official said.
Coleman and Boyle were held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network after being kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan, and their rescue marked a rare positive note in often-fraught U.S.-Pakistan relations.
The family flew out of Pakistan on Friday, according to a Pakistani airport official who saw them. It was not clear whether they were bound for Canada or the United States.
A senior Pakistani security source on Friday detailed how the family were freed following a car chase in the northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
He said Pakistani troops and intelligence agents, acting on a U.S. intelligence tip, zeroed in on a vehicle holding the family as they were being moved into Kurram tribal agency near the town of Kohat, some 60 km (37 miles) inside Pakistan.
Agents from Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and soldiers attempted to intercept the vehicle, but it sped away, according to the security source.
Our troops fired at the vehicle and burst its tyres, he said, declining to be identified because he is not authorised to speak openly to the media.
The kidnappers managed to escape, the security official added, saying the troops wouldnt fire at the fleeing captors for fear of harming the hostages. The army recovered the hostages safely from the car.
Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told NBC News that the vehicles driver and another terrorist had escaped to a nearby refugee camp.
Drones Reported Nearby
The familys rescue has been hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a positive moment for U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have frayed in recent years amid Washingtons assertions that Islamabad has not been doing enough to tackle Haqqani terrorists who are believed to be on Pakistani soil.
Trump, in a statement, said the release of the hostages showed Pakistan was acquiescing to Americas wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region.
A second Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. drones on Wednesday had been seen circling Kohat, suggesting U.S. co-operation included sophisticated surveillance inside Pakistan.
Kohat is deep inside Pakistani territory, next to the eastern edge of Kurram agency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province outside the Afghan frontier zone where U.S. drones have in the past been tolerated by Pakistan.
The U.S. embassy and the Pakistani military did not comment on the drone report.
However, a Taliban commander in Pakistan with knowledge of the hostage family said U.S. drones flying in the area prompted their captors to move them.
We took care of this family like our own family members and special guests, but after frequent flying of U.S. drones on Kurram tribal region and its adjoining areas, it was decided to move them to a safer place, said the Taliban official on condition of anonymity.
They were being shifted to a safer place when captured by the Pakistani forces.
Hostages Location
Pakistani officials bristle at U.S. claims Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist terrorists, particularly the Haqqanis. After the release of the family, they emphasised the importance of co-operation and intelligence sharing by Washington, which has threatened to cut military aid and other punitive measures against Pakistan.
Pakistans military indicated the family were rescued shortly after entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, and a government official repeated that assertion on Friday.
We have been taking on the terrorists So we have taken action based on the intelligence that was provided by the U.S. side, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria.
He added that he had no other details on the operation maybe because they were abducted in Afghanistan, they were there in Afghanistan, and that could be the reason why you have not heard much about it.
However, two Taliban sources with knowledge of the familys captivity said they had been kept in Pakistan in recent years.
A U.S. government source in Washington also said there was no indication the family had been in Afghanistan.
The Haqqani network operates on both sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border but senior terrorists have acknowledged they moved a major base of operations to Kurram agency in the tribal areas.
The United States and Afghanistan say that safe havens inside Pakistan allow the Taliban, including the Haqqani network, to plan and launch attacks against the Western-backed Afghan government and U.S. and other foreign troops that support them.
The Taliban have been fighting for 16 years to re-establish their ultra-Islamist regime that was toppled in a U.S.-backed military operation over sheltering the al Qaeda terrorist network that planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.
By Asif Shahzad. Additional reporting by Saad Sayeed.
In this file photo, members of the Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) check on cyberattacks at a briefing room in Seoul on March 20, 2013. South Korea is scrambling to patch up vulnerabilities in cyberspace, after a shocking report that North Korean hackers had stolen a large cache of military documents in 2016. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)
South Korea Rushes to Patch Up Cybersecurity After North Korea Steals Top Secret War Plans
South Korea is scrambling to patch up vulnerabilities in cyberspace, after a shocking report emerged that North Korean hackers had stolen a large cache of military documents last year. The compromised information includes a top secret war plan to remove Kim Jong Un, the head of the North Korean regime.
On Oct. 9, Democratic Party Parliament Representative Lee Cheol-hee revealed that North Korean hackers had broken into the Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year to steal the South Korean militarys operational plans against the North, which include operational plans 5015 and 3100.
OPLAN 5015 deals with a joint U.S.-South Korea operation in the event of an all-out war with Pyongyang, and reportedly contains a pre-emptive decapitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. OPLAN 3100 is Seouls plan to respond to localized provocations from the North.
Lee claimed that he received the information from unnamed defense officials. Although the South Korean Defense Ministry has thus far refused to comment on or confirm the matter, the fact that Lee is a ranking member of the National Defense Committee in South Koreas National Assembly means that his revelation has been widely seen as credible. The U.S. Department of Defense has also confirmed that the plans were hacked, according to a South Korean media report.
The news that the hostile North Korean regime had stolen the countrys top secret war plans has been met with disbelief and anger in South Korea. Many commentators are now criticizing government and military officials as incompetent, and some wonder whether the embarrassing hack would make Japan and the United States, the countrys two key allies, reluctant in the future to share intelligence with South Korea.
In response, South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo ordered the military on Thursday to take anti-hacking measures to prevent further North Korean attacks, according to the South Koreas Yonhap News. The South Korean military will review the existing cybersecurity framework and see what can be done to improve it.
Song also pointed out that this particular hacking incident occurred under the previous administration of Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in December 2016 and left office in disgrace.
Nonetheless, related measures that have been taken stop short of the peoples expectations, he said.
Dong-hyeon Kim contributed to this report.
Inmates from the Jefferson County Jail unload bails of hay for cattle, as pastures are still filled with floodwater from the storm surge of Hurricane Ike Sept. 17, 2008, in Jefferson County Texas, Texas. Texas inmates donated over $50,000 to the American Red Cross over the month of September to help with Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Texas Prisoners Donate Over $50,000 To Hurricane Harvey Recovery
Hurricane Harvey left thousands along the Texas coastline with water-ruined homes, months of cleanup, and enough hardship to move an unlikely group of people to donateprisoners.
The hurricane, which hit Texas on Aug. 25, killed over 89 people as it dumped 40 inches of rain on Texas over four days. Around 30,000 people fled their homes, many of whom would lose everything.
Much of the still-being-calculated economic cost of Harvey would be felt by uninsured homeowners.
The destruction was enough to move 6,663 prisoners in Texas to donate continually over the month of September to help rebuild the Lone Star State.
Like so many other people across the country, prisoners donated to the Red Cross to help those hurt by the storm. Unlike many of those other people, however, prisoners cant simply call up a nonprofit and make a donation through their credit cards.
Instead, they donated through one of the few legal avenues left to them to exchange value for goodstheir prison commissary.
At prison commissaries, inmates use funds from electronic accounts to buy food, personal hygiene products, and miscellaneous items such as paper and pens, reads a Texas corrections department Facebook post.
Family and friends can put money into these accounts online or purchase goods for inmates, it says.
Around 145,000 offenders had access to donation spots at commissaries and while not all of them donated, enough did to raise over $53,000.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justicewhich overseas public and private jails and prisons in the stateposted fliers outside the commissaries in 104 of its facilities. Prisoners could donate a dollar or more.
On average, those that donated gave $8 while the largest donation was $300.
By the end of September, prisoners had donated enough for the department to mail a check for $53,863 to the American Red Cross.
The donation comes as Texas struggles with the aftermath of the most destructive hurricane in over a decade, and the second most destructive natural disaster in U.S. history, second only to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Prisoners also donated to the Red Cross to help with recovery efforts then as well. Texas inmates donated more than $40,000 to the Red Cross in 2005, the department wrote on its Facebook post.
Texas correctional facility staff were also victims of the hurricane. Their situation prompted fellow correctional officers in Texas and across the country to lend support.
Individuals, businesses, organizations and other correctional associations donated over $67,000 to help criminal justice employees hit by the storm.
The outpouring of support for TX criminal justice employees after #HurricaneHarvey is remarkable. Thank you to all those who donated! pic.twitter.com/6qtbYcKAe4 TDCJ (@TDCJ) October 4, 2017
The generosity shown is truly remarkable, wrote Bryan Collier, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in a tweet.
A photo illustration shows the Uber app on a mobile telephone, as it is held up for a posed photograph in central London, Britain Sept. 22. (REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo)
Uber Embarks on Legal Battle to Retain London License
LONDONUber lodged a court appeal on Friday to overturn a decision by Londons transport regulator that stripped the taxi app of its operating license in its most important European market, the first stop on what is set to be a long legal road.
Transport for London (TfL) shocked the Silicon Valley firm last month by deeming it unfit to run a taxi service and refusing to renew its license, citing its approach to reporting serious criminal offences and background checks on drivers.
The appeal marks the beginning of months of legal wrangling in a battle that had pitched one of the worlds richest cities against a Silicon Valley giant known for forays into new markets across the globe that have stoked competition for established cab companies.
Uber, whose backers include Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, will defend its London business at a hearing most likely due on Dec. 11, a spokesman at Britains Judicial Office told Reuters.
Uber, criticized by London Mayor Sadiq Khan for employing an an army of PR experts and an army of lawyers, said that it hoped to keep talking to TfL to find a way forward.
While we have today filed our appeal so that Londoners can continue using our app, we hope to continue having constructive discussions with Transport for London, an Uber spokesman said.
As our new CEO has said, we are determined to make things right.
Only a month into the job, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi met TfL Commissioner Mike Brown for talks earlier in October, which both sides said were constructive as the $70-billion firm tries to repair its relationship with the regulator.
Ubers license expired on Sep. 30 but its roughly 40,000 drivers in the British capital will be able to continue operating until the appeals process is exhausted.
Fridays appeal was submitted to Westminster Magistrates Court in London as part of the first stage of a legal process which could take months or years to reach a conclusion.
The filing is a short notification of Ubers intention to appeal rather than the detailed grounds.
Disruptive year
Londons decision is one of the most serious setbacks to the taxi app, which has been forced to quit several countries, including Denmark and Hungary, and faced regulatory battles in multiple U.S. states and around the world.
It comes after a tumultuous few months for the San Francisco start-up that led to former CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick being forced out after a series of boardroom controversies.
Earlier this month, the firms boss in Britain Jo Bertram said she would quit the taxi hailing app according to emails seen by Reuters.
The company is also embroiled in court action against two drivers who won a tribunal case last year entitling them to workers rights such as the minimum wage and holiday entitlement, threatening its business model. Uber is appealing the verdict.
TfL said on Friday it would not comment before the licensing appeal hearing due later this year.
A spokesman at the Mayor of Londons office said that Khan, a politician from the opposition Labour Party who is also chairman of TfL, continued to back the license decision and that all private hire firms must play by the rules.
He said during a monthly question time session on Thursday that the transport authority would defend its decision during the legal action.
The courts now will consider the appeal from Uber and of course TfL will defend the decision they made, he said.
US to Withdraw From UNESCO Over Its Anti-Israel Bias
The United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), citing the U.N. agencys anti-Israel bias.
The U.S. State Department alerted UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on Oct. 12 of its decision to withdraw from the organization, requesting to remain only as an observer. Its withdrawal will take effect on Dec. 31, 2018.
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, said a statement from the State Department.
UNESCOs director-general is a former member of the Bulgarian Communist Party, according to The Wall Street Journal. She remained a member of the party until it changed its name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party in 1990.
According to a profile on the Russian UNESCO website, Bokova was also educated at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations during the Cold War and graduated in 1976. It says her father was one of the leaders of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
The Bulgarian Communist Party killed an estimated 222,000 people, according to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. It also tortured dissidents and brutally persecuted religious groups, including Christians.
Jewish leaders have repeatedly criticized decisions made by UNESCO, which they believe have amounted to attacks on their religious heritage. This included resolutions passed by the organization that designated major Jewish landmarksincluding the Western Wall and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebronas belonging to Palestine.
On July 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the UNESCO resolution making the historic tomb a Palestinian site.
Who is buried there? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leahour patriarchs and matriarchs, Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the move as another delusional UNESCO resolution.
Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the UNESCO resolution (English captions available)https://t.co/XzdAOUHq8K PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 7, 2017
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert gave more details on the U.S. decision during an Oct. 12 press briefing, noting that under U.S. law, the United States is forbidden from funding any U.N. organizations that accept the Palestinians as a member state.
The United States designated the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a terrorist organization in 1987. Under its former chairman, Yasser Arafat, the PLO and its affiliates carried out numerous terrorist attacks, including the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer during the 1972 Munich Olympics, by PLO-affiliate group Black September. In 1994, under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian National Authority (PA) became the recognized governing organization of the Palestinians. To this day, the PA gives monetary rewards to the families of individuals who commit acts of terror against Israelis.
Nauert noted that the policy of not funding U.N. organizations that accept the Palestinians predates the Trump administration. We were in arrears to the tune of $550 million or so, Nauert said. The question is, do we want to pay that money, and do we want to pay more money going forward, when there is actually a law that says the U.N. entity that accepts Palestinians as a member state can no longer receive U.S. funding?
The second part of the decision to withdraw from UNESCO, Nauert said, is that wed like to see overall U.N. reform. With U.N. entities such as UNESCO, wed like to see the politics kept out of it, and we see with this anti-Israel bias thats long documented on the part of UNESCO that that needs to come to an end.
Following the decision, Israel also announced it would withdraw from the organization. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley supported the decision to withdraw and gave a warning. The United States will continue to evaluate all agencies within the United Nations system through the same lens, said the U.S. Mission to the U.N., in a press release.
After suffering the worst drought in the nation, Montana ranchers with little grass to feed livestock are selling off their calves early, marketing reports show.
More than 40,000 cattle have moved through auction barns in Miles City and Billings since July as Eastern Montana ranchers cope with drought-scorched pasture land with little green for cattle to chew on. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Marketing Service tracks the sales.
Stockyards have moved 6,000 animals more than they did during the same weeks in 2016 and 11,000 more than in 2015. Sales numbers were tabulated from the date of the 11,699-acre July fire in Central Montana. The eastern two thirds of the state suffered the worst drought in the nation last summer.
Bart Meged, Miles City Livestock owner, said it was the drought that drove cattle to market early, not the fire.
The numbers are weather related. They dont have hay to feed. They dont have the grazing, and feeds too expensive, Meged said. Its just not cost-effective to feed $160 hay.
Large round bales of hay have become extremely expensive in a part of the state where fields burned to beige by June and spring seeded crops didn't sprout.
Northeastern Montana got some relief as early fall rain moistened the soil. Meged said he encountered a farmer this fall cutting green spring wheat that came up in late August.
This week, 66 percent of Montana pasture and range was rated poor to very poor by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The area affected is double the five-year average.
Improving cattle prices are also helping sales, Meged said. Always a factor, low prices kept cattle out of the auction yard in early fall two years ago as ranchers waited for a better deal.
While Eastern Montana burned in the sun, the Yellowstone Valley did OK, said Joe Goggins, of Public Auction Yards. Ranchers around Billings started out the summer with good grass and an unusually wet spring.
We put up two years worth of hay, Goggins said. Yellowstone Valley had a great feed year. You get east of Billings and north of Billings and they were in drought.
Calves have been coming in lighter in the weeks leading up to October, but things are turning around a little bit for ranchers who have pasture greening up late after September rain and snow.
Meged said he was called out into the Dakotas by a rancher, who was tempted the turn the auctioneer back after rain filled his potholes and greened his field.
In this file photo, a U.S. Marine Corp squad practices in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial on April 26, 2005 in Arlington, VA. The memorial depicting the famous flag raising on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II honors all Marines who have fallen in all war and can be taken as a symbol of unity in the United States. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)
With Honor and Leadership the US Marine Corps Protects America
As detailed on the official U.S. Marine Corps website, The Marine Corps, within the Department of the Navy, is organized as a general purpose force in readiness to support national needs. Deploying for combat as combined-arms Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs), the Marine Corps provides the National Command Authorities (NCA) with a responsive force that can conduct operations across the spectrum of conflict. Recent events continue to highlight the Navy-Marine Corps teams key national security role. Seabased, combat ready, forward deployed naval forces have been involved in more than 28 major military operations since 1995.
The heart of the mission of the U.S. Marine Corps is As Americas expeditionary force in readiness since 1775, the Marines are forward deployed to win our nations battles swiftly and aggressively in times of crisis. We fight on land, sea and air, as well as provide forces and detachments to naval ships and ground operations.
U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Team
Recently, I was inspired by a performance of the U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Team. It took place at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, often referred to as The Marching Twenty-Four, is a 24-man rifle platoon of the U.S. Marine Corps. The unit performs unique silent precision exhibition drills to exemplify the discipline of the Marine Corps.
The platoon executes meticulous drill movements with their spit-shined 10.5 pound rifles with fixed, razor-sharpened silver bayonets. Their performance includes a flawless rifle inspection involving intricate rifle spins and complex tosses and one-handed catches.
The impeccable performance of these disciplined Marines makes one proud of being American. Their professionalism, discipline, and commitment reflect the finest of Americas armed forces and give our nation great hope for the future.
Americas Flag: Our Rallying Point
As detailed in my article titled Americas Flag, Patriotism: Resuscitating Our Destiny, for the Mar. 20, 2015 edition of the Epoch Times, I stressed that the American flag is the symbol of our nation, deserving of reverence, honor, and dignity.
Read More Gold Star Families: Honoring Those Who Make the Ultimate Sacrifice
The article highlighted the immortalized iconic flag-raising of the U.S. Marines during the battle of Iwo Jima. This defining moment in American history gave us hope. It was a counterpoint to the heart-wrenching sinking of our ships at Pearl Harbor that cast a dark cloud upon us.
America is now at a crossroads with expressions of discontent taking place during the National Anthem. But we must have great expectations that our divisions will lead to unity expressed through respect for our flag, and that we will once again stand together.
The American Flag, immortalized by its raising at Iwo Jima, is mystically inseparable from its raising at each sporting event, school, community, and workplace. Our flag must be eternally revered across our homeland and especially in the heart of all privileged to call our nation home.
U.S. Marine Navajo Code Talker
Since the history of the U.S. Marine Corps is one of profound magnitude, spanning Americas entire history, perhaps the best way to crystallize it is through a story of one of its legends.
On Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, U.S. Marine Navajo Code Talker David Patterson Sr., 94, passed away in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
Patterson served in the Marines from 1943-1945 and received the Silver Congressional Medal of Honor.
According to the official website of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), during World War II the Marine Corps used the Navajo language to create an unbreakable security code.
The code developed by the Navajo language was virtually undecipherable especially since it was further complicated by word substitution. During World War II about 400 Navajos participated in the code program. These code talkers were critical to Americas victory and vital to every U.S. Marine assault in the Pacific from 1942-1945.
Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye honored Patterson by stating the following:
Its a sad day on the Navajo Nation when we lose a national treasure like we did in losing Navajo Nation Code Talker David Patterson, Sr., beyond his service in protecting our freedom, he was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.
Final Reflections
America is deservingly proclaimed as the land of the free and home of the brave.
Read More Life Lessons From the United States Military
This proclamation is possible only because of all who honorably serve in the U.S. Marine Corps and all our armed forces.
Our nation must eternally honor their sacrifices, dedication, and valor.
These patriots, as exemplified through the mission of the U.S. Marine Corps, are the ethical protectors of Americas freedom.
As the gathering storm intensifies with discord among nations, may all people of good will pray and work for peace. Let us also pray that our American Flag becomes a rallying point for unity and that we soon all stand together to honor the character our flag symbolizes.
Let us also pray for members of the U.S. Marine Corps, and all who serve the nation. These patriots stand ready always to honor our flag, and to exercise Americas sacrosanct right to protect ourselves and all people of moral decency.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America. Bove is a recipient of the FBI Directors Community Leadership Award for combating crime and violence and is a former confidant of the New York Yankees. His newest book is Listen to Their Cries. For more information, see www.vincentbove.com
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Im looking forward to engaging with the new parks board, said Angie Grove, the new chair of the group, in a press release, and excited to be involved with the future of Montana State Parks, the strategic plan, and the Parks in Focus Initiative.
The five-member citizen board is comprised of: Grove, of Helena, who has worked for 28 years with the Montana Legislative Audit Division, working specifically with the State Parks Division. Jeff Welch, of Livingston, who is the executive creative director at MERCURYcsc. Mary Sheehy Moe, of Great Falls, who most recently served as the deputy commissioner for two-year education for the Montana University System, and served as a state legislator. Betty Stone, of Glasgow, who has been the manager at the Cottonwood Inn for 28 years and a co-owner since 2004, she also serves as past chair and director of the Two Rivers Growth and development, director of Missouri River Country and is on the Montana Lodging and Hospitality Association Board. And Scott Brown, of Billings, who is the owner of The Base Camp in Helena and Billings and is an avid outdoorsman.
As the states Department of Revenue lays off workers, Beaverhead County Commissioners are offering their own version of a deal the county hopes the state cant refuse to create a regional hub for assessors in Dillon.
Beaverhead County Commissioner Michael McGinley sent a letter to the Department of Revenue last month putting the offer on the table. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Chief Executive Bill Everett sent a similar letter to the Department of Revenue proposing free rent in Anacondas courthouse earlier this month. Both counties, which border each other, are vying to become a regional hub for the Department of Revenue in southwest Montana.
Due to budget cuts, the states Department of Revenue has proposed to Gov. Steve Bullock to cut 70 state employee jobs across all 56 Montana counties. Some of those cuts will occur through attrition, but some employees will be laid off.
How many and who will lose their jobs is not yet known. But Department of Revenue spokesperson Mary Ann Dunwall said the reductions are already happening. Five assessors across the state were laid off this week. More reductions are expected to come next week to state Department of Revenue employees. Beaverhead County had four employees working in the assessors office in Dillon over the summer. Now there are two.
Butte has eight assessors working out of Butte-Silver Bow County, Department of Revenue deputy director Gene Walborn said earlier this week. Dunwall could not immediately say whether the layoffs that took place this week have affected Butte.
Walborn told The Montana Standard Friday that the department is still waiting to get direction from Bullock to begin creating the regional hubs and laying off more of the department's workforce.
Bullocks communications director Ronja Abel said Bullock won't make a decision on the Department of Revenue's plan prior to the end of November, when the state is expected to have a cash-flow problem. A decision could come earlier if the legislature goes into special session and the two parties agree to raise revenue and reach an agreement, Abel said.
The cuts that are already happening and could happen are due to mandated legislature reductions, Walborn said. McGinley said the problem stems from deflated markets and low commodity prices. McGinley said cow-calf prices are half of what they were two years ago in Dillon. Grain prices are also down, he said.
As part of the scaling back, the Department of Revenue is working to become completely electronic, limit spending, and leave positions unfilled. If the regional hubs become a reality, the state will close individual county assessor offices across the Treasure State. One assessor will remain in each county, working remotely, Walborn said earlier this week.
But losing assessor jobs in either Beaverhead or Anaconda-Deer Lodge counties will have negative impacts locally, say officials from both counties.
McGinley said he is not a fan of regionalizing the assessors jobs.
It hurts the little communities. Theres a reason its in every county, McGinley said.
McGinley pointed out that Beaverhead County also lost three jobs when the state Department of Labor and Industry closed its Job Service office in Dillon last month. Anaconda also suffered a blow of five full-time jobs due to its Job Service office closing last month. Those closures were due to a reduction in federal funding.
Similar to Anaconda-Deer Lodge's offer to the state, the offer Beaverhead County is making is free rent in its courthouse in Dillon for four years. The only cost to the state would be a portion of utility costs, McGinley said.
But the Department of Revenue moved out of the Beaverhead County courthouse this past summer and now pays rent in a private building in Dillon. McGinley said the state pays more for the office space its renting than it was paying at the courthouse, where the rent was $13,304 annually for a little more than 1,500 square feet.
Dunwall confirmed that the rented space in the private building costs more, but she said there were other considerations for the move. The private space offered a brighter, bigger space, she said.
She also said the space in the courthouse had a mold problem.
McGinley worries that now every county in the state will be sending the Department of Revenue similar offers. Walborn said that, so far, the department has received five or six such offers.
The bad part about this is, once you start pitting the local governments for these things, the only one who can win is the state. Pitting local government against each other for who will give the best deal, only the state wins, McGinley said.
One of the three companies selling health insurance on the marketplace in Montana mandated by the Affordable Care Act said Friday it could stop offering plans after actions by Republican President Donald Trump.
Trump announced late Thursday he would immediately end subsidies paid to insurance companies to offset the costs for people with lower incomes who buy insurance on exchanges. He also signed an executive order to expand short-term insurance plans and explore expanding association health plans, under which small businesses can join together to buy health insurance.
Karen Early, director of operations for Montana Health Co-op, said the Co-op was told subsidies would end starting this month.
"It's an untenable position," she said. "It's not survivable."
About 63,800 Montanans buy health insurance on the exchange. About 43 percent, roughly 25,000, benefit from the subsides, called cost-sharing reduction payments. Average payments are $1,147.
Three companies sell on the exchange here: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, Montana Health Co-op and PacificSource. Both the Co-op and PacificSource did not account for the subsidies ending in their 2018 rates submitted to the state earlier this year, but Blue Cross did, leaving it in a much better position.
The Co-op covers 20,000 Montanans who bought plans through the exchange. PacificSource has 12,000 members through the exchange. Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the largest, has nearly 32,000.
Blue Cross's average rate increase for 2018 was 22.3 percent, while the Co-op's was 4 percent and PacificSource's was 7.4 percent.
"Our rates assumed the cost-sharing reduction payments would be paid," Early said. "This is a significant amount of money. It would be impossible for the Co-op to remain in business in Montana without raising rates."
Insurers stressed Friday nothing will change for people who already have plans for 2017.
The co-op, however, said it may not be able to offer plans on the marketplace for next year unless it can increase its rates. On Friday, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Matt Rosendale said that wasn't possible. Open enrollment for 2018 starts Nov. 1.
"As Commissioner of the Montana Department of Insurance I have been notified by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services that Montana health insurers are ineligible for a re-filing of adjusted insurance rates for 2018," said a release from Rosendale's office.
Early said the Co-op is appealing to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. She stressed people who already have plans will be covered for the duration of the policy, but "whether or not we will continue to offer insurance for 2018 remains to be seen."
It is too early to tell if PacificSource will continue to sell insurance on the exchange next year, said Vice President Todd Lovshin on Friday.
"We're working to understand the process moving forward and what kind of impact this has. It's been barely 24 hours since the executive order. We're really still evaluating it."
About 46 percent of PacificSource's Montana members, or 4,300 people, who purchased insurance on the exchange benefit from cost-reduction payments.
Cost-sharing reduction payments are required by law, so insurance companies must keep making them even when federal reimbursements end. The payments have been called into question since 2014, when House Republicans filed a lawsuit saying the payments were illegal. The Obama administration appealed the ruling. Nationally, payments were expected to be $9 billion in 2018.
John Doran, divisional vice president of external affairs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, said about 17 percent of the company's average 22 percent rate increase for 2018 was to account for the end of the subsidies and other changes.
We said all along that even if the ACA remained the law of the land, there was no guarantee that the rules of the road wouldnt change, and thats what were seeing this week, he said. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana accounted for the uncertainty surrounding the federal governments funding of the members cost-sharing reduction benefit, as well as the extension of the short-term product timeline, in our 2018 rates. Therefore, todays decision does not impact our market participation or our 2018 rates.
Republicans in Congress failed several times this year to execute their partys long-promised repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. A common tagline used by the party is that Obamacare, as the law is often called, is in a "death spiral," and point to a number of places where insurance companies have withdrawn from the market.
A September projection by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid showed 63 counties, or 2 percent of the counties in the U.S., would have no insurers on the exchange, while 1,472, or 46 percent, would have just one.
Last month at a conference for those in the insurance industry, Rosendale said Montana was in a better position than most states because it had three companies selling on the exchange.
Trumps actions are seen by Montanas Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester as a way to undermine the system in the face of Congresss failure to act.
This decision will spike health insurance costs that are already way too high. This deliberate sabotage forces Montanans to spend even more of their money on health care, draining their already strained bank accounts, Tester said.
The rest of Montanas delegation, Republicans Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, had a more positive take.
President Trump discontinued unconstitutional funding for a program started by President Obama and which used taxpayer money never appropriated by Congress, Gianforte said in a statement.
Daines also issued a statement, saying, We cant bail out big insurance companies. It doesnt solve the underlying problem that government-run health care isn't affordable.
At a conference for those in the insurance industry last month, Rosendale tried to encourage consumer confidence through next year.
"I can assure you any insurers that sell health insurance policies in the state of Montana, regardless of whether (subsidies) are paid or not, will be covered through 2018, and I think that is the most important thing for us to be looking at," he said.
The District of Columbia and 17 states, not including Montana, filed a lawsuit Friday over the move to end subsidy payments. The states are Kentucky, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, North Carolina, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico and Iowa.
Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, criticized Trump's actions and called on Congress to fund the cost-sharing reduction payments.
"Abruptly ending cost-sharing reduction payments is an irresponsible and unnecessary move that will negatively impact nearly half of all Montanans enrolled in the marketplace. The actions coming out of our nation's capital in the last couple days are causing significant challenges for those of us on the ground actually dealing with the consequences, he said. Congress must take action to fund the cost-sharing reduction payments immediately."
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.
General Motors reached a tentative deal with the striking workers at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont., on Friday.
Few details of the pacts were provided by the company or Unifor, the union whose membership will later hold a vote on ratifying the agreement.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne issued a statement welcoming the tentative deal and expressing hope it would result in an end to the four-week-old strike.
The impact of this job action was being felt throughout Ontarios auto supply chain and we know that a possible end to this work stoppage will be greeted with appreciation and relief by everyone involved, said the joint statement from Wynne and Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid.
The deal came a day after GM told Unifor that it might shift more production to Mexico if the strike didnt end soon.
Unifor President Jerry Dias accused the company on Thursday of declaring war on its Ingersoll workers, but the company said it had little choice but to look at alternatives to the strikebound Ontario plant, which assembles GMs Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle.
Mike Van Boekel, an official with Unifor Local 88 representing the workers, said there was no question that the GM threat to increase production to Mexico hung over the talks.
It did play a role for sure, said Van Boekel in an interview Friday night.
Job security was a major issue in the talks, as Unifor wanted assurances the Ingersoll plant would be the lead plant for the hot-selling Equinox.
But the unions concerns about job security were addressed in the tentative agreement and the union is recommending that its 2,800 members at the plant accept the deal, Van Boekel said.
From the way our talks went, I believe our Equinox will be the lead plant and will remain the lead plant for many years to come, he said.
Dias complained Thursday about GM adding plants in Mexico while closing facilities in Canada and the U.S. He accused the automaker of exploiting lower paid Mexican workers.
He raised the spectre of NAFTA in a statement Friday night about the tentative deal.
This strike has shown all of Canada why a renewed North American Free Trade Agreement must address the needs of working people first, Dias said in the statement posted on the unions website.
The workers were to vote on Monday whether to accept the agreement.
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OTTAWAThe man accused of making ransom demands during journalist Amanda Lindhouts kidnapping in Somalia told two undercover RCMP officers he received $10,000 for his role.
In Ontario Superior Court on Friday, the Crown played a secretly recorded video of Ali Omar Aders June 2015 meeting with the officers at an Ottawa hotel the culmination of an elaborate ruse to elicit a confession.
Ader believed he had travelled to Canada from his home in Mogadishu to sign a contract with Vancouver-based Catalina Publishing for his book A Slow Genocide, a history of Somalias troubled last 20 years.
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As part of the contract, he was told to divulge anything about him that might expose the company to risk, so that it could be ready with a public-relations plan.
On the video, Ader acknowledges his paid efforts in the service of a shadowy group of armed kidnappers.
Ader and the undercover officers one posing as Aders business agent, the other as a publishing mogul then take a break for a snack before returning to work on the contract.
Ader was expecting to take a tour of Parliament Hill the next day. Instead he was arrested by the RCMP.
Lindhout was a freelance journalist from Red Deer, Alta., when she and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were grabbed by masked men near Mogadishu in August 2008 while working on a story. Both were freed in November 2009 for a ransom.
Ader, a 40-year-old Somalian national, has pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge of hostage-taking.
During pre-trial motions in April, details emerged of how the Mounties concocted a scheme to lure Ader to Canada evidence the Crown began Friday to fully lay out for Justice Robert Smith.
The RCMP officer who would become Aders trusted business agent told the court he first spoke with him by telephone in June 2010, seven months after Lindhout and Brennan were freed.
The undercover officer, who cannot be legally identified, told Ader he was a consultant hired by the traumatized Lindhout family to follow up on inquiries including phone and Facebook messages in 2010 from Ader to Lindhouts mother, Lorinda Stewart.
Ader frequently spoke with Stewart by phone during the 15-month ordeal, and he was supposedly following up to help her daughter now that she was free.
The officer said Ader wanted to make amends and that he hoped to write a book about his homeland.
The Mountie thought it would be a good strategy to pursue the publishing angle as a means of building a relationship and obtaining a confession.
In May 2013, the officer arranged for Ader to meet him on the East African island of Mauritius to discuss the budding book project. He recalled greeting the slim Somalian man who was missing a front tooth in the outdoor seating area of a resort hotel.
He was smiling and we hugged when we met, the Mountie told the court. He was quite happy to see me.
The next morning at breakfast, Ader openly spoke of agreeing to help the kidnappers for a share of the ransom they would demand, the officer said. He told me he became the groups brains, and those were his words.
The Mountie said Ader also acknowledged filming a video of Lindhout and Brennan that he then delivered to news outlet Al Jazeera.
However, under the laws of Mauritius, the RCMP could not surreptitiously record audio or video of encounters with Ader.
As work on the book progressed, the officer suggested that Ader come to Ottawa to meet the publisher and finalize the deal.
The video captures the moment the supposed Catalina Publishing executive arrives, and the Mountie acting as Aders agent touts his literary prospect by proclaiming, This is my star.
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WHITEHORSE, YukonThe Yukon government is quietly settling a series of lawsuits over sexual abuse at the hands of a former public school principal.
The cases are shrouded in secrecy. Publication bans protect the identity of the abuser a white man who preyed mainly on Indigenous children. The cases are settled out of court with no public acknowledgement or record of the settlements.
The former principal, identified in public documents only as J.V., was convicted in 1987 after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault and indecent assault of five children. He was the foster parent to three of them, and a youth group leader to another.
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He was sentenced to five years on each count to be served concurrently. He now lives outside Whitehorse, where horses graze on his large property beneath a vista of mountains. The Correctional Service of Canada refuses to say when he was released.
He had no hesitation in violating these innocent, troubled and vulnerable children. He was in a position of trust, and he abused that trust, the sentencing decision says.
Two decades later, more victims started coming forward.
Starting in 2007, at least six other people have sued the territorial government and J.V. for sexual abuse they say they suffered at his hands as children.
The governments publicly filed statements of defence accuse the plaintiffs, who were ages 8 to 12 at the time, of negligence for not reporting the assaults to the appropriate authority in a timely manner.
The Yukon government did not answer direct specific questions about these cases. In an emailed statement, the justice department said the publication bans make it illegal for the government to confirm how many cases have been filed. Confidentiality agreements prevent it from acknowledging the existence of the settlements, it said.
The government also did not to say how much money it has spent fighting these cases because they were handled by outside lawyers.
The cases you are asking about were covered by insurance, the statement said. As a result, the Government of Yukon was not responsible for their payment.
According to court documents from the 1987 criminal case, J.V.s crimes include rubbing his erect penis against the childrens buttocks, French kissing, fondling the victims while showering with them, and mutual masturbation.
Many of J.V.s alleged victims were Indigenous children whose parents had been taken from their homes as children and placed in residential schools or foster care as part of the Sixties Scoop.
There seems to be a clear indication that the victims were suffering from complications in their own lives, and were particularly vulnerable to J.V.s attention and affection, his sentencing record says.
Multiple sources close to the civil cases who asked not to be named for legal reasons confirmed the J.V. referenced in the 1987 conviction is the same person named in the civil cases.
Both the criminal convictions and the civil cases include alleged abuses spanning from the late 60s to the late 80s.
Along with his work as a principal, J.V. was a member of the local church, a foster parent and youth group leader.
During that time J.V. had nearly unfettered access to hundreds of children, and the territorial government knew or ought to have known about his sexual predilections, the suits allege.
He pleaded guilty in the criminal case, but he alludes mysteriously to himself possibly being the victim of a set up, the sentencing record says.
In his publicly filed statements of defence to the civil claims, J.V. denies knowledge of the victims, even in cases where the government admits they were placed in his foster care.
Despite repeated requests from the Star, including numerous emails, phone calls, and a hand-delivered letter detailing the allegations against him, J.V. would not answer the Stars questions for this story.
The government also denies everything.
In court, statements of defence filed by lawyers acting for the Yukon deny any knowledge of J.V.s alleged abuses.
In one case the plaintiff is the same as one of the victims J.V. pleaded guilty to molesting in the 1987 criminal case.
In an emailed statement to the Star, the Yukon justice department would only comment in generalities, citing the publication bans and confidentiality agreements.
To be clear, no government wants to see children harmed in any way, and adults in positions of trust who prey on children are reprehensible, the statement said.
With respect to historic settlement(s), we respect the privacy of individuals who have suffered abuse, it said.
Dan Shier, the lawyer who represented claimants in seven of the J.V. civil cases, said the government itself imposes the confidentiality agreements, under threat of revoking any settlement negotiated.
It is a tool used by the government to say were not going to settle unless you keep your mouth shut, Shier said.
Publication bans are commonly used to protect the identity of victims of sexual assault. There are times such as inter-family sex abuse where naming an alleged abuser could identify victims.
In a case like this, where J.V. would have interacted with many children in his 20-year career, keeping his identity secret goes too far, said Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Centre for Child Protection in Manitoba. McDonald was not involved in J.V.s case.
Its really in the best interest of community safety and in terms of empowering victims to have the courage to come forward, that persons identity should be known to the public.
Shier said the Yukon government refuses to acknowledge its responsibility for repeated systemic failures that led to widespread abuse of vulnerable children.
Shier said these cases should be handled differently from typical lawsuits because, unlike a case of consumers wronged by a company, the governments got a responsibility to the very people that are suing them.
In each case, the civil actions are listed in the court record as dismissed with the consent of the parties.
Gabriel Smarch, 39, says he was a victim of J.V. He was a student at a Whitehorse public school when J.V. was the principal. He said J.V. started grooming him in kindergarten.
I used to get into trouble a lot, and Id always get sent to the principals office, Smarch said. A lot of times he would make me sit on his lap and give me cookies and whatnot. When youre that young you dont realize whats happening. He was always touching my ass.
Smarch says when he was about 8, J.V. took him and other boys from the school on a special trip, shopping and swimming.
Smarch says J.V. took the boys back to his house for a barbecue and sleepover. He says J.V. invited him to his bed because the others were filled.
Smarch says he woke up to find J.V. had removed both of their underwear.
Thirty years later Smarch still has difficulty talking about details of the alleged assaults. A copy of a psychiatric assessment Smarch shared with the Star references at least two accounts of alleged abuse by J.V. including digital penetration and possibly anal rape.
Its something that you carry inside you for a long time. It doesnt go away, Smarch said. Its worse than cancer.
For years Smarch told no one what he says J.V. did. He was ashamed, he said, and afraid no one would believe him; they never had before.
Ive yelled for help so many times and nobody heard it. Not the cops, not my social workers, not my family, he said.
When the government finally settled Smarchs case last winter, he said he got $19,000. Smarch said he took the settlement, which included no admission of wrongdoing, because the government threatened to put him on the stand. He was afraid government lawyers would use his own lengthy criminal history against him, and he might get nothing, he said.
Smarch says hes speaking out now in the hope that others J.V. abused will feel brave enough to come forward as well.
We have to do what we can to help these other people, to tell their stories, to give them back their honour and pride and dignity that they were born with and that was taken away from them as a child.
Shier, Smarchs lawyer, said he wants to see the government acknowledge its failings, and put in place a new, less adversarial process to deal with abuse cases like Smarchs.
I suggested this to the government of the Yukon at least 12 or 13 years ago, Shier said. The response was that if you want to raise this publicly, in essence youre undermining your ability to negotiate with us.
The impact on J.V.s alleged abuses is keenly felt by many Indigenous people in Whitehorse, particularly in the Kwanlin Dun First Nation.
The First Nations health centre provides free and confidential counselling services for anyone from the Kwanlin Dun community affected by trauma or abuse.
If you ask around at the Salvation Army shelter in Whitehorse youll be hard pressed to find someone who says they dont know a J.V. survivor personally.
By rights, Michael figures, he should be dead.
I barely made it through my 40s, he says.
Michael (who asked that his real name not be used) was one of the first to come forward about J.V. during the criminal investigation that ultimately led to J.V.s conviction. Like thousands of other Indigenous children between the 1960s and 1980s, Michael was taken from his family and placed in foster care as part of the Sixties Scoop. Michael was placed in J.V.s foster home, where he lived for years.
We used to fight each other to decide who had to spend the night in his bed, Michael said.
Michael said he was raped by J.V. multiple times. He says when he aged out of foster care he was so traumatized that he didnt trust anyone. Eventually he fell in with a local gang.
Today, in his early 50s, Michael lives at a shelter in Whitehorse. He has steady work doing odd jobs around town but what little peace he has came hard.
It was years before Michael found the courage to tell anyone what J.V. had done. He taught me to shut up. He took my voice away.
Jesse Winter can be reached at jsswntr@gmail.com
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Efforts to Indigenize city hall have taken a major hit, yet theres a simple way for Toronto to start reconciling the treatment of Indigenous people and see that they have a real role in decision-making, advocates say.
My recommendation today has been consistently presented to the city since (1998) amalgamation establish an Aboriginal Office at city hall, set up the relationship (with Indigenous people) and the actual things you do will flow from that, says Kenn Richard, executive director of Native Child and Family Services of Toronto and a member of the citys Aboriginal Affairs committee.
The relationship needs to be honoured in a significant way. The city has been paralyzed on this point for whatever reason. I dont think anyones evil or theres a nasty agenda at play it seems like the city cannot bring itself to move to that extra step that honours the diversity task force that theyre so proud of.
Toronto seemed to be making strides. Most official city hall gatherings now start with acknowledgement they are on traditional Indigenous lands. Flags in Nathan Phillips Square permanently honour The Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation; Six Nations of the Grand River Territory First Nation; the Huron-Wendat-Wendake First Nation; The Metis Nation of Ontario; and the Inuit.
The flags were raised in June at a special sunrise ceremony, applauded by a crowd including Mayor John Tory and four interns working in city councillors offices, with federal funding via Miziwe Biik Aboriginal employment centre, as part of the citys Aboriginal Employment Strategy.
The same month, Torys executive committee voted to launch consultations on a work plan and organizational structure for a permanent Aboriginal Office that would elevate Indigenous outreach and reconciliation by moving them out of the multi-file Equity, Diversity and Human Rights office.
The appearance of progress, however, crashed when the city staffer tasked with overseeing it quit and launched a human rights complaint against the city.
Lindsay Kretschmer, a Mohawk Wolf Clan member hired as Indigenous Affairs consultant in March, accused the city of disrespectful treatment of the Indigenous file and of violating her right to practise smudging, a ceremony that involves burning medicinal plants.
In 2017 youre forbidding me from practising my culture. Thats essentially a repeat of colonization behaviour, Kretschmer said, Metro reported last month. Its just really bad to work there as an Indigenous person. Kretschmer declined an interview request from the Star.
Councillor Mike Layton, who co-chairs the Aboriginal Affairs committee, acknowledges the setback.
Its a shame that the city wasnt in a position to ensure that we could keep Lindsay, he says. She had a lot to contribute to the city and took on a file that was very difficult and under-resourced.
This was a step backwards in both the work being done and in our relations with the Indigenous-Aboriginal people living in the City of Toronto. I hope we can resolve this quickly its going to take commitment from the bureaucratic side, to take seriously recommendations from the committee and to act on them as quickly as possible. But the politicians are on the hook we need to fund and resource this work.
He supports the call for a stand-alone Aboriginal Office, noting the city committed to honouring calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation report, and now needs staff with enough seniority to cut through red tape and get change across city departments and agencies.
Governments in Canada cant ignore the legacy of residential schools, the issues that are facing the Aboriginal-Indigenous communities in cities across Canada, he said. They are suffering deeply and its the role of government to address access to services, employment and equity, intergenerational trauma. We cant ignore it and we need to be an active player in resolving it.
Layton noted his committee performed, for the first time, a smudging ceremony in a city hall committee room last month and the city is hiring a replacement for Kretschmer. Also, one year from now, a four-metre-long turtle sculpture, Restoration of Identity by Ojibwa artist Solomon King, will be unveiled in Nathan Phillips Squares southwest corner as a site of learning, healing and reconciliation. The Ontario government is funding the project and working on it with residential school survivors.
Denise Davad, Miziwe Biiks manager of employment, says Indigenous people need to be able to access services from other Indigenous people.
When were talking about Indigenizing city hall, were really talking about Aboriginal employment, the numbers of Aboriginal people, Aboriginal taxpayers in the city of Toronto, that are on their payroll, she says.
Davad said in 2014 her agency was able to identify only eight Indigenous people across the vast city workforce.
I can tell you there were less than five of our clients hired since then, not including the interns we placed there, Davad says. There is no way on the city (online) form for hiring to self-identify as Aboriginal it just asks if you are part of a diversity group and the city does a very poor job of collecting and tracking data. Im sure there are other Aboriginal people on the payroll but there is no means for them to self-identify and that means we cant track them.
Alexis Linkert, an Ojibwa finishing her internship in Laytons office, says Kretschmers experience at the city is her story to tell.
Mine has been a completely different journey here. For me theres been no setbacks. Whatever I wanted to sink my teeth into, my colleagues and Councillor Layton has been completely 100 per cent supportive, she says.
Theres a long way to go. Im glad to see the city making the effort. I would love to see an Aboriginal (city) councillor . . . to have the Aboriginal Office as somewhere for Indigenous people to go, to connect to municipal government like people do with the Newcomer Office.
Mayor Tory, in a statement, told the Star he recognizes Toronto is home to tens of thousands of Indigenous Canadians. He stopped short of expressly backing the creation and funding of an Aboriginal Office, saying he supports examining the idea and looks forward to a report and discussion this fall.
Richard, who helped write the first call for such an office published in 2001, says Toronto needs action, not more reports.
Been there, done that, now theyve got to roll the dice be risky, go large on this, because reconciliation is a pretty loud knock on the door and I think boldness would be applauded.
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The first Raveena Aulakh Memorial Award in Journalism and Communication, a legacy scholarship established in memory of the Stars former environment reporter, has been awarded to a student at the University of Western Ontario.
Temo Primrose Gare, the recipient of the inaugural award, was selected for the entrance scholarship to universitys master of media in journalism and communication (MMJC) program this fall.
The scholarship was established by Aulakhs family in her honour, following her death in 2016.
Aulakh was a National Newspaper Award-winning reporter and began working at the Star in 2008, after completing the master of arts in journalism program at Western in 2007.
We want everyone to know that this scholarship is set up with Raveenas own hard-earned money that she left behind, Aulakhs family, who live in the GTA, said in a statement to the Star.
So while she is gone, she is now giving someone else an incredible opportunity to follow their passion as she followed hers. And we are certain the stories she wrote will continue to motivate and inspire others to do their very best.
The scholarship is an entrance award that the university offers to a full-time graduate student entering the MMJC program, and candidates do not have to apply to be considered.
When Gare found out she had won the award, she said her initial reaction was to squeal in excitement and look into who Aulakh was and her career background.
It just made my heart sink . . . the manner in which she passed was a tragedy, said Gare, who a graduate of York Universitys culture and expression program. I realized it was a bittersweet situation for me.
Gare quit her job in the city to move to London, Ont., in pursuit of a masters degree after having worked at community television and radio stations. She said receiving the award in Aulakhs honour felt like a powerful sign and motivation to fulfil her potential.
I feel very compelled to be great. I want to be a better student, be a better storyteller, a better content creator . . . because I was trusted amongst my peers to be given this award.
Aulakhs sense of humour, work ethic and journalistic eye were an inspiration to fellow classmates, the university said on its website.
Raveena enjoyed a distinguished career as a groundbreaking journalist, and we are very proud to be her alma mater, said Thomas Carmichael, dean of the faculty of information and media studies at Western.
The university is accepting donations to the Raveena Aulakh Memorial Award fund.
Read an edited selection of some of Aulakhs unforgettable stories here.
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Author/geographer Adam Shoalts delves into the history of Canada, and the fearlessness and ingenuity of its explorers. Perhaps none were as influential, and skilled at mapmaking, as Samuel de Champlain, who as a young boy in France learned from his father how to read currents and navigate by the stars.
In the early 17th century he began expeditions to whats now eastern Canada and founded the town of Quebec. The dangers were far from over.
While Champlain could smooth over, at least temporarily, differences between the Algonquin and Mohawk, England remained a bigger problem. In 1628, when English privateers led by the three Kirke brothers arrived at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, they pillaged and burned the French farmsteads there. They then turned their attention to Quebec itself, sending a messenger demanding that Champlain surrender the fort to them. The winter had been a particularly harsh one, and Champlains band was running desperately low on food and gunpowder. But Champlain had devoted his life to founding Quebec, and he wasnt about to hand it over to a bunch of English pirates. He refused their demand.
The pirates werent stupid they knew it was better to starve out the French than fight them. They waited in their ships at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, keeping an eye out for the expected relief ships from France that would be carrying provisions and more settlers. When the sails of these French vessels loomed into sight, the English pirates opened fire with their cannons and quickly captured the unsuspecting, outgunned ships. In all, they captured over a dozen French ships and took some 400 prisoners. Well satisfied with their prize, they left Quebec and sailed back to England.
This put Champlain and his settlers in a desperate plight. Already low on food, they would have to last another winter without any resupply and were reduced to living off a tiny morsel of beans and peas rationed out per day, which they turned into a thin soup.
Outside the forts walls, they dug up roots and scrounged around for whatever berries they could find. They bartered for food with their Montagnais and other Algonquin friends mostly eels and moose meat but the natives themselves had precious little to spare. By the time the snows melted the next spring, the situation at Quebec was becoming horrendous.
Their only hope was the arrival of French relief ships, but their hearts sank when they learned that the first sails spotted on the horizon were more English privateers all five of the Kirke brothers this time. Their fleet had swelled to six heavily armed ships and some 600 men, vastly outnumbering Champlains little settlement.
Starving as they were, further resistance was futile. When faced with a renewed demand to surrender, Champlain grudgingly capitulated to the privateers. The Kirke brothers took the celebrated explorer on board their flagship as a worthy prize and planned to sail back to England with him. But in the waters off the Gaspe Peninsula the English encountered their own surprise an incoming French ship. The English and French ships exchanged fire; one cannonball took the head clean off an English sailor. But the French ship, outnumbered and outgunned, soon surrendered.
The English sailed on to Tadoussac to pillage there and round up as many furs as they could lay their hands on. Here, Champlain met with a shock. His chief scout, (Etienne) Brule, whom hed once looked upon almost as a son, treasonously agreed to help the English. The English were in need of Brules skills hed now lived most of his life as a native, and was fluent in several native languages. Champlain denounced Brule and warned him that traitors got their just deserts. Brule ultimately met a fate worse than what Champlain probably had in mind if the stories are to be believed, the Bear clan of the Wendat, knowing of Brules treason, slowly tortured, killed and cannibalized him.
Champlain was taken to London on board the Kirkes flagship. But by the time they reached Europe, peace had been signed between England and France, which made Champlain a free man. Back in Paris, he argued strenuously in favour of Canadas long-term potential and pressed the French king to demand its return. It took three years, but finally, in 1632, the English Crown agreed to give back Quebec to the French. Champlain was overjoyed, and as soon as he could he set sail for Canada.
He found it in need of much work, but with the energy that always characterized his actions, he threw himself into it. Champlain oversaw the building of new fortifications and buildings, dispatched more of his scouts to explore the interior and provide reports, and put in motion plans to establish habitations at Trois-Rivieres and other strategic points along the St. Lawrence. But he was no longer the young, seemingly invincible explorer who had survived war wounds, Atlantic gales, scurvy, disease, frostbite and whitewater rapids.
Champlains health, as he turned 65, declined rapidly. On Christmas Day 1635, he died in his bed a rare achievement for a man of action in his era. His death was greatly mourned, not only by the French colonists, but also by dozens of northern native nations from the Wendat to the Mikmaq who had seen in Champlain an honest and brave man, and a loyal friend. They would not soon see his like again. The founder of Quebec was buried inside the towns walls.
Champlain had successfully crossed the dangerous Atlantic some 27 times, never once losing a ship. He travelled and explored widely, saw two great lakes, ran rapids in a canoe in a manner no European aside from Brule and a few of his other scouts had previously dared, fought in wars on two continents, and planted the first permanent seed of European colonies in Canada. He was, as French Canadians later named him, le pere du Canada the Father of Canada.
His legacy is perhaps most fully told in the maps he left behind maps many consider to be among the greatest ever made by any single explorer. Looking at Champlains maps today, one is struck by their accuracy: they represent a great leap forward over all previous maps of North America. His masterful maps were the result of a complex, multi-layered approach that combined geographic data from many sources.
First of all, Champlain had the maps of his predecessors to guide him they were often crude and full of errors, but still provided a rudimentary base map. To these, Champlain could add his own detailed observations and corrections, the result of his many sea voyages to the waters off Newfoundland, Acadia as far south as Cape Cod, and all through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as well as his many canoe journeys. With his astrolabe and knack for celestial navigation, he recorded hundreds of sun and star observations that gave him his latitude.
This helped fill in the details of his maps and correct previous errors. But most of his mapping remained essentially intuitive sketching features that he saw from the deck of a ship or the bow of a canoe. It took a trained eye to pull that off with the degree of accuracy Champlain managed.
He had ventured far in his travels in the interior all the way up the St. Lawrence from its mouth to the island of Mont Royal. Hed ranged southward to Lake Champlain and had seen the peaks of the Adirondacks; northward he had struggled up the Ottawa River and over the height of land to Lake Huron. He journeyed through much of what is now central Ontario, and across part of Lake Ontario and south into Iroquois territory.
All these lands he mapped as he explored them pausing whenever he could to take readings with his astrolabe. And what Champlain wasnt able to explore himself he dispatched his scouts the coureurs de bois to explore and report back on. He also incorporated into his maps the charts of other contemporary European explorers like those of the English, who were busy exploring the Arctic regions in their quest for a northwest passage.
Last, but certainly not least, Champlain drew from the knowledge of his aboriginal allies, whom he almost constantly asked about geographical matters. Several times he noted asking his native friends to draw birchbark maps for him. Undoubtedly, these maps filled in many of the final details on his charts.
Champlain was always revising his maps. His final version of his map of North America, published in 1632, shortly before his death, is a magnificent accomplishment. It reveals the outline of much of northeastern North America, from Baffin Island in the north to Chesapeake Bay in the south, and west to the Great Lakes. The Atlantic seaboard is charted in impressive detail; earlier errors are gone from his map, and we can see clearly now the Bay of Fundy, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, the Gaspe, Anticosti and Newfoundland.
The St. Lawrence River is mapped from its wide mouth all the way to its headwaters on Lake Ontario. The Ottawa is mapped northward, not only as far as Champlain made it, but also, on the basis of his aboriginal reports, beyond. Lake Huron and Superior here labelled as Mer douce and Grand Lac appear for the first time on a European map. They are large and not particularly well defined since Champlain never saw Superior and only paddled Lake Hurons eastern shoreline through Georgian Bays Thirty Thousand Islands.
He didnt know about lakes Michigan or Erie but he conjectured, from his native reports and Brule, that Huron drained through some unknown watercourse eventually into Lake Ontario.
Of particular note is how Champlain paid great attention to labelling the homelands of many different aboriginal nations indicating their villages with drawings of their longhouses. And for a lifelong sailor, its not surprising that Champlain liberally illustrated his map with sea creatures and ships under sail. On the technical side, he included an accurate scale and lines of latitude and longitude that correspond impressively to the measurements found on modern maps.
But although he set a new standard for accuracy, there remained much that Champlain didnt know much in fact that no one really knew. What lay beyond the Great Lakes to the west was a complete mystery to Champlain even the Wendat had been unable to tell him anything about these lands and he still wondered whether there might yet prove to be a passage to China. The northern seas beyond James Bay were also unknown to Champlain. These were questions other explorers would have to answer.
The founder of Quebec the consummate seafarer, explorer, soldier and mapmaker that was Samuel de Champlain had done his part by founding an enduring French colony in the wilderness of the New World. To explore and map more of it would be a task taken up by the children and grandchildren of those first hardy settlers who managed to survive the winters settlers who would, starting in the mid-1600s, refer to themselves increasingly as Canadiens and think of their country no longer as France, but as Canada.
Excerpted from the book A History of Canada in Ten Maps by Adam Shoalts. Copyright 2017 by Adam Shoalts. Published by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Limited. All rights reserved.
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The wait is almost over for our purported premier-in-waiting.
We may soon know a little more about Patrick Brown, the little-known leader of Ontarios Progressive Conservative opposition.
Next month at a convention centre near the airport same place where he won a leadership convention two years ago Brown is giving us a sneak policy peak. Then as now, it is a fait accompli, held mostly for show.
Brown had the partys votes in 2015, just as he has them in 2017. But to win the provinces votes in 2018, the PC leader cant keep playing possum with policy.
Or it wont be worth the wait.
Most public opinion polling shows Brown poised for victory over Premier Kathleen Wynne, whose personal unpopularity is dragging down a Liberal brand tarnished over time. Yet after all this time, most Ontarians still tell pollsters they dont know anything about Brown.
Why is there so little to show, or know, about where he stands? Is it because the provinces next premier is merely afraid to say, has nothing to say, or both?
All along, the PCs have been pointing to next months policy convention as the big reveal, an insight into how the party will steer the province when it takes power. Against that backdrop, we bring you a sample from this weeks list of 139 Recommended Policy Resolutions that the party brass are feeding the grassroots and the rest of us as leading edge thinking:
PC Party policy is to help make life more affordable for families with young children.
PC Party policy is to create a wider range of options for child care.
PC Party policy is to protect workers, their economic freedoms, and the pensions theyve been promised.
You get the idea about the lack of ideas, crafted with platitudes to cover virtually every base something for everyone, or perhaps nothing for anyone.
Yes, there are a few deadly serious promises, mostly to kill programs such as cap-and-trade or renewable energy supports. But the rest of the policy folio is a fig leaf serving as strategic foliage for the grassroots to chew on.
And cloaking an emperor with no ideas.
The only certainty is that a policy convention announced with great fanfare to give voice to the grassroots has rolled over them with a fresh layer of Astroturf. The better for Brown to sprint to power without tripping up.
Absent from the agenda is any hint of social policy of the kind he played footsie with during and after his leadership run. No more talk of tackling abortion, sex education or gay rights that won him the support of socially conservative PCs in the past.
It may be that Browns U-turn steering clear of the people to whom he once hitched his wagon is a politically astute move. What helped him in the party leadership race, and as a backbench MP in Stephen Harpers Ottawa (when he backed a motion opening the door to criminalizing late-term abortions) would likely hurt him with the general population.
Let me be very clear: I am pro-choice, Brown declared this month.
How to square his reincarnated pro-choice persona with his pro-life stance, in a previous life, suggesting a fetus is a person?
I was a backbench member of a broader team, he told The Canadian Press this week by way of explaining his voting record. Now that Im the leader of the party I can much (more) clearly speak from my own heart.
But the abortion vote in Ottawa was a free vote of conscience you know, from the heart which Harper urged his own backbenchers to oppose. Brown now insists that as premier he wouldnt reopen the debate.
Thats to his political credit, but not his political credibility. Was it a matter of conviction then, and convenience now or vice versa?
There is nothing especially scary about Brown, beyond his being scared of his own shadow. Nor are there any ominous signs of a hidden agenda about which he wont speak, just warning signals that there is no agenda to speak of.
Dont take my word for it. Listen to his fellow Tories not just the vast majority of caucus members who lined up against Brown in the leadership race, but the growing number of party members complaining about internal party democracy. Apart from dissent over the policy process, protests over candidate nominations have dissolved into a police investigation and litigation involving an awkward tape recording.
Brown and his team are gaining a reputation for telling people what they want to hear, and then changing their story not just with the general public, but the party faithful. That may work at next months carefully choreographed policy convention, but not on the campaign trail next spring, by which time motherhood resolutions promising apple pie will be awfully stale.
No one really knows who will be Ontarios next premier just that if its Brown, he may be truly unknowable.
Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca, Twitter: @reggcohn
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Rescued hostage Joshua Boyle lashed out at his kidnappers, calling for the Afghan government to track down those members of the Haqqani network who raped his wife, Caitlan Coleman, and ordered the murder of my infant daughter.
He made the statement to journalists gathered at Pearson International Airport just hours after landing in Toronto. His hands shook as he read the script he had carefully written in a small notebook.
While Boyle did not take questions, his comments confirmed what the couple had darkly hinted at in the letters home and proof-of-life videos his captors released during their five years in captivity.
Coleman said in one video that her children had seen her defiled. Boyle suggested cryptically in a letter that Coleman had a forced abortion.
While he spoke to the press, the rest of his family was loading into an RCMP van with baby seats bought by Boyles mother already installed and preparing to drive to their Smiths Falls, Ont., home.
Read more: What we know about the rescue of Canadian Joshua Boyle and his family in Pakistan
Joshuas parents, Linda and Patrick Boyle, along with Boyles three sisters, who had brought their nephews cellophane balloons with Canadian flags, had a chance to meet the young couple and the children privately in a small room inside the airport shortly after they landed.
Boyle told journalists that one of his children had required medical attention during this time.
It is hard to fathom the shock Friday must have been for the children Jonah, Noah and Grace who know no other life than being held hostage. Just the plane rides from Islamabad to London to Toronto would have been one of the many firsts they will now experience.
Their arrival in Toronto ended a five-year-long kidnapping ordeal that has captured international attention.
But even before their plane touched down, questions already had been raised.
What were the exact circumstances of their rescue?
How will these children cope?
Why did the couple go backpacking in Afghanistan in the first place?
Friday night, Boyle told journalists he was there to help the most neglected minority group in the world, those ordinary villagers who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Earlier Friday, Colemans father, Jim, told ABC News that he was angry with his son-in-law: Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable.
Coleman, 31, and Boyle, 34, were travelling across Central Asia when they crossed into Afghanistan in October 2012 and were kidnapped. Their families did not know Afghanistan was part of their itinerary.
The powerful Taliban-linked Haqqani network held them captive until Wednesdays dramatic rescue by Pakistani forces, which was reportedly based on intelligence provided by the U.S. All three of their children, boys aged 4 and 2, and an infant daughter, were born in captivity.
Boyle spoke to the Star Thursday from a guesthouse in Islamabad and again briefly at the airport Friday night. He said his family was psychologically and physically shattered, but they were looking forward to restarting.
Read more: Were looking forward to a new lease on life, Joshua Boyle tells the Star after five-year kidnapping nightmare
But if the Boyle and Coleman story follows the narrative of other hostage cases, then moving on means looking back, and public celebrations about their freedom will quickly turn to recriminations about their character.
An eight-part Star investigation, titled Held Hostage, found that hostages are either hailed as heroes, derided as foolish, or worse.
And rescues are always political, while determining the facts about them is always difficult.
The most detailed account so far of what happened Wednesday in Pakistan, near the border of Afghanistan, comes from Boyle earlier this week.
He told his parents in a Thursday morning phone call that he was in the trunk of the car with his wife and children when shooting began.
He said he was hit by shrapnel and five of the kidnappers were killed. The last words he said he heard his captors yell were: kill the hostages.
Later Thursday, when speaking with the Star, he said some of the captors fled and he was desperate to help investigators find them so they could face justice.
*
Boyle and Coleman will have quite a story to tell.
But so do their relatives stories that include the years of negotiations that moved from Ottawa to Washington and New York to Doha, Kabul, Islamabad and a few places in between.
Linda and Patrick Boyle say they have met people over the last five years they never thought they would now have on speed dial.
Just this year Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal, the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, became an important member of an unofficial team of advisers, which included diplomats, security consultants, government officials, journalists and other professions more difficult to categorize.
Zakhilwal, who is also a Canadian citizen, reached out to the Boyles after watching a December proof-of-life video that showed their grandsons for the first time while Joshua and Caitlan pleaded for release.
I was surprised that women and children were held hostage for so many years and I had not even heard about it, Zakhilwal told the Star. I wanted to help with their release if I could, or if not, at least better treatment of them. On his visits back to Canada, he met with the Boyles to discuss what could be done.
In January, back in Pakistan, he quickly helped get letters and videos from the Boyles and Colemans to the kidnappers. In reply, Coleman and Boyle sent a video in which Coleman says it will be a miracle if her family is freed and Boyle praises the speed with which the letter was delivered. Whoever this Zakhilwal is, Boyle said, he puts Canada Post to shame.
Boyles parents believed at that time there could be a miracle, clinging to a New York Times report that suggested a rescue could be former U.S. president Barack Obamas parting act.
It was under Obama that U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahls release was negotiated with the Haqqanis; a politically unpopular deal that set Taliban detainees from Guantanamo free, in exchange for a soldier who had deserted his post.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, had called Bergdahl a dirty rotten traitor on the campaign trail, falsely claiming six young beautiful people were killed trying to find him. He even lamented the old days and pretended to fire a gun twice. Bing bong, he said.
As the inauguration neared, officials from Global Affairs Canada and the RCMP flew to Qatar always a big player in hostage negotiations then on to Kabul.
Read more: Why the rescue of the Boyle-Coleman family is no cure for the troubled U.S.-Pakistan relationship
Then on Jan. 20, Trump became the 45th president. And there was no news.
Were just hanging on, Patrick Boyle told me when we met a few weeks later. Its so hard when you get your hopes up.
We had never felt closer to getting them home. And weve never been more scared of losing them.
Flash forward to Friday and Trump heralding their rescue as a sign of Pakistans new respect for America.
I have openly said Pakistan took tremendous advantage of our country for many years, but were starting to have a real relationship with Pakistan and theyre starting to respect us as a nation again and so are other nations, he said.
Details beyond what Boyle has said about the rescue are slowly emerging in media reports although some are conflicting and most are from unnamed sources.
There was much speculation Friday as well about reports that Boyle had refused to board a U.S. flight once freed. Boyles father said he believed his son was fearful of getting on a flight that was bound for the U.S. base at Bagram.
But Boyle appeared Friday to dispute the claim that he turned down any transportation.
I assure you I have never refused to board any mode of transportation that would bring me closer to home, closer to Canada and back with my family, he said.
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SONOMA, CALIF.The California wildfires raced toward wineries and the historic town of Sonoma on Saturday, chasing hundreds more people from their homes and threatening to roll back firefighters modest gains against the cluster of blazes that was as wide as 160 kilometres.
Propelled by stiff winds, the fires damaged or destroyed several buildings in the middle of the night before crews halted their advance at the edge of Sonoma, where firefighters spent days digging firebreaks to keep flames from reaching the citys historic central plaza built centuries ago when the area was under Spanish rule.
For those living in the huge fire zone, it was another night spent watching, waiting and fearing the worst.
John Saguto said he awoke several hours before dawn at his home in east Sonoma to see flames lapping up no more than 350 metres away. He and his neighbours evacuated as fire trucks raced up and down the streets and hot embers flew over their heads.
The fire made a strong run into Sonoma, deputy state fire director Dave Teter said, announcing that some additional buildings had been damaged or destroyed before firefighters stopped it.
Several homes and other structures near a vineyard east of downtown were in smouldering ruins. Firefighters hosed down embers and knocked down walls that could topple over.
Read more: Firefighters report first progress against California wildfires
Search-and-rescue teams look for bodies as California wildfires grow to size of NYC
As of Saturday afternoon, Teter said crews did not expect any more losses in that area. But gusts up to 40 kilometres per hour were forecast for the rest of the day.
Nearly a week after the blazes began, the flames have left 40 people dead and destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, making them the deadliest and most destructive group of wildfires in California history. Some 300 people remain unaccounted for, though officials think theyll locate most of those people alive.
Drone video taken over part of Santa Rosa, Calif., Tuesday shows residential areas scorched by the inferno that swept through the area late Sunday into Monday. Officials say wildfires destroyed as many as 2,000 homes and businesses. (The Canadian Press)
Most of the victims are believed to have died late on Oct. 8 or early on Oct. 9, when the fires exploded and took people by surprise in the dead of night. Most of the victims were elderly, though they ranged in age from 14 to 100.
Its a horror that no one could have imagined, Gov. Jerry Brown said, after touring the destruction with Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.
From the sky, large subdivisions that burned to the ground looked like black and white photos. Each neatly outlined lot is full of ashen rubble. Cars are burned a darker grey. Trees still standing are charred black. Only streets look unscathed.
Brown, 79, and Feinstein, 84, said the fires were the worst of their lifetimes. The two veteran politicians reminded people that the blazes remain a threat and that people need to leave their homes when told to go.
No causes have been determined for the fires, though power lines downed by winds are seen as a possibility.
Although some evacuees were returning home in Mendocino County, the latest estimates were that about 100,000 people were under evacuation orders as the fires burned for a sixth day.
Some evacuees weary from nearly a week on the run demanded to return home or to see if they still have homes. Plans were in the works to reopen communities, but they were not ready to be put into effect, Teter said.
Northern California fires forced more than 20,000 people to leave their homes. When some Santa Rosa residents went back to check on their houses, there was nothing left. (The New York Times)
Douglas and Marian Taylor stood outside their apartment complex Saturday in Santa Rosa with their two dogs and a sign that said End evacuation now.
Their building was unharmed at the edge of the evacuation zone with a police barricade set up across the street. The couple said they are spending about $300 per day to rent a motel and eat out, and they want to return home because the fire does not appear to threaten their home.
At an evacuation centre at the fairgrounds in the Sonoma County city of Petaluma, volunteers sorted through mounds of donated baby wipes, diapers, pillows, shoes and clothing.
Randy Chiado and his wife, Barbara, evacuated Monday from the Oakmont section of Santa Rosa. They stayed for several days with a friend in Santa Rosa but left Saturday when flames approached again and sought refuge at the fairgrounds.
After so many times of Its coming, get ready. Its coming, get ready, it just gets nerve-wracking, Barbara said.
Life away from home has been difficult and dangerous. Randy Chiado said a man who may have suspected he was a looter tried to punch him through his car window and yelled for a friend to get a gun when the Chiados turned onto a residential street after they evacuated their home. He said he was able to push the man off and drive away.
The couple planned to spend the night with other evacuees in a room set up with cots. Its like jail, he said.
In all, 17 large fires still burned across the northern part of the state, with more than 10,000 firefighters attacking the flames using air tankers, helicopters and more than 1,000 fire engines.
Signs posted in Sonoma thanked the firefighters. One declared them heroes among us.Throughout the day, fires continued to flare and burn through forested areas, engulfing extremely dry vegetation. Air tankers streamed red retardant to halt the spread of flames while other planes and helicopters made targeted water drops. In a rural section of Santa Rosa, a low-flying helicopter dumping load after load of water on homes and mansions sent startled cattle stampeding.Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala and Marcio Jose Sanchez in Santa Rosa, Daisy Nguyen in San Francisco and Martha Mendoza in Santa Cruz contributed to this report.
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BARCELONA, SPAINCatalonias separatist movement is at risk of breaking apart over deepening infighting about the right strategy to culminate the long-held desire for the prosperous region to secede from Spain and become an independent state.
Diehard separatists are pushing for a definitive declaration of independence in the next few days. Moderates still hope to open negotiations with Spanish authorities who insist the disputed referendum on which such a declaration would be based was illegal.
The fault lines widened on Saturday, when the far-left CUP party demanded an unambiguous affirmation of Catalan independence from regional president Carles Puigdemont by the Monday deadline given by Spains central government.
Read more: Spain gives Catalonia five days to clarify independence statement, threatens to curtain regions autonomy
Spain celebrates national day amid Catalan secession crisis
Hundreds of thousands rally against Catalonias secession from Spain
If Puigdemont does not comply, CUP spokeswoman Nuria Gibert said the party will threaten to withdraw its support for his ruling coalition in Catalonias regional parliament. Such a move would likely bring down Puigdemonts government and force elections.
Until there is (a declaration of independence), we dont see any sense in continuing normal parliamentary activity, Gibert said.
CUP had initially given Puigdemont a month to attempt talks with the Spanish government. However, he disappointed the party and the secession movements grassroots groups when he wavered on making an outright declaration of independence before the regional parliament on Tuesday.
Instead, Puigdemont asked separatist lawmakers to delay the declaration to provide more time for dialogue.
Gibert said Puigdemonts ambiguous position only creates confusion.
While CUP upped the pressure on Puigdemont, his main ally appealed to supporters of secession to stop bickering and stand behind their leader.
We must preserve the unity that is necessary to go all the way on this path to a republic, Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras said.
Junqueras delivered his message to 200 members of his Republic Left party at its headquarters in Barcelona. The party forms a governing coalition with Puigdemonts conservatives in Catalonias parliament.
Junqueras said the best way forward was for secessionists to show the world who wants to offer dialogue and who rejects it.
Spains conservative government, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is also leaning heavily on Puigdemont. The Monday deadline it gave him to clarify his position on independence came with an ultimatum: fall in line by Oct. 19 or face losing some or all of the regions autonomous powers.
Time for reflection is running out for Carles Puigdemont, Andrea Levy, a member of the Catalan parliament from Rajoys Popular Party, said Saturday.
Along with being flanked politically, Puigdemont has economic factors to consider. Banks and businesses are discussing relocating their headquarters from Catalonia to other parts of Spain over fears they would be out of the common European Union market if the region breaks away from the country.
The Spanish government has warned that the constitutional crisis in Catalonia is already hurting the economy.
Puigdemont claimed he had the mandate to declare an independent Catalonia after an overwhelming Yes vote in an Oct. 1 referendum that Spains top court had suspended on grounds the vote was likely unconstitutional.
Only 43 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots amid a brutal Spanish police crackdown. Parties against secession boycotted the referendum.
Polls show roughly half of Catalonias 7.5 million residents dont want to leave Spain. Pro-union forces have held large rallies in Barcelona this week.
The European Union supports a united Spain and no foreign country has voice support for Catalonias separatists.
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North Korea is at it again.
The antagonistic country claimed on its state run news station Sunday that it has tested a hydrogen bomb. It marks North Korea's sixth nuclear test ever.
North Korea is days removed from firing a missile over northeastern Japan.
In light of these developments, the below piece from TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS portfolio manager Jim Cramer should be top of mind. It was originally published on Aug. 11 on TheStreet's sister publication RealMoney.
Here's What Stocks You Want to Own in the Event of a War With North Korea
Trying to "play" North Korea is pretty much a fool's game. A nuclear North Korea is a truly existential crisis because this is the first time a regime has threatened to launch missiles at us without any real provocation.
We have had nukes pointed at us before when Russia decided to turn Cuba into a nuclear launching pad back in October 1962. Our country came so close to a nuclear war back then that it's pretty scary. I lived next to a naval air base at the time and the sky was black with planes. If you want to know what happened, the denouement so to speak, I heartily recommend Graham Allison's Essence of Decision because it showed you how Jack Kennedy dealt with a nuclear power that did seem to want to be able to wipe us out. The Russians backed down, though, because they did care about wiping out their country, which would have been the end result.
Now we have a regime that seems to be asking to be wiped out. I have no doubt that Kennedy would not have appeased the North Koreans, I think he would have declared war and bombed them back to the Stone Age ahead of when they could launch. I know that when I was growing up, our nuclear submarines could hit Yankee Stadium from the Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean -- not that you would necessarily want to do that, even if you are a Red Sox fan. Now we can hit home plate, so I think we could certainly take out our nemesis, Kim Jong-un, and do it in a way that makes it so this wicked witch is killed and the rest of the North Koreans lay down their weapons and join the South, in a replay of The Wizard of Oz.
As North Korea Provokes, Here Are 30 of the Most Powerful Military Innovations
But that's just one man's opinion, and while my opinion has some historical antecedents, I am not the go-to guy.
I am the go-to guy, though, on what you should do with your portfolio in the event of thermonuclear war.
Have cash. Have gold. Have Velveeta. OK, the last one is a nod to the existential crisis if negotiations fail and we bring about fire and fury. Don't go all in on explosive tech stocks.
First, I believe you should always have some cash, maybe between 10% and 20% right now, as I told members of Action Alerts PLUS on our recent monthly call. Own some gold for the possibility of some sort of calamity, even as I still believe this trauma will stop short of a nuclear war. I prefer bullion as a method of buying gold. Keep it in the bank, not in your home. If you want to, you can buy the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) - Get Free Report . I also like Randgold (GOLD) - Get Free Report , which reported a stupendous quarter and can go much higher with this kind of tension.
I have been recommending the defense stocks for ages and, even after Lockheed Martin's (LMT) - Get Free Report run, I think you can still buy its shares. The second-best is Raytheon (RTN) - Get Free Report because of its strong missile franchise. Northrop Grumman (NOC) - Get Free Report and General Dynamics (GD) - Get Free Report simply aren't as good plus, I didn't really care for that last General Dynamics quarter.
Let's go back to the most important principle, though: Both the defense secretary and the secretary of state have had to walk back statements made by the president that sounded like we're launching missiles by the weekend. At this point, if the North Koreans even blink for a second, we will get a terrific rally. I don't want to miss it. With that level of cash and gold, I still think your participation will be just fine if it works out, as I think it will -- or maybe hope it will -- a peaceful acquiescence by a criminal regime that should be destroyed by the South Koreans, not us, and should have been done years ago before the endless, and now revealed as ridiculous, appeasement process began.
More of What's Trending on TheStreet:
Analysts at Goldman Sachs on Tuesday morning raised its target price for heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) - Get Free Report shares to $158 a share as the construction market improves.
"We believe CAT's valuation looks even more attractive on a cash P/E basis, on which the stock trades at an implied 10.8x cash P/E due to depreciation outpacing capex over the near-term (13.5x at our 12-month $158 price target)," Goldman analyst Jerry Revich told clients.
Revich also raised his EPS estimates for Caterpillar to $5.47, from $5.46 for 2017 and he analyst comments FY 2017 EPS estimate rises from $5.46 to $5.47, FY 2018 EPS estimate increases from $7.25 to $7.31 and FY 2019 EPS estimate rises from $8.44 to $8.86.
According to FactSet data, analysts who cover Caterpillar have a consensus estimate for its third-quarter earnings of $1.26 a share.
Last month The company hosted its investor day, prompting a few analysts to rally behind the stock, including UBS's Steven Fisher.
"There is a gem in this terrific Caterpillar upgrade by UBS," TheStreet's Jim Cramer said on CNBC's "Mad Dash" segment at the time. Monday. That hidden gem comes in the form of pipelines. The analyst notes how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved nearly as many miles of natural gas pipelines in 2017 than it had for all of 2016.
"This is an example of deregulation that people don't realize," Cramer reasoned, explaining that "there have been some pipelines that have been approved that would have been denied for years and years under the previous administration, and that's a lot of business for CAT."
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Updated as of Sunday, October 15, 4P EST
It's been almost a week since the devastating fires began in California and I am slowly starting to hear from the wonderful friends I have made out there.
Many were displaced because of forced evacuations and most were without power or cell service for days.
Thankfully, they are all ok.
But that's not the story for everyone.
The death toll has risen to 40 people and approximately 5,700 homes and other structures have been destroyed, according to California State Wide Fire Summary.
Firefighters still are working around the clock, battling against 17 wildfires, that have burned almost 221,800 acres.
And while many of these fires have been contained, they won't truly go out until the winter rains begin, which -- fingers crossed -- is soon.
As of Thursday night, the Napa County Sheriff's Office lifted the mandatory evacuation orders for many parts of the county so people finally can return to their homes. Calistoga, a small city on the northern part of the Valley, was still under mandatory evacuation though.
I have heard from my friends at many of the Valley's vineyards, like Shafer Vineyards, St. Supery Vineyards & Winery, Cakebread Cellars and Domaine Chandon. They - and their properties -- are all ok.
But Sonoma County did not fare as well.
While most of the vineyards are fine, lives were lost and so many homes and buildings were destroyed.
Towns like Santa Rosa suffered severely and there were awful stories of elderly residents who were unable to escape
"Our son's high school in Santa Rosa burned to the ground, with just a few buildings left standing," says Tony Lombardi of Lombardi Wines, who at the time of this writing had displaced students staying with him while their parents scrambled to find new housing.
And he still hadn't been able to get to Coursey Graves Winery, the winery that makes his wines - though he thought it was ok.
Speculation abounds about how the fires started. Many are pointing to the winds and down power lines in an already dry area. And then fires came fast and at night -- too fast for many to escape.
The Wines
And while it seems trivial to worry about the wines, they are the bulk of their local economy.
The good news is that harvest - the time of year when the grapes are picked off the vines -- was around 90% complete.
The grapes that were left on the vines were mainly were the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and they usually are last to be picked. Thankfully, though, Cabernet grapes have thick skins.
So many of the winemakers are at not worried about those grapes being damaged by the smoke, a.k.a. smoke taint, says Patsy McGaughy, Napa Valley Vintners communications director.
But it is all yet to be seen. "The beauty of wine, though, is that it is ever-changing and not a product of the moment," reminds McGaughy.
So everyone is hopeful and trying to get back to business.
"Our teams are out picking," says Peter Heitz, the winemaker at Turnbull Wine Cellars
"Because leaving the fruit in the field is a disservice to all the hard work we've done preparing for this glorious harvest. We worked all season for this."
And while everyone is wearing safety gear because of the horrible air quality, "Our people want to work," says Heitz, who is one of the many who had to evacuate Calistoga. He and his family are "camping out at Turnbull" until they are allowed to return to their home.
Of course he. and many other winemakers, will take samples of their wines to local labs to have it tested for smoke taint, but they are optimistic it will all be ok.
"It's a tragedy for wine country but we can recover because we have the community to do that," says Heitz.
Economic Impact
Many of the roads still are restricted for emergency personnel only and the air quality is not good.
So there undeniably will be an economic impact. Harvest is a prime time for visitors to both Napa and Sonoma Counties.
"We are telling people to consider coming to the Napa Valley at another time," says McGaughy.
But tourism is one of the largest industries in the Napa Valley and supports around 13,400 jobs and sends over $80 million in tax revenues to the government.
In 2016, the Napa Valley, for instance, had 3.5 million visitors, up 6.3% in 2014, with each hotel guest spending around $402 per day, according to Visit Napa Valley. So there clearly be financial strains.
So there get out and help. Check out this section of the CA.gov site for organzitions that accept donations.
Or better yet, "just buy the wines from the '17 vintage," says Heitz.
I, for one, can't wait to do just that.
An incident at the Nebraska State Penitentiary on Tuesday required tower staff to fire a smoke canister round to disperse a crowd of inmates, according to a prison official.
Information about the 6 p.m. incident originally came from a staff member who contacted the media concerned the public would not hear about its seriousness.
When contacted Wednesday, Dawn-Renee Smith, Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman, described the incident as two separate inmate fights that included two people in each fight. She said five inmates were subsequently restrained and removed from the penitentiary yard.
But others reported more inmates were involved in multiple fights and threats of violence.
No news release was issued because no staff members were seriously injured, Smith said.
She said that when inmates were returned to their cells, four of them refused to go and had to be restrained. The prison entered a modified lockdown 40 minutes after the incident, and the prison returned to normal operations by breakfast time Wednesday.
While Tuesdays melee was eventually controlled by staff, it was a frightening ordeal, the employee said.
Nebraska prisons have seen a riot and numerous other violent incidents since May 2015, including multiple prisoner deaths. Increased staff assaults, severe staff shortages and serious overcrowded conditions have been reported.
In August, ACLU of Nebraska filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 11 prisoners, and sought class certification for all current and future inmates. It asked the Department of Correctional Services and the Board of Parole to immediately address crowding and the lack of adequate health care and accommodations for prisoners with disabilities.
Two staffers, who asked not to be named out of concerns for their jobs, told the Journal Star there have been many staff assaults that aren't being reported to the public.
The staffer who voiced the initial concerns gave this version of the incident at the penitentiary:
After one fight started Tuesday evening and those inmates were restrained, other prisoners attacked those inmates and staffers who had responded.
During the melee, the employee saw staffers in two different areas of the yard on the ground wrestling with inmates, with other fights also having broken out.
Dozens of other inmates were gathered around the area of the fights, the staffer said.
Several were yelling about taking over a housing unit and encouraging others to join them, the staffer said. A staff member in a main tower fired the smoke canister, which scattered inmates. That allowed staff members in the yard to gain control and round up and restrain inmates.
Eventually, the staffer said, many inmates were in handcuffs or leg restraints, and covered in pepper spray. The employee saw at least several broken windows. And staff found at least four homemade knives.
Administrative staff from the prison and the department's central office showed up to address the incident, the staffer said.
Smith stood by her account of the incident Thursday, saying it was based on written reports and evidence.
Inspector General for Corrections Doug Koebernick said two people had also reported to him there were multiple altercations Tuesday.
He has asked for video and any written reports from the incident and will review them, he said.
MUSCATINE Catholics around the world, including in Muscatine, gathered Friday to remember a 100-year-old message from Our Lady of Fatima, when she reportedly appeared to 70,000 people in Portugal to bring a plan for peace.
Around 30 people gathered Friday afternoon outside Saints Mary and Mathias Catholic Church on West 8th Street to sing, pass out rosaries and share Fatima's story.
In 1917, Fatima appeared to three children, for six months in a row, in Fatima, Portugal. The lady appeared like a glowing angel, described as "more brilliant than the sun," according to "Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven," published in 1950.
On the sixth visit, she told the children there would be a miracle, according to Muscatine resident Michelle Schaapveld.
"She would perform a miracle so people would believe she appeared (to the children), she said. "Her whole message is a plan for peace. It was all prior to the war and she had promises, mostly for prayer and to spread devotion."
As the story has it, on Oct. 13, 1917, an estimated 70,000 people appeared in Portugal to witness the miracle. People traveled with horses and carts on a muddy, wet day. During the event, the sun allegedly began to spin on its axis, or as Schaapveld said "began to dance in the sun."
"The day became known as the 'Miracle of the Sun' because in minutes, everything and everybody was completely dry," she said. "The mud was gone and everything was dry. And people miles away witnessed it."
Schaapveld said Fatima called for peace and prayer. Celebrating the miracle a century later, she said, people today need to hear the same message.
"In these days as much as in those days we need prayer and we need peace," she said. "There are so many wars, and she's told us that if we pray, she can avert these wars."
Our Lady of Fatima called for penance and reparation, and also asked the faithful to perform a daily recitation of the rosary. At Friday's ceremony, residents handed out and prayed with rosaries in hopes of bringing peace to the world.
Schaapveld said a committee of about 10 church members create thousands of rosaries each year. This year, she said, the group is making 7,000 rosaries to send to troops overseas.
Shipping the rosaries has been a tradition for years, and Schaapveld said last year thousands were sent to Afghanistan. She explained the rosaries are made out of recycled parachute cord and red, white and blue beads, plus a crucifix made in Jerusalem.
The church partners with ServeHAITI in the Quad-Cities, as well as residents of Haiti, to create the rosaries. Schaapveld said the Saint Augustine Institute provides the cost of shipping.
"To provide these for our soldiers, chaplains and military is a special thing we can do for them, and for peace in the world," she said. "Regardless of what religion you are, everyone needs to pray. Pray for peace and pray for unity."
Before prayer Friday, Saints Mary and Mathias Catholic Church members gathered around a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as the Knights of Columbus presented the colors.
Full coverage of the Delphi murders: Look back at 5 years of stories
UPDATED Oct. 18 with comments from Kaspersky Lab. UPDATED Oct. 25 with preliminary results of Kaspersky Lab's internal investigation. UPDATED Nov. 16 with final results of Kaspersky Lab's internal investigation.
On March 15, 2022, the German government warned citizens not to use Kaspersky antivirus software due to rising tensions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The allegations that Kaspersky Lab spied on its customers on behalf of Russian intelligence services, as was reported in top American newspapers this past week, are very serious and threaten the future of the antivirus maker even if no conclusive proof has been offered and no one making the accusations has been willing to speak up in public.
(Image credit: Jaggat Rashidi/Shutterstock)
Here at Tom's Guide, we still recommend Kaspersky antivirus software for home users who don't work in any industries involved with national security. But we sent questions to several information-security experts, ranging from a former NSA staffer to a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for their opinions on whether they considered Kaspersky software safe to use.
"My firm is recommending that our customers, who largely are financial companies, uninstall Kaspersky AV."
Dave Aitel, Immunity Inc.
Most of our respondents agreed that people who work in government or critical-infrastructure industries should not use Kaspersky software. One said he was telling everyone to remove it.
"My firm is recommending [that] our customers, who largely are financial companies, uninstall Kaspersky AV," said Dave Aitel, a former NSA staffer and the founder, owner and chief technology officer of Immunity Inc., an information-security consultancy. "There is no plausible innocent explanation for the information that has been presented."
Other security experts we spoke to weren't ready to condemn the company without seeing the evidence. But they added that we've got just as much to fear from Chinese vendors and that most modern antivirus software, not just Kaspersky's, could be abused to become an espionage tool.
"I haven't seen anything which makes me think that it's any more dangerous to run Kaspersky than any other major antivirus product."
Graham Cluley, independent security consultant
MORE: Best Antivirus Software
"I haven't seen anything which makes me think that it's any more dangerous to run Kaspersky than any other major antivirus product," Graham Cluley, an independent security blogger and former staffer at the antivirus maker Sophos, told us. "Kaspersky might be being singled out because the company is Russian, and that doesn't sit too well in the current geopolitical climate."
John E. Pike, founder and director of GlobalSecurity.org, a national-security think tank, said Kaspersky antivirus software was "probably" safe to use, but he added that "such products have too much spaghetti code for anyone to have confidence that they understand all that is going on under the hood."
Strong, but unproven, accusations
On Oct. 5, The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed current and former government officials, reported that in 2015, Kaspersky antivirus software running on the home computer of an unnamed NSA staffer spotted NSA files that the staffer had brought home and put on his or her machine. (The staffer broke the rules by taking the files home, but he or she is not suspected of espionage.)
The Kaspersky antivirus software somehow alerted Russian intelligence to the presence of the NSA files, and Russian spies then targeted the NSA staffer's computer and copied files from the machine, according to the WSJ It's not clear exactly how Russian intelligence got access to Kaspersky data, or exactly what kind of NSA files the staffer had on his machine. (NSA-made malware would have been noticed by many antivirus products.)
"Whichever antivirus product you use, you should configure it to NOT send data back to the vendor."
Rob Graham, CTO, Errata Security
Late Tuesday (Oct. 10), The New York Times, also quoting anonymous sources, reported that Israeli spies who had hacked into Kaspersky's internal networks in 2014 were the first to see evidence that Kaspersky software had been used to spy on the NSA staffer. The Israelis apparently turned what they had found over to the NSA.
The Washington Post backed that allegation with its own story, and in 2015, Kaspersky Lab itself had disclosed the Israeli hack of its own networks.
On Oct. 11, The Wall Street Journal came back with a second story, in which more (or perhaps the same) unnamed government officials told the paper that Kaspersky's malware database, which looks for certain snippets of code in an attempt to catch malware, had been updated at a certain point to look for text strings that indicated U.S. intelligence documents. Such a text string might be "TOP SECRET," or the code name of a known NSA or CIA operation or program.
You could try turning off antivirus data collection
Rob Graham, head of information-security consultancy Errata Security and creator of several security tools, had a suggestion for all antivirus users who might be worried about the software spying on them.
"For ordinary consumers, it's probably as safe using Kaspersky as any other antivirus software," Graham told us. "Whichever product you use, however, you should configure it to NOT send data back to the vendor."
MORE: Best Identity-Theft Protection Services
Graham was referring to the telemetry, a feature of most antivirus programs that sends data about the customer's machine to the antivirus company's servers for analysis, which, in turn, leads to quick responses to new malware.
Kaspersky's telemetry functions reportedly tipped off the Russian spies to the presence of NSA software on the NSA staffer's home computer. Most antivirus software, including Kaspersky's, lets you toggle off telemetry so that your machine, at least in theory, receives data from the antivirus company without sending any back.
Because of telemetry, antivirus products "have access to everything on the system and communicate constantly," states a blog post co-authored by Roel Schouwenberg, a former Kaspersky Lab malware researcher who is now at Celsus Advisory Group, an information-security consulting firm. "They are effectively 'trusted implants.'"
Kurt Opsahl, deputy executive director and general counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-liberties advocacy group, agreed that telemetry is a risk, and not only to Kaspersky customers.
"Cloud-based AV necessarily allows the AV software to see and report on what's on your machine and gives an opening to intelligence agencies to get that information," he told us. "Kaspersky shows that this can actually happen, though something similar may well have happened elsewhere."
Happy to work with the authorities of all nations
Within the global information-security community, Kaspersky Lab is highly respected for the quality of its research, as well as for its willingness to share its findings, work with other antivirus companies and collaborate with police agencies against cybercrime.
We at Tom's Guide, as well as rival publications, have consistently rated Kaspersky antivirus software well for its excellent malware detection (as borne out in regular lab tests), its low system-performance impact and its useful extra features.
As a young man, Eugene Kaspersky was educated at a KGB-run technical academy, then served in Soviet military intelligence.
Kaspersky Lab and McAfee, along with Europol and the Dutch national police, created and run the NoMoreRansom.org website to help victims of encrypting ransomware protect and recover their data. Just yesterday (Oct. 12), Interpol announced that it was expanding its relationship with Kaspersky Lab to share threat intelligence.
But Kaspersky may not be for everybody
"Kaspersky Lab is an excellent company with a solid reputation for building good security products," Nicholas Weaver, a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute, an affiliate of the University of California, Berkeley, wrote on the Lawfare blog in July. "But that is only true for most users. ... Kaspersky software should be banned from all governmental computers, defense contractors, and related assets."
"Companies may well be targets of economic spying, while non-profits and activists may be targets of spying on political opposition, and should give a higher weight to the spying risk," Opsahl said. "Given what's known, is it worthwhile to stick with [the] software with this news? Probably less so than with consumers."
How close is Kaspersky to the Kremlin?
There's always been a bit of suspicion about Kaspersky Lab. The company's co-founder and owner, Eugene Kaspersky, was educated at a KGB-run technical academy beginning when he was a teenager, and then served in Soviet military intelligence. (Many security experts of all nationalities working in the private sector have similar backgrounds.)
(Image credit: Eugene Kaspersky. Credit: Kaspersky)
The company's relationship with the Kremlin has never been clear, though Western experts on Russia think there's no way Eugene Kaspersky could have become a billionaire without having reached an understanding with the government. Under Russian law, any company must open its communications lines to the authorities upon request.
The Kaspersky company has consistently denied that it assists any government with espionage operations.
Kaspersky Lab was given the contract to run all cybersecurity efforts at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but there may not have been any other Russian company that could have pulled it off. In 2011, Eugene Kaspersky's eldest son was kidnapped and held for ransom by apparently incompetent abductors, then freed unharmed after a police raid.
"I feel bad for Kaspersky, because they're probably good guys who are trying to do the right thing, but the forces above them are much more powerful," Kenneth Geers, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an expert on Eastern European cyberespionage, told The Parallax security blog. "Their software can see nation-state operations because they have deep visibility into enterprise and government networks."
Kaspersky Lab was involved in the discovery of several spyware tools thought to be developed and used by the NSA, including the Stuxnet worm that sabotaged an Iranian uranium-enrichment facility in 2010.
For those reasons, the company has been accused of going after American intelligence operations, but it also has discovered and disclosed spyware campaigns thought to be run by Russian and Chinese intelligence. (Kaspersky has a policy of not naming which countries may be behind specific cyberespionage campaigns.)
"Anyone worried about the Russian government or Russian organized crime might want to look elsewhere."
John E. Pike, GlobalSecurity.org
"We still don't have enough solid information to really judge Kaspersky, just hearsay and rumor," Rob Graham said. "With that said, I wouldn't trust any company from Russia or China, at least not when important national concerns are at stake."
"Kaspersky has, in the past, drawn attention to malware campaigns that almost certainly were orchestrated by Russia, and targeted Russia's enemies," said Graham Cluley. "Perhaps I'm a bear of very little brain, but I don't see why a company colluding with the Russian government would be doing that."
Who should not be using Kaspersky software?
"Anyone worried about the Russian government or Russian organized crime might want to look elsewhere," Pike told Tom's Guide. "This is the same issue as Lenovo computers probably not a problem for most consumers, but anyone who is worried about being targeted by the Chicoms would probably look elsewhere."
(Image credit: Kaspersky)
Graham and Weaver agreed that you might need to worry just as much about China as about Russia.
"I don't think important government entities should trust security products/services from adversarial nations like Russia and China," Robert Graham said. "It's unlikely Kaspersky is actually spying for his government, but yet, it's still an event we would add to our risk matrix and defense against."
"Anyone who views the Chinese government as an adversary should avoid Huawei, and those who count the Russian government as an adversary should not install Kaspersky products," Weaver wrote on his blog. "This is why it is shocking me that U.S. government used Kaspersky Lab's products including on [Department of Defense] systems."
Colder climate
None of the suspicions about Kaspersky Lab mattered much until the 2014 popular uprising in Ukraine that removed a pro-Russian president. That, in turn, sparked the Russian forcible takeover of Crimea, the beginning of the ongoing separatist war in eastern Ukraine and the sudden worsening of U.S.-Russian relations.
In 2015, stories began appearing in the U.S. media about Kaspersky Lab's ties to the Kremlin and to Russian intelligence, including one that said Russian intelligence operatives had been deliberately placed on Kaspersky's staff in 2012.
The Russian intelligence effort to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the subsequent American investigations into that effort, have only made things harder for Kaspersky Lab. This spring, several U.S. intelligence-agency heads told Congress that they would not run Kaspersky software on their own computers. FBI agents interviewed Kaspersky employees in the U.S.
In September, the Department of Homeland Security ordered the removal of Kaspersky software from U.S. government agencies. Best Buy and Office Depot announced they would no longer sell Kaspersky software and offered to remove it from customer machines for free.
Eugene Kaspersky has offered to testify before Congress and to let American officials read his company's source code. The U.S. government hasn't taken him up on either offer yet.
Innocent explanations?
So far, most of the allegations made against Kaspersky Lab in the American press can be explained. The NSA files on the staffer's home computer could have been malware, in which case Kaspersky's antivirus scanners would have picked them up. Kaspersky itself need not have tipped off Russian intelligence about the files; the Russian security services could have been tapping into Kaspersky's data feeds.
"I'll leave it to Kaspersky to provide the plausible innocent explanation," Opsahl told us, but added that "a plausible explanation may not be enough. Kaspersky probably needs to show that it is not just an innocent victim, but actually the better option in the marketplace."
"If there really is any evidence that Kaspersky has colluded inappropriately with Russian intelligence, then I think we would all welcome seeing it."
Graham Cluley, independent security consultant
Even the allegation that Kaspersky's malware-signatures database was altered to look for "TOP SECRET" and other text strings could be explained if Russian intelligence operatives were working secretly among Kaspersky employees.
Kaspersky management might or might not have known about such possible arrangements. But, given the political climate in Russia, it might not have had a choice.
"If there really is any evidence that Kaspersky has colluded inappropriately with Russian intelligence, then I think we would all welcome seeing it, to put this matter to bed once and for all," Cluley said.
"I think there's a danger for other security companies here, though, too," he added. "Not only are some acting rather shabbily in exploiting Kaspersky's discomfort, but they might also want to be wary that they are not also targeted by whispers in the future."
What the future holds for Kaspersky
Eugene Kaspersky seems too gregarious and talkative to be a spy. Until things got hot for him in the U.S., he was a regular fixture at American security conferences. If he wasn't addressing a conference, he'd be holding court in the hallway, ready to talk to anyone who asked.
Kaspersky the man doesn't seem to spend much time in Moscow. He sponsors a Formula 1 racing team, an Australian rugby team and a Greek archaeological site; he hikes around volcanoes in the Russian Far East; and he has placed Kaspersky Lab's holding company in London.
He still holds his own security conference, the Security Analyst Summit, every winter in a tropical tourist resort, although it hasnt been held on U.S. territory since 2013.
"It will be interesting to see how other Western countries begin to respond to the claims" against Kaspersky, Cluley said. "So far, I haven't seen other governments sharing America's nervousness about Kaspersky's software."
"The question is whether Kaspersky can save its non-American business based on those markets not believing the damning information in U.S. newspapers," Aitel told us. "Should any more leaks come out regarding this investigation that indicate Eugene himself knew about this activity, then the company would be kaput."
UPDATE: Kaspersky Lab addressed the allegations (opens in new tab) in a blog post Oct. 16.
"We help law enforcement agencies (globally, not only in Russia), but with only one thing catching cybercriminals," the post said. "We've never assisted any cyberspies or military intelligence. That would go against our principles. We do not participate in spying."
"Our products, much like antivirus software from most other companies, have a cloud protection component," it continued. "We call this Kaspersky Security Network (KSN)."
"You can turn KSN off when installing the product or at any time after installation in the protection settings," the blog post added. "If you like to develop cyberweapons on your home computer, it would be quite logical to turn KSN off otherwise your malicious software will end up in our antivirus database and all your work will have been in vain."
UPDATE: On Oct. 25, Kaspersky Lab released preliminary findings (opens in new tab) from its own internal investigation. (A third-party investigation is still promised.) The findings appear to largely exonerate the company of wrongdoing
Most noteworthy was that, according to the Kaspersky report, the NSA staffer upon whose home PC the NSA files were discovered had himself accidentally infected his computer with malware when he installed a "cracked" version of Microsoft Office software. "Cracked" software comes with product-key generators that let you run expensive software without paying for it, but the key generators are often full of malware.
The NSA staffer was only able to run the key generator after disabling his Kaspersky antivirus software, the report found. After he installed Microsoft Office, he re-enabled the antivirus software, which detected the malware that came with the key generator as a "backdoor" which could have let any other kind of malware or attacker onto the machine.
The Kaspersky report doesn't say so explicitly, but the backdoor could have been an avenue by which cybercriminals or Russian spies could have broken into the machine and stolen NSA-related files.
After Kaspersky antivirus software had been re-enabled and had found the key-generator malware, it thoroughly scanned the machine and found a compressed archive files containing new variants of NSA malware (which Kaspersky refers to as "Equation Group" malware).
Copies of the archive containing the new variants were uploaded to Kaspersky's cloud servers, analyzed and discovered to be NSA malware. At this point, the report says, Kaspersky chief Eugene Kaspersky (referred to as "the CEO") was informed, and he ordered that the copies of the archive be destroyed.
UPDATE: On Nov. 16, Kaspersky Lab released the complete report on its internal investigation. It adds more detail to the preliminary report, noting that the American computer in question used "an IP address that is supposedly assigned to a Verizon FiOS address pool for the Baltimore, MD" area in other words, near NSA headquarters.
The report also notes that the customer's computer was infected with at least 121 different strains of malware and adware, not counting the NSA malware also on the machine. The report theorizes that the machine was infected while the user disabled Kaspersky software so that he could install a "cracked" version of Microsoft office, and that such a vulnerable machine could easily have been compromised by nation-state attackers targeting a known NSA employee.
It further explains that the compressed archive containing NSA malware also included four documents "bearing classification markings", which implies that they contained language such as "TOP SECRET." The Kaspersky report says that the documents would have been uploaded to Kaspersky servers as part of routine malware collection not because they contained classification markings, but because they were part of an archive containing malware.
"We cannot assess whether the data was 'handled appropriately' (according to U.S. Government norms)," the report adds, "since our analysts have not been trained on handling U.S. classified information, nor are they under any legal obligation to do so."
The one new item in the full report explains why Kaspersky software might appear to have been deliberately programmed to search for language in documents such as "TOP SECRET," as alleged in one of the media reports concerning the company. Ironically, it's because an older strain of apparently Russian state-sponsored malware searched for exactly the same thing.
In March 2013, a cyberespionage campaign exploited the widely used TeamViewer remote-access software to steal electronic documents from governmental organizations, embassies, research institutions and high-tech manufacturers in Europe and the former Soviet states, including Russia.
Researchers called the espionage campaign "TeamSpy," and its associated malware searched for keywords, including "secret" in English, Russian and Georgian, in Word, Excel and PDF files. A Kaspersky report at the time noted that the malware appeared to be created by Russian speakers. (Kaspersky never speculates on who might have created state-sponsored malware, leaving it to readers to guess.)
In 2015, the current Kaspersky report says, the company added a malware signature to search for the keywords that TeamSpy itself was searching for in an attempt to detect TeamSpy malware. Anyone looking for clues that Kaspersky itself was looking for classified documents could have mistaken that signature for a smoking gun, the report implies.
"It is a possibility that [to] an attacker looking for anything that can expose our company from a negative side, observations like this may work as a trigger for a biased mind," the report says. "Despite the intentions of the malware analyst, they could have been interpreted wrongly and used to create false allegations against us."
Best Antivirus Software
MUSCATINE The Muscatine City Council is looking to further restrict fireworks use within city limits.
This year, the state legalized the sale of consumer-grade fireworks, allowing vendors to sell between June 1 and July 8 and again from Dec. 10 through Jan. 3. While cities cannot prohibit the sale of fireworks, they can restrict the use.
In June, the city council voted to only allow people to set off fireworks for eight days surrounding July 4, then nine days surrounding New Year's Eve.
The first sales period was chaos for the Muscatine police and fire departments, receiving 266 calls about fireworks, compared with 97 the previous year. Out of those calls, police made 11 arrests, according to Police Chief Brett Talkington. In Muscatine County, three people were sent to the hospital for injuries, and two of those people were helicoptered to University Hospitals, Iowa City.
Recently, the University of Iowa released a study examining trends in emergency departments following fireworks legalization. On average, the study said, the hospital previously treated 10 burn patients a year related to fireworks. This year, the amount of fireworks-related injuries more than doubled, with the hospital assisting 21 patients. The university also found the injuries were more severe than in previous years.
At Thursday's council meeting, city staff recommended completely banning fireworks within city limits, which three residents supported. But most council members said even if the city bans fireworks, people will still break the law.
Councilman Tom Spread said he would like to see if the city can prohibit the sale of dangerous fireworks, but still allow for firecrackers and some explosives. Councilman Santos Saucedo said it is unrealistic to sell fireworks in the city for six weeks and expect people not to use them.
After discussion, the council agreed to create an ordinance restricting the use of fireworks to two days surrounding July 4, while also limiting the time limit. In the winter, the city wants to restrict fireworks use to one day, New Year's Eve.
City staff will write a new ordinance to be presented for the council's approval.
Code changes
While considering a new ordinance to the Muscatine City Code, council members added changes to the code that have been made since the most recent version was adopted in 2015.
Among the changes was stripping Mayor Diana Broderson of her ability to appoint members to city boards and commissions. After recommending several appointments that were nearly all turned down by the city council, last year, councilmen voted to remove Broderson's appointment powers.
The changes were made through an amendment to the city code, but now, the updated code will include the new ordinances. For example, the code previously said the mayor had the power to appoint or remove the police and fire chiefs. Now, it states the appointments are "subject to the approval of the city council."
Appointments made to every board, from the Airport Advisory Commission to the Civil Service Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission, are now to "be appointed by the city council."
EAZY Bike aims to make it simple and affordable to convert a bicycle to an e-bike with its $160 system.
Another day, another electric bike project.
It has been a wild ride these last few years, watching a host of different approaches to electrifying bicycles -- and personal transportation in general -- from both startups and established companies alike. The magic of crowdfunding has enabled the successful launch of more than a few products in the electric mobility scene, and those tend to get a lot of press, but the far bigger share of the projects (and the ones you rarely hear about) either don't succeed or find it challenging to parlay that success into staying in business beyond the first few years.
That tendency is a concern when considering purchasing an e-bike from a new company, not only in terms of customer service and support after delivery, but also a few years down the road, when the battery pack on that electric bike starts to reach its end of life. Assuming that the size and shape of the battery and the mounting method for securing it was specific to that bicycle or model, it's not so easy to get a replacement if the company's not around anymore. Although this is an issue that will affect every electric bike owner eventually, established companies are more likely to have the required replacement parts, such as batteries, than those 'one and done' e-bike projects with no business infrastructure in place. Granted, if the cells inside the battery pack were standard, such as the 18650 lithium ion cells, and replacing them was simple to do, it's not that big of a concern for a DIY or tinkerer type, but it might be for others. All of that is not to say that people should avoid these new products, but rather to consider the potential financial risks along with the potential benefits before purchasing them.
A New E-Bike Option
But speaking of crowdfunded electric bike projects... There's a very tempting offer on Indiegogo right now from EAZY Bike, in the form of an electric bike conversion kit that costs just $160 and attaches to most bikes ("99%")in minutes. It is said to have a 30-mile range per charge, a 3-hour charge time, a top speed of 20 mph (US), and to weigh in at just 5 pounds, which means that riders will have the advantages of electric drive on a bike that's much lighter than an e-bike (unless you're talking about a 50-pound cruiser bike).
However, there's a crucial difference between the EAZY Bike and most other e-bike conversions, which is that instead of an electric motor driving the wheel from the hub or through the chain, it relies on an old-school technology to deliver the power to the tire itself. EAZY Bike states that friction engines "have better power to weight ratio" and avoid the need for additional weight on the wheels. Using a roller to propel the rear bike tire makes the installation and integration much simpler than other electric bike conversions, while also allowing it to be installed or removed quickly -- and it most likely accounts for the low price of the EAZY Bike.
Maintenance and Pricing
According to the campaign page, "the increase in tire wear [due to contact with the motor] is minimum" because a coating on the roller "is optimized to minimize" tire wear. One other difference to the EAZY BIke is its mounting place just under the bottom bracket, where it applies downward force to the tire, rather than the 'conventional' method of placing the motor and battery on the rear rack, which seems to be a better placement in terms of the weight of the bike.
The EAZY Bike comes in two basic configurations, the 350W version for the US (top speed 20 mph), and the 250W version for the EU and other regions (top speed 16 mph). The US configuration also comes with a throttle for the handlebar, while the EU version is pedal-assist only (rider must be pedaling to get the motor to engage). The two models appear to have the same battery pack, a 36V 6Ah unit, which is both removable and lockable.
As always, when it comes to 'pre-ordering' through a crowdfunding campaign, buyer beware.
Hello everybody,
thank you all again for your great feedback!
About the luggage and the restrictions: I will make sure to total out at no more than 6.80 kilos, test-weighted on an airport scale, and only have one piece of luggage.
We are experienced LCC travelers, and although we are used to the comparably relaxed EU ones like Ryanair and Easyjet, we have also been on APAC-LCCs like AirAisa, VanillaAir and Hong Kong Express, the latter doing a 100% weighing of bags.
If you wonder: Our backpacks will weigh more than the 7 when we arrive in Australia, but we plan to store parts of our stuff temporarily at the SYD airport. Since our combined time in AKL and HBA, starting and ending in SYD, is 4 days, we will only need 4 days worth of clothes - and we are lightweight travelers anyways, so apart from a minimal set of toiletries and a small set of standard electronics, we won't have anything else to pack.
Thus, a seven-kilo-one-piece cabin baggage limit is not worrying me.
About the Opal Card: I understand thats some kind of a rechargable public transport ticket thing? If so, we will already have one, as we will have visited Sydney a few days before. I will make sure though that it's sufficiently charged for the transfer.
I also found some great advice on https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Sydney_Airport#Get_around, especially the tipps about which queues to use are quite helpful.
In preparation, I will also try to find airport maps, so I have some rough idea about which way to walk - this has served me quite well in the past.
Again thank you all very much,
Marco
If you visit Izu-Kawazu for the super-early Kawazu-zakura as mentioned in #2. Spend a few days to explore the Izu Peninsula by car. There are mountains, waterfalls, beautiful coastlines apart from onsen and nice seafood. Search on Japan guide for more info.
Ume would be in full bloom in that timeline as well. Visit Kairakuen in Mito if interested.
The locations posted in #1 are worthy to visit.
Edited: 5 years ago
Hello,
Next month I'm going to Japan for the first time with my partner and we will take only small backpacks with essential stuff but we want to buy some big luggages for souvenirs to take with us. Any recommendation where can I find any with affordable price like 4,000 each? I think that Ameyoko-cho area or Don Quijote stores are good places to search but maybe there are better places? We even don't mind buying second-hand luggages if they will be very cheap. We are staying in Ikebukuro.
Thanks for any answers!
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Many times you can get great deals at lunch time at the better restaurants.
Whenever someone says "American cuisine," I have to confess I don't know what that is. Steak? Mac & Cheese? Hamburgers? Grilled salmon and veggies? I just don't know. We have just about every kind of food in NYC.
If you plan to drink alcohol, that usually adds quite a lot to the bill. Two glasses of wine can cost more than an entree (main).
Here is a list of restaurants offering good prix fixe lunches, from kathryninnyc from two years ago. Some of these places have closed or changed, so go to the websites first:
Jean Georges - 2 plates for $58, each additional plate $29, served daily.
Del Posto - 3 courses for $49 and enjoy a taste of pasta for the table at $10 per guest," weekdays.
Le Bernardin - 3 course City Harvest menu for $49 per person with $5 donated to City Harvest, only in the lounge, only 2 choices per course, weekdays.
The Modern - Dining Room - 3 courses for $76, 4 courses for $86, weekdays.
Bouley - 5 courses for $55, Monday through Saturday.
La Grenouille - prix fixe available for $65, Tuesday through Saturday.
Marea - 2 courses for $47, daily.
Gabriel Kruether - 2 courses for $54, additional courses $24, weekdays.
Maialino - $35 for 2 courses with biscotti for dessert, weekdays, they also have a soup/sandwich deal for $15.
Juni - 2 courses for $34, 3 courses for $39, weekdays.
Betony - 2 courses for $38, dessert for extra $10, weekdays.
Babbo - 4 course tasting for $49, only Tuesday through Saturday.
Manzo - 3 courses for $29, Mondays through Thursdays. On their OpenTable they say Continuous seating Fri-Sun 11:30am-10pm so Im not sure what that means and if theyll see that same lunch prix fixe Fri-Sun.
Tocqueville - 3 courses for $29, Monday through Saturday.
Nougatine - 3 courses for $38, daily.
Perry St - 3 courses for $28, daily.
The NoMad - 2 courses for $29, dessert is extra, additional appetizers at $15, additional mains at $22, weekdays.
Gotham Bar and Grill - $35 Greenmarket lunch, three courses, weekdays.
Aquavit - 3 courses for $52, weekdays.
Cafe Boulud - 2 courses for $37, 3 courses for $43, Monday through Saturday; Sundays they serve brunch, which is 2 courses for $39, 3 courses with dessert for $49.
Boulud Sud - 2 course for $26, 3 course for $34, on weekdays; 3 courses for $32, on weekends.
Bar Boulud - 3 courses for $29 on weekdays; 3 courses for $32 on weekends.
Ai Fiori - 2 courses for $45, additional course $18, weekdays.
Telepan - 2 courses for $28, 3 courses for $32, Wednesday through Friday.
Lincoln Ristorante - 2 courses for $36, daily.
Osteria Morini - 2 courses for $28, weekdays.
Ristorante Morini - salad, pasta, gelato for $29 or appetizer, entree, dessert for $39, weekdays.
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It was fun in the sun on Sunday as the Aranguez savannah was the place to crown winners of t
The Cabinet of Ministers will support an increase in total expenditures on security and defense in 2018 at a level of at least UAH 165 billion.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said this in a video address on Saturday, according to the government portal.
"We have planned 165 billion hryvnias for security and defense in the budget of economic growth for 2018. The defense enterprises will provide the army with new tanks, new aircraft, armored vehicles, and cars. Our defenders will have modern weapons and equipment, and there will be decent wages. My principle - a developed state economy is a protected country," Groysman said.
As reported, the level of spending on security and defense in Ukraine this year exceeded UAH 120 billion.
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Russian-terrorist groups are continuing to violate the ceasefire in Donbas, firing over 20 times at Ukrainian positions over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Andriy Lysenko has said.
"The situation on the line of contact remained tense over the past 24 hours... In general, the enemy fired 21 times on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the past 24 hours. Ukrainian servicemen returned fire in most cases," he said at a briefing on Saturday.
He specified that in the Luhansk sector, militants fired at Ukrainian positions seven times, using small arms, rocket launchers, and 82mm mortars. Five mortar shells were launched near Krymske and Novooleksandrivka.
"In the Donetsk sector, there were seven ceasefire violations on the part of the Russian occupation forces. From midday and practically until midnight, militants periodically used small arms, grenade launchers, and in the evening, near Zaitseve, the enemy's infantry fighting vehicle fired at the strongholds of Ukrainian units. The enemy managed to organize the greatest number of fire provocations near Pisky. There it opened fire from small arms and grenade launchers three times," Lysenko said, adding that Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen responded toughly and forced the occupants to cease their attempts to escalate the situation.
In the Mariupol sector, the enemy launched seven attacks on Ukrainian positions.
"The invaders made the most significant fire influence near Vodiane, where they fired three times at our defenders. Ukrainian soldiers twice responded to the enemy's provocations near Shyrokyne," Lysenko said.
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Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion has said that three key issues should be settled so that a free gas market for population can be formed to eliminate monopoly of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, monetize subsidies, and increase living standards of citizens.
Kistion stated this during a meeting with Janez Kopac, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, the governments press service reports.
According to the vice prime minister, the free market is formed where there is no monopoly. Therefore, it is impossible to immediately liberalize the gas market until gas extraction, transportation and storage are concentrated in Naftogaz.
At present, the free gas market for the industry and consumers of the fiscal sector is already operating, we have made a decision on monetization of subsidies at the level of public utilities providers as a first step towards full monetization of subsidies, and we are gradually increasing the social standards for Ukrainians. The final issue and the most important reform of the energy industry is the unbundling of Naftogaz, Kistion said.
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Ukraine has sent to the World Trade Organization (WTO) the request for consultations with Russia due to numerous restrictions on imports of Ukrainian products, according to the Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Ministry.
"Today, on October 13, Ukraine sent a request for consultations with the Russian Federation regarding restrictive measures for the import of [Ukrainian-made] juices, beer and beer products, confectionery, and wallpapers," the report says.
According to the ministry, in 2013-2015, Russia, based on decisions of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), introduced a number of measures aimed at restricting imports of these Ukrainian products. As a result, exports of such products from Ukraine to Russia actually stopped.
"Ukraine believes that the restriction of imports of products originating from Ukraine does not comply with the obligations of the Russian Federation, which were undertaken in the Protocol on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO, as well as the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures," the ministry said.
In accordance with the established procedure, Russia must send within ten days a response to the request for consultations, confirming its readiness to enter into consultations. Their date and place will be agreed upon after the consent of the Russian is received.
"This case will be the first in the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body when the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement are challenged," reads the report.
The World Trade Organization is considering four disputes between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine is the plaintiff in two of them and the defendant in the other two.
op
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin states in Bucharest that no Romanian schools will be closed.
Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Mariana Betsa informed this on Twitter.
"Pavlo Klimkin once again stressed: none of Romanian schools will be closed. There will be no assimilation," she noted.
The Ukrainian minister has also stressed that the new law on education does not lead to the reduction in opportunities for national minorities, but, on the contrary, it leads to their expansion. "Every citizen of Ukraine should have a future in Ukraine," he said.
"It is important how the law will be implemented, we will cooperate more with the Romanian community," the minister said.
ish
Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko has said that she wants to run for president in the next election.
The MP made such a statement on the NewsOne television channel on October 13.
"I will run for president. We will win in order to get the country back on its feet," Tymoshenko said.
At the same time, she noted that earlier she had already supported Viktor Yushchenko as Ukraine's president and Arseniy Yatsenyuk as prime minister, but this had not led to anything.
"I will no longer trust anyone with this business," Tymoshenko said.
op
Ukraine will definitely become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
He stated this during an oath taking ceremony for students of the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum on Sofiyska Square in Kyiv on Saturday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"The years of exhausting training are ahead of you. The state will spare no effort to prepare you for the best defense of the fatherland. It's you that will build and defend an independent state of the 21st century There is no doubt that future officers and generals, ambassadors and ministers are among these mature teenagers. Perhaps the future president or perhaps even the NATO secretary general, because Ukraine will definitely become a member of the alliance," Poroshenko said.
He wished the lyceum students to be worthy of the military victory of all who defended the fatherland at various times.
"Today hundreds of commanders who graduated from the lyceum, equipped with deep knowledge of the latest approaches to holding armed struggle, demonstrate a high level of professionalism and skills... Today, you, dear lyceum students, join this knightly order. You have chosen for yourself the hard road of a man in uniform, the road of a defender of Ukraine - a serviceman, border guard, intelligence officer," Poroshenko said.
op
Ukrainians celebrate Defender Day on October 14. Today Ukraine honors and pays tribute to all those who fought and are currently fighting for state sovereignty.
Ukraine's Defender Day was officially established on October 14, 2014 by a presidential decree "in order to honor the courage and heroism of the defenders of Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity, military traditions and victories of the Ukrainian people, foster the further strengthening of patriotic spirit in society and support the initiative of the Ukrainian public."
The urgent need for such a national holiday that would replace the Soviet Defender of the Fatherland Day, which was marked on February 23, was particularly acute after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the beginning of hostilities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, when the trends of de-communism - refusal from Soviet symbols and holidays - strengthened in Ukrainian society as a reaction to Russia's armed aggression.
Therefore, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko established Ukraine's Defender Day on October 14, abolishing the celebration of the Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23.
The date of October 14 was not chosen by chance. On this day Ukraine also marks the Day of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin, the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks, as well as the anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). From ancient times, the Virgin was a patron of the Ukrainian Cossacks and all Ukrainian armed groups.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has appealed to the Ukrainian people on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the press service of the head of state has reported.
"Today, on October 14, on Ukraine Defender Day and the holiday of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, an army that was truly national from the first days of its creation to the end of the struggle against the inmates of their native lands, since it was fully formed and supported by the local population," the president said.
He noted that the years of Stalin's terror, the horrors of collectivization and the Holodomor-genocide, and subsequently the invasion of the Nazis, had strengthened the Ukrainians in the conviction of the need for an armed struggle for independence.
"UPA soldiers set themselves the goal 'of fighting for the complete liberation of all Ukrainian lands and the Ukrainian people from the invaders and gaining the Ukrainian independent and united state. The best sons and daughters of the Ukrainian people courageously resisted two powerful totalitarian regimes, each of which sought to absorb us, to enslave or destroy Ukrainians. They remained loyal to the Ukrainian cause and did not stop the struggle, even realizing its doom at that time. And finally they won," Poroshenko said.
The president also noted that members of the national liberation movement were recognized by the state, and their feats would always remain an example for future generations. According to him, the memory of the victories of the warriors of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army inspires current Ukrainian defenders who oppose Russian aggression and gives them strength and courage.
"And we believe in their victory," Poroshenko said.
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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed a decisive protest over the refusal by Russia to allow Ukrainian doctors to examine Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Hryb, who was kidnapped by Russian special services.
"Russia has ignored all appeals of the Ukrainian side to the Russian Foreign Ministry's office in Krasnodar, the human rights commissioner in the Krasnodar Territory and the Russian FSB office the Krasnodar Territory regarding the permit for specialists of the Ukrainian Health Ministry to visit illegally detained Ukrainian citizen Hryb. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry regards these actions by Russia solely as a conscious task of harming Hryb's health," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website on October 13.
It notes that through its actions, Russia again violated human rights, ignoring the provisions of international law and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgement of October 6, 2017.
The ministry called on the international community and human rights organizations to condemn the brutal treatment by the Russian side of illegally detained Ukrainian Pavlo Hryb,and to exert pressure on Russia to ensure his release.
As reported, 19-year-old Pavlo Hryb disappeared in Belarus on August 24. Later it turned out that he was in Krasnodar's detention facility No. 5 on charges of "terrorism." Krasnodar's law enforcement agencies arrested the Ukrainian until October 17.
On September 15, the father of the boy, Ihor Hryb, said that his son had been taken from the Krasnodar prison to hospital for unknown reasons. Pavlo has a rare disease and needs to constantly take medicines.
On October 12, the Ukrainian Health Ministry sent its specialists to Russia to conduct a medical examination of Hryb by October 15 and report on his current condition and medicines prescribed to him.
On October 13, Hryb's father said that Ukrainian doctors and consul had again not been allowed to visit his son.
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Romania is ready to share its experience with Ukraine in the sphere of teaching the languages of national minorities with a simultaneously study of the state language.
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on October 13, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"Romania is ready to share its experience with Ukraine in teaching the languages of national minorities with a parallel study of the state language. This would be an example of finding the best solutions for achieving the goals - knowledge of the state language and teaching representatives of national minorities in their native language," Melescanu said.
Melescanu confirmed Romania's principled position regarding the support of the European vector of Ukraine's development and its rapprochement with the European Union.
He also called for deepening socio-economic and cultural interaction between Ukraine and Romania.
Klimkin, in turn, thanked the Romanian leadership for continuing support for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, reminding that Romania was the first among the EU states to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
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A young Japanese artist, who devoted several years to creating paintings with the images of Ukrainian soldiers, opened an exhibition in Kyiv on Saturday.
Her moving works, posted on the Internet, made it possible to invite Ms. Natsume to Ukraine, Information Policy Minister Yuriy Stets during the opening ceremony of the exhibition at Ukrinform's ART-HUB.
"The year 2017 was declared the Year of Japan in Ukraine. The Information Policy Ministry is implementing a lot of different programs together with the Japanese Embassy. So in search of something interesting, we accidentally stumbled upon this artist on the Internet and decided to invite her to Ukraine. She has never been to Ukraine and even outside Japan. The distance from Japan to Ukraine is large, and we did not know if she will come. But she arrived, despite the fact that we have a war, so as to see everything in her own eyes. I am pleased that Japan sees Ukrainians like this in these paintings, that the artist portrayed them with great love for our country," Stets said.
It turned out that this exhibition in Ukraine was also the first for Natsume. The information policy minister promised to assist in organizing one more exposition of this kind. "We will turn to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so as to make an exhibition at the Delegation of Ukraine in Japan so that Ukraine is seen through the eyes of a Japanese artist," the minister said.
He also noted that the ministry would publish a booklet with illustrations of the paintings of Natsume in order to present them to Ukrainian military. He also presented an embroidered Ukrainian shirt to the Japanese artist.
Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Shigeki Sumy said that the art of illustrations in the manga style was well-known in his country.
"I am very glad that today we can hold an exhibition of Natsume, and I am glad that such a very young artist from Japan came to Ukraine. It's great that she portrayed Ukraine and Ukrainians and that her works impressed them positively," the ambassador said.
He expressed hope that Natsume's works would raise the mood of the soldiers who fight in the eastern part of the country and that many Ukrainians would learn about the art of Japanese illustrations through them.
"We are very pleased that Ms. Natsume arrived and that the Ministry of Information Policy opened [this exhibition]. It is important that culture becomes the cause of all," First Deputy Culture Minister Svitlana Fomenkovo said.
She also congratulated the audience, including many soldiers, on Ukraine's Defender Day.
The artist said that she began to admire military topics since 2013, she reviewed various images on the Internet and among them she found the images of the Ukrainian military. "I liked them very much, and I started to be a little interested, gather information and draw. Today I have this exhibition. I also saw embroidery on the Internet. I realized that they are different and their pattern depends on the region," Natsume said.
The exhibition was organized by the Ukrainian Information Policy Ministry. The co-organizers are the Ukrainian Culture Ministry and the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.
Nigeria has decided to start issuing visas on arrival for all Africans, the African Union said Friday, in a major step toward the goal of free movement on the continent.
The continental bodys deputy chairman Kwesi Quartey praised the action as a laudable move towards Africas integration agenda in a Facebook post.
The AU has advocated for a single African passport that aims to improve intra-African trade and has called for the abolishment of visa requirements for all African citizens in all African countries by 2018.
A spokeswoman for the AU chairperson, Ebba Kalondo, told The Associated Press they were waiting for details from Nigeria as the news was announced verbally with no formal communication.
Africans need visas to travel to 55 percent of the continent, according to AU figures.
According to the African Development Banks 2017 Africa Visa Openness Report , Africans can get a visa on arrival in just 24 percent of other African countries, while North Americans, for example, have easier travel access on the continent.
Ghana, Rwanda, Mauritius and the Seychelles already issue visas on arrival to all African passport holders, the AUs Quartey has said.
In 2016, the electronic African Union Passport was launched and issued to heads of state and governments, with the goal of expanding it to citizens.
Army officials in Myanmar say they have opened an internal probe into the behavior of Burmese troops in Rahkine State, where Myanmar military forces are accused of committing widespread atrocities
against members of the Muslim Rohingya minority. Thousands have fled into neighboring Bangladesh since August.
It was not immediately clear, however, when the military will release its findings.
"We will officially release the report (when) we have had comprehensive information," military officials said in a statement.
Amid the deepening humanitarian crisis, a former U.N. secretary-general is making a plea for fleeing Muslim Rohingyas to be allowed to return home to Rakhine State.
Kofi Annan, who recently headed a commission on the Myanmar crisis, told a private meeting of the Security Council Friday the Rohingyas "need assistance to get their homes back," and not be sent to refugee camps.
Violence erupted between Rohingya and Myanmar's military in Rakhine state August 25th, when a group of Rohingya militants attacked dozens of police posts and an army base in what militants said was an effort to protect members of their ethnic minority from persecution.
About 400 people have been killed in subsequent clashes. Satellite images released by rights group Amnesty International have shown entire Rohingya villages burned.
The fleeing Rohingya are living in refugee camps in nearby Bangladesh. Annan said Myanmar's government should "create conditions that will allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security."
The U.N. and a number of countries have called the situation that has caused so many to leave their homes in Myanmar "ethnic cleansing."
Myanmar denies the charges, blaming the situation on "terrorism."
Somalia's president has declared three days of national mourning following a deadly truck bombing Saturday in the capital, Mogadishu, which left many people dead and dozens injured, including a VOA reporter.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo said the country will observe three days of mourning for innocent victims and flags will be flown at half-mast.
Farmaajo also called on citizens to unite against terror, saying it is time to unite and pray together. Terror wont win.
Earlier Saturday, the blast occurred near Zobe, a busy intersection in Somalias capital, killing more than 50 people, health officials and witnesses said.
Dead, injured
Mahad Salad Adan, a Somali lawmaker who sustained a slight wound from the blast, told VOA that more than 100 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the explosion. He said more 200 others were wounded as Mogadishu hospitals struggled to treat the wounded.
Abdulkaidr Mohamed Abdulle, a VOA Somali correspondent in Mogadishu, was among the injured. His wife, Samira Abdirahman Sheikh Adam, confirmed to VOA that he had sustained injuries to his neck, head and right hand.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but similar attacks have been carried out by the Islamic extremist group al Shabab. The group, which is linked to al-Qaida, is trying to overthrow the government in an effort to establish strict Islamic rule.
The United States and the United Nations strongly condemned Saturday's blast and offered condolence to the lives lost and those wounded in the attack.
Buildings leveled
Buildings around the area were leveled by the explosion from a truck bomb, and dozens of destroyed cars littered the streets.
Health officials said Saturday's bombing was the largest blast in recent memory in Mogadishu. They also called for residents to donate blood to help with the wounded.
For 10 years, I have been in the emergency service. ... I cannot tell the exact death toll, but together I can say we have transported hundreds of people on our 10 ambulances, said Dr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem, director of the Amin ambulance service. And economically, I think this is the worst (bombing) ever in Mogadishu in a single day.
Government soldiers had cordoned off the area, and officials said the death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers find bodies in the rubble.
Most of the victims were civilians. The exact target of the blast remains unclear, though there are several hotels frequented by government officials and members of various diaspora communities.
This is a disaster. We ask all Somalis to reach us, to help us in the search of dead bodies under the debris. We appeal to the doctors, to those who have digging machines, Mogadishu Mayor Tabid Abdi Mohamed said on government radio.
Al-Shabab
Saturdays blast came hours after al-Shabab militants regained control of Barire, a strategic Somalian town in a farming area along the Shabelle river, 45 kilometers from Mogadishu.
The explosion also comes two days after Somalia's defense minister and military chief, who were leading the fight against Islamist militants, both resigned from the government, citing personal reasons.
Some analysts believe militants tend to carry out such attacks when there are security lapses.
The resignation of the countrys defense and military chiefs gave the militants a gab [opening] to carry out such disastrous attack, said Mogadishu University's Dr. Abdul Kadir Liban Isse.
Scores of civilians fled Raqqa on Friday ahead of an anticipated final push into the city by U.S.-backed fighters aiming to retake it from Islamic State militants.
Hundreds of civilians have been streaming out of Raqqa in the past few days from the remaining neighborhoods held by IS. They are taking advantage of a slowdown in the fighting by coalition troops meant to help civilians safely evacuate.
Residents say local IS fighters have been surrendering in recent weeks but still hold a few areas of the city, including the stadium and national hospital.
Many of those who escaped the city are malnourished after being trapped by the fighting for several months.
"Those who manage to escape speak of deteriorating conditions inside the city," U.N. refugee spokesman Andrej Mahecic said. "Food, water, medicine and electricity are scarce."
U.S.-backed fighters of the opposition Syrian Democratic Forces have been on the offensive in Raqqa since June 5 and have so far captured more than 80 percent of the city. Raqqa, on the banks of the Euphrates River, is the de facto capital of the Islamic State fighters.
Coalition officials say the IS militants are still holding some civilians captive to use as human shields.
Activists say more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in Raqqa since the battle to retake the city began in June. Nearly 270,000 people have fled Raqqa since April.
The impoverished family of Australias most famous Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira, has been given copyright to his works after years of fruitless campaigning triggered the intervention of a philanthropist.
Namatjiras vibrant water colors are internationally celebrated for the way he captured the hues of the Western Desert in the center of the country.
One of his paintings was given to Britains Queen Elizabeth in 1947 on her 21st birthday, and he met the queen during her 1954 coronation tour in Canberra.
Dick Smith, the Australian businessman whose intervention secured the agreement, told Reuters it was the most satisfying philanthropic thing he had done.
Its a just cause, Smith told Reuters Saturday.
Rights sold, lost
Born in 1902 in Hermannsburg, a remote Aboriginal community in central Australias West MacDonnell ranges, Albert Namatjira rose to prominence as the first Aboriginal artist to master a Western tradition.
In 1957, he sold partial copyright for his works to a friend, John Brackenreg.
Two years later, Namatjira died and his will passed the copyright remainder to his widow, Robina, and their children. This gave his family a source of royalty income when reproductions of the images were used.
However, his estate executors gave the administration of his will to the public trustee of the state of the Northern Territory, which sold the copyright to Brackenregs company, Legend Press, in 1983 without consulting the family, ABC News reported.
All royalty payments to Namatjiras descendents ceased, and when Brackenreg died, he passed copyright to his children.
Campaign begins
Eight years ago, arts organization Big hART, began campaigning for the return of the copyright.
They put together a theater show called Namatjira, which toured Australia for three years before traveling to London where in 2013 Queen Elizabeth met two of Namatjiras grandchildren.
News reports caught the eye of Smith, whose father once worked for Brackenreg. Smith persuaded Brackenregs children to give copyright to the Namatjira Legacy Trust, which represents the family, for A$1 on Friday. Smith also donated A$250,000 ($197,200) to the trust.
It is the latest in Smiths long list of charitable acts, which included contributing to the ransom that freed Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan, taken hostage in Somalia in 2008.
Sophia Marinos, the chair of the Namatjira Legacy Trust, said the money would benefit the whole Aboriginal community with funds for language and cultural programs.
U.N. envoys from Britain and France called for Myanmar authorities to translate promises into action to end violence and create the conditions for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.
Yesterday, we heard Aung San Suu Kyi set out in a speech her initial ideas for how to build that long-term future, and we will be watching developments closely as she turns words into actions, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters Friday, referring to Myanmars de facto leader.
Ethnic cleansing accusations
More than 536,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border into neighboring Bangladesh in the past seven weeks, fleeing a military crackdown on their minority community after Rohingya militants launched deadly attacks on state security forces.
This is an ethnic cleansing happening before our eyes, warned French Ambassador Francois Delattre. Myanmars officials have strongly disputed such charges from an array of international officials.
Fleeing Rohingya have told harrowing accounts of the military burning their villages in northern Rakhine state, rape, killings, looting and the laying of landmines to prevent people returning to their homes.
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said the crisis is currently quite possibly the most acute human rights crisis in the world. In the private briefing, he told council members that there had been no real progress in holding perpetrators accountable or in addressing the underlying causes of the violence.
Road map for Rakhine
Last year, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan was asked to lead an advisory commission composed of Myanmar and international experts to provide recommendations to the government on how to improve the situation in Rakhine.
Annan told reporters Friday that the commissions final report offers a road map going forward.
Its clear that everybody agrees on what is required to be done in the short term: stopping the violence, getting humanitarian assistance to those in need, helping eventually for the dignified and voluntary return of those who have left and are in Bangladesh, he said after briefing the Security Council.
He cautioned that this would not be easy to achieve, noting in the longer term root causes of the strife, including discrimination, poverty and citizenship rights, must be addressed.
They will only go back if they have a sense of security and confidence that their lives will be better, Annan said.
A couple held hostage for five years by a Taliban-linked extremist network in Afghanistan was safely back in Canada on Saturday after what the husband described as a harrowing firefight during a raid to free the family.
In a video released by Pakistan's military that was filmed before he left that country for home, Joshua Boyle said Pakistani security forces positioned themselves between the hostages and their Haqqani network captors to keep the family safe amid the gunfire.
"A major comes over to me while I still have blood on me. The street is chaos and he says to me, `In the American media they said that we support the Haqqani network and that we make it possible. Today you have seen the truth. Did we not put bullets in those bastards?''' Boyle recalled, appearing beside his wife and children in the video.
"And so I can say to you I did see the truth, and the truth was that car was riddled with bullets. The ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency) and the army got between the criminals and the car to make sure the prisoners were safe and my family was safe. They put them to flight and they ran like cowards. And this is proof enough to me the Pakistanis are doing everything to their utmost.''
The circumstances under which the video was recorded were not immediately clear.
Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their three children were rescued Wednesday, five years after the couple was abducted in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip. Boyle said the kids, who were born into captivity, were adjusting to a new reality after growing up amid a group of ``pagan'' bandits.
"These are children who three days ago they did know what a toilet looks like. They used a bucket,'' Boyle said in the video. ``Three days ago they did not know what a light is or what a door is except that it is a metal thing that is locked in their face to make them a prisoner.
"And now they are seeing houses, they are seeing food, they are seeing gifts. All of this,'' he continued. ``They are doing very well.''
Coleman was pregnant at the time of their abduction and ultimately gave birth to four children while in captivity. Boyle said after landing at Toronto's airport that the extremists killed their newborn daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held. He called on the Afghan government to bring them to justice, saying, ``God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network.''
The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known until then.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said the rescue raid was based on a tip from U.S. intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a ``common enemy'' when Washington shares information.
U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network.
After returning to his parents' home in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Boyle emailed The Associated Press a statement saying they had ``reached the first true `home' that the children have ever known _ after they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully.''
"Our daughter has had a cursory medical exam last night, and hospital staff were enthusiastically insistent that her chances seemed miraculously high based on a quick physical. Full medical work-ups for each member of my family are being arranged right now, and God-willing the healing process _ physically and mentally can begin.''
Earlier, on a flight from London, Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, sat in the business-class cabin wearing a tan headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly as she confirmed her identity to an AP reporter on board. Next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest in his lap. U.S. State Department officials accompanied them.
Boyle provided a separate, handwritten statement then expressing disagreement with U.S. foreign policy.
"God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organized injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege,'' he wrote.
He nodded toward one of the State Department officials and said, ``Their interests are not my interests.''
Washington considers the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and has targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the Haqqani group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it typically does not execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.
A U.S. national security official, who was not authorized to discuss operational details of the release and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages -- and they did.
President Donald Trump, who previously had warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised the country for its ``cooperation on many fronts.'' He said Friday on Twitter that the U.S. is starting to develop ``a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders.''
The operation appears to have unfolded quickly and ended with the raid, the shootout and a captor's final, terrifying threat to ``kill the hostage.'' Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors' car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
U.S. officials did not confirm those details.
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 and had a transport plane ready to go, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyle's father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America. 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 describing it in 2014 as a ``horrible coincidence.''
The U.S. Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.
U.S. officials have said 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 disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014.
UNESCO's executive board voted Friday to make a former French government minister the U.N. cultural agency's next chief after an unusually heated election that was overshadowed by Middle East tensions.
The board's selection of Audrey Azoulay over a Qatari candidate came the day after the United States announced that it intends to pull out of UNESCO because of its alleged anti-Israel bias.
The news rocked a weeklong election already marked by geopolitical resentments, concerns about the Paris-based agency's dwindling funding and questions about its future purpose.
If confirmed by UNESCO's general assembly next assembly next month, Azoulay will succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine's inclusion in 2011 as a member state.
Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote after she won a runoff with a third finalist from Egypt earlier Friday. The outcome was a blow for Arab states that have long wanted to lead the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO has had European, Asian, African and American chiefs, but never one from an Arab country.
In brief remarks after she won the election, Azoulay, 45, said the response to UNESCO's problems should be to reform the agency, not to walk away from it.
In this moment of crisis, I believe we must invest in UNESCO more than ever, look to support and reinforce it, and to reform it. And not leave it, she said.
The new director will set priorities for the organization best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. The agency also works to improve education for girls, promote an understanding of the Holocaust's horrors, defend media freedom and coordinate science on climate change.
The next leader also will have to contend with the withdrawal of both the U.S. and Israel, which applauded its ally for defending it and said Thursday that it also would be leaving UNESCO.
The election itself had become highly politicized even before the U.S. announced its planned departure.
Azoulay started the week with much less support than Qatar's al-Kawari but built up backing as other candidates dropped out. She went on to win a runoff with a third finalist, Moushira Khattab of Egypt. Egypt's foreign ministry has demanded an inquiry into alleged violations during the voting.
Jewish groups opposed al-Kawari, citing a preface he wrote to a 2013 Arabic book called Jerusalem in the Eyes of the Poets that they claimed was anti-Semitic. He wrote, We pray to God to liberate (Jerusalem) from captivity and we pray to God to give Muslims the honor of liberating it.
In March, the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote an open letter to German Ambassador Michael Worbs, chair of the UNESCO Executive Board, to criticize the organization for accepting the former Qatari culture minister's candidacy.
During the months leading up to the election, Egypt and three other Arab nations were engaged in a boycott of Qatar over allegations that the government funds extremists and has overly warm ties to Iran.
French media reported that Qatar recently invited several members of the UNESCO executive board on an all-expenses-paid trip to the country's capital, Doha.
Azoulay's late entry into the leadership race in March also annoyed many UNESCO member states that argued that France shouldn't field a candidate since it hosts the agency. Arab intellectuals urged French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw his support for her.
She will be UNESCO's second female chief and its second French chief after Rene Maheu, UNESCO's director general from 1961-74. While she is Jewish, her father is Moroccan and was an influential adviser to Moroccan kings, so she also has a connection to the Arab world.
The Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, but the timing of the State Department's announcement that it would leave at the end of 2018 was unexpected. Along with hostility to Israel, the U.S. cited the need for fundamental reform in the organization.
The outgoing Bokova expressed profound regret at the U.S. decision and defended UNESCO's reputation.
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. UNESCO says the U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.
Azoulay acknowledged the image of the organization founded after World War II to foster peace, but marred by infighting between Arab member states and Israel and its allies needed rebuilding.
The first thing I will do will be to focus on restoring its credibility, she said.
While UNESCO's general assembly must sign off month on the executive board's leadership pick, but officials said the confirmation vote typically is a formality.
A group of Islamic State fighters has evacuated the Syrian city of Raqqa under a withdrawal agreement with the U.S.-backed Syrian militias surrounding them.
A militia spokesman said Sunday the fighters had taken civilians with them to use as human shields.
Meanwhile, fighting has continued between the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants. Reuters news agency quoted an SDF spokesman as saying the operation has finished and the battle continues against the militants who remained in the city.
Earlier, a spokesman said any Islamic State fighters left behind would be forced to surrender or die.
On Friday, scores of civilians fled Raqqa ahead of the anticipated final push into the city by the U.S.-backed fighters aiming to retake it from the IS militants.
Hundreds of civilians have left Raqqa in recent days from the remaining neighborhoods held by Islamic State fighters, taking advantage of the slowdown in the fighting by coalition troops meant to help civilians safely evacuate.
Residents said local IS fighters had been surrendering recently, but the militants still held on to a few areas of the city, including the stadium and national hospital.
Many of the residents who escaped the city were malnourished after being trapped by the fighting for several months.
Those who manage to escape speak of deteriorating conditions inside the city, U.N. refugee spokesman Andrej Mahecic said. Food, water, medicine and electricity are scarce.
U.S.-backed fighters of the opposition Syrian Democratic Forces have been on the offensive in Raqqa since June 5, capturing more than 80 percent of the city.
Raqqa, on the banks of the Euphrates River, is the de facto capital of the Islamic State fighters.
Activists say more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in Raqqa since the battle to retake the city began in June. Nearly 270,000 people have fled since April.
John Kerry, the former U.S. Secretary of State, had harsh criticism for President Donald Trump's decision not to certify that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal signed by six world powers in 2015.
Kerry said the decision is a "reckless abandonment of facts in favor of ego and ideology." Kerry, who negotiated the deal, added that Trump "weakens our hand, alienates us from our allies, empowers Iranian hardliners, makes it harder to resolve North Korea and risks moving us closer to military conflict."
Iran's president said Friday the nuclear deal it signed with six world powers in 2015 could not be revoked.
In a nationally televised speech following Trumps remarks, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged all signatories to the agreement to honor their commitments. He called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) an outstanding achievement in international diplomacy and said Iran would continue to comply with it.
The Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first to withdraw from the deal. But if its rights and interests in the deal are not respected, it will stop implementing all its commitments and will resume its peaceful nuclear program without any restrictions Rouhani said.
The Iranian leader also hit back at Trumps characterization of Iran as a dictatorship and rogue regime, calling the American president a liar and a dictator.
Today the U.S. is more isolated than ever against the nuclear deal, isolated than any other time in its plots against [the] people of Iran, Rouhani said.
He rejected Trumps remarks listing Tehrans support for international terrorism, calling the examples baseless accusations" and adding that the Iranian nation does not expect anything else from you."
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, said the president's decision was "a grave mistake" that threatens U.S. security and credibility.
She said Trump ignored "the overwhelming consensus of nuclear scientists, national security experts, generals and his own Cabinet, including, reportedly, his secretary of defense and secretary of state."
EU reaction
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the Iran agreement "has shown for the first time that it is possible to prevent war by negotiations and, above all, to prevent a country from arming itself with nuclear weapons." Gabriel added, " We need such examples, for example, to convince countries like North Korea , but perhaps also others, that it is possible to create security without obtaining nuclear weapons."
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said, "It is not in the hands of any president of any country in the world to terminate an agreement of this sort. She said, " The president of the United States has many powers (but) not this one."
She noted the multilateral agreement was unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.
The EU foreign policy chief noted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified eight times that Iran is meeting all its nuclear-related commitments in line with the comprehensive and strict monitoring system.
IAEA Director Yukiya Amano released a statement, saying Iran is already subject to the worlds most robust nuclear verification regime and is implementing the deals requirements.
In a joint statement British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they are concerned by the possible implications of Trumps decision not to recertify the Iran nuclear deal.
Preserving the JCPOA is in our shared national security interest. The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step toward ensuring that Irans nuclear program was not diverted for military purposes, the European leaders said in the statement.
Sees opportunity
Asked if he was confident he could get the Europeans to renegotiate the Iran deal, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday he thinks there is a real opportunity to address all the threats that are posed by Iran.
I fully expect that our allies and friends in Europe and in the region are going to be very supportive in efforts undertaken to deal with Irans threats, Tillerson told reporters.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is committed to supporting the Iran nuclear deal.
Ahead of Trumps remarks, the Kremlin warned that if the United States abandons the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran would be likely to quit it as well. Russia is a signatory to the JCPOA, along with the United States, Iran, Britain, Germany and France.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying also voiced support for the Iran nuclear deal Friday.
China's position on the Iranian nuclear issue has been consistent. The JCPOA has played a key role in upholding international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the peace and stability of the Middle East region, she said. We hope that all relevant parties will continue to uphold and implement the JCPOA.
Praise for Trumps tough stance on Iran came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who released a video statement.
"I congratulate President Trump for his courageous decision today. He boldly confronted Iran's terrorist regime, Netanyahu said. The Israeli leader has long been one of the deals fiercest opponents.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also expressed their strong support for Trumps shift in policy toward Iran.
The Saudi Press Agency said Riyadh praised Trumps vision and commitment to work with U.S. allies in the region in order to face common challenges, particularly Irans aggressive policies and actions.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he backs Trump's decision, describing the Obama administration deal as "fatally flawed."
Nobel winner
But the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, strongly criticized Trumps decision.
The groups executive director, Beatrice Fihn, said Trumps attempt to disrupt the Iran deal, despite Tehrans compliance, is a reminder of the immense nuclear danger now facing the world and the urgent need to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
In a time with great global tension, with increasing threats of nuclear war, the U.S. president is igniting new conflict rather than working to reduce the risk of nuclear war," Fihn said.
Kenya's 2017 election followed a predictable script. Until it didn't.
Incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta faced longtime rival Raila Odinga. Kenyatta won the August election by 10 percentage points, or 1.4 million votes. Odinga alleged fraud and petitioned the Supreme Court. Violence spread through parts of the country. Dozens were killed. Kenyatta was poised to begin a second term.
Then, everything changed.
In an unprecedented move, three weeks after Kenyans went to the polls, the Supreme Court nullified the election. It said the vote was irregular and illegal, and it ordered a do-over.
Now, little is certain. A new election is slated for October 26, but Odinga has withdrawn from the race. A 2013 Supreme Court judgment says fresh nominations must ensue if a candidate "abandons the electoral quest." But six other candidates were on the ballot in addition to Kenyatta and Odinga, and the constitution says they're entitled to take part in the re-election.
Meanwhile, tensions are high as the government clamps down on protesters in three major cities.
Here's a recap of events leading up to and following the election:
Pre-election slaying
July 31 Authorities discover the body of a senior manager with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Christopher Msando, who ran the commission's IT group and oversaw its electronic voting systems, was tortured and slain.
Polls open
August 8 Polls open for the 2017 general election. Kenyans vote for a president, parliament and regional leaders. Polls suggest either incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta or challenger Odinga Raila could win.
August 10 Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the IEBC, discloses that an unsuccessful attempt to hack the voting system was made a week before the election.
Kenyatta wins
August 11 Four days after the election, the IEBC declares Kenyatta the winner, with 54 percent of the vote. Longtime opposition leader Odinga gets 44 percent of the vote. Kenyatta wins by 1.4 million votes. The United States, United Kingdom and other governments around the world congratulate Kenyatta on his victory and praise Kenya for its free and fair election.
August 12 Violent postelection clashes between police and civilians result in deaths in Nairobi and Kisumu. A stray bullet strikes and kills a 9-year-old girl. Odinga says the election was rigged.
Opposition files petition
August 18 Odinga files a petition with the Supreme Court to challenge the legitimacy of the election. He alleges vote tampering, fraud and other irregularities. Under Kenyan law, the court must review the case within two weeks.
August 28 The Supreme Court begins hearing arguments. It grants both Odinga and Kenyatta "read-only access" to IEBC's electronic voting system.
Election annulled
September 1 The Supreme Court annuls the election, citing "illegalities and irregularities" in the recording and transmission of results. The court blames the IEBC for mishandling the paperwork needed to verify the vote. It also reveals the IEBC refused a court order to access its servers, thereby preventing independent verification of the vote. The court promises to provide details of its ruling in three weeks and stipulates that a new election must be held within 60 days.
September 6 The IEBC appoints six new people to oversee the re-election, a move criticized by Kenyatta's Jubilee party.
September 15 More than three-quarters of likely voters feel satisfied with the September 1 annulment, a poll of 1,500 respondents across the country shows.
Court findings detailed
September 20 The Supreme Court provides details of its historic finding. Justice Philomena Mwilu says the election was "neither transparent nor verifiable." Chief Justice David Maraga says forms to verify the results were incomplete and unsigned. October 17 is set as the new election date.
September 21 The IEBC moves the election date back nine days, to October 26.
September 26 Odinga, demanding more substantial reform at the IEBC, calls on CEO Ezra Chiloba and other leaders to resign. Chiloba refuses to step down.
September 28 The Jubilee party presses for amendments to election law. They want to de-emphasize the role of electronic ballots in vote tallies and require a recount when results are disputed.
Odinga drops out
October 10 Odinga drops out of the re-election race, alleging that the changes to the IEBC's vendors, processes and leadership needed to ensure the integrity of the election had not been made. Meanwhile, government officials confirm 37 people died in postelection violence the week after Kenyans went to the polls. All but two deaths were caused by police, officials say.
October 11 Election officials say Odinga did not complete required paperwork to withdraw from the race. They affirm an election will happen October 26. All eight candidates from the August 8 ballot will be part of the rerun. Meanwhile, Odinga calls for daily protests against the government.
October 12 The government bans protests in the business districts of three cities, including the capital, Nairobi. Officials say the ban will prevent violence. Human rights groups raise alarm bells about blocking the right to peaceful assembly.
October 13 Speaking at Chatham House in London, Odinga says international observers judge African elections on whether they're peaceful, not free and fair. He says he won't sign the statutory form to withdraw his candidacy since he already expressed his intention to drop out in a letter to the IEBC.
A mystery hacker who was given the alias of a TV soap opera character has stolen sensitive information about Australia's multi-billion dollar warplane and navy projects. Intelligence officials say the break was significant, although the Australian government insists that only low-level data was taken. The identity of the cyber criminal is not known.
The virtual break-in saw cyber thieves take illustrations of a major Australian naval project. About 30GB of data was stolen. Details about new fighter planes, submarines and Australias largest warships were also compromised. The breach began in July last year, but the Australian Signals Directorate, a domestic spy agency, was not alerted until November. Intelligence officials say the hack, which targeted a private defence contractor in South Australia state, was - in their words - extensive and extreme.
But the government is insisting there was no threat to national security.
Australias Defence Industry Minister, Christopher Pyne, says only low-level data was taken.
I am pleased in a way that it reminds Australian business of the dangers that lurk out there," said Pyne. "The information that has been stolen is commercial information. It is not classified information, so it is not military information. The government is doing its job. Australian businesses need to be thorough in providing for their cyber security otherwise they will not get contracts with the government.
It is thought the hacker had exploited a weakness in software being used by the government contractor in the city of Adelaide, which had not been updated for 12 months.
Australian cyber security officials humorously dubbed the mystery attacker "Alf", after a character on the popular TV soap opera Home and Away. They havent said if they suspect a foreign state was involved.
Earlier this year, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said cyber security was the new frontier of warfare and espionage, while announcing new measures to protect Australian governments and businesses from foreign interference.
Last year, a foreign power, reported in sections of the Australian media to be China, installed malicious software on computers at Australias national weather bureau.
The United States National Portrait Gallery has announced that two up-and-coming African-American artists, Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, have been selected to paint the official portraits of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
The Smithsonian Institution, parent organization of the National Portrait Gallery, said Friday that President Obama had specifically requested to be painted by Wiley, 40, whose portraits of young black men have made a sharp impact on the art world.
Wiley places his young models in poses reminiscent of famous court painters of previous centuries, such as Diego Velazquez, Peter Paul Rubens, and Hans Holbein. He paints many of his subjects larger than life, using gauzy realism and vivid colors to arrest the viewers attention.
Wiley, born in Los Angeles, California, has been considered a successful artist for more than a decade.
His images replace the white subjects of his forbears with handsome young African-American men and women in front of decorative backdrops that resemble wallpaper. Some of the backdrops contain designs that overlap the figure in the portrait, raising questions about whether the subject has power over his environment or is trapped by it.
Some of Wileys subjects are famous, such as rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J, whose portrait shows him seated, larger than life, coolly aloof as he gazes down on his audience in front of a vibrant red and green damask pattern.
In recent years Wiley has conducted what he calls his World Stage project, painting subjects from a variety of far-flung places, such as China, Jamaica, Haiti, Sri Lanka and Brazil. His paintings place people of color in settings where they radiate power, beauty and grace equal to the light-skinned subjects who for centuries were the focus of similar portraits.
First ladys portrait
Michelle Obama chose Sherald, winner of the National Portrait Gallerys annual portraiture competition in 2016, to paint her portrait as first lady.
Sherald is a 44-year-old African-American woman from Baltimore, Maryland, scene of protests in 2015 over the death while in police custody of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man.
With racial tensions still running high in her hometown, Sheralds portraits, like Wileys, focus on her African-American subjects in a way that emphasizes grace, dignity and each persons unique features.
Sheralds work is full of poised energy. Some of her images look almost flat, like cutouts, but the faces and bodies of her subjects look as though they were asked to stop and pose in the middle of a movement, a thought or a breath.
The painting for which Sherald won the National Portrait Gallery is called Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance) and features a young black woman dressed in a navy blue dress, white gloves and a striking red hat, holding an oversized white teacup and saucer. The subject looks graceful and relaxed while her eyes bore into the viewer in an unspoken challenge.
The work of both artists examines and challenges ideas about black identity, a prominent concept in the legacy of the nations first African-American presidential couple.
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery and the White House work together at the conclusion of each presidency to commission two official sets of portraits, with one set for display at the White House and one at the National Portrait Gallery. Both collections are in Washington, D.C.
In a statement Friday, Director Kim Sajet said the National Portrait Gallery is absolutely delighted that Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have agreed to create the official portraits of our former president and first lady.
Sajet noted that both artists have been very successful, but more importantly, she said, they make art that reflects the power and potential of portraiture in the 21st century.
The portraits are expected to be unveiled in early 2018.
Pakistan and the United States, uneasy allies in the war against terrorism, appear upbeat about better cooperation and relations after a joint effort freed a U.S.-Canadian family from Taliban captivity.
Pakistani security forces, acting on a tip from U.S. intelligence, rescued American Caitlan Coleman; her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle; and their three young children Wednesday, hours after kidnappers had transported them into Pakistan across the porous Afghan border.
The family has since been repatriated to Canada, after enduring five years as captives of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in Afghanistan, which allegedly is tied to the Pakistani spy agency, ISI.
Coleman and Boyle disappeared while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. The Afghan Taliban later claimed responsibility for kidnapping them.
"Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts," U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Friday.
'A good beginning'
Pakistan's military spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, while releasing fresh details of the rescue operation, said at a news conference Saturday that the incident offered a good opening in restoring mutual trust.
"We feel happy that there is a level of trust and confidence, which the U.S. leadership has shown in Pakistan and Pakistan's security forces so we take it as a good beginning," Ghafoor said.
The general went on to vow that if the "trust-based" relationship was carried forward and "you [U.S.] work with us, cooperate with us, trust us, we will take all actions which are in the interest of Pakistan" and in the interest of regional peace and counterterrorism efforts.
Ghafoor explained while discussing details of the rescue operation that the safety of the hostages was the top priority for Pakistani forces. The army spokesman added that the driver and three armed men escorting the hostages in a separate car fled into a nearby Afghan refugee camp as soon as security forces surrounded them and shot out the tires of their vehicles.
Ghafoor also released a video message that Boyle recorded just before the family flew out of Pakistan, in which the Canadian man praised the rescue operation as "incredibly professional."
"So, I can say to you I did see the truth, and the truth was that [the] car was riddled with bullets. The ISI [Pakistani spy agency) and the army got between the criminals and the car to make sure that the prisoners were safe and my family was safe," said Boyle.
Staging of event denied
The army released Boyle's message in a bid to dismiss as "propaganda" reports that the rescue operation was staged and the release of the family was an outcome of secret negotiations with militants.
Coleman was pregnant at the time of the couple's kidnapping. She gave birth to four children while in captivity.
In a statement at the Toronto airport, Boyle said members of the Haqqani network had killed one of the family's children, an infant girl, and had raped his wife during the time they were held hostage.
While the hostage rescue has raised hopes of improved ties between Islamabad and Washington, analysts are skeptical about whether a single incident would bridge the trust deficit and ease long-running suspicions plaguing bilateral ties.
Tom Bossert, White House homeland security adviser, on Friday underscored challenges facing bilateral ties.
Hope of a trend
"We thank the Pakistani government and recognize this was a positive step. One action, though, does not constitute a reversal of a trend of unfortunate behaviors. However, we are hopeful that it portends that trend," said Bossert.
U.S. officials think sanctuaries on Pakistani soil have enabled the Taliban to sustain and expand insurgent activities in Afghanistan, and they want Islamabad to do more to undo those safe havens.
Army spokesman Ghafoor again dismissed those assertions on Saturday and said Pakistan had cleared its territory of all terrorist groups, leaving "no room for us to do more."
Hurricane Ophelia, a rare storm for the North Atlantic, was expected to bring high winds and rough seas to five western counties of Ireland this weekend.
Ophelia, strengthening offshore near the Azores Islands, was a Category 3 storm, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It had top sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (115 mph) and was expected to produce total rain accumulations of up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) over the southern Azores.
Seven of the nine islands of the Azores were on red alert as ordered by regional civil protection services. The islands were expecting heavy rainfall overnight.
The 245,000 people who inhabit the Azores were told to stay inside while the storm passes.
Ophelia was expected to wind down slightly before reaching Ireland as a tropical cyclone on Monday. Five counties were placed on red alert for severe weather conditions on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Irish Meteorological Service.
Ireland, which only rarely sees hurricanes, was expected to endure winds in excess of 130 kph (80 mph) on Monday.
Coincidentally, Monday will be the 30th anniversary of what has been nicknamed the Great Storm of 1987, a hurricane that took down 15 million trees in Britain and killed more than 20 people in Britain and France together.
Islamic State is on the verge of defeat in Syrias Raqqa and the city may finally be cleared of the jihadists Saturday or Sunday, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia told Reuters Saturday.
The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State said around 100 of the jihadist groups fighters had surrendered in Raqqa in the last 24 hours and had been removed from the city, but it still expected difficult fighting in the days ahead.
It did not say how the fighters had been removed or where the fighters had been taken.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said remaining Islamic State fighters were being transported out of Raqqa by bus under a deal between Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the YPG. There was no immediate comment on that report from the coalition or the SDF.
Fighting since June
The SDF, backed by coalition airstrikes and special forces, has been battling since June to oust Islamic State from Raqqa city, formerly its de facto capital in Syria and a base of operations where it planned attacks against the West.
The final defeat of Islamic State at Raqqa will be a major milestone in efforts to roll back the groups self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq, where earlier this year the group was driven from the city of Mosul.
The battles are continuing in Raqqa city. Daesh (Islamic State) is on the verge of being finished. Today or tomorrow the city may be liberated, YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud told Reuters by telephone.
In emailed comments to Reuters, coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon said about 100 Islamic State fighters had surrendered in Raqqa in the last 24 hours and were removed from the city, without giving further details.
We still expect difficult fighting in the days ahead and will not set a time for when we think (Islamic State) will be completely defeated in Raqqa, he said, adding that around 85 percent of Raqqa had been liberated as of Oct. 13.
Some civilians escape
Around 1,500 civilians had been able to safely make it to SDF lines within the last week, he added.
Omar Alloush, a member of a civilian council set up to run Raqqa, told Reuters late Friday that efforts were under way to secure the release of civilians and a possible way to expel terrorist elements from Raqqa province, without giving further details.
An activist group that reports on Raqqa, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, said on its Facebook page Saturday that dozens of buses had entered Raqqa city overnight, having traveled from the northern Raqqa countryside.
The Observatory said Syrian Islamic State fighters and their families had left the city, and buses had arrived to evacuate remaining foreign fighters and their families. It did not say where they would be taken.
During the more than six-year Syrian war, the arrival of buses in a conflict zone has often signaled an evacuation of combatants and civilians.
The campaign against Islamic State in Syria is now focused on its last major foothold in the country, the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which neighbors Iraq.
Islamic State is facing separate offensives in Deir el-Zour by the SDF on one hand, and Syrian government forces supported by Iranian-backed militia and Russian airstrikes on the other.
Turkey has deployed troops to Syrias Idlib province, as part of its effort to stem fighting and end jihadist control of the region.
Turkish military officials on Friday said Turkish forces are establishing observation posts in the area. The Hurriyet newspaper reports Turkey sent over 100 soldiers and 30 armored vehicles to the northwestern Syrian region. The newspaper said more troops would be deployed in the next few days.
Turkeys troops are supporting the Free Syrian Army, Syrian rebels who want to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
In a televised address Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, We said we would come unexpectedly in the night, and last night ... we started the operation, referring to the operation that began Thursday.
It is us who had a 911-kilometer-long border with Syria, we are the ones threatened, Erdogan said.
About 3 million refugees from Iraq and Syria are living in Turkey. Security experts have warned that Turkey could possibly face a humanitarian crisis, but also a security threat with the jihadists based in Idlib.
Turkeys maneuvers in Syria come after diplomats from Turkey, Russian and Iran, met last month in Astana and agreed to create a de-escalation zone in Idlib that would include the deployment of observers.
Kurdish peshmerga fighters were refusing Saturday to obey Iraqi soldiers' order to withdraw from the oil-producing city of Kirkuk, leaving the two sides in a standoff as the deadline for leaving passed.
A Kurdish security official told reporters that Iraq had told the Kurds to vacate the area after midnight Saturday, local time. But he said the peshmerga would stay put and defend their position.
Reporters in the area said there had been no clashes, but fighters on both sides were poised for conflict.
On Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis urged Kurdish and Iraqi forces gathered on the outskirts of the disputed city to "tone everything down" as Kurdish officials continued to warn of an imminent Iraqi invasion.
Mattis said the increasingly tense showdown had Washington's full attention. He warned the two U.S. allies that now was not the time to take their focus off the larger fight against the Islamic State terror group.
"We can't turn on each other," Mattis told reporters while flying back to Washington following a visit to U.S. Southern Command in Miami. "We don't want this to go to a shooting situation."
He added that "my forces are integrated among these forces and they're working to make certain we keep any potential for conflict off the table."
'Provocative' movement
But Kurdish officials insisted late Friday that Iraqi forces, along with Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs), a large fighting force primarily made up of former Shiite militia groups, some of which are loyal to Iran, were massing to the south and west of the strategic city.
"This movement is unusual and very provocative," Kurdistan Regional Government Representative Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman said during a briefing in Washington.
"There is no need for this deployment. There is no ISIS there," she said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "There is nobody to fight unless they want to provoke a fight."
Rahman said Kurdish forces and intelligence units had observed a substantial buildup of Iraqi forces and of the PMU over the previous 48 hours, including tanks, heavy artillery, Humvees and mortars, all pointed at Kurdish peshmerga units.
"It's very clear that this an attempt to bully, to threaten and to try to force Kurdistan into submission," Rahman said, adding Iran was also pushing for Kurdish forces to retreat.
"Qassem Soleimani and others have been in Kurdistan," she said, referring to the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. "They have been putting pressure on us, giving ultimatums."
Despite the Kurdish claims, Iraqi leaders said they had no plan to attack the city and were simply asserting authority they already had over the region.
"There will be no war on our citizens anywhere," Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi tweeted Friday.
"There won't be a battle," Iraqi Special Forces Major Assad al-Assady said while on a mission to fight IS in West Anbar province on Friday. "This is a political problem, and it will be solved with dialogue."
Kurdish forces
In a move aimed at reducing the risk of clashes, Iraqi Kurdish officials said they had shifted their defense lines south of Kirkuk. But officials said they also had sent in reinforcements another 6,000 troops since Thursday adding to the tens of thousands of peshmerga forces already in the area.
"Some civilians are out on the streets with their guns," said Dara Saieed, a local journalist in Kirkuk. "People are nervous."
And peshmerga officials said that while they preferred not to fight, they would defend themselves and Kirkuk if Iraqi forces or the PMUs tried to move in.
"If they come in without permission, it is sign of war, nothing else," peshmerga Colonel Hemn Hassan Salih said Friday in a phone interview from his base in Kirkuk.
Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces have been fighting as allies against Islamic State militants, and the U.S.-led coalition has said it fears disputes between Baghdad and Irbil could distract from the fight.
But some soldiers say the standoff could simply be posturing ahead of negotiations for a diplomatic solution.
Outside involvement
Negotiations would be the best solution for all sides, agreed peshmerga Captain Taher Aziz, while manning a Kurdistan Region border in Khazir province. But without international involvement, he said, conflict may be inevitable, no matter what Iraq's central leadership in Baghdad says.
"The PMU leadership may give orders that are not the same as the ones coming from the central leadership," Aziz said.
As a semiautonomous region, Iraq's Kurdish region has maintained its own borders for more than 25 years, with Iraqi forces entering only with permission of Kurdish authorities.
In late September, Kurdish voters passed an independence measure in a referendum by more than 92 percent over the objections of Baghdad and the international community. Since then, the region has become increasingly isolated, with international flights grounded and other sanctions imposed.
An Iraqi army technical team released a statement on Friday saying, "Our forces have the right to enter any province in Iraq," but thus far it has not crossed into Kurdish-controlled territory.
National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin and VOA's Heather Murdock contributed to this report.
The Trump administration Friday demanded that U.S.-made content account for half the value of the cars and trucks sold under the North American Free Trade Agreement, raising further doubts about any potential deal to renew the pact.
Three sources briefed on the protectionist U.S. proposal, which is in line with U.S. President Donald Trumps goal of shrinking a trade deficit with Mexico and stemming the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs, said it also seeks sharply higher North American automotive content overall.
The proposal was made during contentious talks in Washington, in the fourth of seven planned rounds of negotiations to overhaul the treaty. Mexican sources denounced it as absurd and unacceptable, underlining the gaps between NAFTAs three members as they try to wrap up a deal by a year-end deadline.
Trump, who complains that the original 1994 pact has been a disaster for the United States, is threatening to walk away from the agreement unless major changes are made.
WATCH: Are NAFTA's Days Numbered?
Sour mood, but no quitting
Washingtons auto industry gambit came hot on the heels of its demand that NAFTA also contain a so-called sunset clause.
That could mean any new deal expires in five years, an idea that Canada and Mexico also strongly oppose.
Although sources briefed on the talks describe the mood as sour, Mexican and Canadian politicians say there is no question of leaving the table for now.
A collapse of NAFTA would wreak havoc throughout the North American economy, disrupting highly integrated manufacturing supply chains and agricultural exports with steep tariffs that would snap back into place. Trade among the three countries has more than quadrupled since 1994 to more than $1.2 trillion annually.
One of the sources close to the talks said Washington wants to increase the North American content requirement for trucks, autos and large engines to 85 percent from 62.5 percent over a period of years. That is in addition to its insistence that 50 percent of content be U.S.-made within the first year of a signed deal.
Proposal seen as unworkable
A Canadian official noted that senior government figures in Ottawa have rejected both ideas as unworkable.
Trump has made clear he prefers bilateral trade deals, and skeptics wonder whether the U.S. demands are part of an America First strategy designed to ensure the current talks fail.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has listed the U.S. auto industry demand among a number of poison pill proposals that it said would torpedo the talks to renew NAFTA. The chamber says the proposal would cost jobs, because automakers and parts suppliers would likely forgo NAFTA benefits and simply pay the 2.5 percent U.S. tariff for imported cars and many parts.
Unifor, a union that represents most of Canadas autoworkers, said the U.S. proposals were deliberately untenable.
Frankly, I think this is a bully move by the American government, president Jerry Dias said in a statement.
Trump aides say current rules are too lax and allowed auto companies to bring in too many cheap parts from China and other low-wage Asian countries.
Mexico needs NAFTA
Mexico is heavily dependent on the United States and NAFTA for its economic viability, and uncertainty over the outcome of the talks helped push the Mexican peso to near five-month lows this week.
Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade, seeking to downplay any setbacks in the latest round of negotiations, said Friday that tension in the talks was only natural.
Canadian officials also said it was too soon to write off the deal-making process. They noted that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo were to meet in Washington on Tuesday to take stock of the negotiations.
Separately, U.S. negotiators Friday formally asked Canada to address a bilateral dispute over dairy pricing, a request the Canadians are set to resist, sources familiar with the talks said.
A kidnapped American-Canadian couple and their three children have returned to Canada, after enduring five years as captives of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in Afghanistan.
The family landed in Toronto late Friday aboard an Air Canada flight from London.
Caitlan Coleman, a U.S. citizen, and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. Coleman was pregnant at the time. She gave birth to four children while in captivity.
Their release has prompted expressions of relief from U.S. and Canadian officials. In a statement, the Canadian government said it was rejoicing over the long-awaited return of the family.
Resilience and determination
But details are now emerging of the ordeal the family faced while held captive by members of the Haqqani network. In a statement made at the Toronto airport and reported by the Associated Press late Friday, Joshua Boyle said members of the Haqqani network killed one of their children, a, infant girl, and raped his wife during the time they were held hostage.
God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, Boyle said in a statement reported by the Associated Press.
The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani networks kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, Boyle said.
Before their arrival in Canada Friday, word of the birth of a fourth child had not been public. He said one of his surviving children is in poor health and had to be force fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
Rescue in Pakistan
On Wednesday, acting on a tip from U.S. intelligence, Pakistani officials say their troops rescued the family, hours after their captors transported them in a car to the Pakistani side of the long porous Afghan border.
A U.S. plane was standing by at the military airbase in Islamabad, waiting to fly the family to a U.S. military base in Germany for a medical checkup, but Pakistani security sources told VOA Boyle refused to board the flight fearing their scrutiny.
Instead, the family boarded Pakistans state-run carrier and left for Britain where they took the Air Canada flight to Toronto.
Kidnapped by Taliban
The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for kidnapping the couple. U.S. officials maintain the couple was held in captivity by the Haqqani terrorist organization linked to the Taliban.
The insurgent 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.
One of the prisoners the militants wanted to be freed is Annas Haqqani, who is on death row in an Afghan prison. The detainee is the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the Haqqani network and also serves as a deputy to the leader of the Taliban.
A senior Taliban official when contacted by VOA claimed the Coleman and Boyle converted to Islam while in captivity.
The Taliban need not have to keep them hostage and thought they be freed to go anywhere they wanted to because their hardships as an extended family were increasing in captivity, the official said requesting anonymity.
U.S. and Pakistani officials have expressed hope the hostages release could represent a turning point in traditionally mistrusted-marred relations between the two countries and it could lead to better cooperation between the uneasy allies in fighting Taliban and other Islamist extremists in Afghanistan.
Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
The United Nations says attacks on schools worldwide are on the rise, with more than 500 attacks in the first six months of the year, many of them in war zones.
Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, told a U.N. Security Council meeting that 2017 might be a record year for the number of schools bombed and destroyed.
In 2016, Gamba said the United Nations was able to verify 753 attacks on schools and hospitals. But she said the actual number is likely much higher because many places are too dangerous for U.N. staff to enter.
She said a new pattern of attacks has emerged in recent years that have targeted schoolchildren, teachers and education facilities. She said this could have happened because schools are seen as a symbol of the state or armed groups are unhappy with the schools curriculum.
Gamba said girls and their parents are especially targeted in an effort to stop the educational progress of girls.
She noted that in Nigeria, Boko Haram has conducted brutal attacks against children and schools. Gamba said 1,500 schools in northeastern Nigeria have been destroyed by Boko Haram since 2014.
In Afghanistan, she said girls education remains a direct target. She said in one instance in April 2016, the Taliban forced 28 school principals to attend a meeting where they demanded that no girls older than 11 should attend school.
In Somalia, Islamic militant group al-Shabab compels children to attend madrassas organized by the group and reportedly attempts to train them as soldiers, Gamba said.
And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 174 attacks on schools were verified between April and June 2017, Gamba said. She added the majority of schools were burned down in the Kasai region by militia fighters.
Attacking schools not only deprives children of an education; it robs them of a future. It can take decades to reinstall skilled teachers and build the physical infrastructure to provide a proper education for all, she said.
Venezuelans cast ballots Sunday in regional elections that are widely seen as a vital test for both President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition.
Voters will elect governors in all 23 states and the opposition Democratic Union Roundtable coalition is calling for a large turnout that some experts say could propel them to victory in most regions.
Many polling experts say the opposition coalition could win 20 of the state elections, a feat that would mark the first time since 2000 the Maduro's socialist party would be forced to rule a country with so many opposition governors.
Even if opposition politicians win 20 states, there are no guarantees they would be able to effectively wield power. Manduro has emphasized that incoming governors would have to take an oath of office and "subordinate themselves" to the constituent assembly that seized legislative power from the opposition-dominated assembly.
The opposition was unable to sustain anti-Maduro protests in which 125 people were killed between April and July after Maduro opposed the protests and formed the constituent assembly.
Many opponents of the government doubt the country's elections authorities can ensure accurate vote counts. After the controversial election to install the pro-Maduro assembly, which rewrote the constitution, Smartmatic, the company responsible for voting machines, said the ballot tally had been manipulated by at least 1 million votes.
The situation has the opposition scrambling to encourage voters to go to the polls. At a final campaign event Wednesday in the coastal state of Vargas, opposition candidate Juan Manuel Olivares told the crowed, "Victory will be in your hands. This Sunday, nobody can stay at home without voting."
The regional elections were supposed to have taken place last December. The pro-Maduro National Electoral Council delayed them, however, after polls projected heavy losses for Maduro's socialist party.
Just three days before the elections, Venezuela's chief prosecutor leaked a video supposedly showing an executive with the Odebrecht Organization, a Brazilian conglomerate, saying he agreed to pay $35 million toward Maduro's campaign in exchange for favors involving the conglomerate's construction projects.
Former Venezuela chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz said on her website the video shows Odebrecht President Euzenando Prazeres de Azevedo speaking with Brazilian prosecutors.
A man identified as Azevedo says a Maduro aide asked for $50 million for the socialist leader's 2013 campaign. Azevedo agreed to pay $35 million if Odebrecht's projects would receive "priority."
Diaz fled Venezuela in August after being ousted from her position as chief prosecutor by the new and powerful constituent assembly.
An American-Canadian couple and their three children arrived in Canada after five years in Taliban captivity in Afghanistan.
The family flew Friday from Pakistan to Canada via Britain.
Acting on a tip from U.S. intelligence, Pakistani officials say their troops rescued U.S. national Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, on Wednesday, hours after their captors transported them in a car to the Pakistani side of the long, porous Afghan border.
Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press Friday saying, God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination.
Rescue operation
The Pakistan military revealed details of the rescue operation Thursday.
A U.S. plane was standing by at the military airbase in Islamabad, waiting to fly the family to a U.S. military base in Germany for a medical checkup, but Pakistani security sources told VOA Boyle refused to board the flight fearing their scrutiny.
Instead, the family boarded Pakistans state-run carrier and left for Britain.
Coleman and Boyle went missing while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. The Afghan Taliban later claimed responsibility for kidnapping them. U.S. officials maintain the couple was in captivity of the Haqqani terrorist organization linked to the Taliban.
The insurgent 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.
One of the prisoners the militants wanted to be freed is Annas Haqqani, who is on death row in an Afghan prison. The detainee is the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the Haqqani network and also serves as a deputy to the leader of the Taliban.
A senior Taliban official when contacted by VOA claimed the Coleman and Boyle converted to Islam while in captivity.
The Taliban need not have to keep them hostage and thought they be freed to go anywhere they wanted to because their hardships as an extended family were increasing in captivity, the official said requesting anonymity.
Turning point for US, Pakistan?
U.S. and Pakistani officials have expressed hope the hostages release could represent a turning point in traditionally mistrust-marred relations between the two countries, and it could lead to better cooperation between the uneasy allies in fighting Taliban and other Islamist extremists in Afghanistan.
Both sides, U.S. and Pakistan, they have agreed to remain engaged in the future as well for better cooperation and better understanding of each others concerns and also how to deal with the challenges, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Friday.
Washington has long alleged Islamabad maintains ties to the Haqqanis and the Taliban, helping them expand and prolong the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistani officials deny the allegations and touted Wednesdays successful hostage rescue operation as another demonstration of its counterterrorism resolve and cooperation with the U.S.
We have been taking on the terrorists. And we have also said in the past as well that if we have the intelligence provided by the U.S., then we will be able to take action. So we have taken action based on the intelligence that was provided by the U.S. side, noted Zakaria while speaking to reporters in Islamabad.
President Donald Trump on Thursday 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 governments cooperation is a sign that it is honoring Americas 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, Trump added
He later told reporters that he believes Pakistan is 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 familys freedom, other than to say, its a very good moment, and we intend to work with Pakistan in a collaborative way in the future to stop terrorism that includes kidnapping.
Other hostages
Meanwhile, an American, Kevin King, 60, and an Australian Timothy Weeks, 48, are 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Treasury Department to impose additional sanctions on Irans Revolutionary Guard as he announced a more aggressive stance toward Iran, including refusing to recertify the nuclear deal with Tehran.
The White House called the Revolutionary Guard, which is separate from Irans regular armed forces, a primary tool and weapon in remaking Iran into a rogue state. But what is the Revolutionary Guard?
Beginnings
The Revolutionary Guard was founded following Irans 1979 Islamic revolution, in which the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown by a cleric-led uprising. The Revolutionary Guard was created to enforce the new Islamic government and operated parallel to the countrys regular armed forces. Once a ragtag force protecting the new regime, it is now the nations most powerful security institution.
Expanded force
The Revolutionary Guard has between 120,000 and 150,000 active personnel operating air, land and sea defense capabilities. Its elite Quds Force, which the Treasury Department designated a terrorist organization in 2007, is responsible for external operations. Domestically, the guard controls a large network of paramilitary volunteers, known as the Basij.
Loyal to supreme leader
The Guard only answers to Irans supreme leader. After the 1979 revolution, the guard faced possible disbanding, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei allowed it to thrive and granted it more powers. Since then, the guard has been loyal to the supreme leader and the groups powers have since been enshrined in the countrys constitution.
Political and economic actor
While the Revolutionary Guard has expanded militarily, it has also become a force within the political scene. Current and former members of the guard hold important posts in government, including foreign and security policy. The guard also has holdings in media, manufacturing, construction, banking and other sectors of the Iranian economy.
Sponsor of terrorism
In announcing the new sanctions Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department said it was designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist entity under a White House Executive Order. It said the group provides support to a number of terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as to the Taliban.
Ballistic missiles
The Revolutionary Guard oversees Irans ballistic missile program and has fired several missile tests since the nuclear deal in 2015. While the nuclear deal does not forbid missile tests, U.S. officials say they violate the spirit of the agreement. The missiles that have been tested can reach Israel, and in March 2016 the Revolutionary Guard launched a test missile bearing the words Israel must be wiped out.
FEDERAL CONTRACTS
IRS suspends its contract with Equifax
The IRS suspended a $7.25 million contract with the credit reporting company Equifax on Friday after members of Congress complained that the tax agency had awarded a no-bid contract to a company that recently suffered a massive data beach.
The IRS had contracted with Equifax to validate the identities of taxpayers communicating with the agency on the phone or through its website. The IRS said in a statement that it had suspended the contract as a precautionary step while it reviews Equifaxs security systems.
There is still no indication of any compromise of the limited IRS data shared under the contract, the agency said.
Equifax revealed in September that hackers had obtained the personal information of more than 145 million people.
While the contract is suspended, taxpayers will not be able to create new accounts in the IRSs Secure Access program, which lets taxpayers securely use certain IRS services online.
Associated Press
CORPORATIONS
Samsung chairman to step down in March
The chairman of Samsungs board of directors the public face of the company after its de facto chief was jailed on corruption charges said Friday that he will resign next year.
As we are confronted with unprecedented crisis . . . I believe that time has now come for the company to start anew, with a new spirit and young leadership to better respond to challenges arising in the rapidly changing IT industry, Kwon Oh-hyun, 65, said in a letter to employees.
Kwon will resign as head of Samsungs semiconductor and components business. His term on the board expires in March, Samsung said in a statement.
Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, 49, was convicted of corruption and sentenced to five years in prison in August, along with four former Samsung executives.
Also Friday, Samsung said its July-September operating profit nearly tripled over a year earlier to a record.
Associated Press
AUTO INDUSTRY
Ford to offer repairs on Explorer SUVs
Ford said Friday that it will offer free repairs to North American owners of more than 1.4 million Explorer sport-utility vehicles to help ensure that carbon monoxide and other exhaust gases cannot get into the cabins. The move comes after federal regulators decided in July to upgrade an investigation.
Several police agencies have raised concerns about deadly carbon monoxide gas entering the cabins of Ford Explorers that had been adapted for law enforcement use. Regulators said they are aware of more than 2,700 complaints for exhaust odors as well as reports of three crashes and 41 injuries that may be linked to carbon monoxide exposure among police and civilian Explorer vehicles for the model years 2011 to 2017.
Ford said that its investigation has not found levels of the gas that exceed what people are exposed to every day but that it is acting to respond to customer concerns. It said dealers will begin making repairs Nov. 1.
Associated Press
Also in Business
Americans increased their spending at retailers last month by the most in 2 years, with the upturn driven by strong auto sales as residents of hurricane-ravaged areas replaced destroyed cars. The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales rose 1.6 percent in September, after slipping 0.1 percent in August. Auto sales jumped 3.6 percent, the most since March 2015. Gasoline sales climbed 5.8 percent, probably reflecting price spikes after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Even excluding the volatile auto and gas categories, sales rose a solid 0.5 percent, up from a 0.1 percent gain in August.
BMW is recalling more than 85,000 SUVs in the United States because a mat that detects the presence of a front-seat passenger can fail, meaning the front passenger air bag might not inflate in a crash. The recall covers the X3 from 2006 through 2010. BMW said in government documents that the mat can wear and develop cracks that can interrupt electrical signals. That can cause the front air bag to switch off.
Facebook has launched a service that allows its American users to order food for carryout or delivery through its app or website. Facebook said Friday that it has partnered with restaurants including Chipotle, Five Guys and Papa John's. The company said in a blog post that it has also partnered with food ordering services such as EatStreet, Delivery.com, DoorDash and Olo.
U.S. businesses increased their inventories in August by the most in nine months, a sign of solid confidence in future demand. The Commerce Department said Friday that business inventories grew by 0.7 percent in August, after July's uptick of 0.3 percent the biggest jump since November. Sales also grew 0.7 percent in August, compared with 0.3 percent in July. It was the largest sales gain since December. Economists expect inventory growth will strengthen further in coming months.
From news reports
As wind-fanned flames raced across several counties in Northern California, only one activated the governments most potent public notification system a blast that overrides the volume controls on cellphones, turning them into the equivalent of squawking alarms.
The simultaneous wake-up call for many of Lake Countys 64,000 residents came shortly after 2 a.m. Monday, after county emergency officials decided to order a mandatory evacuation because of the inferno known as the Sulphur fire.
We decided it was the right course, Lt. Corey Paulich, spokesman for the Lake County Sheriffs Office, said of the alert. We felt that our residents were in imminent danger.
In neighboring Sonoma County, however, officials decided not to send an alert because of concern that it might cause panic and clog roadways, potentially blocking rescue workers or even leaving thousands exposed to shifting, wind-driven fires.
The fires did not treat the nine affected counties equally, and the destruction in population centers was worse in Sonoma than anywhere else. But all 36 confirmed fire-related fatalities were in Sonoma and three other counties that did not send wireless alerts. No deaths have been reported in Lake County.
Sue Fellbaum returns to her home of 28 years that has been burned to the ground by the wildfires in Santa Rosa, Calif. (Whitney Shefte,Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
Five years after it was launched by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the use of the nations alert system remains uneven. And despite a campaign by FEMA to encourage local governments to participate, most U.S. counties could not order an alert today if they faced an emergency. More than 65 percent of the nations 3,500 counties do not have agreements in place with FEMA to send alerts through the Wireless Emergency Alert system, as it is known, the agency said.
The alerts are sent to all phones in the targeted area, often accompanied by a vibration and a unique sound that FEMA says is designed to get your attention. The majority of alerts sent over the system since 2012 more than 25,000 have been related to flash floods, tornadoes and other weather events, FEMA records show.
There have been missteps. Authorities were criticized in Southern California in June when an alert was erroneously sent to a wide swath of Riverside County, which has a population of more than 2 million, directing residents to evacuate now because of a wildfire. Officials took to social media to stress that the evacuation was only for a small area of the county.
But a trade group for wireless carriers credits the alerts with helping to save lives during extreme weather events and other emergencies, including a tornado in Connecticut and child abductions in many states.
Of the four counties in Northern California where residents were killed in fires this week, two Sonoma and Mendocino had agreements in place with FEMA that enabled them to send alerts. Yuba and Napa counties did not, according to federal records.
That left Napa residents like Emily Cocks with no warning before fire appeared in view of her home. Cocks said that her husband woke up around 12:45 a.m. Monday after he heard branches hitting their bedroom window from high winds in the Atlas Peak area. Looking outside, the couple saw fire on the ridge above them. They packed their cats, some clothing and Cockss grandmothers jewelry, then left for her parents home 100 miles to the south. Before they arrived, on a news report, Cockss father spotted the home in Atlas Peak engulfed in flames.
Of the lack of an alert, she said, In hindsight, it would have been nice.
Smoke lingers in the air as the sun rises over firefighters staging area at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)
Molly Rattigan, Napas deputy county executive officer, said the county has long opted to do evacuations in person. Were a small community and going out to people in person, and helping them, thats been whats worked well for us, she said.
Napa used its Nixle service Monday night, a system that allows for a kind of reverse 911 calling and emergency text messaging to those who sign up voluntarily. Two people in the county died Monday; two more deaths were confirmed Friday. Before the fire, 20,000 people in the county of about 140,000 had signed up for the service, she said. Since Monday, the number has grown to 135,000.
Officials in Yuba County defended the decision not to rely on the alerts system. Cell service is spotty in the rural area, said Russ Brown, a spokesman for the countys office of emergency services. Instead, Yuba used a reverse 911 system dubbed CodeRED, along with old-fashioned bullhorns and sirens, to wake people, Brown said.
Brown dismissed the idea that a wireless alert would have prevented the four deaths from this weeks fires in the county, saying that cellphone towers were among the first structures overwhelmed by flames.
Emergency officials in Sonoma County, where fires incinerated whole neighborhoods in the city of Santa Rosa, said at a news conference Wednesday that the dwindling number of landlines added to the challenge of reaching people through reverse 911 calls.
Sheriff Rob Giordano urged Sonoma County residents to sign up for its voluntary system of emergency alerts which, like Napa, Sonoma used to spread evacuation orders. As of earlier this summer, only 10,000 of the countys 500,000 residents had signed up.
On Thursday, Sonoma County emergency officials offered a different explanation. They said they had consciously decided not to use the FEMA-backed wireless technology for fear of causing mass panic and because the warning is not targeted, said Jennifer Larocque, a county spokeswoman. But WEA notifications can and have been targeted to smaller geographic areas, FEMA said Friday.
The agency pointed to the wireless alert issued Monday at the request of Lake County officials. That alert went to a six-mile-wide swath of residents in and around the city of Clear Lake, according to a map provided by FEMA.
Among those who received the warning was Josy Range, who noticed a vague smell of smoke when she woke up unexpectedly around 2 a.m. Almost immediately, Range said, her cellphone erupted with messages, including one that was delivered with a sharp ring unlike an ordinary text message. It sort of sounded like a siren, she recalled.
The message read: Mandatory evacuations for Sulpher Fire. Elem Colony & N. Clearlake Shelter @ Twin Pine, according to FEMA.
Range heeded the warning. She got dressed, grabbed her medications and her three dogs, and climbed in her car. She soon hit a roadblock set up by the fire department, where other neighbors had gathered to gaze at the glowing spectacle that had materialized, seemingly within minutes, on the ridge above her home.
I looked back at my house and I could see a row of flames on the hillside above it, recalled Range, 65, who at that point pulled out her cellphone once more. I said, I guess I should take a picture of this.
Lisa Bonos contributed to this report.
Dear Heloise: Homework on the weekend? My son used to complain, but weve come up with some hints that have helped us all through the week:
I check my students homework every day not to nag, but to see what hes learning.
A big research paper can be broken down into smaller sections. I talk with my kiddo if hes anxious about writing a paper. Stress can be lessened!
A schedule is critical. My child needs 30 minutes when he comes home to relax, and then he works on homework until dinnertime. Your kids may perform differently.
Its fine if my child doesnt complete everything perfectly. Mistakes are allowed a lot of times, thats how you grow. This will let the teacher know what areas he needs help with.
Thanks for your column!
Ann D. in Ohio
Dear Readers: Sally V. sent a picture of her Maine coon rescue kitty, Sassy, displaying her "bottoms up" yoga pose! Silly Sassy! To see Sassy, visit Heloise.com and click on "Pet of the Week."
Do you have a funny and furry friend you'd like to share? Email a picture to: Heloise@Heloise.com.
Dear Heloise: I tried to clean my shower/tub. Nothing worked except you know what! I put some baking soda in the tub with vinegar for the tough spots, and oh, what a clean and shiny place now to take a bath!
Great Grandmother, Texarkana, Tex.
P.S. I also now keep a spray bottle of white vinegar for spraying into the water that collects under potted plants and in puddles! Kills mosquito larvae, as you know.
Great Grandmother: Great! You've mastered cleaning cheaply. Readers, I've collected my favorite cleaning solutions and recipes that include vinegar into a handy pamphlet. If you'd like to receive one, visit Heloise.com to order, or send $5, along with a stamped (70 cents), self-addressed, business-size envelope, to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Label all bottles of homemade cleaners clearly.
Dear Heloise: I like to have a supply of certain items on hand, like bathroom tissue and paper towels, but some things are just not smart to stockpile: perfumes and scented lotions, mainly.
These can degrade over time, and if I cant use them right away, theres no scents in hoarding them plus they take up valuable shelf space.
Kim H. in Chicago
Dear Heloise: My vet said my dog either needs to burn off some energy or hes bored, and thats why he may chase his tail.
But if he catches it and chews on it, that could be a sign of skin irritation. A tail inspection is in order, and possibly a visit to the vet.
Alex E. in Kansas
Dear Heloise: My sister-in-law installed towel bars in each of her guest bedrooms. Behind the door usually is a convenient place.
The bars encourage her guests to reuse their towels (save some water!), and they keep the bathroom a lot tidier. Now I am installing them in my guest rooms!
Pat H., via email
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THE DISTRICT
Man sentenced for SUV robbery
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 from a 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 it, Smith approached two men who had just parked a black Nissan Pathfinder on June 27 and while pretending to be armed, demanded the driver surrender his keys and drove off.
While being pursued by police, Smith crashed the stolen vehicle at 19th Street and Maryland Avenue NE and fled into an apartment building, where he was arrested.
Shira Stein
Silver Spring man fatally shot in District
A Silver Spring man was shot and killed Thursday in Northeast Washington, police said.
The incident happened around 1:23 a.m. in the 200 block of 54th Street NE not far from the Capitol Heights Metro station.
D.C. police said officers found Donnell Lewis Byrd, 30, in the rear of the property. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dana Hedgpeth and Clarence Williams
VIRGINIA
GOP group contributes heavily to AG race
The Republican Attorneys General Association, which has been pouring money into the campaign of the GOP challenger for Virginias attorney generals race, upped the ante Wednesday with a $900,000 contribution.
That brings the groups total donations to John Adams to $2.75 million. The Democratic Attorneys General Association has given incumbent Mark Herring $1.7 million so far, although Herring has raised about $2.8 million more in total.
The Republican group signaled earlier this year it would break a long-standing practice of not spending money on races where there is an incumbent, in the only attorney generals race in the nation this fall.
Patricia Sullivan
Panhandling along roadways scrutinized
A Virginia county has placed signs at busy intersections asking drivers not to give money to people in the medians.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch quotes Henrico County deputy manager Brandon Hinton in a Friday report as saying an increasing number of individuals soliciting in roadways has created some public safety concerns, and the signs have led to at least one panhandler being placed in a homeless shelter.
Henrico has installed the signs at 10 intersections, which also offer a phone number that connects those who need assistance with social services.
Associated Press
Maryland lags most of the nation in inspecting high-priority nursing home complaints a problem past administrations have promised to fix, but that continues to vex state health officials a federal inspector general has found.
The state failed to investigate nearly 650 allegations of harm at Maryland nursing homes within a required 10-day window, meaning the state missed the federal deadline 74 percent of the time, the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported.
Maryland ranked 7th worst in the nation for timely investigations of high-level complaints, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of the reports data.
The problem of late investigations at Maryland nursing homes has spanned at least four gubernatorial administrations federal auditors found similar delays in the state in 1999, 2006 and 2011.
Analysts say its harder to substantiate complaints, and correct problems, if investigations are not conducted quickly.
Thats a real problem in terms of addressing some of the priority issues residents are facing in these facilities, said Lori O. Smetanka, executive director of the Washington-based National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. Its critical that agencies look at the resources they have available and . . . do whatever they can to get there in time.
The inspector general found four states Maryland, Arizona, New York and Tennessee accounted for almost half of all of the late high-priority complaint investigations nationwide. In many cases, the inspector general found, investigations took place weeks after the timeline set out in federal regulations.
The Maryland Health Department wrote last year that it takes 47 days presumably, on average to initiate an on-site investigation, a delay it attributed to staffing shortages. The state had 232 licensed nursing homes in 2015. The federal inspector general identified 1,164 complaints during that year.
[Judge dismisses nursing home residents class-action suit to secure community-based services]
The Maryland departments Office of Health Care Quality employs 37 surveyors in its nursing home unit. The office has said the unit is a dozen surveyors short of the number needed to meet its inspection requirements. The agency operates on a $20.6 million annual budget.
A spokesman for the department said in a one-sentence statement that the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan remains committed to investigating the complaints about nursing homes and other facilities.
In its annual report last year, the Office of Health Care Quality wrote that it has never been adequately staffed to complete our mandates.
Addressing the 10-day deadline, the office wrote that the length of time to initiate an on-site investigation is directly proportional to the number of trained . . . nurse surveyors.
Oversight of nursing homes that receive federal funding falls to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Woodlawn-based federal agency contracts much of its inspection work to the state agencies that license the facilities.
In complaints involving immediate jeopardy to a patient, the agency requires investigations within two days. High-priority complaints are to be investigated within 10 days.
Maryland categorized less than 1 percent of its total complaints at the immediate jeopardy level in 2015. The office conducted all of its on-site reviews for those complaints within the two-day window. Three-fourths of the complaints, or 873, were categorized as high priority, the inspector general reported.
[Promise youll never put me in a nursing home]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has put an increasing amount of information about individual nursing homes, including inspection reports, online. But it is not possible to review individual complaints and track how long it took to trigger an inspection in each instance.
Part of the problem could be an increase in the volume of complaints. The number of nursing home complaints nationwide increased 33 percent from 2011 to 2015, the inspector general reported. But the increase in Maryland was less steep: a 7 percent bump.
Joseph DeMattos, president of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland, said he believes state regulators are very engaged, and nursing homes find that [the states] professionals are in centers frequently.
DeMattos noted that state investigators are required to respond to complaints even in cases where those concerns turn out to be unfounded.
The latest data in the report is from 2015, DeMattos said. I believe the industry, both in Maryland and across the nation, is making strides every day to provide quality care.
State officials made a similar argument 18 years ago, when what was then known as the U.S. General Accounting Office hit Maryland for investigating only 21 percent of its high-priority complaints within the 10-day window. In one case, the GAO said, the state took 139 days to investigate a case in which a nurse charted a patients intravenous fluid as flowing well when the needle, in fact, had been improperly set.
State officials said at the time that the agency had already started corrective action on several fronts, including the assignment of additional staff.
Kate Ricks is vice chairwoman of the Maryland-based advocacy group Voices for Quality Care. Each time Maryland officials have been confronted with a similar report, she said, they have taken half-measures and not solved underlying problems.
We have said to them every year, they need more people. They dont have enough. Theyve never had enough, Ricks said. Its not the staff that is there, its just that theres not enough of them.
In her bid to become Virginia's next lieutenant governor, Republican state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel campaigns as an ethics attorney who represents charities and nonprofit organizations.
But her firms specialty is helping wealthy donors, corporations and political action committees influence elections often in secret.
Vogel and her boutique law firm represent some of the nations largest super PACs and their related nonprofits, which are often called dark-money groups because they are not legally required to disclose the names of their donors.
Those entities include American Crossroads, the super PAC conceived by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie and strategist Karl Rove, as well as Americans for Prosperity and other arms of the conservative political network founded by billionaires Charles and David Koch.
Those groups took off in the wake of the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision, which found individuals, corporations and unions could spend unlimited sums on politics as long as they did so independently of campaigns and parties.
And Vogels firm Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC, known as HVJT became one of the premiere legal shops to help the PACs distribute their largesse.
Between 2005 and 2016, PACs and nonprofits that have hired Vogels firm spent close to $1 billion on federal elections, representing nearly a quarter of all outside spending over that period, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. For the 2016 cycle alone, those organizations accounted for more than $234 million of $1.4 billion in total outside spending.
Critics say Vogels firm profits from a national problem untraceable money in politics that is corroding democracy.
They represent the whos who of secret, dark-money groups that are pumping a lot of money into our elections, said Steve Spaulding, chief of strategy for Common Cause. Shes not exactly an ethics lawyer representing mom-and-pop nonprofits. . . . Were talking about the Koch brothers nonprofits.
Vogel and attorneys working for her firm based in rural Warrenton, 50 miles west of Washington declined to be interviewed. Through a campaign spokesman, Vogel issued a brief statement that said attorney-
client privilege prevents her from discussing her work.
As an ethics attorney, I hold myself and my firm to the highest ethical and moral standards possible and I dont settle for anything less, read the statement, which then sought to shift attention to the law practice of her Democratic opponent, Justin Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor-turned-corporate lawyer. There is absolutely no basis to this story at all.
[Justin Fairfax journeys from party crasher to party insider]
Cleta Mitchell, a prominent GOP elections lawyer with Foley & Lardner in Washington and a longtime friend of Vogel's, said it's "outrageous" for anyone to question Vogel's integrity based on her legal specialty.
What she does, what all of us in this field do, is we advise our clients how to exercise their First Amendment rights . . . without running afoul of the law, Mitchell said, noting that conservatives do not have a monopoly on dark money.
The darkest of dark money is when unions take their members dues and spend it on political activities about which the member actually either doesnt know and with which the member may not agree, she said. AFP, Crossroads, any other advocacy group left or right . . . thats voluntary, after-tax dollars. . . . Compare that with the unions, where Joe Lunchbucket doesnt know where that moneys going to be spent.
Vogels firm has sometimes been accused by regulators and election officials of pushing the limits of election law.
That was the case in California in 2012, when mysterious donors poured $15 million into two California proposition battles not long before Election Day.
Some of the money was to oppose Proposition 30, which eventually passed and raised the California sales tax and income tax. The rest was to support Proposition 32, which failed and would have prohibited unions from using payroll deductions for political purposes.
The size of the donation raised eyebrows, as did the source: out-of-state nonprofits that had never been involved in California politics.
[California donor disclosure case exposes how nonprofits play in politics]
When California regulators finally unraveled it on the eve of Election Day, after the state Supreme Court held an unprecedented Sunday session to order disclosure the source of the $15 million turned out to be close to home: wealthy Californians, including the Fisher family that founded the Gap retail chain and San Francisco investor Charles Schwab, who had wanted their names kept under wraps.
Under federal election law, the names could be kept private. But California state law requires the disclosure of donors who sponsor ads within 60 days of an election. Rather than disclose, the money was shifted from one Koch brothers nonprofit to another with help from Vogels firm, said Ann Ravel, a former Federal Election Commission member who was then the states chief elections watchdog as chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
Its like if a restaurant gave money to all their employees to make donations to a political issue, Ravel said. Thats illegal. You have to give contributions in your own name. You cannot essentially launder it.
Those involved were not charged with any crime; they reached a civil settlement with the FPPC and state attorney general and were ordered to pay a record fine of $1 million. And the two California political committees that had received and spent the money were ordered to pay the state $15 million.
Vogel did not play any role in the California case, her campaign spokesman said.
But legal experts say that as managing partner of the 13-
lawyer firm, Vogel is ultimately responsible for its actions, much as a chief executive is responsible for the activities of a corporation.
Vogels firm was at the center of controversy again last fall, right after Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina came up short in his reelection bid. HVJT was enlisted to help McCrory, a Republican, who was refusing to concede.
Within weeks, the firm filed protests against 600 voters across the state. It said some voters were dead and others had voted in two states or were felons who had not completed their sentences.
But the state and local elections officials eventually threw out the protests because they were riddled with mistakes sometimes confusing legitimate voters with ineligible people with similar names, according a study by the nonpartisan Democracy North Carolina.
Voters saw their names appear in newspapers, as suspects in an alleged felony voter fraud conspiracy. Some had to defend themselves before they were cleared by local elections boards.
Pressly M. Millen, a North Carolina attorney for several voters who were falsely accused of voting illegally, said the protest was an attempt to delegitimize the election.
Stephen T. Smith, a prominent Raleigh, N.C., lawyer, filed a grievance with thestate bar against four lawyers from Vogel's firm, saying they had violated rules of professional conduct. Bar officials would neither confirm nor deny the existence of a pending complaint. Smith said he believes it remains pending.
In her brief statement to The Washington Post, Vogel said she was never aware of any such complaint made against my firm.
The bar complaint is not against the firm per se but against the four lawyers, who did not respond to requests for comment. Vogel was not among the four. But the firm was recently added as a defendant in what could become a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all voters falsely accused of illegal voting. A judge will decide whether Vogels firm should be part of the suit.
Chris West, a spokesman for the Vogel campaign, said she was unaware that her firm had been named in a lawsuit.
Certainly no allegations even link Senator Vogel to any work in North Carolina, nor has any document been cited to name Senator Vogel, he said in a text message. All work done in North Carolina by other lawyers in the firm was done under the supervision of North Carolina lawyers. There is no basis to this story at all and none of this has anything to do with Senator Vogel or the Lt. Governors race in Virginia.
Vogel, 47, is a Shenandoah Valley native and the daughter of a longtime Republican donor, Holtzman Oil founder William B. Holtzman. He has donated $1.9 million to her campaigns and those of other Virginia Republicans over the past 10 years, including $611,000 toward Vogels current bid.
[Republican Jill Vogel embraces the Trump agenda in her Virginia race]
Vogel was appointed chief counsel to the Republican National Committee in 2004, under her ticketmate Gillespie, who was then chairman.
After establishing her own firm, Vogel made strategic hires from the world of politics that helped fuel its rapid growth, Mitchell said.
Vogels firm includes her husband, Alex Vogel, former chief counsel to then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); Tom Josefiak, a former Federal Election Commission chairman and general counsel to President George W. Bushs 2004 campaign; and Jason Torchinsky, deputy general counsel for that campaign.
Along with super PAC American Crossroads, HVJT has represented its tax-exempt affiliate, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, which pioneered the use of nonprofits as dark-money political players. Known as 501(c)(4) groups, they are allowed to keep their contributors secret as long as they dont spend most of their money on politics.
[Soap operatic GOP race for Va. lieutenant governor to play out in courtroom]
Vogels ties to many of the super PACs and dark-money groups are a matter of public record, disclosed in Federal Election Commission and IRS filings. In addition to reporting payments to the firm, the organizations sometimes use HVJTs Warrenton address as their own and list HVJT lawyers as their treasurers or other officials.
Years ahead of Vogels statewide campaign, one of her partners spoke to a reporter about the firms work, which he described as helping clients with legitimate free-speech rights navigate a shifting legal landscape.
"The rules keep changing," Torchinsky told Bloomberg News in 2012, "which is part of the reason that people need law firms to figure out how to speak."
Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who is running for governor, has an F rating from the National Rifle Association. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
Two weeks after the mass shooting in Las Vegas left 58 dead and three weeks before he hopes to be elected governor of Virginia, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) joined a Saturday morning protest against the National Rifle Association outside the gun lobbys Fairfax headquarters.
Im a doctor, Northam, a pediatric neurologist, told a crowd of about 200 local gun-control advocates. I appreciate it when someone says, Our thoughts and prayers are with you. But its time to take it a step further: We need to take action.
He spoke just as the NRA began airing television ads comparing Northam unfavorably with Republican rival Ed Gillespie.
[Biden says a Northam victory would give people hope]
Ralph Northam will not defend your gun rights, but Ed Gillespie will, the narrator says, noting that Northam has an F letter grade from the group while Gillespie earned an A.
The NRA plans to spend more than $750,000 on political advertising in the race between now and the Nov. 7 election.
As he has before on the trail, Northam drew on his medical experience to make the case for new gun-control measures. Having treated wounded veterans as an Army doctor during Operation Desert Storm, he said, he was sure assault weapons did not belong in the civilian world. And having seen children with gunshot wounds in his private practice, he said he was convinced of the need for restrictions on who can buy and carry guns.
Northam was joined by Attorney General Mark Herring (D), who is running for reelection, and Justin Fairfax (D), a former prosecutor who hopes to replace Northam as lieutenant governor.
Each one of us is very proud of our F, Fairfax said.
The NRA ad uses a clip in which Northam expresses pride in a slightly higher ranking, a D-minus, and the spot accuses him of lying.
Northam told the crowd that he believed Democrats could not only win statewide but also take the majority in the state House of Delegates, where they hold only 34 seats.
Lori Haas, state director of the Virginia chapter of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, was less optimistic, saying district lines favor Republicans.
View Graphic The latest stories and details on the 2017 Virginia general election and race for governor.
Northam and Fairfax, she said, would work to keep bills to loosen gun regulations from passing through the state legislature.
A group from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax has been gathering on the sidewalk outside the NRAs glass building on the 14th of each month, a protest started after the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., left 20 children and six adults dead.
About 50 stalwarts show up regularly, the Rev. David Miller said, but the group often swells after a major shooting. The month after the 2016 shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando in which 49 people were killed, Miller said, about 500 people came.
The protests are a way to channel anger and sadness and frustration and hopefully encourage some political courage, he said.
A spokeswoman for the NRA did not immediately return a request for comment.
MARYLAND
Woman charged in hospital stabbing
Baltimore police have charged a woman with murder following a dispute that ended in the fatal stabbing of her husband inside a Johns Hopkins hospital room Friday afternoon.
Anita Nicole Jones, 30, was arguing with her husband, Christopher Yancey Sr., 33, while they waited for a procedure to be completed on their son, police said.
They said Jones emerged from the room and told hospital staff that Yancey had cut himself.
Staff members found the man with lacerations on his upper body. They treated him, but he was pronounced dead.
Police said they concluded that the injuries were not self-inflicted.
Michael Alison Chandler
Pedestrian fatally hit on East Capitol Street
A 63-year-old man was struck by a car and killed Friday night in Prince Georges County, police said.
Police said Wayne Tonio Davis of Suitland was hit about 7:30 p.m. as he tried to cross East Capitol Street near Yost Place, which is just outside the District.
The driver of the vehicle that struck Davis stayed at the scene.
Davis was not in a crosswalk when he was hit, according to the preliminary investigation. Police are looking for the driver of a sedan that left the scene after crashing into the vehicle that hit Davis.
Martin Weil and Rachel Weiner
VIRGINIA
Troopers told not to cover name tags
Officers of the Virginia State Police have been instructed not to cover their name tags after some troopers violated policy by putting black tape over their tags during a pro-Confederate rally in Richmond last month.
State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty said in an Oct. 3 letter to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia that intentionally covering name tags is against department policy. He wrote that appropriate action has been taken and that supervisors have been told to ensure name tags are not covered again.
A photo of a trooper with his name tag covered during the Sept. 16 rally, which included counterprotesters, prompted questions on social media.
The ACLU wrote to Flaherty saying that officials performing their duties in public should be readily identifiable.
Associated Press
Burned out homes are seen next to homes that survived the flames of a massive wildfire in the Coffey Park area of Santa Rosa, Calif. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds have been sweeping through Northern California. Some homes were destroyed while others were untouched, often based on how the wind was blowing. (Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)
As Jennifer Pierre pulled her GMC Yukon away from the approaching flames three nervous children and two dogs riding with her she knew the house she saw in the rear view mirror might soon be a pile of ash.
Phil Schneider had a similar thought a few minutes later as he drove from his home a block away from Pierres in the Coffey Park subdivision here, two miles north of downtown.
Someone had knocked on his door at 2 a.m. to warn him about the approaching inferno.
The words werent necessary.
Behind the neighbor, he saw flames flying through the air.
As he and his wife sped away, he said, I knew there was a 99 percent chance that my house was going to burn to the ground.
[Weve got to go! A California couple awoke to flames crackling. They couldnt flee. So they jumped in their pool.]
Living just a block from each other in Coffey Park, Pierre and Schneider have never met, but they both saw the same flames from the wildfire that leveled their neighborhood and inhaled the same acrid smoke that has filled this section of Northern California all week.
Both fled on Monday morning thinking their lives had been upended and their homes were about to be destroyed. Their lives began to take wildly divergent paths that morning, dictated by whatever direction the wind happened to be blowing.
Schneiders home survived, untouched.
A few yards away, Pierres family lost everything.
Leslie Garnica searches for belongings in the ashes of her home that was destroyed by fire in the Coffey Park area of Santa Rosa, Calif. Many families were similarly examining what was left of their belongings after thousands of buildings were destroyed. (Ben Margot/Associated Press)
Pierre, 45, and her husband sifted through the ashes this week, but the existence they knew is gone clothes, baby blankets, birth certificates, the last pictures of her brother, who died as a teenager.
Even the items in their fireproof safe had melted.
She walked past the burned-out Jeep in the driveway and went to the area that used to be her bedroom, intent on finding her wedding ring. Shed taken it off and put it on her ring holder when she went to sleep, and, in the rush to get her family to safety, thats where it stayed.
It was metal, she told herself, surely it had survived.
They never found it, and digging through the ashes of their life was exasperating, drawing tears. They recovered almost nothing during the search, but their clothes carried the smell of soot away with them, a subtle reminder every time they inhaled.
Its stuff. Its replaceable, but its the most gut-wrenching feeling knowing that everything you have worked for, strived for, is gone, she said.
[California wildfire death toll rises to 36 as dangerous winds return]
When Schneider, 52, returned to the neighborhood and saw his house standing, his immediate feeling was relief, he said.
In the ensuing days, it was tinged with survivors guilt. Why was his home spared while so many others burned?
1 of 45 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Photos of wildfires continuing to burn in Northern California View Photos Officials ordered a new round of mandatory evacuations for parts of the Sonoma Valley and eastern Santa Rosa as gusting winds returned, reviving dangerous fire conditions in a region that has been devastated by ongoing blazes. Caption Officials ordered a new round of mandatory evacuations for parts of the Sonoma Valley and eastern Santa Rosa as gusting winds returned, reviving dangerous fire conditions in a region that has been devastated by ongoing blazes. Stuart Palley Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
His horseshoe-shaped street full of one- and two-story, wood-framed homes now borders a sea of devastation, the subdued blues and earth tones a virtual kaleidoscope next to a smoky gray and black landscape.
Just outside his back window, he can see clear across the subdivision, acres of smoldering plots where families once lived.
His biggest unanswered question is when he will have electricity and gas. He perked up when he saw workers from Pacific Gas and Electric, the local utility company. It had been days since he had a hot shower.
I feel bad worrying about a shower, when my neighbors have been through all this, he said, motioning to the devastated neighborhood. For three days, Ive been asking myself, Why are we still here?
The answer was unsettling. He learned it from neighbors and first responders later.
As homes in Coffey Park burned, they shot flaming embers into the air, which became seeds for more fires in other homes, entirely dictated by the wind. When firefighters arrived, they made a stand against the blaze at the row of houses that included Schneiders homes that werent yet engulfed in flames.
Coffey Park was a mandatory evacuation zone for most of the week, but police were giving those whose homes were still standing wide latitude, provided they kept a low profile and didnt bother the groups of investigators searching for the dead.
The Pierres are staying at her parents house, 150 miles away, in Gilroy. Theyre de facto nomads. Everyone in the family has a 60-gallon tub that all their belongings must fit into. Theyre all new belongings, because nothing survived the fire.
Downtown Sonoma is deserted at dawn Saturday as wildfire smoke rises northeast of town. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)
Thinking about it makes Pierre cry in quiet moments alone, or, at one point in the mall as she shopped for new clothes.
Shes answering the logistical questions one-by-one: Where will they live?
When will the children return to school?
She has no answer for the most difficult questions about her upended life: Will things ever be the same?
Our house had a certain smell to it, she said. It was our house. When you come home it has that smell. How can I replicate that smell for my kids, or is it gone forever?
This is ranking up there with when my brother died. Its right up there one of the worst things thats ever happened in my life. But Ive got to suck it up and power through for my kids and for my husband and for myself. I cant have a pity party, party of one. Because if I fall apart, were all going to fall apart.
Chicken soup doesnt just heal the soul it also heals the body. The comforting concoction has been shown to help reduce the respiratory-tract inflammation that goes with the common cold.
But that hot, healing soup is far from the only Jewish contribution to health care.
Hepatitis B vaccine. Chemotherapy. Lasik. All were created by Jewish Americans.
So it may come as a surprise that, well into the 20th century, American Jews faced significant barriers to practicing medicine and even receiving medical care. Before World War II, for example, many medical schools put strict quotas on Jewish students.
"Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews and Medicine in America," an exhibition at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage outside Cleveland, looks at the ways Jews in America created their own health-care system in response to widespread discrimination.
As anti-Semitism threatened American Jews, they sidestepped the medical establishment, creating everything from medical schools to hospitals to provide much-needed care.
One such hospital, Mount Sinai in Cleveland, morphed from a facility focused on Jewish patients to one where the poor could get care.
Although the hospital closed in 1996 done in by the overwhelming cost of its mission it lives on as a charitable foundation focusing on Jewish health. (The foundation helped fund the exhibition, which was created by the Jewish Museum of Maryland with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.)
More than 200 items from Mount Sinai Hospital and elsewhere tell the story of how Jews used medicine to assimilate into American society despite the odds and contribute to medicine along the way.
The exhibition is locally focused, but its story is national. Its free with admission to the museum, which also tells other stories of diversity and tolerance. Check it out through April 8.
Read more
Is anti-Semitism truly on the rise in the U.S.? Its not so clear.
In 2016, people have read anti-Semitic tweets 10 billion times, many from Trump supporters
The swimming pool at the Pomplun home, where they took refuge as the Tubbs fire burned through their neighborhood, destroying their home. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)
Daniel Pomplun jolted awake. It was 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, and he heard the crackling of flames. He noticed the power was out, and he rose from bed and went to the window.
They had been fast asleep, and Daniel and his wife, Cindy, had missed the warnings. The residents of Santa Rosa, Calif., had been evacuating for more than three hours already as the rapidly spreading wildfire approached. The red glow through the window told Daniel it was too late. The fire was here.
Cindy! Wake up! Pomplun, 54, shouted, shaking her. Weve got to go!
They threw on the closest clothing: for Cindy, a light T-shirt and cargo pants, and for Daniel, a Minnesota Vikings sweatshirt and University of Minnesota sweatpants. They grabbed the car keys and ran to the front door.
For 17 years, the Pompluns had lived in this two-story moss-green home in rural Santa Rosa. There is just one road out of their neighborhood. After Daniels frantic fingers found the knob of the front door and pulled it open, he saw the fire had leapt over the driveway. The only pathway to safety was blocked by the flames surging toward them.
The choice had been made for them.
Were going to stay here as long as possible, Daniel instructed Cindy, recalling a television show hed watched about wildfires that had suggested it would be safer to be inside at the height of the flames rather than out on foot among them. And then well run.
[Just ash and bone: Death toll in California wildfires reaches historically grim heights]
If the house caught fire and there was nowhere to turn, he thought to himself, they could make a dash to the swimming pool, where maybe they could wait out the blaze.
Authorities in Northern California are still assessing the damage from the most devastating, and deadliest, spate of wildfires to strike the state in modern history. With at least 17 blazes still burning as of Friday, officials say thousands of people remain displaced and at least 36 have been confirmed dead.
More than 220,000 acres of land have been scorched in the past week, and the fires have encroached upon and in some cases leveled residential areas, forcing people to leave behind houses full of their belongings. Search parties have begun sifting through the ashes of felled homes, looking for the bodies of those who couldnt escape.
We all have suffered a trauma here, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey told reporters Friday. And were going to be a long time in recovering from this incident.
Into the water
Before the Pompluns could leave, they needed to find their cats.
Sishi, their 10-year-old calico, was lounging in the sunroom, but they couldnt find Tabitha, their mackerel tabby. They ran toward the back of the house, looking out at the shed where the cats often slept. It was engulfed in flames.
For the next half-hour, Daniel and Cindy stood in the window of the sunroom and watched as their neighborhood ignited and charred. Soon, their garage caught fire, thrusting smoke into the house through the second-floor crawl space.
It was pitch black except for the approaching red-and-orange glow. The sunroom had filled with smoke, with just a foot or so of air left. It was about 2 a.m. It was past time to go.
Daniel carried their passports, a bottle of water and a pair of kitchen towels. Cindy clutched the cat tight against her chest. They slid open the sunroom door and began to run.
To the left, they could see flames on the roof. To the right, red dots speckling the far-off hills seemed to be leaping closer. The cat shed was a pile of ash. Sishi wriggled her way from Cindys arm, leaping to the ground and disappearing into the darkness.
The grass beneath their feet was crispy and black. The air was chilly and smoky.
They reached the edge of the swimming pool. They stuck one foot after the other into the cold water. Once they were shoulder-deep, they draped wet towels over their heads.
The flames danced across the roof and rolled down the sides of their home.
Then came the popping, as the fire reached the 100 rounds of shotgun and rifle ammunition in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The oak tree just to the north of the pool became a bouquet of fire. Then the pine tree to the west did too. Both trees loomed overhead, the flames licking the darkness.
They stayed as far away from the burning home as they could, but they didnt want to wander deeper into the pool than where they could stand.
Firefighters began to gain ground on Oct. 12 against wildfires that have killed at least 31 people in Northern California.
After about 30 minutes in the water the height of the fire around them the back wall of the house was fully engulfed in flames, pounding their faces with cruel, raw heat. Their heads were burning, faces blistering. Their bodies shivered, shaking uncontrollably beneath the cold water.
During the worst moments, they completely submerged under the cold water, holding their breath for as long as they could, bobbing up for air.
They discussed the things they were losing, watching as room after room of their five-bedroom home burned. The reality of what couldnt be recovered the photographs, the mementos from college, the souvenirs from family vacations settled in. But for most of their time in the water, the adrenaline robbed them of any focus other than staying alive.
The house collapsed, and the fire moved on. Their melted and sagging cars sat where the garage had been. A single surviving squirrel ventured down from an untouched tree branch and approached what remained of the Pompluns home before retreating. Maybe, Daniel suggested to Cindy, it was time they came out of hiding, too.
The remains of the Pomplun home in Santa Rosa. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)
As the songs of a few returning birds marked the sunrise, the shivering Pompluns slowly emerged from the water. The concrete path was still warm, the ruins around them smoldering. They lay down together and embraced for warmth as their clothes hung from the metal frame of what was once a poolside table.
Occasionally a helicopter or plane would fly overhead, so Daniel arranged stones on the patio to send a message: NEED EVAC. Cindy went searching for Sishi, finding her snuggled beneath a juniper bush. She came out to cuddle for a few moments before sneaking back under the bush, refusing to budge.
Daniel decided it was time to start walking, but they both needed to find shoes. As he surveyed the neighborhood, he spotted a single house that seemed untouched. The back screen door was open, so they let themselves in. They found two pairs of flip-flops that fit, and a hat to cover Cindys head from the sun. They took a few pieces of paper, and a pen, and shoved a couple of bottles of water into a brown paper bag.
Daniel left a note on the floor, apologizing for what hed taken and promising it would be returned. Around noon they started walking, changing the message in stones outside their home to: WALK OUT.
The Pompluns wrote walk out with stones after leaving their property, to indicate they had survived and had left. (Stuart Palley/For The Washington Post)
A white pickup truck drove past, as a group made their way back into the neighborhood to check on friends who lived nearby. About a mile farther up the road they found a sheriffs deputy.
Come on, the deputy shouted out to them. Ill get you to the shelter.
They spent the rest of the day huddled at a metal folding table in a shelter at a high school in Windsor, making a trip to the hospital to check for smoke inhalation, plotting out how to best fill prescriptions for their burns and figuring out how to get new phones.
That night they slept in the shelter. When people walked across the parquet floor, it made a loud popping sound, reminiscent of their oak tree burning.
"It took a long time to fall asleep that first night," Daniel said.
Daniels employer where he works as a software engineer helped them find temporary housing and got them a borrowed car so they could go to the bank and get new credit cards and the eye doctor to each be fitted for new glasses. The insurance claims have been filed for their home and cars.
The Pompluns began discussing what comes next: Do they stay and rebuild? Do they move elsewhere? They dont know.
They said they think their cat Tabitha didnt make it, probably succumbing to the fire in the shed. But they have called animal control, hoping that Sishi is still out there, nestled beneath the juniper bush.
The Oct. 9 news article "Failure to vaccinate is likely culprit of U.S. measles outbreaks, study says" brought notice to the growing problem of unvaccinated people and the U.S. measles outbreaks. The study eliminated other possibilities, as statistics have shown a drop in outside cases of the disease coming into the United States and there is little to no evidence that the vaccine is losing its effectiveness.
Forgoing vaccinations is a serious problem, but it cannot be fixed by eliminating only religious and philosophical exemptions for children entering public schools in California, Mississippi and West Virginia. Vaccination protests have grown larger as false accounts have spread like wildfire via social media. The country is still missing vital education and accurate communication on vaccines. Many opponents of vaccinations are stuck on old ideas that have been disproved, such as that vaccines cause autism. Doctors should be fully informed so they can teach their patients. Education and accurate communication can help fix the declining number of vaccinations in some communities in the United States that have led to outbreaks of dangerous diseases.
Rachel Gerber, Pittsburgh
Then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price speaks at a news conference on annual influenza prevention at the National Press Club in Washington on Sept. 28. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The Post has provided extensive coverage of the use of government and charter aircraft by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, among other Trump administration officials ["Price to pay part of costs of flights," front page, Sept. 29].
Lest readers think this is a new practice, or one limited to a few officials, it's worth recalling that then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch was using a government aircraft when she and former president Bill Clinton had their meeting on the tarmac at an Arizona airport. And TV news helicopters showed former FBI director James B. Comey climbing aboard an executive jet in Los Angeles after he was dismissed by President Trump.
It would be helpful to readers if The Post provided context to its continuing coverage of this subject by comparing travel practices of the current and former administrations.
Peter A. Harrigan, Rehoboth Beach, Del.
IN AN act of political vanity and geopolitical folly, President Trump has made one of the most serious national security challenges facing the United States, that of Iran, considerably worse. His announcement Friday that he would report to Congress that the Islamic republic is not meeting the terms of the 2015 multinational accord limiting its nuclear program flouted the reports of international inspectors, the unanimous counsel of his national security team and the appeals of key U.S. allies. His threat to terminate the agreement if Congress and America's allies do not meet his demands for revisions could easily lead to Iran's resumption of a race toward nuclear weapons a dangerous course that the deal brokered by the Obama administration succeeded in arresting.
The nuclear accord is flawed, including sunset provisions that remove restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities beginning eight years from now. But Mr. Trump's hyperbolic claim that the deal is "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into" is belied by the fact that the regime has gone from being less than a year away from being able to produce a nuclear device, according to U.S. intelligence estimates, to having a fraction of the necessary materiel, and that under close international monitoring. The president's contention that Iran is guilty of "multiple violations of the agreement" is belied by eight reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency as well as statements by his secretaries of state and defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mr. Trumps advisers persuaded him not to withdraw from the accord directly, but instead to send the matter to Congress, which must vote within 60 days on whether to restore U.S. sanctions on Iran. But the president set a trap by vowing to terminate the deal if Congress did not impose new requirements on Iran, including an end to the sunset provisions. Any U.S. attempt to unilaterally revise the accord is doomed; it will be rejected not just by Iran but also by the other parties to the deal, including Russia, China and the European Union.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, says he will introduce amendments meant to satisfy Mr. Trump; he told us that we have no intention of passing a piece of legislation that violates the accord. But Democrats, including some who were critical of the original Iran deal, are understandably dubious. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (Md.), the senior Democrat on the committee, vowed not [to] buy into the false premise that it is Congresss role to legislate solutions to problems of [Mr. Trumps] own making.
Mr. Trump promised additional action to address the non-nuclear threats posed by Iran, including its interventions in Iraq and Syria. The administration is justified in imposing sanctions on Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps. But it appears to have no clear plan to address Irans military entrenchment in Syria, which is threatening to touch off a new conflict with Israel. Rather than tackling those urgent challenges, Mr. Trump prefers to renounce the legacy of his political nemesis Barack Obama and thereby reopen the one front where Tehran is currently contained. North Korea will take note: The United States cannot be trusted to stick to any nuclear accord.
Courtland Milloy, in his Oct. 4 Metro column, "A tragic reminder of capacity for killing," quoted a statement by a participant in the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary on the Vietnam War. Karl Marlantes, who served in the Marine Corps in that war, said, "We're a very aggressive species. It is in us. People talk a lot about how well the military turns kids into killing machines. I always argue that it's just finishing school."
Marlantes's statement is contradicted by the evidence presented in a book published in 1996, "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society." The author, Dave Grossman, was at the time a lieutenant colonel in the Army, a psychologist and a former Army Ranger and paratrooper.
Grossman was committed to helping the U.S. military become more effective in fighting wars. He revealed that the Army has to train its members to kill because most people do not want to kill other human beings. He cited a study conducted by the Army after World War II that discovered that in combat only 15 to 20 percent of soldiers fired their weapons and an even smaller percentage fired to kill. The Army then changed its combat training to desensitize soldiers to the humanity of the enemy. The new training was effective, and as a result, 55 percent of the infantrymen in the Korean War fired their weapons, and 90 to 95 percent fired them in Vietnam.
Marlantess statement may reflect this training. But I think that most of us do not want to kill our sisters and brothers, even if our nation has designated them as enemies. We must be trained to do it.
Robert Macfarlane, Fairfax
Regarding the Oct. 10 news article "FEMA chief: Politics stalled response":
I appreciate the focus that The Post is keeping on Puerto Rico, perhaps preventing it from being forgotten by the federal government. The situation after Hurricane Maria is not a self-inflicted wound. Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure was not destroyed because it was in disrepair. It was destroyed because it was hit by two Category 4 hurricanes, with Maria traversing the whole island. I lived the effects of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana and Mississippi. Their utilities were in excellent shape until Katrina (Category 3) landed, and then they were not.
Even though Maria destroyed many buildings in Puerto Rico, most houses there are made of concrete and resistant to hurricanes. The islanders also seemed to be more respectful of nature than their continental brethren. These factors contributed to the incredibly low number of casualties during the storm. Concrete houses and preparedness protected most people during the storm, but now casualties are increasing and a humanitarian crisis is developing, and we can only blame the slow and small response of the federal government. Puerto Rico did its part to prepare.
Mayra Berrios, Bowie
Columnist
Hypocrisy, one of the most damnable sins, has been rendered obsolete. When everybodys a skunk, nobody smells the stench. Or, more to the point, when everyones slurping from the same trough, whos a pig?
Today, hypocrisy is the smirk on Harvey Weinstein's face as he pursues therapy and asks forgiveness for his sexual transgressions. Well, I suppose one could say, at least he's not a hypocrite! Indeed, he isn't. Weinstein openly admits to bad behavior toward women, although he denies ever having had nonconsensual sex. I needn't bore you with the banality of his alleged gross exhibitionism and other impositions.
Weinstein, whose whiskered jowls and corpulent corpus are perfectly cast for the villainous character he plays in life, is but the latest in a lineup of high-profile alleged predators, including Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly and, long before, President Bill Clinton. It bears mentioning that most of these men have never been formally charged or tried for sexual crimes in a court of law, but convicted in a trial by Twitter in which the presumption of guilt overrides any consideration of due process. This isn't to defend any of them, but shouldn't we save a little of our outrage for these truncated expressions of "justice"?
Exceptions to the extralegal rule are Clinton, who was impeached by the House of Representatives (and acquitted in the Senate) for perjury and obstruction of justice related to lying about sex with an intern; and Cosby, who had his day in court on a sexual assault charge that resulted in a deadlocked jury. The 80-year-old comedian faces a new trial in April.
Ailes, of course, left the company he created two weeks after former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson sued him for sexual harassment. They reached a settlement amount of $20 million, and he died soon thereafter. Justice doesn't get any plainer than that. O'Reilly left the same company after revelations that he had settled with five women who accused him of sexual harassment, although the dethroned king of cable news has said the claims had no merit. Even so, one needn't strain to recognize hypocrisy lurking in the corridors of the network that promoted family values while its boss and its highest earner were allegedly demanding sexual favors on the side. Settlements don't necessarily confirm guilt, but numbers of women and dollars might get close.
Both Hollywood and the broadcast world are especially tough on women. Fox Newss blend of sex(y) and news should have been scandalous (and was to many serious journalists), but Ailes knew his audience of mostly white, middle-aged men and sold them what they apparently wanted ample leg and hint of bosom topped off with bee-stung lips and baby-doll eyes. No matter how many advanced degrees the Fox News women have, Ailes set the stage for female objectification and created a prime-time bonanza that relied on implicit and complicit exploitation. As long as everyone was living large, nobody complained.
Moreover, "everyone" sorta knew about these men, at least by reputation and rumor. Not everyone, obviously. Greta Van Susteren, who left Fox News soon after Ailes, told me again on Thursday that she never had any idea what was going on. But many did, apparently, and they looked away, including some of the alleged victims, who kept silent for fear of retribution or, perhaps, because they were ultimately willing to suffer humiliation in exchange for advancement. This seems an obvious, if painful, truth.
If you want to move up, as Weinstein allegedly put it to his targets, this is the way it works. If women didnt want to play nasty with the boss, who could conjure dreams or nightmares with a phone call, they were finished.
To say that these women, some barely in their 20s at the time, should have just said no and walked out is to misunderstand the power dynamic between a young, inexperienced woman and a powerful, physically imposing boss. It is also to wish for a different world, which, as it turns out, is coming right along. The alleged predators in each of these cases belong to a fading generation and the James Bond-ian, '60s free love, Playboy era. Soon enough, they, too, will be joining Hugh Hefner and Ailes.
And the futures power brokers will be at least equally women, who, in the aftermath of these buffoonish bullies, wont hesitate to speak up and speak out, setting an example for others not yet so brave. The panty party is over.
Now, about Twitter and the future of justice.
Read more from Kathleen Parker's archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
THE SUPREME COURT'S term has only just begun, but the justices have already heard arguments in what may be their most important case this year. At stake in Gill v. Whitford is whether the court will intervene against the increasingly sophisticated practice of partisan gerrymandering, in which politicians redraw the lines of legislative districts to cement their hold on power.
The high court has long been reluctant to decide when politicized mapmaking becomes so extreme as to be constitutionally unacceptable. But during oral arguments in early October, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy hinted at a possible willingness to join with the court's four liberal jurists in striking down Wisconsin's state legislative map, which the map's challengers argue was gerrymandered to entrench the Republican Party's hold on the Wisconsin legislature. The state GOP produced districts that allowed it to win a supermajority in the state assembly even after losing the popular vote in 2012, and to build further on that majority after eking out only narrow wins in the two subsequent elections.
Theres nothing new about gerrymandering, which dates to the earliest days of the republic. What is new is the development of computer modeling that has transformed partisan chicanery into a precise science. The practice arguably violates constitutional principles of equal protection and free expression by punishing supporters of the minority party for their political affiliation.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. voiced concern that a constitutional standard against extreme gerrymandering would embroil the judiciary in partisan politics. In his view, the metrics used by the plaintiffs to measure the distortion of Wisconsin's districts are so much "sociological gobbledygook." It's true that no one statistical measure is perfect. But the plaintiffs put forward several methods for gauging the extent of partisan mapmaking, all of which show extreme distortion within Wisconsin. Other mathematical tests that account for natural divisions of political geography, such as the tendency of Democrats to cluster in cities, demonstrate the distortion, as well.
The chief justices worries about the effects of an overly partisan court cut the other way, too. If the court declines to strike down Wisconsins map, it risks undermining its own credibility by signaling to the public that the conservative-leaning justices chose to side with Wisconsin Republicans. And as attorney Paul Smith argued for the plaintiffs, the real danger of allowing partisan gerrymandering to go unchecked is the harm it does to faith in democracy as a whole. If one particular party will always win a majority of seats, what point is there in voting?
A ruling against Wisconsin would warn politicians against pushing their luck with overly partisan redistricting, even if the judiciary chooses to intervene only in extreme cases. If lawmakers don't want to risk a legal challenge, they can take the welcome step of removing redistricting from politics by creating state-level independent commissions such as those many states already use. The Supreme Court can't do all the work of restoring confidence in the democratic process, but it should not shirk the responsibility it does have.
Adam B. Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, represents Californias 28th District.
In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin directed an active-measures campaign of unprecedented scale against the United States. His object was to sow discord among Americans and influence the outcome of the presidential election. The Kremlins multipronged influence operation was not targeted at the United States alone but was part of a global attack on liberal democracy.
Over the past nine months, the House Intelligence Committee has learned a great deal about the scope of these Russian efforts. Like our Senate counterparts, we have found ample evidence to support and build upon the intelligence community's January assessment that Russia was responsible for hacking our democratic institutions and dumping stolen data in an effort to turn Americans against one another, harm Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump.
Indeed, the intelligence communitys conclusion that Russia used its paid media outlets, as well as technology firms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and potentially others as a part of this effort has been borne out by the ever-increasing identification of Russian advertisements, promoted tweets, fake news and fake accounts designed to covertly move public opinion and stoke division.
Notwithstanding the real progress we have made, the committee has far more work to do to fully understand the extent of Russian interference and to investigate the politically fraught issue of whether individuals associated with the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. Although we are not at liberty to disclose evidence produced before the committee, certain significant matters have already been shared publicly, such as when Donald Trump Jr. revealed emails offering dirt on Clinton from Moscow to the Trump campaign as part of what was described as the Russian government's effort to help Donald Trump. In the email chain, the president's son expressed an eagerness to accept this help, and much more remains to be learned about this interaction with Russian interlocutors and others.
Despite these discoveries, however, there are growing calls from the White House and outside parties aligned with the president to halt the congressional investigations rather than allow the evidence to dictate the pace and breadth of our inquiry. The White House may hope it can prematurely end the congressional probes and then apply pressure to wrap up special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs work as well.
This would be a terrible subversion of justice. But already these efforts are having an effect, as some witnesses are being rushed before Congress without regard for best investigative practices, sometimes out of order or before we obtain documents necessary to question them. Still other witnesses, essential to laying the foundation for the more significant interviews, have yet to be invited before the committee. My colleague K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.) and I are doing our best to manage these pressures, mindful that our investigation must be thorough if it is to be of real value to the American people.
Muellers probe is far better resourced than any of the congressional probes, with an experienced team of prosecutors and investigators and the FBI able to assist its work. But his role differs from that of Congress. While he will determine whether U.S. laws have been violated and, if so, who should be prosecuted, it is not his job to tell the American people what happened or prescribe remedies. That is the sole responsibility of Congress, and we must perform it with the zeal that the public interest demands.
Here is the challenge: If Mueller finds evidence implicating the president, presumably he will share that information with Congress so that this body can determine whether it rises to a level justifying removal from office. If he finds evidence of criminality concerning other members of the Trump campaign that he believes he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, we will learn about that in an indictment. But what if he finds, with the stronger investigatory resources at his disposal, evidence of collusion that is clear or convincing but not strong enough to take to a jury will that ever be shared with Congress? If it is not, can our report to the public ever be truly complete?
The answers to these questions may ultimately fall to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who was sharply critical of former FBI director James B. Comey for sharing information with the public about the Clinton investigation. One thing is clear the need to permit the investigations to fully run their course and not adhere to a political timetable is all the more essential if there are constraints on the ultimate sharing of information.
Six months ago, during our first open hearing of the investigation, I said that we meaning Democrats and Republicans on our committee, and also the House and Senate intelligence committees must make every effort to arrive at a common conclusion. This remains my hope not consistency for the sake of consistency, or at the cost of incomplete work, but in the service of a public that has too often been forced to choose between competing narratives of the same events. The work must be allowed to continue.
FIFTEEN YEARS ago, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and President George W. Bush (R) came together to tackle one of the great civil rights issues facing the country: the failure to give poor mainly minority children a good education. They knew the problem wouldnt get solved unless it was measured, and the best way to measure was to test student achievement.
We recently revisited this history with Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) during a discussion of what he would do with public education if he were elected governor next month. Mr. Northam claimed to believe in accountability but was utterly unable to explain what he means by the word. The state's Standards of Learning (SOL), which establish minimum expectations for what students should know and be able to do, aren't working, he said, and should be tossed out. What would replace them? Astonishingly, after almost four years as lieutenant governor and a month away from the election, Mr. Northam had no answer.
Particularly concerning was Mr. Northam's view that because children are diverse, "coming from different backgrounds and different regions," he's "not sure that it's fair" to give them all the same test; they shouldn't be penalized, he said, for the environment they come from. The suggestion that some students should be required to pass one type of assessment, while others are given a different (presumably more rigorous) one, is disconcerting. There is no question that some children come to school handicapped by circumstances not experienced by their better-advantaged peers, but children do better when there are high expectations. Creating different expectations for children does them no favors; it just allows adults to escape responsibility. To borrow a phrase from the history we revisited with Mr. Northam, it is the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Once again, schools and the grown-ups who work in them will be excused and applauded as they graduate poor black students who are not prepared for work or college.
Mr. Northam's comments are part of an unfortunate trend in Virginia to pull back from rigor in assessments and accountability. Instead of adopting the muscular requirements of Common Core and its assessments, the state has stuck with assessments seen to be among the easiest in the nation. Some critical tests, such as the fifth-grade writing SOL, were recently jettisoned. And now state education officials are in the final stages of adopting regulations that would overhaul how schools are accredited. The board would widen a loophole to allow for "locally awarded verified credits" from the local school board in lieu of exam passage. Officials argue there is the need to broaden the lens by which schools are judged. We agree that student growth and closing the achievement gap should be recognized, but the proposal tilts too far toward letting schools off the hook for their failures. The emphasis appears to be not on actually improving schools but rather on approving how they appear.
Virginia once led the nation in recognizing the need for accountability and assessments; the Standards of Learning were established before annual standardized testing became a requirement of federal education law. The next governor of the state should strive to reestablish not repudiate that standing.
Recently, a group of men gathered for the second time in two months in Charlottesville, shouting "you will not replace us" ["Spencer leads torchlight rally at U-Va.," Metro, Oct. 8]. They were pushing a lost cause to rule the United States by skin color and restrict liberty to chosen elites as King George would have done in our Founding Fathers' era. The men gathered at the feet of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose army met ours in battle from 1861 to 1865. In that war, thousands of our (mostly) young people perished. At Antietam, we suffered 23,000 casualties in a battle that lasted less than one day. At Gettysburg, we suffered 51,000 casualties in a battle that lasted three days.
Those battlefields and later ones in Montgomery and Selma, Ala., were consecrated with the blood of a great people who have already decided to substitute the unifying "we" for the divisive "you" and "us." " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." " We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." " We shall overcome."
We, the American people, have already claimed this soil for our Union. We, the American people, will not plant division. We, the American people, reject white supremacy. It has spilled more than enough blood in our country already.
M.D. Loud, Washington
Frustrated with his inability to spur Congress to act on much of his agenda, President Trump is increasingly using his executive powers in a risky bid to gain leverage with lawmakers on an array of unfulfilled campaign promises.
Following his announcement that he is cutting off health-care subsidies key to the Affordable Care Act, Trump voiced hope that the move would force Democrats to join him in his stymied effort to pass a health-care overhaul in the Republican-led Congress.
After proclaiming the end of a popular program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation, Trump offered to continue it but only if lawmakers move on several of his stalled priorities in return, including funding a U.S.-Mexico border wall that was central to his campaign.
And on Friday, Trump disavowed the international nuclear deal with Iran but held out the possibility of keeping the United States in the pact if Congress attaches new conditions to a deal that he continually derided as a candidate.
The strategy has been cheered by many of the presidents core supporters, who view it as Trump making good on his pledge to be a disruptive force in Washington while dismantling the legacy of former president Barack Obama.
Any time he can be viewed as a strong, disruptive force, hitting D.C. with a wrecking ball, his core base of supporters love it, said Ron Bonjean, a Republican consultant close to the White House.
But such political hostage-taking carries considerable risk, particularly given the paralysis that has gripped Congress in the first nine months of the Trump presidency and the real possibility that the deals Trump is seeking wont materialize. Hanging in the balance now are the ability of millions of Americans including many of Trumps working-class supporters to afford health insurance, the fate of hundreds of thousands of dreamers who could face deportation, and the international standing of the United States.
Theres nothing clever about creating a crisis and hoping Congress responds when the American public is in the crosshairs, said Cecilia Munoz, a longtime immigrant rights advocate who served as Obamas White House domestic policy adviser.
Trumps critics also accuse him of hypocrisy for employing executive orders and other actions at a time when his agenda is stalled in Congress. Trump and other Republicans excoriated Obama for similar tactics, calling him an emperor and a monarch, particularly during the latter part of his presidency, when he faced a hostile GOP Congress.
In Trumps case, he is acting on his own even as his party controls the House and Senate. And Trump is now on pace to sign more executive orders than any president in the past 50 years although some of those actions, particularly early in his term, had limited impact.
Trump's use of executive power to upend the status quo has extended to other areas, including an attempt to renegotiate NAFTA, which was underscored by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the White House last week. Trump's administration also announced a proposed rule that would repeal regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants.
[Trudeau fights to save NAFTA deal, but Trump offers little hope]
Trump aides acknowledge that some of his recent actions are due to his frustration with Congress, which the president has made no effort to hide on Twitter and in public appearances. And they defend his frequent use of executive orders as necessary to undo actions by Obama they consider unconstitutional or otherwise legally problematic.
The president campaigned on a bold agenda, and Congresss inaction wont stop the administrations tireless efforts to boost the economy, improve health care and protect the American people, said White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah.
Supporters outside Washington say the moves show a president unwilling to take no for an answer as he attempts to make good on his campaign promises.
The president is doing what he said hes going to do, said Terry Lathan, chairman of the Republican Party of Alabama. Hes not a man to sit back and wait when told not to do something. Thats not how hes wired. Its one of the reasons he got elected. He will not let barriers stand in his way. Hell go over, under, around it to get something done.
But Trumps critics expressed dismay that he has tried to upend many of Obamas initiatives without a clear strategy of how to move forward to protect some of the countrys most vulnerable populations, which already are being harmed.
What hes done on health care is nothing short of sabotage, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) said. Millions of Americans are paying a price for his egocentric behavior, for his narcissistic behavior.
Malloy argued that Trump seemed motivated more by undoing Obamas legacy than by advancing any coherent policy aims of his own. If he had followed Lincoln, hed have tried to reinstate slavery, said Malloy, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association.
Trump announced Thursday that he was ending insurer subsidies that have been used to lower costs for those who purchase insurance on the individual market under Obamacare. A nonpartisan congressional analysis has suggested that the move could lead to a 20 percent increase in premiums next year.
[White Houses decision to stop ACA cost-sharing subsidies triggers strong opposition]
Trump, who defended the move as ending a giveaway for insurance companies, voiced hope that it would prompt Democrats to work with him. Previous attempts to pass a health-care bill with only Republican votes have repeatedly failed.
What would be nice is if the Democratic leaders could come over to the White House, Trump said Friday. Well negotiate some deal thats good for everybody. Thats what Id like. But theyre always a bloc vote against everything. Theyre like obstructionists. If they came over, maybe we could make a deal.
Some analysts see that prospect as remote, however.
If he thinks this is going to bring Democrats to the table, I think hes sadly mistaken, said Jim Manley, a longtime aide to former Senate minority leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). I cant imagine Democrats are going to reward such bad behavior by trying to cut a deal with him.
The presidents allies, meanwhile, were already championing his action as delivering results.
"President Trump is already the most effective deregulation president in American history," Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, said Friday on a weekly online show sponsored by the president's campaign, citing a claim by former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
Trump announced last month that he would end the Obama-era program to shield from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants, known as dreamers, who were brought into the country illegally as children. Trump offered a six-month delay until the dreamers begin to lose their work permits in March, suggesting that it is up to Congress to forge a legislative solution.
In the meantime, the Trump administration this month issued hard-line immigration principles opposed by Democrats that are likely to make a deal on Capitol Hill more difficult. The administrations wish list includes the funding of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a crackdown on the influx of Central American minors and curbs on federal grants to sanctuary cities.
[Trump releases hard-line immigration principles, threatening dreamer deal]
Already, more than 30,000 dreamers failed to meet a Trump-imposed deadline earlier this month to renew their status in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to the Department of Homeland Security, meaning they could be exposed to enforcement actions, including deportation.
That is quantifiable harm. This is not a game, Munoz said.
Munoz recalled the budget battles on Capitol Hill in 2013 when lawmakers threatened to impose mandatory across-the-board spending cuts in hopes of a better budget deal only to get stuck with the sequestration budget after failing to do so.
Others said Trump's actions are creating unnecessary chaos and risk beyond the United States, pointing to his decisions to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate accord, as well as the Iran nuclear deal.
[Trump plans to declare that Iran nuclear deal is not in the national interest]
Trump boosters say those actions are consistent with the America First vision he articulated on the campaign trail. But supporters of those agreements argue that Trump is risking U.S. credibility, making future deals more difficult as foreign capitals have less confidence that the administration is a reliable partner.
Hes created great uncertainty, particularly on national security, about where were headed, said Wendy Sherman, the former undersecretary of state for political affairs, who was particularly critical of Trumps actions on Iran.
Trump on Friday asked Congress to attach new caveats that could either alter the pact or lead to its rupture. Sounding frustrated and angry, Trump also threatened to unilaterally withdraw from the seven-nation accord if his concerns are not met.
Simon Rosenberg, founder of NDN, a liberal think tank in Washington, said what Trump has done is a blow to the global order that our country built and a sign hes untrustworthy.
Republicans will say hes just honoring campaign promises, but history will not judge Donald Trump on kept promises, but on whether he left America a stronger country, said Rosenberg. He might be keeping his promises, but hes weakening the United States.
Visitors view an exhibition showcasing China's achievements over the past five years at the Beijing Exhibition Hall. A photo of President Xi Jinping overlooks the scene. (Wu Hong/European Pressphoto Agency/EFE)
Xi Jinping's face dominates every wall and every section of a major new exhibition in the Chinese capital. Titled "Five Years of Sheer Endeavor," it portrays China's president as the guiding hand behind every national advance.
From economic progress to military modernization, from triumphs in space to innovations in cyberspace, from construction of high-speed trains to production of simple tractors, the credit goes to Xi.
In photos and videos, he is pictured chatting to toothless, grinning villagers or surrounded by beaming schoolchildren, guiding white-coated scientists and hard-hatted engineers, and being greeted all over the world with pomp and pageantry. Even Barack Obama features, hand on chin, listening intently to the Chinese leader.
Scores of books and documentaries laced with rousing, patriotic music drum home the message: a leader with "resolve and wisdom," a man of the people, approachable and loved by all. Wherever Xi goes, he unleashes a whirlwind of "big-power charisma," China Central Television gushed about a man it rather ominously described as the nation's "supreme leader."
On Wednesday, Chinas Communist Party stages a five-yearly National Congress where Xi will be formally granted a second and supposedly final five-year term as general secretary.
But such is the crescendo of praise directed by the Communist Partys propaganda wing, many experts are wondering: In five years time, will Xi stay or will Xi go?
Conventionally you wouldnt expect adulation on such a scale before a leader assumes the second term, because the second term is usually guaranteed, said party historian Zhang Lifan. The propaganda eulogizing Xi is a reflection of his own insecurities around the upcoming party congress.
Chinas president and party leader, Zhang says, wants to ensure that the congress falls obediently into line behind him and that his acolytes win key leadership roles. That would pave the way for Xi to throw out the rule book, Zhang predicts, and retain power well into the next decade.
What he wants to do is create a very personalized style of leadership where it seems there is no alternative to Xi Jinping in terms of taking the country forward, said Rana Mitter, professor of modern Chinese history and politics at the University of Oxford. The point of comparison is Vladimir Putin, who also runs a very personalized style of rule.
Russias leader, of course, circumvented that countrys two-term presidential limit, ruling for four years through a proxy in the form of Dmitry Medvedev, before retaking the top job for an expanded six-year-long third term in 2012.
The question now is whether Xi will follow in Putins footsteps.
Communist China knows only too well the dangers of a personality cult and a leader who outstays his welcome. Mao Zedong may have led the party to power, but he also led the country into mass starvation under the Great Leap Forward of 1958-1962 and then into the collective madness of the Cultural Revolution. No one is suggesting that the adulation of Xi is comparable to the cult of Mao, or that he might unleash some comparable calamity on China; yet history still serves as warning.
Maos successor, Deng Xiaoping, imposed a system of collective leadership in the 1980s, noted Susan Shirk, head of the China center at the University of California at San Diego, along with rules mandating fixed terms in office, a fixed retirement age and term limits.
For three decades, Dengs model of collective leadership, balancing different views and different factions within the party, was remarkably successful, but by 2012 it was seen by many as having run aground. The economy was still booming, but corruption was rampant while fiefdoms corralled money and power strictly for their own interests.
Colorless men in dark suits lacked connection with ordinary people. Ideologically the party seemed adrift, its ruthless determination to prolong its rule indefinitely its main unifying force.
Enter Xi Jinping and a program to recentralize power, reinvigorate the partys ideology with a new popular nationalism and rejuvenate the nation a China dream of prosperity at home and respect on the world stage.
Xi set up "leading groups" of ministers and advisers to control every aspect of policymaking. Running many of the groups himself, he was soon nicknamed the "Chairman of Everything."
Abroad, state media showed him as august and imposing, but at home he was often depicted as approachable and folksy, eating steamed buns at a modest Beijing restaurant or being snapped with his pant legs rolled up, holding his own umbrella, at a dockyard visit in the rain.
Politically he was coldblooded, launching a campaign against corruption unprecedented in its scope. "It looks like Xi overstepped his own mandate and surprised many with his own political skill and ruthlessness," said Bill Bishop, publisher of the Sinocism newsletter.
In the past five years, 1.34 million officials have reportedly been punished for corruption or violating party discipline, including several "tigers," or senior officials, dozens of senior military officers and two very senior generals. Several victims are portrayed in the exhibition, some crying tears of remorse.
Aspiring politicians now rush to join the bandwagon, says Shirk, eagerly praising Xi in the hope it will advance their careers and protect them from being targeted by the anti-corruption campaign.
Xi has also presided over the most dramatic crackdown on civil society and freedom of speech since the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests hundreds of activists, lawyers, journalists and academics have been jailed, silenced or fired, the space for free speech online significantly narrowed, and talk of greater democracy for the people of Hong Kong crushed.
Nor is satire allowed when it comes to Xi worship. One man was sentenced to two years in jail in April for referring to China's leader as "steamed-bun Xi" and to Mao as a bandit in a chat group, while another was jailed and charged with subversion for referring to him as "Xitler" on Twitter.
But Xi has also presided over a dramatic expansion of Chinas influence abroad, his Belt and Road project and a new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank promising to lavish financial resources around the region and a program of island-building in the South China Sea showing his military muscle.
Yet if liberals and social reformers despair, many people in China applaud Xi Dada, their nickname for Uncle Xi, just as many Russians have embraced Putins populist nationalism.
Xi Dada is different from previous leaders. He is a big personality who is tough, said a 24-year-old postgraduate chemical engineering student, Jiao Hanhui, as he and his classmates looked at the scientific section of the exhibition. The image of China is tougher than before on the world stage, and China has a bigger voice, as well.
In bookstores around town, a collection of Xi's speeches, catchily titled "The Governance of China," is prominently displayed. State media says it is selling like "hot cakes," has received rave reviews and has been greeted around the world as a classic.
Any power grab inevitably creates enemies, and Xi may be more feared than loved by some party members. Following Chinese politics has been compared to peering into a black box, but the upcoming congress might give some clues about how effective Xi has been in clearing out his rivals and about how far his ambitions go.
One such clue: One of the partys rising stars, Sun Zhencai, party secretary in Chongqing, was removed from office in July and accused of corruption, a sign perhaps that Xi would not allow anyone to steal his limelight. China watchers will be looking to see whether any other potential successor emerges at the meeting.
Promotions are usually determined by a combination of seniority and performance, balancing different factions, but Xi may seek to catapult his loyalists into senior roles, right up to the seven-person Politburo Standing Committee.
Another closely watched indicator will be what happens to Wang Qishan, the experienced head of the anti-corruption campaign who is seen as Xi's right-hand man. At 69, past practice suggests Wang should retire, but many people think Xi will rewrite the rules to retain or even promote him.
Whether Xi would simply stay on as president and party general secretary for a third term starting in 2022, take a Putinesque step of ruling through a puppet, or hover in the background with some other title, as Deng Xiaoping did, is uncertain. Despite Xis power, the party could push back against any such attempt. But the risks are evident.
"Xi must avoid the flaws of Putinism, which have set Russia on a trajectory for long-term stagnation," warns Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center. "Overstaying may create a wholly fragile system that cannot survive without its core," he wrote, while "an obsession with stability another negative feature of Putinism may prevent many needed reforms."
Amber Ziye Wang contributed to this report.
Read more:
Believe in the motherland, Chinas leader tells Hong Kong people and respect its might
The walls are closing in: China finds new ways to tighten Internet controls
As U.S. retreats in Asia-Pacific, China fills the void with an ambitious global plan
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Taliban-linked captors who held American Caitlan Coleman and her family for five years killed her infant daughter and allowed Coleman to be raped by a guard, her husband said, introducing a dramatic new layer to a saga that was already marked by mystery.
Joshua Boyle's revelations, which authorities have not confirmed, came after the couple and three of their children were rescued Wednesday in Pakistan, where their Haqqani network captors had taken them from Afghanistan. The operation by the Pakistani military, which was tipped off by U.S. intelligence, may buoy relations between the two countries.
Reading from a statement after the family arrived in Toronto on Friday, Boyle, a Canadian citizen, made his allegations calmly and declined to elaborate.
The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim . . . was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, Boyle said, adding that the killing was in retaliation for my repeated refusal to accept an offer that the Haqqanis had made. He did not specify what the offer was.
He also denounced the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant.
In this image from video released by Taliban Media in December 2016, American citizen Caitlan Coleman talks while her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, holds their children. (AP)
[Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle are free. Their mysterious story is raising new questions.]
Pakistani officials would not comment on the allegations, and the State Department declined to comment, citing respect for the familys privacy. A Taliban spokesman said the rape and murder claims have no basis at all, adding that the baby died in a miscarriage.
The Haqqani network, a family-based guerrilla group with roots in southeastern Afghanistan, is closely affiliated with the Taliban and is considered the most lethal and resilient enemy of U.S. forces there. It is headquartered in the area of the Pakistan border and also held U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five years, during which he reportedly was kept chained or in a cage and was frequently beaten. Bergdahl was released in a 2014 in exchange for five Taliban figures held by the United States.
Generally, they dont treat prisoners humanely, said Hamed Daqeeq, a former Afghan government official who is now a political analyst in Kabul. In the past, freed detainees spoke of being tortured and beaten badly by the group, he said.
The Haqqanis, many of whose leaders have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan over the years, also are allegedly responsible for the 2009 suicide attack on a CIA facility near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, in which seven CIA officers and contractors were killed.
Coleman and Boyle were abducted in October 2012 while traveling in a remote area of Afghanistan outside Kabul.
[What were Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle really doing in Afghanistan?]
Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Khadr, once the youngest detainee at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay after he pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. Special Forces medic.
Boyle said he and Coleman were in Afghanistan to help villagers who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan where no NGO [nongovernmental organization], no aid worker and no government has ever successfully been able to bring the necessary help. The couple had previously said that they were on a six-month hiking trip through Central Asia.
At the time, Coleman was pregnant, and she gave birth to her children in captivity. Before the new allegations, the couple was believed to have three children, who were rescued with their parents.
In a video released last year, Coleman said her family was in a Kafkaesque nightmare and that her children had seen their mother defiled.
U.S. officials in recent months had suspected that Boyle, Coleman and their children were being held inside Afghanistan, although 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 of their whereabouts and passed the intelligence to Pakistani officials, who carried out the rescue.
According to Pakistani military officials and Boyles account, the operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captors final, terrifying threat to kill the hostage.
Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
U.S. officials did not confirm those details.
[Inside American Caitlan Colemans five-year ordeal as a Taliban prisoner]
But officials in Islamabad were eager to share the drama behind an operation that may help pull their country back into favor with the United States after President Trump chastised Pakistan as offering "safe havens" to terrorists and hinted at possible sanctions. Pakistan denies providing havens for militants.
On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the Pakistani army, said the rescue effort began after a U.S. diplomat informed Pakistani officials that the family was being moved.
The rescuers fired at the vehicles tires and cordoned the one that was carrying the family, he said.
Our first priority was that the captives are brought out safely. We wanted to isolate the terrorists and captives, and we wanted to come between the terrorists and hostages, which we did, so that the captives remain safe, Ghafoor said.
He did not address Boyles allegations of rape and murder.
A U.S. military official said that a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan on Wednesday prepared to fly the family out. The team conducted a preliminary health assessment and had a transport plane ready, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said. In his statement Friday in Toronto, Boyle denied reports that he refused to board the plane.
The family was flown instead to Toronto, where, according to reports, Boyle said that one child was malnourished and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
He called on the Taliban to bring the Haqqani network to justice.
In a video recorded in Pakistan after the rescue and released Saturday by the Pakistani military, Boyle praised the countrys military for its bravery and professionalism, saying that a car of one rescue team was riddled with bullets and that the Pakistani agents got between the criminals and the car to make sure that . . . my family was safe.
The Western world will look at Pakistan a little bit differently now after this has happened, Boyle said, and will understand that it is not a third-world disaster area run by incompetent people at all. It is actually on the world stage and on the front lines.
Read more:
American woman, Canadian husband and children freed in Pakistan after 5-year hostage ordeal
The U.S. says Pakistan must work with Afghanistan on terrorism. It wont be easy.
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
This frame grab from a video provided Friday by Turkey-based Kurdish Mezopotamya agency media outlet shows Syrian civilians running on a damaged street as they flee from the areas still controlled by Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria. (Uncredited/AP)
Preparations are underway to evacuate civilians from the Islamic State's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa under the terms of a deal that could also see local militants boarding the buses.
Foreign fighters, however, have purportedly been excluded from the deal, according to the U.S.-led coalition, which has the city under siege.
In a statement, the coalition said the deal is designed to minimize civilian casualties and that the convoy of evacuation buses would be searched and screened by a U.S.-backed ground force. But it also tried to distance itself from the arrangement brokered by a local civilian council and Arab tribal elders.
We do not condone any arrangement that allows Daesh terrorists to escape Raqqah without facing justice, only to resurface somewhere else, said Brig. Gen. Jonathan Braga, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. We remain concerned about the thousands of civilians in Raqqah who remain subject to Daesh cruelty.
Three years after Raqqa became the de facto capital of a self-proclaimed caliphate spanning Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is now clinging onto its last foothold there.
The battle for the city began in June, with a U.S.-backed militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces leading heavy street-by-street fighting amid intense coalition airstrikes and shelling.
In comments to the Associated Press, Omar Alloush, an official from Raqqas local council, confirmed said that local fighters have been included in the evacuation agreement. The apparent exclusion of foreign fighters, who stand the least chance of slipping away unnoticed, suggested that they would now be left alone to defend their final sliver of territory.
It was unclear Saturday whether the evacuation buses would leave for SDF-controlled territory or for that still held by the Islamic State. In September, U.S. warplanes temporarily blocked a convoy carrying hundreds of the groups fighters and their families after Hezbollah and the Syrian government permitted them to withdraw from a besieged enclave on the Lebanon-Syria border.
On Saturday, Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said it was now important that the actions of those evacuated were monitored and tracked and that Syrian militants were not able to reenter the conflict.
Hundreds of fighters in Raqqa are believed to have surrendered in recent days, leaving a bombed-out ghost city in their wake. But thousands of civilians remain trapped in the middle of the remaining dogfight, acting as human shields for the Islamic States militants and forcing the SDF to slow its final advance.
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in the province have also killed hundreds of civilians, according to monitoring groups and a war crimes inquiry by the United Nations.
Raqqas strategic significance has diminished as a range of international forces rolled back Islamic State territory across Syria and Iraq, with senior leaders moving east to the border regions between the two.
But the loss of the city would mark a symbolic blow. During more than three years of control, the citys name became synonymous with the Islamic States most brutal excesses. Footage showing beheadings and the severing of limbs as punishment were shown around the world. Attacks on European soil were planned there, too.
On Saturday, the Syrian Defense Ministry said it had captured the eastern city of al-Mayadeen, a key Islamic State holdout where Western officials believe the groups top officials have moved in recent months.
The pro-Syrian government Al-Ikhbariya TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying that the militant groups defenses in Mayadeen collapsed on Saturday, with troops chasing the remaining Islamic State fighters out of town as engineers cleared land mines. Video footage from the area showed military vehicles rolling through empty streets, with soldiers flashing victory signs for the camera.
Suzan Haidamous in Beirut and Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.
Read more:
Civilian casualties spiral in Syria as air raids target areas marked for cease-fire
Syrian soldier has been sentenced for battlefield crimes. Why did it take so long?
ISIS releases audio it claims to be of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
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Just before President Trump announced on Friday that he would decertify the Iran nuclear deal, French President Emmanuel Macron called his counterpart in Tehran to offer reassurance, Macrons office said in a statement. No matter what Trump said, he told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Europe would continue to back the agreement.
The Europeans were only interested in Irans money, Trump scoffed to reporters later that day. Macron, he said, had also called him.
I said: Look, Emmanuel, they just gave Renault a lot of money, Trump related, referring to a recent business deal between Iran and the French carmaker. Take their money; enjoy yourselves. But well see what happens.
What has already happened is a widening chasm of mutual disdain between the United States and its traditional allies. Trump sees them as self-interested freeloaders who must be reminded of U.S. power. They see him as an erratic force who must be managed as he squanders American leadership.
[Fact-checking President Trumps speech on the Iran deal]
Republican and Democratic lawmakers were largely split in their reactions to Trumps announcement that he would terminate the nuclear deal if Congress didnt come up with a way to rewrite it to his liking. Many Republicans congratulated the president and agreed it was time to get tough against Iran.
Many Democrats criticized Trump for what Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said was "clearly a political decision" made to please his base voters "and not a strategic one." Reed and others warned that Trump's insistence on changing the original agreement risked conflict and would be opposed by U.S. negotiating partners who had also signed it Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
When Trump invited them to join him in holding Irans feet to the fire, Russia and China said there was nothing to talk about. The Europeans, in a joint statement, said they were eager to discuss their shared complaints about Iran its ballistic missile program and support for terrorism but that there could be no changes in the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini bordered on scornful, saying in a statement Friday that the JCPOA is not a domestic issue and does not belong to any single country to demand changes. Trump was powerful, she said, but did not have the power to do that.
[Europeans say Trump has no power to cancel Iran deal]
But several senior officials from the European signatory countries said privately that there was little to be gained, for now, by shouting their opposition. Instead, their plan is to continue trying to convince U.S. lawmakers that there was much to lose if they take the path Trump has set for Congress.
All refused to speak for quotation out of what they said was worry that they would add fuel to an already smoldering fire. But they uniformly expressed concern about what they described as yet another instance of America walking away from an international commitment.
Last spring, as Trump prepared for his first overseas trip in May, White House aides outlined his game plan to assume the mantle of global primacy.
One thing he has the ability to do is really bring people together and galvanize people around a common set of goals, a senior adviser said in describing objectives for the 10-day tour that took Trump to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Rome, Brussels and a G-20 meeting in Sicily.
Rather than a liability, Trumps unpredictability . . . is a real asset, said the adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under White House ground rules. The new president, he said, was sending one big message, which is America is ready to lead in the world again.
Yet instead of leading, Trumps my way or the highway approach has been a detour from the multilateral road the United States has traveled since World War II. And as Trump has left behind, or threatened to, the premier international agreements of this century, from the Paris climate accord to global trade alliances and now the Iran nuclear deal, he has not had many willing followers.
Among the exceptions, governments in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined Israel in praising what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trumps courageous decision on Iran.
Yet even those who have proclaimed him as a leader have sometimes not felt bound by his demands. Early in his administration, Trump gently chastised Israel for its West Bank settlements, saying that they dont help the process and were not a good thing for peace. He has remained silent, however, as Netanyahus government, including as recently as last week, has approved additional settlements, leading some perplexed Israeli commentators to speculate on whether he made a secret deal with Netanyahu.
In May, when the heads of dozens of Muslim-majority countries gathered in Riyadh to listen to him speak about a unified fight against terrorism, Trump claimed credit for a unity agreement on counterterrorism cooperation signed with the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Just days later, the Saudis and Emiratis, joined by fellow GCC member Bahrain and Egypt, broke relations with Qatar, another council member, and closed their air and sea borders to it. While Trump initially supported the action even as his State and Defense Department secretaries called for it to be reversed he later changed course.
Appearing last month with the visiting emir of Kuwait, Trump called for the gulf states to patch up their differences and said if the problem wasnt quickly resolved, he would summon regional leaders to the White House and take care of it. Since then, he has said nothing publicly about a presidential intervention.
Trump has claimed massive progress in the U.S. fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq under his leadership. But he was unable to persuade Iraqs Kurdistan Regional Government, one of Americas closest military and political allies in the region, to call off an independence referendum late last month that has left Iraq in a turmoil the administration has been powerless to resolve.
Similarly in Turkey, where Trump last month said bilateral ties under his administration were better than ever, relations now seem to be at a modern all-time low, with tit-for-tat suspension of visa issuance earlier this month.
Rather than galvanizing respect and unity, Trump sometimes appears to engender resentment and division. Although NATO members agreed in 2014 to increase their domestic defense spending, Trumps exhortations and threats to diminish the U.S. presence in the alliance seemed to spur some countries to speed up that process. But his subsequent chest-beating has left many irritated and bitter.
Even in Asia, where he has worked to build personal relationships with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both of whom he will visit on a lengthy trip next month Trump can befuddle. Early this month, he undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillersons efforts to keep open channels of communication with North Korea, telling Tillerson via Twitter to stop wasting his time trying to negotiate with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program. North Korea, he said, had made fools of U.S. negotiators in the past.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that if something can happen where we can negotiate, with North Korea, Im always open to that.
On Aug 27, 2005, two days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, officials at the American Red Cross wrote to a top homeland security adviser at the White House, warning that the storm was likely to slam New Orleans as a major hurricane.
The message was sent to Kirstjen Nielsen, whose title was special assistant to the president for prevention, preparedness and response. She was 33 years old.
It was the first of many alarming emails Nielsen would receive over the following days as water poured into New Orleans and the city was deluged. And in the storm of blame that followed the costliest natural disaster in American history, Nielsen's team was widely criticized for its passive and clumsy response.
Twelve years later, President Trump has nominated Nielsen to the top job at the Department of Homeland Security. As DHS secretary, she would be in charge of a 240,000-employee agency with a $40 billion budget whose many responsibilities include managing disasters such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
"There will be no on-the-job training for Kirstjen," Trump said Thursday as he announced her nomination at the White House, praising her "sterling reputation." He noted she would be the first DHS secretary to have previous experience at the agency.
She is ready on day one, Trump said.
Nielsens exact role in the Katrina episode remains unclear, but the ordeal could leave her facing tough questioning during her Senate confirmation hearings, which are likely to be held in the next few weeks.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, sent a letter Thursday to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate committee that will question Nielsen, expressing his serious concern about her fitness for the role.
While I am pleased the President has finally named a nominee for this critical national security position, I am greatly troubled by Ms. Nielsens record, the letter stated. Given the ongoing tragedy in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with other homeland security challenges facing our Nation, the Department of Homeland Security must have a proven, capable leader as Secretary.
Unfortunately, Ms. Nielsens record raises questions about her suitability for such a position, he wrote.
[Trump nominates cybersecurity expert to lead DHS ]
Former DHS and White House officials who worked with Nielsen during Katrina said it would be grossly unfair to hold her responsible for the Bush administrations botched response to a calamity that killed more than 1,800 and drove a million Americans from their homes.
Former colleagues remember her and her small staff of about five aides working around the clock as a torrent of information some of it erroneous poured into the White House while the catastrophe played out on live television.
If anything, Nielsens defenders say, the Katrina episode left her a front-row seat to the countrys most notorious case of federal emergency mismanagement. If she can articulate what she learned from the episode to senators at her confirmation hearings, she has the chance to turn a black mark on her career into an asset.
She started off with the Super Bowl, said Matthew Broderick, the retired Marine Corps general who was in charge of the Homeland Security Operations Center during Katrina, and resigned several months later. Usually with these things you get a few games to work your way up.
Broderick said Nielsens job was mostly to serve as a traffic cop for information during the chaotic days following the storm, and he remembers her doing a great job.
She wasnt in charge of anything, so all she could do was react to the requests we were making and make sure they were completed as smoothly as possible, Broderick said. She couldnt control what was going on only mitigate it.
Nielsen, who is currently the deputy chief of staff at the White House, did not respond to interview requests. But in the post-Katrina autopsies produced by House and Senate bipartisan committees, which together run more than 1,300 pages, Nielsens name repeatedly comes up.
In the months before the storm, Nielsen was one of a handful of White House officials warned of the so-called New Orleans scenario: a hurricane rated Category 3 or higher hitting the city and bursting its aging levees.
The 582-page bipartisan House report, "A Failure of Initiative," specifically faults Nielsen's White House team for failing to recognize the threat to New Orleans from Katrina and conveying the gravity of the situation after the storm hit.
I dont want to underplay it, but she was like the rest of us, said Gail Kulisch, a retired Coast Guard officer who was an aide to then-DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff during Katrina. We were busy staffers trying to do the kings business.
Even after the lone Federal Emergency Management Agency official sent to New Orleans alerted Nielsen and other White House staffers of broken levees, residents trapped on roofs and corpses floating in the streets, there was little detectable urgency from President George W. Bush and Chertoff. The DHS secretary went to Atlanta to attend a conference on avian flu; Bush gave a speech in California and was photographed happily strumming a guitar.
It does not appear the president received adequate advice and counsel from a senior disaster professional, the House report concluded.
Nielsen was supposed to be that professional on his staff.
"Despite the clear warnings before landfall that Katrina would be catastrophic, the President and the White House staff were not sufficiently engaged and failed to initiate a sufficiently strong and proactive response," a group of Democratic senators wrote in a section of the 737-page Senate report "Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared."
Nielsens team was singled out for failing to properly manage the flow of urgent on-the-ground reports sent to the White House.
The White House staff did not fully engage the president or substantiate, analyze and act on the information at its disposal, the House report concluded, noting Nielsens team failed to confirm the collapse of New Orleanss levee system on Aug. 29, the day of Katrinas landfall.
Frances Townsend, who was Bushs top homeland security adviser during Katrina and Nielsens boss, defended her protegees performance. You have information coming in from all different places, so youre trying to discern whats true and what isnt, or what were real needs and what arent, she said. In fairness to Kirstjen, we were being overrun.
Townsend, who has been a prominent public supporter of Nielsens nomination to DHS secretary, said Katrina taught Nielsen and others critical lessons about the way the federal government handles emergencies and natural disasters. Chains of command are clearer. Disaster declarations are now made in advance. DHS agencies have learned to pre-position abundant supplies into disaster zones ahead of time.
[Three weeks after Maria, much of Puerto Rico still dark, thirsty and frustrated ]
And the biggest lesson, Townsend said, is that the federal government isnt a good first responder. In Katrina and Maria, the ability of state and local authorities to respond is the biggest determinant of your success, she said.
The House report on Katrina found exactly that, recommending that the federal government, and especially the Defense Department, must move quickly to fill in for state and local authorities when they are incapacitated by the disaster.
Its the same scenario that has played out once more in Puerto Rico, where DHS and FEMA officials say they did not expect to have to assume so much responsibility.
It was March 2020, and the world was closing down as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. At first, the news of...
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This article was published 13/10/2017 (1859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A questionnaire used by Quebec RCMP targeting Muslim asylum seekers crossing into Canada was not used by Mounties in Manitoba, police say.
This was a local initiative in C Division (Quebec) and was not sanctioned by RCMP national headquarters and was not a national standard operating procedure, RCMP media relations in Ottawa said Friday, issuing a statement rather than responding to specific questions.
The Quebec RCMP questionnaire asked asylum seekers, among other things, which religion they practise, how many times a day they pray and for their opinion of women not wearing Muslim head scarves or hijabs.
John Woods / The Canadian Press files Migrants from Somalia cross into Canada from the United States in February.
This is the first Ive ever heard about this, said Winnipeg immigration lawyer Bashir Khan, who has represented several of the 813 asylum seekers who entered Manitoba irregularly this year.
None of his clients who walked across the border into Canada and were intercepted by the RCMP ever mentioned being grilled about their faith, Khan said.
The RCMP said the guide used in Quebec has been revised to remove three questions, but wouldnt specify which three.
The document only came to light after it was given by mistake to a refugee claimant who provided it to his lawyer.
Quebec has been dealing with a surge in the number of asylum seekers crossing from the U.S. from 245 in January up to 5,530 in August.
The questionnaire Quebec Mounties used was intended to streamline processing and provide consistency in preliminary risk assessments, the police forces national headquarters said Friday.
The RCMP is committed to protecting the safety of Canadians and keeping our borders secure, the RCMP said.
When individuals are intercepted crossing the border illegally, their intentions are not known. Officers use the tools at their disposal to confirm the identity of the individuals, and to assess their activities and intentions while respecting the human rights of the individual.
At the same time, people seeking asylum in Canada must be treated with compassion and afforded due process under the law.
A new document for questioning and screening refugee claimants is being drafted by RCMP headquarters, and will be shared across the country and replace the revised questionnaire used in Quebec.
This new guide will adhere to the RCMPs bias-free policing policy, which is based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination, as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act, the RCMP Act, and the RCMPs mission, vision and values, the Mounties said.
The RCMP does not target any individual or group based solely on their racial, gender, ethnic or religious background, and focuses on observed or suspected criminality and behaviours.
Headquarters said its conducting a thorough review to determine what data targeting Muslims was gathered and possibly stored by the Quebec RCMP and what to do with it.
The RCMP said it wouldnt provide further comment until the review is finished.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion
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This article was published 14/10/2017 (1858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Although we now live in a vast internet landscape with immense amounts of content, the diversity and quality of the news media we consume continues to be a concern. Large sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google should not be trusted to solve these problems.
Internet news platforms have contributed to the closure of traditional news outlets that are the source of much of the quality news consumed online. The internet has facilitated the rise to dominance of a few global mega-platforms. Some of these platforms encourage clickbait stories with enticing headlines and no substance. They create filter bubbles that discourage access to multiple perspectives.
Unfortunately, the Canadian governments new cultural policy, the Creative Canada Policy Framework, does not adequately address these concerns. The framework, issued by Canadian Heritage, calls support for local news production a pillar of its plan, acknowledging challenges within the traditional news ecosystem.
Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files Heritage Minister Melanie Joly says the Liberal government has no plan to bail out industry models that are no longer viable.
No plans to support news
Yet the framework offers virtually no new support to Canadian news production, one of the most important, and most threatened, foundations of Canadian democracy. In a speech announcing the new policy, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said the Liberal government has no plan to bail out industry models that are no longer viable. This lack of support for news production is the frameworks most disastrous failing.
While the government has recently made a commitment to increase funding to the CBC, the Creative Canada framework dedicates no new funding for Canadian local news, despite urgent recommendations by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in June and the Public Policy Forum in February.
There will be no new funding to the Canadian Periodical Fund to support Canadian newspapers, though the framework suggests expanding the programs eligibility criteria. Expanding eligibility criteria, with no additional funds, could mean less funding per publication. Further, the eligibility criteria are not expanded to permit daily newspapers to qualify, despite the recommendation made by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in June to expand the fund to daily newspapers.
Misplaced faith in mega-platforms
Rather than providing a way forward, the Liberal government suggests that Facebook, Twitter and Google will jumpstart digital news innovation. The efforts of these organizations in the realm of news have, to date, been widely criticized for spreading fake news, soaking up advertising dollars that once supported news production, and permitting unsavoury ad targeting.
Furthermore, Facebooks founder does not accept that Facebook is a media company. Creative Canadas reliance on social media companies to solve the problems facing the news industry is woefully misplaced.
With appropriate interventions and support, the internet could be a tremendous force for content diversification in news and other media. However, those recent recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (CHPC) and the Public Policy Forum (PPF) have been ignored or rejected by the government in this new policy framework.
Some of these recommendations included: A Future of Journalism and Democracy Fund; an expansion of the funding categories within the Canadian Periodical Fund to include daily and free community newspapers; greater emphasis on CBCs news and information functions; a recommendation to publish CBC content on Creative Commons licences, opening the content to other news organizations; a CRTC review to encourage greater monitoring of local news production requirements; the incorporation of a diversity of voices test to ensure media mergers do not eliminate media competition in the Competition Act; and the application of ethics guidelines and press councils to digital media.
Hope for the future
The new framework takes several positive steps. The governments commitments to reach gender parity within its creative institutions is hopeful. The policy makes commitments to women-directed productions at the CBC, NFB and Telefilm Canada and promises to use Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+), an analytic tool used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people may experience policies, programs and initiatives.
As well, the government has plans to invest in Indigenous creators. The creation of an Indigenous Screen Office in June and new training by the CBC to encourage Indigenous voices point to positive changes.
Fortunately, there are several opportunities in the near future for the Canadian government to step up to the plate. Creative Canada suggests more announcements may be made regarding the Canadian Periodical Fund in 2018. The federal governments review of the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act could provide another opportunity to put recommendations regarding the CBC and the CRTC into action, strengthening its pillar of support for Canadian news.
Sara Bannerman is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Communication Policy and Governance at McMaster University.
This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca.
French President Emmanuel Macron used this years Frankfurt Book Fair, at which France is the official guest nation, to advocate his concept of a militarised and authoritarian Europe dominated by France and Germany.
In his speech at the fair, which he opened jointly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Macron boasted about Europes culture. Without culture, no Europe! he declared to his audience, citing Goethe, and praising Walter Benjamin, Charles Baudelaire and Edmund Husserl, as well as the latters French translator, Paul Ricoeur, Macrons favourite philosopher. He spent some time at the book fair, chatted with authors, translators and visitors, and called for every second European young person to be given the opportunity to spend six months in another European country to learn the language.
Prior to this, Macron revealed the reactionary essence of his vision for Europe in the ballroom at Frankfurts Goethe University. It has nothing in common with the cosmopolitan ideals of a Goethe or Beethoven, to the sound of whose Ode to Joy Macron made an eerie appearance at the Louvre on election night in France.
Macron is striving for a heavily armed Europe capable of pursuing its own global imperialist strategy while suppressing domestic opposition. He developed his Europe vision on the same day as just a few hundred miles to the west, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers at schools, hospitals and transport firms took strike action against Macrons labour market reforms.
Macrons invocation of European culture serves to win support for his reactionary project among the educated middle class, which once styled itself as progressive but has now, in the face of growing international and social conflicts, discovered its love for the nation, military and a strong state. Nobody embodies this transformation better than Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who served at the Goethe University as Macrons stooge.
During the 1968 student revolt in France, Cohn-Bendit became a star in the media, which nicknamed him Danny the Red and crafted his image as the terror of bourgeois society, even though the student leader, who rejected Marxism in favour of an anarchist sponti theory, never represented a threat to the bourgeois order.
In the 1970s, Cohn-Bendit and his close friend and protege Joschka Fischer turned their backs on street battles and set out on the long march through the institutions that would lead them into high positions within the state. Fischer became the first Green minister in a state government in 1985 and German foreign minister in 1998. In this role, he paved the way for the first foreign intervention by the German army since World War II and supported Chancellor Gerhard Schroders anti-working class Agenda 2010.
Cohn-Bendit, who is both a German and French citizen, made a career for himself in the Greens on both sides of the Rhine. He was a member of the European Parliament for twenty years, leading the Green group until 2014. In this role, he backed wars in the Middle East and North Africa, and authored a manifesto in defence of the European Union (EU) together with the former Liberal prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt.
At the Goethe University, Cohn-Bendit supplied Macron with the prompts to develop his vision of Europe as a militarily strong power. He said it was fantastic that the French and German armies were conducting a joint military intervention in Mali, despite their different traditions. Europe must go further in this direction, he added.
Macron responded with praise for Merkel. In recent years, she has played an important role in Germany once again investing in the armed forces. Much had changed, he continued, and Germany was now militarily active in many locations. Although unlike in France, the army in Germany was not subordinate to the president, German military intervention in Mali had been made possible by Merkel, he said.
And that was not all. Germany is strongly represented in the sub-Sahara zone, said Macron. And that is very important for us. The French president noted in this context that additional joint plans with the German chancellor existed. For example, it was very important to coordinate Europes intelligence agencies, to develop, order and purchase fighter jets together.
The third individual on the podium, sociologist and Jihad expert Gilles Kepel, provided Macron with proposals to support this policy. He explained that Europe had become very insecure and had to ensure more security, especially in the Mediterranean zone, which he described as our Mare Nostrum.
Macron asserted that Europe required a geopolitical goal. A political roadmap has to be developed. In the wars carried out to date, this had been absent, he added. France did not take part in the Iraq war, Macron noted, but it had failed to develop its own strategy. The absence of its own political vision encouraged terrorism. We deceived ourselves and left an ever expanding space for the terrorists, said Macron.
It is clear what he means by this. In his view, Europes mistake in the Middle East and North Africa was that it did not pursue its own strategy, distinct from the American and Russian. He wants to change this. Europe should in future more aggressively advance its own imperialist interests in the imperialist wars, wars that have already claimed the lives of millions and forced millions more to flee.
On the situation in the Middle East, Europe had to manage and resolve the conflicts that give rise to wars. In Syria, the West is experiencing its greatest defeat. What do we have there: Russia, Turkey and Iran are active therethat is crazy. The question has to be asked, What can Europe contribute there?, because too often there is nothing to be seen from the United Nations, from Europe.
Cohn-Bendit repeatedly addressed controversial topics and attempted to push Macron even further to the right. One example was his call for the EU to play a greater role in the suppression of the Catalan independence movement. Why isnt Europe waking up? The separatist leaders are getting a hearingbut why does Europe not act? the French ex-leftist demanded to know.
Macron, who has repeatedly expressed support for the Spanish governments violent crackdown, answered that France could not intervene in the internal affairs of the Spanish state, but noted, Spain belongs to Europe. The Catalonian actions are not provided for in the Spanish constitutional order. He subsequently added that Spains sovereignty could not be interfered with.
Macron backs the Spanish governments violent crackdown against Catalan voters, and he is seeking to write the state of emergency in France permanently into law. This would enable the police to clamp down on workers who resist his neoliberal labour market reforms. Macron has already denounced these workers as slackers, cynics and extremists.
While Cohn-Bendit backed Macron in Frankfurt, Germanys Greens are preparing to enter a governing coalition with the conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party. This government will accelerate the military build-up and the attacks on the working class. This will, notwithstanding the commitment to a European vision, intensify divisions between France and Germany and accelerate the breakup of the European Union. The only way to unite Europe on a progressive basis is the United Socialist States of Europe.
Among the victims of the fires that have ripped through Californias wine country this week are thousands of undocumented workers, who make up the work force of vineyards, wineries and in tourism.
Different from other crops, vineyards depend on a year-round work force, as do the wineries. As a result, many undocumented immigrants and their families have established roots in the area. One Sonoma County official estimated that 20,000 undocumented workers live and work in the county.
Federal immigration agents have reportedly suspended their activities in Northern California because of the fire emergency according to ICE spokesperson James Schwab. He did not indicate when that suspension would end. Still, many immigrants are being extra cautious and hesitate to seek aid or refuge in shelters provided by the state.
The Sacramento Bee spoke to Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins who was checking out reports of caravans of immigrant workers and their families heading toward the Pacific Coast: I saw dozens of families, she said. They are traumatized. They lost homes. It is cold out there. But they are afraid that they will be targeted by ICE, if they go to shelters.
Sonoma County officials have vouched for the safety of immigrants in county shelters and the Sonoma County Sheriff also tried to assure immigrant workers. According to the Sacramento Bee: Theres a rumor out there that people are checking immigration status in shelters and that is not true. Shelters are asking for names because they want to identify the people who are coming into the shelter. Immigration status will not be asked of you
Once they return back to their homes, undocumented workers may not be allowed through checkpoints, however, since police officials will demand government issued IDs. However safe immigrant families may feel in shelters, it is certain that they will be excluded from long term federal emergency help.
As of Friday morning, forest, field and brush fires continued their devastation in Northern California.
The series of fires sweeping through wine country have obliterated 3,500 homes and businesses, including historic wineries and more than 90,000 businesses and homes have been left without power. Since the wild fires hit last Sunday night authorities have been busy carrying out mass evacuations, barely staying ahead of the spreading flames, including all 3,500 residents of the city of Calistoga.
So far at least 31 people have died and 600 have been reported missing in the northern counties of Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa and Yuba. Most impacted have been the elderlythe average age of the victims is 79, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
One of the most tragic deaths took place on Thursday in Mendocino County. Kai Shepherd, a 14-year-old youth, died as his family was escaping the Red Wood Valley. The family was fleeing together in a car when it was engulfed in flames. His sister Kressa, 17, survived but lost her legs; both she and her parents will require skin grafts.
Daniel Berlant, California Fire Assistant Deputy Director declared that, collectively, these are the deadliest fires in the states history. We havent seen anything like this in Northern California, said Governor Jerry Brown, who has declared states of emergency in nine counties. Brown warned on Thursday that the efforts to combat the fires is not in any way finished. There is great concern of further destruction since the fires have already hit urban areas.
Daniel Swain, a climate specialist from UCLA, in an interview with the BBC network, described the extraordinary climate events that combined to create these catastrophic firesa combination of a wet winter, which triggered the growth of underbrush, a hot summer that dried it out, and hot and dry desert westerly winds that occur every autumn. Unfortunately, all the conditions are present for an unprecedented event, declared Swain.
As if all that were not enough, the strong winds have significantly degraded the air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area, affecting people suffering from pulmonary conditions, and forcing the cancellation of outdoor events this weekend. A local air quality official said that the air in the Bay Area on Thursday and Friday was the worst ever, and comparable to the highly polluted air in Beijing. Oakland, 45 miles (72 km) south of the fire, has been covered in smoke.
There is more optimism in Southern California where fires broke out in the hills and suburbs south of Los Angeles earlier this week. Lower wind activity on Wednesday allowed firefighters to gradually gain control and set a perimeter around the Canyon Fire 2. It is estimated that 65 percent of the fire is now under control. Barring a surge of wind activity, Orange County officials hope that the fire will be fully contained by Saturday, meaning that there will be minimal possibility that the fire would jump out of its perimeter.
Since it began on Monday morning, the Canyon Fire 2 has consumed 10,000 acres of land. It has destroyed 25 structures in the cities of Anaheim, Orange and Tustin, including 15 homes, while 48 other structures were damaged.
In a militarist speech at the White House, US President Donald Trump announced new sanctions against Iran and threatened to terminate the 2015 nuclear agreement with the country. Iran is not living up to the spirit of the deal, said Trump yesterday. As a result, there will be new tough sanctions imposed on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, described by Trump as a corrupt terror force.
The US government will not re-certify the deal negotiated in 2015 and will leave it up to Congress to strengthen it. Should Iran not come to terms with the US Congress and others, Washington will terminate the agreement. The agreement is under continuous review, warned Trump, our participation can be cancelled by me, as President, at any time. As we have seen in North Korea, the longer we ignore a threat, the worse that threat becomes.
Trumps aggressive course of action against Iran has elicited strong reactions in Berlin. Shortly after Trumps speech, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stepped before the cameras to declare: That is a problematic and, in our view, dangerous sign. The deal with Iran showed for the first time that it is possible to prevent war through negotiations and, above all, to prevent a country from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Gabriel, along with other leading political and media figures, have previously warned of the far-reaching military, political and economic consequences that could follow such a step. A termination of the Iran agreement would turn the Middle East into a hotbed of crisis, Gabriel said in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
Asked if Trump was playing with world peace in the matter of Iran, Gabriel responded: It would be a devastating blow to nuclear disarmament. Some states could see the breakdown of the Iran agreement as a sign that they should acquire nuclear weapons as quickly as possible.
This concerns far more than Iran, added Gabriel. It would be completely futile to push North Korea toward the adoption of a security treaty if the Iran deal falls through. The world would not be safer or more peaceful if we set the most dangerous element, the nuclear weapons, on edge again. The agreement with Iran must not be abandoned, added Gabriel, because the immediate threat of a new war would return.
Gabriels warnings having nothing to do with pacifism. As the leading spokesperson for German and European militarism, his declared objective is the building of a Berlin-dominated European Army capable of enforcing its global interests independently of NATO and the US and, if necessary, against the latter.
Europes security is Europes own responsibility, writes the Social Democrat Gabriel in his latest book. We must become capable of strategizing and acting from a foreign and security policy standpoint, because it is still insufficient. This includes defining our European interests and articulating them independently of the United States. This self-interest also requires to some extent an emancipation from the course charted by Washington.
With Trumps new Iran strategy, Gabriel and large sections of the German ruling class believe the time has come to put this aspiration into practice. One must tell the Americans that their behaviour brings we Europeans to a common position with Russia and China against the US in the Iran question, says Gabriel.
Like Germany, France and Great Britain, Beijing and Moscow are signatories to the 2015 Iran agreement and oppose its termination. Even politicians and media figures who have been rather pro-American and supported US-led wars, now speak openly of a break with the US.
The chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the German parliament, Norbert Rottgen (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) told the ZDF-Morgenmagazin that Trump is posing the question of the United States compliance with the agreement. Rottgen declared, That is very fundamental. The Europeans will not follow them. We will have a transatlantic wedge between the US and Europe.
The lead article in the latest edition of Die Zeit states that Americas European partners, even the Brits, agree: the agreement must be obeyed. Should Trump break it, that would also mean a break with his partners. The Europeans must then try alone to maintain the diplomatic containment of the Iranian troublemakers. Inevitably without Americaon the side of China and Russia.
The German foreign office leaves no doubt that fundamental economic and geostrategic conflicts lie behind the breakup of the transatlantic alliance. Asked whether the answer to Trumps Iran policy was significantly more European investment in Iran, Gabriel answered, Yes. But if the United States threatens investment in Iran with punitive actions against the relevant businesses, then not much will be done with investment. That cannot be in our interest.
Berlin, like Paris and London, has arranged contracts worth billions in Iran and sees Trumps course as a threat to its efforts to develop new energy resources and markets for Germanys export economy in Iran. As a result, the German economy had great hopes in the Iran agreement and the related suspension of sanctions in January 2016. The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) reportedly expected a doubling of trade from 2.4 billion (2015) to 5 billion within two years and within five years an increase to 10 billion.
A return to the US-dictated sanctions regime would be a blow to business for the significantly revived trade relations, Volker Treier, the DIHK foreign business chief, commented to the German Press Agency. The German economy has relied on the international agreement and with it the new conditions of lighter sanctions, Treier added. After all, Iran has the second-largest natural gas and fourth-largest oil reserves in the world and the exploitation of this potential would be very difficult under new sanctions.
The working class must not underestimate these dangerous developments. As in the first half of the last century, the competition between the imperialist powers for markets and raw materials is leading once again to trade war and military conflict. Only a politically conscious intervention by the working class based on a socialist program can put a stop to the warmongers and prevent another catastrophe.
Asia
Pakistan: PIMS medical staff resume strike
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) workers resumed strike action on Monday in Islamabad after authorities failed to resolve their demands. Staff are stopping work for three hours each day. A three-day strike last week by administration, paramedical staff, nurses and others was called off after the government falsely claimed it would discuss and resolve their demands.
PIMS workers lost their status as civil servants, as well as government accommodation and other benefits, in 2013 when the hospitala 1,200-bed facilitywas upgraded and affiliated with the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed Medical University. Workers want the affiliation reversed and have been holding limited rolling strikes since July 2016 over the issue. More than 4,000 employees are affected.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa college teachers on strike
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Professors and Lecturers Association members from state-run colleges began an indefinite boycott of classes and co-curricular activities on Tuesday over several long pending issues. Academic activity in 150 colleges was suspended.
Teachers demanded a halt to government plans to establish a Board of Governors to give financial and administrative autonomy to colleges. Teachers fear the plan would increase the financial burden on students and would be a step towards total privatisation of colleges.
The strikers other demands included job upgrades in line with nation-wide promotions that began in 2006 but are yet to be completed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a proper service structure, and professional allowances similar to doctors and other professions.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa contract teachers protest
About 600 government school and college teachers whose contracts expire on October 31 demonstrated outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Pervez Khattaks residence on Monday in Islamabad. The teachers were demanding permanency. Roads to his residence were barricaded, preventing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders attending meetings.
The government has repeatedly ignored the teachers demand for permanency. The teachers contracts were to end last year but were extended in response to protests. The protest was called off after Khattak promised to resolve the issue within a week.
Visually impaired workers in Lahore demonstrate
Visually impaired workers from government departments in Lahore demonstrated outside the Lahore Press Club on Monday to demand permanent jobs. Demonstrators spilled onto the Metro Bus tracks forcing a partial suspension of the service.
Workers said that the government, despite repeated assurances over the past three years, has failed to provide them with permanent jobs and as a result they are forced to survive on daily-wage contract employment. Several workers complained that they had not been paid for four months.
India: Delhi sanitation workers strike again over unpaid wages
The Swachhta Karamchari Union, which covers 11,000 sanitation workers from the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), called an indefinite strike from Wednesday over non-payment of salaries, bonuses and arrears due from 2003. The Swatantra Majdoor Sayunkt Morcha, a union with members in Delhis three municipal corporations, has announced it would strike from October 16 over the same issues.
The EDMC is reeling from a huge budgetary deficit since the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was split into three separate municipalities in 2011. It has failed to pay salaries regularly, triggering six strikes in three years. The corporation has not paid its sanitation workers since September.
An EDMC spokesman said the corporation had asked for a 1,000 million rupee ($US15.4 million) advance from Delhi in order to pay wages in time for the Diwali religious festival on October 19.
Mumbai juvenile remand-home workers strike
Around 250 workers at Children Aid Society (CAS) juvenile remand homes in Mumbai struck on October 9 over long outstanding demands. The Children Aid Society Employees Union has demanded on-time payment of salaries and a pension and provident fund.
Workers also want increased government funding for CAS and better facilities for inmates at the citys eight juvenile observation homes. The union alleges that while cost per child is 2,500 rupees, the government grants only 635 rupees per child.
Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat health workers protest
Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh and Vadodara, Gujarat demonstrated this week demanding that the monthly minimum wage be increased to 6,000 rupees and that they be provided with uniforms.
Coordinated by the AP Asha Workers Union and the Stalinist Centre for Indian Trade Unions, the protest followed a demonstration last month by hundreds of ASHA workers in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh over the same demands.
Sri Lankan rail workers strike
Sri Lanka Railways drivers and guards suddenly walked out on strike in Colombo on Wednesday evening affecting trains leaving the Colombo Fort station. Police were called to several railway stations in the city when commuters protested over the cancellation of services. The rail workers allege that management had disregarded recruitment policies and procedures when recruiting trainees.
Australia and the Pacific
Victoria: Aged cared nurses walk out
Around 1,000 nurses at 26 Bupa aged care facilities in Victoria began limited industrial action on October 3 in a dispute over a proposed new enterprise agreement. Ongoing protest action by members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) includes wearing union t-shirts at work and distributing campaign materials to residents, relatives and the community.
ANMF members in Melbourne walked off the job and demonstrated outside Bupas aged care facility in Clayton on Monday while stop-work action was held at seven other facilities across Victoria during the week.
The ANMF said it has been attempting to negotiate with management of the international health corporation over the past 14 months for increased staffing levels and skill mix to improve patient care, and better working conditions.
The union claims that Bupa nurses are paid 10 percent less than their peers in other facilities. Nurses and carers are also demanding a rise of around 10 percent over four years, on top of catch up rates to meet industry standards.
South Australia: Marion Council workers protest
Around 40 outdoor workers from the Marian Council, south of the states capital Adelaide, demonstrated at the council chamber meeting on Tuesday over a disputed enterprise agreement. Australian Workers Union (AWU) members want 3 percent annual pay increases in a three-year enterprise agreement.
Management has only offered 2 percent and is demanding more flexible working hours, including being able to extend the working day as required. The union offered to extend the working day in return for a 38-hour four-day week. About 90 staff would be covered by the agreement.
Papua New Guinea fish processing workers strike
Around 2,000 Frabelle PNG fish processing workers in Lae, Morobe province demonstrated at the factory gate on Monday demanding a pay rise and better conditions. They refused to begin work until their long-pending demands were met. The workers want better health benefits and their current 3.5 kina ($US1.10) hourly wage increased by 14 percent.
Frabelle PNG is a joint Taiwanese-Filipino partnership and one of the largest employers in Lae, processing around 200 metric tons of fish per day.
French Polynesian public servants strike
Public servants in the small Pacific colony of French Polynesia struck on Wednesday to protest the French governments plan to impose massive public sector job cuts. Hundreds of workers demonstrated in the colonys capital Papeete. The strike affected public administration, the courts and schools.
The French government plans to cut 120,000 jobs from its public sector, which employs more than five million people, including 10,000 in French Polynesia.
Three weeks after the September 23 election, the make-up of New Zealands next government is still undecided and a sense of crisis is engulfing the political establishment.
The Labour and Green Parties together have 54 seats, while the incumbent National Party has 56below the 61 seats needed for a majority. Over the past week, Labour and National have both held highly secretive negotiations on forming a coalition with the right-wing and anti-immigrant New Zealand First, which received just 7.2 percent of the vote and won 9 seats.
On Wednesday, NZ First leader Winston Peters, designated the King Maker by the media, declared he would not announce a decision on Thursday as he previously indicated. Instead, NZ Firsts board of directors and caucus will assemble on Monday to discuss the alternatives and inner-party talks will continue until a consensus is reached.
The extraordinary delay points to profound divisions within NZ First over whether to join National or a Labour-Greens alliance. The party was previously part of a National-led government in the mid-1990s and supported a Labour-led one between 2005 and 2008.
There is considerable nervousness in the corporate media that whatever government is formed as a result of the anti-democratic backroom machinations will have no legitimacy. Apart from Peters and NZ First deputy leader Ron Mark, none of the partys 14 board members are elected. One Fairfax journalist wrote: The next government wont be decided by votersbut by a faceless and secretive board. A New Zealand Herald columnist commented: Why bother voting? The election results are irrelevant.
Before the election there was already considerable hostility toward all the parliamentary parties. Voter turnout was 79.8 percent, two percentage points higher than 2014, when there was near-record abstention of one million people. The Labour Party, discredited by decades of attacks on the working class, was saved from another landslide defeat only due to a concerted media campaign to promote its new leader Jacinda Ardern, falsely, as a progressive figure. It still received only 36.9 percent of the votes, up from 25 percent in 2014.
Since the election, Ardern, National leader Bill English and Greens leader James Shaw have treated NZ First with great deference. None of them has revealed what has been discussed in coalition negotiations and what offers have been made to the ultra-nationalist party, which ran a Trump-style campaign focused on attacking Asian immigration.
The reason for the secrecy is that all four parties are conspiring against the working class. It can be taken as given that American and Australian officials are operating behind the scenes, insisting that the next government fully align with Washingtons reckless preparations for war on the Korean peninsula and confrontation with China. Representatives of New Zealands financial elite will be demanding that all parties repudiate their election rhetoric about addressing poverty and commit to deeper austerity measures and attacks on the wages and conditions of the working class.
The stage is being set for an eruption of class struggle and anti-war opposition. There are numerous warnings that a severe economic downturn could be triggered by a collapse in the housing market, a financial crisis in Australia, or a significant cut in immigrationwhich is the key policy of both NZ First and Labour.
None of the parties made the danger of war an election issue because they all support military ties with the US and membership in the US-led Five Eyes intelligence alliance. Nonetheless, significant divisions exist over how openly New Zealand should align with Washington and its military and economic offensive against China.
The National government has cultivated close business relations with China, which is New Zealands second-largest trading partner. So far, National has declined to echo Washingtons denunciations of Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, the pretext for US militarisation of the region.
NZ First and Labour have attacked the National Party from the right, calling for greater military spending and a more explicit alignment with the US. They have repeatedly sought to whip up anti-Chinese xenophobia by scapegoating immigrants and Chinese investors for spiralling property prices.
Days before the election, an anti-Chinese witch-hunt was launched, spearheaded by major strategic think-tanks linked to the US state: the Jamestown Foundation and the Wilson Center. The Financial Times reported anonymous claims that Chinese-born National MP Jian Yang was investigated by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) as a suspected Chinese Communist Party agent because he taught English at Chinese military training institutions 20 years ago.
The Wilson Centers Anne-Marie Brady published a lengthy document asserting that Beijing exerts a high level of influence over the National Party government. She called for the SIS to use its anti-democratic powers to investigate anyone with links to the Chinese government, businesses, community groups and student associations.
NZ First has called for Yang to step down, an inquiry into his background and for measures to combat Chinese influence. Factions of the National Party oppose these demands, and any reduction in immigration. National also would be reluctant to agree to any demand by NZ First for ministerial positions, such as Foreign Affairsa post that Winston Peters held during the 2005-2008 Labour-led government. Such appointments would be viewed with concern in Beijing and could jeopardise diplomatic and trade relations.
Labour, the trade unions and sections of the corporate media have joined NZ First in drumming up anti-Chinese xenophobia and calling for a more overt pro-US position from the next government.
Yesterday a New Zealand Herald article warned that our traditional allies, i.e., the US and Australia, were concerned about Yangs rise to a position of political power, which it depicted as part of a sinister soft-influence campaign by Beijing. On Wednesday the Heralds pro-Labour Party columnist Bryan Gould echoed Bradys report and declared New Zealand was in danger of becoming a colony of China.
The absurd claim that Chinese investment and trade constitutes the colonisation of New Zealand has been pushed by NZ First, the trade union-funded Daily Blog and pseudo-left groups. The Daily Blog, which expresses the right-wing nationalist politics of the union apparatus, declared Chinese influence would be the major issue after the election. It has published several articles promoting the Wilson Center allegations.
Along with Labour, the Greens and the Maori nationalist Mana Party, the Daily Blog has played a major role in legitimising NZ Firsts racist politics. It has set the tone for much of the media. On October 7, prominent TV broadcaster Duncan Garner wrote an anti-immigrant tirade for Fairfax Media, echoing statements by the Daily Blog that in 20 years therell be more Asians than Maori. Garner declared that Auckland now looked like anywhere in South East Asia [full of] Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Syrians, and many others.
While many members of the public denounced Garner on social media, Daily Blog editor Martyn Bradbury defended him, saying he was trying to articulate the frustration many Aucklanders [sic] feel.
The racist filth propagated by the trade unions must be taken as a sharp warning of the assault that will be unleashed on immigrants, and on the working class as a whole, as the social crisis intensifies and the bourgeoisie deepens its integration into the US drive to war.
The only way forward is the building of a genuine socialist party to lead the fight to unify all sections of the working class, as part of an international movement against war and austerity, in opposition to the Labour Party and all its allies, including the trade unions.
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Tomorrows election in the state of Lower Saxony has far greater importance than appears at first sight. Germanys federal (Bundestag) election took place three weeks ago, but negotiations on the formation of a Jamaica coalitioncomprising the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU), the neo-liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greenshave been postponed until the outcome in Lower Saxony is known.
Influential circles of the ruling class intend to use tomorrows result to facilitate a complete realignment of the government at the federal level. If the Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerges as the front-ranking party in Lower Saxony, as polls are predicting, then SPD leader Martin Schulzs announcement that the Social Democrats would not participate in the next federal administration would be called into question.
Former SPD chairman and acting Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has stated already that the decision to rule out participation in government was somewhat premature, and influenced by the partys miserable election result. Gabriel, whose political base resides in Lower Saxony, said: The hangover is yet to come. The SPD, he inferred, would regret its decision.
The SPD-Green state administration in Lower Saxony collapsed at the beginning of August, almost two months before the Bundestag election. A Green deputy, Elke Twesten, announced she was switching parties and joining the conservative CDU. This meant the state government in Hanover headed by SPD premier Stephan Weil lost its slender majority of one seat and was forced to call an early election.
There were many indications at the time that Twestens switch of parties was the result of political intrigue. She held talks with the CDU some weeks before her decision and rumours circulated that her change of faction was bound up with career prospects and lucrative job offers.
Right-wing elements in the CDU and the media saw an opportunity to further weaken the SPD on the eve of the Bundestag elections and thereby prevent any continuation of its grand coalition with the conservative CDU-CSU. A business as usual attitude was no longer permissible was the mantra of many comments. The grand coalition was described as too cumbersome and incapable of fulfilling Germanys ambitious domestic and foreign policy agendas. The same accusation was levelled against Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has governed for two-thirds of her 12-year term in an alliance with the SPD. A new coalition and a charismatic leader were necessary.
Three months later, the media, which applauded the fall of the SPD-Green state government, has little to say about the SPD election campaign in Lower Saxony. The Bild newspaper commissioned an opinion poll and ran the headline a few days later: SPD leads CDU in Lower Saxony. The CDU had lost a 12-point advantage in Lower Saxony within two months. For the first time since April, the SPD was leading the polls with 33 percent.
The main reason for the media about-turn is the dramatic intensification of the international crisis and the growing danger of war.
In this context, a comment by Gabor Steingart in the Handelsblatt is noteworthy. The editor of Germanys leading business newspaper warned that the political hurricane raging between the US State Department, the White House and Capitol Hill would affect Europe very soon and very powerfully. He wrote: It is an issue of war or peace, even if is obscured behind a smokescreen of personal accusations.
US President Donald Trumps uncontrolled verbal attacks on other countries, Steingart declared, risked opening the way to a Third World War. In the face of this coming storm, Germany appeared drugged with the narcotics known as party politics, and petty interests and bickering dominated. As a result, he wrote, the American storm petrel, which presages the coming disaster, remains unobserved. For the sake of convenience, the German establishment was underestimating Trump and minimising the danger of war.
Steingart ended by citing the well-known author Sebastian Haffner, who described the atmosphere of the pre-World War II years in his memoirs, The Story of a German. Haffners references to the deliberate ignorance which prevailed at that time, Steingart concluded, recalls our present situation.
The article demonstrated that sections of the ruling class want to keep open the option of a continued CDU-SPD grand coalition. A Jamaica coalition of four parties has never been attempted before in post-war Germany. It could prove extremely unstable due to internal conflicts. In addition, FDP leader Christian Lindner and Green leader Cem Ozdemir, who expect to fill leading ministerial posts, are considered to be weak and inexperienced when it comes to dealing with the challenges posed by the growing danger of world war.
There are also foreign policy differences within the ruling class. Foreign Minister Gabriel and the SPD regard close cooperation with France as the best prerequisite for developing Germany into a military and political world power. They therefore support President Emmanuel Macrons proposal to establish a European finance ministry and a budget for the eurozone. They are also looking at the advantages of collaboration with a state that has nuclear weapons.
This spring, Die Zeit, wrote that non-nuclear states like Germany face a deep dilemma should the US no longer unconditionally guarantee their security. The newspaper, which is close to the SPD, raised the possibility of Germany co-financing the planned modernisation of Frances nuclear arsenal in exchange for the German government having limited powers to influence French policy.
The FDP, the CSU and sections of the CDU, on the other hand, strongly reject Macrons plans. They fear Germany will be swept into the vortex of the next financial crisis if it has to provide financial support to France and other European Union countries. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble (CDU) expressed his opposition to Macrons proposal and instead demanded sharper control of finances by a European Monetary Fund.
Gabriel sharply criticised Schauble over his statements. The Greens tend to be closer to the SPD on this issue, while Chancellor Merkel has so far remained silent.
All parties agree that the next federal government must engage in a massive program of rearmament at home and abroad. The dispute, however, is how to best realise this policy and the associated attacks on the working class. Should the SPD go into opposition and open the way for a coalition of the CDU/CSU, FDP and the Greens? Or should it participate in government in a coalition of the conservative Union parties in a kind of national unity government, in close collaboration with the German Federation of Trade Unions?
In 1999, a SPD-Green coalition paved the way for Germanys first ever post-war foreign military mission. In 2014, former foreign minister and the current German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier took the lead in further militarising the country. Today, his successor, Sigmar Gabriel, is the chief advocate of an aggressive German foreign policy.
Whatever federal government emerges after the election in the Lower Saxony on Sunday, it will be a right-wing government, focussed on military rearmament, preparation for war and police repression.
On October 6, the Sri Lankan government issued extraordinary gazette notifications enacting the September 11 UN Security Council measures against North Korea. This announcement also followed US President Trumps September 21 executive order imposing further crippling sanctions on Pyongyang.
The decision is an expression of the Colombo governments backing for US intervention in the Korean Peninsula and for Washingtons aggressive policies more broadly. Like other countries in the region, Sri Lanka is under intense pressure to fall into line with US war plans.
The government issued the sanctions gazette without even notifying the parliament. It prohibits Sri Lankans from providing or receiving assets, financial services, technical training, advice, services or assistance related to North Koreas nuclear program.
Also banned are bunkering services, supplies, servicing, leasing or chartering of vessels or crew services of vessels to North Korea. Moreover, North Korean financial institutions cannot open new branches, subsidiaries or offices in Sri Lanka.
A government-appointed Competent Authority (CA) will oversee the implementation of the regulations and may recommend the expulsion of North Korean diplomats. This authority has the power to freeze funds and other financial resources belonging to persons or institutions of the North Korean government and the ruling Korean Workers Party.
On September 15, the government sent its implementation report on sanctions imposed last November, noting its tough visa requirements on all North Korean nationals. Colombo refused to allow four delegates from North Korea to attend a Sri Lanka-North Korea Friendship Association meeting in March.
The government had been under pressure to take tougher measures. A UN report early last month noted that Sri Lanka was among several countries that allegedly violated sanctions by importing commodities from North Korea, including coal and iron. Other countries cited included China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, Pakistan and Ireland.
The new UN sanctions intensify restrictions that have already compounded North Koreas economic problems and the suffering of the masses. They have banned North Koreas exports of coal, iron ore and seafood. A US official said more than 90 percent of North Koreas reported exports are now blocked.
The increasing military pressure on North Korea is part of a US strategy to encircle China, which Washington considers a major obstacle to its global domination. This week, US supersonic bombers, joined by Japanese and South Korean fighter jets, flew near North Korea, threatening to trigger a conflict that would draw in China and Russia.
The government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has increasingly moved Sri Lanka into line with Washingtons war preparations against China and North Korea.
Sirisena was installed in office in January 2015 via a Washington regime-change operation to replace former President Mahinda Rajapakse. The US supported Rajapakses war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and his anti-democratic rule. However, Washington wanted him removed because he developed close relations with China to procure arms and finances for his war.
Since Sirisena took office, there has been a pro-US foreign policy shift, including on North Korea. In 2008 and 2009, Sri Lanka abstained when a resolution against North Koreas human rights violations was presented in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Again 2014, Sri Lanka voted against a similar resolution.
In 2015 and 2016, however, Sirisenas government voted for UNHRC resolutions directed against North Korea.
In September last year and July and September this year, the government condemned ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang. Echoing the US, a September 13 Colombo statement declared that North Koreas sixth missile test violated UN Security Council resolutions and was a threat to peace and stability in the region and beyond.
After the government imposed sanctions on North Korea, the leader of the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Anura Kumara Dissanayake, criticised the procedure involved. He declared that foreign ministry officials had failed to inform parliament and called for a detailed account on why the government arrived at the decision to impose sanctions.
In reply, Foreign Minister Thilak Marapana said the countrys legislation required the foreign minister to promulgate regulations when the UN Security Council ordered sanctions on a particular country.
The JVP, which at times resorts to radical sounding phrasemongering, falsely claims that North Korea is socialist. The regime in Pyongyang, was never socialist but was based on the reactionary Stalinist perspective of socialism in one country from the outset. Its chief aim for decades has been a rapprochement with the US so as to open up the country as a cheap labour platform for foreign investors.
Dissanayakes procedural criticism was simply to obscure the fact that the JVP did not oppose the substance of the governments sanctions or its lining up behind the US preparations for war against North Korea. He was silent on another serious step, which directly ties Sri Lanka to the US military.
Before the governments decision on sanctions, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe announced in parliament on July 22 that the government would extend the Accession Cross Services Agreement (ACSA) with the US without specifying a time period.
The original agreement was signed by the previous Rajapakse regime in March 2007 for a period of 10 years. The ACSA allows the US and Sri Lanka to transfer and exchange logistics supplies, support and re-fuelling services, either in kind or at cost, during peacekeeping missions, humanitarian operations or joint exercises.
Wickremesinghe said: Extending the agreement with the US will be of the utmost importance given the global situation today considering the current international political situation and developments it [the agreement] would be favorable to the country.
The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government is dragging the country into Washingtons war plans, with potentially catastrophic consequences for workers in the region and internationally.
US President Donald Trump vowed Friday that he will use his presidential powers to blow up the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran unless it is quickly amended to Washingtons satisfaction.
In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated, declared Trump. It is under continuous review and our participation can be canceled by me as president at any time.
The vow came at the end of a bellicose rant in which Trump denounced Iran as fanatical, a rogue state, and the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism. He accused Tehran of fomenting conflict, terror and turmoil throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Trump and the US imperialist ruling elite for which he speaks are in no position to be denouncing others for stoking conflict and terrorizing people in the Middle East and elsewhere. For the past quarter-century, the United States has continuously waged illegal wars of aggression across the broader Middle East in which it has killed hundreds of thousands of people, turned millions more into refugees, and destroyed entire societies. Washington has incited sectarian Sunni-Shia conflict and used Islamist terrorists as its proxy fighters, including in its regime-change wars in Libya and Syria.
Trumps diatribe was billed as an address outlining a more aggressive US strategy toward Iran, aimed at fixing the nuclear accord and rolling back Tehrans malign influence across the Middle East. It was the occasion for Trump to make public his long-rumored decision to refuse to continue certifying that Iran is fulfilling its obligations under the nuclear accord (Joint Comprehensive Program of Action), and that the JCPOA serves the US national interest.
Under a 2015 law, Congress gave itself the power to quickly re-impose economic sanctions on Iran should the president fail to issue, at 90-day intervals, certification of the White Houses continued support for the nuclear agreement.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani quickly took to the airwaves to give a nationally televised rebuttal of Trumps speech. Mr. Trumps remarks on Iran contained nothing but expletives and a pile of delusional allegations against the Iranian nation, he said.
In reply to Trumps denunciation of the 1979 popular revolution that overthrew the Shahs despotic, US-installed regime and his attempt to cast the past four decades of American war threats and sanctions against Tehran as Iranian aggression, Rouhani said Trump should study history better and more closely and know what (US officials) have done to the Iranian people over the past sixty-something years and how they have treated the people of Iran after the victory of the Revolution.
All the other signatories of the nuclear accordGermany, France, Britain, the European Union, Russia and Chinahave repeatedly said that it should not, and legally cannot, be reopened.
As it became clear in recent weeks that Trump was determined to overturn the 2015 agreement, world leaders, particularly the leaders of Washingtons traditional European allies, issued increasingly dire warnings. Scuttling the agreementwhether immediately or, as Trump has now done, by lighting a fuse under itwill, they have warned, greatly exacerbate the war danger in the Middle East. And by demonstrating that Washington arrogates to itself the right to unilaterally modify or repudiate international agreements, the US will, they have stressed, slam shut the door to any diplomatic solution to the crisis in the Korean Peninsula.
Like Rouhani, the European Unions foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, was quick to respond to Trumps speech. She dismissed the US presidents claim that Iran has violated the JCPOA, declaring that there have been no Iranian violations of any of the commitments in the agreement. (In fact, even the Pentagon and US State Department acknowledge that Tehran has implemented the agreement to the letter.)
Noting that the JCPOA was subsequently endorsed by the UN Security Council, Mogherini added, To my knowledge, there is not one single country in the world that can terminate a UN Security Council resolution that has been adopted. The president of the United States has many powers, but not this one.
Later, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron took the rare step of issuing a joint statement to reaffirm their support for the JCPOA, which they hailed as the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy.
We encourage the US administration and Congress, said the leaders of Europes principal powers, to consider the implications to the security of the US and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the nuclear agreement.
Clearly, they are hoping that Trump can still be roped in by senior members of the administrationSecretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Adviser H.R. McMasterwho oppose abrogating the Iran agreement at this juncture, believing that a head-on confrontation with Iran will cut across US military-strategic offensives against China and Russia and dangerously fray US-European relations and the NATO alliance.
In his remarks on Friday, Trump did not call on Congress to immediately snap back sanctions on Iran. He did, however, praise proposed US legislation that would sanction any person or group in any way connected to Irans ballistic missile program and a second bill that would declare the sweeping temporary restrictions placed on Irans civil nuclear program under the JCPOA to be permanent.
Trump also announced that the US Treasury Department is placing Irans entire Revolutionary Guard Corps under sanction for supporting terrorism. Given the Revolutionary Guards extensive role in Irans economy, this action is expected to act as a strong deterrent to foreign investment in Iran.
Trumps stratagem and hope is that the double threat of Congress re-imposing sweeping sanctions on Irans energy and banking sectors, thereby torpedoing the nuclear deal, or direct action on his part to smash the agreement, will compel the Europeans to fall into line behind Washington in demanding that Tehran correct the JCPOAs many flaws.
Trump made no offer to negotiate with Iran, underscoring that he was issuing an ultimatum. He simply outlined a series of non-negotiable demands that would violate Irans sovereignty and effectively reduce the country to the status of a vassal state, while implicitly demanding that the other signatories to the JCPOA, especially Washingtons ostensible European allies, put pressure on Iran to capitulate.
These demands include: eliminating the JCPOAs sunset clauses, i.e., transforming the temporary limits on Irans civil nuclear program into permanent prohibitions; giving International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors unfettered access to Iranian military sites; and dismantling Irans ballistic missile program.
For Iran to accept these demands would be tantamount to accepting neo-colonial status and unilateral disarmament. For decades, Washington, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, has pursued a policy of regime-change in Tehran while arming to the teeth US client states in the region, beginning with Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The fear and anger in Europe over Washingtons unilateralist course is palpable and deep-rooted. Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel complained that Washington was replacing the rule of law with the law of the strongest.
He warned that US termination of the Iran agreement would turn the Middle East into a region of hot crises and shut the door to diplomacy with North Korea. The European Union said Gabriel will have to tell the Americans that their behavior on the Iran issue will drive us Europeans into a common position with Russia and China against the USA.
The European imperialist powers played a decisive role in imposing the brutal sanctions that ravaged Irans economy for four years and are currently in the midst of major rearmament programs. Their disagreements with the US over Iran are entirely bound up with their own predatory agendas.
Since the 2015 nuclear deal, they have all rushed to take advantage of Tehrans offers of huge commercial opportunities, including in the energy sector. Not only do Trumps plans to scuttle the Iran deal place these investments in jeopardy; the European powers, which are much more dependent on Mideast oil than the US, fear the economic fallout and the socially destabilizing impact on Europe of a ratcheting up of tensions with Iran.
The anti-Iran hawks in and around the Trump administration have expressed confidence that ultimately the threat of European companies being sanctioned through the US-dominated world financial system for continued dealings with Iran will force the Europeans to accede to Washingtons demand that they join it in a new economic war against Iran.
But there is a growing mood in Europe for a push back against Washington. David OSullivan, the European Unions ambassador to the United States, has said Europe may have to bring forward legislation to protect European companies from the threat of US sanctions.
In arguing for the Iran nuclear accord, President Obama repeatedly said the only alternative was war. What he didnt say was that such a war would rapidly become a regional war, drawing in US allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel and Iranian-allied groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and potentially Russia and other outside powers.
Military action is certainly under discussion in the Trump administration. Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who has been working closely with Trump and his aides in formulating the administrations new Iran strategy, told a recent Council on Foreign Relations meeting that if renewed sanctions did not force Iran to submit, the US could launch calibrated strikes against Irans nuclear infrastructure.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
Quote from the Sputnik style guide. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP, 2, Getty Images, 3)
WASHINGTON On Jan. 23, 2017, the day he started as a Washington correspondent for Sputnik, Andrew Feinberg was emailed a copy of a style guide that laid out the organizations mission.
The 103-page handbook for publications of Sputniks Kremlin-owned parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, made it clear that traditional journalistic neutrality was not the companys mandate. Instead, Sputnik reporters were told they should provide readers with a Russian viewpoint on issues and maintain allegiance to the country.
Our main goal is to inform the international audience about Russias political, economic and ideological stance on both local and global issues, the guide reads. To this end, we must always strive to be objective but we must also stay true to the national interest of the Russian Federation.
The guide, which was written in English, is included among more than 10,000 internal Sputnik messages on a thumb drive that Feinberg provided to the FBI, which is investigating the agency for possible violations of the law that requires agents of foreign nations to register with the Justice Department. The guide appears to contradict repeated claims by Sputnik executives that they follow traditional journalistic standards and operate independently of the Kremlin. For example, in August, when Sputnik opened a headquarters in Scotland, Sputnik editor and director Nikolai Gorshkov told a local news agency, No one has ever called me from Moscow.
I can assure you there is no hidden agenda, Gorshkov said.
Contacted by Yahoo News, Sputnik spokeswoman Beverly Hunt denied that the style guide applied to the work of the companys American reporters.
To our knowledge, Feinberg has never been employed by Rossiya Segodnya, which is a Russian news agency and does not provide services on US territory, Hunt said in a written statement.
In fact, Feinbergs email shows the style guide was sent to him by his editor at Sputnik, Peter Martinichev.
Feinberg, who worked at Sputnik from January until May, turned over the flash drive filled with emails during an interview by an FBI agent and Justice Department national security lawyer for over two hours on Sept. 1. In August, another ex-Sputnik staffer, Joe Fionda, also gave the Justice Department a packet of information with hundreds of documents. Yahoo News obtained copies of the documents Feinberg and Fionda provided to law enforcement.
Hunt, the Sputnik spokeswoman, noted that the ex-staffers had copied corporate emails and internal documents.
Feinbergs interview was part of an apparently widening investigation by the bureau into the role played by Sputnik and the Kremlin-owned television network, RT (formerly Russia Today), in seeking to shape the views of American audiences. In a report last January, the U.S. intelligence community identified both news organizations as part of Russias state run propaganda machine that serve as a platform for Kremlin messaging and played key roles in Russian President Vladimir Putins influence campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Yahoo News has also learned that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is investigating RT and Sputnik as part of the broader probe into Russias election meddling. RT recently disclosed that a U.S. shell company that handles much of its production and operations in Washington was instructed by the Justice Department to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The move led RT to take down a series of ads it put up in Washington and New York mocking the intelligence communitys assertion Russian media outlets interfered in the election.
Yahoo News has independently verified the authenticity of some of the Sputnik emails Feinberg gave to the Justice Department. The messages depict a company that stuck closely to the Kremlins party line.
The documents also suggest Sputnik journalists had relationships with hackers linked to Russian intelligence and key American allies of Donald Trump. The information Fionda sent to the Justice Department highlighted a tweet in which one of Sputniks radio hosts boasted about his role in connecting Guccifer 2.0, the hacker behind the Democratic National Committee leaks, to Roger Stone, an early architect of Trumps campaign. On April 30, Feinberg emailed Martinichev about a party he attended that was sponsored by the conservative blog Gateway Pundit. Feinberg said he stepped out for a cigarette and encountered Michael Flynn Jr., the son of Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
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I introduced myself, told him I was Sputniks WH reporter and that Id love a chance to give him and his dad to tell their story without the Russia conspiracy mongering. He said he and his dad are BIG fans of Sputnik and gave me his contact information, Feinberg wrote.
Feinberg told Yahoo he and Flynn Jr. communicated via text messages after that initial conversation. Feinberg said he did not land an on-the-record interview or write about their conversations. The younger Flynnwho did not respond to a request for comment worked with his father and was a member of Trumps transition team. The elder Flynn was fired from his position as White House national security adviser in February after it was revealed he misled officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.
In a Jan. 26 letter seeking credentials from the Washington Foreign Press Center that was on Feinbergs thumb drive, Sputniks U.S. editor in chief, Mindia Gavasheli, described RIA Global LLC as a United States entity that has a contract to act as the United States bureau of Sputnik News, the multi-media news initiative of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency. In another email seeking credentials from the House of Representatives press gallery Gavasheli acknowledged that most of their financing came from the Russian government, though he had claimed roughly 10 to 20 percent of it comes from ads, paid subscriptions and other commercial activities. In May, Sputnik was denied Capitol Hill press credentials because of its state funding.
Its unclear exactly how many people Sputnik is reaching. In an April email, Feinberg asked Vasily Minakov, the companys head of global public relations and communications, for information about the size of Sputniks audience. Minakov would not divulge those figures, but he noted Sputniks large social media footprint.
We are not disclosing these figures openly. What we may say that Sputnik has around 14 M subscribers in total on social media, Minakov said.
The emails Feinberg provided to the Justice Department show how Sputnik echoed the Kremlins message. In one instance, Feinbergs bosses urged him to come up with stories deflecting blame for the chemical-weapons attack on Syrian civilians last spring away from Russias Syrian ally, President Bashar Assad. Feinberg told Yahoo News that he left the company earlier this year over pressure to advance a conspiracy theory, heavily promoted by Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, about the death of a young staffer at the Democratic National Committee.
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At Sputniks newswire, Feinbergs work was edited by a group of four editors that included D.C. journalist Michael Hughes and Zlatko Kovach. The team was led by Martinichev and his deputy, Anastasia Sheveleva, both Russians. Multiple emails Feinberg provided to the Justice Department indicate he had to get approval and instructions from his superiors on angles for everything he wrote. A Feb. 23 message from Hughes was one of many times this rule was communicated to Feinberg.
Always pitch story angle BEFORE you do anything, get approval before writing and submitting a story. You should never submit an unapproved story. We might kill it if angle does not fit, Hughes wrote.
The word before was bolded, underlined and highlighted in yellow. All of the emails cited in this story are being presented as they were written, including any spelling and grammar mistakes.
According to the emails on Feinbergs thumb drive, he also had to get approval for every question he asked White House officials including the press secretary at the daily briefing.
We do it in this way to ensure we are on the same page regarding the question we ask on the record. It should never be a surprise, Martinichev wrote in a March 13 missive.
In her email to Yahoo News, Hunt, the Sputnik spokeswoman, defended this pre-approval process as a standard procedure.
Most editors in any news agency need to know questions for a briefing. Its a regular practice, Hunt said.
At Yahoo News and most U.S. media companies, editors may suggest and discuss questions with their White House correspondents, but there is no formal approval process. The emails suggest an extraordinary level of micromanagement.
While Feinbergs immediate supervisors worked in Washington, the emails show Sputnik staff in Moscow were regularly involved in the publication of stories. Sputnik stories followed rigid style guidelines. In a Feb. 21 message to Feinberg, Hughes described how the American editors learned the ropes.
When I first started they sent a couple enforcers from Moscow that reviewed ALL of our stories in the beginning, Hughes wrote, adding, It beat the main guidelines into our brains a little tough love, so to speak. I called it style indoctrination.
Hunt provided Yahoo News with a statement from Hughes where he said this comment was obviously a joke.
We indoctrinate the very same way all news agencies indoctrinate their newswire writers, said Hughes.
On Feb. 9, Feinberg complained to Hughes that Sputnik staff in Moscow added an entire paragraph to a story he wrote without informing him.
I didnt write it, its slanted at best, and my name is on it, Feinberg wrote.
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The story in question covered comments Florida Sen. Marco Rubio made about U.S. sanctions imposed against Russia for allegedly interfering in last years presidential election and for taking control of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014. Moscow has vehemently denied meddling in Americas presidential race, and insisted its presence in Crimea was supported by a democratic referendum. The paragraph added to Feinbergs story reflected Russias positions on both issues.
US-Russian relations soured following disagreements over the crisis in Ukraine. The United States imposed sanctions against Russia after Crimea held a referendum in 2014 in which a vast majority of its residents decided to reunify with Russia. Russian officials have denied meddling in Ukraines internal affairs and have called allegations of interfering in US elections absurd and an attempt to distract from domestic issues, it said.
Hughes informed Feinberg that the disclaimers about Ukraine and alleged election intervention were required at Sputnik.
We must write that paragraph- thats the Russian position not to mention the truth, Hughes wrote, adding, Editors get in trouble for leaving it out. So, the option would be to take your name off the article if you have a problem with the last paragraph.
I suppose Ill just have to get used to it and wrap my head around it. My name can stay on for now, Feinberg replied.
I had same experience! said Hughes.
Hunt, Sputniks spokeswoman, defended the mandatory paragraph that was added to Feinbergs story.
Background with the second side position is required in stories for balance and a usual practice in many newswire services, she said.
Hughes further argued the paragraph contained simple facts.
Russian government officials have repeatedly denied involvement in U.S. elections. And we restated the Russian governments position on the Ukraine crisis. No slant involved, Hughes said.
The documents provided by Fionda and Feinberg could fuel growing demands by members of Congress that Sputnik and RT register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which was passed by Congress in 1938 to combat Nazi propaganda. The law requires foreign agencies engaged in lobbying or efforts influence American public opinion to file detailed reports on their funding and operations. There is an exemption in the law for state-funded media organizations engaged in legitimate news gathering.
Fiondas information packet included a letter to the Justice Department urging the government to investigate whether Sputnik is violating FARA. Fionda said he worked at the company from Sept. 5 to Oct. 19, 2015, and felt Sputnik engaged in possible FARA violations and was acting as a direct agent of the Russian government.
Sputnik has said both Fionda and Feinberg were fired due to performance-related issues. Indeed, the emails Feinberg provided to the Justice Department show multiple instances where his editors expressed unhappiness with his work, including his trouble mastering the companys rigid story format and falling behind Sputniks fast-paced schedule. Sputniks spokeswoman, Hunt, reiterated these complaints about Feinbergs work, and said he continually failed to meet the most fundamental newswire language and requirements.
In interviews with Yahoo News and others, Feinberg has said his last straw at Sputnik came when his editors pushed him to advance a conspiracy theory about the fatal shooting of DNC staffer Seth Rich. During a meeting on his last day at the company, May 26, Feinberg said his editors told him to ask whether Rich could have been involved in last years leak of DNC emails that law enforcement has attributed to the hacker Guccifer 2.0 and Russian intelligence. Rich was shot in Washington, D.C., last July, shortly after the emails were published by WikiLeaks. Though the case remains unsolved, police have said they believe Rich was killed in a botched robbery.
The thousands of documents Feinberg provided to the Justice Department do not show any discussion of Rich. They do include multiple instances of Feinberg being told to ask officials about the possibility Assad might not have been responsible for the chemical attacks in Syria.
On April 19, Martinichev wrote to Feinberg and pressed him to ask the White House if they are reviewing all these recent controversial data indicating other militants may have used chemical weapons in Syria after their statement that only Assad had this capability. Feinberg followed up by emailing multiple senior officials and asking an assistant to former press secretary Sean Spicer if he could ask a question about chemical weapons capability in Syria during that days televised White House briefing.
It would make my editors day if Sean could be so kind as to call on me by name, if he can remember and its not a problem, Feinberg wrote.
Sputnik has an office in the heart of downtown Washington about three blocks from the White House. The company was launched in 2014 after Putin dissolved the countrys main state news agency and replaced it with Rossiya Segodnya. Putin decreed that this new company should be focused on promoting Moscows agenda beyond its borders, and he tapped Dmitry Kiselyov a conservative television host and staunch supporter of the Russian government to head the new company.
Sputniks Washington bureau includes staffers who work for a wire service, a radio station and a website. The radio station began broadcasting in July after Sputnik took over a local Washington station that featured bluegrass music. The companys newswire is less overtly political than its other offerings. Based on the messages on Feinbergs thumb drive, the wire service largely published short briefs with rapid-fire quotes and updates. Sputniks radio station and web page offer a unique brand of political commentary. The homepage features a blog mockingly called The Russians Did It that satirizes claims that the Kremlin interfered in last years presidential race. The introduction to the blog dismisses these allegations from American intelligence agencies as the ludicrous product of a fantasy realm.
Welcome to the treasury of all things Russia did not do, the blogs introduction begins. Take a considered view of all the allegations usually accepted as incontrovertible fact by the mainstream media.
Sputniks expansion in Washington and the larger changes to Russias state media apparatus came after Moscows military leadership began emphasizing propaganda as a weapon in the countrys arsenal. In February 2013, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the operational head of the Russian armed forces, published a treatise advocating for expanding the countrys strategy to include informational and other non-military measures. Gerasimov called for using informational actions along with special-operations forces and internal opposition to create a permanently operating front through the entire territory of the enemy state.
Long-distance, contactless actions against the enemy are becoming the main means of achieving combat and operational goals, Gerasimov wrote.
Experts in the U.S. and Europe have dubbed this Gerasimov doctrine of using media and technology to destabilize rivals hybrid warfare. Earlier this year, a group of nine countries, including the United States, teamed up to establish the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. According to a press release from NATO, the center, which is based in Finland, will be dedicated to research and training to combat these new methods of warfare, and actively counter propaganda with facts.
Countering hybrid threats is a priority for NATO, as they blur the line between war and peace combining military aggression with political, diplomatic, economic, cyber and disinformation measures, the press release said.
Here in America, some see Russias actions in last years election as a textbook example of this hybrid warfare. The U.S. intelligence community report that called Sputnik and the RT television network key parts of this influence campaign described Kremlin loyal political figures, state media, and pro-Kremlin social media actors working in concert during the U.S. campaign. Recently, Russia has been linked to a $100,000 Facebook ad campaign and an army of Twitter accounts with content designed to ramp up political tensions amid the American election. This month, Facebook said it estimated the ads tied to a Russian Internet agency were seen by about 10 million people before and after last years election.
The intelligence report noted the Russian state media outlets cast President Trump as as the target of unfair coverage from traditional US media outlets that they claimed were subservient to a corrupt political establishment and hailed his victory as a vindication of Putins advocacy of global populist movements. According to the report, the Kremlin-owned media organizations also attacked Trumps opponent, Hillary Clinton, with allegations of corruption, rumors of health problems and damaging emails hacked from her campaign and published by WikiLeaks.
The packet of information Fionda provided to the Justice Department focused on two Sputnik employees: Cassandra Fairbanks and Lee Stranahan.
Stranahan came to Sputnik in April. He previously had worked at the conservative website Breitbart, under Trumps former campaign guru and adviser Steve Bannon. The month before he joined Sputnik, Stranahan sent out a tweet boasting that he was the one who introduced former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone to Guccifer 2.0, the hacker who obtained emails from the Democratic National Committee that were published by WikiLeaks. American officials have said Guccifer 2.0 was working with Russias military intelligence agency GRU as part of the coordinated effort to help Trump in the election.
Fionda flagged the tweet in the packet of information he sent to the Justice Department.
Stone told Yahoo News that Stranahan was indeed the person who first told him about Guccifer 2.0.
Introduce doesnt mean introduce in the classic sense. He told me who he was. He believed he had hacked the DNC that he was a hacker, explained Stone.
Stone is a key figure in the congressional investigation into possible links between Trumps campaign and the Kremlin, in part because he seemed to know in advance that WiklLeaks would be publishing emails hacked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podestas account. Last month, he testified before the House Intelligence Committee about his communications with Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks, saying that he never communicated directly with WikiLeaks mastermind Julian Assange but learned about the sites plans to publish emails damaging to Clinton from an intermediary. He described the intermediary as a journalist, but has refused to identify him on the grounds that their conversations were off the record. Committee leaders said this week they may subpoena Stone to require him to identify the intermediary.
Stranahan said its not him. I dont know anything about that, he said. I have no relationship with anyone at all at WikiLeaks.
However, Stranahan did confirm he connected Stone to the hacker. He also said Guccifer 2.0 offered him documents that his editors at Breitbart were wary of publishing.
Breitbart didnt want to run with them for whatever reason, and they were like, Have Guccifer post them first, Stranahan said.
Stranahan noted he has discussed his interactions with Guccifer publicly on Twitter and in video broadcasts. He doesnt believe the Justice Department has any reason to be concerned about his communications with the hacker.
I didnt do anything wrong, Stranahan said.
Fionda also alerted law enforcement about another colleague who claimed to be in communication with Guccifer 2.0. In the information Fionda gave to the Justice Department, he included copies of Twitter messages in which Cassandra Fairbanks discussed exchanging messages with the hacker. Fairbanks is an activist who wrote for Sputnik from late 2015 until this year, when she joined the pro-Trump website Big League Politics.
Fairbanks told Yahoo News that Fionda was making too much of what she describes as a journalistic endeavor.
I did communicate with Guccifer. I tried to interview him because I was covering the leaks, Fairbanks explained. I published like all of my conversations with him so theyre public.
Fairbanks said the hacker offered her documents, but she was unable to write about them on Sputnik. Hunt, the Sputnik spokeswoman, said Fairbanks asked the companys U.S. editor in chief for permission to publish the emails and was denied.
The answer was: Absolutely not! We dont have a legal department on the spot to clear them and we have no idea whether these emails are authentic. That was the end of the story for Sputnik, Hunt said.
In a text message exchange with Yahoo News, Fionda said he alerted investigators about Stranahan and Fairbanks because they bragged about being in touch with the hacker, while having connections to the Trump campaign and the Russian government through their work at Sputnik. In his letter, Fionda described Stranahan, Stone and Fairbanks as some of the hackers highest-profile associates.
Fairbanks, along with Roger J. Stone Jr., and Lee Stranahan of Breitbart News, are the three most prominent public figures to have disclosed contact with the purported Russian GRU persona Guccifer 2, Fionda wrote.
The documents provided by Feinberg and Fionda also shed light on their fears the company was operating as an unconventional spy agency a worry that was apparently shared by some inside the Trump White House.
In his conversations with investigators, Feinberg, whose previous jobs included writing for telecommunications industry trade publications and the Washington-insider website The Hill, detailed his concern that Sputniks reporting efforts may have served another purpose.
In some ways, Sputnik was functioning as open source intelligence gathering, Feinberg said in an interview with Yahoo News.
According to the emails, Sputnik reporters regularly covered the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the State Department, where they gathered information that would be of interest to the Russian intelligence services. Messages on the thumb drive Feinberg gave to the Justice Department show Sputniks team constantly peppering government officials about policy matters with a focus on those relevant to Russia, including American aid to its rivals, U.S. diplomatic engagement with Moscow and ongoing negotiations and military operations in Syria. And this questioning of officials didnt always result in news reports. While the emails show that Sputnik editors generally had a voracious appetite for quotes to publish on their newswire, in multiple messages Feinberg expressed confusion that stories were not being published after he did work he was assigned to do.
Im guessing nothing came of my quote from McCain? feinberg asked in one email to an editor dated Feb. 2.
The messages show that Martinichev, one of Feinbergs editors, repeatedly pressed him to get business cards from White House aides, including Spicer, to share with the Sputnik office.
Did you have a chance to get Spicers business card? Is it possible in this crowd? Martinichev asked Feinberg in a Feb. 2 message.
Do you have any business cards from the deputies? Any contacts? Martinichev pressed him in another email six days later.
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When he had meetings with sources, Feinberg was asked to provide reports with details far beyond what a typical American publication would demand of its reporters. He was reprimanded when he asked questions that werent approved by his superiors and when he failed to provide extensive details about his contacts with sources.
After he left Sputnik, Feinberg began to wonder whether he was being used to gather information for the Kremlin, not the public.
I have friends and colleagues who stopped talking to me because I took this job. Its humiliating, Feinberg wrote in one frustrated email to an editor, later adding, Honestly if the stigma is something I wont ever be able to overcome Im not sure what Ill do.
Feinbergs fear that Sputnik could be operating as an unconventional intelligence agency was apparently shared by at least some officials in President Trumps press shop. One former White House staffer told Yahoo News they always viewed that as a potential issue.
Sputnik is a well-known arm of the Kremlin, the staffer said. Department of Defense blocks White House access to their website because it is not secure.
When Feinberg was in the West Wing, the staffer said the White House press shop did its best not to engage with him, particularly on more sensitive matters.
I think it was definitely something those who had to interact with him daily considered albeit maybe not in a totally serious way. I never ever once responded to an inquiry and urged colleagues to do the same, the staffer said.
Since Feinbergs departure, Sputnik correspondent Cara Rinkoff has reported from inside the West Wing.
Sputniks spokeswoman, Hunt, dismissed the concerns the company is engaged in espionage.
Seven percent of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows so its not a surprise that some people fear they could be abducted by aliens or that Sputnik could be a spy agency, said Hunt, adding, And probably even some former White House staffers share these views. If anyone has been playing spy it would be fired staffers who copied corporate emails and internal documents.
Fionda, whose background includes stints as an actor and film producer and under the pseudonym subverzo has ties to the activist and hacking communities, including Occupy Wall Street and Anonymous shared some of Feinbergs concerns about being used for intelligence gathering.
In the letter Fionda sent the Justice Department asking it to look into whether Sputnik is violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, he said that he was asked to write articles that contained categorically untrue information while working at the company. Fionda also said he was fired after Gavasheli asked him to obtain and publish emails that had been hacked from former CIA Director John Brennan, a request Fionda said he saw as a solicitation to espionage. Gavasheli previously denied this in an interview with Yahoo News where he said Fionda was fired for lying about an illness in his family to take time off from work.
Along with all of the intrigue, the document cache also has details of daily life at Sputnik. Many of the emails paint a picture of a mundane workplace albeit with a Russian twist. Email signatures and instructions from the IT department often came in Cyrillic, leaving American staffers asking for translators. On Feb. 23, reporter Delal Pektas sent a cheery email to the other Sputnik editors and reporters.
Happy Defender of the Fatherland Day! she wrote. I brought some bagels please help yourselves!
_____
Read more from Yahoo News:
Clear eyes, full hearts, dont mess with Minka Kelly.
For months, the Friday Night Lights actress stayed silent about her relationship with Jesse Williams, who split from his wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, amid rumors that he began an affair with Kelly while still married.
As Williams and Lee continue to battle for custody of their two children in court, Kelly got extra salty on Thursday in her Instagram comments after one follower questioned the origins of her relationship with the Greys Anatomy actor.
I hope the cheating rumors arent true. It would be disappointing, an Instagram user wrote next to a photo on Kellys account.
Theyre not, she responded. Hate for you to be disappointed. Glad I could clear that up for you. Now fuck off.
(Photo: Minka Kelly)
The original commenter apparently deleted the message after Kellys clapback, but the actress wasnt done just yet.
When another follower praised her candid response, writing, I dont know where your fuck off comment went but it was pretty awesome, Kelly doubled down on her stance.
I didnt delete it and I stand by it, the actress wrote. Anyone and their assumptions about my personal life can do the same.
(Photo: Getty)
Williams and Kelly first inspired rumors about a budding romance during a trip to Paris back in January. The actress shared a photo of Williams after a long work day with a wine glass emoji. The two were apparently collaborating on a video game project together.
After Williams split with his wife, he seemingly addressed the affair rumors in Jay-Zs mini-documentary Footnotes for 4:44.
I was in a relationship 13 years, 13 real years, not 5 years, not 7 years, 13 years and all of a sudden motherfuckers are writing thinkpieces that I somehow threw a 13-year relationship, he shared. Like the most painful experience Ive had in my life, like with a person Ive loved with all of my heart, that I threw a person and my family in the trash because a girl I work with is cute.
Earlier this month, Williams and his estranged wife reached a temporary settlement agreement in their ongoing custody battle. The actor agreed to provide Lee with a $160,000 advance for spousal support and legal fees.
Story continues
Kelly, meanwhile, is set to star as Dawn Granger, aka Dove, in the DC Comics series Titans, which premieres on TNT in 2018.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - DECEMBER 03: Actors Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis arrive at the 2018 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center on December 3, 2017 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images,)
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reese Witherspoon (R) and Ava Phillippe attend Molly R. Stern X Sarah Chloe Jewelry Collaboration Launch Dinner on December 4, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Sarah Chloe Jewelry)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 04: Chris Pratt is seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' on December 04, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by BG017/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - DECEMBER 03: Julianne Hough attends The Trevor Project's 2017 TrevorLIVE LA on December 3, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix/ WireImage)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Armie Hammer and Saoirse Ronan poses with her award at the 2017 Gotham Awards sponsored by Greater Ft. Lauderdale Tourism at Cipriani, Wall Street on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman attend the GreenSlate Greenroom at The 2017 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for GreenSlate)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Robert Pattinson and James Franco attend IFP's 27th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Actor Timothee Chalamet is seen Downtown on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce the engagement of Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been a couple officially since November 2016 and are due to marry in Spring 2018. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)
TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 27: Actress Jessica Chastain attrends the press conference for 'The Zookeeper's Wife' at Roppongi Hills on November 27, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jun Sato/WireImage)
SAN JOSE, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Katy Perry performs during her 'Witness' tour at SAP Center on November 14, 2017 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 24: Actors Jane Krakowski and Maya Rudolph attend FOX's 'A Christmas Story Live!' Lighting Event featuring the leg lamp at The Grove on November 24, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Twitters temporary suspension of Rose McGowans account not only came at the worst time for the social media platform, but it drove many women to action. Though Twitter claimed the situation with McGowan was not due to her comments regarding Harvey Weinstein, many celebrities are supporting the day-long #WomenBoycottTwitter protest on Friday in support of those women whose voices have been silenced.
Starts now, Scandals Kerry Washington tweeted before going off the Twitter grid on Friday morning. Elizabeth Banks, too, noted shes taking a mental health break from Twitter, while Gabrielle Union declared, Lets go.
Taking a mental health break from Twitter. #WomenBoycottTwitter Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) October 13, 2017
Others urged fans to follow them on Instagram in lieu of Twitter. I stand with my sisters, Gina Rodriguez wrote. I wont be live tweeting the premiere of Jane the Virgin tomorrow. Instead come on over to @instagram Ill do BTS!
I stand with my sisters. I won't be live tweeting the premiere of Jane the Virgin tomorrow. Instead come on over to @instagram I'll do BTS! pic.twitter.com/MKQkOlvGJl Gina Rodriguez (@HereIsGina) October 13, 2017
Chrissy Teigen also joined in the protest and the comments she received after her announcement only proved her point.
Ladies. Lets do this, she wrote initially. #WomenBoycottTwitter. Not because of hate but because I love this platform and know it can be better. According to screenshots she posted, her mentions were instantly filled with remarks like, Are you a fan of a good butt spanking?, aight bitch leave, and Its alright, Twitter is a better place without you easily offended feminist bches.
Ladies. Let's do this. #WomenBoycottTwitter. Not because of hate but because I love this platform and know it can be better. christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) October 13, 2017
McGowans account suspension came shortly after she told Ben Affleck to f off over his remarks on Harvey Weinstein. She also claimed Affleck lied about his knowledge of the Weinstein sexual misconduct allegations against the disgraced movie mogul. After a backlash began brewing, Twitter released a series of tweets explaining that the Charmed actress was temporarily suspended because one of her tweets included a private phone number, which goes against the platforms Terms of Service.
Various celebrities and online personalities slammed Twitter for silencing her voice and called out the platforms apparent hypocrisy.
Ghostbusters director Paul Feig, for one, tweeted how President Trump threatened to wipe out another country with his tweets but did not get suspended. Others noted the seeming disconnect in Twitters policy as white supremacists and neo-Nazis are able to maintain their accounts, but McGowan tweeting a phone number is grounds for suspension.
Wow, @Twitter, seriously? THIS is the account you suspend but not Trump who threatened to wipe out another country? Suspend me too, please. https://t.co/ZHhvIkfEcN Paul Feig (@paulfeig) October 12, 2017
One of these people is a white supremacist.
The other is an actress who spoke out on sexual harassment
Guess who was suspended by Twitter? pic.twitter.com/prPcMKdHkL Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) October 12, 2017
So let me get this straight: Rose McGowan gets suspended but @twitter is fine with neo-nazis continuing to hate mob? https://t.co/NGL16mm3ZQ Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 12, 2017
Seriously @Twitter? You allow Trump to spew far worse, daily and suspend Rose McGowan? https://t.co/cklFUiYFjE Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) October 12, 2017
Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power, a statement from Twitter read after McGowans account was restored. 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 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. 3/3 Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 12, 2017
McGowan boosted the #WomenBoycottTwitter protest on her own account. MEN: if you are on here tomorrow, I urge you to AMPLIFY our voices, she tweeted before going radio silent. Call on your brothers to be better, go after ones who wont. #ROSEARMY.
MEN: if you are on here tomorrow, I urge you to AMPLIFY our voices. Call on your brothers to be better, go after ones who wont. #ROSEARMY rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 13, 2017
See more celebrities joining the protest below.
#womenboycottTwitter
Fuck. I got chit i wana say tomorrow. Macy Gray (@MacyGraysLife) October 13, 2017
Tomorrow I follow the Women. #WomenBoycottTwitter Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 13, 2017
aight....in addition to supporting the #WomenBoycottTwitter movement i ask you all remember that @JemeleHill is catching hell as well. out. Questlove Gomez (@questlove) October 13, 2017
Tomorrow (Friday the 13th) will be the first day in over 10 years that I wont tweet. Join me. #WomenBoycottTwitter pic.twitter.com/xoEt5Bwj5s Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 13, 2017
i'm with her and her and her and her and her and.. #WomenBoycottTwitter Kyle Krieger (@kylekrieger) October 13, 2017
there's definitely a woman out there with a Friday the 13th joke ready to go for tomorrow who is NOT happy right now. #womenboycotttwitter Morgan Murphy (@morgan_murphy) October 13, 2017
quick note from my self induced twitter break to say tomorrow ill continue to not be on but this time in support of #WomenBoycottTwitter ?? el-p (@therealelp) October 13, 2017
I guess I won't be tweeting after midnight ??????????? #WomenBoycottTwitter Emily Sears (@emilysears) October 13, 2017
Harvey Weinsteins estranged wife Georgina Chapman is on the hunt for a divorce lawyerhowever, as of Thursday, she hasnt chosen who to represent her in the split, sources say.
While Page Six reported that the Marchesa designer met with New York-based powerhouse divorce lawyer Judith Poller, a rep for Pollers firm would not confirm the claim.
However, Poller, who has represented numerous A-list names (including Scarlett Johansson in her divorce from Romain Dauriac and Drew Barrymore in her split from Will Kopelman), could be a likely contender. She has a reputation for keeping details of high-profile cases out of the press.
Judith is known for her discretion and handling divorces very privately, says a source. Considering the media circus surrounding the Weinstein story and the fact that Georgina has two young kids, thats likely something she would want to look for.
Chapman revealed to PEOPLE on Tuesday that she is leaving Weinstein, amid allegations of decades of sexual misconduct levied against the movie mogul.
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.
In a statement following Chapmans announcement, Weinstein said he supported her decision to leave him. 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, Weinstein said.
I sat down with my wife Georgina, who I love more than anything, and we discussed what was best for our family. 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.
Weinstein, 65, and Chapman, 41, married in 2007 and have two children together, ages 7 and 4. Weinstein also has three children from a previous marriage.
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Earlier this week, eight women including actress Ashley Judd spoke out against Weinstein in a New York Times report, 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, Angelina Jolie and several other women added their own accounts of alleged mistreatment, and more than two dozen women have now come forward.
Weinstein has since been fired from his studio, The Weinstein Company.
Following the NYT report about the allegations, Weinstein said in a statement that he was working with therapists and planned to deal with this issue head-on.
Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein, a spokesperson for the movie mogul has said.
On Thursday, PEOPLE reported that Weinstein checked into a luxury resort in Arizona after jetting out of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The source said the movie mogul was staying at the five-star hotel because he doesnt want to go a place where he cant use his cell phone.
His team set him up at a secure place to get him the help he needs he knows and wants help, said another source close to the situation.
EXCLUSIVE: If you see something, say something, is the missive today from the Casting Society of America in the wake of the ever-expanding accusations against Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and even rape.
As actress after actress, such as Minka Kelly and Kate Beckinsale most recently, come forward to detail the propositions and pressure directed their way from the now terminated TWC co-chair, Deadline has obtained a very direct memo that the Casting Society has sent out to members on Friday
Pledging to maintain and ensure the highest ethical standards when casting, the memo never mentions Weinstein by name but its context is clear.
Read the full memo here:
The Casting Society of America publicly reiterates its condemnation of harassment in all forms. The silence surrounding unreported sexual attacks, abuse and harassment have contributed to a culture where such behavior can continue, and the time for silence is over. To the actors who have spoken out: we hear you, we believe you and we applaud your courage. No actor, no matter their gender, should ever feel compromised or in danger while auditioning or meeting any industry professional! To our members who witness any abuses, if you see something, say something.
Now is the time to support the victims by letting them know they have an organization they can turn to for continued support.
The actor/casting director relationship is incredibly unique and vital to the success of every project. What happens in the audition room can be intense and emotional, rendering actors vulnerable. Casting directors take the responsibility of maintaining this delicate relationship very seriously and are dedicated to protecting every artist they have the privilege of working with.
We have reached a turning point in this industry and members of the Casting Society of America are called upon to lead effective and meaningful change in this arena. Now, more than ever, we are here to maintain and ensure the highest ethical standards when casting.
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RelatedCSA Members Speak Out in Support of Casting Directors Accused of Charging Actors for Auditions
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After receiving backlash including a series of tweets by Donald Trump Jr. for his silence on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Jimmy Kimmel has explained why he did not immediately speak out against the studio mogul on his show.
During an appearance on ABC News that aired Friday on Good Morning America, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host elaborated on the reasoning for his delayed response to the accusations of sexual harassment against Weinstein that have rocked Hollywood since the New York Times published an expose on Oct. 5. When Amy Robach brought up Trump Jr.s string of tweets calling Kimmel out for his silence, the comedian said, Hes an idiot, lets just start with that. This is an imbecile whose job seems to be tweeting, as far as I can tell. With that said, I do admire that hes very loyal to his father.
First of all, the Harvey Weinstein thing, people like these false equivalences of, that somehow is equivalent to what happened is Las Vegas, Kimmel added. I mean, Harvey Weinstein is not a friend of mine. Im not in the movie business. And Ill add that that story came out, I think, moments before we went to tape on Thursday, and we didnt have a show on Friday.
Theyre trying to drag up especially these gun nuts are trying to take any comedy bit I did out of context and use it as some kind of proof saying that Im calling myself the moral conscience of America, which I most certainly never did and most certainly never would, he said.
Kimmel, like other late-night hosts, addressed Weinstein the Monday after the New York Times broke the story. On his show, he joked, Whats the difference between Harvey Weinstein and the Pillsbury Doughboy? When the Pillsbury Doughboy offers you a roll, he doesnt ask you to watch him take a shower for it.
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Trump Jr.s Twitter attack against Kimmel began with a re-tweeted photo of Weinstein with Obama. Cant wait to hear @jimmykimmels monologue on this tonight, the photo was captioned.
Saturday Night Live should be great too. #ImWaiting https://t.co/mTsMtCMREy Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 7, 2017
On Oct. 7, President Donald Trump tweeted, Late Night host are dealing with the Democrats for their very unfunny & repetitive material, always anti-Trump! Should we get Equal Time? In response, Kimmel wrote, Excellent point Mr. President! You should quit that boring job Ill let you have my show ALL to yourself # MAGA, to which Trump Jr. responded, Thoughts on Harvey Weinstein? #askingforafriend.
Kimmel responded:
You mean that big story from the failing, liberal, one-sided @nytimes? I think it is disgusting. Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) October 7, 2017
To which Trump Jr. challenged him:
Great I look forward to your monologues next week. You're probably due for a change if only for a moment or two. https://t.co/hoEbRApHeT Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 7, 2017
On Oct. 10, Trump Jr. slammed Kimmel with this re-tweet:
More gems from #Kimmel.
Here he has women feel his crotch to guess what he stuffed in his pants.
KIMMEL: "You should put your mouth on it" pic.twitter.com/Yv0MVN9vPw Austen Fletcher (@fleccas) October 11, 2017
The next day, Trump Jr. nudged the host again with another re-tweet.
Just last week CNN declared Kimmel to be "America's conscience." Oops. https://t.co/DORY3hO9if Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 11, 2017
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From Esquire
Never underestimate the ability of the president* to add some low comedy to high malfeasance in the performance of his constitutional office. It's almost his only true political skill. I mean, who could milk a few laughs from the act of signing a document that will make more miserable the lives of the sick, the elderly, and the poor by walking away without signing the document? Screams, I tell you.
Luckily, devoted lickspittle Mike Pence was nearby to herd the president* back so that the latter could further eviscerate the healthcare of millions of Americans. This is because Mike Pence is a good Christian, and allowing people to sicken and die from the complications of not having enough money is the good Christian thing to do. From the NYT:
Mr. Trump directed three cabinet agencies to develop rules that would expand access to less expensive, less comprehensive insurance, including policies that could be sold by trade associations to their members and short-term medical coverage that could be offered by commercial insurers to individuals and families. Many of the new insurance products could be exempt from requirements of the Affordable Care Act that Republicans say have contributed to sharp increases in premiums but that supporters say have created a baseline of care that has protected consumers from junk insurance.
Forget the inevitable Timesian on-the-other-handism with which the report is couched. This is an attempt to do the exact opposite of what the president* took an oath to do. This is an attempt to make sure a law is not faithlessly executed. It's government by renege, which was this president*'s true gift as a businessman. A landscaper in New Jersey or an invalid in Idaho, he'll find some way to stiff them all. And all this on the 12th day after Congress was supposed to have reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program, which the Congress has not yet gotten around to doing. Jesus, these really are the fcking mole people.
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None of the "alternatives" that his order now makes possible are to the benefit of consumers, sick or otherwise. They're all designed to ensure that the Affordable Care Act cannot work, which is the primary goal not only of the president*, but of his enabling political party as well. The executive order turns health insurance back into a bull market for thieves and grifters and once again allows some disreputable characters a chance to coin sickness into gold. The invaluable Sarah Kliff at Vox takes us to Tennessee, where one part of Trumpsurance is already in place,with catastrophic results.
The...executive order would loosen the rules on something called "association health plans." These are plans where small businesses band together to purchase coverage for all their employees. A bunch of bakeries, for example, could form a bakers' association that has more muscle to negotiate better insurance rates. Before the Affordable Care Act, these association plans had an advantage: They offer skimpy plans that wouldn't appeal to people who use a lot of health care - a roundabout way of keeping premiums down by keeping sick people out. Obamacare outlawed this behavior by requiring association health plans to offer the exact same benefits that all other individual and small business insurers do. And it required association health plans to treat healthy and sick people the same.
You mean that keeping out people who might actually need health insurance, and freezing out anyone who suddenly needs it, are things that help keep the cost of it low? I'm stunned. So Tennessee puts this remarkable insight into practice.
State insurance regulations have actually created a loophole where a major association health plan called Farm Bureau is not subject to Obamacare regulations. It can offer skimpy plans and it can charge sick people higher premiums. Farm Bureau is open to any Tennessee resident; you don't have to be a farmer to enroll. The insurance plan has previously estimated it has 23,000 members in these plans that do not comply with the Obamacare rules. And this hurts Tennessee's Obamacare marketplace. Those 23,000 people buying the skimpier health plan are presumably younger and healthier. Segmenting those people out of the Obamacare marketplace raises premiums for everyone else left behind. The Society of Actuaries estimated in 2016 that Tennessee's marketplace has the sickest enrollees in the entire country. The state also has some of the highest Obamacare premiums in the entire country, too. In 2017, a mid-level plan cost, on average, $472 per month.
The sheer meanness of the calculations behind the effort to deprive millions of people of their health insurance, including the millions of people who found relief from this nightmare only in the past eight years, is hard for the decent mind to comprehend. On Thursday, the president* signed an order guaranteed to corrupt health insurance marketplaces all across the country, and that corruption will not be an unintended consequence. It will be a deliberate act of vandalism, like cutting a gas line into a house and waiting for the explosion that inevitably will occur.
Trump and that pack o'bastards applauding him are the perps, giggling and sweating into their palms across the street, waiting for the detonation that will shatter so many lives.
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An Ohio man accused of fatally shooting four people including an 8-year-old boy on Wednesday before fleeing was arrested on Friday, PEOPLE confirms.
Aaron Lawson, 23, was arrested after Lawrence County authorities received a tip from a citizen who spotted him walking down a local street, according to a news release from the Lawrence County Sheriffs Office. On Thursday, police confirmed that four people were found fatally shot inside a trailer home, with the boys body hidden inside.
Lawson was charged in the death of the four victims, the release states, though the charges are not specified. A fifth living victim who was stabbed in the neck and head was able to escape the scene and is currently hospitalized, the release states.
On Wednesday night, authorities responded to a residence and discovered three adults fatally shot in a trailer. On Friday, authorities confirmed the names of the victims as Donald McGuire, 50, Tammie L. McGuire, 43, Staci M. Jackson, 28, and 8-year-old Devin.
Authorities initially believed 8-year-old Devin Holston was missing after the three adults were found dead, but upon further inspection of the residence the following day, Devins body was discovered hidden in the home.
Additional charges may be brought against as the investigation continues, the release states.
Devin Holston
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According to Devins neighbor, Kyle Evans, Lawson would occasionally babysit Devin and his brother, WSAZ reports.
Devin, a second-grader at Rock Creek Elementary, was remembered as having a bubbly personality and enthusiasm for school, according to his teachers who spoke to The Record-Courier.
Devin was widely liked by all the staff and students, said Wes Hairston, superintendent of Rock Creek Local Schools. Its a tragedy that someone this young would perish by someone in a senseless act of hate or violence.
It is unclear at this time whether Lawson has entered a plea or attained an attorney. He is currently behind bars at Lawrence County Jail.
When Rhonda Casto set out on March 16, 2009, for a hike with her boyfriend, her family had no idea the day would transform into a nightmare one that ended with Castos lifeless body at the bottom of a steep ravine.
The plan was for Casto, a 23-year-old aspiring model, to walk the popular Eagle Creek Trail along Oregons Columbia River Gorge accompanied by her boyfriend, Steve Nichols.
Casto handed their 9-month-old, Ava, to her mother that morning and she and Nichols headed off.
She was so happy, Nichols tells PEOPLE. It was a nice day starting out.
By nightfall, Casto was dead.
Though Nichols says he doesnt remember much about what happened, he does recall Casto running along the narrow trail with a towel over her shoulders, like Superwoman, and he says he witnessed her fall. He tried to help her, he says sliding down the ravine and trying to swim across a freezing creek to get to her.
However, by the time he reached her body, he says, he collapsed on top of her from exhaustion and hypothermia.
I fell asleep on her chest and I dont know how long I was asleep for, but I woke up and I realized I was shaking uncontrollably because I was so cold, he says. I had hypothermia. I made my way back to the car and called 911.
Nichols says he believes prescription drugs played a part in Castos death, which he called an accident, and he claims he later discovered she was using marijuana and also taking medication to lose weight and for depression.
But Castos mother, Julia Simmons, doesnt buy Nichols story and believes her daughter would never put herself at risk.
She would never skip down a trail that narrow, she says. She had a baby at home that needed her.
Within days of Castos death, investigators, too, began to question Nichols account of her fatal fall.
For more on Castos sudden death and the investigation that followed, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick this weeks issue, on newsstands Friday.
Rhonda Casto
The Eagle Creek Trail along Oregons Columbia River Gorge.
In February 2015, nearly six years later, Nichols was arrested and charged with killing Casto accused of pushing her off a 100-foot cliff so he could collect a $1-million life insurance policy.
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Authorities also pointed to an alleged inappropriate relationship with Castos underage sister and a previous incident where Nichols was accused of attempting to push his then-wife off a balcony in China in 2003. Nichols has denied all of these claims.
And then in May, in a move that angered Castos family, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Nichols. In return, he pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and coercion.
The case, already years in the making at the time of Nichols arrest in 2015, had encountered multiple legal obstacles as his prosecution proceeded.
According to his plea, Nichols received three years of probation, with credit for 19 months of jail time.
It is like a slap in the face for me and a slap on the hand for him, Simmons says. (The Hood River County, Oregon, District Attorneys Office, which brought the charges against Nichols, declined to comment.)
Castos family says they arent sure her death was accidental, as Nichols has insisted. Her friends described her relationship with Nichols as volatile, and her mother says she was considering ending things with him before she died.
The Relationship Wasnt a Good One
Casto was a 20-year-old Texas transplant when, in 2005, she met Nichols through her mother, who was renting a room in his three-bedroom condo.
Nichols, then a 30-year-old day trader in Portland, Oregon, soon began tutoring Casto, who was taking college courses, and their relationship escalated.
She told me he spoiled her, says Castos friend Jen Sconce. Money-wise he treated her like a princess.
But, Sconce says, the relationship was tumultuous.
I think she knew the relationship wasnt a good one, Sconce says.
Steve Nichols
In the months before Castos death, Simmons who pleaded guilty in July to embezzling Social Security survivor benefits intended for her granddaughter says she was thinking of leaving Nichols.
She would complain how he treated her and how they werent getting along, Simmons says. She was going to move out, but she was trying to get up the courage to do it. She was worried about not having enough money to support Ava.
Nichols denies he was having any relationship problems with Casto. We hardly ever fought, he says. I am not a fighter. I dont really get angry.
In 2014, Nichols, who was teaching in China and living with Ava, was charged with Castos murder by secret indictment. He was arrested in February 2015 at the San Francisco International Airport, when he returned to the country.
However, in February of this year, the prosecutions case against Nichols suffered a major setback.
The Oregon Supreme Court ruled a three-hour police interview with him after his arrest was inadmissible. Adding to the prosecutions problems was the fact that the former lead detective, who had retired in 2012, destroyed evidence on his computer, including crime scene and autopsy photos and trail-head fee envelopes from potential witnesses.
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.
For his part, Nichols, now 42, continues to say he had nothing to do with Castos death.
He says she was high on drugs and slipped off the edge of the cliff: When we started hiking up the trail, I knew something was wrong with her.
She is in a good place and not hurting or unhappy, Simmons says of Casto. I want to one day see her again. I look forward to that day.
From Good Housekeeping
Warning: Some readers may find these images and videos disturbing.
When Vinny Currie noticed a van dropping something in a Kansas alley on Monday around 2 a.m., he immediately knew it wasn't just trash. "In all honesty, I thought maybe a body or something," the Wichita resident admitted after the fact. But when he got closer to the bundle abandoned behind his house, Currie saw that his hunch wasn't that far off.
The approximately 1-year-old dog was severely emaciated, and only hours away from death.
"I could feel every single bone inside of her body," Currie said. "It was heartbreaking." He took her to local nonprofit rescue group Beauties and Beasts, where staffers couldn't believe their eyes. Aadya the pitbull puppy weighed a mere 22 pounds, a sliver of the breed's healthy size.
AadyaSomeone starved her. Someone left her to die. Someone didn't care. Someone is still out there. A community of friends and followers rallied and surrounded her with love. Together we saved her life. Together we made a difference. Together we are her family. Tonight her feedings have increased to 4 tablespoons every other hour. She is grateful for every morsel and has gained 2 lbs already. Dr Alex and Randi got her out of the kennel to stretch her legs and were heartbroken when she ran back and curled up in the corner terrified. Someone abused her. We know from the appearance of her urine burned pads and feces caked nails on arrival she was most likely kept kenneled, suffering. Someone needs to pay. Together we will show her love. Together we will change her world. Aadya is a fighter and a survivor and the best is yet to come. Beauties strong. Www.beautiesandbeasts.org Posted by Beauties and Beasts, Inc. on Thursday, October 12, 2017
"You could almost see her lungs moving and her heart beating because there was no fat," said board member Randi Carter. When veterinarians x-rayed the starving pup, they discovered a corn cob lodged in her intestines, causing large air pockets to form. A risky emergency surgery removed the blockage, but the extremely malnourished dog remained in critical condition.
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Dr. Brock Lofgreen of Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital of Wichita told KAKE yesterday that he was "cautiously optimistic." He estimated that it took almost two months for Aadya to lose all of that weight, and the corn cob had been stuck for about a week.
Veterinarian Lofgreen at Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital of Wichita says dog was starved for weeks. Beauties and Beasts, Inc. is helping take care of this year-old dog. Posted by Lily Wu on Wednesday, October 11, 2017
While Aadya's still under monitoring, she's now getting tablespoons of food to ease back into eating solids again. Both Carter and Currie couldn't believe how she got to this state.
"There are food banks in Wichita that offer pet food," Carter told the Wichita Eagle. "You can always surrender a pet by reaching out to rescues. Everybody is usually pretty full, but we do our best to help. There are options ... This is somebody that didn't look for help. We believe this was 100% intentional animal cruelty."
"Nothing breathing or living deserves to be treated like that, dumped for death," Currie stated. "They need to pay at the highest price. "
In the early morning hours of October 9th, 2017, a blue van was seen in the alley in the 1800 block of N. Arkansas... Posted by Wichita Police Department on Wednesday, October 11, 2017
The Wichita Police Department is currently seeking information from the public to identify the suspect(s) responsible. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (316) 267-2111 or WPD animal services at (316) 350-3360. Donors looking to contribute toward Aadya's care can give here.
WATCH: A Dog Reunites With His Owner After Hurricane Harvey
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Harvey Weinsteins behavior was an open secret in Hollywood so why are only women being blamed for their silence?
Last week, The New York Times published a report titled Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades, detailing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct that span the course of 30 years. The floodgates quickly opened: A-list actresses including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie came forward with allegations against Weinstein, and Rose McGowan named him as her rapist.
On October 10th, Ronan Farrow published an article in The New Yorker that detailed three rape allegations against the Hollywood executive and over a dozen additional accounts of sexual assault and misconduct. It included a chilling audio recording of Weinstein making aggressive sexual advances towards model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.
I waited for the chorus of Why didnt any of these women come forward sooner? to begin. I didnt have to wait long.
Social media lit up with victim-blaming commentary from folks who refused to consider why these women kept silent. After all, people like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd, and Rose McGowan are wealthy and successful. These users wondered, What did they have to lose by coming forward?
Well, their careers come to mind. Their reputations. Everything theyd spent years working towards.
Harvey Weinstein, Gwyneth Paltrow
Since women like Paltrow, Jolie, and Judd epitomize success and wealth, it seems that many people view them as untouchable, as the types of people who can safely report sexual violence, be believed, and not lose anything in the process.
But thats not how sexual violence and the abuse of power works. Money and celebrity status dont preclude vulnerability, and these womens careers were at the mercy of Weinstein.
Paltrow was just 22 years old and at the beginning of her career when Weinstein allegedly sexually harassed her. I was a kid, she recalled. I was signed up. I was petrified.
Its no secret that actresses have shorter career windows than actors. Although there are exceptions like Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren, the vast majority of actresses struggle to find work once they hit the age of 40.
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And in addition to being concerned about their career trajectories, victims of sexual violence very frequently experience shame, guilt, and confusion no matter how much money is in their bank accounts.
Men of Hollywood, meet Professor Anita Hill. This is what bravery is. Your publicist crafted statements dont cut it. Get honest. Get brave pic.twitter.com/9NpMdco0NQ rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 13, 2017
Unfortunately, Weinsteins alleged victims have plenty of company.
According to a report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one in four women experience workplace harassment, but up to 94 percent of victims dont file a complaint.
Although we may not have much common ground with these A-listers, this particular plight is painfully relatable. Its a reminder that, with men in control of nearly every industry, even the most successful women are vulnerable to male predators like Weinstein.
And, of course, one of the most classic victim-blaming arguments in the book has also been raised: By staying silent, they allowed this to happen to other women.
Let me rephrase that, because this is what those critics are really saying: Women need to learn that theyre nearly always responsible for crimes committed by men.
Sounds pretty harsh and cruel, doesnt it?
Weinsteins behavior was an open secret in Hollywood and beyond and men were certainly in on the secret. In 2013, Seth MacFarlane announced the Academy Award nominees and jokingly told the women in the Best Supporting Actress category, Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein. This week MacFarlane said he made the joke after a friend told him her story about an encounter with Weinstein.
Paltrow confided in then-boyfriend Brad Pitt about Weinsteins behavior, and he confronted the executive at a movie premiere. Pitt later continued to work with Weinstein on films such as Inglorious Basterds.
I havent heard anyone question why Pitt, MacFarlane, or any of the many men undoubtedly aware of Weinsteins behavior didnt go to the press or actively work to expose him.
This week, Jessica Chastain, whose breakout role was in the 2008 film Jolene, stated that she was warned about Weinstein from the beginning and called out the sexist double standard that has reared its head over the past week.
I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an enviornment for it to happen again. Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) October 9, 2017
Yes. Im sick of the media demanding only women speak up. What about the men? Perhaps many are afraid to look at their own behavior..... https://t.co/tGUsjUYNMR Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) October 9, 2017
Based on Chastains statement about being warned, it sounds like women victimized by Weinsten responded in a manner thats all-too-familiar to so many of us. Were afraid to go public or file a police report against a sexual predator due to trauma and the cruel treatment of many survivors, so we do the best we can we warn the women around us and hope our warnings spare at least one person.
But this isnt just about the actors and the male producers who could have spoken up.
The consensus is that Weinsteins behavior was an open secret not just in Hollywood but among major media outlets, too.
The New York Times itself reportedly buckled under pressure and scrapped a story on the Weinstein allegations in 2004. Farrows report ran in The New Yorker after NBC told him to stop pursuing the matter.
So why are the Weinstein revelations suddenly making headlines now? Id venture a guess that its related to the fact that his success has waned in recent years. He no longer wields the power he once had, and therefore its safer for The New York Times to finally publish a story that was brought to its attention over a decade ago.
Women fight on. And to the men out there, stand up. We need you as allies. #bebrave rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 5, 2017
Harvey Weinstein, and Harvey Weinstein alone, is responsible for his actions but these revelations are about far more than one man who abused his power to sexually victimize women. For three decades, complicit people and organizations across the board looked the other way, rather than risk Weinsteins wrath.
When it comes to the apparent cover-up, this isnt about one person or one publication.
Its about a society and a culture where powerful men are aided and abetted at every turn, and Hollywood is far from the only industry where this occurs.
Just yesterday Amazon suspended a top executive due to sexual harassment allegations.
Things need to change, and everyone must participate. That means we need to fight the victim-blaming culture that simultaneously doubts women who come forward and shames those who dont. It means men need to use their own power to be allies. And it means that well, it was an open secret is no longer an acceptable excuse.
National treasure Tom Hanks is not buying Harvey Weinsteins response to the sexual assault allegations
Tom Hanks is no fan of Harvey Weinstein.
The actor spoke out against the movie mogul to the New York Times in a feature about his collection of short stories, titled Uncommon Type: Some Stories. Hanks, 61, said he didnt buy Weinsteins statement in response to the sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by multiple women in the NYT, including actress Ashley Judd.
In the lengthy statement on Oct. 5, Weinstein referenced his upbringing in a different time when addressing the allegations.
I came of age in the 60s and 70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then, Weinstein said. I have since learned its not an excuse, in the office or out of it. To anyone.
Ive never worked with Harvey, said Hanks. But, aah, it all just sort of fits, doesnt it? Isnt it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this? 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.
Related article: Jane Fonda feels ashamed for not speaking out about Harvey Weinstein earlier
Hanks also discussed his experience in watching how people in power treat lesser employees.
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, the Oscar winner said.
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, Hanks quoted. 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. But Im not, you know, Im not the first person to say Harveys a bit of an ass.
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In a bombshell NYT report last week, eight women spoke out against Weinstein, accusing him of inappropriate behavior. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan.
Following the initial report, Weinstein said in a statement that he was working with therapists and planned to deal with this issue head-on. He has since been fired from his powerhouse studio, The Weinstein Company, and his wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, has announced shes leaving him.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie said Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed them when they were young actresses https://t.co/O9xBKp45Ye
The New York Times (@nytimes) October 10, 2017
Related article: French actress Florence Darel accuses Harvey Weinstein of propositioning her while his wife was next door
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 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 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.
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.
On Tuesday, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Weinstein plans to enter a residential treatment facility.
This article originally appeared in People.com
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Crazy Horses, by the Osmonds (Photo: MGM Records)
Forty-five years ago, metal hell froze over, and the seemingly unfathomable happened. On Oct. 14, 1972, one of the most unlikely hard rock albums was released to an unsuspecting, Tiger Beat-reading public. That album was Crazy Horses, by the Osmonds.
Yes, those Osmonds.
While the sweet-faced, scrubbed-clean brothers had been known previously as Utahs Mormon answer to the Jackson 5, with their own kiddie cartoon show and bubblegum pop singles like One Bad Apple and Puppy Love, in January 1972 they released Phase III, which showcased a grittier new direction and more self-penned material. Phase III went gold and yielded two top 10 singles, but it was nine months later, with the psychedelic, bananas boogie-rock of Crazy Horses, that the boys truly entered a new musical phase and, at least temporarily, shed their teen idol image.
My brothers and I had been whats now called a boy band: All our songs were chosen for us by the record company, Merrill Osmond told the Guardian in early 2017. But now, having been successful, we wanted to freak out and make our own music. We were rehearsing in a basement one day when Wayne started playing this heavy rock riff. I came up with a melody and Alan got the chords. Within an hour, we had the song [Crazy Horses]. This track was heavier than anything wed ever done. When the label heard it, they said: Guys, what on earth are you doing? But when the record started flying up the [British] charts, we got their respect, even though it was initially banned in France because they thought smoking up the sky was about drugs.
Co-produced by Michael Lloyd of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and evoking Led Zeppelin, Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles, Tower of Power, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Crazy Horses earned the Osmonds respect from other musicians as well even from their ultimate rock idols, Zep. When we were on tour in Europe, Led Zeppelin invited us onstage [at Earls Court, to sing Stairway to Heaven], Merrill revealed to Death and Taxes magazine in 2014. Later we hung out backstage and talked about how we really dug their entire music concept. Added Jimmy Osmond: It is really cool for us to know that people from top groups like Led Zeppelin have raised their hands and said, Isnt that a great riff? or They really did have amazing musical talent.
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Zeppelin drummer John Bonham even brought his son Jason to an Osmonds concert and took him backstage afterward to meet the band. The night made an impression on the younger Bonham, who told Death and Taxes: They started with Crazy Horses. They were on these wires and they came out across the audience back then, so Bon Jovi wasnt the first guy to do it.
Because we were this family, we were Christians, we just didnt fit in the mould. the rock press would never give us a break, Jimmy griped to Bang Showbiz in 2015. However, many years later, in 1991, noted metal critic Chuck Eddy controversially but unapologetically ranked Crazy Horses at No. 66 (or No. 66.6) in his anthology Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe, smack in between Billy Squier and the Pink Fairies. Among other colorful and unironic pro-Osmond rants, Eddy wrote: Maries and Little Jims big bros open with a cannibalistic Immigrant Song rip called Hold Her Tight and keep up to date with rebellious teen trends by dressing up like drug-crazed Electric Company rejects.
But it was the thundering, feverishly paced, dystopian, and completely bonkers title track that turned Crazy Horses into a cult classic. (The most apocalyptic Book of Revelation imagery this side of Dylan/Osbourne, and I swear to Joseph Smith its demented kicks and whinnies were stolen outright by Aerosmith in Back in the Saddle, Eddy gushed.) Crazy Horses has been sampled by Pop Will Eat Itself and covered by KMFDM, Electric Six, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Mission U.K., and even Metallica and its one of Ozzy Osbournes favorite rock songs of all time.
While Crazy Horses focused less on the Osmonds main heartthrob and vocalist, Donny, due to his midpuberty voice change, and most of the tracks were written by eldest brothers Alan, Merrill, and Wayne Osmond, Donny is proud of the record he only wishes it had opened more doors for its follow-up, 1973s The Plan, an ambitious concept album about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (The Plan stalled at No. 58 on the Billboard album chart, compared to respective peaks of No. 10 and No. 14 for Phase III and Crazy Horses.)
Donny Osmond recently spoke to Yahoo Music about Crazy Horses legacy and the Osmonds semi-secret hard rock past. It turns out he wasnt lying when he said he was a little bit rock n roll.
Yahoo Music: Crazy Horses comes up as a surprising influence among many credible rock artists. How did it become this underground phenomenon?
Donny Osmond: Well, I think its kind of interesting how the Osmond name has been really seen on both side of the pendulum. Theres obviously the bubblegum side, but for people who really know about music, its clear on the other side. As a matter of fact, I find it quite ironic that Metallica used to cover Crazy Horses. It was a cutting-edge album.
How was it received at the time?
Over in the European markets, particularly in the U.K., it was huge. Over in the U.K., Crazy Horses is still revered as one of the great rock n roll songs in pop culture. Its been covered by so many bands and used in commercials. Over in England, Ive got such a different image Im more of a musician. Its a whole different thing over there. But here in the States, once people locked their jaws into something, whether it be the Puppy Love era or the cartoon or whatever, then those people figure a band doing cartoons cant do rock n roll music. The Jackson 5, now, were a different dynamic, because they werent considered rock n roll that was R&B. But for white guys doing cartoons, people thought, They cant be doing songs like Crazy Horses!
British fans attend an Osmonds concert in England, November 1972. (Photo: AP/Robert Dear)
Are you aware of this Chuck Eddy book that praises the album?
No, I dont know it.
Well, the book is called Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe, and Crazy Horses is No. 66.
Are you kidding me???
Seriously! No. 66 out of 500. Of course, Chuck got a lot of flak for that, because there were many metal purists who couldnt understand how an Osmonds record could possibly be on that list.
I think thats so cool that he would be willing to do that.
He had a strong argument for why it should be included, saying one of the most metal or punk-rock things a group like the Osmonds could do would be to make a record like Crazy Horses.
Wow. That is cool.
Do you have any stories of other rock fans or musicians expressing their love for the album or song?
Ozzy Osbourne came up to me during the [Dancing With the Stars Season 9] finals. Kelly Osbourne was in the finals with me she came in third, and then Mya came in second, and I won. During a commercial break he had to go to the bathroom, and Im backstage, and Im on pins and needles because its the finals. And Ozzy comes right up to me and says, I just want you to know that Crazy Horses is one of my favorite rock n roll songs of all time.
Donny and Marie Osmond with Ozzy Osbourne in a 2010 Super Bowl Pepsi commercial. (Photo: Pepsi Co./Getty Images)
Whoa! Anyone else?
Simon Le Bon [of Duran Duran] once said to me, I think it would be cool if you would come up onstage and tour with us, and we would do Crazy Horses and just blow people away, because I love that song.
Well, I think you should remake the Crazy Horses album, with guest appearances by all the rock musicians who say theyve been inspired by it, like Ozzy, Duran Duran, Metallica, KMFDM
Wouldnt that be cool? If theyd be willing to be a part of it!
Get on that! That album really does need to be more in the public consciousness.
Well, Im glad to hear you say that, because were certainly proud of it. It was really frustrating for us as a band, because of the image vs. the reality.
The Osmonds pose at Schiphol, Netherlands, in 1972: left to right, Alan, Donny, Jay, Merrill, Wayne (Photo: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)
Do you regret that the Osmonds didnt go in a rock direction from the very beginning?
Well, see, that was the direction we were all headed in, but then the teenybopper career was just so powerful with Puppy Love and all those other songs. And unfortunately, it was just a machine. My producer at the time, he said, Lets just pump out as much as we possibly can, and didnt look at a lot of quality. I recorded songs like Lollipops, Lace, and Lipstick and all that stuff. It was selling; thats what the little teeny- and weenyboppers wanted. But I was into Tower of Power, and Earth, Wind & Fire, and all those kinds of bands. So it was really a juxtaposition: I was the kid who sang Puppy Love, so it was part of me, but I was all across the board musically growing up.
Perhaps Crazy Horses needed to be released with no name on it at first, so it could get more cred in the States.
Yeah! That should have been our White Album! As a matter of fact, we did an album called The Plan where we did that very thing. There was some hard rock radio station in L.A., and we white-labeled the album and my brother Alan took it in. The program director was like, This is fantastic! It sounds like the Who, Led Zeppelin. Whats the name of the band? Alan said, Well its the Osmonds. And the guy was like, Oh, man. I cant play this.
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After our first exposure to the all-new 2018 Honda Accord, it was clear the inherent goodness that has landed the model on our 10Best Cars list a record 31 times not only remained intact but was elevated. With the latest Accords integrity confirmed, we now turn to even deeper exposuresincluding visits to the test trackwith the various models in the lineup. First up: a top-spec Touring with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Loaded from the Start
The 2018 Accord Touring 2.0T represents the kitchen-sink approach to car buying: By opting for the Touringat the top of the Accord lineupyou get the larger engine and 10-speed automatic transmission, adaptive dampers, and 19-inch wheels shod with 235/40R-19 Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires. Additional standard features include leather upholstery, a 12-way power-adjustable drivers seat, heated and ventilated front seats and heated outboard rear seats, a head-up display, rain-sensing wipers, wireless phone charging, near-field device communication, and mobile Wi-Fi hotspot capability. Given that list of goods, its clear this Accord has some serious aspirations.
Theres a warm, cohesive quality to the Tourings interior thanks to the neutral tones, attractive faux-wood trim, and quality materials. Attention to detail abounds, from the way the knurled metal knobs for the climate-control and infotainment systems travel through their detents to the brilliant colors of the low-glare, hi-res center displaytaken together, these items give off the vibe of a high-end electronic component. The simplicity of the layout plays a part, too, as the 2018 Accord marks the arrival of a streamlined and easier-to-use infotainment system that once again incorporates traditional volume and tuning knobs. Drivers of all shapes and sizes will find it easy to arrive at the perfect seating position, and those on the larger end of the spectrum will welcome the surplus of head and shoulder room despite the presence of a sunroof. In that respect, it has a leg up on the 2018 Toyota Camry, in which the same drivers complained that the B-pillar and sunroof infringed on their personal space. The tilting and telescoping steering wheel and well-placed pedals add to an impression that the car was designed from the drivers seat out.
Detuned for Your Pleasure
As Honda fans are likely aware, the turbocharged 2.0-liter in the Accord is a lower-output version of the 306-hp beast found in the Civic Type R. (Read more details on the two engines here.) Detuned to a still respectable 252 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque for Accord duty, the inline-four moves the sedan with authority. Full grunt is available at a low 1500 rpm, and the transmission wastes no time in downshifting to meet it at the sweet spot. Tire squeal is available on demand from a stop or a slow rolland with only the faintest whiff of torque steer. Pushing the Sport button on the console triggers more aggressive throttle and transmission mapping, firms up the adaptive dampers, and quickens the response of the variable-ratio electrically assisted power steering. Especially in this mode the Accord becomes an ideal urban companion in the fight against boring commutes, the 10-speed downshifting intuitively when braking for corners and upshifting transparently under acceleration.
Instrumented analysis at the test track revealed a 5.5-second zero-to-60-mph time and a 14.1-second quarter-mile with a trap speed of 102 mph. To put those numbers in perspective, both are 0.1 second quicker than those of the last-generation (and now-departed) Accord coupe V-6 with a six-speed automatic. It also blows away the Accords longtime nemesis, the Camry, as a 268-hp 2017 V-6 XSE example of that Toyota lagged behind this Honda to 60 mph by 0.6 second and to the quarter-mile mark by 0.5 second. The 301-hp elephant in the room, however, is the all-new 2018 Camry V-6; expect a closer race when we get an opportunity to strap our test gear to one of those.
Ostensibly, Honda opted for the 2.0-liter turbo for reasons of fuel economy, not performance, and, indeed, the company expects the new Accords EPA ratings to come in at 30 mpg city and 38 mpg highway. Thats quite a massive leap over the best ratings on last years V-6 model, which were 21 city and 33 highway. However, in our highway fuel-economy loop running a steady 75 mph, the new car achieved 35 mpg, which is precisely what the last V-6powered Accord managed.
Braking performance is par for the class, with the Accord Touring 2.0T consuming 170 feet to stop from 70 mph. Thats an improvement over the 178 feet required by the 2017 Accord sedan with the four-cylinder and continuously variable automatic (CVT) powertrain and just a smidge better than the 172-foot distance of a 2016 Accord coupe V-6. The last Mazda 6 we tested required 175 feet; a 2018 Camry SE with a 2.5-liter inline-four also required 175 feet. While brake feel underfoot is not its best quality, pedal travel and performance is consistent whether leaning on it hard or lightly scrubbing off speed. Grip is largely the same story, the Accord measuring 0.88 g on our skidpad while exhibiting only mild understeer. What the numbers dont relate is the Hondas precise turn-in, fluid directional changes, and level cornering that make it such a pleasure to drive.
The Price of Power
While the $36,675 base MSRP of the top-trim 2.0T 10-speed Accord Touring tested here is only $805 more than that of the previous-generation Accord Touring, it also approaches the points where the 2018 BMW 320i ($35,895 to start) and the 2018 Audi A4 ($36,075) begin. That said, the Accord Tourings biggest competition comes from within. If you dont mind giving up leather, navigation, and a few other niceties, you can snag an Accord Sport 2.0T for $31,185 with your choice of either the 10-speed auto orour choicethe six-speed manual. Buyers looking to save even more can step down to an Accord with the turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four, which starts at $24,445 for the LX and peaks at $34,675 for the Touring. The sweet spot there again is the Sport, which pairs the 1.5T with the six-speed manual for $26,655. The manual is available as a no-cost option on the Sport; all other 1.5-liter Accords come paired with a CVT.
Judged by the numbers and its driving engagement, the 2018 Accord carries on the nameplates tradition of being affixed to a holistically developed, honest, and fun family vehicle. Thats impressive at any price.
Specifications >
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $36,675 (base price: $31,185)
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 122 cu in, 1996 cc
Power: 252 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 273 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 10-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 111.4 in
Length: 192.2 in
Width: 73.3 in Height: 57.1 in
Passenger volume: 103 cu ft
Trunk volume: 17 cu ft
Curb weight: 3419 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 13.6 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 20.9 sec
Rolling start, 560 mph: 6.1 sec
Top gear, 3050 mph: 3.4 sec
Top gear, 5070 mph: 4.4 sec
Standing -mile: 14.1 sec @ 102 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 126 mph
Braking, 700 mph: 170 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.88 g
*stability-control-inhibited
C/D FUEL ECONOMY:
Observed: 24 mpg
75-mph highway driving: 35 mpg
Highway range: 510 miles
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (MFR'S EST):
Combined/city/highway: 33/30/38 mpg
By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Advocates for Americans imprisoned by Iranian authorities said on Friday they were concerned the Trump administration's hard line on Iran would close off the chance for talks to secure the prisoners' release. In a major shift in U.S. policy, President Donald Trump announced he would not certify that Iran is complying with a 2015 nuclear deal and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement. The administration also designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the dominant player in the country's security, economy and politics, as a terrorist group, a move one expert said would make the group less willing to negotiate over the prisoners. Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who was detained by Iran for 18 months, said on Twitter that Trump's Iran strategy "will only hurt American hostages being held in Iran." "I hope I'm wrong, but it looks to me as though Americans being held hostage in #Iran were just abandoned by @realDonaldTrump," Rezaian wrote, using Trump's Twitter handle. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A State Department official said the United States calls for the "immediate release" of U.S. citizens held "unjustly" in Iran. The seven known American citizens and permanent residents who have been detained in the last two years in Iran are businessman Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father Baquer Namazi; Princeton doctoral student Xiyue Wang; art gallery owner Karan Vafadari and his wife Afarin Niasari; Robin Reza Shahini, an Iranian-American from California; and Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national with U.S. permanent residency. "My biggest frustration is still the U.S. government has no plan for how to resolve this, and my husband has been in prison for 15 months," Wang's wife, Hua Qu, told Reuters. She said the new U.S. sanctions made her "afraid" for her husband's fate, because they show "that the relationship is deteriorating." Wang was arrested in August 2016 while doing dissertation research and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, allegations his family and university deny. "I don't know when the U.S. government is going to engage Iran," Qu said. "He is living in this terror everyday. He is in despair." Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said on a conference call with reporters that designating the IRGC as a terrorist group would "make it far more difficult to have a direct line of communication with them." "The IRGC is going to be in much less of a mood to engage in a serious negotiation with the United States after this," said Sadjadpour, a friend of Namazi. In January 2016, the Obama administration secured the release of five Americans imprisoned in Iran by agreeing to a much-criticized prisoner swap after protracted direct talks with Iran. In the months following the swap, the Iranian government arrested several more Americans. The IRGC is typically the entity that has detained and interrogated the Americans, according to their family members and human rights groups. Jason Poblete, a U.S.-based attorney for Zakka, said the sanctions could be helpful "if it gets these parties talking to each other." He criticized the Obama administration's approach to Iran as not being focused enough on "the unconditional release of hostages." "Anything that moves us to speaking clearly with one another, which is what the president's doing, is much better than all this flimsy talk that had been taking place until now," Poblete said. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and James Dalgleish)
Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon was working late in her fifth-floor office in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Thursday night, as she has most nights since Hurricane Maria made landfall over Puerto Rico on Sept. 20.
As the territorys lone representative in Congress, the 41-year-old conservative has been a vital conduit between her constituents and the authorities in Washington that can deliver aid to the devastated island, where 85% of the population remains without power.
She is frustrated. Puerto Rico is home to 3.4 million people who are nominally American citizens but their lone representative is not allowed to vote on legislation in the House of Representatives. The wake of Hurricane Maria has only emphasized the discrepancy between Puerto Ricans and the rest of the country, Gonzalez says.
Were treated differently, she told TIME. Its frustrating.
Aggravating her frustration is President Trumps attitude towards the growing humanitarian crisis in her home territory. On Thursday morning, he tweeted that federal aid cant sustain Puerto Rico forever. Previously, he picked fights on Twitter with Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, and described those criticizing his management of the situation as ingrates. (Later on Thursday, the House passed a $36.5 billion disaster relief package, but Gonzalez says much more will be needed.)
In a candid conversation with TIME, Gonzalez described the devastation in Puerto Rico, declared her support for the territorys statehood, and shared her thoughts on the Presidents attitude towards the worsening crisis in Americas most populous territory.
Were having this conversation because of the devastation in Puerto Rico. How are things down there?
Its worse than it seems on television. Things have improved, but theres still a lot of work to do. Every day is a different challenge. During the first two to three days, there were no ports open. Theres still no power. Weve stabilized the supply of gas and diesel, but now, without power, hospitals and dialysis centers and homes for the elderly are running on generators. Youve still got communities in the middle of the island where you have to airdrop food, because roads and bridges there were washed away.
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Theyve told us that the power grid is going to be restored in eight months. Its not acceptable. Were still in a dire situation. We never expected to be living in a humanitarian crisis. Just weeks before, we were helping St. Maarten after Hurricane Irma, and now were the ones needing help. Our infrastructure was already dated before the storm its from the 1950s and 1960s and now we need to start over. We need personnel there. We have 16,000 people from the military and the federal agencies, and we still need more.
Has the response of the federal government been adequate?
We never expected this level of devastation. That took everyone by surprise. Thats the reason theres been an incremental relief effort. During the first week, the radar at the airport went down. Communications towers went down. The power grid was down. So everything was a bigger challenge than the damage from the storms that hit the southern part of the United States. Its been a huge challenge for FEMA and other federal agencies to deal with a remote island. Were receiving help, but its not enough. We need more boots on the ground.
Youre in an interesting position. Youre the representative of a U.S. territory that isnt a state. Youre an elected official but you cant cast your own ballots in the House. At this challenging moment, what do you see as your foremost responsibility to your constituents?
What you just asked is the challenge of my current situation. Its been the situation for Puerto Ricans for more than a century. Being here in Congress, representing 3.4 million American citizens, without the right to vote. Were disenfranchised. Theres no other member of Congress who represents more people than I do. I represent 3.4 million people, and I can vote in committees, but I cant vote on the floor. The only thing I can do is educate my fellow members, brief them, call cabinet secretaries.
The U.S. has five territories Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. In our case, not all federal programs apply to Puerto Rico. In disaster mode, there are 10 federal programs, but territories can only apply for help from three. The President gave instruction directly to his cabinet to open Puerto Rico to all federal programs, and now were going to have access to them.
And when its not a time of emergency, were treated differently. Look at Medicaid. A state with a high poverty level like Mississippi can receive up to 83% reimbursement of its Medicaid expenses. In the case of Puerto Rico, as a territory, they fix it, so we only get 45% to 50%. Its so difficult, when you can just take a plane from Puerto Rico and move to any other state, and then you can vote for the president, vote for your representatives, but if you stay on the island, you cant vote.
Is it dramatic to say Puerto Ricans are second-class citizens?
More than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have proudly served in the U.S. military and gone to war, but they cant vote for their Commander-in-Chief. Although Congress acted today and Im proud of my colleagues for that if we were treated as a state, wed be receiving more help.
That brings me to my next question. The aftermath of Hurricane Maria has invited a new discussion about Puerto Ricos relationship to the United States whether statehood is something worth considering. It sounds like you advocate that.
Yes. The people of Puerto Rico voted in November of 2012, and 61% of them said they wanted statehood. In June of this year, 97% of the people who voted, voted for statehood. We want to become a state. That was the mandate from the people of Puerto Rico. I filed a bill in January asking for authorization. Im focusing on hurricane relief now, but its a bill Im going to file again to enable Puerto Rico to become a state.
What hurdles stand in the way of that?
We need to educate Congress about it. I think the calamity of the hurricane helped many people realize that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Many people never really understood that. Its raised the level of education about the 3.4 million Americans living down there.
And again, those people have been disenfranchised. Its an important issue, and its the reason Im here. If we were a state, wed have four or five representatives in Congress and two Senators. Im the only representative. If we become a state, we will have full representation, and we will be treated as any other state.
President Trump has made some controversial remarks about the situation in Puerto Rico. Just this morning, he chided Puerto Ricans on Twitter, telling them that federal aid workers cant stay there forever. Hes insulted the leadership of San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz. What do you make of that? How do Puerto Ricans feel about President Trump?
Ill be honest. I was with him during the first hurricane, and he was caring telling me all the resources hed give to Puerto Rico, telling his Cabinet members to help us. It was totally different from the tweets Ive seen. At the time I felt he was taking care of us. Same with Vice-President Pence. When I saw the tweet this morning, I was surprised, because this is not the time for that. Nobody wants to be in a recovery mode forever.
A lot of people in Puerto Rico are frustrated. We need more, because the damage is so big and the level of devastation was something we never expected. We need to turn that frustration into action. Im not going to get involved in the fight between President Trump and the mayor of San Juan.
What do people in Puerto Rico think of President Trump?
Theyre grateful for the help weve received. But when you dont have power, when you dont have access to medication, when youre not living the way you were living just three weeks ago, you get desperate. In this moment, as we speak, theres a dire situation in Puerto Rico. The bill passed in the House today shows that the resources are going to get there, but Im not hanging up my gloves yet.
Just about a month after Hurricane Irma blew through Florida, everyone will know Key West is "Paradise USA" once again.
The iconic "Welcome to Key West" sign was found 300 miles away from its home on Thursday in Fort Meyers Beach, according to the Miami Herald.
SEE ALSO: Hemingway's six-toed cats may have eight lives after Hurricane Irma
The friendly greeting to the popular vacation destination off U.S. Route 1 went missing in the midst of the storm, which made landfall in the Florida Keys on Sept.10.
WINK News reports that an unidentified couple dropped it off at the Key West Express docking station on Thursday morning. Crew members at the dock loaded it onto a boat to ship it back home.
The famous Welcome to Key West sign went missing after Hurricane Irma. Its just been found! Dropped off @KeyWestExpress this morning pic.twitter.com/TNOrWkoefk John Trierweiler (@JohnTrierweiler) October 12, 2017
In the meantime, locals have made do with a hand-painted sign welcoming visitors to "Paradise."
Original Key west sign found in Fort Myers yesterday is back home! The temporary still hangs in its place welcoming people to Paradise USA pic.twitter.com/15XTCs3ZDD John Trierweiler (@JohnTrierweiler) October 13, 2017
Hurricane Irma hit Florida as a large Category 4 storm. It was so wide and powerful that both the east and west coasts of the state experienced hurricane-force winds (with a peak gust of 142 miles per hour), as well as coastal flooding, and heavy rain. It was one of the strongest storms to ever hit Florida's southwest coast.
Apples Denise Young Smith sent an apology to team members at Apple today over comments she made at the One Young World Summit in Bogota, Colombia.
Last week, while attending a summit in Bogota, I made some comments as part of a conversation on the many factors that contribute to diversity and inclusion.I regret the choice of words I used to make this point, said Smith in the memo.
As the companys Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity, Smith has been the tip of Apples D&I spear during an era of increasing pressure on big tech companies to improve their inclusiveness. Smith came under fire from diversity advocates and commentators over a specific statement she made during a panel she was on alongside activist DeRay Mckesson and Michael Hastings, which was moderated by Aamna Mohdin of Quartz.
TechCrunch obtained Smiths email to her team, which reads as follows:
Colleagues, I have always been proud to work for Apple in large part because of our steadfast commitment to creating an inclusive culture. We are also committed to having the most diverse workforce and our work in this area has never been more important. In fact, I have dedicated my twenty years at Apple to fostering and promoting opportunity and access for women, people of color and the underserved and unheard. Last week, while attending a summit in Bogota, I made some comments as part of a conversation on the many factors that contribute to diversity and inclusion. I regret the choice of words I used to make this point. I understand why some people took offense. My comments were not representative of how I think about diversity or how Apple sees it. For that, Im sorry. More importantly, I want to assure you Apples view and our dedication to diversity has not changed. Understanding that diversity includes women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and all underrepresented minorities is at the heart of our work to create an environment that is inclusive of everyone. Our commitment at Apple to increasing racial and gender diversity is as strong as its ever been. Im proud of the progress weve made, but there is much work to be done. Im continually reminded of the importance of talking about these issues and learning from each other. Best, Denise
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The focus of the blowback was a segment of Smiths panel that came as a follow on discussion related to an earlier question about whether black women were a priority for her in her role. Because a lot of the resulting discussion on the web has been based on snippets of the conversation, Ill present a chunk of the dialog here, to give more context. Ill bold the bit that seems to have caused the most controversy.
Aamna Mohdin: I wanted to touch on something that you said, Denise, that its not only just about numbers in Silicon Valley, but youve taken on a new role in Apple for inclusion and diversity, and a lot of that is going to be about the numbers. And I just kind of wanted to know whether black women is a priority for you in this new role? Denise Young Smith: Ill say this. So first of all, its a new role, but its not. Ive been black and a woman for a long timeI have been doing this work, I have been playing this role for a very long time. I have been a first, Ive been an only, when I was at the same conference that I just referenced, there were numbers and numbers of black women together successful, professional, astonishing black women, and we were sharing stories and every single one of us could share the same stories about being in a room, in a meeting and someone would assume you were the assistant, the secretary, that you were not the manager, you were not the boss and that your staff person that was three levels below you was your boss. We all shared those stories. Denise Young Smith: Aamna, you also asked me about my work at Apple, or in particular, who do I focus on? I focus on everyone. Diversity is the human experience. I get a little bit frustrated when diversity or the term diversity is tagged to the people of color or the women or the LGBT or whatever because that means theyre carrying that aroundbecause that means that we are carrying that around on our foreheads. And Ive often told people a story-- there can be 12 white blue-eyed blonde men in a room and they are going to be diverse too because theyre going to bring a different life experience and life perspective to the conversation. The issue is representation and mix and bringing all the voices into the room that can contribute to the outcome of any situation. So I focus on everyone, but I also focus on allies and alliances because to DeRays point, theres an incredible amount of power in those who have platforms or those who have the benefit of greater representation to tell the stories of those who do not. So whenever we can accomplish that, then that is a win for everyone. And I think that is something that people, that we all tend to... particularly those who protest things that we are fearful about, we can all win in this story, and so thats what I try to focus on at Apple.
The phrasing is very poor. On the face of it the meaning is that there really is no need to look beyond any sort of seeming homogeneity within Silicon Valleys tech workforce (which is mostly white and overwhelmingly male). Instead, the phrase appears to allow for Apple to make diversity and inclusion hiring decisions based solely on diversity of thought. There's nothing inherently wrong with diverse thinking, but treating it with primary importance eliminates the many benefits of a racial-and-gender-diverse workforce and many see it as, frankly, a complete cop-out in trying to solve a very real problem.
"Diversity of thought" has long been a lever used by critics of the concept of D&I work to push back against meaningful diversity efforts. Already this week, some critics of the concept of inclusive diversity work (racists, men who believe they are inherently superior, etc) were pointing at Smith's comments with an air of smugness likely not her intended effect.
The thrust of Smiths email is that she realizes the mistake in using this example, and just how damaging it could be to the perception of Apples D&I work. Apples overall numbers - 9% black, 12% Hispanic, 19% Asian and 56% white, are still poor. The picture gets slightly dimmer yet when you consider that the majority of those non-white employees are in Apples retail workforce, and are not employed in technical or leadership positions. Even so, Apple is among the top performers in tech overall which shows you how rough the situation still is and is gaining slowly.
Smith has been at Apple a long time, and was promoted first by Steve Jobs to a position leading Retail HR and then again by CEO Tim Cook earlier this year to be the companys first VP of Diversity and Inclusion. Smith also pioneered Apples partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College fund, which supports students enrolled in HBCUs with $40M in funding to foster and hire students coming from these colleges.
Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces Friday retook positions controlled by Kurdish peshmerga fighters since 2014 in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk amid a bitter row with the Kurds over a vote for independence last month.
A senior Kurdish official said thousands of heavily armed fighters had been deployed to defend themselves "at any cost" against the Iraqi operation and called for international intervention.
Ethnically divided but historically Kurdish-majority Kirkuk is one of several regions that peshmerga fighters took over from the Iraqi army in 2014 when Islamic State (IS) group swept through much of northern and western Iraq.
Baghdad is bitterly opposed to Kurdish ambitions to incorporate the oil-rich province in its autonomous region in the north and has voiced determination to take it back.
The Iraqi army and the peshmerga have been key allies of the US-led coalition in its fights against IS and the threat of armed clashes between them poses a major challenge for Western government.
"The Iraqi armed forces are advancing to retake their military positions that were taken over during the events of June 2014," an army general told AFP, asking not to be identified.
Speaking from an area south of the provincial capital Kirkuk, the general said federal troops had retaken "Base 102" west of the city after peshmerga fighters withdrew during the night without a fight.
The peshmerga's Kirkuk commander, Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa, said his forces had withdrawn from areas they had recently entered during fighting against IS in the west of the province.
- 'We will fight' -
"We withdrew to our lines in the area around Kirkuk and we will defend the city in the event of an attack," he said.
"If the Iraqi army advances, we will fight."
Kurdish media said the peshmerga had withdrawn from around 72 square kilometres (28 square miles) of territory.
Sheikh Mustafa said there had been an attempt to negotiate an agreed disengagement of forces through Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi but it had been overruled by field commanders.
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A top aide to Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani vowed the peshmerga would defend their positions "at any cost".
"Thousands of heavily armed peshmerga units are now completely in their positions around Kirkuk," Hemin Hawrami said.
"Their order is to defend at any cost."
The Kurdish authorities accused the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) -- paramilitary units dominated by Iran-trained Shiite militia -- of massing fighters in two mainly Shiite Turkmen areas south of Kirkuk in readiness for an attack.
Hawrami urged the international community to intervene and call on the Iraqi prime minister to "order PMF to pull back if he can or if they listen to him".
Iraqi Kurdish premier Nechirvan Barzani urged Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's highest Shiite religious authority, to intervene to prevent "a new war in the region" and called for dialogue with Baghdad.
A legislator close to Abadi said Iraqi special forces, police and PMF fighters were advancing "to retake control of the oil fields taken by the peshmerga when IS entered Iraq".
It was "logical for the peshmerga to withdraw" in the face of the advance, said Jassem Jaafar.
The PMF issued no statement but it published photographs of one of its fighters making a victory sign in front of a Kurdish flag.
Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Iran-backed Badr group that is part of the PMF, called on the peshmerga to withdraw, saying it is the Iraqi army's "duty" to retake those positions.
- Lucrative oil fields -
The surge in tensions comes two weeks after Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum that the federal government condemned as illegal.
The September 25 polls were held in the three provinces of the autonomous Kurdish region as well as several other Kurdish-held areas, including Kirkuk.
On Friday, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, a Kurd, was in Kurdistan for talks with Kurdish officials, sources there said.
Meanwhile, a blast targeted the offices of a Kurdish mobile phone provider in Hilla, south of Baghdad, causing material damage but no casualties, a police source said.
The Kurdistan Regional Security Council said its intelligence reports suggested that Iraqi troops and armour were preparing to take over the Kurdish-held oil fields, an airport and a military base.
The Kurds export an average of 600,000 barrels of oil per day under their own auspices, of which 250,000 bpd come from the three fields they control in Kirkuk province.
Abadi has repeatedly denied any intention of ordering an assault on his own people but tensions have been high for days.
On Friday, residents in Kirkuk city queued at petrol stations with jerry cans to fill up while other civilians took up arms and deployed on the streets.
One of them, Khasro Abdallah, vowed "to defend Kirkuk to the death".
The federal government suspended international air links in and out of Iraqi Kurdistan after the referendum.
It said there could be no negotiations on wider autonomy until Kurdish leaders annul the vote and commit to remaining part of Iraq.
New York (AFP) - Large contracts for Boeing and General Electric in Iran, while not under direct threat, face significant new uncertainties following President Donald Trump's announcement Friday, said two people familiar with the matter.
Trump stopped short Friday of killing the landmark 2015 agreement -- which curbed Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief -- but he withdrew official support for the agreement and threw its prospects into grave doubt.
Trump's move shifts the fate of the deal to Congress, which is expected to determine the future of the agreement within 60 days, said the two people.
The US could leave the Iran deal "at any time," Trump warned.
If Congress doesn't act, Boeing and GE will be able to keep operating in Iran under a process closely regulated by the Office of Foreign Asset Control in the Treasury Department.
Officials from the two US companies were girding for a period of uncertainty.
"We expect to be in a wait-and-see situation," said an official with one of the companies.
Spokesman Tim Neale said Boeing would "follow the US government's lead in all our dealings with approved Iranian airlines and will remain in close touch with US regulators for any additional guidance."
"GE and our foreign subsidiaries are pursuing commercial opportunities in Iran consistent with and in compliance with US government rules and policies," said a GE spokesman.
In December 2016, Boeing signed a contract to sell 80 planes for $16.6 billion to Iran Air.
That was followed in April by an announcement that Boeing would deliver 30 737 MAX planes to Iranian company Aseman in a $3 billion contract for delivery between 2022 and 2024.
GE's non-US affiliates reached agreements to sell equipment and technologies to the Iran energy sector for $20 million in the second quarter, the company said in a July securities filing.
Those contracts became possible under the 2015 agreement between Iran and major powers that eased some international sanctions, even as the US kept an embargo on Iranian investments by Americans and entities using the US financial systems.
His Imperial Highness Prince Joel Dawit Makonnen Haile Selassie and Ms. Ariana Austin were married September 9 at Debre Genet Medhane Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church just outside of Washington DC. (Photo: Courtesy of Ariana Austin)
Twelve years ago, Ariana Austin and Joel Makonnen met in a dance club called Pearl in Washington, D.C. Couples meet in clubs every weekend around the world, so that beginning of their tale may not seem so special. One little detail: Makonnen is also known as His Imperial Highness Prince Joel Dawit Makonnen Haile Selassie as in royalty.
Makonnen and Austin recently wed, bringing their love story into full-blown fairy-tale territory, with Austin and her Prince Charming and Prince Yoel and his heroine finally tying the knot among family and friends at an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Maryland in September. But it took 12 years to get to the altar. Yet even when they met, things seemed destined for the two. Just five minutes after meeting Austin, Makonnen told the New York Times in a recent profile, I said, Youre going to be my girlfriend.
What a way to celebrate the Ethopian New Year!! Wishing the couple all the JOY #itiswritten #weddingbliss @munaluchibride #arijo #guyana #DC A post shared by Adrena Ifill Blagburn (@colorful_content) on Sep 12, 2017 at 5:51pm PDT
Makonnen is a member of the Ethiopian royal family that gave up their rule in the 1970s as civil war erupted in the country. He was born in Rome, while his parents were living in exile. Austin is of African-American and Guyanese origins. The two boasted of their union being of Old World aristocracy and New World charm in their wedding invitations.
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After they met, though, it took some time for the relationship to jell into the storybook situation they find themselves in today. There were internships in Paris for her, a return to Ethiopia for him, a stint in grad school at Harvard, and a law degree at Howard for each. After nearly 10 years, they eventually found themselves back in the same place at the same time, and the prince finally proposed.
It seems theres plenty more to tell of their story together. Austin, who has an arts education masters from the aforementioned Harvard, tells the Times that she wants to help Makonnen tell the story of his family in a documentary. A biopic is definitely on our agenda, she says. And were sure that a chapter on the two of them would be pretty compelling.
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Reuters
As fires continue to rage across Northern California, authorities are reassuring residents worried about being deported.
Thousands of people have been displaced by infernos that have charred over 200,000 acres and claimed 31 lives. As officials have implored residents to stay safe by promptly obeying mandatory evacuation orders and packing necessities ahead of time, they have confronted immigrants fear of exposing themselves to the immigration authorities.
There are more than 50,000 immigrants living illegally in Napa and Sonoma County, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, many of them agricultural labourers helping to harvest the grapes that cling to the rolling hills of California wine country.
Officials have sought to reassure those immigrants that they can flee the fires without running into deportation proceedings. Sonoma County has been issuing advisories emphasising that evacuation shelters are not asking for immigration status, batting down rumours to the contrary.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said they were suspending routine immigration operations in scorched areas, unless they were dealing with a serious criminal presenting a public safety threat, and would not visit food banks or shelters.
Spanish-language alerts and advisories have helped reassure people they can get assistance and not fear repercussions, said Suzy Becerra of Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy and Services in Santa Rosa.
Hearing the county saying those shelters are secure, go, its been a great help, Ms Becerra said.
California has a fraught relationship with the federal government when it comes to immigration. State officials reacted to the election of Donald Trump, who vowed to step up deportations and seal off the border, by enacting a so-called sanctuary state law that sharply curtails cooperation between ICE and local jails and police officers. The state has repeatedly sued the Trump administration over its immigration proposals.
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In response, the federal government has warned of a crackdown. Acting ICE Director Tom Homan said it left the agency no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighbourhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons.
A series of late September raids targeted sanctuary cities in California and elsewhere, with Mr Homan saying policies limiting federal-local collaboration meant ICE was forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.
Firefighting along Highway 29 near Calistoga, California: AP
Thousands of prison inmates are helping to battle the infernos raging across California.
Around 3,900 prisoners are enrolled in the program, including 200 women. They get extra time off their sentences and earn $2 a day and $1 for each hour of active duty.
They join 8,000 firefighters, hundreds of fire engines and dozens of aircraft deployed to combat the numerous blazes that have already incinerated more than 200,000 acres and killed at least 31 people so far, as well as leaving hundreds missing.
This is an all hands on deck effort, California Governors Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said.
Some assistance has come from neighbouring states; some has come from the federal government. And some help has come from within the walls of Californias correctional system, where a program allows inmates who pose a minimal security risk to venture outside of prison walls and into fire camps.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Bill Sessa praised the inmates, calling them the highest paid prison job there is though he said the primary benefits aren't monetary.
The environment in camp is a lot different from an institutional setting behind an electric fence. Its more informal, its a more relaxed environment, Mr Sessa said, and they leave with a lot of good life skills that will help them succeed whenever they choose to leave prison.
On Friday morning, some 1,700 of those inmates were joining the frontline effort to quell flames that have already consumed huge swathes of California, claiming over 2,800 homes in the city of Santa Rosa alone.
Working in crews of about a dozen, inmates are trained to halt the spread of fires by cutting firebreaks, or gaps in the vegetation that fuels wildfires. Fire officials have warned that the current blazes are feeding on a tinderbox of excessively dry brush the legacy of a half-decade of drought that only just ended with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection chief Ken Pimlott warning of explosive vegetation.
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Since high winds helped ignite and spread the fires on Sunday night, there has been little respite for thousands of evacuees or for firefighters toiling to protect lives and homes including inmates.
When that firestorm blew up so quickly we had some crews that worked 72 straight hours, catching as little sleep as they could, sleeping on the ground, Mr Sessa said.
All of these people are firefighters before they are inmates, and they are out there doing as heroic a job as all 8,000 of these guys, he added. They have already gone beyond what most of us have to give and they're still going.
It seems likely they will still be going through the weekend, with officials warning that dry weather and swift winds will continue to feed fires. Firefighters have so far contained only about a quarter of the two powerful blazes that have spread across Sonoma and Napa County, the heart of Californias wine industry.
The Napa Valley town of Calistoga faced one of the biggest threats, and its 5,000-plus residents were ordered to leave their homes as winds picked up and fires crept closer.
Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning said anyone refusing to heed the mandatory evacuation would be left to fend for themselves if fire approached, warning on Thursday: You are on your own.
Sonoma County accounts for 17 of the North Bay fatalities, all from the Tubbs fire, which now ranks as California's deadliest single wildfire since 2003.
Some people killed were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, fire officials said. Others had only minutes to escape as winds fanned fast-moving blazes.
As many as 900 missing-person reports have been filed in Sonoma County and 437 people have since turned up safe. It remains unclear how many of the 463 still unaccounted for are fire victims rather than evacuees who failed to alert authorities, Mr Ghilarducci said.
The year's wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.5 million hectares) burned so far, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In the worst year, 2015, about 9.3 million acres burned.
There is no good time for a wildfire to break out, but the middle of the night may be the worst. The darkness makes it hard for firefighters to size up the flames, and people like Eduardo Flores are tucked away in their beds. When Flores, 66, and his wife awoke to find flames nearing their Santa Rosa, Calif., mobile-home park in the early hours of Oct. 9, they hammered on neighbors windows and doors, imploring them to wake upand race out. By the grace of God, we got out with our lives, Flores says. It was literally raining fire. We were choking, gasping for air. They made it to a safe distance, and then watched their home turn to ash.
As of Oct. 10, 17 large wildfires were burning in California, including one of the worst firestorms the northern part of the state has ever seen. The flames ate through pristine wilderness and manicured communities both, claiming lives and torching homes and businesses as well as wineries in the world-renowned regions of Napa and Sonoma. The blazes left at least 17 people dead, dozens more missing and more than 2,000 structures destroyed. Among the tragic toll were animals unable to escape. One observer said the smell of their charred remains lingered in air thick with ash and the fire retardant dropped by planes flying above.
Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 people in Sonoma County, saw widespread destruction as fires ravaged homes and businesses
As an estimated 20,000 people evacuated, Governor Jerry Brown declared an emergency in eight counties and asked the federal government for help. President Trump approved a federal disaster declaration on Oct. 10. We will be there, the President said of California, a state that is leading the legal charge against many of his key domestic policies. As Trump spoke, the fires had collectively burned more than 115,000 acres, an area three times the size of San Francisco, where smoke floated down from blazes to the citys north.
October tends to be the worst month for wildfires in California. The land is parched and humidity is low. And conditions were primed for fires to spread in recent days as gusts of over 50 m.p.h. whipped blazes across ground that had been drying out all summer.
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Smoke and water stream through the roof of a damaged home in Anaheim Hills on Oct. 9
This years fire season had already been an extremely busy one, says Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The state has grappled with more than 7,700 fires in 2017 so far, and their number and intensity has been growing year over year, with bigger blazes causing more destruction during a fire season that is now about 78 days longer than it was in 1970.
Many factors explain why: California only recently emerged from a five-year drought, turning its trees and shrubs into ready-made tinderboxes. A decline in logging has ensured that forests are packed with fuel. And the states steadily growing population means a greater risk of fires, with more people in harms way. Experts like Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at the University of California, Berkeley, say climate change is a key part of the equation too. Increased temperatures are making it more difficult to deal with fire in the state, he says, because of drier, longer seasons.
The charred stairs of a house in Santa Rosa, Calif on Oct. 10, 2017.
So does that mean the fires will only get worse? Stephens says there are plenty of small ways Californians can minimize the number of people who find themselves suddenly homeless. Measures range from changing rules about where people are allowed to build to teaching homeowners not to keep firewood near the front porch.
That lesson is little help for those who no longer have porches to go home to. On Oct. 10, with winds dying down, some residents were working their way back into evacuation zones to see what was left. Napa winemaker Clayton Kirchhoff weaved through smoke and back roads only to find that his home was just gone. He knew he was lucky to be safe. But he was overcome by big and little questions, like whether the wine he had been tending each day would spoil and turn to vinegar, or what would have happened if he had been asleep when the fire started. For the moment he planned to sift through the rubble, he said, and see if theres anything that might have survived.
With reporting by MELISSA CHAN/NEW YORK
For more wildfire photography, visit time.com/california-on-fire
By Heather Somerville SANTA ROSA, Calif. (Reuters) - Fast-moving fires spread by shifting winds forced thousands more Californians to evacuate their homes on Saturday as the death toll from the deadliest blaze recorded in the state's history rose to at least 38, with hundreds of people still missing. About 10,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters overhead were battling 16 major wildfires, some encompassing several smaller merged blazes, in areas north of San Francisco that have consumed nearly 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares) over seven days, or roughly 334 square miles (865 sq km) - an area larger than New York City. The 38 confirmed fatalities, including 20 in Sonoma County, already make it the deadliest fire event in California history. Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including 3,000 evacuated on Saturday from the city of Santa Rosa, about 50 miles (80 km) north of San Francisco, and another 250 from nearby Sonoma city. "This is truly one of the greatest tragedies that California has ever faced. The devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined," California Governor Jerry Brown told a news conference in Santa Rosa. The fires have damaged or destroyed about 5,700 structures, reducing homes and businesses to ash. The fires' death toll surpassed the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles. "It's an unwieldy beast right now," fire information officer Dennis Rein said at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, the main staging area for the so-called Nuns Fire in Sonoma County, a world-renowned wine-producing region. At least a dozen Napa Valley and Sonoma County wineries were damaged or destroyed, throwing the state's wine industry and related tourism into disarray. For the picturesque Napa Valley town of Calistoga, the winds were a double-edged sword. The town was spared by hazardous winds when they shifted, Mayor Chris Canning said, though he warned a resurgence could pose a new threat. The town of roughly 5,000 people had been evacuated, he said. Firefighters from states including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada have joined crews from California to battle the blazes. From the air, some 70 helicopters and large aircraft including a 747, two DC-10s and about a dozen air tankers doused flames across the sprawling affected area with fire retardant, officials said. On the ground, prison inmates were helping firefighters - sometimes digging lines to help contain fires, other times preparing meals at command centers, always watched over by guard. In an area largely dependent on immigrant farm labor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they would temporarily suspend routine operations during the emergency, "except in the event of a serious criminal presenting a public safety threat," spokesman James Schwab said in a statement. SHIFTING WINDS Ground crews gained on the wildfires on Friday, but drier weather and fast-shifting winds complicated efforts on Saturday, sparking a large new wildfire in Lake County, officials said. The Nuns Fire, which had killed at least one person, was only 10 percent contained with winds threatening more residential areas, Cal Fire spokesman Antonio Negrete said. But the more deadly Tubbs Fire, which killed at least 17 people in Sonoma County, was 44 percent contained, which officials considered a victory. "It's cautious optimism, but it's optimism," Negrete said of the Tubbs Fire. Cal Fire had estimated the fires would be contained by Oct. 20, but Rein said they may need to revise that date because of the winds that kicked up. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, at the news conference with the governor in Santa Rosa pledged more federal aid to the region to help it through the devastation. Whole neighborhoods of Santa Rosa have been reduced to landscapes of ash, smoldering debris and burned-out vehicles. Some victims were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, and many survivors had only minutes to flee. As parts of Santa Rosa were devastated, Calistoga, about 12 miles (20 km) to the northeast, faced hazardous winds that were forecast to push the Tubbs Fire toward town.Mayor Canning said the shifting winds kept the flames at least two miles (3.2 km) from the city limit. "If the winds shift and come back again, that's a big concern," he said in a telephone interview. All but 12 of the city's 5,200 people heeded evacuation orders and left, Canning said. "Nobody was confrontational," Canning said. "When the police or firefighters knocked on doors, most people were already ready to go with their bags packed." With 235 people still missing on Saturday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number of fatalities from the North Bay fires would likely climb. The year's wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.5 million hectares) burned, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Keith Coffman and Jon Herskovitz; writing by Daniel Trotta; editing by Bill Trott, Leslie Adler and G Crosse)
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.
A Canadian man who was rescued from captivity in Afghanistan has claimed his wife was raped and their child killed during a five-year ordeal.
Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their three young children arrived in Canada late on Friday night, after a dramatic rescue by commandos on the Afghan-Pakistan border. They had been held captive by the Haqqani network, a group linked to the Taliban.
The existence of the couples fourth child was unknown until Mr Boyle announced her death to reporters at Toronto Airport. All their children were born in captivity.
Mr Boyle referred to himself as a pilgrim but his motives in travelling to the region remain unclear and have raised suspicion among US security officials.
He said: "The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, but by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
Another one of his children is believed to be in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
Mr Boyle, who is said to be from a fundamentalist Christian background, was backpacking with his heavily pregnant wife in a Taliban-controlled area of the war torn nation, as part of a wider tour of central Asia. They were kidnapped in Wardak province in 2012.
He said he wanted to help people "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."
During his flight to Canada, he gave a statement to the AP which apparently indicated he might not be settling down.
He said: "God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organised injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege."
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But later, he added: "It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home. To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost."
Having arrived at Mr Boyle's family home in Smiths Falls, 50 miles southwest of Ottawa, and being reunited with his parents, who have long campaigned for his release, Mr Boyle said full medical exams were being arranged for him and his family.
In a new statement to the Associated Press he said his family had reached the first true 'home' that the children have ever known after they spent most of Friday asking if each subsequent airport was our new house hopefully.
Our daughter has had a cursory medical exam last night, and hospital staff were enthusiastically insistent that her chances seemed miraculously high based on a quick physical. Full medical work-ups for each member of my family are being arranged right now, and God-willing the healing process physically and mentally can begin, the statement added.
The Canadian government has been accused of not doing enough to help the family but released a statement saying it has been actively engaged with Mr Boyle's case at all levels and would continue to support the family.
Some aspects of the case, in particular why Mr Boyle and Ms Coleman decided to travel to an ungoverned and dangerous part of Afghanistan, are still shrouded in mystery.
Mr Boyle was previously married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of a man who was arrested by US forces in Afghanistan for alleged ties to al Qaeda.
Some US security officials believe Mr Boyle may have been trying to join jihadi extremists in Afghanistan, and asked why he refused to board a US military flight. Others have said he was just naive.
By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Two car bombs in separate parts of Somalia's capital Mogadishu killed at least 22 people on Saturday and injured several others, police said. The first explosion - in the city's K5 Junction area which is lined with government offices, hotels, and restaurants - destroyed several buildings and set dozens of vehicles on fire. "We know that at least 20 civilians are dead while dozens of others are wounded," said Abdullahi Nur, a police officer who was in the area. "The death toll will surely rise. We are still busy transporting casualties," he said, adding that there were bodies under the rubble. About two hours later, a second blast took place in the city's Madina district. "It was a car bomb. Two civilians were killed, " Siyad Farah, a police major, told Reuters, adding that a suspect had been caught on suspicion of planting explosives. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the Islamist al Shabaab group has carried out regular attacks The al Qaeda-allied group is waging an insurgency to topple the weak U.N.-backed government and its African Union allies and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam. They frequently launch gun, grenade and bomb attacks in Mogadishu and other regions controlled by the federal government, though in recent years the militants have lost most territory under their control to African Union peacekeepers and government troops. (Writing by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Updated | Scientists have discovered a way to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to inject safely into rocks for long-term storage. A negative-emissions plant created by Switzerland-based Climeworks is the first to take emissions directly from the air we breathe.
This possible solution to global warming is taking shape at a plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland, reports Chemical & Engineering News. The company explains in a press release that the carbon dioxide is then mixed with water, mingles with basaltic bedrock in the ground and turns into minerals for long-lasting storage.
Related: John McCain and the Pope Slam Trump Over Climate Change on the Same Day
Last year, scientists at the plant discovered that carbon dioxide emissions could be put into the ground and turn into rocks quickly, according to Phys.org. Now they're capturing emissions from the sky to follow this process. The pilot plant is the start of what project organizers hope to be a solution that can someday be used worldwide.
The plant is part of the CarbFix2 project, the second iteration of the original CarbFix program that moved carbon dioxide from geothermal plants underground. The project was created in partnership with Reykjavik Energy and funded by a grant from the European Union.
This announcement comes just in time, if not a tad late. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that scientists warned we would need machines to help take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by 2030only 13 years away. Scientists aim to keep temperatures no higher than 34.7 degrees Fahrenheit from preindustrial times, in accordance with The Paris Agreement.
The news organization writes that Bill Hare, physicist at Climate Analytics, a climate change institute in Berlin, said this goal is likely out of reach without new innovations. Its something you dont want to talk about very much, but its an unaccountable truth: We will need geoengineering by the mid-2030s to have a chance at the [1.5 degree] goal, Hare told Reuters.
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With global temperatures continuing to rise every year, this approach may be the only viable solution for managing climate change. NASA says that in 136 years, 16 of the 17 warmest years have all taken place since 2001, and 2016 remains the hottest ever. The United Nations estimates that temperatures could increase 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050.
This story was updated to say Switzerland-based Climeworks. It previously read Swedish-based Climeworks.
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Beijing (AFP) - China on Friday called on the United States to maintain its commitment to the Iranian nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump is expected to declare no longer in America's interest.
"We believe this deal is important to ensuring the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and regional peace and stability. We hope all parties can continue to preserve and implement this deal," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a regular press briefing.
China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, discussed the Iranian nuclear issue with US counterpart Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Thursday to prepare for Trump's November visit to Beijing, Hua said.
The agreement was signed between Iran and six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US -- at talks coordinated by the European Union.
While the deal stalled Iran's nuclear programme and thawed relations between Tehran and its "Great Satan", opponents say it also prevented efforts to challenge Iranian influence in the Middle East.
US officials say Trump will not kill the international accord outright, instead "decertifying" the agreement and leaving US lawmakers to decide its fate.
UN nuclear inspectors say Iran is meeting the technical requirements of its side of the bargain, dramatically curtailing its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lashed out at his US counterpart saying he was opposing "the whole world" by trying to abandon the agreement.
Beijing (AFP) - China's imports from North Korea fell for the seventh month in a row, official data showed Friday, after Beijing vowed to apply UN sanctions to pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile tests.
Speaking at a press conference, Customs administration spokesman Huang Songping said China's imports from North Korea had dropped by almost 38 percent in September year-on-year, while exports were down 6.7 percent.
China, North Korea's main trade partner, has gone along with a package of sanctions, including bans on imports of coal, iron and seafood from North Korea as well as limits on exports of refined petroleum products to the reclusive nation.
With the wider world, China's trade is booming -- exports and imports surged in September, official data showed.
Customs figures showed exports grew 8.1 percent and imports expanded 18.7 percent in September, compared with the same period last year. The surge in imports shows demand in China is strong.
It was a better performance than August, when exports rose 5.5 percent and imports were up 13.3 percent.
China's September trade surplus reached $28.5 billion, compared to customs revised figure for August of $41 billion.
However, while China's imports reading beat forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, exports fell slightly short.
"Today's figures suggest that not only has strong foreign demand continued to prop up manufacturing activity in China but domestic demand remains resilient too," Julian Evans-Pritchard, China Economist at Capital Economics wrote in a note.
But Evans-Pritchard said the figures were skewed because there were more working days last month compared with last year's period, as the nearly week-long Mid-Autumn Festival holiday was held in September 2016.
China's falling imports from the North may provide some salve to the Trump administration, as China's trade surplus with the US ballooned further last month.
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The surplus with the United States reached $28.1 billion in September, up from $24.9 billion in September of last year.
The trade data was the latest positive economic news for China after the International Monetary Fund released a report this week raising the country's growth forecasts for 2017 and 2018 to 6.8 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.
It is good news for President Xi who is expected to secure a second five-year term as general secretary of the Communist Party during its twice-a-decade congress, which opens on Wednesday.
Plan is to ban magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition
Democrats from Connecticut and Nevada to introduce legislation in House
A memorial to the victims who died in the Las Vegas shooting. Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters
Democrats are planning to introduce legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines in the wake of the Las Vegas attack that left at least 59 people dead and nearly 500 more injured.
The proposed ban on the transfer, importation, or possession of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition follows separate legislation to ban bump stocks, the novelty device that Stephen Paddock appears to have used to make semi-automatic rifles mimic the rapid fire of a fully automatic weapon.
Researchers have long described a previous federal ban on high-capacity magazines as the most effective part of the now lapsed 1994 assault weapon ban, since larger magazines make it easier for a shooter to fire more rounds without pausing to reload.
Mark Barden, whose seven-year-old son Daniel was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, said a ban on higher-capacity magazines would save lives.
When a person perpetrates a mass shooting, like the one that took the life of my sweet little Daniel, the capacity of a magazine can often determine how many bullets are fired before the shooter is stopped. Each time a shooter must pause to reload can provide an opportunity for bystanders or law enforcement to disarm, distract, or escape each time can save so many lives, Barden said in a statement.
Establishing a maximum magazine capacity is simply the kind of commonsense action we can all agree on to help make our families and communities safe.
Sandy Hook Promise, the violence prevention organization he helped found, has not endorsed a ban on assault weapons, but it has previously endorsed limits on magazine capacity.
Larger magazine sizes, like 15- or 30-round magazines, are common among American recreational shooters, and even larger 100-round magazines are available for legal sale.
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While larger capacity magazines are most closely associated with the death and injury toll in mass shootings, a 2016 investigation from the Baltimore Sun found they play an increasingly prominent role in gang-related violence in cities like Baltimore, where the citys medical examiner found that the number of cadavers with 10 or more bullets had more than doubled in the past decade. Gun violence in several cities nationwide had become more lethal in recent years, the investigation found, with victims more likely to die of their wounds despite advances in emergency medical care.
Gun rights advocates say the pause to reload when changing magazines is very brief and unlikely to have a significant impact on casualties, and that arbitrarily restricting magazine size to 10 rounds would be costly and inconvenient.
These advocates say it is not hard to make larger capacity magazines by hand, even if theyre not available for legal purchase. Chris Koper, the researcher who evaluated the 1994 assault weapon ban, estimated that renewed limits on the size of ammunition magazines might contribute, in the long-term, to a 1% reduction in shootings each year. This was only a reasonable ballpark estimate, he cautioned.
A similar attempt to ban high-capacity magazines failed in the US Senate in 2013, months after the Sandy Hook shooting, with 46 senators approving the measure and 54 voting against it.
The new high-capacity magazine ban legislation will be introduced in the House by Elizabeth Esty, a Democratic congresswoman who represents Newtown, Connecticut, the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, and several Democratic House members from Nevada, where the Las Vegas shooting took place.
Passing gun control regulation remains an uphill fight in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Some Republican legislators facing tough re-election campaigns have endorsed a legal ban on bump stocks, a little-known range toy that appears to have been used in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in recent American history.
But other Republicans, including the House speaker, Paul Ryan, have said that they believe the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will be able to regulate bump stocks appropriately without a new law.
The ATF previously ruled that bump stocks did not fall under the regulation of federal firearms laws, including the law that strictly regulates fully automatic weapons.
In his book The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump wrote that in order to seal a deal, he sometimes has to be the bad guy. If Trump has a strategy when it comes to Iran, hes certainly adhering to that playbook. On Friday, he announced that the United States would not certify Irans compliance with the nuclear agreement, saying that to do so would be to continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror, and the very real threat of Irans nuclear breakthrough.
If Trumps threats are a way to extract additional concessions, he is soon going to learn that every bad cop needs a good cop. When it comes to Iran, Trump will find that Europe is his best bet to offer carrots as he wields sticks. Europes growing footprint in the Iranian economy is the best available leverage to change Irans behavior. Despite the swagger of the regime in Tehran, the state of the economy remains its Achilless heel, and the Iranians are loath to see European businesses abandon them again. The key for the Trump administration will be persuading Europeans that its in their own interest to pressure Iran.
Trump needs allies to contain Iran
From Europe to Russia to China, there is virtually no appetite to kill the nuclear deal, which is delivering on its narrowly defined mission: keeping Iran from being able to weaponize its nuclear program. However, Trump may find sympathy among Americas European allies for his pressure tactics if he can persuade them that his strategy fits into a broader plan to tackle Tehrans other questionable behavior.
Both the United States and Europe share common concerns about Tehrans regional agenda including its military interventions in Iraq and Syria, its virulent opposition toward Israels right to exist, and Tehrans record of repressive policies at home.
Put simply, Iran says it is a status quo power but often acts as an insurgent force whose actions undermine the interests of Western states and their Middle Eastern allies. While the Trump administration and the Europeans do not agree on the details of each point, there is enough overlap that the two sides might be able to concoct a common to-do list vis-a-vis Iran but only if Washington doesnt void the 2015 nuclear agreement.
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A hasty pullout from the nuclear deal would be viewed with horror in much of Europe and would therefore make it harder to organize the multilateral pressure necessary to change Iranian behavior. The United States will instead have to patiently co-opt the Europeans to come along.
The combined U.S.-European message to Tehran has to be that the double game it has been playing in its foreign policy pursuing an economy that is intertwined in the global system while remaining dedicated to Islamist revolutionary ideals is unsustainable and will eventually lead to conflict. But crafting that message will require Washington to recognize that the nature and extent of the problem posed by Iran is an unsettled question. The Europeans, for instance, are more inclined than Washington to consider Irans missile program as part of a legitimate defensive military doctrine. But that notion does not explain Tehrans protracted efforts to export its Islamist revolutionary model to places such as Iraq and Syria. Europe recognizes that Irans sponsorship of militias in those countries is not an act of preserving the status quo but an attempt to overturn what remains of the political order in the Middle East. This should be the emphasis of Trumps diplomacy to his European counterparts.
Even some leaders in Tehran have warned openly about the disproportionate militarization of Iranian foreign policy. President Hassan Rouhani was not holding back when he said in March 2014 that launching missiles and staging military exercises to scare off the other side is not good deterrence. Rouhani was chastising his rivals in the Iranian regime, the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose mantra of militant resistance constantly blemishes any Iranian effort to move the country toward the state of normalcy.
The Europeans consider moderate voices like Rouhani as worth banking on in this intraregime struggle. Europe has after all pursued numerous rounds of so-called critical dialogue with Iran going back to the early 1990s. In the past, Europes talks produced little in the way of tangible progress. But if Trump is serious about changing Iranian behavior, he could adapt Europes approach to fit his own purposes.
Making Iran an offer it cant refuse
Trump could potentially play the bad guy in the next round of these talks. In such a scenario, the state of the Iranian economy is the most obvious leverage point.
If the Trump administration hopes to pull this off, however, it is going to have to acknowledge a basic reality of the European stance toward Iran. The Europeans want to engage Tehran, for both security and commercial reasons. Iran, a country of 80 million people, enjoys relative internal stability in a region where a number of states have collapsed in recent years and this matters a lot to the Europeans. Europe is, after all, still recovering from the aftershocks of the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts, which forced waves of refugees to their shores. To blow up Iran and hope for the best, as one European put it, is not an option. Meanwhile, the many senior dignitaries who have beat a path to Tehran since the nuclear deal was signed also show Europes deep appetite for commercial opportunities there.
But while there is no appetite in Europe for abrogating the nuclear agreement, European leaders still are able to modulate their level of economic engagement with Iran. They will not abandon the minimum base of cooperation required by the deal but can make clear to their counterparts in Tehran that any steps capable of truly jump-starting the Iranian economy will be contingent on a less disruptive Iranian foreign policy. For instance, European officials could make the case that if Iran wants large global banks to move into its market and not just small- or medium-sized ones, as is the case now it needs to lessen the concerns of the most powerful actor on the international scene: the United States. Otherwise, severe sanctions from the U.S. Congress could again be in the offing.
The Iranians know that if push comes to shove, the Europeans will have to side with their historic ally, as has happened more than once before. The European message to Iran should be: Please dont make us have to choose.
Irans military interventions in Syria and Iraq might give the impression that Tehran is invincible, but economic malaise on the home front remains its weak point. The Iranian economy has improved since international sanctions were lifted: Oil exports are back to pre-sanction levels, and trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) are trending upward. To put the increase in perspective, Iran secured roughly $40 billion in FDI in the last 20 years and of that amount, $8 billion has come after the 2015 nuclear deal. The economy grew by some 6 percent in 2016 and is projected by Irans Central Bank to grow by another 5 percent this year.
Iranians expect growth soon
However, this growth is still not enough. Job creation is Rouhanis No. 1 priority, and most of the economic restoration and injection of investment has occurred in the oil and gas sectors profitable sectors but not job creators. Iranian officials are aiming to create about 1 million new jobs per year, which is an ambitious goal given that an earlier target of about 350,000 new jobs per year was repeatedly unfulfilled. The countrys labor minister recently put it bluntly: Iran has 3.4 million unemployed people and can create less than half of new jobs needed each year given limited domestic funding sources.
There is a consensus across Irans partisan divide that accelerating job growth has to be a priority. Its an issue of simple political survival: The regime doesnt want to wake up one day to discover an uprising instigated by poor socio-economic conditions and exacerbated by rampant corruption. According to Irans interior minister, unemployment is as high as 60 percent in some towns. News reports of corruption often involving top regime members and their families are a routine affair in Iranian media.
Europe cannot help Iran with its corruption problem, but it can help Tehran return to the international economic mainstream. This will in turn create some breathing room for the regime. From Rouhanis earliest days in office, attracting European businesses has been a central pillar of his strategy to revive the Iranian economy and avert deep economic distress. This was clear in his message to the United Nations this year, when he said Iran was happy not to engage with the United States but that the nuclear deals fate would be at risk if Washington looked to break Iranian-European commercial ties.
Rouhani has already reaped significant benefits on this front: Europe-Iran trade is up 94 percent in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016. But his government is seeking added benefits, such as the transfer of advanced technology, which Tehran particularly values for its underperforming oil and gas sectors. The Europeans also have the ability to finance projects in Iran, a trend that appears to have resumed. In September, an Austrian bank and a Danish bank became the first European firms to provide funding for projects in Iran in 15 years.
These successes since the signing of the nuclear deal, however, have also heightened public expectations in Iran that an economic renaissance is around the corner. A key economic advisor to Rouhani, Masoud Nili, recently pointed out that failing to deliver on these hopes could shake the regimes grip on power. It is like opening the doors to a dormant explosives depot where it can blow up at any moment, he said.
This provides the Trump administration and European officials an opportunity to place Irans economic predicaments at the center stage in future talks. The ball would then be in Tehrans court: If it wants to be a revisionist power, it will find that the European interest in dialogue and economic engagement will ebb away. But if the rival factions in Tehran put the achievement of economic stability at the core of their dealings with the world, then Europe will stand as a partner. Trump, meanwhile, has to buy into the idea that even as he plays the bad guy, using European economic leverage to extract concessions from Iran remains his best hope.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump has told a conference organised by a hard line Christian group that Americans will be allowed to say Merry Christmas again.
Mr Trump was the first sitting President to address the Values Voter Summit, hosted by the Family Research Council, who have been classified as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC).
The President said the views of religous leaders would not "be silenced any longer".
"How times have changed, but you know what, now they are changing back again, just remember that," Mr Trump told the cheering crowd.
The President bemoaned the use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" as a secular seasonal greeting and vowed a return to "Merry Christmas".
He said: As we approach the end of the year, were getting into that beautiful Christmas season that people dont talk about anymore.
They dont use the word Christmas because its not politically correct. You go to department stores and theyll say Happy New Year and other things. And itll be red, theyll have it painted but they dont say [it].
Well guess what? Were saying Merry Christmas again.
The remarks were met with a standing ovation.
Summit organisers also gave out a leaflet on the health hazards of homosexuality, authored by MassResistance, another group designated as hateful by the SPLC.
Mr Trump has significantly developed his image as a Christian since announcing his intention to run for President, in a bid to tap into the powerful evangelical voting bloc, it is believed.
Speaking to the summit, Mr Trump said religious liberty was enshrined in the nation's founding documents.
He continued: "I pledged that in a Trump administration, our nation's religious heritage would be cherished, protected and defended like you have never seen before."
"Above all else in America, we don't worship government. We worship God."
Additional reporting by agencies.
By Alison Bevege SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Etihad Airways flight traveling from Abu Dhabi to Sydney made an emergency landing at Australia's Adelaide Airport early on Saturday after a warning indicator activated in the cockpit. Crew on board Etihad flight EY450 landed the plane at 5 a.m. (1830 GMT) at Adelaide Airport, in the state of South Australia. The Boeing 777 passenger jet had 349 passengers on board who disembarked via emergency exits, according to online news service Adelaide Advertiser. A technical fault with a cargo hold air recirculation fan had been found, Etihad Airways told Reuters in an email. "Etihad Airways apologizes for the inconvenience. The safety of our guests and crew is of paramount importance," it said. Australia's ABC News had reported that a smoke alarm had activated. Passengers would make their onward journeys via other airlines due to crew rest requirements, the airline said. Saturday's Etihad flight EY451, from Sydney to Abu Dhabi, had been canceled and passengers would be rescheduled on later Etihad services out of Sydney, the airline said. It was the second incident this year for the Etihad flight that connects Australia's biggest city with the hub of Abu Dhabi, where passengers transit for worldwide destinations. In July, four men were arrested in Sydney over an Islamist plot to attack the flight. One of the men sent his unsuspecting brother to catch the July 15 Sydney to Abu Dhabi flight carrying a bomb hidden in a meat-mincer. (Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by G Crosse, Robert Birsel)
A family of six, including four young children, were rescued in the Scottish Highlands by the Harry Potter steam train (Photo: Getty Images)
A family vacationing in the Scottish highlands ended up being rescued by the train from the Harry Potter films.
Jon and Helen Cluett were on a canoeing excursion in Lochaber with their four children. They were left facing a long walk back after their boat was swept away in a swollen river.
The burn was overflowing. The entire area was underwater. The rocks Id tied the boat to were pulled apart and the boat was gone, Mr. Cluett told the BBC.
Their options werent great: either a three-mile trek over boggy terrain with their young children or walking along the nearby railway line. The family decided both were too dangerous. Stranded miles from their car, the family phoned the police for help.
In the end I decided the only option was to phone the police and mountain rescue, ask if they have any local knowledge that could help us out, said Mr Cluett.
Authorities arranged for the steam train, called the Jacobite, to make an unscheduled stop to pick up the Cluetts.
Im slightly sad because Id lost my boat but the kids, when they saw the steam train coming, all sadness left their little faces and was replaced by excitement and fun just the real joy of having an adventure and having the train stop right next to them, said Mr. Cluett.
The train dropped the family off at the next stop, Lochailort, and Mr. Cluett was able to hitch a ride back to his car. He holds out hope a local will spot his canoe floating in the loch.
The Jacobite, run by Westcoast Railways, takes passengers on an 83-mile round trip past the scenic mountains and lakes of Scotlands highlands. A first class ticket will run you about $71.
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WASHINGTON A school resource officer in Kentucky who handcuffed young children acted unreasonably and violated the childrens constitutional rights, a federal judge ruled this week.
Two children, ages 8 and 9, were handcuffed by Kevin Sumner, a school resource officer with Covington Independent Public Schools. They were cuffed behind their backs, and the cuffs were placed above their elbows because the restraints would have slipped off their wrists. Video of the handcuffing of the 8-year-old went viral after it was made public by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2015.
Oh, God. Ow, that hurts, the young boy said as Sumner applied the cuffs, which pulled the childs shoulders back tightly. The officer told the boy he would suffer the consequences if he didnt do as he was asked.
U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman of the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled Wednesday that the method Sumner used to handcuff the children was unreasonable and constituted excessive force as a matter of law. The judge wrote in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU that the video belies Sumners claim that the cuffs chain was as wide as the young boys torso and that the court had to adopt the video as fact over the word of the officer.
When the 8-year-old cried out, Bertelsman wrote, it should have been immediately apparent that this method ... was causing pain. But the boy was left in that position, crying and squirming, for 15 minutes.
The judge noted that a handcuffing expert had testified he did not know of any police instructor in the U.S. who would allow the elbow cuffing of children and that the defenses own handcuffing expert conceded he had never trained law enforcement to use handcuffs above the elbow.
While [the boy] kicked a teacher and [the girl] tried to and/or did hit a teacher, these are very young children, and their conduct does not call to mind the type of assault which would warrant criminal prosecution, Bertelsman wrote. While Sumner testified that [the boy] swung his elbow towards Sumner, such can hardly be considered a serious physical threat from an unarmed, 54-pound eight-year-old child.
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The judge also found that Kenton County was liable for the officers actions because officials had testified that the handcuffing method was consistent with the policies of the sheriffs office. Sumner was assigned as a school resource officer by the sheriffs office.
Although both children had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the judge held that no reasonable jury could have found that they would not have been handcuffed had it not been for their ADHD. Consequently, he tossed out the claim that Sumners actions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, under then-President Barack Obama, had gotten involved in the lawsuit, arguing that it might not be objectively reasonable for a fully grown man to handcuff a third-grade boy. DOJ had suggested that the court consider whether the handcuffing was punitive, rather than necessary to ensure safety, pointing out that the officer had told the child to behave the way youre supposed to or you suffer the consequences.
Claudia Center, senior staff attorney for the ACLUs Disability Rights Program, said in a statement that they were gratified by the judges decision.
We knew this was unconstitutional behavior, Center said. Anyone who viewed the video could see it was tantamount to torture.
Ryan J. Reilly is HuffPosts senior justice reporter, covering criminal justice, federal law enforcement and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffingtonpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Alex Dobuzinskis
(Reuters) - A decades-old investigation in the U.S. state of Georgia into the murder of a black man in 1983 culminated in the arrest of five white people on Friday, including two law enforcement officers charged with hindering the probe, officials said.
The body of Timothy Coggins, 23, was found on Oct. 9, 1983, in a grassy area near power lines in the community of Sunnyside, about 30 miles (48 km) south of downtown Atlanta.
He had been "brutally murdered" and his body had signs of trauma, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Investigators spoke to people who knew Coggins, but the investigation went cold, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said at a news conference.
This past March, new evidence led investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Spalding County to re-examine the case.
Dix did not provide details on the nature of the evidence, saying more tips were received after authorities, over the summer, announced to the media the case was re-opened.
Some witnesses confessed they lived with knowledge about the case for years, but were afraid to come forward, Dix said.
"It has been an emotional roller coaster for everybody that was involved," Dix said.
Police arrested five people on Friday in connection with the slaying. Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr, 58, were each charged with murder, aggravated assault and other crimes.
Authorities did not immediately say where Gebhardt and Moore lived.
Gregory Huffman, 47, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office, Dix said. Huffman was a detention officer with the Spalding County Sheriff's Office but his employment was terminated after he was arrested.
Lamar Bunn, a police officer in the town of Milner, which is south of Spalding County, was also arrested and charged with obstruction, as was Sandra Bunn, 58. She is Lamar's mother, according to Atlanta television station WXIA.
Investigators are convinced the murder was racially motivated, Dix said.
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"There is no doubt in the minds of all investigators involved that the crime was racially motivated and that if the crime happened today it would be prosecuted as a hate crime," the Sheriff's Office said.
Several members of Coggins' family appeared at the news conference where authorities announced the arrests.
The family held out for justice all this time, said Heather Coggins, a niece of the victim.
"Even on my grandmother's death bed, she knew that justice would one day be served," she said.
It was not immediately clear if any of the five arrested people had an attorney, and they could not be reached for comment.
Dix promised more arrests in the case, as the investigation continues.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By A. Ananthalakshmi KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia, which until recently had been one of Pyongyang's closest friends, has halted all imports from North Korea, as part of global efforts to cut off funding over its nuclear and missile programs. Malaysia did not buy any goods from North Korea in June and July, after buying 20.6 million ringgit ($4.89 million) worth of goods in the first five months of the year, according to data from the Department of Statistics. Malaysia's ties with North Korea have deteriorated since the February assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother at Kuala Lumpur international airport, which the United States and South Korea say was ordered by the North Korean leader. Kuala Lumpur last month banned its citizens from traveling to North Korea, two weeks after Prime Minister Najib Razak met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. The visit gave Najib a political boost at home, with his popularity suffering over a massive scandal at a state investment fund, which the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating. Trump told reporters after meeting with Najib at the White House last month that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak "does not do business with North Korea any longer, and we find that to be very important." Malaysia had been a key source of revenue for the North. Citizens from both countries enjoyed visa-free travel. Malaysia was host to hundreds of overseas workers. More importantly were operations that funneled money to the regime. Reuters reported earlier this year North Korea's spy agency, the Reconnaissance Bureau, was running an arms operation out of Kuala Lumpur. DRASTIC SANCTIONS Malaysia's halt to North Korean imports came ahead of drastic U.N. and U.S. sanctions last month that ramp up export bans and penalize companies and individuals doing business with North Korea. The United Nations on Sept. 11 banned North Korea's lucrative textile exports as well as all joint ventures with North Koran individuals or entities. Trump issued an executive order 10 days later penalizing any company or person doing business with North Korea by cutting off their access to the U.S. financial system, freezing their assets or both. Other Southeast Asian nations have similarly reduced imports from North Korea. The Philippines said last month it has suspended trade with North Korea to comply with sanctions. Thailand's imports from North Korea dropped to $400,000 between January and August, compared with $1.8 million in the same period last year, according to data from the commerce ministry. Indonesia, on the other hand, increased its imports from North Korea to $1.8 million in January-July before the latest round of sanctions, versus $910,000 in the same period last year. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson, on a swing through Southeast Asia in August, urged countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea. For instance, North Korean front companies were using Bangkok as a regional hub, changing their names frequently, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton told reporters during Tillerson's visit to Bangkok in early August. [nL4N1KU2LA CRABS AND COAT HANGERS Malaysia's past imports from North Korea ranged from big ticket items such as coal, medical devices and light emitting diodes to even crabs, noodles, cloth hangers and fire extinguishers. A U.S. government official told Reuters Malaysia has assured the United States it does not import from Pyongyang anymore. Malaysia's trade ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Malaysia had been one of the few countries increasing its imports from North Korea in recent years - from a mere 1,183 ringgit ($311) in 2012 to 8.2 million ringgit in 2016. An unusual purchase this year was coal, which Malaysia bought right after China, the top buyer of the North's minerals banned imports of the commodity in February. A U.N. report in September said North Korea had diversified its coal exports to other countries after the China ban. Malaysia bought $3.4 million worth of coal in March and $16.6 million worth of coal tar products, data showed. The March purchase was the first time Malaysia had bought coal from North Korea since at least 2012. While imports have stopped, Malaysia has continued exports to North Korea. Exports included palm oil, food and medical supplies worth 4.4 million ringgit between January and July. (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Additional reporting by Orathai Sriring in Bangkok, Gayatri Suroyo and Bernadette Christina Munthe in Jakarta; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
A 58-year-old man who was once a licensed foster parent is behind bars this week in Texas, where he stands accused of sexually assaulting five children who lived with him between 2005 and 2010, PEOPLE confirms.
Miguel Briseno took in more than 180 young girls as a foster parent before the state revoked his license seven years ago, according to a spokesman with the Bexar County Sheriffs Office.
The spokesman tells PEOPLE that authorities in two Texas counties firmly believe there are more victims out there.
A joint investigation between investigators in Bexar and Medina counties led to Brisenos recent arrest. He faces five charges of sexual assault of a child and is being held on $500,000 bond.
It was unclear Friday if Briseno has hired an attorney who could comment on his behalf. He has yet to enter pleas to the counts against him.
Authorities claim one additional victim has already come forward since news of Brisenos arrest broke on Wednesday, but a charge has not yet been filed in that case.
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.
Authorities confirm an unidentified third-party company was hired by Child Protective Services to place the foster girls in Brisenos home. Representatives for CPS could not be reached for comment by PEOPLE.
Speaking to the San Antonio Express-News this week, Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said he was dismayed at the series of decisions that led to the alleged abuse.
Those girls were taken from some environment, and then you have some jackass like him [Briseno] abusing these girls that already have troubles, Brown told the paper.
Im aggravated at the whole system, he said. Im 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 wasnt about making a better world for them. They were making a profit off them.
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Detectives began investigating Briseno several weeks ago, after some of his accusers came forward.
PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: 35 Real Cases That Inspired the Show Law & Order is on sale now.
This is not the first time Briseno has been accused of abusing a foster child: Two years after he lost his license as a foster parent, he was arrested on child sex abuse charges, according to court records.
In April 2013, the Medina County Sheriffs Office arrested him on a charge of solicitation to commit sexual assault of a child. The arrest came after one of Brisenos foster children said he had sexually assaulted her in August 2012 when he no longer had a foster license.
He pleaded guilty in September 2015 to a reduced charge of attempted assault, records show.
Brisenos accusers, now in their 20s, were all teenagers at the time of the alleged abuse.
Foster children continued to be placed with Briseno after his license was taken away, though authorities say they are not sure how.
Investigators are asking that anyone who may have stayed at Brisenos home call 210-335-8477 even if they do not believe they were assaulted while under his care.
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Donald Trump has been attacked by a Fox News host over his feud with Republican Senator Bob Corker, who warned the President he was running out of friends.
Late night host Neil Cavuto criticised the President for his conduct during a row with the Senator over his tax plan, saying his behaviour was erratic and adding that he needed Congressional support to get it approved.
Mr Corker is a Republican Senator from Tennessee who told The New York Times that Mr Trump was treating the his presidency like a reality show and warned that he could set the country on the path to World War III.
Mr Cavuto addressed Mr Trump directly saying: Last time I checked, you are the President of the United States, so tweeting out these tacky insults just seems beneath you.
You are running out of friends faster than you are running out of time. You might not like Bob Corker, but a lot of senators do, and you need those senators, sir, he warned.
The bickering between the pair began with a Twitter exchange last week when Mr Trump accused Mr Corker of standing down at the next election because he didnt have the guts to run again.
He claimed Mr Corker had asked for his endorsement and when he was refused, he decided to step down. He also said the senator had asked to be Secretary of State but he had refused.
Mr Corker shot back with his own tweets denying Mr Trumps claims and said: It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care centre. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.
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
At the end of last month Mr Corker announced that he did not intend to seek reelection in 2018.
After The New York Times article was published Mr Trump poured fuel on the fire by claiming the newspaper had set up Mr Corker, who he dubbed Liddle Bob Corker, by recording the interview.
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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! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017
The chair of the influential Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is also an influential fiscal hawk, which means he was one of several Republicans who advocate for stricter controls on government suspending.
He has previously indicated that he will not support any tax plan which will increase the government deficit.
Mr Trumps plan, unveiled at the end of September, includes swingeing tax cuts for the rich which will make it hard to balance the budget if he follows through on populist policies such as building a border wall with Mexico.
Mr Cavuto accused the former Apprentice star of torpedoing his own tax reform plan and said that while some of his ideas are sound his increasingly erratic behaviour makes him wonder whether you are.
Loyalty works both ways. You cant drain that swamp if all youre doing is throwing mud, he added.
Paris (AFP) - France on Saturday urged the US Congress not to rip up the Iran nuclear deal, after President Donald Trump decertified Iran's compliance with the 2015 agreement.
"We strongly hope that Congress, which is now responsible for a possible rupture, does not jeopardise the deal," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview with AFP.
"If we denounce a deal that has been respected, it will set a dangerous precedent," particularly in the context of negotiations with North Korea, Le Drian said, echoing other signatories of the Iran deal Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.
On Friday, Trump ignored the advice of worried allies and kicked the fate of the landmark 2015 deal to Congress, which he told to address its "many serious flaws".
Under the deal a number of international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in return for Iranian curbs on its uranium enrichment.
The Republican-controlled Congress will now have to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran -- a step that if taken would almost certainly doom the agreement.
"For us, the Vienna accord is a good accord, it limits nuclear proliferation and prevents Iran from acquiring atomic weapons. It is robust and coherent," said Le Drian.
However he left the door open to further talks on what happens after a deadline in 2025, when certain limits on Iran's uranium enrichment are set to expire.
Washington would like to see the curbs extended in perpetuity.
"We can open a preliminary discussions with Tehran on what happens after 2025. If the treaty is respected, Iran can fully exercise its rights under the non-proliferation treaty. If safeguards or inspections are required on this date, we will start discussing them. It is also a way to avoid breaches today. We are ready to consider these issues with the Americans," said Le Drian, who will visit Tehran in the coming weeks.
Asked if Europeans would be willing to impose sanctions against Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps, as Trump has requested, Le Drian said "we can talk about it".
More generally he said that recent decisions by the US -- to withdraw from UNESCO and the Paris climate agreement, as well as jeopardising the Iran deal -- have called multilateralism into question.
"The American position today is a position of strength... of rivalry between powers and a denial of the interests of multilateralism," he said.
(TORONTO) Former hostage Joshua Boyle says the Haqqani network in Afghanistan killed his infant daughter and raped his American wife during the five years they were held in captivity.
Boyle gave the statement shortly after landing in Canada late Friday with his wife, Caitlan Coleman, and three young children.
The couple was rescued Wednesday, five years after they had been abducted by the Taliban-linked extremist network while in Afghanistan as part of a backpacking trip. Coleman was pregnant at the time and had four children in captivity. The birth of the fourth child had not been publicly known before Boyle appeared before journalists at the Toronto airport.
The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani networks kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter, he said.
Boyle said his wife was raped by a guard who was assisted by his superiors. He asked for the Afghan government to bring them to justice.
God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network, he said.
He said he was in Afghanistan 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.
On the plane from London, Boyle provided a written statement to The Associated Press saying his family has unparalleled resilience and determination.
Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, sat in the aisle of the business-class cabin wearing a tan-colored headscarf.
She nodded wordlessly when she confirmed her identity to a reporter on board the flight. In the two seats next to her were her two elder children. In the seat beyond that was Boyle, with their youngest child in his lap. U.S. State Department officials were on the plane with them.
The handwritten statement that Boyle gave the AP expressed disagreement with U.S. foreign policy.
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God has given me and my family unparalleled resilience and determination, and to allow that to stagnate, to pursue personal pleasure or comfort while there is still deliberate and organized injustice in the world would be a betrayal of all I believe, and tantamount to sacrilege, he wrote.
He nodded to one of the State Department officials and said, Their interests are not my interests.
He added that one of his children is in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers.
The family was able to leave the plane with their escorts before the rest of the passengers. There was a short delay before everyone else was allowed out.
It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home, he said in his later statement at the airport. To try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost.
Dan Boyle, Joshuas younger brother, said outside the family home in Smiths Falls, Ontario, that he had spoken to his brother a few times in the past few days.
Hes doing very well. He sounds a lot like how he sounded five years ago. He sounds like he had his head on his shoulders and his wits about him, he said.
The Canadian government said in a statement they will continue to support him and his family now that they have returned.
Today, we join the Boyle family in rejoicing over the long-awaited return to Canada of their loved ones, the Canadian government said.
Pakistans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said the Pakistani raid that led to the familys rescue was based on a tip from U.S. intelligence and shows that Pakistan will act against a common enemy when Washington shares information.
U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of ignoring groups like the Haqqani network.
U.S. officials consider it a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the Haqqani 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.
A U.S. national security official, who was not authorized to discuss operational details of the release and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. obtained actionable information, passed it to Pakistani government officials, asked them to interdict and recover the hostages and they did.
President Donald Trump, who previously had warned Pakistan to stop harboring militants, praised Pakistan for its cooperation on many fronts. On Twitter, he wrote Friday that the U.S. is starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders.
The operation appeared to have unfolded quickly and ended with what some described as a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captors final, terrifying threat to kill the hostage. Boyle told his parents that he, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the back or trunk of their captors car and that some of his captors were killed. He suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.
U.S. officials did not confirm those details.
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 and had a transport plane ready to go, but sometime after daybreak Thursday, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board, the official said.
Boyles father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base and the family wanted to return directly to North America. 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 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.
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.
Smiths Falls (Canada) (AFP) - Freed hostage Joshua Boyle has told public broadcaster CBC his children are exploring their new home in Canada but are still very fearful after a brutal years-long ordeal at the hands of Taliban-linked kidnappers.
Boyle and his American wife and three children were freed Wednesday in Pakistan after five years of captivity at the hands of the Haqqani network, a militant group that operates on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
In a chilling statement on the family's arrival in Toronto, Boyle accused his kidnappers of murdering their infant daughter and raping his wife, Caitlan Coleman. He said his priority now was to protect his family.
In a message sent later to Canadian media from his parents' home town of Smith Falls, around 80 km (50 miles) from Ottawa, the 34-year-old said the family had safely arrived in the first real "home" his children had ever known.
In remarks emailed to CBC, he said the children -- boys aged four and two, and a girl just four months old -- were starting to adapt to new surroundings after their harrowing ordeal.
The CBC said Boyle told them his four year-old was examining post-it notes and curtains and boardgames.
"Everything in the house, he said, is a wonderland to him, and that said, he is still terrified to leave the house, even to go out on the porch," CBC correspondent Susan Armiston said.
Boyle said his two-year-old was "nearly as distressed as he was in prison" but his baby girl while scared had also discovered "there are more decent people in the world than she ever knew," Armiston said.
- Kidnapped -
Boyle and his wife were kidnapped by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in a remote area of Afghanistan in 2012.
The family was freed Wednesday by Pakistani troops acting on US intelligence.
Visibly angry, Boyle told reporters the network had ordered the killing of their baby -- a fourth child, whose existence had not previously been known -- as retaliation for his refusal to accept an offer from them.
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"The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter," he said.
Boyle also said his wife had been raped, not by a lone guard but with the aid of the captain of the guard and a Haqqani commander he identified as Abu Hajr.
The Haqqani network is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
The faction has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.
Boyle said both incidents took place in 2014, some two years after they were taken captive.
He said the Taliban had confirmed the crimes took place, in an investigation in 2016, and called on the group's leaders to take action against the "criminal miscreants."
- 'Secure sanctuary' -
Boyle said his focus was now on rebuilding a life for his wife and children.
"Obviously it will be of incredible importance to my family to build a secure sanctuary to call a home, to focus on edification and to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost," he said.
But questions remain about how Boyle and his pregnant wife found themselves in Taliban-controlled territory, and Coleman's father lashed out at his son-in-law in an interview on ABC.
"Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," said Jim Coleman.
Before marrying Coleman, Boyle was briefly married in 2009 to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Canadian-born Omar Khadr, who was captured in battle as a teenager in Afghanistan in 2002 and held for a decade in the US military at Guantanamo Bay.
- Family ties -
Boyle was active in the campaign to win Khadr's release from Guantanamo and his transfer to Canada in 2012, where he was freed on bail in 2015.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Boyle was not a target of any investigation.
In a video broadcast by CBC, which said it was shot by the Pakistani military following their release, Boyle claims that the vehicle they were travelling in was "riddled with bullets," and praised the soldiers for shielding his family from the gunfire.
"The criminals who held us, they were not good Muslims," Boyle is shown as saying. "They were not even bad Muslims."
"They were undoubtedly criminals, undoubtedly pagans, they were directed by commanders who were not guided by Islam," he said.
Multimillionaire Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women in the U.S., reportedly hosted drug-fueled sex parties, according to accounts in French media.
The movie mogul is under investigation by the New York Police Department and London authorities for alleged sexual assault. In recent weeks, The New York Times and The New Yorker published pieces on his reportedly predatory behavior.
But in France, the producer recognized as one of the richest men in Hollywood was known in Cannes for his wild parties featuring orgies and cocaine, a film industry source told Le Parisien. "Each year, he hosted parties with orgies and cocaine. Harvey even had a widely talked about nickname: the Pig," the source tells the newspaper.
Weinstein often frequented Cannes and attended its international film festival, where his movies from Pulp Fiction and The Artist won big. The festival released a statement this week signed by the festival's presidents, Pierre Lescure and Thierry Fremaux, after the allegations surfaced. They said they were dismayed to learn about the accusations against Weinstein.
These actions point to a pattern of behavior that merits only the clearest and most unequivocal condemnations, the statement, obtained by The New York Times, said. Our thoughts go to the victims.
Actress after actress has come forward to share stories of the harassment they allegedly endured at the hands of Weinstein. Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie are the latest big-name celebrities to say that Weinstein harassed them. Jolie told the Times that she had a very bad experience with Harvey in her youth that led her to never work with him again.
Paltrow said that at age 22 Weinstein hired her for a part in the movie Emma. One day, Paltrow told the Times, Weinstein inviting her up to his hotel suite, where he suggested giving her a massage.
Paltrows story shares similarities with other actresses' accounts about Weinsteins behavior.
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French actress Lea Seydoux, known for her role in Blue Is the Warmest Color, told The Guardian that she had forcefully resist Weinstein when he tried to kiss her after inviting her up to his hotel room for a drink. His assistant left the two of them alone, she said, and thats when he changed and started losing control.
I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him, she said in the interview. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted.
Weinstein recently flew to a rehab center in Arizona for sex addiction treatment.
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Berlin (AFP) - Conservatives in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition were in an uproar Saturday after one of her key allies floated the idea of a Muslim holiday in Germany.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said this week he was willing to discuss the possibility of introducing a Muslim holiday in parts of the country.
Germany is home to some 4.4 million Muslims, with many coming from the nation's large ethnic Turkish community. The over one million migrants that arrived in recent years also include many Muslims.
"Where there are many Muslims why shouldn't we consider a Muslim holiday," the interior minister said at a rally in Lower Saxony ahead of Sunday's regional election in the state.
The CSU, the Bavaria-based sister party of Merkel's Christian Democrats, strongly rejected the idea.
"Germany's Christian heritage is not negotiable," Alexander Dobrindt, a senior CSU politician, told the Bild newspaper.
"For us, the introduction of Muslim holidays is out of the question," he said.
Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz meanwhile said Saturday that the idea was worth "thinking about", according to the DPA news agency.
Schulz said he was surprised that the idea had come from the interior minister who he said was usually known for having "very little imagination" in this area.
De Maiziere had previously called on immigrants to respect the German "Leitkultur", culture of reference, a term regularly used by the far-right.
Sunday's regional vote is a major test for Merkel after she won a fourth term in a national election in September but without a majority in parliament, which has forced her to embark on high-stakes coalition talks.
Latest surveys show the CDU lagging behind the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Lower Saxony, the fourth most populous state in Germany.
By Noor Ali ISIOLO, Kenya (Reuters) - An expelled student shot dead six of his former schoolmates and a security guard at his school in northern Kenya on Saturday, and was then himself lynched by a furious mob, officials said. The attack took place at a school in the remote town of Lokichogio in Kenya's Turkana region, close to the border with war-torn South Sudan. At least six other students were flown to hospital with bullet wounds. The assailant was a 17-year-old from South Sudan - one of thousands of refugee children who have been living in Kenya and going to school there since civil war broke out in their country in 2013. He was detained in possession of an AK-47, the basic assault rifle of choice in conflicts across Africa and the Middle East. "The school was not attacked by bandits but an errant student on expulsion for disciplinary cases," regional government official Wanyama Musyambohe told reporters. Security officials said the assailant, whose name has not been disclosed, had been arrested, but then killed by a mob while in police custody. "The attack ... is a painful reminder of the state of insecurity along the border," tweeted Turkana county governor Josphat Nanok. Close to 2 million people have fled South Sudan since fighting broke out in December 2013, sparking what has become Africa's largest cross-border exodus since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Some 75,000 of them are now in Kenya. Perennial conflicts have left the region awash with arms, which are smuggled across borders with relative ease. (additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Aaron Maasho; Editing by)
The supervolcano beneath Yellowstone is not about to erupt.
Thats right. Take a deep breath: in, out. Good.
Hyperbolic headlines of a supereruption, which scientists have dismissed as sensationalized, have stoked something of a panic this week. Contrary to their sense of alarm, the odds of a supereruption beneath Yellowstone park in the next few thousand years are exceedingly low. As Snopes details, these stories seem to have misinterpreted a New York Times article based on the work of Hannah Shamloo of Arizona State Universityand to have raised the specter that the volcano under Yellowstone could, at some point soon, undergo a supereruption.
Rather than predicting a perilous blanket of ash, Shamloos work provides evidence that that the changes in the magma beneath Yellowstone that led to the last such supereruption happened on a shorter geological timescale than previously thought. As Snopes points out, many outlets seemed to have zeroed in on lines like this from the Times story: Scientists are just now starting to realize that the conditions that lead to supereruptions might emerge within a human lifetime. That does not mean a supereruption is going to happen within a human lifetime.
This misunderstanding led to end-times headlines like: Yellowstone supervolcano may blow sooner than thoughtand could wipe out life on the planet.
But as Newsweek reported yesterday, the findings presented by Shamloo do not allow scientists to predict when the next eruption will take place. But they can serve as a kind of early warning system.
As Mike Poland, director of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which monitors the volcano under the national park, previously told Newsweek, Even if large eruptions are preceded by only decades of unrest, this is still something we are positioned to detect well in advance. Yellowstone is one of the best-monitored volcanoes in the world, with a host of seismic, deformation, thermal and geochemical sensors and satellite data sets always looking for changes.
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And while the word supereruption does not exactly inspire calm, the panic around Yellowstone raises the question, What exactly are people so afraid of?
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), three of these supereruptionsknown as caldera- or crater-forming eruptionshave occurred in the last 2.1 million years. The most recent of these was 631,000 years ago.
The word caldera refers to the huge craters that form when the massive flows of magma from these events cause the ground to collapse and swallow the mountains above.
In the words of the USGS: If another large caldera-forming eruption were to occur at Yellowstone, its effects would be worldwide. Thick ash deposits would bury vast areas of the United States, and injection of huge volumes of volcanic gases into the atmosphere could drastically affect global climate. Fortunately, the Yellowstone volcanic system shows no signs that it is headed toward such an eruption. The probability of a large caldera-forming eruption within the next few thousand years is exceedingly low.
Now, feel free to redirect your anxieties elsewhere in the news cycle.
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Donald Trump has struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in defiance of other world powers by choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal.
During a speech at the White House, Mr Trump accused the "fanatical regime" in the Iranian capital of spreading "death, destruction and chaos around the globe" as he again called the nuclear pact "one of the worst" agreements the US has ever entered into.
However, he stopped short of scrapping the agreement altogether, saying he wanted his administration to work with Congress and other nations to address the "deal's many serious flaws".
"In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated," he warned. "It is under continuous review, and our participation can be cancelled by me, as President, at any time."
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Mr Trump said he wants to see action soon to fix the deal's flaws, adding that he could end the accord instantly.
When asked why he did not choose to scrap the deal now, the President replied: "Because we'll see what happens over the next short period of time. And I can do that instantaneously. I like a two-step process much better."
European officials have categorically ruled out renegotiating the deal, but have said they share Mr Trump's concerns over Irans destabilising influence in the Middle East.
Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief and one of the deals chief negotiators, said the agreement will remain valid regardless of Mr Trump's decision.
Mr Trump said in his address that the the deal is merely a "temporary delay" on Iran's "path to nuclear weapons", declaring that Iran had committed multiple violations of the agreement despite his own officials having repeatedly said that Iran was technically abiding by the deal.
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He singled out Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for sanctions for "supporting terrorism" and delivered a blistering critique of Tehran, which he accused of destabilising conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakout, Mr Trump said.
The move by Mr Trump was part of his America First approach to international agreements which has led him to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
Tehran had threatened reprisals if Mr Trump took any action against the IRGC, and responding directly to Mr Trump's speech, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran was committed to the deal and accused Trump of making "baseless accusations".
The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure, he said. Iran and the deal are stronger than ever.
Under the 2015 agreement with six nations, Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear programme for at least 10 years in exchange for the loosening of economic sanctions that had crippled its economy. The signatories of the accord were the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU.
Mr Trump said the removal of sanctions was giving what he called the "regime" in Iran an immediate financial boost, increasing its funds to support terrorism.
By decertifying the agreement, the President has started the clock on a 60-day congressional review of the deal.
The President is urging Congress to toughen requirements for Iran to continue receiving relief from US sanctions. He also wants lawmakers to amend legislation to highlight troubling non-nuclear Iranian behaviour not covered by the deal.
Republican members of Congress were unanimously opposed to the agreement in 2015, but they have wavered since then on whether Mr Trump should enforce it.
Mr Trump's more confrontational strategy toward Iran is likely to complicate relations with European allies while strengthening ties with Israel.
A vocal opponent of the agreement when it was signed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Mr Trump's "courageous" decision.
"I congratulate President Trump for his courageous decision today. He boldly confronted Iran's terrorist regime," the prime minister said in a video statement he released in English.
But both UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron this week had tried to persuade Mr Trump to re-certify the deal. Ms May has called the agreement "vital", while Mr Macron has said it is "essential for peace".
International inspectors say Iran is in technical compliance with the accord. Meanwhile, Mr 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 groups.
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany also issued a joint statement warning the United States against taking decisions that could harm the nuclear deal such as re-imposing sanctions.
The three leaders Ms May, Mr Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel also said they shared US concerns over Iran's ballistic missile program and regional destabilising activities and were ready to work with Washington to address those concerns.
Mr Macron's office said he had spoken with Rouhani by telephone and assured him of France's commitment to the deal, but that Tehran must strictly comply with it.
Russia's foreign ministry said there was no place in international diplomacy for threatening and aggressive rhetoric such as that displayed by Mr Trump and said such methods were "doomed to fail", in a statement issued after Mr Trump's speech.
The ministry said Mr Trump's decision to decertify the deal would not have a direct impact on implementation of the agreement but that it ran counter to its spirit.
There was no immediate reaction from China, though Alexei Pushkov, a pro-Kremlin MP in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said neither Moscow nor Beijing backed Mr Trump's stance.
Russia of course does not support the US position, nor does China. So Trump will be left in proud isolation in an attempt to improve his image among his own supporters, Mr Pushkov told Russia's state-run Rossiya-24 TV station.
Mr Trump had already certified the agreement twice and was clearly reluctant to do so a third time.
John McLaughlin, a former acting CIA director under Republican President George W Bush, called the decertification of the Iran deal one of Mr Trump's "worst decisions".
The decision "feeds Iran hardliners, splits allies, shreds US credibility, roils congress [and is a] gift to Russia," he wrote on Twitter.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - 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 U.S.-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. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Photo credit: Getty
From ELLE UK
In an interview with CNN, actress Jane Fonda has admitted she learned of Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct against women last year, and is 'ashamed' she didn't speak up sooner.
Speaking to journalist Christiane Amanpour, the 79-year-old admitted she felt it wasn't her 'place' to reveal the allegations at the time.
Photo credit: Getty
'I found out about Harvey a year ago and I'm ashamed I didn't say anything back then,' she revealed in an interview, scheduled to air Friday 13 October.
When asked by Amanpour why she decided not to speak out, despite the fact she's seen as such a 'bold' woman in Hollywood, the actress admitted: 'I was not that bold. I guess it hadn't happened to me and I didn't feel it was my place.'
NEW: @Janefonda tells me: I found out about [Harvey Weinstein] about a year ago. And Im ashamed that I didnt say anything right then. pic.twitter.com/i98SJiiUHT - Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) October 12, 2017
Revealing she was informed of Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment by actress Rosanna Arquette - one of several women who has spoken out against the 65-year-old producer - Fonda added: 'It came as a shock and a great disappointment.'
I guess it hadn't happened to me and I didn't feel it was my place
When questioned whether she's experienced sexual harassment in the film industry, the star admitted: 'It has happened to me, it has. I only met Harvey when I was old, and Harvey goes for young because that's more vulnerable. But it's very, very common.'
I only met Harvey when I was old," @Janefonda tells me. "And Harvey goes for young, because thats more vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/RbrjxCFU6w - Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) October 12, 2017
Praising the brave women who have come out to speak out about the allegations, Fonda admits: 'I'm glad it's coming out, I'm so proud of those fellow actors that are speaking up. I know that it has taken a long time. It is a very, very, very hard thing to do. You don't get anything out of it as the person who has been victimised but it is important that it come out.
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More: @Janefonda says she's "so proud" of those speaking up. Lets not think that this is some unique, horrific this goes on all the time pic.twitter.com/ahLLCn3LT5 - Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) October 12, 2017
'Let's not think that this is some unique, horrific... this goes on all the time, this male entitlement in Hollywood and everywhere - in offices and businesses all over the world, in bars, in restaurants, in stores women are assaulted, abused, harassed.'
You don't get anything out of it as the person who has been victimised but it is important that it come out.
Fonda's comments comes days after Weinstein was fired from his company following several allegations regarding his alleged sexual harassment of women in Hollywood.
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The Twitter beef is real with Joel Embiid And Hassan Whiteside. (Getty)
Joel Embiid and Hassan Whiteside are both awesome on Twitter.
But the two got into with each other on the court and Twitter Friday night.
Embiid draws a foul and tells the Heat to take Whiteside out pic.twitter.com/VwZnpLPVAA Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 14, 2017
After Embiids Philadelphia 76ers beat Whitesides Miami Heat pretty convincingly, 119-95, during preseason the two had some words to exchange through social media.
Embiid may have been talking on the court, but he only went 1-for-7 from the field against Whiteside and The Heat.
The media wont show that Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
Funny how yall dont show me telling him the same and 1-7 shooting or the first 2 flops I mean blocks. Lol yall fan boys I swear Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
Naturally, Embiid had a response for Whiteside.
Dude they had to take your ass out or you wouldve fouled out in 5 min And were talking about Preseason, not regular season.. #Softy https://t.co/IAIBDDypFK Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
And keep caring about stats and not your team success.. your +/- was ass @youngwhiteside #Softy Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
My bad yall , I thought I was using my burner account #TheProcess Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
The last tweet made a reference to Kevin Durant using a fake Twitter account to defend himself.
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Whiteside came back with a jab where it hurts Embiid the most, being able to stay on the court.
As of Friday night, Embiid did some research and tweeted out the last word of the night.
Joel Embiid And Hassan Whiteside took their battle to Twitter. (Screenshot via Twitter).
Hopefully this beef will be longer than 140 characters and well get to see the two really battle on the court this season.
Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's opposition vowed to pursue a campaign of protest for electoral reform, defying a ban on rallies in main city centres announced by government Thursday.
The ban came after the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) called for daily protests next week.
The country remains gripped by uncertainty over whether an October 26 presidential election will go ahead after NASA chief Raila Odinga refused to take part.
Security Minister Fred Matiangi said lawlessness during recent protests led to his decision to ban gatherings in three main city centres.
"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," Matiangi said.
NASA said it would defy the order and protest Friday and all of next week.
The protests 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.
"We will continue with our demonstrations as planned across the country. The law is very clear on peaceful demonstrations," said one of the coalition's leaders Moses Wetangula.
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."
He 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.
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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.
No deaths have been reported since, however several people were left with gunshot injuries in the western opposition stronghold Kisumu on Wednesday.
- Senate approves election laws -
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 he had not filled in the appropriate form for 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.
On Thursday the country's Senate approved a raft of amendments to electoral laws that Odinga has charged will make the "irregularities" cited by the Supreme Court legal.
The new laws will allow manual vote counting to supersede electronically transmitted results and make tally forms count even if there is "a deviation from the requirements of the form".
Among the irregularities noted by the Supreme Court was the number of vote tallying sheets that were unsigned, not stamped, or did not contain watermarks or serial numbers -- despite the fact that one company was hired to print them out.
Kenyatta has said he will sign the amendments into law without hesitation.
Nairobi (AFP) - Two protesters were shot dead Friday as opposition supporters clashed with police in western Kenya, with hundreds defying a ban on rallies to express their anger over an increasingly uncertain presidential election.
In the town of Bondo, the rural home of opposition leader Raila Odinga, a large crowd confronted officers outside the police station, scattering as live shots were fired.
Witnesses told AFP two people were shot dead. "One person had his head shattered by a bullet while the other was hit on the chest," said eyewitness Sam Oguma.
Police commander Leonard Katana said the demonstrators were shot after attempting to "attack" the police station.
Regional security official Wilson Njega confirmed the two deaths, saying a full report would be issued once the circumstances of the killings became clear.
In the main western city Kisumu, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Bondo, 20 people were admitted to hospital with serious injuries, four of them with gunshot wounds including one man in a critical condition who had been shot in the neck, said hospital chief Juliana Otieno.
Several nursery school children were also hospitalised after police fired tear gas into the Mt Carmel Academy in the Nyalenda slum.
"There was tear gas all over the school and more kept being fired by the police," said Mary Ochieng, a witness.
The protests come as Kenya is mired in confusion over a presidential election that is due to take place in less than two weeks.
Friday's violence was the worst since clashes in the days after the August election which left 37 dead.
A local human rights group said 35 of them were shot dead by police.
- A new election? -
In early September, the country's Supreme Court annulled the results of an August 8 election -- won by President Uhuru Kenyatta -- citing irregularities in the counting process and mismanagement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
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And it ordered that a re-run of the vote be held within 60 days, with the date set for October 26.
But Odinga on Tuesday announced he would not take part, accusing the IEBC of failing to make fundamental reforms.
Odinga has argued that his withdrawal from the race should force the IEBC to cancel the election and begin the whole process from scratch -- allowing more time for his reforms.
But the IEBC appears to be pushing forward with plans for the vote, saying only that Odinga had yet to submit the required form to officially pull out of the race.
Kenyatta on Friday signed a supplementary budget allocating 12 billion shillings ($116 million, 98 million euros) for the new election.
- Chaos in Kisumu -
The government ban on protests has further angered the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition.
Security Minister Fred Matiangi on Thursday banned rallies in the centre of Nairobi, Mombasa and the western city of Kisumu after property was destroyed, passers-by robbed or assaulted, and business disrupted.
However, the opposition pushed ahead with protests Friday, and plans to stage daily rallies next week.
In Kisumu, the main city in the west and Odinga's stronghold, there were chaotic scenes as police fired teargas and gunshots rang out as protesters pelted them with stones.
Burning tyres blocked main roads in the city, bringing business to a standstill.
In Nairobi, opposition leaders tried to stage a march but when police fired teargas, the protesters dispersed. A second attempt elsewhere in the city also ended in a cloud of teargas.
"We are not intimidated," insisted James Orengo, a vocal NASA official.
The protests have raised fears of drawn out instability as Kenya faces its worst political crisis since a disputed 2007 election led to months of politically-motivated tribal violence that left more than 1,100 dead.
By George Obulutsa NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan police used teargas on Friday to disperse protesters in the country's three main cities, Reuters witnesses said, as a standoff between the government and opposition leaders over a planned repeat presidential election continued. On Thursday, the government banned demonstrations in the central business districts of the capital Nairobi, the coastal city of Mombasa and the western city of Kisumu. The interior minister said demonstrators had damaged and looted property. A repeat presidential election pitting is scheduled for Oct. 26 after the Supreme Court nullified the result of an August poll in which incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta beat veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, citing irregularities. But Odinga withdrew from the race this week, saying the election board had failed to institute reforms to ensure a free and fair election. His opposition alliance called for demonstrations demanding a new election with a new election board instead. The election board has said the polls will go ahead anyway, pitting Kenyatta against six other candidates, none of whom polled more than 1 percent in the August election. In Kisumu, a stronghold of Odinga support, protesters reacted angrily when police turned water cannon on them to prevent them from entering the city centre. "Our demonstrations have a (valid) basis and are peaceful," said Odinga supporter Hezron Tirus Aloyo. "We condemn the directive ... on the limitation of our rights to demonstrate." (Additional reporting by Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Karin Strohecker LONDON (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Friday his withdrawal from a presidential election rerun scheduled for Oct. 26 meant the poll had been "canceled" and there should be fresh nominations for a new vote. Odinga said that based on a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, Kenya's Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) now had 90 days to accept new nominations following his withdrawal this week from the rerun against President Uhuru Kenyatta. Kenyatta and Odinga were due to return to the polls because the Supreme Court nullified Kenyatta's win in an Aug. 8 election, citing procedural irregularities. But Odinga's withdrawal this week has thrown the country into political turmoil. A regional and trade gateway, Kenya is East Africa's richest economy and an important Western ally in the fight against militant Islamists in the region. The opposition leader said he could return to the Supreme Court to seek a clarification, but if the IEBC went ahead with the Oct. 26 election it would be "in breach of the law". "If it goes ahead it is not an election, it is a selection," Odinga told Reuters in an interview during a visit to London. "This must be done right in the interest of electoral democracy in our country." "As far as we are concerned, the elections are canceled and we expect that the IEBC will return to the process of nominations shortly," he said. Odinga's withdrawal had fueled speculation about whether the vote would go ahead at all. But on Wednesday, the election board said the polls would be held as planned and all eight of the original candidates would be on the ballot. Only Odinga and Kenyatta polled more than 1 percent in the August election. PROTESTS BANNED Odinga said the only relevant law now was the Supreme Court decision of 2013 stating that if a presidential election were nullified, the election commission would hold a ballot in which the president-elect and the petitioner were the only candidates. "That law also goes on to say that if one of the candidates dies or pulls out, the election commission is obligated to carry out fresh nominations. That is where we are right now," he said. "What we are demanding is that the electoral commission should respect the Supreme Court and carry out elections in accordance with the ruling," Odinga said. "If need be we will go for clarification." In 2013, Kenyatta defeated Odinga in a hotly contested election. Odinga challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, which ruled that Kenyatta had won fairly. The standoff over the elections has sparked demonstrations, but the numbers of protesters has tended to be in the hundreds rather than the thousands. Earlier on Friday, police used teargas to disperse demonstrations in Kenya's three main cities, and shot dead two protesters in the southwestern country of Siaya, a local official said. On Thursday, the government banned demonstrations in the centers of the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and the western city of Kisumu, an opposition stronghold. The interior minister said demonstrators had damaged and looted property. Odinga said he supported the right of Kenyans to demonstrate enshrined in the constitution and accused heavy policing for any outbreak of violence. "(The government) are talking about a benevolent dictatorship - we can assure them that the people of Kenya will not take it lying down," Odinga said. "The government sending the police to stop the people by throwing teargas and using live bullets, they are basically violating the fundamental rights of the people ... I support the exercise of their fundamental right." (Reporting by Karin Strohecker; editing by David Clarke)
Moscow (AFP) - The Kremlin warned Washington on Friday that abandoning the Iran nuclear deal would be a heavy blow to international relations and non-proliferation efforts.
"This could seriously aggravate the situation around the Iranian nuclear dossier," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
"Such actions will unequivocally damage the atmosphere of predictability, security, stability and non-proliferation in the entire world."
The warning came as US President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a more aggressive strategy to check Iran's growing power later Friday.
He is expected to stop short of withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal which curbed Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief but will announce that the agreement is no longer in the US national interest.
Officials say he will not kill the international accord outright, instead "decertifying" the agreement and leaving US lawmakers to decide its fate.
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by phone, expressed Moscow's "full commitment" to the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
The agreement was signed between Iran and six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US -- at talks coordinated by the European Union.
Other parties to the deal have all voiced staunch support for it, saying Iran has stuck to its commitments to curb its nuclear programme.
While the deal stalled Iran's nuclear programme, opponents say it also prevented efforts to challenge growing Iranian influence in the Middle East.
Separately, the Kremlin expressed concern that the United States denied entry to a Russian military delegation that had planned to take part in a briefing on the sidelines of the United Nations.
"We are extremely concerned by the situation and consider it unacceptable," Peskov told reporters.
Political leaders on both sides try to calm nerves as Iraqs prime minister insists he has no plans for an attack
Iraqi tanks parked near a former Kurdish military position on Friday in the northern Iraqi town of Taza Khurmatu, near Iraqs oil-rich province of Kirkuk. Photograph: Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty Images
Kurdish and Iraqi government forces have squared off south of Kirkuk after rushing troops and armour to the oil-rich city two weeks after the countrys Kurds voted for independence from Baghdad.
Peshmerga forces massed about 20 miles from Kirkuks southern limits on Friday after units loyal to the central government took positions on the citys approaches, prompting fears of fresh violence in one of the most bitterly contested corners of Iraq.
By nightfall the likelihood of an imminent battle for the ethnically diverse city had dissipated, with political leaders on both sides trying to calm nerves. The Iraqi prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi, who is commander-in-chief of the countrys military, insisted he had no plans to launch an attack.
Peshmerga units, loyal to the PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan] one of two rival power bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, had earlier withdrawn from three districts to the south, allowing the Iraqi army to move in. Shia forces supporting them made a series of threats to storm the city as soon as early as Friday night. The Iraqi push has captured 72 square kilometres.
Though couched as necessary to take up defensive positions further north, the PUK withdrawal highlighted the complex geopolitics surrounding the aftermath of the referendum, which was bitterly opposed by Iran, Baghdad and Turkey and has since led to a blockade of the region by all three powers.
Concerns remained high in Erbil that Peshmerga units from the PUK which is supported by Iran, and whose troops are heavily deployed south of Kirkuk may make more withdrawals, allowing Iraqi forces to advance further.
Such a move would weaken the Kurds hold on the city that they had coveted throughout their history and had seized in mid-2014, after Iraqi forces had fled from the Islamic State extremists who had rampaged towards them after sacking Mosul.
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It would, however, satisfy Iran, which is allied to the PUK. The rival Kurdish faction, the KDP, led by the regions de facto president Masoud Barzani, has traditionally been an ally of Turkey, although that relationship has been seriously frayed in the wake of the referendum, in which Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence from Baghdad.
Iranian general Qasem Suleimani, one of the most powerful figures in Iraq, had told Kurdish leaders ahead of the poll that he would not stop Shia forces from the Popular Mobilisation Front from attacking Kirkuk if the ballot went ahead.
Baghdad had not accepted the Kurdish claim on the city, which is comprised of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, and had been bitterly opposed to Kurdish officials selling oil from the Kirkuk fields through a pipeline to Turkey.
The US, which is an ally of both Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government seat of power, Erbil, had been implacably opposed to the ballot, especially the decision to include Kirkuk and other disputed areas a move that officials described as dangerous unilateralism, which attempted to redraw the countrys boundaries.
Washington had downplayed Iraqi troop movements since Kurdish leaders first sounded the alarm early on Thursday. By Friday, however, officials said they were monitoring developments. It is thought that the US believes a direct acknowledgment of the Iraqi troop buildup would compel it to intervene, something its military leaders are deeply reluctant to do.
Kurdish security officers say they are aware of specific plans to seize districts inside Kirkuk, and that the operation is being directed from near the town of Hawija, where the last remnants of Isis in Iraq have all but been defeated by the national military and Shia forces.
Kurdish officials believe Iranian officers, together with the senior leaders of the PMF, are directing movements. Late on Friday Iraqi leaders delivered an ultimatum that the Kurds surrender a military airport near Kirkuk. The fate of two oil fields to the west of the city have also been tabled.
Inside Kirkuk, Najman Saledin, a merchant from the citys north, said Peshmerga forces had taken up defensive positions throughout the day. They have told us that they will stay here as long as it takes, and will never run from us, or leave us behind. The leaders here said that up to 10,000 Peshmerga have arrived.
The Kurdish prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, pleaded for international help to broker an end to the crisis. Iraqs vice president, Iyad Allawi, meanwhile, warned that any flashpoint could quickly spill into a civil war.
Lets hope he is wrong, said Saledin. More blood would ruin Iraq.
Tensions between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan have risen sharply in the last two days after Iraqi security forces advanced through Kurdish militia lines just south of the disputed city of Kirkuk.
The showdown is the capstone to an escalating war of words between the Iraqi central government and the Kurds after Erbil held an independence referendum in late September. Baghdad like most of the international community condemned the move, but Erbil felt emboldened by the overwhelming support it received from voters.
The two sides stopped short of direct confrontation last night after eleventh-hour negotiations between factions within the Kurdish government and Baghdad. Iraq sent security and militia forces toward Kirkuk, home to some of the biggest oil fields in Iraq and which was occupied by Kurdish forces during the fight against the Islamic State in 2014. Iraq wants those areas back.
Had the Iraqi forces kept moving for another 15 minutes, they would have hit the first red line, you could say, and would have been fired upon, said Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Other Iraqi military units and Popular Mobilization Force militias have also massed forces around Kirkuk, long a bone of contention between the central government and the semi-autonomous northern region.
We have seen a very significant buildup of Iraqi military and PMF to the south and west of Kirkuk, said Bayan Abdul Rahman, the U.S. representative of the Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG. They have heavy equipment, tanks, mortars, and Humvees, she said.
That prompted KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to call for the United States, United Nations, and EU to urgently intervene to prevent a new war in the region.
An Iraqi government official confirmed that Iraqi forces were in the area, but denied that their intentions were hostile.
The presence of the [Iraqi Security Forces] is to maintain discipline in the area, and they have been dispatched there as a precautionary measure to prevent escalation, slippage or clashes from undisciplined factions on the ground, he told Foreign Policy.
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The State Department, which urged Erbil not to carry out the referendum but then took a hands-off approach to the simmering crisis, said that it is watching the situation closely.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters that my forces are integrated among these forces and they are working too, to make certain we keep any potential for conflict off the table. Urging both sides to focus on the campaign against the Islamic State, he added, we dont want this to go to a shooting situation.
Despite the rising temperature of the conflict, the talks that temporarily defused the standoff marked the first direct negotiations between Kurdish representatives and Baghdad over the fallout of the September referendum. Baghdad reportedly talked with a faction of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, one of two major parties in Iraqi Kurdistan and a counterweight to Barzanis Kurdish Democratic Party, or KDP.
Though the talks have thus far been limited to tactical de-escalation, according to Knights, they may eventually open a new line of communication between the two sides. After the referendum, Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has been politically unable to reach out to Barzani, who promoted the referendum push and vowed afterward to make independence a reality.
You cant ignore the Barzanis, but its very hard for them to talk to Baghdad, or vice versa, said Knights. What it might do is establish a non-Barzani line of communication between Abadi and the KRG, said Knights.
Those are the people who Abadi wants to be talking with, he said.
Thursdays escalation was only the latest in a series of moves after the referendum. In the days after the vote, Baghdad took control of land borders and banned international flights into Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports.
More recently, the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council issued arrest warrants for the chairman of the Kurdish independence referendum commission and two aides for violating a valid (Iraqi) court ruling banning the independence vote as against the Constitution.
Neighboring Iran and Turkey, both with large Kurdish populations of their own, have backed Baghdads stance. Turkey has threatened to shut down pipelines that allow the KRG to export crude oil, but has yet to follow through.
Photo credit: Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty Images
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday that federal individual disaster aid was available to those affected by the various fires in the region. Here is the governors statement with details:
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that the White House has approved Californias request for direct aid to individuals and families in Napa and Sonoma counties who have suffered losses due to the fires.
Well keep working day and night with our local and federal partners to fight these fires and help residents get back on their feet in these trying times, said Governor Brown.
Survivors who primarily reside in Sonoma and Napa counties can apply online for federal Individual Disaster Assistance at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone at 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay Service may call 800-621-3362. The toll-free numbers are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
More information on the federal Individual Disaster Assistance program is available at fema.gov/individual-disaster-assistance.
Earlier this week, Governor Brown secured a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to support the state and local response to the fires, within 24 hours of making the request, and joined the states top emergency management officials for a briefing at the State Operations Center in Mather. The assistance announced today is the result of California securing amendments to this presidential disaster declaration. The Governor has declared a state of emergency for Solano County, Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties, and Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada and Orange counties due to the effects of the devastating fires burning across California.
A typical shift during a wildfire is 24 hours, but that wasnt the case for those going up against fires in Napa and Sonoma counties this past week. Some firefighters reported working four days straight with little food and hardly any sleep, catching sleep only here and there while sitting up in their fire engines.
Weve been on the line pretty much since Sunday night, said a stubble-faced firefighter with a Cal Fire crew out of Cazadero who wished to remain anonymous. It wasnt until Thursday when original crews started to feel some relief as additional resources filtered in.
Typically once we get the resources in place, we can start rotating crews out, said Fire Capt. Chase Beckman, Cal Fire/Napa County Fire. Firefighters will have 24 hours on, then 24 hours for rest and recovery. It isnt typical for crews to be so overworked, he said, but with so much activity going on at once and limited resources, it did happen.
Now that firefighters have a handle on some of these fires and more resources have been brought in, the original crews can rest, he said.
Among the first fires was the Atlas Fire, which started off of Atlas Peak Road, south of Lake Berryessa Sunday night and grew to more than 50,000 acres, spreading into Solano County. Firefighters struggled to get any containment on the fire, now being referred to as the Southern LNU Complex, until midweek. By Saturday morning, there were 2,105 total personnel on the fire.
Meanwhile, other fires raged in Sonoma, Mendocino and Yuba counties, killing more than 30 people and taking out thousands of homes and businesses.
The Tubbs Fire, which started in Calistoga Sunday night and is now being referred to as Central LNU Complex, was 44 percent contained after reaching 35,270 acres Saturday morning. Total personnel on that fire: 2,941.
Beckman said that additional resources came in from all over the state, bordering states, Mexico and as far as Canada and Australia.
They basically just keep putting more and more people on, said William Stewart, co-director of the UC Center for Fire Research and Outreach at UC Berkeley. Theyre trying to figure out how to rotate people out as fast as they can.
In the beginning of the week, a fire also burned 9,217 acres in Southern California.
Huntington Beach Fire Department firefighter/paramedic Chris Brown had been on the Anaheim Hills fire before being reassigned to the Atlas Fire on Wednesday. After a nearly 11-hour drive, the OES strike team headed to the Green Valley side of the fire to put out hot spots on Thursday.
We cant leave the area until its pretty much out cold, said Huntington Beach Fire Capt. Sean Haynes. Haynes was using a hoe to scrape away duff, debris blocking mineral dirt that can act as fuel to a fire, while paramedic Jake Snow hosed down hot spots. At the same time, their engine was pumping 800 gallons of water to five other engines up on the nearby hills.
Were trying to link all the different areas of the fire together so we can get around the fire, he said. Their efforts, combined with other efforts on the Atlas Fire, paid off Friday when containment reached 45 percent.
The mop-up crews job is to create a buffer between green receptive vegetation and the active fire, Beckman said. But firefighters have also been working on assisting with evacuations as well as structure defense, he said.
With red flag warnings continuing over the weekend, Beckman said the plan is to focus on two areas: life safety and property. And, thanks to evacuations in areas across the region, firefighters will be able to focus more on the latter, he said.
Although the Atlas Fire has been controlled to some extent, the ridges between Calistoga and Sonoma have a number of very active fronts, Stewart said Friday.
Stewart said that there simply were not enough resources to go around. Fires started in eight different places and were fast-moving, he said. A plethora of dry fuels combined with a lot of wind pushing the fire in different directions every few hours contributed to the swirling nature of these fires.
Ive seen these fires turn around in a two-hour period and just roll er back the other way, he said, noting how the direction of these fires keeps changing.
For everybody working on this, this is the biggest, most complicated fire weve had in Northern California, Stewart said. There are thousands of residential parcels inside the fire perimeter, including people who live in houses scattered along rural roads, he said. The number of people who are still unaccounted for, he said, is sobering.
Suttles was kicked off the team before the teams game vs. Navy Saturday. (Getty)
Memphis defensive lineman Ernest Suttles was arrested on rape charges early Saturday morning and subsequently kicked off the team.
The Memphis Police Department announced it had responded to a call of an assault after 3 a.m. Saturday.
At 3:15am MPD responded to an assault at 5959 Park. The incident occured in the 3800 block of Douglass. 1 male susect is in custody. Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) October 14, 2017
Saturday afternoon, it said Suttles had been charged with rape in connection to the assault report.
Ernest Suttles was charged with Rape. https://t.co/3cQymoGVXq Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) October 14, 2017
Memphis played Navy on Saturday afternoon. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal the team initially said Suttles was suspended for a violation of team rules before later saying before kickoff that he was dismissed entirely.
Suttles has logged significant playing time at defensive end for the Tigers. Entering Saturdays game which was at home he had eight tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks.
Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
(Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)
At the annual Values Voter Summit (VVS) in Washington this weekend, former congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who serves on Donald Trumps evangelical advisory board, said in an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress that Trump is now a committed believer of Jesus Christ and a man of faith who has asked God for help and wisdom.
Bachmanns assessment, following up on remarks she made in her speech at the summit Friday, mostly comes from a discussion she and other social conservatives had with Vice President Mike Pence.
[We know] because of what the vice president told us, she said.
We were in a meeting with the vice president and the president, about 25 of us. I know the vice president. I served with him in Congress, and he is a vocal, committed believer of Jesus Christ himself. And he said, I want all of you to know that the president is a committed believer. He is a man of faith.
I think that should give us a lot of hope, Bachmann went on to say, explaining that it means Trump is acting without his own authority.
Theres nothing better than a man under authority, she explained.
We dont want anyone, especially a president, to think they are a man under their own authority. They need to be under authority. Whether its the authority of the Constitution and the laws of the land but even more importantly under the authority of faith. And I think that helps to regulate our behavior, when we know that were accountable to something.
Bachmann also said that Trump understands who put him into the White House, and that is people of faith, and that hes asked God for help and for wisdom and wants prayer.
He knows that he needs prayer, she said. Weve been in the Oval Office with him. We asked him if he wants prayer and he said, Sure. We put our hands around him respectfully and we prayed for him.
Bachmanns sentiments were echoed by many attendees who gathered from around the country at VVS, hosted annually by the Family Research Council, which has been designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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Attendee Joel Brind, a college biology professor from New Hamburg, New York, explained that Jesus would have tweeted like Trump.
If there were Twitter then, [Jesus] would have used it in a similar way, I think, Brind said.
I wouldnt restrict it to just [Trumps] tweets. His communications in general are tactically [emulating Christ]. I dont want to be misinterpreted to say that everything he says is equivalent to gospel. I mean, hes on the right side, and his tactics are more reminiscent of Christ, of the tactics that Christ used when he walked the earth and which he admonished his followers to use also.
Trump is the first sitting president to speak at the anti-LGBTQ Values Voter Summit, where a pamphlet titled The Hazards of Homosexuality was included in promotional materials given to all attendees. Trump, in his speech on Friday, lectured Americans on values and morality little over a year after the Access Hollywood tape, in which he bragged about sexual assault, had gone public.
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Yangon (AFP) - 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.
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"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.
burs-apj/jta
Nelly denied a woman's accusation that he raped her on his tour bus: Reuters
A woman who accused US rapper Nelly of sexual assault has asked police to stop their investigation, her lawyer has said.
Nelly was arrested last week after a woman said he raped her on his tour bus in a town outside Seattle, a claim he denied.
Lawyer Karen Koehler posted a letter on her website saying the woman is telling Auburn Police Department and the King County Prosecutor's Office to put a halt on the investigation of Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, the real name of the rapper.
It goes on to say she will not testify in criminal proceedings against him, saying the woman wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her and she wants this to end.
Nelly's lawyer Scott Rosenblum said news of the letter was welcome.
He added: Her reckless accusation, once investigated thoroughly, was exposed for what it was - a fabrication. A fabrication that has caused Nelly and his family to suffer emotionally and financially.
He added: I am suggesting that Nelly seeks a public apology. I am further suggesting that Nelly considers whatever legal options are available to him. Nelly thanks his fans for their unwavering loyalty.
Nelly - who was on tour after releasing his seventh studio album M.O. - is due to play 15 shows around the UK in November.
The 42-year-old's latest performance was at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington state, on October 6.
Following the accusations, the Dilemma singer took to Twitter to deny the false and defaming allegation.
In a string of tweets the father-of-two also apologised to his family for putting myself in a situation where I could be victimised.
Summing up his denial, he added: In other words y'all know damm well I ain't do no dumm S*t like this..!! Love ..!!!!
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If youre worried a supervolcano lying beneath Yellowstone National Park could erupt and plunge the planet into a volcanic winter, you shouldnt be.
While a future eruption a prospect widely reported this week after new research is possible, geologists say its incredibly unlikely. The odds that Yellowstones sleeping supervolcano will erupt within a century and cause massive devastation are one in 10,000, which is about as likely as a very large asteroid hitting Earth, according to Jacob Lowenstern, a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Its not impossible to rule out, but its a remote possibility, said Lowenstern, who used to run the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which monitors volcanic activity.
Supervolcanoes have the power to spew more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of debris and hot ash into the air when they erupt, which would have catastrophic consequences, including changes to global climate and agricultural devastation, according to the USGS. They get labeled supervolcanoes only after theyve already erupted to that magnitude. There are between five and 10 active supervolcanoes in the world, Lowenstern said. The most recent supereruption happened about 27,000 years ago in New Zealand. Long before that, there were two supereruptions at Yellowstone the first happened 2.1 million years ago and the second occurred 631,000 years ago, according to the USGS.
Many Americans grew concerned that a supereruption was looming after the New York Times detailed a project from a research team at Arizona State University. The team researched the events leading up to the last large eruption at Yellowstone. They found changes in the supervolcanos system known to help trigger supereruptions, like magma flow, can develop faster than previously thought, according to the Times. Its shocking how little time is required to take a volcanic system from being quiet and sitting there to the edge of an eruption, Hannah Shamloo, an ASU graduate student who was part of the research team, told the newspaper.
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Many people mistakenly took that to mean Yellowstones supervolcano was overdue for a massive eruption. Christy Till, who was also part of the research team, later tweeted that the research team at no point suggested Yellowstones supervolcano was expected to erupt. All signs of activity at Yellowstone are normal, she wrote. There are NO signs of eruption as some media outlets reporting.
Lowenstern agreed, dispelling the notion that theres a cycle to supereruptions. He added that there is no way to tell exactly when or if it will even erupt, but any kind of eruption in the next 100 years is very unlikely.
Since the last supereruption at Yellowstone, there have been dozens of other eruptions at the national park that were minor. Theres no requirement that it has to have another large eruption, Lowenstern said.
The NYPD is reportedly again investigating Harvey Weinstein as the film producer issued a new statement lamenting the loss he now faces in the wake of numerous sexual assault allegations.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce has ordered Special Victims investigators to probe allegations made by multiple women, some in New York, in a bombshell piece published in The New Yorker, the New York Daily News reported.
The NYPD investigated Weinstein in 2015 when actress Ambra Battilana Gutierrez said the disgraced media mogul grabbed her breast.
One night later, she wore a wire to meet Weinstein and asked why he grabbed her.
I wont do it again, Weinstein can be heard saying before asking her to come to his hotel room.
Despite that evidence, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance did not bring charges against Weinstein.
On Wednesday, Vance defended his decision to not charge Weinstein, saying, Our sex-crimes prosecutors made the determination that this was not going to be a provable case and the decision was made not to go forward.
The NYPD also defended their investigation.
Detectives have now been ordered to identify, locate and interview any potential victims, according to the New York Post.
Hes been at this so long, theres no way there are not other victims out there, a source told the paper.
Read: Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow Say Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Them
As Weinsteins accusers faced criticism for not coming forward sooner, actress Mira Sorvino shared why she decided to speak out when she did.
I have lived in vague fear of Harvey Weinstein for over 20 years, ever since the incidents I described to Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker, she wrote in TIME magazine.
She told Farrow that Weinstein propositioned her in 1995, saying he massaged her shoulders and chased her around in a Toronto hotel room.
Sorvino also said he came to her apartment in New York City a few weeks later and only left when she said her boyfriend was coming over.
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At the time I dont think I even knew that what happened him using business-related situations to try and press himself sexually on a young woman in his employ qualified as sexual harassment, Sorvino wrote. But as a woman who routinely advocates for women and girls who have been victimized in my role as Goodwill Ambassador with the United Nations, and as a mother, I could no longer remain silent.
Weinstein, 65, who has said all encounters were consensual, also broke his silence about the scandal and its effect on his life.
I am profoundly devastated, he told The Post's Page Six. I have lost my wife and kids, whom I love more than anything else.
His wife, Marchesa fashion label co-founder Georgina Chapman, announced Tuesday that she was leaving Weinstein.
Read: District Attorney Defends Failure to Prosecute Harvey Weinstein for Groping a Model in 2015
My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions, she said in a statement.
I fully support her decision, Weinstein told Page Six. 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.
He said he loved his wife and that he hoped to one day be able to reconcile.
Although right now, I dont know if that could possibly happen, he said.
The following day, Los Angeles police responded to a family disturbance at Weinsteins home, who was reportedly in some distress, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Weinsteins daughter called 911 to say her father was suicidal Wednesday morning, TMZ reported.
But after speaking to Weinsteins daughter, police determined no one was in danger and left.
Watch: TV Reporter Lauren Sivan Claims Harvey Weinstein Exposed Himself in Restaurant
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A windy Sunday night ignited Napa Countys historic, hellish week of flames, evacuations, torched homes, six deaths, choking smoke and worry.
Yes, it has been only a week. To many residents, it probably seems like a month. The new norm is wearing surgical masks to combat the foul air and checking daily on the status of the Atlas, Tubbs and Nuns fires.
Were no strangers to natural disasters, having had numerous fires in the past and floods and earthquakes, state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, said. But this one has significantly impacted more people than any of those, probably all put together.
The Napa County native believes the disaster this past week is more than simply a historically large disaster by Napa County standards.
I believe the combined fires in Napa and Sonoma counties will go down as one of the largest natural disasters in the state of California historynot just this year, the history of the state of California, he said.
A still-unknown cause, possibly downed power poles, sparked three major fires on Sunday night. Winds gusting from 35 mph to 75 mph in some parts of the Bay Area fanned the flames in fuels that grew thick over a wet winter and dried over a hot summer.
Mike Pechner of Golden West Meteorology in Fairfield compared the winds to those that stoked the infamous, 1991 Oakland Hills fire. They packed a once-in-a-generation punch.
This (wind) event was very rare in recent history, Pechner said.
As a result, the world-famous Napa Valley floor found itself enclosed in a flaming noose that opened and closed depending on the winds. The Atlas Fire is in the east mountains, the Nuns Fire is in the west mountains and the Tubbs Fire is along Mount St. Helena at the valleys end.
By Friday, the three fires had spread across a total of 127,000 acres in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties. Thats almost 200 square miles of mostly hills covered with brush, oaks, vineyards and other vegetation and scattered with homes.
Sonoma County was hit the hardest. The Tubbs Fire, though it started near Calistoga, rampaged through Santa Rosa subdivisions. It destroyed more than 576 structures and killed least 15 people.
But Napa County has had plenty of woes from the three fires. Two elderly people died when flames swept through the Silverado area, while four others died at two residences on Atlas Peak Road. At least 200 structures have been destroyed in Napa County alone. Thousands of people evacuated fire officials couldnt say how manyincluding the entire city of Calistoga.
To be sure, California is infamous for large fires. The 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego burned 273,246 acres, destroyed 2,820 structures and killed 15 people. The 1991 Berkeley Hills fire burned only 1,600 acres, but destroyed 2,900 structures and killed 25 people. The 2015 Valley Fire in neighboring Lake County burned 76,067 acres, destroyed 1,955 structures and killed four people.
But Napa County, which prefers to be known for grapes and not wildfires, looks likely to make the states next statistical list for damaging and destructive fires.
This weeks disaster had some high-tech twists on past Napa County disasters.
As cellular service and electricity returned around midweek, 21st-century communication tools came to the forefront. Accounts of Napa Countys latest disaster unfolded not only in newspapers and on television and radio, but across social media in a way that outstripped even the 2014 South Napa earthquake.
Citizens learned of the latest evacuations through Nixel alerts. The city of Napa sent out alerts for a community meeting one hour before the meeting started and had a packed house.
Residents went to the county website at www.countyofnapa.org to see daily maps of where the fires had burned. County Supervisor Ryan Gregory said high-tech tool could be useful to evacuated residents from Mount Veeder and other areas.
My friends and constituents up on the mountain, they want to know whats happened to their house, he said Friday. Access is very limited, I cant answer that. I would ask all those folks to please go out, find the maps that are online, do your best to interpret that and see where you stand.
In Napa County, that world-famous bastion of the good life, just plain life became important. People stepped forward to help in ways big and small. The Napa Valley Community Foundation created a disaster relief fund for fire victims.
At the Napa Valley College shelter, young women playing cellos and violins to entertain the evacuees. Several of the women were evacuees themselves.
The new norm of living with Napa County wildfires wont end overnight. Perhaps the county will ease back toward the old norm over timeat least for those for whom a return to normal is possible.
I would suggest that over the next two weeks this is going to continue as is right now, with fire activities for sure, City of Napa Fire Chief Steve Brassfield told citizens on Wednesday.
Smoke in the Napa Valley was so bad on Thursday and Friday that it seemed like a person could stab the crud in the air with a fork.
Then, seemingly magically, the Napa Valley received a breather on Saturday morningliterally. The Atlas Fire, which had been belching smoke like some sort of Industrial Age steel town, seemed relatively quiet. Smoke from the Nuns Fire blew into Sonoma County.
The result: Napans could see a blue sky and bask in unfiltered sunlight for the first time in days. People walked, biked and ran on roads amid vineyards north of the city of Napa, able to breath freely for the first time in a week.
A seemingly magic morning might be only a respite if shifting winds blow the Nuns and Tubbs fires back this direction. But perhaps there will be more breathers to come, more breaks between smoky days.
Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann expects flare-ups and hot spots to continue away from fire containment lines into the winter.
Some of them, if theyre close to the line, were going to deal with it, he said. Stuff thats way interior and doesnt pose a threat to anyones property, were not going to do anything with.
It may be up to the winter rains to fully extinguish the local fires across the 200 square miles.
As the smoke finally clears and evacuation areas and roads open, Napans will be able to drive around and see just how much they have lost. They will be able to see the homes and wineries destroyed, the vineyards singed, their favorite hiking spots left smoldering.
White House enthusiasts have long speculated about the particular function of the red button on the presidents desk. (Its not a nuclear attack button, as some may think.)
Concrete information about the button is slim. According to Business Insider, The call button is meant to be used to summon an aide whenever a president needs something. But the uses can get quite cheeky. Some reports say it was used to alert President Johnson when his wife was on the way.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Donald Trump uses his red button to order Coke on demand. But Barack Obama reportedly had a healthier aim when the gadget was his.
The president told billionaire Richard Branson that he used the button for tea, according to Bransons new autobiography Finding My Virginity.
The duo shared lunch one day in the Oval Office, after which Obama clued Branson in.
As we stood up to leave I noticed the red buttons on his desk. Obama saw me looking at them, Branson wrote. He said, They used to be there for emergencies, but now I use them for ordering tea for my guests.
Barack Obama takes a sip of tea as he walks across the South Lawn in 2016. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)
Obamas love for tea is well documented. Those close to the former president have said he eschews coffee or at least did while he was in office and its been reported that he has a penchant for Honest Tea, especially the Black Forest Berry flavor. Obama told Vox in 2015 that he reads his morning briefings with tea.
Once, outside a Starbucks in 2014, a reporter asked him how the coffee was.
Its tea! Obama responded, according to the Boston Globe.
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(This version of the story corrects spelling of Caitlan Coleman throughout) By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani troops shot out the tyres of a vehicle carrying a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their children in a raid that led to the family's release after five years of being held hostage, a Pakistani security official said on Friday. U.S. drones were hovering near the northwestern Pakistani area where American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed, another security official said. Coleman and Boyle were held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network after being kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan, and their rescue marked a rare positive note in often-fraught U.S.-Pakistan relations. The family flew out of Pakistan on Friday, according to a Pakistani airport official who saw them. It was not clear whether they were bound for Canada or the United States. A senior Pakistani security source on Friday detailed how the family were freed following a car chase in the northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. He said Pakistani troops and intelligence agents, acting on a U.S. intelligence tip, zeroed in on a vehicle holding the family as they were being moved into Kurram tribal agency near the town of Kohat, some 60 km (37 miles) inside Pakistan. Agents from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and soldiers attempted to intercept the vehicle, but it sped away, according to the security source. "Our troops fired at the vehicle and burst its tyres," he said, declining to be identified because he is not authorised to speak openly to the media. The kidnappers managed to escape, the security official added, saying the troops wouldn't fire at the fleeing captors for fear of harming the hostages. The army recovered the hostages safely from the car. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told NBC News that the vehicle's driver and another militant had escaped to a nearby refugee camp. DRONES REPORTED NEARBY The family's rescue has been hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a "positive moment" for U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have frayed in recent years amid Washington's assertions that Islamabad has not been doing enough to tackle Haqqani militants who are believed to be on Pakistani soil. Trump, in a statement, said the release of the hostages showed Pakistan was acquiescing to "America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region". A second Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. drones on Wednesday had been seen circling Kohat, suggesting U.S. co-operation included sophisticated surveillance inside Pakistan. Kohat is deep inside Pakistani territory, next to the eastern edge of Kurram agency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province - outside the Afghan frontier zone where U.S. drones have in the past been tolerated by Pakistan. The U.S. embassy and the Pakistani military did not comment on the drone report. However, a Taliban commander in Pakistan with knowledge of the hostage family said U.S. drones flying in the area prompted their captors to move them. "We took care of this family like our own family members and special guests, but after frequent flying of U.S. drones on Kurram tribal region and its adjoining areas, it was decided to move them to a safer place," said the Taliban official on condition of anonymity. "They were being shifted to a safer place when captured by the Pakistani forces." HOSTAGES' LOCATION Pakistani officials bristle at U.S. claims Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist militants, particularly the Haqqanis. After the release of the family, they emphasised the importance of co-operation and intelligence sharing by Washington, which has threatened to cut military aid and other punitive measures against Pakistan. Pakistan's military indicated the family were rescued shortly after entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, and a government official repeated that assertion on Friday. "We have been taking on the terrorists... So we have taken action based on the intelligence that was provided by the U.S. side," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria. He added that he had no other details on the operation "maybe because they were abducted in Afghanistan, they were there in Afghanistan, and that could be the reason why you have not heard much about it". However, two Taliban sources with knowledge of the family's captivity said they had been kept in Pakistan in recent years. A U.S. government source in Washington also said there was no indication the family had been in Afghanistan. The Haqqani network operates on both sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border but senior militants have acknowledged they moved a major base of operations to Kurram agency in the tribal areas. The United States and Afghanistan say that safe havens inside Pakistan allow the Taliban, including the Haqqani network, to plan and launch attacks against the Western-backed Afghan government and U.S. and other foreign troops that support them. The Taliban have been fighting for 16 years to re-establish their ultra-Islamist regime that was toppled in a U.S.-backed military operation over sheltering the al Qaeda terrorist network that planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities. (Additional reporting by Saad Sayeed in Islamabad; Writing by Drazen Jorgic, Kay Johnson; Editing by Neil Fullick and Nick Macfie)
A US-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week almost five years after being kidnapped have returned to Canada where the husband revealed one of his children had been murdered and his wife had been raped by their captors.
American Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, 34, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
Pakistani troops rescued the family in the northwest of the country, near the Afghan border, on Wednesday. The US has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight the Haqqani group.
An emotional Mr Boyle speaks to the media following his family's dramatic rescue on Wednesday. Credit: REUTERS/Mark Blinch
"The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim ... was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter," Mr Boyle told reporters in a statement at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
"And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, but by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant."
He did not elaborate on what he meant by "pilgrim", or on the murder or rape. Ms Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and their three children who were all born in captivity, were not at the news conference.
Caitlin Coleman, Joshua Boyle and two of their children during their time in captivity Credit: Reuters
"Obviously, it will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," Mr Boyle added.
Mr Boyle said the Taliban, who he referred to by their official name - the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - had carried out an investigation last year and conceded that the crimes against his family were perpetrated by the Haqqani network.
Joshua Boyle at Pearson Toronto International Airport revealed his wife had been raped and his daughter murdered by their captors Credit: Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
He called on the Taliban "to provide my family with the justice we are owed".
"God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," he said.
His statement came after Ms Coleman's parents revealed they were furious with their son-in-law for taking their pregnant daughter to Afghanistan.
Story continues
Patrick and Linda Boyle outside their home in Smith Falls, Ontario Credit: The Canadian Press via AP
"Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," Coleman's father, Jim, told ABC News.
Linda Boyle said she had spoken to her son three times since his release.
I have not wiped the smile off of my face, she said.
Mr Boyle revealed dramatic details of their rescue to his family in phone calls.
The five of them were crammed into the boot of the kidnappers car when a deadly shoot-out forced it to a halt. Five of the captors were shot dead by the Pakistani army and Mr Boyle suffered minor shrapnel wounds, he told his parents.
An unknown number of the kidnappers, believed to be from the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, fled on foot.
One of the three children was in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers, Mr Boyle told reporters.
A still image from a militant video taken in 2013 showing Caitlan Coleman and her husband Joshua. Credit: Coleman family via AP
He knows who the people are and he wants to make sure that theyre all prosecuted, said Ms Boyle. She added that her son views the Pakistani Army as heroes for securing the familys freedom.
In a video posted by the Toronto Star, Mr Boyles father Patrick expressed the couples profound thanks for the courageous Pakistani soldiers who risked their lives and got all five out safely in the rescue.
Ms Boyle said she had yet to know the full horror endured by her son and daughter-in-law endured since they were kidnapped in early October 2012 when they crossed into Afghanistan during a backpacking trip through Central Asia.
They were held the entire time in an underground prison, Ms Boyle said that Josh told her during one of their phone calls on Thursday.
The couple's two sons aged four and two were born during the couple's time in captivity. Mr Boyle helped deliver the second boy, said Ms Boyle. There is also a baby girl, who was either born two months ago as Mr Boyle told his mother or four months ago, as her Canadian passport reads.
But maybe when youre kept in an underground prison, you have no sense of time, said Ms Boyle.
She said the reunited family would live together in their three-bedroom home in the Ottawa area.
The operation to free the family has raised fresh questions about Pakistans relationship with militant groups and whether any deal was done.
Donald Trumps administration has increased pressure on the countrys security forces to disavow groups such as the Haqqani network which it has used in the past to hold influence in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, said: "I don't think it's a coincidence that this hostage release was announced when you have a parade of top Trump administration officials in Islamabad to deliver strongly worded warnings to Pakistan.
For his part, Mr Trump credited Pakistan for working in conjunction with the US government in securing the release of the Boyle-Coleman family.
Ms Boyle said she was unsure what role Canada played in extricating her son and his young family from captivity.
On Thursday morning, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement in which she said that Canada has been actively engaged with the US, Afghan and Pakistani governments, but later told reporters that she was not at liberty to describe the circumstances of the familys release.
We were not on the inside of anything and were pretty much kept in the dark, said Ms Boyle.
Caitlan Colemans father calls Joshua Boyles decision to take his pregnant wife to Afghanistan on a backpacking trip unconscionable
Patrick and Linda Boyle with Lyn and Jim Coleman in 2014. Jim Coleman said: Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable. Photograph: Bill Gorman/AP
The parents of an American woman who was rescued with her Canadian husband and three children after five years in captivity have said they were elated that the family is safe but incensed with their son-in-law for taking their daughter to Afghanistan.
Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable, Caitlan Colemans father, Jim, told ABC News.
Coleman, Joshua Boyle and their children all of whom were born in captivity landed in London on Friday afternoon, en route to Canada. Earlier in the day, Boyle spoke to his parents by telephone, telling them that he and his family were safe after the dramatic rescue.
Speaking to a Canadian reporter on Thursday, Boyle reflected on the toll the past five years had taken. My family is obviously psychologically and physically shattered by the betrayals and the criminality of what has happened over the past five years, Boyle told the Toronto Star.
But were looking forward to a new lease on life to use an overused idiom and restarting and being able to build a sanctuary for our children and our family in North America. With a laugh, he added: I have discovered there is little that cannot be overcome by enough Sufi patience, Irish irreverence and Canadian sanctimony.
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The couple who met as teenagers online and bonded over their love of Star Wars fan sites were abducted in 2012 during a backpacking trip that began in Russia and took them through Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan before arriving in northern Afghanistan.
Coleman was pregnant with their first child at the time. The couple were believed to be held by the Haqqani network, a group deemed a terrorist organisation by the US.
Story continues
Boyle, now 34, had long been fascinated with terrorism and national security, telling a reporter in 2009: Anything related to terrorism on Wikipedia, I wrote, pretty much. Years earlier he had become a spokesman for Omar Khadr, the Canadian held for 10 years at Guantanamo Bay after being captured as a teenager during a firefight at an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan, leading to a brief marriage with Zaynab Khadr, Omars sister.
The familys ordeal ended with a dramatic rescue on Wednesday. Pakistani troops, operating on intelligence provided by the United States, had zeroed in on the family, locating them in a fast-moving vehicle near the town of Kohat, some 40 miles from the countrys north-western border with Afghanistan.
At the time, the family was locked in the trunk of a car, Boyle told his family. The last words he heard were kill the hostages before a shootout erupted, leaving him with a shrapnel wound.
Pakistani troops fired at the vehicle, bursting its tyres. While they managed to free the hostages, the couples captors, however, eluded them, managing to escape on foot.
Soon after the rescue, arrangements were made to bring the family back to North America, John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, told reporters on Thursday. Medical treatment along the way. A lot of this, of course, would be psychological treatment, he said. Theyve been essentially living in a hole for five years.
In Smiths Falls, Ontario, a small town of 9,000 people near Ottawa, Boyles parents rejoiced at the news that the family was safe, telling reporters that the family intended to come to Canada.
As they prepared for the familys return heading to purchase car seats as they waited to hear when the family would be landing in Canada they also expressed misgivings for the future.
I think theyre going to have some, obviously, really tough times, said Boyles mother, Linda. I dont think theyre aware because they kept themselves strong for so long, for each other and for the kids. But I think that its going to catch up with them and theyre probably going to have some real crashes, I expect. But were here for them.
The past five years had been punctuated by letters and videos from the couple, each offering a glimpse into the horrors the couple were living.
A video sent last December showed the couple pleading for their governments to negotiate with their captors. My children have seen their mother defiled, Coleman told the camera flatly. She described their years-long ordeal as the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves.
A letter sent to Boyles parents and shared with the Toronto Star last year detailed the lengths the couple had gone to in order to deliver their second child; hiding the pregnancy from captors until Boyle delivered the child in darkness, guided only by a flashlight clenched between his teeth.
The astonished captors were good and brought all our post-partum needs, so he is now fat and healthy, praise God, Boyle wrote in the letter to his parents. We are trying to keep spirits high for the children and play Beautiful Life, he added, believed to be a reference to Life is Beautiful, the Italian film in which a father shields his son from the realities of a Nazi concentration camp by pretending they are in a game.
In Pennsylvania, the Colemans described their joy at hearing their daughters voice over the phone for the first time in years. But her father Jim added that he was angry with Boyle for taking his daughter to Afghanistan.
He also expressed dismay at reports that Boyle had refused to allow the family to leave Pakistan on a US military plane on Thursday. I dont know what five years in captivity would do to somebody, but if it were me, and I saw a US aircraft, US soldiers, I would be running for it.
Boyles father said on Thursday that his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan rather than North America. He dismissed remarks by a US official that Boyle was concerned that he might face scrutiny by the Americans over his links to Khadr.
News of the rescue was heralded on Thursday by Donald Trump, who described it as a positive moment in the countrys fraught relationship with Pakistan.
Today they are free, the US president said in a statement. He later praised Pakistan for its willingness to do more to provide security in the region, adding that the rescue suggested other countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again.
The deadliest wildfire event in California history swept across the state's wine country this week, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. Windy conditions fanned the flames and quickly engulfed virtually everything in their path. The fires emitted a years worth of car pollution in less than a week and drastically decreased air quality, according to NBC News. Fires spread in Southern California as well, making the skies over Disneyland in Anaheim look apocalyptic.
Allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by media mogul Harvey Weinstein also rocked the country this week. A bombshell report by the New York Times accusing Weinstein of "decades of sexual harassment" quickly snowballed into a massive scandal with dozens of women coming forward. Weinstein was terminated as co-chairman of The Weinstein Company and many figures, including Hollywood stars and politicians he had donated money to spoke out against him.
Click through the slideshow above to see photos from all of these events and more, and be sure to check back next weekend for our selection of the best photography from the week.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has once again changed its timeline of the tragic mass shooting carried out by Stephen Paddock from a corner suite at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Oct. 1.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said during a Friday night press conference that Paddock shot at a hotel security guard around the same time he was firing on the music festival not six minutes before firing at the concert, as was previously believed.
This is the second time this week that police announced a change to the timeline of events for the shooting.
Lombardo had announced another revision on Monday that police believed that Paddock shot hotel security guard Jesus Campos at 9:59 p.m. and began shooting at the festival six minutes later at 10:05 p.m. That timeline replaced the original belief held soon after the shooting that Paddock stopped his attack on the festival because Campos approached the door to his 32nd-floor hotel suite.
MGM Resorts International, Mandalay Bays parent company, publicly rejected Mondays revised timeline, arguing that the police had based their revision on a report manually created by the hotel after the fact without the benefit of information we now have.
MGM offered their own timeline on Thursday, saying that shots were being fired at the festival lot at the same time, or within 40 seconds after Campos first reported shots fired over the radio.
Lombardo said on Friday that police investigators now agree with MGMs timeline after reviewing additional information.
The information was obtained via security logs, Officer Campos himself, body worn cameras, hotel cameras...LVMPD dispatch, hotel and private cameras and interviews, Lombardo said on Friday.
Lombardo clarified on Friday that Campos had encountered a barricaded stairwell door near Paddocks room at 9:59 p.m., but wasnt shot, as police believed Monday. Sgt. Joshua Bitsko told CNN that the door had been intentionally screwed shut by Paddock.
Story continues
In order to gain access the 32nd floor, Campos had to go up the stairwell one more floor, then head back down one floor. He approached Paddocks suite at about 10:05 p.m., which was when police believe Paddock shot Campos through the door. Paddock then fired at the festival for 10 minutes, according to Lombardo.
Police reached Paddocks suite at 10:17 p.m., 12 minutes after Campos was shot. According to MGM, Campos had been responding to an alarm set off by an open door that was on the same floor as Paddock.
Lombardo also said Friday that Paddock checked into a free room offered by the Mandalay Bay hotel on Sept. 25 and he stayed there until Sept. 28, when he moved to a corner suite which he paid for. He added his girlfriends name, Marilou Danley, to that reservation.
Paddock also attempted to shoot nearby aviation fuel tanks, likely to distract first responders during an attempted getaway, Lombardo said.
Officials are still looking for a motive in the devastating shooting, which killed at least 58 people and wounded hundreds of others.
Police have sent Paddocks brain to an appropriate evaluation facility in order to look for microscopic anomalies, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Officials found nothing unusual during an initial visual autopsy of the brain.
Lombardo appeared defensive and emotional during Fridays press conference.
There is no conspiracy between the FBI, the LVMPD and the MGM. Nobody is trying to hide anything in reference to this investigation, Lombardo said. The dynamics and size of this investigation requires us to go through voluminous amounts of information in order to draw an accurate picture.
The sheriff held back tears toward the end of Fridays news conference as he spoke of the police officers who were wounded substantially during the shooting.
Lombardo said he believed that Paddock targeted police officers as they arrived on the scene to protect the public.
The response of those individuals, I believe, saved lives, Lombardo said after describing the injuries that Officer Brady Cook had sustained. And the reason I bring this one up, he asked me if he could go back to work today.
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People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas.
A cowboy hat lies in the street.
VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017
Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans.
Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire.
Others dive for cover.
Some fans drop to the ground.
People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival.
People scramble for cover.
HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017
A man in a wheelchair is helped away.
People run for cover.
EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017
A person takes cover amid the shooting.
A person runs barefoot from the shooting.
Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed.
A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue.
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President Trump raised new questions about his Administrations commitment to the response and recovery of Puerto Rico Thursday, when he highlighted the islands trouble fiscal conditions and stated that federal resources wouldnt be in place permanently. We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever! Trump tweeted. The comments were undoubtedly accurate, but tonally they appeared to many to be off base particularly with more than 80% of the territory still without power three weeks after Hurricane Maria made landfall. It is the latest wrinkle in Trumps difficult embrace of the role of comforter-in-chief, as he has often been slow to show empathy in the wake of disasters.
Trump also inflamed his war against the news media, as he suggested that media licenses be revoked over news coverage he doesnt like. The factual questions about plausibility aside, Trumps broadside against one of the core Constitutional protections was striking. Mr. President: Are you recanting of the Oath you took on Jan. 20 to preserve, protect, and defend the 1st Amendment? tweeted Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, a frequent Administration critic.
The fight over free speech on campus. Reading the NAFTA tea-leaves. And FEMA defends its hurricane response.
Here are your must reads:
Must Reads
Trump Unleashes Himself From Would-Be Handlers
Lashing out mornings, nights and weekends [LA Times]
The Fight Over Free Speech on Campus Isnt Just About Free Speech
A fundamental conflict on campuses across the country [TIME]
Trumps Tough Talk on Nafta Suggests Pacts Demise Is Imminent
Would have far-reaching economic implications [New York Times]
Trump Escalates Threats Against Press, Calls News Coverage Frankly Disgusting
Questions First Amendment freedoms [Washington Post]
Presidents Lawyers May Offer Mueller a Meeting With Trump
Looking to speed Muellers Russia probe and show openness, the presidents legal team might soon volunteer a chance for the special counsel to interview Trump [Politico]
Story continues
Politics NewsletterSign up to receive the days top political stories View Sample
Sound Off
Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public! President Trump on Twitter Thursday
It is frankly disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write. Trump to reporters Wednesday
Bits and Bites
FEMA Chief Defends Hurricane Response [TIME]
President Trump Mused About Revoking NBCs License. Republicans in Congress Cheered [TIME]
Joe Biden Condemns Harvey Weinstein For Disgusting, Immoral Misconduct [TIME]
How a presidents foreign trip comes together [Yahoo]
He hit the ball on the screws: Sen. Graham details President Trumps improbable 73 [Golf]
We Asked Facebook 12 Questions About the Election, and Got 5 Answers [New York Times]
An old-school pharmacy hand-delivers drugs to Congress, a little-known perk for the powerful [Stat]
Obama to Campaign in Virginia Gubernatorial Race [Associated Press]
Pro sports teams were once reliable patrons of Trumps hotels. Not anymore. [Washington Post]
President Trump Claims His Tax Plan Would Give Most Americans a $4,000 Pay Raise [Associated Press]
He threw a fit: Trumps anger over Iran deal forced aides to scramble for a compromise [Washington Post]
President Trump Will Nominate White House Aide Kirstjen Nielsen as Secretary of Homeland Security [Associated Press]
President Trump Says Partisan Network News Could Have Licenses Revoked [TIME]
By Steve Holland and Yara Bayoumy WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it. Trump announced the major shift in U.S. policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East. He accused Iran of "not living up to the spirit" of the nuclear agreement and said his goal is to ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon, in effect throwing the fate of the deal to Congress. He singled out Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for sanctions and delivered a blistering critique of Tehran, which he accused of destabilizing actions in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. "We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Irans nuclear breakout," Trump said. Trump's hardline remarks drew praise from Israel, Iran's arch-foe, but was criticized by European allies. The move by Trump was part of his "America First" approach to international agreements which has led him to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. His Iran strategy angered Tehran and put Washington at odds with other signatories of the accord - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union - some of which have benefited economically from renewed trade with Iran. Responding to Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday on television that Tehran was committed to the deal and accused Trump of making baseless accusations. "The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure," he said. "Iran and the deal are stronger than ever." European allies have warned of a split with the United States over the nuclear agreement and say that putting it in limbo as Trump has done undermines U.S. credibility abroad, especially as international inspectors say Iran is in compliance with the accord. The chief of the U.N. atomic watchdog reiterated that Iran was under the world's "most robust nuclear verification regime." "The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said, referring to the deal by its formal name. U.S. Democrats expressed skepticism at Trump's decision. Senator Ben Cardin said: At a moment when the United States and its allies face a nuclear crisis with North Korea, the president has manufactured a new crisis that will isolate us from our allies and partners. CONGRESS DECIDES While Trump did not pull the United States out of the agreement, he gave the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the pact. If Congress reimposes the sanctions, the United States would in effect be in violation of the terms of the nuclear deal and it would likely fall apart. If lawmakers do nothing, the deal remains in place. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker was working on amending the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act law to include "trigger points" that if crossed by Iran would automatically reimpose U.S. sanctions. The trigger points would address strengthening nuclear inspections, Iran's ballistic missile program and eliminate the deal's "sunset clauses" under which some of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program expire over time. Trump directed U.S. intelligence agencies to probe whether Iran might be working with North Korea on its weapons programs. The president, who took office in January, had reluctantly certified the agreement twice before but has repeatedly blasted it as "the worst deal ever." It was negotiated under his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. Trump warned that if "we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated." "We'll see what happens over the next short period of time and I can do that instantaneously," he told reporters when asked why he did not choose to scrap the deal now. The Trump administration designated the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under an executive order targeting terrorists. The administration stopped short of labeling the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a list maintained by the State Department. The Revolutionary Guard is the single most dominant player in Irans security, political, and economic systems and wields enormous influence in Irans domestic and foreign policies. It had already previously been sanctioned by the United States under other authorities, and the immediate impact of Fridays measure is likely to be symbolic. The U.S. military said on Friday it was identifying new areas where it could work with allies to put pressure on Iran in support of Trump's new strategy and was reviewing the positioning of U.S. forces. But U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said no changes in force posture had been made yet, and Iran had not responded to Trump's announcement with any provocative acts so far. (Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Additional reporting by James Oliphant, Phil Stewart, Makini Brice, Patricia Zengerle, Jonathan Landay, Justin Mitchell, Tim Ahmann and Arshad Mohammed in Washington, John Irish in Paris, Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Shadia Nasrallah in Vienna; Editing by Yara Bayoumy, Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)
Its been a busy week in Washington, D.C., with President Trump taking action on everything from health care to Iran.
The House of Representatives passed $36.5 billion in aid for Puerto Rico and parts of California hit by wildfires, reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration and gave tax relief to victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
But the real action was at the White House, where Trump took several actions to undo the legacy of his predecessor, President Obama.
Heres a quick look at what happened and how much it matters.
The Iran nuclear deal
What happened? On Friday, President Trump will announce that he is not certifying that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal that President Obama negotiated.
What does that mean? Though Trump promised to rip up the deal as a candidate, this isnt exactly that. The president is saying Iran is not upholding the spirit of the deal, but his Administration is not walking away from it.
Whats the bottom line? While Trump wanted to scrap the deal, key officials including the Defense Secretary and the Secretary of State reportedly warned against doing that. So, Trump is passing the buck to the Congress, which must now decide whether or not sanctions will be reimposed. Congress is deeply divided on the issue and could choose not to act.
The Affordable Care Act
What happened? Two things, really. First, Trump signed an executive order that could allow people to access cheaper insurance, though those plans will likely cover less. Later on Thursday, the Trump Administration announced it would not continue funding subsidies to the insurance market. Those subsidies help keep insurance costs low for poorer Americans.
ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017
What does that mean? Politically, the President is viewing these moves as a win on his goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act. On Friday, he called them major steps toward scrapping the Affordable Care Act, which the Republican Congress has repeatedly failed to repeal, in an address to conservative voters. But, they could mean millions of people will not be able to afford their insurance this year.
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Whats the bottom line? The executive orders changes could take a while to affect people and the insurance marketplace. The elimination of cost-sharing reduction payments will not. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost of silver level plans would increase by an average of 20% in 2018 and 25% by 2020. According to CBO, 5% of the population could have no access to marketplace insurance that same year. The change could also increase the federal deficit by an estimated $194 billion over 10 years.
The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017
Puerto Rico
What happened? The situation in Puerto Rico remains direonly an estimated 10-16% of the island has power some 3 weeks after the hurricanebut on Thursday the president appeared to suggest federal workers could be pulled away from the U.S. territory in tweeting that they couldnt stay forever. The House of Representatives approved $36.5 billion in aid funding for the territory and other areas of the U.S. impacted by natural disasters.
...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
What does it mean? The presidents tweets sparked a fierce backlash from Democrats on Capitol Hill and the mayor of San Juan, who has been highly critical of the federal governments response to the disaster. Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz told CNN that the president was acting like a hater-in-chief rather than a commander-in-chief. This isnt personal, she said. This isnt politics. This is about saving lives.
Bottom line: Lives are at risk in Puerto Rico. Saving people and helping the island rebuild should be the focus. By Friday, the President appeared to backtrack tweeting that the will always be with the people there.
The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the H's. I will always be with them! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017
Dreamers
What happened? The White House released an outline of all of the hardline immigration policies the Administration wants passed in exchange for any deal to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The list included a border wall, stricter requirements for those seeking asylum, more law enforcement and a mandatory immigration check for workers known as E-verify.
What does it mean? The demands pose a direct threat to ongoing negotiations over a replacement for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which the President began phasing out at the direction of his Attorney General in September. Trump gave Congress a March deadline for a fix. After that point there will be no protections against deportation for immigrants enrolled in the program.
Whats the bottom line? The President appears willing to offer Congress, and the immigrants, a bit of leeway. Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who has introduced a bill to protect the young undocumented immigrants, said that the President told him he was willing to give the Congress more time.
The presidents comment to me was that, We put a six-month deadline out there. Lets work it out. If we cant get it worked out in six months, well give it some more time, but weve got to get this worked out legislatively, Lankford told constituents at a town hall, according to the Washington Post.
Caught between the simplicity of a campaign promise and the nuance of governing reality, President Trump sought out a third path Friday as he opted not to re-certify the government of Irans compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord.
Faced with the choice of unilaterally reimposing sanctions on Iran and risk restarting its unclear program or of allowing a deal hes long derided as too weak to remain in place, Trumps non-action kicks the can to Congress to decide the agreements fate. It comes as the Trump Administration is looking to take a tougher line against Irans fomenting of instability in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere, but could jeopardize a program U.S. officials believe to be contributing to American national security.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Obama-era deal is known, rolled-back sanctions against the regime in exchange for Iran taking steps to unwind parts of its nuclear program. Trump Administration officials acknowledge that Iran is complying with the agreement, but Trump argued Friday that Iran is not living up to the spirit of the deal.
Speaking from the Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump recited a list of Iranian-backed efforts that have resulted in the deaths of American citizens, service-members, and countless others. Irans backing of the Assad regime or the terrorist group Hezbollah were not addressed by the nuclear deal, and Republicans have long argued that the diminished sanctions have allowed it to engage in those activities with renewed vigor.
The White House also called on Congress to work to end the so-called sunset provisions of the agreement, under which Iran is allowed to resume some nuclear-related work after designated waiting periods.
Trumps decision stops short of tearing up the accord, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are not expected to reimpose sanctions. But the uncertainty introduced to a barely two-year-old agreement under which Iran is in technical compliance could have far-reaching implications for U.S. foreign policy both with respect to Iran and as it seeks a diplomatic resolution to North Koreas nuclear program.
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I think U.S. influence abroad will take a hit, Richard Nephew, senior research scholar at Columbia Universitys Center on Global Energy Policy, told TIME. The United States is already in a compromised position considering our leaderships reputation internationally. This will feed into those negative dynamics, showing us as a deal-breaker and a bully without much of a plan for what comes after. I think that well have a hard (if not impossible) time recreating sanctions against Iran, and I think well find it harder to negotiate deals with others.
The Trump Administration defends its approach as working within the construct established by Congress under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. The White House expressed support for legislation amending that bill that would effectively end the sunset provisions under the JCPOA. Sens. Tom Cotton and Bob Corker are drafting legislation that would automatically reinstate sanctions on Iran if it is assessed to come within a year of nuclear capability. Critics contend it would amount to a unilateral rewrite of the accord that could provoke non-compliance by Iran.
The amendment to INARA is something that doesnt require us to negotiate anything with anyone else, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters Friday. This is purely an internal domestic decision for the Congress, with the President, to make.
But the governments of the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which negotiated the JCPOA along with the U.S. expressed in a joint statement Friday they were concerned by the possible implications of Trumps announcement. We stand committed to the JCPoA and its full implementation by all sides, they said. Preserving the JCPoA is in our shared national security interest. U.S. allies have lobbied the administration for months not to pull out of the JCPOA, arguing that the U.S. and its allies should address Irans missile program and financing of terror separately from the nuclear issue.
But at the White House, Trump seemed to dismiss their concerns, threatening that he would withdraw from the agreement entirely if Congress and American allies dont act. In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated, he said.
In conjunction with Trumps announcement, the Treasury Department announced additional terrorism-related sanctions against the Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its primary vehicle for undermining regional security.
The Iran debate comes as the Trump Administration is searching for a diplomatic off-ramp to North Koreas far more advanced nuclear missile program, which is now assessed to be able to hit the U.S. with a functional warhead.
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, former longtime intelligence official and special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea, warned last week that moves to undermine the agreement would damage U.S. credibility with the rogue regime.
If we just pull out of the agreement, I think North Korea would sit back and say, look, even having assurances from the U.S., it doesnt really mean that much, he said at a security conference at George Washington University. But if we complemented the agreement and if we, as we did with North Korea and we talk about missiles and things like that, I think the North Koreans could understand that, enhancing the agreement rather than cutting it.
A north wind predicted to last into Saturday night brings more uncertainty for Napa Countys three major wildfiresthe Tubbs, Nuns and Atlasthough recent news for Atlas Fire firefighting has been good.
Anticipating flame-fanning north wind, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the North Bay hills from 5 p.m. Friday through 11 p.m. Saturday.
Stay tuned, county Supervisor Ryan Gregory said at Napa Countys Friday morning wildfire press conference.
On a somber note, Sheriff John Robertson announced two more deaths linked to the Atlas Fire, bringing the total to four. At about 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, they found the remains of two men at the 2300 block of Atlas Peak Road. One victim is 89-year-old Dr. George Chaney and the second is believed to be 79-year-old Edward Stone.
The Atlas Fire has burned almost 44,000 acres 68 square miles including residential areas outside Napa and in the mountains east of the city. Fire officials said it is 27 percent contained, with one containment line east of the city of Napa.
Though the Atlas Fire continues to burn, that containment line allowed Cal Fire to reopen such evacuation areas as Silverado, Monticello Park and The Avenues. County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said fire has been extinguished along the line extending back 300 feet into the fire area.
People are going to see fire through the wintertime in the middle of this, Biermann said, referring to areas farther behind the line. We are going to have (burning) trees and hot spots. Some of them, if theyre close to the line, were going to deal with it. Stuff thats way interior, that doesnt pose a threat to anyones property, were not going to do anything with.
Meanwhile, the Nuns, Partrick, Norrbom, Adobe and other fires in the Mayacamas mountains along the western Napa Valley merged into one fire the 44,000-acre Nuns Fire. Fire crews Thursday into Friday battled the blaze in the Oakville Grade area.
The fire activity prompted Cal Fire early Friday to issue an advisory evacuation west of Highway 29 between the Oakville Grade and Rutherford Road. But now comes that predicted north wind.
A north or northeast wind could be a benefit, as it would push the fire back on itself so crews could continue work on containment lines, Biermann said. But a northwest wind would push the fire parallel to the mountains south down the valley.
That would be in the general direction of the city of Napa. Gregory said his friends and constituents living on the northwest edge of the city near Alston Park feel threatened by the Nuns Fire.
No news is good news, Gregory said. No evacuation order means youre OK. But keep an eye out. And I tell you what, the minute that neighborhood has to be evacuated, I live there with you by Alston Park, Ill be evacuating. But no news is good news.
Biermann said the western mountains havent had fires in a long time in the Napa and Rutherford areas. As a result, there are dense fuels that are harder for firefighters to cut through to create containment lines.
Thats why were hitting it very hard thats why its one of our top priorities, he said.
The 35,000-acre Tubbs Fire prompted the evacuation of Calistoga on Wednesday when it burned up Mount St. Helena. Supervisor Diane Dillon praised the effort by firefighters to protect the city.
Its not a sure thing, but theyre doing a great job and were feeling positive about their effort, Dillon said.
Firefighting support has poured into Napa County from states as far away as Pennsylvania, as well as Canada and Australia. Biermann said the Atlas Fire on Friday had about 1,900 firefighters battling it, compared to about 400 two or three days ago.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, announced Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved aid to help individuals rebuild homes and recover property. It had previously approved public assistance for firefighting efforts and public infrastructure damage.
The approval of individual assistance funds is the first step on the long road to recovery for Napa County and will be a tremendous help to families who have lost everything, Thompson said in a press release.
Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Belia Ramos said the county wants evacuees to feel they can use local shelters, regardless of immigration status. It doesnt want anyone sleeping in their cars or in harms way.
Thompson has received a commitment from the Department of Homeland Security to continue suspending routine immigration enforcement in wildfire areas, Ramos said. The exception is when criminals pose a public safety danger.
I will tell you that immigration is not a concern, Ramos said.
County Public Health Officer Karen Relucio had advice for evacuees returning to their neighborhoods once evacuations are lifted. She said to wear protective equipment while in burned areas, such as breathing masks, goggles, construction boots and clothing that covers arms and legs.
But even as the county looks toward reopening evacuated areas and recovery, the predicted north winds pose the next big hurdle. The wildfires began Sunday night amid high north winds.
Luanda (AFP) - Nearly a fourth of the estimated 30,000 refugees sheltered in Angola's northeast have returned to their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive Kasai region, an Angolan official said Friday.
"Of the 31,240 refugees from DRC hosted by the Angolan government in the Lunda Norte province, 7,535 have voluntarily returned home," local official Wilson Palanca told AFP.
"This shows that a stable climate is returning to Kasai," Palanca said.
Violence in Kasai erupted in August 2016 when a tribal chieftain known as the Kamwina Nsapu, who rebelled against President Joseph Kabila's regime, was killed.
Since then, more than 3,000 people have died and 1.4 million have been displaced, figures from the UN and the Catholic Church suggest.
Tens of thousands fled to neighbouring Angola and were sheltering in makeshift camps around the northeastern town of Dundo.
Amid waves of criticism of the Trump administrations lax response to one of the worst hurricanes ever to hit Puerto Rico, one senator is demanding an investigation into the relief efforts and the "misleading" portrayal of them.
In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security today, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote, I write urging you to launch an immediate investigation into the administrations response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The American people need to know whether the Trump administration is truly focused on helping the millions of Americans now suffering in Puerto Rico.
Blumenthal called the presidents portrayal of relief efforts misleading and concerning.
In his letter, the senator asks that the Department of Homeland Securitys inspector general, John Roth, evaluate whether FEMAs response was sufficient, whether the administration is selectively disclosing or manipulating data and whether the presidents hiring freeze and cutting of disaster resources limited FEMAs response.
The president is declaring mission abandoned, not mission accomplished, Blumenthal told Newsweek on Friday. And hes going for the exits while Americans are literally dying.
Blumenthal's call for action comes in response, he said, to a Washington Post story that revealed Trumps praise of FEMA last week was misplaced. President Trump tweeted a video that showed relief efforts in Puerto Ricotitled "What the Fake News Media Will Not Show You in Puerto Rico"in which the U.S. Forest Service cleared fallen trees from a road. But it turned out that the footage was "favorably edited." FEMA tweeted a video later that showed, seconds after the road-clearing, a fire chief in Puerto Rico praising Puerto Ricans for clearing trees and debris before the U.S. government even arrived.
Blumenthal noted that Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in testimony to the Armed Services Committee that he was ready and willing to come to the aid of Puerto Ricans but was waiting for the green light.
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I have seen firsthand the devastation and catastrophic damage to life in Puerto Rico because of my recent visit there," he added.
The senator was part of a group of members of Congress who last week traveled to Puerto Rico to survey the relief efforts and damage from Hurricane Maria. He was joined by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Cory Gardner (D-Colo.). When he returned, Blumenthal wrote a letter to the president stating that he was shocked and dismayed by the presidents statements pushing the island to handle the hurricane without help from the federal government. So far, the results of the administrations responseor lack thereofare shameful, he said.
The White House has not responded to a request for comment but released a statement on Thursday applauding congressional approval for increased funding for natural disaster relief, and vowing to "work with Congress to provide the resources necessary."
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Damascus (AFP) - Syria on Saturday demanded the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of Turkish troops that have deployed in the country's northwestern province of Idlib, state media said citing a foreign ministry source.
Turkish troops entered Idlib on Thursday night as part of efforts to enforce a so-called "de-escalation zone" agreed by rebel backer Ankara and regime allies Russia and Iran at talks in Astana earlier this year.
But the Syrian foreign ministry source slammed the "Turkish aggression", saying it had "nothing whatsoever to do with the understandings reached by the guarantor countries in the Astana process."
The source added that the deployment was "a violation of these understandings and a departure from them."
"The Turkish regime must abide by what was agreed in Astana."
Turkey's military said Friday it had begun "activities to establish observation posts on October 12", days after Turkish troops launched a reconnaissance mission in Idlib.
On Friday, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported over 100 soldiers including special forces, and 30 armoured vehicles, had entered Idlib.
And a new convoy entered on Saturday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
The province is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, which has ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish troops had entered Syria with the Free Syrian Army, the name Ankara uses for rebels seeking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
Turkey says it is backing Syrian rebels in a bid to oust HTS members in the area and allow Iranian, Russian and Turkish forces to implement the zone.
The "de-escalation" zone in Idlib is the one of four agreed in Astana and the last to be implemented, after.
Idlib is one of the last major areas of Syria beyond the control of the government, which has recaptured vast swathes of territory from opposition fighters since its ally Russia intervened on its behalf in September 2015.
Turkey has intervened in Syria before, last year launching its operation Euphrates Shield targeting the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Taipei (AFP) - Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen will visit three Pacific nations in the next month, the foreign ministry said Friday, as fears grow of China influencing its dwindling list of allies.
It comes after Panama cut official ties with Taiwan in June, choosing instead to form diplomatic relations with China -- leaving the island with only 20 nations worldwide that recognise it as a country.
Beijing has been wooing other countries to dump Taiwan, which it sees as part of its territory to be brought back into its fold at some point.
The two sides split after a civil war in 1949, and while Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign nation, it has never formally declared independence.
China has stepped up pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally since Tsai came to power last May, as she has refused to acknowledge its "one China" principle.
The Taiwan leader will visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands between October 28 and November 4 -- three of its six Pacific allies.
"Through the president's first visit to the Pacific since taking office, we hope to show the importance we place on these friendships and our strong determination to strengthen relations," Francois Wu, deputy foreign affairs minister, told reporters Friday.
Wu declined to give details about where Tsai will transit, saying it is a "sensitive time" as the trip will take place right after a major congress of China's ruling Communist Party.
Taiwan is typically low-key in announcing its leader's specific itineraries, fearing China's use of its power to disrupt.
Tsai's last state visit was to Central American allies in January, during which she made stopovers in the United States.
Beijing had asked Washington then to bar Tsai from flying through US airspace, but the request was ignored.
Taiwan has accused China of luring its allies with economic incentives and has said it will not engage in "chequebook diplomacy" with Beijing.
Since Tsai came to power, the small African nation of Sao Tome also switched recognition to Beijing last December.
Taiwan's most powerful remaining ally is The Vatican -- its only one in Europe -- but there have been signs Beijing is working towards resuming relations with the Holy See.
(WASHINGTON) An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held captive by a group with ties to the Taliban and called a terrorist organization by the United States, American 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 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, U.S. officials said.
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, President Donald Trump said in a statement. Today they are free.
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 U.S. custody, though they were together in a safe, but 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.
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 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-Qaida compound in Afghanistan.
Officials discounted any link between that background and Boyles capture, with one official describing it as a horrible coincidence.
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The couple has told U.S. officials that they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak publicly about the situation.
The release came together rapidly Wednesday. It happened nearly five years to the day since 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. Colemans 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 from the Taliban.
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 shed 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. 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.
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, he described the release as 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, 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.
It looked like something supernatural is happening in Kellie Burkharts bedroom window.
The high school student from Tennessee told HuffPost that last week her father got a spooked-out message from one of their neighbors on Facebook.
Kellie Burkhart (Photo: Kellie Burkhart/Twitter)
Im tired of being scared of whatever is in your kids creepy window, the neighbor wrote.
The message seems a little abrasive, but from the neighbors perspective, Kellies window has looked like this every night for the past freakin year.
But Kellie had no idea. Because from her perspective, her window looks like this:
Kellie happens to be a big fan of the show Supernatural. She really loves the character Dean Winchester, played by Jensen Ackles.
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Jensen Ackles (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images)
Shes had the cardboard cutout of Dean for a few years, but when the family moved into their current home, she felt like the window was the best spot for her two-dimensional friend.
Though, in retrospect, Kellie kind of understands where her neighbor was coming from.
I used to be scared of the cutout when I first got it years ago, she told HuffPost. So I can totally relate to the neighbor.
Kellie said that when her dad received the message on Facebook, he called her over and the two had a good laugh about it.
She figured it would make for a pretty funny post, so she decided to tweet her neighbors message side-by-side with her cutout of Ackles. The tweet took off and went viral, receiving over 53,000 likes and 33,000 retweets.
People loved it.
And although the accidental joke is pretty killer, Kellie has decided to spare the neighborhood.
The cutout is still in the same place, she told HuffPost. But for the sake of the neighborhood, I closed the blinds!
Also on HuffPost
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
If you were to walk along Fitzroy Beach on the West Coast of New Zealand today, youd have to slosh through tens of thousands of jellyfish carcasses.
The New Zealand Herald reported yesterday that the beach was covered in dead members of the species Velella velella. These blue, gelatinous creatures, also known as by-the-wind sailors, are related to jellyfish, corals and sea anemones. They get their name from the sail on their back that they use to catch wind to carry them across the surface of the ocean. Their tentacles dangle into the ocean, collecting their prey of plankton.
Vellela
Jonathan Lidbeck on Flickr
Theyre quite often seen washed up on West Coast [New Zealand] beaches, and when theres one, theres usually dozens, but Ive never seen them drifted up this much (in their thousands) in one place before, Don Neale, a marine biologist at New Zealands Department of Conservation, told the Herald.
The hydrozoan graveyard was a bizarre sight to behold, but it is not the first time that these animals and their relatives have turned up on beaches. According to a study published in Marine Biodiversity Records, the first officially documented mass stranding of velella in New Zealand was in October and November of 2006 and included the death of several million of them. They also wash up regularly on beaches on the west coast of North America, from British Columbia to California. Their bizarre-looking relative, the Portuguese man owar, is also subject to mass strandings.
by_the_wind_sailors_vellela_jelly_creatures
MellowCat on Flickr
When winds change, they end up getting washed up on shore because of the sails on their back, Kelly Sutherland, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Oregon, told Newsweek in a voicemail. Because they dont have any other means of propelling themselves, velella are subject to the whims of the wind.
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While these strandings can be surprising, they are generally uncommon on the coasts near their habitat. Strandings can include anywhere between a few, several dozen, thousands, or even millions of individuals. In April, thousands of by-the-wind-sailors were also stranded in Oregon. This occurs fairly regularly. In December 2015, Storm Desmond washed up thousands on a British Coast.
While velella look similar to jellyfish, they are not the same animal and are in fact more closely related to sea anemones. They are also harmless to humans, unlike the Portuguese man owars.
As with all strandings, the dead animals will attract scavengers, which, as natures cleanup crew, will consume the soft-bodied animals. Until then, it may be wise to stay away from the odorous beach of the dead.
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I'm writing this to tackle Michael Dearborn's reply ("Who is demented," Oct. 10) to my letter about TDS ("A cure for Trump Derangement Syndrome," Oct. 9).
I'd like to thank Mr. Dearborn for his invaluable contribution to understanding the disease. You see, one can write about TDS but there's no better way to understand the malady than seeing it in the flesh. And Mr. Dearborn seems to be a textbook case of it.
As I mentioned in my letter, the first signs of TDS are when an infected person refuses to accept the results of the last Presidential election. As Mr. Dearborn showed us, a side effect of this is to believe that a foreign power, i.e. Russia, hacked the election for candidate Trump along with other conspiracy theories.
After months of exhaustive investigation, nothing has been found to collaborate this but you'll see TDS-infected people wandering the streets of Napa muttering to themselves, "Not yet. Not yet. We haven't found anything yet. But we've got to keep searching. There has to be something out there. This man must be destroyed." It's sad to see.
Mr. Dearborn's second point was that Mr. Trump thinks Nazis are fine people. This symptom appears as the condition progresses. Willful misinterpretation of what the president says and why. TDS people don't have much of a sense of hyperbole. Or humor for that matter.
But his third point is what caught my eye. Or should I say my ire. He writes that, per my advice, he took a dose of the Wall Street Journal, quoting copious examples of the WSJ Editorial Board's vitriol against candidate Trump on July 22, 2016. They were so numerous, I became suspicious so I, along with a friend, exhaustively researched the pages of the WSJ to find the editorial. You know, to verify it's authenticity.
As hard as we tried we couldn't find it. Do you know why? Because it never appeared in the paper. In my research I found out that most were direct quotes from the Washington Post editorial board of the same date. Another virus that infects TDS sufferers.
Now I need to be careful here, but either Mr. Dearborn was mistaken in attributing the quotes to the WSJ, how he could do that I can only guess, or...he knew all along they weren't from the Journal. In the end, I don't know what Mr. Dearborn's motive was for the misinformation, but if it was the later, he has sadly sunk into the final, fatal stage of TDS.
Deceit.
Kent Cohea
Napa
Editor's note: The author is correct about the misattribution of the editorial. Dearborn says it was unintentional.
By Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kurdish authorities said on Friday they had sent thousands more troops to Kirkuk to confront "threats" of Iraqi military attack, but also slightly pulled back defense lines around the disputed oil-producing area to ease tensions. The Baghdad central government has taken a series of steps to isolate the autonomous Kurdish region since its overwhelming vote for independence in a Sept. 25 referendum, including banning international flights from going there. Baghdad's tough line, ruling out talks sought by the Kurds unless they renounce the breakaway move, is backed by neighbors Turkey and Iran - both with their own sizable Kurdish minorities, and in Turkey's case, a long-running Kurdish insurgency. Tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers have been stationed in and around Kirkuk for some time and another 6,000 have arrived since Thursday, Kosrat Rasul, vice president in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said. In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday the situation had the full attention of the United States, which was working to ensure it does not escalate. "We can't turn on each other right now. We don't want this to go to a shooting situation," Mattis said. "These are issues that are longstanding in some cases ... We're going to have to recalibrate and move these back to a way (in which) we solve them politically and work them out with compromised solutions." The KRG's Security Council expressed alarm late on Thursday at what it called a significant Iraqi military buildup south of Kirkuk, "including tanks, artillery, Humvees and mortars.""These forces are approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) from Peshmerga forces. Intelligence shows intentions to take over nearby oilfields, airport and military base," it said in a statement. Kurdish security sources later said that the Peshmerga had shifted their defense lines by 3 km (1.9 miles) to 10 km south of Kirkuk to reduce the risk of clashes with Iraqi forces, which then moved into some of the vacated positions without incident. The area from which the Peshmerga withdrew is populated mainly by Shi'ite Muslim Turkmen, many of whom are loyal to the Shi'ite led-government in Baghdad and affiliated with Iranian-backed political parties and paramilitary groups. An Iraqi military spokesman said military movements near Kirkuk aimed only to "inspect and secure" the nearby region of Hawija recaptured from Islamic State militants a week ago. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has repeatedly denied any plans to go further and actually attack the territory. Kirkuk, a city of more than one million people, lies just outside KRG territory but Peshmerga forces deployed there in 2014 when Iraqi security forces collapsed in the face of an Islamic State onslaught. The Peshmerga deployment prevented Kirkuk's oilfields from falling into jihadist hands. KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani urged the United States, the European Union and the U.N. Security Council "to rapidly intervene to prevent a new war." Germany, which traditionally has good relations with both Baghdad and the KRG, called for measures to defuse tensions. "We would like to ask them to meet those responsibilities and not to escalate the conflict," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Thursday Ankara would gradually close border crossings with northern Iraq in coordination with the central Iraqi government and Iran. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is expected in Baghdad on Sunday for talks with Abadi. (Additional reporting by Michael Nienaber; editing by Mark Heinrich and G Crosse)
Tiffany Trump, daughter of Donald Trump and Marla Maples, just turned 24. (Photo: Getty Images)
Donald Trumps youngest daughter rang in her 24th birthday on Friday evening in Manhattan with friends, family, and a smattering of paparazzi. The daughter of Donald Trump and Trumps second wife, Marla Maples, the young law-school student partied at the Manhattan restaurant Urbani Truffles on the citys Upper West Side, according to reports from the Daily Mail.
While none of the White House-dwelling Trumps were in attendance, the presidents namesake son and his family showed up to help Tiffany usher in her quarter century. The presidents daughter did celebrate with her famous mother at her side. The new 24-year-old sported a double-breasted white blazer dress and black pumps.
Tiffany and mom Marla Maples getting ready for the part. (Photo: Instagram)
Donald Trump Jr. posted a celebratory photo. (Photo: Instagram)
Tiffany's B-Day party yesterday @tiffanytrump @itsmarlamaples @madelinepenn #tiffanytrump #birthdaygirl #marlamaples A post shared by I love Tiffany and Marla (@forevertiffanymarla) on Oct 14, 2017 at 6:23am PDT
Tiffany Trump's birthday dinner videos last night! @TiffanyTrump @itsMarlaMaples A post shared by Tiffany Ariana Trump (@tiffanytrumplovers) on Oct 14, 2017 at 8:08am PDT
Tiffany Trump is probably one of the least exposed of the Trump brood spending her own time attending law school at Georgetown University and avoiding scandalous headlines like those of her half-brother Donald and half-sister, Ivanka. Nevertheless, she has been the subject of speculation and intrigue lately, with many discussing whether or not she is in line for an inheritance from the elder Trump and then striking a raw nerve with a seemingly tone-deaf social media post following the recent hurricane fallout in Puerto Rico.
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David Amess said a statement issued by his office had not been authorised by him: YouTube/RT
Conservative MP David Amess has been forced to issue an apology in relation to the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal, after a statement put out by his office seemed to cast doubt on the validity of the claims made by over 30 women against the mogul.
The MP for Southend West said he had not seen or authorised the statement his office issued, in which he was quoted as saying the claims against Weinstein were dubious to say the least.
In his latest statement on the Hollywood film producer, Sir David said: Unfortunately, a press release was issued in my name from my office this morning which I had not seen or authorised. I was horrified when I read its contents, so I have sought to clarify the issue as soon as possible.
I wish to make it perfect plain I abhor what Harvey Weinstein has been accused of and furthermore I think the way that he has allegedly treated some women is disgusting.
I apologise for any upset that the original press release may have caused and I have now put instructions in place to prevent this happening again.
The original press release, which has been widely circulated online, quoted Sir David as saying: The recent revelations that countless starlets have apparently been assaulted by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein are dubious to say the least.
Whilst it has no doubt always been the case that some individuals have achieved their big break via the casting couch, this sudden flurry of alleged inappropriate advances beggars belief.
Just as with the claims against Jimmy Saville here in the UK, why did no one say anything until now?
The Independent attempted to reach Sir David for comment, but staff said he was not in the office today.
Asked how the office could have put out false quotes from the member for Southend West, The Independent was told: Were not in a position to make any comment about it at all.
The clarification was issued after the first statement sparked a furious backlash.
Jack Munroe, the food writer and journalist, and who lives in Sir Davids constituency, said on Twitter: One in 5 women will be sexually assaulted in their lives. That's 7000 of David Amess' constituents. Deselect him. He is not fit for office.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that it was difficult for the Trump administration's tax plan not to cut taxes for the wealthiest earners. "If you're cutting taxes, it is hard to create a system where you're not going to also cut taxes on the top 10 percent," Mnuchin said at an Institute for International Finance event in Washington on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank semi-annual meetings. "I'd also say that 10 percent invests a lot of money so what we're trying to do is not create disproportionate tax cuts to the top," he added. Mnuchin said he still expects tax reform legislation to reach President Donald Trump's desk for signature in early December. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
WASHINGTON It might have seemed like there was a glimmer of hope for young undocumented immigrants on Thursday, when Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said President Donald Trump told him he would extend a deadline for Congress to act on deportation protections for so-called Dreamers if lawmakers failed to do so by March 5, 2018.
The only problem: The president cant extend a program hes already killed.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, rescinded by the Trump administration on Sept. 5, is terminated in its entirety, said Marshall Fitz, who works at Emerson Collective, an organization that advocates for immigration reform.
The idea that you could somehow extend it is a figment of Lankfords imagination, Fitz told reporters on Friday. The harm is happening today, and it will continue up through March 5 and beyond.
When Trump rescinded DACA, he said he was giving Congress until March 5 to act implying that until that time, his decision wouldnt affect anyones lives.
Trump did not immediately strip the nearly 700,000 current recipients of their two-year work permits or deportation protections, and he gave DACA recipients whose permits expired on or before March 5 one month to apply to renew.
But for many, the effect was immediate: Anyone whose DACA permit is set to expire on March 6 or later was barred from applying to renew it, and will now be subject to deportation as early as the day his or her protections lapse. People without DACA protections are barred from applying. And anyone who was eligible for renewal but did not apply in time has either already lost their protections, or will lose them between now and March 5 potentially affecting tens of thousands of people.
Trump cannot simply extend a deadline on DACA. People are slated to lose DACA protections on a rolling basis, and the program that would allow them to renew them has been rescinded. The only way for them to prolong their protections would be for Trump to restart a program that his administration has said is unconstitutional, and for the administration to begin accepting and approving applicants quickly enough to serve those set to lose their protections on March 6 or later.
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In other words, the idea that everyones DACA protections will remain in place until March 5 is bogus. People are already being hurt by Trumps decision, and will continue to be hurt well before and well after the deadline arrives.
Every day Republicans dont pass the Dream Act, theyre responsible for someone becoming undocumented and subject to deportation, Tyler Moran, a longtime immigration advocate and managing director at the organization DC Immigration Hub, said at the same press briefing. The Dream Act is a bill that would grant legal status to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which grants DACA permits, declined to comment on whether it could restart the program, citing active litigation. The Trump administration was sued by multiple parties for rescinding DACA.
Trump has played up the six-month period as if DACA wont really end until then, saying he would revisit the issue if Congress doesnt act.
Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2017
Lankfords comments on Thursday were based on a conversation he had with Trump the same day, according to the senators office.
The presidents comment to me was that We put a six-month deadline out there. Lets work it out. If we cant get it worked out in six months, well give it some more time, but weve got to get this worked out legislatively, Lankford said Thursday, according to The Washington Post, adding that Trump said he wanted a legislative solution.
Lankford spokesman D.J. Jordan downplayed the quote and told HuffPost that Trump didnt tell Lankford anything that he didnt tweet out earlier that day, referring to the presidents Sept. 5 tweet about revisit[ing] this issue. Trump reiterated that statement to Lankford during a phone call but did not use the word extension and did not discuss what he meant by revisit in detail, Jordan said.
Lankford has said Congress should act before March 5 and has introduced a bill called the SUCCESS Act that would grant legal status to certain Dreamers.
Senator Lankford believes it is vitally important that Congress settles the DACA issue to protect Dreamers as soon as possible, Jordan said in an email. He believes Congress must stop kicking the can down the road on our immigration problems, including uncertainty for Dreamers.
The White House declined to comment on what Trump told Lankford, but spokeswoman Kelly Love said the president has made clear he wants Congress to act and pass responsible immigration reform in conjunction with any legislation related to DACA, which will include legal authorities to close border security loopholes, restore interior enforcement, and reform the legal immigration system.
Democratic leaders in Congress have said they would be willing to agree to border security measures but not a wall in exchange for Dreamer protections, but wouldnt go further. They are pushing for the Dream Act, the bipartisan bill that would grant legal status to undocumented immigrants who entered the country as children, and have committed to making it a top priority.
Fitz, Moran and other immigrant rights advocates said they believe the best and maybe only chance is to add Dreamer measures to a must-pass spending bill in December. The idea that Republicans are making a serious effort to get standalone Dreamer legislation through by regular order passing it through a committee and then on the House and Senate floors is bullshit, Frank Sharry of Americas Voice told reporters.
The Republicans like to say they have until March 5 to get it done, Sharry said. Quite frankly, any time a Republican says We have until March 5, I hear, Were not going to get anything done. Thats what I hear. Because its just an excuse to keep kicking the can down the road.
Also on HuffPost
April 2015
At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: Everythings coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. Its like a big mess. Blah. Its like vomit.
June 2015
At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
August 2015
On NBC's "Meet the Press": Were going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go."
September 2015
On CBS's "60 Minutes": Were rounding em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And theyre going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesnt sound nice. But not everything is nice.
November 2015
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely."
February 2016
At a GOP primary debate: We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back some will come back, the best, through a process.
March 2016
At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we dont. We either have a country or we dont. We have borders or we dont have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.
April 2016
At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": Theyre going to go, and were going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... Theyre going to go, and then come back and come back legally.
July 2016
At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied and every politician who has denied them to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."
September 2016
At a rally: Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we dont have a country.
September 2016
On "The Dr. Oz Show": Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldnt be in the country. They only come in the country legally.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Former U.S. officials who played pivotal roles in negotiating the 2015 nuclear treaty with Iran have spoken out against President Donald Trump's decision Friday to decertify the landmark agreement, arguing it would leave the U.S. isolated among leading world powers.
Despite warnings from Iran and pleas from China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K., Trump announced Friday his refusal to certify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by these nations under former President Barack Obama. Trump has alleged that Iran has violated the deal, but has been contradicted by other leaders, the U.N. and the State Department. Experts close to the deal say such a strategy significantly harms the U.S.'s standing in the international community, even among its closest allies.
Related: Trump says Iran violated nuclear deal, but is the U.S. following the rules?
"If the U.S. blows up the deal and seeks to impose sanctions, there's no reason to believe Europe will go along with it," Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor to Obama, said Friday during a telephone conference call.
"Trump is dragging down to the level of his politics the rest of the world, but the rest of the world has no incentive to go along with it," he added. "All he's doing is isolating the U.S. from its greatest allies."
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
As part of the Iranian Nuclear Act Review Agreement (INARA) passed by Congress in May 2015, the president is required to recertify the treaty every 90 days. While the Trump administration has yet to produce any evidence that Iran has violated the treaty, which stipulated that Iran severely curb its nuclear production in exchange for the lifting of billions of dollars worth of international sanctions, it has accused it of breaking the "spirit of the agreement" via ballistic missile tests and its support for mostly Shiite Muslim movements across the Middle East.
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Rhodes said Trump's decertification of the deal, which would give the Republican-dominated Congress 60 days to decide whether or not to impose additional sanctions against Iran, seriously risks the deal's failure and, ultimately, opens a newfound path for Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and therefore pave the road for another potential military conflict in the Middle East.
The deal's other signatories have rallied against Trump's choice. On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said it was "imperative that Europe sticks together on this issue," according to Deutsche Welles, and his U.K. counterpart, Boris Johnson, called the deal "a crucial agreement that neutralized Iran's nuclear threat." French President Emmanuel Macron has also strongly advised the U.S. from leaving the deal, as it did the Paris climate accords in June.
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Leonhard Foeger/Reuters
The U.S.'s traditional geopolitical rivals who joined the West in 2015 in a rare sign of diplomatic unity, have spoken out against Trump's efforts, as well. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week "Tehran abides by all its commitments on the JCPOA and stressed that the other co-authors must adhere to the document," according to the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Friday the JCPOA "played a key role in upholding international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the peace and stability of the Middle East region" and that Beijing hoped all sides would "continue to uphold and implement" the deal.
Wendy Sherman, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs at the State Department, said Trump's decision risks forcing Europe to "be wedged" between Trump's unilateral interests and those of Iran, China and Russia, which have already taken steps to overtake the U.S.'s leading role in the Middle East. While the U.S.'s allies in Europe have also been deeply critical of elements of Iran's foreign policy, Sherman said Trump's unwillingness to address them within the framework of the existing deal puts the U.S.'s diplomatic image at risk.
"We will have weakened our position and isolated ourselves," Sherman said.
"It puts at risk our relationships around the world, our reliability, our credibility," she added. "This is a very reckless undertaking by the president."
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Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
Robert Malley, former senior adviser to the president and White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region, said the only way to gain further concessions from Iran would be to engage with Tehran diplomatically, rather than stepping away from existing commitments. He said he feared that Trump's insistence on attacking the agreement, despite Iran's compliance and support for the treaty from his security and defense team, meant the Republican leader was poised to lose what leverage Washington had already established with Tehran.
"We haven't been able to change Iran's regional behavior, we haven't been able to change Iran's nuclear behavior, up until 2015 with this deal, which, again, without justification, the U.S. administration has called into question," Malley said.
"You're looking at an administration that is contorting itself to rationalize a decision from the president of the United States," he added.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump praised Puerto Rico's people on Friday, calling them "wonderful" and having an "unmatched spirit" as the U.S. territory struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria and he weathers criticism for his handling of the disaster.
But the compliment was backhanded as Trump alluded again to Puerto Rico's parlous economic state even before the damage inflicted by last month's hurricanes Irma and Maria.
"The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the [hurricanes]," Trump said on Twitter. "I will always be with them!"
On Thursday, Trump tweeted criticisms of Puerto Rico's economic problems, saying power and other infrastructure were a "disaster" before the hurricanes and adding that Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal relief personnel could not be on the island "forever."
Irma grazed Puerto Rico and Maria hit directly as the most powerful storm to lash the island in 90 years, devastating the power grid and other infrastructure. Puerto Rico, which owes $72 billion to creditors, had already been grappling with a bankruptcy crisis. The island has spent most of the last decade in recession and its poverty rate is over 40 percent.
Trump has faced criticism for his administration's slow response, seen by critics as less agile than it would have been for a similarly battered region of the U.S. mainland, and for bringing up the cost of relief efforts when he visited the island earlier this month.
Despite the Republican president's suggestion this week that Washington will not help indefinitely, U.S. lawmakers and other administration officials have pledged support.
On Thursday, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives approved $36.5 billion in emergency relief for Puerto Rico and other areas hit by recent disasters. Approval from the Senate, also controlled by Republicans, is expected in coming weeks.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan was scheduled to lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to Puerto Rico on Friday.
The mayor of the island's capital, San Juan, has strongly denounced what she has called an inadequate federal response to Maria, and has been a steady critic of the president. Trump has tweeted back that she has "poor leadership ability."
"I think it's conduct unbecoming of a leader of the free world," Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz said on NBC on Friday, referring to Trump's use of Twitter.
"The president uses Twitter in order to disperse hate, so whomever deletes that account should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize," she said.
(Reporting by Justin Mitchell, Susan Heavey and Makini Brice; Editing by Frances Kerry)
The US is not pulling out of the deal entirely: Getty
Donald Trump has decided not to certify that Iran in complying with the terms of a major nuclear deal, Americas top diplomat has announced.
However, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was not pulling out of the landmark deal, which was signed in 2015 by Mr Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama.
Under the 2015 agreement with six nations including the US, UK and France Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear programme for at least 10 years in exchange for the loosening of economic sanctions that had crippled its economy.
Mr Tillerson said the President on Friday would urge Congress to toughen requirements for Iran to continue to get relief from US sanctions. The administration also wants Congress also to amend legislation to highlight troubling non-nuclear Iranian behaviour not covered by the deal.
By decertifying the deal, Mr Trump is starting the clock on a 60-day congressional review period of the deal.
Republican members of Congress were unanimously opposed to the agreement in 2015, but they have wavered since then on whether Mr Trump should enforce it.
Up until Friday, the administration had reported that Iran was complying with its commitments in the nuclear agreement. However, Mr Tillerson continuously noted that the Middle Eastern country continued to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism.
On the campaign trail and since becoming president, Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the agreement and labelled it one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.
In the fall of 1976, Wayne Neller entered my advanced biology class at St. Helena High School. During the year he rejoiced in studying the works of legendary naturalist John Muir. Wayne has Choctaw genes in his lineage and his Native American heritage resonated powerfully with Muirs message.
Like Muir, he was also a bit of a daredevil and intrigued by the several near-death events that Muir experienced while trying to get close to the heart of Mother Nature.
After graduation, he followed a strange, circuitous path and answered the call to become an ordained Christian pastor. His latest calling is at an interdenominational church in Naples, Florida.
He has kept me abreast of his work, however, over the recent Labor Day weekend, neither of us could have known that he was headed for an event that would be a perfect physical, mental and spiritual storm that would test all that he had learned over the last 40 years.
It began when Tropical Storm Irma was spawned over the Atlantic Ocean and quickly morphed into a category 5 hurricane. As she approached the southern tip of Florida, meteorologists posted a bulls-eye on the town of Naples.
When I saw the forecast, I immediately texted Wayne and said that I hoped he was getting out of Dodge. I didnt expect an answer, however, about an hour later, he called to say:
I have to talk fast because my phone might quit! We have decided to ride out Irma!
I interrupted and blurted, Theyre predicting a cat 4 storm to hit Naples with winds over 150 mph and possible storm surge of 15-20 feet.
He laughed nervously and said, I have carefully considered all of that and we are praying for guidance. However, we have about 30 members of our church whose homes may not survive the storm and they have nowhere to go. Our church is a retrofitted gym with concrete walls that are over 20 feet high. We think the building will withstand the wind and we hope to keep the water out. If not, we are prepared to move up to the second floor. If the water gets that high, we will climb up onto the roof.
I thought Oh My God but didnt say it. Instead I said, We love you and will be praying for your safety.
After the phone clicked off, I felt my heart-rate increase and tension rising. I quickly Googled Naples and found that its elevation was a shocking 3 feet. I had visions of a 20-foot storm-surge, backwashing the whole town of Naples out into the Gulf of Mexico. It caused me to wonder if that were the last conversation I would have with Wayne.
And then suddenly, I was surprised by joy. A huge smile crossed my face. Of course, I thought; Its David and Goliath and Wayne is in the perfect place at the perfect time.
Even so, after we saw the radar images and heard the prediction that the storm would hit Naples about 3 a.m. on Sept. 10, I retired to a troubled nights sleep, wondering what it would be like in a dark gym/church with wind howling at 150 mph.
On Monday, Sept. 11, Waynes mom called and relayed the message that all had survived the ordeal and the only damage to the church was that the AC unit had been blown off the roof. Some rain entered, but they were able to cope. I suspected that Wayne was minimizing the ordeal to avoid alarming his mama.
All that day, we anxiously watched the Weather Channel for news about the dreaded storm surge. Miraculously, it became nearly a non-event.
I waited until I learned that the electricity in Naples had been restored before I contacted Wayne. I asked him to give me a quick recap, and this was his response.
Gathering 30 people at the last minute from mobile homes and other suspect housing and providing refuge from an angry Irma seemed like a good idea. Official shelters were full and we had, in effect, a fortress inside of a fortress to hide within. The gym went dark long before Irmas eye came close. We imagined that the crashing sounds we heard were Spanish tiles being blown from the roof finding new homes within cars or the like. Thirty men, women, children, 12 dogs and a guinea pig began to huddle more closely as the crashing sounds intensified. Suddenly our fortress within a fortress seemed somehow vulnerable, with the steel girded ceiling sounding much more like a flimsy tin roof. Thunder from the skies seemed as close as 40 feet overhead and lasted much longer than we expected.
It became painfully obvious to those of us gathered that things were ripping, rolling, and slamming against other things just above our heads. Folks scattered to the sidewalls as it began to rain inside the gym. We scurried into another room when insulation began to fall in on us. It was the kindness of God that we did not know multiple 2,000-pound air conditioning units had been impacted above us and were trying to find refuge from Irmas winds inside the gym. (140-plus winds had snapped multiple steel cables and ripped one air conditioner in half).
In the end, the facility suffered considerable damage with the gym (worship center) and the Sanctuary unusable for a time. But the people of God survived and as Irma faded from sight the cross atop the building still stood tall.
Irmas damage was horrific, but I shudder to think of the potential destruction of a 20-foot storm surge, perhaps leveling much of Naples, Bonita Springs and other towns along Floridas west coast.
Waynes wide-awake-nightmare event conjured up a deja vu moment. In spite of paying meticulous attention to Yosemite weather charts (clear skies) I spent a night hunkered down with 30 high school students, during a lightning/hailstorm, on top of Yosemites famous Half Dome. Our lives were in peril and it was absolutely horrifying. Ergo: in an extraordinarily eerie coincidence, Wayne and I traveled farther into the Country of Terror than we would have ever chosen, and thankfully, by the Grace of God, survived to tell our stories.
Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk, St. Helena
By Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's plan to make it easier for small businesses to band together and buy stripped-down health insurance plans could violate a federal law governing employee benefit plans and will almost certainly be challenged in court, legal experts said. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at letting small businesses join nationwide associations for the purpose of buying large-group health plans that are not subject to coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Industry experts said Trump's order could ultimately enable such associations to purchase insurance from states with the fewest regulations. That would undermine Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, which Republicans have failed to repeal. Several healthcare and employment law experts said if Trump's plan moves forward, states could argue the federal government had overstepped its authority in violation of the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a law that governs large-group plans. In Thursday's order, Trump asked the Department of Labor to propose rules that would allow more employers to participate in association health plans. Legal experts said lawsuits might not be brought until such regulations are issued. Dania Palanker, an assistant research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms, said ERISA granted states the right to regulate association health plans. Attorneys general could argue the federal government had overreached if the Trump administration winds up allowing associations to buy health coverage across borders that only complies with a single state's regulations. "Any attempt to allow the sale of association plans to small groups across state lines will be open to legal scrutiny as to whether it is violating ERISA and undermining state authority, said Palanker. 'PREPARED TO FIGHT' A White House official said that "departments will be drafting rules in a way that minimizes litigation risk." The Department of Labor "will be reviewing ERISA in the course of following the President's direction" in the order, the official said. A number of state attorneys general from Democratic-leaning states said on Thursday they would fight any efforts to weaken Obamacare, which extended health insurance to 20 million Americans, but which Republicans call intrusive and ineffective. "It should come as no surprise that California is prepared to fight in court to protect affordable healthcare for its people," said Xavier Becerra, the state's Democratic attorney general. Legal experts said states may argue the associations formed for the purpose of buying insurance are not employers under ERISA. Although ERISA allows associations to qualify as employers and manage large-group plans, federal regulators have generally required that members of such associations have a high degree of common interest beyond buying insurance, said Allison Hoffman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Trump's order asks the secretary of labor, who enforces ERISA, to consider expanding the common-interest requirements to permit broader participation in association health plans. SHORT-TERM PLANS The idea of expanding association health plans across state lines has long been championed by Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul, who made it a key plank of his own proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare. The Kentucky Republican was at Trump's side when the president signed the executive order. Paul's proposal said ERISA was too restrictive in its definition of associations and that the law needed to be amended. Thursday's order also asked the Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services Departments to look into expanding participation in cheaper, bare-bones, short-term limited-duration insurance plans, which are not subject to the ACA. Timothy Jost, a professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, said such a move would face fewer legal hurdles than the expansion of association health plans. The current three-month limitation on the use of such plans was a rule adopted by the Obama administration last year, so the Trump administration could roll it back through the normal rulemaking process. Such plans are typically marketed to individuals who are between jobs or have a gap in coverage. They are much cheaper than ACA plans, but cover less and can exclude those with pre-existing conditions. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Additional reporting by Dan Levine, Jeff Mason, Mike Erman and Yasmeen Abutaleb; Writing by Anthony Lin; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Peter Cooney)
The Trump administrations game plan for Iran has a certain logic to it, but executing it will be the most difficult diplomatic gambit his team has attempted thus far.
The administration is attempting to signal to supporters of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement U.S. President Barack Obama negotiated with Iran, that President Donald Trump is willing to blow up that deal because he sees it as disadvantageous to the United States, while also signaling that the president is willing to not blow up the deal, provided that he gets his way on other elements of a counter-Iran strategy. At the same time, the administration is attempting to signal to opponents of the JCPOA that there is a way to address the weaknesses in the deal without blowing it up, provided that those opponents give the president some relief by revising the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) to remove the 90-day certification requirement.
Managing all of those contrary signals requires a fully integrated strategy that coordinates the diplomatic, political, and communications lines of action.
In its most basic form, this is a boat-rocking strategy. Trump is threatening to do something that most people do not want him to do including, apparently, most people on the presidents own team in order to get others to do things that they have hitherto been unwilling to do. (By the way, this strategy is not unlike the strategy that the Trump team is currently pursuing on North Korea only there, the primary target of the boat-rocking is the Chinese government, and here the primary target is European allies and Democrats on Capitol Hill.)
There are many weaknesses in the JCPOA, but perhaps the most glaring is this: Even the most generous interpretation and for an exceedingly generous interpretation, you cant top Colin Kahls Panglossian, best of all possible deals description must concede that the JCPOA only puts the nuclear issue on hold, while leaving unaddressed the rest of Irans nefarious activities in the region. These include its destabilizing missile program, support for regional terrorist groups, undermining of Iraqi politics, fomenting of sectarian violence throughout the region, and so on.
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Obama clearly believed that freezing the nuclear issue with the JCPOA would create diplomatic space for progress on those other fronts that might lead to reformed Iranian behavior. His more hawkish advisors believed that freezing the nuclear issue with the JCPOA would not prevent the United States and its allies from confronting Iran on these other issues. Both were too optimistic.
In practice, Iran has pocketed the gains from the JCPOA and continued its other activities unabated. And in practice, Obama was hesitant to challenge Iran on those other activities lest doing so would disrupt the diplomatic gains of the JCPOA, whereas Trump has received little support from our allies when he showed greater willingness to confront Iran.
When combined with the unwillingness of our allies to do more to push Iran on non-nuclear issues, the 90-day requirement that the president publicly certify that Iran is abiding by the JCPOA agreement was a pill too bitter for Trump to swallow more than twice.
Accordingly, the president has decided he would simply not certify. Note that this is different from declaring Iran to be in material violation of the agreement. The JCPOA provides many ways the president could blow up the agreement by taking such action, and it is vital to recognize that the administration is not doing that now. They are rocking the boat, not sinking it.
Refusing to certify that Iran is in compliance triggers a process whereby Congress could reimpose nuclear-related sanctions. If Congress did that, that would blow up the agreement (and sink the boat).
The Trump administration is betting that Congress will not do so because, in the interval, the White House is hoping to persuade our allies to get tougher on Iran on the non-nuclear issues. In exchange for that greater allied cooperation, the administration hopes it will be able to persuade Congress to amend the INARA and remove the 90-day certification, thus buying more time for other lines of pressure to come to bear on Iran.
The foregoing is based on the advanced reporting on what the Trump administration is planning to do, along with a heavy dose of rational actor rationalization (What is the best way to make sense of the confusing signals coming out of the administration?). If I have read the tea leaves correctly, the Trump team has a strategy, albeit a strategy that is very difficult to pull off successfully.
Making this strategy work will require that all the key U.S. actors from the president on down to members of Congress play their roles carefully and with discipline, not misrepresenting what the administration is doing and not overreacting or underreacting to what the administration is doing.
It will also require deft and sustained diplomatic pressure on our allies, simultaneously cajoling them out of their post-JCPOA complacency and reassuring them that going along with the Trump administration is not a one-way ticket to what they would consider to be the worst of all possible outcomes: a violent confrontation with an Iran that can put the collapse of the JCPOA on us.
This would be a heavy lift even for an administration that is firing on all cylinders. The acid question is whether this White House, which is still dealing with embarrassing leaks about intramural conflict and coordination problems, has the discipline and diplomatic firepower to execute it.
Doing so is not a guarantee of success. The enemy still gets a vote and, in this case, Iran has plenty of gambits of its own to play to frustrate the strategy. But Irans countermoves may not be the biggest worry if the administration itself is not able to implement the strategy with the deftness it requires.
Photo credit: Kevin Hagen/Getty Images
By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Dan Levine WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Eighteen U.S. states vowed to sue President Donald Trump's administration on Friday to stop him from scrapping a key component of Obamacare, subsidies to insurers that help millions of low-income people pay medical expenses, even as Trump invited Democratic leaders to negotiate a deal. One day after his administration announced plans to end the payments next week, Trump said he would dismantle Obamacare "step by step." His latest action raised concerns about chaos in insurance markets. The subsidies cost $7 billion this year and were estimated at $10 billion for 2018, according to congressional analysts. "As far as the subsidies are concerned, I don't want to make the insurance companies rich," Trump told reporters at the White House. "They're making a fortune by getting that kind of money." Trump's action took aim at a critical element of the 2010 law, his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement. Frustrated by the failure of his fellow Republicans who control both houses of Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, Trump has taken several steps to chip away at it. Democrats accused Trump of sabotaging the law. Democratic attorneys general from the 18 states as well as the Washington, D.C., planned to file a lawsuit in federal court in California later on Friday. The states include: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington state. The states will ask the court to force Trump to make the next payment. Legal experts said the states are likely to face an uphill battle in court. "His effort to gut these subsidies with no warning or even a plan to contain the fallout is breathtakingly reckless," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. "This is an effort simply to blow up the system." The new lawsuit would be separate from a case pending before an appeals court in the District of Columbia in which 16 Democratic state attorneys general are defending the legality of the payments. If the subsidies vanish, low-income Americans who obtain insurance through Obamacare online marketplaces where insurers can sell policies would face higher insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs. It would particularly hurt lower-middle-class families whose incomes are still too high to qualify for certain government assistance. About 10 million people are enrolled in Obamacare through its online marketplaces, and most receive subsidies. Trump's action came just weeks before the period starting on Nov. 1 when individuals have to begin enrolling for 2018 insurance coverage through the law's marketplaces. The administration will not make the next payment to insurers, scheduled for Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer expressed optimism about chances for a deal with Republicans to continue the subsidy payments. "We're going to have a very good opportunity to get this done in a bipartisan way" during negotiations in December on broad federal spending legislation, "if we can't get it done sooner," Schumer told reporters. Trump offered an invitation for Democratic leaders to come to the White House, while also lashing out at them. "We'll negotiate some deal that's good for everybody. But they're always a bloc vote against everything. They're like obstructionists," Trump told reporters. The Senate failed in both July and September to pass legislation backed by Trump to repeal Obamacare due to opposition by a handful of Republican senators. One of them, Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine who had been contemplating running for governor next year, on Friday said she planned to remain in the Senate and would use her voice in reforming the healthcare system. SHARES OF INSURERS, HOSPITALS FALL Hospitals, doctors, health insurers, state insurance commissioners and patient advocates decried Trump's move, saying consumers will ultimately pay the price. They called on Congress to appropriate the funds needed to keep up the subsidy payments. Shares of U.S. hospital companies and health insurers closed down on Friday after the subsidies announcement. Centene Corp closed down 3.3 percent and Molina Healthcare closed down 3.4 percent. Among hospital shares, Tenet Healthcare finished 5.1 percent lower and Community Health Systems declined 4.0 percent. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that erasing the subsidies would increase the federal deficit by $194 billion over the next decade because the government still would be obligated under other parts of Obamacare to help lower-income people pay for insurance premiums. Trump, who as a candidate last year promised to roll back the law formally called the Affordable Care Act, received applause for his latest action during an appearance on Friday before a group of conservative voters. "It's step by step by step, and that was a very big step yesterday," Trump said. "And one by one, it's going to come down, and we're going to have great healthcare in our country." Earlier on Twitter he called Obamacare "a broken mess" that is "imploding," and referred to the "pet insurance companies" of Democrats. Republicans for seven years had vowed to get rid of Obamacare, but deep intra-party divisions have scuttled their efforts to get legislation through the Senate, where they hold a slim majority. Since taking office in January, Trump threatened many times to cut the subsidies. Health insurers that planned to stay in the Obamacare market prepared for the move in many states by submitting two sets of premium rates to regulators: with and without the subsidies. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said the change would drive up premium costs for consumers by at least 12 to 15 percent in 2018 and cut more than $1 billion in payments to insurers for 2017. The White House announced the cut-off just hours after Trump signed an order intended to allow insurers to sell lower-cost, bare-bones policies with limited benefits and consumer protections. Republicans have called Obamacare an unnecessary government intrusion into the American healthcare system. Democrats have said the law needs some fixes but noted that it had brought insurance to 20 million people. (Additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Justin Mitchell, Steve Holland, Makini Brice, Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey in Washington, Megan Davies in New York, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, and Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Leslie Adler)
President Donald Trump has set the wheels in motion for his expected non-certification of the Iran nuclear deal in his latest attack on the Islamic Republic, accusing Tehran of backing international terrorism.
In a statement released by the White House Thursday, the Trump administration outlined its frustration with the 2015 deal and what it perceives as aggression from Tehran.
Read more: Iran Is Building Nuclear Submarines and a New Destroyer Despite Donald Trumps Warnings
It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Irans government end its pursuit of death and destruction, the president said in a press release, which focuses on denying Iran a path to the creation of a nuclear weapon and fighting proxy wars in the Middle East.
Trump is expected to speak at 12:45 p.m. EST further detailing Washingtons maneuvers with regard to Iran.The president, both before he took office and and in the White House, has been deeply critical of the deal struck under his predecessor Barack Obama.
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Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
The Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was made between then-Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in October 2015.
Under the accord, also agreed to by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the European Union and Germany, Tehran agreed to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
While the previous administration considered the nuclear deal one of its greatest diplomatic achievements, Trump officials have criticized Iran for not adhering to the spirit of the deal.
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According to the Guardian, which has been given the details of the speech, Trump will not ask Congress to reimpose sanctions, which could have caused the collapse of the 2015 agreement. However, he will recommend changes to legislation so that if Iran breaks the deal sanctions would be automatically reintroduced.
The president is also expected to introduce sanctions on members of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and raise the issue of Irans ballistic missile program as well as its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Shiite Militia Hezbollah.
In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump called the deal an embarrassment just ahead of discussions between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Zarif in New York to discuss the deal.
"Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don't think you've heard the last of itbelieve me," Trump said. Iran, while condemning Trump over his bellicose rhetoric, has vowed not to break the nuclear accord.
If Trump decides not to certify the deal, it opens a 60-day window for congress to consider reintroducing economic sanctions. The White House and other opponents of the nuclear deal hope that enough political pressure will be placed on lawmakers to impose the sanctions in that space of time.
Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have shown Iran continues to comply with the terms of the 2015 agreement but speaking at the end of the August, Tillerson said of the deal that while perhaps the technical aspects have [been met], but in the broader context the aspiration has not.
In this most recent statement the White House has said the Iranian regime has displayed a disturbing pattern of behavior, seeking to exploit loopholes and test the international communitys resolve.
It added Iranian military leaders have stated publicly that they will refuse to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of their military sites.
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Tehran (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's speech in which he outlined an aggressive new strategy against Iran shows that he is "more than ever against the Iranian people", President Hassan Rouhani said Friday.
"Today the United States is more than ever opposed to the nuclear deal and more than ever against the Iranian people," he said in a televised address.
Rouhani called Trump's speech "a tissue of insults and baseless accusations" and dismissed the threat to tear up the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
"He has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own? Apparently he doesn't know that this agreement is not a bilateral agreement solely between Iran and the United States," he said.
President Donald Trump said Friday he would no longer certify that the Iran nuclear deal is in Americas interest and warned he could eventually abandon the agreement if Tehran failed to meet an array of restrictions.
The long-awaited move threatens to rupture relations with European allies and opens the door to a potential confrontation with Iran at a moment when thousands of U.S. troops are deployed in neighboring Iraq.
Hours after the president announced his stance, European leaders warned Trumps decision could lead to the collapse of the deal, removing the strict limits Iran currently has on its nuclear-weapons program. And Asian governments worry that unilaterally backing away from the Iran pact could cripple hopes of a negotiated solution to the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
In a speech, Trump stopped short of announcing an immediate withdrawal from the 2015 accord, which he had promised during his presidential campaign. But in refusing to certify that Iran is complying with the deal, the administration is passing the buck to Congress, which will have to decide whether to reintroduce economic sanctions that were lifted as part of the agreement.
We cannot and will not make this certification, Trump said. He threatened to torpedo the entire deal unless U.S. lawmakers and world powers force Iran to swallow wide-ranging restrictions on everything from its missile program to its use of proxy forces in regional conflicts.
In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated, he said.
Trump said that the nuclear deal failed to address Irans destabilizing behavior in the region, including its support for terrorism and its development of an advanced missile program. To address those challenges, the White House coupled the announcement with the introduction of a plan to roll back Irans influence in the Middle East. The strategy focuses on curbing Irans support for militants, strengthening Washingtons regional alliances, and ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Irans elite security force.
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Signaling the more confrontational stance, the Treasury Department said it would label the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group. Previously, the U.S. government had only designated the guards paramilitary wing, the Quds Force, for sanctions. But the president chose not to place the Revolutionary Guard on the State Departments list of foreign terrorist organizations, as it would have posed complications for U.S. troops deployed near Iranian military forces in Iraq.
Trump called on Congress to strengthen the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), the domestic law that calls for the president to decide whether to recertify the deal every 90 days. Administration officials said the change in course is needed to address sunset provisions in the nuclear deal, including key restrictions on uranium enrichment and other activities that expire in 10 years or more.
Officials want the law revised to include trigger points that, if crossed, would automatically reintroduce sanctions on Iran.
If Iran crosses any of these trigger points, the sanctions automatically go back in place, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in a briefing Thursday evening.
Those triggers could include refusing to extend limits on nuclear fuel production, more ballistic missile launches, or a determination by U.S. spy agencies that Iran is less than a year away from building an atomic bomb.
But amending the legislation would require 60 votes in the Senate an unlikely prospect, since most Democrats have slammed Trumps decision.
Securing support in Congress for revising the INARA will be an uphill battle, Tillerson told reporters Thursday. I dont want to suggest to you that this is a slam-dunk on the Hill its not.
But securing support internationally may be even tougher. The administration hopes the threat of action will spur the pacts other signatories to back a tougher Iran agreement. But Trumps decision runs against the assessment of every major U.S. intelligence agency as well as nearly all U.S. allies, who maintain that Iran is abiding by the terms of the accord.
After Trumps speech, the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany issued an extraordinary joint statement, expressing concern over the possible implications of the presidents decision.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron said their countries were committed to the nuclear accord and that its preservation was in our shared national security interest.
The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step towards ensuring that Irans nuclear programme is not diverted for military purposes, they said.
The leaders called on the Trump administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the United States and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the [nuclear deal], such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement.
On Friday, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said in a statement that the proposed legislation would not conflict with the Iran deal and would instead halt Irans nuclear program. Corker presented it as an opportunity to establish a U.S. policy on Iran that is backed by a bipartisan majority in Congress and empower a diplomatic push to unify our allies behind a common Iran policy.
On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned that decertifying the deal would isolate the United States and drive us Europeans into a common position with Russia and China against the USA.
If President Trump establishes himself as the Great Dealbreaker which is ongoing! who will wish to make any deals with his US? Carl Bildt, a former Swedish foreign minister and prime minister, tweeted on Friday.
As Trump toyed for months with killing the deal, its fate sparked a fierce debate in Washington between those who defended the accord as a way to hamstring Irans nuclear weapons development and those eager to rein in Irans ambitions more broadly. While the debate played out, the administrations constant seesawing unnerved allies in Europe.
To the extent the rest of the world is watching this soap opera play out in Washington it really does telegraph how limited our influence is going to be on key issues like this in the future, Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution told Foreign Policy.
As the country most at risk from a nuclear-armed Iran, Israel will applaud Trumps decision. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vehemently opposed the agreement in 2015, said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last month that the United States should fix it or nix it. But some prominent Israeli figures and former security officials, including the former prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak, argued it would be better to adjust the deal rather than scuttle it.
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, Netanyahus former national security advisor. A career officer in Mossad, Arad visited Washington last week to appeal to lawmakers to keep the deal in place.
Iran has blasted the administrations reasons for decertification and ruled out reopening negotiations. Trumps attacks on the deal have even managed to bring together the countrys squabbling hard-liners, who originally opposed the deal as an unacceptable compromise, and more pragmatic figures like Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who supported it.
We have achieved benefits during the nuclear talks and the nuclear agreement, which are irreversible, said Rouhani on Oct. 7. No one can roll them back, neither Trump nor 10 other Trumps. Rouhani was scheduled to address Trumps decision later Friday.
FPs Paul McLeary and Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian contributed to this story.
Photo credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump warned Thursday that his willingness to help hurricane-battered Puerto Rico was not unlimited, prompting a furious backlash, with the mayor of San Juan branding the 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.
- House approves aid package -
As Trump fired his latest rhetorical broadside over Puerto Rico, the House of Representatives approved a $36.5 billion package for disaster-hit areas including the US territory.
The measure outlining "supplemental" disaster spending passed 353 to 69, with all votes in opposition coming from Trump's Republican Party. The bill now heads to the Senate.
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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 latest remarks, 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.
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.
Ankara (AFP) - Turkey announced Friday it had deployed scores of soldiers in Syria's jihadist-controlled Idlib province in a bid to stop the fighting there.
The deployment also appeared to be aimed at preventing the expansion of Syrian Kurdish militia backed by the United States, but considered by Ankara to be "terrorists".
Over 100 soldiers, including special forces, and 30 armoured vehicles entered the northwestern Syrian region, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported on Friday.
More troops could be sent there in the next few days, the paper added.
In a statement on Friday, the military said it had begun "activities to establish observation posts on October 12".
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish troops had entered Syria with the Free Syrian Army, the name Ankara uses for rebels seeking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
"We said we would come unexpectedly in the night, and last night... we started the operation," he said during a televised speech in Ankara.
"It is us who has a 911-kilometre (556 miles)-long border with Syria, we are the ones threatened," he thundered.
Idlib is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, which has ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
The deployment comes days after Turkish troops launched a reconnaissance mission as part of efforts with Russia and Iran to set up a de-escalation zone -- as agreed in May at the Astana peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian war.
Turkey says it is backing Syrian rebels in a bid to oust HTS members in the area and allow Iranian, Russian and Turkish forces to implement the zone.
They agreed on four such ceasefire zones in Syria as a prelude to negotiations.
- Fortifying positions -
Three zones are already in place -- in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, in central Homs, and in parts of southern Syria -- which are being monitored by Russian military police.
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The fourth de-escalation zone includes Idlib but also parts of the neighbouring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo regions.
The operation's official target is the HTS but Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP the Turkish forces were escorted by HTS elements, suggesting a degree of coordination between them.
"The Turkish military appears to have been talking with Tahrir al-Sham, trying to avoid clashes and find an arrangement that both can live with," Aron Lund, a fellow with The Century Foundation, told AFP.
While Turkey supports Syrian opposition fighters and calls for Assad's ouster, Ankara has worked closely in the last few months with Russia -- which supports Assad -- in the hope of bringing the war to an end.
Idlib is one of the last major areas of Syria beyond the control of the government, which has recaptured vast swathes of territory from opposition fighters since its ally Russia intervened on its behalf in September 2015.
The Syrian conflict began after widespread protests against the government in 2011 but has since turned into a multi-front war that has killed more than 330,000 people.
- 'Ignite another war' -
The last time Turkish forces were engaged in Syria was in August, when Turkey launched its eight-month Euphrates Shield operation against jihadists and Kurdish militia in northern Syria.
One of Turkey's main concerns is the expansion of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara says is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that is waging an insurgency inside Turkey.
Erdogan has repeatedly vowed he will not allow the YPG to form a "terror corridor" reaching the Mediterranean on Turkey's southern border.
Moustafa Sejari, a senior official in rebel group Liwa al-Moutassem taking part in the operation, said on Twitter the Turkish deployment was intended to "protect the region from bombing and to cut the path of (Kurdish) separatists".
The YPG accused Turkey of making threatening moves towards Afrin, the neighbouring region held by the militia.
"Turkey is not after anything in Idlib but (an) Afrin siege could ignite (the) fire of another war in the region," the YPG said on Twitter.
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The U.S. Navy is sending the USS Monterey, a guided-missile destroyer with ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities, to East Asia to bolster Americas defenses there amid threats from North Korea. This ship is being deployed after two deadly accidents that have taken the USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald out of the mix.
The Monterey will reportedly deploy on October 16. The McCain and Fitzgerald, which were involved in unrelated collisions this summer, will be under repair for more than a year.
Monterey will leave on a previously unscheduled deployment to the 5th and 6th Fleet areas to conduct maritime security operations, Lieutenant Commander Courtney Hillson told Navy Times on Thursday.
This deployment will allow the Hawaii-based destroyer OKane to deploy to 7th Fleet to provide more BMD-capable ships in the region, Hillson added.
The announcement comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea over its nuclear program and development of long-range ballistic missiles. On Friday, North Korea again threatened to launch ballistic missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam. The day before, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters there was great concern about Guam and the U.S. citizens living there.
The ongoing war of words between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made two of Americas allies in the area, South Korea and Japan, increasingly nervous. Such provocations have increased the demand for BMD-capable ships in the region.
During his first address to the United Nations in September, Trump threatened to totally destroy North Korea if the U.S. was forced to defend itself or its allies. Kim responded by referring to Trump as a mentally deranged dotard.
More recently, North Koreas foreign minister said Trump had lit the wick of war with his insane comments at the U.N., and he threatened the U.S. with a hail of fire.
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Kiev (AFP) - Thousands of far-right activists gathered in the heart of Ukraines capital on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), for them a model of nationalism and resistance.
They walked through the centre of Kiev, waving red and black flags, a symbol of the nationalist movement, and blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.
Some held portraits of Stepan Bandera, a leader of Ukraine's nationalists in 1930-40s, and shouted: "Bandera is our hero!" and "Glory to Ukraine!".
Bandera was the ideological leader of the UPA fighters who fought alongside invading German forces during World War II.
The famine of the 1930s that was created by Soviet collective farming had turned many Ukrainians against Moscow and in favour of any foreign presence that could help fend off Kremlin rule.
"Today we preach the struggle of UPA and take it as an example," Oleg Tyagnybok, the leader of the nationalist far-right party Svoboda, said at the beginning of the rally.
"They fought against the Moscow invaders, against the Polish, German, Madyar occupiers," he added.
"And we see that the current situation in Ukraine is pretty much the same."
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter feud since Moscow seized the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
Moscow was then accused of fueling a separatist conflict in two other eastern regions that has cost the lives of more than 10,000 people in over three years.
The far-right movement also recalled the fallen soldiers of the Ukrainian army who have lost their lives, as many of the activists have fought the pro-Russian insurgents in the east.
As night came on, activists lit flares and smoke bombs. Ukraine media put the turnout at between 10 and 15 thousand people.
A day after the United States and Israel pulled out of the U.N. culture and education body citing anti-Israel bias, UNESCO elected its first ever Jewish director general.
Audrey Azoulay, Frances former culture minister, eked out a win over Qatars candidate and frontrunner Hamad bin Abdoulaziz Al-Kawari. UNESCOs executive body voted on Friday.
Azouley will take the helm of UNESCO as it battles cash shortages, geopolitical rivalries, and the loss of two member states. This week, as first reported by Foreign Policy, the United States said it would pull out of the organization, which it said has an anti-Israel bias. Israel soon followed.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley didnt mince words when she outlined the U.S. withdrawal in a statement released on Thursday: Its extreme politicization has become a chronic embarrassment, she said, citing a long line of foolish actions including designating the Israeli-occupied ancient city of Hebron as a Palestinian world heritage site, and keeping Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on a UNESCO human rights committee.
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, Haley said.
UNESCOs outgoing director general, Irina Bokova, pushed back against charges the U.N. body had an anti-Israel bias and said her successor has their work cut out, in a telephone interview with FP just before Azoulays win.
While Im not entirely surprised by this move, I always thought something more was at stake, Bokova said about the U.S. departure. She acknowledged that the U.S. departure, coupled with that of Israel, is a blow to the organization. It will certainly take its toll.
But she sharply disputed the charge UNESCO was anti-Israel.
My responsibility as [director general] has always been to look at the very balanced and very fair approach toward our mandate, she told. I would not say that UNESCO is an embarrassment, she added.
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One of UNESCOs chief tasks, she noted, dovetails with a top Trump administration foreign policy priority: Countering violent extremism. UNESCO runs programs to fight the illegal antiquities trade that helped bankroll the Islamic State, and also conducts literacy and education programs in Afghanistan and Iraq meant to wither potential roots of radicalization. The organization has also restored cultural sites in the conflict-ridden Sahel.
This work is so profoundly importantProtection of heritage is not just a cultural concern, nowadays it is a security imperative, she said.
Azoulays election was a victory for the French, and will allay fears about UNESCO being led by candidates from authoritarian governments. Other frontrunners were Qatari, Egyptian, and Chinese candidates.
Her unexpected victory was also proof positive of the lingering diplomatic fissure in the Persian Gulf. The Qatari candidate could not round up support from fellow Gulf Arabs, a sharp blow to Dohas efforts to emerge from diplomatic isolation since Saudi Arabia and its neighbors cut off ties in June.
While Haley and other U.S. officials made much of UNESCOs alleged anti-Israel bias, diplomats familiar with the U.S. deliberations said the decision to leave was prompted by penny-pinching concerns. U.S. payments to UNESCO are now in arrears to the tune of about $550 million and diplomats were worried that total would continue to grow.
Photo credit: JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump dumped the fate of the Iran nuclear deal on US lawmakers Friday, leaving open the question of whether they can turn the screw on Tehran without killing the accord.
Unveiling an aggressive new strategy against what he called the "rogue regime" in Iran, Trump said he will not certify under US law that the 2015 pact remains in the US interests.
He threatened that he could as president cancel the deal "at any time" but, rather than doing so, he left it up to Congress to decide whether to levy new US sanctions on Iran that might capsize the agreement.
Two influential Republican senators have drawn up a plan for sanctions that European diplomats fear would amount to a repudiation of the 2015 international accord, but it is unclear whether they could muster a majority.
There is broader support for fresh pressure on Iran over its continued missile development and subversive activities in the region -- factors that Trump says violate the "spirit" of the agreement.
But can Democrats and Republicans agree on measures that would stop short of destroying an accord that was the product of many years of diplomacy and is fiercely defended by US allies in Europe and fellow members of the UN Security Council.
"I am directing my administration to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deal's many serious flaws so that the Iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons," Trump said.
With Congress the next battlefield over Iran policy, diplomats say they have observed US lawmaker reluctance at being seen as responsible for walking away from the pact.
"Many senators are looking for a middle way," said one Western diplomat. "They don't want to kill the agreement."
The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) curbed Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
It was signed by Iran, Germany, and UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
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Trump could have scuppered the deal himself, by declining to waive the sanctions when they came up for review in September.
Instead, his decertification move set the clock ticking on a 60-day period during which Congress can choose to re-impose the sanctions.
Tehran has warned such action would mean Washington had broken its end of the bargain, and thus likely signal the end of their own compliance.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the administration is not urging Congress to impose new sanctions.
"Obviously, if they do that, that does then put the JCPOA agreement in question," Tillerson said.
Congress could also "do nothing," and allow the deal to stand as is, he added.
Republicans, who are in the majority in Congress, have for years denounced the pact, which was brokered during Barack Obama's administration.
When the deal was struck, Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) that gave US lawmakers a say in managing the accord.
This includes a requirement for the president to certify Iran's compliance with the accord every 90 days, and an option to slap sanctions back on Iran with a simple majority vote.
- Sunset clause -
Lawmakers are hesitant about re-imposing the sanctions, including restrictions on Iran's vast oil sector, that had severely hobbled the country's economy, but senior Republicans appeared keen to tighten the screws in other ways.
After Trump's announcement, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said that "in the coming weeks" the House will vote to boost non-nuclear sanctions.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said it "might feel good for a second" to shred the deal, but he stressed the need to keep allies on the same page.
One option unveiled Friday by Corker and Iran hawk Senator Tom Cotton is an amendment to INARA that would toughen Iran's compliance requirements and address "deficiencies" in the deal.
The proposal would target the pact's "sunset" provisions that would gradually allow Iran to advance its uranium enrichment program from 2025.
According to a summary, the US would reimpose its pre-deal sanctions on Iran if it did restart enrichment, even if this was allowed under the JCPOA.
"I think that we have provided a route to overcome deficiencies and to keep the administration in the deal, and actually make it the kind of deal it should have been in the first place," Corker said.
Diplomats have expressed worry that tweaking INARA could jeopardize the agreement, and warned that the US unilaterally abolishing the "sunset" would make it harder to negotiate with allies that back the existing agreement.
It remained to be seen whether there was enough support in Congress for the amendment, which would require a bipartisan majority in the Senate.
ARBIL (Iraq) (AFP) - Tensions have escalated between Iraq and its northern autonomous Kurdish region since Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum more than two weeks ago.
Here are the key developments:
- Millions vote -
Despite weeks of threats and warnings, the vote goes ahead on September 25 with more than 12,000 polling stations opening for 5.3 million registered voters.
It is held in the three provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan -- Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk -- as well as in disputed border areas such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
Baghdad says the vote is "illegal" and the United States warns it will increase instability.
Neighbouring Turkey, concerned the vote could stoke separatist aspirations among its own Kurdish minority, warns the Iraqi Kurds they will face sanctions over the vote.
Iran, which has similar fears, has already announced it is stopping all flights to and from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi the following day gives authorities in Kurdistan 72 hours to hand the central government control of airports, warning he will otherwise ban international flights to and from Kurdistan.
- A massive 'yes' -
The official results released on September 27 show that more than 92 percent of voters back statehood. Turnout is over 72 percent.
Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani says there will be no immediate declaration of independence but calls for negotiations.
But Abadi demands the vote is annulled. "We will never hold talks based on the results of the referendum," he says. "We will impose Iraqi law in the entire region of Kurdistan."
Ankara and Washington say they are willing to facilitate talks to calm soaring tensions.
- Flights cut, screws tighten -
The Kurdish region's direct air links with the outside world are indefinitely cut in the evening of September 29. Foreigners have already started leaving while they can.
Humanitarian, military and diplomatic planes are excluded from the ban.
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The United States says the same day that it does not recognise the vote.
"The vote and the results lack legitimacy and we continue to support a united, federal, democratic and prosperous Iraq," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says.
On October 2, Iranian and Iraqi forces conduct joint military exercises with tanks and infantry reported around 250 metres (yards) from the border with the Kurdistan region.
Iran has meanwhile embargoed exports and imports of fuel products to and from Iraqi Kurdistan "until further notice", media report.
An Iraqi court on October 11 orders the arrest of the chairman and two other members of the commission that organised the independence referendum.
- Soldiers deployed -
There is alarm as Kurdish peshmerga forces on October 12 block roads from Iraqi Kurdistan to Iraq's second city Mosul in response to an increase in deployments and movements of Iraqi forces near the front line.
Kurdish authorities say they have received "dangerous messages" that Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units are preparing an assault.
But Abadi denies an attack is imminent. "Our duty is to preserve the unity of our country, to implement the constitution, and to protect citizens and national forces," he says.
On October 13, the Iraqi army launches an operation to take Kurdish-held positions around the provincial capital of Kirkuk, which has a Kurdish majority and took part in the contested referendum.
A senior Kurdish official says thousands of heavily armed fighters had been deployed to resist the offensive "at any cost".
He calls for international intervention.
A progressive community organizer, who successfully fought an effort to decimate her New Orleans, Louisiana, neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina, is running a competitive bid to become mayor of the Big Easy.
New Orleans City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrells record, as well as her support for the $15 minimum wage and criminal justice reform, have earned her the endorsements of major local and national liberal groups going into the first round of voting on Saturday.
Cantrell, a Democrat running in a nonpartisan contest, is widely expected to advance to a Nov. 18 runoff between Saturdays top two performers. (Given current polling, it is virtually inconceivable for any candidate in the crowded field to pick up the 50-percent-plus-one majority needed to win outright in the first voting round.)
A Cantrell win on Nov. 18 would add to a string of recent victories by progressive candidates in Southern cities.
LaToya is part of a wave of local candidates were seeing across the nation, and especially across the South, who are putting forth bold and transformative visions and winning, said Joe Dinkin, national communications director of the Working Families Party, a grassroots group backing Cantrell.
The Working Families Party sent 25,000 text messages identifying potential Cantrell supporters and asking them to vote, Dinkin estimated. Members of the organizations local branch have canvassed and phonebanked for her as well, according to Dinkin.
Left-leaning activists, who have found their hopes stymied since November in high-profile special congressional elections and a contentious battle to chair the Democratic National Committee, have had better luck in local races especially in the South. Earlier this month, progressive challenger Randall Woodfin unseated a two-term incumbent mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, with the backing of Our Revolution and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Woodfins win followed a similarly successful mayoral challenge in Jackson, Mississippi, and the victory of an anti-police brutality activist and former Sanders delegate in a city council race in South Fulton, Georgia.
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After Cantrells bid in New Orleans, progressive diehards are closely watching Atlantas mayoral race, where Georgia state Sen. Vincent Fort, a veteran social justice advocate backed by Sanders, is up against a long list of more moderate contenders.
City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell led a fight against razing the Broadmoor neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina. (Photo: Riccardo S. Savi via Getty Images)
Cantrell, 45, who moved to New Orleans to obtain her undergraduate degree at the Xavier University of Louisiana, began her career in political life as president of the Broadmoor Improvement Association, a community group for the neighborhood where she lives.
Four months after Hurricane Katrina devastated Broadmoor in 2005, a rebuilding commission set up by then-Mayor C. Ray Nagin warned residents that if they did not return to the neighborhood within four months, the city could level their homes and turn the area into parkland or drainage canals.
Cantrell led resistance campaigns against the measure, mobilizing the community to defeat it and securing resources needed to rebuild the neighborhood instead.
Cantrell was elected to the City Council in 2012, where her biggest accomplishment was her leading role in the passage of a ban on smoking in city bars, restaurants and casinos that took effect in April 2015.
As a candidate, Cantrell is running in part on making the city a place where people of all backgrounds can afford to live and raise their children safely.
Were a tale of two cities and this is a real opportunity to elevate, create that balance and equity that we need in the city of New Orleans, Cantrell said after registering as a mayoral candidate in July.
Cantrell supports raising New Orleans minimum wage to $15 an hour. Although Louisiana law bars New Orleans from raising its minimum wage above that of the state, Cantrell has said she would lobby the state legislature to change that law, and in the meantime, support making it the minimum for city employees.
Addressing crime is a major issue for New Orleans, which has one of the highest murder rates of any big city. A city police officer was shot dead while on patrol early Friday morning.
Cantrell has vowed to appoint a police chief experienced both in reducing crime and developing strong working relationships with the communities they serve, as well as de-prioritize the policing of nonviolent crimes and end the use of traffic cameras.
She has also promised a job creation and training program for underprivileged city residents, frequently noting that nothing stops a bullet like a job.
Cantrells two biggest rivals are former municipal Judge Desiree Charbonnet, 48, and former state Judge Charles Bagneris, 67.
Charbonnet has raised more money than Cantrell. But Cantrell is ahead of the pack with a 10 percentage-point lead over Charbonnet, according to a Tulane University poll that came out Friday. But the survey found that more than one-quarter of city voters remained undecided.
Charbonnet, who has been in city politics since the late 1990s enjoys the backing of many powerful players in the Democratic establishment, including Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), a slew of state lawmakers, the local teachers union and the national AFL-CIO labor federation.
Blair Boutte, an influential owner of a bail bonds business, who did prison time for manslaughter in the 1990s, is advising Charbonnets campaign, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
In addition to the Working Families Party, Cantrell has picked up the endorsements of the Independent Womens Organization, the local social justice group Step Up Louisiana, and three local newspapers, including the Times-Picayune.
Of course, Cantrell is not without her own baggage-by-association. Her father-in-law, New Orleans magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell is the target of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging that he routinely violates defendants civil rights by imposing large cash bail payments without regard to their ability to pay.
Current Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D) has declined to endorse a candidate in the race.
Cantrell is clearly the most progressive candidate in the race, according to Rosalind Blanco Cook, who teaches political science at Tulane University and leads the states League of Women Voters. But a win for Cantrell, who was born in Los Angeles, would also mark a milestone for the citys newcomers.
Some would suggest that Desiree Charbonnet would represent the old New Orleans families, Cook said. Her family has been in New Orleans for generations, whereas LaToya came here to come for college at Xavier University.
Cantrell would be the first non-native resident of New Orleans to lead the city, according to Cook.
Regardless of the final outcome, however, if Cantrell and Charbonnet make the runoff, the city is guaranteed its first woman mayor, Cook added.
Itll be historical ... no matter who wins the election, she said.
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In search of an authentic experience, a group of 11 students, led by three faculty members, embarked on a two-and-a-half week journey to follow in the footsteps of Vikings. Each day of the trip, the students journaled their experiences and shared their reflections with the hope of capturing a journey of extraordinary adventures. The series below reveals their greatest challenges and triumphs as modern-day Viking explorers.
WHERE SEA MEETS LAND
On a balmy day in late spring, the group of students gathered in a classroom with faculty members Terri Hood, assistant director of the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy; William Drennan, director of the Marine Science Program and professor in the Department of Ocean Sciences at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS); and Thomas Goodmann, associate professor, Department of English, to begin preparations for their upcoming trip.
Also joining the group was John Van Leer, associate professor in the Department of Ocean Sciences at RSMAS, whose previous travels in Iceland added a unique perspective throughout trip.
Your field notebook will not leave your side, Hood joked as she displayed a small bright yellow spiral bound notebook. Appropriately branded Rite in the Rain, the notebooks are used by researchers to record findings and discoveriesno matter how large or smalland would need to be accessible to at any moment for student researchers to accurately document each detail.
For half of the group, the field notebooks would be kept in addition to a personal journal. Students on the interdisciplinary trip hailed from various departments, and those interested in the literary side of Viking history would contemplate and compare their journey to the historical sagas and lives of great Nordic poets and explorers.
NORWEGIAN GREETING
Strolling through Bergen, Norway, was a warm welcome after countless hours of air travel from the United States.
A vibrant palette of pink, lavender and white rhododendrons lined the streets as if they were greeting the group with open arms. It was almost as if every open space had sprouted a beautiful display of colorsit felt like walking through a real life Disney World, wrote Ruth Goodin, a double major in geology and English.
FUELED BY WATER
The next day, the sky was especially blue on the drive from Bergen to Flam, and the scenery was never ending. An electric train to the small town of Myrdal broke up the driving for the day, and in addition to the magical vistas, students also reflected on less obvious sites along the way.
Each mile of roadway weaved farther into the snow-covered mountains, and massive amounts of melting snow transformed into powerful cascading waterfalls, reflected Kimberly Casanas, a senior in the Department of History. The Flam train ride illustrated the beauty of preservation through natural sights, she added.
I dont think many people noticed the inconspicuous grey buildings on one side of the tracks that were producing hydroelectric power, wrote Goodin. I realized that electrical wires ran above every train track we passed and was surprised to learn that 98.5 percent of Norway is powered by hydroelectric power, she added.
VIKING TERRITORY
As the team ventured further into the land of the Vikings they couldnt help but feel the influence of genealogy. Only a few days into the trip, most of the students cheerfully described that a waiter at a local restaurant had an uncanny resemblance to the build of a Viking ruler. In addition to the first Viking sighting, Liz Windisch, a sophomore majoring in English, shared her excitement of experiencing a cooler climate.
This trip was my first time seeing snowand on what a grand scale! Everywhere I looked there was endless white leaping and bounding over the mountainsides. Sky-blue glacial ice peeked through the tundra.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS
After a standard Norwegian breakfastwhich consisted of eggs and breadwe travelled to a Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, wrote Kimberly Casanas.
Also on the trip were Kimberlys two sisters, Kristen Casanas, a senior in the department of history, and Kaitlyn Casanas, a senior in the School of Education and Human Development. As they scouted the museum together, they were overwhelmed with the immense size and intricate build of the ships.
I cant wrap my mind around how the Vikings could have erected these huge ships and sailed across the sea," Kristen wrote. "Their effort proves that people are truly amazing and capable of the impossible. My sisters and I read everything in the museum and tried to absorb every last detail to get an accurate portrayal of Viking history and culture. The Viking Ship Museum was fantastic and Im thankful for my journal so that I have the information with me forever.
ACROSS THE NORTH SEA
Although the Vikings made their journey by way of the North Sea, the group opted to bypass the traditional route of the seafaring men and traveled by plane and car when making the journey from Oslo, Norway, to York, England. Greeted by the majestic countryside, they spent their time exploring the grounds of the ancient walled city and visited the famed York Minster, a 13th-century Gothic cathedral and the largest surviving Gothic cathedral in Europe.
Our knowledgeable tour guide shared many details about the church and the Roman ruins that lay beneath it. The amount of detail within the massive structure was overwhelming. Each joint in the ceiling was accented by a unique gold structure and the stained glass was magnificent, penned Windisch.
Flanked by ornate architecture and filled with pieces of Viking folklore, the city also revealed insight into the Viking way of life. Kristen Casanas wrote, The Viking Museum in York portrayed a very realistic view of life during the Vikings time period. A set of womans bones revealed malnutrition as a child and showed that life was generally very difficult.
NORDIC ISLAND NATION
For the last leg of their trip, the team decided to forgo following the Vikings treacherous journey by sea and travelled by plane to Reykjavik, Iceland.
In Iceland, during the drive to our hostel, the scenery looked like a completely different planet, wrote Goodin. We were surrounded by steam rising from the ground and for miles there were no grass or trees. It looked like the landscape was covered with cooled lava and blocky volcanic bouldersit was amazing!
Matthew Trabold, a junior in the School of Business Administration, reflected on the difficulties of travelling on such rough terrain. The drive was incredible. From one mile to the next, the landscape had radical changes. One can really get a sense of how difficult it would be to settle on such an extreme island, he wrote.
THE SAGA CONTINUES
After a much needed night of rest, the explorers continued their tour to gain geological and historical knowledge of their surroundings. With varying areas of expertise, the three faculty members shared insight on many aspects of Viking culture and Icelandic topography.
Dr. Hood pointed out the geologic features and different layers of earth. Its helpful to explore with someone who is so knowledgeable and can interpret the history of an area by looking at it, wrote Goodin.
Dr. Goodmann is very familiar with Viking sagas, and we were able to visit the same areas that we read about prior to the trip. It made the experience very rich. Finally, Dr. Drennan knows a lot about a lot of things and since he has travelled to Iceland twice already, he was able to provide valuable insight to all of our experiences, she added.
In the final days of their trip, the group would explore all that Iceland had to offer -- from geological masterpieces to geysers, glaciers, volcanos and everything in between. This time, much of the journey was covered by foot, and the group had a taste of what it may have been like to live and roam such a vast and diverse place.
Follow their journey below:
For information on Following the Vikings in 2019, contact Dr. Tom Goodmann at tgoodmann@miami.edu
Twitter users are being encouraged to join a one-day boycott on Friday in solidarity with women who feel that abuse has been ignored by the social network.
The protest has been sparked by Twitter briefly suspending the actress Rose McGowan's account after she had spoken out amid the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal.
While Twitter reinstated the account and said it had been blocked for breaking rules on posting personal phone numbers, the suspension has led to McGowan and other high-profile figures launching a protest over alleged double standards on how Twitter deletes posts and users.
#WomenBoycottTwitter was trending across the social network as well as over Instagram and Facebook on Friday. The protest was launched by Kelly Ellis, a former Google software engineer who has criticised the service for failing to act on abuse. It has been supported by figures including the model Christine Teigen, McGowan's Charmed co-star Alyssa Milano and actor John Cusack.
Twitter has repeatedly been criticised for allegedly failing to suspend users who post death and rape threats. Some users claim the company applies its rules selectively, for example by not taking action against Donald Trump for allegedly breaking the sites rules on threatening behaviour.
Individuals opting out doesn't seem to make a dent. What if #WomenBoycottTwitter for one day (along with men who stand with us?) Kelly Ellis (@justkelly_ok) October 12, 2017
#WomenBoycottTwitter Friday, October 13th. In solidarity w @rosemcgowan and all the victims of hate and harassment Twitter fails to support. https://t.co/G0my9EyKpQ Kelly Ellis (@justkelly_ok) October 12, 2017
"Individuals opting out doesn't seem to make a dent. What if #WomenBoycottTwitter for one day (along with men who stand with us?)," Ellis wrote on Thursday. She said the boycott was in "solidarity [with McGowan] and all the victims of hate and harassment Twitter fails to support". She suggested the boycott could become a weekly event.
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Teigen said she was joining the protest "not because of hate but because I love this platform and know it can be better".
Ladies. Let's do this. #WomenBoycottTwitter. Not because of hate but because I love this platform and know it can be better. christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) October 13, 2017
Hell yes - singing off at 12 am https://t.co/r7Juq5Sfa7 John Cusack (@johncusack) October 13, 2017
McGowan has been a prominent figure in the controversy engulfing Hollywood, and had her account suspended by Twitter on Wednesday night after she had spoken out against Weinstein.
Twitter reinstated the account but McGowan continued to criticise the service on her ban being lifted. "When will nuclear war violate your terms of service?" she said, an apparent reference to Trump's Twitter grandstanding on North Korea.
when will nuclear war violate your terms of service? https://t.co/72FiiyoZ59 rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017
McGowan later claimed on Twitter that "HW raped me", apparently in reference to Weinstein. A representative for Weinstein said he "unequivocally denies... any allegations of non-consensual contact".
Jack Dorsey, Twitter's chief executive, has not responded directly to the protest, but said on Thursday: "We need to be a lot more transparent in our actions in order to build trust" and "we do need to do a better job at showing that we are not selectively applying rules".
(NEW YORK) Police detectives are taking a fresh look into sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
New York Police Department spokesman Peter Donald said Thursday that investigators are conducting a review to determine if there are any additional complaints relating to the Harvey Weinstein matter. That includes reviewing police files to see if any women previously reported being assaulted or harassed by the Hollywood film producer.
So far, no filed complaints have been found, he said, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015, but the department is encouraging anyone who may have information pertaining to this matter to contact the department.
More than a dozen women including actresses Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow have told The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine that Weinstein had sexually harassed or sexually assaulted them. Weinstein was fired Sunday by The Weinstein Co., a studio he co-founded with his brother.
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 spokeswoman, has denied any nonconsensual sexual conduct with any women.
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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, where 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.
But 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 the 2015 allegations as a case of forcible touching, a misdemeanor with a two-year time limit for bringing charges. The statute of limitations has since expired.
There are no windows in Brigadier-General Yitzhak (Itzik) Turgemans office. There is no mobile phone signal either. Thats the way it is when you sit several floors underground, in the Kirya Base pit. Some of the officers serving in this claustrophobic place, the General Staffs Operations Division, found a creative solution. They went up to the top floor of the adjacent General Staff tower, took a picture of the Tel Aviv landscape and hang the framed photo on the wall. Its as close as one can get to a window there.
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The interview with Brig. Gen. Turgeman, head of the Operations Division, offers an extremely rare peek into his classified and unusual workspace. Its an underground maze of corridors, operations rooms, offices and conference rooms, including the chief of staffs emergency bureau.
I call it the beehive, he says. Serving in the operations center in the pit isnt really like serving in the Kirya. It means working 24/7 during routine times and during emergencies. The entire operational activity takes place here. We plan all the programs, synchronize all the bodies, and in the end, its issued as an order. Hundreds of people man the place, a very committed and strong reserve system, functionaries who have been with us for many years. The quality of the people here is uncompromising. Many of the officers are women, mothers. Such an officer can leave at 4 pm, pick up her kids, give them dinner and come back here till 1 am.
Brigadier-General Turgeman at the IDFs supreme command post. Serving in the pit means working 24/7 during routine times and during emergencies (Photo: Eli Atias)
Some of the officers pass through the Operations Division as part of their operational promotion pathafter a regiment commander position, before a brigade commander position. Others have been serving in the pit for a long time, sometimes more than a decade, and are known as the knowledge hub. They usually have a rich operational background as well.
I always thought I knew the army, says one of the officers, who served as a regiment commander in the past, but only when I came here I realized I hardly knew anything. This comment is repeated by nearly every officer you talk to in the pit. They know so much, but are allowed to reveal so little. A young operations sergeant goes home after a shift at the IDFs nerve center, and all she can tell her friends and family is that she serves in the Kirya, explains a head of one of the IDF branches.
The service here is very demanding, says Turgeman, and many people are afraid to come here because of the hours and the urgent calls. But those who come dont want to leave. Were a small operational family. The complete disconnection from the outside world isnt easy either. The only window I have here is the picture on the wall. No one, not even my wife, can get hold of me on the phone here.
Whats it like not being available in the technological era?
I do have Internet access, but I dont have time. Its a matter of time. Were based on a very strict and very hierarchical report axis here. When something happens, we sometimes hear about it from the media before receiving the operational report, and then the check system begins. Theres competition over the report, which did not exist in the past. My rule is that we take a small breath, try to obtain more details, and sometimes get held up because we have to provide a credible report. Ive already seen reports on incidents which never happened, getting as far as the prime minister.
The reports launch a series of actions here. The Halamish incident, for example. You know that theres been a terror attack and theres a report about a terrorist in a community. I dont ask questions. I immediately launch Heavenly Host (the codename for a terrorist incident involving hostages). I take the most complex scenario available for such an event, and we dispatch planes, helicopters and special units.
The IDFs most senior brigadier-general
Brig. Gen. Turgeman, 48, owes his appointment as head of the IDFs Operations Division to Colonel (res.) Ofek Buchris. In March 2016, a day before Buchriswho still held the rank of brigadier-general at the timewas supposed to take office, it was revealed that one of his former soldiers had filed a sexual assault complaint against him. The inauguration ceremony was called off, and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot was forced to quickly find a suitable replacement for the most senior brigade-general post in the army, who basically serves as the chief of staffs operations officer.
At the time, Turgeman was in his office in the Kirya Base as head of the Ground Forces, a job that gave him a bit of a rest from his previous demanding position as commander of the IDFs 36th Armor Division, which fought in Operation Protective Edge.
The first phone call I got, as soon as the Buchris affair was made public, was from my wife, Brig. Gen. Turgeman recalls. She said to me, Pack up your office stuff, youre about to become head of the Operations Division. I replied, Come on, its a key position. But 10 minutes later, I got a phone call from the major-general, the head of the GOC Army Headquarters, who informed me: The chief of staff is calling you.
Turgeman (center) as commander of the IDFs 36th Armor Division with then-Golani Brigade Commander Ghassan Alian (L) and Regimental Commander Avihai Zafrani (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The Kirya pit, where all sensitive military campaigns and operations are run from, wasnt new to Turgeman. In one of his previous positions, as colonel, he served as head of the operations platoon in the pit, who is in charge of the supreme command post, the IDFs main operations room, and manages it at times of war. Now he returns to the pit as head of the Operations Division. In the upcoming round of appointments, he is expected to compete for the position of a major-general.
There are very few officers who have led both a platoon and a division, he says. Eli Yaffe, Gabi Ashkenazi, Kobi Barak. Quite a few people would say its insane. Returning to such a senior position in the pit is a significant event. On the one hand, its not a position you have to learn, because you know what youre getting into. An operations platoon commander is well familiar with the pit. On the other hand, its such a burden, its so complex and there are so many nuisances. But Ive been here for nearly a year and a half, and its really a lot of fun.
Do you see any changes in the pit since your time as platoon commander?
I think the situation today is completely different. The chief of staff ascribes a lot of importance to the Operations Directorate. He sees the head of the Operations Directorate (Major-General Nitzan Alon) as the armys No. 3 and us, the Operations Directorate, as the operator. We really are the chief of staffs operational headquarters.
Its true theres the Air Force, the Navy and the Military Intelligence Directorate, and theyre all operational forces, but at the end of the day, when you look at the General Staff, at what has really changed and at what is being emphasized, you see were no longer dealing with niches. Every area or every command are a niche, and we operate between the political echelon and the tactics. We are the mediators. The political echelon issues missions or instructions and we translate them into orders. We are in many areas. There are no boundaries. Almost everything flows in here. The operational axis reaches the chief of staff exclusively through the Operations Directorate, unlike in the past, when it would reach him from other sources.
We are the only ones who see the entire system of constrains and meanings. The Central Command chief is only interested in the Central Command, only in the Palestinian arena, mainly in the Judea and Samaria Division, and rightfully so. The Southern Command chief is interested in the Gaza arena and in a bit of Sinai. We look at the meaning, at the list of priorities, at our ability to achieve things. We ask where is it important for the chief of staff to operate now, where is the big threat.
And what are the estimates regarding the threats?
In terms of strength, the main threat is from Lebanon, the northern arena. But the threat with the highest likelihood is actually from Gaza. Its what guides us in terms of our preparedness. At the moment were not seeing an outburst in the northern arena, but when it happens, it will be the worst threat the State of Israel could face in terms of strength.
And Gaza?
At the end of the day, there is a security calm in Gaza. People look at every rocket, at every bullet that is fired here, but over time there is a relative calm, and I believe its mainly the result of fear. We have no enemy here today who is interested in a conflict with us. This has been proven. There is no one who wants a conflict. We can get dragged into a conflict out of the unwillingness on both sides. Thats how we got dragged into Protective Edge, thats how we got dragged into Cast Lead, thats how we got dragged into Pillar of Defense.
It can start from something that depends on neither side. If we take the Gaza Strip, we have the Salafists who fire to make us target Hamas. If we hit them deep enough and Hamas decides to launch a new round, we didnt want it, no one wanted it, yet we got dragged into it. Theres an escalation dynamic here, and were trying to be the responsible adult here and control this dynamic.
The prince from the Armored Corps
He is married, has three childrenthe oldest one is a fighter in the Paratroopers Brigadeand he is well familiar with the fighting on the ground. He joined the Armored Corps in 1987, spent some time in the 500th Brigade until it was dissolved, served as commander of the 46th Battalion in the 401st Brigade, where he received the nickname prince and was already seen as having a bright future. He later served as the brigade commander when it received the first Merkava Mark IV tanks. He then moved on to his first position in the pit as head of the operations platoon, before being appointed head of the Personnel Division in the GOC Army Headquarters. Just four months later, Defense Minister Ehud Barak made him his military secretary, despite then-Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazis objection. He later assumed command of the prestigious 36th Division, which soon after his appointment found itself in the Gaza Strip, as part of Operation Protective Edge.
In hindsight, would you say we won in Operation Protective Edge?
I think the calm speaks for itself. If anyone waited for it to be like in the canal and in the posts, for them to raise white flags, I think theyre wrong and fail to understand the war in the modern era. The veteran people I was raised on said to me: We crossed the canal, we traveled 60-70 kilometers in Sinai. But what did you encounter? What did you go through? Theyre talking about an Egyptian army they were prepared for. Today we are dealing with a very complex constructed area, with a population that cannot be evacuated anywhere, and with a huge underground space.
When I entered Protective Edge, the commander of the Golani patrol unit said to me 42 minutes later: Ive reached the end of the arrow. And thats where the casualties began. Because what we crossed and went through was the entire ground area, and then the underground began leaving its mark. They came out of one place, they came out of another place. We began demolishing buildings, leveling holes, bombing missiles. In the first entry we almost ran into (the Gaza neighborhood of) Tel al-Hawa in the southwest part of the strip, and (then-Chief of Staff) Benny Gantz yelled at me: Go back immediately.
Do you think Hamas has been deterred since then?
Im certain. Theres a sequence of events which happened in the past year, strikes carried out by the IDF in the strip in response to mortar shells fired into Israel. Its something they wouldnt have ignored in the past, but the fact is that things are quiet. Moreover, following every local incident Hamas goes out and acts against the rebels. Hamas understands that Israel will act aggressively.
The entrance to the 'pit' (Photo: Eli Segal)
Unlike top IDF generals, including the chief of staff and the military intelligence chief, Turgemans great fear is the moment Hamas internalizes the meaning of the new underground obstacle being built on the Gaza border. The senior generals believe Hamas is sufficiently deterred to contain the obstacles construction. Turgeman disagrees.
We plan to build the entire the strip, and the more they realize what is happening, the more theyll try to disrupt it, he says. They are realizing that thats it, were shutting off the strip, and this time hermetically, from the bottom.
You believe theyre starting to understand that?
I can see that theyre surprised by the scope. At first, we built opposite the community spaces. We wanted to close the spaces linked to the communities. Now they see were planning to close the seam, and theyre beginning to realize that this is going to shut off the entire strip.
Will this obstacle remove the threat?
It will significantly reduce it. Hamas has realized that we have the Iron Dome system, and I think that as soon as we harm its tunneling project it will be much more deterred, and that will postpone the next battle significantly. After the obstacle is built, Hamas will need a very clear interest to launch a battle. So I keep thinking that at some stage it will wake up, although it may be too late already, but Im not sure.
If Hamas starts firing now and hits one of our workers, who will come to work? Arabs? We put up a battery to protect the people, we boosted the security forces. But an incident that includes a Hamas raid and the abduction of a soldier or of one of our workers is a significant disruption. It will lead to an operation or a round of fighting. Thats not what we want. The political echelons instruction was: We want the obstacle to be completed by 2019. That requires maturity, restraint and containment in some of the places which call for a significant response, because we dont always know how to sit down and be quiet.
In Operation Protective Edge, he isnt afraid to admit, we werent deep in the underground world. We were familiar with the threat, but not with its scope. Today we know much more. Today we are also operationally and mentally prepared in a different way.
The Golani, 188th and 7th brigades were under his command during that operation, as were the company commanders school and the divisions artillery support unit. The battle he commanded, the most memorable one of that war, was the Golani Brigades battle in Sajaiyeh, which began on July 20, 2014 and left 13 fighters killed. The body of one of them, Oron Shaul, was kidnapped. In the same battle, Golani fighters entered Sajaiyeh in an outdated armored personnel carrier which was hit by an explosive charge and by a Hamas missile. This later led to a public debate on why the fighters were sent in on such an old APC instead of walking the 2-kilometer distance by foot.
I dont regret the decision to send the force in on APCs, Turgeman says today. It was the main fighting vehicle, and what could we do? We didnt have enough armored APC. The Golani force stationed on the fence was hit with 75 mortar shells, and my dilemma in light of the threat was whether to put them in the unprotected vehicles we had, or to send them by foot and take the risk that they would get hurt. I still believe that had they entered by foot, the number of casualties would have been higher.
In the end, as a commander, this kind of decision is part of risk management and Im at peace with it. I visited the bereaved families, I put everything on the table, I explained that we didnt have armored APCs. And Ill tell you something else: Even after that incident, we kept using the APCs. Why? Because we dont have anything else.
Hezbollahs weak spot
While in Gaza, as Brig. Gen. Turgeman says, the IDF wasnt aware of the scope of tunnel industry, he believes things are completely different when it comes to the northern threat.
Israel has unique intelligence capabilities, which give us a major advantage. We dont want to attack a certain target because a Hezbollah man passed by; we want to attack infrastrctures like launching pads and warehouses, which will prevent Hezbollah from hitting our home front. Thats the list of priorities. The intelligence is for the quality of the target and to reduce damage, and today were talking about thousands of targets compared to 277 in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
The massive amounts of intelligence that have been collected allow Brig. Gen. Turgeman to point to a structural change in the Hezbollah organization. Hezbollah is a dynamic enemy, and it is completely different from what we knew three or four years ago, he explains. Its starting to resemble an army, and thats where its weakness lies too. The complexity in the Second Lebanon War was to act against an independent, decentralized terror organization. The IDF, which came in with a lot of force, tried to deal with small cells. The antitank threat was very significant. Today, we see Hezbollah becoming more of a group, entering a system. This is seen not only in its exercises. We see whats happening in Syria. Hezbollah is gaining experience in Syria, and were learning quite a lot from that and adapting to the situation.
The control room at 'the pit' (Photo: Eli Segal)
Turgeman is convinced that Hezbollahs transformation into an army is the organizations weak spot and a significant advantage for the IDF. We see systems there, squadrons, battalions. And at the end of the day, we want to focus the fire, which will be of a very high standard, to reach a high level of effectiveness with our munitions. And when youre dealing with a group, with a squadron, the ability to hit is much more effective.
How do you see a possible third Lebanon war?
It will be a very intense war. We see Hezbollah increasingly establishing its ability within the civil population. One in three or four homes in Lebanon serves as an infrastructure for Hezbollah, either a warehouse or a launching pad. It will create a situation in which well have to deal with an intensive motivation of the population there at the start of the war. It will be a much more aggressive war in terms of the amount of fire. Not just against the enemy, for on our side too. The home front will suffer in a way we havent experienced in the recent wars and operations. The more the public obeys orders and remains in fortified areas, it will make it possible for the IDF to cope much better on the front.
Turgeman has a clear message for Lebanons leaders: The strategy of our enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah, to rely on civil spaces, is extremely alarming. The price will be paid by the landlords. In the third Lebanon war, the state of Lebanon, which supports and is coordinated with Hezbollah, wont be able to ignore the price it will have to pay. We wont initiate it and we have no intention of harming Lebanon, but our unequivocal intention is to defeat Hezbollah.
It may also be wrong to refer to the next conflict simply as the third Lebanon war.
I think it should be called the northern front. I dont think Hezbollah will remain in Syria. Its committed to Lebanon. It will leave everything and return to Lebanon. And because of Hezbollahs commitment to Syria, Syria will want to be part of it and will try to drag Israel to another front in the Golan Heights.
Do you think there will be a clear victory there?
The victory issue is complex. Its not just about land, and Im not sure its about consciousness either. In Protective Edge, we reached our targets within two hours. Then you end the battle, you see destruction, and you ask: Who won? No one raises a white flag and they keep shooting, so the story is as important as the situation on the ground. I dont see (Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan) Nasrallah, even if he remains the last Hezbollah man on the ground, saying that Hezbollah lost.
At the end of the day, the question is what is left. How much did we hit and what did we hit? Its a matter of time. The results of the attack take time. How capable is the organization to keep existing when its over? How much has the state suffered? Sajaiyeh, for instance, is an example of a demonstration of abilities. Its quite ruined and they still havent managed to rebuilt it, three years after Protective Edge. Since then, only 40 rockets have been launched, 20 of them hitting an open area on the fence.
They dont want it again. They saw the ability. Were perceived as the neighborhoods crazy person. We are in a neighborhood of lunatics. Everyone is fighting with everyone. We are a certain island of stability, but in their eyes, were insane. Were the neighborhood bully. I hear this a lot from the Russians and from other partners, who ask me: How are you not afraid to mess with everyone? And I reply, We dont mess around. Were serious in what we say and we act. We wont allow anyone to compromise the State of Israels sovereignty.
Cooperating with the Mossad
Until the possible arrival of the conflicts from the south or from the north, Turgeman isnt just sitting around in his office, all bored. On the contrary. He is actually the project manager of the war between wars. The operations aimed at preventing Hamas and Hezbollah from arming themselves are launched from the pit under his command, in a bid to postpone the next war as much as possible.
The war between wars is here. Im responsible together with the head of the Military Intelligences Operating Division. I call the shots and make recommendations to the chief of staff according to what weve built and planned. The war between wars is a 24/7 operation everywhere, all the time. People dont know this, but were talking about hundreds of activities in the past year alone. It could be, for example, a bomb that is dropped somewhere, and it could be other things.
At the end of the day, the war between wars prevents the next battle. We work to prevent abilities that we dont want our enemies to have. If we hadnt acted against them, these abilities would require us to launch a battle. The accurate missiles, for example. We could wait, and launch a battle the moment they obtain them. The war between wars is an operation, a series of activities, which prevents this situation and postpones the next battle. If they had accurate missiles, we would already be in the third Lebanon war.
According to foreign reports, the IDF attacked a facility for the production of accurate missiles in Syria, and Israels top echelon made it clear that it considers such facilities a red line that must not be crossed. It is known, however, that Hezbollah has missiles with a firing range of 100 meters and even less. So why is it a cause for war if they reach a radius of several meters, while at the same time they are capable of firing dozens of missiles at Tel Avivs Azrieli Towers and hitting the nearby Kirya Base?
The Iranian facility that was destroyed in Syria about a month ago. The threat is 20 accurate missiles putting the entire country out of commission (Photo: Intelli Times)
Every country has vital assets it seeks to protect, Brig. Gen. Turgeman says. Energy sources, gas reservoirs, weapon manufacturing facilities, population centers. Fifty meters can make a major difference between insignificant damage and the ability to put them out of commission and harm the state and its defense establishment from a functional aspect. If Im capable of launching 100,000 missiles into Lebanon, but can put the entire state out of commission with 20 missilesthats where the difference lies.
The war between wars orchestrated by Brig. Gen. Turgeman is a very complicated system, which involves non-military security organizations like the Mossad, for example. There are dozens of sub-systems operating according to logic rather than on a geographical base, he explains. Theres a Hamas axis and were try to deal with the entire chain, so its not a geographical issueits a topical issue.
The war between wars has to do with partnerships, interests shared by several elements. They want peace and quiet in their region, and so do we. The Russians, for example. Were not their partners and we dont coordinate with them, but theres a system aimed at preventing friction. Were doing everything in our power to prevent the friction. We both want peace and quiet, but our interests are different. They want to strengthen their presence in Syria, and were refusing to let Iran enter Syria.
Wheres the Iranian involvement?
Iran is investing hundreds of millions in funds and in war materials in Syria and in Lebanon. Its the source of the axis of evil today. It supports our entire first circle of enemiesHamas, the Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Syria. Iran is doing everything in its power to strengthen its presence in Syria as its front post. Its not even a post; were talking about a much more significant base, with planes that are deployed there. Well do everything to prevent this from happening. Its clear to us that (Syrian President Bashar) Assads weakness and Irans infiltration into Syria pose a very big threat to the State of Israel. Iran has one goalto wipe the State of Israel off the face of the earth. They have been declaring it everywherein their discussions, in the mediaand its the only thing theyre not lying about.
Communication also plays a role in the war between wars, Turgeman says. Today, the war between wars involves strategic communication. We ask the chief of staff who we want to convey messages to and what do we want to convey. We can tell the Americans, for example, that were about to carry out an operation.
You dont tell the Russians?
When a plane deviates from its flight path or when we see spillover fire, we inform them were not going to ignore it. At the end of the day, theyre pretty much the landlords in Syria. The Russian tool can be an enemy, as far as our forces are concerned, but we dont see it that way. We do everything in our power to clarify things and to avoid creating friction with the Russians in the war between wars activities. We take into account that the Russians advanced tools arent operated by Assad, but rather with Russian authority. Moreover, we have an intelligence advantage, and when we detected a concrete warning of an attack against Russian forces, we informed them about it and prevented the attack. They were very grateful.
DF soldiers at their posts in 'the pit' (Photo: Eli Segal)
Despite the recent terror attack in Har Adar, in which three Israeli security guards were murdered by a Palestinian, Turgeman clarifies that there is a drop in the number of attacks.
This years figures are lower than last years, he says. I always compare to the previous year. The High Holy Days are an event. It begins with Eid al-Adha, the olive picking and all the disturbances of burning and uprooting trees. Its a period in which Israelis travel across the country, so there are more opportunities to throw stones at them. Last year we had a wave of attacks. This year we are facing more complicated strategic constraints. The coordination with the Palestinian Authority is lacking, limited, completely different from our experience before the Temple Mount attack.
According to Turgeman, The chief of staff is insisting, rightfully, on not returning to the days before the Second Lebanon War. He sees 2006 before his eyes his entire term. He keeps telling us, Im not going back there. I want a more skillful army, stronger both mentally and in every aspect of supplies and competence.
So in case of a war, we wont find ourselves in the same situation as in 2006, when there was not enough munition?
No. Today, the IDF has the most accurate scope of munition in its history. Is it possible the war will take longer and well need more? I dont know, because were focused on a much shorter war. But the goal is not the length. The goal is to win.
The brother of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and co-founder of the company that now finds itself in crisis says he's in "a waking nightmare" and had no idea "the type of predator" his brother is accused of being.
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"I want him to get the justice he deserves," Bob Weinstein said.
Bob, 62, operated in the shadow of his much more public and flamboyant older brother for more than 30 years as they partnered in Miramax and, more recently, The Weinstein Co. But in an interview published Saturday by The Hollywood Reporter, he said that he and Harvey, 65, have barely spoken in five years. The brothers ran separate divisions of their company, from opposite coastsBob in Los Angeles, Harvey in New York.
Bob Weinstein (L) with brother, Harvey (Photo: Getty Images)
"The members of the board, including myself, did not know the extent of my brother's actions," Weinstein said in the interview, referring to what has been repeatedly been called "an open secret" in Hollywood. He said he knew his brother was unfaithful to wife Georgina Chapman, "philandering with every woman he could meet," but insisted he had no idea his brother was allegedly committing acts of sexual harassment and assault.
"I'll tell you what I did know: Harvey was a bully, Harvey was arrogant, he treated people like (craped) all the time," Bob said. "I'm mortified and disgusted by my brother's actions. And I am sick for the victims. And I feel for them."
The women who accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and abuse range from non-acting professionals in the film making industry, models, aspiring actresses and Oscar winners. Each has told their story about an inappropriate run-in with the movie mogul in recent days, leading to the swift downfall of one of Hollywood's most powerful men.
Actors Gwyneth Paltrow (L) and Angelina Jolie, both of whom have come forth with sexual misconduct accusations against Harvey Weinstein (Photo: Getty Images)
Testimonials from actresses such as Kate Beckinsale, Angelina jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and many more have prompted a public the examination of one of the industry's oldest problemsits mistreatment of women.
McGowan and Asia Argento accuse Weinstein of sexual abuse, allegations the 65-year-old producer has denied through a spokeswoman. In all, some 30 women have alleged abuse in recent days.
A week ago he was fired from The Weinstein Co., which will now undergo a name change as it struggles to survive the current scandal.
Despite widespread predictions that the company will be forced to shut down or be sold, Bob Weinstein said, "There is a plan to come out on the other side."
Harvey Weinstein with, Georgina Chapman, who has since announced she has left her husband due to 'unforgivable' sexual misconduct accusations (Photo: Getty Images)
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron's office announced on Saturday that France has started the process of stripping Harvey Weinstein of his Legion of Honour, France's highest civilian distinction, due to the allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
"The French Presidency has started discussing this case with the Grande Chancellerie de la Legion d'honneur," a spokeswoman said. "A decision will be taken after this discussion.
"The Presidency considers that this behaviour is in contradiction with honour," the spokeswoman added.
Weinstein received the Legion of Honour, "Chevalier" grade, from President Nicolas Sarkozy in March 2012.
The Grande Chancellerie de la Legion d'honneur is the body in charge of the decoration, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.
In Ghana, it is a never-ending fight to gain admission into the supposed elite high schools not only because it signals academic prowess, but also for the prestige that comes with having attended these schools.
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It is believed that these schools have the best teachers and are full of the right educational material.
However, the National Debate Competition as a marker, and a general review of graduates later on, these are the schools (that we think) are better at expressing themselves through the English language.
Achimota School. This of course comes as no surprise as the Achimota School has over the years proved to have a top notch teaching system and their students are easily recognized anywhere, by their brand. Remember the Rawlingses?
Achimota School
READ ALSO: Ghanaian musician loses mother to explosion at Atomic Junction
Okuapeman SHS. The 2016 winners of the National Inter Schools Debate are eloquent and smart thinkers, and their debate style won them the highest place.
Students of Okuapeman SHS
Pope Johns SHS. Dont let the nickname Pojoss fool you. These students are intelligent, quick thinking chaps and are masterful at winning arguments.
Pope John SHS students at the National Science and Maths Quiz
KNUST SHS. The 2017 winners of the Ghana@60 national debate, the school like the father of the nation they are named after, show they are great with words and can make an impact with any argument.
KNUST SHS at the National Science and Maths Quiz
Wesley Girls SHS. This all-girls school located in Cape Coast in the Central Region have remained at the top of the list and any old Wesley Girl alum you know should be enough proof.
Wesley Girls
Aburi Girls. Yes you guessed it. This particular school could also not be left out. Their participation in many educational events have earned them a rightful place.
Aburi Girls SHS
READ ALSO: Afia Schwar visits her sons at school; laughs and interacts with their classmates
YEN is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook page.
Source: YEN.com.gh
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 03:10:46|Editor: Yang Yi
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Photo taken on Oct. 13, 2017 shows the launching ceremony of the "Philanthropy for SDGs in China" report in Geneva, Switzerland. Philanthropy in China has grown into a sector that has been really contributing a lot to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thanks to the fast development of both Chinese economy and society, UN Development Program (UNDP) China Director Agi Veres said on Friday. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
GENEVA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Philanthropy in China has grown into a sector that has been really contributing a lot to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thanks to the fast development of both Chinese economy and society, UN Development Program (UNDP) China director Agi Veres said on Friday.
Launching the "Philanthropy for SDGs in China" report, Veres said China's philanthropy sector has been developing with more Chinese foundations going outside China to contribute to global development.
"It's a very positive picture not only in terms of the contributions and volumes of charity organizations and foundations in China, but also the goodwill induced," the UN official added.
Veres identified two factors behind the growth of philanthropic sector in China. "Firstly, it's very much embedded in the Chinese culture and tradition to contribute to society and to be mindful of how one should live within the society; and secondly, which is more important, is the growing financial means for individuals and foundations to contribute," she said.
The report, jointly launched by the UNDP and the China Foundation Center (CFC), aims to provide recommendations for the further development of the Chinese philanthropic sector under the SDG framework.
A SDG philanthropy platform has been developed to enable foundations to search for relevant information and look for potential partners.
"Such a platform will highly elevate the public credibility of the philanthropic sector in China as a whole, a major concern faced by the charity cause in the country, according to CFC president Tao Ze.
The UNDP hopes to introduce the SDGs as a standardized international benchmark to evaluate and monitor the growth of the philanthropic sector both within China and abroad.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 03:25:52|Editor: yan
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GENEVA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on Friday issued a statement "strongly" criticizing the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to withhold certification of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iran nuclear issue.
As the 2017 Nobel Peace Laureate, the Geneva-based NGO said that President Trump's rejection of the JCPOA is an incitement to proliferation, makes achieving further agreements to rein in the nuclear threat more difficult, and increases global risk of nuclear use.
"The JCPOA is a demonstration of how well diplomacy can work, it reflects the urgent global imperative to eliminate nuclear weapons and the grave threat they pose," says the statement.
In time with great global tension, ICAN said, with increasing threats of nuclear war, the U.S. President is igniting new conflict rather than working to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
ICAN is a global campaign coalition working to mobilize people in all countries to inspire, persuade and pressure their governments to prohibit nuclear weapons.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced at the White House on Friday that he had decided to decertify Iran's compliance with the landmark deal reached in 2015 as he unveiled a new Iran strategy of his administration.
The decertification would not pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal at the moment, but it would open a 60-day window in which U.S. Congress could reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, a step which would mean the violation of the deal on the U.S. side.
During his speech on Friday, Trump called the Iran nuclear deal "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," and blamed Iran for committing "multiple violations of the agreement" and "not living up to the spirit of the deal."
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.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 03:40:58|Editor: Lu Hui
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on new Iran strategy at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct. 13, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out his new Iran strategy on Friday, vowing to deny Tehran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in a major shift in Washington's Iran policy. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's Friday decertification of Iran's compliance with the landmark nuclear deal has provoked wide disturbances and fury in and outside the United States.
In his speech, Trump announced his new Iran strategy, when he hammered Iran and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in an uncommonly aggressive rhetoric, accusing them of agitating regional instability and exporting violence.
He also refused to recertify and threatened to terminate the hard-won Iran nuclear accord, saying it was "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into."
Later on Friday, the U.S. military said it was reviewing the "entire breadth" of its security cooperation, force posture and plans to backup Trump's Iran strategy.
"We are identifying new areas where we will work with allies to put pressure on the Iranian regime, neutralize its destabilizing influences, and constrain its aggressive power projection," Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway was quoted as saying.
Tehran has rejected any renegotiation of the deal. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi responded soon after Trump's speech that "Iran will earnestly follow and boost its defensive and security capabilities."
"Any move against the Iranian armed forces, including the IRGC, will be met by Iran's strong response," he said.
Across the Atlantic, the U.S. European allies were also frustrated. Soon after Trump's U-turn announcement, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the Iran nuclear deal "is a robust deal that provides guarantees and a strong monitoring mechanism," hence cannot be terminated by any leader, including Trump.
She added that "there have been no violations of any of the commitments," noting "the President of the United States has many powers. Not this one."
In a joint statement, Britain, France and Germany said that the three countries remained committed to the deal and are "concerned by the possible implications" of Trump's decision not to support it.
Russian Foreign Ministry also said that there was no place in international diplomacy for threatening and aggressive rhetoric, and such methods were doomed to fail.
Trump's decertification would not have a direct impact on implementation of the agreement; rather, it ran counter to the very spirit of the deal, said the ministry.
Outside the United States, among the rare souces of applause for Trump's decision was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said later in a Facebook video that Trump "created an opportunity to fix this bad deal, to roll back Iran's aggression and to confront its criminal support of terrorism."
Related:
Spotlight: Trump's decertification claim harms Iran nuclear deal
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- In his latest attempt to fulfill another campaign promise, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday dealt a blow to the Iran nuclear deal without scrapping it.
"I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification (of Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal)," Trump said at the White House as he unveiled a new Iran strategy of his administration. Full story
Trump seeks to deny Iran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in major policy shift
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out his new Iran strategy on Friday, vowing to deny Tehran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in a major shift in Washington's Iran policy.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 04:06:06|Editor: yan
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KIEV, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on Friday has issued a decree, forbidding the country's banks and other financial institutions to circulate Russian newly-issued banknotes, which use images of Crimea.
In a statement on its website, the NBU said the ban applies to all financial operations, including cash transactions, currency exchange activities and interbank trade.
The new rules also prohibit Ukraine's state postal service to use the Russian bank bills depicting Crimea in their operations.
The ban will enter into the force on Oct.17.
On Thursday, the Russian Central Bank unveiled new Russian 200 and 2,000 ruble banknotes, which use the images of Crimea and the Far East respectively.
The autonomous republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were absorbed into Russia in March 2014 following a referendum, which was recognized by Moscow but rejected by Kiev.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 04:11:08|Editor: yan
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KIEV, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The law imposing language quotas for television programs came into force in Ukraine on Friday, the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting (NCTRB) said.
The new law requires at least 75 percent of the national TV content and 60 percent of the regional content to be aired in the Ukrainian language, the NCTRB announced in a statement.
The quotas will apply for two separate time frames -- the evening prime time between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. and the daytime between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The Ukrainian parliament passed the law in May, citing an increased demand for Ukrainian-language content in the society.
Meanwhile, critics warned that the law violates the rights of some Ukrainians whose mother tongue is not Ukrainian.
According to various surveys, about 65 to 70 percent Ukrainians consider Ukrainian as their first language.
In 1989, when Lyon Virostko was 17 and a senior at Skyview High School, he took a trip to Russia to talk about world peace.
It was a time when Mikhail Gorbachev was president of the Soviet Union and few Americans believed there would ever really be peace between the two super powers. Virostko was chosen to visit the Soviet Union with an international peace group representing the Bahai faith.
We went to share the message of peace with the people in the Soviet Union as youth ambassadors, Virostko, now 45, said. About 60 of us went.
Now married, a father and a middle school counselor in Billings, Virostko remains a committed Bahai. He will join others on Oct. 22 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bahaullah, the prophet and founder of the Bahai faith.
When Virostko was still a teen, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai of the Hawaiian Islands organized the two-week trip. He applied, was selected and raised money to go.
This was still the middle of glasnost (openness), he said. Gorbachev was still president and the Soviet Union was just starting to open access.
It was the first time the Soviet government admitted a religious organization like the Bahai, Virostko said.
He and the others traveled to Moscow and the Mongolian town of Kazan. There, they visited schools, civic and cultural groups all the while sharing the message of world peace, a message he said was well-received.
At times they stayed with families, an experience that touched him.
The friendliness and hospitality of people who have very, very little was very moving for all of us, Virostko said. They opened up their homes and hearts to us and with what little they had, they shared abundantly.
And the trip started Virostko on a journey into a deeper faith that has stayed with him until this day. He graduated in the spring of 1990 and then worked for a year saving money so he could go on a youth year of service.
That took Virostko to the Maxwell International Bahai School in British Columbia, Canada, where he served as a volunteer. That involved everything from washing dishes to tutoring math and driving the students in grades 7-12 to appointments.
It helped him focus his life on service and peace.
Peace begins with each one of us inside of ourselves, Virostko said.
Faith facts
The Bahai faith, less than 200 years old, teaches the oneness of God, the oneness of religion and the oneness of humanity. And according to the religions teachings, humanity is entering a long-awaited maturity, Virostko said.
The religion is established in every country on Earth, he said, and is the second most widespread faith after Christianity.
I cant think of my life without it, Virostko said.
In the Billings area, about 70 members meet in homes for a community feast every 19 days. That includes worship, fellowship, a discussion of community affairs and making plans for community service.
The religion was founded by Bahaullah, who was born in 1817 in what now is Iran. Teachings focus on ideas such as the oneness of humanity, eliminating all forms of prejudice, and the harmony of science and religion.
Bahaullah also spoke of the need to eliminate the extremes of poverty and riches. Its not a communist dogma, Virostko said, but instead is seen as necessary for world peace.
Also important is a change in human hearts, rather than compelling people through the use of laws.
Bahais have to live their faith, Virostko said. Its not enough to just announce it; our actions must speak louder than our words.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 04:11:08|Editor: Zhou Xin
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LAGOS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria has appealed to its international partners to proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and starve it of the funds that gave the group sustenance.
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed made the appeal in an article, entitled "Thwarting Terrorism in Nigeria", which appeared on the U.S. newspaper Washington Times on Thursday.
He recalled that the Nigerian government on Sept. 20, proscribed IPOB which had been violently agitating for a separate state in the South-East of the country.
Mohammed said Nigeria had just defeated one preventable terrorist insurgency, adding that that IPOB must not be given the chance to get a foothold.
The minister said IPOB's actions qualified the group as a terrorist organization in most jurisdictions.
"The terrors lay bare their opportunism. They masquerade as a separatist movement, yet they endanger the very people they claim to represent. In reality, IPOB cares about IPOB and nothing more," Mohammed wrote.
The minister listed some words of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, such as "If they fail to give us Biafra, Somalia will look like a paradise compared to what will happen to that 'zoo' (Nigeria).
"I don't want peaceful actualization (of Biafra)", "We need guns and we need bullets"; "If they don't (give us Biafra), they will die."
According to the minister, these statements credited to Kanu had exposed the group as a terrorist organization.
Mohammed likened IPOB to ETA in Spain, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, and the PKK in Turkey all of which he noted had been proscribed by the U.S. State Department.
The minister stressed that the administration would not make the same mistake as the previous one in allowing terrorists to capture land.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 04:31:15|Editor: Yang Yi
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Representatives attend a panel discussion during the 8th U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Forum in Denver, the United States, Oct. 13, 2017. Denver city officials welcomed Chinese government and energy leaders with open arms Friday as the city hosted the bilateral Energy Efficiency Forum (EEF) for the first time. (Xinhua/Guo Shuang)
DENVER, the United States, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Denver city officials welcomed Chinese government and energy leaders with open arms Friday as the city hosted the bilateral Energy Efficiency Forum (EEF) for the first time.
The city's deputy mayor Allegra Haynes told 150 forum participants they were in the right place, as Denver was dubbed the No. 1 energy efficient municipality in the United States in 2016, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
"We are 'delighted' to host the event," Haynes said, noting that energy reduction policies have saved 28 million KW of electricity and 700,000 thermos of natural gas in Denver since 2012.
The forum has been held in Beijing four times since its inception in 2010, and has been hosted by Washington D.C., Arlington Virginia, Berkeley California, and now Denver in the United States.
The event has increased each year in size and impact, event organizers told Xinhua, and is the main platform for senior U.S. and Chinese officials to assess energy efficient action plans, discuss new policies, and examine trade and investment opportunities.
Ren Shuben, director general of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection of China's National Development and Reform Commission, headed the Chinese delegation, and delivered inspiring keynote speech about cooperation between the two countries in regards to energy conservation.
"China and the U.S. can set the example for energy conservation for the whole world - we have the same goals - to develop green energy," Ren said at Friday's opening ceremony, echoing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Acting Assistant Secretary Daniel Simmons' words in speech that the two countries have "common interest" in this field.
China's dedication to energy conservation "between 2010 and 2015 has reduced carbon emissions by 34 percent," Ren told the audience.
The event, co-organized by the DOE, also featured awards and contracts jointly received and signed by government and industry leaders from both countries.
Seven new Energy Performance Pilot (EPC) projects were announced between U.S. and Chinese companies and nine projects launched at last year's forum were recognized.
There are 21 U.S.- China EPC projects dating back to the program's inception in 2015. In the last two years, these projects attracted 135 million U.S. dollars investment and are projected to save 67,000 tons of coal equivalent (TCE).
China and the United States have years of experience in energy performance contracting and have a tremendous opportunity to reduce energy and water use and cut greenhouse gas emissions, the DOE said in a statement.
"The American companies partnering with Chinese firms will benefit by forging new partnerships to market their clean energy products and gain additional experience operating in China," the DOE said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 05:16:27|Editor: Lu Hui
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Palestinians celebrate after Palestinian rival movements Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement following talks mediated by Egypt, in Gaza City, on Oct. 12, 2017. Palestinian rival movements Fatah and Hamas on Thursday signed a reconciliation agreement in a meeting in Cairo to end their long-time rift. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)
By Osama Radi, Emad Drimly
GAZA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Despite all the obstacles, the reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo on Thursday between rival factions Fatah and Hamas was a serious step towards the end of a decade-long internal split of the Palestinians, according to analysts.
According to the Egyptian-brokered agreement, the two parties agreed on the full functioning of the consensus government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and on resolving all the problems caused by the internal division.
Palestinian President and Head of Fatah Party Mahmoud Abbas considered the deal as "one step forward that would boost and speed up the ending of the internal split which has been going on for ten years."
Rajab Abu Sariya, a Ramallah-based writer and a political analyst, told Xinhua that the Cairo agreement was halfway towards a full reconciliation, adding that the deal promotes "a political partnership" between Fatah and Hamas.
Describing the talks in Cairo as "serious" and "fruitful," Sariya said the results reflected Hamas' "unprecedented seriousness in pursuing reconciliation," and Fatah's "keenness to empower the consensus government to administrate the Gaza Strip."
After signing the agreement, Egypt intends to continue to call for a wider dialogue among all Palestinian powers and factions in Cairo to discuss the formation of a unity government and to prepare for the Palestinian general elections.
Analysts were optimistic on the ability of the two rivals to reconcile after the Cairo agreement, which includes a road map with specific timetables to resolve outstanding issues.
"It is likely that a timetable for the presidential and legislative elections will be agreed upon during the next round of talks sponsored by Egypt and that a unity government will be formed, which represents a crucial stage for achieving serious reconciliation," he said.
"The agreement is an interim declaration of principles that addresses the issues of government empowerment including personnel, crossings and security services and leaves final status issues to the final agreement," said Mohammed Daraghmeh, a Ramallah-based analyst.
The signing of the deal came after Hamas announced on Sept. 17 to dissolve its administrative committee in Gaza to allow the consensus government to take over its functions in the enclave.
Daraghmeh said that the success of the agreement depends on the willingness of Hamas to respond to Fatah's demand for Hamas to abandon the administration of Gaza.
He stressed that the success of the Cairo agreement requires a gradual process, serious work and a full desire by Fatah and Hamas, continuous supervision by Egypt, and most importantly, European funding and the acceptance from the United States.
Over the past ten years, the two rivals had reached a series of understandings and agreements, however, they failed to reach a comprehensive reconciliation due to disagreement on political strategies and security issues.
To avoid another disappointment, Hani al-Masri, head of the Ramallah-based Center for Research and Studies, stressed that the most important are implementation and forming a true unity based on a national program and full partnership.
He emphasized on the need to rebuild the institutions of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on a patriotic and democratic basis, to respect human rights and freedom, guarantee freedom of information, independence of judiciary and equality among Palestinians.
He stressed that the essence of the agreement is to restore the power of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Gaza, but it is dangerous to postpone the main reconciliation files such as the unity government, the political program, the Legislative Council, the PLO, the elections and community reconciliation.
Related:
Palestinian rivals Fatah, Hamas sign reconciliation deal in Cairo
CAIRO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian rival movements Fatah and Hamas on Thursday signed a reconciliation agreement in a meeting in Cairo to end their long-time rift.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 07:07:04|Editor: Liangyu
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Photo taken on Oct. 13, 2017 shows a burnt residential area in Santa Rosa, California, the United States. An estimated 5 percent of the housing stock, or 3,500 homes and businesses, in Santa Rosa city were burned in wildfires ravaging North Bay of western California, Mayor Chris Coursey told Xinhua on Friday. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 5 percent of the housing stock, or 3,500 homes and businesses, in Santa Rosa city were burned in wildfires ravaging North Bay of western California, Mayor Chris Coursey told Xinhua on Friday.
The property losses, not including commercial damage, will amount to a huge sum of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, Coursey confirmed to Xinhua after a press conference Friday afternoon at Santa Rosa, seat of Sonoma County, about 90 kilometers north of San Francisco.
"It's a huge hill that we have to climb," Coursey said at the press briefing.
"Our job right now is to get through this emergency. Then we'll start taking the next steps," the mayor added.
Meanwhile, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano confirmed at the press conference another fatality in the county, which brought the number of deaths in the county to 18. The fires have also claimed eight lives in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and two in Napa since Sunday.
The statewide wildfires have killed a total of 32 people, including a 14-year-old boy, whose identity was confirmed in Mendocino County, about 200 kilometers north of San Francisco.
By Friday, 29,500 people remain without power across California state after a series of deadly wildfires downed power lines, local media quoted the California Office of Emergency Services as saying.
Early Friday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) said more than 22,000 acres of land have been burned.
Firefighters continued their battle against 17 wildfires that have burned 221,754 acres. Several of the wildfires merged with other fires, while full containment was made on three other, CAL FIRE said in a press release.
A Red Flag Warning has been issued for Friday night when winds are expected to increase again, which are forecast to be stronger than on Thursday with gusts up to 45mh (72 kmh), Cal FIRE said.
It added that hundreds of additional fire engines and firefighters have begun to arrive from several other states, not only to help relieve crews on the frontlines, but to be ready for possible new wildfires that may ignite during the Red Flag Warnings.
Continued gusty winds, low humidity and higher temperatures threaten to exacerbate already extreme fire conditions in wildfire zones, the National Weather Service warned ahead of a new batch of Red Flag warnings for the North Bay mountains, East Bay hills and Diablo Range in eastern Californian coast.
The wildfires are one of the most damaging in California history, which devastated thousands of homes and business structures, forced tens of thousands of people to be evacuated, and incurred heavy damage to the wineries in northern California.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 07:49:48|Editor: Jiaxin
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A man polishes a gemstone at the Namibian Coloured Gemstone and Jewellery Showcase in Windhoek, capital of Namibia on Oct. 13, 2017. The showcase was part of the 35th International Gemological conference, the two days conference was attended by international gemologists from 28 countries. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 07:56:14|Editor: Zhou Xin
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A taxi driver takes photos of huge Spanish flag covering a building under construction in Valdebebas district in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 13, 2017. A Spanish real estate entrepreneur made and hung this flag of 731 square meters on a 14-floor building in outskirts of Madrid on Wednesday, to show his support to Spain's unity. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 07:42:09|Editor: Zhou Xin
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on new Iran strategy at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct. 13, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out his new Iran strategy on Friday, vowing to deny Tehran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in a major shift in Washington's Iran policy. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- In his latest attempt to fulfill another campaign promise, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday dealt a blow to the Iran nuclear deal without scrapping it.
"I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification (of Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal)," Trump said at the White House as he unveiled a new Iran strategy of his administration.
The decertification would not pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal at the moment, but it would open a 60-day window in which U.S. Congress could reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, a step which would mean the violation of the deal on the U.S. side.
During his speech on Friday, Trump called the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," and blamed Iran for committing "multiple violations of the agreement" and "not living up to the spirit of the deal."
His accusation of Iran's violation of the agreement appeared to contradict remarks by his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had said earlier that under the JCPOA, the United States did not dispute that Iran was "under technical compliance."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN watchdog tasked with monitoring Iran's nuclear activities, had in the past certified eight times Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal.
Despite his criticism of Iran and the Iran nuclear deal, Trump on Friday stopped short of abandoning the nuclear deal.
Instead, he said he was directing his administration to work with Congress and U.S. allies to address "the deal's many serious flaws," including "insufficient enforcement and near-total silence on Iran's missile programs."
In case the efforts fail, Trump warned that "then the (Iran nuclear) agreement will be terminated."
"Our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time," said Trump.
Together with his announcement to decertify Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal, Trump on Friday unveiled a much tougher Iran strategy, including new sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"I am authorizing the Treasury Department to further sanction the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its support for terrorism, and to apply sanctions to its officials, agents and affiliates," said Trump.
Other parts of the new strategy also target Iran's ballistic missile program, which was not covered by the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Trump's announcement immediately drew criticism both at home and abroad.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement after Trump's announcement that the decision to decertify Iran's compliance would "isolate" the United States.
"Unilaterally putting the deal at risk does not isolate Iran," said the statement. "It isolates us."
"The decision will cost us leverage. It will weaken our unity with our allies. It will damage our credibility," the statement said, adding that Trump's decision "goes against reason and evidence."
European Union (EU) leaders on Friday voiced their commitment to the Iran nuclear deal and its full implementation by all sides despite Trump's decision to decertify Iran's compliance.
In a joint statement, leaders of France, Germany and Britain said that they were concerned by the possible implications of Trump's decision, urging the U.S. administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the United States and its allies "before taking any steps that might undermine the JCPOA, such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement."
Meanwhile, the IAEA on Friday again confirmed that Iran had been implementing the Iran nuclear deal under the robust nuclear verification regime.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said Tehran was co-operating with the agency to implement the commitment to be undertaken by Tehran.
"Iran is now provisionally implementing the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, a powerful verification tool which gives our inspectors broader access to information and locations in Iran," said Amano.
It remains unclear the path forward for the Iran nuclear deal, but experts warned that Trump's decision could severely backfire and would give Iran "an excuse to opt-out of the deal."
According to Darrell West, a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow, if the United States eventually withdraws from the nuclear deal, the results 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 the DPRK has escalated in recent days and weeks.
The nuclear deal was reached between Iran and six countries including Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany in July 2015. So far, the deal had helped defuse the Iran nuclear crisis and bolstered the international non-proliferation regime.
Trump had 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.
According to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INRA) passed by U.S. Congress in 2015, the Trump administration is required every 90 days to recertify to Congress Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 10:12:26|Editor: Zhou Xin
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CANBERRA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- An Etihad Airways flight bound for Sydney from Abu Dhabi made an emergency landing in the South Australian city of Adelaide on Saturday morning, after pilots noticed a smoke alarm on board.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying 349 people when pilots made the decision to divert to Adelaide at about 5:00 a.m. local time.
In a statement detailing the diversion, a spokesperson from Etihad Airways said the decision was made with the safety of all passengers and crew in mind. The spokesperson added that the aircraft would undergo a safety check before it takes to the skies once again.
"Etihad Airways flight EY450, from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, has diverted to Adelaide Airport following a warning indication received within the cockpit," the spokesperson said on Saturday morning.
"The aircraft landed at 5:00 a.m. (local time) and will now be inspected by engineers and ground crew. Guests on the flight are being updated and more information will be given as it becomes available."
According to local media, the local fire brigade was called after they received reports of a possible on-board fire, but it is believed that the decision to divert was made purely after pilots noticed that a smoke alarm warning light was illuminated.
Passengers were told that they would be making their way to Sydney on domestic flights throughout Saturday morning, while there were no reports of any injuries.
Xinhua photo (Xinhua/Wu)
Singapore, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The National Museum of Singapore kicked off a three-day celebration for its 130th birthday on Friday.
Being the country's first and most important cultural institution, the museum invited visitors to explore its past, present and future through interactive tours, art installations, music performances, among others.
Xinhua photo (Xinhua/Wu)
Visitors can embark on the newly commissioned National Museum Historic Trail, which helps visitors to discover the evolution of the museum over the years. They can also experience the museum through An Art Trail, a suite of five art installations by Singaporean and international artists which are located in and around the museum.
They can also smell the three special botanical scents introduced to the Story of the Forest, an interactive art installation that is housed within the museum's Glass Rotunda.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 10:57:33|Editor: Zhou Xin
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TRIPOLI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Italy delivered the second batch of urgent humanitarian assistance within a week to Libya to assist migrants detained in its western cities, the Italian Embassy to Libya announced on Friday.
"Urgent humanitarian aid from Italy has arrived at cities of Sabratha and Zwara, coordinated with Libyan Government of National Accord and IOM to deal with migrant emergency," the embassy tweeted.
IOM, or the International Organization for Migration, is an inter-governmental agency dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration and helping migrants in need.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Italian embassy announced that urgent food and medical aid were delivered to immigrants in Sabratha and Zwara to meet their urgent migrant needs.
Libya's western city of Sabratha witnessed three weeks of armed battle in mid-September between the anti-Islamic State (IS) operation chamber and rival armed groups affiliated with the city's military council.
The fighting ended with the chamber taking over the entire city, which is the largest hotbed of migrant trafficking in Libya.
Medical sources said hundreds were killed or injured in the fighting, and thousands of families fled their homes.
A senior official of Sabratha said last week that more than 3,000 illegal immigrants bound for Europe were found in the city's detention centers.
Basim al-Gharabli, head of the anti-illegal immigration bureau of Sabratha, said at a press conference that the migrants were detained in inhumane conditions.
"We found dozens of children and pregnant women. Some migrants told us they had not been fed for a week," he added.
Libya is a preferred point of departure for immigrants wanting to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, due to the chaos in the country.
Whitewood Transport, a Billings-based trucking company, will haul the 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from the Kootenai National Forest in the northwest corner of the state to Washington, D.C., next month.
"It means so much," said Mike Wilson, Whitewood's owner and president. "It's cool for Montana."
The truck, a Kentworth T680 Advantage, will depart from Kootenai with the tree on Nov. 8 and journey cross-country to Washington, D.C., over the course of a month, making stops in communities along the route.
The journey will take the tree across western Montana and the Hi-Line with stops in 10 different cities, including Whitefish, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls and Glasgow. It will continue to make stops in various towns and cities from North Dakota to Kentucky until it arrives at the Capitol the first week in December.
Choose Outdoors, one of the organizations involved with selecting the tree and its transportation, contacted the Motor Carriers of Montana Association looking for recommendations on who could do the hauling. The association turned the question over to its members, many of whom jumped at the opportunity.
In the end, Choose Outdoors selected Whitewood. Whitewood is donating the time and miles it will take to transport the tree.
"My understanding is that we were selected because of our exemplary safety record, experience in oversize transportation and our driver Larry Spiekermeier," Wilson said.
Spiekermeier has been named the Montana Driver of the Year twice by the Motor Carriers of Montana Association. He's driven a record 1.6 million accident-free miles, Wilson said.
Bruce Ward, Choose Outdoor's president, said in a statement that Whitewood was selected "due to its excellent reputation in Montanas trucking industry."
Safety is a big deal for Whitewood. On Wednesday, the Motor Carriers of Montana named the trucking company the winner of the annual Great West Fleet Safety award, the seventh time Whitewood has received the honor.
"We have a responsibility to the traveling public to be safe," Wilson said. "That's our number one thing."
Implementation of safety procedures, training and compliance are expensive, he said. It's an investment in the company, so it's something they take seriously.
"That investment is paying off (with recognition like the award and the selection to transport the Capitol Christmas Tree) because we're doing it right," he said. "And that's enormously satisfying."
To receive the Great West Fleet Safety award a trucking company must have zero accidents and an exemplary safety record. The company must also participate in state and federal programs that promote safety and the trucking community.
Wilson is honored by the award and he's proud Whitewood gets to transport the Capitol Christmas Tree
"I've done this all my life," he said. Whitewood being selecting to transport the Christmas tree is the "pinnacle of my career."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 11:02:35|Editor: Zhou Xin
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Tripoli, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Illegal Moroccan migrants detained in Libyan shelters started a hunger strike to protest for not being deported back to Morocco, Libyan authorities said on Friday.
"Illegal immigrants of Moroccan nationality have entered an open food and drink strike since Thursday," Tripoli's anti-illegal immigration department said in a statement.
"The strike is a protest against being detained in the shelters without the Moroccan authorities issuing temporary travel documents to facilitate their voluntary return to Morocco," the statement said.
The department announced earlier that measures were being taken to deport the migrants to their country under the voluntary repatriation program of the International Organization for Migration.
The department said in a previous statement that the migrants were waiting for the Moroccan authorities to send them travel documents.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 11:12:37|Editor: Zhou Xin
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus was reportedly interviewed on Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller's team in charge of Russia-related investigation.
Priebus was "voluntarily interviewed" by Mueller's team, his lawyer William Burck was quoted by U.S. news outlet Politico as saying.
"He was happy to answer all of their questions," Burck said.
The interview was part of Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election last year, as well as any ties between Moscow and Trump campaign associates. But Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing so far.
According to Politico, Priebus had been preparing for several weeks for the interview. It also revealed Thursday that Trump's attorneys were mulling an interview between Mueller and the president.
Previously working as chairman of the Republican National Committee, Priebus served as Trump's first chief of staff before being pushed out late July for failure to rein in a freewheeling White House and advance the administration's legislative agenda.
He is viewed as a key figure in understanding some of the most controversial Russia-related incidents, including Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey who at that time led the Russian probe and White House's meetings with Russian officials.
Reports said investigators are expected to interview a spate of other former and current White House aides, including former Press secretary Sean Spicer, current chief counsel Don McGahn and communications director Hope Hicks.
Mueller has convened a grand jury to assist his probe and his team consists of seasoned lawyers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 11:22:39|Editor: Zhou Xin
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WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. social networking service Twitter has turned over to Senate investigators handles, or profile names, of 201 accounts associated with alleged Russian effort to meddle in the U.S. presidential election last year.
The handover, as part of its effort to aid the Russian probe, took place this week, U.S. media reported Friday.
Those handles previously had not been submitted partly due to what the company said were legal privacy issues, reports said.
The move came after critics said the tech giant was not taking the congressional investigation seriously enough.
Twitter was also criticized for reportedly deleting tweets and other user data useful to investigators looking into Moscow's suspected manipulation of the social media service during the 2016 election, but it has neither denied nor confirmed the report.
The Senate has invited Twitter, along with Facebook and Google, to a public hearing set for Nov. 1.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 11:52:42|Editor: Zhou Xin
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PHNOM PENH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Saturday met with 424 students who passed the 2017 high-school exit exam with Grade A, awarding each of them an iPad and 500 U.S. dollars.
At a get-together held at the Peace Palace, the prime minister encouraged them to pursue their study at universities, saying that they would be potential human resources for national development in the future.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen said peace and political stability were the major factors that enabled them to get education and called on the people to continue joining him in protecting the country's peace.
"With peace, children and youths have a lot of opportunities to get education," he said.
Cambodia held the annual high-school graduation exam in August with a total of 99,728 exam-takers. As a result, 63,668 applicants, or 63.84 percent, of them passed the test with 424 gaining Grade A.
The top-scored graduates are 213 males and 211 females.
The Southeast Asian nation has started to strengthen high-school quality since 2014 through cleaning up cheat and bribery during the grade 12 national exam.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 12:17:45|Editor: Zhou Xin
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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two militants including a local commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were killed Saturday in a gunfight with contingents of Indian police and army in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.
The gunfight broke out at village Litter in Pulwama district, about 47 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
"Two LeT militants were killed this morning in a gunfight with government forces in village Litter here," a senior police official told Xinhua. "Of the two slain militants one was local commander of LeT."
The house from where militants were firing on police and army positions was partially damaged, the police official said.
A police spokesman in Srinagar said the army and police contingents cordoned off the area on Saturday morning on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants.
According to the spokesman, both the militants were local cadres of the outfit.
Reports said Indian army or police have not suffered any damage in the stand-off.
On Wednesday two militants and two air force personnel were killed in a fierce gunfight in Bandipora district of the region.
Earlier on Monday three militants were killed in gunfight at village Gatipora of Shopian district.
A guerrilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. The gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently across the region.
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| 2017-10-14 12:27:47|Editor: Zhou Xin
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PARIS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's decision not to certify the Iranian nuclear issue will have "immediate" geopolitical consequences by fuelling tensions while security in the region is on edge, a French researcher on American issues said here on Friday.
"The spiral of tensions with Iran is re-opened. Doubt and uncertainty are established. The European allies of the United States do not know how to react," Julien Zarifian told Xinhua in an interview.
The French expert believed that "Iran will denounce the American executive's choice and refuse the possibility of any change in the agreement as has been done in recent months."
Britain, Germany and France "are likely to maintain their line of not criticizing too much the Trump administration's decisions, while continuing to express their commitment to an agreement which serves their economic and other interests," he said.
The three countries reiterated in a joint statement that they remain committed to the nuclear accord, calling for "its full implementation by all parties."
To the French expert, Trump's decision not to certify the nuclear deal "seems to be motivated by political calculations."
The agreement's "decertification" allows the American president "to show that he maintains the hard line on Iran and the accord...and allows him to send a strong message to his base and U.S. allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia in particular," Zarifian said.
"At the same time, neither he nor anyone else at this stage decides to bring the United States out of the agreement," he said.
Not to certify the accord signed in 2015 by France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia and the United States with Iran "does nothing but send the ball into Congress camp which will be responsible for re-examining the terms of the agreement and the conditions that allowed the lifting of certain U.S. sanctions against Iran," Zarifian said.
The U.S. Congress within 60 days "will decide whether the agreement is still valid and if the conditions are still there for the removal of certain sanctions against Tehran," said Zarifian.
"There will be long discussions whose outcome is difficult to predict today. But we can imagine that it will be difficult for parliamentarians to totally denounce an agreement signed by their country and respected, according to most observers, by all parties," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 12:57:53|Editor: Zhou Xin
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BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and foreign scientists have unveiled their findings in the first genome-wide study of an ancient human in China -- a 40,000-year-old individual from Tianyuan cave near Beijing.
The study, jointly conducted by researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other teams including the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology based in Germany, was published in the journal Current Biology Thursday.
Scientists generated genome-wide data from the Tianyuan individual to study his relationship to ancient and present-day humans, and found that he was more closely related to present-day and ancient Asians than he was to Europeans, according to the article titled "40,000-Year-Old Individual from Asia Provides Insight into Early Population Structure in Eurasia."
However, they found that the Tianyuan individual was not from a population that is directly ancestral to any group of present-day East or Southeast Asians but rather belonged to a population that diverged from the population that directly contributed to present-day East and Southeast Asians.
The study highlighted the complex migration and subdivision of early human populations in Eurasia.
Researchers found some genetic similarity between the individual and a 35,000-year-old individual from Belgium, but these similarities were not found between the Tianyuan individual and other ancient humans in Europe.
They believed that the Tianyuan individual and the individual from Belgium may share ancestry from a population that did not contribute ancestry to the other Upper Paleolithic Eurasians analyzed to date.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 13:38:00|Editor: Lu Hui
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on newIranstrategy at theWhite Housein Washington D.C., theUnited States, on Oct. 13, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out his new Iran strategy on Friday, vowing to deny Tehran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in a major shift in Washington's Iran policy. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)
By Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's railing against the Iran nuclear deal on Friday, it may remain in place in the long run, U.S. experts said.
Trump failed to certify that Iran was playing by the rules stipulated in the nuclear deal, and contended that the Islamic republic is in defiance of the agreement. That places the ball in Congress' court, as the lawmakers now have the option to vote to snap sanctions back into place.
The move seems to be a step toward scrapping the agreement, but does not kill the deal, and experts said there's a chance the international accord may remain intact.
"Trump is not certifying the Iran agreement, but isn't taking the types of steps that would completely unravel it," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
"He has put the ball in Congress' court to re-impose sanctions, but with a 60 vote threshold in the U.S. Senate, that is not likely to happen," he said.
"So without a re-imposition of sanctions, the deal very well could remain in force even without the certification," West said.
West said Trump's step "is less draconian than people feared. Trump has stepped up to the line but not really killed the agreement."
"It doesn't seem likely that any of the other signatories to the agreement are going to pull out. So much of it is likely to stay in effect for Iran," West said.
The deal, clinched in July 2015 between Iran and the six countries of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany after a decade of painstaking negotiations, has seen Iran scale down nuclear projects in exchange for international sanctions easing.
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.
In a televised speech on Friday, Trump accused Iran of committing "multiple violations" of the deal, although the International Atomic Energy Agency maintains that Iran is complying with the agreement.
Speaking on television on the same day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Trump's claims that Tehran is not abiding by the rules laid out in the agreement are completely baseless.
Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua that Trump's decision reflects both traditional conservative foreign policy concerns about Iran's role in the Middle East, as well as Trump's desire to undo many of the legacy accomplishments of former President Barack Obama.
Trump signed an executive order to gut the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare on Thursday, and announced in June that the United States will leave the Paris agreement on climate change. Both were achieved during the Obama administration.
The Iran nuclear deal was made possible by the fact that the United States, Russia, China, and the Europeans were unified in their approach to to curbing the Iranian nuclear program.
According to a resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-member UN Security Council on July 20, 2015, the council will terminate its sanctions on Iran upon receiving a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that verifies Iran's implementation of its nuclear-related commitments.
The IAEA, a UN watchdog tasked with monitoring Iran's nuclear activities, had in the past certified eight times Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal.
Yukiya Amano, IAEA director general, confirmed on Friday that Iran had been implementing the nuclear deal under the robust nuclear verification regime.
On the same day, leaders of France, Germany and Britain reiterated in a joint statement that they remain committed to the nuclear accord, calling for "its full implementation by all parties."
The deal's supporters admit the deal is not perfect, but they say this may be the last chance that such a large international consensus can be built on the issue.
"I don't see how the same international coalition will be assembled to confront Iran in the future," Mahaffee said.
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Spotlight: Trump's Iran decertification announcement again rattles world
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's Friday decertification of Iran's compliance with the landmark nuclear deal has provoked wide disturbances and fury in and outside the United States. Full story
Spotlight: Trump's decertification claim harms Iran nuclear deal
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- In his latest attempt to fulfill another campaign promise, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday dealt a blow to the Iran nuclear deal without scrapping it.
"I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification (of Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal)," Trump said at the White House as he unveiled a new Iran strategy of his administration. Full story
Trump seeks to deny Iran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in major policy shift
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out his new Iran strategy on Friday, vowing to deny Tehran "all paths to a nuclear weapon" in a major shift in Washington's Iran policy.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 13:58:04|Editor: Zhou Xin
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Luiz Fux ordered Friday a preemptive suspension of any order to extradite Italian activist Cesare Battisti to his native country.
Battisti is wanted for several crimes in Italy. He was tried in absentia and convicted to a life sentence for murders committed while he participated in a political guerilla.
He arrived in Brazil in 2004. Italy sought his extradition, but in 2010 Battisti received permission from the Brazilian government and the Supreme Court to stay in the country. He is now a permanent foreign resident in Brazil.
However, Battisti was arrested last week on the border between Brazil and Bolivia, as he tried to cross into Bolivia with undeclared money - dollars and euros. He denied that he was trying to flee the country.
After the arrest, the Italian government has reportedly been informally seeking his extradition. A formal request for Battisti's extradition was considered imminent by his defense, who then requested a preventive habeas corpus from Judge Fux.
With Fux's order, Battisti's freedom is ensured until the Supreme Court decides on his case in a permanent manner, which is expected to take place on Oct. 24.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 14:53:12|Editor: Zhou Xin
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by William M. Reilly
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council (UNSC) said Friday that it seeks to end the violence in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine State, to push for humanitarian access to victims and for the return of more than half a million refugees to their homes.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre, the president of the Security Council, came from a closed-door briefing by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to tell of consensus among members to seek the three goals, but said there was no immediate call for a Security Council resolution.
"The situation in Myanmar is extremely serious: 525,000 people displaced, hundreds of villages wiped out, systematic violations of human rights," Delattre told reporters outside the council's chambers. "This is ethnic cleansing happening before our eyes."
In late September, Myanmar National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said at a UNSC meeting that "there has been no ethnic cleansing and no genocide in Myanmar," adding that the vast majority of those who fled did so out of fear instilled in their hearts by terrorists.
Rohingyas have been fleeing their villages in northern Rakhine State of Myanmar since Aug. 25, when a rebel militia attacked police posts and security forces and vigilantes retaliated against civilians.
Delattre also voiced a need to "increase pressure on the Myanmar authorities" so that their first announcement translates into strong action, and called for "strengthening of the dialogue between Myanmar and Bangladesh" where the Rohingyas fled.
Last month, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi announced the government's pledge to implement the recommendations by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State led by Annan, saying that those recommendations will help bring a speedy improvement to the situation in the state within the shortest time frame.
China called for patience with the situation in the Rakhine State, condemned the recent violent attacks and supports Myanmar's effort to keep its domestic situation stable.
On Friday, Delattre said another immediate objective sought by members of the council was to support the recommendations of the international commission headed by Annan, referring to those recommendations as "a clear roadmap to tackle the deep causes of the crisis in Rakhine State."
Annan warned that obtaining the three objectives would not be easy.
He told reporters after the meeting that the Advisory Commission recommended the Rohingyas not be put in resettlement camps. "They should be allowed to go about their villages and helped to rebuild and reconstruct," he said.
The commission has many long-term recommendations, and above all is the one "on the question of citizenship and verification which has been a real problem for the Muslim community (of Rohingyas)," said Annan.
Annan said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted the commission's report and set up an inter-ministerial committee to work on the implementation.
"The international community is beginning to put pressure on the military for them to be responsible in their attitude to what they call security clearance," he said. "We should remember that Myanmar is going through a very difficult transition after over five decades of military rule. It is a tough situation to manage. We need to work with both sides (the military and government)."
"I indicated to the council today that there is a duality in the leadership of the Myanmar government structure which makes it difficult to get a coherent and coordinated implementation of these recommendations, but we need to press ahead and work with both sides and make sure that as a government they work together," said Annan.
Graduates throw their caps in the air in front of the library in Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on June 14, 2017. [Photo/VCG]
Many second- and third-tier cities in China have rolled out a slate of favorable policies to attract university graduates, dubbed the latest wave of talent grabs, chinanews.com reported.
A survey carried out by Zhaopin.com, one of China's leading recruitment websites, shows 37.5 percent of China's new university graduates in 2017 want to work in second- and third-tier cities cities besides Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
These fresh graduates have become the chasing targets of second- and third-tier cities. To attract as much talent as possible, cities exert themselves to implement policies and provide benefits, which are appealing to the university graduates.
Though the policies vary from city to city, they generally focus on major issues concerning graduates, including preferential treatment for permanent residence (called hukou in Chinese), housing and government subsidies.
As of this week, the University of Montana collected $39.9 million in tuition revenue, or 99.5 percent of its target, according to a UM official.
Vice president for enrollment and student affairs Tom Crady said he fully expects to reach the goal this year because students are still receiving financial aid and paying their bills.
"This is the direct result of not canceling students (around) the first week of school and giving them a longer period of time to pay and just being flexible," Crady said.
Last year, Crady encountered the practice of canceling students at UM, and he put a stop to it to help UM and students. The vice president arrived at UM last year and generally retooled enrollment management and set a goal of stabilizing the number of incoming freshmen.
Despite a series of roadblocks including a request the president step down last December and approval of a tuition increase this spring freshman enrollment grew nearly 2 percent. (Since December, Sheila Stearns has been serving as president in an interim capacity and president-select Seth Bodnar will take the helm in January 2018 pending confirmation by the Montana Board of Regents.)
This week, vice president Crady noted tuition revenue was on track. He earlier said UM's enrollment this fall squared with its budget.
"The big deal for us is we hit our target, and then we hit our net tuition revenue goals. And that doesn't always happen in admissions," Crady said.
***
UM has experienced budget woes in recent years because of an ongoing decline in enrollment.
Separately this week, Stearns reminded faculty that UM has more budget work to do, especially with the state's $226 million projected revenue shortfall. UM's share could be as high as $6 million a year for two years.
In brief remarks to the Faculty Senate on Thursday, Stearns said the big question about UM's budget awaits answers from the political scene.
"We already knew that we had balanced our budget for this year, 2018, by the skin of our teeth," Stearns said.
She said UM tightened its belt a lot and ended up $1 million in the positive, and it was able to carry forward those dollars from 2017 to help 2018 pencil out. But she said UM is now waiting to learn the dimensions of the budget challenge for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 given the state shortfall.
At UM, Stearns said all employee groups on campus will be affected, including faculty, administration, and classified staff.
The president again noted that UM's budget is generally off kilter, with too large a slice of the pie going to personnel about 90 percent and too small a slice going to things like the library, technology and other areas of the operation.
"We do know that we are heavily staffed," Stearns said.
One faculty member wanted to know how UM could be overstaffed having recently laid off employees, but Stearns said the layoffs have not been significant. And she said the slight decrease in costs as a result hasn't kept pace with the decline in revenue from a more precipitous enrollment drop.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 15:03:14|Editor: Song Lifang
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by Zheng Jianghua
BRUSSELS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he will no longer certify Iran's compliance with a landmark nuclear deal, dealing another blow to the already-frayed transatlantic ties.
The Iran nuclear deal, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was inked in 2015 by Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany with Iran.
The EU also played an important role in brokering the deal and deemed it as one of the bloc's outstanding diplomatic achievements.
Under the deal, Iran halts its nuclear weapon program in exchange for economic aid and relief of international sanctions.
Trump's announcement came as no surprise, given that he let out a torrent of angry words over the deal on his campaign trail as Republican presidential candidate.
Nevertheless, it is also noteworthy that he grudgingly recertified twice Iran's compliance with the deal since taking office in January.
The tycoon-turned president is believed to be fed up with the quarterly recertification procedure and eager to pass the buck to Congress.
The rash decision has caused an uproar among Washington's European allies, which have already drifted away from the Trump administration following Washington's decision to drop out of the Paris climate accord, and their spat over NATO burden-sharing.
"It (The Iran deal) is not a bilateral agreement. It does not belong to any single country. It's not up to any single country to terminate it," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini delivered a scathing remark at a press conference on Friday on the heels of Trump's announcement.
Underlining that the deal is endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution, Mogherini quipped with a sullen face: "The president of the United States has many powers, (but) not this one."
She reaffirmed that the EU will continue to fully implement the Iran nuclear deal.
Leaders of France, Germany and Britain, by the same token, issued a joint statement, saying they were concerned by the possible implications of Trump's decision.
They urged the U.S. administration and Congress to consider security implications for the United States and its allies "before taking any steps that might undermine the JCPOA, such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement."
Despite his criticism of Iran and the Iran nuclear deal, Trump on Friday stopped short of abandoning the nuclear deal.
Instead, he said he was directing his administration to work with Congress and U.S. allies to address "the deal's many serious flaws."
"There will be long discussions whose outcome is difficult to predict today. But we can imagine that it will be difficult for parliamentarians to totally denounce an agreement signed by their country and respected, according to most observers, by all parties," said Julien Zarifian, a French researcher on American issues.
With an "America First" mantra, Trump has shrugged off Europe's appeal over the Paris Accord. He has also been uncompromising on nudging European countries to earmark 2 percent of their economic output for NATO budget.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 15:13:16|Editor: Song Lifang
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NEW DELHI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Indian police Saturday claimed to have identified the killers of a prominent woman journalist whose death triggered nationwide protests last month.
Gauri Lankesh, the 55-year-old Indian journalist critical of Hindu nationalist politics, was shot dead outside her home in the southern state of Karnataka's capital Bengaluru on Sept. 5 by helmet-wearing, bike-borne gunmen.
Nearly one-and-a-half months on, the investigators released the sketches of three suspected killers and sought public help to nab the trio.
"We got the sketches drawn based on footage obtained from closed-circuit television cameras installed at Lankesh's home and in the neighborhood. The attackers were in the city for seven days before the murder and receded Lankesh's house and the locality," a police official said.
Though police have questioned over 250 people in connection with the case, no one has been arrested yet. "We want public help to catch the three killers," he said.
Lankesh worked for several leading newspapers in India and later ran an independent newspaper, Lankesh Patrike, along with her brother Indrajit for several years. But after a split with her brother, she started her own newspaper Gauri Lankesh Patrike.
Well-known in India for her left-leaning views, Lankesh was fiercely critical of Hindu fundamentalism in politics and vehemently opposed the caste system. She was also sympathetic to left-wing Naxalite rebels involved in a bloody insurgency against the government.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 15:13:17|Editor: Song Lifang
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TIKRIT, Iraq, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and three wounded near a mosque for Shiite Turkoman minority in the ethnically-mixed city of Tuz-Khurmato in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, sparking sporadic clashes with the Kurds in the volatile city, a provincial security source said on Saturday.
The incident occurred after midnight when a roadside bomb detonated outside the Shiite Turkoman mosque in Tuz-Khurmato, leaving two people killed and three others wounded, along with damaging the mosque, the source from Salahudin's provincial police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The casualties pushed the already existing tension to grow wild sparking sporadic clashes with small arms and machine guns between the Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, and the predominantly-Shiite Hashd Shaabi brigade in the main street of the city, the source said.
The clashes, which caused no human casualties, continued to the dawn, and the situation has been cautiously calm during the morning hours, the source said.
Tuz-Khurmato, some 90 km east of Salahudin's provincial capital of Tikrit, is made up mostly of Turkoman Shiite and sizable Kurdish and Sunni Arab population.
Previously, the city witnessed repeated clashes between the Kurds and Shiite militias, as the city and surrounding areas are part of the disputed areas outside the Kurdistan region. There is also a conflict of Sunni Arabs against Shiite Hashd Shaabi brigades, or against Peshmerga.
The disputed areas are claimed by the Kurds and both Arabs and Turkomans. The Kurds want to incorporate the areas on the edge of their Kurdistan region, but their move is fiercely opposed by Baghdad government.
The bomb attack in the city came as tensions are running high between Baghdad government and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan after the Kurdish region held a controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan and disputed areas, including the city of Tuz-Khurmato.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 15:23:19|Editor: Song Lifang
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NEW DELHI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's stolen car was found abandoned in Ghaziabad on the outskirts of Indian capital city, police said Saturday.
"Uttar Pradesh police found the car abandoned in Ghaziabad and accordingly informed Delhi police about it," a police official said. "However, no one has been arrested for the theft."
The car was stolen Thursday from outside the Delhi secretariat, Kejriwal's office.
On Friday Kejriwal wrote a letter to Delhi's Lt Governor Anil Baijal, saying the theft of his car points towards the rapidly "deteriorating" law and order situation in the country's capital.
"My Wagon-R car was stolen outside the Delhi Secretariat. My car getting stolen is a small matter. But the fact that it went missing outside the Delhi Secretariat reflects the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi," Kejriwal wrote in the letter to Baijal.
The hatchback blue colour car of India's largest car maker Maruti was gifted to the Delhi chief minister by an Indian living abroad.
The car was used by the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP Common Man's Party to demonstrate its commitment to fight VIP culture and a bid to stand with country's middle class.
The car was currently being used by AAPs youth leader Vandana Singh.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 15:48:22|Editor: Song Lifang
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ASSADABAD, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Security forces killed 10 militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group after repulsing their attack outside Kunar's provincial capital Assadabad on Saturday, police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 15:53:23|Editor: Song Lifang
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Up to 12 militants were killed and six others wounded following Afghan forces operations in the northern Kunduz province, an official said Saturday.
The operation was launched early Saturday in the newly established Gultipa district of Kunduz province. As a result 12 militants were killed and six others wounded, said Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, press officer of 20 Pamir Division based in the northern region.
Two villages with two key insurgents' strongholds have also been recaptured and Taliban hideouts were destroyed in the operations, said the spokesman.
Taliban militants have yet to make comment on the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 16:03:27|Editor: Song Lifang
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CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian armed forces on Saturday frustrated a terrorist attack that was targeting a security check point in the North Sinai city of Arish, killing two militants, the army said in a statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 16:23:31|Editor: Song Lifang
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CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian armed forces on Saturday frustrated a terrorist attack that was targeting a security check point in the North Sinai city of Arish, killing at least two militants, the army said in a statement.
"Forces of the second field army has foiled the attack of some militants wearing the armed forces uniform before reaching an army checkpoint in Arish city of a province that is bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip," the military spokesman Tamer el Refaie said.
The militants opened fire on the army men using grenades, it added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 17:18:42|Editor: Yurou
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CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian armed forces on Saturday frustrated a terrorist attack that was targeting a security check point in the North Sinai city of Arish, killing at least two militants, the army said in a statement.
"The forces of the second field army has foiled the attack of some militants wearing the armed forces uniform before reaching an army checkpoint in Arish city of a province that is bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip," said military spokesman Tamer el Refaie said.
The militants opened fire on the army men using grenades, it added.
The forces exchanged fire with the militants who were killed after the explosion of the bombs and belts in their possession, it added.
The armed forces continue its efforts to uproot terrorist strongholds and a manhunt operation is underway, the statement added.
Six Egyptian military personnel were killed on Friday, in a terrorist attack that targeted a security checkpoint also in Arish.
Since the ouster of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Egypt has been experiencing a wave of terrorist attack against the security forces that were mainly centered in the Sinai Peninsula.
Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State branch in Sinai.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:08:52|Editor: Song Lifang
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HANGZHOU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Original manuscripts by four great writers from the United Kingdom and Ireland will go on display at a museum in east China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday.
The British Library has loaned the selection of rare and valuable manuscripts to China. They will be exhibited at Mu Xin Art Museum until January 14, 2018.
The works come from Lord Byron, Charles Lamb, Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolf, four favorite writers of Mu Xin (1927-2011), a renown Chinese poet and artist, said Chen Danqing, director of the museum.
"Seeing these original manuscripts in person makes the reading experience much more real and rich. I'm sure these great writers would have loved to meet their Chinese readers," Chen said.
The exhibition is a part of a three-year programme of cultural exchange titled "The British Library in China: connecting through culture and learning."
A previous exhibition of literary treasures on loan from the British Library, which was held at the National Library of China in Beijing from April to June, was a great success.
CODY Growing up on a cattle ranch near Chugwater, Peg Monteith was set on becoming a veterinarian.
It wasnt until her senior year of high school after working with an area speech pathologist, helping develop lesson plans and filling in when needed, that Monteith realized what she was meant to do.
After almost 40 years in her chosen profession, the Park 6 student support services and special education director was honored in Cheyenne recently by the Wyoming Business Report as one of the states Women of Influence, specifically for her achievements in education.
Peg Monteiths current job title is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her experience and abilities, states her official program bio. In her four short years in Cody she has helped to implement an alternative high school with an average enrollment of 30 students and has started a T-21 program to help students with disabilities transition into adulthood, renting a home where young adults learn a variety of life skills.
African elephants have their meals at the Amboseli National Park of Kenya, July 16, 2014. The annual wildlife migration that kicked off in early July from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to Kenya's Massai Mara National Reserve marked the start of Kenya's tourism peak season. (Xinhua/Meng Chenguang)
DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan has urged African countries to be innovative in attracting more tourists to visit the continent.
Opening the 3rd Edition of the Swahili International Tourism Expo in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam on Friday, Suluhu said African countries should now find innovative ways of penetrating the market and attracting more tourists to Africa.
She urged exhibitors and visitors from member states of the East African Community and Southern African Development Community to take full advantage of the three-day tourism expo to promote their tourism businesses and intra-Africa tourism initiatives that will see Africans travel within the continent.
A recent report released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that intra- Africa tourism grew from 34 to 44 percent of the total number of Africa tourists visiting other African countries between 2007 and 2017.
Suluhu said she was optimistic that the percentage of African tourists visiting other African countries will grow up to 50 percent over the next 10 years.
"I am honored to be here to witness these collective successes for Africa and I would like to congratulate those African countries that are participating in this expo, including those that are participating as exhibitors," she said.
Suluhu said this year's tourism expo will provide the Tanzania tourism sector and other exhibitors an opportunity to delve and engage in meaningful discussions that will end up identifying opportunities in the sector.
"I wish to assure you that the government is fully committed to the successful development of tourism in Tanzania and will continue to ensure that there is a better socio-economic environment of this development to take place," said the Vice-President.
According to her, tourism was currently one of the leading economic sectors in the country where the number of international tourist arrivals reached 1.2 million in 2016 with total expenditure amounting to 2.1 million U.S. dollars.
Devota Mdachi, the Tanzania Tourist Board Managing Director, said the tourism expo has attracted over 150 exhibitors from various countries.
She said over 180 tourism agents were also visiting the expo with the aim of exchanging businesses and finding areas for investments.
Tourists visit the Mikumi National Park near Morogoro, Tanzania, Aug. 8, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Sibo)
The Swahili International Tourism Expo focuses on inbound and outbound travel business to and within Africa.
The event showcases the travel possibilities in Tanzania, within and beyond the well-known attractions in 16 National Parks, around Mount Kilimanjaro and on the beautiful beaches on the Island of Zanzibar.
Tourism is Tanzania's largest foreign exchange earner since 2012, contributing an average of 2 billion U.S. dollars annually, which is equivalent to 25 percent of all exchange earnings, according to government data.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:28:56|Editor: Song Lifang
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VIENNA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Austrian center-right People's Party (OVP) would likely take the first place in Sunday's parliamentary elections, but a coalition with the right populist Freedom Party (FPO) is not to be taken for granted, former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Erhard Busek said.
The first place would likely fall in line with what opinion poll suggests and that would mean the OVP leader, 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz who also serves as the Austrian foreign minister, will see his party to victory, said Busek, now the head of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), in a recent interview with Xinhua.
However, Busek noted that a coalition between the OVP and the FPO is also not to be taken for granted, even though the grouping has gained traction among the media due to public discontent with the grand coalition between the OVP and the Social Democrats (SPO) headed by chancellor Christian Kern.
COALITION UNCERTAIN
Opinion polls showed that Kurz's conservative party maintained lead with some 33 percent of votes, followed by the SPO with 27 percent and the FPO with 25 percent of votes respectively.
Kern has been embroiled in a media storm, with allegations by a former party advisor, Israeli national Tal Silberstein, spearheaded a dirty campaigning effort on facebook, in particular against Kurz. He denies having had knowledge of what allegedly took place.
Talk from within the OVP suggests Kurz is not certain of whether the FPO, under the leadership of Heinz-Christian Strache, would make a suitable partner. The FPO has also demanded control of certain ministries under a potential coalition, including Kurz's own foreign ministry and the interior ministry, another crucial post.
The other alternative of an FPO-SPO coalition is also on the table.Busek believes the SPO could make many concessions to the FPO in a bid to stay in power.
Whichever constellation will form the next coalition government, at present it is an "ambivalent situation," Busek believes, with no guarantees of any outcome.
Should a party choose to form a coalition with the FPO, Busek believes the stigma of a far-right party in federal governance would no longer be as present as it was following the 1999 election by which the FPO was the second strongest in the vote, and formed a coalition with the OVP in the following year.
That result sent shockwaves through the European establishment and attracted strong condemnation from around the world, including the threat of sanctions.
He said that the reaction would not be as "aggressive," given the fact that there are a number of similar groupings in other nations. There could, however, be extra reason for Kurz to not wish to hand the foreign ministry portfolio over to the FPO, particularly when considering dealings with the European Union, Busek said.
What is known, however, is that all parties have shifted toward populism, and the traditional behaviors of the two grand coalition partners, along with their voter bases, have changed significantly.
POLITICAL ADVERTISING
The parties have increasingly bought into what issues the media has pushed rather than what the people are really interested in, he said.
Migration, the feeling of a lack of security and fears of Islam, are now at the forefront of discussions, as they are elsewhere in Europe, Busek said.
Busek believes these to be significantly overstated. While migration is an issue that needs to be addressed, including the passage of illegal migrants into Europe, the focus on issues of primary importance to average Austrians is often lost.
Economic development, social security and the manner in which the country's administration is run are of greater concern to the people, he said.
As a self-described "oldie" in the political world, and someone who has known the OVP well for about 50 years, Busek sees much of these changes in stance of the major parties as "pure marketing."
He cited Kurz as an example, as having attempted to market his leadership of the party as a change in direction, but with no actual indication of what this change would entail.
The young leader is clever in how he has positioned the party ahead of the election, in going after the top spot, but the actual content of his program is still largely unknown, he said.
This includes a lack of position on education and taxes, two important issues. "Maybe he has a clear program for himself, but it's not being discussed," he said.
While the SPO has also gone down the populist path, it is in part suffering from a kind of saturation of social democracy in Europe, Busek believes, that has seen a dip in popularity in similar parties across the continent.
Austria can already be seen as a social democracy, and the strong points of the SPO, including social security, social regulation and pensions, have largely been addressed, prompting people to start to look past the party to elsewhere.
Busek does not expect the dirty campaigning scandal to affect the party too much, noting that in his experience voters often see such events as part and parcel of politics.
This development has continued the trend of the FPO acting as the "worker's party," seen through its local government majority in the Viennese district of Simmering, previously a long-standing SPO stronghold.
As the change has been seen for a very long time, "there's no more guaranteed identity between the working class and the social democrats," Busek said.
He sees support for FPO as largely being out of protest, and while the specter a National-Socialist past has long kept Germans away from supporting such parties, this has not been as much of a problem for Austrians.
While the FPO does have supporters for its own policies, most support is simply a tactic used by voters to give the other parties a jolt.
Kurz, as a chancellor's hopeful, is looking at some of the right problems, but the key will be whether the right solutions can be found and realized, Busek said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:38:59|Editor: Song Lifang
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CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The foreign currency collected by Egyptian banks since floating the pound in last November is up to 52 billion U.S. dollars, official news agency MENA reported on Saturday.
"The remittances of the Egyptian expats, investments and export revenues were the reasons behind the increase of the foreign currency," MENA quoted Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Rami Abul Naga as saying.
Egypt floated its currency in November last year to limit shortage of foreign currency, from less than 8 pounds then to current 17.59 pounds.
It also agreed a three-year, 12 billion dollars IMF loan program in the same month last year that is tied to ambitious economic reforms such as subsidy cuts and tax hikes.
Tareq Amer, governor of the CBE said earlier that the economic reform results in Egypt are "strong and exceeded expectations."
Amer said the results of Egypt's economic reform program are described by international investment experts as "an extraordinary achievement," pointing out the foreign investments in Egyptian increased to 18 billion dollars in September.
He added more international institutions sought to invest 26 billion dollars in international securities issued by Egypt.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:44:03|Editor: Lu Hui
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BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- An amendment to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was passed at the Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee that closed here Saturday.
The document will be submitted to the upcoming 19th CPC National Congress for review.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:44:03|Editor: Song Lifang
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Photo taken on Oct. 13, 2017 shows the scene of a military operation in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan. At least 12 militants loyal to the Taliban group have been killed and six others wounded, following a series of government forces air-and-ground operations to retake Nad Ali and Marja districts of Helmand province, an official said Saturday.(Xinhua/Abdul Aziz Safdari)
LASHKARGAH, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 12 militants loyal to the Taliban group have been killed and six others wounded following a series of government forces air-and-ground operations to retake Nadali and Marja districts of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, deputy to provincial police chief Abdul Rahim said Saturday.
"Since launching cleanup operations backed by air power on Friday, several villages have been retaken form Taliban militants and enemies have lost dozens of fighters in Nad Ali and Marja districts," Rahim told Xinhua.
He said the operations would continue to wipe out militants and ensure law and order in the districts.
Taliban militants who are in control of some districts in the poppy-growing Helmand province have not commented on the casualties.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:54:10|Editor: Song Lifang
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SARI PUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants have overrun seven checkpoints in the strategically important Mirza Olang area of Afghanistan's northern Sari Pul province, a local official said Saturday.
"Taliban militants in an overnight operations captured seven police checkpoints in Mirza Olang area, forcing security forces to retreat," provincial police chief Khalilullah Dastyar told Xinhua.
Meantime, another official on the condition of anonymity said that the armed militants captured Mirza Olang area Friday night.
The strategically important Mirza Olang district was captured by anti-government militants some two months ago during which dozens of people were killed and hundreds of others left the area for safer places.
If the militants were able to control Mirza Olang area, they would be able to influence the provincial capital Sari Pul and the neighboring Sayad and Kohistanat districts, local observers believe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 18:59:12|Editor: Song Lifang
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ISLAMABAD, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani army said Saturday that at least two civilians were injured by Indian forces' firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region.
An army statement said that the Indian forces "resorted to unprovoked firing and targeted civilian population" in Satwal and Nikial sectors along the LoC, which divides Pakistan and India in Kashmir.
A statement from the army's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said that the Indian troops targeted civilian population in Tetrinote, Manwa, Satwal and Balakot villages and injured two, including a six-year-old girl.
"Pakistan Army aggressively and effectively responded to hostile fire, silenced their guns and caused considerable damage to the posts carrying out fire," the statement said.
"Targeting civilians will not deter Kashmiri people from their just struggle against Indian oppression," the army said.
Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and the Working Boundary in 2003. Both sides, however, routinely accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.
There has been escalation along the LoC and Working Boundary since militants attacked an army base in the Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers on Sept. 18 last year.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 4 that during the past two weeks, Indian forces have increasingly targeted civilian areas on the Pakistani side in the disputed Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of 13 civilians.
In 2017 to date, the Indian forces have carried out more than 900 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the killings of 45 innocent civilians and injuries to 155, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 19:12:29|Editor: Song Lifang
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Photo taken on Oct. 13, 2017 shows the scene of a military operation in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan. At least 12 militants loyal to the Taliban group have been killed and six others wounded, following a series of government forces air-and-ground operations to retake Nad Ali and Marja districts of Helmand province, an official said Saturday.(Xinhua/Abdul Aziz Safdari)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 19:09:16|Editor: Song Lifang
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MANILA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines slammed on Saturday the international human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) for "demonizing" the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the sole agency that President Rodrigo Duterte designated in charge of the government's anti-illegal drug campaign.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said "(PDEA) is now being demonized" by the international human rights watchdog.
"While Amnesty International is known to be disparaging of the frontline role of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the anti-illegal drug campaign, now it sees the relief of the agency as a mere public relations stunt," Abella said.
Abella said PDEA is now the "object of AI's, and similar groups' ire and vilification."
Nevertheless, Abella said the government will continue its drive to make the Philippines a "crime, corruption and illegal drug-free nation."
"We are hopeful that operations of (PDEA) will not be jeopardized by the interference of outside agencies that fail to appreciate our desire, not for a drug-tolerant, but the drug-free nation," Abella said.
Duterte this week signed an order designating PDEA as the sole agency in charge of the administration's war on drugs, excluding the police in the anti-narcotics campaign. Duterte's move came in the wake of criticisms that some policemen are abusive to members of the drug syndicates operating in the country.
James Gomez, AI's international director of Southeast Asian and the Pacific, said on Friday that Duterte's decision "is nothing but a short-term move in response to growing public outrage about the drug war's many victims, which are overwhelmingly poor, and include children."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 19:09:17|Editor: An
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BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Syrian poet Adonis, a master of Arabic literature, wrote poems with calligraphy brush in Beijing to express his passion for Chinese culture on Saturday.
Adonis, who again narrowly missed winning the Nobel Prize in Literature several days ago, joined in a literati gathering organized by a famous Chinese ink producer, appreciating Chinese ink culture with his friends.
The serial nominee for the Nobel Prize wrote his poem with a brush pen dipped in the Chinese ink, which reads "live a bright life and write a poem" in Arabic, exhibiting his skill to combine the two ancient cultures into one piece of art.
On the occasion, Adonis also recited a fragment of his Arabic poem, in which the poet reckoned the ink as "gorgeous black liquid" and expressed his regret on failure to bring the Chinese ink on board after his visit to Beijing and Shanghai.
Syrian Ambassador to China Imad Moustapha participated in the gathering, saying that such cultural exchange activity can link unacquainted Syrian and Chinese people into good friends.
The ambassador added that it is necessary for Syrian people to understand the Chinese culture because of its long history, remarkable success and future orientation.
Adonis is the winner of the first Golden Magnolia Award of the Shanghai International Poetry Festival this year at the age of 87, whose judges described his influence on Arabic poetry as a match of that of Ezra Pound's and T.S. Eliot's on English-language poetry, according to the organizing committee of the festival.
LARAMIE Electronic evidence seized from former therapist Scott Alan Addison was discussed at a District Court hearing Thursday to see if it would be admissible in his Dec. 11 trial. No decision was made Thursday, but a future hearing will be scheduled to further discuss if the evidence is appropriate.
At his District Court arraignment March 28, Addison pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault, one count of blackmail, two counts of attempted blackmail, one count of felonious restraint and 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Addison could be sentenced up to 275 years in prison and pay $200,000 in fines if he is found guilty.
University of Wyoming Police Department Officer Jonathan Root told Judge Tori Kricken at the hearing Thursday that he is assisting the investigation by creating reports on the different types of data on devices seized from Addisons residence.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 19:54:29|Editor: Song Lifang
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DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army and allied fighters fully captured the city of Mayadeen in the countryside of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Capturing Mayadeen city comes after intense battles with the Islamic State (IS), as the city was one of their last key strongholds in Deir al-Zour near Iraq.
Regarded as the IS capital in Deir al-Zour, the city had served as an important hub for IS between the city of Bukamal in the remote eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, on the Iraqi border, and the capital city of Deir al-Zour, where the IS has lost key ground.
The city lies on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, and the advance of the Syrian army in that area helped in tightening the siege on the IS militants in the few neighborhoods they are still holding inside Deir al-Zour city.
The Syrian army has managed to advance against IS in Deir al-Zour with the help of Iranian-backed fighters and the airstrikes and special forces of Russia.
Last month, the army broke IS three-year siege on Deir al-Zour, capturing 75 percent of the capital city and continuing to attack the IS positions in the countryside of that key oil-rich province.
This comes amid reports that IS has almost lost its de facto capital in Raqqa as a result of the progress achieved by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
The terror group is now holding the city of Bukamal, the last key stronghold in Deir al-Zour, and its defeat in that area would be the final countdown for its eradication from Syria.
Photo taken on Sept. 15, 2017 shows the Halogaland Bridge is being built by the Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) from China over a fjord by the city of Narvik in northern Norway. With a free span of 1,145 meters, the Halogaland Bridge in northern Norway that is being built by a Chinese company will be one of the longest suspension bridges in Europe when it opens for traffic in the summer of 2018. (Xinhua/Yngve Jacobsen)
by Yngve Jacobsen
NARVIK, Norway, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- With a free span of 1,145 meters, the Halogaland Bridge in northern Norway that is being built by a Chinese company will be one of the longest suspension bridges in Europe when it opens for traffic in the summer of 2018.
Considered to be a "highly socioeconomically profitable" project, the Halogaland Bridge is located in the High North, 300 km north of the Arctic Circle, and crosses a fjord by the city of Narvik in northern Norway.
The bridge will contribute to a significant shortcut on European route E6, the main north-south road through Norway and the west coast of Sweden.
It is the Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) from China that has delivered the steel constructions and is responsible for the mounting. For a year and a half, about 70 Chinese have worked with the bridge.
Photo taken on Sept. 15, 2017 shows Hans Jack Arntzen, project manager with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), at the construction site of the Halogaland Bridge, which is being built by the Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) from China over a fjord by the city of Narvik in northern Norway. With a free span of 1,145 meters, the Halogaland Bridge in northern Norway that is being built by a Chinese company will be one of the longest suspension bridges in Europe when it opens for traffic in the summer of 2018. (Xinhua/Yngve Jacobsen)
BIG AND CHALLENGING JOB
The Halogaland Bridge is the fifth largest suspension bridge in Europe and the second largest in Norway. The East Bridge, as part of the Great Belt Fixed Link in Denmark, has Europe's longest main span of 1,625 meters.
For SRBG, the bridge being built in northern Norway is not its record for the longest span. In 2009, the Chinese company finished building the Xihoumen Bridge in Zhejiang, China, with a main span of 1,650 meters.
However, when asked if the Halogaland Bridge is just a small job for SRBG, the Chinese company's project director Lu Wei said it is still a "big and challenging" project.
"No, by no means. Any bridge with a free span over 1,000 meters is considered as 'super bridge' worldwide. So this is a very big and challenging job also for our company," Lu told Xinhua as he stood on a highly elevated catwalk over the construction site.
On this perfect autumn day with a wind of only three to four meters per second, two tugs, the crane ship "The Owl", the cargo ship "Korex 2" and a strong crew were working underneath the temporary hanging work roads between the towers of the bridge.
"This project is really a challenging experience when it comes to bridge construction, also compared to the much larger Xihoumen Bridge that we have built," Lu said. "The Halogaland Bridge has a very special design with cables and structure."
"The SRBG will collect all resources and complete this project according to Norwegian standards," he added.
With the North Atlantic as a close neighbor, weather in these areas could change quickly, which has resulted in a number of days of shutdown in connection with cable pulling and mounting of the bridge sections, Lu said.
Photo taken on Sept. 15, 2017 shows the Halogaland Bridge is being built by the Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) from China over a fjord by the city of Narvik in northern Norway. With a free span of 1,145 meters, the Halogaland Bridge in northern Norway that is being built by a Chinese company will be one of the longest suspension bridges in Europe when it opens for traffic in the summer of 2018. (Xinhua/Yngve Jacobsen)
INCREDIBLE PRECISION
Because of the size of the project and special requirements of the bridge's concrete and steel, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) was obliged to advertise the main contracts worldwide, not only in the European Union (EU) area.
One assumed that the steel expertise could be difficult to find in Europe alone for a specially designed project of this size. When the tender announcement was published, it attracted international attention due to its complexity.
In 2013, the SRBG from China eventually won the steel contract in a tough competition with the world's leading bridge builders.
The steel contract for SRBG with nominal 755 million kroner (96 million U.S. dollars) includes preproduction of all the parts -- cables and steel boxes and site construction. The production of the steel parts was carried out in four different factories in China and lasted for four years.
The Norwegian road administration's employees who were deployed at these factories to follow the production have stated that the parts were made with incredible precision, so that they could fit together as a construction set.
Photo taken on Sept. 15, 2017 shows the Halogaland Bridge is being built by the Sichuan Road and Bridge Group (SRBG) from China over a fjord by the city of Narvik in northern Norway. With a free span of 1,145 meters, the Halogaland Bridge in northern Norway that is being built by a Chinese company will be one of the longest suspension bridges in Europe when it opens for traffic in the summer of 2018. (Xinhua/Yngve Jacobsen)
GOOD COOPERATION
The Norwegian project management said the Chinese company was doing well in the multinational construction site with workers from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, Serbia, Vietnam and China.
"Norwegian and Chinese requirements are different, but the Chinese have proven to be very adaptable. They take a quick grip on new things and we cooperate well," said Hans Jack Arntzen, project manager with the NPRA.
He also said that the Chinese company has a strong focus on the management of health, safety and environment (HSE).
"The steel enterprise, which the Chinese handle with great precision, knowledge and experience, includes heavy crane lifts at high altitudes with not so few risk factors," Arntzen said. "We have not had serious absence injuries, which shows that the Chinese have a strong focus on HSE."
Meanwhile, the Chinese said they could also learn from the high standard of managing health, safety and environment in Norway.
"We have received good help and support from the client from the very first moment and we cooperate well, which is a prerequisite for a good result," Lu said, referring to the NPRA.
"Norway has a high standard of HSE, which contributes to a safe working environment for our workers. We learn from this and intend to transfer it to China," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 19:59:31|Editor: Lu Hui
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Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, speaks at the Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in Beijing, capital of China. The plenum was held from Oct. 11 to 14 in Beijing. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The four-day Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded in Beijing Saturday with a communique issued.
Entrusted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report at the meeting.
It was decided that the 19th CPC National Congress will be convened from Oct. 18 in Beijing, according to the communique.
A report to be made by the 18th CPC Central Committee to the 19th CPC National Congress, a work report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) to the congress, as well as an amendment to the CPC Constitution were discussed and approved.
It was decided that three documents will be submitted to the upcoming congress for examination and deliberation.
Altogether 191 members and 141 alternate members of the CPC Central Committee attended the meeting, with members of the CCDI and leading officials of related departments present as non-voting delegates.
The plenum was presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
Xi gave an explanation on the draft report to the 19th CPC National Congress, and Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, gave an explanation of the draft amendment to the CPC Constitution.
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BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The four-day Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded in Beijing Saturday with a communique issued.
Entrusted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report at the meeting. Full Story
11 new full members admitted to CPC Central Committee
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Eleven new full members have been admitted to the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said a communique issued after the committee's plenary session closed here Saturday.
The new members, Cui Bo, Shu Xiaoqin, Ma Shunqing, Wang Jianjun, Li Qiang, Chen Wu, Chen Mingming, Zhao Lixiong, Zhao Shucong, Duan Chunhua and Losang Jamcan, had been alternate members of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the communique said. Full Story
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 19:59:32|Editor: Song Lifang
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BAGHDAD, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi on Saturday called for bilateral dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil to break the political stalemate between the central government and the Kurdish region that was created by the last month's independence referendum.
A statement by his office said that Allawi's call was built on the repeated call for national dialogue by the regional President Masoud Barzani and other Kurdish political leaders, and on the other hand, the repeated stance of the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to reject resorting to military force to solve the problems between Baghdad and the semi-autonomous region.
"We take the opportunity today to stress the need of bilateral dialogues between Baghdad and Erbil with an urgent national meeting to establish a clear road map for the future of the political process in Iraq," the statement said.
Late last month, Allawi launched an initiative in which he called for dialogue between the region and the central government without any preconditions, and that the dialogue to be held on the basis of the constitution, and freezing the results of the Sept. 25 referendum, in order to defuse the crisis between the two sides.
On Thursday, Abadi, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of Iraqi forces, said the Iraqi army will not go into a war against the Iraqi people, including the people of Kurdistan.
"We will not use our army against our people or fight a war against our Kurdish and other citizens," Abadi said, adding that his government "duty is to preserve the unity of the country, apply the constitution and safeguard the citizens and national wealth."
However, Abadi on Sept. 27 called on the Kurdish regional government to cancel the results of the controversial independence referendum.
"We want Kurdistan region to cancel the outcomes of the referendum if they want to start talks with Baghdad, which must be under the roof of the constitution," Abadi told the lawmaker when attended a parliament session to discuss the crisis with the Kurds.
Baghdad government also adopted punitive measures that included suspension of international flights to the Kurdish region and blocked all the border crossings which are outside the control of the federal authorities, and called on the neighboring countries (Turkey and Iran) to help the Iraq in implementing its measures.
The independence of Kurdistan is opposed not only by the Iraqi central government, but also by most other countries, because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and undermine the fight against Islamic State militants.
Iraq's neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Iran and Syria, fear the Iraqi Kurdish independence move would threaten their territorial integrity, as large population of Kurds live in those countries.
The U.S. had repeatedly warned the Kurds to postpone the referendum, saying such move could derail or confuse the war against IS.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 20:09:34|Editor: Song Lifang
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NAIROBI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Seven people among them six students and a night guard died after heavily armed militia suspected to be from South Sudan stormed a high school in Kenya's Turkana County on Saturday dawn.
The armed bandits who were said to be on a revenge mission attacked the students in their dormitory while they were asleep.
Sources revealed that one of the attackers was a student in Lokichogio Secondary School that is located near the Kenya-South Sudan border.
The male student who had earlier been suspended after he was caught fighting with his counterpart vowed to go back to school and revenge.
Dozens of injured students were rushed to a nearby health centre for treatment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 20:09:35|Editor: An
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BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) Saturday issued an orange alert for Typhoon Khanun, which is expected to make landfall in the country's southern coastal areas in the early hours of Monday.
At 5 p.m. Saturday, the eye of Khanun, this year's 20th typhoon, was above the South China Sea, 840 km southeast of Xuwen County, south China's Guangdong Province, packing winds of up to 30 meters per second.
The NMC has forecast that it would move northwest at a speed of 20 km per hour, while growing stronger and likely escalating into a super typhoon. It is expected to make landfall in areas between Yangxi, Guangdong and Qionghai, Hainan Province Monday morning.
Regions including Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan will see torrential rain and gales over the weekend.
The NMC suggested local governments take precautions against possible disasters, and ships in affected areas return to port.
China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 20:19:40|Editor: Song Lifang
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MANILA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The joint air patrols of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia will boost operations to quell the threat of terrorism in Southeast Asia, Philippine officials said on Saturday.
"The fight against terrorism in the region continues to get a boost," said Ernesto Abella, the spokesman of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Abella said the coordinated joint air patrols among the three Southeast Asian countries are designed "to better counter the movement of terrorist groups and to strengthen the security of our three nations and that of the region."
"By sharing information and exchanging best practices, we hope to improve the interoperability of our forces and help better secure areas of common maritime interest," Abella said.
On Thursday, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein launched the trilateral air patrol in Subang Air Base in Malaysia.
Southeast Asia, a region of more to more than 600 million people and around 15 percent of the world's Muslim population, has faced the threat of terrorism for decades. The rise of the Islamic State (IS) and the extremists' desire to establish a caliphate in the region poses new challenges for the region.
Lorenzana said they "all expressed their commitment to continue working together, especially on countering the movement of violent extremists and terrorists across the porous borders of the three countries."
The three countries in June also inaugurated the trilateral maritime patrol and vowed "to work together to jointly develop and implement counter-terrorism measures and strategies" to ensure that the IS militants will not gain the foothold in the region.
The joint air patrol is the second component of the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA) to secure the maritime areas of common concerns, according to Lorenzana.
The launching of the trilateral air patrol completes the military cooperation among the three countries, he said.
Under the trilateral air patrol agreement, he said the air forces of the three countries will take turns in leading the joint air patrol operations.
"All three air forces have already made the commitments on the deployment schedule of air assets. The rotational naval and air patrols, as well as information sharing and communications, will be supported by the Joint Maritime Coordinating Centers in Tarakan, Indonesia; in Tawau, Malaysia; and in Bongao in the Philippines," Lorenzana said.
The three defense ministers agreed that the joint maritime and air patrol operations will be permanent and continue for as long as needed, Lorenzana said.
Moreover, Lorenzana said the three countries are open to the other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 20:19:41|Editor: Song Lifang
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ASSADABAD, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 Islamic State (IS) group militants were killed in drone attacks in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, with Assadabad as its capital 185 km east of Kabul, provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat said Saturday.
"Unmanned plane targeted a group of IS fighters in Badgol area of Chawkay district on Thursday, killing at least 20 armed insurgents," Hemat told Xinhua.
The official, however, declined to provide more details.
At the same time, some locals who refused to be named have claimed that all the victims were civilians who wanted to participate in a wedding ceremony.
Militants loyal to the IS and the Taliban outfit who are active in parts of Kunar province are yet to make comment on the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 20:24:42|Editor: Song Lifang
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MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Al-Shabaab militants have taken control of Bariire town in southern Somalia following the withdrawal of Somali troops, witnesses told Xinhua.
The witnesses revealed that Somali National Army which operates a military base in the town left at around 3 a.m. local time paving way for entry of the militants who have now taken charge.
"Government forces left their base and deserted town at 3 a.m. and in a short span the Al-Shabaab fighters took over. Many people fled their homes but I decided to come back after three hours," the witness told Xinhua by phone.
Government officials in the town could not immediately be reached for comment.
The return of Al-Shabaab to Bariire happened barely two weeks after a deadly attack at a Somali National Army base late September where they reportedly killed 17 soldiers.
A joint offensive by Somali and African Union forces in August led to the capture of Bariire town which is around 45 kilometers south of the capital Mogadishu.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 20:39:45|Editor: Song Lifang
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by Mahmoud Darwesh
TRIPOLI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The process of amending the Libyan Political Agreement is in its final stage.
It is expected that after the upcoming meeting in the Tunisian capital in the next week or so, the two parties -- the Higher Council of State and the House of Representatives -- of the agreement would come up with final proposals to amend controversial articles of the UN-sponsored political agreement before submitting them for voting.
House of Representatives member Ismail Al-Sharif believes that the amendment of the agreement is almost done with the balanced proposals replacing the controversial articles, and that the final proposals would satisfy both parties.
"We will discuss the remaining controversial issues and articles, especially Article 8 and the mechanism of choosing the new Presidential Council," Al-Sharif told Xinhua.
Al-Sharif said that a few patterns for choosing a new Presidential Council have been proposed, adding that nobody would be excluded from running for the council's presidency.
Article 8 of the agreement is one of the most important obstacles facing its implementation, according to which the appointment of all senior military and security leaders is the specialty of the Presidential Council.
The Libyan eastern-based Parliament on Tuesday granted the Tripoli-based Presidential Council the specialty to choose senior military and security leaders. The new Presidential Council will be composed of three members instead of nine. The Tripoli-based Higher Council of State accepted the parliament's decision.
Ali Al-Suweih, a member of the Higher Council of State, believes that there is great pressure from the new UN envoy, specifically in the management of the meetings in Tunisia.
"Ghassan Salame, the UN envoy to Libya, has stopped all the parties from trying to impede the discussion of controversial issues of the agreement. He requested the unified drafting committee to present a coherent and concentrated schedule. This would help focus on the amendment process." Al-Suweih told Xinhua.
Regarding difficulties facing this process, Al-Suweih pointed out that heads of the Parliament and the Higher Council of State "attempted to intervene and impose certain proposals, which is totally unacceptable, as the two were the direct cause for failure of the political situation."
Libyan political analyst Abdullah Al-Rayes agrees with Al-Suweih. "The new UN envoy is serious about the political crisis. Efforts on amendment of the agreement includes handing over the power a year after the appointment of a new Presidential Council and a government, and holding presidential and parliamentary elections that would produce new figures instead of old ones," Al-Rayes said.
"The danger lies in the negative interference of regional parties, which think that Libya should adopt a political system that protects their own interests, instead of a political leadership that tries to solve current economic and security crisis. There are certain countries that do not want stability for Libya, and will try to disrupt the meetings in Tunisia and the amendment of the agreement through their ambassadors," Al-Rayes added.
Salame, special representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of UN Support Mission in Libya, has revealed difficulties facing the process of amending the political agreement.
"I did not choose who sits around the table. I wanted to reduce the number of members of the committee, so that drafting is easier," Salame said Thursday. "Drafting by 50 or 100 people is absolutely unreasonable, and we should not fool each other in this matter."
Salame said that the meetings in Tunisia are for drafting and amending certain articles of the agreement, instead of holding dialogue sessions to make a new agreement.
"One of the members of the drafting committee came to the meeting with a new draft constitution. I replied that this is not the right time or place to discuss these matters," he said.
He stressed his focus on the sovereignty of Libya, confirming that no ambassador or diplomat has been allowed to enter the meeting in Tunisia, so that the drafting committee is not disturbed.
He has proposed an action plan in September for Libya that includes amendment of the current UN-sponsored political agreement, holding a UN-sponsored national conference for all of Libya's political factions, adopting a constitution and election of a president and a parliament. The action plan is aimed at ending the current political crisis of the country.
CHEYENNE -- The Laramie County District Attorney's Office has until Oct. 31 to decide whether to bring a death penalty prosecution against a man accused of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son in May.
John Barrett appeared before District Judge Catherine Rogers on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in commission of a felony, one count of felony child abuse and one count of aggravated child abuse.
Rogers said Laramie County District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg and the lead prosecutor on the case, Edward Buchanan, have until the end of the month to decide whether they intend to seek the death penalty.
If the death penalty is sought, Barrett would have to first be convicted of first-degree murder. If the jury finds him guilty, then a death penalty trial phase would occur.
Barrett is accused of killing and sexually abusing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son after the child had been in Barrett's care while his girlfriend was at work.
An autopsy later ruled the death as homicide, and the medical examiner also noted injuries to several internal organs and bruising all over the child's body.
Currently, there are no inmates on death row in Wyoming. A federal judge in 2014 vacated the sentence of the state's only death row inmate, Dale Eaton, who was found guilty in 2004 to the 1988 kidnapping, rape and murder of an 18-year-old woman.
The last person to be executed in the state was killed by lethal injection in 1992.
Very few attorneys currently practicing law in Wyoming have tried a death penalty case, Sandburg said. He and Buchanan have been trained in trying capital cases, but neither has ever tried one.
That's, in part, because the death penalty is hard to bring, since state statute is so narrowly tailored, Sandburg said.
There are several criteria that would qualify a death penalty prosecution, including: if the manner of death was "especially atrocious or cruel;" if the victim is "less than 17 years or older than 65 years;" if the perpetrator "poses substantial and continuing threat or is likely to commit acts again;" and/or if the "victim (is) especially vulnerable due to significant mental or physical disability."
One element that is especially hard to prove is that the person convicted of murder created a risk of death to two or more people, Sandburg said.
The Wyoming Supreme Court in 2003 overturned the death sentence of Martin Olsen, who shot and killed three people while robbing a bar in Worland in 1997.
In that case, the Supreme Court determined that two or more people other than the intended victim or victims had to have been at risk of death to satisfy that portion of the statute.
The death penalty has drawn criticism in the last several years, primarily over concern about the use of certain drugs in executions.
Attorneys in appeals and advocates say that the fatal drug cocktail given to certain inmates causes them great pain before they die.
Some pharmaceutical companies have stopped selling the drugs to states because they do not want them used in executions.
At the end of 2015, there were 2,881 inmates on death row nationwide, 61 fewer than the previous year. It was the 15th consecutive year in which the number of inmates sentenced to death had decreased, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
In 2015, 16 states -- including Illinois, North Dakota, West Virginia and Michigan, plus the District of Columbia -- outlawed the death penalty altogether.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 21:09:52|Editor: Song Lifang
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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A policeman was killed and two others wounded Saturday after militants attacked their vehicle in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.
The police vehicle was attacked near village D H Pora of Kulgam district, about 68 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
"This evening militants attacked a police vehicle near D H Pora village here in which one police constable was killed and two others wounded," a senior police official told Xinhua. "The wounded policemen were removed to hospital immediately."
Reports said following the attack police, paramilitary and army rushed to the village to nab the assailants. However, until late no one was found.
So far no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Earlier in the morning, two local militants, including a commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed in a gunfight in Pulwama district.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 21:14:54|Editor: Song Lifang
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DOHA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Qatar expressed its continued support for the Palestinian cause and welcomed the reconciliation agreement concluded between Fatah and Hamas movements, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Saturday.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said so during a telephone conversation with the Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh Friday evening.
The emir referred to Qatar's role in reconstructing the besieged strip, as well as its valuable efforts to push the Palestinian parties to end the division, the report said.
He also reiterated Qatar's firm support for the Palestinian people until they achieve their legitimate rights and establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Palestinian political parties Hamas and Fatah signed Thursday a reconciliation deal in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, as part of an effort to end a decade-long rift.
The deal stipulates that legislative, presidential and national council elections should be conducted within one year of its signing, though details of the reconciliation deal have not yet been made public.
A bullet train drives in the fields of Binyang County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 16, 2017. China has built one of the world's most extensive high-speed rail networks in just a few years. It has the world's longest high-speed rail network, 22,000 km as of the end of 2016, or 60 percent of the world's total, and the mileage will increase to 45,000 km by 2030. Guangxi joined the networks of high-speed rail in 2013. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
by Deng Qian
LONDON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Britain and China should be natural partners in taking forward the Belt and Road Initiative, Chief Executive of China-Britain Business Council Matthew Rous has told Xinhua in a recent conference on Belt and Road development held in Scotland.
He said he agreed with what British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond mentioned during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May this year that "Britain, lying at the western end of the Belt and Road, is a natural partner in this endeavour".
"Because we have very complimentary skills and offerings when it commence to establishing new infrastructure between Europe and Asia," he explained.
As a former diplomat, Matthew Rous has long experience in Asia. He was appointed as HM Consul-General Guangzhou from 2014 to 2017. His first posting in China was in the Embassy in Beijing in 1994-1997.
He said China is very strong in the construction sector. "The physical infrastructure development within China over the last ten or twenty years has been incredibly impressive."
He also noted China has huge capital as well, which is now looking for new homes overseas. More and more Chinese capital invested into international market in recent years.
"What dose the UK offer?" He answered himself. "We has strength in finance services, so finding good homes for capital. We also has strength in many sectors such as legal service, co-op governance, procurement, engineering, design and project management. If you put the two parts together, it is a good marriage."
He also mentioned the English language and the common law are important things as well. "I believe that UK and China's business working together can be a very powerful combination."
Regarding to the development opportunity in the Belt and Road, He said "we want to see a model of development which supports the environment and local communities along the Belt and Road. I think with our strong international experience in many of these countries we can help to do that. So it's partly about business and commercial opportunity but a big part of it is about working in partnership with China to make the world a better place."
The China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) is an important and active organization to help British and Chinese businesses and organizations work together in China, Britain and third markets around the world.
With 60 years of experience, experts in 11 British offices and 15 Chinese locations, and a diverse 1,000-strong membership, CBBC cooperate closely with the British government to highlight export opportunities for British companies and investment opportunities for Chinese organizations.
Rous has been appointed as chief executive of CBBC since this June.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 21:19:56|Editor: Song Lifang
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QINZHOU, Southeastern China, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Poland's 30th seeds Kinga Kolosinska and Katarzyna Kociolek stunned second seeds Brooke Sweat and Summer Ross of the United States in straight sets Saturday afternoon to set up a women's final clash with Australian fifth seeds Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Qinzhou Open.
Playing their second tournament together, Kolosinska/Kociolek beat the American title favorites 21-17 and 21-18 in the first semi-final match to record their fourth straight victory in the single elimination tournament including an opening upset win over third seeds April Ross and Kelly Claes of the United States.
"It was a little bit crazy, because it's so windy and it's very hard to control the ball. But we did our best, we tried to catch every ball and finish every ball. I think we deserved to win," said Kociolek.
"I am really exhausted right now and we are really satisfied to be in the final," added Kolosinska, who stopped ice Ross for the match winner.
The Polish duo, who have kept saying 'we want to win the next match' and kept winning in the last few days, were determined to clinch the title of the three-star World Tour event in Qinzhou.
"You can trust us, we keep our words, like we said we were going to win, and we want to do it again," Kociolek said.
In the other semi-final match, Artacho/Clancy upset top seeds and home favorites Wang Fan/Xia Xinyi 29-27 and 21-18. The first set was hotly contested as the two sides fought to ties from 17 to 27. Then Clancy had two shots in a row to claim the opener for the Australians. Trailing 19-15 in the second set, Wang/Xia ran off three points in a row to pull within 19-18, but Clancy came up big again by scoring the next two.
"We are so excited! It's our first semifinal on a World Tour event together and it's really special," said Clancy. "It's always hard to play the Chinese, especially at their home, so it's really nice to get the win."
Clancy attributed the victory to the patience and trust between Artacho and her. "It's just the patience and trust in our game. We know our side is quite good and we know that we can score quite well as well. As long as we stay together and play as a team, we can come back whatever the score is," she added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 21:45:02|Editor: An
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YINCHUAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A new direct air route linking Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, with Pattaya, a resort city in Thailand, opened Saturday.
It is the first regular direct flight between the two cities.
The flight will leave Pattaya at 7: 00 p.m. and arrive in Yinchuan at 11:30 p.m. Beijing time on Sunday. It will depart Yinchuan at 0:30 a.m. and arrive in Pattaya at 5 a.m. Beijing time on Monday.
The flights will be operated by Thai airline Nok Air.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 21:50:04|Editor: An
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GUIYANG, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's top alcohol brand Kweichow Moutai signed Saturday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a visiting San Francisco government delegation in a bid to promote bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, culture and tourism.
Under the MoU, Moutai will open an office in San Francisco to increase its sales in the city and further expand its market share in the United States, said Yuan Renguo, chairman of Kweichow Maotai Group.
Edwin M. Lee, mayor of San Francisco, said the MoU will further promote bilateral cultural exchange between future generations of China and the United States.
In 1915, Maotai received its first gold metal at the Panama Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco.
Maotai held an event on November 12, 2015 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of winning the award. At the celebration, Lee announced the day would be marked as San Francisco Moutai Day.
Distilled in the town of Maotai in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Moutai is considered the country's national liquor and often served on official occasions and at state banquets.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 22:05:10|Editor: Song Lifang
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Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades waves during a gathering of ruling DISY party in Nicosia, Cyprus, Oct. 14, 2017. Cyprus' outgoing president Nicos Anastasiades said on Saturday that he will be seeking a second and last five-year term in presidential elections set to take place next January. (Xinhua/Christos Theodorides)
NICOSIA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' outgoing president Nicos Anastasiades said on Saturday that he will be seeking a second and last five-year term in presidential elections set to take place next January.
Anastasiades told a packed audience of ruling DISY party cadres that he will make it his priority to find a solution to the long standing Cyprus problem in negotiations with Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.
"Failure to reach a solution is not in the interests of either Greek or Turkish Cypriots, and naturally, not of Turkey either. I want to believe Turkey will see the benefits of a solution," he said.
The partition of Cyprus is an unsurmountable obstacle in Ankara's bid to join the European Union or upgrade the status of its relations with EU.
Anastasiades, who had led the center-right wing Democratic Rally Party (DISY) before being elected in 2013, is credited with leading negotiations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots closer to an agreement than never before.
However, the negotiations came to an end in July, when Turkey said it would not consent to giving up guarantee and intervention rights in Cyprus and withdraw all its troops it sent to occupy the northern part of the island, after a Greek-inspired coup in 1974.
Anastasiades said a solution is out of the question without the ending of foreign intervention rights and the stationing of troops forever.
Anastasiades said he has told the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, that he is ready to resume negotiations any time.
But the Turkish side has indicated that it will not consider resuming talks before the outcome of the presidential election is known.
Anastasiades will run against at least three other contestants, Stavros Malas, an independent who is however supported by left wing AKEL party and has been the main opponent of Anastasiades in 2013, Nicolas Papadopoulos, leader of the center Democratic Party and the son of former President Tassos Papadopoulos and Giorgos Lillikas, the leader of the small People's Alliance party.
Anastasiades and Malas support a Cyprus solution in line with a blueprint set out by the UN Secretary-General, while Papadopoulos and Lillikas dismiss the blueprint as potentially risky for Greek Cypriots.
Anastasiades is expected to run an electoral campaign based on his economic record following the 2013 economic crisis that led Cyprus to the brink of bankruptcy.
The eastern Mediterranean island, one of the smallest European Union countries, required an 10-billion-euro bailout by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund, which for three years monitored the application of harsh austerity measures, economic reforms and the resolution of the banking system.
Anastasiades called the crisis one of the most difficult periods Cyprus has ever been through.
Cyprus has returned to a robust development which is expected to reach 3.7 percent this year, according to an IMF estimate, and a healthy surplus budget.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 22:30:16|Editor: yan
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BANGKOK, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A large volume of aphrodisiac jelly made in India was seized as smuggled goods on Saturday in Mae Sot district in northwestern Thailand, police said.
A truckload of 112,300 packs of aphrodisiac jelly, branded "Kamagra 100mg oral jelly," had been allegedly smuggled across the border into Mae Sot, about 480 km northwest of Bangkok and opposite Myawaddy township in Myanmar.
The authorities arrested a Thai national, identified as Kraisorn Khacharoen, on the charge of smuggling the aphrodisiac jelly into Thailand where they could totally be sold for more than 11.23 million baht (330,000 U.S. dollars) in the black markets, police said.
In addition to the illegal jelly, the smuggling suspect allegedly smuggled 2,200 fashion hats made in South Korea and worth about 1.95 million baht (57,300 U.S. dollars) aboard his pickup truck.
Suicide car bomb exploded in front of Safari Hotel in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia on October 14, 2017. (Xinhua)
MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 people were killed and several others injured in a deadly bomb explosion near a popular hotel in Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday, the police said.
Adan Mohamed, a witness, told Xinhua that a vehicle loaded with explosives exploded at the junction of KM5 just opposite Safari hotel.
Suicide car bomb exploded in front of Safari Hotel in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia on October 14, 2017. (Xinhua)
Most of the dead were civilians who caught up in the explosion. Security forces have sealed off the blast site for investigation, Mohamed told Xinhua.
Another witness Hamdi Elmi, who was near the scene said the explosion was deafening and shook the entire surrounding area.
Suicide car bomb exploded in front of Safari Hotel in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia on October 14, 2017. (Xinhua)
"I was in a public service vehicle when the explosion went off. I could see smoke from my back and the whole place was shaking," said Hamdi, adding that "We learn the police had been trailing the vehicle with explosives."
Windowpanes and doors in buildings far from the scene were destroyed.
Suicide car bomb exploded in front of Safari Hotel in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia on October 14, 2017. (Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 23:05:22|Editor: yan
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MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A car exploded on Saturday near the former headquarters of Somalia airlines in Wadajir district, Mogadishu in the second attack of the day in the restive Somali capital.
Police sources said there was no casualty in the second blast in the same area where massive explosion earlier killed at least 40 people.
Sources said the security officers arrested the driver of the car which was laden with explosives.
A Casper woman was sentenced to probation Friday for giving a marijuana gummy to her daughter in February.
Vanessa R. Smith pleaded guilty in July to delivery of marijuana to a minor and child endangerment with methamphetamine, both felonies.
She was sentenced to four to five years imprisonment on the two felonies, with those sentences suspended. She will serve four years of probation, and if she completes that stint successfully, she will avoid prison.
According to court documents, police had alleged that Smith returned from Colorado with marijuana edibles from a dispensary. After noticing Smith's daughter seemed out of sorts, Smith's sister asked about the child. Smith's boyfriend then told the sister that Smith had given the girl a marijuana gummy the night before "to calm (the child) down." The girl was 4 or 5 years old at the time.
The sister called the Wyoming Department of Family Services, and the girl gave a urine sample that tested positive for marijuana, according to the documents.
Officers later searched Smiths residence and found marijuana and methamphetamine pipes, bags containing methamphetamine residue, marijuana edibles and unidentified pills. They also found marijuana edibles in Smiths purse. In total, the edibles weighed about 46 grams, according to the documents.
Smith had initially pleaded not guilty to five charges in the case.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 23:40:29|Editor: yan
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MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government has signed a cooperation agreement with International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to help the Horn of Africa nation develop its telecommunication sector.
The Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Technology which inked the agreement said on Saturday that as part of the agreement, the ITU will assist Somalia in a number of areas that are memorialized in the agreement.
"These include the development of national ICT policies and infrastructure, capacity building in the field of ICTs, assistance in establishing an ICT regulator, an ICT training institute, and enhancement of ICT access and usage in the education, health care or other sectors, with due regard to disadvantaged or vulnerable groups within society," it said.
According to the ministry, the purpose of the agreement is to provide a mechanism for the ITU to assist Somalia under ITU Resolutions, which directs the ITU and the secretary general to extend support to Somalia, as the country is a beneficiary as one of the least developed countries.
The deal comes after Somalia's parliament on Aug. 8 unanimously approved the National Communications Act to regulate the country's telecommunication sector.
The telecommunications bill calls for the creation of telecoms regulatory authority, development of the country with telecommunications technology, protecting corporate and consumer rights and more participation by private sectors in developing the sector.
Drafting of this bill started as early as 2004 and has been sitting in front of 7th, 8th and 9th federal parliaments.
However, due to non-stop efforts and change of strategy by the ministry leadership, who have been working on it day and night, the bill was now the first to be approved by the 10th Parliament.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-14 23:45:31|Editor: Lu Hui
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Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, speaks at the Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in Beijing, capital of China. The plenum was held from Oct. 11 to 14 in Beijing. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The four-day Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded in Beijing Saturday with a communique issued.
Entrusted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report at the meeting.
It was decided that the 19th CPC National Congress, a five-yearly event, will be convened from Oct. 18 in Beijing, according to the communique.
A report to be made by the 18th CPC Central Committee to the 19th CPC National Congress, a work report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) to the congress, as well as an amendment to the CPC Constitution were discussed and approved.
It was decided that the three documents will be submitted to the upcoming congress for examination and deliberation.
The amendment to the CPC Constitution must include the key theories and strategic thought presented by the report to be delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress, according to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Sept. 18.
The amended constitution must fully represent the latest sinicization of Marxism, new governance concepts, thoughts 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, it said.
The plenum was presided over by the Political Bureau.
Xi gave an explanation on the draft report to the 19th CPC National Congress, and Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, gave an explanation of the draft amendment to the CPC Constitution.
Altogether 191 members and 141 alternate members of the CPC Central Committee attended the meeting, with members of the CCDI and leading officials of related departments present as non-voting delegates.
Eleven new full members, who had been alternate members of the 18th CPC Central Committee, were admitted to the Central Committee during the plenum.
"FOUR GREATS"
The plenary session comprehensively analyzed the current situation and tasks and conducted in-depth discussion on several important issues which focus on "Four Greats," making full preparation for the 19th CPC National Congress.
The issues under discussion include "engaging in the great battle with many new historical features, embarking on the new great project in Party building, advancing the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and realizing the great dream of revival of the Chinese nation under new situations," read the communique.
The plenum fully affirmed the work of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held a year ago.
The meeting reached consensus that the Political Bureau has held high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and thoroughly implemented the spirits of the 18th CPC National Congress and ensuing plenums of the Central Committee.
The Political Bureau has followed the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development, and thoroughly carried out the essence of Xi's series of important remarks and new governance concepts, thoughts and strategies, according to the communique.
The Political Bureau has united and led the entire nation to continue seeking progress while maintaining stability for its economic work, keep in mind both the domestic and international situations, continue to adopt an overall approach to promote economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress, as well as to advance coordinated development of the "Four Comprehensives."
It has been firm in implementing new development concepts, advancing difficult reforms, building a clean CPC and fighting against corruption, effectively dealing with various risks and challenges, and innovating and improving macro control.
It has also managed to coordinate work for stabilizing growth, promoting reform, adjusting economic structure, improving people's wellbeing, and preventing risks.
It has deepened military reform and construction, taken initiative in handling well the work involving the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, carried forward a big country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in an all-round way.
It strengthened Party discipline comprehensively, maintained stable and healthy economic development as well as social harmony and stability, according to the communique.
LOYALTY TO PARTY
Senior officials should remain loyal to the Party and willingly safeguard the authority of the Party's central leadership and the unity of the Party, said the communique issued after the key plenum.
The Party's leading position should be ensured in all aspects and its role of overseeing all work and coordinating all parties should be guaranteed.
The Party principles should be upheld and its policies implemented, the document stressed.
All local authorities and departments should carry out the decisions of the CPC Central Committee in the first instance, it said.
Senior cadres should set an example for all Party members to keep the Party and the people at heart and be keenly aware of what should and should not be done.
They should display strong political and moral integrity, obedience to Party disciplines and resistance to corruption, the document said.
Being a party of more than 89 million members and the ruling party leading more than 1.3 billion people in the drive for reform and modernization, without the authority and centralized leadership of the CPC Central Committee and without strict political disciplines, rules and a clean political environment, the CPC would compromise its creativity, cohesion and effectiveness, weaken the foundation and ability of its governance and fail its mission, the document said.
The document called on all Party members to firmly safeguard the authority of the Party leadership, follow its lead and stay in accordance with the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core.
"CRUSHING MOMENTUM" CONSOLIDATED
China has gained and consolidated "crushing momentum" in its fight against corruption, read the communique, adjusting previous judgement made late last year at a Political Bureau meeting, which only stated that the fight "has gained crushing momentum."
Participants at the session looked back on the work of the 18th CCDI over the past five years, and agreed that discipline inspection commissions at all levels have fulfilled the duties endowed by the Party Constitution, and have comprehensively pushed forward the strict governance of the Party.
The discipline inspection commissions have been working hard to build a clean Party and fight against corruption, firmly upholding the eight-point frugality code, according to the communique.
The communique also stated that the commissions have made full use of their inspections, prioritizing discipline, and have deepened the reform of discipline inspection and the country's supervisory system.
Moreover, the commissions have built groups of cadres in discipline inspection and supervision that both the Party and the people can trust, while consistently improving the accountability system, uncompromisingly containing the spreading of corruption and purifying the political ecology within the CPC, the communique said.
The plenum endorsed a decision made by the Political Bureau to expel Sun Zhengcai and eleven other senior Party officials from the CPC.
"PROFOUND, FUNDAMENTAL" CHANGES
Summarizing progress made by the CPC over the past five years, the communique said China has witnessed profound and fundamental changes during the period, while its achievements are comprehensive and groundbreaking.
These historic changes and achievements indicate that China's development stands at a new historical starting point, which is of great and far-reaching significance for the cause of the Party and the country, according to the communique.
The plenary session summarized the work of the past five years since the 18th CPC National Congress and held that the five years was an "extraordinary" period.
China has made historic achievements in reform and opening up, as well as socialist modernization, it said.
Over the past five years, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core raised a series of new concepts, thoughts and strategies, formulated a string of important guidelines and policies and rolled out many significant measures, it said.
Many deep-rooted problems and issues that were too difficult to be resolved before have been addressed during that period, which promoted the historic changes for the cause of the Party and the country, according to the document.
"The country also saw major achievements in economic development and major breakthroughs in comprehensively deepening reform. Democratic and legal system construction has taken great steps. Ideological and cultural construction has made important progress. People's living standards have constantly improved," it said.
"The ecological environment has been remarkably improved. The building of a strong army has made new headway. New progress was made in work related to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan," it said.
A woman walks past a board at the Chinese pavilion of the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
by Zhu Sheng, Hu Xiaobing
FRANKFURT, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Holger Volland, vice president of the Frankfurt Book Fair, among the world's largest trade fair for book, said the current trend of the industry is publishers tending to develop characters and stories rather than only books.
"Take Harry Potter as an example. It used to be a book, but now it's a film, game, online services and so on," Volland added.
It is becoming more and more important for publishers to get in direct touch with readers through websites or events. Earlier, publishers used to contact a book seller, and the bookseller contacted readers, he said.
Volland also said for many years, the publishing industry feared digitalization, thinking it would kill the book.
"Now we know this is not true. We have digital sources and books; both are very much alive. Also publishing houses are very much alive. Actually we have more publishing houses at the Frankfurt book fair than in the last years. So business is going up again," Volland said.
People read books on the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
However, he admitted publishing houses are facing many changes and challenges.
"One of the biggest challenges is to find the right people, who know the publishing business as well as the business of the future, who understand digital products as well as print products and who understand to talk with authors and to talk with audience," he said.
More than 7,300 exhibitors from 102 countries and regions as well as around 278,000 visitors are expected at the Frankfurt Book Fair. More than 170 exhibitors from Chinese mainland have taken part.
Volland said Chinese exhibitors are very welcome at the Frankfurt Book Fair."Each year, more Chinese publishing houses are coming to Frankfurt,"he told Xinhua, adding that the Chinese exhibitors are very professional.
Over 4,000 events are going to take place during this year's book fair, which will opens its door to professional visitors from Wednesday to Sunday. On its last two days, anyone interested can visit the book fair.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 00:10:36|Editor: yan
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DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish forces from areas they entered in Idlib province, according to state news agency SANA.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 00:20:40|Editor: yan
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SHANGHAI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's first Fraunhofer intelligent manufacturing center will be established in Shanghai, according to an agreement signed Saturday.
The deal was signed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Lingang Area Development Administration and German Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA).
Authorities of Shanghai Lingang Area have provided substantial support for the center, said Thomas Bauernhansl Fraunhofer, head of IPA.
The center aims to build itself into a world-leading industrial 4.0 manufacturing center.
After completion, it will help solve technological problems in the field of intelligent manufacturing for companies from China and Germany and help cultivate talent in the field as well as provide exchange opportunities for students from Chinese and German universities.
Fraunhofer is Europe's largest application-oriented research organization and its institute IPA develops and optimizes solutions for a wide range of different tasks in science and engineering.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 00:25:41|Editor: yan
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Photo of a bottle of Recession Wines in front of Manhattan's skyline in New York, November 18, 2008. The Californian wines, available in three flavours, Recession Cabernet Sauvignon, Recession Merlot, and Recession Chardonnay. (AFP Photo/Emmanuel Dunand)
By Liu Mei
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The wildfires scorching Northern California, are not only one of the catastrophes in the Golden State history, but also one of the most expensive disasters, since some of the world priciest wines were burning to ashes and the whole billion-dollar industry were thrown into the chaos.
Till Saturday, the wildfires descended on Napa, Sonoma and Santa Rosa Counties since last Sunday night, killed at least 31 people, destroyed thousands of structures, including homes and businesses, and left hundreds still missing.
These areas are the homes of some world-renowned vineyards and wineries, identified by its climate, geology and other factors to be ideal for producing high quality wine.
There are over 400 wineries and about 45,000 acres (182 square kilometers) of vineyards in Napa Valley area. Sonoma County has about 60,000 acres (243 square kilometers) of vineyards and 425 wineries.
Now some small wineries have been totally burned down by the ruthless fire, like the well-known Napa's Signorello Estate and White Rock Vineyards. While some big wineries are suffering more losses, since their 10 years'or even 20 years'cellar have been destroyed.
Almost all the tasting rooms in Napa and Sonoma are shuttered and nobody knows the re-open time.
"As the situation is still pending, so it's still very difficult to really tell what the specific impact it will bring to the industry. I can tell that there will be some significant impact, and the impact will be lasting for some time for sure," Arthur Walsh, the chief editor of Food and Beverage World magazine told Xinhua on Friday.
The optimistic side for some vineyards owners is that as much as 90 percent of this year's grapes have been harvested, because this summer's heat wave prompted growers to take the grapes off the vines earlier than usual.
However, for those who grow the grapes like cabernet, sauvignon and petite sirah might be more disastrous, since most of these crops are still on the vine and the price for these grapes are about 6,800 U.S. dollars a ton, which is one of the priciest grapes in the world, according to the report released by Napa Valley Vintners on Thursday, a non-profit trade association.
Napa and Sonoma Valley are always the popular point for the tourists from all over the world, especially for Asian. The famous wine tasting tours are something "must-do" when tourists visit Northern California. Just spend thirty or fifty U.S. dollars, one can taste about a dozen of different wines, and most visitors from Asian, such China, Korean and Thailand would purchase some wines from Napa or Sonoma.
"All of our one-day tour to Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley have been forced to change due to the fire. All the visitors from China feel regrettable for not going to the wine country," an Asian travel agency owner Bessie Wong told Xinhua on Friday.
According to the statistic report of 2017 by Napa Valley Vintners that the local wine industry and related businesses provide an annual economic impact of more than 13 billion U.S. dollars locally and more than 50 billion U.S. dollars in the U.S., create 46,000 jobs in Napa County and 303,000 nationwide.
Jim Gordon, editor of Wines and Vines magazine, told Witter Daily News that he is more worried about the fire's effect on wine tourism than the harvest itself.
"It's a huge worry that people will stay away because of the fires, especially this time of year. Wine country does most of its tourism business around harvest."
When asked if the market price of those saved wines will be raised later, Walsh said it is still too early to give the answer, he would like to do some survey about the losses and impact that the fire has brought to the industry on earth.
The wine industry consultant, Robert Smiley believed that the fire could shrink the supplies, but as there are some competitions from France and Chile, it's hard to say if the price will be affected, Sacramento Bee newspaper reported.
There are over 4,600 wineries in the state of California, those are affected by the fire in Napa and Sonoma are small part of it. On Wednesday, some unaffected wine industry business in the state is reaching out to help, the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance started a fundraising effort for affected wineries.
Living in Sotona, Walsh is quite familiar with Napa and Sonoma area.
"Though the impact will come, that's not to say our city will not adapt. We are working very hard to get the fire under control, from there we will rebuild and get back to business as usual," Walsh told Xinhua.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 00:25:42|Editor: Liangyu
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Polish President Andrzej Duda (2nd L, front), Czech President Milos Zeman (2nd R, front), Hungarian President Janos Ader (1st L, front) and Slovak President Andrej Kiska (1st R, front) hold a summit meeting in Szekszard, southern Hungary, on Oct. 14, 2017. The European Union (EU) integration of the Western Balkans, the transition to cyclical economy and the digital society were the topics of the two-day summit of the Presidents of the Visegrad countries, namely Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, Hungarian President Janos Ader said on Saturday at a press conference here. (Xinhua/Szilard Voros)
SZEKSZARD, Hungary, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) integration of the Western Balkans, the transition to cyclical economy and the digital society were the topics of the two-day summit of the Presidents of the Visegrad countries, namely Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, Hungarian President Janos Ader told on Saturday at a press conference in Szekszard, southern Hungary.
"I have been to Montenegro earlier this year, and the Montenegrin prime minister told me that the situation is similar to that of the early 90s (a period of war between former Yugoslav states)," Ader warned. "We see territorial, political, ethnical, religious, geopolitical and autonomy-related conflicts, moreover: radical Islam is also present and growing in the region," he added.
Ader said that the only way to resolve these conflicts was the EU integration of the Western Balkans, and deplored that it seemed that this integration was not a top priority for Brussels.
"We need a clear road-map with milestones and deadlines, ambitious negotiations, but also: the candidate countries must show credible performance."
Czech President Milos Zeman underlined that the radical Islam was spreading in the region and that could throw back the integration process. He also urged the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans.
"The situation in the Western Balkans is serious: the youngsters emigrate, the region is full of historical tensions, the economic growth is slow, but they have a common goal: they all wish to become part of the EU," Slovakian President Andrej Kiska explained.
He also added that these countries needed to go through several institutional reforms before joining the EU.
For Polish President Andrzej Duda, the solution to the "calm" in the society of the Western Balkans was the EU integration. "The EU must not become a private club, but an association with open doors that develops and prospers for decades, or even centuries!"
He also underlined that the EU had to be "constructed from the bottom, by the society, and not from the top, by bureaucrats."
The second topic of the discussions was the transition to the so-called cyclical economy, in which the waste produced by the economy becomes an asset and a source of raw materials.
"We can mine gold from stone at a rate of 2 grams per ton, but can get out 300 grams from one ton of electronic waste," Ader declared. He said that the technology existed to change the world. "What is lacking is the political will."
His colleagues agreed and urged the beginning of talks at experts level, and both Zeman and Kiska underlined the importance of education regarding this subject.
Duda made it clear that the topic of the digital transition could not be separated from the cyclical economy. "These two topics are interlaced because economic development is also related to the digital market, hence new pilot programs have to be started," he said, also mentioning the importance of education, which brings increased effectiveness for the economy and the environment.
The last topic covered was that of the digital society. Ader warned that the new digital era had as many threats as it had opportunities. "The digital society opens up many new ways of development, ones that were unthinkable before, but they are also bearing risks, such as the use of the internet by terrorists, who hide thanks to the truly useful online protection of personal data."
Zeman said that the digital era would have a very powerful effect on the industrial production through the development of robotics in production. "One of the effects of the digital society will be the decrease of labor days."
Kiska pointed to the threats posed by the use of the social networks such as Facebook or Twitter by extremists. "Under the effects of fast spreading hoaxes and fake news, close to 30 percent of youngsters in Slovakia would choose extremism, we have to work together with these social network giants to block hate speech and intolerance within their networks," he warned.
He also said that new technologies always brought new opportunities such as Uber or Airbnb, but they also brought new problems and conflicts with traditional firms, who are their competitors. He urged nevertheless for a common EU level policy regarding the regulation of the new era enterprises, instead of having each city come up with each individual set of rules.
Finally, Duda concluded the press conference by drawing the attention to the fact that the Visegrad countries were less developed than Western European countries, but surpassed many of them in digital related areas, such as the access to and the speed of boradband internet connection.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 00:45:44|Editor: Yamei
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Photo taken on Oct. 13, 2017 shows Turkish army vehicles deployed in Idlib province, Syria. Turkish army on Thursday started setting up observation positions in northern Syria's Idlib within the framework of Astana Process, Turkish General Staff announced on Friday. (Xinhua)
DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish forces from areas they entered in Idlib province, according to state news agency SANA.
The ministry said the Turkish "incursion" into Idlib is regarded as "a flagrant aggression, the Turkish regime will not be able to justify."
The statement comes a day after Turkish soldiers and armored vehicles crossed into Idlib as part of an operation Turkey says aimed at forcing a halt of battles in Idlib.
"This Turkish aggression is not related to any understanding between the countries involved in the Astana talks, but constitutes a violation to such understandings," the ministry said.
Moreover, the ministry charged that the Turkish incursion took place with the company of members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which is an evidence of the "close relation between Turkey and the terrorist groups."
The ministry said the Turkish forces should withdraw without any condition, adding that the Turkish government has had the "high hand in supporting the terrorists in Syria and cannot be credible by claiming to be fighting terrorism."
But a Turkish military statement claimed its forces would set up observation posts inside Idlib, saying its a part of an agreement with Russia and Iran, when the powers agreed to create a de-escalation zone in Idlib during the latest round of talks in Astana.
Idlib, in northwestern Syria, is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist umbrella, in which the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front is the striking force and designated as a terrorist organization.
Idlib is also close to the Kurdish-controlled Afreen area in the Aleppo province, an area Turkey has for long been trying to contain to put an end to the growing influence of the Kurdish militants.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 00:50:45|Editor: yan
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DUBAI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum on Saturday launched the Hamdan Center for the Future of Investment "to enhance the contribution of foreign direct investment to sustainable development," United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency WAM reported.
The launch of the center was part of the vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, and the direction of the UAE in exploring and shaping the future.
It also aims at contributing to shaping the future of investment in the world and enhancing its positive impact, reported WAM.
The center, which operates under the Dubai Investment Development Corporation (DEDI), is one of the institutions to promote Dubai's strategy and future vision in developing strategies and programs that will enable Dubai to continue to compete globally and attract new models of investments.
The main programs of the center will be announced within the framework of the "Sustainable Investment Forum" which will be held during the Dubai Investment Week from Oct. 15 to 19.
The Center will also provide a number of quality services to strengthen the position of Dubai and the UAE as a center of excellence in knowledge and finance for the study and investment in development projects and the role of FDI in the of post-oil economic diversification.
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum called for "the integration of global efforts to accelerate the development and financing of projects attracting private sector investments."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 01:00:47|Editor: yan
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BELGRADE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- First 100 days of the new Serbian government were marked by investments, growth of trade and decrease in public debt, enabling the country to increase salaries and pensions and improve living standard, said Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Saturday in the city of Krusevac.
Presenting the results of the new government in the first three months at a ceremony in front of ministers and journalists, she pointed out that it performed well in implementing priorities such as the modernization, digitalization, investments in education and economic development, government released.
The new government was elected by the parliament on June 29, after former prime minister Aleksandar Vucic resigned in May in order to run for president.
According to Brnabic, direct foreign investments since then increased by 19.9 percent comparing to last year which resulted in new employment for 2,778 people in this period, thanks to seven signed contracts with foreign investors worth 78 million euros (92 million U.S. dollars).
At the same time, total trade balance increased by 13 percent as well as the export, she stressed.
Brnabic pointed out that the public debt of Serbia decreased by 1 billion euros, or by 7.6 percent comparing to last year, and that the public debt is now around 65.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
On the other hand, the state budget is currently in surplus -- 66.5 billion RSD, or Serbian dinar, (around 550 million euros), which will, according to her, have influence on the living standard of the people.
She announced that pensions in 2018 will be increased by 5 percent, while salaries in public institutions and the state administration will grow between 5 and 10 percent.
She said that one of the achievements of the government was to increase the minimum price of labor to 143 RSD (1.2 euros) per hour, which will bring benefits to more than 350,000 employees.
"Government is ready to solve inherited problems, even when they seem unsolvable, and it is able to secure better living standard for all citizens, in all parts of the country," she said.
Other achievements she mentioned were the establishment of the Belgrade-Prague-Beijing flight operated by Chinese Hainan Airlines, Brnabic recalled.
She said that the new government maintained continuity with the previous government led by current president Aleksandar Vucic, and concluded that the government will continue to maintain political stability along with making further steps towards the accession to the European Union.
Senator Daines recently told me (and 37,000 FaceBook viewers) that he wants to make "improvements" to the Endangered Species Act.
As such, the senator has introduced legislation entitled "Litigation Relief for Forest Management Projects Act" in response to a lawsuit that Cottonwood won for biologists and Canada lynx.
The proposed legislation would eliminate a regulation that requires the Forest Service to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on its Forest Plans when new critical habitat has been designated.
Threatened species
The single reason why Canada Lynx were listed as a threatened species is because of a lack of "regulatory mechanisms." In particular, Forest Plans were not protective of Canada lynx. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that new management plans should be created if new critical habitat is designated.
Over 12 million acres of new critical habitat was designated for Canada lynx on Forest Service lands when it was discovered that Julie Macdonald, a high-ranking political appointee that was an engineer by training and had no background in biology, interfered with the original critical habitat designation. After the new critical habitat was designated, Cottonwood won a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that requires the Forest Service to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure its Forest Plan protects the newly designated critical habitat. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the Forest Service's petition to rehear the case.
To be clear: Daines wants to make "improvements" to the Endangered Species Act by eliminating a regulation that requires the Forest Service to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the impacts of its Forest Plans when new critical habitat has been designated. New habitat was designated after it was discovered that a political appointee had interfered with the designation of critical habitat.
Tester incorrect
Sen. Jon Tester recently told Yellowstone Public Radio that "all the recreational opportunities stop, the tree cuts stop, trail maintenance stops while they redo this forest plan."
That is 100 percent not true. Only individual mines, timber sales, or other activities can be stopped. The Custer Gallatin National Forest is redoing their forest plan right now, and I've been hunting and mountain biking on the Forest with no problems.
Tester went on to state that the Forest Service should "[d]eal with it on a much smaller basis where the problem really exists and continue to implement the forest plan that took decades to write up.
To be clear: The problem exists at the Forest Plan level. Canada lynx were listed as a threatened species because the Forest Plans themselves were inadequate to protect lynx not because of any single timber sale or proposed mine. In short, a big picture approach is necessary if we want to conserve lynx.
I have sent Tester emails offering to talk in person about this issue. I have told newspapers that I am willing to testify before Congress on this issue.
I have acknowledged and apologized for being wrong in the past. I hope that Daines and Tester will do the same.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 01:00:48|Editor: yan
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GABORONE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- School libraries in Botswana need data connection to make the transition to open access, a senior lecturer at the University of Botswana said Saturday.
Speaking at the 2017 International School Libraries Day celebration in Francistown, some 430km northeast of the capital, Gaborone, Boemo Jorosi said e-learning and related approaches are key tools to reviving the culture of reading.
International School Libraries Day was initiated in 1999 and originally celebrated in most parts of the world on the fourth Monday in October.
"Libraries are an important part of the community and now need to be digitalized following the advent of electronic infrastructure and connectivity," said Jorosi.
Jorosi said libraries provide the bridge between digital content and the end-user.
According to Jorosi, digital libraries will provide pathways through the internet jungle.
"School libraries should develop a dynamic interaction with ICTs, building electronic information management systems and creating digital services for their users," he said.
Last year, Botswana commenced construction of a blueprint service oriented enterprise architecture system aimed at modernizing information communication technology in the public service.
The blueprint, estimated to cost 8.9 million U.S. dollars, will take three years to develop and is based on the principles of developing a service oriented e-government system to replace the fragmented information systems developed by different ministries within the government.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 01:10:50|Editor: Liangyu
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U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua photo)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump touted his executive order on health care Saturday amid criticism that his measures, aimed at gutting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), would destabilize the health insurance market.
"Very proud of my Executive Order which will allow greatly expanded access and far lower costs for HealthCare," Trump tweeted Saturday morning. "Millions of people benefit."
"Health Insurance stocks, which have through the roof during the ObamaCare years, plunged yesterday after I ended their Dems windfall," the president said in another tweet.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday, intending to dismantle the ACA, or Obamacare, with proposals for cheaper, bare-bone, and short-term health insurance plans, after GOP-controlled Congress repeatedly failed to repeal and replace the Democratic bill this summer.
The White House also announced that it will end subsidies to health insurers by ending cost-sharing reduction payments used to lower out-of-pocket costs for low-income customers.
In a statement late Thursday, the administration said that it "cannot lawfully make" the payments on the ground that they were not appropriated under the ACA.
Critics said the successive measures would spike premiums prices, drive people away from Obamacare plans and lead insurers to exit the marketplace, which could potentially turn the insurance market into turmoil.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners estimated that cutting off federal payments to insurers would produce a 12 percent to 15 percent rise in premiums, while the Congressional Budget Office has put the figure at 20 percent.
A number of insurance companies, including Centene and Anthem, and hospitals have already saw their stocks decline.
Two major insurance industry groups, America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said the move would make it harder for patients to access the care they need.
"We need constructive solutions that increase consumer choice, lower consumer costs and stabilize local markets," the two groups said in a statement Friday. "Terminating this critical program will do just the opposite."
Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that "threats and bulling" from the president would not force Democrats to repeal Obamacare, stressing that Trump has "a decreased level of trust" with voters and congressional Democrats.
As of Friday, 18 states have signed onto the lawsuit filed in federal court in California against the president's decision to end the cost-sharing subsidies, alleging that the move is not following federal law in ending a legally mandated system that already is operating.
"Without the ACA and its subsidies for these families, millions more would be left in the cold without coverage," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said the president's latest action is "incredibly mean-spirited".
He warned that it would drive up health insurance prices enough that healthier people will flee the insurance markets, resulting in higher costs for those who remain.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 01:20:51|Editor: yan
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BUJUMBURA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Belgium and Rwanda are closely collaborating with people who attempted to stage the 2015 coup plot in Burundi and are arming refugees to disrupt Burundi's security, a senior Burundian government official said Saturday.
Therence Ntahiraja, assistant to the Burundian home affairs minister, was speaking after a demonstration staged by thousands of citizens in the streets of the country's capital Bujumbura.
The aim of the demonstration was to denounce the role of Rwanda and Belgium in backing "coup plotters" and arming refugees living in Tanzania and Rwanda.
"The two countries are responsible for the assassination of several Burundian leaders like our independence hero Prince Louis Rwagasore. We call on the United Nations to tell the two countries to stop provoking us," said Ntahiraja.
According to him, both countries are distributing arms to Burundian refugees living in Tanzania and Rwanda.
"Three days ago, over 42 guns were seized inside Nduta refugee camp in Tanzania and less than one month ago, nine persons were caught telling people inside Nduta refugee camp not to return to their homes in Burundi," said Ntahiraja.
Relations between Burundi and the two countries have deteriorated since April 2015 when Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for his controversial third term in violation of the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement that ended a decade-long civil war.
In December 2016, the Burundian government recalled the Burundian ambassador to Belgium over deteriorating relations between two countries.
Belgium was accused of hosting some Burundian citizens who staged a failed coup on May 13, 2015 and who are destabilizing the Burundian government by supporting "insurgents."
The Burundian government also accused Belgian authorities of "influencing all decisions" taken by the European Union (EU) against the Burundian government and Burundian citizens.
On the other hand, Burundi accused Rwanda of hosting and supporting perpetrators of the plot.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 01:40:54|Editor: Yamei
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MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed in a separate car bombing in Wadajir district in Mogadishu Saturday a few hours after a deadly bomb explosion killed over 40 people in the city.
"The police were trailing the car and managed to arrest the driver but the car exploded shortly after killing one civilian," a police officer who did not want to be named said.
The explosion followed a heavy explosion that killed over 40 people and destroyed several buildings. Dozens of dead people were pulled from the rubble. Safari hotel was destroyed and several people were trapped inside.
Mohamed Dahie, Permanent Secretary of Commerce was among the dead while his wife sustained injuries in the first blast. Also injured were three journalists.
The explosion which happened at the junctions KM5 is reported to have been one of the biggest ever in Mogadishu in years. The junction is normally busy especially in the afternoon at the time of the explosion.
The devastating explosion has left many places now unrecognizable as fire continues to raze nearby building. Mogadishu hospitals in the city have been appealing for blood donations.
An official at the Aamin Ambulance services said they carried unknown number of casualties to the hospitals in Mogadishu.
He said he could not give the number of people killed or injured since they were still rushing the casualties to the hospitals.
"We can't give any update yet due to the massive casualties of the explosion. We are still transporting casualties to the hospitals," said the official who declined to be named.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 01:50:57|Editor: yan
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ARUSHA, Tanzania, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian anti-poaching unit has arrested 128 poachers in central parts of the east African nation for the past one year, an official said on Saturday.
Keneth Sanga, head of central Tanzania's anti-poaching unit, said in an interview with Xinhua that the suspected poachers were arrested in different parts of central Tanzania's regions of Singida and Dodoma between 2016 and this year.
He revealed that most of the suspects were found in possession of weapons, government trophies. Some poachers were found inside the Rungwa-Kizigo and Muhesi game reserves.
"But, we're optimistic that during the period poaching incidents have gone down compared to the past 3 years," the official said, adding that anti-poaching operations have been bearing fruits as there are more poachers arrested compared to the past.
He also said some of the suspected poachers were being found with elephant tusks, bush meat and others with timbers.
According to Sanga, some of the suspected poachers are now serving their sentences in different prisons, while others their cases are in advanced stages in different courts across central Tanzania.
Sanga said the Tanzanian government has impounded all transport vessels such as vehicles and motorcycles used by the suspects in accomplishing their poaching missions.
He, however, unveiled that between 2016 and 2017, six people have been killed by elephants in the two regions of Singida and Dodoma.
"Those people were killed due to little knowledge on how to deal with elephants in terms of their characters," Sanga said.
"We're now educating people particularly those who are living close to the sanctuaries on how to deal with wildlife once they storm into their localities." said Sanga.
A staff from Cummins drives a mass produced Foton GTL Truck after the launch ceremony in Columbus, Indiana, the United States, on April 8, 2014. Chinese automaker Beiqi Foton introduced its new Foton GTL Truck to the world market here Tuesday. Powered by the ISG diesel engine mainly developed by Cummins, the world's largest independent diesel engine maker based in Columbus, Indiana, the new heavy-duty truck model was the result of a five-year cooperation program of Beiqi Foton, Cummins and Daimler.
(Xinhua/Beiqi Foton)
By Peter Mertz, Huang Heng
DENVER, the United States, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Steven Chapman has been travelling to China for 32 years. When he took over China operations for Cummins in 1985, Deng Xiaoping, the great reformer recognized an excellent American product and opened the floodgates for the diesel engine giant.
Since from then, under Chapman's helm, Cummins' China sales skyrocketed from 8 million U.S. dollars to a staggering 5 billion U.S. dollars last year.
Since from then, the Yale-educated China Cummins Investment (CCI) CEO had overseen the construction of 17 factories in China, several joint ventures with leading Chinese truck manufacturers, and his staff had mushroomed from eight to 10,000.
Chapman has interfaced with his Chinese counterparts so successfully that in 2016 he was awarded the China National Friendship Award - China's most prestigious award for foreigners.
But what landed the Cummins leader on center stage at Friday's 8th Annual U.S. China Energy Efficiency Forum (EEF) in Denver, is not only his achievements in past decades recognized by Chinese and American energy and government officials, but also his company's new joint project, Chinese version Super Truck.
In 2016, Cummins, in response to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program, partnered with Peterbilt to make a Super Truck - featuring a Cummins engine and Peterbilt chassis that achieved 10.7 miles-per-gallon, twice the gas mileage of today's tractor-trailers.
With the DOE insisting on advanced and highly efficient engine systems, strict emissions containment, and high 18-wheeler safety and regulatory requirements, Cummins had a direction and China was on board.
As the new millennium dawned China's demand for fuel-efficient engines became deafening and Chapman responded again - managing the design of streamlined Cummins' engines - just for China.
This latest endeavor - using state-of-the-art technology in newly designed energy-efficiency diesel engines - and even an all-electric truck - has earned him recognition from the highest energy conservationists on Earth and restart a new around win-win business scenario.
By manufacturing highly efficient engines for Chinese consumers, Chapman has taken the Fortune 500 company -whose gross annual revenues are 19 billion U.S. dollars since 2014 - into cutting edge vehicle energy efficiency.
On the other hand, according to Chapman, his engines already command is 7 percent market share in China and that his new has been rebranded and introduced into North America where the designed for China product is selling well.
"U.S.-China collaboration is not only critical to our two countries but to the world and not just economic and political," the Yale-educated Chapman told Xinhua Friday.
In an exclusive interview, Chapman told Xinhua that he is currently engaged in "a couple of projects in China and is focusing on a 'Next Generation Truck' that will improve fuel efficiency up to 15 percent."
That is the Chinese Super Truck mentioned to Xinhua by Gong Yueqiong, Executive Vice President of Bei Qi Foton Motor Co., Ltd.
Last year, Chapman joined with the biggest commercial vehicle producer in China to design an all-electric truck with most advanced internet technology that if employed could screech China's air pollution problems to a halt.
Gong told Xinhua, the Super Truck aims at reducing oil consumption and carbon emission by 30 percent, increasing cargo transportation efficiency by 70 percent.
"It's not only a very important project for China's automobile industry, but also will change the face of logistics, " Gong said, adding that in field of energy, Super Truck could play a role more important than car.
His words echoed by Jon Creyts, Managing Director of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a leading think tank based in Colorado that monitors and projects energy trends worldwide.
Converting China's massive truck transportation fleet could reduce carbon emissions 60 percent by 2050, saving billions in fuel and transportation costs, Creyts told Xinhua at the forum, calling China the world leader in alternative energy pursuits and has desire for America' s technology.
Chapman was also eager to share this revolutionary technology with his Chinese partners.
"We need more cooperation between the U.S. and China, and less head-butting," Chapman told Xinhua.
"It is wonderful to do business in China," Chapman said, noting that successful business in China means face-to-face contact and open communication with his Chinese partners.
Chapman, who is fluent in Mandarin and conducts joint venture board meetings in rooms filled with high-powered Chinese businessmen, is all compliments about how the Chinese do business.
"We have had a tremendous ride there, and the cooperation we are having on the Chinese side is impressive," he said, adding "We look forward to continued growth in China in a number of areas, such as filtration, emission control, power generation products and systems."
No surprise, these are all key words in Sheraton Denver Downtown, the place hosting the forum.
It's a clean sunny day full of energy.
Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2017 shows the 62-year-old Abu Subhi working in his shop, one of the very few shops that have opened in the ancient part of Aleppo city, after the eastern part of city was liberated in December of last year. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)
ALEPPO, Syria, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- In the ruins of the world's most historic souks, 62-year-old Abu Subhi was arranging his goods in a very small shop in Khan al-Harir street in old Aleppo city, surrounded by devastation of the war.
Wearing a grey galabiyah over a shabby pair of black shoes, the man looked much older than his real age, with a face swept by wrinkles of weariness and trimmed white mustache and thick beard.
His small shop, in which he sells table runners and table cloths, is the only sign of life in the centuries-old area.
He wanted his existence to remind and encourage people to return and rebuild their homeland after it was destroyed in the battles between the rebels and the Syrian army.
"I came to this area in 1973, when it was bustling with life and business. Here is the Khan al-Harir street. Nearby was the Civil Status department and a bank, which made the area a stomping ground for people day and night," he told Xinhua.
The man said he was deeply rooted in the area. Something stronger than his business, maybe his soul, has attached him to the old quarter of Aleppo.
When the war raged, he had no choice but to leave, hoping that one day he could return. He did.
He fled to the city of Bab in Aleppo's countryside, where the war followed. He fled again, this time to his daughter in the Maysaloun area in Aleppo.
"When this place was liberated by the army, I immediately returned," he said.
But the war has wrecked historic souks of 15 km in the old quarter of Aleppo, like a rubber erasing the best chapter of a historic book.
The old man, also a father of four, could not afford to find his business of a lifetime had fallen to pieces after he came back.
"When I first came after the liberation, I found my house completely destroyed and my goods, worth 150 million Syrian pounds, were gone as well. I also found my shop destroyed and my heart broke from the inside, but I couldn't do anything about it," he recounted.
For residents of the old Aleppo who had spent their entire life here, the ruins of the buildings represent their bleeding souls that they can never run away from.
"I was raised in this souk and there is no place else I would rather be. I cannot sell my shop because this souk is all I have ever known," Abu Subhi said, sitting on a plastic chair contemplating the scenes of destruction around him.
The war uprooted those people from where they belong. The liberation of the eastern Aleppo, including the old city, has since revived hope and pushed those like Abu Subhi to return to their homes.
"When I returned after the war was over, I started repairing my shop and thank God I am here. I am waiting for people to reopen their shops because the souk would then be alive again. If they come back, the souk will be back in business again," he said.
Like the very few shop owners who returned to the sprawling marketplace in old Aleppo, the man knew clearly that his business would never flourish like it used to before the war, but he wanted more than just business.
He wanted to be a sign of life in a lifeless place, to remind people that destruction is everywhere but hope still remains.
"I come here every day, open my small shop and arrange my goods. I make tea on a heater that works on firewood, I sit and drink tea," he said.
The revenues are not sufficient to make a living. The man lives off his savings when he was a rich merchant.
"I may not sell anything for two straight days, and sometimes I would sell one piece or two, but I am not here to sell things, I am here so that people would know that there is a life here and that the city would be alive again one day," he said.
Abu Subhi also hoped that the government could speed up the reconstruction of the area to attract more visitors.
Some people passed by as they greet him warmly.
"You still here," most of them would ask with smile on their faces.
"Yes, come over for a cup of tea," that was his usual answer. Then he would move next door to a completely destroyed shop.
He would make tea for himself and the passersby he invited in, before sunset when he would close his shop as the daylight faded.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 03:56:19|Editor: yan
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ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The leader of the southern transitional council announced on Saturday to establish a new parliamentary body to administer the southern part of the country.
Major General Aidarous Zubaidi, a former governor of Aden and a strong ally of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), delivered a speech in Aden to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the revolution against the British occupation of southern Yemen on Oct. 14, 1963.
Zubaidi vowed during his speech to confront the Saudi-backed Yemeni government with ground escalation.
He also announced the formation of the "National General Assembly" made up of 303 members, which he claimed would represent all southern provinces.
The new parliament would also prepare for an upcoming independence referendum in the region, he added.
Describing the Saudi-backed Yemeni government as "corrupt," the UAE-backed leader ruled out any possibility of partnership with the Aden-based government.
Zubaidi also accused Qatar of supporting extremism and terrorism through financing the Muslim Brotherhood group in Aden and elsewhere in southern Yemen.
Meanwhile, military leaders in the southern Yemen reiterated their commitment to continuing to support the Saudi-led Arab coalition in the war against Houthis and the extremist groups.
Political leaders allied the Yemeni government criticized Zubaidi's announcement, calling the move a "new coup" against the Saudi-led coalition.
According to local observers, the announcement will create more chaos and turmoil in the impoverished Arab country that would hinder the pursuit of a permanent solution to the current political crisis.
Earlier in the day, southern troops opened fire towards the motorcade of the Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid Bin-Daghr while he was on his way to attend a military parade at an army base in Aden's district of Salahdeen.
The bodyguards of the Yemeni prime minister responded to the shooting that resulted in no casualties, according to local military sources.
In May, Zubaidi declared in a speech that the council consisted of 26 southern senior tribal, military and political leaders including former cabinet minister Hani Bin Brurik.
However, the Yemeni government at that time rejected the formation of new "transitional political council" that seeks the independence of southern Yemen.
Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose government is internationally recognized, has been based in Riyadh since March 2015, when the Shiite Houthis forced him out after seizing the capital Sanaa.
Hadi sacked Zubaidi on April 27 along with Brurik, which provoked thousands of southern Yemenis to demonstrate in Aden to urge for the establishment of a new leadership body to represent the south in the upcoming peace talks facilitated by the United Nations.
Yemen has been suffering from a civil war for around two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with the support of forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted the UN-backed transitional government and occupied the capital Sanaa militarily in September 2014.
The legitimate government controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls the remaining northern areas including Sanaa.
UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around 3 million.
The impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera epidemic since April, with about 5,000 cases reported every day.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 04:46:28|Editor: yan
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LONDON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A tiny spider monkey has arrived at England's Chester Zoo, surprising zookeepers.
They revealed Saturday how they spotted the newborn spider Monday clinging tightly to its mum.
The Colombian black-headed spider monkey was born to 29-year-old mom Christine and 28-year-old dad Popoyan.
At just a few days old, the baby is yet to be named as keepers do not yet know its gender.
"Christine's new arrival has given cause for great celebration, said a spokesman at the zoo.
The rare South American primates, found mainly in Colombia and Panama, are listed as critically endangered on the International Union of the Conservation of Nature's red list of endangered species.
They have been pushed to the edge of extinction by deforestation and hunting for their meat, with 80 percent of their population estimated to have been lost in the last 45 years.
Dr Nick Davis, the zoo's deputy curator of mammals, said: "Mom Christine is taking great care of her new arrival, spending all of her time cradling and nursing the little one. Spider monkey babies are very dependent on their moms, being carried almost exclusively for the first six months before they start learning how to climb.
"Spider monkeys have an interesting social system, more similar to chimps than other monkeys. The group at Chester Zoo are very important in terms of our scientific understanding of the species and many conservationists have spent time studying them here, learning how to record behavioural data, before heading out to their habitat in Latin America to study them in the wild."
Chester Zoo supports spider monkey research in Latin America and is currently expanding its conservation support for the threatened primates.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 06:31:49|Editor: Liangyu
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DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of the Islamic State (IS) militants are being transferred under the protection of the U.S.-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the northern city of Raqqa towards Deir al-Zour province in eastern Syria, state news agency SANA reported Saturday.
Citing activists, SANA said the U.S.-led coalition's warplanes are flying over Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS, without conducting airstrikes over the past two days.
SANA said the United States and the SDF had struck an agreement with IS for their evacuation from Raqqa to Deir al-Zour, where the Syrian government forces are fighting the IS militants.
"This U.S.-Daesh agreement is not the first, as several similar agreements have preceded this one in the city of Tabqa, Mansura and Karama in the countryside of Raqqa, under which IS militants were transferred to areas the Syrian army is fighting the terror group," SANA said, suggesting that the United States is supporting the IS.
The state news agency said the agreement sparks questions about the goal of the United States and the SDF.
It said that the United States had evacuated tens of IS leaders from Deir al-Zour before the Syrian army reached their areas.
It said the new agreement came days after the Russian defense ministry accused the U.S. forces in the Tanf area of lending a blind eye, while around 400 terrorists crossed the area where the U.S. forces were stationed.
SANA also reminded of the U.S. attack on Syrian military positions in the Tharda mountain last year, during which 90 Syrian soldiers were killed, and the IS managed to take over the area in the countryside of Deir al-Zour.
"All of these facts are pieces of evidence that the United States considered and still considers terrorism, whether IS or any other group, as a paper it manipulates to achieve its schemes to target Syria," SANA said.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said foreign IS fighters were still inside Raqqa, while the local militants of the terror-designated group were evacuated out of the city.
What hindered the transfer or surrender of the foreign militants is the opposition of the Western countries, mainly the United States and France, according to the Observatory.
The coalition said earlier that 100 IS militants had left Raqqa.
IS militants declared Raqqa as their capital in 2014, after announcing their self-styled caliphate.
Tens of civilians have died during the intense battles as well as in the airstrikes of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.
On Sept. 7, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said as many as 978 civilians had been killed in three months by the U.S.-led airstrike and the shelling on Raqqa.
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 Rep. 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-Mobile 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. Senator 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-15 06:36:51|Editor: Liangyu
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CARACAS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The director of Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), Socorro Hernandez, announced Saturday that a group of 70 international observers will supervise Sunday's regional elections.
Speaking to the state-owned Venezolana de Television, Hernandez said that members of the Council of Latin American Electoral Experts (CEELA) had been invited by the CNE.
These observers will present a technical report to authorities after auditing the CNE technological platform.
Nicanor Moscoso, president of CEELA, added that at least 12 audits would be carried out and guaranteed the electoral process would be "transparent."
According to Moscoso, members of each political party will participate in the audits, who will also sign a document stating their trust in the system.
"We are satisfied, confident that tomorrow, the electoral process will take place with absolute transparency. The results will be the right ones," said the CEELA president.
On Sunday, over 18 million Venezuelans are invited to vote for 197 candidates running for the country's 23 governorships.
Church supper offers lutefisk and lefse
A Lutefisk and Lefse Supper with Swedish meatballs will be held from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at First Lutheran Church, 408 Ninth St. N.W. in Mandan. Cost is $20 for adults and $5 for children younger than 12.
Pastor Kevin Zellers installed in August
Pastor Kevin C. Zellers was installed at Messiah Lutheran Church on Aug. 27. Assisting in the installation service was Pastor Arie Bertsch, North Dakota District President, and several pastors from around the state. A reception and potluck followed for the pastor and his family, visitors and congregation members.
Zellers received his bachelor's degree from Concordia Teachers College, Seward Nebraska in 1983. He then served in the U.S. Army for four years where he received numerous awards before being honorably discharged in 1987. He earned his master's degree in divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1991.
He vicared at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, from 1989-1990 and was ordained June 9, 1991. Zellers has served St. Peter and St. Paul Lutheran Churches of Beach and Belfield, St. Andrews Lutheran Church of West Fargo and St. John Lutheran Church of Weber, Minn., and most recently at Zion Lutheran Church of Bismarck.
Zellers and his wife, Kathy, have three grown children and numerous grandchildren.
Messiah Lutheran Church is located at 1020 Boundary Road N.W., Mandan. Divine services are held at 9 a.m., followed by fellowship and Bible class. Other opportunities for faith building include Bible classes, confirmation, Sunday school, chancel choir, handbells and adult and youth events. For more information, call 663-8545 or access the website, www.messiahmandan.org.
Worship to focus on youth relationships
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and Church, 818 E. Divide Ave., in Bismarck offers a service on "How Do We Raise Inter-Cultural Youth?" at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Speakers are Leah Hargrove, director of Bismarck Global Neighbors, Cheryl Kary, executive director of Sacred Pipe Resource Center, and Karen Van Fossan, church minister.
Many youth would like support in making intercultural friendships in Bismarck-Mandan. In response, a vibrant, interactive Wednesday night youth program that features drumming, cooking, games and art with attention to intercultural understandings and expressions is coming soon. The Sunday conversation will be about the values, challenges and surprises of intercultural collaborations.
Lutheran community to host bazaar
Faith Lutheran Church Women will host a bazaar on Oct. 28. Many homemade items will be available for purchase, including baked goods, crafts and quilts, as well as used books and a large selection of white elephant items.
Doors will open at 9 am. Rolls, muffins, pie and coffee will be served throughout the day. The youth will be serving soup and sandwiches for lunch. The event takes place at Faith Lutheran Church, 1402 E. Ave. C in Bismarck.
-- Compiled from staff reports and press releases. Submit information to kimberly.wynn@bismarcktribune.com.
If 2016 had a theme for Mandan Police, it would be growth.
Steady growth in recent years has brought an uptick in crime, said Lt. Pat Haug, pointing to an 18 percent increase in calls for service from 2015 to last year. Mandan Police also responded for months to protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline and recently trained in administering Narcan for opioid overdoses.
It's been busy.
"I think what's important to understand is Mandan has seen significant growth over the years," Haug said.
As sister cities, Bismarck and Mandan see much of the same activity, Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler said.
Drug offenses were up 43 percent last year, but have spiked all over the state, he said.
Mandan assaults increased 33 percent in 2016, with no clear reason why, though residents were likely reporting more, Haug said.
Mandan Police also added a domestic violence detective last year. Those cases are separate from assaults, Ziegler said.
Handle With Care, a pilot program in North Dakota pioneered by Mandan Police, is helping, according to Ziegler. Made possible by a grant partnered with the Abused Adult Resource Center, the program helps to notify schools whenever a child has had a trauma.
The program is a nice collaboration among the Mandan police, school district and social services, Ziegler said.
"It's a great program," he said. "It's not costing us any money. It's an email."
Police manpower is at 37 sworn, with two openings, Haug reported.
During the department's August-to-February response to protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Mandan's manpower took a bit of a hit. The department dedicated at least three officers per day to law enforcement at the protests. At times, 10 to 15 officers would respond to emergency callouts, Ziegler said.
The department was also down five officers then.
"Manpower-wise, on the street, every day we were running short," Haug said.
That likely affected traffic numbers, he also said.
"We on some days ran minimal shift numbers and thats going to affect how many cars we stop, how many tickets we write. So theres less officers on the street," he said. "DUIs are down. We think that may play a part in it on why. We just werent out as much."
As for 2017, Haug said the year is on track to be equal or higher to 2016.
More recently, Mandan officers trained in on Narcan, the nasal form of Naloxone, an overdose prevention drug for opioids. Mandan sees about two or three overdoses a month, Haug said.
"We're preparing for those things," Ziegler said.
The annual meeting of the supporters of the Former Governors Mansion State Historic Site will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at the mansion, 320 E. Avenue B, Bismarck. Persons interested in supporting the site by joining the Society for the Preservation of the Former Governors Mansion are encouraged to attend. Membership starts at $10 annually per individual.
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.
WILLISTON -- A man who was convicted this summer of raping a woman in rural Williams County two years ago has been sentenced to serve 25 years in prison.
Jean-Michael Kisi appeared in Northwest District Court on Thursday, where he apologized and asked for leniency.
Im not a terrible person, sir. Im just a man who made a mistake, he told Judge Josh Rustad.
I just hope that you find it in your heart to give me another chance.
Kisi, 22, insisted that he did not use violence against the woman, but admitted to the sexual assault, and said that he was sorry.
The only way I could try to justify what I did is I was frustrated at the time and bad judgment came into play, he said.
Rustad sentenced him to 35 years in prison for gross sexual imposition, with 10 of those years suspended. Kisi must complete sex offender and anger management treatment while in prison, and register as a sex offender when he is released, along with serving 10 years of supervised probation.
A 20-year prison term for accomplice to attempted murder, along with sentences for driving under suspension and criminal mischief for damaging a kiosk in the Williams County jail will run concurrently with the longer sentence.
Rustad said his decision not to follow Williams County Assistant States Attorney Nathan Maddens recommendation of a life sentence without parole was based on a hope that treatment will make a difference for Kisi.
I think with these conditions, and with the amount of time youll be sentenced to and with the treatment, there is a hope of rehabilitation, he said. To a certain degree youve accepted some, but theres an awful lot of minimizing, theres an awful lot of blaming everyone else. You certainly have not accepted (full) responsibility.
The victims mother called Kisi to account by holding up a photograph of her daughter as she addressed the court during the hearing.
You look at this, the woman said. Youre a young man, and because Im a mother, I have to tell you that I forgive you, but I will never forget what you did to my daughter that day. Because of you and David, she will never be the same.
After a five-day trial in June, Kisi was found guilty of gross sexual imposition and accomplice to attempted murder, and acquitted on charges of conspiracy to commit gross sexual imposition and conspiracy to commit murder.
Prosecutors said he and David Mbulu, who was convicted earlier this year in the assault, attacked a 24-year-old woman as the three were returning to Williston from a trip to Minot in November 2015. Angry over the womans failure to pay for their hotel rooms, Kisi pulled the car over on a little-used dirt road near Epping. Mbulu beat her with a tire iron, authorities said, and Kisi raped her. Kisi got back behind the wheel and the two men drove off, leaving the woman wearing just a T-shirt in sub-freezing temperatures.
In September, Mbulu was sentenced to 30 years in prison and 10 years of supervised probation for conspiracy to commit gross sexual imposition, accomplice to gross sexual imposition, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.
Kisi plans to file an appeal with the North Dakota Supreme Court, his attorney, Steven Mottinger, said.
IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, commended Morocco for the genuine budgetary and sectoral reforms it has undertaken to balance its finances.
The IMF head told the press on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank that Morocco has used its credit line to carry out fiscal and structural reforms.
Echoing her, IMF Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, Jihad Azour, said the reforms conducted by Morocco are on the right track in as far as they aim to stabilize the economic situation and create conditions conducive to growth, as attested by IMF projections for 2017.
The IMF expects Moroccos economy to grow by 4.8% this year, up from its previous estimate of 4.4%.
Azour also welcomed the decision of the Moroccan government to move gradually to a more flexible exchange rate regime, adding that this would enable Morocco improve its competitiveness.
King Mohammed VI announced that Morocco will create a new ministerial department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in charge of African affairs.
The King who announced the decision at a speech marking the opening session of the new legislative year said that the new African affairs department will be tasked, inter alia, with following-up Moroccan investments in the continent.
The decision is in line with the Kingdoms reinvigorated African policy, notably after the country made it back to the African institutional family, the African Union, after a landslide vote.
The creation of the African affairs ministerial department will build on Moroccos triumphal return to the African Union, which was underpinned by a south-south cooperation approach yielding win-win projects.
Moroccos endeavor to reinforce its foothold in the continent is taking shape through a series of measures, the most important of which, after joining the African Union, is the upcoming membership in the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS).
The King had outlined that Morocco views the ECOWAS as a natural extension of the AU. By joining both institutions, Morocco will contribute to economic prosperity and human development on the continent, the Monarch said last August in a speech on the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People.
Moroccos African Policy also takes shape on the ground through flagship projects, like the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic gas pipeline project, the construction of fertilizer plants in Ethiopia and Nigeria as well as human development projects designed to improve the living conditions of African citizens, such as the creation of healthcare facilities, vocational training institutions and fishermens villages.
The plotters? Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
In recent days, after comments made by Senator Bob Corker questioning President Trumps mental fitness to be president and a Vanity Fair article reporting that White House insiders fear Trump is unraveling, 25th Amendment talk has once again started to swirl. CNN is asking: Is it time to talk about the 25th Amendment? Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin pondered the question, When do we reach 25th Amendment territory? Section 4 of the amendment provides that if the vice-president and a majority of the Cabinet declare a president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the vice-president immediately takes over as acting president. To many of those who cannot countenance Trumps conduct in office, Section 4 seems like a swift, attractive alternative to impeachment.
Its not.
This is not to agree with those who say that using Section 4 would constitute a coup detat. A Section 4 action would be very hard to pull off against an unwilling president, requiring not just the support of the vice-president and Cabinet, but also two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate. That assortment of decision-makers would not reach such a consensus blithely. If they did vote to displace the president, the decision would be both legally and politically legitimate.
A possibility of legitimacy is one thing; actually being prudent is quite another. Section 4 advocates ignore the many ways in which Section 4 would be ineffective, and potentially dangerous, even if their worst fears about Trump are true. Their case for Section 4 is rooted in facts concern about the havoc they see Trump wreaking and a desire to do something, anything, to stop him. But this overlooks key features of the actual law and constitutional structure of presidential disability.
***
The Section 4 process has three steps. First, the vice-president and a majority of the Cabinet declare the president unable. (Congress can designate an alternative to the Cabinet to make this call, but it has never done so.) Second, whenever the president declares that no inability exists, the vice-president and Cabinet have four days to disagree. If they do not reassert that the president is disabled, the president retakes power at the end of the four days. If they do disagree, though, the vice-president stays in control and the third step occurs: Congress convenes and resolves the disagreement on a strict timeline. Only if two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate vote to displace the president does the vice-president continue to act as president. The president is not removed; he can keep reasserting his ability, forcing new votes.
Section 4 is vague on just what constitutes inability. Being unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office seemingly requires actual incapacity, not just misusing power for foolish or destructive ends. If the latter sufficed, every president would face calls for a Section 4 action from some segment of the electorate. What gives strength to the standard is the consensus required to invoke it successfully. To paraphrase Gerald Ford, inability is whatever the vice-president, a majority of the Cabinet, and (if the president contests it) two-thirds of the House and Senate say it is. But the flip side of this is key: Inability is only what the vice-president, a majority of the Cabinet, and two-thirds of the House and Senate say it is. That sets the bar very high much higher than it is set for impeachment. In an easy case, like a president who suddenly falls into a coma, there would be no problem. But Section 4 is a terrible fit for a president who is lucid, able to fire people, and capable of rallying his supporters on Twitter.
For one thing, a president who is competent enough to read public musings about Section 4 can preemptively fire Cabinet members he suspects of plotting against him. This would serve a double purpose: showing that he is able to discharge the powers and duties of his office; and stacking the Section 4 decision-making deck. The president could fill those vacancies immediately with (presumably loyal) acting secretaries. It is unclear whether acting secretaries can vote in Section 4 actions, raising the specter of a disastrously messy vote, the result of which turns on whose votes count.
If the vice-president and Cabinet were somehow able to invoke Section 4 without the president getting wind of it first, a second problem is that the president would surely contest it repeatedly, if necessary. Section 4 advocates point to its immediate effect compared to the slow impeachment process, but this immediacy is bundled with a lack of finality. To retake power, all the president needs is the support, one time, of more than a third of either the House or Senate. The whole process would be wrenching and horribly disruptive.
A third problem is that Section 4 is drafted less than perfectly. The best reading of Section 4s text and the clear message from its drafting history is that when the president declares he is able, he does not retake power until either (1) four days pass without the vice-president and Cabinet disagreeing; or (2) he, the president, wins the vote in Congress. But the text is ambiguous on this point and commentators have frequently misread it as allowing the president to retake power immediately upon his declaration of ability.
If learned commentators have made this error in quiet moments, you can imagine a president making the same error in the heat of an attempt to remove him. He would have every incentive to do so and, further, to rally his supporters around his misinterpretation. Whats more, a president in such a situation would almost certainly fire the Cabinet members who voted against him. Creating doubt about who is actually president and who is actually the Cabinet, to put it mildly, is an awful prospect. To be unworried about such a possibility, you have to assume that, in the middle of such a crisis, the nation and its government would collectively set aside their personal political opinions, carefully consider the dueling abstruse legal arguments, and reach a perfect consensus, all within a few minutes.
So, this is the likely result of invoking Section 4 against President Trump: Vice-President Pence becomes acting president for five minutes before Trump contests the action. In the best-case Section 4 scenario for Trumps opponents, Pence stays in control for a week or two until Trump wins in Congress. In the worst-case scenario, all hell breaks loose in the meantime.
Why, Section 4 advocates might ask, does Trump win the vote in the best-case scenario? Because the congressional bar is set higher for Section 4 (two-thirds in both House and Senate) than for impeachment (majority in the House, two-thirds in the Senate). Currently, even with every Democratic vote, winning two-thirds of the House requires 40 percent of Republican votes, too. The numbers needed for impeachment would be attained long before the numbers needed for Section 4 would be. It may be that Congress would only be willing to move down this path if the vice-president and Cabinet kicked things off, but it seems unlikely that Congress would be that reticent if, at the same time, the vice-president and Cabinet are not.
The drafters of Section 4 did this intentionally, because they did not want Section 4 to be used as an end run around the impeachment process. And who in the anti-Trump commentariat or in Congress would support a Section 4 action but not impeachment? Again, Section 4 is a bad fit for a president who can fire people and tweet; it is exceedingly unlikely that such a president could act so horribly as to warrant a Section 4 action without also acting so horribly as to warrant impeachment. By contrast, falling into a coma or going missing are not impeachable offenses; it is for such cases that Section 4 is best left.
***
The most common response I have heard to this analysis is that presidents have the power to destroy life on earth in a matter of minutes, and if that power is held by someone who has lost his marbles, Section 4 is the only way to wrest power from him immediately to save the world. In such a situation, I would concede that Section 4 would be worth using. Even with all of Section 4s drawbacks, the cost of inaction would be too high.
But what would really happen in such a case? Would Section 4 be the only thing preventing the apocalypse? Certainly not. For the most part, presidents require the assistance of an army of underlings (including, most prominently, the Cabinet) to make anything happen. If a president goes mad, his underlings would presumably resist putting his mad decrees into effect. If they would not if they too have gone mad then Section 4 is probably no help anyway.
Once they have resisted the mad decrees, the Cabinet and vice-president would do well to invoke Section 4. There would be unanimity in such a case, or close to it. If the president were clearheaded enough to contest the action, there would be no one to support a misinterpretation of Section 4 that immediately restored his power. Congress would not back him. Section 4 would have worked. But until and unless something so extreme as this fever dream happens, Section 4 is not the way to go.
Brian Kalt is a professor of law at Michigan State and the author of Constitutional Cliffhangers: A Legal Guide for Presidents and Their Enemies.
Twice this week, Twitters slavish and bumbling attempts to adhere to its own misguided rules pointlessly angered and alienated huge groups of users; twice this week, the social network was forced to embarrassingly reverse course on its decisions after the damage had already been done. At some point, its not going to have enough foot left to shoot itself in.
On Monday, Twitter refused to allow Tennessee senate candidate Marsha Blackburn to pay to promote a campaign ad that said shed fought Planned Parenthood and stopped the sale of baby body parts. You might think that rejecting this obviously untrue ad was a bold stand against misleading campaign statements, but Twitters stated reason for rejecting it was that the ad was inflammatory. After outcry from Blackburn and her supporters, it allowed the promotion.
Then, on late Wednesday night, without explanation, Twitter locked down the account of actress Rose McGowan, whod become a folk hero on the site for her passionate and righteous criticism of Harvey Weinstein. Twelve hours later, it clarified that the reason it had suspended McGowan from tweeting was that one of her tweets included a private phone number a violation of Twitters terms of service. McGowan may have been tweeting on the side of justice, but rules are rules, and they have to be enforced. Sometimes, at least. Soon after Twitters explanation was published, multiple people reported that theyd had their private phone numbers published on Twitter in the last year, and that the service hadnt suspended the offending accounts.
Twitter has a bad habit of losing itself deep inside the rabbit hole of its own rules, and its attempts at unthinking, both-sides consistency tend to make them seem all the more weak and arbitrary. The platform is rife with stories from people whove been harassed or threatened in ways that would seem to specifically violate the terms of service, but whose reports fell on deaf ears. One woman was sent the same unsolicited dick pic three different times and received three different rulings from Twitter moderators. Most prominently, the president of the United States has recently and repeatedly threatened nuclear war against the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, a clear violation of Twitters ban on violent threats. This last one in particular has launched a sort of movement of people demanding that Twitter ban the president for violation of its rules.
Some of Twitters fumbling around these issues is just sheer incompetence. Some of it is an ambiguous Terms of Service. Some of it can be chalked up to outsourced moderation systems that over-ask of underpaid contractors. But the underlying issue is that Twitter is pretending to be something it isnt, and the complaints about its inconsistency arise because of that ambiguity.
Twitter is, of course, a for-profit company that gathers data about its users in order to sell advertising. But because of its history and the cultural leanings of its founders and employees, it likes to pretend that its platform is a kind of quasi-public body the Town Square of the Internet or even a sort of sovereign state. And because it pretends to be a government, people believe, understandably, that it also offers the same protections and rights as a government. Twitter talks often about the right to free speech generally, in the context of why harassment is so difficult to police on the platform so why wouldnt people also expect the right to equal treatment under the law? I mean, uh, equal treatment under the terms of service.
Theyre not entirely wrong; Twitter does serve some quasi-public functions. But private companies that serve public functions are generally heavily regulated, or obligated to provide universal service under common-carrier laws, as telecommunications companies are. Twitter has none of those commitments; instead, it has its terms of service, behind which it hides the fact that it can more or less ban or suspend anyone whenever it wants to, for whatever reason it might choose. Twitter pretends it has rights-respecting rules because they make everyone feel a little bit better about a for-profit advertising company being a public arena. But of course, its only pretending. Complaining to Twitter that Trump is violating its rules is like complaining to a mall cop that the mall Santa is being loud, in direct contravention of article four of the malls rules of conduct.
The point here isnt to say that Twitter is doing a good job, or that people objecting to its inconsistencies are wrong. Its to say that Twitters problems go deeper than an inefficient or broken moderation system. Twitter keeps getting into trouble because it pretends to be one thing when it is in fact another thing. It should just stop.
In other words, the solution to Twitters inability to consistently apply the rules is to give up the rules. Stop pretending that the Terms of Service have the same power as a body of law in a democratic state. Stop gesturing vaguely at the moderation system as an approximation of due process, or really anything besides a thrown-together effort to ensure the platform remains mostly safe for advertisers. Stop implying that users have any right to speech on the platform beyond that which the company extends them. Maybe most importantly, stop trying to strike a liberal-democratic balance between free-speech rights and freedom-from-harassment rights and pick the one thats more important.
Would users leave? Maybe, some of them, but where would they go? Theres no public alternative in which the idea of speech or due-process rights might be meaningful. A new Twitter that acknowledged its own near-absolute power over its platform might sound unjust or unfair, but even if Twitter gave up all of its free-speech wing of the free-speech party rhetoric, nothing in practice would change. The power dynamic between Twitter and its users and the rights each retained would remain exactly the same. Its just that the relationship would be much clearer. Twitter would no longer need to provide embarrassingly elaborate justifications for its decisions, and users wouldnt need to waste their time filing contentious objections. Dont want to promote Marsha Blackburns video? Just dont! Need to delete one of Rose McGowans tweets? Go for it! Want to keep the president on your service even as he sends the country to the brink of nuclear war? You dont need anyones permission, Twitter! You own your website!
ENGLEVALE The Ransom Multiplier, a gilt development facility owned by the Nelson County Pigs Cooperative, plans to move in late-gestation sows by Nov. 1 and begin farrowing by Nov. 15.
Once the pigs are in the facility, outside people will not be allowed in. To give the public a look at the state-of-the-art barns, Suidae Health and Production, which will manage the barn, and the North Dakota Livestock Alliance invited media to tour the facility on Thursday. The barn also plans a tour for neighbors today.
The tour included a walk through the under-construction facility, which consists of a breeding and gestation building, farrowing building, gilt growing building, compost and equipment storage building and water storage cistern.
The Nelson County Pigs Cooperative is made up of hog producers from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa, said cooperative consultant Bruce Froslee. The Ransom Multiplier will produce replacement gilts for the cooperatives 5,000-sow facility in Nelson County, as well as for other producers. Suidae Health and Production, a swine-exclusive veterinary and management company, will provide day-to-day management of the Ransom County facility.
Jeff Kayser, director of management services for Suidae Health and Production, explained the facility has the latest in biosecurity measures to protect animal health. Breeding females will be given extra space in gestation and farrowing housing, evaporative cooling systems will keep animals more comfortable during warm weather, and farm personnel will be trained in Pork Quality Assurance and Transport Quality Assurance standards.
We intend to be an industry leader in how we care for our animals, Kayser said.
The facility will be cleaned and sanitized before pigs begin arriving. The facility also will be cleaned regularly after the sows arrive, and power washer spigots are located throughout the barns. Everyone and everything coming in will be cleaned and sanitized before entry. Pits beneath the barns will hold manure until spreading.
Kayser said the facilitys $6 million first phase will have space for 2,500 sows. A later phase will add another 2,500 sows.
Sows will be artificially inseminated at the facility. Piglets will be weaned three weeks after farrowing. Gilts will be developed as replacements both for the barn itself as well as for the cooperatives needs, while barrows will be shipped to facilities to be raised to market. The facility will have a closed herd, Kayser explained.
No live animals will come in after we stock it in a couple weeks, he says.
Kayser said the multiplier will enable the cooperative to be under complete control of their replacement animals. Replacement gilts for the cooperative previously have come from Wisconsin, Froslee explained. The Ransom County barn will reduce the vulnerability to disease and the stress of traveling, he said.
Were trying to control our own destiny, Froslee said.
Amos Baer, a Minnesota chicken and hog producer who is a member of the Nelson County Pigs Cooperative, said he will get grandchildren of the sows from Ransom County at his farm.
The quality of the pigs should be improved, he said, adding that Ransom County is an ideal spot for the barn, with readily available corn and soybean meal for feed.
Ransom Multiplier will employ 10 people. The facility, in its initial phase, will require 88,000 bushels of corn and 740 tons of soybean meal. While Henning Construction of Iowa is completing the construction, area electricians, plumbers and excavators have worked on the project, and local suppliers have been used for many components.
Its those local impacts that interest the North Dakota Livestock Alliance.
The alliance, a newly formed effort consisting of representatives from pork, dairy, soybean, corn, soybean and ethanol groups and advisors from North Dakota State University and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, plans to promote animal agriculture and abate some of the fear and misinformation that can crop up about livestock facilities, said Craig Jarolimek, chair of the North Dakota Livestock Alliance.
Jarolimek said the Ransom Multiplier illustrates that importance of livestock agriculture for North Dakota. Suidae has hired three people from the area to work in the barn and more employees will move into the local communities. That means more people for schools, churches and tax base. The feed the barn will use provides an additional market for farmers in the area, reducing their basis and helping them find profitability. And manure from the barn will go to enrich local fields and will be applied in a manner to reduce odor.
We feel animal agriculture is needed to expand in North Dakota, he said.
While other swine facilities proposed in North Dakota have run into strong opposition, the Englevale barn has found mostly support, Kayser said. He said theyve held meetings to explain the project and invited the North Dakota Department of Health to explain the permitting process. Theyve answered questions and addressed concerns, and they worked with the township to make sure roads are maintained and repaired.
We pledge to be good neighbors so if there are questions or concerns that come up, well obviously work with our neighbors and do our best to make sure its a good asset for the community, Kayser said.
The months of May and October are special months on the Catholic Churchs liturgical calendar, dedicated to the veneration of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.
May is the liturgical month of the Blessed Virgin Mary whose commemoration according to the Catholic Encyclopaedia dates from the 17th century. That is when the custom of consecrating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin by special observances was first adopted.
Observance of the month of May became more solidified as a Marian month in 1945 when Pope Pius XII proclaimed May 31 as the feast day of the Queenship of Mary. In later years, the day was moved to August 22.
A statue of Mary procession in Nigeria
The Church also based on the May 13, 1917 apparitions of Mary at Fatima in Portugal to further affirm the month of May as a Marian month.
According to Rev Fr Henry Ssebwana, the vice rector of Bukalasa Minor Seminary in Masaka diocese, on May 13, 1917, three young girls, Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Morta were herding sheep when they saw a woman brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than the rays of the sun.
The lady is said to have asked them to devote themselves to the Holy Trinity and to pray the rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to war.
The month of October is dedicated as the Most Holy Rosary primarily because October 7 is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary the day on which the church in Europe registered victory against the Muslim Turks in 1571.
The Turks who controlled vast Muslim lands in the Middle East were expanding into Europe forcing Pope Pius V to call on the Christian princes of Europe to rally to defeat the Islamic threat.
In addition, he called for special processions and public recitation of the rosary, asking the intercession of the Virgin Mary leading to the defeat of the Muslim army at the Battle of Lepanto.
During those months, we pay special homage to Mother Mary by saying the rosary daily and the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, seeking for her intercession, Fr Ssebwana said.
The litany of Mary is a special prayer recited after the rosary. It was composed and first used by pilgrims at the Marian shrine in Loreto, Italy in the 16th century and approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587.
Besides the two months, the Church also has other special days dedicated to the glorification of Mother Mary. One such a day is August 15, which is the feast day for the Assumption of Mary into heaven.
The Roman and Orthodox Catholic Churches believe that on this day, the Virgin Marys body was taken up into heaven at the end of her earthly life.
The Assumption of Mary into heaven is one of the major feasts of the Catholic Church and on that day, the church allows moderate processions to give reverence to Mary because of her role as Mother of God, Fr Ssebwana said.
Some of these processions were witnessed in Kampala with a priest holding the statue of the Virgin Mary in an open-roof car, followed by a brass band and devotees.
It is a long-held tradition that Christians move with the statue of Mary... because at the time there were fewer households, a priest would move with the statue of Mary and visit households which we call Mary visiting homes. It could also be done by small Christian communities of about 10 households who move around with it [the statue] showing the significance of Mary in the church, and also praying for her intercession, Ssebwana said.
During the processions, the devotees invoke Mary through recitations of the rosary and litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Welcome to 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow!! Posting is at 10AM, Noon and 2PM CST daily. Up to 12 days of posts on the main page. The archives have more. You can forward posts by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the post. Enjoy your stay! *** If you need to contact me, or have a copyright issue, please use the "Contact The Wizard" form on the left side of 'OZ'. Original source and author is cited and credited in each post where possible. ***
Dubai Police, already home to Lamborghini patrol cars, self-driving robots and android officers, has decided to take to the skies in what can only be described as a flying motorbike.
The vehicle, called the Scorpion and designed by Russian tech company Hoversurf, relies on four propellers to stay airborne, with the rider crouched precariously close to the exposed blades. Capable of 40 mph and a travel time of 25 minutes, the single-seat craft, which can carry 600 lbs, can also operate autonomously.
Dubai Police are not alone in utilizing innovative flying vehicles. Companies around the world are coming up with new designs for vertical take-off and landing (VTOLs) aircraft.
After appearing at tech shows earlier this year, Dubai Police has decided to add one to its list of cutting-edge gadgets, all part of the forces smart city plans.
According to the Facebook page of Hoversurf CEO Alexander Atamanov, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Police and has been invited to open mass production of the vehicle in the Dubai area.
Unveiled at Dubais Gitex Technology show, the Scorpion was presented alongside a new electric motorbike concept by Japanese firm Mikasa firmly rooted to the ground, but with a top speed of 124 mph according to the police and looking like something out of the film Tron.
Watch the Dubai Polices new Scorpion in action below, and scroll through the gallery above to discover more about the future of flying vehicles.
Video
Source: CNN
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The office of Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, has debunked claims that the Vice President has a convoy of 16 vehicles accompanying him on trips.
Former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, earlier this week, vowed to start a campaign against state officials to force them to reduce their convoy sizes.
He singled out the Vice President as having a large convoy that inconvenienced regular road users.
Citing a recent trip to Cape Coast to buttress his point, Prof Adei claimed the Vice Presidents convoy consisted of 16 SUVs.
But the Veeps office, in a statement signed by the Director of Communications, Frank -Twum, insisted that, Dr. Bawumia only used a maximum of seven vehicles on trips outside Accra and on this particular trip to Cape Coast, the Vice President used a total of 7 cars.
Below Is The Full Statement
VICE PRESIDENT USES A MAXIMUM OF 7 CARS, NOT 16 FOR TRAVELS OUTSIDE ACCRA.
The attention of the Office of the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has been drawn to a recent media publication following comments by Professor Stephen Adei, former Rector of GIMPA, that the convoy of the Vice President on a recent trip to Cape Coast consisted of 16 SUVs.
The Office would like to make it clear that the Vice President and his team use a maximum of 7 vehicles on trips outside Accra and not 16. The 7 vehicles include a leading police vehicle, security detail, Protocol, the media team and an ambulance. On this particular trip to Cape Coast, the Vice President used a total of 7 cars.
It should, however, be noted that on many occasions (including funerals) while on a trip, several other people, including the Police Commander of the area, Ministers, MPs, MMDCEs, CEOs and party officials may decide to meet and accompany the Vice President on arrival.
Signed
Frank Agyei-Twum
Director of Communications
Office of the Vice President
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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With the increased emphasis on testing, teachers face additional questions beyond the importance of an outside event when deciding whether to raise the subject in the classroom.
What about the curriculum? What about the test?
With experience, you are able to put away that scripted curriculum and make time for the different discussions, said Mary Tully, who will be retiring this year as chairwoman of the social studies department at Queensbury High School.
The beauty of teaching is that you can connect a lot of current events to the past. You just need to be confident, she added. Current affairs are embedded in all the social studies curriculum, and it is embedded into other curriculum as well.
Lynn Elder, a Lake George High School social studies teacher, agreed it is not hard to take what is going on in the outside world and use it.
For me, the global Regents does not prevent me from branching off and discussing current events, she said. Many current events can fit into or apply to the unit I am teaching. For example, we are learning about the time period of 1750 and how in the world there were many empires yet Japan pursued isolationism. We discussed what isolationism is and branched into a discussion on North Korea and how there can be geographic isolationism, cultural isolationism, economic isolationism.
She also had another example from the series of hurricanes that recently hit the southern coast of the U.S. and the Caribbean islands.
In teaching AP world history we look at five different themes and one of them is interactions with humans and their environment, she said. We discussed the impacts of the hurricanes on the areas hit and then the ripple effect of the destruction.
Tim Kelleher, who teaches 12th-grade economics and government at Greenwich, said teachers need to use their judgment and find the connections.
As a teacher, you try to figure out whats usable and how you can fit it in, he said. Right now, the seniors are looking at the constitutional convention that is on the ballot in November and writing pro-con essays on it. It forces them to research it.
Elders husband, Bill, who teaches English at Lake George, said he incorporates outside events while he is teaching students writing skills that are required on state tests.
As an 11th-grade English teacher I teach in a Common Core exam year, but the exam is skill-based, so I do not feel particularly limited by it in this area, Elder said. Personally, I am very engaged with current events, so I tend to use them often in class.
Like many recently retired teachers, Pat Niles of Salem started at a time when there was not as much statewide testing but had to deal with more testing toward the end of his career.
Testing should not be such a factor that you cant discuss current issues, he said. It doesnt mean you are going to spend weeks on the issue, but kids should have an outlet to discuss those events. Just like the adults, kids are questioning and fearful of what is going to happen. The students need to discuss it and get it out in an appropriate forum.
Like Niles, former Hudson Falls High School teacher Matt Rozell said a teacher has to be able to adapt and move beyond the curriculum when the time calls for it.
If you are a robot, probably you dont take the time, and I confess I did not have a Friday current event day. So frankly, I generally took each day or week as it came, and those questions as they came. The test can wait, Rozell said.
But the tests are there, and Trista Tallon, a ninth-grade teacher at Lake George High School, said that, with a little work, teachers can adapt contemporary topics to the tests.
For certain, state curriculums tied to testing can often limit the time needed to fully explain certain events and put them into context in a way that allows a student to deeply learn from the event, she said. For example, American gun control and gun rights issues dont necessarily fit directly into the content of the ninth-grade global history curriculum, so good teaching, in my opinion, would find a fit in the curriculum somewhere at some point, where students could connect to the issue.
In an educators world, the golden ring is a teachable moment.
Its that instant when something in that days news or a comment from a student ties directly back to the teachers goal for that class.
Take March 11, 2011, when Granville High School science teacher Leah Leibacher, who is now at a school in Indiana, was teaching about various types of power production and their advantages and dangers.
Her class was watching The China Syndrome, a fictional movie about a nuclear meltdown.
What she didnt expect was an earthquake, a tsunami and the meltdown of three cores at the Fukashima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant in Japan to prove her point for her.
That was not something we expected, she said. But it made the point.
Going farther back, every teacher remembers their reaction, their students reaction and the weeks following 9/11. That was a time when there were more lessons to teach than there was time, while still working on other topics.
More recently, teens have been inundated with news of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and threats of nuclear war with North Korea.
As teens, they are looking for direction on what happened and why, said Mary Tully, a social studies teacher in Queensbury, who is retiring after three decades. Its very interesting when you go about this in an objective way. The first thing I ask them is how they know what they know. How accurate is their information. I tell them to use multiple sources and get it as accurate as possible.
Bill Elder, who teaches English in Lake George, said he had the news and an assignment coincide earlier this month.
My students were reading and annotating an article from The Atlantic magazine from a couple of years ago. The topic? Can schools punish students for speech that occurs outside of the school environment? Elder said. We dealt with big-picture issues, the high-level vocabulary and persuasive tone, while connecting it to the Ballston Spa gun/Instagram threat that occurred the same week.
Andrew Cook, a former social studies teacher and principal, is now the superintendent at Hartford Central School.
I was talking to one of my social studies teachers, and he said he had been talking about Las Vegas, not in terms of the event itself, but relating to the Second Amendment, Cook said.
Elder, the Lake George English teacher, said teachers sometimes need to stick to their lesson plans, despite what is going on in the outside world.
There are definitely times when teachers should say ... Not the time, he said. At Troy High School, as 9/11 unfolded that morning, I first had a class of freshmen. I taught my planned lesson. During the next period, a class of seniors, I had the TV on and talked things out as they happened. Context is everything.
Sarah Young, who has been teaching for 21 years at South Glens Falls High School and now teaches 12th-grade government and economics and 10th-grade world history, remembers challenges and opportunities after 9/11.
At the time, I was teaching mainly ninth grade, and that was a little more sensitive. They were very quiet at first, she said. But we were studying different religions, and I took it as an opportunity to discuss religions. Islam was in the curriculum, and we has a good chance to talk about that.
Reading the students
Young said issues have become more difficult to discuss in the past few years.
With current events, whether they are local, state or national, its been a little more difficult the last couple of years, because of the divisiveness in the country. It has taken longer, because students have deep feelings.
She said the Las Vegas massacre did engender some discussion, but it was limited.
The information was just so new. I wanted to see where it was going to go, she said. We did talk about federalism and how the gun laws were state laws, not federal laws.
Trista Tallon, a ninth-grade social studies teacher at Lake George High, said a teacher needs to sense the impact a discussion may have on students.
Teacher discretion and sensitivity is also important in reacting to and addressing current events in the classroom, Tallon said.
Sometimes events are too raw, personal or fresh for students to address in a meaningful way, she said.
Often it might just mean asking if they have any questions about it, and answering or explaining what can be explained to them at that time through my lens as a history teacher. And many times, we revisit it later in the year or when the opportunity presents itself in the curriculum, she said.
Dawn Slater, a social studies teacher in Greenwich, said teachers need to take the pulse of their classrooms.
We try to read what the students need, she said. Sometimes, theres a need to talk about the event, and sometimes they dont want to.
It also depends on the age of the student, she added, remembering 9/11.
In a word, it was heart-wrenching, she said. Youre trying to explain it to ninth-graders, and they just want to be safe.
Vital connections
Two former social studies teachers, each with three decades in the classroom, said connecting history with current events, especially big events with the impact of the Las Vegas shooting, is crucial.
These events do become teachable moments, said Patrick Niles, who taught in Salem and is president of the Washington County Historical Society.
In the example of 9/11, we talk about attacks on the United States over its history. The issue of Pearl Harbor, the American Revolution and the sinking of the Maine and the Spanish-American War were all issues we discussed. A discussion of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which became the reason for the internment of Japanese-Americans, which could be related to some of the current security issues today, he said.
But Niles said he occasionally pulled back.
There are times when it is just too emotional or we just dont have all the facts at that time. The shootings at Virginia Tech several years ago as I had one student going there and others heading off to college in a very short time, he said. It is timing and knowing when to push and when not to push an issue.
Matthew Rozell, who taught at Hudson Falls High School and has written several books on World War II, wrote about dealing with horrific current events in his Teaching History Matters blog just after the massacre of children in December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.
Following the latest horrific tragedy, we are hearing a lot of buzz ... Kids seem to become more anxious with each passing hour, though the tragedy occurred last week. Now they are in front of you in the classroom, he wrote. Your job is to explain the world to them. They look to you for answers and solutions, reassurance and comfort.
Rozell said he has learned some lessons himself, especially when it comes to dealing with news about school-related tragedies.
Dont try to make sense or explain the inexplicable, or offer solutions. Just listen, he said. Dont psychoanalyze or pontificate. They get enough of that.
The 2011 tsunami and its after-effects in Japan found their way into Tallons ninth-grade classroom at Lake George.
When the tsunami hit Japan, ninth-graders were doing a unit on Japan and we had just finished discussing how geography impacts Japanese life, so it was a natural fit and was very teachable, Tallon said. Ninth-grade students reacted to the event by selling ribbons and raising money that was then shared with the Saga City Exchange. They were able to directly connect with the curriculum and see in real life how natural disasters impact a society, which is always an ideal situation.
The same thing happened with this years hurricanes.
For the past month, we have been doing a unit on geography and how it impacts human development, so the natural disasters of the last few weeks fit easily into our discussion about geography, Tallon said.
FARGO A vice president at North Dakota State University whos been cited in complaints as an intrusive and vindictive administrator is the subject of a routine comprehensive review that will include input from faculty and staff she supervises.
Kelly Rusch, NDSUs vice president of research and creative activity, is one of four vice presidents or vice provosts at the university who are undergoing the comprehensive reviews, a new practice starting this year for vice presidents and vice provosts.
Earlier this year, Rusch was named in a grievance by Scott Walden, who later was dismissed on Ruschs recommendation as NDSUs attending veterinarian and director of animal resources.
Walden, who has dropped the appeal of his termination, claims his firing was in retaliation for the grievance, and asserted through his lawyer that Ruschs management style was dictatorial and overbearing.
Rusch, who was hired in 2013, also was named in complaints filed in 2014 with a hotline accusing her of fostering a hostile work environment and causing employees to fear retaliation. But she has received glowing reviews from her supervisor, Provost Beth Ingram.
Weve always done comprehensive reviews of deans every three years, and decided under a policy review spanning several years to expand the 360-degree reviews to vice presidents, Ingram said.
As a result of the new policy, adopted by the faculty senate, every three years the vice presidents, deans and department heads have comprehensive reviews, and standard annual reviews the rest of the time, she said.
This is pretty standard across academia, Ingram said, referring to periodic comprehensive reviews for high-level administrators. So its not anything unusual.
The review of each of the vice presidents is led by a four-member committee, including three faculty members and one staff member. The other vice presidents and vice provosts are Canan Bilen-Green, vice provost for faculty affairs and equity; Marc Wallman, vice president for information technology; and Charlene Wolf-Hall, vice provost for academic affairs.
Faculty and staff will be able to comment on the reviews, through surveys and campus meetings.
We want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to have input in the reviews, she said.
The survey questionnaire for Ruschs review includes questions about the way she communicates, whether she is open to feedback and seeks out the opinions of others, avoids politicking and hidden agendas, treats others with respect and civility, and is unbiased in her treatment of others.
Among other things, the review committees will examine the subjects annual evaluations, accomplishments and goal attainments, and any other material deemed relevant by the committee, according to the review process.
The review process, which has begun, will conclude early next year, Ingram said. After the information is gathered, a report will be sent to the provost, who will compile a final report and summarize the outcome of the review.
Walden, who was fired in June, said he has decided to stop his appeal. His case would ultimately have been decided by President Dean Bresciani, who already has upheld his dismissal, so it likely would have not resulted in a different outcome, Walden said.
Editor:
One thing that we all know! As temperatures drop, heating costs rise. This added expense forces some neighbors of ours to make a very difficult choice: pay to keep their home at a safe temperature or buy the groceries they need to stay healthy. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) formerly known as food stamps can make it possible to do both.
SNAP is a monthly supplement that stretches food budgets and can free money up for other necessities, like utility bills, no matter what your primary source of heat is. Monthly benefits are automatically deposited in participants accounts, and a special debit card is used to buy food from participating stores and farmers' markets.
The Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) is a supportive, community-based program that provides one-on-one assistance with the SNAP application process. NOEP coordinators offer free pre-screenings to determine if a person may be eligible for SNAP, and can help eligible people gather documentation for, complete and submit the application. Throughout the year, NOEP provides outreach services at area food pantries, WIC Clinics and senior centers as well as collaborating with veterans organizations and many other health and human service agencies. Home and office visits can also be scheduled. During the month of November, the NOEP will join the Office for the Aging at all sites in Warren County to assist individuals applying for the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) to apply for SNAP, as well. All services are free and confidential.
If you or someone you know is struggling to afford both heat and nutritious food, contact your local NOEP Coordinator: In Warren County 518-793-6212; in Washington County 518- 587-5188, ext. 408; and in Saratoga County 518- 587-5188, ext. 412.
Bennet F. Driscoll Jr., NOEP coordinator Warren County, Catholic Charities of Warren County, Glens Falls
Editor:
Republican Senator Corker recently spoke about the danger of Trump leading us into a World War III; his words/actions toward North Korea, decertification of the Iran Nuclear Deal, withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, irrational tweets and erratic behavior. That danger is echoed in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a just-published book written by 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts assessing Trumps unfit mental state and their duty to warn about his narcissism, paranoid personality disorder, antisocial personality, inability to embrace anything beyond his own self. Most of the world sees clearly his lying, bullying, bizarre behavior. The question is why some refuse to see and name what is obvious.
Some clearly stand by their man out of self interest. He gives them what they want: unregulated corporate profits (fossil fuels, pharmaceutical and arms industries); a health bill and tax bill benefitting the very wealthy and harming the health and income of most of us in New York state; the rescinding of regulations protecting our lakes from acid rain, our streams, water and air from toxins, our workers (from injury) and consumers (from fraud). Under the banner of religious freedom, discrimination against gays and lesbians is protected; patriarchal power asserted, limiting womens reproductive choices, contraception, control over their own bodies; hate cultivated.
My question is not how unfit and dangerous he is, nor how, for some, greed or religious ideology supersedes life and morality, but rather, how some citizens, local representatives, party leaders still support someone who endangers our environment, community needs, moral values and well-being. Rachel Seeber, for one, now running for Queensbury supervisor, enthusiastically supported Trump. Where do she and other politicians now stand? Where do we stand?
In a democracy, Rabbi Heschel, a civil rights activist, said, not all are guilty but all are responsible.
Bernice Mennis, West Fort Ann
A forecasted record soybean crop did not get any bigger in the Oct. 12 crop production report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which gave a much needed boost to soybean prices.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported in its most recent crop production report that the nation's soybean crop is expected to be 4.43 billion bushels, which is up 3 percent over last years crop. The crop production report in September has the same figure of 4.43 billion bushels.
Nationally, soybean yields are estimated to be down 2.5 bushels per acre from 2016, while the area harvested for soybeans is expected to be a record 89.5 million acres, up 8 percent from 2016.
Additionally, ending soybean stocks are forecast to be 430 million bushels, down from 475 million bushels projected in September.
Soybean prices reflected the new report.
On Monday, River Gulf Grain in Bettendorf had cash prices for nearby soybeans at $9.22 per bushel and prices for river open soybeans at $9.60.
On Thursday, after the crop production report was released, cash prices for nearby beans were at $9.52 per bushel, while river open had climbed to $9.77. On Friday, River Gulf had nearby soybeans at $9.60 per bushel and river open soybeans at $9.95 per bushel.
The bottom line is weve got a good handle on yields and production has stabilized, Grant Kimberly, the Iowa Soybean Associations director of market development said in a news release Thursday.
Demand is steady and strong, Kimberly said. The question then becomes will demand be even stronger than projected right now? Because demand is so strong, if there are any weather issues in South America, that would attract additional purchases from the U.S. All eyes are on demand and South America right now.
Both Iowa and Illinois farmers are contributing to the record soybean production.
Iowa farmers are expected to produce 557 million bushels of soybeans, according to the estimates by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. It would be the second-highest production on record behind 2016s production of 566 million bushels.
Illinois farmers are expected to produce a record 601 million bushels of soybeans. That beats last years record of 593 million bushels.
Nationally, corn production is expected to be 14.3 billion bushels, according to the October crop production report. Thats up slightly from the 14.2 billion bushels forecast in the September production report, but down 6 percent from last years crop.
Corn prices remained flat after the report. Cash prices for nearby corn on Wednesday were $3.11 per bushel for nearby and $3.42 for river open at River Gulf Grain.
On Friday, River Gulf had cash prices for nearby corn listed at $3.18 per bushel, and $3.49 for river open.
Farmers are hoping for dryer weather next week.
In Iowa, for the week ending Oct. 8, only 8 percent of the corn crop had been harvested, which is more than two weeks behind the average, according to the Iowa Crops and Condition Report issued Monday.
Also in Iowa, 26 percent of the soybean crop had been harvested, which is about a week behind the average.
In Illinois 38 percent of the corn harvest had been completed during the week ending Oct. 8, according to the Illinois Crop and Condition Report. Also, soybean harvest was 52 percent complete.
The National Weather Service, Davenport, is forecasting clear and dry conditions for the coming week.
"If we can be so clever as human beings to drill Bakken wells that go 2 miles down and 2 miles out, we ought to at least be looking at what kind of possibilities there are for water usage that don't involve damaging our one and only Little Missouri State Scenic River."
Jan Swenson, executive director of the Badlands Conservation Alliance, questioning how much water the oil industry should be able to withdraw from the Little Missouri River.
q q q
"It's helping all the producers and royalty owners regardless of whether those barrels are actually traveling down the Dakota Access Pipeline. That has really set the market and made the transportation much more competitive leaving North Dakota."
Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger, discussing the impact of the Dakota Access Pipeline on oil prices.
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"It's time to give a voice to these voiceless women. It's time to bring their perpetrators to justice and give a voice to the families who are struggling even today, sometimes decades later, to understand how this can happen in America."
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., introducing Savanna's Act in honor of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind. The legislation would require data collection and remove barriers to help tribal law enforcement seek justice.
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"The BLM methane rule imposed unworkable and duplicative requirements on our energy industry."
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., praising an Interior Department move to delay an Obama-era regulation aimed at restricting methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands.
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"We were kept in the dark. We were told that (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) prevented us from knowing anything. This is a system issue, and the issue (is) that parents and students aren't informed of their rights as victims."
Kristin Wentz-Krumwiede, a parent, saying she wasnt made aware of safeguards against bullying by the Bismarck School District.
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"It's a horrible thing; it really is. We're committed to doing whatever we need to do to prevent (bullying and harassment). Even though we have a lot of things in place, I really look forward to us reviewing that ... whatever it's going to take."
Bismarck School Board President Karl Lembke, on plans to review the districts bullying policies.
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"I can't keep them in jail long enough to make them better."
Cass County Commissioner Chad Peterson, on the difficulty of helping inmates with drug and alcohol problems.
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"Marsy's Law posed a lot of questions that we don't have the answers to, that the courts are going to have to provide answers to."
Chief Deputy Attorney General Troy Seibel, addressing the interim Judiciary Committee.
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"We appreciate FEMA's consideration of our request. In addition to the many actions taken by the state to help livestock producers, we felt they also deserved an attempt to seek federal disaster assistance, and as a state we will continue to do everything in our power to help them recover."
Gov. Doug Burgum, after the federal government rejected a request for a disaster declaration due to the drought.
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"Even though they are a private company they used the government to protect and advance their project. We tread on dangerous ground when we use government law enforcement to advance private interests."
Sen. Tim Mathern, D-N.D., after Dakota Access LLC donated $15 million to help pay for law enforcement costs related to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
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"The Dakota Access Pipeline was under no obligation to give the state any money, so it was really out of generosity that they did it."
Gov. Doug Burgum, on the donation by Dakota Access LLC.
Follow up file:
In the Oct. 10 Ask the Times, a reader asked:
Q. I understand there are few if any NGOs (non-governmental organizations) operating in Puerto Rico. So where can we send a check to help with the relief effort? -- Mike
On Sept. 25, PBS NEWSHOUR posted an article entitled, "HURRICANE MARIA: How you can help hurricane victims in Puerto Rico." The article included a list of some non-governmental organizations providing hurricane relief to Puerto Rico.
We received the following additional information from a reader:
Thanks for your information.
On your list (PBS NEWSHOUR) of NGO helping in Puerto Rico, I think the best charities to help are those that were already on the ground in that area. As you mentioned the Catholic Church (Catholic Relief Services) is a good example. Another NGO that has been in Puerto Rico helping for over 50 years is The Salvation Army. They are doing a massive job there and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
See Below:
Thanks,
Steve Garrington
(Steve Garrington retired five years ago. He does volunteer work for his church, Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities, The Salvation Army and several other charities.)
"In Puerto Rico, over 1.2 million survivors' needs met by The Salvation Army" posted Oct. 9 on the DailyHerald.com http://bit.ly/2ydibcn
Some key updates for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands are (as of 9.25.17):
In Puerto Rico
The Salvation Army is delivering an average of 14,000 meals per day in San Juan, Loiza, Fajardo, Humacao, Guayama, Ponce, Areciro, Mayaguez, Penuelas, and Caguas.
This totals nearly 129,000 meals and snacks since the impact of Hurricane Irma.
In St. Thomas
In St. Thomas, The Salvation Army has partnered with the Dutch Reform Church to serve over 42,000 meals and snacks, along with delivering food, water, and supply boxes to the poorest communities on the Island.
In St. Thomas, The Salvation Army is serving nearly 3,500 families daily.
In St. John
The Salvation Army is partnering with a local cafe to serve 1,000 families each day.
In St. Croix
The Salvation Army is serving nearly 800 families each day.
With a permanent footprint in the affected communities, The Salvation Army Disaster Services will continue to provide assistance until the need is met and beyond.
How People Can Help
Response efforts to this hurricane and flooding are expected to be costly and last for years. The best way to help after a disaster is to make a financial donation.
Donate By Phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY
Text to Give: STORM to 51555
Mail Checks - ** Please designate "Hurricane 2017" on all checks.
The Salvation Army
PO Box 1959
Atlanta, GA 30301
People with civil or criminal business at the Rock Island County Circuit Courthouse, including lawyers and their staffs, are transitioning from paper to electronic filing.
Other counties in the 14th Judicial Circuit Henry, Whiteside and Mercer also are in transition.
Civil documents, such as lawsuits or divorce petitions must be filed electronically by Jan. 1 by order of the Illinois Supreme Court. Rock Island County began e-filing civil matters in 2016, so many already are filed this way, Tammy Weikert, circuit clerk, said.
Criminal charges are not yet required to be filed electronically because the mandate date has not been set, Weikert said, adding she is not sure when that will happen.
Until then, the initial charging document called an "information" must be filed on paper for felonies, misdemeanors, DUIs and juvenile cases, but documents after that point may be filed electronically, she said.
Why is this happening?
The changes are being mandated by the Illinois Supreme Court and are being welcomed by courthouse staffs and many working in the legal system because e-filing offers so many efficiencies in time and money, Weikert said.
Lawyers or employees will no longer have to physically travel to the courthouse to file documents; they can do it from any computer at any time.
Court staff won't have to physically get up and sort through paper files to pull a case requested by a judge; the judge or the judge's staff can simply pull up the documents on a computer wherever they are. This is a particular time saver in instances in which the paper files are stored off-site because of space constraints, Weikert said.
When e-filing is fully implemented, both criminal and civil documents will be accessible from any computer, any time, with the correct passwords, Weikert said.
Because court staff have been working with e-filing for years, Weikert said she doesn't anticipate the need for closing down offices for training.
She might call for a long lunch hour to pull together staff that is spread out in various locations, just to make sure that the separate challenges each office has are addressed. Court staff is currently spread out among three floors of the courthouse, in an office in the Justice Center (felony staff) and in the former Social Security building on 18th Street (juvenile staff).
What does e-filing mean for the public?
Some obstacles will need to be overcome, Weikert said.
In order to e-file, a user needs a valid email address. Some people don't have computers or email addresses or may be computer illiterate.
"That's going to be a challenge," she said. "We can guide them through it, but we have to be careful. We can't give legal advice."
Examples of individuals who might need to use the court system would be a person without an attorney filing for divorce or answering a divorce petition, a landlord seeking an eviction, a tenant fighting an eviction or a person seeking an order of protection, she said.
What about old paper documents?
Weikert said that since 1994, courthouse staff have been scanning paper documents and importing them into the electronic system. Files previous to 1994 have been microfilmed, and also imported into the electronic system.
As those electronic documents are verified, going back to about 1900, the paper is destroyed. It won't be long before the court operates with "an entirely paperless system," she said.
"That is a big change over how things used to be," she said.
On Iowa Politics discusses whether President Trump is still focused on Iowa's needs, and the announcements for the Iowa Democratic and Republican fundraising event headliners.
On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast which re-creates the conversations that happen when Iowa's political reporters get together after deadlines have been met. This week's show features James Lynch, Ed Tibbetts and Todd Dorman.
This week's show was produced by Max Freund and the music is courtesy of Steven Kristopher.
Find us at qctimes.com, chat with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @OnIowaPolitics and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Know an Iowa musician who should be on our show? Send their band sound files to oniowapolitics@gmail.com.
At the center of the increasingly bitter dispute between the U.S. and Turkey is a demand by an irate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that American prosecutors free a Turkish-Iranian gold dealer who's about to go on trial on money-laundering and fraud charges.
The confrontation sharpened Thursday, as Erdogan protested in Ankara that the businessman, Reza Zarrab, was being squeezed as a "false witness" about corruption. Turkey alarmed Washington by arresting a U.S. consular official this week, in what some U.S. officials feared was an attempt to gain leverage for Zarrab's release before the scheduled Nov. 27 start of his trial in New York. Turkish and American officials plan to meet next week for talks to ease tensions.
What dirt could Zarrab dish in court? A possible preview comes in a May 2016 court filing by then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Citing a December 2013 Turkish prosecutor's report, Bharara's memo said the Turkish evidence "describes a massive bribery scheme executed by Zarrab and others, paying cabinet-level governmental officials and high-level bank officers tens of millions of Euro and U.S. dollars to facilitate Zarrab's network's transactions for the benefit of Iran" to evade U.S. sanctions against that country. Bharara's memo noted that these "conclusions are corroborated by emails obtained through the FBI's investigation."
Erdogan's campaign to free Zarrab has been extraordinary. He demanded his release as well as the firing of Bharara in a private meeting with then-Vice President Joe Biden on Sept. 21, 2016, in which U.S. officials say half the 90-minute conversation was devoted to Zarrab. Erdogan's wife pleaded the case that night to Jill Biden. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag visited then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch in October to argue that the case was "based on no evidence," and that Zarrab should be released.
Erdogan appealed personally about the matter in his last two phone calls with President Obama, in December and early January, former aides say. "Our operating assumption was that Erdogan's obsession with the case was that if it moved forward, information would come out that would damage his family, and ultimately him," said one former senior Obama official.
Erdogan's government began cultivating Donald Trump's team before the election. Michael Flynn, then a campaign aide, was hired as a pro-Turkey lobbyist, and his firm continued to receive Turkish money during the transition. After Flynn resigned as national security adviser in February, the Turks began working with Rudy Giuliani, a close Trump adviser.
The case is toxic to Erdogan because it intersects with his nemesis, the self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Erdogan blames Gulen's followers for gathering and leaking the 2013 evidence about Zarrab, which Turkish media reports say included allegations against Erdogan's family. When Erdogan met with Biden a year ago, he claimed bizarrely that Bharara was a Gulenist tool, according to a former official.
Giuliani's involvement is one of the many unusual aspects of this case. He contacted Bharara on Feb. 24 to inform him that he planned to travel to Ankara on Zarrab's behalf. Trump fired Bharara in March; around that time, Giuliani began pressing the Justice Department for "some agreement between the United States and Turkey" to aid American "security interests" and help Zarrab, Giuliani said in a filing with the court.
Despite these various attempts to halt the prosecution, the case rolled forward -- and even broadened in an expanded indictment last month that named a former Turkish Cabinet minister and three other prominent Turks. Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Sept. 11 condemned the expanded charges as another "coup attempt." Erdogan sees Gulenist plotting behind the 2013 allegations against his inner circle and a failed July 2016 military coup.
Erdogan may have hoped that Trump would support his push to free Zarrab. And Trump initially seemed sympathetic to the Turkish leader, inviting him to Washington for a May meeting. But that visit was marred when Erdogan's security detail attacked protesters outside the Turkish embassy; and Trump's maneuvering room has narrowed because of investigations surrounding his administration.
Some U.S. officials fear that Erdogan might be seeking bargaining chips in the detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, arrested a year ago on charges he backed Gulen, and the arrest last week of Metin Topuz, a longtime employee of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, who a Turkish newspaper has alleged was in contact with a pro-Gulen prosecutor back in 2013. And Erdogan himself suggested last month a trade of Brunson for Gulen.
The phrase "NATO ally" is repeated so often about Turkey that it obscures how adversarial and autocratic recent Turkish actions have been. Washington is worried about what's next.
Our vision for changing business as usual politics starts and stops with the people. Thats why the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund challenges big-money interests and brings real people, lots of them, into the center of our political system.
Thats how well win an Iowa that puts clean water first and serves the public interest, the common good. And thats how well make sure Iowans get paid a living wage. Nobodys going to move that agenda for us. Its up to us to engage and deliver.
Were happy to announce weve found a gubernatorial candidate who agrees with us, and thats Cathy Glasson, a long-time registered nurse and union leader from Coralville, Iowa.
Cathy has bold positions on issues like clean water, health care for all, and will fight for $15 an hour, and more. She knows elections are an opportunity to build the people-power base we need to move our issues and win policies that make our life better for a lot more people.
She also shares our understanding that no single candidate will solve the problems facing everyday people. We need a grassroots movement of Iowans all over the state standing up, speaking out, and being active in our communities, and in the streets, 365 days a year, not just at election time.
Thats how well create the change we need.
Barb Kalbach
Dexter, Iowa
Editors note: Kalbach is president, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund
PIERRE | A former South Dakota state senator, inspired by the dozens of women publicly accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or sexual assault, decided to come forward Friday with her own story of being sexually harassed on the job. In turn, that inspired a lobbyist to publicly share her story of being raped by someone who also worked at the South Dakota Capitol.
Former Sen. Angie Buhl O'Donnell took to Facebook on Friday and wrote about an incident with former House Majority Leader Brian Gosch, of Rapid City, in which he made comments about her breasts and asked her for a hug.
Gosch represented District 32 in Pennington County, told the Argus Leader on Friday that the comments were made in jest and not meant to make her feel uncomfortable.
Buhl O'Donnell's story inspired Samantha Spawn, a lobbyist with NARAL-Pro Choice South Dakota, to share her own story of being raped by a man who worked at the Capitol after a lobbyist event in March in Pierre. Spawn said on Facebook that the man, whom she trusted, followed her to her hotel room and repeatedly assaulted her, causing her pain that lasted for days.
Both women hope going public will create a safer culture for women, especially younger ones who work at the Capitol.
"Maybe that will be a wake-up call to people," Spawn said Friday, according to the newspaper.
The Associated Press does not generally name victims of sexual assault, but Spawn and Buhl O'Donnell chose to go public with their stories.
Spawn said she considered going to police, but was worried she would be judged.
"With the culture of hypermasculinity out there, who was going to believe me?" Spawn said. "I asked myself, 'Am I complicit in rape culture for not reporting it?'"
Buhl O'Donnell, a Sioux Falls Democrat, said during one night in 2016, Gosch made a remark about how she was repeatedly hit in the breasts during a legislative dodgeball game. She tried to change the subject, but Gosch kept talking about her breasts, she said.
Gosch said Buhl O'Donnell initiated the conversation and he joked that she was hit more than once.
"I am sorry if she was offended by that," he said in a statement to the newspaper. "It was not intended to harass her or make her feel uncomfortable."
SD Stockgrowers Association reaffirmed their opposition to a mandatory electronic identification requirement after USDA released their recommendations for an expanded program in Denver last week. The recommendations included a proposal requiring all breeding age cattle to carry an electronic identification tag within the next five years.
"We were opposed to this when it was NAIS, and we're opposed to it now," said SD Stockgrowers Animal ID Committee Chair Kenny Fox. "USDA continues to push this even when producers clearly said that we don't want it and don't need it."
"USDA has been pushing this crazy mandate for years, but they still can't tell us what it will cost, how they are going to keep the data safe, or deal with liability that's going to fall on producers and sale barns. We don't need this kind of program when our current system is working to keep our herds healthy."
Current USDA Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) requires individual identification of any cattle over the age of 18 months traveling across state lines. That is being accomplished with metal NUES tags, brand inspection, health certificates and voluntary use of electronic ID for some producers. Compliance with those standards varies across the country.
USDA's proposed electronic mandate would apply to the same category of cattle over the age of 18 months but mandate that no other identification method, other than electronic, would be allowed for interstate movement or change of ownership. While electronic identification tied to a federal premise registration number has been available on a voluntary basis for years, USDA estimates that less than twenty-percent of all beef cattle in the U.S. are currently using voluntary electronic identification in their cattle herds. The majority of those producers are doing so for management practices, not disease traceability.
SD Stockgrowers Executive Director Silvia Christen attended the meetings in Denver where USDA revealed their recommendations. "We have serious questions about the cost to our livestock producers, veterinarians and the auction markets. The infrastructure systems needed to read and record tags and keep cattle moving is a huge project, and then there's the question of the database and computer systems that would house all of that data. How does USDA propose we keep that safe, protect producer privacy and control liability issues? We're asking USDA to take these concerns seriously and put the brakes on this proposal."
Fox said, "Our members attended most of the listening sessions that USDA held this spring and from what we heard, producers were pretty clear that they don't want this. USDA needs to listen to what we're telling them and stop with this heavy handed mandate."
South Dakota Stockgrowers is a grassroots, non-profit organization of independent livestock producers dedicated to the continued success and viability of the South Dakota livestock industry.
The New England Patriots will need to test their cornerback depth Sunday against the New York Jets, as cornerback Stephon Gilmore did not make the trip to The Meadowlands with a concussion, according to multiple reports.
It is unclear how Gilmore, who had not been on the injury report all week, suffered his concussion. Without Gilmore and Eric Rowe (groin), the Patriots will likely start Malcolm Butler and Jonathan Jones at cornerback Sunday. New England does not have another cornerback on its active roster.
Along with Gilmore, Patriots running back Rex Burkhead will not make the trip to New Jersey, and has been ruled out with a ribs injury.
Burkhead will now miss his fourth consecutive game with the injury, which he suffered in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported last week that he expected Burkhead to be back this week.
Without Burkhead, the Patriots still have a deep backfield, featuring Mike Gillislee, Dion Lewis and James White as potential options.
Linebacker Harvey Langi did not make the trip to New Jersey either, as he suffered a reported back injury Friday night in a car accident. Langi, who had not been active since Week 2 against the Saints, suffered "serious" but "not life-threatening" injuries while being rear-ended at a traffic light, according to a report from NESN's Doug Kyed.
With Rowe, Gilmore, Burkhead and Langi all confirmed out, the Patriots will only need to make three healthy players inactive for Sunday's game roster.
October 9, 1907
Sheriff Billy Moses was in Vale Saturday evening for the first time in several months. He remarked that Vale was sure booming.
N.A. Bullis and Company, carry a complete line of undertaking goods and have with them a licensed embalmer of experience who does all kinds of undertaking.
October 11, 1917
Letters from the Newell boys now at Camp Greene, North Carolina, state that the company has been assigned to a machine gun battery and training is going forward rapidly. Our other boy Harvey Erickson, stationed at the Great Lakes Training Station reports, he was enabled to boost his monthly check by acquiring a marksman rating on the rifle range.
October 13, 1927
L.R. Chiesman, Ireland, Iverson, Harold Burke and George Hilton are taking the first rail of odorous beet pulp shipment to Newell. The pulp costs $1.50 per ton at the factory. Mr. Chiesman has also received a full car for his own use.
Work on the stockyards is going very slowly. The man furnished by the Rail road can not stay much longer, it is up to the farmers to turn out and get the yards finished while he is here to supervise the work. These yards will be a great benefit to all the farmers of the community and they should be interested enough to come and help a few days, until they are finished.
October 14, 1937
Child labor is not permitted in the sugar beet fields under the provisions of the recently enacted sugar laws of 1937. Issuance of the information followed complaints and questions arising concerning the law in the local area. Failure to comply with these provisions would cancel the benefit payments to the growers.
A second sudden death from a heart attack occurred in Sturgis on Monday when Mrs. Elizabeth Tysdal, 66, succumbed to death upon learning of the death of her dear friend Mrs. Harry Engle, 64, wife of the C. & NW railroad agent while washing clothes at the familys residence adjoining the Depot. Mrs. Tysdal was sitting in a car when she received the news.
October 9, 1947
Chester Smith, son of Mr. & Mrs. Clearance Smith has seen a hurricane storm along Mississippi and Louisiana coasts was really destructive. Smith is a member of the Coast Guard and was on patrol duty during the storm. Property damage was terrible but loss of life was smaller than expected. The sea water was 13 feet above normal heights with winds up to 120 mph at times stronger. It blew box cars loaded with sacks of flour off the tracks, swept away big oil tanks, warehouses and almost all buildings and trees.
October 10, 1957
Butte County Sheriff George Hafner was in the area Monday to investigate a break in and theft of articles from the Moreau School north of Castle Rock, which apparently occurred over the week end. Missing from the teacherage were food, blanket, bed spread, radio, and assorted articles belonging to the teacher Marjorie Miller.
Young Citizens League students selected South Dakota wildlife as their YCL project this year and State Game Wardens will be giving them a big assist in their task. The rural students are concentrating principally on the wildlife found within their counties. The program is being prepared by the wardens in this area and will be presented to all teachers at their institute meetings.
October 12, 1977
South Dakota House Majority Leader Walter D. Miller, New Underwood, has called for a $100,000 Legislative Appropriations to help beef producers in their efforts to pass legislation restricting the importing of foreign beef. This Marketing Division legislation would enable the Division to make the effort on behalf of the beef producers to enact and enforce stricter legislation affecting beef imports.
October 14, 1987
At the Newell Community Clubs regular meeting, Neil Vollmer gave a report on the actions concerning the proposed Woolen Mill. The committee members reported on the enthusiasm that is growing concerning the Woolen Mills possible location in Newell. They have Pledge Sheets for investors which indicate their amount of investment and reported pledges are coming in daily.
Carol Hunt, Newell High School vocal instructor, recently announced All State Chorus selection for representing Newell in Rapid City November 6-7. Vocalists selected include Mike Garro, Twila Lei, Holly Hett, Tamara Heitz and Vance Gehringer. The combined concert will be performed at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Saturday evening is open to the public.
October 8, 1997
The new Newell School handicapped bus was in operation last week as two students in wheelchairs rode to school on the bus. The bus is equipped with wheelchair bays and a lift to load and unload the students.
The Town Commission has cracked down on people pulling u-turns across Girard Ave and not at designated intersections, crossing the double yellow line. The problem of people not stopping at the 4-way stop on Hiwy 79 was also addressed. Police Officer Fred Lamphere said the drivers are also likely to be speeding through that zone, committing another violation and he will ticket them and enforce one or other or both.
Common mullein is becoming an increasing concern to grassland managers as the aggressive forb spreads from old fields, abused areas, and rights-of-way to grasslands. Woolly leaves complicate control by discouraging grazers and obstructing herbicide contact. Although seeds are not produced until the second growing season (the first years growth is only a vegetative rosette and does not produce a stalk or seed head), this yellowed flowered biennial is a prolific seed producer with each plant producing over 175,000 seeds and each seed remaining viable for over 100 years. With these numbers stacked against you, the longer you wait to start the further behind you will be.
Millions of seeds have already been produced this year, but now is your opportunity to get a foothold. In early fall, highly visible mature stocks provide an opportunity to locate rosettes that are highly susceptible to herbicide in the fall as nutrients are translocated to the roots for next years growth. Researchers in Kansas applied herbicide with 0.25% nonionic surfactant found the greatest density reduction with Milestone + 2,4-D (92%) and Cimarron or Escort (91%). Other herbicide options include Grazon P+D, Overdrive, and Chaparral. Once the plant reaches maturity chemical control becomes far less effective, but seed heads can be cut and burned to reduce the seed bank. Lastly, dont forget to make a note of the location of each stand for annual monitoring.
In two years time, a lone plant from one migrant seed can become a colony of prolific seed producing plants making early detection and management a top priority. One rancher told me he chops every stem he finds away from his trouble areas to prevent a new colony from forming. This practice is not sustainable on a large scale but is a great management practice on individual plants. Another potential option is to mow plants with elevated stems just prior to seed production when the growing point of the plant is elevated above the soil surface and the plant is most susceptible to damage. Lastly, sound grazing management with long rest periods will encourage desirable grassland species and allow abused areas to recover.
If you have had success controlling common mullein or have any comments, contact me at jack.arterburn@unl.edu or 308-327-2312.
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) | In the five days since the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, the Nellis Air Force Base and Las Vegas communities have found strength in unified actions to rebuild hope.
As Las Vegas moves toward a state of recovery, Nellis AFB spouses are combining efforts to provide for the needs of community volunteers, displaced family members and hospital staff.
It feels nice to have something to be happy about in such a tragedy, said Shannon Janelle, mother of two and wife of Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Janelle, an instructor assigned to the Nellis AFB First Term Airman Center. Its nice to know you can lean on the people around you when something like this happens.
Nellis AFB has been the only duty station for the Janelles in a 10-year career. Naturally, when disaster hit Oct. 1, 2017, they joined with neighbors and community businesses to shuttle items downtown.
I dont really have anything to donate, but I do have a car and gasoline, said Shannon to her community of spouses. So, if you have it, Ill take it.
Shannon teamed with more than 30 spouses, friends and families to collect donated items for those at Sunrise Hospital, the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Las Vegas fire and police departments.
With an outpouring response from the community, Shannon transformed her home into a drop-off location, where volunteers could pick up items for distribution.
Within an hour of requesting help, it started to snowball and became huge, said Shannon. We were taking in so much stuff, our cars couldnt hold it all. We collected anything that could keep people moving forward and help them get through the next week.
Military spouse Lauren Stephens played an integral role in the distribution of collected drinks, snacks, blankets, clothing and toiletries as well as adding some home cooking to the mix.
I was starting to get antsy after the hurricanes feeling guilty and helpless that I couldnt help, said Lauren, mother of twin boys and wife of Tech. Sgt. Alex Stephens, 58th Rescue Squadron pararescueman. So, I have made soup, baked cookies and other baked goods for the folks at UMC.
Lauren said this is the first disaster of this magnitude she has faced in her five years as a military spouse, while Shannon said this attitude of giving is typical of the military spouse community she has known in her 10 and a half years as a military spouse.
Were used to picking up where theres slack or when theres a need, said Shannon. So, if theres a need, we fill it because we know what it feels like to not hear from your loved ones and not know whats going on in tragedy and loss.
As the Las Vegas community heals, the Nellis AFB community will continue to provide support to Airmen, families and the community in any ways it can.
The youth of South Dakotas Native American schools face extra obstacles to success. Pick a statistic: Natives rank last in school attendance and last in four-year graduation rates.
But this isnt that story. Youve heard that story.
This story outlines a program that offers a hand up to ambitious students at Native schools willing to work hard. Its about what came after the wreckage of South Dakotas former GEAR UP program a disaster revealed by the September 2015 murder/suicide of its Mid-Central Educational Cooperative administrator.
Heres what happened next.
Its the whole idea of hope, grit, perseverance, said June Apaza with the new GEAR UP program at Black Hills State University. GEAR UP Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs is a multiyear federal grant program intended to help students from lower-income households succeed.
They (students) have obstacles to get over. We cant take the obstacles away, Apaza said, but the program can foster the self-belief necessary to shrink them.
In the wake of scandal, the South Dakota Department of Education decided it would not renew the seven-year grant scheduled to end in fall 2018. The federal contribution to the program for its final year is $2.3 million.
The departments decision doesnt guarantee GEAR UP will end in South Dakota. Its simply another obstacle that current program directors hope to overcome.
Wreckage
Little more than funding came with the wounded program when it moved from Platte to Spearfish in November 2015.
If there were records, Apaza said, we didnt see them.
School districts are required to sign annual partnership agreements to join the program, but most agreements hadnt been renewed for five years. In some cases, principal partners had moved.
The first task for new directors Peg Diekhoff and Murray Lee was to survey the districts interest, which was cautious at best.
That first year, 26 schools in 14 school districts across seven of the states nine Native reservations joined. Diekhoff and Lee were able to hire and place regional coordinators and school consultants by spring. Coordinators and consultants serve in flexible ways depending on the needs of individual schools anything from ACT prep to student tutoring.
The main GEAR UP events happen in June. Students from member schools in grades five to seven can apply for one of the five-day academic minicamps held locally. Students in grades eight to 11 can apply for the rigorous 21-day camp held on the BHSU campus. Thats the big tamale.
Its like practice college, said Lee.
In year one, GEAR UP was mostly about setting up for the first summer camp, and it had tough lessons for both students and directors, Diekhoff said. That next year, directors front-loaded camp preparation and increased the rigor of the writing instruction.
The goal of the second summer camp was to help students begin seeing themselves as scholar leaders, an effort that fell short in year one.
Changing a students internal narrative is key to continuing their growth after camp ends.
Camp 2017
Sleepy students gather every morning at 8 a.m. for prayer circle, for smudging and for insight from a Native elder. Of the 101 students who enrolled this past year, 68 showed up for the first day. Homesickness would further reduce their ranks to 55 before the 21-day session ended.
These students are young, said Urla Marcus, the fourth and last program leader.
High achievers and those who aspire to join them comprise the participants. Camp tests them.
Between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., except for 40 minutes dedicated to lunch, groups of students rotate through sessions on language arts, computer programming, Lakota studies, college prep, and science and math.
The course load crams nine to 18 weeks of academic progress into 15 grueling days of classes.
Nights are spent with guest speakers, in trips to the park or with inflatables on the campus green. Weekends bring outings to Devils Tower, Bear Butte and other cultural sites, plus time for laundry and cleaning dorm rooms. Supervision is constant.
Camp gives students a sense of what college could be, absent the common distractions known to derail freshmen.
Goals
The objective is to propel students onto a career path beyond high school, whether it be a university, technical school or even the military.
Its a program that builds hope, said Diekhoff, that lets kids see what they can accomplish. It allows students to explore their interests and find out who they are.
In general, Apaza said, these students havent seen a pathway to a career or to college.
The program teaches them the steps for entering college and provides awareness of the tuition assistance available. Comparisons among camp students are discouraged. It doesnt matter how far behind the others somebody is, provided they begin working to close the gap.
Every kid who comes on campus has an opportunity for post-secondary education, Apaza said.
A strong emphasis on math and science during the first summer camp pleased organizers, but they saw a need to lift the writing requirement.
The second summer camp stressed the skills necessary to craft a college essay. Students worked through multiple drafts with continual feedback to produce one solid piece of writing, learning that writing requires revision more than genius or magic.
What happens once camp ends?
Thats where regional coordinators and school-based consultants come into play, taking up the baton for the next stage of sprints.
Grants
Data makes for a solid grant application. Nothing beats measurable evidence of real progress to prove value.
The GEAR UP office at BHSU has a stack of evidence waiting for entry and analysis. Unfortunately, a single year of results cant show the same progress possible from a successful seven-year program.
Its easy to get wrapped around the numbers, Marcus said, and it often isnt helpful.
Our goal from the beginning, Diekhoff said, was to make this the best year yet.
As program coordinators, theyre still learning, she admitted. Possibly, theyll get the chance to perfect it.
The Department of Education has decided it will not apply for renewal once the next grant application process opens in January or February. That doesnt mean there arent other options, Apaza said.
There are different flavors of GEAR UP grants, she said.
In addition to the state administered grant there is a partner grant. A partner could be a university or something else. Its way premature to say the program will end, she said.
Theyve had less than two years, but theyve witnessed student growth.
The kids come out of their shells each year, Diekhoff said.
We need for this program to continue, Lee said. I get stopped in the mall by parents who say, Thanks so much for helping my daughter grow as an individual. Were working as hard as we can to provide a quality service that is also fiscally responsible.
The driving force for everyone involved, he said, is a love of helping students and their families.
We make a small difference, Diekhoff said. But I know were making a difference.
PIERRE | South Dakota Education Secretary Melody Schopp will leave her position in December, Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced Friday.
Her last day is Dec. 15.
Schopp has been in the post since Daugaard took office in January 2011 and promoted her from deputy secretary. She is believed to be the longest-serving secretary of education in the history of South Dakota.
Daugaard is in his seventh year as governor and cant seek a third consecutive term in 2018.
Melody Schopp cares about kids, and that has motivated her throughout her entire career, the governor said in a statement. She has served in a difficult and high-profile job, and Ive appreciated her leadership, from higher teacher salaries to more work-based opportunities for young people. I wish Melody the very best in the future.
The governor wants her successor in place before the Legislature opens its 2018 session on Jan. 9, according to Tony Venhuizen, his chief of staff. I would imagine well have a couple other retirements between now and the end of next year, Venhuizen said.
The announcement comes as the Legislatures Government Operations and Audit Committee gradually digs deeper into wrongdoing at Mid-Central Educational Cooperative in Platte.
Legislative auditors said they couldnt account for nearly $1.4 million they determined was missing from the cooperatives bank account at the end of 2015. The cooperative closed this year on June 30.
In an interview Friday afternoon, Schopp didnt talk about the Mid-Central situation. She testified to the legislative panel July 24 and declined invitations to testify further at GOACs meetings Aug. 29 and Oct. 5-6.
She didnt attend the Sept. 18 meeting of state governments Board of Education Standards, held at Northern State University in Aberdeen. She broke the femur bone in her left leg while walking her dog the previous weekend.
Schopp, 62, said Friday the timing of her resignation allows her to complete her time as national president of the Council of Chief State School Officers. The term ends in November.
Now she would be able to enjoy the Christmas holiday season with her husband, Arnie, and their family, including 1-year-old granddaughter Vivienne Marie. Its just time, she said. Things are in a really good spot in the department right now. I have a really strong team right now.
She acknowledged sitting in her car outside the departments building in the converted State Library and thinking about the decision. Its emotional, but its OK, she said. Its right.
Her future? Maybe Ill volunteer in the nursing home. I dont know. I have zero plans, other than enjoying life.
The retirement ends a 40-year career in public education in South Dakota. Schopp taught for one year in North Dakota and then for 23 years in the Lemmon school district.
A news release described her as a pioneer of bringing the internet into the classroom.
Then-Gov. Bill Janklow, as part of his wiring the schools program, hired teams of what then were known in 2000 as tech chicks. One was Schopp. They traveled community to community for the state department, showing teachers and administrators how to operate the new technology.
Schopp worked her way up the departments organization chart, with promotions to director of teacher certification and accountability and then to deputy secretary. Along the way she received her doctorate degree with a dissertation on South Dakota women who became leaders in education, such as teacher Glenna Fouberg of Aberdeen and department secretary Karon Schaack of Pierre.
Venhuizen said Schopp had been thinking for some time about when to go.
She had shared her intentions to retire almost a year ago. This is something shes had on her mind for a long time, he said.
Finding the next secretary wont be simple for Daugaard. It was a little difficult to be looking for someone before Melody made her announcement, Venhuizen said. It would be a fairly short-term position, contingent on what the next governor wanted.
Schopp said she shared her plans in the past day or so with some of her staff. She said some people were surprised but all supported the decision.
This is my family, my life, she said about leaving the department. Ive done my best. I have. I know I have.
More than 80 percent of Puerto Rico is still in the dark, more than a third of its residents still have no clean drinking water, much of the island's infrastructure still lies in ruins -- and President Trump cruelly threatens to cut off federal aid. Doing so would be government by spite, and should be considered an impeachable offense.
Puerto Rico, as any fifth-grader knows, is part of the America that Trump promises to make great again. But the mayor of San Juan has had the temerity to criticize the Trump administration's response to the calamity of Hurricane Maria as slow and inadequate. For Trump, everything is always all about Trump. He desperately craves adulation.
The president complained Sunday on Twitter, "Nobody could have done what I've done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work!" Note the use of "I" instead of "we" or even "my administration." For the record, what Trump has done personally for the people of Puerto Rico was to playfully toss rolls of paper towels into a crowd.
The administration has done much more, of course. But desperate people -- still facing critical shortages of food and water three weeks after the storm -- are demanding more action. This makes them "ingrates" in Trump's eyes.
Sadly, those are the kinds of words we've come to expect from this president. But on Thursday he went beyond his usual self-pitying, self-justifying blather to make an outrageous threat: "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!"
That culminated a series of blame-the-victim tweets about how Puerto Rico faces "a financial crisis ... largely of their own making" and how "electric and all infrastructure was [a] disaster before hurricanes." The need to solve the island's debt problem and update its infrastructure is worthy of serious discussion, but not while people are having to collect unpurified water in buckets from mountain springs -- and not as some kind of justification for cutting off relief aid.
This may be the most un-American thing Donald Trump has ever said or done. I am serious that if he were to actually withdraw emergency assistance while Puerto Rico is still in such condition, Congress should begin impeachment proceedings.
Presidents do not get to pick and choose which Americans to help at times of disaster. We are one country, and we do what we must to help fellow citizens in need. We saw it during this long, terrible hurricane season, in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Texas, Florida -- strangers helping strangers, regardless of race, income, political views. We are seeing it now as firefighters from around the country converge on Northern California to attack the deadly blazes that are still burning out of control.
It is wrong to describe Trump as any kind of nationalist if he fails to grasp the most fundamental of nationalistic precepts: We leave none of our own on the battlefield.
The responsibility of the federal government is to keep FEMA workers, military personnel and other first responders in Puerto Rico as long as necessary. It is important to do so because their presence will save lives. It is also important because doing anything else would violate the American compact. If Trump really were to turn his back on Puerto Rico, he would be guilty of a "high crime" and disqualified to continue in office.
I know that President Trump delights in violating political norms and causing the commentariat to run around with its hair on fire. I know that he sometimes says provocative things on Twitter to distract from his administration's failures, to rally his base, to provoke his enemies or even just to blow off steam. I know that it's impossible to take any one tweet too seriously, since it may be directly contradicted by the next tweet.
But Trump actually went to Puerto Rico, and while he did not see the worst of the devastation, he saw more than enough. He knows that recovery is going to be a long, massive and largely thankless job. But that is the job he signed up for when he took the oath of office. Congress must not allow him to shirk his duty.
To divide the country with rhetoric, as Trump so often does, is one thing. But to actually abandon 3.4 million Americans in their hour of need would not only be an unprecedented and shameful act. It would be grounds for removing an unfit man from the high office he dishonors.
Weekly volunteer opportunities through the Helpline Center include:
The Sergeant Colton Levi Derr Foundation seeks volunteers to assist at the Gallantly Forward 2017 Gala on at 5 p.m. Oct. 21, at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The foundation assists veterans in various ways, and honors Derr, who battled post traumatic stress disorder following his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Volunteers of America seek volunteers to help unload and organize a shipment of food for the Ryan White program. Through the Ryan White program, Volunteers of America provides financial and clinical assistance to HIV-positive adults who are living in poverty. Volunteers must be able to lift heavy boxes and be able to comfortably bend and squat.
The Festival of Lights Parade will be held Nov. 25 in downtown Rapid City. Volunteers are needed to secure the parade route and ensure the safety of those attending. A safety briefing will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 25. The parade begins at 6 p.m. and volunteers are usually done by 8 p.m. Volunteers must be 16 years of age.
The Black Hills Symphony League seeks volunteers to help with one annual fundraising event and other optional activities.
For more information, dial 211 or visit helplinecenter.org.
Consistent with National American Flag etiquette, the Bitterroot Valley Elks Club and the Volunteer Fire Districts in the Bitterroot Valley are urging Ravalli County citizens to burn damaged American flags.
These American flags may have been torn, discolored or in any way damaged and no longer are fit for display. Fire halls in Darby, Florence, Corvallis, Victor and Stevensville have installed metal drop boxes on stands so anyone with a damaged American flag can place it in the box in order to be destroyed in a proper manner.
Upon placement in one of the containers; it will then be shipped to the Daly-Leach funeral home in Hamilton where it will be incinerated, consistent with the U.S. Flag Code.
For anyone in Hamilton, a flag drop box has been installed outside at 204 State St. in Hamilton at the Elks club.
The Elks Club of the Bitterroot Valley received a grant to purchase the metal containers from the Elks Grand Lodge and are now ready to receive damaged flags," said Larry Seymour, and Elks club member. "We are doing this as a public service project and out of respect for our national symbol of freedom.
The rules for handling and displaying the U.S. Flag are defined by a law known as the U.S. Flag Code. Under paragraph 8, Respect for the Flag, the Code states, The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
The American flag project is a national effort by the Elks Grand Lodge. Each metal container costs around $2,000.
We are more than happy to work with our Elks Club on this project. First responders throughout the Bitterroot Valley are a patriotic bunch who want to do what they can to facilitate this project, respect our flag and the people who have fought for our freedom, said Victor Fire Chief Scott Hackett.
All of the metal containers are located outside of the fire halls and are easily accessible and recognizable.
Cameron Russell and Edie Campbell call out photographers who sexually assault fashion models
American model Cameron Russell has spent the last 18 hours glued to her mobile phone, reading and re-posting stories on her Instagram account from fellow fashion models who say they have suffered at the hands of photographers, casting directors, designers and other powerful men within the fashion industry.
Russell, who has walked for Prada, Louis Vuitton, Victoria's Secret and many more, has respected the privacy of every victim by blocking out names, however the accusations submitted to her include tales of alleged manipulation, harassment and sexual assault, with many saying that the abuse happened when they were just 15 or 16 years-old.
The first post that Russell shared was a friends story, who detailed how a male photographer had assaulted her on a test shoot at the age of 15. A brave model (and friend) reached out to me with her story today, Russell wrote, starting the hashtag #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse.
She has asked to remain anonymous but asked that I share her words here because the photographer still works in the industry. She wants to encourage other women to speak up. We need a way to begin breaking the silence while remaining protected. We are not talking about one, five, or even twenty men. We are talking about a culture of exploitation and it must stop.
Russell has subsequently shared more than 25 first-person accounts so far with her 77,000 followers on Instagram, as more models have apparently sent her messages detailing their ordeals.
She describes seeing women from the film industry coming forward this week, to speak against Harvey Weinstein, as a motivation for publishing the pieces.
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Montana lurched into statehood in 1889 on ungreased wheels.
What really hit me is statehood itself was such a bitter result, said Ken Egan, whose latest book is titled, not by coincidence, Montana 1889.
The new state Senate was hopelessly split 8-8 between Republicans and Democrats. The other chamber was in even worse shape. Contested seats resulted in two houses meeting separately. After years as a territory, the Montana Legislature was finally eligible for full representation in Congress. Embarrassingly, each party sent its own set of delegates.
What a comedy of errors, a carnival of folly for the new state, Egan wrote.
Dont expect a blow-by-dry-blow account of the march to statehood here by the man who three years ago published Montana 1864. That book covered the territorys birth year.
Like it, 1889 is part Wikipedia, part poetry as Egan, the executive director of Humanities Montana in Missoula, bridges the quarter century between the two.
Egan calls the interim between 1864 and 1889 one of the most rapid and dramatic transformations of land and people in United States history.
The railroads came, the buffalo disappeared, tribal nations were constricted to reservations. Their hunting domains had given way to cattle and sheep by the tens of thousands. Butte and Helena, which werent even around when President Lincoln made Montana a territory, were urban centers of industry, electricity and millionaires.
Women found voices, and Egan spends a lot of ink on them in Montana 1889, even though the subtitle of the book is limited to Indians, Cowboys, and Miners in the Year of Statehood.
When I toured with Montana 1864 a lot of readers said, boy, wed sure like to see more womens stories, Egan noted this week.
So while his new book is amply populated by the William A. Clarks, James Ferguses, A.B. Hammonds, James J. Hills and Wilbur Fisk Sanders of the Montana world, along with something on most of Montanas tribes, Egan has unearthed oft-overlooked stories of no fewer than 10 women, nearly one for each of the months he divides the book into.
Theres Bertha Muzzy Bower, who arrived in the Big Sandy area in 1889 and 15 years later wrote Chip of the Flying U as B.M. Bower, leading the novels admirers into believing they were reading a mans work.
Theres Mary Gleim, the bodacious madam businesswoman of Missoulas West Front Street who bought her first downtown building in 1889 and was sent to prison five years later for dynamiting rival Bobby Burns home in an attempted homicide.
Montanas first female lawyer, Ella Knowles, was admitted to the bar in December 1889, a couple of days after Cornelius Hedges examined her and expressed surprise to find her so well read.
She beat all I ever examined, Hedges wrote in his diary on Christmas Eve.
Two black women fit into Egans narrative. Sarah Bickford, a former slave, wound up owning the Virginia City Water Co. Rose Gordon, who started school in her birth town of White Sulphur Springs in 1889, was the daughter of a former slave and a black immigrant from Scotland.
Egan said his favorite female study was of Clara McAdow, who owned a mine at Maiden in the Judith Mountains when she came to the Helena constitutional convention in July 1889 to lobby for womens suffrage.
What I like about her story is shes not just such a character of the first order but she kind of represents the freedom women were finding here in Montana, Egan said.
Aside from the statehood gig, Montana in 1889 became home to its first and only Kentucky Derby winner, a horse raised near Twin Bridges named Spokane. Charles Broadwater opened the palatial Broadwater Hotel and Natatorium near Helena in August. Havre sprang up as a key tent city along the new Great Northern line, which was rechristened as such in September. Marias Pass was discovered by a surveyor from the same railroad that December.
Missoula co-founder C.P. Cap Higgins died on Oct. 14, 1889, a day that corresponds 128 years later with Egans book signing Saturday at Shakespeare and Co. at the south end of the Higgins Avenue Bridge.
Montana was admitted to the Union as the 41st state on Nov. 8, 1889. Five days earlier, Salish Chief Charlo grudgingly bowed to pressure to abandon his Bitterroot homeland for the Jocko Valley.
The move didnt happen for almost two years, but Charlos words, as quoted in Montana 1889, reflected both his personal desperation and the plight of all American Indian tribes by the time Montana became a state.
I will go I and my children, Charlo told retired general Henry B. Carrington in Stevensville. My young men are becoming bad; they have no place to hunt. My women are hungry. For their sake I will go. I do not want the land you promise. I do not believe in your promises. All I want is enough ground for my grave. We will go over there.
Dirgha Raj Prasai
By Dirgha Raj Prasai
Since 2006, we Nepalese people have been suffering from the nefarious design of Indian Congress (I) and its RAW. In the name of democracy the leaders such as ex-PM late Girija Prasad became engrossed in power politics and used their position to drain state treasury supporting the conspirator role of RAW. Due to the leaders of Maoist, Congress and UML Nepal is still in dangerous position. As per the agreement reached with the King on 24 April, 2006, Girija Prasad took oath of Prime Minister in accordance to the 1990 constitution in the palace. None of the Nepali Congress (NC) leaders or democratic activists can forget that he had breached the agreement and institutionalized anarchy by the hint of RAW. And then, Girija Prasad Koirala destroyed NC's democratic norms and pushed the nation to the peak of retrogression. After Girija Prasad, Prime Minister of Maoist leader Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai converted Nepal to take his spot amongst the sinners and traitors.
Upspring 2006 had created by RAW design. In this context, S.D Muni (Professor of J.N.U and the policy maker of south block) in his article 'Dealing with a new Nepal' in The Hindu Daily on 15th September 2008 has conceded that India had provided one billion rupees for running the agitation.' With those resources along with the guide-lines of south-block, they could forge the Jana-Anandolan. This was the mysterious design for our country. The Indian former foreign minister and sitting President Pranab Mukharjee accepted that the Maoist party which was an extremist party and chose violence was convinced by India and compelled to join mainstream politics. We also convinced other mainstream political parties (Nepali Congress, UML) to form government by including Maoist party also. (The Kathmanu Post-29 Jun 2009)
Similarly, news exposes the Indian intervention. 'At a meeting held between the Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and a high ranking US official, Richard Holbrook January 18, 2010, the Indian foreign secretary during a two hour long working breakfast had accepted that Indian establishment had funded the Maoists' rebellion in Nepal and that eventually became counterproductive to India' The detail of the Rao- Holbrook conversation was later forwarded by the US ambassador in New Delhi to the US government that the WikiLeaks has made public. - Telegraph Nepal, 7th Dec.2010
An Indian scholar Dr. Arvind Gupta writes- Anti-India feeling in Nepal is at its peak. The peace process in Nepal is extremely complicated. India helped bring about the 12-point agreement. It is doubtful that India can help bring the peace process to the desired outcome. There is no guarantee that the Constitution will be drafted soon and that even if drafted, it will bring stability. Nepalese are suspicious of India when they hear Indians talk about cooperation on water issues. Many in Nepal feel that mega projects will not help Nepal. The unregulated, open India-Nepal border is a major security concern for both countries. Cross-border crime, smuggling, fake currency and infiltration of undesirable elements including potential terrorists into India are a major security concern. Nepal also has concerns regarding the smuggling of small arms from the Indian side into Nepal.'
Within a month of the conclusion of the people's uprising on 19 May, 2006, Jug Suraiya of the Times of India had scribed, "India and China must divide and share Nepal as it has now become a failed state". The pro-foreign leaders remained silent against the concerning game of the RAW strategy. It is an insult to Nepali people. We want to tell the Indian leaders that Nepali people are very patient but will not tolerate the foreign offense. We can put our lives on stake against any Indian intervention against our motherland.
Similarly, former India Army general Ashok Meheta wrote in Daily Indian newspaper Pioneer 'People in Kathmandu believe that the Baburam Bhattarai- led Government is India- appointed, and that Chief Justice Regmi as caretaker Prime Minister is primarily an Indian idea.' The retired General Ashok Mehta has very freshly requested the Indian government to intervene in Nepali politics at the earliest.- Pioneer daily.
Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who played a pivotal role in brokering the anti-Monarchy New Delhi Declaration of 2005 between the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance which led to the 12-point Letter of Understanding. Speaking at the release ceremony of the book, which included the controversial Muni revelations, Mr. Saran justified Indian intervention in preventing the dismissal of Army Chief General Rukmangad Katwal in 2009 by the Prachanda-led coalition Government as that would have led to the direct control by Maoists of two Armies: The states Nepalese Army and its own PLA which had not been integrated by then.
In this context, a prominent journalist Pushpa Raj Pradhan, editor-People's Review, writes- 'Indian Embassy in Kathmandu is spending 57 billion rupees per years under the ' Small Grant Project'. Out of total FM radios, 50 percent of them are receiving such Indians grants. Similarly, some Christian missions have also funded those FM radios just too broadcast Christian programmed. India wants the Indianization of Nepal and the Christians want to transform Nepal from a Hindu state to a Christian state.
So, we are calculating, Nepal is in danger position. Since 2006, the Maoist, UML never realize their blunder. Still, the leftist Maoist including Baburam Bhattarai and UML are exercising to capture regime in the name of Communist collation. The Maoist, UML have already known corrupts and culprits and then nobody can believe their creative action for the sake of Nepal. Wolves lose their teeth but never change their nature. Similarly the corrupt leader never changes their habits. Actually, Crow are never the white for washing.'
Nepal has been always showing good will towards India. Cordial people to people level relations between Nepal and India has existed since ancient times. Nepal and India are only the two pious Hindu countries in the world. Since May 2014, BJP is in government of India. We have to keep friendly relations with India due to our similar cultural and religious traditions. But, since 2005, the cordial situation is humiliating day by day between Nepal & India. We are confident that Modi led government will play a constructive and diplomatic role proposing world Hindu existence as a model 'Nepal the only Hindu kingdom in all over the world.' Then, Nepal and India can enjoy cordial and lasting relations. So, the Indian PM, the leader of BJP- Narendra Modi must have a clear stance regarding Nepals royal institution and Hindu status. If PM Modi is free of conspiracies being hatched against Nepal he will win the hearts of Nepali people and all the Hindus in all over the world.
The concern of the Nepalese people is complete democracy. Although the parliamentary systems in practice around the world vary in their nature, they are adjusted into the nations situation. The permanent organization that can protect the nation and its identity is the royal institution. We Nepalese people need to reinstate the amiable Hindu monarchy and Hindu Kingdom. We need to coordinate and balance the Nepali nationality, royal institution and democracy, bring the prevalent corruption to an end and to focus on development of backward regions and classes against the foreign intervention.
We cannot go on supporting the mistakes of the corrupt leaders. No one can survive long by stepping on fire. The Royal Institution is a compulsion and a necessity to re-establish the nation. The monarchy was pivotal in integrating Nepal, establishing democratic and just society at par with the modern world. Only this option will open the doors for political resolution in Nepal. So, it is necessary to restore the identified symbol of Nepals unity and stability the constitutional monarchy and have to keep in existence the identity of Nepal the only one Hindu kingdom in all over the world.
Guwahati : Assam government and Tata Trusts are collaborating to set three-level cancer care grid in Assam with an estimated investment of Rs 1400 crore.
The information has been shared by Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who met Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Trusts and other members of the Trusts in Mumbai.
The Assam health minister on Thursday tweeted that, in what may become a rare philanthropy-government collaboration on cancer care and management, government of Assam and Tata Trusts are working on setting up a unique, first-of-its-kind, 3-level cancer care grid at state, capital and district
levels.
"Unique cancer care grid likely to have investment of Rs 1400 crore and proposed to be shared between Tata Trusts and state, also leverage existing schemes. Level-1 or state level cancer care institution at Guwahati to have advanced, tertiary care facilities and shall cater to needs of entire NorthEast. Under grid system, Level-2 or medical college to hv chemo, radiation & surgical oncology, Level-3 or district hospital to have day care, chemo & radiation," Sarma tweeted.
Himanta Biswa Sarma also tweeted that, a South Asian Cancer Research centre also proposed for research on identifying reasons, develop treatment protocols with focus on South Asia.
The Assam health minister tweeted that, after fruitful discussions with Ratan Tata we expect a positive announcement from Tata Trusts shortly on this iconic collaboration.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday has started probe into the multi-crore rupees Louis Berger scam in Assam.
A team of the prime investigating agency headed by an Inspector had collected info, 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 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, CBI probe may be invited trouble to some bureaucrats and political leaders, who accepted crore of rupees bribe from the New Jerasy based company to award of contracts for big water supply project in Guwahati.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati, October 14 : A BJP legislator of Manipur on Saturday was escaped unhurt while suspected militants hurled a powerful grenade targeting to the house of the MLA which was unexploded.
Later, police recovered the unexploded grenade safely.
According to the reports, suspected militants hurled a grenade targeting to the house of BJP MLA Heikham Dingo Singh representing to the Sekmai assembly constituency in Manipur's capital city Imphal on Friday morning at around 7-30 am.
A top official of Manipur police said that, suspected militants had hurled the grenade targeting to the MLA house and fled from the area.
"The grenade was likely unexploded and later police team had recovered it safely," the police official said.
Meanwhile, security forces have launched massive operation against the culprits.
On the other hand, at least 10 people including a woman and a minor were injured in a grenade attack by suspected militants at a local fair in Tera Lukram Leirak area of Manipur's capital Imphal on Friday evening.
According to the reports, suspected militants hurled the grenade at the area while some local people were preparing for an exhibition to be opened on October 15.
The injured persons were rushed to the nearest hospital and two among them of are said to be in critical condition.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday had arrested four officials of Nagaland government in connection with funding to the Naga underground outfits including outlawed NSCN.
A top official of the prime investigating agency said that, the arrested officials were identified as Ex-director of DTE of Tourism Purakhu Angami, Additional Director of DTE of Agriculture V Aza, Joint Director of Irrigation department Hutoi Sema and Superintendent cum cashier of DTE of Fisheries Kekhriesatuo Tep.
The investigating agency had earlier arrested three officials of Nagaland government for their alleged involvement with extortion and tax collection from various government departments on behalf of the banned organization NSCN-K.
For the alleged nexus between the Nagaland government officials and the Naga underground groups and diversion of development funds for survival of militants, a case (no 90/2016) was registered at Sub-Urban police station in Dimapur on August 1, 2016.
'Following directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs (order no 11011/23/2016-IS.IV, dated August 17, 2016), the NIA had registered a case (no RC-01/2016/NIA-GUW) at its Guwahati office on August 18, 2016 under sections 384 of IPC, 10, 13, 17 and 20 of UA (P) act read with sections 7 and 8 of NSR, 25 (1B) arms act and section 13 of Drugs and Cosmetics act and started investigation into the alleged nexus between Nagaland government officials and the Naga underground groups,' the top NIA
officials said.
The top NIA official said that, all four government officials were arrested from Dimapur and they were produced before the special NIA court at Dimapur and taken police custody.
Since past couple of decades, crores of rupees have been diverted to the coffers of Naga outfits including NSCN-K despite centre's efforts to stop such illegal diversion of public funds.
Earlier, NIA had arrested three officials of Nagaland government in connection with funding to the banned outfit NSCN-K in April last.
The sleuths of the investigating agency had earlier arrested Joint Director, DDO of Social Welfare department, Joint Director, DDO of Land Resources department and UDA cum Cashier of Land Resources department in connection with the alleged charges of large scale extortion and illegal tax collection on behalf of the outlawed NSCN (K) from various government department and others from Dimapur and Kohima.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati: Senior physicians Dr Siben Dutta and Dr Santos Reddy of Down Town Hospital will conduct the next weekly evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club (GPC) on 14 October 2017. The practicing doctors from the State's pioneer healthcare institution will be available for free consultations to the participants from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm at GPC premises. Organized under the 'Evening with a Doctor' program for the benefit of press club members along with their dependants, the camp will also facilitate the participants to check their blood sugar and pressure.
The last Saturday camp was graced by Dr Rupam Choudhury and Dr Tapan Sharma from the city based Sun Valley Hospital, where they offered free consultations to over 25 participants. Till date, doctors from Apollo Chennai Hospital, SIMS Hospital Chennai, Manipal Bangalore Hospital, Fortis Hospital Bangalore, Medanta the Medicity Hospital, GNRC Hospitals, Dispur Hospital, Hayat Hospital, Ayursundra Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Sight First Eye-Clinic etc have attended the camps.
By Rhema Subedi
Members of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) made a week long fact finding visit (8-12 October) to Nepal at the invitation of Lok Mani Dhakal, a member of Nepali parliament and chairperson of the IPP FoRB - Nepal Chapter. The five member delegation consisted of: David Anderson, MP (Canada), Mercy ChreistyBarends, MP (Indonesia), Daniel ToftDakobsen, MP (Denmark), NqabayomziKwankwa, MP (South Africa) and the Senator, Edison Broce Urriola (Panama). The delegate made several visitations with religious groups, civil society actors, human rights commission and parliamentarians. The constitution of 2015 and newly amended criminal code curtails religious freedom in Nepal. Such visit from international panel can be perceived as being highly important. Talking to the group of different religious leaders; David Anderson said that they came to Kathmandu with high interest to discuss about FoRB issue. "We are a group of parliamentarian who are interested in the FoRB issue and very excited to meet discuss interested in similar issues," he said.
Some of the major concerns such as, legal provision on religious freedom, lack of registration provision and cultural rights of religious institutions were discussed. In a bilateral meeting, the general secretary, SashankaKoirala assured that he can be reached to discuss into the matters. "These issues indeed need to be looked into deeply," he said. The house speaker Onsari Gharti has similar considerations about the issue. "FoRB is an important issue and I stand with you, any law can be changed if the people want it to change," she assured.
However, the member of human rights commission think that it would be impossible to improve situation unless constitution is amended. "In strict sense, our constitution is not secular," opined Anup Raj Sharma, the chair of human rights commission. Rev Mukunda Sharma, Secretary of Nepal Christian Society; and Mr. B P Khanal, secretary of Janajagaran Party have been having a busy week organising dialogues to advocate for FoRB to bring in accordance to international laws in country's code. Another human rights commissioner Mohana Ansari highly supported the statement of Sharma. "I believes in peoples rule democracy and hence the laws are made for the people as they want it to be," She said in her supporting remark. Pastor Tanka Subedi, Chairman of DharmikChautari Nepal, and Co-Chairperson of Nepal Christian Society, thinks that the visit of international parliamentarians was very encouraging in working for FoRB and hope that it will have a positive impact on over all situation in the country.
The Leviathan -- Reading Moby-Dick (2017-10-14 06:51:41)
"Call me Ishmael." So begins Hermann Melville's Moby-Dick, with perhaps American literature's most recognizable opening line. Arguably the first great American novel (with the most enigmatic hyphen), the book is not a light read, and never meant to be. Melville's vast vocabulary alone makes reading and comprehension a daunting challenge, let alone his constant references to the Bible (e.g., the biblical name Ishmael comes with its own connotations), Shakespeare, and anything that has anything to do with seafaring. The experience reminds me of the time I read Thoreau's Walden. Both books were written at times when books were supposed to be savored rather than merely consumed. With that in mind, I found myself not bored by the forty some chapters on whales and whaling, or the late arrival of its main characters, or the meandering musings of Ishmael the narrator; indeed, it was wholly captivating and enthralling, a journey of discovery in every sense of the word. No need for spoiler alerts when I say that the book is about one man's obsession with one whale, and the battle that proves the man less equal. It's a simple story. How Melville tells the tale and fills the book with wonders and wondrous characters is truly the reason why Moby-Dick remains popular to this day, and not just with academics. Captain Ahab, singularly obsessed with the albino sperm whale known as Moby Dick, who apparently chomped off his sanity along with his leg, is no Captain Hook. There are depth and profundity to his anguish and determination. In a beautifully written soliloquy late in the book, we learn of his young wife, his regret and longing, and even his doubt. A cartoon caricature he is not, for madmen seldom inspire. Captain Ahab may be going mad, but he remains charismatic and commanding, and knows why he is driven to the end of the earth and the brink of insanity. Moby Dick does not show up until the last few chapters of the book. Before we meet this utterly worthwhile nemesis, Melville entertains with a sailing adventure that takes readers from Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts all the way to Japan and beyond. While the hunt for Moby Dick casts a gloomy shadow over the journey, the book has no shortage of fun, wit, or humor. There is one particularly delightful chapter that describes how the crew prepare whale oil for storage. The men have to squeeze and break up large oil droplets, elbow deep in the vat that holds the oil, in a room lit by whale oil in the bowel of the ship. Lost in this tedious and hypnotic process, the men often inadvertantly squeeze and massage each other's fingers and hands, as if performing some unnamed brotherhood ritual, full of love and camaraderie. Seafaring has never been easy, and whaling seems particularly dangerous. A whaling trip in the old days often meant at least 3 years at sea. Men do it because they have to support the family, because they have no other means of making money. Ahab, he does it because he wants to...In his singleminded chase of Moby Dick, he leaves himself and the entire crew at the mercy of the great white whale and the unforgiving sea, although he thinks otherwise until the very last minute. Like Shakespeare's Macbeth, Ahab also receives three prophecies regarding his own fate, prophecies so vague as to make him feel invincible, just like Macbeth. Ventures like this rarely have happy endings. "It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan." With another biblical name -- the ship Rachel, whose captain is frantically searching for his lost son, thus ends Moby-Dick in an elegant epilogue, a fait accompli with unspeakable poignancy. Read Moby-Dick, it will not disappoint.
KATHMANDU, Oct 14: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged the non-resident Nepalis to invest in their motherland.
Inaugurating the 8th international convention of the Non-Resident Nepalis Association (NRNA) here today, she said the time was ripe to invest in Nepal. "Following the promulgation of the constitution, Nepal is entering a phase of economic development, and NRNA should be a part of it," President Bhandari said. "There is favourable atmosphere for investment in tourism, hydropower, education, health and infrastructure in Nepal."
Stating that Nepalis abroad can take pride in Nepal's prosperity, the President also lauded the role played by the NRNA in the post-earthquake and landslide relief, rescue and reconstruction work in the country.
On the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said a special role of NRNA was expected in the development of Nepal. "The knowledge, skills and capital gained abroad should serve as energy for Nepal's development."
President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bhawani Rana, founder President of NRNA Dr Upendra Mahato and NRNA chair Shesh Ghale expressed the commitment to contribute from their respective part in the development of the nation.
The NRNA brings together around 70,000 Nepalis living in 77 different countries around the world. The convention will elect a new leadership for the Association.
Bhuvan Bhatta, Jamuna Gurung and TB Karki are in the fray for the post of president in the convention that will end on October 17.(RSS)
Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003.
Chinas Communist Party congress that opens next week is supposed to touch on the hottest issues in the giant, growing yet still largely enigmatic country. The twice-per-decade event in Beijing should give Chinese President Xi Jinping another five years as party chief and chairman of the Central Military Commission. That go-ahead would, in turn, let Xi work harder on military reforms described as the farthest reaching since Communist China was formed in 1949. The idea is to reduce the clout of the Peoples Liberation Army by bringing it under a central command that would coordinate operations with the navy and air force.
Any clashes involving that level of command would most likely occur off Chinese coasts involving its restive neighbors such as Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam . U.S. forces, with bases in Guam and Okinawa, could also jump in, especially if U.S. President Donald Trump finally loses all patience with missile tests in North Korea, which is backed by Beijing. China hopes someday to unify with Taiwan , a nearby self-ruled island that Xis leadership calls part of Chinese territory. But most Taiwanese have said in opinion surveys they prefer autonomy. Beijing hasnt ruled out the use of force, if needed.
If the reforms are successful, the PLA could field a joint force more capable of undertaking operations along the contingency spectrum, including high-end operations against the U.S. military, allied forces in the Western Pacific, and Taiwan, China military scholars Joel Wuthnow and Phillip Saunders argue in a 2013 paper published by the Institute of National Strategic Studies under the National Defense University in Washington.
How Chinese military reforms got started
A restructuring of the military that became clear under Xi about four years ago would let the armed forces shed 300,000 people and avoid raising the military budget by any exorbitant amount, scholars believe. Due to poor transparency, you never know for sure what the militarys up to, but the Chinese public might resent a spike in peacetime military spending as economic growth eases . The armed forces employ 2.26 million active personnel now, forming the worlds third strongest military after the United States and Russia, according to the online database GlobalFirePower.com
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As of this week, New York State has decided to allow some charter schools to certify their own teachers.
Its likely the first time a charter authorizer has allowed this kind of leeway on certification , my colleague Arianna Prothero reports. And teachers unions are not taking to it kindly.
Yesterday, New York State United Teachers and its local affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers, filed a lawsuit with the state supreme court attempting to block the measure.
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 a 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?
Under the policy, which the State University of New York Charter Schools Committee approved on Wednesday, prospective charter teachers need at least 160 hours of instruction and 40 hours of classroom practice. (SUNY is one of four groups in New York that can grant charters. It authorizes about 175 charters across the state .)
Charter candidates will need to pass just one of the states certification exams or an equivalent test. (Traditional candidates in New York have to pass several.) To qualify to offer certification, the charter schools have to meet certain performance benchmarks.
For comparison, Teach for Americaan alternative-route preparation program that frequently receives criticism for its fast-track training requires its New York candidates receive 185 hours of instruction and 40 hours in the classroom with a mentor teacher before taking on a full-time teaching role, according to spokeswoman Ana Vargas. And the program requires the teachers continue their studies in a masters program while they teach.
Nationally, teachers in traditional preparation programs are required to do an average of 525 hours of student teaching, according to the most recent annual report on teacher quality from the U.S. Secretary of Education .
Risky or Smart Policy?
Supporters of the SUNY measure say charter schools have trouble filling positions, and therefore need an alternate certification pathway.
The unions arent the only ones concerned about this change. New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa have publicly lambasted the decision, calling it an insult to the teaching profession.
Some advocates for students with special needs are worried as well. Lauren Morando Rhim, the executive director of the National Center for Special Education, put out a statement saying, Creating pathways that lack adequate training (e.g., only 40 hours of practice time) runs the risk of hurting rather than helping schools committed to improving the outcomes for at-risk students, particularly students with disabilities.
But charter school advocates say the flexibility makes for smart policy. Lets celebrate decisions focused on getting children the kind of educators they need, Northeast Charter Schools Networks New York State Director Andrea Rogers said in a statement.
New York recently lowered the pass score that prospective teachers need to achieve on the states licensure exam (known as edTPA). In that case, NYSUT was among the groups in favor of lowering the bar , noting that New York had among the highest cut scores in the country.
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The grim comparisons continue to be made to fires of yesteryear, and as the death toll continues to rise in Northern California's staggeringly devastating swarm of October wildfires, it's eye-opening to understand especially for those who don't know a lot of the history of our state's fire season in perspective, exactly how bad these fires are. The final number of deaths, particularly in the Tubbs Fire, which took several parts of northern Santa Rosa by surprise in the overnight hours of Sunday and Monday with little to no warning issued by county authorities, won't be known for days, and the toll from the other 15 (or so) fires still burning may rise as well. Fire is part of nature and part of our dry and rugged coast, but when it emerges, fed by strong October winds, from the wilds and uninhabited mountains and into towns and cities, it becomes a far different and more tragic thing. The fires below, not really ranked, reflect some of the worst ever to hit the state, many in just the past few years. Some are "worst" because they lasted so long and scorched so much land, some because they destroyed so many homes, and a few because they took so many lives.
Rim Fire (Tuolumne County, 2013)
The at-the-time terribly sad, destructive, and lengthy wildfire burning at the edge of Yosemite National Park in the fall of 2013, the Rim Fire ended up being the third largest in California history, burning 257,314 acres or 402 square miles. It burned from August 17 to October 24, but destroyed only 11 homes. At the interior of the fire, per Wikipedia, because this was in the middle of the drought, some logs were smoldering well into the unusually dry winter of 2013-2014. Charges against the hunter who was believed to have sparked the blaze, Keith Matthew Emerald, were ultimately dropped in 2015 after two witnesses who fingered him as the culprit died. 10 people were injured as a result of the Rim Fire, but no deaths were reported. The cost associated with the fire: $127 million. Jay Barmann
Basin Complex Fire (Monterey County, 2008)
Over the course of six days, the Basin Complex Fire consumed over 162,818 acres of land in rugged terrain near Carmel and Big Sur. According to the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade's report, the Basin Complex Fire was composed of two different fires, the Basin Fire and the Indians Fire. The former started due to a lightning strike, while the latter started because of an unattended campfire in the Los Padres National Forest. At the time, it was the most expensive fire in California history, with $120 million spent fighting it. It was also the second most expensive in U.S. history. The fire famously threatened the historic Tassajara meditation retreat, tucked in an otherwise mostly uninhabited canyon due east of Big Sur (which was again threatened by last year's Soberanes Fire), and inspired this book about the efforts of four Buddhist monks who stayed behind to battle the blaze and save the majority of the Tassajara compound. Jessica Lachenal
Wine Country Fires of 1964
The Chronicle noted this week that the current fires of October 2017 have some eery similarity in location to a swarm of fires that burned almost identical areas of Napa and Sonoma counties in September of 1964, 53 years ago. The Hanley Fire, which began with a discarded cigarette on Hanley Ranch on Mt. St. Helena, went on to burn 53,000 acres and spawn multiple other brush fires, destroying 84 homes (some in Santa Rosa), along with 24 summer cabins and countless farm buildings. Like the Tubbs Fire, it also entered Calistoga, where it burned 84 buildings and displaced 2,500 residents. It spawned the Nun's Canyon Fire, which burned 7,000 acres in the same canyon where the current Nuns Fire began, as well as two other fires, the Mt. George Fire and Green Valley Fire. Despite burning tens of thousands of acres, these fires did not cost any lives, partly because the area was less inhabited than it is now. Jay Barmann
Map depicting the area of the Laguna Fire: Wildfire Today
The Laguna Fire (San Diego County, 1970)
The worst of the wildfires that burned across California from September 22 - October 4, 1970, the Laguna Fire ignited on the morning of September 26, 1970 in the Kitchen Creek area of San Diego County's Laguna Mountains. Caused by a downed power line and fed by the Santa Ana winds, within 24 hours it had spread 30 miles and the winds also stymied firefighting efforts, as they were so brutal firefighting aircraft couldn't leave the ground. In the end, eight people were killed, 382 buildings were destroyed, and 175,425 acres were left charred. Eve Batey
This is a photo from the Gap Fire in 2008, which burned over 9,000 acres in a very similar area to the Painted Cave Fire in the chaparral-covered Santa Ynez Mountains of the Los Padres National Forest, but did not destroy as many homes. (Getty Images)
Painted Cave Fire (Santa Barbara County, 1990)
The Painted Cave Fire, also sometimes called the Paint Fire, determined to be the result of arson, started on June 27, 1990 with a brush fire along Highway 154 and Painted Cave Road. It would go on to spread extremely quickly, jumping Highway 101 and entering residential areas of Santa Barbara, killing one person and burning hundreds of homes. By one estimate, 427 structures were burned, but by the Weather Channel's count, 642 structures were destroyed in the fire. Allegedly, a man named Leonard Ross confessed to a girlfriend that he had started the fire to "burn out" a neighbor, and the girlfriend then told her minister, which led to charges being filed and then dropped against Ross for lack of evidence. Jay Barmann
A car burns in front of a burning home during Valley Fire on September 13, 2015 in Middletown. (Photo by Stephen Lam/ Getty Images)
Valley Fire (Lake County, 2015)
To this day, Lake County is still dealing with the depressing aftermath of the September 2015 Valley Fire and their hands are full yet again with the current Sulphur Fire, burning an estimated 2,500 acres and 55 percent contained according to the latest reports from Cal Fire. Many of us in the Bay Area remember the Valley Fire for its destruction of Harbin Hot Springs (which still continues to rebuild) and record-setting rate of ignition which led to several dramatic escape videos. The Valley Fire still remains the third most destructive wildfire in state history in terms of structures burned (1,955), though the fatality count was relatively quite low at four victims. Joe Kukura
Image: Wikipedia Commons via Dave Schumaker
Old Fire (San Bernardino, 2003)
A second harrowing specimen from the southern California Fire Siege of 2003, after the Cedar Fire, the Old Fire took six lives and consumed more than 90,000 acres in the San Bernardino mountains. More than 80,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the first rains and snows of the year fortunately arrived to help extinguish the blaze. You may remember the name Rickie Lee Fowler, who was charged with the arson that caused the fire and whose bizarre, four-year legal proceedings eventually resulted in a death penalty verdict on felony murder-arson charges. Fowler still remains alive and on death row but more significantly, authorities believe that fire caused the Waterman Canyon mudslide two months later in which 14 people died. Joe Kukura
Photo Station Fire smoke "as seen from the desert to the north" by Rennett Stowe [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The Station Fire (Los Angeles County, 2009)
Two firefighters were killed fighting the Station Fire, which burned from August 26 to October 16 of 2009 across the Angeles National Forest. All told, the fire destroyed 160,577 acres, 89 homes, and 120 other structures. According to officials, the fire was started by an unknown substance found near the point of origin. Though a $150,000 reward was offered for information that would uncover a suspect, the focus of their investigation, a man named Babatunsin Olukunle who was later convicted for starting a small fire days before the Station blaze, could not be tied to the case. While "new clues" reportedly surfaced in 2014, the alleged arsonist remains at large. Eve Batey
Photo via Phil Gibbs/Flickr
Witch Fire (San Diego, 2007)
At 197,990 acres of land consumed, the Witch Fire was the second largest wildfire of California's 2007 wildfire season, but it became the fifth most destructive in state history, burning 1,650 structures and causing two deaths. Similar to many wildfires, including the 22 currently burning throughout the state, wind played a major role in how quickly the fire spread, with many primarily blaming the Santa Ana winds, which clocked in at about 100 mph during the fire. It would be revealed later that a downed power line was to blame for the start of the fire, with SDG&E conceding "that it was their equipment that sparked some of the blazes and has already paid out roughly $2 billion in damages," though they never admitted liability for the fire, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Jessica Lachenal
Image: Wikipedia Commons via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Cedar Fire (San Diego, 2003)
San Diego is entirely consumed in smoke in the above image of 2003s Cedar fire, the largest of the red fire dots seen right at the U.S.-Mexico border. Pending the outcome of the current North Bay fires investigation, the Cedar fire remains the largest wildfire in California history caused by human activity. In circumstances depressingly familiar to todays fires, eleven other active wildfires were already burning in the region when lost hunter Sergio Martinez started a small fire in hopes that rescuers would find him. The Santa Ana winds blew that fire way out of control, incinerating 62,000 acres in the first 12 hours alone, ultimately taking 15 lives, destroying more than 2,000 homes and nearly 600 other buildings, and causing an estimated $1.24 billion in damage.
Joe Kukura
Image: Dougtone via Flickr
Griffith Park Fire (Los Angeles, 1933)
Angelenos and tourists alike know Griffith Park for the Griffith Observatory (above) and the famous view it provides of the Hollywood sign. That observatory has a tragic footnote, as the Griffith Park Fire that broke out in the early months of its construction is still the deadliest fire in Los Angeles history. New Deal-era workers making an (at the time) sweet 40 cents an hour had signed up by the thousands to work on roads in the park, and when a small fire broke out they were instructed to bat it back with shovels. This just made the fire larger, winds kicked in, and an estimated 29 of the workers perished in the fire that day, despite the fire only spanning 47 acres. It remained the deadliest single wildfire in California until this week. Joe Kukura
The Tunnel Fire a.k.a. the Oakland Hills Firestorm (1991)
Locals older than 30 likely recall this deadly fire, which ripped through the hills of North Oakland and southeastern Berkeley the weekend of October 19-20 in 1991. It all began as a small (5-acre) Berkeley grass fire that firefighters failed to completely extinguish. By the morning of October 20th, it had reignited and blazed southwest, fed by the 65 mph Diablo winds in the area. It wasn't until 9 p.m. that the wind died down, allowing officials to get control of the blaze. By then, 25 people were dead, 150 were injured, and 2,843 single-family homes and 437 apartments and condos were destroyed. The total area was only 1,520 acres, but the damage was a jaw-dropping $1.5 billion. LeVar Burton fans might recall the 1993 TV movie on the blaze, titled Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland. Eve Batey
Destroyed homes in Glen Ellen in Sonoma County, October 9, 2017. (Getty Images)
The Current Northern California Fires (Tubbs, Nuns, Atlas, Mendocino Lake Complex, Cascade, etc.)
The count of the dead stands at 35 as of Friday, October 13. Victims are still being identified, and stories of survival and tragedy are going to be told for weeks. What's clear, however, especially as common causes are potentially revealed in this swarm of fires, all of which broke out within hours of each other on Sunday, October 8 and Monday, October 9, 2017, will, all combined, go down in state history as the deadliest and one of the largest wildfire events to occur. The total acreage burned is sure to be over 200,000, putting the combined fires on par with some of the largest on record but to put it in perspective, the Rush Fire, which burned for over two weeks in Lassen County in August 2012, burned 315,560 acres (490 square miles), but it was in such remote land that there were no fatalities and zero structures burned. The Tubbs Fire alone, in the course of just a few hours, likely killed dozens and destroyed over 3,500 homes, or 5 percent of Santa Rosa's housing stock. At the risk of being overly pessimistic, this group of fires will likely top lists such as this one for some time to come and let's hope the fires are contained as soon as possible with as little further destruction as possible to the towns still in their paths, and that this is not a harbinger of fire seasons to come.
All related coverage of the North Bay wildfires on SFist.
The impact of the wildfires making their way across Northern California can be felt across multiple industries, not the least of which being food. As we mentioned earlier this week, the Michelin Guide has decided to hold off on announcing the recipients of new Michelin stars and also has delayed the release of their new Bay Area guidebook. The wildfires also laid waste to many different vineyards (and cannabis farms), and has already impacted harvests for the year, which were occurring before the fires began. On the restaurant side of things, there was a new class action complaint filed in San Francisco federal court regarding no-tipping policies at several restaurants in SF and New York. Some of the restaurants named in the complaint are: Bar Agricole, Trou Normand, Comal, Camino, as well as David Chang and the Momofuku restaurant group in NY. Finally, we shared a pretty worrying story about how many of the plastic sprinkles from the Museum of Ice Cream have started to make their way into the city streets. Here's what else has been going on:
Eater reports that Santa Rosa native Guy Fieri had a bit of a homecoming as he returned to the city to help feed a reported "1,200 evacuees, volunteers, first responders, and military" at a shelter. Truth be told, it's a pretty heartwarming gesture, as Fieri made it very clear that it wasn't a publicity move for him. He told KQED's Gabe Meline, "You dont see my banners up. Im not promoting anything. Im just here cooking. This is feeding people. People need help, and Im here to help. Thats it." He also was fully aware of the potentially... odd optics of bringing a barbecue smoker to feed wildfire survivors. He said, "I dont have anything to say about that. [...] I mean, come on. What do you want me to do?"
Kevin Durant is getting into a new game: pizza. He just bought a stake in the pizza chain Pieology, which, according to the SF Business Times' report on Durant's purchase, has 13 Bay Area locations and 140 across the country. He commented on Pieology to ESPN, saying, "I went to a one of them and saw how quickly they did it and was really impressed with the quality. I just felt like, given how fast our lives our these days, we don't want to wait for our pizza anymore."
Top Chef is returning for a 15th season, and it features a solid selection of Bay Area chefs. According to Eater, joining for this season are Tanya Holland of Brown Sugar Kitchen, Rogelito Garcia of The Commissary, Melisa Perfit of Bar Crudo, and Tu David Phu of Gather.
Foxsister opened its doors earlier this week on 24th Street, offering Korean-style fried chicken alongside other Korean barbecue faves. If you want to check it out, it's over at 3161 24th Street (at South Van Ness), where Montella Pizzeria used to be. On top of food, the bar looks like it's also aiming to be a nightlife location, as chef/owner Brandon Kirksey told Eater, "I really want Foxsister to be a rambunctious neighborhood bar and restaurant offering great food, drinks and music." That roughly translates to rotating DJs (spinning old school hip-hop to punk, writes Tablehopper) and a pretty funky-stylish interior (plus a very solid-looking menu).
Mr. Fu Kitchen opened up this week on Noe Street in the Castro, reports Hoodline. They currently occupy the space that was formerly known as House of Chen, a Noe staple for 28 years whose owners retired a few months back. According to its menu, which you can view online, Mr. Fu Kitchen focuses on some of the classic Chinese restaurant standbys and the restaurant looks exactly the same as House of Chen, following a light remodel.
Sad news as Caffe Puccini in North Beach suffered a one-alarm fire, gutting the entire cafe. Hoodline reports that there were no injuries, and that the residents living above the cafe were unharmed. The destruction, however, is evident, in its now-blackened ceilings and the scorched kitchen equipment being hauled out into the street. Fire officials are still investigating, but believe that the cause for the fire may have been accidental.
The New York Times ran a feature focusing on the rise of Thai food in America. In it, they profiled the staff at Kin Khao near Union Square. Thomas Fuller, who wrote the piece, also shared an experience at Daughter Thai Kitchen up in Oakland, where he was asked what his heat tolerance was for spiciness on a scale of one to 10. Fuller replied nine, and he "nearly cried my way through a three-alarm southern curry." Also mentioned are Zen Yai, Lers Ros Thai, Hawker Fare, and Commis.
Boccalone, the meat shop from chef Chris Cosentino which has operated a storefront in the Ferry Building since 2008, will be closing at the end of the month. Inside Scoop has the story, and reports that co-owner Mark Pastore cited economics as the reason for Boccalone's imminent closure. It outlasted its counterpart, Cosentino's Incanto, which the Scoop points out closed in 2014, but Pastore told them that the small scale charcuterie business "is a space that is a lot more crowded now that [sic] it was 10 years ago."
This Week in Reviews
The Chron's Michael Bauer took another look at Contigo, over in Noe Valley this week. Worried that the owners' move down to Santa Cruz to open another restaurant, Barceloneta, might take a toll on the service and the food, Bauer returned to see if anything's changed. Thankfully, he reports that the service is still excellent, and so is the food. (But there's no star update for this one.)
SF Weekly's Pete Kane took a look at another Noe Valley establishment, Ardiana, which he's nicknamed "Pizza Church." It's probably also worth pointing out that the restaurant is located on Church Street, and it's from the same owner, Sharon Ardiana, as Gialina and Ragazza, so there you go. According to Kane, they certainly deserve the title, as he opens with a strong argument about San Francisco/California pizza in general, saying that Ardiana might be the place that hardcore East Coasters can't argue with at least, not too vehemently. That said, he writes that "the trouble with Ardiana is that its a little too casual for its own good."
When Frances Grego Krull thinks of Sioux City's Turin Inn -- a popular supper club owned by her grandparents Charlie and Mary Chide Prochelo from the 1920s to 1960s -- she remembers the stand-up comics who would headline every evening and the beautiful showgirls who would bring down the curtains by dancing to "Lullaby of Broadway."
Mostly, she remembers the authentic Italian food served by her grandmother at the Turin Inn's former 1100 Steuben St. location.
"My grandmother was a wonderful cook," the Sioux City native now living in Lincoln explained. "Watching her cook in a kitchen was like watching a brilliant musical director conduct an orchestra. It was masterful."
Krull has written "Favorite Italian Recipes," a book which not only features many of Mary Prochelo's favorite recipes from the Turin Inn but also serves as a biography of an extended Italian family living out its version of the American dream.
"I originally wrote the book in 1981 but I wanted to update it this year," Krull said. "My family first came to Sioux City 99 years ago. I wanted my book to come out prior to their centennial year."
Krull will be signing copies of "Favorite Italian Recipes" from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Sioux City Gifts, 1922 Pierce St. In addition, "La Famiglia" -- a DVD by filmmakers George Lindblade, Lou Ann Lindblade and Christine McAvoy that features interviews and archival photos of the Turin Inn -- will be available for purchase.
"I won't just be signing books at the book signing," she said. "There may be some Italian dancing plus I may make a few Italian dishes."
Your grandparents paved the way for future immigrant families in Sioux City. That was literally the case for your grandfather, who was actually a paver, right?
"Yes, my grandfather helped to pave Fourth Street in the early days. Then, the 'Roaring Twenties' came around and my grandparents opened the Reggio Inn, which was one of the most popular places in town. When that burned down, they decided to rebuild and call their new nightspot the Turin Inn. Even though we specialized in Italian food, we also has great steak and ribs."
There were quite a few celebrities who performed at the Turin Inn during its heyday. Do you remember any of the big name stars?
"While we had wonderful local acts like The Velaires, the Turin Inn also booked people like (actor) Lionel Stander and (comedian) Shecky Greene. Without a doubt, our biggest celebrity was Jimmy Stewart, who was visiting the Sioux City Air National Guard Base at the time. Jimmy came in for dinner and was so impressed he wanted to kiss the chef, my grandmother. My grandmother remembered that for the rest of her life."
It seemed like your grandmother never really followed recipes. Instead, she had an instinct when it came to cooking.
"That was the hardest thing about writing a cookbook. To my grandmother, recipes were simply a guide. When I'd ask her how much crushed red pepper a dish required, she say it needed a pinch. If it wasn't a pinch of something, it was a handful. But not all hands were the same size, I'd insisted. Still, that's the way she cooked."
Well, that obviously worked for her. I think your dad Pasquale also cooked, right?
"My dad used to make and sell sandwiches to his co-workers every day. If you'd have him over for dinner, dad would take home all of the leftovers. He'd put the leftovers between two pieces of bread and sell what he'd call the 'Pasquale Sandwich."'
That's ingenious. I know you're also a terrific Italian cook. Is that why you wrote your book?
"I wrote the book because I wanted to share my family memories with the community. A lot of people still remember the Turin Inn and this is a way to reconnect with real, old-fashioned comfort food."
SIOUX CITY | Tracy Gates, a Morningside College graduate from Escondido, California, has been awarded the Russell E. Dougherty Leader of the Year Award, from the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society.
As part of the award, Gates is the recipient of a $4,000 scholarship to support her graduate studies, and the Morningside Omicron Delta Kappa chapter receives a $300 grant.
Gates received a bachelors degree in biology and minors in chemistry and sustainable agriculture in May. While at Morningside, she was a member of the Connie Wimer Womens Leadership Program, coordinated Omicron Delta Kappas campus-wide service day, served as a head resident assistant and studied abroad in Wales. Gates was also captain of the swim team.
Next year, Gates plans to serve in the Peace Corps.
SIOUX CITY | Even the best choirs need an occasional shot of adrenaline.
That was the thought going through the mind of Sandra Pearson, head director of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church Consecrated Mass Choir a few days prior to the annual All Choir Day.
"When the Rev. Floyd E. Brown retired from Mount Zion in 2015, the church went through a long grieving process," she said. "This year, we have a new pastor in the Rev. J.F. Robertson, a new attitude and a new energy."
That new energy will be on display at 4 p.m. Sunday when the 1421 Geneva St. church hosts some of the best musicians, songwriters and choir directors from across the country.
"Our All Choir Day concert is Mount Zion's biggest event of the year," Barbara Lauderdale, the choir president, explained. "This is the time in which we invite the entire community to a spiritually fulfilling service of song, inspiration and praise."
"If you've never been to Mount Zion before, be prepared to stay on your feet," Pearson added. "This isn't the type of service where people sit quietly in pews. When our choir ministers the word, it will get you moving."
That will certainly be the case this year. In preparation for its All Choir Day concert, Mount Zion has enlisted the help of Vincent E. Gray, a choir director and songwriter who is best known for his work with the Chicago Mass Choir.
"Vincent will be offering a two-day workshop for our choir," Lauderdale said. "He will be providing the instruction, discipline and unity that we've been lacking for the past few years."
A teacher in the Chicago Public School District, Gray seems to have the right kind of credentials for the job.
"Every choir becomes creatively constipated at some point," he said. "I'd like to think of myself as being an educational laxative."
Indeed, Gray said "life without education is like voluntary slavery."
He educates people with a few simple rules.
"The number one step is being willing to uncork the geyser of God's grace," Gray said. "What's step number two? That's easy. Always remember step number one."
Pearson said she's looking forward to Gray's musical tutorial. It is also giving her hope for Mount Zion's future.
"There's a new energy and it hits you as soon you walk through the door," she said. "As a member of Mount Zion for the past 38 years, that's a very encouraging sign."
SIOUX CITY | Already down two judges, Leesa McNeil's receipt of another judge's notice of retirement was not welcome news, though she knew District Judge John Ackerman had been considering it.
The announcement that Ackerman will step down in December from the district court bench and take senior status, working 13 weeks a year, will leave its mark on a district already feeling the effects of a hiring freeze ordered by the Iowa Supreme Court in response to budget cuts.
The soon-to-be three vacancies on the District 3 bench add to 13 other vacant judicial system positions in the district. Two other vacancies soon will be created in the district due to retirement, including McNeil's in January.
"There is a limit to what you can do with the resources you have. We're reaching a breaking point," said McNeil, who will be retiring after 32 years as the 3rd District Court Administrator. Her position will be left open until the hiring freeze is lifted or modified.
The Supreme Court enacted the freeze, along with a one-day unpaid furlough for court workers, earlier this year to clear budget space after the Legislature, facing a $117 million state budget shortfall, passed a $3 million budget reduction to the state's judicial branch for the final four months of the fiscal year. When the Legislature appropriated $175 million to the judicial branch for Fiscal Year 2018, the same level as the previous fiscal year after the budget reduction, the high court extended the hiring freeze to the current fiscal year, which ends May 31.
Fortunately, the decree included a provision that any judicial district won't be left with more than one judicial vacancy. It's good news for the 3B subdistrict, which includes Woodbury, Sioux, Plymouth, Ida, Monona and Crawford counties. District Judge Edward Jacobson retired earlier this month, and with Ackerman stepping down from full-time duty in December, the subdistrict would have been short two judges of its maximum allotment of eight.
McNeil said the application and nomination process to seek Jacobson's replacement will begin soon. It's about a four-month process.
"We are hopeful we will have a person in a chair and ready to work by mid January," McNeil said.
When it comes to scheduling, McNeil said she's essentially two judges short now because long-term cases can't be assigned to Ackerman.
"Some things are having to get pushed out a little farther than we would like," McNeil said.
She said trials are getting "pushed back and bunched up" as time-sensitive matters such as mental health commitments, family custody cases, juvenile cases and criminal case deadlines take priority.
The 3A subdistrict, which includes Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Lyon, Kossuth, O'Brien, Osceola and Palo Alto counties, also is operating short one judge from its maximum allocation of five after District Judge Patrick Carr retired in July. That vacancy, too, has led to challenges in scheduling court hearings.
"We've had to make schedule practice adjustments," McNeil said. "We are trying to limit the impacts to litigants."
Frank Abagnale Jr. is a former scam artist who in his youth cashed millions of dollars-worth of fraudulent checks and posed as an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer.
His criminal days long past, Abagnale now spends his days warning senior citizens across the country about the dangers of scams.
Abagnale --- whose story was portrayed in the 2002 Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can, in which Abagnale was played by actor Leonardo DiCaprio --- serves as an ambassador to AARP, traveling the country to speak to seniors.
Abagnate recently was in Iowa, where he told Iowans how to spot and avoid scams. The event was a product of AARPs Fraud Watch Network.
Seniors lose $36.5 billion each year to financial abuse, according to a 2015 study by True Link Financial.
I worked all my life on the premise that education is the most powerful tool to fighting crime, said Abagnale, who for more than 40 years has served as a security consultant to the FBI.
Abagnale said through AARP he has traveled to roughly 10 cities over each of the past three years to speak to seniors about scams. He said he appreciates that the events are free, and is often surprised at how many younger people attend the events in order to learn something that could help protect their older relatives.
Abagnale said the keys to identifying a scam are to stop and verify. He said most scams are based on urgency --- the scammer tells the potential victim that he or she must act quickly in order to resolve the invented situation.
For example, Abagnale said a common scam involves a scammer calling a senior to say his or her grandchild has been arrested and bail money is needed immediately to secure the grandchilds release.
Stop, hang up the phone, get the phone book, and call the Des Moines Police Department, Abagnale said. Stop and verify. Those two words could save a lot of people a lot of money.
Abagnale said when he travels to these events he is always surprised and dismayed at the tales of scam victims losing their homes or their retirement funds.
Parties tout star power
Iowa Democrats and Republicans have are hosting some high-profile names for their annual state party fall fundraisers.
Actor Alec Baldwin will deliver the keynote address at the Iowa Democratic Partys annual Fall Gala on Nov. 27 in Des Moines. A longtime television and film actor, Baldwin most recently has become well-known for his portrayal of President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer will speak at the Republican Party of Iowas annual Reagan Dinner on Nov. 8 in Des Moines. A former communications director for the national Republican Party, Spicer served as President Trumps first press secretary before resigning in July.
Trump out-polls Blum, Young
Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning national polling firm, recently conducted polls in nine competitive U.S. House districts across the country, including two in Iowa.
Among the more noteworthy revelations was that in Iowas 1st and 3rd Districts, Trump --- despite his poor job performance ratings --- fared better than the Republican congressmen in those districts.
In eastern Iowas 1st District, 45 percent of voters said they approve of Trumps job performance, while 50 percent said they disapprove. Thats better than 1st District Rep. Rod Blum, who had an approval/disapproval rating of 33/51, according to the poll.
The results were similar in central Iowas 3rd District, where Trump had a 43/53 job approval rating and Congressman David Young a 37/47 rating.
Public Policy Polling conducted automated phone surveys of 1,093 1st District voters from Oct. 6 to Oct. 8. The margin of error is 3 percent. The polling firm did the same with 693 3rd District voters over the same period, and the margin of error is 3.7 percent.
President Trump spoke to an anti-LGBT hate group today. His message: you will not be silenced any longer.
The Values Voters Summit took place in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted by The Family Research Council, which has been labeled as a hate group.
The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as the leading voice for the family in our nations halls of power, but its real specialty is defaming gays and lesbians, states the Southern Poverty Law Centers website. SPLC tracks hate groups in the U.S. The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people as the organization battles against same-sex marriage, hate crime laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the militarys Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy.
In his speech, the Trump praised new guidance put forth by Secretary Jeff Sessions which undermines the Johnson Amendment. Trump, who signed the directive earlier this week, assured the attendees that the action entailed "a beautiful ceremony in the White House on our National Day of Prayer."
The Johnson Amendment was established under President Lyndon Johnson. Devised in 1954 by Johnson when he was in the U.S. Senate, the law prohibits religious organizations from directly or indirectly participating in political campaigns. The penalty for such activity is the loss of an organizations tax exempt status.
Among many historic steps, the executive order followed through on one of my most important campaign promises important to so many of you: to prevent the horrendous Johnson Amendment interfering with your First Amendment rights," he said.
We will not allow government workers to censor sermons or target our pastors, our ministers, our rabbis. These are the people we want to hear from and theyre not going to be silenced any longer.
As head of the FRC, an optimistic Tony Perkins praised the direction in which Trump's current regime appears to be headed, writing on Breitbart:
"After eight years enduring the Obama administration's hostility toward everything from religious liberty to the unborn, Values Voters were eager to see President Trump accelerate the undoing of Obama's policies."
Besides Trump, the controversial Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, Roy Moore, was also a featured speaker at the event.
Here are one tidbit from his speech from RightWingWatch.org: Somebody should be talking to the Supreme Court of the United States and say, What gives them a right to declare that two men can get married? Impeach these justices that put themselves above the Constitution. Theyre judicial supremacists and they should be taken off the bench.
Moore is well known for his anti-gay views. He believes same-sex relations should be illegal.
Leading local driver Jason Bartlett is ranked number one in North America with $9.9 million in purse money won this season and third by wins with 497 victories. Just over $1 million of the 36-year-old reinsmans earnings this season have come in New York Sire Stakes, making him the leading driver on the New York stakes circuit by earnings and his 24 victories top the win column.
Bartlett will drive in all eight of the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes Finals at Yonkers Raceway Saturday afternoon (October 14). The rich races for statebreds are part of a $3.3 million card that includes the $1 million Yonkers International Trot, the $250,000 Harry Harvey Invitational Trot, and the $250,000 Dan Rooney Invitational Pace. Many of Bartletts contenders drew advantageous post positions and all but two are the first or second choice on the morning line.
Its been a really good year throughout the stakes races for me, Bartlett said. Hopefully we can cap it off with a good day. The draws were favourable for me. Good spots, good horses, the home track. Now its up to me not to mess up.
Im very grateful to all the owners and trainers for giving me an opportunity to drive all these nice horses, he continued.
Bartlett gave his thoughts on all eight of his drives in New York Sire Stakes Saturday:
Two-Year-Old Colts and Geldings Pace
CASUAL COOL (Post 3, 3-1 ML): The son of American Ideal is 5-for-9 this year with a pair of seconds and a third, good for $137,538. Bartlett drove in three of the colts victories, including a wire-to-wire win in NYSS from post one at Yonkers August 25. One of three sire stakes finalists Bartlett will drive for trainer Linda Toscano. Won his last start in the Simpson at Philadelphia October 1.
Nice handy little horse, can race either way. By the looks of that field, we have options. The one to beat is inside of us and the other one to beat is in the eight hole, so weve got some options going into that race. (Linda) has had a good year in stakes races this year and all of her babies seem to have got a little bit sick, but now theyve been pretty good as of late. He had a race down at Chester coming in, the Simpson and he won down there, which is a plus going into this race that he was able to get a race in between the three-and-a-half weeks between races. He was very fortunate to get that race.
Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
HURRIKANE SHORTY (Post 6, 5-2 ML): After posting two wins and two seconds with Jim Marohn Jr. at the lines, the daughter of Art Major won her first two starts with Bartlett in the sulky at Yonkers August 17 and 29. Although all her wins have come on the front end, the filly showed Bartlett a new dimension last time at Monticello September 19, racing off the pace to finish second beaten a half-length. Qualified in 1:55.4 at Philadelphia October 3. Brings an 8-4-3-0 record into the sire stakes final for trainer Kevin Mc Dermott.
She got a little sick there her last two or three starts and then her last start at Monticello, I was very happy with her racing off the pace. Kevin said shes a lot healthier now. She got a nice qualifier in down at Chester, so she looks pretty good in there, too. Shed been raced a lot on the front end, so putting her on a helmet, trying to race off a helmet was something that I had been trying to do. That front end all year long is going to catch up to them sooner or later. Shes very versatile, shes very quick off the gate and the way she raced at Monticello, youre not scared to race her from behind.
Two-Year-Old Filly Trot
LIMA NOVELTY (Post 2, 3-1 ML): Posted four wins and a second in NYSS company this summer, including a track record 1:57.3 victory at Monticello August 21. Made a break when trying open company in the Peaceful Way at Mohawk September 11 before finishing second in sire stakes individually timed in 1:55.4 at Vernon September 22 and qualifying at Pocono in 1:58 October 4.
We have not seen the best of her. Shes a very, very nice trotting filly. Very disappointing up at Mohawk, but very nice filly. She can do it either way, too. Shes won on the front and from behind at Monticello with a track record. She drew a very good spot too, in between the two favorites, so just kind of play off of other people there. She grabbed her boot behind and she just ran. I mean, shes never run in her life. You would think that getting around Buffalo and Monticello and all those other tracks, in a straightaway at Mohawk, shed be able to get around there easily enough. It was very surprising to say the least.
Three-Year-Old Filly Pace
PLANET ROCK (Post 1, 6-1 ML): Winless this season in 14 starts, but the daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven enough seconds and thirds in sire stakes company to earn a place in the final and drew the inside post. Toscano trainee went 8-for-12 as a two-year-old, but enters this years sire stakes final off a sixth in the Simpson September 20 and a seventh against older mares in a $17,500 overnight September 29 for Toscano.
Shes been getting better. I raced her on the front end at Monticello, she raced really well. I had never really driven her before and I put her back on the front at Chester and Linda said two weeks in a row on the front end for her is not the thing to do. She has enough speed to get herself involved early, and then hopefully we can find the right helmet.
Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot
CLIVE BIGSBY (Post 3, 5-2 ML): Gelded son of Muscle Mass is 5-for-8 with another two placings to start his career. Impressed when winning a sire stakes leg from post seven at Yonkers by 3 lengths August 8 and won by 3 at Batavia August 27. Qualified for the William Wellwood Final at Mohawk September 18, but was scratched. Enters the NYSS Final off a 1:57.4 tune up at Vernon September 29 for trainer George Ducharme.
Hes an honest trotting colt. Hes also a very handy little horse. Hes a nice little horse. He tries, he tries really hard. Got a great little attitude and just a handy little horse. Hes one that you can play the gate and see what everybody else is doing and kind of react, but it looks like hell be pushing off the gate and going from there. Hes good. He gets over the track really well. He can stop and go, hes very good that way. He was sick up there (at Mohawk), so thats why they scratched him there. George will have him ready, thats for sure.
Three-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace
AMERICAS FLEET (Post 3, 20-1 ML): The longest shot of Bartletts Saturday drives, the Edward Hart trainee is 4-for-22 this year, including a nose victory in NYSS at Yonkers July 10. Enters the final off a fourth in an overnight at The Meadows October 7.
Hes the type of horse thats going to have to get tripped out pretty good. That race, its just going to come down to if theres any speed or not. Weve got to trip that horse out a little bit. With the right trip, he can go with them. Hes always been right there with those horses. He may not win a lot of races, but hes right there. Seconds, thirds, fourths. Hes got a lot of nice checks throughout the year.
Three-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot
GUARDIAN ANGEL AS (Post 1, 8-5 ML): After making breaks in the stretch of the Hambletonian Final and at the start of the Yonkers Trot, the son of Archangel finished second in NYSS at Batavia September 13 before winning in sire stakes next out at Yonkers September 23. Shipped to Lexington for the Bluegrass October 1 and finished second beaten a neck in 1:52.1. Anette Lorentzon trains.
We drew the rail and he looks like he raced really well out at Lexington. He got to stretch out before Yonkers, which is going to help him a lot. With the rail, he can leave and with him, hes just got to mind his manners. With him, I just let him do what he wants to do and then Ill just go from there. If he wants to go out of there, he usually drags me out of there anyways, but Im not going to rush him to get to someplace I dont need to be. I think Ive got the best horse, we got a good spot not to do too much rushing, which Im very happy to see. He can get himself in position, so Im not really worried about that.
Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
CELEBRITY RUTH (Post 2, 9-5 ML): Unraced at 2, Trond Smedshammers filly by Archangel is 4-for-14 this year with another six seconds and $359,113 earned, making her the third highest-earning finalist on the card behind three-year-old pacer FunkNWaffles and rival Barn Bella. Has three recent wins over the track, including the Hudson Trot September 2 and a 1:55.3 score in NYSS September 14. Enters off a second in a $27,000 Yonkers overnight October 5.
Very nice filly. Shes quite handy too. She can leave the gate very fast, shes been in very good spots and it looks like were in a very good spot for the final, too. Obviously the one to beat is Barn Bella. I know the half isnt (Barn Bellas) forte, so Id expect her first-over or something like that. (Celebrity Ruth) has been very good in her races coming in, so Id expect another similar performance from her. She was very good in the Hudson Trot and came back and was actually better in her latest race at Yonkers. She was very good at Batavia, so shes coming into the race pretty good.
(SOA of NY)
Silas Seelster fetched the highest price during the opening session of the 2017 London Selected Yearling Sale.
Selling as Hip #60, pacing colt Silas Seelster sold for $150,000 to Dr. Ian Moore. Silas Seelster (Shadow Play - Smilesplace) is a half-brother to speedy Soiree Seelster p, 2, 1:52.2s -'16 ($237,882).
In front of a capacity crowd at the Metroland Media Agriplex, a total of 114 yearlings sold during the first session for gross sales of $2,484,500. The average for the first day came in at $21,793.
"Very happy, great crowd. People seemed encouraged with everything," said co-manager Heather Reid of Standardbred Canada. "I think the prices were very good and hopefully that continues tomorrow."
Co-manager Ann Straatman of Forest City Yearling Sales echoed Reid's sentiments.
"I think we had a great start; we had a strong crowd, an active crowd, an enthusiastic crowd so I'm happy with how we've started out."
Straatman sees no indication that the trends and atmosphere will change heading into Sunday.
"I think lots of people were underbidders that didn't get the horse they wanted and they're still going to be looking. We have a strong day on Day Two, the horses are not seeded so we have equal quality on both days, and we have more horses to sell tomorrow so I'm excited for Sunday's session."
With a number of new stallions offering first crops either in Ontario or ever, Straatman was pleased with the reception those sires received from the harness racing community.
"I thought the Sunshine Beaches sold well, I thought the Royalty For Lifes were well received, the Archangels and the E L Titans, I thought they were well received so there's a lot to be hopeful for."
To view the full results from the first session of the London Selected Yearling Sale, click the following link: 2017 London Selected Yearling Sale Results - Day One.
The United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia have yet to demonstrate that they have the courage to attack Iran directly and it is still conventional wisdom among most observers that none of Irans self-defined adversaries will ever develop an appetite for a hot war on Iranian soil any time soon.
One of the reasons for this reticence to attack Iran directly, especially where more moderate members of the Pentagon are concerned, is that such an operation would be suicide from a military-strategic point of view. Ultimately, the US would likely lose any war on Iranian soil that was not a nuclear war. The latter option would of course be a cataclysmic disaster for the planet.
This is one of the reasons that the US continues to construct a totally nonfactual narrative about Iranian terrorism. Because no such thing exists (on the contrary Iran both fights and is a victim of Takrifi jihadism), the US along with Israel continues to peddle the narrative that the Lebanese party Hezbollah is an Iranian terrorist group, even though Hezbollahs latest accomplishment has been destroying ISIS and al-Qaeda in Lebanon while continuing to help the secular Syrian government fight jihadists.
While many pundits highlight the fact that if a US politician articulates the name of any group with an Arabic or Farsi name, it is easy to pass off such a group as a terrorist organisation, this simplistic explanation for Washingtons continued attacks on Hezbollah as an Iranian terrorist group, in spite of the fact that Hezbollah is a Lebanese political party and security force, actually bears a far more sinister explanation.
Because many in the US and Israel are in fact afraid of taking on Iran directly, they are actively working to undermine Iran by attacking its smaller allies. The continual demonisation of Hezbollah is clearly defined by the US as an attempt to weaken the appeal of Hezbollah in Lebanon, in order to convince Lebanese Shia Muslims to withdraw electoral and moral support for the party, thus eliminating the power of an Iran friendly group in the heart of the Levant.
This is not speculation or conjecture, but a reference to an important US policy document, drafted as a gift for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996. The document known as A Clean Break was authored by the future Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee in the Bush administration, Richard Perle. The document was meant to provide guidance for the future of US-Israeli policies in the Middle East.
At the time, it was reportedly dismissed by Neyanyahu as being too extreme, even by Israeli standards, but since 9/11, many of the proposals have either been executed or attempted, including regime change in Iraq and Syria, aggression against Shia factions in Lebanon and an increasingly militant approach to Palestine.
Perles proposals for Hezbollah make for a reading that is one part frightening and another part laughable. Perle suggests a full-scale campaign to weaken and demonise Hezbollah, something which has clearly failed as Hezbollahs popularity, even among Christians and Sunnis has only risen since the 1990s, as many Lebanese see Hezbollah as an insurance policy against both Israeli aggression as well as against jihadist terrorism of the ISIS and al-Qaeda variety. The laughable part is when Perle suggests that the Sunni Hashemite Jordanian regime could somehow fill the void left by a would-be weakened Hezbollah, because of alleged latent sentimental attachments among Levantine Shias towards the Hashemite dynasty. Such an enlargement would have been far flung even in the 1920s and in 2017, the following segment form A Clean Break reads like a bad script to a would-be sequel to Lawrence of Arabia.
Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right as a means of foiling Syrias regional ambitions. Jordan has challenged Syrias regional ambitions recently by suggesting the restoration of the Hashemites in Iraq. This has triggered a Jordanian-Syrian rivalry to which Asad has responded by stepping up efforts to destabilize the Hashemite Kingdom, including using infiltrations. Syria recently signaled that it and Iran might prefer a weak, but barely surviving Saddam, if only to undermine and humiliate Jordan in its efforts to remove Saddam. But Syria enters this conflict with potential weaknesses: Damascus is too preoccupied with dealing with the threatened new regional equation to permit distractions of the Lebanese flank. And Damascus fears that the natural axis with Israel on one side, central Iraq and Turkey on the other, and Jordan, in the center would squeeze and detach Syria from the Saudi Peninsula. For Syria, this could be the prelude to a redrawing of the map of the Middle East which would threaten Syrias territorial integrity. Since Iraqs future could affect the strategic balance in the Middle East profoundly, it would be understandable that Israel has an interest in supporting the Hashemites in their efforts to redefine Iraq, including such measures as: visiting Jordan as the first official state visit, even before a visit to the United States, of the new Netanyahu government; supporting King Hussein by providing him with some tangible security measures to protect his regime against Syrian subversion; encouraging through influence in the U.S. business community investment in Jordan to structurally shift Jordans economy away from dependence on Iraq; and diverting Syrias attention by using Lebanese opposition elements to destabilize Syrian control of Lebanon. Most important, it is understandable that Israel has an interest supporting diplomatically, militarily and operationally Turkeys and Jordans actions against Syria, such as securing tribal alliances with Arab tribes that cross into Syrian territory and are hostile to the Syrian ruling elite. King Hussein may have ideas for Israel in bringing its Lebanon problem under control. The predominantly Shia population of southern Lebanon has been tied for centuries to the Shia leadership in Najf, Iraq rather than Iran. Were the Hashemites to control Iraq, they could use their influence over Najf to help Israel wean the south Lebanese Shia away from Hizballah (sic), Iran, and Syria. Shia retain strong ties to the Hashemites: the Shia venerate foremost the Prophets family, the direct descendants of which and in whose veins the blood of the Prophet flows is King Hussein.
Of the many things an overzealous Richard Perle got wrong. The most staggering are as follows:
Underestimating the non-sectarian popularity of the Baathist government in Syria
Not accounting for the Shia majority in Iraq who would be politically unleashed in a post-Saddam society
Overestimating the appeal of the hereditary Jordanian regime to Arabs living in republican states
Overestimating Jordans desire to be anything more than a parking lot for western military hardware
Of course, failing to realise Turkeys contemporary pivot away from NATO could not have reasonably foreseen in 1996, but the statements on Turkey still make for perplexing reading with the benefit of hindsight.
Fast forward to the present day when jihad has failed in Syria and Iraq, Hezbollah is more popular than ever in Lebanon (while its opponents are in many ways weaker than ever) and where Iraq has a Shia dominated government with openly warm relations with Iran.
Iraqs present geo-political position is that of the only country in the world where the two most influential countries inside its borders are the United States and Iran. To put this in perspective, imagine a country where the two most influential powers, each with its own troops working with various factions of such a states army, were Japan and North Korea.
But this is the awkward reality of modern Iraq, a country whose armed forces coordinate airstrikes with the USA and where in other parts of the country, on the same day, members of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, train Iraqi troops and Popular Mobilization Units to fight terrorism. Whats more is that Iraq has recently approached Iran to sign a wide ranging military security pact. All the while, the US maintains multiple military bases in Iraq, in addition to an embassy in Baghdad that is better described as a military fortress.
Americas plan to divide and conquer Iraq continues to backfire spectacularly as Iraqs Defence Minister arrives in Tehran to sign a memorandum for future military cooperation. More
If the US was intent on containing Iran at all costs or even maintain a power in the Middle East with a track record of not being afraid of Iran, the US could have simply continued to fund and arm Saddam Hussein. In rejecting Saddam and engaging in illegal regime change, the US severely underestimated the potential of a post-Baathist Iraq not to devolve into a battle ground of identity politics, one in which sheer mathematics would dictate more pro-Iranian factions than any other.
Now, the US is stuck in the rut that is contemporary Iraq. On the one hand, Iraq has been a major material investment for the US. This is one of the leading explanations for why the US condemned the recent Kurdish secession referendum in northern Iraq. Where Iraqi Kurds were once the go-to faction in Iraq for the US to undermine the old Baathist government and since 2003, a faction that the US exploited to promote a so-called Iraqi success story, today, the US wants to have its Kurdish cake and eat it too. In other words, while the US does not intend to publicly defame Iraqi Kurds, they also seek to preserve the unity of their investment called Iraq.
At least, this is what the US says in public, but privately, this may have already changed. Kurdish secessionists in Iraq decided to include the oil rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk on the map of a would-be Kurdish state, as part of the widely condemned secession referendum process. This has infuriated the Arab and Turkomen population of Kirkuk who see Kurds as attempting to annex a city which is not part of the existing autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
Over the last 24 hours, reports from Kirkuk, detailing intense fighting between the Iraqi military and the Kurdish Peshmerga militia. have been flowing in, albeit under the radar due to the media focusing more acutely on Donald Trumps anti-Iran speech. While most Arab sources describe the battles as being fought between Iraqi Troops and Peshmerga, Kurdish outlets speak of clashes between a foreign backed Iraqi army along with Shia forces versus Peshmerga.
Thus one sees that generally pro-western and clearly pro-Israel Kurdish writers are proliferating a narrative where a foreign power, meaning Iran, is backing Shia Iraqis in a fight against Kurds.
The clear intention is to send the world a false message the the current fights in Kirkuk are an Iranian proxy battle against wholesome Iraqi Kurds. In reality, when reading between the liens, even in Kurdish propaganda outlets, one realises that the majority Shia Iraq army, the Sunni Arabs and Sunni Turkomen of Kirkuk, are all united behind the Iraqi flag against the Kurdish flag. In this sense, a battle which Kurds are trying to paint as a proxy sectarian war, is actually a rare example of Iraqi unity between Arabs and Turkomen, Shia and Sunni.
Thus, one sees the blueprint as well as the folly of the US and Israels real proxy war against Iran. Having failed in Syria and Lebanon, Iraq is the place where anti-Iranian forces will continue and likely ramp up their long-term anti-Tehran proxy war.
Whereas ISIS failed to destroy Iraq and also failed to limit Iranian influence on Iraq, the Kurds in Iraq will likely be the next proxy force used to attempt and draw Iran into a new conflict in Iraq. In the coming weeks and months, the headlines in fake news outlets warning of an Iran/Hezbollah plot to take over Syria, will likely be replaced with stories of Iranian terrorists committing atrocities against Iraqi Kurds. Of course, the more this strategy fails on the battle field, the more absurd the fake news stories will get, just as fake stories about Syrian chemical weapons tend to appear every time Damascus scores a substantial victory against al-Qaeda and ISIS.
The problem with the new plan for more proxy wars with Iran in Iraq, is that in the process, many Iraqi Arabs, as well as Iraqi Turkomen, may revive a pan-Iraqi identity in the process. Furthermore, if pro-Iranian Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq begin fighting for the rights of Sunni Arabs and Turkomen against Kurds, it could actually help to reconcile Iraqi Sunnis with Iraqi Shias.
This is the real game-plan against Iran and while it is a dangerous one, it ultimately will not be an effective one. In many ways, it may even be less effective than the attempt to use ISIS and other Takfiri groups to draw Iran into a losing war in the Arab world. Here, the opposite has happened, Iran has worked with legal state partners to cooperate and ultimately secure victory against Takfiri jihadists.
When and if the conflicts in Iraq finally end, the only question remaining will be: What to do with the deeply unpopular US bases in Iraq? There are only two options:
1. Perpetual stalemate
2. A 1975 Vietnam style withdrawal
The United States plans to end Iranian power in Iraq, but it is becoming increasingly likely that Iraq will instead be the graveyard of US hegemony. In many ways, it already is.
News / Local
by Staff Reporter
A GRADE Six pupil at Mckeurtan Primary School in Bulawayo who allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree is related to a pupil from Townsend High School who killed herself last month in a similar manner, relatives have said.Msizi Ndlovu (12) allegedly committed suicide on Thursday morning and his body was discovered hanging from a tree by traffic police officers who were about to mount a roadblock near Emagetsini in Nketa suburb.Msizi allegedly took his own life in a bush dividing Nketa 8 and Emganwini at an apostolic sect shrine, quite a distance from his home.It has since emerged that Msizi was a relative to Nomakhwezi Mzaca Nkomo (14), a pupil at Townsend High School who hanged herself at her family home in Sunninghill suburb after her mother ordered her to do her homework before watching South African soapie, Generations: The Legacy, on television.Msizi's grandmother, identified as MaMhlanga, on Thursday told The Chronicle that she was at a loss for words after her grandson allegedly hanged himself weeks after another child in the family had ended her life in similar fashion."I don't know what is happening in the family. Last month, we lost another child through suicide. The pupil from Townsend High School that The Chronicle reported about after she committed suicide is our relative. We are just one family. What these children have done is traumatising," said MaMhlanga.She could not shed more light on the matter saying the family was yet to meet over Msizi's death.A Chronicle news crew visited the family yesterday and Msizi's aunt identified as MaNdlovu also confirmed that the two children were related.However, she said she was not at liberty to discuss the issue further.MaNdlovu said the family was angry that police removed the boy's body from the tree without the knowledge of the family. She said it was difficult for the family to accept that the child committed suicide as they only saw him in a coffin."We learnt about his death through WhatsApp messages. And the police did not even come to fetch us so that we could see for ourselves that indeed he had committed suicide. We think what the police did was unprofessional," said MaNdlovu.She said the family still did not know where the boy allegedly committed suicide.The family said there are more questions that need to be answered regarding Msizi's death.Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango defended the conduct of the police saying due process was followed in removing his body.She said if the family wants closure or has unanswered questions they can approach the officer in charge of the responsible station that handled the case.The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has mourned Msizi's death saying it was heartbreaking to lose two children to suicide in a single term.Acting Bulawayo Provincial Education Director Mrs Olicah Kaira expressed shock."We're touched as a province. We don't understand why the child resorted to such a decision. We're devastated by this tragic incident," said Mrs Kaira."What is happening to our learners? In one term, we have lost two learners through suicide. It's quite shocking, it's scary."This means we should up psycho-social support to our learners, sharpen our strategies for our heads of departments and guidance and counselling in schools."Msizi was found hanging by his school necktie from a tree while in full uniform.
Rainier, Ore., residents should soon have more options for both cable television and internet services after Comcast officially begins providing both services in the city.
According to Rainier Mayor Jerry Cole, Comcast signed a franchise agreement with the city about a year ago. The company began construction in September, removing old equipment and putting in new cable lines.
Although Cole said he doesnt know exactly when Comcasts internet and cable services will be available, he hopes services will be up and running by New Years.
I just talked to one of their governmental relation reps, and theyre hoping to roll out some time after Christmas, the mayor said. Thats their hope, could be spring, but who knows.
Now, Cole said the large majority of Rainier residents around 90 percent, he guessed use CenturyLink for internet, while the rest use some sort of satellite internet service.
Meanwhile, for cable service, Cole said the options are slim. He said an Idaho mom-and-pop company offers cable, but most people didnt use it because it was slow and their service was almost non-existent.
Basically, there was a void, cable TV-wise, that needed to be filled, Cole said. People were using antennas, dish, or DirecTV. So Comcast started construction.
Although the mayor made sure to not step on CenturyLinks toes, he said he was excited about the prospects of Comcasts services finally arriving in Rainier, particularly in terms of attracting new businesses.
Comcast bandwidth is, from what I understand, quite a bit faster than CenturyLink, Cole said. It may give us more options for technological businesses that require really fast internet. Thats big, big picture. It might put Rainier on the map as well, like how other communities have that opportunity.
However, what Cole said he was most happy about is that Rainier citizens will have more choices for both cable and internet.
For the citizens of Rainier, the importance of (Comcast arriving) is it allows them to have options. Its all about choices.
With millions of dollars and potential new jobs hanging in the balance, Port of Longview commissioners Friday postponed taking action on a new five-year lease agreement with International Raw Materials.
The port struck a tentative agreement with IRM Tuesday, and it was expected the commission would approve the lease at special meeting Friday. IRM already has two customers lined up to use the dock on Oct. 24.
But commissioners said they needed more time to review a 100-page agreement with IRM, which they had received a copy of only on Tuesday. And a longshoreman leader urged commissioners to avoid rushing into a deal when there are still labor issues to resolve with the new prospective tenant.
Under the tentative deal, the port could make an additional $1.5 million to $2 million annually from Berths 1 and 2, now collectively called the Bridgeview Terminal. (The agreement, which was made public for the first time Friday, is now available online at www.portoflongview.com.) IRM would ship mostly soda ash, pot ash and other dry bulk commodities.
In its first year of operations, IRM would guarantee that 250,000 metric tons of product would be shipped through the terminal. That would double in the second year, hitting 500,000 metric tons annually and possibly exceeding that minimum if IRM can attract more business.
That level of volume could support more than 30 longshoremen jobs, although its possible that jobs number could be higher if the terminal is busier. According to a 2012 economic impact study of Berth 2, there are about 15 direct jobs supported for every 220,000 metric tons of cargo shipped at the dock.
The port charges wharfage fees based on the volume of cargo passing through its docks, so higher volumes mean more revenue and more jobs.
For years, port staff have said Berths 1 and 2 were underutilized. Kinder Morgan only shipped an average of 360,000 metric tons through the terminal, although it is capable of handling more than double that amount. The terminal isnt even breaking even now.
Although the IRM agreement could prove to be more lucrative for the port, commissioners said they wanted to consider their options carefully. Commissioners have been in meetings and budget workshops all week, and said they just havent had the opportunity to read the entire document.
The parts that I have looked at look really good, but I just need more time, Commissioner Bob Bagaason said.
Commissioner Jeff Wilson was adamant about making a decision on the lease at next weeks regular port meeting Wednesday, but Commissioner Bagaason seemed open to taking more time to review the lease if necessary.
ILWU President Billy Roberts told commissioners Friday that the longshoremen union still needs to resolve some of its concerns with IRM.
The company has hired Seattle-based Jones Stevedoring to manage labor operations. Because Jones Stevedoring is a part of the Pacific Maritime Association, it must honor the coast-wide labor contract the association has with the international union. Roberts said that IRM and Jones apparently want to subcontract some of the routine maintenance work outside of the longshore union, instead of having the work done by union longshoremen. Although its only a small number of jobs, Roberts argued that doing so would violate the ILWUs labor contract with the Pacific Maritime Association. He worried that could set a dangerous precedent.
We dont want to be seen as disruptive or trying to kill a project for this area, but at the same time, we have some issues that need to be addressed or I dont think were getting a fair shake, Roberts said.
Without addressing those concerns, Roberts said he was uncertain whether Local 21 could support the agreement.
However, Roberts said he was optimistic the union could reach a compromise with IRM and Jones soon.
Under the five-year agreement, IRM would pay the port a minimum of $410,000 in wharfage fees in the first year and a minimum of $820,000 thereafter. The base lease would generate $473,000 annually, and the company would pay the ports standard dockage fees. The agreement includes two five-year options to extend.
IRM will invest at least $1.25 million into modernization and upgrades at the 20-acre terminal. That dollar amount will be credited back to cover the companys initial wharfage and lease payments.
The Philadelphia-based company previously operated at the Port of Longview from 1981 to 2001, when it sold its operating rights to Kinder Morgan.
IRM representatives said Friday that they were eager to tap into the Longview docks potential.
This is a growth engine, said Tip ONeill, president of International Raw Materials. When we were here, we had Berth 2 operating at six cylinders. And unfortunately for whatever reason, it hasnt been operating on six cylinders recently. The potential is there. Were convinced of that.
Oregon health officials are still scrambling to respond to President Donald Trump's decision to cut off payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act. But one thing is clear: The state plans to fight the president's plan.
State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Friday that Oregon is joining California's lawsuit to protect the subsidies that reduce insurance costs for low- and middle-income households. Fifteen other states have already signed on, according to Rosenblum.
"Once again, the White House has made a rash, ill-conceived decision that will have a devastating impact on many vulnerable Oregonians," Rosenblum said in a statement. "I refuse to sit by! The President should be in the business of helping --not wrecking -- Americans' financial bottom lines and access to quality health care."
Trump, who has repeatedly failed to get Congress to repeal Obamacare, plans to use an executive order to stop the payments to insurers. According to news reports on California's legal challenge, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will argue the executive order violates requirements in the Obama-era health care law.
Attorneys general from Kentucky, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico, Iowa, and the District of Columbia are also joining the lawsuit.
To hear City Council members tell it, the city of SeaTac did nothing wrong when its staff orchestrated a secret land grab to wrestle a piece of prime real estate from a West Seattle couple more than a decade ago.
Nonetheless, in a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, council members authorized payment of $4.25 million to entrepreneurs Gerry and Kathy Kingen, who sued the city and were awarded more than $18 million in damages, legal fees and interest last year in King County Superior Court, a number that has since swelled to $22 million as interest has continued to accrue.
The city appealed the jury verdict and trial courts ruling to the state Court of Appeals, then entered into mediation with its insurance carriers and the Kingens development company, K&S Development, SeaTac City Manager Joseph Scorcio told council members during a study session Tuesday.
The $4.25 million is the citys share of a $13 million settlement agreement that was struck weeks before the parties were to make oral arguments before the appeals court. The citys two insurance carriers which also filed a lawsuit against the city of SeaTac, arguing they shouldnt have to pay for the citys illegal conduct will each kick in a little over $4.3 million.
The citys portion of the settlement will be paid out of its general fund.
As a result of the settlement, the lawsuit filed against the city by its insurance companies as well as two additional lawsuits filed by the Kingens will be dismissed.
The parties also agreed not to publicly discuss the settlement for the next six months and after that, not to speak of it unless someone else be it a city resident or member of the media initiates the conversation, council members were told.
Once the agreement is signed, a joint news release is to be issued, indicating only that the case has been settled, Scorcio said.
Scorcio did not return a phone message seeking additional comment.
A video recording of the councils study session and discussion about the case before Tuesday nights vote was posted on the citys website. It was the first time since the Kingens filed their lawsuit in 2012 that council members have spoken publicly about the case.
The current council members and most of the citys staff were not part of SeaTac government in 2004, when the Kingens first began working with city officials to develop a 1,200-stall park-and-fly garage that was never built.
In 2003, the Kingens purchased a 4.23-acre parcel at International Boulevard and South 154th Street for $5.3 million. The next year, they began working on a plan to develop the garage on the property, located just off Highway 518 near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
But unbeknown to the Kingens, SeaTacs planning director, city manager and other staff decided in late 2005 they didnt want K&S to build the park-and-fly because it would create competition for a park-and-fly the city wanted to build about a mile south at South 176th Street.
So in February 2006, city staff devised a secret plan to get the City Council to pass a moratorium designed to kill the Kingens park-and-fly project, according to the King County judge who heard the case.
At the end of 2008, K&S defaulted on its loan but negotiated a two-year forbearance. Thats when the city secretly retained a commercial real estate broker who threatened to go after the Kingens personally if they refused to sign over the deed to the brokers phantom buyer in lieu of foreclosure, the judge wrote.
The city wasnt revealed as the phantom buyer until Dec. 30, 2009, when the City Council unanimously voted to purchase the property during an emergency City Council meeting.
The city purchased the land for $12.3 million, according to court records. But the Kingens said in an interview last year that they didnt receive any money for their land and were left with $1.5 million in residual debt.
The land remains undeveloped.
The Kingens ultimately proved in Superior Court that SeaTac officials intentionally sabotaged their development plans, strong-armed them into giving up their property and then violated the states Public Records Act by withholding city emails and documents proving the deception.
McDermott issued a blistering critique of the citys shady dealings:
Quite frankly the actions of the city of SeaTac in this case are unexplainable and totally unacceptable, the judge wrote.
The city appealed to the appellate court, which led to mediation and the settlement agreement.
Despite the judges findings, council members agreed the city had done nothing wrong.
The whole thing sucks. Has from the beginning, Deputy Mayor Pam Fernald said during the study session. Boy, its hard to let somebody have money that they really dont deserve.
Mayor Michael Siefkes noted that if the city was to lose its appeal, its insurance companies could refuse to pay out, the city could then be on the hook for the full amount owed the Kingens and would still have to defend itself in the other lawsuits.
I am angry the city would have put out a penny toward any claim, but a jury found against us and in order to stop the bleeding, we gotta stop it, he said.
The Department of Justice, which nearly six years ago stunned the Seattle Police Department with its finding that officers too often used excessive force, urged a federal judge on Friday to grant the city of Seattles request to be found in full and effective compliance with court-ordered reforms.
The Justice Departments recommendation represents a major leap in the case. But its significance depends on whether U.S. District Judge James Robart finds the city in compliance or adopts the position of his court-appointed monitor, Merrick Bobb, that the department has yet to meet all of its requirements.
The Justice Department revealed its position in court papers filed with Robart, who has presided over the case since the Justice Department and the city entered into a consent decree in 2012 that required the Police Department to adopt sweeping reforms.
We have not come to this conclusion lightly, Annette L. Hayes, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement. Career civil rights attorneys and police-practices experts have spent more than five years investigating SPD, overseeing the creation of new policies and training, and independently reviewing the relevant data and the results of assessments conducted by the Court-appointed Monitor that examined the implementation of the Consent Decrees requirements.
The consent decree also created the Community Police Commission (CPC), a citizen body that, in court papers filed Friday, concurred with the city that it has reached full compliance with the decrees benchmarks.
It is not known when Robart will issue a ruling.
If Robart finds the city in compliance, it would trigger a two-year period in which the city would have to show the reforms have been locked in place.
The city asked Robart on Sept. 29 to find the Police Department in full compliance, saying in court papers that it would give police officers and other women and men serving SPD and the City the recognition for carrying out the hard day-to-day work of policing and reform.
The city disputed Bobbs conclusion, outlined in a Sept. 8 status report, that the Police Department had yet to comply with some elements of the consent decree, despite making a great deal of progress.
The Justice Department sought the consent decree under President Barack Obamas nationwide police reform effort, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions, under President Donald Trump, has questioned such agreements.
In a December 2011 report, the Justice Department found that the Police Department had engaged in a pattern or practice of using excessive force and displayed troubling practices of biased policing. The consent decree sought to remedy the problems.
The report prompted then-Seattle Police Chief John Diaz to declare his department is not broken.
The CPC, in its Friday filing, sought to allay any concern that the Justice Department had shifted course under Trump.
It is important to call out our belief that the United States position in this case at this juncture is fully consistent with the mandate and approach brought to bear from the outset by the Justice Departments civil-rights division and the U.S. Attorneys Office in Seattle, the CPC said in the filing.
In its request to Robart to be found in compliance, the city cites its successful completion of 10 key assessments conducted by the monitor. Among other things, Bobb found the department had made dramatic improvements involving use of force, as well as dealing with people in crisis.
But Bobb noted that the assessments, while important, nevertheless do not constitute all the requirements of the Consent Decree.
He cited questions stemming from the fatal shooting by two white officers of Charleena Lyles, a 30-year-old African-American mother of four, on June 18, and pointed to problems in the chain of commands ability to identify possible misuse of force and to incorporate lessons learned from internal reviews by the departments Force Review Board into training.
In addition, Bobb said his team and the court were awaiting the departments analysis of why blacks and Latinos are stopped disproportionately and frisked disproportionately.
The city asserts Bobb is seeking more than is required, and that reform would continue during a two-year review.
It agreed the shooting of Lyles has raised questions about the consistent implementation of the departments crisis-intervention practices, calling them valid and important questions that cant be fully answered until a thorough investigation is complete.
The city also contends it has exceeded the consent decrees requirements by overhauling police-accountability procedures; giving citizens the right to sue for violations of the departments bias-free policing policy; bolstering oversight of off-duty employment; and creating a civilian inspector-general post with broad powers.
The CPC, in its filing, echoed the citys view, saying reform work that goes beyond the consent decree must continue.
The Justice Department concluded the city has met its obligations under the first phase of the consent decree based on the 10 assessments conducted by the monitor and its own independent review of the citys compliance.
We know that real reforms cant just happen on paper, Hayes, the U.S. attorney, said. They must be carried out in practice. That is why civil rights attorneys and police reform experts, along with the Monitor, took a hard look at the way officers are using force on the street whether there is a real commitment to de-escalation, whether new approaches to crisis situations are resulting in better outcomes, and whether internal supervision and independent civilian-led accountability systems are sufficient to address any shortcomings.
This conclusion does not mean the police department is perfect, nor does it end the hard work required under the Decree. There is more to do and issues that need to be addressed. Rather, this milestone represents the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, her statement said.
A Vancouver man said Thursday that he was highly intoxicated and doesnt remember breaking into his estranged wifes house and ambushing her and a male friend as they slept.
Both victims, Amy Blancas and Zakarius Gillis, were shot in their extremities but have since physically recovered from the May 21, 2016 incident at Blancas Five Corners home.
Ruben Prado Blancas, 43, told Judge David Gregerson that he didnt intend to harm his now-former wife. He described feeling ashamed, disgusted and deeply disappointed in himself and said that he hit rock bottom because of his alcoholism.
I have an illness but no excuse, Blancas said, later adding, I know Im going to prison. I deserve that.
Gregerson sentenced Blancas to more than seven years in prison and 18 months of community custody after Blancas pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic violence assault and second-degree assault, both of which carried firearms enhancements, as part of a plea deal.
The sentence was presented as a joint recommendation from Deputy Prosecutor Luka Vitasovic and Blancas attorney, Jeff Staples. Blancas was originally facing attempted first-degree domestic violence murder and attempted first-degree murder, both involving a firearm, as well as first-degree domestic violence burglary and felony harassment.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Blancases had been separated for more than a year at the time of the shooting. Still, Staples told the court that his client feared his estranged wife was being unfaithful.
Clark County sheriffs deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance and gunshots at about 1:30 a.m. at a home in the 9700 block of Northeast 115th Court. Deputies found Amy Blancas and Gillis suffering from gunshot wounds to their arms, the affidavit states.
The Blancases then-11-year-old son told officers that Gillis, a close friend of his mother, spent the night at their house. All of the doors to the house were locked when they went to bed. Ruben Blancas reportedly forced his way in through a door to the garage. The doorknob was loose, and the door had pry marks on it, according to court documents.
The boy said he awoke when his father opened his bedroom door slightly and looked into his room, court records said. Minutes later, he said he heard his mother scream, followed by a gunshot. He ran to her bedroom and saw his father in there with a rifle. His mother and Gillis were bleeding. The boy tackled his father to the floor, and with Gillis help, held him down until officers arrived, the affidavit states.
Amy Blancas told deputies that she awoke to the sound of her bedroom door opening and a fan falling over, and saw her estranged husband standing next to her side of the bed. He pointed a rifle at her face. She knocked the rifle away and it discharged, striking her in the left arm, court documents said.
Vitasovic said Thursday that the bullet went through Amy Blancas arm and lodged in Gillis elbow.
As part of his sentence, Ruben Blancas will have to register as a firearm offender and undergo domestic violence and substance abuse treatment. He was given credit for 509 days in custody.
Greenwashed
NWIW is pretty good at greenwashing its project in order to help the Chinese build the worlds largest methanol plant in Kalama.
This project is not clean. Its dirty, from its start in the fracking fields, leaking methane the length of the pipeline. This gas is 84 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.* (source: EDF calculation based on IPC AR5 WGI chapter 8).
The project would emit more than 1 million tons of CO2, which is 10 times the compliance threshold under Washingtons Clean Air Rule.
Among the toxins emitted is nickel at 40 times the applicable rate. These, and other, poisons, would exacerbate and increase rates of asthma, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
With Cowlitz Countys high rates of unemployment and poverty, Kalama may be seen as an easy target ripe to become another sacrifice zone.
Alona Steinke
Vancouver
Ready to go
When I came to Woodland over 25 years ago as the new superintendent of schools one of the community projects I heard about was the effort to build a community swimming pool.
The pool committee never gave up on that dream. They have joined forces with the YMCA to plan a beautiful community pool/ multi-purpose recreation center. The project is ready to go. It is time for this community to step up. The pool/ recreation center will be a great community asset but it needs our local support and funding to go forward. If you want a YMCA recreation center and pool vote yes. My wife and I will.
John Bohrnsen
Woodland
Safe words
I saw my first open carry in WinCo yesterday. It reminded me of the training offered me at the gun range by the NRA certified range marshal. He explained how I could load my shotgun and lean it, half-cocked, behind my closet door, and I would feel safe. This to a new gun owner without first inquiring about children, elderly, pets, etc. in my home.
Frankly, it makes me sad that some individuals cannot seem to feel safe without a gun handy, and the rest of us are expected to accept this and move on. I have no reason to trust a stranger in WinCo, but if I ask why he is so emotionally damaged that he needs a gun to feel safe while shopping for cheese, I will likely get a lecture on Second Amendment gun rights. Never mind that the Second Amendment was intended to apply to a well-regulated citizens militia, and this country has not had a citizens militia since the Vietnam War.
If I felt compelled to carry, say, a chainsaw with me for safety while shopping, or to a city council meeting, or in my car, people would label me deranged. But for some reason, to accomodate our gun culture we must all force ourselves to accept guns in public. Open carry, please dont tell me you are keeping me safe. Youre not.
Lawrence Studebaker
Castle Rock
Through the lens
Steve Moon and Amber Rosewood are running against each other for a Longview City Council seat. I have publicly supported and helped Moon with whatever he has felt necessary. That being stated, this isnt about who to pick. Steve is an experienced councilperson, he knows what hes doing, understands his job. Amber is a thoughtful person, she has a warm heart and is vastly informed. Whoever wins well be fine. Seriously. Neither are a threat to our city. The fabric of our society will remain intact. Your homes and children are safe. Certainly I dont care what anyone thinks of me, or really, even them, but I remind you, my neighbors, to always see each other through the lens of human beings with heartbeats, not through political candidates. Still, the fear mongering might talk up one of them as if theyre an insurgency because of your agenda. But they and we are good people. Maybe Im wrong about all this, but I wrote the first half of this sentence knowing I wasnt.
Octavio Camba
Longview
Do the right thing
Once again a well-regulated militia has killed, wounded and traumatized scores of innocent people using an assault rifle. When are we the public and our elected officials going to treat gun violence for what it is, a huge public health issue. Thirty-thousand Americans die each year from gun violence yet we dont make a commitment to find solutions. Our country has confronted numerous health issues or behavior issues in the past with a great deal of success, smoking, auto safety and HIV to name a few. We can begin this process immediately by demanding that our State and Federal officials appoint an objective commission to actively address the issue in a comprehensive manner. Our legislators on the state and federal levels can fund extensive research of the issue and pave the way for these researchers to do their jobs. It is time for we the voters and our representatives to have the courage to do the right thing and address this problem.
Robert Wagner
Longview
Clear cut answer
In homage to Longviews lumber industrialist founder, and in keeping with the stark landscape in early park and city photos, I suggest clear-cutting most of the trees at R.A. Long Park. Leave enough stump for chainsaw artists to sculpt cute little Eastern gray squirrels.
To honor the vision of current economic developers, at the central plaza erect a pagoda with giant non-recyclable plastic Lincoln logs. City council should ask building trades to cut them a deal on labor.
Diane Dick
Longview
Spoil alert
I was just reading, on Thursdays front page, about the senior ladies who recently got tattoos of crosses on their forearms. This is certainly a graphic illustration of these ladies commitment to their faith. I dont mean to be a spoil sport, a wet blanket as it were, but the fact is that tattoos are prohibited in the Bible. 19 Leviticus 28 states, Do not put tattoo marks on your skin.
Greg Donges
Longview
News / National
by Khuluma Afrika
Harare - Zimbabwe's ruling, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) may have decided to finally deal with succession disputes in the party decisively, Khuluma Afrika reported.According to impeccable sources, Provincial coordinating committees (PCCs) have been rolled out and instructed to launch a campaign for a special and extraordinary elective congress in December this year.If held, the congress may see President Robert Mugabe stepping down ahead of the 2018 elections and pave way for a new leader after 37 yrs in power.This comes at a time when Mugabe appears to have succumbed to overtures and pressure from his wife, the first lady of the Republic, Grace Mugabe and her Generation 40 (G40) allies, who have been calling for him to name a successor, and to fire his deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa.Since July of this year, Grace Mugabe has been calling on Mugabe to handpick a successor, in a heated contradiction, which led to Mugabe reminding supporters of his party that Zimbabwe was not a monarch at a rally held in Bindura.Mugabe has repeatedly insisted for years that his successor would be chosen by the ballot box at congress, arguing that the constitution of the country did not permit him the proverbial God's hand of cherry picking who takes over after him.Khuluma Afrika was able to confirm that on Wednesday when Zanu PF's highest decision making body the politburo met, the party's national commissar and G40 leader according to Mugabe, Saviour Kasukuwere, attempted to smuggle the issue of a special congress into the agenda.Kasukuwere reportedly had the support of three provinces.His suggestion however failed, after Mugabe reminded him that his motion did not have sufficient backing."Such a motion would require majority provinces (5) to support it," Mugabe reportedly added.According to inside sources, Mugabe's wife, and her friends from the G40 faction feel they are best placed to ambush Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, long touted as a potential successor."Mai Mugabe feels now is the time to get rid of Mnangagwa, she feels her three year assault is ripe, and she wants to handpick a successor who she can control while Mugabe is still alive", stated an insider from the politburo."They have failed in all their means to convince Mugabe to fire him. But, they know they can arm-twist people who are afraid of voting against Mugabe to vote for a handpicked successor." the insider added.
News / National
by Staff reporter
THE British government sold out and rigged the 1980 polls on behalf of President Robert Mugabe just to save the lives of innocent Zimbabweans who were being butchered by ZANLA forces, says UANC.NewZimbabwe.com reported that Nesbert Mtengezanwa, UANC leader, said the late Bishop Abel Muzorewa's party won the polls by more than 62 seats only for the British to rig the polls on behalf of Mugabe.According to the UANC leader, this is evidenced by the fact that election results were only announced after two weeks as negotiations were going on between Muzorewa, Mugabe and Lord Soames, the British governor who oversaw the transition to independence.Mtengezanwa said Soames then agreed with Mugabe that he was going to be the leader of the country for only 10 years and then hand over power to Muzorewa only for a cunning Mugabe to remove the late Canaan Banana after eight years to become an Executive President."Remember in 1980 nobody voted for Mugabe, nobody voted for Muzorewa or any President, we were voting for a particular party (UANC) only," said Mtengezanwa while addressing a handful of senior citizens and journalists in Harare Thursday."Zanu-PF lost and Mugabe went back to Mozambique to prepare to launch more bloodshed," he said.He added, "And Lord Soames had to follow him to Mozambique and that's where the agreement was done that Mugabe would be the Prime Minister for only 10 years.""Somaes said after 10 years give back power to Muzorewa, but after eight years Mugabe chased Banana off the leadership position and that's when he created executive powers."Writing in autobiography, The story of my Life, the late Nkomo questioned why the 1980 ballot papers were flown to Britain where they were burnt aster election. Former home affairs minister, Dumiso Dabengwa, has also previously said the 1980 polls were rigged.
Aamir Khan hosted special screening of Secret Superstar
Aamir Khan has been on a promotional spree for Secret Superstar. The actor has been touring multiple cities. Recently Aamir Khan visited Delhi for the promotions of Secret Superstar. While in Delhi, the Dangal star organized a special screening of Secret Superstar for renowned politician LK Advani and his family. LK Advani graced the special screening of Secret Superstar with his daughter and her friends. Aamir Khan warmly greeted the politician and his family at the screening.
Uber moves court against decision to cancel its London license
PTI, London :
American taxi-hailing company Uber on Saturday moved the court against London's transport regulator's decision not to renew its licence to operate in the British capital, one of the company's biggest markets.
Ride-sharing app Uber filed an appeal at the Westminster Magistrates' Court here against the ban imposed by the Transport for London's (TfL) on September 22.
TfL said it took the decision on the grou nds of "public safety and security implications". Uber's licence officially expired on September 30 but the service can remain up and running until the legal process is exhausted, which could mean potentially a year or more.
Around 3.5 million passengers and 40,000 drivers use the Uber app in London. The company said it will continue its discussions with TfL, which had ruled that the company was not "fit and proper" to operate in London on grounds of safety and security.
"While we have filed our appeal so that Londoners can continue using our app, we hope to continue having constructive discussions with Transport for London. As our new CEO has said, we are determined to make things right," an Uber spokesperson said.
TfL "noted" the appeal but said it would not be commenting before the hearings, which are expected to start in December.
A TfL spokesperson said: "We note that Uber has submitted an appeal. No further comment will be made pending the appeal hearing."
Earlier this month, Uber's new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, met Mike Brown, who runs Transport for London.
Uber described those talks as "constructive", while TfL said the talks "centred on what needs to happen to ensure a thriving taxi and private hire market in London".
News in brief
Austrian voters concerned about immigration, Islam
AP, Vienna :
Wrapping up a bruising political campaign season, Austrian political parties were counting down Saturday toward an election that could turn the country rightward after decades of centrist governance amid voter concerns over immigration and Islam.
Sunday's vote is coming a year ahead of schedule after squabbles led to the breakup last spring of the coalition government of the Social Democrats and the People's Party. A total of 16 parties are vying for 183 seats in the national parliament and will be chosen by Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters. But less than a dozen parties have a chance of getting seats.
Pentagon identifying new areas to pressure Iran
Reuters, Washington :
The US military said on Friday it was identifying new areas where it could work with allies to put pressure on Iran in support of President Donald Trump's new strategy, which promises a far more confrontational approach to Tehran.
President Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it.
100 IS fighters surrender in Raqa
AFP, Kobane :
Dozens of Islamic State group fighters have surrendered over the past day in their one-time bastion Raqa, the US-led coalition backing the offensive on the Syrian city said Saturday.
"Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ISIS terrorists have surrendered in Raqa, and were removed from the city," the coalition said in an emailed statement to AFP.
2 anti-Indian rebels, civilian killed in Kashmir
AP, Srinagar :
Police and locals say a civilian has been killed during anti-India protests in disputed Kashmir following a gunbattle that killed two rebels.
Top police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan says Indian troops cordoned off southern Litter village on a tip that militants were hiding in a civilian home.
Muneer says the militants tried to escape from the security cordon while firing their guns but soldiers gunned down them during a brief gunbattle.
Kenya police shoot dead 2 oppon protesters
Reuters, Nairobi :
Kenyan police shot dead two people and wounded a third when a crowd tried to storm a police station during an opposition protest against a looming presidential vote re-run, a senior official said.
Around 20 youths attempted to take over the station during an otherwise peaceful rally in the town of Bondo in the southwest county of Siaya, forcing officers to open fire, County Commissioner Josephine Onunga said by phone.
Police also used teargas to break up small demonstrations in Kenya's three main cities - Kisumu, the capital and the port of Mombasa - defying a government ban on rallies in city centers. Hospital authorities said 20 people were injured in Kisumu, an opposition stronghold.
Shawla custom station reopens after 20 years
Sylhet Corsspondent :
Shawla Custom Station has imported rice from India after 20 years interval on Tuesday.
In 1988 last time rice was imported through this station. Due to sell-sufficiency in rice production , import was stopped. Businessman said the station now gains its life.
It is learnt before 1988 rice was imported through this station. Later, it is slopped. Along with due to excessive cost Businessman refrain 10 use this port. recently flood loss our crop. So price of rice is up word Government face problem. Government import rice from india. Many land custom comport rice.
Sylhet chamber appeal to the board of revenue to use shaola and tamalril land port. The bourd give approval.
It is learnt rice import to shawla. It is imported by Arian and co. Karimgonj, Imported by Mahin trade link. Price of per ton rice of per ton rice is 405 U.S. Dollar.
Mr. A Kalam owner of Mahim trade raid we import rice. We already import 40 ton. We hope we over come the crisis. The market will be stable. Due to transported problem the station was closed for 20 years.
Shaola station officer Mamun Rashid said the station was close a long time.
Revenue board give order and 40 ton rice arrive in this station.
News In Brief
Bicyclist killed in C'nawabganj road mishap
CHAPAINAWABGANJ: A bicyclist was killed in a road accident at Dakhin Sakopara village under Nachole upazila of the district on Friday noon.The deceased was identified as Imrul Ali, 45, hailed from Khesba village of the upazila.Police said the accident occurred when a truck ran over Imrul in the area as he was going to his work place at Amnura in Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila by his bicycle, leaving him dead on the spot. Later, police recovered the body and detained the truck, reports BSS.
Five held with 150-kg ganja in Lalmonirhat
RANGPUR: Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-13) today seized 150-kilogram of smuggled ganja with a truck and arrested five people from Kulaghat-Barobari road under Sadar upazila in Lalmonirhat district. On a tip off, a special team of the elite force from its Rangpur 13 Battalion rushed to the area and challenged the Kulaghat-bound truck from Barobari on the Kulaghat-Barobari road around 2:35 am, said a press release. After searching the truck, the elite force seized 150-kilogram of specially packed smuggled ganja in 13 sacs, Taka 5,509 in cash, seven mobile phone sets. They also detained the truck from the spot. The elite force nabbed five drug traffickers-- Rajib Hossain, 25, of Pabna, Bachchu Mian, 22, of Lalmonirhat, Raji Hossain, 30, of Tangail, Sultan Sikder, 28, and Harun Mian, 23, of Tangail districts-- in this connection. "The process of filing a case in this connection and handing over of the arrested persons to Lalmonirhat Sadar Thana was in progress," the release added, reports BSS.
'Drug peddler' held with 1kg heroin in Jessore
Jessore Correspondent :
Police arrested an alleged drug peddler along with one kilogram of heroin from South Buruj Bagan in Sarsha upazila on Friday evening. The arrestee was identified as Abdur Rahim, 35, son of Mostafa, a resident of Beniali village of Jhikargachha upazila. Moshiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sharsha Police Station, said that on secret information a team of police conducted a drive in his rented house in the area adjacent to Tuni Cinema Hall around 7:00 pm and arrested Rahim along with heroin.
World Mental Health Day observed in Gaibandha
GAIBANDHA: The World Mental Health Day-2017 was observed in the district as elsewhere in the country and the globe yesterday in a befitting manner with a call to raise awareness about mental health issues. his year's theme of the day was 'Mental Health at Workplace'. Marking the day, Unnayan Sohojogi Sangstha (USS), a reputed voluntary organisation, chalked out the elaborate programmes under the project of Promotion of Human Rights of Persons with Disability in Bangladesh. As part of the programme, a discussion meeting was also held at the hall room of the organisation on Tuesday with Golzar Rahman, executive member of the USS, in the chair.Member of Zila Parishad M. Shamsuzzoha addressed the function as the chief guest and deputy director of Department of Youth Development Tofael Ahmed Khan was present at the event as the special guest, reports BSS.
Child Right week begins in Narsingdi
NARSINGDI: The 'Child Right Week-2017' was inaugurated here Wednesday with a view to ensuring the security and rights of all children. Bangladesh Shishu Academy of Narsingdi has chalked out elaborate programmes to observe the week in the district. The programmes include dis cussions, cultural function, art competitions, rally of the deprived children, bringing out processions and prize giving ceremony. The inaugural function was held at collectorate office premises. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr Subash Chandra Biswas inaugurated the week as chief the guest. Presided over by M Abrar Tahsin, a student of class one and artist of Shishu Academy, Narsingdi, it was also addressed,reports BSS.
among others, by Additional Deputy Commissioner(General) Mozammal Hoque ,District Child Affairs officer Khalilur Rahman Shojib and journalist Monjil-e Milat. On the first day of the week Bangladesh Shishu Academy Narsingdi with the presence of street children organized a discussion on 'the street children and their rehabilitation.' DC Dr Subash Chandra Biswas said children are the valuable asset of the country. So we should take care of the children properly as they would have to come forward to build 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The DC also urged all to take proper care of the street children and their rehabilitation, reports BSS.
SUNDARGANJ (Gaibandha): Framer at Sundarganj Upazila is spraying pesticide due to pest attack in Aman Paddy field. This snap was taken from Sicha Village in Chandipur Union yesterday.
News / National
by Staff reporter
A well-known smuggler of second-hand clothes was last week shot dead by police officers who allegedly mistook him for an armed robber during a midnight ambush at the Cecil Kop Game Park in Mutare.Jivas Masaya (38) of house number 7789 Natview Park died on the spot after one of the bullets hit him in the head. Manicaland police spokesman Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa could not comment on the case. He said he had not received a report on the matter. However, police sources said the incident happened last Thursday night at around 10pm."Police officers who included Assistant Inspector Mapfungautsi, Constables Taonezvi, Makumbe and Mutingwende were on deployment under Operation Usalama Phase 4 at Border Streams in Vumba when they received information that some armed robbers intended to cross into the country from Mozambique via Cecil Kop Game Park."They went to the scene and Ass Insp Mapfungautsi, who was the team leader, deployed Constables Makumbe and Mutingwende who were both armed with AK47 rifles loaded with 30 rounds each to go and check the suspected entry point. He remained behind with the other team member manning the other area," said the source.Suddenly, said the source, a Toyota Noah (ADG 5383) which was being driven by the deceased was observed coming from the direction of Mutare Boys' High School along Rekayi Tangwena Avenue. Constables Makumbe and Mutingwende were lying in ambush."The police officers saw two suspects coming from the bush carrying suspicious materials and loading them into the deceased's vehicle. The cops then came out of their hiding place and ordered the suspects to declare what they were loading into the vehicle. At that point, the two suspects who were loading the contraband fled from the scene."The now deceased started his vehicle intending to flee as well. Constable Makumbe then fired two warning shots into the air ordering him to stop but he did not follow the order resulting in Constable Makumbe firing three more shots at the vehicle," said the source.The vehicle, which was now moving at high speed ,later veered off the road after the driver lost control. The cops went to investigate and observed that Masaya was lying motionless on the driver's seat.Investigations carried out by the police after the incident revealed that the rear left tyrel of the car had been deflated while it was also observed that the deceased had gunshot wounds in the head just beside the right ear. There was also an opening on the back of his head which suggested that the bullet that hit him went through and came out on the other side of his head.His brain was splashed on the passenger seat and on the left door panel. Two spent cartridges were also picked up at the scene. Police also recovered three bales of second-hand clothes from the vehicle Two gunshot holes were discovered on the left side of the vehicle. Masaya's body was taken to Mutare Provincial Hospital awaiting post-mortem which was supposed to be done in Harare.
School 'breathing space' for traumatised Rohingya children
UNB, Cox's Bazar :
Amid tension and grief at Balukhali Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila, a buzz of claps and loud rhyming from small children can be heard from a tent as part of their schooling.
As many Rohingyas are still fleeing into Bangladesh from Myanmar since August 25, Unicef and Bangladesh government are jointly working on providing basic education to the children of the camps as well as handling other important issues.
After a long and challenging journey, a large number of Rohingya children arrived here with their parents.
The tramatised children were seen smiling and enjoying their lessons at the camps.
At Balukhali camp, there are seven such schools in total under the banner of 'Temporary Child Learning Center for New Arrivals' set up by Unicef and Mukti, where the children are taught Burmese and English languages primarily, said Khairul Rashid, a Burmese language teacher from Jibongkhali village of Mongdongpara.
There are 10 Burmese language teachers who are teaching the children here in three batches -- from 9am to 11am, from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 4pm -- while each teacher teaches about 105 children a day, he added.
As the children do not have any book, according to Khairul, books and educational materials will be provided by Unicef on Saturday.
Earlier on September 29, Unicef announced its plan to establish more than 1,300 new learning centres for Rohingya children who have fled Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Unicef is currently running 182 learning centres at Rohingya camps and makeshift settlements in Cox's Bazar, and has enrolled 15,000 children. It plans to increase the number of learning centres to 1,500, to reach 200,000 children over the next year.
Along with English and Burmese languages, children also learn life skills in the schools.
Over a quarter of a million Rohingya children have fled Myanmar into Cox's Bazar since August 25.
Top employability skills
Joanna Hughes :
Education and experience are only part of the "big picture" of landing a job. Also essential? Invaluable soft skills, also known as "employability skills," which convey that not only do you have the knowledge you need, but also the ability to successfully apply that knowledge in the workplace. Acquiring these skills can be difficult, but just because they can't be taught in a traditional sense doesn't mean they can't be learned. Read on for a roundup of four skills employers are looking for, along with tips for adding them to your resume.
1. Communication
Automotive industry icon Lee Iacocca once said, "You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere." In the simplest sense, communication means the ability to convey your thoughts orally or in writing. However, good communication can do so much more than that: Clear, consistent and creative communications can inspire everyone from co-workers to clients -- which is why it's not only at the top of many lists of must-have skills for today's employees, but also considered one of the top traits for business leaders.
While some people are natural-born communicators, others need to work at it. In either case, there's always room for improvement. Experts recommend paying attention to eye contact and body language, having one conversation at a time, writing things down, reading and responding to an entire email, and assuming best intentions as techniques for honing your communication skills.
2. Problem Solving
Apple visionary Steve Jobs once said, "What I do all day is meet with teams of people and work on ideas and solve problems to make new products, to make new marketing programs, whatever it is." In other words, while the company may be known for its amazing products, problem-solving was integral to the process. From the ability to evaluate a situation critically to devising creative, outside-the-box ways to handle new and unexpected challenges, problem-solving skills can mean the difference between overcoming obstacles and giving up.
According to Albert Einstein, "The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill." Your takeaway? The first step in developing your problem-solving skills is developing your problem identification skills.
Einstein also said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Once you've identified the problem, break it down into parts and brainstorm as many solutions as possible. Many experts recommend lateral thinking, a concept originated by physician, inventor, consultant and brain training pioneer Edward de Bono. His advice to keep in mind when conquering new problems? "You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging it deeper."
3. Strategic Thinking
After evaluating the results of an analysis by MONEY and PayScale regarding which skills lead to the best payoffs in today's workplace, thinking emerges as a frontrunner in a Time magazine analysis. But what does this mean, exactly? Boston-area recruiter David Hayes told Time, "Strategy is about understanding the business purpose of a job rather than just the tasks of a job." Adds Harvard Business Review, "Strategic people create connections between ideas, plans, and people that others fail to see."
You'll not only increase your chances of getting a job by developing your strategic project management and strategic planning skills, you'll also increase your earning potential. Says Time, "The higher you go, the more valuable strategic thinking becomes. Both 'strategy development' and 'business strategy' are skills that set executives apart, for instance. Moreover, even within that elite stratum, workers with those skills earn 9.1 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively, more than those without."
Forbes sets forth three steps to improve your strategic thinking skills, including questioning your own opinions; surrounding yourself with people who think differently than you do; and regularly recharging both your body and brain.
4. Emotional Intelligence
According to Psychology Today, "Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is generally said to include three skills: emotional awareness; the ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes regulating your own emotions and cheering up or calming down other people."
While it's easy to think of EI (or EQ) as it applies to your personal life, it also has a multitude of advantages in the workplace. In fact, it's so important that some experts suggest it's more than a soft skill. Writes management authority Laura Wilcox, " a command of emotional intelligence is a proven differentiator in the competitive climb up the corporate ladder. By inspiring others, emotionally intelligent leaders can ignite discretionary effort on the part of their teams to boost productivity and spur higher levels of employee engagement that comes from a strong company morale."
Psychology Today recommends fives ways to boost your EI, including reducing negative personalization; letting go of the fear of rejection; stress management; assertiveness, when necessary; a commitment to proactivity; and the ability to bounce back from adversity.
One of the best things about committing to work on your employability skills now? Because they're transferrable -- meaning they are useful in all disciplines and types of jobs -- they won't just help you land a job in the short term, but will also support your ongoing success throughout your career.
(Joanna worked in higher education administration for many years at a leading research institution before becoming a full-time freelance writer. She lives in the beautiful White Mountains region of New Hampshire with her family).
Combine studies with internship
Elizabeth Koprowski :
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: the job market is competitive and earning a top-notch degree is no longer enough to land you that dream job. Students today need to show initiative, skill, and creativity both in the way they have earned their degrees and in how they sell their talents. But luckily, education sectors around the world are evolving to meet the needs of both employers and students, and gaining vital, real-world experience in your chosen field is easier than ever. Many courses offer (and sometimes require) placement periods, and universities are forming partnerships with leaders in industry and business to make work-placements for students easier to obtain. Internships, traineeships, and apprenticeships are on the rise, and most students who participate in such programs find that they graduate with, at least, a head start and, at best, a foot already in the door of their career. Read on to find out more about combining your degree with work experience.
The benefits of an internship
An internship looks great on your CV, but work experience while you study shouldn't be just a talking point during an interview. Here are five good reasons to complete an internship or work-placements during your studies:
1. Gain real-world skills
Most jobs today require at least a few years of experience. If you complete an internship, you'll come away with transferable skills that improve your employability. Combining your studies with an internship gets you those all-important years of experience so that when you enter the job market, you can hit the ground running.
2. Make up your mind
Many students go into a field of study because they enjoyed the subject or had good marks in high school. But classrooms are much different from careers. An internship or apprenticeship will give you the chance to decide if teaching (or marketing or accounting) is the right career path for you. Work experience can also help you find your niche. You might be studying history now, but an internship with the local planning office could reveal that you have a passion for building preservation.
3. Earn credits (and money!)
Internships have become such a vital part of higher education that many universities are adding them to course requirements and offering degree credit for completion. This is a win-win situation for you - you gain real-world experience and college credit. And, if you're really lucky, your internship will be paid, which means that you can also earn real-world money!
4. Make contacts and form a network
Network, network, network! We hear it time and again, but the contacts you take away from your studies will be one of your most valuable resources and an internship will help you expand your network and make contacts with those in your field.
5. Get a job
And those contacts can help you find a job once you've graduated. Or, better yet, your internship could transition into a full-time job once you've completed your degree. The possibilities are endless!
How to include an internship in your study program
Okay, so you're sold on the advantages of internships, but how do you go about getting one? Many universities and departments are partnering with relevant industries to offer internships and work-placements to students, but some students still find opportunities on their own. Here are a couple ways to study and intern at the same time:
1. Combine your time abroad with an internship
International experience is just as valuable as work-experience, and combining the two is a great idea. Many study abroad programs have built-in internships but even if you choose a program without an internship, you may still have the chance to complete one while abroad. Just make sure your program allows it and check all your visa requirements - are you allowed to work during your studies? Can you earn while studying? Must you earn if you work?
2. Use your breaks
Internships and work-experience don't have to be long-term to be valuable. Many internship programs offer short-term or holiday placements. You can also target companies you're interested and ask for short-term assignments. Many businesses are short-staffed during holidays and summers and would be willing to take on an intern while things are quiet.
How internships work around the world
Getting work experience abroad is a good idea and many countries, like Germany and France, have standardized work-study systems, also known as dual education systems (DUS) or "Alternance". In DUS programs are nationally regulated, and students choose from very specific, and often highly-specialized, careers. Here are some of the highlights from DUS and internship programs around the world:
Credit: Corkscrew StartUp SchoolImage courtesy of Corkscrew StartUp School
In Germany, DUS students attend classes and receive hands-on training in their selected field. They earn a monthly salary (which varies according to region and trade).
In France, "Alternance" students are designated a tutor, or support worker, to guide them through their studies.
Students in Dublin's Corkscrew StartUp School work on real projects in companies throughout Ireland.
EDUCA Russian Language Center offers Russian-language internships for students in a variety of fields, including Art and Architecture.
So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and find an internship or apprenticeship that will give you the real-world skills you need to find your dream job!
(Elizabeth Koprowski is an American writer and travel historian. She has worked in the higher education system with international students both in Europe and in the USA).
BNP activists police clash : 8 hurt in Barisal
Police charge batons on the leaders and workers of Jatiyatabadi Sechchhasebak Dal while they tried to brought out a rally protesting false cases and arrest warrants against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and arrests of their three activists on Saturday
Barisal Correspondent :
At least eight BNP activists were injured, transports damaged and two arrested after police charged baton on the party workers, who were protesting arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday noon.
Witnesses said that different units of BNP and its front organizations according to central programme arranged a protest rally in front of their party office on the Barisal Ashwini Kumar Hall premises of the city at 11:00 AM on Saturday.
A procession led by Mir Zahidul Kabir, BCC councillor and joint convener of
Swechchhasebok Dal city unit , with a procession advanced to join in the rally, but police barred them on road.
At that time activists of district ( north and south) BNP also with procession tried to join the rally at party office and faced the same obstacle from police and both sides engaged in altercation.
Then some BNP activists started to damage transports plying on road and hit on shutters and police charging baton tried to control the situation and dispersed the BNP activists.
At least, eight BNP activists including Mir Zahidul Kabir, Mahbubur Rahman Pintu, Mashiur Rahman Monju, Mamun Reza, leading activists of BNP, were injured in police action and two autorickshaws were damaged.
Police detained Mir Zahidul Kabir and Mahbubur Rahman Pintu from the spot. In the meantime, central BNP joint secretary-general and city unit President Mojibor Rahman Sarwar reached BNP office and started the protest rally.
Addressing the rally, Sarwar condemned the police action without any provocation. Sarwar said the strength and popularity of BNP and its Chairperson made the voter-less election government abnormal. So by lodging cases, attacking programmes, arresting leaders and activists, ruling AL trying to remain in power for ever by making BNP weak. However this dream would never be realized.
Malaysia imposes more restrictions on foreign manpower recruitment
BD employment sector to face difficulties
Reza Mahmud :
Malaysian government has imposed more restrictions on foreign manpower recruitments in the country, which may create difficulties for overseas employment sector in Bangladesh.
"We are facing difficulties in manpower export to Malaysia as it is imposing newer restrictions for companies like accommodation and other facilities for the foreign workers. It is creating wide range of crisis for our manpower export sector to Malaysia which is a big host of our expatriate workers," said Shariful Islam, an executive of Dynamic Syndicate,
a recruiting agency of Bangladesh.
Sources said, recently Malaysia has restricted recruitment of foreign workers for the companies of the country who failed to facilitate sufficient healthy residences for the manpower.
The officials of the country are conducting drives on different companies to search the accommodation facilities.
Wan Zulkiflee wan, Deputy Director (Operations) of the Human Resources Department of Malaysia, has said his country will follow its manpower policy 'strictly'. "Malaysia will follow its own policy to ensure healthy residences for every worker in companies. If any company fails to facilitate sound accommodation for its workers, they must not be allowed to recruit more manpower," Wan Zulkiflee said in a press conference in the capital city's Putrajaya on Tuesday.
The press conference organised after a drive conducted in some restaurants where foreign workers are working.
The Deputy Director also said his country refused 30 percent of applications to recruit foreign labours recently due to the companies failure to create sound accommodation facilities.
"It was the pre-condition to construct sufficient residences for the workers before the recruitment of manpower. The residences must be healthy and in sound environment. There will also be separate apartments for the male and female workers," he said.
On the other hand, the World Bank said that Malaysia should remove all restrictions for recruiting manpower from abroad.
"Malaysia has developed sharply in every fields. Its economy is increasing day by day, partially thanks to the foreign workers. So, it should not impose restrictions on immigrant workers in its corridor," said the report issued on Wednesday. The World Bank report said that the Putrajaya's restriction would harm the neighboring countries from where most of its foreign labours arrive.
Open letter from a Rohingya to Suu Kyi
AL Jazeera News :
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh - I was born in the same year you were awarded your coveted Nobel Peace Prize.
It was one of the greatest honours to be bestowed upon someone from our country.
Everyone in Maungdaw, the area in Rakhine State where I am from, was filled with joy, and rejoiced your award as if it were their own.
For the first time since independence, we - the Rohingya - felt as though
we were a part of this country. We were proud to call ourselves Myanmarese.
After suffering years of abuse at the hands of the military junta, your peace prize inspired us, a people who have suffered decades of oppression.
Growing up, my grandfather always spoke highly of you. He would choose the biggest goats and cows to slaughter when members of your party, the National League for Democracy, would visit. He would graciously welcome them.
My father and my beloved grandpa wanted me to follow the path you had chosen, and my mother was drawn to you by your powerful voice and activism.
In 2010, when you were finally released by the military from house arrest, we rejoiced. But seven years on, we, the Rohingya, remain victims of a brutal and genocidal state. This time, at your hands.
Since your general election victory in 2015, you pushed out Muslim representatives from your party. It was the first sign of your political cowardice.
A few months later, your administration launched "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State. During those months, countless civilians were killed and women were gang-raped.
Despite widespread international condemnation, you denied the crimes.
You even refused to refer to us as "Rohingya", an accurate term that represents the ethnicity of my people - a people who have been living in Rakhine for centuries.
Since the start of the violence on August 25, more than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Over 1,000 Rohingya villagers have been killed, 15,000 homes have been burned down, and those that have remained are trapped in fear and desperation.
On September 1, my parents and I were forced to leave our home.
After three days and two nights, we reached Bangladesh after crossing the Naf river on a small rowing boat. We later found shelter at the Kutupalong refugee camp.
I just received information that my home was burned to the ground. While many will say it was the army or vigilantes that burned it down, I feel as if it is you - Aung San Suu Kyi - that is to blame.
Not only did you burn down my home, you also burned my books.
I had always dreamed of becoming an author, studying English at Sittwe University, but as you know, the Rohingya are banned from enrolling or studying there, so I sought inspiration from books and articles.
You burned Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. You burned Mahatma Gandhi's Autobiography. You burned Leymah Gbowee's Mighty Be Our Power. And you burned your own book, Freedom from Fear.
You are the one who is responsible for setting my hopes and dreams on fire.
And now, as we stand here in Bangladesh as refugees, my father has a question for you: "Why have you never visited the Rohingya, whether in Rakhine State or those forced to Cox's Bazar after everything that has happened?" What hurts most is not that we, the Rohingya, are the world's most persecuted community. What breaks my heart is knowing that we're the most persecuted community in your - Aung San Suu Kyi's - Myanmar.
You've chosen your path, that's clear for everyone to see. Now your name will be synonymous for the millions of Rohingya displaced around the world with the countless tyrants and dictators that have come before you.
Rampal Plant construction work continue defying UNESCO decision
Anisul Islam Noor :
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in July gave a directive not to construct factories and infrastructure including Rampal Power Plant near the Sundarbans before carrying out the survey of Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) on the southwest region.
In July, the World Heritage Committee of
UNESCO at its 41st meeting conveyed this decision to the government of Bangladesh.
But the government has started piling for constructing the Rampal Power Plant project in defiance of UNESCO.
Contradicting the heritage committee's decision, energy adviser to the prime minister Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury at a press conference in July said, that the UNESCO had withdrawn its objection on Rampal power plant project.
A sources closed to Rampal power plant project said that the progress was very slow. Three and a half per cent of the project work has been implemented so far.
On 7 July, the foreign ministry in a press release also said that UNECSO had withdrawn its objection to Rampal.
However, the National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans and National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Power and Ports at a press conference said that UNESCO had not withdrawn its objection to the Rampal power plant. Bangladesh Power cell Director General Mohammad Hossain, who attended the heritage committee meeting in Poland, said the implementation of Rampal project and SEA survey will go on simultaneously. If any recommendation comes from the survey, it would be included in the project, he added. Convener of National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Power and Ports Professor Anu Muhammad said, the implementation of Rampal power project will destroy the Sundarbans.
Replying a e-mail of eminent environmentalist here on 9 October, Chief of Asia Pacific unit of World Heritage Centre Feng Jing said, the world heritage committee requested the Bangladesh government to ensure that no development project including Rampal should be implemented before the SEA survey. Earlier, it was estimated that the plant would start generating electricity in 2018. But the Indian implementing agency told the government in September that generation would begin in September of 2020.
In 2009, Bangladesh and India jointly decided to construct a power plant in the southwest region of the country.
In 2010, a total of 930 acres of land were acquired to implement the project at Rampal of Bagerhat district some 14 kilometers away from the Sundarbans, a World Heritage site declared by the UNESCO.
Let Rohingyas return home, not to camps
Annan urges global leaders to press Myanmar for their return with dignity and sense of security
Special Correspondent :
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged Myanmar to make sure the half-million Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled in the last two months can go home, and not go to camps.
He came up with the call while addressing an informal Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, report agencies.
"Myanmar's government needs to "create conditions that will allow the refugees to return with dignity and with a sense of security" and help them rebuild in violence-wracked Rakhine state. They (refugees) should not be returned to camps. They need assistance to get their homes back," he said
Annan, who led an advisory committee to the Mymanmar government recently, said world powers must work with country's military and civilian leaders to end the Rohingya refugee crisis.
While talking with the reporters at UN Headquarters after the closed-door meeting with the Security Council, he said the "good discussion" had focused mainly on the report produced by the Commission, which was welcomed by the UN in August.
"It was clear that everyone agrees on what needs to be done in the short-term: stopping the violence; getting humanitarian aid to those in need, and helping with the dignified and voluntary return for those refugees in Bangladesh," he explained.
This particular point "is not going to be easy," he continued, stressing that the refugees would only go back if they had a sense of security and confidence that their lives would be better.
The Security Council is weighing action, possibly a resolution laying out demands, but diplomats have said China, a supporter of Myanmar's former military junta, and Russia are opposed to such measure.
Annan recalled that his report had stated that the refugees not be put in camps and that they must be allowed to go back to their villages and helped to rebuild and reconstruct their lives.
He went on to say that key question of citizenship and verification was "a real problem for the Muslim community."
The former UN Secretary-General pointed out that State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Ky had accepted the recommendations in his report and had agreed to set up an implementation committee.
"The report is generally accepted and could form a framework and basis for action as we move forward; hopefully Myanmar and the international community can work together on these core issues," he said, expressing the hope that the issue of Rakhine could be settled to give the country "time and space to address the wider issues in the country."
Asked about the discussions in the Council, Annan said: "I would hope that the resolution that comes out urges the Government to really press ahead and create conditions that will allow the refugees to return in dignity and with a sense of security."
The international community, he said, appears prepared to engage Myanmar and work on a common roadmap based on his report, as a common basis, "to go forward together and try to stabilize the situation," or else this would become a "long-term festering problem."
Asked about next steps, Annan said: "We worked on this report [for a year] and my work is done. There is no 'plan B.' We have to tackle the root causes, and the report deals with that and [if there is serious implementation] could ensure that we won't have repetition of the violence and attacks."
Myanmar's UN mission didn't respond to a request for comment on Friday's session of the Security Council.
Friday's meeting was "particularly useful and helpful to build consensus" on two goals: Supporting the recommendations of Annan's commission and denouncing "the totally inacceptable status quo," French Ambassador Francois Delattre said.
He co-chaired the session with British envoy Matthew Rycroft.
Asked whether sanctions or another resolution could ensue, Rycroft said he hoped to "carry on working in a spirit of bringing everyone together." "And we will explore whether there is the appetite to do more," he added.
The Chinese and Russian UN missions didn't respond to requests for comment.
The Security Council has repeatedly discussed Myanmar recently, but views have been divided among the veto-wielding members. At a meeting late last month, Britain, France and the US demanded an end to what they called ethnic cleansing, while China's ambassador called for patience. Russia's envoy warned that "excessive pressure" could only worsen the problems.
In an unprecedented exodus, more than 500,000 Rohingya have fled from Rakhine to neighbouring Bangladesh since August. 25, when security forces clamped down after the latest in a series of attacks on police posts by a Rohingya militant group. Many houses were burned in the crackdown, and Rohingya refugees have described rape, looting and abuse. The UN and some countries have called the events "ethnic cleansing," which Myanmar's government denies. It has blamed the crisis on terrorism.
The August attacks came a day after the Annan-led commission released its report, which called for economic development and social justice to counter the deadly violence.
Rohingya crisis may emerge as security issue: FS
Thousands of new Rohingya refugees arriving in horrible situation near Anzuman Para village, Palong Khali in Cox\'s Bazar: UNHCR
UNB, Dhaka :
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque on Saturday said the Rohingya crisis might become a security issue in the region and Bangladesh is now in offensive mood diplomatically engaging internationally to find a peaceful solution to the crisis as early as possible.
"We will continue to build pressure on Myanmar. We are going everywhere. We are going to all countries (you mentioned)," he told a dialogue on Rohingya issue at a city hotel mentioning that Bangladesh is no way in defensive mood diplomatically. He said Bangladesh is doing whatever is possible to find a solution to the crisis which lies within Myanmar.
"We have a very articulated policy," Foreign Secretary Haque said adding that they are intensifying diplomatic efforts through
multilateral and international forums and international bodies.
The Foreign Secretary said the Rohingya issue is multidimensional and multilayered one having over five dimensions. Explaining how Rohingya issue might become a security issue, Haque said, "It was basically a humanitarian movement. Subsequently, it became a border issue and it might become a security issue."
"We are not denying that there is no potential to become a security issue," he emphasised.
The Foreign Secretary said Bangladesh is looking into all the options to find the solution.
Earlier, the speakers laid emphasis on intensifying diplomatic efforts through multilateral and international forums to end the crisis. They sought steps to set up a seperate desk at the Foreign Ministry to deal with Russia, China and India on Rohingya issue. A foreign ministry official said Bangladesh is soon sending a special envoy to China and Russia to further discuss the Rohingya issue.
Cosmos Foundation arranged the dialogue on "Domestic, Regional and International Dimensions of the Rohingya Issue: Dealing with a Man-made Crisis" to highlight the issue and offer some solutions to the crisis.
A panel of experts, including CR Abrar of Dhaka University, Major General (retd.) ANM Muniruzzaman of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Shahedul Anam Khan of The Daily Star and former IOM official Asif Munier. The workshop was chaired by Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a former foreign affairs advisor to the caretaker government and principal research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) in Singapore. Cosmos Foundation chairman Enayetullah Khan delivered welcome speech.
Trump`s senseless stand against nuke deal with Iran
Editorial Desk :
US President Donald Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal and warning he might ultimately terminate it. Trump announced the major shift in US policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for extremist groups in the Middle East.
He accused Iran of "not living up to the spirit" of the nuclear agreement and said his goal is to ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon. Trump's hardline remarks drew praise from Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran's arch-foes, but were criticized by European allies. The move by Trump was part of his "America First" approach to international agreements which has led him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.
His Iran strategy angered Tehran and put Washington at odds with other signatories of the accord such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, some of which have benefited economically on renewed trade with Iran. Responding to Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on live television that Tehran was committed to the deal and accused Trump of making baseless accusations.
While Trump did not pull the United States out of the agreement, aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the pact. If Congress reimposes the sanctions, the United States would in effect be in violation of the terms of the nuclear deal and it would likely fall apart. If lawmakers do nothing, the deal remains in place. Congress is more likely to take up legislation proposed by two Republican Senators that would set new restrictions on Iran, including reimposing US nuclear sanctions if Tehran were deemed to be within one year of developing a nuclear weapon.
But why does Trump want to cancel the deal in the first place? The real reason can be traced to what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of Mr Trump, said last month that unless provisions in the accord removing restrictions on Iran's nuclear program over-time are eliminated, it should be cancelled. Since Israel is a close ally of the US, it can exert disproportionate power on US policy makers like the President and Congress through Super Political Action Committees like AIPAC, the Jewish American lobby group which exerts tremendous power in the US to achieve its goals.
Essentially Israel wishes to remain the only bully in the Middle East--by not allowing Tehran to pursue nuclear weapons it remains the dominant superpower in the region. Even Saudi Arabia doesnt want Tehran to pursue nuclear weapons as it feels that it is protected by the US. Thus allowing Tehran nuclear weapons would imbalance the current hegemony in the Middle East. As long as Israel has nuclear weapons it could attack Iran without any compunction as Iran knows that Israel has nuclear weapons--as it has done in the past when it attacked and destroyed the Osirak reactor in Iraq in 1981.
So the real question seems to be whether we can allow Israel to continue on its path with impunity or allow Iran to forge ahead with its own path of development ? Reneging on this deal may very well take Iran down the hard path -- as then its hardliners will say that they had no other options left. So decertifying the deal may have the opposite effect and nudge Iran down the dark path. President Trump should learn 'nudge theory' and apply the principles to Iran -- which essentially are that that people can be nudged to do something if the nudging occurs in a soft fashion.
News / National
by Maynard Manyowa
Harare - The road has been all but opened for Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe to take over from her husband Robert after it was revealed that the ruling Zanu PF party would hold an elective congress in December.At the congress, it is largely expected that Robert Mugabe will again request that the constitution of the party be amended, to create a post for a third Vice President, who should be female.Currently, under the provisions set in the Unity Accord, one slot in the Presidium is reserved for former members of ZAPU, who are mostly Ndebele, or hail from Matebeleland.It would be the first time that such a move is adopted. In 2004, Mnangagwa's rise to the executive was blocked, after Mugabe opted to have one slot reserved for a woman. With the other slot reserved for a ZAPU cadre, Mnangagwa was effectively disqualified, despite holding majority nominations.Khuluma Afrika understands that Grace Mugabe may not necessarily aim to have Mnangagwa expelled, but will rather push to become the third Vice President.This would make her part of the executive, and in Mugabe's absence she would become the acting President.In the event that Mugabe becomes incapacitated or dies, at a time when Grace Mugabe was the last acting President, she would automatically become head of state and government for 90 days, while Zanu PF nominates its candidate to take over from Mugabe.Inside sources have confirmed to us that Mugabe may choose to step down, leaving Grace in power, and with 90 days to consolidate her position in the party and as President."Once she becomes the third Vice President, the power grab would be complete. It is more a matter of when and not if now, unless something drastic happens", a member of the ruling party's politburo who spoke to Khuluma on condition of anonymity stated.As the leader of the women's league, Grace Mugabe would automatically be the candidate to take up any seat in the presidium which is reserved for a female.Her party, Zanu PF enjoys a sweeping majority in parliament and any amendments they propose would sail through.
Opinion / Columnist
Morgan Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe mid-afternoon yesterday after almost a month of medical treatment in South Africa over his colon cancer ailment.Supporters of the MDC president staged celebrations at Harvest House to welcome him home.Tsvangirai's return was announced through messages by his spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka: "President Tsvangirai's arrival has confounded morbid skeptics; some of whom had publicly wished him dead."He returns to take his rightful place in the trenches and to lead a stoic nation that has for years fought for democracy to remove a stubborn and inept government now engaged in a vicious succession struggle at the expense of the challenges facing the people."Tsvangirai was said to be hitting the ground running, resuming his campaign to dethrone veteran President Robert Mugabe.Tsvangirai faces a daunting task than ever if he wants to reach the presidency and push his own agenda. Some say it's a far-off dream at this point. But the task is not impossible.If Tsvangirai and his allies want to rebuild Zimbabwe their way by eliminating government inefficiency and corruption and promoting economic growth, their biggest challenge will be transforming the coalition of opposition parties, the MDC Alliance, into a formidable opposition party, while drafting in those sceptical about the alliance.Four years ago, there were a myriad of presidential candidates, organised candidates, with similar policy positions to Tsvangirai. Due to the presence of several opposition parties, Mugabe trounced that vote.This year, Tsvangirai has managed to consolidate the opposition into the closest Zimbabwe has had to a true opposition party in years.It can no longer be Mugabe against everyone else, but rather Mugabe against Tsvangirai. The former prime minister has been able to garner such support in part because of the hope he was able to generate for Zimbabwe.Tsvangirai needs to be in the best of health to prosecute the democratic struggle, and must immediately start to energise the opposition into maintaining the coalition through the elections.Tsvangirai must be able to improve the opposition party's standing among the electorate, and thus increase their chances of winning the forthcoming crucial presidential election.Tsvangirai also must be ready to launch a presidential campaign at any moment now, starting with his party's 18th anniversary.We wish Tsvangirai good health and long life on the campaign trail.If the former trade unionist can continue to lead the opposition, and make gains among those who voted for Mugabe in 2013, we may just see a new path for Zimbabwe after all.
Bill Murray Was Apparently Kind Of A Jerk To Fans At A Meet-And-Greet In Chicago
Bill Murray charmed the crowds and critics at the Chicago Symphony Center earlier this week in a unique performance that paired his readings of literary classics with virtuoso performances by classical musicians. Tuesday's performance of "New Worlds: Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends" seemed to go off without a hitchuntil the VIP meet-and-greet afterward.
VIPs who paid an extra $150 for the performance were promised pizza, beer and a picture with Murray after the performance. The meet-and-greet started off okay, according to Sean Kennedy, an attorney who thought the post-show event would make a special gift for his brother's birthday, he told the Sun-Times.
But things started to go off the rails when fans began snapping photos of him while they were standing in line and waiting for their turn to take a professional photo. Kennedy told the Tribune that fans hadn't been told that snapping cell phone photos were off-limits, but Murray admonished them. One woman was even escorted out by security for snapping a photo of Murray eating the aforementioned pizza. The Wilmette-raised actor really doesn't like having candid photos snapped of himlast year he hurled fans' cell phones off a roof when he caught them taking his photo.
Murray did a few rounds of individual and couple photos without any problem, and those fans were happy with their VIP experience. But then he asked the professional photographer to start doing large group shots instead of individual ones with fans. Kennedy told the Sun-Times he was probably flagging after the late-night performance and attending the Cubs game the night before: "He was probably just tired."
One woman asked if she and her husband could take a photo with just the three of them, instead of a group of strangers, and Murray really didn't like that.
"(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 told the Tribune. "Everybody was like, is he just trying to be funny or is he for real right now? It was pretty uncomfortable to watch this."
He told the Sun-Times, "I think some people thought he was kidding at first, and she was embarrassed and moved to the side. But he was serious."
Shortly after, Murray abruptly left, leaving some of his fans standing in line and startled at what had transpired. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association offered refunds for remaining fans.
"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 spokesman, said in a statement to the Tribune.
Kennedy, for one, apparently didn't take it too hard, though. "[W]ell, okay, yeah, hes acting like a jerk, but he's our jerk," he said, according to CBS.
Murray has continued his "New Worlds" tour with cellist Jan Vogler, including a performance on The Late Show with Colbert: